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DECEMBER XX 2023, 11:59PM
[break][break] sleep used to allude him. but thanks to
marcus kotov's recent pills, it comes easier.
[break][break]
'you have to take these jayden,' the doctor had advised weeks ago. his eyes are are cold and serious as they ever are. should jayden not have already been used to the cold, calculating look in which the other regarded him — like a specimen rather than a human — he might have been more concerned about it.
'they'll help you sleep.'[break][break] and they had.
[break][break] it was why that night was so alarming.
[break][break]
[break][break] the executive woke up suddenly, eyes flashing wide open.
[break][break] it wasn't a night terror. he grapples with his nightstand briefly, flicking on a nearby light. his body is tense, as he glances over the sleeping form of
Chu-e Choi beside him and the sight of his umbreon curled up with his shadow delcatty.
[break][break] the flipping of an incessant coin, echoing through the darkness.
[break][break]
"jayden cross. long time no see."[break][break]
[break][break]
immediately, his jaw clenches.
[break][break] it feels like an eternity since he last laid eyes on this man. it feels like a lifetime ago that he was staring into those bejeweled sapphire eyes, unaware of the terror that was about to come.
[break][break]
"what are you doing here?" jayden demands, pushing himself upright to confront the figure lurking in the shadows.
"haven't you —" he falters for a moment, grappling with his frozen arm, before rasping,
"haven't you done enough?"[break][break] dionysus shakes his head, giving a simple
'tsk tsk.'[break][break]
"what do you mean? i haven't laid a hand on you."[break][break]
"you know exactly what i mean!" jayden hissed. tension pulsed in his arm, a reminder of the pain in his arm, the pain that had changed everything.
"it's because of you —"[break][break] once again, he shakes his head.
[break][break]
"you're the one in charge here, my friend. you're the one in charge of your own fate."[break][break] immediately, blue light filled the darkness of the room as several different portals appeared. each and every one of them was a vortex of blue and black, and inside of them, fragments of images that he could barely break apart.
[break][break]
"humans are interesting creatures. just one choice, just one decision, can set you on a path that alters the course of your life forever."[break][break] in one of them, he walked along the sands of kanto, hand-in-hand, with someone who could only be
Ashley Shepard.
[break][break] in another, a shadow of himself stood on a podium alongside another man. he had blond hair and deep sapphire eyes, slender hands that held his face as his mouth closed over his in a passionate kiss. it took him a startling moment to realize that it was
BARNABY FINCH — or the missing
ADMIN BEE.
[break][break] he turned and there was suddenly the sight of a beautiful
luka chêne in a summer dress, sitting at the edge of the boat alongside him, as they shared a tender kiss.
[break][break] jayden shifted his eyes again and witnessed an older, greyed version of himself. a gentle smile on his face that he didn't recognize as he sipped a cup of coffee, watching an older version of
mint frost hold hands with a girl that looked too much like
fern delaney.
[break][break] his throat closed.
[break][break] and then, all of a sudden, the portals closed. they were suffocated in immediate blackness, when abruptly the lamp-lights turned on. no longer were they in his bedroom, with a sleeping, peaceful
Chu-e Choi. they were in the living room, staring out at the sootopolis sea.
[break][break] they were on the precipice of a hill, staring off in the distance as they watched the city burn from
PENELOPE LIVY's
RUINATION.[break][break] the sight of
MATIAS SILPH laughter echoed on the horizon as a spike pierced through
Elisabeth Fiorelli's chest.
[break][break] he shivered, as he felt the whisper of another man trickle down his neck.
[break][break]
"this is the future you chose. is this the future you wanted?"[break][break]
[break][break]
THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT [break][break]
[break][break]
if only you had listened. [break][break]
if only you had stood up to your father, to
declan walsh, to everyone else. [break][break]
if only you had been stronger to ask for what you wanted.
[break][break]
[break][break]
if only you had been more
you and less
them.[break][break]
[break][break]
is this the future he wanted?[break][break]
[break][break]
"no," he croaks.
[break][break]
[break][break]
pathetic.[break][break]
[break][break]
rather than greet him with sympathy or another sardonic comment, jayden's words are instead met with a smile.
[break][break]
"then," he says, flipping a coin in the air.
"let's make a bet."[break][break]
[break][break]
heads or tails?
[break][break]
once again,
FATHER WINTER 2 decides his fate.
[break][break] there is no choice.
[break][break] the coin flips, and jayden feels him grab the fabric at the back of his shirt, before shoving him forward. he tumbles down the hill, right back into the open portal.
[break][break]
[break][break]
gems of sapphire blue dance in his eyes before everything, all at once, goes black.
[break][break] and right before it does, his voice echoes through the empty void.
[break][break]
"for what it's worth you have my thanks. your data has been most helpful. i hope you enjoyed your family reunion, jayden." 
epilogue 
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