Seven Days to the Wolves
Disclaimer: I do not own Wolf's Rain, nor the lyrics in the following song. They belong to the band Nightwish.
A/N: This might be kind of AU-ish. Oh, well. It's been so long since I've seen the Anime. I apologize in advance for any inaccuracies you may see here.
Darcia can feel his heart pounding when he first lays eyes on her at the masque.
She is a beauty beyond compare. He admires her tall lissome, willowy frame, her skin, soft and white. Her incredibly long hair is like spun gold. Her kind eyes, are the color of spring lilacs. When she speaks, her voice is indescribably divine. She is perfection.
He is utterly spellbound when she says his name.
"My lord Darcia, is it? Would you care to dance?"
He follows her onto the dance floor. He can refuse this siren nothing.
From that moment forward, he is hers. He would follow her into heaven or hell. It doesn't matter which.
The wolves, my love will come
Taking us home where dust once was a man.
Is there Life before a Death?
Do we long too much and never let in?
Theirs is a whirlwind courtship. They fall desperately in love. He writes her sonnets, and sends her flowers and trinkets, things he knows will delight her.
When he proposes, she accepts, to his great joy. The years pass in bliss. They believe that their Paradise will be forever.
However, when Hamona is stricken by the Paradise sickness, he is proven wrong.
Sometimes, he stays by her side for hours as a man. Other times, he wanders the keep as a wolf, howling his grief and sorrow to the winds until he can howl no more.
Howl!
Seven days to the wolves!
Where will we be when they come?
Seven days to the poison
And a place in Heaven!
Time drawing near as they come to take us.
He spends countless hours in his library, searching for a cure for her illness. He is becoming distressed, until he finds a record from one of his forebearers, Darcia the First. It tells of the Flower Maiden Cheza, whom was created to open the gates of Paradise. She was lost to the Darcias when his family had fallen to ruin.
He swears that he will find this Cheza. She will be the one to restore Hamona to health. He knows it.
This is my church of choice,
Love's strength standeth in love's sacrifice.
For the rest, I have to say to you
I will dream like the god
(And suffer like all the dead children.)
Darcia is determined that nothing will stand in his way. During his search, his airship fleet cuts a swath of destruction throughout the world. He destroys and devours a small town. He briefly forgets his misery, and loses himself to the slaughter, the carnage, the bloodletting.
He at last finds Cheza, after a long search, but she escapes his grasp. The little Maiden goes to run with the wolves. She is their hope, their Messiah. She and the Chosen Wolf will be the ones to open Paradise, and the world will be reborn.
Darcia cannot allow this to happen. He must bring Hamona back in order to be whole again. Nothing else matters.
Howl!
Seven days to the wolves!
Where will we be when they come?
Seven days to the poison
And a place in Heaven!
Time drawing near as they come to take us.
This is where heroes and cowards part ways.
He captures Cheza, and brings her back to his castle.
Cheza begins to work on her, but Darcia realizes it is too late. Hamona is gone, her life support cut off by her twin sister, Jagara.
Darcia's maddened screams reverberate throughout the keep and he bangs his head against the walls. Long, loud, ragged sounds emanate from his throat until it is raw.
He cradles her in his arms and weeps, stroking her hair with trembling fingers and whispers promises and fervent apologies against her ear. They are tender words. Loving words.
His greatest love has been taken from him. She is now forever beyond his reach.
Darcia is falling into the grip of madness.
Light the fire, feast
Chase the ghost, give in.
Take the road less traveled by,
Leave the city of fools,
Turn every poet loose.
He remembered when he crossed paths with the young white wolf. He told him that what he was looking for in Paradise was neither joy nor despair, just a future.
Darcia no longer has a future. There is nothing left but sweet annihilation now. He contemplates as he cremates Hamona. He watches as her beautiful form shrivels and burns, and her ashes blow away in the wind.
He comes to a decision. He will beat the wolves to Paradise, and open the gates with Cheza himself.
He is determined to succeed where his predecessors have failed.
Howl!
Seven days to the wolves!
Where will be when they come?
Seven days to the poison
And a place in Heaven!
Time is drawing near as they come to take us.
Darcia has killed Jagara. Her Paradise was not real. He tells the white wolf that he is the one chosen to open the Gates of Paradise.
He will spare the young wolf, for now. But he knows, the final confrontation is coming.
Howl!
Seven days to the wolves!
Where will we be when they come?
Seven days to the poison
And a place in Heaven!
Time is drawing near as they come to take us.
There is a battle. It is brutal and bloody. One by one, the wolves fall under Darcia's fangs after he quotes the prophecy at them. They are not worthy. He will claim Paradise from the wolves, take it by force.
Because after all, Paradise rightfully belongs to him. The wolf in him has been resurrected.
(Heroes, cowards, no more!)
Heroes, cowards, no more!
Heroes, cowards, no more!
Heroes, cowards, no more!
Heroes, cowards, no more!
Now, there is only the two of them. Kiba is lies on the snow, bleeding and broken. Darcia is victorious. He makes his way to the threshold of Paradise, laughing manically. He has become unhinged, descending into true lunacy. He feels giddy, light-headed. At last, he can claim Paradise.
That is, until he vomits blood. Cheza tells him that she is poisoned. Darcia, undeterred, makes it to barrier, and his body disintegrates.
Only his single wolf's eye remains, and it slowly begins to taint the newly born Paradise.
FIN