The Blinding Light of Sunrise - Full Tome

Chapter 20: Collusion

Fundy sat on the wooden bridge staring at his reflection in the pool that shimmered beneath. He took a long swig of juice. He didn't want to go near the bar. If he wasn't at the bar, he wouldn't have to listen; and if he didn't listen, he wouldn't have to report what he heard to his dad or Dream. And then people wouldn't disappear.

He threw the juice bottle into the pond, breaking up his reflection.

He hated himself for doing it. For betraying everyone.

He heard loud voices and laughter as Jack and his father passed by on their way to supper. Wilbur had an arm around Jack's shoulder, his other hand making a huge arc that encompassed all of Las Nevadas. It was some fantastical dream he had, one he didn't care to share with his son now that he had Jack to listen.

Jack was the new favorite. After fixing the weather control system, Wilbur had made Jack into one of his most common companions behind Dream. But, as Jack's star rose in his father's eyes, Fundy's faded into obscurity in the night sky, until he was all but forgotten.

Not that he minded. Being around his father felt like being the audience in a one man show performed by an actor who hadn't learned his lines and was trying to muddle his way through by adlibbing and hoping no one noticed. He couldn't fight the feeling that his dad was putting everyone on and nothing was quite as it seemed. It all felt so fake, but he couldn't tell what was real, if anything was. The realest moment they'd had was when his father was dead drunk on the floor and, even then, he wasn't sure that wasn't just an act.

A pair of guards walked by, glancing over at him. They saluted, he gave a passing wave by his forehead back. Beyond them, at the edge of his vision, he could see the curls of razor wire silhouetted by the steeped-tea colored sunset sky.

It was all wrong and horrible. Dream was still on the hunt for Quackity and Tubbo, Purpled had been enthusiastic in helping with the effort. What Fundy had initially taken for sadness about their former boss's fall, turned out only to be Purpled's disappointment in not getting the chance to take out Quackity, himself and now he wanted whatever part in his death he could claim. And his dad... his dad was spending late nights in the tunnels. This morning the acrid scent of smoke and burning bodies had filled his nose and he knew his dad had started setting fires and explosives again. He knew where that led. It was an urge that, once indulged, could never be satisfied in his father.

If he was certain his father would be ok, he would make a break for it. He could. As captain of the guard, he could. He'd run through it in his mind a dozen times. But who would be there for his dad if he left? Who would be there if he fell apart again?

He stared at the darkening pond, watching as the little fish bobbed to the surface to eat the tiny insects that danced there. The lamps came on but he still didn't want to move. The cool desert air blew through his fur.

"Hey," Fundy looked up to see Jack standing there. "Mind if I join you?"

Fundy shrugged and turned back to the pool.

Jack swung down next to the fox, letting his legs dangle over the edge the same as Fundy's. He handed him a juice and opened his own. "For the sandwich," Jack said.

"Not having anything stronger?" Fundy asked.

"I tried that. It didn't change anything." He took a long drink and looked out at the sign still flashing in the distance. "Not hanging out at the bar, tonight?"

"Nah. It's too much noise with all the guards. It hurts my ears," he lied.

Jack nodded.

"You?" Fundy asked.

"I know we've never really talked much, but I didn't really want to be stuck alone in that lab, tonight, and I've seen you here by yourself the last two nights, so I thought you might want some company."