Work Text:
Jimmy shoves himself into a sitting position, before scrambling to catch his brother’s falling body. Blood is spilling rapidly out of the puncture wound, and the moment Grian is in his arms, Jimmy is pressing down on those injuries as hard as he can, forcing himself to ignore how Grian cries out in pain. His Dad is next to him in a flash, kneeling next to him and grabbing one of Grian’s hands, Scar appearing only seconds after desperately reaching out and clutching Grian’s other hand, his left hand, bringing it up to his lips and holding it there in one long kiss.
Orders are being shouted out behind the four on the ground, the calls for potions, bandages, any kind of healing magic, or anything thing that can help being demanded, and frantic footsteps follow closely behind as everyone rushes to find something that can help, but Jimmy can tell that is it much too late.
Grian’s eyes are glazed over, pain filling them as he looks at his fiancé, Dad, and younger brother. He forces himself to smile even as tears begin to make their way down his face.
“I-I love you guys, love you all, so, so much.” Grian manages to choke out, blood starting to drip out of his mouth with his words, causing the three holding him to try to hush him, but Grian refuses to stop talking. “Scar, Gemstone, I want you to marry Mumbo, even if-if I’m not there to marry you both as well. I want you to be happy, and I know that you both can find happiness in each other without me. Let-let Stardust know that I love hi-him, and that I-I’m sorry I cou-couldn’t tell him my-myself.”
Scar tries to hold back his sobs at Grian’s words, holding his hand even tighter as he presses another kiss to it. “You’ll-you’ll be okay, Desert Flower. Yo-o-ou have to be okay! Moonlight isn’t-isn’t here to-” Scar breaks off, his tears clogging his throat as he cries. He had wanted to be strong when he felt Grian’s pulse stutter and slow, but hearing his beloved words broke him. He had only been able to imagine his life with both Grian and Mumbo by his side, and while he knew that Grian was correct that he would be able to find happiness in Mumbo, already had found happiness in his taller fiancé, it wouldn’t be the same without Grian by their side as well.
“Dad, I-I need you to let Uncle Xan know that I love him, that-that I’m sorry I didn’t get to see him more. I al-also need you to promise that you’ll take care of yourself. I love you-you so, so much Dad. I owe you everything, and I-I’m so sorry that I can’t give it to you.” Grian gasped out, the pain intensifying as he lost more blood, a puddle forming underneath him and staining everything that it touched.
“No, no, Grian I- you can tell him yourself, alright? You-you don’t owe me anything for taking you and your younger brother in, it was the best decision I ever made in my life, and I wouldn’t change it for anything. I love you. You’re my son, and I love you so much,” Xisuma said, words cracking and breaking as he forced his tears back from his eyes, not allowing himself to cry.
By this point in time, people were beginning to return with potions and first aid kits, but it was much too late; Grian was fading, and fading fast. There was nothing the potions, healing magic, or anything else could do to save him now, no matter how hard the Hermits and Empires members tried; the potions only served to hurt Grian more, and with no change to his condition, everyone took a step back, sobs and broken cries permeating the air as Grian moved his eyes so they were now focused on his baby brother, the person he had sworn to protect with his life, and this time, it did cost him his life.
“Jimmy,” Grian breathed out, the sound so quiet that Jimmy had to lean in closer to be able to hear it, “I need you to know that you were the brightest part of my life, and the only reason I lived through our childhood. I love you, more than you could possibly ever imagine. If-if Scott ever does anything to hurt you, I will find a way to kill him, but I know that he loves you almost as much as I do. Marry him, and find your happiness in him.”
Jimmy couldn’t bring himself to form a reply other than “I love you, Grian, I love you so much. Thank you for everything.” through his tears, but Grian smiled at him, showing his younger brother that he had received the message.
“I love-love you all,” Grian said, before Scar, Jimmy, and Xisuma watched the last little bit of life drain from his eyes now that Grian had said everything that he needed to say.
Jimmy screamed, loud and heartbreaking, Xisuma could only stare at the body of his eldest in shock, eye unfocusing as reality faded from around him, and Scar crumpled around the hand that he still held, the ring sitting snug around Grian’s finger, a constant reminder of what he, and Mumbo, had just lost.
