Tower: Have you ever had a plan or strategy go totally wrong?
TG: get thisTG: one time i thought hey lets make some cash off of my sweet website by letting people advertise on it because what could possibly go wrongTG: and after a week it felt like my popularity was dropping so i went to see whats upTG: turns out bro got his hands on the ad spot and there was plush puppet rumps over EVERYTHING TG: as awesome as puppets are it didnt do me any good with my ratings and all the cash i got was out of my own brothers wallet so we didnt earn anything TG: if that isnt a plan gone wrong i dont know what is
"I'm curious, Anise. How does your mun feel about money? That's a rather important topic for you, after all."
"Money on New Years? Right under the mattress. In a bookstore? Complain to her sister who's buying a book that she 'doesn't need it'. Want a new videogame? Wait a year or two 'til the price drops significantly. Makeup? Natural beauty is true beauty!
You'd think a sweet, innocent, cute little girl like me was the one to bribe her into doing so..."
Guy couldn't believe he was actually crying over him, the man who was nothing but a walking pile of snark, and a pain in all their asses. But even still, he couldn't help but miss what he'd become so accustomed to.
The others had left a while before, and Peony hadn't even shown up. Word was that the emperor was so distraught over his friend's untimely passing that he didn't want to move from his bedchambers. Later, Guy planned to pay a visit to Malkuth's ruler. For now, however, he was still standing there, where the colonel had been buried a few hours prior.
Tears were still forming and falling, and doing so silently. He didn't move, and how he was standing was statuesque, as if he couldn't move even if he wanted to. There were no sobs, not even any sighs or whimpers. The loss of those close or dear to him had become something that he was all too familiar with, being a man that not only lost his family, but the people of his isle. His broken heart's aching would subside, just as it always did, but for now he would mourn a friend.
Shaking his head to toss those thoughts away for now, the blond sunk down on the grass and stared forward, just watching the grave site with a saddened expression. Finally, he was able to form words to break his previous silence, voice unwavering even with his tears lingering at the edge of his eyes.
"I can't believe you let this happen. Of all the people in the world, I would've thought you'd be the one to be immortal, to cheat death and laugh in its face when it tried to grab you." He laughed emptily, shaking his head. "I bet you could feel yourself going and made some stupid comment, huh? Probably made fun of yourself, or maybe you told one of those 'old man' jokes you always did?"
The ex-servant raked a hand through his hair and blew a breath out, it sound like "phew", or another similar sound of exhaustion. "You know what you did? You left me with those four. All alone. Do you know how closely I'm going to have to watch them now by myself? They're never going to stop yelling or fighting now that you're not around to freak them out with talk of dissection, and all that other stuff you'd say."
He brought his knees up and hugged them to his chest with one arm, propping the other up so that he could rest his cheek on his palm. His tears were slowing, and they soon became far and few. Right when he felt he'd mourned enough, he heard that familiar ring of his elder's voice coming from his right.
"Oh? Done crying over me already, Guy? I thought I would've meant more to you and been worthy of some more crying. I'm hurt."
A smile appeared on his face and his eyes fell shut. "Heh, guess not. I'm all cried out over you, Jade."
"Ah, well. I was an old man. It was about time for me to go."
"Hardly."
"Oh? Does that mean you think I should've stuck around?"
"You make it sound like you decided to die." Guy had the urge to face the voice, but he didn't move at all.
"I've cheated death enough. Not even for my own life, but for others', and in disturbing ways. I consider this... Making up for my sins, if you will."
He didn't reply and only thought for a while about that, trying to figure out if it actually made sense or not. Jade, the so-called Necromancer, dying early because he "toyed" with other's lives? Was karma really so cruel? Guy didn't know how to feel knowing what Jade had done with fomicry, but he gave him the benefit of the doubt and thought that the colonel had his heart in the right place.
"Shame I won't get to see everything unfold. I wonder if you'll all turn out like I suspect you will. Woe is me."
To Guy's surprise, the last phrase actually sounded... Sincere. Was he actually pitying his own death? Did he regret going so quickly? Was he... Sad?
He'd never heard something like that in Jade's voice, and it caused him to turn with a surprised, "Jade?"
When he looked to where he thought he'd heard the voice coming from, there was nothing there. He didn't know whether he'd imagined that conversation or not, but he knew he couldn't tell anyone. He'd sound insane.
Standing again, he waved it off. He'd forget about this - this interaction with a ghost. Whether it had been real or not. But, it was oddly comforting. Closure was good medicine for the mind and heart during mourning, so he felt confident in himself that he'd remember Jade...
As fondly as it was possible to remember such an ass, anyway.
