a/n: this is blue-sea! AU, with blue!Sal and red!Sal
Prompt: muse has an exact copy of themself to deal with. only the copy secretly wants to kill them.
"Sounds like you and my brother have a lot of fun together. Being a familiar must be really nice." Sal said, whilst he and his small witch friend were enjoying some time together at the Coral Sea; having sneaked off of his castle duties to play together with her.
"It's not too late, you know. You could still become my familiar if you wanted to!" Wadanohara chimed.
"R-Really? Do you mean it?"
"Yeah!" she nodded.
Sal looked as if he really took it into consideration – he did want to, but his hopes were unfortunately short-lived, "Oh, but... there's a lot of work to do at the castle. Uomi still needs me, doesn't she?"
At the end of the day, his mind wandered to the events that occurred mere hours ago, while he laid in his bed for another idle hour. But even with the blissful thoughts, other than nodding off a bit, he still couldn't get proper sleep for some reason. He didn't even feel as if there were something wrong; or perhaps he could sense that his bed felt heavier in some way, but didn't detect another presence, even when he hesitantly turned, but nobody was in sight.
The room was silent and cozy. He opted to sit up instead, momentarily staring at the gray wall ahead of him and falling into thought again...
"Rough night, hm?"
A voice from behind him was startling and the immediate reaction causes him to jump and turn around to face whoever spoke those quiet words. At first he thought he was looking in the mirror at the figure laying in his bed, focusing on how his hair color was the exact same, along with face shape and the fin that represented his species.
"...Wh-Who are you?!" asked the white shark frantically, his usual soft blue eyes now filled with distress and confusion.
He quickly realized something was off when his so-called double was beginning to look more like an imposter from his point of view, rather than a perfect mirror-image. The other chuckled as he got out of the bed, while wearing a malicious gaze and slowly approached him.
"Relax, I'm not your enemy." The way he spoke those words sounded almost too casual, too calm, even with the smile that also looked sinister; it hardly made him feel any better.
Sal shuddered as words were stuffed back down his throat, the other pinning him against the wall once he was close enough, strands of white hair falling onto his eyes. The stranger brushed the strands away from his face almost affectionately, which caused Sal to flinch and attempt to further back away somehow.
"I said, relax, friend."
The glimmering red eyes on his other self's stood out in the blue background. It was obvious they didn't belong, and his being, whoever he presented himself as, didn't belong here either.
The other began to viciously glare at him, the short amount of tenderness gone and instead grabbed a fistful of hair, instantaneously tugging. A harsh wince came from Sal, he could do nothing except shake in fear of what the stranger would do.
"She was at your grasp. You should have accepted."
Sal looked at him, evident confusion on his expression and mind all over the place.
"Your pitiful existence... always in the shadow of your younger blood and flesh, even now."
He pretended he had absolutely no clue what was he talking about, but he was beginning to have an idea, though he didn't speak it out loud or try to fight back.
"N-No, I... stop that..."
"Can't hope for another world where you'll fulfill your wish." his double spoke, removing his hands from his hair and shoulder, no longer keeping him caged in the corner, but made no attempt of backing away.
"Who... are you?" he repeated his question from earlier. The stranger was quiet for a few seconds whilst he looked away sorrowfully, then laughed again after a pause of silence, as Sal was then pushed back against the wall harshly.
"You'll realize it soon," he stated as his gloved hand brushed against his cheek, lightly tracing the outline of his chin, "But you know, there can only be one, once you do."
When his double pressed a firm kiss against his lips out of the blue, Sal had no idea how to respond. It was rough and he didn't hesitate to bit down on his lips and tongue, to the point of drawing blood as he got a taste of it. He weakly tried to push him away, but his hold on him was persistent and way stronger. Sal didn't realize when the other's hands reached for a sword behind his back and then without a warning - there was a sharp, unexpected pain in the center of his stomach. Thick red liquid began to slowly drip onto the floor.
His double drew back; at the sight of his pained expression and what he'd done, grinning in satisfaction.
"Sweet dreams."
A whisper, and then it was all just darkness.
Waking up on the floor felt discomforting, but Sal's glad to be waking up at all. Except there's nothing. No blood, no traces of anyone having been in his room at all. But the pain was still there, when he attempted to stand up, where he 'supposedly' had gotten stabbed. He could still feel the sharp edge of the sword and the metallic taste in his mouth.
He doesn't speak to anyone of his encounter, the painful pit in his stomach remains for a long time and he hopes he won't meet him again, pretending it had all been just a nightmare, though he knew clearly it was no such thing.