Chapter Text
"We have to keep running, Lix! Hurry!"
The younger could hardly get out a response, his lungs burning from exhaustion. "Channie, I’m going as fast as I can!"
"I know, but if we move just a little faster, we can make it! The entrance is right there!"
Chan and Felix were making their way hand in hand to the nearby forest, along with half of the other villagers trying to escape from the new arrival of invasive armies behind them. Their small town had been the poorest of all the villages within their kingdom and a very easy target for invaders. With no formal defense, the people were immediately overwhelmed with raiders wrecking havoc amongst the entire town, leaving them with no other choice but to run for their lives.
Chan and Felix were amongst the scattered crowds right now, having only been granted a few fleeting moments to figure out just what was going on before they decided to make a break for it. There were a few close calls along the way, with Chan needing to dodge a sharp arrow whizzing above their heads and Felix flinching to avoid the dirty hand of an enemy reaching out to grab him. Luckily though, the adrenaline coursing through their veins was enough to carry them through the chaos until Chan finally set his sights upon the looming forest they had been desperately searching for. The extensive area was shrouded in a dense collection of trees and would be a perfect cover for protection, but to get there, they would have to cross the rather open field leading to the entrance.
The area was currently covered in dozens of fallen bodies, the two boys cringing as they recognized the lifeless faces of other villagers they used to greet every morning. Unfortunately, there was no more time to dwell on the subject, and the couple quickly stomped their way through the various pools of blood. Felix just knew he would never forget the morbid sound of grass squelching under his feet as they went.
Clutching Felix’s small hand tightly, Chan picked up the speed with a renewed vigor as they inched closer and closer towards the entrance. The two of them could practically taste the relief of freedom, being no more than a few feet away, when the older boy suddenly felt a sharp tug on his arm accompanied by a startled gasp.
"C-Channie."
The call of his name had the older boy turning around with a new sense of urgency, desperate to figure out why Felix would stop moving at a critical time like this. His scattered brain was all over the place as he tried to simultaneously keep track of the raiders fighting nearby and listen to whatever Felix needed to share with him right now. Although, there was really no need for him to stop and listen. Just one glance at the younger boy left Chan with all the answers he never wanted to know.
Pierced right in the middle of his lover's chest was none other than the arrow of a enemy soldier. Its sharp point pouring out frightening amounts of blood from the new wound that changed Felix's shirt from a nice, cream-color to a gruesome red.
Chan's complexion immediately turned white as a ghost, his brain failing to comprehend what this meant for them. It’s all okay, a voice in his head supplied instead. This isn’t real, and they both still have the chance to escape. They’re both okay.
Felix is okay.
The older rushed to gather the smaller boy into his arms, panicking as the thick scarlet substance began to cover his own hands as well. "No, no, no. Y-you’re alright Felix. Just breathe for me, sunshine. Breathe."
Tears began to pool in both their eyes as the younger finally managed to glance up at him. "C-Chan, I-I don’t think—"
The older completely ignored those words straining to make their way out of Felix’s quivering lips. He refused to listen to anything other than the false reassurances falling from his own that promised Felix would bounce back from this. "You’re fine! We are both fine! We can make it, and e-everything will be okay! Just hang on Felix!"
No matter how strongly he tried to convince them both of that fact, nothing could change reality.
Felix couldn’t hold on any longer either and released another pained whimper as his legs eventually collapsed from exhaustion. Chan took on the weight of the smaller boy's body and lowered both of them to the ground carefully. The older used the opportunity to clutch onto Felix tightly, continuing to repeat the same deceptive reassurances that his lover would be just fine, even if both of them knew better.
“C-Channie, listen to me-e. You can s-still make it, but you have to l-leave me behind." Felix looked so small and weak in that moment, yet his words were louder than ever.
"How can you even say that?!" Chan countered, his eyes full of nothing but desperation. "You know I can never leave you! I will carry you until my feet are blistered if that’s what it takes!" Before Felix could respond, Chan was already trying to pick him up. "We will make it!"
Felix cried out from the sudden movement before grasping onto the older's arm to stop him. "Chan, t-there’s no way I can survive from this injury-y. Please, just run, f-for me."
More tears rushed down the older's cheeks, preventing him from seeing the beautiful freckles that adorned his beloved’s now horribly pale face.
This couldn't be happening. Not now. Not to them.
Wasn't it just yesterday that Felix was joyfully laughing in his arms, rambling on about all the new adventures they promised to explore together until they were old and gray? How did that future fade so quickly, revealing the true fragility of life that seemed so impossible to fathom when you are young and in love? Chan couldn’t help the way his heart grew bitter, wishing he had never made those promises if they were only going to turn around and taunt him in the end. He couldn't help but wonder how he had suddenly become a bystander in his own life, destined to watch as his sole reason for living slipped through his fingers.
"Felix. Without you, I have no purpose to go on. I can’t leave you! I love you!"
For the first time in his life, Chan had finally admitted it out loud. They had reserved those three words for the privacy of one another and no one else, knowing that such a relationship would invite nothing but shame from the other villagers, but at this point, he couldn't care less. Chan could feel every part of him breaking, and no physical pain could ever match it.
"You d-deserve a second chance Channie, don’t worry ab-bout me." Felix pleaded through labored breaths. He even managed to use one last bit of strength to reach over and wipe away his lover’s tears. "Thank you for a-a-all you have d-done for me and k-know that I love you more t-than anything in the world."
Felix could practically feel the way his heart wheezed in exhaustion, using what was left of his energy to grant Chan those parting words. The hand still cupping his lover's face eventually started to slip away as Felix allowed his satisfaction with their goodbyes to take over.
Chan, on the other hand, would never be ready to let go. The older tried with all his might to keep the Felix awake, wishing for any miracle to suddenly rain down upon them, but it was all too late. The gentle smile painted across the freckled boy's face wilted away like a beautiful flower accepting defeat in the presence of a harsh winter storm. His eyes were the last to soften as the small body in Chan's arms finally became limp.
There was nothing more he could do, yet Chan just spent the next few minutes kneeling there, waiting for Felix to blink those captivating eyes open and share his radiating smile with the rest of the world again. A part of him had to know the unthinkable had come true, but the overwhelming majority of his brain had blocked out any and all thoughts of that possibility being true.
Felix couldn't be gone. He just couldn't be!
Clinging on tighter to his lover’s body, unable to accept a life without him, Chan cried harder than he ever had before, begging Felix to wake up. He couldn't move on, knowing he would never again wake up and see the face of his one true love gazing back. Never hear that contagious laughter ringing in his ears merrily. Never taste the wonderful goodies Felix made with love after a long, stressful day. Never feel the only touch that made him feel like he truly belonged.
With such an unbearable amount of emotional pain overwhelming him, Chan barely felt the visceral pain now piercing through his stomach as he too was hit with a stray weapon from the fighting all around them. Feeling his own life start to slip away should have left Chan feeling terrified, ready to get down on his hands and knees and beg for his youth back like every other rational person who was cursed with a short life. Who knew that above all else, he would end up welcoming death an act of mercy instead. He no longer had to worry about living an empty life without his best friend and lover, by his side. He could simply use these last few moments to hold onto Felix’s hand that was still somewhat warm, knowing that a world without his sunshine would be much darker than whatever else awaited him.