♚ ... 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣: 𝙟𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜

♚ Laughter filtered through the air, followed quickly by the thudding of heavy feet against stone. As the light of day faded into night two figures raced through alleyways, pushing and shoving one another as they attempted to out pace the other. Though they were evenly matched this had become a routine, a race, the winner gaining nothing but the right to brag until their next patrol in another day or two. The shorter of the two pulled ahead, his speed outmatching the stride of his companion as he reached the entrance of the bridge. A shout of victory, twisting around and lifting his hands into the air as Charles bent over to place his hands on his knees. Once falling behind his partner in training, he now seemed to excel beyond the levels that his friend could keep up; although there was no animosity shared because of this fact.

"I... huff... have, Angel, when... huff, did you get so fast?"

"Must have been when you were shoving your di—" Words trailing off, the man turned towards the expanse of the bridge. Though it was difficult to explain, he knew there was something calling to him—warning him to stay away, to flee.

"What is it?"

"I... I'm not sure." He answered, casting a glance over the side of the bridge. The water bellow was dark and silent, yet Andrew couldn't help the uneasiness that had settled into his bones. Something was not right, he knew it. As he turned back to his companion a low growl rumbled from beneath them, a shutter of the bridge had the two friends back to back and holy blades extended as they awaited the inevitable. They stood in tense silence, shoulders taut and eyes frantically looking over the railing of the bridge as they eased their way to the center of the path. Already at a disadvantage the two could only hope that whatever demon lay beneath the water was not beyond their capabilities. Though, as the minutes passed, they relaxed. Confusion spread over their face as they turned to one another. "Wha—"

In that moment a mangled beast rose from the depths, blackened claws digging into stone as it heaved itself over the railing to face its hunters. Releasing an ear piercing scream it dashed forward, mouth extending to reveal layers upon layers of razor sharp teeth. Thinking quickly the pair lunged towards the side, one landing painfully on his side before rolling back onto aching feet and turning to face the creature that had already begun to ready itself for another strike. "What in God's name is that thing!"

"I don't know, but keep away from its mouth!" Andrew called back, blade held sturdy in front of himself as he moved to meet the beast's attack. Narrowly missing a fatal bite from the demon, he swirled to the side and allowed his blade to cut alongside what he believed to be the demon's face. Without missing a beat Charlie launched himself forward and sunk his blade into the top of the monster's mouth—losing his blade in the fray but managing to force the creature's jaw shut. Sealed. Now unarmed, he took the time allotted as the demon reared back to retreat behind his partner and pull a small dagger from a hidden holster. It wouldn't be of much use, but it was better than being completely naked in a dangerous fight. "I thought I told you to avoid the mouth!"

"I didn't get bit did I?" Came the snarky reply, matched with a smug upturn of lips. A quick roll of eyes was his only answer, along with a mixture of an annoyed and amused snort.

Defensively steady, they backed away slowly as their opponent screeched an inhumane sound of pain. The stench of rot filling the two's noses as they struggled to keep from gagging. The spray of blackened blood formed puddles over the path, sizzling loudly before cooling and sitting still. All at once the demon seemed to collect itself, several sets of eyes returning to its prey as another growl slipped from between forcefully closed jaws; though it seemed impaired without its most useful weapon, it was not yet ready to return to its place of hell. Seeming to shift faster than their eyes could process, an array of tentacles slipped from oozy skin and began to lash angrily through the night air.

"What the fu—"

"Move!"

Snapping forward the two just barely managed to move out of the way as the razor end of a tentacle rooted itself into stone. A frightened glance was all they managed to share before the appendage pulled back, the Nephilim realizing they needed to get up or they'd surely be impaled. As the second attack launched they had leaped onto unsteady feet, weapons at the ready as they avoid the tentacle and moved to directly attack the central part of the monster. Reeling backwards, Charlie flung his dagger forward and relished in the howl of pain as it met its mark. Not long after Andrew loped off an impending tentacle and allowed his blade to sink deep into the monster's side, face burning as painfully hot blood splattered across his face. Pulling free he took a few hesitant backwards steps towards Charlie, head tilting in confusion as the body of the demon continued to lay still.

They were only a few feet apart, yet it was Charlie that managed to spot the moving tentacle—the other too engrossed with the wound he had been sure would kill the beast. Only a second passed before the appendage was striking forward, fast and deadly as Andrew lifted surprised eyes in the direction of his impending doom. Without thinking, Charlie closed the feet between them. Shoulder slamming roughly into the other as a wet squelch filled his ears, followed quickly by petrifying agony he had never felt before. The world around him became blurry, his hands flying to the thick tentacle that had pushed itself way entirely through his midsection.

