A/N: I was listening to "Yellow Butterfly" by Meg and Dia and this just… wow. It just came. I'm taking away all my songfics due to a threat of being reported, but this was inspired by that song. It's amazing. You have to listen to it.
This interferes with my other story "Warped" and a few others due to other siblings and such being involved, but here, they are nonexistent and none of the other events have happened or will happen. Not based in the 'Ken 10' universe but it is based in the future.
Disclaimer: I don't own any associated characters of Ben 10. I do own Eliza and that's all.
Warnings: Death, alcohol, and cutting.
Yellow Butterfly
He sat by the riverside, sapphire blue eyes watching the water slide by. Death swirled in it like that day had been yesterday when he had heard her desperate scream. Devlin watched the river, seeing it eat away at the rocks and whipping them into the current before resting them back on the bank or at the bottom where the mud sucked them into the ground, merciless in possessing more victims of stone. He couldn't see anything but that day flashing before his eyes once again. He couldn't see anything but that day.
The screams rang in his ears. He could only see her slip into the river that now raced past his feet. Devlin was eager for vengeance but how could he do anything? A river would take no defeat. It never could. The ebony-haired boy fingered a stone and angrily threw it in the hungry current only to watch it be slashed away downstream.
Images flashed through his mind again as he stood on the soft muddy bank. He watched the water flow as Eliza danced along the shore, her lithe little body twirling and prancing like the sunshine was her spotlight and the world was her stage. Because that was how Eliza always saw the world. She had never stopped seeing it that way. Devlin remembered seeing her spin a little too close and one foot lost the bank and found the river.
His beloved sister's sole scream ripped through the air, tearing away the silence for the rest of eternity. He could only lunge for her only to have her fingers slip right through his. The sound of the splash resonated in Devlin's mind and he watched the river with a fierce glare. He wished with all of his heart that he could've been able to catch her grasp. He had only wanted to let her dance by the river. He had only wanted to see her happy once more. Devlin had always loved seeing his baby sister so happy.
The water had swallowed her without taking mercy upon her young soul. Eliza had been so small, just an innocent little seven-year-old girl. She had been so young…
Six years later and Devlin was still going out to that river in his rickety old truck to stay by that river every Monday night. He hated that place, but he always went. Devlin had just wanted her to indulge in another day of sunshine before school took them both from their days of joy. And it did take joy from every day of Devlin's life.
That joy was replaced with dark, haunting guilt that would steal any happy thought that Devlin could ever have. That moment as he watched his baby sister drown in the river stole all of Devlin's hopes and dreams for her and himself. He felt like nothing would ever be good again. He could only see the world as evil.
Footsteps came up beside Devlin and Ken's voice interrupted the sad, empty silence. "I asked you this last week and every week before, but I just wanted to know if you're going to be okay." He stood with his hands in the pockets as he stared out over the glowing waters that flooded past the bank. He saw his best friend sitting there with his knees tucked to his chest and his deep sapphire eyes watching out over the water. Ken shoved his hands in his pockets, wishing he had been there to help Eliza.
"I'll be fine."
The answer was the same that Kenny had been hearing for years now. Those same three words. Six years later and Devlin still wasn't fine. He wore scars on his wrists and all along his thin, pale arms. He had always said that he would take a razor to his wrist and one day, he did. Now he was taking it to his skin at least once a week. Sometimes a knife. Kenny knew. Everyone knew. No one would do anything. They let Devlin deal with it how he did. Gwen and Kevin even knew, but they did nothing to even attempt to stop him from doing it. He had even been able to do it in front of Gwen sometimes when she was functioning in the kitchen.
"Dev, come on," breathed the Tennyson teen, jade eyes flitting down to Devlin while the sixteen-year-old, "stop lying." His hands dug a little deeper into his pockets. He just wanted Devlin to be okay.
"I'll be fine."
