Cantarella
The heavy scent of roses wafted through the endless maze of rosebushes, overpowering all other senses and would cause anyone to fall into a trance like state. Normally, the roses wouldn't be so strong, but rather soft and sweet, much like the children who loved to play amongst them. Their garden was their hiding place to escape the world and all their worries behind, throwing the world away it was just the two of them together safe within their garden. Kaito being at the age where it was time for him to be sent back to his own kingdom to begin training knew he didn't have much time left with his childhood friend, Miku.
Alone, in the vast empty library he worked franticly looking for the answer to all his pain. Occasionally he would look at the dusty old grandfather clock, but he didn't need the time since he could tell it was late by peering out the eclipsing windows. Sadly Kaito knew that time was against him. "I'll do this…please I have to do this for Miku…" His mind wandered back to another time, one he cherished quite closely.
"Kaito! Look I want to show you something!" Miku cried to him from afar. After trying hard to avoid staring at her he turned from his spot on the bench. "What is it Miku?" he replied plainly, forcing himself to suppress the surprise in his voice. His heart skipped a beat when she ran headlong into him as he stood up. They tumbled and rolled till Miku ended up resting on top of Kaito with an oddly colored rose in her small hands. As they lie there in shock Kaito peeked up to make sure the world wasn't spinning any longer, but instead of noticing any of that he saw Miku staring back at him with a look he's never seen before. They locked eyes for a brief second before Miku turned away; it wasn't enough to stop Kaito from noticing a delicate blush spread across her cheeks before she stumbled off of him.
"I'm so sorry! Kaito are you alright? Here let me help you." Miku's eyes welled up slightly as she yanked on Kaito's arm. Failing to pull him up, they both fell once again. Stunned about the strange chain of events Kaito threw his head back onto the grass and laughed. When he finally stopped and noticed Miku staring at the rose she tried so desperately to save as they fell. "Is that what you wanted to show me?" he said cautiously, nodding furiously she pushed it into his hands and ran off deep into the maze. He gently held it close as he attempted to engrave its' memory into his heart, afraid that it was too delicate to be handled with a firm grip.
Alone, Kaito walked along the line of shelves in the library. Volume after countless volumes his gaze finally fell upon a dusty torn book bound in cold smooth black leather. Strangely it was warm to the touch; he almost felt a spark as he pulled it from one of the abandoned shelves. Using both the light from the fading candle and the waning moonlight Kaito could feel the power coursing from the forbidden book. Swiftly he puffed out the candle, tightly clinching the book he looked out the window at the fading moonlight and down at his elongated shadow. This was his resolve and he had every intention to use it.
Franticly flipping through the pages of the book he notice that there was something in particular about it, for the words glowed a cruel shade of green all on it's own. Kaito looked down in amazement at this strange book without a title. Suddenly, without thinking his hands stopped dead on a page with a list of ingredients to concoct the answer to all his problems. In the light of the arising sun he found that it was difficult to make out the words formed by the crawling green letters. However he had enough time to make out the list of items he would need.
"13 of the devil's flower,
the blood of an innocent,
bones of the ancients,
and stones of the rising goddess"
At sunrise he saw that the words had disappeared. Turning to other pages he realized they were completely blank too. He was now in possession of a book that was truly cursed by god himself. Kaito looked out at the window and caught his reflection. What he saw disturbed him greatly; he hadn't slept all night giving his eyes the appearance of being larger than they were, but lastly what scared him most was the menacing smile he had on his face as he tightly clutched the book to his chest.
"Miku. Remember that flower you gave me?" Kaito asked gently while Miku walked beside him in the garden. "Mhmm. What about it?" she sang back in reply. "Take me to where you found it." With that Miku grasped Kaito hand and pulled him along behind her further into the maze till they stopped dead at its heart. "There!" she pointed gleefully. Upon closer examination Kaito noticed that the flower was not only oddly color but its center looked as though it was bleeding. The so called rose was not a rose at all, being how no rose had two intertwining colors. The outermost petals were a shade of midnight blue, but as one moved closer to the center tendrils of red mixed with the blue, fusing together to make an unearthly color surrounding its bleeding heart.
