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It happened in a flash.
The world seemed to cave.
People theorize about the after life.
What it looks like? Who gets there? How it is?
The truth is that there isn't anything to the after life. It's forever of nothing.
Mostly, anyway.
You get to spend eternity with the people most important to you.
That's probably why James expected to be alone. His wife had left him and his business was falling. He had nothing, nobody.
Nobody except him.
Most people would say forming a deep bond with someone you met once at a masquerade engineered to kill off all of the attendees was impossible. But there was something about this Karl that made him stumble over his words and rethink everything he said.
It seemed stupid. Like a school girls crush.
But from the moment he felt the metal rush through him, James only had one thought.
Is Karl ok?
In fact he clung to the mortal world to watch over him, just long enough to see his potential lover meet the same fate as he did.
This gave James the strength to move on, to know that at least he would have Karl.
And yet, he didn’t.
Karl never joined him, James had no choice but to draw the conclusion that Karl wasn’t connected to him in the same way. After all he'd seen the sword go clean through Karl's perfect stature.
And that was how it was for hundreds of years.
One soul forced into eternal loneliness and heart break. There's no need for sleep in the afterlife. Or eating. Or anything you could enjoy. Just 24/7 of isolation.
Time passed hellishly slow and James wondered what he ever did to deserve such a horrid fate. His only comforting thought was that of Karl possibly being alive, using this to justify his solitary end.
And then another flash came.
"James..?" A meek voice came from the centre of the empty expanse.
Slowly the black haired boy lifted his head. Assuming this to be another fabrication of his mind. However it was different this time. The hallucination moved towards him, quickly. In fact it was jumping at him. Correction, ON HIM.
Karl pinned him to the ground with a heavy hug. It was full of longing. The embrace held everything they had missed.
"Karl? It's really you!" James had a sudden burst of energy, excitement. He stood, Karl still wrapped around him like a koala. "I've waited so long for this." He set Karl down fully before staring straight into the purple eyes he'd missed so much. Cupping Karl's face James knew what he had to do next.
Slowly he brought the other mans face to his and their lips connected with a flash, it seemed so right. Everything was finally coming together. That was until James felt a firm fist collide with his cheek, sending him straight back to the floor.
"Sapnap what the hon-" Karl began but stopped when he realized what his fiancés presence meant.
They were both dead. He couldn't remember how. The cause being blocked in his mind.
"Babe you die for like 2 seconds and all of sudden it's ok to cheat?" Sapnap spoke, authority in his voice. He was currently glaring down at what looked like an old timey version of him.
James looked back between the two, Karl helping him up. "It's been a while since I looked in a mirror, but isn't that me?" He spoke, unsure of what he was saying. If it was even possible.
"Right. James this is Sapnap, my fiancé. Sapnap this James, we had a thing a long time ago." Karl said, pausing as he spoke, as if he was trying to figure out the correct wording. "Kind of anyway. Not really."
"Wait so you're telling me I die and you go and date the beta version of me?" James says, almost laughing.
"Not quite." Karl said warily, this was going to be one hard conversation to have.
"I know this guy did not just call ME a beta of HIM." Sapnap was getting riled up again. And James wasn't going to be caught off guard this time.
"Are you really that dumb? YOU came after ME, its not that hard." James snapped back, readying himself for a fight.
"You Phantom of the Opera looking ass." Sapnap starting rolling up his sleeves, mirrored by James.
"WAIT WAIT WAIT!" Karl yelled standing between them. "Babe listen to what I have to say first," He said to Sapnap, the taller man softening upon eye contact. "And you too alright?"
Reluctantly both men dropped their fighting stances and turned to the brown haired boy they so adored. Grabbing both their hands Karl sat them down on the floor, criss cross style.
"James, when I met you I was already with Sapnap. This may seem confusing but I had travelled back in time and the reason I had such a love filled reaction to you was partially because you look just like Sapnap." Karl wanted to make sure he said everything correctly. He knew how temperamental this bloodline is.
"HA TOLD YOU!" Sapnap said smugly, seemingly only picking up on that part of the conversation.
"Sapnap." Karl spoke with warning in his tone and he backed down. "Despite this I did still feel a connection and up until this moment I carried the burden of your death with me. I couldn't save you. And I will always be sorry for that, for leaving you here alone. If I could control my time travelling I would go back and protect you. Protect all of them."
James was quiet. He looked like he was processing everything that had been dumped on him, in fact Sapnap also had a serious look on his face, as if he had just realised what had been said.
"So," James started to talk but stopped, "you never loved me? It was always just. Just him?" Hurt was evident in his voice.
Karl felt pangs of guilt hitting him in his chest, it felt like bullets.
"I felt a strong connection to you. Maybe not love, but something for sure." There was so much he wanted to say. It felt like he would never have enough time. "You meant something to me, something I haven't felt with anyone else, even Sapnap."
The bullets kept hitting the longer he looked at James' face. Only it wasn't just in his chest, it was everywhere.
Karl felt Sapnaps hand slip from his as the male faded away.
"SAPPY?" His voice cracked as he yelled, his hand now wrapped around air. He then realised it wasn’t guilt he was feeling, rather a searing pain.
James looked towards Karl again, his eyes glossy with tears.
"They're taking you back." James pulled Karl in again, this kiss was quick and urgent.
"What do you mean, I don-"
"Shhhh, don't think." A firm hug engulfed the small man and the pain grew stronger, lulled away by the safe embrace.
That was until the pain stopped. Everything stopped.
All Karl could see was black, loud noise surrounded him and he no longer felt safe.
"KARL YOU'RE SAFE!" He instantly recognised the tender voice of his fiancé. Karl forced himself to open his eyes, he was lying in a bed, covered in bandages.
"What happened?" Instead of the usual sweet and soft voice Karls voice came out hoarse and dry.
"We died, but they totally brought us back." Sapnap spoke fast, planting a kiss on Karls forehead. The hunter looked horrible, bandages adorned him, dark circles consuming the area under his eyes.
The purple eyed man looked up curiously, "You mean you don't remember?"
"Remember what?"
"Nothing… Just a stupid dream I had."