***
It took hours for Scar, Jimmy, and Xisuma to be pried away from Grian’s dead body, the three soaked in his blood. Both the Empires members and the Hermits alike knew that there would be no way that the Hermits would be leaving any time soon, especially since the Rift closed without a sound the moment Grian’s life was cut short, so Keralis carefully guided Xisuma back to Hermitopia, Cub guiding Scar, and Scott gathered Jimmy up in his arms to bring him back to their shared home; Scott knew that he should probably keep Jimmy with his Dad, but he also knew that he had to clean the blood off of his fiancé first, so it was to their home first, and then to Hermitopia where everyone would be gathering.
fWhip carefully grabbed Grian’s body, as bodies remain after a permanent death, and, after a moment’s hesitation, put it behind one of the market stalls, knowing that they would have to hold a funeral for him sooner rather than later, but knowing that there would be no way that one could be held today.
***
In Hermitopia, Keralis and Cub were carefully wiping away all of the blood that they possibly could, both Xisuma and Scar being completely unresponsive, before coaxing them into a new set of clothes, their previous attire being thrown away, before Keralis took a half step away as he pulled his comm out to call Xander, taking it upon himself to be the one to let him know what had happened to Grian.
When he had been told, the call went dead, but Keralis knew that Xander had ended the call to hide his grief, to prevent Keralis from hearing him cry, or break the potion bottles, both empty and full, that Keralis was sure was near Xisuma’s older twin brother. With a sigh, Keralis moved back over to Xisuma’s side, a silent, but steady presence for the grief stricken Admin.
Pearl was on a call with the Evo members, who she had been previously adding more information of the playful war that had broken out as the live messaging hadn’t been able to cover everything that went down when the fighting actually started. She had False, Stress, and Cleo next to her, holding her close as she, and those on the other end of the call, all broke down, not wanting to believe that their friend, their former Admin, their family member, had been killed.
The rest of the Hermits weren’t faring any better, all of them crying, but Impulse was crying the hardest, having pulled out his communicator, and called Mumbo, needing to let the man know what had just happened. When Mumbo had answered the call, excitement bleeding into his voice at the fact that Impulse was calling him, Impulse shattered, sobbed out apologies and broken words spilling from him, before he managed to get out what he had originally been trying to say.
Mumbo had gone silent the moment he had let slip that Grian was dead, killed by some unknown entity, before a very small, and very broken, “what?” came from the other end of Impulse’s call, and Impulse, with the help of Doc, all explained what had happened. The pair could do nothing when Mumbo broke down, sobbed apologies, begged and pleaded, and then just sobbing could be heard from the other end of the call.
The call came to an end moments later, Mumbo having hung up the call so he didn’t subject his friends to his grief.
***
Scott carefully lowered Jimmy into the warm water that filled the bath, but Jimmy’s tears didn’t slow, and his breathing remained erratic. It was all Scott could do to keep Jimmy conscious and taking somewhat even breaths. While he washed away the blood that coated Jimmy’s body, he kept talking quietly, pushing back his own tears and grief to calm his fiancé.
By the time Scott had washed away the last of the blood and was carefully lifting his now silent and unresponsive lover out of the water, the water was red with blood, and Scott could only let a tear roll down his face at the sight of it. He was quick to drain the water and wash the tub out, Jimmy still held in his arms, now wrapped in a towel, before carefully managing to coax his canary into something clean and free of blood, before he was scooping Jimmy into his arms once again and heading for Hermitopia where, once the pair arrived, being the last two there, Scott brought Jimmy over to Xisuma’s still form, placing the youngest of the Void family next to his Dad.
Xisuma, though mostly unresponsive to the world around him, pulled Jimmy into his arms, letting his youngest son break down into tears once more, just holding him through his cries in silence, the rest of the people gathered in the room, only able to watch from afar, lost in their own grief, as father and son mourned the loss of their family.
***
The funeral was held two days after Grian had died. The rest of the Hermits, Xander, the former Evolutionists, Mumbo, and Skizz, the only Life Game member who wasn’t part of any of the previous groups, were all gathered on Empires, since Grian’s body was now unable to be transferred through worlds.
