Chapter Text
In a soft, sunny meadow, a cleric and a paladin sit together, enwrapped in each other’s presence. The sun beats down on them, casting a gentle warmth across their faces and the flattened grass beneath their bodies. Only moments ago, the paladin struck the final blow, killing the three-headed beast that had turned on his dear cleric and torn a vicious gash across his chest. The threat is gone now, but the damage has already been done. The cleric lies cradled in the paladin’s arms, listening to his uneven breathing and the quiet, broken sounds of his grief.
They both know he is going to die, and the cleric does not fight it.
“My cleric,” the paladin says softly, his voice shaking, “I swore an oath to protect thee, and yet I have failed. I pray thou might forgive me, wherever thou art bound beyond this realm. I am so sorry.” His hands tighten around him, desperate, as if holding him closer could undo what has already happened.
The cleric smiles weakly and lifts a trembling hand, brushing away the paladin’s tears. His fingers trail gently over sun-kissed freckles, lingering as though committing them to memory.
“I could never blame thee,” he murmurs. “Thou did all that could be done, and thou didst prevail. The beast is slain, and our people are safe.” His voice softens further. “Thou art the bravest soul I have ever known. I love thee dearly, my Michael.”
The paladin leans into the touch, a fragile smile breaking through his sadness as he looks down at him.
“I do not deserve thee,” he whispers, “yet I would choose thee in every life that follows this one. If I am ever granted another chance, I swear I will protect thee with all that I am, William.” His voice cracks around the name and he brushes a loose strand of soft brown hair from the clerics forehead, his hand resting ontop of the cleric.
The wound spreading across the cleric’s chest burns relentlessly, blood seeping through his robes and darkening the soft purple fabric. He gasps as the pain overtakes him, his body trembling violently in the paladin’s arms. The paladin begs him to stay, pleads for him to hold on just a moment longer, but nothing stops what is coming. The cleric’s eyes flutter closed, and his hand slips downward, settling over the paladin’s where it rests against his chest.
His fingers curl weakly around the paladin’s, and he whispers something beneath his breath. Suddenly, a sharp, electrifying jolt surges through the paladin’s hand and races up his arm. The cleric forces his eyes open one last time, locking his gaze with the dark-haired boy above him. His lips twitch into a faint smile as a single tear slips down his now pale cheek.
“My final act of love, my dear Michael,” he breathes, “is to grant thy wish. I will find thee again—another time, another life.” His voice falters. “Thank thee, my beloved. Farewell.” His breathing stills, and his body goes slack.
The paladin cries out and collapses forward, resting his head against the cleric’s chest, just above where his heart once beat, but, there is no sound. His tears spill onto the cleric’s limp body, and suddenly a small puff of smoke rises between them, thin and unnatural. Startled, the paladin pulls back, confusion tightening in his chest as he looks down.
The brown-haired boy is gone. Only the cleric’s robe remains, empty and unmoving in the grass. Before the paladin can make sense of it, the ground beneath him splits open with violently. Slimy, grasping strands coil around his limbs, dragging him downward as the earth tears wide. He falls into the darkness below, pulled into the unknown.