Disclaimer:I do not own Queer as Folk Any characters and situations and anything else pertaining to real life is referred here for non-profit purposes only No copyright infringement is intended. Although everyone here is now so Out of character, I hardly think this matters. Sorry folks. These things happen. Warning: Strong language in this chapter

Chapter 8

The Darkness before the Dawn

         Brian lay there, breathing deeply and slowly, his deep chest rising and falling rhythmically, his long, thick lashes, framing his face. His masculine lips curled upward in a slight smile as if he were dreaming of something extremely sweet.

         Justin raised the knife higher.

         Brian sighed, adjusted his position a bit and sank back into sleep. He smiled wider, happier.

         "Juuussstin..." he breathed out softly in his sleep.

         What did he just say? Wasn't he still spellbound? Didn't he just witness him marry another, only a few hours ago? Justin's resolve was shaken a bit. 
         He shook it off. The fact was he had married another, he was doomed, and his brothers deformed. They must be avenged.

         His resolve strengthened. He could do this. He was going to do this.

         His hand gripped the jewelled handle until his knuckles turned white. His little face was tight with rage and white in the dark room. He raised the knife higher and prepared for the fatal plunge.

         Suddenly, Brian convulsed in the bed. His back arched. A cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He groaned and mewled and his head jerked from side to side.

         Justin pressed himself against the wall terrified that he would be discovered. But Brian didn't wake.

         "Justin! JUSTIN! Where are you!? I can't find you! I can't find you!" Brian jackknifed up in the bed, his eyes wide and panicked. He was breathing very queer as if there was a lot of phlegm in his throat. "Where are you!? Where...are...you...where..." he trailed off, his eyes going dull once more. "Oh hello Michael. Hello, my love," he said robotically. He fell back against the cushions again, deep asleep.

         Yes, whatever magic was in play was beginning to weaken. But ultimately, he was under Michael's control. He could do this. He would do this.

         From against the side of the wall, a small form detached, an avenging angel with a pale face that glowed in the dark. He gripped the jewelled handle and raised the knife high over his head, aiming for Brian's fickle heart.

         "Oh there you are, Justinnnnn! I was looking everywhere for you! I love you! I love you!" the new King whispered in a choking kind of voice and then he smiled that beautiful smile of perfect peace and contentment that Justin had seen just before receiving the golden jacket and vowing to paint that face one day.

         Justin's hand shook.

         He tried to plunge the knife down but he couldn't move it. He tried again.

         Justin's hand shook, even more violently then before. He couldn't do it.

         And in that moment, in spite of everything, in spite of Brian's change of heart, in spite of the magic, in spite of everything, the little merman loved his Prince still. The anger and hate he had been forcing toward Brian, melted, dropped away as if it had never been and only the anger for the Witch remained. In spite of everything, he could not kill Brian, anymore than he could cut out his own soul from his chest.

         He lowered the knife.

         He noticed that Brian slept on his own, even turned away from Michael a little. He remembered when they had fallen asleep together, neither one of them had wanted to let go of each other, how they had spent the entire night wrapped up in each other's arms, as if they were one entity. Clearly, he didn't have that with Michael.

         Carefully, he bent down beside Brian's ear and whispered in silence to his sleeping beauty, "Goodbye Brian. You may not remember me but I will remember you and us enough for the both of us. I love you. I love you so much, even to the end of my life. Goodbye, my sweet Prince. May you rule over your land with the love that you have shown me. As for me, forget me, remember me only as a dream. A sweet fantasy, an erotic dream that will put a smile on that gorgeous face of yours. Goodbye." He whispered brokenly again and carefully pressed a soft kiss to his smooth cheek. He ducked out of sight quickly in case his action stirred Brian from his slumber. It didn't.

