The crowd exhaled. Noise entered the universe again. One person clapped, then others joined in with applause, and with words. Words Bragi didn't want to remember. He felt sick. He couldn't see any color except red and he thought he saw it everywhere. There was blood dripping down his arm. A few drops trickled off his fingertips. Bragi couldn't feel his arm anymore. He couldn't tell if it was his blood. The sun was beating down and baking everything. Bragi's hands and feet and head were cold.
Idori stopped falling. He stayed on the ground. Bragi liked this even less than the falling. He'd rather keep thinking Idun's brother was falling. Bragi fell. He showed Idun's brother how to push himself up. Idori stayed on the ground. He didn't move. His blood looked the same. Bragi wanted to scream at him to get up. Get up. Bragi would plant Idori his own orchard from scratch if Idun's brother would just get up.
But Idun was crying. She was crying. She said things, but Bragi didn't hear them. Did she hurt her arm too? Was the blood Bragi's? He wasn't sure which one of them had died. He wasn't sure Idun's brother hadn't killed him first. He couldn't....His brow furrowed. She kept saying things. Bragi did it. He did it. He knew. He didn't cry because her tears were his tears. They were there because of him, and they'd never stop being there because of him. Bragi couldn't see the crowd's faces anymore. They didn't have faces. He didn't have any color in him, and they didn't have any faces. Idori's eyes looked like glass. Bragi covered his eyes. When he uncovered them, Idori's eyes still looked like glass. Soon he wouldn't have eyes at all. Bragi had made him blind. He'd never blinded a person before.
Idun was leaving. Bragi inhaled sharply, and stared at the back of her as she started to melt into the crowd. She didn't know. She didn't know what happened. She had to know. He broke her. He broke people. He had to fix it. She needed to know. Bragi ran after her. He grabbed her arm. “Idun.” He'd never gotten to say her name out loud before. “Idun” he said, “I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't...You weren't supposed to be there. You didn't get my message. He wanted to take it. He had a knife. He wanted your orchard. He said he was going to get rid of you. He had a dagger in his hand. I tried...I didn't...I love you. I loved you all along. Idun is a very pretty name. I'm sorry. He had a dagger in his hand. He raised it. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.”