Prologue
It was shadowy in the confines of their secrecy. Their lives were hidden from those that they sought to protect. Eyes glazed. Mouths stitched shut surgically, in the manner of a doll. Only their ears worked. Taste had left them when they closed their lips to the world, and who would touch what they refused to believe? Yet even that soul sense was broken. Shattered eardrums heard the fizz and murmur that trickled through the air. By the time anything reached them, the information was blurred.
They were living dolls.
They did not hide their distaste for visiting him. He was isolated, more so than they -if that was possible- in the most morose sense. Only their Lord cared to visit, with his warm cheery smile that aggravated the other clan leaders into a stupor, he swept into his dark room, blond hair fluttering in a completely inhuman way. His laugh would spread through the room, idle chatter was always accompanied by displaced parental nagging.
The Lord always cared for the man.
All the others cared too, however, they feared him.
Fear. That incomprehensible feeling crept along their minds. It was unnatural, none had felt terror spread through them and simmer at their fingertips. The chilling feeling was alien, supernatural, wrong. It was ironic that those words fit them perfectly as well.
"Cadis Etrama Di Raizel."
He would never reply, would not turn to greet them as was proper. As was their right as nobles. He would just sit there, staring out the large common-place window. The dull grey curtains were always open, fluttering beside his figure that stood stark against the bright light. They wondered often if he was drawn to the light because it burnt. It was of course an impossibility, only the mutants burnt in the light. What could bring him pain?
"We are here to visit."
Did he ever change? The oldest, excluding the Lord, recognized the man before him from his childhood, before even his coming of age ceremony. Thousands of years would have passed. The silver wrought candlesticks with their dull yellow wax columns which were never lit, the mirrors, the dust that dared not to lift into the air, it was all younger than he. His old possessions, were they now dirt, had they decayed?
He turned his head to the group before him, three, all clan leaders dressed in their black robes with the familiar gold trim. When had he last donned those robes? Their hair was windswept, yet obviously pushed back with grace, their clothes readjusted from the billowing wind that rattled the trees. When had he last gone outside? They were meticulous, they were graceful, they were nobles.
He simply nodded, turning slowly on the spot.
They stood awkwardly at the threshold. Their last visit tumbling back into their minds. It was two hundred thirty seven years since they last entered this room. Said meeting was just as uncomfortable as it was now.
"The Lord." His fingers rested on the windowsill. They were thin and long. No wrinkles or spots marred the pale flesh that refused to pick up the thick layer of dust and grime. However did he stand it? He was a noble he was better than this, he did not have to live in this decrepit house.
The leader of the Kertia clan nodded.
It was more than enough of a response. The man nodded returning his quiet gaze back towards the light. The others cringed.
"All is well." One stepped forward and bowed. The open collar revealed a red cravat. The fashion of the time had changed once again.
Cadis Etrama Di Raizel nodded. It was all it took. Their meeting was over.
They shuffled out and the door shut with a click. Alone again.
He stared out the window. Silence fell, for nothing else could. The light parted and he dared to look beyond it. The castle stood stark against the dimming light. Green streaked down in shafts of light, moonlight peeked behind the thick clouds. The forest had grown into a stillness that encompassed the land. Starlight was beginning to twinkle into the shifting purples and blues. The sky was full to the brim, washing over with stars and thick clouds. This world had stopped. While the grass that was dewing over grew taller, the air grew thicker, the night sailed deeper into the nooks and crevices of Lukedonia, they had been transfixed.
He saw the beach, streaked across with black as the three returned to their homes, the ocean rolling behind them. The waves were bright, capped with white foam. It was light, and as he stared it split.
No one knew how the shadows were never lifted by the pure light before the Noblesse.
No one bothered to ask.
Cadis Etrama Di Raizel considered the meeting as they called it. Only seven minutes at the very most could have passed. He questioned himself as he always did, within the confines of his mind instead of simply voicing his own pain. Why did he never ask them to stay longer?
Every question that should have been was an unsaid star.
A/N
I tinkered with this for a bit, and I think this turned out right. If you didn't get it, anything in italics is Rai's thoughts. Looking at this, I'm realizing it's gonna be a bitch to write out Rai's name every time, but that's how the lord did it, so gotta keep them in character as possible, right?