         After a few seconds, when it was clear that he was safe, Justin arose, made his way carefully around the bed, and to the door. He looked back once more. The jewelled knife fell unheeding from his fingers and it clattered on the floor. Then he went out, opening and closing the door without being especially quiet. Quiet or noisy, he didn't care anymore. Nothing mattered anymore.

         He walked slowly back to the rear of the ship, shedding his suit as he went. He kicked off his shoes, pulled off his socks. Article after article fell in a trail in the deep darkness and the deck was empty anyway. By the time he reached the stern of the ship he was naked. He climbed over the edge of the railing and sat there, holding onto a post for support. He sat there in the moonlit dark, dry eyed, looking out over the peaceful sea waiting for his doom to come.

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         Brian was dreaming.

         He was dreaming of a young, blond merman with a shiny, blue-green tail.  He looked down and saw that he had a tail too, a red-gold one and he was swimming and playing and wrapping himself around the blond merman. The blond smiled and laughed and swam away and looked over, giving him a come hither type look. Brian smirked and gave chase, pumping his tail with powerful strokes.

         Somewhere in the dream there was a clinking noise and a banging but Brian ignored it. He held onto the dream and kept swimming after the merman.

         Then the dream changed. He was choking. He couldn't breathe. He wasn't a merman! Well, not any longer! Brian looked down in horror and saw he had legs again and he was deep in the sea, maybe miles below. He pumped but his legs wouldn't move him properly through the water. The blond merman was swimming far away into the distance. He thought Brian was still chasing him. Then he was alone, drowning, dying at the bottom of the sea.

         Brian's eyes flew open and he awoke but his throat was still full. He was still choking. He couldn't breathe. Something was terribly wrong! His entire throat was plugged up with some sort of thick gooey liquid and it had sealed over his windpipe. He could feel it inside his throat, surging up and down his oesophagus like a living thing but surging higher and higher each time.

         He jackknifed up to a sitting position and gagged and heaved. He threw off the covers and rushed over to the nearest porthole. He scrambled, struggled with the catch and then yanked it open and leaned out. He took a few breaths of fresh sea air and for a few seconds thought he was going to be all right. But then he felt that disgusting surging feeling again and...

         And then he was heaving and puking, puking stream after stream of this disgusting green ropy slime out of him. His stomach just heaved and contracted over and over and he was powerless to anything to stop it. And the slime just kept coming, gushing, surging out of his lungs and throat out of the side of the ship and down into the sea where the black waves surged and churned and absorbed it greedily. And then it was gone.

         After what seemed like forever, Brian puked the last of that disgusting stuff out of him and he breathed the fresh air a few more times. His head and mind cleared. And he remembered.

         It was as if his thoughts and memories of the past week were split in half, traveling down two roads going in the same direction. As if one road was white and good and the other black, twisted and evil.

         He remembered the breakfast and choking very clearly. Then he had woken up and he remembered everything that had happened, everything he had done, everything he had thought perfectly. He remembered being in perfect control of himself. That was the white road, and yet...

         And yet now, looking back, at the same time, it was as if everything he had done was being done by someone else as if he were watching outside his body. As if he was being controlled like a puppet and unable to stop it. That was the black and evil road of his memories. Both existed together and yet apart. It was very confusing. And then enraging. Because he remembered that in this state he had cast aside Justin like yesterday's news-sheet and married Michael. Married him! Oh God! What had he done!?

         Brian pulled inside and shut the porthole.

         Michael had woken up when he heard Brian puking and was propped up on one elbow in concern. "Brian, are you OK?" he asked.

         Brian turned toward Michael and Michael sat up and cowered back, more than a little frightened.

         Brian's face was dark as a black thundercloud. His face was twisted in a terrible mask of hate and rage.

         "NO! NO, I am not OK!" he yelled, "What the FUCK did you do to me, Michael!? WHAT!?"

         "Nothin'! I didn't do nothin'!" Michael mewled as he backed up against the headboard, his terror making him quite incoherent.