Kenny quietly sighed and stared out over the river, only imagining all the scars that ran along his best friend's flesh. The waters flooded past the spot that the two lingered at. "Fine," said the boy, a small sigh escaping his soft lips. He didn't want to leave his friend. He knew Devlin was so close to breaking down completely. He knew that Kevin and Gwen had never let him live down the mistake of that day six years ago. "Call me if you want me, 'kay?"
No response came from the ebony-haired boy that was sitting beside the water. He just watched over the river like a guardian angel. He almost wished he could've been a guardian angel at that one moment so long ago. He wished he could've been able to save his baby sister. He had just wanted to save her, not letting her fingers slip through his hand.
The sound of Kenny's disappearing footsteps resonated through Devlin's ears as the sun began to dip below the horizon. Devlin would stay until the first few stars kissed the blackened sky. He wouldn't go home until he knew it would be safe to do so. He didn't want to go home when he knew his parents were still awake. They knew he was there reliving his worst nightmare every Monday night. They never wanted him going back, but he always did go. Devlin just wouldn't drive himself back home until he knew his parents would be in bed. He didn't want to deal with them again. And they wouldn't deal with him unless they absolutely had to.
Devlin let the scream echo through his head one last time as he saw her small body fall into the river again, the memories sliding through his mind like they did every time he sat beside the rushing body of water. He watched her die all over again. He just wished he had gone in after her and died too. The pain was numb now, but he still wanted it to go away. The guilt was eating him alive. He wasn't sure how much longer he could deal with the pain.
The Levin boy rose to his feet, cerulean eyes darkened, and he turned back towards the truck parked a little ways up the river before heading back to the home where he was no longer welcome.
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They still wouldn't talk to him. It was years later and they still didn't even look at him the same. Six years had passed and he had never been the same. No one had treated him the same. He had been the monster in the house, taking the role his father had once filled. He couldn't walk without feeling fierce glares touch his pale, scarred skin.
He could walk in the door at any hour and he would hardly ever be bothered unless it was a Monday and his parents knew where he was coming back from. Devlin's routine was a bit noticeable: he left every Monday as soon as he dropped off his school books and then headed down to the river, tires always muddy upon return to the house. It was disturbing how perfect his timing always was. The routine never changed.
Gwen never cleaned much anymore. She did the dishes, staring at her own reflection as she did so. Kevin was hardly the same. He went to work at the Plumber Academy every day before returning home and going to his room until dinner and then returning to the room afterwards as well. Devlin knew his parents didn't even share the same room anymore. Kevin hid in the guest room and Gwen took the master. It was unsettling.
The whole family had been traumatized by the loss of the young girl six years ago. Devlin was the only one who managed to keep his life relatively the same. He still went to school, still managed to stay on the brink of the honor roll each semester. He was still managing to keep a solid friendship with Ken. He was the only one surviving like he had to.
But inside, he was dying slowly and painfully. He had nightmares of her scream. He always heard her scream. That one pitiful, painful scream. He could hear the water wake up as her body hit it. He could see her floating down the river in the rushing current. Devlin had to watch her die every night and every day. He couldn't go a moment without remembering how Eliza had fallen and lost her life because he was unable to save her.
The boy just hid up in his room after grabbing his backpack from where he had left it on the table. It was well past nine and he opened up a massive textbook and began copying down problems like his baby sister had never died. He had to follow a routine or else he would just shatter.
Devlin couldn't afford to shatter.
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"Man, are you sure you're okay?" Ken stood again with his hands in his pockets, soft jade eyes watching for the sun to fall below the horizon as the day ended, dusk nearing with gentle steps.
Devlin was sitting by the edge of the river, this time a beer in his hand. It was another Monday and he sat at the same spot that he hated, staring out over that accursed water as September crept up, the year's close near. His sapphire eyes didn't leave the crystal clear water that had stolen his beloved sister. "I'll be fine," said Devlin, words slightly slurred. It wasn't bad enough that anyone would notice, but Kenny always knew that Devlin got worse near Septembers. And he was worried that Devlin was going to go over the edge this time. The ebony-haired teen took another draught from the bottle.
