Chapter Text
The petals are as yellow as the sun.
They stand out from the rest of the stomach acid, sadly transparent because Jaden hasn't eaten anything since last night when he decides to rent a sailboat back to Pirate City. No wonder the pirate feels a little woozy in the head for half of the trip, with his lungs seeming to tighten as if the open air of the sea doesn’t have enough oxygen to breathe.
By the time Jaden sails through the city entrance, he’s flushed and out of breath like a runner in a marathon, and the second he tries to stand up, the world tilts. He vomits, tainting the clear ocean with saliva and yellow flower petals.
Frowning confused, Jaden wipes the sweat over his eyes and shakes away his headache, thinking the heat of the sun is playing tricks on him. But there’s no mistaking it. The petals are still there floating innocently, reminding Jaden of sunflowers and the ugly guilt that’s haunting the pirate bloodshot awake at night.
-
Pirate City, as expected, is deserted by its citizens.
After collecting his stashed valuables and scarfing down a couple of canned foods, Jaden goes back to his boat, giving one last look at the remnant of his civilization. His dream that came into fruition, yet destroyed so easily by the threat of the Law, like sandcastles on the beach; beautiful yet fragile. The pirate takes off his hat and says his silent goodbye before rowing out of the abandoned city for good.
So, Jaden is officially homeless. The man sighs and contemplates what to do as the wind finally picks up, pushing his boat across the vast blue. There are a couple of locations that come to mind. One of them is on the mainland, the Capital City. Now that the Law is gone, maybe he could take on some jobs and earn some coins. It’s decided, then.
Little does he know, someone has been patiently waiting for him at the dolphin train station connecting to the mainland.
“Eggchan?”
The owner of the name looks up from his book, too absorbed in the content to notice Jaden is approaching. The pirate only arrived a few minutes ago. After returning the rented boat, he headed to the train station and immediately spotted a familiar face, sitting on a bench outside the building.
“Hello,” Egg greets back, closing his book and scooting a little to make room for Jaden. “I was waiting for you.”
Jaden quirks an eyebrow, puzzled. “How did you know I’m going to be here?”
“A calculated guess,” Egg says casually. “Also, Wemmbu needs your help, bro.”
The name sends shivers all over his body as if he’s sinking in the arctic ocean, the chill seeps into his skin, runs through his blood, freezes the air inside his lungs, until Jaden is out of breath, dragged down to his death, because his love for Wemmbu is doomed from the very start.
Sure, they’re not enemies anymore, but are they even friends? With so much history between them, hands drenched in blood, craters left from destruction, alliance in convenience, is there even an opportunity to be more? To be someone Wemmbu can trust, to be a friend or someone dear, or maybe, hopefully, someone Wemmbu can forgive.
His train of thought is interrupted by a sudden weight pressed inside his chest, stopping the flow of air only for a split second, but enough to make Jaden fold in his seat, coughing uncontrollably against his mask.
Jaden feels Egg’s hand on his back, a gesture of comfort. After a minute, the cough finally dies down but it leaves something behind. Jaden feels it between his teeth, caressing his tongue. Soft, thin, and oval-shaped. Another petal.
“Yo, you’re okay?”
Calming down his pounding heart, anxious and scared and so damn confused about what the hell is going on with his body, the best thing Jaden can do now is act normally and hear Egg out.
“Yeah, I’m alright,” Jaden replies. “So, uh, what about Wemmbu? Is he in trouble?”
“No, not currently. But he needs your help to get firework rockets.”
“Rockets?”
“Yes.”
“Uh, where can we get rockets?”
“Merchant City.”
Jaden stares dumbly at Egg, who shows no sign that he’s joking. Because surely, Wemmbu is capable enough to shop for rockets on his own, right? Or maybe he wants to rob some merchants? Now that is more plausible.
“Okay, sure. Let’s go.”
The men get into the nearest dolphin train and ride toward the mainland. At one moment throughout the ride, while Egg is distracted by the squealing mammals, Jaden drags down his mask and plucks the yellow petals out. Even inside a dim underground tunnel, the color is bright and unsettling, unwelcome, like the love he can’t erase.
