Zero: Prologue

591 35 10
                                    

Believe Me

Ch 0: Prologue

Ty's POV

5:9

8:16

22:5

"Watch, Ty. Watch and learn," Sky says, smiling at me and taking a few steps back. He narrows his eyes and focuses on the next platform. Then he takes off running.

"Attention! May I please have your attention?" Seto's voice comes over the intercom. Sky's eyes widen, and he skids to a halt right before jumping toward the next platform. "The Respawn Machine is in need of repair, so I must insist that everyone stay away from any games that could potentially cause death." Seto pauses. Sky shrugs and gets ready to jump again. Before I can stop him, Seto's voice echoes through the room again. "Sky, you ought to have learned by now." I snort.

"Honestly, though, how many horrible accidents must you be the center of before you learn your lesson?" I ask, looking back at him. I'm on the finishing platform, and he's on the platform behind me. Alesa is one behind him.

He laughs. "I dunno. I feel like a couple more times would do it?"

"Right, 'cause that'll totally improve your overall lifespan," Alesa replies sarcastically, and I'd have to fight not to laugh. I hate how easily we've forgiven her. I hate how easily forgiveness came after she went through therapy and apologized to the whole city and just stopped being a psycho jerk. I suppose she's really not all that bad a person, though, once you get past the mental illness bit.

"Hmph," Sky pouts at us both, which only causes me to laugh harder. Another reason it was so easy to mostly forgive Alesa: Sky is still here. Sky is still alive and here and perfectly healthy and happy, and for that, I am more than thankful.

"Whelp," Sky says after I've calmed down a bit, "how long do you think we'll have to sit here?"

"Ugh," I groan. "Too long." I sit down on the edge of the finishing platform and swing my legs.

"Dang," Sky says quietly, glancing around. Before he can so much as consider jumping to the ladder on the side of the map, I spit out a series of nopes that has him widening his eyes and then chuckling in amusement. "Geez, Ty, calm yourself. I'm not gonna jump."

I raise an eyebrow.

"Well. I'm not gonna jump far."

"Sky, it took me five tries to get from that platform to the one I'm on now. You are not going to attempt that jump," I say threateningly as I slowly get to my feet.

He holds his hands up in a defensive position. "Hey, don't freak! I'm just jumping to Alesa's platform, that's all. I wanna be closer to her so I can be not bored."

I frown, not because of the distance between Sky's platform and Alesa's (he can make that jump without any effort at all), but because there he goes, choosing Alesa again. Apparently, I'm boring. I guess I always have been, in comparison to Alesa. She's exciting, that's for sure. Still, I would've thought that being a steady best friend for several years would at least count for something.

Internally, I shrug. Sky has always been unpredictable. It's something that I appreciate even as I smack my palm against my forehead. I mean, sure, I could do without the Sky-abandoning-me-for-Alesa-again thing, but the unpredictability is part of what makes Sky Sky.

"Oh. All right," I answer after a silence that I let sit just a little too long. Oops.

"So, Alesa! How was the therapy?" he asks, and at least he's not still totally in love with her. Of course, he has yet to fully get over the whole deal – forget the whole 'I electrocuted your friends' bit, he's currently more concerned with the 'I broke your heart' bit.

Four.

It sucks.

Ironically, I've been here the whole time, reliably present and mentally stable while those four either randomly died or became insane villains. Regardless of this, I've still been pushed aside every time someone new arrived.

It's kind of what we do, I guess. He moves on from one person and then he finds another, and I sit there and try my hardest to be supportive. It's fine. So long as his next one doesn't go crazy or break Sky's heart again in one form or another, I can live with it.

I mean, hey. With Dawn, he didn't even ignore me all that much. Of course, that was one of four, but... Well. Still.

"Oh, it was great! Notch, I feel so much lighter now," Alesa replies happily, stepping closer to Sky. Wait, now that she's relatively sane, does she actually- oh, heck, no.

"Ah, good. So, what medicine did Seto prescribe?" I ask her, yelling a bit so that I know I'll be heard from two platforms over. "He had to have prescribed something." Have to remind Sky that she's mentally unstable. Can't have him falling for her again. Notch, anyone but her.

She gives me a tight smile. Hmm, sensitive subject. Clearly. "Yes, well. You two know. Something with 'Alesa' in it, I think."

"Right, right, that makes sense."

Sky tilts his head at me, unsure why I'm purposefully making her uncomfortable. Of course, he knows I haven't fully forgiven her. It's hard not to hold a bit of a grudge when, every time you look at her, you see yourself murdering your best friend.

"It does," Alesa replies. "After all, I'm insane."

Sky tilts his head more. This time, I'm inclined to join him.

"Well, yeah, but-" Sky begins.

"Sorry, Sky," she whispers evilly, and, from this distance, I can barely see the twisted smile on her face as she pushes Sky over the edge of the platform. His face is one of irrepressible shock as he falls closer and closer to the ground.

For a few terrifying moments, I can't even move, and that somehow makes everything worse. No, Sky, no, please, no, we are not going through this memory loss deal again.

He hits the ground far below with a crunch that even I can hear clearly, and I cringe. Ugh. Here comes the amnesia, do-over #34,807.

Nothing happens. No pop. No poof. No white dust or snowflakes. No Sky standing next to me and wondering who the crap dropped all that gold. No, none of that.

His body doesn't disappear.

My eyes widen in fear. My jaw may have just hit the ground. My heart is beating fast, and I can't breathe I can't breathe I can't breathe but I can scream.

"SKY!"

Believe MeWhere stories live. Discover now