The Tennyson boy shuffled his feet a bit, worried. He didn't want Devlin to push himself too hard this time. He didn't want his best friend to try anything dumb again. Kenny knew Devlin was getting so close to the breaking point. He knew that just one more day of the neglect and abuse could throw him down into that river the same way that Eliza had fallen.
"I'll be fine," repeated Devlin, a bit more firmly this time. His voice was still a little shaky, but he was trying to be harsh and to get his point across to his best friend. Pressing one hand to his pulsing temple, he said again, "I'll be fine."
Kenny's eyes shifted down to his friend and then back to the vengeful water that whipped past the bank. His green eyes filled with sorrow for his friend, the Tennyson put a hand on Devlin's shoulder just to show that he was there for support. He knew Devlin would be fine. He had been for the past six years. Nothing would really change him now. The Levin's soul was already dead and the only reason he still remained in this world was because his body hadn't yet let him go. "You sure?"
The bottle at his lips, Devlin took a long swig of the beer that he knew could just numb away the pain that ate away at him inside. He held the warm glass tightly in his hand, cerulean eyes still stuck on the water that had taken his sister away. When he put the beer on the emerald grass beside him, he tucked his knees to his chest. Kenny couldn't help but see how childlike his friend looked, so weak and vulnerable. "I'll be fine," insisted Devlin, his voice neutral and dull.
Despite the uncertainty nagging his heart in his chest, Ken let out a long sigh and retracted the hand that had been upon Devlin's shoulder. "Be careful, okay?" he said, indicating with one finger towards the river that had been a danger to Eliza so long ago.
A terse nod came from the Levin that sat in the grassy banks of the river's edge. "I will, Kenny."
The hero's son shoved his hands in his pockets and drew in a long breath of the nipping September air that filled his lungs. His green leather jacket hung around his frame to keep away the cold gusts as he stalked towards where the nearest bus stop was.
It hadn't even passed Ken's mind that Devlin wouldn't be capable of driving himself home. Not until he got the call, anyways.
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Devlin's deep cobalt eyes opened into a whiteness that he wished he didn't recognize. He had been hoping for Heaven. This certainly wasn't it. His eyes shut again as his fingers slithered to the railing beside the hospital bed he laid in. The boy sat up tentatively, finding his body surprisingly stiff after not moving for so long. He stared out the window that was the only source of light in the room of colorless death. Little flower buds bloomed in the waning slivers of moonlight as thin, wispy clouds covered the bright silver orb in the night sky.
He wasn't lucky enough to die and he wasn't lucky enough to have been asleep forever. Spring. It was only spring. He had wanted years to pass so he could be closer to death, but it was only spring and his hands were still those of a young sixteen-year-old. Devlin bashed a fist into the rail of the bed, the sound of his rage echoing through the room to wake the small brunette boy that had been sleeping by his bedside.
One of Kenny's jade eyes opened. Then the other. It took him a few moments to register that his best friend was awake. "Dev, man, you were in a coma." The Tennyson boy unfolded his arms and stretched a bit, trying to get the knot out of his neck from sleeping in such an uncomfortable position. "You okay?"
Devlin put one hand to his forehead, the scars tattooing his pale wrists looking like the stripes of a tiger. His mind had to wrap around all of this. He wasn't lucky enough to die. He wasn't lucky enough to have slept forever in that coma. He wasn't lucky enough to have forgotten about the accident so long ago. And it was only spring. He raked his hand through his ebony locks and had to drink all this in.
Where were his parents? Why weren't they worried enough to stay by his side like Kenny had? They only had one child left. Wasn't the threat of losing him going to get him any closer to his parents? Were they ever going to look at him again? Why couldn't they just forgive him? Had they truly become so heartless?
"I'll… I'll be fine," promised Devlin, eyes still caught on the places where he had taken a razor to his wrist instead of crying like he probably should've. "I will. I'll be fine." One tear slid from his eye and traced a path down his cheek. "I'll be fine."
