Childish
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Piers isn't really all that old, despite what his friends may assume.
He is young enough that the passing of his mother feels like a robbery, rather than a natural event. He's young enough to have a lump in his throat when he remembers that his home is forever lost to him. He is young enough to feel a rising wave of panic when he thinks about the fact that he'll never drink Lemurian Draught again.
Piers is young enough to be afraid of death. The older Lemurians, the ones that have lived so long that they've grown bored of life, don't fear death. They put it off for so long that when it finally arrives, they welcome it.
Piers is not like those people. Given a few decades, he might have become one of them – a young man who's old inside, who has more time than he needs and nothing to do with it. The irony bites hard. Now, he has a purpose. Now, he has something to live for. Now, of all times, his lifespan has a limit.
It sometimes makes him feel selfish to think like this. After all, most people don't get to live forever. He's been blessed with those extra years he had before, and it's terribly insensitive of him to complain about it. Felix and Jenna and Sheba won't live forever, but they don't complain. So why is the idea so horrific to Piers?
Piers grew up in a society where 'death' was a concept rarely touched upon; it almost seemed mythical, made-up, certainly nothing Piers would ever have to face. And yet, these days, little else is on his mind. He could die any day. There is a sick, twisted parallel between Piers' fate and the fate of Weyard: they might both be torn apart by a chaotic force, and if they're not saved, they will both rot slowly. The twist is that Weyard, at least, will be saved from the decay by the chaos, but the chaos can't save Piers. He can't go back home, and so no matter what happens, he will wither and die in just a handful of decades.
Sixty years, give or take. Sixty years is a childhood. Sixty years is barely enough time to grow out of adolescence, and it's all that Piers has. Is it childish to be afraid? Maybe, but that's okay, because Piers isn't very old yet. He's still young enough to be a child. That's okay. That's okay, because in this world, children fight battles and save the world. He's allowed to be young, because despite the years, Piers isn't really all that old.
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A/N: SHORTFIC IS SHORT. I dunno. While I can totally see how this would be wangsty, I would be so freakin' scared if, my entire life, death was a far-off foreign concept that had nothing to do with me, and then, BAM! You can't go home anymore, kiddo. Have fun dying.
Yeah. I really didn't know where I was going with this. ALSO, I need to practice writing stuff that isn't angsty introspection. It's probably unhealthy. Also, introspection is only good for so long. Yeah. I love Piers. I don't really think he's a wangsty kid, but I don't know any other banished Lemurians, so he's all I've got to work with.
Reviews would make my life, but I don't really blame anyone for skipping this one, I'm not super proud of it... BUT FEEL FREE TO REVIEW ANYWAYS Y'ALL. /reviewwhoring