SGE His Darkened Heart (A Japaric Fanfiction)

~Epilogue~

A/N— THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE ONE TRUE KING. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
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~JAPETH'S POV~

Japeth stared down at the dug up grave. The steel of a hundred pens glinted up at him as if daring him to move closer.

In the moonlight, Japeth's figure cast a long shadow across the dead grass. The vegetation in the endless woods was still recovering from the period of time the sun had been fading. So the grass under Japeth's feet was yellowed and coarse and it crinkled like wax paper beneath him as he stepped forward.

Japeth's common sense screamed at him to turn around, to go back home, but he ignored it, drawing closer to the grave he'd dug up all on his own. He peered into it, his body just teetering over the edge.

If he fell in, he would be pierced by a hundred needle sharp pens. If he fell in, he'd already be lying in a grave. Japeth had no clue what came after death, if there was a hell or heaven or maybe even just nothingness. But he was sure that if he did die, he would somehow be with Aric again.

However, Japeth feared that that wouldn't be the case. What if he died and Aric wasn't there to greet him? What if in death, Japeth would be more alone than he was in life?

Japeth didn't fear dying. His greatest fear was being alone, and if death meant aloneness, than he had to keep breathing.

A soft fluttering sound caught Japeth's attention and he glanced up to see a single blue butterfly hovering in the air. It's electric blue wings were aglow in the darkness and as Japeth watched, the butterfly twisted to land on his shoulder.

"Not so scared of your butterflies now, now am I, mother?" Japeth told the butterfly, inching his fingers towards its delicate wings before he scooped the insect up in his hand. "Maybe that's cause I grew up. There's no more time for fear when you are no longer a little boy."

Japeth gazed down at the blue butterfly in the palm of his hand. It's wings fluttered, tickling his skin.

Maybe someday in the distant future, Japeth and Rhian's mother would come back to them. Perhaps Evelyn Sader would return and never leave them behind again like Japeth feared. But that was just a dream. A dream Rhian cared more about than Japeth did.

That's why Japeth was the selfish brother. Sure, Rhian wanted to become King of Camelot, but he also wanted to bring back their deceased mother because he thought by doing so, it would help Japeth. But Japeth couldn't be helped, for the only thing that could help him now was if his best friend came back to life.

Aric was the only one who could save Japeth from his pain, from the darkness brewing inside him.

The butterfly in Japeth's palm was not his redemption. The butterfly that his mother's dress had morphed into—a dress that somehow carried a piece of Evelyn'a soul in it—was not Japeth's path.

This butterfly, however, was a clue. A clue that had led Japeth all the way out here because it needed to show him something, something of great importance.

"What do you want?" Japeth asked, feeling deep down as if the butterfly could hear him and respond. "Why here? Why bring—"

Suddenly, he trailed off. The butterfly had flown off his hand, it's blue wings flapping soundlessly in the chilly air before it hovered before him.

That's when the blue wings fluttering in the air began to darken. Once a beautiful shade of blue, something dark had overcome them.

As Japeth watched, a scaled eel replaced the butterfly's place, pointed at both ends, resembling a pen similar to the pens filling the dug up grave.