Chapter Text
[Fathom]
The days following the massacre stung. No one dared to look at Fathom, or cast him more than a glare. Except for Indigo. But what did that mean if even his own sister could barely look at him?
A lot, actually, but now he felt a little numb. Well, more than a little. It hurt.
It hurt in an empty way... moons that didnt even make sense to Fathom.
He was standing beside his sister's throne, watching as she signed a verdict outlawing the use of any form of animus magic.
"It is done. Would everybody except for Prince Fathom leave?"
Everyone else followed her orders, since she was the queen now... the entire royal succession had been reduced to Pearl and Pearl alone. She was barely any older than Fathom, she shouldn't have been the one signing that scroll.
She shouldn't have been the one sitting on that throne.
"So..." she began, still refusing to look Fathom in the eye. "How did you kill him?"
Fathom simply should his head. "It wasn't me." He whispered. "It was Indigo. She was able to get him with one of the spears."
It was a lie - he didn't need to deny himself that - one Indigo would back up, even if she didn't know exactly why. It was for the best. Even though Fathom had killed him, he used him powers... he used it. Who knew how other dragons would look at him if he admitted it was him...
"I-I know that the verdict is about... me. But you dont need to worry. I would never... Im not like him, Pearl..." but she was right to worry. All of this power... is was dangerous. He was dangerous.
Pearl sighed, eyes softening. "But how can I know that, Fathom? How can I trust you when that power is so easily accessible? When the only thing separating you from your powers is another dragon... what else could stop you if it was taken away?"
She was right. Fathom reached for a dagger on the wall, and with it he drew two lines on his palm in an x shape, blood seeping from the fresh wound. "...Queen Pearl. I give you this oath. Under no circumstance will I ever use my powers. I seal it in blood that I will never use animus magic again."
It hurt, but that was all he could think about it. Nothing else could be said about it. Nothing else mattered. He promised.
He promised... the safety of the sea kingdom was more important than the scales of his palm.
"Very well. I accept your oath... but... Fathom. You must promise me one last thing."
Fathom nodded as a single drop if blood fell to the ground below him. "Of course."
"It is your soul duty to stay away from Indigo."
He looked at her, shock and disbelief mixing in his chest. "Why? Why indigo?"
My only chance at friendship, at connection...
Pearl exhaled sharply, expression staying rigid. "To put it simply, you are in love with that dragon. Ive seen it, you would be willing to do anything for her; throw your life and your oath away, maybe even your own soul."
Fathom didnt know how to respond... he would have to stay away from Indigo forever...?
Would he throw away everything for one dragon? For Indigo?
As much as he wanted to ignore the idea, it was true. Indigo meant everything to him, he would be willing to throw away everything for her... but...
"But- no, I.... i wouldnt..." he couldn't say what he wanted to. Lashing out at the queen might get him stabed like Albatross.
The realization wasn't painful. It was passive. It was true... it settled, cold.
Pearl continued. "And if I didnt ask this of you, the result isn't fair to her. She has no chance at a viable future with you, with no dragnets, constant danger, you understand, right? She's my friend too, Fathom, and she deserves a happy life as a normal dragon."
Normal... fathom could never be that again. He wasn't normal, he was basically a monster at this point, what more did it mean to throw that burden onto someone, especially his closest friend... the love of his life, she could never be happy with him.
"But... I feel like we should ask her what she wants..."
But Pearl declined, saying that she would do it. She would take care of Indigo, make her a part of her closest guard, eventually find someone for her, give her a normal life. A safe life, far away from Fathom.
And deep down he knew he deserved it. If he had done more he could have saved them. A worthy punishment, he felt.
He deserved nothing more.
♡◇~__________~◇♡
[Darkstalker]
Darkstalker had been hoping for a day like this for WEEKS!
The winds on the beach raged and tore through the sky, as if they were sent by icewings wishing a premature death upon them.
And suuure, maybe the waves were a LITTLE big, but... yeah no this was NOT what he was expecting. At all.
"It looks absolutely lovely down there, doesn't it!" Clearsight shouted at him, voice momentarily getting lost in the winds.
"Ok, I'll admit i thought it would be a lot better! This isn't quite what I was picturing when I recommended this!" He attempted to swirl around a strong gust of wind, but was almost thrown into the cliffside.
Clearsight swerved towards him, steadying him with her talons as he regained his balance. "You idiot! Come follow me, I know somewhere we can get out of this storm!"
In between the raging waves, Clearsight lead Darkstalker to a large gaping cave, rocks and pools of water dotted all around, vines and moss hanging from the top. They both flew towards a large rock and perched on top of it.
Darkstalker shook the rain off of his scales, causing Clearsight to squeal from the cold water.
"I cannot believe you managed to convince me to fly into a litteral hurricane! These types of things are the most unpredictable whims in the entire... everything! One wrong wind? You're dead! A piece of debris? Dead! A raindrop to the eye? New timeline! Although probably for everyone else because you're dead!"
Darkstalker stared at her, confusion at its finest, but still a smile on his face. "You worry too much, darling! It might as well be impossible for us to die today! Think of all the wasted opportunities!"
He looked around the cave, noticing how perfect it was for the exact purpose it served right now.
"Say," he began. "How'd you even find out about this cave?"
