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She’s gone.
Anne’s gone…
No more of her laughter, warm hugs, her painfully forgiving personality.
So, he does the only thing he can do, he cries. But, this isn’t a cry of defeat, or even one of anguish.
This, this is a cry of anger, and it’s directed at one person.
The person that’s responsible for all of this mess.
The one responsible for bringing them here,
Grimes arm
His back
And
Her death
Marcy
Sasha pushes Marcy away, apathetic to the way they too, have tears in their eyes. Marcy stares back, eyes filled with despair, and confusion.
“Sasha?”
Sasha is standing now, facing away from them. Marcy reaches toward Sasha, to figure out why he pushed them away-
Slap!
“It’s YOUR fault we’re here, and YOUR fault she’s GONE!”
Everyone looks over at the outburst. Their grief forced to halt in midst of this attack. No one says anything, too shocked at what was just said.
Marcy’s arms hang limply in front of them, as if they’ve stopped working. They stagger back, and fall into the water. They bring one hand up as if to shield themselves. If it’s from a slap, or stinging words, it’s pointless.
The water doesn’t compare to the cold bite of Sasha’s words.
Sasha is fully facing Marcy now, and he looks…completely broken. Eyes full of tears, while the ones that didn’t make it, stain his cheeks. He’s hunched over, whether from physical exertion, or grief, is unclear.
Marcy isn’t faring any better. Their eyes, akin to Sasha’s, are filled with tears. Although, there’s one stark difference. Whilst Sasha’s eyes hold remnants of sadness and anger, Marcy’s hold shock and guilt.
“If it wasn’t for you, then we wouldn’t have gotten stuck here! Anne wouldn’t have died!”
Sasha’s screaming at this point, and he’s not going to stop anytime soon. His fists are clenched, and he looks ready to swing at any point.
Marcys eyes are similar to pinpricks. They make no move to get up from the water. If anything, they’ve made themselves smaller. Although that does nothing to spare themselves from Sasha’s barrage.
“I-I didn’t mean…”
“You didn’t mean for this to happen? Right, right. So does that just magically make things BETTER??”
He comes closer to Marcy, practically towering over them. Marcy shrinks more into themselves, covering their head with their hands.
“NO MARCY, IT DOESNT! Anne’s still dead, and you’re still here!”
He turns away, and Marcy slowly uncovers their face. But, with swiftness that he shouldn’t have,
He strikes.
A glint of metal against a red sky, a trail of blood, and a meek gasp.
Marcy opens their eyes, and they’re met with a sting on their cheek. They move their hands to the offending spot, and green comes away.
Sasha holds the dagger, and green is visible on it. His eyes hold no remorse.
Dull blue eyes meet tearful brown ones.
He tosses the dagger aside. The crowd of amphibians flinch at this. Yet, they can do nothing. Only an audience to the actions committed here.
“See that? Now we’re matching. We were matching before, but this one takes the cake.”
He points to the left side of Marcy’s cheek, where an old cut lies. They flinch as his hand comes near. He scoffs.
“You might not remember this, but this was for Darcy. You know, after you sliced Grime’s arm off.”
Sasha points to the new cut on their right cheek.
“And this was from a few seconds ago. I have one in the same spot, but Anne gave this to me. Hers was done out of rebuttal. Mine, was done out of spite.”
He brings Marcy closer, and there’s no mistaking emotion in their eyes.
Fear
“Now, every time you look in the mirror, it’ll bring you back to this moment. How you felt, how you got this cut. And how, you let Anne die.”
“I wish it were you who died.”
Marcy falls to their knees, and they sob. They sob silently, yet their whole body shakes. It’s almost like back at the castle. Except, two were looking down at them, not one.
No one from the surrounding crowd dared to move. The only noise was the rippling of the water, and the soft cries of Marcy. Then, one pink frog spoke up.
“Sasha…this isn’t the way to go. Anne would-“
Sasha turns on a dime, and starts approaching Sprig.
