Chapter Text
Flame was grateful that he got a family that loves him despite their differences. Well… that's a bit of a stretch when his 'dad' gave him side eyes or glares most of the time, at least he still treated him like a child that needed guidance from a parent. Flame didn't remember much, but he did hear a muffled argument along the lines of "I didn't agree with this" and "stupid arranged marriage".
Ah, 'Dad' was only here to play his role, a role that he was supposed to do as a supportive husband, not as a supportive partner. A conure hybrid married a parrot hybrid just for the sake of their families.
Flame didn't mind it too much, even though he was a 2-year-old nether tiger demon boy who had just been left out by his biological dad at the time.
But all he worried about was his oldest brother, Parrot.
Despite everything, he genuinely cared about Flame, or rather… cared too much for his own good.
Parrot was just 4 years old, but he learned a lot of skills to take care of the whole family. Because sometimes 'dad' neglected mom too much, and 'mom' liked to disappear in the middle of the night.
Flame peeked through the door to see Parrot's bedroom, and it was messy for once. Full of papers and books on the grounds, though his nest is neatly precise and the opposite of messy. "..Parot?"
"F-Fall?" Parrot's voice sounded tired, probably after hearing the entire argument coming from their parents room, since his own room was right next to theirs.
Flame slowly entered the bedroom and walked towards Parrot's bed that he had been nesting for stress. "Can't slweep…"
Parrot's eyes softened and he nodded slowly, "You can sleep with me, Flamey."
Flame's eyes lit up, he got up onto the bed, laying next to his brother inside the nest made of Parrot's own clothes. Parrot must have been sick of hearing their arguments for a long time.
"Sweet dreams.." Parrot softly caressed Flame's locs and closed his eyes.
"U-too, boh…" Flame barely could speak at the time, but he meant 'You too, bro...' and Parrot knew that. He gave a smile to Flame, and they fell asleep peacefully.
Until one day, an end demon hybrid baby showed up on our doorstep. Who was apparently my new little brother.
Our dad had enough and was packing up, leaving them behind. Our mom begged him to stay, but it wasn't enough for him to change his mind.
To ignore what's going on entirely, Parrot picked up the purple-skinned baby from the basket and calmed the baby down, rocking it. The baby was cold to the touch, but Parrot thought it was probably because he's a species from the End, He had heard a lot from stories and books he read that the End is a cold environment to live.
"Hey there…" He whispered to the baby, and the baby touched one of his fingers. Parrot was touched but then—
"You," The conure hybrid sneered with hatred in his eyes, staring at Parrot. Parrot's eyes widened, his body shaking.
"You're cursed." Parrot was immediately stunned, and the baby started to cry when it noticed Parrot's distress.
The conure hybrid scoffed at them and left the house.
Flame felt angry with the elder hybrid, but he needed to calm Parrot first, so he did.
He never knew those words from the conure hybrid were the truth of something much worse imaginable.
2 years later, his mother barely cooked anymore; sometimes she does, sometimes not. Her sickness worsened day by day. So Parrot has to take the wheel and do all the house chores himself, even taking care of Wemmbu—yes, that was his name, Flame didn't know why mother let Parrot name him. At least his nickname was better, Winter.
Flame tried so hard to help every time, but Parrot only let him help by giving him small chores, which annoyed him, but it was better than nothing.
Flame was different than Parrot. Parrot liked to stay in the house,to read whenever the chores were done. Flame? he loved playing outside with his wooden sword in the forest, attacking a tree bigger than him as an 'opponent'. Flame wanted to protect his family, his siblings, and himself.
He always wanted to be a fighter with honor. Ever since he listened to Parrot's bedtime story, he told Flame about The Old Man and the Sea; they were not fighters, but they did fight with honor to catch a giant marlin. It was inspiring to say the least, with a quote like—
“But man is not made for defeat," he said. "A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”― Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea
Only one thing was missing in Flame's list, that is an opponent to challenge himself. He knew a measly tree was not an opponent; it was just a dummy.