Ken took a deep breath and leaned forward in his chair to pull himself out of it. He let Devlin have a second before he put his knuckles on the hard mattress that his best friend laid upon as a deathbed for so long. One arm he stretched around his best friend's shoulders in a half hug of comfort. "It's okay, Dev," he murmured gently. "It's okay."
The room was so cold, so disturbingly white. Devlin almost wished it were Heaven. And if it hadn't been Heaven, he was hoping that maybe it could've been Hell. Hell would've been better than the prison of Earth.
It was the pain that he had tried to escape by driving his truck into that river. He had done it on purpose. One beer wouldn't have made him do that. He wasn't even near the limit to where he would've been deemed drunk. Devlin easily could've driven himself home and gotten there safely, but he chose to try the river to get him where he wanted to go. He didn't want to go to that house where he wasn't welcome. He didn't want to go to that place where he would just be neglected again. He hadn't wanted to go home in years, but he had nowhere else to go.
His parents hadn't looked at him the same way they did before and he knew that wasn't going to change. They didn't stop him from cutting. Their fights got even worse and more than once Eliza's name came up among the screams of hatred and agony. Usually Gwen had to go to her room crying and Kevin went to a hotel for the night. The elder Levin had tried going to Ben's, but Kenny had kept his father in the loop on Devlin's condition and gotten it so that Ben was hardly speaking with either of his former teammates.
With a bit of reluctance, Kenny sat on the side of Devlin's bed as the raven-haired teen traced the scars upon his forearms with one finger. "Your parents were about to pull the plug on you," said the Tennyson boy. "The deadline for you to wake up would've been tomorrow." He carefully tried to stay close to his best friend. He knew he was the only one Devlin had anymore.
Another sapphire tear raced down Devlin's cheek. If only he had slept one more day, all of his suffering would've been gone. If only he had been able to stay under one more day…
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Devlin wasn't allowed to go home. Child services still deemed him as a minor at his age of sixteen, and Ben had informed them of his emotional abuse before letting him leave the hospital. The boy was no longer allowed to live with his parents. So like the generous man Ben was, he offered Devlin a place to stay and the boy couldn't do anything but accept. He would've rather stayed with Ben than lived in a foster home for two years until he could escape into the night and disappear forever from the world of misery he had been thrust into.
"Mi casa es tu casa," said Ben, his Spanish clearly not the best. A little twinkle in his emerald eyes gleamed proudly as he knew this was what he had needed to do all along. Now that Devlin was out of his parents' hateful glares, he'd get better. He'd live like he should've. Six years and Ben hadn't realized that he should've gotten Devlin out of there long ago.
"Gracias," said Devlin, faking his best smile as he carried his only bag over one shoulder. It just held a laptop, the two or three books he needed, and the minimal clothes that he had in his closet. No one had given him much since his baby sister had died. He'd been left to fend for himself with only a roof over his head and what food he could find in the pantry on a good day. Clothing and extra things were left for him to deal with himself and even when they were given out of kindness, they were just the bare necessities.
Ken took his friend's bag off of his shoulder. "Come on," he said. "We're bunking together in my room. It'll be fun." He began leading the way towards where his room was, hearing Devlin's footsteps echo across the floor behind him. He could just hope that a bit of love was what Devlin needed to be able to heal after all the hurt. After turning down a hallway, he rounded the corner tightly and pushed open the door to his room.
Posters of cars and bikini models lined the walls along with a couple of pictures of him and Devlin when they were kids, just nine and ten. Back when everything was perfect and nothing could ever go wrong. Ken's bed was thrown against the wall and another one had been placed against another, clearly meant to be Devlin's.
"I cleared out my drawers for you," said the room's owner, dropping his best friend's bag on the bed that was meant to be Devlin's. "I don't know if you'll need all the space with just one bag, but I thought that I'd better be safe than sorry, you know?" Kenny moved over towards his own bed and collapsed on it, feeling the mattress give beneath his weight and spring him back up in the air about half an inch or so. "Mi dormitorio es tu dormi-"
"Yeah, I don't speak Spanish…" said the Levin boy with a nervous glance at his friend. "All I know is hola and gracias."
