AU: Catalyst of Power

Context: Guess who Rainbow found! ...he's not doing good.

Also TW for some potentially upsetting imagery, Sabre's been stuck in the basement for a while and Reverse hasn't exactly been kind.

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[Rainbow's POV]

I run as quick as I can through the hall, being careful not to make too much noise.

I have to do this fast, Light and the others can't keep Reverse distracted for long. Luckily I've gotten the hang of using the Yellow Crystal's power already, so I've already made my way down five hallways looking for Sabre.

...No luck yet.

I hope he's okay. Origin, please let him be okay. I've been so worried about him ever since what happened in the catacombs... so has everyone else. The Orange Leader nearly lost his lid when he heard about it. To be honest, I've been pretty close to snapping myself.

With what Reverse has already been doing to the rest of the Realm, I don't even want to imagine what he could have been doing to Sabre.

I keep searching the halls of this maze of a lair. Left, right... nothing here.

Nothing there.

Not there.

Nothing.

I've nearly started to panic when I come across a weird hall during my frantic running around. In this one, there's no doors on either side of it. All that's there is a single door at the end of it.

It's really weathered copper, dilapidated and starting to crumble. The lights in the hall have gone out, making the area around the door dark. This part of Reverse's lair... it's clearly less taken care of than the rest of the place. And knowing how messed up Reverse is...

I walk forward, approaching the door. It feels like the hall goes on for miles, until I suddenly find myself right in front of the weathered door, hand on the door handle. I hesitate before turning it... a bit scared of what I might see inside. But I have to know... I have to save my best friend.

The handle turns with a noise like a squeal, and the door opens.

Cracked stone brick as all I can see, a staircase of it leading straight down into a very dark lower room. A basement.

I take each step carefully, worried the stairs might crumble underneath me. The staircase is long and narrow, sort of reminding me of the staircase to the Indigo Tower, but a lot creepier. Further and further down, everything just gets more broken as I descend.

But then I hear something. Someone.

Wheezing, taking deep breaths as if struggling to breathe.

I forget caution and nearly vault myself down the stairs. Is that him? It sounds sort of like him. What did Reverse do?

But when I finally reach the bottom...

I see an iron bar cell, with Sabre inside. It's small, just a seven-by-four block space with nothing else but a shelf bed that looks like it's just a board with a patched blanket and worn pillow on it. Sabre is sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall across from the cell door, head hung low, staring at the floor.

I rush over, ignoring the desk in the room and going straight to him. Grabbing the cell door, I use all the stress and rage I've been bottling up for the past weeks and just rip the door off its hinges. It hits the ground with a clang, bent out of shape. My hands hurt, but it was worth it, I don't have time to look for a key.

"Sabre? Sabre, are you okay?" I ask, worried as I crouch next to him. I gently grab his arm, trying to help him get up. He's so pale...

"Rain... bow?" Sabre replies in a low, scratchy voice.

"Yes, yes it's me! I'm here!" I can't help but smile as tears stream down my face. He's still alive. "I'm gonna get you out of here. Can you stand?"

"D-Don't know..."

I keep trying to help him get up, but as I try to lift him to his feet, his legs give out every time. I carefully pull him out of the cell as he keeps trying, practically carrying him.

We need to get out before Reverse notices I'm missing from the group...

I quickly lift Sabre up and put him on my back, his arms wrapping around my neck. If I have to actually carry him out of here, so be it. He's coming home today and that's final.

I bolt up the stairs, skipping steps a few times, making sure Sabre holds on as tight as he can the whole way. We're out of that basement in no time, and I run out of the hall, going back the way I came in.

Behind one of the pillars in here, I made a hole I snuck in through. Finally finding it again, I crouch inside and go through, careful not to cause Sabre too much discomfort in the small space.

When we're about halfway through, Sabre speaks up.

"Rainbow...?"

"Yeah buddy?"

"Th-Thanks for... coming back for me."

"Of course I came back for you. You did the same for me once, so why wouldn't I?"

Before I know it, we've made it out of the lair.

I rush back towards the group, where I see that Light has trapped Reverse in ice, while Happy, Funny, and Loud pelt him with arrows. I shout that I've got Sabre, and just as we planned, everyone books it into the woods after me.

I hear Reverse yell and the ice break as we run through the trees, but not before Light teleports us away.

Back to the village. Back home.

He's finally back again.