Then he met a lion hybrid, possibly older than him, Mane pear. That was made to be his opponent and his mentor for quite some time.
It was refreshing to Flame. Even if it caused Parrot to worry about the bruises he got, it was a nice change.
But, of course, happy things always come to an end.
His sperm donor decided to take him in after he abandoned him, pulling him out of his own house. This is how he found out that Mane is also his half-older brother.
"Father, you shouldn't force him; he has his own family!" Mane begged while pulling him away.
"Doesn't matter, he should come with us. If he stays here longer, that means he loses his potential to be a great warrior!"
Flame's rage hit a boiling point, gritted his teeth and finally let go of the elder tiger hybrid's hold. He had the AUDACITY to say this? After he left him behind?!
"No, I don't….I don't wanna stay with you!" He breathed in and out heavily; he had never experience a situation like this before.
The tiger hybrid elder unsheathed his claws to try and strike at Flame, he braced himself with his tiny arms. For gods' sake he was only 4 years old!
Yet out of nowhere— a pair of green wings with a blue gradient hugged his body, blocking his sight. Flame then realized it was Parrot, "N-No, Parro—"
Slash
A splatter of blood fell onto the floor, some painting dots on Parrot's body, some even on Flame's face.
Flame was stunned, the older tiger hybrid that he refused to call a father and Mane were shocked as well.
Parrot moved his head frantically to look at his brother. "Are you okay?" He asked weakly.
This is where Flame vowed to himself that he would be a fighter with honor, for Parrot.
"…Yeah, I'm okay"
The moment he heard the news about Parrot being sick with a deadly disease— no, a curse, it did something to Flame's heart, for him to be the best for Parrot.
Then…
The Empire.
When he was a diamond player in the Invisible Mafia, he felt regret when Parrot saw him with slight disappointment.
Flame examined Parrot for a while, no cracks mark yet to appear on his body.
'That's good…' He thought, trying to make himself feel better.
But he knew that Parrot thought Flame would know better, and that hurt him the most.
And then he met Lomedy, his first friend.
The LAW came in and ruined everything. At least Lomedy was saved in the end, and he still had one promise to fulfill and a vow that he needed to follow. And then Parrot became king.
Cindercrest is was ruining everything for him once more. All Flame needed to do is follow the end of his promise and vow he wanted to do— Then why?
Why was it so hard not to break one of them?
One promise broken will end Lomedy's trust in Flame.
One vow shattered will end dishonor his own vow for Parrot.
Losing one of them will cost the same for Flame, he will lose part of himself. He tried to deny it, but he knew damn well that losing one of them would only empty his heart out.
When he and Lomedy came into the Northern Council, they threatened Parrot's life, which Flame obviously disagreed with for a long time. He didn't want to kill his big brother, alright?
He had to hide his black and orange gradient heart jewel pendant necklace that he modified as a bracelet on his right arm with his sleeve to not show any relations between him and Parrot for their own safety.
…
Parrot was finally done with Flame's necklace, knotting the rope around the heart jewel and putting it on him.
"There, these necklaces will represent that we are brothers. A family." His eyes soften as he looked at his younger brothers. They were all he ever had after his mother died tragically from the forsaken curse.
Flame was speechless at how gorgeous the jewel is.
Wemmbu was in awe of it.
Spoke was mesmerized by the jewel.
It fit them all perfectly, didn't it?
Light green, black mixed with orange, amethyst, and rainbow heart-shaped jewels.
Those jewels were a symbol and proof that they are brothers, yet…
No one knows they are brothers, and it doesn't help when they look nothing alike. But that was fine for Flame cause no one would hunt them down for being related if they didn't know anything…
Then Lomedy and Parrot argued to the point that Flame dissociated due to thinking he was going to kill his big brother right here and now.
At that moment, he glanced at Parrot's eyes. Those eyes that were once bright greenish brown, dulled to dark brown. He saw how badly the marks were scattered around his body. His wings were dulled and messy; it looked like he barely preened them. Some part of his kimono ripped. There was a smudge of dried blood near his left cheek, possibly coughed up blood before Flame came.
