Soulbreak - A MCYT 3rd/Last/Double Life FanFiction

Chapter 33 - Tilly Death Do Us Part

Pearl clutched her heart. She was surprised it still beat. She couldn't do it. She couldn't kill him.

"Come on, get up," Scott offered a hand to Pearl.

"Scott, if you try to help me in our current state you're going to end up finishing us both off," Pearl stated blandly. "Just break me a branch."

Scott handed Pearl a long stick obediently.

Pearl and Scott both winced as Pearl braced her leg with the stick, securing it in place with a strip of her red-dyed cloak. The cloak had been used for bandages so often that it was hardly more than a hood, now.

"Do you have any food?" Pearl asked.

"Of course," Scott reached into his pockets and pulled out a handful of small fish. Pearl wrinkled her nose.

"That's nasty. How long have they been in your pockets?"

"I just caught them yesterday morning, chill."

"That's gross. Do you have anything else?" Pearl groaned. Scott huffed.

"I have a few berries." He admitted finally.

"Great, hand them over." Pearl used a tree to stand herself up. She devoured the berries hungrily as soon as Scott handed them over. "We can head back to my camp." Pearl began leading Scott in the direction of her tower.

"Pearl." Scott didn't move.

"What?" Pearl kept dragging herself forward.

"Pearl one of us has to die, we're the final two."

Pearl stopped.

"Scott" Pearl's voice sounded hoarse as she stepped back into the clearing. Scott was facing the other direction, doing something with his hands. Crafting. Pearl realized immediately. Scott whirled around at the sound of her voice. He looked like a child who'd been caught doing something he shouldn't. His expression turned grave.

"Do it," Scott murmured, his head bowing in submission. As if he'd already accepted his fate. Pearl inhaled sharply.

"No."

"Pearl you have to-" Scott limped forward and took one of Pearl's bloody, scabbed hands into his own larger, mutilated ones and squeezed it gently. Pearl ripped away, wincing at the gesture of comfort.

"No. We end this how it started. Together. If you die then I die. We die together. Grian explained it to me, we-" Pearl pleaded, desperation edging her voice. Scott didn't meet her eyes. Pearl grabbed both his hands, pulling him towards her. "Scott, look at me," Pearl whispered. "Scott look at me." Her voice became more and more desperate. "Scott."

Pearl tried to turn his face but he dropped her hands and backed away.

"Scott look at me!" Pearl cried. Scott finally met her eyes. His eyes were full of desperation and terrified resolve. Then his eyes shifted away again.

"Remember, Tilly..." Scott finally spoke. Pearl felt like a knife had been twisted somewhere inside her. "Tilly death do us part." Scott finished.

"You heard that." Pearl realized. He'd been watching, before he'd stepped in he'd been watching... "Scott that's so foolish, please tell me-"

"The next world, Pearl. Together. It's alright, we'll face it together. Always together" Scott's voice broke.

"Together..." Pearl's lips parted upwards in relief, her voice barely a whisper. Together, together, together... her head echoed. They would die together. Only Scott wouldn't look at her. But Pearl was too relieved to notice. Pearl pulled a stack of explosives from her pocket and began piling them in the center of the clearing. Scott watched from the side, his emotions veiled.

Scott finally climbed atop the pile and reached his hand down to her. Pearl smiled sadly and accepted it. Scott pulled Pearl up onto the mound and didn't let go.

"Scott..." Pearl murmured, but Scott jerked her closer before she could say anything. The space between them closed, and their lips met. Time stopped. Scott's arm curled around Pearl, who melted into him. Then Scott pulled away. Pearl stumbled backward, teetering on the edge of the pile, her head still groggy.

"Scott..." Pearl breathed, raising her head to kiss him again. They would die together, but it didn't have to end yet. Scott pressed something into Pearl's hand and closed her fingers around it. Pearl was still on a high, unnoticing, uncaring.

"Scott...?" Now Pearl's voice changed and became questioning. Is he going to ki-? Scott shoved Pearl forward, sending her sprawling off the podium and rolling to the edge of the clearing. Pearl curled into a ball, something cracked beneath her. There was pain, red hot pain. She was bent in all the wrong ways, and her ankle was completely unresponsive.

Pearl looked up at Scott. Her jaw dropped, and her heart plummeted. Betrayal. Pain. Shock. Confusion. Fear, fear painted her features clear as day. By the time Pearl realized what was happening, it was too late. Sparks flew as Scott stuck flint to steel with a resounding clang.

Pearl's eyes widened. "Scott!" her strangled cry sounded half-animal. Her crimson lips parted. She tried to drag herself forward, but it was of no use.

"Tilly death do us part." Scott's voice carried on the breeze. The chord ignited. Milliseconds ticked by.

"SCOTT!" Pearl raised her unbroken hand. She reached for him. She tried again to pull herself forward but it was to no avail. A tear streamed down her face as she reached for her love, her life, her only. "I don't deserve this." Pearl sobbed, pleading. She looked up. Tears streamed down Scott's face, too. Scott's lips moved once more-

"Tilly death do us part!" Scott yelled, his voice loud and clear. Even the arena must've been able to hear him, however far away it was.

"SCOTT! NO!" Pearl screamed as the fuse burned away. Scott finally met her eyes, sparks reflecting in the blazing blue Pearl had come to love so much. They whispered so many broken promises, unspoken words, apologies, sorrows.

Then Pearl's world went up in a blaze, and it was all gone. Reality flipped upside-down. The blast threw Pearl back. Another loud crack, stone to skull. The fire went black.