         "Oh yes, YOU DID!! I remember that breakfast! I remember choking, just like right now, in fact. Only that time it felt like something was forcing its way down my throat instead of out. And then I was coming to, and I was your boyfriend again and...and part of me felt...controlled...right up until now! You did something, you sick sonofa - NO! I'm not going to call you that! And you know why? Because all it would be doing is insulting Debbie!" Brian climbed back on the bed and grabbed Michael by the throat and pulled him close and pulled his fist back. "Now...I'm not going to ask you again! WHAT...DID...YOU...DO??"

         "What I had to!" Michael yelled back, "You were mine! You ARE mine! You were always mine, and then HE came! He came and stole you from me! He came and stole you and you never gave me a chance! I was always the odd man out and you chose him over me every time, so yeah! I did something and changed things back to right! Someone offered me help and I took it!" Now leggo!" He thrashed around and struggled ineffectually. Brian easily kept his neck imprisoned in one large fist.

         "Who?? Who helped you?" he growled out dangerously. "Was it this..."master", the one who was pulling Hobbs strings?"

         Michael's mouth twisted contemptuously, "You fool!" he cried, "I was the Master! Don't you remember? I told you that first day I'd help by getting him his valet! Well, I got him one! He was supposed to just watch him all the time. Which he did! I hoped to discover something to use against him but all I ever got were detailed encounters of each...and ...EVERY...time YOU were unfaithful to ME, Brian!"

         Brian finally dropped Michael and backed away on the bed as much as he could. "You're insane! You're a twisted monster!" he whispered in horror. Then, "He almost killed Sunshine, you ASSHOLE!" he yelled.

         "You forced my hand. It was never supposed to go that far," Michael said, "as for who helped me, don't worry about it. You wouldn't believe me if I told you!"

         "I forced...YOUR HAND! YOUR HAND!? Well, you insane prick, let's see how you like it when I force my hand down your throat and out the back of your head!"

         "I guess you could. But that still wouldn't change the fact that we're married now. Signed, sealed, legally and..." he giggled and rolled his eyes in what he thought was a cute way but only revealed his craziness even more when they rolled off in different directions, "...consummated. No chance for an annulment. So why don't you forget about the mute twink and accept it. Accept me Brian. I'm your husband now. We're married and coronated Kings of Liberty Kingdom." He reached out beseechingly toward Brian. "Just accept it and rule with me. It doesn't have to be all bad." He came a little closer.

         Brian put one palm against Michael's face and shoved him back. "Don't TOUCH me, you INSANE FREAK! You make me sickfor what you've done! I'm going to fight this marriage for all I'm worth and you better hope I can get it annulled or reversed or whatever! For as long as we are married, you will never touch me again! And if you ever think about looking at another man, I'll kill you!"

         Michael had been expecting this. He smiled sweetly but his green eyes were as hard as emeralds. "Ditto, Brian," he said in a voice that was matter of fact but deadly serious. Then he softened. "Come on, Brian! We don't have to play it this way! Fight against it! We both have the free will to change this course. Do you really want to be in a sexless marriage? Come on, Brian, what would you rather do? Play 20 questions with a muted retard for the rest of your life, or be married to me, having non-stop mind-blowing sex like last night?"

         Brian fixed Michael with a beady stare of his own and advanced right up into his face. "I'd rather play the 20 questions for the rest of my life with him and have them answered then ask myself ONE question for the rest of my life that I'll never get the answer to...What did I EVER see in you, you insane, bigoted, SADISTIC SHIT!" And he pulled back and punched Michael hard in the jaw, one, two!...and sent Michael flying backward. His head smacked the headboard but he never felt it. He was already out cold.

         Brian sat on the edge of his side of the bed and held his head in both of his hands. Oh God! What had he done? WHAT had he done!? He had married Michael! Married him! He had fucked Michael! He shuddered. And he had forsaken Justin, his Sunshine, dropped him like a hot potato. Oh, God, Justin! Justin had been there this whole time, looking at him, waiting on him, and standing up beside him as his best man. How could he have withstood it? Where was he now?