Guilt rose in Flame, more and more, making him sick. The worst part—
“If you believe that killing me is the right decision, then…" Don't say that— anything but that!
“Then kill me.”
Flame understood, at this moment, he had just broken his vow. It would never be the same.
Lomedy left Flame, and that's okay. Flame didn't want to force him after all.
He just did his own thing after everything.
To distract himself, mostly.
Y̷͈̚o̷͎͗û̶͎ ̵͖͝ḱ̶̭n̷͇̚o̷̙̐w̴̼͒ ̸͙̏d̶̺̾a̸̗͠m̸͍͂ṇ̷̈́ ̷̼͐w̴͉̽e̶͕̓l̴̝̋l̵̖̎ ̶̧̒t̴̹̄h̶͈͆a̶͓͝t̶͕̊ ̸̃͜w̵͈̚a̶͚͌s̵̡̒ ̴̣͌ŷ̴̙o̴̫̕u̶͉͐r̸͖͂ ̴̫̾f̷̱̅a̷͈͆ų̵̇ľ̷̹t̴̹͗
Antagg was genuinely annoying him to no end.
Flame was wandering around, then he saw a wooden board filled with old paper notices, news, and so forth. His eyes hidden by the black blindfold was caught in interest when he saw a fresher newspaper pinned to the board, taking it harshly.
It read,
"ParrotX2, The Former King of Unstable, is exiled and wanted. Dead or alive"
..Parrot?
No, no. Flame would not let anyone kill Parrot.
He couldn't read it any further. He only began to run to find him.
He needs to find him quickly so he can make up to him before his death.
He found his two brothers. Wemmbu, who looked extremely exhausted and definitely needed to sleep. Spoke had no bruises, but he was also definitely… uneasy to say the least.
Besides that, of course, there was Egg with Wemmbu, they're always inseparable. Flame regretted when he kidnapped Egg that one time, and…. why is there an army with unreadable names?? Why is there… a random chungy in cuffs???
He may need to ask Spoke what the hell happened cause how absurd Spoke has gotten this much power in so little time.
But later. There's no time for that; they needed to find Parrot first.
And found him they did. They realized how sick he was, he woke up multiple times due to worrying about his remaining friends, even though he was actually just mostly chirping at this stage due to his distressed avian instinct. He knows that Parrot was out of it because his brain was dying, his feathers easily fluffed up, and he had trouble breathing, which worsened his chest pains even further.
.
.
.
And then, his final wish.
Flame hated the idea of putting Parrot to his deathbed, but this was last and only thing that he could do for him, so he did.
And so, Parrot died peacefully on the battlefield.
ParrotX2 withered away
Flame picked him up and took him back to his kingdom to show him that he had won. Tears streaming down his face, burning his skin.
A person's body shouldn't be this light.
A person's skin shouldn't be this pale.
A person's body temperature shouldn't be this cold.
He then put the body next to a flower garden that was untouched by the war; his face looked so peaceful. Suddenly, a notification noise from his communicator. He thought it was just another death message. Instead it was something unexpected, really.
Goodbye ParrotX2, we hardly knew you
Everyone who read the message was surprised by this strange text from the server itself, grieving for a single player. It's almost like Parrot's death was a mistake to begin with.
'Look, Parrot, even the server itself is mourning for you,' Flame thought, and then he couldn't hold it in anymore and let his heart out.
And the universe said I love you…
Flame knew Parrot was dead, yet he still couldn't believe it. Parrot only just turned 25 years old 12 days ago, but he died a lot earlier than he was supposed to and Flame regretted that forever.
The funeral was quiet even when too many people attended. Parrot was buried in front of a giant cherry blossom tree. It's what he would have wanted since in the past, he liked to read stories to them under a cherry blossom tree. Parrot was their Spring, after all.
Theo and Reina, alongside some of Parrot's army that survived were there. Theo didn't look too good. He clenched his arms in rage and grief. He must have blamed himself for what had happened, as he didn't do his job right as Parrot's bodyguard and right hand man.
