Chapter Text
Dark. It was so dark. The only thing I could see was the faint glow of blue, gently pulsing from my skin. The chill snapped at every part of me. I was trapped. Encased in that horrible celestial body that brought nothing but pain. Stuck in the moon of all places. It had been so long. Weeks, months, years? I couldn’t quite tell. But it had been long enough to think. Think of the incident. She stole it. She stole the meteor, even though I’d trusted her. I didn’t think it would happen. I didn’t mean to do any of it. But it was her fault. It was ours. And she just shared it!
My breath was heavy and ragged. I exhaled slowly. You just need to relax. One day, I’d get out of here. And they’d all pay. I looked down at my feet in an attempt to ground myself. Five things I could see… My legs. The pebbles that had broken off from the floor. The gentle blue glow I emitted. The stony floor beneath me. The carvings of those who trapped me in here, engraved on the wall. That was 5. It was no use letting my rage fester. Not when it was to no avail. I was saving it. Storing it. Hoarding it to be used later.
I was stuck waiting in the dark. It was frigid. It’d been so long I’d almost forgotten warmth. But then again, what else would you expect from the dark vastness of space? The darkness hurt to look at sometimes. My eyes were constantly strained. It was the strangest thing. Sometimes I swore I could see colors. More than just blue. Shifting shapes and patterns that gave me migraines if I focused too hard on them. It was her. They always looked like her, at one point.
I flinched as I felt the ground rumble. What in the name of Math?! This shouldn’t be happening. Pebbles fell from the ceiling and landed around me rapidly. My breathing quickened into fast, short gasps. The shaking was violent, rattling my very core. I fell forward, barely dodging the crumbling rubble and…objects? I couldn’t tell where they were coming from. A plank by my foot, a glove behind me. It was like magic. As if they were teleporting. Then I saw it.
A large orange creature. It looked like two L’s combined at the top. It landed on the floor with a thunk. The objects were practically raining now. I could hear them pelting the outside of the moon as well.
“Ack—! Where am I?” It said, rubbing the side of its head and attempting to stand, before swiftly being taken down by a typewriter. I watched as it flailed, then went still. The shaking continued, unrelenting and violent. It felt as if it would never end. Slowly but surely, it ceased.
Ironically, I was the one shaking. And thus, I was left with that alien creature. Upon closer inspection, it was some sort of music note. Ten would know what kind. He was always dreaming about being a famous musician. It was out cold, but a sharp kick to the side would change that.
“Yowch–! What?” It paused, looking around frantically before groaning. “My head..Where am I?”
“The moon.” I replied flatly, not a hint of pity in my voice.
It looked at me with a mix of disbelief and anxiety. I would’ve helped it up, but I lacked any real arms and the magic I had used so long ago instead of hands hadn’t been utilized in years. Why should I? Nothing worth holding onto inside the moon of all places.
“You’re joshing, right? This can’t possibly…Yeesh, it’s dark in here.” It said, squinting. It wasn’t wrong. The only light was our pulsing glow. I hadn’t met anyone whose body did that as well.
“What are you?” I said, eyes narrowing.
“Oh! I’m Eighth Note!” It extended a hand, before wincing and retracting it. “Sorry! Sorry. Didn’t realize. So, um. Who are you? Actually, wait, let me guess…” It continued to ramble on various object names I didn’t bother paying attention to. I interrupted.
“One. My name is One. Now that we’re acquainted, I suppose you should get comfortable. I doubt either of us are leaving any time soon, if ever.”
Its eyes widened, pupils dilating. I sighed.
“We’re stuck here, is what I mean.” I mumbled with barely concealed exasperation.
“Oh! Sorry, that typewriter decked me in the head pretty hard. I’m not thinking straight. But then again, when am I ever?” He giggled, then awkwardly stopped laughing when he noticed my lack of a smile. At least, I assumed this creature was a he.
It was then I realized we both had stopped shaking. Maybe that was a good sign. My temperament probably wasn’t the kindest after months, maybe years of isolation. I sighed, sitting down on the opposite side of the space.
His eyes flickered around, as if taking in every crevice he could see. Upon close inspection, the only part of him that glowed were his eyes. It was so relieving to see something other than blue, grey, and black. Orange. That was a completely opposite color. Six knew all about that. Colors, art. That was her stuff.
He looked terrified, but also…excited at the same time. I inspected every little detail of his demeanor. Eighth Note. Definitely a music creature. But what was he? I squinted, trying to get a better look from within the darkness.
“So, uh…How’d you end up here?” He said, giving an anxious grin. It was stupid.
“I’d rather not, thank you very much.” I replied sharply, trying to keep away the piercing memories.
“Oh, alrighty. That’s coolio…Yeah,” He looked around, tapping his thumbs, ”Nice, uh, nice moon ya got here!”
I sighed. That joke was barely a joke at all, let alone funny.
“Sorry. I’m not good at small talk. I have like ten billion questions and I’m scared of the answers.” Eighth Note blurted out before I could respond.
“I could answer a few. If you’re not terrified of some words.” I spoke calmly. He was more afraid than he was letting on.
“Oh! Sure! I’ll get to thinking.” He smiled at me, and it was a real one. A smile full of a warmth I’d never seen before. It was nice, and for a fleeting moment, the air felt a little less heavy.