Brothers Divided
Disclaimer: Nope, nothing is mine. Though I wish I had some magic beans. I'm hungry.
I felt like writing something angsty, and this popped into my head. No, I do not think that Will should have died at the end, so don't get the wrong idea. I just like writing What If stories.
Jacob Grimm looked down at the motionless body of his brother and felt overwhelmed by despair. Angelika had kissed Will, but Will had not woken up. He just lay there with his eyes closed and his mouth half open, and he looked as if he was merely sleeping peacefully, like a character in a fairy tale. If he wasn't in such despair, Jake would have immediately taken out paper and a quill so he could jot write down that fairy tale idea.
He crouched down on the forest floor and gave his brother a shake. "Will! Will, wake up!" He almost expected Will to swat his hand away and yell at him for waking him from a good dream, but Will remained motionless.
"I don't understand," Jake whispered frantically. "The spell! He... he should be waking up!"
Angelika stood behind Jake and put a hand on his shoulder. Compassion was not usually in her nature, but she had never felt so terrible for another person before. Jake and his brother were very close, despite the fact that Will would deny it if he were alive. Jake depended on his brother and would be lost without him. Angelika knew what it was like to lose a sibling. But at least her sisters had been returned to her. By the looks of it, Will wasn't coming back.
Jake was shaking his head side to side. Just side to side like a broken weathervane. "I don't understand." He put his ear to Will's chest but could feel nothing. There was no life there. Only a deep little black hole in his chest, gaping directly into his heart. Jake looked at that little hole and whispered to himself, "The queen."
"Hmm?" Angelika said.
"The queen," Jake repeated. "She was able to give Will life, but now she's dead. Now she's dead and the life she gave Will has vanished along with her."
Angelika said nothing but just stood there and looked down at Will. It was so difficult to believe that he was dead, but he must be. It had been heroic (and also rather foolish) of him to leap out that window like that. Now she could never thank him for all the things he had done to save her, her sisters, and everyone else in the village.
Jake was too deeply wounded to even cry. He felt like he was frozen in time and nothing existed around him. He just sat there like a statue as he tried to digest harsh reality. What in the world was he going to do without Will?
Never again would he see Will's cocky smile, or hear his laugh. He wouldn't ever hear Will scold him for his childish belief in magic or see him flirting with girls at inns. He would never again hear that girlish shriek that Will let out whenever he was startled. He would never again feel the force of Will's hands as he pushed him or hit him due to losing his temper. Never again.
Angelika took her hand off of Jake's shoulder. "Jacob? Are you all right?" How could she ask him that? Of course he wasn't all right. He looked as if he'd been turned to stone by a basilisk.
Jake reached over and plucked a dry, yellow leaf out of Will's hair. "You'll have to help me carry him." His voice was soft, as if he was merely exhaling the words instead of speaking them. "I'm sure the villagers of Marbaden won't mind having one of the brothers Grimm in their cemetery. They'll feel honored."
Angelika nodded. She didn't like seeing Jake like this. He was sensitive and a little on the quiet side, but usually not melancholy. That mood just didn't seem to suit him. She looked around and peered through the tall trees. "Where did the girls go?"
As soon as she spoke, she heard high-pitched laughing voices, and the eleven girls who were rescued from the tombs skipped into sight. Angelika quickly found her two sisters and ran to them. "Make sure you stay in sight," she scolded. The younger girls nodded.
"Are we going home now?" one of them asked.
Angelika cast a look at Jake, who still knelt in a dry bed of leaves beside his brother. He looked back at her with a blank expression on his face. "We had better go," he said.
One of the girls ran over to Jake and Will. "Tell him to wake up," she said innocently, pointing a finger at Will's body.
Jake just looked at her sadly. "I can't."
"Why?" the girl asked, not understanding.
Tears still would not come to Jake's eyes. He was too wounded to cry. He lay a hand on Will's cold shoulder, as if trying to protect his brother from his inevitable death. "He won't ever wake up. Go to Angelika. She'll take you home."
The girl stared down at Will's body with a stricken expression on her young face. She then ran to Jake and put her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry," she cried. "I hope you feel better!"