He expected Minute to attend since he did help take care of them.
He expected Phil to attend despite barely helping them, but Flame knows that Phil regretted that, but being an Angel of Death is no easy job after all. Especially since he heard he was busy taking down an organization experiment on Players.
He did not expect Tommy to attend the funeral, accompanied by someone much taller than him, a brunette fairy hybrid wearing an orange t-shirt and a pair of sunglasses with a Santa hat on his head. He might be misremembering since he met Tommy when they were really young once, but was Tommy an avian hybrid or actually a demon hybrid? No matter. Flame was glad that Tommy attended, he assumed the person next to him who invited Tommy to the server… on second thought, there was a wanted poster that was similar to that person's face.
Flame, shaking his head, 'You know what, just let's not delve that deeper…'
Again, the funeral was uncharacteristically quiet for someone like Parrot.
Somehow—
Flame was back in his childhood home, in his bedroom. Back when he was 13, he was supposed to be secretly crying, crying about Parrot's fate, but he was found out by Parrot himself.
He then taught Flame a song to comfort him.
"Do you remember the song I just taught you?"
The current Flame pulled out flowers of salvia and white egret orchid out of his inventory. Everyone looked at him, then looked to each other, confused by his behavior.
Even Lomedy was bewildered by his actions, "Flame?"
Young Flame in the memory, wiped his tears, "Yeah… We can sing it together…"
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxYDZRsvDNg]
"Now it's your turn to sing for me"
He inhaled and exhaled, then he began to sing
"The starry unknown." Everyone was immediately stunned. The Immortal Demon singing for the former king?
His brothers, who were next to him, turned to look at him. Wondering what was going on, like why Flame suddenly sang, it's not typical of him… yet the idea of joining him is tempting.
"Remembering the lost and brave—"
"… the strong" Wemmbu joined him made more people confused, like Yungy, Jaden, and Codmaster, except, of course, Egg. Egg softened so that he could see a bunch of ghosts standing in respect for Parrot. He couldn't see them clearly, but he saw a light green, dark green, dark blue, purple, hot pink, crimson red, and black orbs near his graves.
"Whispers of hope carry through the night." Then Spoke synced with his older brothers singing and joined them too. For the first time, Jamato was surprised by this; then again, he didn't know Spoke had any older brothers in the first place, but the act of Spoke genuinely singing and grieving for someone was something foreign to Jamato when he thought of Spoke. He gazed at Spoke's shaking hands that were clenched tightly.
"If you ever get the chance, please sing this song when… I die."
'Don't worry, Parrot… I did my part of my promise, putting all of us together, at least this one honor didn't break for you…' Flame thought, remembering the younger Parrot's request in the past. He stared at the flowers that he brought out.
Salvia - Respect, Wisdom, Good Family, Family Love
White Egret Orchid - Purity, 'My thoughts will follow you into your dreams.'
Because it's true, Flame will always think of Parrot in his dreams.
Flame tightened his grip around the flowers. His tail curled to his right leg.
Don't think of it, just sing…
"Caressing the souls that have… taken flight"
"Through the pain, we stand as one." The three brothers singing together openly is quite a sight for everyone, especially on Unstable of all servers, which is hell for people to openly express their feelings and kindness as Parrot does. At least, this will make Parrot happy that they sang for him.
"In light, in the stillness, our voices rise." In the middle of singing, Wemmbu was crying quietly. Egg held his hands tightly for comfort.
"Carrying love to the endless skies," Flame reminisced the places and old memories of his while he sang.
Parrot's kingdom, his proudest achievement, was turned to ashes and had collateral damage from the war.
I'm sorry.
"For the hearts that ache, we sing this song"
District 13, abandoned after everything.
I'm sorry…
"In the warm and tender hearth glow"
Their old house, their childhood home, is abandoned. They'll never visit it again, due to their pain and bereavement.
I'm so sorry…
"And thus… we can find our place"
One of his tears, streaming down his cheek, fell onto the flowers he held.