Chapters: 2/2
Fandom: Split Fiction (Hazelight Studios Video Game)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Zoe Foster/Mio Hudson
Characters: Mio Hudson, Zoe Foster
Additional Tags: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Mutual Pining, Useless Lesbians, Canon Rewrite, Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Feelings Realization, i promise you they kiss!!! i swear!!!!, stick with me on this one okay?
Summary:
"Nothing ever breaks your spirit, does it?” Mio says to Zoe fondly.
("It's not what it seems, Mio, please-" Zoe begs frantically.
Mio points her katana at Zoe's neck, anger hardening the lines of her jaw as her voice gets low and dangerous. "Explain it to me, then.")
Well, some things do.
BUCKLE IN FOLKS. CHAPTER TWO OF CANINES OF THE SAVIOR IS LIVE AND IT IS A ROLLERCOASTER!!!
to celebrate split fiction being out for ONE ENTIRE YEAR ALREADY (like seriously omg) here's the first 1k~ish words of the ch2 of canines of the savior i dont wanna talk abt how it's not finished yet fskdhgffdkhg
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY SPLIT FICTION THANK U FOR CHANGING MY LIFE AND GIVING ME NEW FICTIONAL WOMEN TO OBSESS OVER
Zoe's subconscious is entirely and surprisingly… ominous. Mio doesn't have another word for it. The atmosphere is dark and weighted, tension suspended above like a looming guillotine. It feels… difficult to breathe, even for Mio. As if something is sitting on her chest.
And… if this is how Mio is feeling? She can't imagine just how much worse it all is for Zoe.
She glances over at the other woman who has fallen uncharacteristically silent as they take in the massive cavernous space, the tall and imposing statues. From what Mio can make out in the gloom, Zoe's face looks withdrawn and pale. "Hey," Mio walks over, offering a comforting touch at Zoe's inner arm, pulling her ever so slightly closer. "Whatever this is, we'll face it. Together," she reassures. "You've got this. We've got this."
"Yeah," Zoe nods, just once, her tone so far removed from the overly-optimistic woman whose simulation that Mio first fell into. "I've got this."
Mio doesn't miss the way that Zoe seems to separate herself from her, whether it's intentional or not. Her heart falters slightly, but lets the moment pass. She clearly isn't herself — and Mio can't blame her. She had been just as affected while they had been within her own subconscious.
"What do you make of those statues? And the tattoos?" Mio asks, redirecting her focus to the task at hand.
"I don't know," Zoe starts slowly, full of obvious trepidation. "But after witnessing what we just endured with you…"
"Endured and conquered," Mio corrects firmly, trying to help Zoe see the brightness and life through all this just like she had done for Mio — more times than she could count now.
"Regardless," Zoe continues, still wavering, "it feels like I won't be able to hide behind some happily-ever-after story this time."
"And I'll be right by your side if you don't," Mio says, trying her damnedest to keep Zoe's morale up. She wasn't built for this sort of thing, but she'd do it. She'd do anything for Zoe.
After making their way across a bridge, stonework clean-cut and new yet unfinished as if forgotten mid-thought, an imperious gold-wrought gate blocks their path forward. Mio stares up at it, the question of how to proceed rising in her throat when an aquamarine glow shines from the abyss below, accompanied by a high-pitched whine.
An ethereal ghostly fish twists in the air above them before darting towards Zoe and spinning around her head and shoulders. Her tattoos glow to match and — god, the way the light refracts across Zoe's face, the way it reveals an ocean in Zoe's irises, it sweeps the breath from Mio's lungs. She's.. beautiful.
"It seems friendly," Mio manages, regaining her composure as Zoe is momentarily distracted by her new companion. "Maybe it's here to help?"
"It does feel comforting," Zoe murmurs quietly, stretching out an arm as it twines itself around her body, trilling and whistling through it all.
"Maybe that's exactly what we need right now," Mio says, glancing over at Zoe with an encouraging smile. The creature's presence has seemed to perk her up somewhat as it settles above her right shoulder. "Do you think it could get that door open?"
Zoe hums in consideration. A brief, vague gesture sends the fish darting towards the ground where it melds with the stone and flattens out into a pearlescent, inky black portal.
As Mio steps up to the edge of it to see if she could look through it, several aquamarine tentacles — the same colours as the fish itself — dredge themselves up from the inky depths and stretch out towards the gate and latch onto the bars. After a moment, the tentacles pull backward and the gate heaves open.
"I see you fancy gold, little one," Zoe says as the fish reforms back at its place above her shoulder. With their path now clear, they fall into step beside each other and continue onwards.
Shortly after, their progress is halted once again as they step up to the edge of a massive chasm. A strange golden sphere hangs in the middle, just below waist height. "Maybe… your new friend again?" Mio asks, pointing.
Zoe gestures towards orb in a half-hearted suggestion, but the fish merely twists briefly in the air before settling at its place near her shoulder.
"Nothing, huh?"
Zoe shakes her head. Purses her lips. "This certainly isn't one of my stories," Zoe says quietly, like anything louder will break her. "I wouldn't have had the heroes stopped in their path so easily. Not without a way to carry on."
A low echoing hoot reverberates around the cavernous space and, a moment later, Mio's tattoos light up, painting her skin in bronze. An owl swoops up from the chasm below and circles around Mio twice before alighting on her outstretched arm. "Seems like something in your subconscious wants you to succeed. Like mine did for me."
As Mio sends the owl soaring towards the sphere, Zoe shakes her head. "Yours ended up being a trap."
Mio falls silent as the sphere, infused with the owl's magic, creates a golden floor of light for them to walk across the chasm. Once they're across and back on solid rock, Mio can only shrug — and try to offer Zoe the same sort of reassurance that Zoe had always given her. "Maybe… it'll be different this time."
Oooohhh!!! I knew that fic title looked familiar when it popped up, even tho I hadn’t read it before. It was because I saw you share about it here! That’s so cool I feel like I’ve spotted a rare bird out in the wild 😆
hah skfhsgkhdg i'm assuming you mean "canines of the savior" yeah?
i think i forgot to post about chapter 1 on tumblr when i first posted about it... though. then again, it was like almost a year ago since i finished and posted ch1 of canines that maybe i did. it's highly possible that i did and forgot abt it XD
i hope the sight of the rare bird doesn't bring you Too Much Pain >:) i mean., well. there IS a happy ending, i promise dkhgdkfh
