A/N: THIS IS NOT A DOUBLE POST/UPLOAD. Go ahead, look in my profile and see.

Don't own GS.

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"Immortality brings with it great knowledge and power . . . and suffering.

Eternity can seem dreadfully long to the bereaved.

Is it any surprise, then, that the greatest wish of an immortal is death?"

--"Dracula," Petshop of Horrors vol. 4

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They had always pestered him about his age, finding it funny how annoyed he would get when they asked him.

He, of course, had never told them how old he was.

They had assumed it was because he found it embarrassing, or perhaps silly to be so concerned over such a trivial thing. So, while they had teased him about his secrecy on the matter, they had never pressed him for the truth, feeling that even he deserved some secrets to be left undisturbed.

They thought he just found it a trivial matter.

They thought that it was just something he didn't want to tell them.

But the truth was that Piers couldn't remember how long he had lived for.

That was why he had never told the others his age. Even he didn't know how old he was, how many centuries upon centuries he had lived for.

He remembered Lunpa and Babi coming to Lemuria, but how long ago was that? No more than two centuries, certainly. A mere moment of his life in comparison to the rest.

He couldn't remember, but as he stood over the graves of his friends, he wished that he could. He would have liked to tell them just once.

But it was too late now. They were all gone, dead of old age and disease. Their children were quickly growing older as well, with their own children in turn. Isaac would have been a great-grandfather last week. Piers could imagine how Jenna and Isaac would have cooed over the tiny babe and spoiled it even more than they had spoiled their grandsons and granddaughters.

And through it all, Piers was left alone, never aging. He merely dwelt between today and tomorrow for centuries, millennia at a time. It was this way with all Lemurians—once they reached their "prime age," which was different for each of them, they stopped aging and simply dwelt for the rest of their long, long days in a sort of physical stasis. Their minds grew and matured, but their bodies never did.

Piers knew that if his body were to match his mind's age, he would be an old man—older than Master Kraden (Gods bless his soul) or Babi. Heavens, his age would likely make Babi look like a newborn babe in comparison.

And so, Piers was alone, now saying his final goodbyes to the village of Vale. He had been an honored friend to his companions' children and even grandchildren, but now he felt that he needed to leave. His unchanging appearance had eventually unnerved the other citizens of Vale, so much that they would avoid him at any other cost.

As always, he was alone.

But where could he go now that he was leaving Vale? Back to Lemuria? Certainly not—he doubted that Conservato had stopped arguing with the king over whether Piers was to be banished yet, though it had been many years since Piers had begun his self-inflicted exile.

He could always find another town to stay in for some time, he supposed. But around normal humans, eventually his inability to age would frighten them and he would have to leave once more.

He was alone, and he was trapped. Two feelings that did not go well together.

He knelt before the graves, placing a small bouquet of flowers on each one.

"I guess I'll be saying my goodbyes now," he said. "You were all wonderful friends, and I thank you for helping me even though I couldn't go with you sometimes. Just like now."

He supposed he could go with them if he wanted to. But, even though he was a Lemurian, he was still human, and therefore feared death.

At the same time that he feared death, he desired it as well. What kind of man was he?

Hopeless sounded about right.

"Felix, Jenna, Sheba," he said. "Thank you for taking me into your party, no matter how much I refused to come." He laughed a bit at the memory. "You were all wonderful friends, and no matter how much longer I live, our journey will always be my most pleasant memory of all. That goes for all of you as well, Isaac, Garet, Ivan, Mia. You were all my friends, as were your children, and I cannot thank you enough for being so kind to me."

He sat there for a long moment, meditating on memories, before he stood and started to walk away.

"Piers, let us help you get your Orb back. It's the least we can do for a friend in need."

It was almost as if Felix was there again, speaking to him beside the idol in Kibombo. Piers turned and looked at Felix's grave, recalling the exact words he had said in reply.

"A friend? I don't recall ever being your friend. Besides, I need no help in this matter. It is my problem, and I can handle it."

"Don't be so stubborn!" Jenna's voice was the next to ring out from the earth. "Can't you see that we're only trying to help you?"

"I said I need no help," Piers replied, the memory playing out in his mind as he spoke. "Now just leave me be."

"That's it!" Sheba's voice came next, sounding as stubborn and cheeky as the girl had been in life. "We're helping you, whether you like it or not!"

"I . . . beg your pardon?"

The last grave, mostly forgotten and sitting behind the headstones of the heroes, rang with Kraden's voice. "You heard the girl, we're helping you even if you don't want us to do so. It's the least we can do for a fellow Adept."

"If you insist. But I won't hold up if you fall behind."

"May I ask," a smooth voice behind Piers said, "who exactly it is that you're talking to?"

He would have recognized the voice anywhere. "Alex!" he said, whirling around. "I thought that you were . . ."