         Brian raised his head and his gaze fell upon the veiled magnum opus. He wondered what it was. He had known about it for a long time but he knew about Justin's obsession for secrecy for it. Brian felt a wild excitement, like a kid on Christmas. He knew it had been only three weeks but he felt like he'd been waiting a year to see it.

         He reached out and pulled off the heavy black veil.

         His eyes bugged out. His breathing stopped. He couldn't look at it hard enough. He couldn't believe it. It was amazing. It was fantastic.

         The magnum opus was a huge, blue-green underwater seascape. In the foreground on one half of the canvas was a blond merman with a blue-green, shimmering tail with wide, well formed fins. Nice musculature, eight pack. It was, of course, Justin. His features were amazingly realistic. Beside him, taking up the other half of the canvas was another merman with brown hair and a bigger build. He had a red-gold, shimmering tail. It was Brian, also almost photographically real. Their clasped hands met in the very center of the painting. Brian was holding Justin's hand the way he had when he had won the contests, over both their heads. Their hair flowed up and around them as if they were really underwater.

         But it was the way Justin had painted him that Brian couldn't get over. Justin had captured this beatific, expression of perfect peace and happiness that Brian was unaware he had ever worn...hell, could ever wear. It was the expression of happiness that Brian could remember feeling every time he had been with Justin. It was a strange feeling to be looking at a feeling.

         There were sea anemones, a coral formation around them and all manner of fish around them both in the fore and background. There were smaller colored fish, seahorses around them, jellyfish in the corner. Two whales loomed in the background. And the way everything was shaded and otherwise realistically detailed, Brian could almost imagine the fish moving; see the seaweed flowing gently in the sea currents. And there were so many things going on, little things, crabs wrestling, fish chasing, a jelly caught in a coil of seaweed and on and on, that Brian figured he could look again and again at this painting and every time he would see something new.

         And in the center, in the distance was a ball of gold that shimmered and glowed with an ethereal light. A city in the distance. In the center of the city an enormous golden tower arose, the point reaching just below the men's two clasped hands.

         For a few minutes, Brian just sat there, with his mouth open, his eyes roaming everywhere and then onto his and Justin's faces, their tails. He couldn't get enough. He knew if he sat there for the rest of his life, he'd never get enough.

         At last, his eyes roamed over the bottom of the painting and he saw a white envelope. It said FOR BRIAN, in a careful curly script.

         Brian remembered Justin bringing in the painting and adjusting the curtain. He thought he was just being careful. He must have been putting this here as well.

         Brian's mouth twisted into a trademark smirk. Sneaky little twat! He thought affectionately. He picked up the envelope and pulled out the contents.

         The spelling was atrocious and there were capitals where there shouldn't have been but it was painstakingly and carefully written in neat, clear, if not childish writing. It must have taken him weeks to do. (In fact, it had.)

Deer Brian,

BY the TiMe yoo read this, I will Bee Dead.

Up until NoW, I needed to remain silent, (yes I kNoWW, STOP laffing) but if yoo R ReediNg this, I can now make things plane.

What you see befOur Yoo is what I am. What I REALLY am. The gold in the DisTanse is my city, the SpIRE, iS my Palace. I am Prince Justin of the mer-FolK. I half 4 brothers and my mother is Queen.

I DID recue you. I BReethed Life back into Yoo and that is wheN I ferst loVed yoo.

Yoo hafe heerD me say I PAID the PRICE 2 B with Yoo. BUT YOO Do nut know the PriCe.

I TradeD with a Sea Witch my voice and a speshil HeeliNg PoWer for 3 weaks to live with Yoo as Human Beeing. If I could Earn Yoor love IN retoorN, I could Stay Human. IF NUT, if yoo married Anuther, the SunRiSe after Yoor wedding, I would Tern back into A merman and be CHANgeD into Sea Foam.