Kenny grinned. Maybe this could work out after all. This was the brightest he had seen Devlin's sapphire eyes in years and he was even yelling at him again. The hero's son took it as a good sign. "Okay, I'll tell my dad to cut it out before he freaks you out."
Devlin shook his head. "It's fine," he said, a slight smile kissing his pale lips. He almost felt happy. Almost. "Just keep in mind that when I answer hola to some Spanish question that I have no idea what you're talking about."
Ken grinned and flopped over on his bed so that he stared up at the ceiling. "Well, I'll just tell Dad to keep his Spanish to the minimum. Not like he knows much more than you do." The Tennyson shrugged a little bit. "Anyways, I'm glad you're staying with us."
"I'm glad I am too." Devlin tugged on his bag's zipper, opening it up nice and wide so that he could pull out all of his things. He set the laptop on his pillow before grabbing his two jackets, three shirts, and two pairs of jeans out of his bag. "It's good to be out of the house."
"But I do hope you realize that it also means that you're going to be my chauffeur," noted Kenny with a smug little grin settling upon his features. "You know, since I can't drive yet and all."
"I'm cool with that." And maybe things really were looking up for Devlin.
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The first night in his new home and he screamed his lungs out, trying to get a grip on the reality that had faded around him long enough to plunge his head into an eternal nightmare. Devlin had bolted awake in a matter of seconds when he saw her emerald eyes staring at him from below the water, her haunted face and hands reaching out for him to pull him into the river's current to join her in her grave. Eliza was always a vengeful little girl and her brother was afraid that one day he'd suffer through the misery of everything because of her wrath.
Kenny was awake in a heartbeat and his jade gaze swung to his roommate who was sitting up straight in his bed, his finely toned muscles shining with sweat as the blankets came off of his half naked body. "Dev-"
"I'll be fine," he said vehemently. "I'm fine." He held himself up with his hands placed firmly into the mattress behind him to hold him up straight. "I'll be fine." His cobalt blue eyes glared at his shaking body and limbs. He didn't want to be this weak. He didn't want to be so vulnerable.
"Devlin-"
A bit more hotly this time, Devlin insisted, "I'll be fine."
Kenny sighed and let the subject go, knowing he'd tell his father in the morning. They'd have to deal with this one way or another.
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Devlin slid open the drawer where he knew Ben always pulled the knives out of for dinner. He just needed a little bit of pain to take away his guilt. He knew he shouldn't. He knew he really wasn't supposed to. He knew that taking that blade to his wrist would be betraying the trust that he had built with Ben and Kenny after nearly three weeks of being with them.
He needed his escape. He needed the pain. He needed just a little bit of relief from all this guilt and Devlin just wanted it all to bleed away and out of his veins in the form of his crimson blood.
Cobalt blue eyes found a drawer full of knives, each with a sheathe that was locked onto it with a keypad. Devlin cussed beneath his breath, reaching in and pulling out a large butcher knife that had a massive plastic sheath protecting it with a metal keypad plastered on the front. The whole rig looked ridiculous, but he knew it was only a stupid safety precaution. And the cover that hid the blade was just plastic. It was easily breakable.
Devlin angled the blade sharply at the edge of the counter, knowing that Kenny was at his soccer practice and that Ben was on the other side of the house on the top floor, checking on the city's security cameras for any trouble that loomed in the darkest of shadows. The boy got ready to slam the pointed edge into the edge of the counter and he did it, only to feel a shiver run up the blade and drive through his arm with striking force. The sheath didn't break like he had hoped it would. Another cuss slipped his lips.
"It's for your own good, you know."
The Levin boy spun quickly to find Ben's grass green eyes watching him with a trace of dark sadness in them. The hero was leaning against the doorframe as if he had been standing there for more than a few seconds. Devlin's hands clenched to fists and a bit of rage bubbled beneath his pale skin, turning his face a shade that mimicked that of a pink-tinted peach. "You don't trust me."
