This Love

by Library Arcanium

This is a deeper, more emotional look into Adrian, the dark shadows that make up his heart and his love, and the light those closest to him bring to his life.

This Love
By Master of the Library

A/U: This is a birthday tribute to myself, despite the fact my birthday was four days ago….…..…enjoy it anyway!

I couldn't think of any lyrics for this one, so kindly listen to 'This Love' by Angela Aki while reading this. It's the bestest fit I could find!

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-A light gleams in the darkness and resolves itself into the sheen of a crystalline violet blade, which pulls away from the screen as Adrian grabs it's hilt and whirls on his heel, blood-soaked trenchcoat flapping as he slashes a charging armored man in twain with ease. The Librarian flips away as a lance drives into the ground where his feet had been and he deflects the follow-up thrust as he rides his weapon along the lance's length and decapitates the wielder. More and more attackers swarm around him, leaping at him from all directions and light and blood flash as Adrian slashes them all to pieces and the camera spirals out and up, revealing a corpse-ridden, blood-soaked bathed in the fire-red light of a setting sun.-

-Tash, Nepythys in her hand dashes through a dense forest, ignoring the leaves and branches that smack her across the face and suddenly she stumbles out for the forest onto a cliff's edge and see the pointy-eared figure of the Librarian standing a few yards away, his back to her. She races for him and reaches out but before her fingers can touch, he bursts apart into butterflies and Tash watches with tears in her eyes as the swarm of butterflies sails up towards the starry night and full moon sky above her.-

-A light gleams in the center of the moon and drops down, forcing Tash to alight into the sky with a beat of her fiery wings and the falling thing smashes into the cliff, shattering it and as it the pieces drop down, Tash sees a tall woman with black-white-hair smirking up at her as she rids the rubble down. The woman makes to leap up at Tash, but then a figure leaps into view, a black robe flapping around them and a shadowed hood obscuring their features. The newcomer pulls out a long, thin handle and a rectangular beam of violet leaps from it, forming a sword as he and the mysterious woman battle amongst the falling rubble. Suddenly, arrows of blue shred all the rubble to pieces and the hooded figure leaps back to land next to Valerie, who is standing on a rock and Seiryu formed in her hand as she barrages the woman with arrows. The woman deftly weaves in and out among the runs, literally running across the surface of the water and she leaps high into the air, Val pointing her bow up into the air and firing, the arrow splitting the screen in two that roll up to the corners.

-The splitting screen reveals a darkened area and ten shadowed figures briefly flash across the screen before it shows all ten of the figures arranged in various positions atop pillars of varying heights. The camera rushes forwards and up past the figures to the tallest pillar, where Runoa is seated in a throne, head propped on her hand as she smirks and holds up Adrian's pendant, which twirls on it's chain twice before Runoa snaps it up in her fist and laughs, the screen going to darkness.-

-The screen lightens, to show Chrys walking a flowered forest and she plucks a dandylion in boom from the ground and blows on it gently, the seeds drifting off to be caught in the wind and they swirl this way and that, guiding the camera over to Aster, who is sitting with her knees drawn up to her chest on the edge of a crystal-clear pool of water. The fae looks sad about something and she reaches out and touches the pool with a fingertip, watching as the ripples distort her reflection and the image in the pool becomes a older, sadder-looking version of Aster. This reflection turns to look over her shoulder at something and the camera zooms in, following her.-

-It shows a medieval town, with an elegant castle in the center and the older-looking Aster is standing upon a cliff, overlooking the city. Suddenly, the sky darkens and a giant pillar of silvery-gold light erupts from the castle high into the sky and starts to expand rapidly, consuming the town and the camera races forwards, down the cliff face, across the plain, through the gates and down streets and around corners into a town square, to see a cloaked figure rushing to catch a elegantly-dressed woman who is falling backwards, the light casting them as silhouettes. The figure catches the woman, only for her body to break into sparkles of light from the feet up and the camera zooms up to the figures and it's revealed be Adrian, his horrified eyes wide and tears streaming down his face as Tash reaches up to touch his cheek, but her body dissolves before she can touch him and Adrian throws back his head, tears streaming down his face and he screams into the sky as the light washes over him-

-The light fades to show Adrian staggering across a battlefield littered with corpses and blood. His body is covered in blood and wounds and each step seems like it might be his last and finally he pitches forwards and his eyes start to drift shut as everything darkens around him. Then a pair of hands catch him and the camera pulls back to see Phoenixia holding Adrian, resting his head in her lap and she smiles gently at him and brushes his hair out of his eyes and the Librarian smiles back, peace spreading across his face.-

-Blood splashes across the screen and then is wiped away by a wave of violet energy as Adrian charges through ranks of soldiers and demons with ease and skids to a stop, their blood splattered across his face as they all fall to the ground. Adrian watches them and glances down at his hands, which are soaked in blood and he closes his eyes in a sad manner. Then he turns and opens them, seeing Tash standing behind him, clean and bloodless. His head drops and he starts to turn back away, but she gently pulls him back around and looks in her eyes, her own bright and warm. She grabs his bloodstained and lifts it to her cheek, threading their fingers together as she leans into his palm, smiling lovingly. Adrian stares at her, his eyes hurt and confused and uncertain and the British girl tangles her hand in his hair and pulls him close for kiss, pressing his blood-stained lips to her own-.