-
When did it start, Jaden often wonders, this fluttering, giddy feeling every time Wemmbu turns his way. Foxlike smile across a narrow face that holds amethyst-colored eyes, glinting with mischief. Long violet hair ran wild in the wind as Wemmbu cut through the sky, hunting thousands of Law soldiers around the battlefield to feed the ever hungry Gambit.
When did his feelings change? From fear to anger to awe as Jaden caught a glimpse of a Law soldier raising his sword at him before getting smashed into pieces in the blink of an eye by a force from above. Warm blood splattered across Jaden’s face yet he did not care, for the pirate was hypnotized by his savior landing on top of the Northern Council wall, staring down at Jaden like a god to his subject; majestic, powerful, and tragically out of reach.
So it doesn’t matter when the feelings started because in the end, they have nowhere to go.
-
Back in Merchant City, it turns out the needed help has nothing to do with rockets.
“I thought your eye sees all, Egg!”
“Dude, we’re doing 4v4? Seriously?”
Jaden watches amusingly as the two friends bicker in front of a massive festival tent that holds a gladiator pit. Of course, there’ll be a fight. This is Wemmbu we’re talking about. The pirate can only go with the flow at this point, following the group inside and into a waiting room before the gate to the pit opens.
Jaden settles in the corner of the room while Wemmbu and Egg keep on squabbling like a pair of ducks. Across the room sits the fourth member of their team, a stranger wearing diamond armor two sizes too big. His frame is too lean, face’s too young, hands too jittery, where the heck did Wemmbu find him? A barn?
“Yo,” calls Wemmbu so suddenly, Jaden’s breath hitches. The pirate doesn’t expect the purple-haired man to approach him.
“Wemmbu,” Jaden greets back, trying hardest to appear calm despite how easily his heart jumps in excitement just by hearing the other man’s voice.
Wemmbu looks good, healthy complexion and relaxed posture, free from the tension and exhaustion of a month-long war. Now, Wemmbu is back with his usual devil-may-care attitude, one hand on his hips as he flashes Jaden a cheeky smile.
“Sooo, hope you didn’t feel scammed for being here.”
Jaden chuckles. “Had a feeling this wasn’t a usual grocery run, anyway.”
“Now, why would I need three dudes for that?” Wemmbu rolls his eyes.
“Who are we fighting again?”
“Some guy on a horse. Lord Sir, uhh, Weenie? Or is it Weasley? I don’t know. But he has something that I want.”
Jaden nods, finally getting the full picture of what’s going on. To his surprise, Wemmbu suddenly drops into the space next to Jaden, stretching his long legs and arms like a cat.
“Sooo, you’re good?”
Jaden blinks blankly for a good second, couldn’t believe that the Wemmbu is initiating small talk. The Wemmbu who probably choose jumping headfirst into lava rather than listening to other people’s problems.
“I, uh, good? Yeah, good.”
The words come stumbling out, Wemmbu doesn’t look a tad convinced. “Okay… Totally not weird at all.”
Jaden clears his throat. “And you, bro? You’re good?”
“Meh,” Wemmbu shrugs. “How’s your pirate civilization?”
Memories of a bustling city flash in front of Jaden’s eyes. Sailors drinking in the tavern, families fishing in the pier, pirates hoisting a blue skull and bones flag with pride as they depart; bittersweet memories to remind Jaden what he has lost.
“Yeah, it’s, uh, not good. I mean, like, thanks for protecting it, you and Egg. But no one’s been back. The place is deserted now, so…” the pirate trails off, seemingly lost in his own melancholy. Sensing a drop in the mood, Wemmbu shuts his trap for a change, absently playing with the sand under his boots.
“Well, you can always build another one,” Wemmbu eventually says.
Jaden hums. “Wish it was that easy.”
“But it is.”
“It is?”
“Yeah, we can just rob another base. I mean, that went smoothly last time, right?”
Another memory barges into Jaden’s vision. This time it’s more vivid, more devastated. Suddenly, Jaden is standing on a familiar roof, drenched in the pouring rain, speechless and heartbroken, staring wide-eyed at a man who he come to trust, come to rely on in any fight, a man who he consider as a friend, a friend who believes in Jaden’s dreams and delivers a regal base fit for a Pirate King, but sadly, at a great cost. His identity.