Ben shook his head with a sympathetic smile resting on his face. "No, Devlin. It's not that." He moved from his spot against the doorframe and moved forward so that he stood only a foot or two away from his second cousin, eyes glowing with concern for the teenager. "It's that I know who your parents are and that I know how you were raised. I trust you, but I don't trust your judgment."
"You don't trust me," repeated Devlin, a bit of malice touching his voice with thin, slicing claws. "You don't trust me, Ben. I'm not stupid."
"But you are impulsive and you lack the full grasp of the world." Ben hesitantly reached one hand forward to place a hand on his adopted son's shoulder. He wasn't sure if the Levin boy would shove him away or just flat out strike him. "You haven't seen the real world since before that day. You need to wake up and smell the roses, Devlin. You don't need to be a spiteful child anymore." Ben's eyes hardened slightly. "You just need to grow up."
Devlin gritted his teeth. He wanted to hit Ben so badly that he could taste it, but he knew better than to do so. Ben was the only one he had. Ben was the only one that was willing to watch out for him. "I am grown up."
"Then prove it to me." Ben drew his hand away from Devlin's shoulder. He folded his arms across his chest, gaze daring the Levin boy in a somewhat devilishly amused way. "Show me that you have some self-control." The hero's eyes became tough. "Prove it to me, Devlin. Then maybe I'll be able to see that you're not your father. You don't need revenge."
"I can't take revenge on a river," hissed the ebony-haired teenager, anger seething from his tone. He knew that his father had been a horrible child and that he had done things wrong more times than he could count and Devlin knew that his father should've been in the Null Void. For some reason, hearing Ben compare Devlin to his father was like being stabbed through the heart with a dagger. The boy was trying to escape the emotional pain with physical pain, not get more heaped onto the already massive mountain.
"But you can take revenge on yourself." Ben quietly drank in a breath of air. "I trust you to make the right decisions, Devlin. It's your life now. No one is going to hold you back anymore." He let out a gentle sigh. "I won't control you," he said before pointing a finger to the knives that he had locked, "but I'm just trying to protect you from yourself."
Devlin pulled his eyes away from those of his second cousin. "I don't need any help," he said, arms tense and fists clenched tightly. "I'll be fine."
Ben's heart sank in his chest. His jade orbs followed his best friend's son as he stalked out of the kitchen, eyes clearly alive with rage and hatred on more levels than one. At himself. At Ben. At the world. The hero had only wanted to help, but for some reason, he felt like he was only making things worse.
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"Do you ever wonder how things would've turned out if she hadn't fallen in?" asked Devlin one night as the two boys laid in their beds waiting to fall asleep after the Levin had awoken from another terrible nightmare. This time, the river had been made purely of red and orange lapping flames that tore away at Eliza's flesh and singed her hair and melted her face. It was one of his worse nightmares. He'd seen so many, each one of them vivid, but none of them had been so vicious and violent.
"In the river?" asked Kenny, fingers knitted together as he put his hands behind his head. His green gaze was trained on the ceiling above as the darkness swallowed the two teens like a beast's gaping maw.
The sound of Devlin's nodding followed.
"You'd probably still be living with your parents, you'd have a perfect life, and I'd be lonely and brother-less," said Kenny, trying to put a lighthearted tone into the subject. He turned his head slightly to see his best friend's outlined form in the shadows of enveloping darkness. "Why do you ask?"
The boy asked himself the same question. Maybe he just wanted reassurance that his life could've been better. Maybe he just wanted to know that he had been normal in an alternate universe. Maybe he just wanted to know that he wasn't the monster that he was now. Devlin curled his body up a little tighter, fingers clutching at the soft pillow that rested beneath his heavy head. "I don't know." He shifted a little bit, pulling a thick azure blanket up over his shoulders for warmth.
Kenny could hear all of his friend's movements in the near silence. Sometimes it kept him awake and sometimes it was just a reassurance that he was still alive in that bed on the other side of the room. The Tennyson almost didn't want to ask, but he did anyways. "Are you sure you're okay?"