IF yoo r READing this, SOMethiNG has GON rong and I HAVE failed. Yoo have married Michael. Perhaps the sun is SHINNing on yoor bootiful face and if SOO, I am GonE and haVe beeCum sea foam.

Take this PoirTraIt and  ReMeMber ME. ILOVE Yoo. ALWays. REMEber that.

GoodBye MY Love.

         Under this was a hastier and slightly messier addition as if it had been written at the last minute. (Which it had.)

THERE is SOmethING WrUng. GUS SAYS there IS evil magic. IF the Magic is STILL WerKing YOO StilL MAY NoT Remember what we SHarred. That IS OK. KNOW that I LOVe yoo and I WILL remember for BOTH of Us

I LOVE YOO,

PRINCE JUSTIN

         By the time Brian finished reading his cheeks were wet.

         There was a groaning behind him. Michael sat up rubbing the back of his head.

         WHAP! WHAP! Almost as an afterthought, Brian punched him again, this time blackening both his eyes and then WHAM!... a roundhouse to the jaw. Michael was knocked out again.

         Brian looked forlornly out of the dark porthole. Suddenly, it dawned on him that it was dark and not light out. Justin might still be there!

         Moving faster than he ever had before, Brian threw on his boxers and grabbed Justin's letter and wearing nothing else, caring about nothing else, he tore out of that hated bedroom.

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         Out on deck, Brian took a few, long, deep lungfuls of fresh sea air, the first in a week as a free man. Well, unenchanted anyways, he thought regretfully, looking down at his left hand. The cold deep night air felt good after that stuffy, enclosed cabin. He looked around frantically for Justin, terrified for a moment that he might be too late.

         No! There he was, sitting on the back railing!

         Brian walked quietly over and for a moment just drank in the sight, of his beautiful blond boy. He sat there on the railing, arm around a post for support and leaning his head sideways against it. The only thing he wore was his key necklace, his other chain and his ever-present pearl and golden crown. He looked sadly out to sea.

         Brian took a few more steps toward him. Justin heard him and turned briefly to see him and smiled in a sad greeting and then looked out to the sea again.

         Brian came up to the railing and sat down beside Justin on the railing facing the front of the ship.

         "I remember what we shared," he said softly.

         Justin stilled. Slowly, he turned to Brian with wide eyes. He looked deep, searchingly into Brian's eyes.

         "I missed you, Sunshine," Brian said.

         And Justin smiled, really smiled that million watt smile that gave him his name. He was transported from a deep misery to a great, wild, fierce joy in a single second. He could see that Brian's eyes were clear, really clear and shining with the love that they had felt before. He reached up to cup his cheek, in a mirroring of that last morning together. Brian reached up to cup his cheek and pull him into a kiss. Justin felt himself melting, magnetizing toward Brian in that old pattern of their mind melting kisses. They were inches away when suddenly Justin stopped and his face twisted back into pain. He pulled back a little and leaned to Brian's left hand before taking hold of it and fingering Brian's wedding ring.

         "No!" Brian said harshly, "Not him! Not now! He used deceit and trickery and some sort of enchantment to make that happen and I'm not going to let him steal one more minute longer from us." And so saying, he framed Justin's face and pulled him in to kiss him deeply.

         Justin was swept away in a torrid wave of heady emotions. Joy, thankfulness, a fierce possessiveness, love, and good old fashioned lust thrummed through his veins and very being. He kissed back, devouring Brian's lips and tongue, pushing deeper and deeper, always deeper but never deep enough. It would never be enough. He could never, would never, get enough of Brian. Never.

         Long minutes later, they came up for air. "I'm so sorry, Sunshine," Brian said.

         Justin shook his head, pressed a finger to Brian's lips and pulled him in again. This was no time for apologies or regrets. There was no time. There was no point. All they could do was enjoy what little time they had left.

