Gilbert lay in his bed, thinking. He was scared of what was to come. Tomorrow was the day of his dissolution, as it had been announced yesterday. He had been worrying about it ever since, refusing to talk, eat or even go out of his room. He didn't want tomorrow to come. He knew something bad was going to happen, but he'd never seen the dissolution of a country, so he had no idea what to expect. Would it be like death for a normal human? Did he just become a normal person, lose his 'job', kind of? Or did he just live on and on, forgotten? He didn't want any of that!
The door creaked open, and a blonde man walked in, carrying a mug of beer.
«Gilbert, you awake?» he asked, expecting no answer. He walked over to the bed, but Gilbert just pulled the duvet over himself fully, indicating that he didn't want to be spoken to. The blond man, Ludwig, sighed and put the mug on the bedside table.
«Please, I know you're worried, but please, be your usual self..?» he pleaded. This was so unlike the loud and energetic older brother he had known all his life! Gilbert would usually be on his way to Francis or Antonio, two of his best friends, to go to the pub together, or to laugh at some drunken photos of themselves - never before has he just stayed in bed, sulking!
Ludwig's eyes became moister than usual. 'Don't cry!' he told himself, but it was useless, he couldn't prevent a few tears — that he wiped away immediatley — from rolling onto his cheek.
«I'm scared as well, alright?» he said loudly, hoping that something would hear him and help. Something... Anything... Anything would do!
As dawn neared, Gilbert got more and more worried. Fear loomed over him, and the knot in his stomach couldn't help tightening as the horizon, that was clearly visible from his bedroom window, got more and more orangey from the dark blue of the night. This was so scary... And so negative... It was all giving poor Gilbert a headache. His brother had spent all night sitting next to his bed on the floor, still as a statue, just staring at the sky through the window. They both knew this hour was going to come, but neither of them knew what it was going to bring.
«Are you okay, bruder?» Ludwig asked, almost calmly, but a hint of fear was still noticable in his voice. Still Gilbert didn't return any answers. Ludwig sighed. He desperatley wanted to know what was going through his brother's mind, otherwise there was no was he could help.
Gilbert was lying on his bed, sweating, not moving. He didn't dare to. He felt as though he would die if he did. He just stared at the brighterning horizon unseeingly, wondering. Suddenly, he felt as though he had no air. He tried breathing in, but couldn't, and his body reflexes sent him into a coughing fit. Ludwig jumped up, alarmed. «Bruder? Are you alright?» he said, but Gilbert didn't hear him through his coughing. Ludwig didn't know what to do. He didn't know any first aid, apart from the very basics, so he just watched his brother cough and cough more.
Gilbert stopped coughing for a second, and had just enough time to say «Feel light.» before bursting into a coughing fit again. He did, indeed, feel light. Whenthe coughing died down, Gilbert found that he could breathe again, but with terrible difficulty. He emimitted a strange wheezing sound every time he breathed out, which he thought was rather peculiar.
Suddenly he realised what was going to happen. He was going to die. He could feel it, strongly. His vision got covered over with red patches of light that his inner-conscience knew was acctually too much blood entering his eyes. He couldn't think. He felt incredibly light, as though he was going to suddenly float off his bed. He could feel that his eyes were opened, but he couldn'y see a thing.
«Brother, I feel light, and dizzy, and I don't see anything.» he said, but he found that he could only hear about half as well as usual. Somewhere, he could hear his brother saying comforting words, even though he couldn't pick out what they where. Then he fainted.
When Gilbert opened his eyes, he knew he was in a bed, but it was definetly not his. He was still feeling dizzy, and still his vision hadn't been recovered fully, but he could see Francis and Antonio, as well as Ludwig, standing by the bed he was lying on.
«Hey, are you alright?» Francis asked quietly, bending down to Gilbert's level. Gilbert didn't answer, he didn't feel using energy to answer was worth it.
«Are...Are you leaving us?» Antonio asked shakily. Gilbert managed a smile, but couldn't hold it. He felt weak, much weaker than he had ever felt. Francis put up a hand to Gilbert's forehead.«God, that is hot!» he said, removing his hand. Ludwig didn't say anything. Antonio looked at Gilbert sadly.
«I don't want to leave.» Gilbert said, tears forming at the corners of his eyes. Francis looked at Ludwig, who moved his gaze outside the window. The sun had broken through the horizon - Gilbert didn't have much time left...
Gilbert looked down, and, to his suprise, saw himself. 'Hey, what's going on?' his inner-conscience said. Gilbert could see himself in a bed - that definetley wasn't his -; Francis bent down to his level, looking as though he was about to cry; Antonio, with a singlr tear rolling down his cheek that he quickly wiped off, and Ludwig, staring out of the window, looking very... colourless. Gilbert himself was lying on the bed, very pale, eyes closed, motionless. 'I'm dead.' he thought. 'This is death?' He landed on the floor, as he was floating just under the ceiling, and walked up to himself. He was about to touch himself when a voice behind him called his name. Gilbert turned, suprised.
There, behind him, was an old man with greyish white hair, dressed in very formal clothes. He was surrounded by a faint glow. Gilbert didn't recognise him, but suddenly it hit him.
«Old man Fritz!» Gilbert exclaimed, throwing himself at the old man who in turn caught him into his outstretched arms, hugging him.
«I was waiting for you. What took so long?» he asked, smiling. Gilbert hugged him back, feeling very energetic, as though he was a little child again.
«Lets go, Gilbert. The other spirits are waiting. Yes, that's right, we are now spirits. Don't you remember my teachings, 'life is eternal'? No? Well you should! Now, we're going to live like this until we decide to be re-incarnated. Oh, how I missed you!» Gilbert listened as his old friend talked and talked, but he thouroughly enjoyed it. Maybe death wasn't as bad as he thought...