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Dark woke with a start, her hair plastered to her face and eyes quickly adjusting to the dim light of the room. The first thing she did was glance at the wrinkled nest of blankets where Chosen had been, the fabric still warm from their body.
Hm. Where are they?
Dark stepped to the window. As expected, Chosen was sitting outside on the roof, under the night sky.
Dark opened the window and leapt outside, quiet and nimble like a cat. She padded towards Chosen, who looked at her but didn't respond.
"…Hey." She said, sitting down beside them.
"Hey." Chosen responded . "What are you doing out here?"
"What are you doing?"
To an onlooker, it might've seemed like they didn't want to talk to each other, with how short their answers were. Maybe it seemed they were uncomfortable or awkward, didn't want to put effort into their speech.
In reality, Chosen and Dark simply left a lot unsaid; they knew each other so well that the silence did the talking. Chosen was worried Dark wasn't sleeping again, so they'd asked her what she was doing. Dark, on the other hand, was wondering whether Chosen had been having their usual nightmares.
Both knew this, and neither bothered to say it.
Chosen looked up at the glowing blanket of stars. "Thinking," they replied.
"About what?"
Pausing for a few seconds, Chosen finally admitted, "Fate."
"I don't know," Chosen continued, "are fate and destiny real? Are our lives already planned out, and if so, why bother living it? But if we choose to die now because life is predetermined, are we still following destiny by dying?
What if life isn't predetermined, but there's still things that have to happen? Are prophecies real? Signs, interpretations, miracles? Are our destinies written out already?"
Dark looked at Chosen, their scarlet eyes and messy swoop of black hair. "Look," she said, "I know you know I don't believe in destiny."
She gestured to herself. "I know—you're thinking about our filenames, my code."
Chosen nodded. "What if we're destined to be enemies? What if that's our fate?"
"In that case," Dark said sharply, "I'm going to hunt fate down, strangle it with my bare hands, and force you to watch all of it. I don't care if you're squeamish or don't want to see things die, I'm tying you to a tree, taping your mouth so you don't scream, and murdering fate right in front of you while I laugh—laugh at its lifeblood trickling out onto the cold ground. I swear, I'll relish every moment of its screeching, writhing, agonizing suffering… "
Chosen let out a shocked laugh. "I—uh," they said, "I don't think fate is killable."
"We destroyed the Animator's PC. Fate is a piece of cake."
Nodding, Chosen said, "Mhmm… We did do that. I still can't believe it, really. …The Animator is a god. How did— how did we do it?"
"Was a god." Dark corrected. "And that just proves fate isn't a thing. The hero and the villain, uniting to defeat one all-powerful being."
Chosen shook their head. "If anyone's affected by fate, it would be me. I'm The Chosen One, for cursor's sake. I'm supposed to face trials, tribulations… I'm supposed to murder you."
"You know," Dark said, "Makes me wonder who was on the good side. I mean, I was created to defeat you, and you would think the Animator's this world's benevolent entity… but it enslaved the Chosen One and created the Dark Lord."
"I would think it's evil," Chosen answered, clearly glad Dark was now engaging with the conversation, "but that places me on the good side, and I don't think that fits."
"You are good, though." Dark said quietly.
Chosen smiled slightly, and Dark thought she could see them blush in the starlight. It made her heart flutter like the wings of the birds Chosen loved so much.
"So are you." Chosen reached out and touched Dark's hand. She could feel its pulsing warmth, the fire that lived inside them flickering like a living being.
Dark grasped Chosen's fingers and entwined them with hers, watching Chosen watch her.
"So if it's real, I think fate can be changed." Dark said with certainty. "I think maybe we weren't meant to be here, and we are. Does that make this any less real?"
"No… but what if it brought us here? What if this is our fate, not to destroy each other but to be here, now? What if this was meant to be, and we never needed to rewrite destiny at all?"
"Hm," Dark said, "Maybe I don't have to care whether fate exists or not. If anything, if it does exist, it brought us here, together. And that's all I need."