An innocent question, a simple answer. But life can just never be so easy. He always did have such pretty lavender eyes. AU(I think), Spoilers warning.
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Sorry I've been off so long. That darn apathy bug. And a tiny obsession with Golden Sun (hint, hint). So, yeah, not much to say. Life is good. I may be out with more updates soon.
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"Well, what would you do with him?"
It was such a simple question, more rhetorical than serious. Almost no one could have foreseen what came next.
The sound of metal slithering against a sheath.
Footsteps, picking up speed.
Silent, wide-eyed horror.
A bright flash, less than a second later a blinding flash.
"No…" Garet's whisper drifted out in the silent room as everyone else blinked light spots out of their eyes. An oppressing dread took hold of everyone in the room.
Later the sequence of events would be pulled together into one coherent silent horror film, but for now the only things felt now in the room were confusion and fear.
The vision greeting Isaac and Mia's returning vision left them wishing that they had been permanently blinded.
There was Ivan, sprawled in an awkward sitting position on the floor, crimson slowly seeping into his violet shirt.
Mia's first thought was that it would heave been very pretty, had Garet's Shamshir blade not been sticking out of Ivan's chest. Her next was that her Glittering Tiara, which prevented delusions, had broken. A soft moan from Ivan dispelled that notion.
Garet stood gaping in horror at the sight his hand had created. It wasn't supposed to happen like this kept running through his mind, only once interrupted by the thankful thought that his Shamshir Blade hadn't released Acid Bath, and Ivan remained the cherubic little angel he always looked like. Ivan's moan caused the immediate cessation of any and all his thought processes.
Isaac stared uncomprehendingly at the sight before him. Garet was standing shivering and lightly spattered with a thin film of blood, clashing with his glowing Spirit Armor. Dodonpa was rigid with terror and mouthing something he couldn't quite get out. Mia with the same serene expression as always, minus the small grin always tugging at the corner of her mouth. Hammet was crying, silent tears streaming down his face. There was something, something at the center, something causing all these reactions, but Isaac just couldn't focus it, simply a blurry spot in the middle of the cell. Simple. One low moan from the figure in the center of the room clarified what was happening, in the rational part of Isaac's mind, but there was no time for emotional outbursts. Just a mechanical foredoomed attempt to save Ivan.
Everyone stood rooted in their own isolation, thinking their own thoughts, feeling or not according to their own personalities and experiences. They stood rigid as statues guarding over the eternal tomb of a forgotten prince. Ivan let out a slighting moan and broke the silence of the cave, and the sick spell over everyone in it.
Garet collapsed with a retch onto all fours on the cold stone floor. He kept throwing up until only burning bile and his own vivid blood was left, and still he retched.
Mia ran forward and flung herself down at Ivan's side, her hands glowing with frantic energy and adrenaline in a desperate attempt to heal him.
Dodonpa scuttled backwards, attempting to distance himself from the gruesome scene, one he almost tried to cause.
Hammet surged forward to be closer to Ivan, to help, to be there. He never got there.
Isaac put out his hand in front of Hammet and guided him back to his cot, where he couldn't get in the way. Where he could be alone with his grief.
Ivan opened his eyes and everyone stopped.
Mia's glowing hand rested over his chest. Hammet's hand froze halfway to his eye. Isaac was already still, already withdrawing and he stoically stared on. Dodonpa froze halfway out the door, the look of a guilty child on his face. Garet watched all of it with eyes unseeing.
"I'm sorry…" A feeble whisper emanated from Ivan. He sounded so sad.
"Shhh…" Despite wanting to hear his words, his comforts, Mia told Ivan to conserve his strength for later, when he would need it. He would have none of it.
"I'm sorry that I won't get to see you turn over a new leaf, Dodonpa. I'm sorry Sheba; I won't get to know you for you, to see another wind adept. I'm sorry Garet, but I was only stopping you from doing something you would later regret. I'm sorry Master Hammet, I loved you like a father, but I won't be able to go on the Shaman Rod quest for you. I'm sorry Isaac; there was nothing you could have done today to change the outcome, please forgive yourself. I'm sorry Master Hamma, I won't be back to hear your secret, to find out about your hidden love. I'm so sorry Mia, there's nothing you can do now. Thank you, everyone, for everything. You are my family, and I love each of you dearly as so. Please Mia, just let go now, let me go peacefully. Don't throw yourself away on a lost cause. I'm sorry to be leaving early, but one must as will happen. You all will make it, I just know it. Because you're you. Goodbye…" As his voice faded into silence a sudden chill breeze entered and swirled around the room, leaving as quickly as it came. When it was gone, so was Ivan, just his empty body remaining.
"No! Come back," Mia shook Ivan's body heavily as she cried out, "What about the prophesy? What about your destiny? Come back!" She poured everything she had into her healing magics, tapping into some energy sources she shouldn't for her own safety. Seeing her pouring her whole life into it, even against Ivan's final wishes, Isaac had to move to stop her. He roughly grabbed her wrist and pulled her to face him.
"Stop it. He asked you to live, not to die in a futile pursuit. He's gone. Respect his wishes." Mia pulled herself away from Isaac to look at Ivan. She walked over and pulled open the clasp on his soft green cape, then slowly draped it over his body, covering his head last. Her task finished, she slumped down to the floor and knelt heaving body-racking sobs into Ivan's shoulder, overcome.
Over in the corner sat the nonentity that used to be the boy named Garet, the beloved friend, the trusted ally. He watched in silence as Dodonpa silently slipped out of the cell and down the dank corridor, as Isaac carefully lifted Ivan and carried him out of the cave, as an anguished Mia guided a distraught Hammet out into the sunlight once more. But the nameless boy sat there still, in the dead silence, and watched as the torches in the room burnt themselves out. There was no sense of time or place for him, not even a sense of being. A long while after the cell had become damp and shadowed he blinked once or twice, then slowly faded into the surrounding darkness using the power of his cloak ball.
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There you have it, my first real attempt at a tragedy sorta thing. Hope you liked. If you could, some input on if this should be a prologue into a long set of dealing with grief and how we get though the rest of the game sans Ivan, or skip to the chase of some later jucy plot involving Alex and The Lost Age. Thanks.
Oh and today's fun review game is guess the author's gender and general age. Closest gets... something. A gift fic or betaing or whatever. Much appreciated.
-Kit
