EPISODE 05: Am Ende Der Straße Part 05 In the End of Their Road Together

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"'Ello, hon." Vyse's mother, Anina, said as he came home. He kicked his shoes into the closet with rumble, but he didn't care. Instead he closed the closet's door quickly to avoid all of the shoes falling on the floor form there. Before he got to take of his jacket, his mother popped next to him, holding a bowl of something she was mixing.

"'Ello, mom." He answered, looking into the bowl. "What are ya making?"

"Food." She answered, throwing her brown hair over her shoulder. She gave him a mischievous gaze as she split hairs. She was already nearing her forties, but she had grown older with dignity and wore fashionable clothes for her age; from her Vyse had learned the obsession to follow fashion trends.

"I kind of figured, mom. What food are ya making?" He asked, growing hungry just by the scents spilling from the kitchen next to the hall.

"Mashed potatoes and pig stew!" He heard his father say from the living room, then laugh a little. He glanced at Anina to confirm what his father had said and she nodded with a smile. Her eyes sparkled in a childish way as she nodded. She had choulder-length dark brown hair, always open. She loved her hair and spent a lot of her time to make her hairdos perfect; she said that she was doing it for his father, but he knew that she just wanted to be a little conceited.

Vyse looked at what his mother was doing while he answered to his father: "'Ello, dad."

"'Ello, sonny." His father, Dyne said. Vyse peeked into the living room over his mother's shoulder. Anina walked to the stove calmly, swinging her hips like she always did. When he had once asked why did she do it, she had answered that because she loved the look on his father's face when he saw her walking like that. Back then he hadn't understood, and he still didn't see her as something sexy, but other girls he did. He frowned a little, remembering that he had just promised to sleep with a guy; he had to think about the sexy sides of guys now. He had never given it that much thought, considering that he had never thought he would be sleeping with a guy.

"I'm going to go do me homework now." He said a little absent-mindedly as he headed to the stairs.

"A'ight. I'll call when food's ready." Anina said after him as he ran the stairs up to his room. Their house was a small apartment with two floors in a huge and old row house. Outside it looked like an endless row of houses, built during the 19th century and industrialization. Inside it was small and filled with furniture. Vyse's mother loved to re-decorate their house with all the latest trends in interior decorations, but Dyne stopped her because he loved his armchair and no way did he want to change their furniture every autumn, winter, spring and summer. He liked to keep things the way they were, although he loved to do all kinds of new dangerous things such as hang-gliding and so on.

When one came into their house there was a hall and in the end of it stairs to the second floor, where Vyse's and his parents' bedrooms were. In the first floor were the kitchen and a small living room, the bathroom and showers. The only bad thing Vyse found about their house was that whenever he listened to music, no matter how quietly, it was always too loud.

He opened to door to his room and threw himself on the bed, jumping up and down for a while. His room was small; the walls were covered with different kinds of posters. Next to his bed was his desk, full of schoolbooks and all kinds of junk ranging from videos to clothes. He would've described it as some kind of a trash can. Under the window was a chest of drawers where he kept his clothes. His mother always told him to keep his clothes folded like they were when she brought them to his room, but he was way too lazy. On the floor was a thick dark blue carpet, otherwise the floor was quite clean, he had always liked being able to walk around without troubles; that was why he kept his junk on his desk and did his homework lying on his bed.

Vyse turned around on his back and rested his head on his hands. Peach surely was a strange girl. First she had wanted to have Jake and then she suddenly had told him to get lost. It was as if she wouldn't have wanted him at all, but then again, Vyse knew he didn't know much about Jake or what he was doing these days. There could be a lot more to his and Peach's thing than what he let the brunette know. But then she had told him about her husband, the guy in the picture. Vyse frowned, but it wasn't really any of his business. All he knew was what Jake had told him and that wasn't much since they saw each other pretty rarely these days. Jake had his mailman's job and some other little jobs to do and he went to school, there wasn't much time to be together.

He turned around, looking at his alarm clock. It was a bright yellow clock with a picture of some people on Sesame Street on the background. When he had been a child, he had loved that show, all the jokes they told were so great and then one of them had done all these great magic tricks and then there had been a monster that really wasn't that scary although it wanted to. He smiled fondly at the memory, somehow wanting to return to that time when he had had no problems at all. Or maybe not getting candy had been a problem. But that wasn't relevant, what was relevant was that he had just promised a strange lady that he would sleep with her husband's friend for 200$. That worried him a little although he was excited about it.

