A/N: I hope you enjoy the final chapter!
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Chapter Nine: 15 July 1844
Two and a half months ago, d'Artagnan had burst into his house worried about whether or not he was sufficiently coping with the revelations of the most recent chapter of Dumas' story*. Partially mirroring that time, his front door was suddenly thrown open and he and d'Artagnan hear Porthos and Aramis worriedly calling out their names.
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Two days ago, within the confines of Les Trois Mousquetaires*, Milady was executed for her numerous crimes, not the least of which was the murder of Constance. In many ways the scene Dumas described was much worse than the day he had had Anne taken out to be hanged after she had murdered Thomas, and in other ways it was a much kinder death than what had really happened*.
Two nights ago, he proceeded to get as drunk as possible for the first time in years in order to drown out his memories – good and bad – of his wife. At one point, there was an indistinct shape hovering above him that he thought might have been d'Artagnan, looking extremely concerned.
The next thing Athos was aware of was when he was rearing back to sit on his knees, feeling a hand grasping his shirt collar and sputtering freezing-cold water out in shuddering breaths. Wiping water out of his eyes, he saw a bucket sitting on the floor in front of him, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see d'Artagnan kneeling next to him.
Over the next hours, his spotty recollections were filled in by d'Artagnan. The previous day's newspaper did not include the next installment of Dumas' story*, and the two ended up spending the day anticipating the next day's, which would contain the part he had been dreading ever since Porthos had warned him about it.
The newspaper had not arrived by the time d'Artagnan proposed going to the market for some more food and wine. The younger man had hurried out in hopes of getting back before the new issue was delivered. Unfortunately, an accident in the marketplace had delayed his returning long enough not only for the paper to arrive, but for Athos to have to read it alone. He should've waited for d'Artagnan to return, but he couldn't help himself. He had to know how Milady's execution would play out in the story.
His imagination had come nowhere close to reality.
D'Artagnan found him already one full bottle into his cups and looking to go as deep as he could into them. His brother managed to prevent him from going completely overboard and kept him distracted, though nothing worked for very long. That night, he managed to convince d'Artagnan that he was better and that he no longer needed to drown his grief in alcohol. It was an outright lie, and he proceeded to drink cupful after cupful of cheap wine.
Having heard a noise, d'Artagnan had rushed downstairs and had found him on the floor, half-way between the settee and the sitting room door deeply unconscious and barely breathing. He still can't remember what he had been doing at the time.
After multiple attempts at waking him up, d'Artagnan had tried Athos's method for curing hangovers: immersing his head in a bucket of cold water. It had worked and then he'd had to suffer the physical consequences of drinking to the verge of alcohol poisoning. D'Artagnan had stayed glued to his side for the rest of the night, finally admitting as dawn broke that Athos had scared him witless even though he knew his friend would not remain permanently dead should the worst happen.
This time it was him promising to never let despair overcome him in such a way ever again*.
By the time the issue of Le Siècle with the next part of the story arrived, Athos's head feels as if it was waiting for the slightest provocation in order to explode into a million pieces. For a few hours after his close call, he almost thought that he would be better off if his head would explode, though he refrained from mentioning that to d'Artagnan. His friend was angry enough over what had happened as a result of Dumas' story.
While he had been lying down and recovering on the settee, d'Artagnan had been busy creating a sort of nest for them in front of the fireplace. He gathered just about everything they could possibly need for the next couple of days in order to camp out. Athos couldn't help but be impressed at what his young brother had done so that neither of them had to deal with what was left of the story alone.
When the newspaper came, they sat with their backs against the settee on top of the mounds of bedding that had been gathered. Because Athos was too hungover, d'Artagnan read aloud what turned out to be the final installment of Les Trois Mousquetaires.
The character of d'Artagnan escaped punishment from charges brought up by Cardinal Richelieu, the young man ending up with a blank commission for a lieutenancy. He tried to give it to each of his three friends and each of them refused it, with Porthos and Aramis informing d'Artagnan of their decision to leave the Musketeers. The Inseparables were to be no more. Athos ended up writing d'Artagnan's name on the commission.
"I shall then have no more friends," said [d'Artagnan]. "Alas! nothing but bitter recollections."
And he let his head sink upon his hands, while two large tears rolled down his cheeks.
"You are young," replied Athos; "and your bitter recollections have time to change themselves into sweet remembrances.*"
As d'Artagnan read the final installment, his voice became huskier and more emotion laden. When his brother read about not having any more friends, d'Artagnan had to stop a couple of times, swallowing hard in order to continue speaking.
Within the conclusion and epilogue are craftily written reminders of the lonely years, of what it was like when the four of them were not in accord and not in each other's lives. By the way the words had affected d'Artagnan, he thought they were probably thinking the same thing: they needed to let the hurts caused by Dumas' story go. They needed to remember that they were brothers first and that forgiveness was the only way they could survive as a family over the years to come.
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When Aramis and Porthos barged into his sitting room with his and d'Artagnan's names on the tips of their tongues, Athos thinks they must look quite the odd pair, camped out in front of his fireplace with everything they could need to be comfortable.
