✒Flower Husbands Oneshots

on the ephemerality of poppies ¦¦ immortal!Jimmy

Wrote this after the pain that was Empires season 1 finale and went "fuck this. they're happy and in love AND NOT DEAD"

✒

The world is ending.

You can feel it, cracking under your feet. The water from your beloved swamp all drained, your citizens all drowned. Something clogged your throat, you can't speak, you can't breathe, your gills flapping almost hysterically, searching for the water that wasn't there. Your hands tremble as you push yourself up the gravel and sand dunes, where the water once was, where the water was supposed to be.

The world is ending.

You've seen other worlds end. Of course you do, immortality has its downsides. You've seen the horror, the desperation, the mounting dread of what's to come. It will never fail to wrench your heart and haunt your dreams.

The world is ending

And it's your fault. Of course it is. Harbinger of Doom, Omen of Death, that's you. That's your name, your title, the heavy weight you are destined to bear in any life. You are the canary in the coal mine, and it is time for you to sing.

You stumble away from the ruins of your once empire, what little was left of your belongings hung over your shoulder, a pack of wolves and a cat by your side as you make your way through the wilderness.

You roll your shoulders, trying to shake off the aching feeling of emptiness. Death's not hovering over you, that usually means the death of someone else. Shaking your head, you continue to trudge through the burning forest, the flames licking your skin, the taste of soot and coal harsh on your tongue. You couldn't bring yourself to care.

You let your mind wander, letting it go to places your aching body cannot. You thought of your sister in this life, with the ocean drained, will she lose herself again? Will she forget again? You know you couldn't. You know you're cursed to remember everything.

And what of your brother-in-law? The stubborn man still clinging on to denial, even as the world around him crumbles and is set ablaze. Oh, to be blessed by ignorance like him, you wonder how that would feel. Living everyday without a care for tomorrow, because of course there will be a tomorrow. Of course everything's fine. Of course everything is the way it should be. It must have been wonderful.

And... you think of him. Despite your best efforts, you think of him. You feel a slight twinge in your heart, more painful than the cuts and bruises in your arms. You think of him. You think of his smile, his beautiful eyes, his soft laugh. He doesn't love you, not yet, not in this life anyways.

There's a ripple in the stale air, the threads of reality parting away to reveal Death themself. You watch as they appear in front of you, a rare time when they actually bothered to have a proper form in the mortal plane. The form they chose was regal as ever, lavender robes wrapped around their frame, layered like petals of a peony, black wings folded neatly behind them. Hourglasses hang from their hips, softly tinkling with their every move. They smile down at you, an unusual sadness in their eyes.

"Hi, canary," they tease, even though their smile didn't reach their eyes.

"Lily," you nod in greeting, sitting down on a nearby log. "Are you okay?"

"Never better," is their response, you both know it was a lie.

They move to sit next to you, laying their head down on your shoulder. You suppress a shiver. You sit in silence as the world tears itself apart, as everything you have known in this life crumbles before your eyes. You sit in silent understanding, two beings as old as time, forced to watch a world they love wilt away.

They break the silence, impatient like always.

"He's gone," they whisper like if they say it louder the world would crumble faster than it already is. You purse your lips, those two words like a dagger straight to your heart. There was no need to utter his name, you both know who he is, you both know what he means to you. They look at you, gentleness in their eyes.