         "I got your letter. I saw the painting." Brian said.

         Justin perked up. He asked with his eyes, on pins and needles.

         "Your spelling's terrible! We never should have fired that tutor," Brian said, teasing him.

         Justin smacked him playfully but looked askance again, more urgently.

         Brian said seriously, "Justin, you outdid yourself. That was the most incredible thing I've ever seen. Amazing. And before I saw it I was dreaming I was a merman with you with that exact tail. I can't explain it. It was fantastic and I love it. I love you. It will hang in my gallery and I shall pass it down generation to generation so that it will hang there forever."

         Justin made a cradling gesture and then asked, "How?"

         "I'll adopt. I dunno. I'll think of something. Don't worry.  And remember, not every King or Queen of Liberty kingdom will be gay. We will survive."

         Justin grabbed him tight and then they were fused together, a single body, a single soul, a single entity for a long time. They kissed. They cuddled. They hugged and just enjoyed each other's company. And Justin was happy because it meant he was no longer spending his last hours alone.

         The wee hours passed into the deepest night. It was cold but they just huddled together all the more. Brian wouldn't let Justin go.

         Eventually it grew lighter. They could see each other's faces easier. Then even easier than that.

         Justin pointed to his letter that Brian still clutched in his hand. Brian brought it forth and Justin opened it, smoothed it open on their laps. He pointed to: Take this PoirTraIt and  ReMeMber ME. ILOVE Yoo. ALWays. REMEber that.

         "I will. I love you too. I will remember."

         Justin slowly drew off his studio key and hung it around Brian's neck. He drew off his chain that had held Emmett's gift and hung that around Brian's neck. He pointed to: ReMeMber ME. ILOVE Yoo.

         "Yes. I love you too!"

         The twilight dawn grew lighter.

         They kissed hard, fiercely. Then Brian grabbed him and hung on and growled, "NO! I cannot bear it! I won't let you go! I'll hold on! Hold on to me! I love you! I love you!" he choked.

         The sky grew lighter.

         Justin revelled in Brian's bulk, his power, his strength. He kissed him hard again. But it was no use. Brian had not the strength or power to hold him back from where he was destined to go now.

         Slowly, he extricated himself and slowly shook his head sorrowfully. Again, he pointed to: ReMeMber ME.

         Roughly, Brian grabbed him around the waist and pulled him into his lap and into his arms. He mashed their lips together in a desperate fusing. "No! NO! I can't lose you this way! I can't bear it!"

         The seabreeze fluttered Justin's paper, snatched it and carried it out, twisting and turning in the breeze. It flew far out to sea before it finally reached the waves, which consumed it, as they consume everything that touches them.

         The sky grew lighter.

         Justin kissed him back and watched his last words fly away and disappear forever. There was nothing left for him here now. Nothing of him to remember or to tell that he had ever been on land as a human. Well, save his art and one more thing. He had one more thing to give away.

         Slowly, he drew off his gold and pearl diadem and pressed it into Brian's palm. Brian automatically held it up to put it back onto Justin's head. This time, however, Justin held up his hand and shook his head. He pressed it into Brian's hand once more and lowered it. He curled Brian's fingers over top of it and stroked his hand.

         "I understand," said Brian.

         The sun cracked over the edge of the world. Both men's heads snapped around to look.

         As dawn broke, Justin's face contorted in pain and he convulsively grabbed onto Brian for support. Brian in turn grabbed his waist and hung on.

         Justin's legs snapped together and, starting at the top, began to sew themselves together into one big leg. There was a mystical, bright green glow all over Justin's lower half and when it faded he was left as he truly was: a merman with a long, shimmering, blue-green tail with wide fins.

         Justin held up his hand and gestured it over his tail. He looked up shyly, regretfully. He shrugged slightly. "This is what I am," his eyes and gestures said.