It was very suspicious from her, because Vyse thought that if this guy didn't want to be with her, then he didn't and that was it. He should have his own mind and she should let him go. It wasn't fair of her to ask him to sleep with her husband's friend just because he would make him jealous and he'd return to Peach, and besides no one could be sure if it even worked. If her husband and that other one really loved each other, they could simply call or meet and settle it out. On the other hand, he could completely ruin their relationship forever. But would that be right? He didn't know was it right and he didn't want to think about it, only what he would get.

He smiled as he thought about what he would gain in return of selling himself. First of all, he would get rid of something he had wanted to get rid of ever since the first signs of his puberty. Or maybe even before that, he wasn't really sure. He didn't care if he lost his virginity with someone he loved or with just someone, he only wanted it to happen, then he could be even with his friends, tell them about what he had done and how it had all felt. He would be even, he could share his experiences and give them advice or just brag about it, how many hours had they made love and how many times he had come and so on. All that made him smile and convinced him that he was doing a good thing.

"Food's ready, hon!" Anina shouted from downstairs to him. He jumped off the bed, his stomach growling as an answer to his mother as he ran downstairs. His father was already at the table, peeking hungrily into the kettles Anina had brought to the table.

"What's your day like, Vyse?" He asked casually. He and Vyse looked a lot like the same. He had nougat brown eyes as well, but the glint in them wasn't as shiny as Vyse's anymore. He wore casual home clothes, jeans and a dark blue jumper. Anina had hoped he wouldn't shave his beard all away, but he thought he looked younger without one and refused to please her. In return he took her out once a week without Vyse now that the boy was old enough to understand what really went on in their bedroom instead of just sleeping.

"Boring. School's always boring, dad. I met Jake though."

"How's Jake doing in that job of his?" Anina asked as she took his plate and started to put food on it.

"Fine, mom. Ya don't need to worry about him." The brunette asked, giving her a smile.

"I can't help it, 'cos he dropped out of school and then became a mailman and mailmen don't earn that much, hon. He and ya used to be so close that he's like a second son to me."

"Like one wasn't enough." Dyne remarked, laughing a little.

Anina shot him a soft, joking stare, ruffling Vyse's hair: "Ya are going to give the lil' one traumas! Poor lil' koala…"

"Mom…" Vyse took her hand off, still smiling, but he didn't really like the way she treated him. To her he was always going to be a little boy, the boy whose diapers she had changed when he had been small, the boy who she had breast-fed during the very first months of his life and that would never change. It wasn't that bad, but he was almost eighteen. And it was pretty embarrassing when she ruffled his hair when he had a friend over, calling him lil' koala.

Because he wasn't little anymore and he definitely wasn't a koala.

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The man with the scythe ran towards them, readying his shiny scythe to cut off their heads just as cleanly as it had cut off those two children's heads. More frantically Link started to chant 'I can't believe this' and with every word, the mansion seemed to grow smaller and become transparent. It was as if the whole place had fed off with their imagination, or Roy's more likely, Link had been there less than two hours. Whatever it had done, it had done it with skill, the man was very real and the whole mansion had seemed like an abandoned estate, hidden deep into the woods many decades ago.

As he kept enchanting, not only Roy returned to his own size, but everything slowly disappeared around them, except the man with the scythe. He only raised his scythe higher and higher, as if he was in a frenzy to kill them mindlessly.

Suddenly the floor under them disappeared and all three of them of them fell on the soft moss of the forest. For a while Link and Roy looked around, wondering what had just happened. It had all gone away so fast, so suddenly. One moment it had been there, the other it had disappeared. Like a puff of smoke, it had disappeared into thin air, leaving no trace or explanation. The man with the scythe looked around as well, but he only started to tremble with anger, shouting.

"My children!" He raged, looking at the two with flaming invisible eyes. He screamed one last time, like the death cry of a swan before he ran off to hide in the vast forest, where no one would ever find him and he could keep on sacrificing people who got lost into the forest. Link and Roy were both too surprised and shocked to do anything about it at all, it had all been over so fast that when they realized that they should go after him, he was too far to be caught without reinforcements.

