Chapter Text
Initially, he wanted to do this quietly, not at all wanting to set a bounty. His fellow members at The Conspiracy argued they didn’t want to run around catching someone as quick as him, but he thought they just didn’t want to hunt down a friend. He doubted, and had little expectations, for the people of Yggdrasil’s capability to deliver, but when you hung money over the poor, they foamed at the mouth. Some were desperate. A guy, whom he didn’t remember the name of, gained a mere 30 diamonds and a horse in exchange for the most wanted man in the world.
Said man was tied onto a post, ropes digging into his skin as he stood on top of a bed of flammable material. Every inch his feet shuffled, layers of thin paper, handfuls of wheat, and skinny sticks uttered a response back. He writhed, without much luck—and energy—due to the chase minutes prior. Upon transferring him to The Conspiracy from the idiot who delivered him, the ropes got loose for a second. A second that he used wisely. The result was The Conspiracy almost letting him go, again. It was why the ropes were causing irritation while he attempted a pathetic escape. A little more tighter and it’d draw blood.
Ocean waves crashed into the silence, minutes trickling into the tide before Saps gave up with a huff—banging his head against the post—licking his lips because he was dehydrated. Clearly, his jailers weren’t nice. His white, practically platinum hair was damp with sweat, causing his usually fluffy hair to be oily and clumped. The weather wasn’t kind to him either, nor did he believe his attire of heavy armor and protection against winter suited Pandora’s tropical climate. As if just remembering the heat, Saps glanced to his left, tipping his head down slightly, painfully aware of the crackling fire hungry for something ignitable; he let out a shaky breath.
Flux studied him from afar, the distance of eight and a half steps on purpose. The rest of the Conspiracy was off to find supplies. All except for Thomas, who stood beside him, only a step behind, silent. Loyal. It was only the three of them in the open nature, but each moment was suffocating at their hands.
“You can let me live, Flux,” he panted, looking up through hooded eyes. He had little sleep these past few days, not at all sure whether the deep forest was safe. If he was lucky, he’d sleep for 30 minutes. Other than that, he’d been trying to keep out of sight, but it was hard when he had bright white clothes and hair—not at all something he could hide in the forest—and hundreds of people were shouting for his head. Saps was betting on his best friend to be there weighing that decision of life, but he had little hope. After all, he sold him out for his plan of safety amongst the people of Pandora. Which was stupid as it turned out to be no threat at all.
Flux said nothing, eyes only blinking a second faster. He glanced at Thomas for a reaction, an opinion to spare, but his expression was hard to read with that red scarf. The most Flux could work with was how his breathing changed, which wasn’t very often, or the way his hands could ever so slightly clutch his weapon.
The Architect’s royal purple eyes flickered back to The Traitor. “I can,” Flux agreed, nodding, “But should I?”
It was weird, Sap thought, to expect the push to end his life, but to still verbally hear it from him, especially after… Anyway, his choice of words wasn’t lost on Saps. Ideas ran around his head as he fought back, staring with his coin colored eyes.
Does my death benefit you, Flux? Do you need me gone?
Flux returned the stare. He didn’t know what was exactly going on in Saps’ mind, but he could guess. He always could.
"Leaf for your thoughts?" Flux asked, sitting beside him while they looked out to the ocean Saps' in progress house was being built on the coast of. The rest of the group was still asleep, but they were excited for tomorrow, to see what else this new island had to offer.
Saps let out a laugh, shattering the silence that the coast nurtured. Leaves were their currency when they had nothing. It started when they were younger, teenagers, when they first met. Had nothing but what their clothes could hold. What their hands could swipe.
Flux picked up a leaf near his foot, curved and a little brittle.
The white haired guy shook his head. "Try."
His lips curved to a smile, but he accepted the challenge.
Again. And again. And again... until the birds started to chirp.
“Why,” Saps drawled, which snapped out the other who was in a trance, “do you even need me dead?”
Sap’s old friend straightened up as if prepared to be asked this question. “To not cause any more chaos,” he said simply. “You’re a symbol of before. A symbol of the deaths of their leaders. You can blab and cause conflict, for people to pick sides when our islands are at peace now…”
Or maybe, Flux added in his mind, I can’t look at you without feeling ashamed of what I’ve done.
Nevertheless, he arched an eyebrow, daring for him to counter. “Do you want that, Saps?
Oh, the nerve of this guy, Saps scoffed.
“Do you?” the accused shot back, head tipping up with a glare. “If you didn’t want people to die then maybe you shouldn’t have ordered our leaders to be killed!”
“It was a strategy!” Flux reasoned, his chest heaving, his collected tone shattered. His metal hand’s grip on his sword tightened, refraining from using the weapon to kill.
For the first time since Saps was exchanged to his jailers, he examined Flux instead. Even from a far Saps could dissect his exhaustion, the evidence of his lack of rest too easy to spot. His clothes were ruffled, his eyes were jumping from spot to spot, the way his bags have gotten darker, his lips chapped and dry…
Saps mulled over those words, his eyebrows raising slightly. The sentence felt practiced, too ready to be loaded and fired as a defense when provoked. He then wondered how many nights he, Flux, spent repeating it in his head to justify what he’d done.
Gods, it was plaguing him. Countless nights spent in his room reminding himself of his mission. He could repeat his reasons over and over again, but the lives lost under his command stained him forever. Flux was willing to betray one to save a thousand, but to kill…
He shuddered despite knowing the eyes watching him. To kill…was a necessary decision.