Jaden recalls a pair of hollow eyes staring at him, cold and soulless, before they disappear into the dead of the night.
“Jaden?”
The pirate returns to the present. When he looks up, the hollow eyes have changed. Now, staring at him, the pair is vibrant, expressive, gleaming like jewels as they study Jaden curiously. Jaden is ever grateful to be on the receiving end of such beautiful things.
“Yeah, sure,” Jaden chuckles. “Just don’t go invisible this time.”
Wemmbu scoffs. “What? Couldn’t handle the betrayal? The big reveal, Jaden?”
“More like, couldn’t handle the goodbye.”
The words are out before Jaden realizes what they could imply. In panic, the pirate adds, “I mean, dude, you left me all alone that night and it’s, uh, a big base. There was so much stuff to build, so, uh…”
It’s a mistake to glance up. Wemmbu has leaned closer, frowning, as if the man is trying to solve a puzzle across Jaden’s face; searching for answers between the brows, the eyes, the embossed line that is Jaden’s nose and mouth under the black mask. When Jaden gulps out of nervousness, Wemmbu’s gaze drops to his Adam’s apple. Why, Jaden has no clue. But they’re only a breath away and Jaden hopelessly prays that Wemmbu doesn’t hear how fast his heart races.
All too sudden, the moment shatters. The sound of a horn blares through the walls, stealing Wemmbu’s attention. The gate to the pit opens, and the tournament host beckons each team to enter.
“Uh, is it too late to forfeit, guys?” Egg says to which Wemmbu replies back with a stinky eye across the room. The latter quickly rises to his feet and summons his trusty mace.
“Let’s get this over with.”
Wemmbu walks through the gate determined and focused, unlike Jaden who’s only got up at the last moment, already missing the conversation shared between them for who knows when he’ll have them next, or worst, ever at all.
-
The name is actually Lord Sir Wessley, and it’s a location to a legendary mace that the Lord has in his possession. If Jaden hears correctly, of course, since there’s quite a distance between the pirate and the beaten-up Lord, currently interrogated by Wemmbu on the other side of the pit.
They won easily, thanks to a change of member a minute before the tournament started; an invisible knight in blue-trimmed armor with a skill to back up his suspicious aura. Not that Wemmbu cared, the mace wielder only had one thing in mind and that was winning. Which they did with no casualties aside from one traumatized Egg hiding in the podium.
“Jaden!”
The pirate lifts his eyes to Wemmbu, waving a hand from near the podium’s feet.
“Thanks, and good luck with whatever you’re doing!” he exclaims, before sprinting up the stairs to drag Egg out. Wemmbu clearly is in a rush, so impatient to uncover what lies beyond the map, any other things unrelated, insignificant to the end goal, quickly dissolve in his mind. Things such as Jaden, who’s left standing alone in the middle of the pit, gazing wistfully at Wemmbu’s back before it disappears into the exit hall.
Soon, the crowd follows. The background noise fades away into silence, wrapping the gladiator pit like an air bubble. Jaden can only hear the beat of his heart, thumping slowly, before out of nowhere, the pressure around his lungs tightens up again, dropping Jaden to his knees. Shaky hands hold his body forward as he gasps for breath. But unlike last time, Jaden feels a new sensation. Inside the walls of his throat, there’s something itchy, something hard. Like a piece of food stuck from being swallowed. For the next minute, Jaden tries to cough it out, until tears run down his cheeks, saliva seeps into the sandy field. When it’s finally out, the sight freezes the poor man in fear.
Along with the soaked and scattered yellow petals are leaves; wide half a Jaden’s palm, heart-shaped with jagged edges, and texture like sandpaper. What is happening to him?
Jaden tries to control his breath, shrugs off the tension around his shoulders and thinks, long and hard, of possible ways to get any explanation of his situation.
Seconds turn into minutes, before a face comes into mind.
An old hermit living out in the Great Sea.
-
“I’m not old!”
The hermit in question complains during Jaden’s effort of re-telling all the bizarre stuff happening to him. Minus the heart-pounding, gut-wrenching, hope-shattering feelings he has for Wemmbu, of course.
“I’m only like 22,” Linnwyrm adds, smug and all, as if Jaden hasn’t heard him say the same damn thing since years ago.
