Nightfall (Marcanne AU)

Chapter 1: The Darkness

She wore a helmet of some kind. The helmet hid all but the girl's mouth, showing she was a human to begin with. The helmet had strange axolotl shaped horns poking out of the sides, almost looking razor sharp. The helmet seemed blank...before ten glowing orange eyes all opened up, their yellow pupils staring down Anne, almost as if peering into her very soul.

The girl giggled, speaking in Marcy's voice again. It was only after she spoke did Anne start to see some of her friend's features on the girl. "Who else would it be, Anna-Banana?" The girl said, presenting herself.

Anne got off of the luxurious bed she'd been lying in, watching the girl with wide eyes. Was she hallucinating? Had she finally gone crazy, for good this time? It couldn't have been Marcy; the girl's many eyes had a sinister gleam; the armor was something that Marcy would never, ever wear because she preferred the look of a hero more than a villainous look.

She stepped closer to the girl, her eyes unmoving from the strange creature in front of her. The girl didn't look at all bothered by Anne's behavior; in fact, she seemed to be...sympathetic, and simultaneously fond of her.

Anne reached out, let her fingers brush against the front of the girl's armor.

Solid.

Anne didn't hesitate. She threw herself forward, clinging tightly onto the person she'd thought that she had lost forever. She didn't think about the eyes, or the unusual choice of armor wear.

"Marcy," she rasped, only then realizing how dry her mouth was; but she didn't care. "Marcy, Marcy-"

'Marcy' suddenly hugged back and her voice was soft...the deep distortion was still there, but to Anne? Just to hear Marcy's voice say something other than those heartbreaking last words was a miracle and a blessing. "Shhh...I'm here, Anne. Shhh...take deep breaths, okay? Then just let everything out."

Anne had promised herself that, no matter what happened, she wouldn't cry. There was no time for letting her emotions get the best of her during a literal war, after all. But, when she had Marcy back in her arms, the mental dam she'd put up to keep her tears at bay finally broke, and the tears went through the floodgates and streamed down her cheeks.

She sobbed, hugging Marcy tightly, burying her face into her shoulder.

"Sasha was right," Anne sobbed, voice muffled by Marcy's armor. "You're alive. You're- you're-"

"I'm alive." Marcy or rather, Darcy, told her in a soothing voice. She rubbed Anne's back. "I-I've gone through changes...but I'm alive. Oh, Anne...I'm so sorr-"

"I-I don't care about that anymore," Anne told her, her fingers clutching the girl's armor tighter; so tightly that it was for sure going to leave bruises once she let go. "I-I'm not happy with wh-what you did, but... frog, I missed you. I...I-I left a letter to b-both you and Sasha's parents, a-at Christmas. Th-they probably know what happened b-by now-"

"Y...You left a letter for them..." Darcy said, looking into Anne's eyes with her orange ones. "T-Thank frog...Anne, you're a saint." She whispered, hugging her again. "I-I missed you too...I-I've been having to hide here...w-wearing this armor just to live...but I don't care about any of that! Y-You're here with me!"

Anne just about choked on air, feeling as if all of the heat had been sucked from her blood. She took another look at her friend's armor; a much more thorough look, this time.

"Y...you..." she whispered, feeling as if she was going to be sick. "You have to wear this?"

Darcy's multiple eyes softened and she nodded. "I-I do...it's all a blur...I remember creating the portal, telling you that I needed to do something...and then I felt this...pain in my chest. Everything became so blurry...so cold...so dark." She whispered with a whimper, hugging herself now. "I-I hate the dark...but I-I woke up in this suit, and this h-helmet...I-I'm too scared to t-take it off..."