Chromatober 2023

Day 5 - Flower

Series: Rainbow Quest

--- Dark Steve P.O.V ---

"You're free to go."

The words were a relief.  My shoulders finally relaxed as I walked out of the throne room.  I've been patrolling for hours, and I'm not sure what I'd do if Nightmare made me stay out any longer.

Personally, I wasn't sure why we were even looking.  If the Yellow Steves who had disappeared during the siege were still out there, they would've been found already, right?  My mind flashed to various Yellow Steve groups, muttering fearfully about their lives under The Nightmare King.  I frowned.  They were probably getting as far away from the Yellow Kingdom as possible.

I blinked, clearing the image from my mind.  I hated when that happened.  I didn't know those steves.  I didn't care about those steves.  I had to remind myself each time the Assistant got the better of me.

I walked down the hall and into my room.  It had once been the office for a palace guard, one who had mysteriously vanished after the siege, along with everyone else.  It had been fun to dump his papers out of the little window and watch them blow away in the wind.  Some of my fellow darkness had even joined in, getting rid of the paperwork cluttering their quarters.  Why were there so many offices in a castle?

Now, there was only a bed and a dresser, both made of dark oak wood.  The darkness had already spread over the palace and claimed the once-cream colored wallpaper, turning it gray.  It was almost like a little cave.

I sank onto the thin black mattress, staring at the blank walls only a few feet away from the bed on every side.  It was almost like a little prison cell.  I shifted uncomfortably at the thought.  Where were all the colors?  The personality?  How was I supposed to tell my own room from the thousands of rooms lining the hall, crowding in darkness creatures with the same black colored beds?

A shiver went down my spine, and I blinked hard.  Relax, Dark.  You've never disliked your room before.  But I still felt antsy.  With a sigh, I teleported away.

The spot I chose was on the outskirts of the castle, where the darkness hadn't spread yet.  If anyone asked, I was simply checking its progress.  Besides, this was my free time.  I could go where I pleased.

A flash of black caught my eye, and I peered at a darkness creature, carefully holding up a fishing rod and staring into the water.  I followed its gaze, surprised at how peaceful it seemed.  The water rushed by with a soft burbling noise.  I smiled, taking a seat next the the darkness and letting one hand rest in the river, feeling the current.

The hook of the fishing rod dived below the surface, and the darkness beside me moved quickly, hauling in its catch.  It unhooked a water bottle, tossed it into a pile of random stuff, then sent the line out again, hoping for a luckier catch.  I scanned the area behind it to fish a pile of fish on its other side.  It must be catching food for our armies.  I shrank back from the water.  I thought it just came here because it liked fishing.  Disappointment hit me.  It was just following orders.

That shouldn't have made me sad.  We were a family.  It was good that this creature valued loyalty enough to fish for us.  We would have a good dinner tonight.  Still, I felt sad.

Walking away from the water, I picked up the water bottle it had just thrown aside.  A faint idea crossed my mind, and I teleported away again.

This time, there was no darkness present.  The flower field was empty, peaceful in the dying sunlight.  A soft breeze rippled through the grass, making the flowers sway gently.  Orange tulips!  I carefully picked a few, followed by some dandelions a few blocks over.  My mind quickly zoned out, forgetting about the exhausting patrol earlier in the day.  I smiled.

Once I was done, I teleported home and propped the water bottle on my nightstand.  Taking out the flowers, I carefully put them in, making sure all of their stems were threaded through the little opening.  Suddenly, the small space seemed brighter.

I hopped on my bed, a little proud.  The flowers brought an odd sense of nostalgia that I enjoyed.

Footsteps, soft as a cat's, sounded outside the hall.  If the room weren't so quiet, I wouldn't have heard them at all.  I turned to find a darkness creature peeking into my room, note in hand.  Oh.  Another summons from Nightmare.

I reached forward to take the note, but the darkness didn't let go.  It was focused on the vase, its head tilted curiously.  My face flushed as I tried to explain.

"They're pretty, aren't they?  I just had some free time and thought I'd go get some flowers!"  its gaze shifted between me and the vase.  "It's fun!  I used to do it all the time with-" With my friends?  With the Orange Steves?  The words caught in my throat as an image entered my mind.  A group of bright orange friends talking happily as they planted a flowerbed in the Orange Village.  I swallowed down a mouthful of bile, falling silent.  Stupid Dark.  How could I have let something like this happen?

I may have been used to the Assistant's memories, but clearly this Orange Steve was even harder to deal with.  I stared around the room fiercely, reminding myself that it was not a dark, cell-like room.  It was a beautiful, cozy living space that I felt comfortable in.

I wanted to smash the makeshift vase to pieces, and let the flowers fall from the window.

Tears stung my eyes, and I hastily rubbed them away.  The soft floral scent in the room was starting to make me feel sick.

The darkness was still staring at me, its expression unreadable.

"I'm not an Orange Steve!"  I growled, in case it was getting the wrong idea.  It glanced over me, then nodded in agreement.  What was I doing?  It didn't know what I was talking about.  "I- I'm not a Yellow Steve, either.  They're not in there anymore.  They're gone."  It felt good to say the words out loud, and the darkness nodded along.

Instead of handing me the note, it took something else out if its inventory.  I stared a the flower.  It was dark, emitting smoky particles.  Its shape looked oddly familiar.  It was a rose.  A wither rose.  ...How thoughtful.  The cheerful thoughts penetrated my mind like little rays of sunshine breaking through a cloud.  The darkness nudged the note into my hand, and I took it absentmindedly, barely noticing when the creature left the room.

I nudged a space in between the other stems, and set the wither rose among the other flowers.  Its dark colors stood out against the brighter hues, but I didn't mind.  It was beautiful.

The other flowers started to shrivel, turning ashy-brown.

I kept the smile plastered to my face.

It was beautiful, I told the sickening feeling in my stomach.  I should leave it there.

Instead, I reached a hand quickly over the bouquet and sucked the corruption back into my palm.  The flowers cheered up again, and the wither rose turned a rich shade of red.  I smiled, then groaned as I realized what had just happened.  Stupid Orange Steve.

My hand clenched into a fist, and I could feel the paper crumple inside.  Oh, right.  Nightmare had summoned me.

I glared at the mass of orange and gold.  Oh, gosh, what if he noticed how strange I had been acting lately?  Well, I would just have to show him he was wrong.  I slammed the door as I left my room, marching confidently down the hallway.  After all, there was nothing wrong with me.

I was not an Orange Steve.

The Orange Steve was gone.

I just happened to really like flowers now.

That was normal.

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Word Count: 1,309

So... Dark had a major identity crisis.