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"I’ve been looking into theories about other universes. Extranets, they call them. Parallel to our own, but separate and different, you know the deal."
Dark gazed over the green mountains while the sun was slowly descending behind them, painting the horizon with its last bright light for the day. He was sitting precariously over the cliffside near where they'd made a home, without caring for either the risk or some pretty view, careless as he always was.
Chosen looked at him. “Cool,” he said plainly.
Dark sighed. “Well, despite the other, quite exciting possibilities—he coughed emphatically in his fist at that—I’m thinking: Would the other us be friends? Elsewhere?”
There was a pause. "Maybe."
"See? You’re boring!" he huffed. "Questions require answers. ‘Maybe’ is a coward’s way." He waved a hand at Chosen's face. The latter fell silent.
"I don't know about other universes. I just know this one," Chosen said.
The sun looked like it was letting out its final, tired breath, ready to hide behind those lush hills, like a swan's last beautiful song as it passed away. It signaled the end of yet another day, the coming of the night and its hours of darkness and the new beginnings of tomorrow that awaited.
Dark rolled his eyes. "Then tell me about this one. Do you think we’ll stay as friends here?"
Chosen closed his eyes and let his head fall back to gaze up at the sky’s magical canvas.
"Depends. On us, I mean"
"Still not an answer!" Dark groaned. "You're no fun."
"I'm trying to be realistic!"
"No one asked for that!" He poked a finger to Chosen's head. "I asked for what you think."
The sky was a wonderful dance of all warm colors, even after long after the sun had set. Reds, oranges, pinks and yellows in perfect harmony, mixing with each other like a painting, slowly giving their place to the deep blues of the night. The first brightest stars had already started to show.
"So I will ask you again, you hockey stick. Do you think we'll be friends in this universe?"
Chosen let out a soft breath, looking down at his feet over the edge of the cliff. "Yeah. We're sticking together in this."
Dark grinned. “Finally, a full sentence! And a good one at that.”
He hugged the other's shoulders tightly bringing him closer to his face. Chosen smiled at the unexpected contact. After all, for his brother, it was always welcome.
"Ha! Didn’t know you could do that. Not so tough-looking now, huh?" Dark pinched at Chosen's cheek, making the other slap at his hand. "I mean it. You should smile more." he continued softly.
"Is this you being 'tough-looking'?" Chosen teased.
"I'm a lot of things."
"I'm scared of what this means"
Dark laughed, loudly as he was used to, the only sound echoing throughout that quiet dusk. "Get used to it, 'cause you're stuck with me for eternity! Friends forever, remember?"
It was the darkest part of the night, but the enormous crater in the ground was impossible to miss. A continuous line of destroyed ground starting from the cliff and ending at this glaring hole. This was the place where the earth split. The place where unstoppable forces collided. Where three brothers' fate was written.
Chosen didn't have the energy to fly there, so walking was it. He sat in silence at the edge of the crater, whose bottom was too deep down to make out in the night. He doubted there was anything remaining anyway.
So many things he wanted to say. So many things he could've said. So many things he should've said. But no words for them. Not then, nor now. And now it was too late.
It had been long since sunset. The sky now wore its dark blue, a color almost black, not at all reminiscent of the warm, brilliant colors that once made up its canvas. No bird dared sing and no wind dared blow. Even the stars seemed to not shine that night, as if they too held their breath.
Chosen looked at the crater, solemn. "Yeah. Friends forever," he whispered weakly as exhaustion and something else brought him to his knees.