The night before, they had spent a quiet evening in his sitting room. They ate and drank, though neither of them to excess. They played cards. D'Artagnan made another attempt to teach him to speak some English, which like every other attempt, had failed miserably. In the end, they spent much of the night talking and reminiscing, finally falling asleep shoulder-to-shoulder against his settee.
Their friends' yelling had awakened them, but their sleep-heavy limbs kept them from rising from their comfortable nest of bedding. Athos acknowledged their calls and had to keep from laughing at the confused expressions on his friends' faces. D'Artagnan did not follow his example of restraint and laughed aloud as they finally rose from their comfortable nest to join their friends.
Once d'Artagnan regained control of himself, Aramis explained that he and Porthos had been worried that they hadn't heard from either one of them for close to a week. Porthos even voiced a poorly-timed joked that he had even expected that he would have had to dodge another punch from Athos. It had the unintentional effect of sobering them all up, causing an awkward silence to spread amongst them.
Eventually, Porthos stepped forward to stand in front of him. "Athos, I want to—"
He held up a hand to interrupt his friend's apology. "There's no need. I understand the predicament you were in, and though I wish you would've handled…certain events…differently, I forgive you."
Next to him, d'Artagnan nodded his agreement, causing Aramis to sigh in relief and then smile.
"That's...that's great. Thank you – both of you." Porthos fidgeted for a moment before blurting out, "I think I'm going to write a sequel*."
Before Athos could register what was happening, his fist was flying and Porthos was falling unconscious to the ground.
Athos stepped around his shocked friends and started to head out of the room.
"When he wakes, please tell Porthos that he is still forgiven."
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As he walked up the stairs to his bedroom, he thought of the personal history that Dumas could mine for the sequel.
The war with Spain sat at the forefront of his memories. It was during that time that they had discovered their immortality. It was a difficult, confusing time of transition for all of them, and their brotherhood back then had been strong.
In the many years since, they've encountered many challenges to that brotherhood. Les Trois Mousquetaires was just the latest in a long line. He couldn't help but wonder if this sequel would affect them as much as the first story had.
He thought back to the times they had been separated due to conflicts amongst them. The lonely years… The years he would give almost anything to never again revisit.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As he released it, Athos promised himself that he would do whatever was necessary to keep their brotherhood, their family, from fracturing in the future. He was determined to keep them united even if he, or one of his friends, had to hit Porthos yet again in order to keep the man from going over the line while writing the next story.
They are immortal, and they are each other's greatest strength and greatest weakness. Even so, they had been friends and brothers first. They are family by choice, and at this point, it seemed they were going to be family forever.
Only together could they meet any challenges to come in the future – even a sequel to Les Trois Mousquetaires.
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To End.
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Historical Notes: Chapter Nine:
-15 July 1844: The day after the last part of Les Trois Mousquetaires was published. On 14 July 1844, the second and final part of Chapter 67, Conclusion, and the whole of the Epilogue was published in Le Siècle.
- "[R]evelations of the most recent chapter of Dumas' story.": This is a back-handed reference to a part of the story that I wrote but took out because I felt it was too repetitive in terms of the overall story.
- "Two days ago, within the confines of Les Trois Mousquetaires…": A reference to the 13 July 1844 issue of Le Siècle, which published Chapter 66, Execution, and the first part of Chapter 67**, Conclusion. ((Note: The information relating to the ** is at the very end of the notes for this chapter.))
- "[A] much kinder death than what had really happened.": [Spoiler for the book] In the novel, Milady is beheaded, her head and body gathered in a red cloak, and then thrown into the Lys river to sink to the bottom. I have no idea how or if Milady will die within the confines of the television show. The reference to a "much kinder death" is just a throw-away comment on quick deaths versus long, drawn-out ones.
- "[The] newspaper did not include the next installment of Dumas' story…": On 12 July 1844, Le Siècle published Revue Scientifique. The 11 July 1844 issue leaves readers with a cliffhanger at the end of Chapter 65, Jugement (Trial). By the end of that chapter, Milady had been sentenced to death and was being forced towards the place of her execution.
-"[P]romising to never let despair overcome…": This is a reference to Chapter Eight of this story.
-"I shall then have no more friends…": Quoted directly from Chapter 67, Conclusion, of the Project Gutenberg eBook edition of The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas.
-"I'm going to write a sequel.": The sequel to The Three Musketeers was called, Vingt ans après (Twenty Years After), and was serialized in the newspaper from January to August 1845.
-**Chapter 67: In researching the dates the final chapters of the novel were published in Le Siècle, I ran across an interesting alteration in chapter titles and lengths. Chapter 67 used to be titled Un Message du Cardinal instead of Conclusion. I have no idea why the change was made for the publication of the story in book form. Today, the final three sentences of what was Un Message du Cardinal are in Chapter 66 (Execution), while the remaining part makes up Chapter 67, Conclusion.
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A/N: Please let me know if you would like to see more of the Immortals AU. While writing, I came up with plenty of ideas for more stories, and wouldn't mind expanding on them if there's any interest. Thanks!
Thank you to all those who followed, read, reviewed, and/or favorited this story! I am very thankful for your support, and appreciate you taking time out of your busy lives to let me know your thoughts. Until next time.