The forest was now full of sounds, ranging from cracking branches to singing birds and from the sound of flowing water to the humming of the wind in the trees. Everything around them was alive, like it should. It was already morning, the fog was gone; it had given way to the bright colours of the day, the green leaves instead of the white fog. Neither one of the two said anything, just looked around trying to figure out what had happened.

Roy couldn't understand any of it. He couldn't understand how a mansion could disappear into thick air, it was simply impossible. He had never believed in the existence of supernatural and he refused to do it now, it was laughable to even suggest that the mansion had been some kind of a ghost, powered by their own fevered thoughts. He went into himself, looking for answers from the psychological point of view, finding his nearing mental breakdown as the reason to the mansion, nothing else. Knowing what was wrong and where it had come from calmed him enough to start actually thinking.

After a while of silence and collecting their thoughts, Link finally said: "Roy, I think I can explain all this."

Roy didn't answer right away. He looked at the moss in front of him with a thoughtful expression, wondering what could prevent his mental breakdown from happening before he answered. "I don't care. I just want to get out of here."

"Aren't you curious to know what happened at all?" Link asked, raising his eyebrows questioningly.

"Well, what?" Roy asked, crossing his hands on his chest.

The elf noticed that the general couldn't probably care less about what he thought, because he had made his mind and he was very stubborn, what he though wouldn't make nay difference, but he decided to try anyway. Just for the fun o fit. He took a deep breath before he started. "Have you ever heard of the Blair Witch? You see, she used to lure children to the forest to cut off their heads and do all kinds of fancy little things she hang into trees to scare campers. Why? Because she got her energy form those who were scared and if they were scared it meant that they believed… That's why believing was such an important part of the whole thing. It was his life force."

The redhead looked at him for a long while without saying anything at all. It was as if he was trying to understand what he had said or find something sensible in it. After a while of waiting for some specification or reason to be this outrageous, he raised one eyebrow questioningly. "Riiight... Can we go home now?"

"Back home to your girlfriend?" Link asked.

"…No." Roy looked away from him, trying to act defiant although Link had hit a very weak spot.

"Then why?"

"I don't want to be here. Ever since you first suggested this, I knew it was a bad idea!" Roy flared up as he thought about it, but got it under control pretty fast. He stood up to leave, but Link wouldn't let him, instead he pulled the pouting Roy slowly closer, against him, watching how the redhead tried to fight against his feelings towards him. He wrapped his arms slowly around him, making sure that he wouldn't escape his hug and only then started. He buried his nose into the red flaming hair, smelling it and kissed it at the same time lightly, moving towards his temples and cheeks. Roy pressed closer as if he was drawing him, he leaned against his warm chest, closing his eyes and letting Link have his way with him. He didn't care at that point, he had survived the mansion, now he wanted to be with Link and love him. He just wanted to give in to his feelings roaming inside him, like a storm inside the clamp's unbreakable shell, he was a mess inside and he knew it. He had to take a hold of the storm, stand in its eye and choose what he would do.

Gently he pushed Link away, avoiding his gaze. Right now he was weaker than ever, he would break if Link would grab him now and press his warm, soft lips on his collarbone. He was afraid that if he would look into Link's eyes he would realize how wrong decisions and how big, forgivable, perfect heart he was breaking. He could almost see the look in Link's eyes although he wasn't looking at him, they were filled with sadness yet understanding.

"Link… I have to take control of my life."

"I know, Roy." Link sighed, sitting into the moss again.

Roy sat down next to him and after a while of blushing and hesitating, took a hold of his hand. "I-it's not like I don't care for you anymore, Link… W-we just can't continue all this… behind closed doors… it m-makes me stressed yet…..." Roy trailed off.

"Yet you enjoy being with me." Link finished for him. "I love being with you, Roy and I'd do anything to keep you, but you make your decisions."

There was a long, hesitating silence before Roy asked sadly as if to confirm it: "…...So, we're through?"

Link nodded solemnly, looking away from him. "This is the end of our road together."

A painful silence fell over them, like a bird it spread its wings and the whole forest quieted as if to let them have the final moments of their relationship together. It was a heart-breaking moment, they could both almost hear as their hearts crumbled away in the river of tears inside them, but said nothing.

After a long while Link finally stood up and pulled Roy up as well. In complete silence they walked to their tents, holding each other's hands, but very casually. It was as a memento of their relationship, dying with each second although the flame of love refused to be distinguished in their hearts.

