This is a short Dragon Quest IX drabble that contains SPOILERS. BIG spoilers. Heart-wrenching, horrible spoilers. ;-;
I suppose if you squint, this could be seen as MaleHero/Aquila. That isn't intended. I only ship FemaleHero/Aquila.
Heartache was something he'd only heard of. He thought it was a fictitious word for romantic disappointment. But now he could write a book about it.
He pondered these things as he plummeted to his death from tens of thousands of feet in the air. His whole thought process was going a little fuzzy, considering the buckets of blood streaming from his gaping chest wound, and for some reason he wouldn't fall unconscious. There was a pain deep in his chest, and it wasn't due to the sword gash. Never had he thought of heartache as a physical experience. It was pounding against his ribcage, as real as the ground that was rushing up to meet him.
Where was this heartache coming from? As a Celestrian- well, former Celestrian, ever since he mysteriously lost his halo and wings- he was not well acquainted with strong emotions. They were always taught to be modest, docile, remote, and respectful. Though the last thing he wanted to do was admit it, the ex-Celestrian knew exactly what was happening. Betrayal.
It wasn't seconds after he had handed the seven fyggs [that he had almost died collecting] to his mentor and confidant, the great Celestrian Aquila, that Aquila whipped out his sword, slashed him down the front, and tossed him out of the airborne Starflight Express to his doom.
Where he was currently.
Falling to his death.
Bleeding out.
Unable to even pass out, wrapped in heartache, pain, and betrayal, the young ex-Celestrian waited grimly for death.