"Charles!"

He couldn't make a sound, fear and pain silencing him as he kept his eyes from looking down; however, he could no longer hold back his voice as the creature began to tug. Lifting his feet off the ground, ripping at the edges of the wound, before snapping him sideways and sending him through the air. He felt... nothing, in those moments. Mind blissfully numb as he refused to process the fact that it was his own blood seeping into his clothes, boiling again him. When he landed against the railing a crunch could be heard, yet he couldn't for the life of him figure out where the broken bone should have been—body focused solely on the worst of the two. In the distance he could hear screaming, the clash of a blade, but they were all lost to him as he finally allowed himself to look down where he'd been impaled. It was... horrendous, gushing blood onto the ground beneath him and forming a small puddle.

When he could no longer look, he let his head fall backwards and gasped through pain and desperately tried to ignore the numbness spreading out from what he knew would be a broken spine. It seemed like forever before there were hands grasping at his face, disconcertingly warm against his cooling skin. Thumbs pressed against the corners of his eyes, forcing them open ( when had they closed ) and into frightened brown ones. At first he didn't recognize them, but the longer he stared the more familiar they became. "Oh God, oh God, I'm sorry... Charlie can you hear me? Come on stay with me, there you go—just, ah, open your eyes and look at me."

"It's okay, I'm... ugh, fine."

"You absolutely are not fine! Angel, Charlie, what were you thinking?" As he opened his mouth to answer, to tell him that he hadn't really tought about anything. Nothing but keeping him alive. "No, don't answer that. I don't want to know." Andrew hushed, moving behind his body and shifting him from leaning against the railing to leaning against the softer surface of his chest. Wrapping his arms around the body of his friend, he bunched the fabric of his coat against the wound; although he knew it helpless, there was still part of him that hoped that they would be okay. That everything was just fine. That Charlie was right when he said he was okay, and not lying in order to appease him. He pressed harder against the wound, ignoring the wetness that had spread out across his hands and lap.

"Don't leave me." He pleaded, head dropping to press a sweaty forehead into dark locks. "It's going to be alright, but you can't leave me."

"I'm not.. I-" A pained wheeze slipped through bloodied lips, pale eyes closing as hands pressed harder over the wound seeping away his life. "Promised you...- agh, Andy stop! Oh Go-, it hurts." Lifting trembling hands, he circled them over his companion's wrists. Unsure if it was to anchor himself or to plead for reprieve from the searing pain spreading out from his stomach. It was becoming harder to focus, to hang onto the thread he knew was dangerously close to snapping for good. "L-listen, Andy, stop." Head lolling into the shoulder of his brother, he opened his bleary eyes to blink upwards to the person who had become his whole world. Salty droplets fell to his face, mixing with the blood he was sure was splattered across his graying skin.

"No, no, no, we can fix this we just need to get you back to the institution. Here, I'll carry you." A jolt, a scream, an apology. The young man gently laid his friend back against the ground, securing him in his lap as his clothes warmed with blood. "Okay, that's okay, we can wait here! I'll send a message to mom, ah, she'll come and help us."

"An-Andrew, you... ah, you know it's b-bad. I know you- hnn, I know you do." The more he spoke the weaker his words became, energy slowly leaving his body as he forced himself to keep his heavy eyelids open. "Y-you know I'm not going to be okay." As soon as the words were spoken his partner broke down, tears now falling freely as he crushed his body against his chest. A hand found its way into dark hair, petting it in lazy and uncoordinated strokes—a comfort, as much as he was able to give it. Once he no longer had the strength to keep his arm raised he slung it loosely over the other's shoulders, relying on Andrew to keep him balanced as he stretched out his cramping legs. It was odd, he thought, the ache in his legs seemingly far worse than the gaping hole in his midsection. A small laugh bubbled to the surface, choked off in a heavy cough as blood flung from his mouth and down his chin.

"Shh, please don't say that."

Reality settled in then, acceptance that these would be his last moments alive. It scared him, it really did, but there was comforting in knowing that he wasn't alone. That the person who he'd come to share his life with was here, was trying to comfort him, and there was so much that Charles needed him to know. That needed to be said before he lost the chance to do so.

"I'm happy... shh, ha, I am so happy I met you." There were tears welling in his own eyes, barely held back as he attempted to hold himself together. A difficult task, but he knew if he were to panic then his brother would completely fall apart. "You...- you're my brother, Andrew." Breaking the dam, his own tears joined the sticky mixture that had accumulated over his cheeks. A sob forcing its way out. "...My broth, Andwew—" It was too hard to talk now. There was so much more he wanted to say, though he had to hope that Andrew knew that. That he understood exactly what he meant to the pathetic excuse of a Nephilim dying on a bridge.