         "I don't care. You're the most beautiful, mystical, amazing thing, I've ever seen and I still love you," said Brian.

         Justin smiled contentedly and hugged Brian. His tail moved up and down gently where it hung over the side of the ship.

         The wind picked up and the gently rolling waves became harsh and hungry. The slapped the edge of the ship hard. They grew higher and higher.

         The wind grew stronger and stronger. Brian braced himself and hung on to Justin for all he was worth.

         "Hang onto me! I won't let you go!" Brian yelled.

         But that was easier said than done. The wind grew stronger and now it felt as if someone was grabbing onto Justin's tail and was pulling him off and away. Brian found himself in a desperate tug of war with Justin as the rope.

         "Don't let me go!" yelled Brian.

         The wind grew stronger. The waves were terrible. The swells were enormous and they pounded down with terrific force and noise. Justin was now horizontal and being pulled off and away from the ship in a strange and incredibly strong vacuum.

         The spray of the waves soaked them both. The ship was rocked and spun and there were faint screams from down below. Sailors appeared as if from nowhere and began to climb the rigging and take care of the ship but Brian ignored them.

         Justin was pulled away from him, stronger and stronger, more and more. It was as if King Neptune himself had him by the tail and was slowly taking back what was his own. Brian found himself holding onto Justin's upper arms.

         There was more spray. They grew even wetter, if that were possible. Justin's arms got slicked over. He slid away from Brian and suddenly Brian was holding him by the forearms.

         The wind grew stronger. The vacuum pulled harder. The waves grew higher, walls of water that were higher than the ship. But the captain was brave and clever and he turned the ship into the swells, climbing them like huge hills. The wave behind them pounded down and forced them the rest of the way up and then down. And then again. And again.

         Justin slipped a bit and now Brian was holding him by the wrists. He raised his too blue eyes and looked into Brian's. Sorrowfully, he shook his head. Carefully, he mouthed the words: Remember me.

         "NO! Don't you give up on me! Hang on! Don't you dare give up on me! DON'T - NOOOOO!"

         But in the end it really wasn't a matter of giving up or strength at all. It was as if Justin's hands liquefied, mushified at the wrists. They transformed into foam. Brian's hands passed right through and Justin slipped away from him right through his fingers.

         An impossible wall of water rose up behind the ship. Justin flew out and away from the ship, turning end over end flipping through the air like a throwing knife. 

         Brian watched him go with agony, heartbroken beyond repair. It seemed to take forever but it had to be only a few seconds.

         Eventually, Justin flew and flipped his way through the air and hit the wall of water. As he did, he was instantly disintegrated. For a moment, there was a merman shaped mass of sea foam on the side of the mountainous wave. And then it was cresting, crashing, smashing down, and even that was gone, lost forever.

         Justin was gone.

         The wind died. The waves settled. In a few moments everything was as calm, calmer than when it had all started.  The sky was clear. The sun rose fully into the sky. Morning had come. But for Brian it would seem like it was nighttime, only night, for a long time. His sunshine was gone.

         He stood there in his silk boxers, soaking wet. He wore only Justin's bling and held his gold and pearl crown in his hand.

         The sea became like glass. The only foam that was left was the stuff the ship was churning out at the back.

         Brian just stood there, shell-shocked. He literally did not know what to do.

         Eventually, the sailors calmed down and someone brought a blanket for the young King. He sat him down and brought him something warm and fizzy to drink.

         As for Justin, he could feel it happen. He felt his hands numb, saw them vanish away and in so doing, carry him away from Brian forever. He felt himself flip through the air, saw a blur of images whirl around as he flew through the air.

         And then there was only the sea, the sky, the sun, and the unbearable brightness of being.

THE END

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A/N: Wow, this one just kept going, didn't it folks? OK, well there we go! The saga done with the Hans C Anderson ending intact. However... I do have an ace up my sleeve...Shall I keep going? Let me know or simply just REVIEW, review, review!