-The previous image dissolves away to reveal Adrian standing in darkness and his eyes widen as the darkness lashes and twines around him, threatening to drag him deeper as he struggles vainly against it. His hand reaches out in desperation and a hand reaches down, grasping his tightly and the darkness recedes, releasing the Librarian. Adrian stands and it's revealed to be Valerie who has helped him. She grasps his hands in her own and lifts up to face-level. She presses his hands together and then pulls them apart to reveal a small sphere of light between them. She grins at Adrian's confused look and repeats the actions with her own hands, revealing a second, larger sphere of swirling silver light between them. The healer leans forwards and gently blows on her sphere and it flares with light, growing larger and the Librarian mimics her actions and he watches with a surprised, happy smile on his face as the two spheres grow in size and launch into the sky, dancing and spinning around one another as their combined light drives the darkness away and blinds the screen-

-The light fades to reveal the Library Arcanium. Adrian is standing, wounded and Hoshikuzu covered in blood, staring at a painting. It shows him, dressed in a white trenchcoat and kneeling among some laughing children in a meadow as he hands out flowers. He stares at it longing and reaches up to touch it and he starts in surprise when he sees his fingertips leave blood drops on the pure painting. The drops trickle down the painting and darkness spreads in their wake and as it does, the painting changes into the Librarian standing under a dark and stormy sky, with a blood rain coming down as he stands, head bowed amongst the dead bodies of the children and wasted, bleak land of the meadow. The real Adrian looks at this painting and his body sags in defeat and his head bows. The camera zooms in on the blood drops as the blood trickles down the canvas.-

-Now it's revealed the droplets are actually the red on the petals of a rose Adrian in his hands. He approaches Phoenixia, who is sitting by herself as the Society Agents party in the background. The buxom woman is watching the festivities with a saddened expression on her face, looking like she wanted to cry and be anywhere but there. The Librarian taps her on the shoulder and when she looks at him, he hands the rose. Phoenixia, surprise written on her features takes it and stares at it for long moment before breaking out into a smile, looking like she was ready to cry happy tears and she throws arms around Adrian and hugs him tightly as the Librarian blushes-

-The previous image shatters and is replaced by a narrow cliff jutting out over the sea against a setting sun. And planted blade-first at the tip of cliff is Hoshikuzu, Adrian's pendant dangling and swaying off the crossguard in the wind while the pages of the Codex of Index, which is leaning against the blade, flutter back and forth. Shadowy beings advance towards the grave, reaching out to destroy it, but a hail of bullets and blue arrows tear through them and shred them to pieces. As the creatures burst into wisps of darkness, it reveals Valerie and Phoenixia, the former dressed in a simple traveling cloak with a stylized Seiryu in her hand and the latter dressed in her battle outfit, a pair of elegant looking silver pistols in her hands. They approached the grave and stop a few feet away and suddenly, Phoenixia touches her cheek and pulls her hand away with blood on her finger tips that drips off and splashes on the ground in front of the sword. She stares in surprise and a few tears trickle down her cheek and in the reflection of her eyes, various images Adrian flash of him in battle or covered in blood or cry. Then Val points and Phoenixia looks. Where her blood and tears have mingled, a little rose is sprouting. The older woman smiles happily at seeing, as does Val and they turn to leave, striding off without a backward glance as more and roses sprout and cover the grave in lush flowers.-

-Tash is standing in front of the painting that Adrian had been earlier, dressed in a sky-blue trenchcoat and with her sword in one hand. She stares at it and a few tears form at the corner of her eyes. The blonde gently wipes them onto a fingertip and touches them to the painting, which ripples like water and it changes again. Now it shows a beautifully-winged Tash in a white dress holding a bloodied Adrian from behind, her wings folded over them both as they star lovingly into each other's eyes as flowers grow in the meadow around their feet and shafts of sunlight breach the clouds above. The real Tash smiles at the painting, a few tears of happiness running down her face-

-The scene shifts back to the gravesite and Valerie, Tash and Phoenixia all dash over to it. Tash sees all the roses growing on it and falls to her knees, smiling as she tenderly runs her fingers along the rose petals and then jumps back to her feet and away as the flowers rustle and suddenly, a swarm of beautiful butterflies bursts from them, a shining dusts falling from their wings. They fly around the grave maker before soaring over the three women, showering them with the glittering dust. Val reaches out her hands to catch it, smiling like a child who just caught a snowflake and Phoenixia closes her eyes and smiles to herself, as if enjoying a joke only she knows while Tash grins happily and spins around in the shiny dust and then all three women watch as the butterflies soar out over the ocean into the setting sun, Adrian's rose-covered and sparkling grave site the last image on the screen before it fades to black.-

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A/N: Well, there ya go…don't know what to make of it myself, but hey,I enjoyed it nonetheless. And I hope you did too!

Happy Birthday to myself!

:P

Later Dayz, y'all!