“Lynn, you’ve been 22 for, like, 20 years.”
“Nonsense!”
“Dude, I’ve known you since I was a kid!”
Any retort dies mid-argument, Lynn shuts up like a clam.
Jaden sighs before continuing. “So, yellow petals and leaves. It’s weird and I genuinely don’t know what to do. But then, I remember you used to be an adventurer. So, maybe you’ve seen something like this? In the past?”
Lynn frowns deep in thought, leaving Jaden with silence and the occasional sound of waves rolling into the cliff where the hermit’s tower stood. The pirate looks out of the living room window, tracing the straight line of the horizon where the sea kisses the setting sun; the kind of everlasting romance he will never have.
“I haven’t actually seen it in my adventuring days,” Lynn finally says. “But I do remember reading it somewhere.”
“Really?”
Lynn nods, standing up before walking toward the stairs. “Let’s check the library, maybe we’ll find something related.”
-
The library has been turned upside down for the past three days and two nights. Lynn’s barely slept and Jaden has been in and out of the toilet, vomiting more petals and leaves. His condition is worsening by the day, plus with the risk of dehydration from the large amount of fluid squeezed out of the body, Lynn decides to lock in and speedrun a whole cabinet in one afternoon.
By the time the moon is out, the answer is within his grasp.
“Unbelieveable.”
Lynn’s voice stops Jaden on his way down the stairs to prepare dinner. “What’s wrong?” The pirate glances back at the man sitting cross-legged on the floor surrounded by towers of books. One particularly hefty book opens on his lap. The page is yellowed, the end is curled. It’s probably an old book published long before Jaden even existed.
“This is bad, Jaden,” Lynn murmurs, pitching the bridge of his nose in reading fatigue. “It’s an ancient disease. There were only two people recorded ever having it.”
Jaden takes a spot across from the old man and listens.
“One is a Queen, who reigned over some kingdom across the Great Sea two hundred years ago. The other is a… poor miner? The text didn’t even mention his name, that's how irrelevant he was. He’s no one, just some guy from a small mining town a hundred years ago. The two had nothing in common. Date of birth, living environment, economic status; they’re all different. Except–”
“The disease,” Jaden murmurs dejectedly.
Looking at the younger man in pity, Lynn is conflicted whether to keep going or stop. But Jaden deserves the truth. As hurtful as the truth usually is, it's better than to live in blind.
“The symptoms are the same,” Lynn continues, flipping another page. “Nausea, chest pain, breathing difficulty, followed by excessive coughing before finally vomiting. At first, the vomit consisted of flower petals mixed with gastric acid. Then, as the disease progressed, they found leaves, seeds, thinly cut stems, along with blood.”
A chill runs down his spine; Jaden braces himself for the worst as Lynn reads the next page.
“The text highlighted how both victims died a day after they vomited a full-grown flower. At that stage, the victims were already bedridden. Weakened muscles, blurred vision, and they both showed signs of hallucinating prior to their last moments before passing away.” Lynn sighs deeply through his nose, closing the book. “And that’s it, that’s the disease.”
Jaden frowns, something’s not right. The description feels unfinished. “Does it say anything about where or how they got the disease?” he asks.
Lynn shakes his head. “The text only mentions it was an ancient disease, that’s it.”
“But if I don’t know the reason behind it, how am I supposed to know to treat it?”
Jaden’s question is met with deafening silence. Neither Lynn or any books seems to hold his answer. So, the hurtful truth is a puzzle missing its last pieces.
“There is one thing that’s been bothering me,” Lynn mutters under his breath, opening the book once again, frantically searching for a particular page. “The author of this book clearly only focused on recording the details of what's relevant. Hence, why the book didn’t mention the miner’s name. The author thought it was irrelevant for a disease they assumed wasn’t genetic. So, whatever was included in the book was important, right?”
Jaden gives a tentative nod, hasn’t got a clue what Lynn is talking about.
“So, why would the author take notes of the type of flowers the victims vomited before they died, and their relation to each victim?”
“What do you mean?”