This surreal flower was the key ingredient. He plucked them furiously from the thorny bush until he heard a horrifying scream emanating from behind. The momentary lapse in judgment made Kaito cut his hand on the large spiny flower. Blood silently oozed out and fell on the other flowers he had already picked. Straining their hearts a deeper red. Disregarding his injury he rushed to Miku's side. "Miku!" he cried, "Miku, are you alright?" He pulled her sobbing to his side. She cradled her hand slightly when he held her in his arms. "What happened?" Kaito asked urgently. Miku cries subsided as Kaito pulled her hand closer to make sure she was fine. Horrified he found a terrible thorn pierced deep into her small fingers. Without warning he yanked hard and popped it out before Miku could let out another cry. "You are such a baby," he laughed, "Come now don't cry here…" With that he took her hand and kissed it, Miku stared at Kaito's smiling face not knowing what to do but smile in return. She no longer felt any pain.
That night after collecting his flowers he returned to the study for yet another sleepless night. Taking the book out of this hiding place in the abandoned shelf he searched through the glowing pages to further his pursuit.
"With the devil's flower in hand, rip the petals from it and crush it into a fine powder, this process must be done at the twilight hour. A pig must be fed this wicked powder, before long it will lie dead, using a blade pierce its belly, sprinkle in more dust as well as the blood of an innocent, the bones of an ancient, and the crushed stones of the goddess. Leave it to decay till the new moon is at its zenith, all the while collecting it's fluids in a vile which will later be dried into a glistening white powder. At this point take the cursed powder and mix with wine to activate its deadly potential. May the gods forbid all those whom have fallen from grace into the pit of Tartarus for using this."
The passage was foreboding and ominous, yet so appealing. Kaito knew the consequences of the actions he would soon take but it was nothing in his pursuit for the prize. He would sooner sell his soul to end his constant yearning. Releasing it from his grasp he felt an emptiness engulf his heart, swirling in a mist of melancholy. He looked now at his shadow, sighing softly he acknowledged his new companion, his face twisted into a hideous smile as he reached down to touch his counterpart's hand.
And so night after night he worked by the candle's flickering light to crave his own future. Until at least the new moon reached its zenith. "At last," he gasped as he saw the end product of all his toil, "Cantarella is mine! Isn't that right?" The shadow wavered slightly before answering. "Yes," it hissed beside him, "now all you need is to use it. Do it Kaito. It will answer your heart's prayer. Do it." The shadow flickered from one side to another, watching him for its next move. Cradling the crystal vile of the bloody liquid he dragged his feet toward another shelf in a distant wall, far from the reaches of any sources of light, pushing aside useless volumes onto the floor, Kaito blindly felt his way along the back wall till his fingers met the chilling embrace of a metallic handle. With a flick of his wrist the hinges gave way, revealing an extremely small vault in which he would tuck his prize away till he can finally use it.
Unfortunately by the time he finished making his heart's work he had but a day before he would leave Miku, before he realized that he had fallen into a deep sleep on the study floor amongst the forgotten words of masters long past. In the early hours of dawn Miku crept into the study to wake him up on his last day, for she wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. "Kaito," she sang lightly as she shook him. Blinded by the light of the sun radiating around Miku, he blinked dumbly at her while imagining his shadow before him. He reached for it, smiling a wicked grin for only his shadow would know its true meaning; he wrapped his arms around its neck and drew it towards his body. Out of shock, Miku let out a cry, pulling Kaito back to reality, looking down he noticed that he was still holding a studded Miku shaking slightly in his arms. "Miku?" his voice quivered out of fear that he had scared her, "Miku…I thought you were someone else." A light chuckle emanated from somewhere in the pit of his bowels. Gingerly he reluctantly peeled his arms away from her. "Come now Miku let's go out to the garden." With tears still on her lashes, Miku nodded and together they quickly left the oppressing air of the study behind. Yet as they swept out the door into the bright cavernous hallways leading to an endless array of possibilities, Kaito couldn't help but tune his eyes into the secret vault, and the bottle of sin.
Standing alone inside the towering front doors, Miku sobbed noisy as she watched the servants carry Kaito's belongings away in large trunks. When the last of them were taken away, Kaito quietly descended the stairs avoiding all eye contact. Upon realizing this would be the last time she'd see him she let out a cry and raced into his arms. He held her as she cried into his chest, but never once did he look down to see the tears himself. After a long while, Miku still clutching his tear stained coat, whimpered , "Kaito…..don't go…..please….I'll wait for you….here….you'll come back and we'll play together again…right?" Her words stabbed at his heart, he never knew how much he meant to her till this moment, but he knew it was only because they were childhood friends. Nothing more.
He hugged her for a brief moment, walked firmly out the iron clad doors, and into the darkness. His faded and melted away into the night with each rustling step. Sinking to her knees she stared on as the doors slammed shut behind him; her tears had stopped for a while now. Silently she swept up the skirt of her gown and turned away, gliding off down the bright glistening corridors of the castle.