Desolate Throne [ClefDraki]

36. [Intermission pt.4: What Comes Next]

[Song Above: Armor by Landon Austin]

Back in the present...

Clef paused, taking a deep breath, "This is where I have to stop and warn you two."

Draven blinked in confusion, "Warn us?"

James frowned, looking like he already understood perfectly.

"The next part of the story is your father's death from my point of view."

Draven visibly shrunk, "...Oh."

Should I even continue this? Is it worth it?

Clef was ready to call all this off but he felt a phantom sensation of a reassuring set of hands on his shoulders. The 408 fluttered lightly around him, as if trying to convey a message of comfort.

They deserve to know.

Before I go too.

This is right.

This is how it should end.

With these two carrying on our legacy.

We mirror each other.

Maybe it's for a reason.

He smiled softly, a flicker of an image on the edge of his mind.

Benjamin smiling at him softly, blissfully unaware of everything wrong in the world.

Just a little longer until the end of the story.

This is the final stretch.

For some reason, I'm not convinced my death will be murder.

No.

No, I'm sure it's something different.

I think...

I think I'll die by my own hands.

It's wrong but I feel that it was bound to happen. No one can keep a sound mind in the walls of the Foundation. It's impossible.

I can't be happy here.

I wasn't happy so long ago.

I'm not happy now.

I just want Benjamin.

He is my happiness. And he was taken from me.

The Foundation ripped my heart from my chest and they expect me to be complacent, to continue being an obedient pet.

Well, I say no.

No more.

I deserve to rest. I only wish Jack, my friend, could do the same.

This will be my last act before the curtains close.

"Shall we continue then?"