The funeral was being held by Hermitopia, and everyone was crying. Mumbo and Scar were holding onto one another, tears forming rivers as they sobbed for their fallen fiancé, knowing that they would have to find some way to honour him at the wedding that Grian insisted to Scar that would still take place, Jimmy was clinging onto both Scott and his Dad, while X was also clinging onto Xander, tears staining all four’s faces, though Xander was also littered with a litany of tiny cuts from the broken potion bottles, even more potion burns lacing his forearms, the Hermits had all gathered in one group, huddled together with tears carving their way down their faces, having never been expecting to have to bury one of their own so soon, the Evolutionists were all in one small huddle, shock settled in all of them as they watched on in silence, everyone being held by someone, unable to comprehend how this had happened, and Empires members, though not having spent long with Grian, had all heard so much about him from Jimmy, who was always excited to talk about the person who meant the world to him, all had tears dripping from their eyes, memories of the brief moments they were able to spend together when the Rift was closed flitting through their minds, and Skizz was sitting with Impulse, Zed, and Tango, holding them all close even as he silently cried, mourning for the man that had been through so much, even if he barely had any time to get to know him in the death games that they were forced in.
***
The following months pass in silence and tears. The Hermits returned to Hermitcraft, Jimmy, Scott, and Xander going with them, Jimmy and Xander so the remainder of the Void family is together, and Scott because he knows that he should remain by Jimmy’s side. Any progress on Hermitcraft is stagnant, except for Mumbo moving into Scarland so he no longer has to see Grian’s abandoned mega base every time he leaves his vault.
It’s decided that the weddings will go on on their planned dates, if only for Grian’s sake, since he was so adamant that they go on despite his death; they knew that they would be happy, once they had mourned the loss of Grian, and while they would never forget him, they would be able to move on one day.
Jimmy and Scott’s wedding comes first, both grooms dressed in white suits, Scott’s with slightly more dramatic flair than Jimmy’s more fitted suit, and the wedding goes off without a hitch, if not for the tears shed for Grian’s missing presence when a moment of silence is held for him, and the empty space next to Jimmy where he was meant to stand as his best man. The speeches all mention Grian in some way, and while many were unsure if Grian should be mentioned as much as he was in the speeches, it seemed to soothe something in Jimmy’s broken heart to know and remember that his brother was been proud of his choice in partner, and was happy to have Scott as his brother-in-law.
***
Mumbo and Scar’s wedding is next, and many tears are shed for Grian’s missing presence, especially when the wedding bands are brought out, and, threaded through two silver chains was a replica of Grian’s engagement ring and a white gold wedding band, the same wedding band that now adorned Mumbo and Scar’s left ring fingers, was sitting on the pillow along side said white gold wedding bands; the couple had asked Xisuma if they could honour Grian in this way, with the rings on a chain similar to how widows would thread their wedding bands on a necklace to remember their fallen lover by, and X could only cry as he gave them permission, knowing that Grian would have been happy to be honoured in that way.
During the speeches, Xisuma got to make a speech, alongside Jimmy, despite the fact that Grian was no longer with them, and there were no dry eyes in the room when all of the speeches came to an end, but Mumbo and Scar, while destroyed that Grian wasn’t there with them, knew that he would always be there with them in their hearts.
***
Jimmy never told anyone that it was the Listeners who had killed Grian, and that they had only killed Grian because they were trying to kill him, but he had a feeling that the former Evolutionists knew, his Dad and Uncle knew, and his husband knew.
He felt that he should have been the one to die, should have been killed instead of his older brother, but he knew that there was no way that Grian could have ever let that happen. He still carries the guilt with him, even if everyone who knows insists that it wasn’t his fault, and while he is happy with his life, or as happy as he can be without Grian by his side, he will always carry that guilt with him.
He hopes that one day he’ll be able to let the guilt go, be able to accept that it wasn’t his fault that Grian was murdered by the Listeners as they attempted to kill him, having found him through the Rift and were aiming to kill him to get their power back, but today is not that day, and as he lies in his nest next to Scott, the feather that Grian had given him all those years ago clutched in his hand, Jimmy knows that that day is not for a long time to come.