The Fields of Elysium

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Wilbur leaned back against the cool stone of his brother's grave, staring up at the wisps of cloud floating in the vast blue sky above him. He had been on this planet for a long time. He had seen times of war and times of peace. He had seen generations be born and grow old. He had seen a friend cone from where everyone would least expect it, giving up everything for the sake of his found family. He had seen the rise and fall of an army, led by a god who let his hunger for power control him, until it became his downfall. He had seen new life created, with hair as red as the sunset over the hills of the Blue Valley. He had seen death, his sky-blue eyes slowly closing, a soft smile on his face, as he took his final breaths. 

Wilbur had seen many things in his lifetime. But there was one thing he wished he could see again. 

His father had been the god of freedom, who had created a kingdom and ruled over it for centuries, unbeknownst to his subjects. He'd had great wings, with feathers as black as obsidian that shone in the sunlight. With those wings, he had flown away silently into the night, not seen for years until he returned, soaring over a bloodstained battlefield, too late to save one son, but just in time to save another.

Wilbur was ready to grow his own wings one day soon. Ready to fly far away from this world, away from his kingdom, away from everything. It would hurt. Endings always do. But from the end of one symphony, a new song is always born. Wilbur was ready for his symphony to end. Ready to spread his wings and soar away from here, finally

Free.

He closed his dark brown eyes. He knew that he could trust his son with the kingdom. It would hurt Fundy and Sally. It would hurt everyone. But the kingdom was ready for a new page. A new chapter. A new song. 

Wilbur could feel himself soaring away, away from everything. He had no idea what awaited him on the other side. But he knew one thing: Familiar faces would be waiting for him when he got there. Letting his body relax, the king let his soul soar away, free as a bird.

His mother's laughter had never sounded clearer.

❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜

Somewhere in the distance, a single crow let out a lonely call. The end of an era. The birth of a new symphony. A death, but also a beginning.

The world was ready.

❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜

Wilbur woke up in a field of blue flowers. He had no idea where he was, but something about it felt... right. 

As he looked around, surveying his surroundings, he spotted a figure far in the distance. Wading his way through the sea-colored petals, he made his way towards them. As Wilbur got closer, he saw that the figure had their back towards him, but something about them felt eerily familiar. Suddenly, the person turned to face Wilbur, and the king's breath caught in his throat.

It was him.

He hadn't changed since the last time Wilbur had seen him, the day of the battle that had changed three lives and ended countless more. His bright blue eyes still shone in the same playful way. His golden hair was still a mess, falling in his face and going in every direction imaginable. The same mischievous smile was on his face, the same smile that he had worn right up until his final moments. He wore a tunic the same red as the apples they used to pick with Mother in the fall, before she became ill and Father left in the night. In his hand, instead of the sword that he had held in all those days leading up to the final battle, he held a bright yellow flower.

The yellow rose.

Friendship.

Family.

Brotherhood.

Happiness.

Letting out a sob, Wilbur ran forward to greet his brother. His best friend. 

His Tommy. 

As Wilbur engulfed him in a hug, Tommy laughed and patted his brother on the back. "Hey, Wil." 

And as the two brothers stood there, reunited again after all these years, one aged and wise and one forever frozen in his childhood, Wilbur whispered the words that he had spoken to Tommy the day he was born, lying still in his mother's arms, and the day he had faded away, bleeding out on the battlefield, smiling sadly at a reunion that ended before it could even happen.

"I will love you forever, I will love you forever, I will love you forever."

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