Higher / a7x

Forgotten Faces

*Brian's POV*

A week or so passed and we had everyone that we needed down with us.

I was in my room, sitting on my couch as I looked out the window. It was starting to get dark, the sun was setting. I could hear the booming, loud music from Lemmy's pub, everyone was down there, however I decided to stay alone. Papers and books full with the rules of the country, along with my own scribbled notes were scattered all over the small coffee table. 

Did I really want to risk all the lives of my loved ones? I thought it would've been easier. I wouldn't give a shit if it was just me, under the knife. However, now my sister, my brothers, my best friends, my father, they were all in this.

There was a knock on the door and it opened soon after. Heavy footsteps were heard and then the couch slumped a bit. It was Matt.

There was a moment of silence before I spoke up, "The prize is big."

He chuckled before he replied, which made me turn my head to look at him, "But the reward is bigger." He sighed betide he continued, "I know ya. I know that right now, you're thinking of every single bad scenario, of every single bad thing that happened last night. You think that we didn't think it through and you basically fucked us up."

There was a long pause afterwards. I raised an eyebrow as I pulled my legs up and wrapped my arms loosely around them,"But?"

Matt shrugged as he looked at me, "Nothing."

I rolled my eyes as I looked back out the window. I sighed as I ran a hand over my face, then I spoke up, "If... I fuck this up and we end up never seeing each other again-"

"See? What I told you, 'if' -"

"Matt." I sighed before I continued, "Let me finish. If this ends badly and you go back upstairs without me while I rot in Hell or stay in Heaven, I want you to know, that I love you. I love you and Zack, and Brooks, Jimmy, even Johnny. I love all of you and if I ever did something that hurt you, I want to say that I apologize for everything I've ever done. I've known you all my life, literally. I just wanna say, I considered you my brother, long before law made us brothers by marrying sisters."

He nodded and I gave a nod in reply. Matt gave a breathy laugh before he spoke up, "A part of me wants to say something mushy, not to ruin the mood, but I think it's gonna be way too gay."

I rolled my eyes and punched his shoulder, causing him to laugh out loud. I laughed as well, shaking my head, "You're such an asshole."

He shot me one of his stupid dimpled smiles before he got up and patted my shoulder, "Let's go have a few drinks. Cliff wanted to talk to all of us."

I nodded as I got up and followed Matt out of the apartment.

We walked down to Lemmy's pub and up to the bar counter. Cliff nodded his head in a greeting and I returned the gesture.

He cleared his throat as he spoke up, "I want to thank each and every single one of you that volunteered and decided to help us and Brian's family in such hard times. I'm sure I'm speaking from everyone when I say that it's dearly appreciated." There was a round of applause before he continued,"I want to say this. At the end of the day, Death is not a killer. Azrael is not a monster. He is just a guide to the lost souls, he does not take them. With that being said, whatever happens is going to only affect the Avenged family, meaning Brian Sir, Brian Junior, McKenna, Matthew, Zachary, Jonathan, James. Despite being close, Brooks, Darrell, Vincent and etcetera, are not going to be affected."

There was silence before he continued, "The punishment, that the Sevenfold family will have to experience if something ever goes wrong and they fail, is simple. They will be separated, after their pluses and minuses are calculated, they will be sent to either hell or heaven and they will never be able to be a part of the community of Bat Country ever again, that, of course, is going to happen after they're officially pronounced dead.

"What's going to happen if they win, you'll find out. Brian?"

I got up and stood next to Cliff as I licked my lips nervously. I looked around the guys and then, I started speaking, "After going through the rules of Bat Country with Cliff, I made a pretty difficult decision. If we win, my family and I will go back upstairs. The day after the fight, we will wake up, one day after James's tenth anniversary and we won't remember a single thing. I've decided to be selfish and leave my brother behind, because there was technically a fuck up in the system and none of this bullshit was supposed to happen, that's why I decided to take the opportunity and go back home, because I have children to take care of."

I paused as I glanced at the ground before I spoke up again, this time my voice was firmer, "What Cliff said, was based on the ground rules. I was given the opportunity to make some arrangements. If we lose, no lives would be taken, except for my own, however any person that's not dead, came from the upper world and knew James, they would be forbidden access to Bat Country, cursed to never see me again, which means they'd be sent to either Heaven or Hell, but with the ones that they love."

I saw that the guys were worried, it was obvious. I took a deep breath before I glanced at Matt and continued, "I brought you into this mess. It's all my fault and I'm willing to do whatever it takes, just to make sure that if I screw up, no one would get hurt by my hands."

Cliff nodded and I nodded back, then I walked out of the pub again. I knew I said I was going to have a few drinks, but I couldn't bear to see the anxious faces of my family.

I haven't forgotten about this story, y'all!!!!!!!! There's a huge plot gap I wanna fill before I post anything, same with my other A7X book. If you want to, you can check out my TWD fanfics in the meantime, it would be highly appreciated. 

See ya soon!!!!!