[ Time in dreams is such a fluid thing that, if asked about it later, Clive wouldn't be able to quantify this moment. All he could say about it upon review is that it wasn't long enough after nearly twenty years of separation from the beloved brother that he would gladly have killed and died for. It could never be enough to satisfy them.

For now, he just holds onto Joshua and allows him to cry--allows them both to cry, honestly, because there's no denying their lives have been hell and they deserve a moment to mourn them now that they're over, since they're both...

Wait.

Are they not...?

Is this not the afterlife after all? Clive bites his tongue as he frantically tries to wrap his head around what that means while keeping his expression as neutral as possible. Is he not dead, then? Because when he'd been losing consciousness on that moonlit beach, he was fairly certain that it wasn't just wakefulness that was slipping away from him, but if what Joshua says is true...

Clive laughs, leaning in to kiss his brother's forehead, tears still streaming down both their faces. ]

Forgive me, little brother. I must have been mistaken, then. I admit my mind has been addled since I woke up in this forest. How long have you been here, then? Are you all right?