Marth and Young Link had just woken up and were glad to see them. With a silent contract they decided not to tell them anything about the mansion and the man with the scythe, it was no longer a threat to them. Telling about it would only scare Young Link and then the small boy would keep Link awake at night, talking to him endlessly about flesh-eating zombies yearning for his flesh and monsters hiding under his bed with their eyes glowing red.

They drove to the city in silence, Marth glanced to the backseat at times through the rear-view mirror with a sad look on his face. He couldn't understand what had happened during the time Link had been searching for Roy in the forest, but it had decided their relationship's fate. He had hoped that a trip to the forest, alone with Link would help Roy remember the good times they had shared before Peach had come and ruined everything. He had hoped that their relationship would have grown stronger, until they could no longer be without each other; inextricably linked hearts. He hadn't, of course, thought that Roy would stubbornly hang to his decision of marrying Peach and reject the only thing that made him happy. The noble sighed, shaking his head. It seemed as if there was nothing he could do anymore.

"You can drop me off here." Roy said as they neared Peach's apartment building. Link frowned a little. Looking at his beloved with a fond look, missing him already.

"Your girlfriend lives in the same building as Peach… Poor girl." The elf said sympathetically.

Roy opened the car door as the car stopped, but turned back to Link just before he closed the door. "...Well, it happens to be so that she... is my girlfriend." Then he slammed the door shut, watching how Link's mouth opened wide in surprise and his forehead furrowed with anger towards Peach. He watched after them for a while, not wanting to go inside to propose her, but he had made his decision and now his heart would be at peace.

Still, his heart wasn't at peace. It was in the middle of a revolution of feelings, violent and torn in his chest, crying in crumbles now that Link was no longer his boyfriend. It hurt so deeply that he wanted to cry and kill himself, but he was going to have a son. He was sacrificing his happiness to give his child a childhood without worries, love from both parents and a family, a mother and a father who would love him or her with all their hearts.

He opened the door to her building and went to the elevator, pressing the right button. He looked at his feet as the elevator jerked to movement. He let a heavy sigh escape his lips, closing his eyes to gather courage to ask her to marry him. He knew she would say 'yes', but he didn't know could he actually ask her. Maybe he would just crumble before her into a pitiful boy grieving after his one and only love.

As the elevator stopped and the doors opened, he swallowed, trying to smother his heart screaming inside him, but couldn't. The pain was horrible, he didn't believe that anything could hurt that much. Every step felt like he was dancing on daggers, each plunging deeper and deeper into his heels as he went towards her door. He still wouldn't stop. He would suffer for his child, he would go through hell for the baby he was about to have so that he wouldn't have any regrets when he would be older. Before his heart could ask him about regretting the love he had just lost, he smothered it by ringing her doorbell.

As she opened the door, holding a carton of sour milk, he wanted to cry. With her he was going to spend the rest of his life or at least until his child would've left home. With another heavy sigh he greeted her, but wouldn't go in. The touch of the elf's hand on his was still fresh, it felt so warm and so caring, he had been there, next to him, he had seen him for what he really was, he had felt him and seen through his deepest defences, because he had loved him.

But all that was now gone.

"Peach…" Roy dropped on his knee, looking at the floor. Peach smiled devilishly, because she knew that now was the moment when Roy would willingly be stepped on by her. He would be her handsome puppet, she could control him with the baby, he could take care of it because she didn't care, the only thing she wanted was to have a boyfriend, a husband, someone who wouldn't leave her.

"My child means to me more than you could ever possibly know. My own childhood wasn't happy but I want to make it back to my own child, therefore…" The final hesitation hurt Roy deeply, saying those words didn't comfort him, seemed as if nothing could anymore. Despite the pain in his heart, spreading to his body, he continued: "…will you marry me?"

Peach acted surprised, inside dancing a victory dance. This was the day when she would stop chasing men and enslave this foolish one with the child she was carrying. "…Oh, yes! Of course I will marry you and we can take care of our child together."

Roy stood up, giving her a casual hug when she threw herself into his arms. Deep in his mind he tried to breathe out, but his lungs were numb and his heart was dead, his hands were cold and his feet flabby, his body hated him for what he had done, but there was no going back now. The only thought that comforted him was the thought of his unborn child, but it didn't revive his heart and he knew.

He would become a walking distortion of a man.

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Sad… and poor Roy!

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