Chapter Text
Fluixon slowly blinked awake. He was lying down on Saps’ couch, staring at the makeshift ceiling above.
Was that...was that all a dream?
No, it couldn’t be, it felt way too real. His mind still held every memory from his previous life, every excruciating reminder of all the bittersweet moments that he wishes to forget but clung to all the same, of all the many choices and regrets that culminated into his wreck of a life.
He’ll make sure that won’t happen again.
Ish gave him and Saps this second chance for a reason, he said these memories could help them in the coming days. That statement only strengthened his conviction and confirmed his suspicions.
Island 1 was going to invade Pandora.
Having these memories would help remind him of what he was fighting to protect, of who he was fighting for. He wasn’t just going to wait around and watch his people, his friends, his Saps, all die because of the utter incompetence of the rest of the Pandoran leaders!
He headed straight to Saps’ room, they needed to have a long talk about everything and what would entail. However as he opened the door, he was stunned by the sight that greeted him. There sat Saps on his bed, his hair was tangled yet beautiful mess that was framed in golden sunlight that poured out of his window, it gave him an overall ethereal glow. If angels existed then Saps was surely one of them.
They sat there staring at each other in awkward silence before he remembered why he was here. “Morning.” He said quietly as he looked down to the floor, trying to hide the blush that crept onto his face.
“Is that really all you have to say?” Saps chuckled, he really missed hearing it.
“Well what else am I supposed to say?” He teased back to which Saps just raised an eyebrow at. He sighed, “We really need to talk about last night.”
“Let me make breakfast first.” Saps sighed as he got out of his bed.
The atmosphere of the room was tense, only the sound of Saps’ clock and the occasional bird chirp filled the air. Neither of them knew how to even begin to talk about...all of this. How do you approach a conversation about your past life with your best friend? Still though, someone had to eventually break the silence.
“Why did you do it?” Fluixon led, “Why did you jump that day?”
Saps remained silent for a while, contemplating on what to say. “I needed to protect Theria, no matter the cost.” He ended up saying. “The assassination, the secrecy, it was all to ensure long lasting peace to Theria.” He explained. “That’s why I jumped, so that no one could be blamed for my foolish actions.”
“Did you ever...even consider what you’d be leaving behind?” Fluixon said with a grimace. “Who you’d be leaving behind?” He glared at Saps.
“While I was falling, yes.” He admitted. “I knew how disappointed you and Jophiel would be, but I had hoped that you’d both understand in due time.”
Fluixon stared down at the table, fists clenching, “You took the coward’s way out.” Was all he said.
Saps nodded, “I know.” He solemnly said. “Do you hate me Flux?” He asked simply.
Fluixon turned away, “That’s the worst part, I don’t think I do.” Despite all the problems Saps left for him, despite all the grief he caused him, despite fleeing from his duty like a coward! He never hated him, only deeply missed him.
“Oh.” Saps commented as the room went quiet again. “How are we going to continue on like this?” He quietly asked.
“...What do you mean by that?” Fluixon asked.
“We just regained decades of memories, of our other lives yet the only thing we can do is try to move on and pretend like nothing happened?” Saps scoffed. “It’s not like we can tell anyone else about this without sounding crazy.”
“No, we can do something.” Fluixon stated. “You heard what Ish said, these memories could prepare us for the coming days! We can prevent a future disaster.”
“We don’t even know what Ish was talking about.” Saps responded.
“I think we do.” They locked eyes for a moment, Saps gazed at him curiously as he processed what he said. Suddenly, Saps’ eyes go wide.
“Flux- that’s-” Saps stutters out.
“What other events are big enough to concern Ish like this? Its obvious that island 1 is going to invade us when that border drops, only us and our knowledge of our previous lives can stop it.” Fluixon exclaims.
“We don’t know if island 1 is hostile! We shouldn’t just assume the worst!” Saps counters
“It’s obvious they’re hostile!” Fluixon argues back. “Why else would they make propaganda posters?! Its clear they’re jealous of our island and with their island union, they can easily just storm Pandora and kill us all!”
“We don’t know that! We have little to no information on island 1! All we have are random messages in bottles!” Saps said exasperatedly.
“So what!? That still shows there are people willing to make propaganda posters calling for our death, that still shows there are people wiling to threaten us all!” Fluixon shouted.
They fell into a brief silence after that, they’ve had disagreements in both of their lives before, sure, but none of them were as heated as this one. This was an ideological argument, one that arose from their fundamental differences as people.
“I can’t fix this without you Saps.” Fluixon quietly stated. “You ran away from your duty to Theria in our previous lives, you can’t run away from your duty to Pandora in this one.”
“...What are you saying?” Saps questioned.
“Join my conspiracy, with your help, we can stop island 1.” Fluixon held his hand out to him. “Together, we can save Pandora.” He said with a smile.
Saps seemed conflicted for the longest time, he was about to take his hand but retracted at the last second. “...I can’t do that.” He quietly mumbled.
“Why not?” Fluixon was taken aback.
Saps sighed, “I can’t do this again, I can’t live that life again.”
“So you’ll just watch as thousands of our people die?” Fluixon stated simply, no hint of malice, just a cold statement.
“No!” Saps snapped back. “I just- I want to believe that there’s a better way than that.” Saps stuttered out. “I want to believe in the best of people.”
“And what if that isn’t the case?” Fluixon asked, Saps looked away.
They were at a standstill, Fluixon couldn’t believe that the brilliant leader who was willing to do anything to protect his people is now just hoping for the best? It felt absurd but...this is how Saps has always been, hasn’t it? He’s always been a peaceful optimist in this life. While the two versions of Saps in his head were both undeniably the man he...was ‘friends’ with, the few differences were still jarring.
“I don’t agree with your whole ‘invade island 1’ ideas.” Saps stated after a while. “From a moral perspective, I’m against it.” Saps frowned. “But, speaking as the leader of Theria, there is some merit in it.” Saps slowly said.
“...Where are going with this?” Fluixon asked speculatively.
“My past life self would’ve agreed with you, my current life self finds the idea cruel.” Saps explained. “But current me has an idea, one that might benefit us both.” He stated with more confidence.
“Oh?” Fluixon raised an eyebrow.
“I’ll join your conspiracy on one condition.” Saps said with conviction. “We’ll first investigate everything there is about island 1, if you’re proven right, I’ll back your plan up without any hesitation.” Saps explained as he paced around the room. “But if you’re proven wrong, you’ll work with me to bridge the gap between the islands.” Saps added. “Either way, your plan would require more information about island 1 anyways, its a win-win scenario for us both!” Saps stated with a smile. “And I truly do want to work with you again.” He said warmly.
Fluixon blinked, that...sounded like a promising plan. “And how do you propose we do this? Its not like we can find every washed up bottle island 1 sends to us?”
Saps smirked, “We can’t do that because that’s what the Pirate Republic does.” Saps stated, “Who knows what kinds of secrets they could be hiding?”
Fluixon fell silent before realizing what Saps was saying. "You want us to steal from the Pirates?"
"I mean its not like this is anything new to us." Saps shrugged. Despite Theria's positive reputation, it had only survived for as long as it did through some underhanded means.
Fluixon smiled, “Alright, I accept this deal.” Time will surely tell who was right in the end and...if he was being entirely honest, he hoped Saps would be proven correct.
“Shake on it?” Saps said as he offered his hand.
Fluixon took it, “Glad to be working with you again.”