Silent Ruler [DNF]

Chapter 31: Your end will be their beginning

Your end will be their beginning.

A being, whose aura so bright, so comforting.

"At last, you're here, child."

That voice. The same voice. Yet it felt a lot closer than usual.

George found himself at the beach that he once visited with his friends. Eyes flickered between the glistering waves and the creature. In that moment, he knew that he was facing death. But death wasn't this scary horror that so many portrayed it. In a sense, it was quite the opposite; rather beautiful.

"Who are you?" George whispered curiously.

The creature didn't have a face, yet he knew that it was smiling. "Humans have granted me many names during their time on this Earth: Gaia, Mother Earth, Death, Life, and many more."

So, it was true then, he was dying.

"And where's 'here'?" He mumbled.

"'Here' is exactly where you're supposed to be."

The soothing sound of waves crashing against the shore became weaker. Something urged him to walk farther out into the sea.

A warm breeze riffled his hair and hugged his bare arms.

"You've been so utterly brave and stayed strong for so long. Now you can rest."

Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes. "What about the others?" He asked weakly.

"Their journeys are still ongoing. They too will know when it's their time to leave the living."

His feet moved on their own. Though he couldn't hinder himself from glancing back at the beach one last time.

"Is it going to hurt." George finally dared to ask the being. Aware of how childish he sounded.

"When you're ready to let go, nothing is ever going to hurt you again, child." The voice reassured.

He let a relieved breath and took the last remaining steps before his head was under the surface. The water felt like a warm hug, and he welcomed the deafening feeling of water clouding his ears. His body felt light as air.

Memories came flashing through his mind, both happy and sad once. His chest tightened, a small part of him wanted to go back. But deep inside he knew that he was ready.

Ready to die.

"It's natural to feel sadness in this situation. Just remember, that you wouldn't be grieving if you haven't ever loved. In a way, grief is the receipt that your life was worth living." The voice said gently.

And those worlds marked the end of George Henry Davidson's story as he let go of life.

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Dream just knew that George was at the sea. He sprinted there faster than he thought he could. Tearing everything from mountains to rocks in half to get there in time.

Yet when he arrived at the beach, he saw nothing. Repeatedly he shouted George's name but received no answer.

Too late. He was too late.

His knees hit the sand. Too fucking late. He drove his fist aggressively into the sand and saw how it created a small crater in the ground that allowed water to reach farther up the sand.

Too numb to care about the cold water, Dream sat down and let the waves wash over his legs. His eyes were too fixated on the horizon that he didn't notice the person beside him.

"Your anger-issues are even worse than Sapnap's sometimes."

Dream flinched at the familiar voice and immediately turned his head to the right only to find George sitting next to him. Only difference was that it didn't exactly look like the George he knew. The brunette was dressed in flowy white clothes with a content look on his face. The brown hair and mismatching eyes shone in an unnatural way. He was beautiful in a sense that wasn't humanly possible.

"George?" Dream breathed weakly.

The brunette turned to him with a glistering smile. His hand found Dream's face and wiped the tears he hadn't even register.

Dream swallowed, fearing the answer to his next question. "You're dead, aren't you?"

George's eyes saddened before landing on the sunset. "I am." He answered calmly.

Sadness, anger, hatred, fear. Everything formed a ticking bomb in Dream's mind.

"Dream." All it took was George mentioning his name and suddenly all the intense emotions dissolved.

He took George's hand and hated how he didn't feel the physical contact. Once more had Dream lost the person he loved most.

"Could you describe the sunset to me?" George mumbled as he placed his head on Dream's shoulder.

And it wasn't like Dream could deny his dead lover's final wish. So, he did his utter best to give one last time honoring description of the worldly phenomenon. When he was done, he heard a low giggle from George.

Dream furrowed his brows confusingly. "Did I say something weird?"

George lifted his head and cupped Dream's face. "I'm no longer colorblind and can see the sunset perfectly clear. It truly is a masterpiece, but I love your description even more. I just wanted to hear it one last time." A smile played on the soft lips.

More tears trailed down Dream's face. "One last time".

"I can't go on without you." Dream confessed with a broken voice.

George had returned to admire the view "Some say that a person die twice, y'know. Once when their heart stops beating and the second time when their name is mentioned for the last time. So, if you keep the memory of me alive then maybe I'm not completely gone." He said with a distant tone.

Dream just violently shook his head.

George gave him a sympathetic glance before his face lit up. "Oh, and while I remember it. As I never got to say it to you in person." He paused and leaned closer to Dream's ear. Almost like he wanted to make sure that nothing else heard the following words.

"I love you, Dream." The words felt like a late summer breeze, like a warm blanket around his broken heart.

After that, George stood up. Dream mirrored his move and got up.

One last sad smile appeared on George's face. "Make sure not to waste your life grieving me."

"That's a lot of pressure you're putting on me." Dream muttered with a thick voice.

"I've been promised that we'll find each other again, and when happens it will be forever." George said softly before his body slowly faded into water that was brought out into the open sea by its waves.

Dream stood there for ages with the conversation replaying over and over. Eventually he was found by Sapnap that brought him back to camp without any questions.

They would find one another again. They needed to.

And Dream knew that they both would wait until the end of times if it meant they got to meet just one more time.