the last | awesamdude

Ch. 4 - The Ghost and the Greek Tragedy

Asteria

TW: sexual assault

***

Ever seen a ghost?

Ghostbur scared the shit out of me when he first showed up. I almost beat him up, thinking someone's sick idea of a joke was dressing up as my deceased brother weeks after his tragic death. It was after he had asked if I'd seen "friend" that I realized this was only part of my brother left behind.

I didn't see him much. In all honesty, I didn't mind either way. Occasionally he brought back painful memories, but I always enjoyed hearing him talk. He spoke with the same passion as Wilbur did, but with a faraway tone in his voice.

I had awoken in the middle of the night, and decided to sit on the roof of my cottage. Looking over the ocean was always calm, and I loved the feeling of it after it rained. As I breathed in the fresh air, a voice made me jump.

"Hello!" Ghostbur greeted as he plopped down beside me.

"Shit," I swore, shocked by his presence, "you need a bell."

"Why would I need that? You can hear me."

"Hardly. You're all sneaky and quiet."

"You had a brother, right?" He asked suddenly. I stiffened, but nodded slowly. This guy had no idea how to gently shift a conversation.

"Yeah, why?"

"Tommy told me about him."

I rolled my eyes, "And?"

"Orpheus and Eurydice." Ghostbur hummed. The light of the lantern I brought with me illuminated his blue skin, which now matched mine. Wilbur always complained that we didn't look like siblings, since we only shared the same father.

"What?" I looked towards him.

He smiled innocently, "That's what you and Wilbur were. Not romantically, of course. The similarities are there, though."

"How so?"

"Well, to quote Hermes, "Orpheus was a poor boy, but he had a gift to give: he could make you see how the world could be in spite of the way that it is". He gave hope, didn't he?" He spoke about Wilbur as if it wasn't his own self he was talking about.

"Yeah, he did."

Ghostbur continued, "He was musically inclined and didn't give a damn about the serious stuff, just running a drug cartel with Tommy. You, on the other hand, wanted to survive and be happy." he smiled and looked at me, "Sounds like you're Eurydice."

Another Greek name.

"You made a harmful decision. Although, similar to Eurydice, you believed it was a good idea, and it would be beneficial. Because you thought that being Dream's right-hand man would keep you fed and keep Wilbur safe, you were okay with it." Ghostbur played with a flower he picked from the ground, "But you didn't know that Dream would get to Wilbur."

"And in the end, as he was trying to pull you away from Dream's influence, and away from the pain and suffering you'd known, just as Orpheus pulled Eurydice away from the Underworld...he looked behind him." Ghostbur sighed dramatically, "And when he looked behind him, you were left behind. All alone."

I was silent for a few moments, as was he, before I finally was able to speak, "The tale of Orpheus and Eurydice was Wilbur's favorite. He'd always wish for a name that meant something, the way that mine does. And he always wanted to look more like siblings, we looked so different. I had blue skin and white hair and he had tan skin and brown hair." I laughed at the memories of him complaining and wanting to change his name, or claim that his father was a warlock like mine, or that Philza was secretly a warlock and he just didn't carry the physical traits.