It was the exact same answer that Devlin had been giving everyone for six years. "I'll be fine." Now he was just trying to convince himself.
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Kenny drove Devlin down to the river on Mondays and made sure to take the Levin boy's banged up truck with him when he left his best friend alone on the bank. Just in case. He wanted to keep his best friend around for a little bit longer. But this Monday, something in the routine changed. "Come with me," said Devlin, tapping on the door to signal his wishes to his best friend. Then the raven-haired teen stepped out of the car, slamming the door a bit harshly behind him.
He hadn't cut himself for a little over nine weeks. It had been seven weeks since the incident with Ben and the knives. Ben had taken the plastic sheathes off three weeks ago. Not another slice from a blade had touched his scarred forearms. Devlin was actually starting to sleep at night. He still had nightmares, but he never woke up screaming anymore. He felt like someone was watching out for him now. He felt like he had reasons to live. The Levin boy felt like he could've gone on for the first time since he had watched Eliza die. He thought that maybe he didn't have to escape anything anymore.
Doing a quick double take, Kenny had to make sure he had heard Devlin properly. When he watched Devlin walk in front of the car, he saw the scarred teenager pause and knock on the hood twice. "You coming?"
He opened the door and stepped out into the emerald green grass that stretched out into the meadows of perfection that were expanding across the rolling hills. The door was slammed behind him with one hand, the new black paint job standing out in the whole perfect dreamland of brilliance. "I can see why Eli liked it here," said Kenny, his jade orbs staring out at the wondrous beauty that seemed to grow more incredible by the second.
"She always begged me to take her here during the summer," said Devlin shyly, sitting down in a large patch of daffodils that laced the ground's eternal greenery. "It's peaceful, really."
"I can see why," said the hero's son, nodding with a blank smile kissing his lips. He let his hands fall into his pockets as he looked up into the bright blue sky that hung overhead with an undeniable brightness about it. The sun was like an orb of pure gold hanging in the azure air above. And the river shimmered with a glow of silver and sapphire that emanated from it with the shine of the sun. "It's… It's…" He knew there was a word for this, but he had to really grope for it and even then it wouldn't come to mind.
"It's perfect," finished Devlin for his best friend as he plucked a daffodil out of the dirt that lingered beneath the blades of jade. He plucked another and then another and then another.
Kenny nodded, jaw gaping at the all of the lush greenery and radiant splendor. He couldn't believe that a place this… this magical could exist. It couldn't be real. Nothing this magnificent could possibly be real.
Rising to his feet, Devlin kept those daffodils in a bouquet of gold before standing on the side of the river, the tips of his combat boots hanging over the water that rushed past his feet. He no longer saw his sister's cold, pale body floating in that river. He no longer saw his misery reflected in the liquid glass. He looked down at that water and plucked one petal off of one of the daffodils that he held so calmly.
The jade eyes of Kenny watched the petal as the gentle gusts of wind made the edges of it flutter a bit. He stepped up behind his best friend, almost wanting to ask what Devlin was doing.
Devlin let the petal slip from his fingers, watching it flutter downward towards the river like a little yellow butterfly. It kissed the surface before floating downstream in the current of the sapphire river. Devlin plucked another petal and released it above the liquid glass, letting it float down. Another yellow butterfly was free to fly on the surface of the river.
"You okay?" asked Kenny, watching the small yellow flower's bloom float downstream in pieces. He kept his hands in his pockets, knowing that this was a moment he had to remember. For once, he felt like maybe there could've been some hope for Devlin. If only he could put that past behind him.
Finally, he felt like he could move past the death and past the pain and past the plaguing sorrow and misery. It was like he could finally breathe again without the pain that haunted his chest. Devlin let another yellow butterfly flutter down into the river's rushing waters. "I'm fine."
A/N: Wow, this turned out even longer than "Lightning"… So listen to the song if you haven't already and review! Thanks for reading!
~Sky