Chapter Text
“Dammit! You're still alive!?”
That rough, anger- filled voice, underlined with a hint of shock and something else. Weak, ghost touch of something that made the voice slightly tremble.
Fear…?
“You've got this, Equa!”
A loud call. Fusion of two voices, each of them authentic and so different, yet in that one moment, they managed to sound the same. One of them was high, almost bubbly, full of warm surprise. Second was more determined, raspy yet a relief was hearable under the malicious smile. But both of them were cheerful and encouraging.
It felt so good…
“EQUINOX!”
A shriek of terror that pierced the silence, echoing through the darkness until it didn't become a mess of voices, hovering around, coming and disappearing over and over and over again.
Wake up.
Wake up.
A light flickered in the dark, as the artificial eyes gained back their spark of life. They slowly gained back their goldish color as the white pupils lazily moved around, the mind behind them having trouble to regain its consciousness. With one blink at time, they finally focused enough to recognize the dark clay and burned grass.
Where am I….?
With a visible struggle, the animatronic moved his head a bit back, partly releasing the pressure from his rays. It hurt. Everything hurt, actually. Something hurt more. Stinging in his chest was especially calling for his full attention, small, uncomfortable shocks sending shivers to different parts of his body. One of his upper limbs was burning up, but he couldn't exactly tell which one. Everytime he tried to move something, he could swear he could feel every screw moving. With a sigh, he closed eyes, not fighting the vines of darkness, collecting in the corners of his vision.
It hurts...
A rattle.
Golden eyes opened again, darting around them to try and see through the darkness around them. But the void seemed to be consuming everything, leaving the celestial in the middle of absolute nowhere.
Was he just delusional….?
Again .
Low, long hiss, sound that cracked into a quiet, sinister chuckle towards the end. Although it was barely recognizable sound, the white pupils jerked and shrinked in size, staring at one place without moving. At the two dots hanging above ground in the dark, yellow eyes full of hellish fire, filled with something so twisted the animatronic felt the cold touch of fear to dig its claws to his nape and stomach.
Something in that gaze felt too familiar.
A soft light was what caught his attention. Shine too weak to break the eternal darkness in some bigger measure, but strong enough to alight the holder. Yet, the only thing the celestial was able to recognize were long, deformed and sharp-looking fingers. He couldn't tell; his vision was blurry and barely reliable. He managed to focus enough to puzzle it back to normal for a moment, just so he could tell who was standing there.
Arrow of terror freezed him in place.
The light. The small shining ball, melting into different colors, seemingly unable to keep only one, with a small, yet visible crack in it. Malformed…..wrong. But recognizable.
The Star.
A loud beep of warning rang through his head as the creature in front of him moved.
The yellow eyes seemingly sparkled when the body in front of them started to wiggle and move. The animatronic turned around, his shoulders violently shaking, trying their best to support the metal frame and keep the chest off the ground. But it wasn't enough. He needs to get up. He needs to run. With a grunt, he tried again, a quiet cry escaping through his teeth when the second pair of hands touched the ground as well.
Why does it hurt so much….
Chuckle. Devilish sound, echoing slightly, getting under casing and biting into the endoskelet. The celestial looked back, a despair flashing in his eyes when he saw the flickering light not so far from him. He tried once more, pulling one leg closer to the body, huffing and panting as he did so. Were his legs always that heavy…? He couldn't really remember. The only thing he wanted right now was to get away from that thing.
From death .
A piercing shriek cut the silence. Robotic voice so loud and high it caused a ringing in his hearing, overwhelming his already failing system even more. He pressed forehead into the ground, rays shrinking in a vain attempt to silence that terrible sound. It stopped, after what felt like eternity, replaced by a muffled thuds, something repeatedly landing onto the ground.
Steps…?
The only light visible in the darkness until now suddenly disappeared. Followed by a painful scream and creaking of metal.
And then everything faded into silence.
Ringing. Whistling…? Not a loud one, but definitely annoying.
Is there a flipping phone….?
No. It was his goddamn system.
Equinox grunted, headache hitting him like a brick, the incoming consciousness bringing the now familiar pain back on scene. He blinked, squinting eyes to focus on the tree above him rather than letting his head spin in the darkness. Just a little bit of time to at least properly wake up, before trying anything else.
Hold up a minute….
A tree ?
The fiery eyes full of hate.
The celestial widened eyes in fear and shock, springing up and looking around himself in a hurry. How could he pass out in such a situation? The burning coals were imprinted in his head as he darted eyes around, trying to find them again. Whatever that….thing was, it was dangerous. It was…..terrifying. He still felt it, panic that rose from the core of his soul. Where is it, where- AGH!
Fuck that hurts!
With a loud, pain-filled gasp, his body went limp again, crashing into the trunk next to him as his head slammed the rough surface. Another shock wave made him shiver, followed by a grunt filled with silent swear words. He felt like passing out; even the smallest movement hurt, followed by either electricity buzzing or metal creaking. Did it hurt like this last time too…? He couldn't tell, but he couldn't remember going through anything like this before as well.
This is insane.
“You better take it slow…. It can be rough at the start…”
White pupils shifted, reacting at the voice, clashing with another pair of eyes staring at them. He felt his body stiffening when he saw that yellow color, but he soon realized these are not the same ones. There was something more calm in these, the fires in them just mischievous and curious, reminding Equinox of a melted honey rather than raging fire. It slowed down his racing mind, allowing him to examine a bit closer and with cleaner thoughts. These eyes, apart from the previous ones, belonged to a visible face, lit up by a soft yellow light. The celestial could see a round, grayish plate, covered in a star dust of golden freckles, as well as the crown of rays around it.
A daycare attendant…?
Equinox couldn't see much more, his vision still blurry, blacking out every now and then. But the eyes were able to lure him back every time with no problem, being his only saving points in the dark. Who do they belong to? Who are they? He coughed, his throat filled with grit, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't collect back his voice.
But it was seemingly enough.
The stranger moved, a smirk appearing on his face as he tilted his head sideways. He then looked away, dazed, his eyes giving away how lost in thoughts he was at that moment. It took him a second, before he gave Equinox the answer to the unspoken question.
“.....you can call me Eclaris.”