Instead of wallowing on those unsaid he words he chose to relish in the warmth of leather beneath his skin, listening to soft whispers in a language he had yet to fully understand. Each minute trudged by achingly slow, both aware that this was inevitably the end of them... of Andrew and Charlie. Of two idiots who had found each other amidst a calamity of chaos, had bonded over the loss of their families and found home in the comfort of people who would lay down their lives for them. There would be no more races, no more long nights spent talking, there would be no more dual laughter as the two sparred in the training rooms of the institution. There would be no more them. Not in the land of the living.

There would be no more him.

All he could hope for was that Andrew remembered him, looked back in the long life he was sure to live and knew his face—knew his name. If he could remember then maybe this wouldn't be the end, not of his memory and not of their friendship. There may be no more him, but there would always be the memory of them.

Blue eyes slipped shut for the final time, a last breath rushing out all at once—

And a heartbroken scream echoed over the bridge.

-----

Centuries later a new feeling would fill the air. An electric type of energy pulsing rhythmically with the wind as the beginnings of an impending storm stirred in the sky. The world was holding its breath, sucking inwards and preparing to unleash something powerful into the unsuspecting creatures beholden to its laws. Dark clouds began to gather, swirling as the first signs of lightening flashed brightly. There was an uncomfortable silence, a nagging fear that something just wasn't right. It was then that the wind began to pick up, tropical trees bending with the force of it and arid sand sweeping into the air; though the sky seemed to darken further, a small patch began to clear—an unnatural eye in the storm.

At once a bolt of lightening would crash against the ground, an earsplitting rumble of thunder as sand and dirt were flung unceremoniously into the sky. A crater formed in the earth, and inside lay the rumbled form of a blindingly white figure. Moving himself onto unsteady paws, the ache of someone who had slept too long in an uncomfortable position seemed to throb throughout his body. Head lifting upwards the figure would crawl his way from the carter, swaying slightly as he stood upon solid ground for the first time in... well, he wasn't quite sure. There were so many questions racing through his mind, confusion unfolding further as he took in the area he'd come to be in. Though there was much that needed to be answered, there was one question he couldn't stop himself from asking—the pull of his soul, the one who'd awoken him from his eternal slumber.

"Andrew?" A whisper against the wind.

[ HOSEOK ; but feel free to post, there's no order this needs to go in! / You don't have to match muse or anything as the only part that really matters is the end even if it is super shitty. ]

♚ The name had been nothing more than a question, spoken in confusion as the mark on his shoulder burned deep and painfully into his skin. Though it was the answering call that had him flinching, terrified eyes lifting to meet unfamiliar blue; however, despite the lack of the brown eyes that Charlie had grown up with, he knew the person that stood before him. Although, he supposes, he should say he knows the cat settled a few feet from him. A hiccup of a forgotten sob, an ache in his midsection, the distant feel of tears upon his face—

"No," a plea or a prayer, "I... Andrew?" It was the only thing he could think to say, however unhelpful or repetitive it may have seemed. While he knows time has obviously passed, the weariness and age evident in the cat-like variant of his brother, there was simply no telling how long he'd been floating in the darkness. It seemed like minutes, mere moments encased in eternal bliss after feeling himself bleed out. "What happened? I—" The beating of his heart was painful, hammering against the inside of his rib cage as he turned shimmering silver eyes to the desert spread out before him. In the distance he could make out the green of plant life, stark against the vibrant orange hue of sand.

This was not London.

"A-ndy, Andy where are we? What did you do?" Rushing out all at once he snapped his head back toward Andrew, body swaying before his legs seemed to give out beneath him. Crashing to the ground he spread large paws in front of him... paws? No, that certainly wasn't right! Heaving in panicked gasps he moved his hands, er, his paws to his midsection. Though there was a reliving lack of a hole, of blood, the skin was rough and scarred. How could that be? Brows furring in confusion he tried to push himself back up, swaying with the exertion and wincing as scarred tissue went taunt against his back.

He opened his mouth, stepping towards his brother just as another figure appeared; though he should not have been surprised at her appearance, he couldn't hold back the fearful snarl that ripped from his throat. Wolves were not common creatures to see in the city, though, he supposes, they were no longer in the city. Snarl tampering into a whimper he felt his ears press against his skull, a tremor racking his body as his tail slid between his legs. Was this hell? It didn't feel like it, in fact, he felt rather... alive.

"I... I'm not sure?" He answered, silver eyes blinking rapidly as he tried to rationalize what was happening around him. "I'm supposed to be dead." A thought occurred to him then, "Andy, Hoseok, what did you fucking do!?"