“Listen to this: ‘For the Queen, it was a white rose. The same kind of rose she had the gardeners grow on the castle greenhouse, where every day, she plucked one and rested it on her late husband’s graveyard, died fighting one of her wars. Testimony was given by her personal maid. The miner’s flower was more humble. It was a daisy. The flower bloomed in plenty on a hill overlooking the mining town. The other miners testified how the hill was the victim’s favorite spot to have lunch together with his best friend, before the friend had to move town to get married’.”
A sense of dread washes over Jaden as the puzzle pieces come together.
“Jaden, do you know what this implies?”
Of course, he does.
“Jaden, it’s possible the flowers grew out of love in vain.”
It’s never in vain, Jaden would like to think his love for Wemmbu is freely given, whether it’s returned or not. But the gods are cruel creatures. Cursing him with a sickness without a cure for they damn well know Wemmbu can live just fine without Jaden. It doesn't matter if tomorrow Jaden breathes his last. His presence, or his love, in Wemmbu’s life is as insignificant as salt in the sea; barely visible and endlessly replaceable.
With one hand over his chest, Jaden mourns over the loss of his love and the end of his life.
-
To his surprise, tomorrow still comes for Jaden. As he slowly opens his eyes, tracing the line of the sun slipping through the curtain, as he realizes the pressure clawing nail-sharp around his lungs is still present, as he inhales long and deep before a spike of pain coming from inside his chest jolts his body fully awake, as Jaden tosses in bed, gasping for breath, for better or worse, tomorrow is here and he’s still painfully alive.
Whether life is a gift or a prolonged torture, Jaden doens’t know it yet. Though, his future seems bleak according to the ancient text. Is the future carved in stone or as fluid as a flowing river? How funny, Jaden smiles bitterly, when the river always ends at the ocean. How many it branches, how many mountains it crosses, the end is always the same. So, the future is predetermined, after all.
So it may explain why Jaden suddenly hears people’s chatter outside his door.
Cautiously, he gets out of his bed and presses his ear against the wood. The voices seem to be coming from downstairs, with one of them belonging to Lynn. Bandits? Not taking any chances, the pirate summons his trident before going out.
Jaden has a mind to just leap and water clutch down to the first level of the tower when he catches a glimpse of purple. No way, Jaden stops on his step, gawking wide-eyed at the figure standing by the door.
It’s Wemmbu. The subject of his love, and soon, the cause of his death.
On instinct, Jaden steps back, mind reeling and probably close to hallucinating because there’s just no way Wemmbu is out here deep in the Great Sea. The shock weakens his grip on the trident. The weapon falls clattering on the floor, pulling the old man’s attention.
“You ought to come down for now, they could use your help,” Lynn calls from below, blissfully unaware of the emotional turmoil Jaden’s undergoing at the moment.
“What? I don’t think we really need help.”
Jaden faintly hears Wemmbu’s reply. Help, he said? The pirate snaps back to reality and picks up his trident. Because if Jaden cannot be someone’s dear to Wemmbu, then at least let him be a friend that he can count on. This, Jaden promises, until the last of his breath.
-
So, Egg has been captured.
After catching up with Wemmbu, and pointless bickering with Flame, Jaden goes up to his room and packs up his things. In an hour's time, they will be heading to a location where supposedly all parties involved in the kidnapping will be present and the release of Egg is guaranteed. Wemmbu and Flame are gearing up at the moment in Lynn’s basement where the retired adventurer keeps all his food and equipment stocked. The pirate will join them later after changing into a fresh pair of clothes.
After fitting into comfortable leather pants, Jaden shrugs off the top we wore last night to sleep and puts on a new one. It’s identical to the last; a loose white blouse with a V-neck opening down to his chest, revealing defined pecs as the strings along the opening are undone. Standing in front of a standing mirror, Jaden is about to tie it up when a reflection of Wemmbu appears from behind.
“Knock, knock.”
Startled, Jaden quickly turns around, seeing Wemmbu lean against the doorway. Did the pirate forget to close the door? But it’s not like he expects any visitor, especially a certain mace wielder. Jaden hasn’t even put on a mask again after getting changed. Now the old battle wound stretches across the top of his lips to his chin is exposed to the world. Great. Feeling bare-faced and insecure, the pirate can only manage a tight smile at the visiting guest.
Not that it stops Wemmbu from entering the room, though.
