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Laughter was a rare thing in this place, and the sound was almost foreign to both children as they laid on the unforgiving stone, giggling like they hadn’t a care in the world.
“One day, Gil, I’m gonna bust us outta this place. Then I can show you what my home is like! You’ll love it, I’m tellin’ you.” The smile was wide on Chip’s face, his cheeks stretching in a way that looked like it should hurt, but he didn’t seem to mind.
“That sounds… nice, Chip.” The Triton sounded out of breath from how hard he had been laughing, but there was an edge of despondence to his voice, “I would love to see the oversea some day.” It was always some day , and Gillion knew that day would likely never come.
They both flinched at the sound of a heavy door being opened, scrambling to their feet as they met the piercing eyes of one of the Elders, both wordlessly following when the man turned and walked out of the room.
Chip could feel himself shaking. Partially from the cold water- he had never had the same resistance to the icy environment of the deep sea that Triton and other undersea folk did, so it was more uncommon for him to not be shivering. But he was also shaking because of fear.
Fear of his best friend- of someone who could be something more some day- who stood across the room from him with the Elder stood behind him, bony hands resting on his shoulders. The Elder lowered himself slightly to whisper something in Gillion’s ear, before gliding back and out of a door Chip hadn’t even noticed until then.
It was locked before Chip could even begin to think about making an escape.
He looked back at Gillion, the only friend he had in the undersea, and it took him a second to realise that something was deeply wrong with the Triton. “Gil..? You good, buddy?” Chip took a step forward, but halted in his movement when the other started to make his way across the room, staring straight ahead.
Gil's eyes were lacking all emotion as he approached Chip, sword dragging along the floor where it was held at the Triton’s side. His steps were even, measured, confident. Everything the undersea wanted their champion to be. And they saw him as an obstacle to Gillion Tidestrider’s success as a hero.
Chip stumbled back, suddenly glad that the room had been drained of water before… whatever this was had begun. He swore as he felt his back hit a wal, and held his hands up in a placating gesture.
Gillion didn’t hesitate in his strides.
His eyes darted around the room- looking for something, anything he could use to help him get out of this alive. He didn’t have magic like Gil did though, and he had been unarmed before being shoved into the room. Chip watched Gillion shift his grip on the sword- lifting it from the floor and clenching it tightly with both hands, the blade pointed directly at him.
He opened his mouth, ready to try and talk his friend out of whatever… trance he was in, when he paused. His hands shook as he held them up, and he met Gil’s cold eyes.
Only one of us is gonna make it out of this alive. Chip searched the other’s face. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but when he found it- that slight furrow of his eyebrow that meant Gillion was feeling conflicted about something- he bowed his head and let his hands fall. Only one of us. And I promised that I’d get him out, one way or another.
Gillion was close now- close enough to see all of the little features that he loved so much about the other. The way his hair faded to a lighter green- closer to that of fresh grass than seaweed. The way his eyes were speckled with gold flecks that sparkled in the right light. The way that small purple freckles dotted his face. He stared at Gil, committing the features to his mind, glad that in his last moments, it would be the face of his best friend… of the man he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. In a way, that was exactly what Gillion would be giving him.
To have and to hold.
Chip took in a deep breath as Gillion stopped just in front of him, drawing his sword back.
For better, for worse.
He saw- for just a second- a flash of hesitation in Gil’s eyes, before the sword was being driven forward, a slight glow surrounding the blade.
For richer, for poorer.
A choked gasp left his throat as he felt the weapon pierce his body and slide all the way through- he barely heard the dull thunk as it hit the wall behind him.
In sickness and in health.
His body burned as the sword was yanked back out, blood dripping from the point to a small puddle that was forming on the floor beside Gillion.
To love and to cherish.
Chip felt his legs give out, and felt the jolt that came as his knees collided with the cold stone. His shirt was steadily turning scarlet as it became saturated with his blood, and he swayed dangerously before his cheek was pressed against the stone.
A loud crash rang out, and gentle hands were lifting his head onto a softer surface. Worried eyes stared down at him, those golden flecks he loved so much sparkling with his tears.
“H- hey now… Don’t cry…” A hand interlaced with his own, and squeezed. He tried to squeeze back, but he could barely feel his fingers, so he wasn’t sure if he actually had.
“But Chip-” Gillion’s voice wavered, and he bit his lip in an attempt to hold down the tears, “I… Gods, this is all my fault.”
Chip shook his head slowly, his vision blurring slightly at the movement. “No… ‘s not. Only one of us is- ‘s gonna get out…” He closed his eyes for a few seconds, before looking up and meeting Gillion’s eyes.
“B- Bust outta here, Gil… For me…” Blood trickled down Chip’s chin, his voice weak and his eyes hazy as he reached a hand out to cup Gillion’s cheek. “ Go see the world. ”
Gillion leaned into the weak touch, not caring that blood was being smeared on his face. “ I already have seen the world, Chip. You are my world. I do not want to go anywhere, if it means going there without you. ”
The weak smile that crossed Chip’s face seemed wrong- so different to that smile he remembered from several years ago. It was sincere, and in that moment the other looked truly content.
“ I- I… love you. ” Three words that Gillion had been hoping- praying - to hear for years, were barely even a whisper from Chip, accompanied by an exhale. The hand against his face, the comforting touch of another, fell limp and bounced off of his leg. Chip’s eyes- a shade of brown that Gillion had never been able to get enough of- were devoid of their mischievous glint, and his lips had begun to turn an unsettling shade of blue beneath the crimson trails.
Gillion could feel the tears rolling down his face- cutting through smeared blood and sweat- and watched as they dripped onto Chip.
There was no reaction.
The Triton squeezed his eyes shut- as if that would undo what he had done to his best friend- his only friend- but he was still dead when his eyes opened again.
“ I love you too. ” Gillion choked out, wrapping his arms around the body tightly and leaning down to sob into an unmoving chest.
And as the heavy door was unlocked and swung open, and he was yanked away from the body- he kicked and screamed, demanding that they let him stay with Chip, that they let him try something to bring him back, because he knew they’d been trying to train him to use magic that could breathe the life back into someone who was recently dead, so why weren’t they letting him try-
It wasn’t until he had been dragged back into his bed- little more than a slab of rock with a thin blanket- and told that he had, in no uncertain terms, ‘Failed the test’, did he remember the one minute countdown.
Chip was dead, and it was all his fault. He had run him through with a sword, and he had failed to revive him. His best friend. The love of his life. The first person he would ever kill. And he certainly would not be the last.
Till death do us part.