~ Chromatober 2024 ~

Day 5: Forbidden/Library

I've wanted to play around with more of the backstory of Dark in BLACKOUT so take this XD Also whether I am going to revive that book is currently up for debate right now cause I still need to determine what route to take with it XD It's just kinda in this weird state between a hiatus and being discontinued- O-o

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Series: Ruined Reality

AU: BLACKOUT

Characters: Dark Steve, Void Steve

Angst level: A n g s t.

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"Dark!"

The yell makes me drop the book I had been reading and flip around quickly. The book hits the ground with a dull thud as my heart races, my eyes trying to make out the figure from the darkness. Stepping forward, a dark grey face with disapproving red eyes appears in the dim light from the torch I had brought with me. How did he- How did he find me here?! I made sure I wasn't followed! The tall man strides over to me then grabs me by the wrist and starts to drag me out of the crumbling library. "You are not meant to be in here, Dark." His words were filled with a subtle anger as he drags me and I try to pull myself out of his grip.

"Let me go!" My voice echoes off of the ruined bookshelves as I am dragged downstairs and into the foyer of the decaying library. Finally managing to pull my wrist away, I dig my heels into the floor at the base of the staircase, glaring at Void. "What is wrong with you?!" My yell echoes in the large room around us as the dark haired man flips around to look at me.

"I told you, Dark, that you were not to come here! I know what you were looking for and you are not to attempt it!"

"Oh sure! Cause it's not like you saw what I did! You didn't witness your friends be torn apart in front of you!!" My scream is filled with a hoarse rasp to it. Angered wasn't even the word to describe what I was feeling right now.

His ruby eyes settle on me as he narrows his eyes, his voice filling the ruins with a deep rumble. "I know I don't know what you witnessed, Dark, but I've seen what that room's knowledge can do to someone! I refuse to loose another to that cursed room!" The dark haired man takes a step forward, his robe swishing with his movement. "Even so, what do you think reviving their souls would do?! The damage you could do to them and yourself is irreparable, Dark! That is not a path you want to take!"

Tears of anger blur my vision as I glare and grit my teeth.

"And why do you think you can order me around, Void?! Dictate what I can do?! I am not your puppet or soldier! I am a person and can think and choose for myself!!" My voice breaks from the yell, my throat unused to the sudden loudness.

"I am not ordering you! I am trying to prevent my friend from making a stupid decision!"

His deep and resounding yell makes me freeze. The dark features of his face were contorted with anger, but they melted away to regret and... sadness. I watch as he uncurls his fists and lets his shoulders drop, my own heartbeat pounding in my ears. Anger and fury still filled my chest, but fear held me more than my anger was. When he speaks again, his voice is soft in the air.

"Dark... I know what it is like to loose a friend. Several friends. Sabre and Time weren't just your friends, they were mine as well. But..." Trailing off, the dark haired man sighs, closing his eyes and turning his head down towards the ground. Silence fills the void between us before he finds his voice again. "You remember the Harbingers of Light, correct? Luminaes, Brillus, Lux. Them?"

A small nod from me is his answer. How could I forget them? They were the reason I had become like this. With a shaky breath, Void opens his eyes to look back up at me.

"You... remember how I addressed Lux by... a different name? Whenever I fought him?" He pauses as I stop to think, the memory of Void shouting a name during a battle coming to mind.

"COLLE. STOP THIS."

I nod, my voice a rough whisper.

"Colle, right?"

I watch as his gaze turns to the side, sadness sitting in his eyes. With a slow exhale, he looks back at me. "Yes. Colle was... a nickname. His full name was Collector Red Steve. But everyone just called him Colle. He... He was my friend. Best friend. Together, he and I traveled these lands. Laughing... having fun... protecting those who needed it. But when he came to this forsaken library... He went up to that room. Him, Sharp, Beef, and Spark. Elite Leader and I had stayed down here. Yet when they all came back, you couldn't tell that they had changed any. Nor would they talk about what they had found. It wasn't until weeks after that... They all changed. They started to absorb steves into that Light and completely transform the land. Elite Leader... He managed to take down Spark before he fully changed, but he lost his life in the process. Becoming... Ghost Steve."

Shock fills my body as Void takes a moment to shakily breathe in, then continue.

"Dark, I know you want Sabre and Time back. And I do as well. But what lies within that forbidden room is not worth the toll. I can't even begin to imagine what might even happen from your slight exposure to whatever you were reading. But please. I cannot loose another friend to this... place."

His voice breaks as he speaks and for the first time in my life, I truly saw Void cry. Soft blue tears drip down his cheeks as he looks at me, his lower lip trembling a bit. Just... seeing him like this...

I have only witnessed his silent nature. His untold anger. I never knew his sadness and pain. To see Void cry... was... surreal.

Quickly biting his lower lip and locking his jaw, the ruby-eyed man swipes at his tears with his hands.

"Truly I should just destroy this place. I know I can. But I can't bring myself to. It's not what I want to do," He mumbles, his voice still quivering. My body slowly turns numb as his words truly set in. I... didn't know what I was doing. I really should have just- Never come here.

A hand resting on my shoulder makes me turn my gaze up to the ruby-eyed man as sorrow still filled his eyes. "Dark... I didn't mean to yell at you. Truly not. But just... Please. Let's leave this forsaken place. There is truly a reason why I have it hidden and it's not because of the books that sit on the shelves down here, but the room above it all." His hand rubs my jacket a bit before I reach my hand up and rest it on his. It takes me a moment to swallow down a lump in my throat before I answer him with a soft, raspy voice.

"Ok. Let's... Let's just go."

Instead of dragging me, he gently guides me out, our footsteps being twin pairs of clicks against the old floors. Admittedly, part of me wanted to run back upstairs. To grab that book and run. But... Well, I would have been caught before I even took two steps. The tall, dark robed man beside me, was a lot quicker than he looked, for sure.

Between just us though, we would never speak of this matter again. That's how it went. Usually, because it was too painful for one of us to speak of.