edelweiss - &team

40

When Euijoo came to, he was in what he could confidently call a dungeon. The ground was uneven and dusty, the walls of sandy stone, Euijoo guessed that to be funny, Death had littered a couple of dry, bleached bones around the area. Ah, he figured, this is meant to mimic the situation they had forced Death to endure for a thousand years. There was even a metal grate on one wall, but there was no exit, just another hard wall. (They didn't give Death a door, just a nice big comfy hole)

I want you to suffer the way I did.

"Alright then," Euijoo sighed, crossing his legs to sit more comfortably and closing his eyes, "I'll do what you want."

Time crawled by achingly slow, at one point Euijoo actually wondered if all his friends had defeated Death and forgot about him, or perhaps were already dead, since he was still very much trapped in a dungeon.

Suddenly, he noticed the wall behind the metal grails shift, melting down to reveal a short figure, who pushed open the gate easily and stepped into the cell. "Hey! I apologise, I am late," Gaku's smile was innocently bright, he still looked like the playful teen he was when they first met.

Euijoo didn't respond, only very carefully studying his counterpart. "What, why so distrustful?" Gaku cooed.

"Long time no see," Euijoo finally said, completely disregarding everything Gaku had said. He was still on the floor, looking upwards at Gaku for the first time.

"Hah, same old, same old. So? How was your time in here? Must have felt like an eternity, huh?"

Euijoo shrugged, "Give or take."

"I see it didn't break you doing as much as Death wanted." There was the faintest hint of relief, or perhaps pride, in his words, but Euijoo caught it, probably because he was desperate to hold onto the good, fond memories of Gaku.

"Perhaps I'm not as weak as Death thinks."

"Perhaps.

"You don't have to do this," Euijoo said, while knowing he very much did.

"I actually do. To be fair, I'll either die by your hand or Death's. You'll be kinder to me, won't you?"

Euijoo stayed silent, so very silent. So Gaku sighed, reaching down to touch his toes as a stretch, before saying, "Kyungmin, help me out here." Almost begrudgingly, the walls shifted again, morphing from stone to dirt, the space became wider, until they were in a massive space with a soaring ceiling.

"Now we have room for activities," Gaku announced, his eyes looking dull and dead. To be fair, both of them looked pretty worn and haggard.

Swiftly, upon his owner's command, Euijoo's little snake slithered off his body and to a side, just to be safe. Euijoo closed his eyes, and when he opened them, they were bright gold. By his side, two glittering forms sprang to life, a majestic tiger, prowling by his side and an elegant eagle, settling comfortably on Euijoo's outstretched hand, its wide wings folding neatly. The immortal, usually bubbly and sweet, had a cold, frightening expression. "You remember these, don't you?" Euijoo's voice was controlled but suppressed a multitude of emotions.

Gaku scorned, "You have your pets, I have mine."

Euijoo's tiger snarled soundlessly, as the ground broke apart to allow bones and silverish fumes to rise out.

They watched as the bones clung to each other and clicked noisily as human skeletons took form. "That's disrespectful," Euijoo remarked, noting torn cloth and tarnished metal amulets littered across the bones but Gaku didn't pay him any attention.

"We used to spar like this all the time," Gaku spoke casually and lightly, as though they weren't about to rip each other to shreds if possible. "And I always won every single time," Euijoo replied with a sweet smile.

Gaku made a simpering smile, wordlessly demanding to end the small talk, jerking his chin as his skeletons charged forth.

Euijoo reacted instantly, his tiger clashing with the skeletons, the animal tearing down a couple into bones, which only clacked back together in seconds.

"Same old, same old," Gaku crooned, taking a tiny step back as he summoned more skeletons from the ground.

"You sure have a lot of bones at hand," Euijoo calmly commented, his bright eyes sharp and focused.

Gaku shrugged, "Death has been taking lives like nobody's business. He's sweet enough to leave the bones for me."

Euijoo's eagle repeatedly dove down, stabbing and clawing at the skeletons, pulling apart the bones. His tiger started to crush the bones, turning them into unusable splinters. Gaku scowled, and Euijoo triumphantly said, "Looks like your methods haven't changed."

"What do you know about my methods? We are fated opposites."

In response, a tremendous glittering ball python slithered into existence, wrapping itself around the skeletons.

"Not gonna go all out?" Gaku taunted through gritted teeth, "Afraid?"

"We still have to kill Death later," Euijoo laughed, "I can't go all out yet."

Fractured bones quickly littered the ground, broken by the sheer strength of Euijoo's energy animals.

"I'll admit it," Gaku laughed, "Your energy is remarkable."

"That's such a compliment, coming from you."

Both their energies were quickly wanning, so Euijoo figured he had to wrap this up before he became too exhausted and let his guard down.

Gaku's skin was caked with the powdery remains of his necromancy puppets, but he didn't show any signs of being overwhelmed.

Finally, with a deft flick of his wrist, Euijoo's tiger launched itself towards Gaku, who summoned the skeletons to shield him. As the tiger collided with the bones, it dismantled them before dissipating out of the blue. Gaku looked taken aback, before the snake plunged itself into his chest, creating a gaping hole in its wake.

The immortal's eyes widened, shocked and pained. As he toppled to the ground, blood gushed out of his open wound, dribbling onto the ground. Euijoo stood there, still as a statue, his eagle casting him a look before vanishing.

"Thank you, Joojoo," Gaku suddenly let loose that familiar, old nickname, the one they all fondly threw at him, even the younger ones, even the colder ones. His voice was full of desperation and regret, but his gratitude was sincere.

"Yeah," Euijoo softly said, tearing his eyes away from Gaku's bright, happy ones stained with tears.

"I really...didn't want to live like this," Gaku choked out, Euijoo couldn't tell if it was through blood or tears.

"Goodbye, Gaku," Euijoo wished, shutting his eyes tightly as Gaku took laboured, raspy breaths, but managed a final, "See you."

And every single bone in the area finally disintegrated into fine dust, put to rest like their master.