“Anne would WHAT?? She’d tell me to forgive Marcy?? Yeah, sure. What does forgiveness do? Well let me tell you something squeaky toy. It’s hard to listen to someone when they’re dead. It’s all a bunch of crap now.”
Sprig backed up when he realized Sasha was getting closer. He was now in front of Hop Pop and Polly, seemingly ready to defend the other two.
Sasha had this feral grin plastered on his face. His fists were by his side and began backing up. Just then, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Lieutenant”
Grime…
Yes, Grime. The same person who had his arm sliced clean off by Dar- By Marcy. Of course he’d be on his side! Right?
“Sasha, stop. There’s no need to be like this.”
His voice was calm, and there was no underlying emotion. This angered Sasha, and he fought his way out of Grimes grasp.
“How could you Grime?? Marcy did that,”
He gestured to his arm.
“And got Anne killed..”
Grime came closer, simultaneously, Sasha walked back. Grime stopped, and put his arm down.
“Sasha, look at me. I’m fine. Look over at Marsha. They obviously feel guilty. And you putting them down like this isn’t gonna help you.”
At the mention of their, close enough name, Marcy looked up. Their hair covered their face, now being significantly longer. Only one eye was visible, and it was obvious they had been crying this whole time.
Marcy slowly got up. Their body looked smaller, and they were hunched over. Their hands covering their chest. They moved their hair out of their face, and began to speak.
“I-I’m sorry. For everything.”
Sasha began to move forward, with the intention of stopping them. But, Grime held him back. And he was forced to listen.
“I’m sorry for getting us trapped here. I’m sorry for being selfish. I’m sorry for your back. I’m sorry for Grimes arm. And- I’m sorry-“
Marcy’s body wracked with sobs. They were shaking, and by the sounds of it. They couldn’t breathe. Despite this, they continued on.
“And im sorry, for getting A-Anne killed.”
“You were right…it should’ve been me.”
At this, Sasha finally seemed to snap out of his stupor. How did he not see it before? Marcy didn’t even attempt to retaliate when he said all those things. When he, when he hurt them.
“Marcy-“
Sasha walked toward their shaking body. Marcy violently flinched back. The fresh cut on their cheek only served as a painful reminder for both.
You let her die.
You hurt them.
Sasha stopped right in his tracks, and began to cry. These tears weren’t tainted with anger. No, they were stained with regret, and grief.
“Marcy, I’m sorry. I-I should’ve have said those things. I-“
Marcy looked back at him, and began to walk forward. With matching tears in their eyes, They reached towards him. This time, Sasha flinched, but, Marcy kept on.
“It’s alright Sash. You were right anyway. I did deserv-“
This time, Sasha stopped them. Not with a slap, or stinging words, but with a fierce hug. They hugged for a few seconds, when Sasha pulled back to look Marcy in the eye.
“No, it’s not alright. I hurt you. God, I hurt you Marce..”
Sasha’s hand carefully cupped Marcy’s cheek. His thumb running over the cut that was made just a few minutes ago. Dried blood littered the immediate area.
Marcy put their hand atop of Sasha’s and held it there.
“It’s nothing I can’t handle. Besides, I hurt you worse than this, remember?“
Sasha was reminded of his back at this very moment. It throbbed dully at the mention.
“Yeah, I guess. But hey, now we are double matching.”
This prompted a giggle out of Marcy. It was a stark contrast from the mood just a bit ago. It was enough to make Sasha chuckle a bit too.
Then, they had tears in their eyes.
This time, these were tears of laughter.
Their giggles slowly winded down with the sun. The sky now being a soft orange instead of a violent red. Amidst the soft sky, they once again hugged. Well, they hugged as hard as two with mangled backs could.
“I’m sorry Marcy.”
“I’m sorry too Sash.”
Just beyond the hugging duo, footsteps were heard. They turned, assuming it was the Plantars and Grime, but it wasn’t. These footsteps belonged to the subject of the previous argument.
“Hey dudes!”
A finger gun.
“What did I miss??”