Jake was touched by the girl's sympathy, but he pulled her off of him. "Go with Angelika and the others. I want to be alone with Will right now."
She obeyed and skipped off to join the other girls. Angelika was about to walk away, but she turned around and looked at Jake, who had still not moved from that same spot. His head was bowed and he picked up a handful of leaves and slowly shredded them absently. "Jacob?"
Jake looked up at her and let the mutilated leaves slip from his hands. "Stay right here," Angelika told the girls. She walked over to Jake and knelt on the ground on the other side of Will's body. She reached out and stroked Will's eerily pale cheek. She didn't like admitting it, but she had become rather fond of Will. It was so cruel for him to be taken from her like that, and even crueler to Jake.
"You shouldn't remain here," Jake muttered. "Those girls need to be back with their families as soon as possible."
"You're right," Angelika admitted. But she did not move.
"Please go," Jake said, not looking at her.
Angelika nodded and slowly got to her feet. "I'll fetch some men to get Will, and then he'll be laid to rest. Everyone in the village will come to the funeral. I'm sure our egotistical friend would have wanted that." She couldn't believe she was making a bit of a joke at a time like this. It was best if she left Jake alone. She was sure she was making him feel worse. "I'll be back," she told him, and taking each of her sisters by the hand, she and the flock of girls exited the forest.
"I should have prevented this," Jake muttered softly. "I should have stopped you from leaping out that window. Maybe you're right after all, Will. Maybe magic can't help everything. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I let myself stab you with that dagger and I'm sorry I got upset when Angelika almost kissed you that one time. I'm sorry I bought those magic beans." He paused and adjusted his spectacles, which were sliding off due to the bowed position his head was in. The forest was deathly quiet and not a sound could be heard. It was peaceful. At least Will had departed in a peaceful environment.
Jake broke the silence again. "You certainly weren't the best brother in the world. Sometimes I even wished you weren't my brother. Sometimes I just couldn't handle the sight of you anymore and wanted to run off on my own. I take all of that back now. I know you've always thought I was an idiot, and I am. You were always so much braver than me, Will. So much braver. Why did it have to be you? How come I was the one who was left behind on this earth? What good can I do? All I'm good for is daydreaming about magic and fairy stories. I know that we found out it's all real, but still, but good can I do? I can't help villages on my own. You're the heroic fighter, not me. What am I supposed to do? People depend on the brothers Grimm. Now it's just one brother and I can't help them."
It felt good to just talk it all out, even though he was just mostly babbling without giving much thought to his words. Several times he almost expected Will to reply. He wanted Will to reply. He wanted him to give him answers to the agonizing questions that he had. Why did this have to happen? Jake had never felt so helpless before, even when he was a young boy frantically searching the streets for anything that could help his dying sister.
Jake sighed. "Sometimes you weren't a very good person, Will. But you were my brother and I love you, even through all your faults. I miss you already, and I'm going to keep on missing you every day for the rest of my life."
After that, he said no more and continued to just sit there. He must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he knew, someone was shaking him by the shoulder and everything was blurry when he opened his eyes. He was laying in an awkward position on the ground and his spectacles had fallen off. He hastily put them on and sat up. Angelika crouched in front of him with her hand held out, as if prepared to give him another shake. She lowered her hand. "I told you I would come back."
Jake just nodded. He must have been there for quite a while, as it was now getting dark. He looked around, expecting to see the peaceful form of his brother laying by him, but there was only the forest floor. "Where's Will?" He looked around wildly and Angelika gripped his hand.
"Jacob. It's all right. They're taking Will back to the village. Some men came and got him while you were asleep." She released his hand and stood up. "Now come on. You can't stay here all night." Jake got to his feet and followed Angelika as she started walking. Neither of them said a word. Speaking was unnecessary when the silence told them so much.
They reached the village and Angelika took Jake to her home, bypassing the happily dancing villagers who were glad to have the queen vanquished and their missing girls returned to them. Angelika's sisters happily greeted Jake, but their faces fell when they saw that he was in no mood for a celebration. Angelika told them to play outside and they quickly obeyed.
"Take a seat," Angelika said to Jake, pointing at a wooden chair. "I'll make some tea."
