Still Here
A/N: For Ame, this was my lame attempt to make her smile.
~+~
Still Here
~+~
“William!”
Thomas raced through the halls of the palace, a blur of silver and green in his formal court attire as the only world he had ever known flew past him, blurring, not just because of his speed, but because reality was loosing its shape behind him.
“William!! Dammit, where are you!!”
The gigantic carved oak doors to the royal twins’ private suite slammed open so hard they nearly swung of their hinges. The prince’s form flashed about the suite, here, there, appearing almost in more than one place as he searched frantically for his brother.
“T-Tho-mas-”
He whipped around at the noise, dashing into the small private library in an alcove between their rooms. William lay sprawled on the oriental carpet, pale and trembling, eyes flickering blue with his weakening power.
“Will!!” Thomas had his younger brother wrapped tightly in his arms before his next breath, “Will, what’s wrong with you? What’s happening?”
“M-Mother …” William’s hand curled feebly against his heart, “I-I’m sorry Thom … I-I tried to stop her but she- She’s too pow-”
“Shh, Will what are you saying? Mother is behind this? Why would she do this?”
“I don’t know …” William gasped, hands tightening in the fabric of his coat, body shuddering as blue light surrounded them, “N-No, she’s-”
“Will-”
William screamed, back arching and eyes rolling as his power died out and the room seemed to shift around them, the walls groaning, bookshelves wobbling. Everything was twisting, gnarling, caving towards them as if attempting to swallow them whole.
Not waiting to find out, Thomas held his brother close and zipped out of the room, through the halls of the palace, racing out into the gardens, away from the strangeness taking over the structure and warping it slowly out of existence.
“Don’t worry, Will. I’ll get us out of here, just- just leave it to me.”
Thomas tightened his hold on his ailing brother, running until he reached the inner sanctum of the gardens. The place where only their grandfather was allowed, where they have always snuck into since they were old enough to walk, to the great shrine their grandfather erected for his long lost friend. It seemed that here everything was still peaceful as ever, nothing around them had yet been touched by the chaos disintegrating the palace and the city outside. He sank to the ground, back against the monument. Why was he so out of breath? He shouldn’t be sweating like this …
“It’s no use, Tommy … We can’t run from this.”
His brother still shook in his arms. They had not used those nicknames since they were very small children. Grandfather had told them they were undignified for the Princes of the House of Magnus. It made something in his heart tingle with cold fear to hear it so plainly now on his brother’s lips.
“Billy,” Thomas used the forbidden pet name as well, pushing sweat-dampened hair back from his brother’s pale forehead, “Why this is happening?”
“S-She’s thinks we’re not real, Tommy,” William’s tired eyes watered with tears. “N-None of this is real to her anymore.”
“Billy, Billy, what are you saying?”
Thomas wiped the wetness away, willing his strength into his brother with the gentle touch. William shook his head with a shuddering sigh, a trembling hand cupping his cheek. Thomas covered it with his own, squeezing encouragingly.
“She’s wishing everything out of existence.”
“What,” Thomas reared back in alarm, “No- We have to stop her-”
“I tried-”
“She can’t-”
“She already has … Tommy-Tommy, I’m scared.”
The wind rustled through the trees, and Thomas watched as the leaves in the wind flitted and floated shimmering red with the the echo of their mother’s magic, before disappearing forever.
“I’m here, Billy. I’ll always be here.”
He leaned down, resting his forehead against his twin in resignation.
“You promise?” William closed his eyes, pressing closer to his older brother.
“Always,” Thomas repeated as the garden around them began to shine red like a wild fire, slowly shifting, distorting and melting away.
The magic crept over their bodies as well, consuming them in a fiery glow, disintegrating them out of existence bit by tiny bit. Yet, they held on tighter to each other, even as they felt the magic swelling within them, as if their determination to stay together would somehow keep the incorrigible force at bay. They both knew there was nothing that could stand against their mother’s power.
“T-Tommy!”
It was the last time he would hear William’s voice.
“I’m still here, Billy!”
It was the last time Thomas would say those words.
Red took over their vision, and then there was nothing.
~+~
“Dammit, Kaplan. Why the hell do ya have to be such a spazz?!”
“Mmngh, T-Tommy?”
“No the mother fuckin’ tooth fairy, yes!! Welcome back to earth, jackass.”
“S-Screw you, Tommy,” Billy groaned, squirming in Tommy’s hold.
The boy who could practically be his twin was racing through New York City toward Manhattan with Billy in tow. Flashing through traffic faster than a human eye could track, and leaving a chaotic whirlwind behind him to the dismay of many a pedestrian.
“W-What are you doing, the fight wasn’t over! G-Get us back!”
“It’s over for you,” Tommy gruffed. “You fell outta the frickin’ sky, Kaplan. Woulda been a pancake if it weren’t for yours truly. So shut up. On big green’s threat of death, I gotta take you home.”
“But I can still-”
“Shut up, and sit tight.”
Billy was about to retort, but a strong disorienting wave of déjà vu hit him with such force it left him reeling. His hand curled over Tommy’s heart on reflex, the rapid hum of its beating driving the dizziness away until he recalled the last few moments before he lost consciousness.
A stone memorial, a quiet garden, his brother near him, the world crumbling red around them …
No, no- That wasn’t right. He was tired, he’d expelled too much energy and taken a bad hit that penetrated his shield, knocking him out of the sky and sending him hurtling towards the ground and certain death. He should be dead, but Tommy had caught him.
“T-Thank you, for being there …” he mumbled, the words feeling strange on his tongue.
“Yea, well whatever, I’m always here anyway-” Tommy cut himself off, clearing his throat and shifting his grip on Billy.
Billy stilled, the words echoing to something deep in his soul. Under his hand, Tommy’s heart skipped a beat before speeding up again, and Billy couldn’t help but wonder if it was because he had felt it too.
Leaning his head against Tommy’s shoulder, he decided not to draw attention to it, letting it go in favor of avoiding what would surely be Tommy’s scathing dismissal. He closed his eyes with sigh, a faint memory of red light still flashing behind his eyes.
“I’m here too.”
The whisper was so quiet the wind carried away his words, but that skip of Tommy’s heartbeat assured Billy that his brother had still heard.
~+~
Fin