"Dead? No. One cannot kill an immortal so easily, as I'm sure you know."

Alex looked much different from the last time Piers had seen him. Though his face and hair remained unchanged, giving him the appearance of someone still in his late teens, he wore a peasant's clothing, giving up the rich garb he had wore while with Agatio and Karst. He no longer wore a sword by his side, either, but Piers could practically sense the power emanating from him.

"So, Piers." Alex strode forward, looking at the graves that Piers stood before. "I suppose these are their graves?"

"Yes. But why do you . . ."

"Whatever you may think, Felix was a good friend of mine while we were with Saturos and Menardi," Alex said, kneeling before Felix's grave. "I also came to know Jenna and Sheba, along with Master Kraden, very well before we parted ways. I suppose you could call them my friends as well.

"Which is why I was so angry to find that my absence made little difference to them," Alex continued, turning his eyes on Piers. "Within weeks of leaving them, they found a new ally, and seemed to care little that I was no longer with them. It hurt me . . . do you understand that?"

"Then why didn't you kill me?" Piers asked. "Or, why don't you do so know? Surely it would be no great task for you, since you hold the power of the Golden Sun."

"Some of the power of the Golden Sun," Alex interrupted. "My power is nearly limitless, and my life is nearly everlasting, just like yours. I only got nearly what I had wanted. Perhaps to teach me a lesson."

"What could you mean by that?"

"I think you know exactly what I mean," Alex said, turning away from Piers. The air was absolutely still.

"We are kindred spirits, you and I." Alex's voice was oddly soft. "Immortals, the both of us. Unaging and undying, left behind to watch as those we care for grow old and die, moving on to the afterlife without us. Immortality is really not a gift, but a burden. Every time you make friends, they die and you are forced to make more friends, who will also eventually die. You do not know it, but since I healed after the collapse of Mount Aleph, I have been moving from place to place, never staying long enough to experience the death of one I cared for. Better to leave them behind than to watch them die."

Piers was silent. He looked at the row of graves before him, remembering Jenna's laugh, Felix's shy, awkward smile. Garet's brash recklessness, and the way Mia would heal him when he got in too deep. Sheba's cheeky jokes and Ivan's quiet wisdom, Isaac's determined words atop Mars Lighthouse—"I knew what I was doing from the moment I raised my sword."

Alex watched him. "You see?" he whispered. "It breaks even the strongest of people, even people like you. I imagine that this is not your first time experiencing it. Despite the longevity in Lemuria, even the people there die, don't they?"

Piers did not want to think of his mother at the moment. Too much pain. But trying not to think of her forced him to, and he remembered coming back to Lemuria only to find her sleeping underground in the small Lemurian cemetery.

But his thoughts were not on her for long before they returned to his friends. Jenna had started to run after him when he ran to the cemetery. Felix had held his sister back and silently shook his head. Sheba, meanwhile, had leaned against Felix, wiping tears from her eyes.

Sheba had cried for him when his mother died.

But this time, he had no one to cry for him as he mourned.

So he cried alone. Always alone.

Alex still watched him, and carefully raised a hand to wipe the tears from Piers' cheek.

"We are forced, time and time again, to cry alone as those who would mourn with us move on," Alex whispered. "So, is it any wonder that the most fervent wish of an immortal is to die?"

"I . . ." Piers could not form words through his choked sobs. "I . . ."

Alex turned away. "I don't know if you'd trust me," he said, pulling up the hood of his thin cloak. "But as you and I can understand each other, I'd like it if you'd travel with me. At least then we can keep each other from being lonely."

Piers was stunned at the offer. Alex, who considered him an enemy, a replacement, was offering to travel with him. Offering him a companionship that would not fade, a friendship that would not end with death.

"Will you come?" Alex asked, turning and holding his hand out to Piers.

Piers smiled—or at least, tried to—and took Alex's hand.

"Thank you," he said.

Alex only smiled in return.

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A/N:

Length w/o A/N/Rambling: 1880 words

Length including A/N/Rambling: 2051 words

Original Upload Date: May 25, 2004

Reported/Deleted on July 3, 2004

Re-upload Date: July 17, 2004

Rambling: I decided to try a slightly different couple this time, and one of the reviews of Vyctori-chan's One-Shot service caught my eye—an Alex/Piers that had something to do with their immortality. While this is hardly the "fluff" that was requested, I'm actually pleased with how it turned out.

You can think of this however you like—shounen-ai or just a friendly relation kind of thing. What it means can only be decided by you . . .

Originally, this fic had a fic challenge in it. The challenge is now closed, I thank all entrants for their interest. I will try to contact you shortly.

This fic was reported and deleted on July 3, 2004 for "Non-story content: list, announcement, etc." If it gets reported again . . . . Well, we'll see, won't we?

Thanks to those who showed support for me in this.