Jake sank down into the chair and tapped his fingers on the table. Something caught his eye and he picked it up. It was one of Angelika's drawings, but it was one that Jake had never seen before. He was unable to speak for a moment and just sat there and stared at the paper in his hands.
Angelika, who had her back turned to him the whole time, turned around the face him. "The tea's almost—" She caught sight of the paper that was still clutched in Jake's hands, and she pulled her eyebrows together in a slight frown. "What have you got there?"
"When did you draw this?" Jake asked.
Angelika walked over and took a look. Her face reddened slightly but she quickly regained her composure. "Oh. That. Just something I whipped up today while you were still in the forest. I don't know why I drew it."
"But it's good!" Jake cried. "It's perfect!" His face grew melancholy as he stared down at the drawing. It was a picture of his brother. Angelika had captured his likeness perfectly. The way his hair stuck up slightly. The confident way he held himself. That cocky spark in his eyes. It was almost like having the real Will staring back at him. Jake shyly looked up at Angelika. "You couldn't bring him to life with a kiss, but you brought him to life on paper."
"Keep it," Angelika said. Jake opened his mouth to protest, but she silenced him with a look. "Keep it, please. You need it more than I do."
Jake set the picture down on the table. "Thank you."
Angelika was about to say something, but an odd look came across her face. "Oh no! The tea!" She rushed over to the tea kettle and managed not to ruin anything. She soon had the tea in a cup and brought the cup and saucer over to Jake. She moved the drawing of Will out of the way so the tea wouldn't spill on it, and then got her own cup of tea and sat down opposite Jake.
Jake lifted the tea cup to his lips and took a hesitant sip. His eyes widened and he hastily set the cup down, nearly spilling its entire contents in the process.
"Too hot?" Angelika asked, not seeming to care about the droplets of tea that sprayed the table.
"Just a bit."
They sat in silence, both of them using the silence as an excuse for waiting for their tea to cool. Angelika finally braved a sip of her own tea and was able to gulp some down. "It's fine now. You can drink."
Jake carefully picked up his cup and took a long sip. The hot liquid rushed through him and seemed to take all his worries and fears away. He took another wonderful sip and felt the same calming sensation. "Thank you for the tea," he said awkwardly, and said nothing after that. He didn't quite know what to say to her.
"Oh. Yes. Sorry it was so hot in the beginning." She didn't quite know what to say either.
Jake just nodded his head and continued drinking. Every once in a while, his eyes would flick over to the drawing of Will. Once his cup of tea was empty, he kept on raising the cup to his lips absently, as if there was still another drop left.
Angelika broke the silence. "They'll hold the funeral in a couple of days. I assume you're staying here until it's over."
"Yes."
"And then where will you go?"
Jake merely shrugged.
"You'll continue writing, won't you?"
"What's the point?" Jake mumbled. "Nobody believes in those tales anyway."
"Yes they do, Jacob," Angelika said forcefully. "Yes they do. Magic really exists in the world. You know that, and I know that. Will knew that. Give a bit of magic to the rest of the world. Continue to share your stories. It's what you were meant to do and you're good at it."
"Yes, but the 'Brothers Grimm' is no longer. People will expect me to be some fabulous hero for surviving this and outliving my brother." He fiddled around with his teacup. "I don't feel like a survivor though. I just feel like someone who has been mercilessly ripped apart. What kind of survival is that?"
Angelika reached across the table and took his hand in her own. "I don't care what you say, Jacob. You're an important part of this world. Make the most of who you were born to be. Go out into the world and enlighten people with your tales."
Her words uplifted Jake somehow, and a shadow seemed to fall from his face. "Yes. You're right."
Angelika picked up the drawing of Will and put it into his hands. She stood up. "Now let's organize a ceremony that will do justice to your brother."
Jake gazed at the black and white picture and tucked it into his jacket, where it lay close to his heart. "I'll make you proud of me, Will."
The end.
I'm not even sure if this story made complete sense, but I'm happy with it. I can't believe I killed off Will. How will I ever forgive myself for such an obscene act? Oh well, at least it turned Jacob into an angster. Don't you just love angsty Jake? Of course, since he's so busy being angsty, it leaves barely any room for him to be his usual dorky self, but oh well.