“Sooo, this is what you’ve been doing,” Wemmbu quips, flashing a playful smile at the pirate as he scans the room from one corner to the other.
Jaden tilts his head, confused. “Uh, what?”
“Living with your grandpa in the middle of nowhere.”
The gears are clicking into place inside Jaden’s brain before the man bursts into giggles. “Dude, he is not that old,” Jaden says before realizing why the heck he’s defending Lynn’s honor. Well, it’s the least he can do after figuring out his disease. “And he’s an old friend. He let me stay here for a while, and since I’ve nowhere to go, well, here I am.”
Wemmbu nods along, his gloved fingers tapping a rhythm on Jaden’s study desk. Maps spread across the surface, with a compass and the pirate’s blue hat. “Could’ve told me before,” he murmurs, casting a bored look at scattered items. “Thought you were looking for a base.”
“Oh,” Jaden doesn’t know what to say. It never crosses his mind to ask anything from Wemmbu who had his own endeavors the last time they met.
Sensing an uneasy silence between them, Jaden changes the topic. “So, uh, did you find the mace?”
“Huh?”
“The legendary mace from Lord Sir Wessely?”
“Oh, that. Yeah, sure. Didn’t matter, though. Not when Egg is gone,” Wemmbu murmurs, shooting a faraway look into the coastal landscape outside the window. Jaden feels sorry for him. There are dark shadows under his eyes, most probably from the sleepless nights Wemmbu spent worrying about his best friend. The pirate can only hope the exchange later will go well.
Moving across the room, Jaden stops in front of Wemmbu and gives his arm a pat. “Don’t worry, we’ll get him back,” he smiles, hoping it’ll somewhat cheer his friend up.
The effect is subtle. No big smile or boastful laugh, only a flicker of acknowledgement, a glimmer of hope, across those amethyst-colored eyes before Wemmbu’s nonchalant facade slips back into place. But it’s enough for Jaden, knowing he can be of help–as trivial as it is–to the man he can’t have.
“Anyway, Jaden, was the old man not feeding you or something?”
Suddenly, it’s Jaden’s turn to be caught off guard.
“Like, bro, you look like you lost some weight. What happened?”
Wemmbu doesn’t even hide how his eyes travel Jaden’s body from top to bottom, the hopeless pirate can’t help but be flustered. “Uh, well. I just lost some appetite, I guess,” Jaden lies since there’s no way he reveals the weight loss is another side effect of incessant vomiting.
“Well, now the shirt looks too big on you.”
Jaden frowns at Wemmbu’s off handed comment but his replies never leave his lips. Without warning, Wemmbu’s gloved hands yank the strings of Jaden’s shirt. The force startles Jaden enough that he stumbles a step forward, leaving barely any space between them.
“Wemmbu–!”
But the said man pays no attention other than tying the strings along the chest opening. One by one, ever so diligently, and when they’re only inches apart like this, Jaden notices the little things about Wemmbu; how his brows knit together in focus. How his tongue peeks between thin lips. How he never takes his eyes off the task except for one moment only, Wemmbu suddenly glances up. The split-second eye contact is enough to steal Jaden’s breath away, as rose colors his cheeks, pulse quickens, heart aches in thrill or pain or both, it doesn’t matter. He’s willing to die at this very second as long as he spends his last breath in Wemmbu’s arms.
When Wemmbu finally steps back, what feels like an eternity is only mere minutes.
“Yup, definitely too big,” Wemmbu studies his handiwork. Though it has been tied tightly, the blouse still appears baggy especially around the chest and waist. “Wanna go on a shopping spree after Egg’s back?”
“Uh, sure.”
“Alright, bet.”
Wemmbu turns on his heel and walks out, but at the last second, right under the doorway, the man pauses. Then, a flick of a finger, and a golden apple materializes in his hand. Wemmbu throws it over his shoulder, fully trusting the pirate to catch it. And Jaden does.
“Don’t forget to eat, bro.”
Left alone and in a daze, Jaden sits down on his bed and watches how the sun reflects light across the golden apple’s surface into glittering mosaic beams, scattered around the room.
