Rough ☆ Jake

No Joy

~*~
"So heartbreaking." Gyu said from his spot behind the guard, his face still bloddy from where Seori had broken his nose.

In a rage Jay turned and ran him through with his sword.

Guy's mouth fell open in a silent scream before he slowly fell to his side, his eyes growing dim as his heart stopped beating.

And then Jay was on his knees with the rest of the guard, his head hung low as he let a tear slip out.

They had lost a friend, a family member.

Seori had quickly grew on them all, she had easily found a place among them.

The only sound in the throne room was the kings cries as he begged the dead girl to open her eyes.

No one dared to pull the king away, they knew how he felt, she had taken a piece of them all with her.

She's really gone.

The king couldn't believe it, he wouldn't.

Since they had visited the witch all he has done is push away the fact Seori would die for something his family did.

If he had never sent his men looking for her, she'd still be alive.

His heart hurt so much, too much. He knew he had grown to care for the girl, but this felt deeper then what he first thought, it was like someone was slowly ripping his heart apart, one string at a time.

It's pounding was definite in his ears as he slowly rocked back and forth, he was trying so hard not to fall into his mind, trying so hard to will Seori back to life.

He begged.

Begged God, the spirits, the world, anything that maybe out there to please bring her back, he promised to make her life better, easier if she came back. He promised to stop acting so childish when things went wrong, he would be a real king.

"I think, I love you." He whispered into her hair. He let out a heart wrenching chuckle. He knew he loved her, this girl had his heart.

It's too late.

He snapped at his mind savagely.

His world was falling apart, he didn't need his own mind adding to the pain he felt.

~~

Three days.

It has been three days since Seori passed.

Today was the day they would place the stones in the tree.

Today was the day they would lay Seori to rest.

The castle had never been so quiet and dark.

The king sat under the willow tree by the pond, his fingers pulling at the grass absentmindedly.

A sad smile pulled at his lips as his eyes were unfocused.

When he had asked Seori to fake courting with him, he had came here with her, he didn't want to admit it then, but a part of him had wished it was real.

He didn't want to admit he had almost told Seori how beautiful she was, how stunned she had made him when she had showed up by his side all dressed up. Though nothing compared to when she was focused on a task, when she was fighting. That was when she would really take his breath away, there was just something so beautiful in the way she held herself when she was being herself.

Seori was born a fighter, he knew that for sure now, she was born to make a change.

And she did.

She changed his life so much in the time she was around.

She could have changed a lot more.

The young king let out a sigh as he thought of the law Seori had asked him to pass, he would still do it. There was no way he would not do it, the dragons meant a lot to her. The way her eyes had lit up when she had gained that dragons trust, it was like she was a whole different person. In that moment Jake could see the pure joy in her eyes.

Jake brought a hand up to his chest and balled his shirt in his fist, his heart still hurt, the memories he had of her made him feel happy, but so raw and lost.

It was like losing his father all over again. It was as if he had lost one of his closest friends.

"Your majesty, the others are waiting for you."

Jake's eyes slowly leave the ponds surface to look up at the lower ranking guard that had came to collect him.

"Right." He had to be the one to place the stones in the base of the tree.

His body was stiff as he stood and followed the guard, it was supposed to be Seori by his side, Seori was meant to hand him the stones, she was supposed to be here when they celebrated saving the kingdom... their home.

Instead of joy and happiness filling the air as he made it to the tree, it was silent. The royal guards heads were bowed, hands held infront of them.

Jake hesitated when he went to reach for the last stone, the healing stone.

And once again that night flashed in his mind.

Why couldn't he do better? Why couldn't he save her?

All his life he had failed to fix the mess his family had left him.

He felt like he failed as a king, as a friend.

He placed the last stone in the base of the oak, his eyes locked on the black roots. It took so long for something to happen he was starting to believe they had done it all for nothing, that was until Sunoo let out a gasp.

The tree started to glow, a kaleidoscope of colors was seeping from the trees bark.

It was like thousands of tiny rainbows were bursting from the tree.

And then it faded, as well as the black that had taken over most of the trees roots.

"It worked." Jungwon said, a small bit of disbelief in his voice.

Jake had imagined this moment to be different, he imagined them all jumping and shouting with joy, planning on getting drunk with the relief they had saved the kingdom.

There was no joy, there was relief, just not a lot.

Now it was time to lay Seori to rest.