Out Of The Birdcage • Limited Life Fanfic

.°• Chapter 13: The End? •°.

Heart beating.

Slowly, but surely.

Jimmy's eyes fluttered open.

He was on the bridge still, somehow. His eyes travelled to either side of him, one side completely intact, the other completely gone.

That didn't make sense, the fire would've reached the whole bridge, right? Would've demolished the whole thing.

His hands grasped the dirt on either side of him, trying to push himself up. A sharp pain in his left hand made him jolt. He raised it shakily, blinking at the piece of armour wedged inside.

Oh. Joel's crater.

Wait. He won?

He won.

No firework displays or applause. There was only silence.

He didn't know what he was expecting, he realised, as he pushed himself off the ground. It was weird enough that he was even here in the first place. But, he supposed, he must've had some kind of idea of what winning would feel like other than just good.

But it didn't feel good.

He had ripped his own world apart, and now he was deserted. He didn't even know where most of his friends' bodies were. But what would he have said to them, anyway? Thank you? Goodbye?

It was all okay though, because it would all reset. He would wake up in a new world and see them all again. Would he be conscious during the reset?

His body was completely fine, he realised. The slash down his stomach was gone.

That means he must have died when the bridge fell down.

His body was programmed at this point to look straight at his wrist.

00:10:41

But it didn't tick down.

He rubbed his wrist, to see if it was some kind of error.

Still ten minutes and forty-one seconds.

So he could roam freely without having to be wary of the time? He was safe?

Of course he was safe, nobody was after him. He had slaughtered anyone who went after him. And that wasn't even the worst of it. He lied, cheated, blamed his friend for something that wasn't his fault and watched him blow into smithereens.

What had he done?

Praying for the reset, he closed his eyes and braced himself.

Silence.

It wouldn't come.

No matter how long he closed his eyes, he couldn't escape this world. Another scream nestled in the bottom of his throat, but his mouth was too dry to let it go.

A tap on his shoulder.

"Hey Jimmy."

What?

Grian stood behind him, his face void of any emotion. His red turtleneck jumper hung loosely off of him.

Jimmy choked out a sob before embracing him. It was the only way to keep himself stable, he was shaking all over. He didn't want to question his presence, Grian was there, and he needed him. He buried his face in Grian's shoulder - like he had done with Pearl so long ago - but Grian's arms didn't envelop him back. No awkward pats or anything.

Grian's body was completely relaxed, but it didn't even seem like he wanted to see him. Jimmy could feel the coldness radiating off of him. Stumbling back, he looked at the full image of his friend. He couldn't even see his chest move to breathe.

"So, you've won. How does it feel? Was it what you hoped for?"

It was hollow, soul crushing, crippling and empty. Hardly winning.

"No." The whisper still shook his whole body, it hurt to talk.

"Why not?" Grian tilted his head, "Isn't this what you wanted? To win?"

Wanted? He was obsessed. It occupied every living thought he had, even now that he had done it. But instead of elation, it filled him with remorse. "I was never meant to win," Tears pricked his eyes, "Not like this."

"It's a shame, Canary," Grian's voice was no longer his own, it began to twist and contort into a thousand others to the point where it drowned his own voice out, "You really did think you broke the curse. You were always the first to take the fall for everyone else, not unlike a canary left alone in a mineshaft after it stops singing," His mouth stretched into an inhuman smile, "Now you're the miner, you've been running ever since you heard of the danger and let everyone suffer for it."

Hot tears began flowing down his cheek.

"So you wonder, will you reset? Yes, but not really. Your consciousness will stay here, while another version of you moves on to the next life. It's a consequence of sorts, a chance to revel in everything you've done, unaware that everyone moves on to the next life. For you, we feel it's best you know."

Even if Grian was possessed by a watcher, or whatever was going on, it felt like a knife twisting in his stomach to just see these words leave his mouth, even if it wasn't real. But what was real anymore? What was going on in the next life? Have they started already? Where was the real Grian? Joel? What was to live for here?

"Are you proud, Jimmy?"

Jimmy tried to clear his vision of tears, but he couldn't. All he could squeeze out of his throat was, "Stop... Stop saying my name."

"Oh?"

"Please, just stop saying it."

His heart felt so heavy it made him feel sick, he developed a migraine just listening to his name being said like that, like he was a monster. And he was. He wasn't any kind of human anymore. He lost any humanity a long time ago. He was under the illusion he deserved any kind of praise.

The Watcher, Grian, whatever it was looked on, silent now.

As Jimmy shuffled over to the edge of bread bridge, he saw the trees' claws pointing at him mockingly, the sun sinking helplessly away. He wished a simple breeze would knock him over. If he fell, he had no time to make up for; he would be free.

He found himself wondering:

What if he just... Fell?

Word Count: 999