-
The exchange finally happened, involving Arachnid and his soldiers, the invisible knight with blue-trimmed armor, Cindercrest–which is Flame himself–and Wemmbu. But even with all the preparation, the back up armor and gear and potion, nothing can prepare them for the chaos at such catastrophic proportions, at some point, Jaden is lost on who’s attacking who. Everyone wants a piece of Egg, but Jaden knows damn well that the price on Wemmbu’s head is higher than anyone in the room. So, Jaden grits his teeth, ignores the throbbing inside his chest, and fights on.
But the future, as Jaden came to understand, is predetermined.
It is fated for Wemmbu to strike down the invisible knight only to find the real one still alive, dangling the key to Egg’s cage. Is it also fate for Arachnid to win the final negotiation because he knows Egg is the only leverage anyone can have to keep Wemmbu tame? Leashed like a rabid dog. Maybe the gods who gave Jaden the chronic disease are also the ones watching in glee as Wemmbu is stripped down to his clothes and chained both hands and feet.
“Fine, you can take me, if Egg’s safety is guaranteed,” Wemmbu says through clenched teeth, glaring straight at Yungy, Arachnid’s right-hand man. “If any of you pieces of shit touch a single hair on him, I’ll–”
“Alright, alright. Don’t get your pants twisted,” Yungy smirks. He gives a nod to one of the guards before they handle Egg’s extraction from the cage. “We promise. There, happy?”
Wemmbu spits on his feet as a reply.
Successfully ragebaited, Yungy reaches the hilt of his sword, but is quickly interrupted by Arachnid, barking an order to move out, de-escalating the tension between the men.
Yungy clicks his tongue and turns around. “Boys, take him away,” he orders the two guards to lead Wemmbu by the chain and join the march back to the kingdom.
Reality rushes in for Jaden; Wemmbu and Egg are about to be taken away from him, captive to the Spider King. Before they get too far, Jaden breaks into a run through the empty stone-walled hallways and into the forest, until the ground changes from grass to sand.
Jaden spots the group of soldiers loading a stack of crates into a couple of sailing boats by the dock. Among them is Wemmbu, restrained and disheveled, waiting for his turn. Strangely, Egg and Yungy are nowhere to be found. Maybe the Spider King orders them to journey separately for safety measures.
“Wemmbu–!” Jaden calls out when Wemmbu is about to be ushered onto a sailing boat. The pirate tries to push through the guards, but where he wins easily by skill, this time Jaden loses in numbers. The Spider King soldiers overpower him with sheer strength, resulting in Jaden on his knees, held down by a sword on his neck.
“Jaden.”
The man looks up, only to be met with cold, hollow eyes.
“Don’t follow me.”
Wemmbu turns around and steps into the sailing boat.
There are confused murmurs among the soldiers, whether to kill the intruder or not. But eventually, the soldiers withdraw their weapons and return to their mission. The boats are undocked and soon, they are ready to sail through rising waves.
Is this really how it ends? Lips trembling, vision running, hands shaking, Jaden punches a hole in the sand and screams out, rattling the calm night air so the world knows that he’s freaking pissed right now. Angry at the Spider King, at the invisible knight, at Yungy and the soldiers, at every single person ever existed but mostly, at himself for being so damn powerless. Even in the last sprint of his life, Jaden’s so damn weak to save the man he loves. Death has already crept in from every corner, ready to drag him down to the void, so what the hell is he scared of? And like a reminder, the intense pressure around his lungs is back, more painful than before. Jaden coughs out another set of yellow petals, leaves but this time, the saliva mixes with blood. Sheer in its amount, but striking red all the same. Jaden wipes the rest off his mouth and stands up.
The clouds are darkening.
Jaden will not let Wemmbu be alone in the enemy’s playground. He will not let Wemmbu think for a damn second that Egg’s capture is his fault, that Wemmbu is nothing but a weapon to be used and abused by kings, queens and gods of the worlds.
The wind is rising.
Jaden made a promise to himself: if he cannot be someone’s dear to Wemmbu, then at least let him be a friend that he can count on. And he intends to die by that promise.
The static in the air is charged.
Silhouettes of the enemy boats have long disappeared from peripheral view, cloaked by the night. But that doesn’t change a thing. Jaden will find those boats, track their route and slip into the spider civilization. Besides, who needs the sea when you have the sky?
Lightning strikes.
The rain sweeps to the east, guiding Jaden to his destination.