The Stage is Set

Where are they? My siblings? pt.2

Hi, hi! So sorry for the weird updates! I have been getting distracted, stuck with a lot of work, holidays, and now sick! Either way, I hope this chapter at least makes sense and such. I'm currently editing it high on medication and somewhat dissociating! Enjoy!

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How many does he have? How many siblings does he have?

Vaguely, it feels like time has stopped around him. He turns around when he hears footsteps behind him.

Six. The boy that stands in front of him is human. His hair is a fluffy dark brown. Freckles are splashed across his face from the side he can see. The clothes he wears are different, from some human culture. Those large, empty eyes stare at the floor with a longing that Blue doesn't know. There are six others. Those full lips pull into a sad frown as the boy grips the scarf around his neck.

Blue steps forward. He has six siblings? "Where are they?"

The boy glances at Blue before pulling his scarf over his nose and mouth. Find them. Find us. Find our resting place.

"Our?" Blue pauses. Does the boy include Blue in the group?

You are an older soldier boy. The boy turns to face Blue, his head lowered toward the ground. I am just a child soldier.

Blue startles with indignance. "Boy? But I'm in my 400s-" He stops, and something in the boy's face stops him. It's oddly familiar to him.

The boy's scarf falls away from his face. The expression is blank, but the face is telling. Your body. Our soul, our spirit. I'm so young. The boy looks-

"Oh..." Blue's soul twists and falls. "You're me." His sockets grow wide as the small, he's so small, how young is he- child soldier smiles at him.

Yes. The child soldier is polite. He leans into a bow, sweeping the ends of his scarf behind him as a makeshift cape.

Blue physically stalls. He stares at what must have been himself in another rewrite. "I'm you."

The child soldier nods, and suddenly Blue doesn't feel that big; The one who got to live.

"Oh." Blue slowly realizes that he is not only living in Swap's shadow, but the child soldier's as well.

It's nice to meet you. The boy greets him again as he steps closer to Blue.

Blue can't help but realize just how good this version of him is. He needs, wants, to keep that innocence-that goodness-safe. This boy is so young; dressed like a soldier while lacking the proper armor. Surely Ink never let him leave for a fight like this? He's so small, he has baby fat still carried in his cheeks; baby fat that he's never even seen on Chara in UnderSwap. It makes something in his twist. Something that cries about the unfairness of it all; why did he have to be left behind so young? Why was he left alone in that coffin? In that monument? When was his Maman coming back for him? He wonders if those past feelings and memories he's been feeling since entering Ink's room came from the child soldier. Stars, why did the kid refer to himself as a child soldier? He hates the implications.

It's only one question; he has to know. "...How old are you?"

The boy giggles. He holds out his hands, and again Blue feels his soul drop to the ground. I'm six... He sounds in awe and Blue feels devastated. You're so much older than me.

"Six? You... Stars... Am I the only one who lived this long?"

No. The boy shakes his head. His hair bounces as he looks at Blue with pride. Those empty eyes are so wide, so young. He is so hopeful. Our sisters live.