Cleadsight turned towards him before looking off to the side. She always did that while she was explaining things. It was something Darkstalker always noticed, even though it was small.
"...and we come here a lot in most futures. I could've sworn you brought us here on our first trip here, wait no- today, that's today. But you didn’t know... it always shows up whether you bring us or I do... it's like a loop? One way or another something about it shows up."
What if we weren't supposed to be here? Did I skip something? Was it supposed to
Darkstalker stomped Clearsight's thoughts out of his mind. Sometimes he had to remember not to respond, but her mind was the most intriguing thing he'd ever seen. BUT if he could learn to block out the thoughts of his annoying father, he should easily stand to do the same with the dragon that trusted him the most.
"Eh, who cares about that right now! We're here, we're having fun, and it's alone. Its just us here for now, so come on, stay out of the futures for the time being and enjoy this with me."
Clearsight took a deep breath, as if she was reminding herself the difference between the her in her head and the her in real life. "You're right. I'm here. But sometimes the futures just barge in... the futures where you..."
Darkstalker knew that he could listen to the futures she was absently listing in her mind, but he knew they were there. He didnt need to listen.
Her gave her a soft smile, one that said she didnt have to worry, and gently reached to hold her talons in his. "Look, Clearsight. You dont have to be mad at the dragon i might be in some futures. Right now, I'm the one here. Not the one with blood on his claws, not the one with fear tied to his very name."
She returned his smile as he continued. "I haven't done any of that, and I wont. I promise. So please, just focus on that, ok? You're allowed to stay in the present."
Clearsight nodded. "I'll try, I promise."
A moment of silence passed them before Clearsight began talking. "So, you really haven't cast a single spell? In four years?"
"I've only ever cast a single spell. I had to make sure I could." Darkstalker took a few more glances at the cave walls around him.
Clearsight gave him an excited grin. "Ooooh, what was it?"
Darkstalker huffed looking away, sighing dramatically. "If i tell you, you'll make fun of me."
"Even better!" Clearsight joked, poking his wing with her tail.
With an exaggerated roll of his eyes, Darkstalker told her. "It was just this little toy Whiteout had. It was a carved scavenger. One time it got lost and she cried for that whole day before we finally found it. So I enchanted it to always return to her."
"Awwwww." Clearsight said to him.
Before Darkstalker had the chance to respond, a deep groan began echoing through the cave.
Clearsight snapped her head to Darkstalker. "Did you hear that? It sounds like someone's in pain..."
The two of them quickly got up, walking carefully towards the sound. The back of the cave opened up to a smaller area, and in the pool of water sat an injured Seawing, barely able to move.
"Nightwings..." he tried to say, voice weak.
"Dont get up, just rest there." Clearsight sat down beside the Seawing, examining his side. "You have a gash on your side but it doesn't seem too bad..."
Darkstalker cautiously peered into the Seawings mind, scanning for any clue to what happened to him. "He's been swimming for days. He's exhausted."
Clearsight gave him a worried glance before turning back to the Seawing, helping to lower him into the pool more. "Can you please tell us what happened?"
"Albatross..." a broken voice responded.
"...What?" Clearsight asked him.
Darkstalker thought back to his lessons in school. "Albatross is Queen Lagoon's brother. He's an animus."
Clearsight's eyes widened. Oh... her thoughts faintly echoed. Oh no...
The Seawing took a deep breath before speaking, voice quivering. "Albatross went mad... ruthlessly murdered... everyone..." tears began forming in his eyes. "My brother, my father, my sister... the Skywings, the princess... I was barely able to escape... I swam and kept swimming for weeks... wanted to get as far away as I could... i dont even know if anyone else is even alive..."
Once again, a few thoughts of Clearsight echoed to Darkstalker, and this time he listened. Everyone? No, it cant possibly be everyone, right? Not Fathom... but he has to be alive, I can still see the timelines. He's not dead.
Darkstalker looked around some of the futures in his head. He had seen Fathom here and there in most of them, but what significance could he possibly have? He was such a timid and jittery dragon...
"By the time I fled he was still killing. I don't know why he'd do something this.... we loved him, he was our prince. Why..."
Clearsight's gaze moved lower towards her claws. "He must not have been careful with his soul..." she said, turning to Darkstalker.
He sighed, shaking his head. "Clearsight, im not like that-"
"But aren't you scared?!" Clearsight said, standing up and turning her body fully towards Darkstalker. "Ive seen so much, everything sits on such fragile timelines and-"
Her face was etched with worry, something he'd seen so many times before. He knew that she cared, but couldn't she see the difference between the dragons in her head and the ones in real life?
"Clearsight, please. Im me, not the dragon in your visions. The me right now is careful with his soul. If there's any animus to be worried about it's my father."
Silence hung in the air around the two- wait no, three- dragons... well, except for the raspy breathing of the Seawing. Clearsight turned towards the Seawing, telling him to rest, telling him that the queen would want to here about this, things like that...
Darkstalker didnt want to fight with her. But... was she right? The dark spots in his father's mind had to have been from using his animus magic... how far gone was he? Would Arctic end up like Albatross?
Would Darkstalker end up like him?
No, he wasnt the dangerous one.
Not yet.
But he was smarter, he would protect his soul, he would earn Clearsight's trust, and there was only one way to complete that goal.