It created a torch, to ward away the shadows of a man, and in the dark itself.
And in the dark, if you closed your eyes, you could hear a song.
You'd take a staircase to a passage down below, the thunder rumbling like Native American war drums. You would be soaked to the bone, and your shoes would echo on the stairs.
You would halt in front of a labyrinth. The music would cascade from wall to wall, and it seemed empty.
But you would walk anyways. You would foolishly take your steps, and follow the music.
You'd get through, if you were clever enough. On a fair chance, of course.
And there was a dark cell, with a purple curtain all around it.
"..."
The music stopped. It was dead silent, and then there was a rustle.
You stepped forward once more and moved the curtain, walking into the little room.
There was a lavish large bed with a small frame on it, arousing awake.
His eyes would open, but you didn't see them.
Your own curiosity pushed you to your demise, and you reached your boney, vein popped hand out.
You touched his head, and with a frantic cry..
A pang struck through your aged fingertips.
It was like your blood turned sour. Your skin began to crawl with shakes, and your eyeballs seemed to burn.
What happened to you was the only concern you had as another shadow filled the door.
His red eyes glowed like the lightning, in the dark.
But his soul was nothing but black. And his face was filled with hatred.
You wondered why he did nothing.
But it was too late for the man in the shadows to do anything.
You would die, from the poison. And you would waste away in the cell, and be given to the furry comrade two levels below the child's cell.
You withered away.
Curiosity killed the meddling human.
The next morning was only two hours away from said event.
5:00 a.m flashed on the alarm clock menacingly, the child from the bed was arousing awake once more, and his raven hair was messily plastered to his head with sweat of the hot night.
The man in the shadows laid beside him, with no fear of poisoning.
Not because he was of immortal skin, or had an Old World gauntlet to protect him, but because he loved Sero, and knew that he would rather die of his hands than of anyone elses'.
The Shadow opened his eyes, watching the rain dance and intertwine together on the window, the purple curtain shielding a vast amount of the glass pane.
From the sliver of early morning he could see, he could tell that today would be dreary, and grey.
Sero was asleep. There was something beautiful about his lover.
He was younger, much younger. He was 11, and Shadow was in his early 20's.
But there wasn't anything sick or distorted about their affection for each other.
There was a look of serenity on his face, a calm before the storm raging outside.
And for a minute of his day, that was enough to make every little imperfection in the world fade to bitter black dust.
Shadow pushed his legs over the bed as silently as possible and walked into the kitchen,
no ray of light glimpsing through the dark curtains.
It seemed gray in the world, today.
It was only two mornings ago, that the world was truly vast of color.
Sero had been taken from Shadow, and the latter had been terrified, and vulnerable to everything around him.
But Shadow was not the only one in pain.
The small uke, had been burnt.
Beaten, and smashed until his bones cracked under the weight.
His screams echoed like the music box through the labyrinth, the soldiers of Termina and Akuma beating him like a sack of potatoes.
Chiyo and Keitaro Matsuri only watched from afar, with only a few soldiers, flinching at every bloodcurdling scream the small boy wailed out.
Shadow only sat in his throne, watching his crystal ball haze and clear up every now and again.
The door barely opened, a small crack of light escaping from the room.
"My lord.. It's Sero.. The Soldiers have taken him."
His eyes narrowed, his head quickly turning to glance at Ryouzaki.
"What!"
The pounding of the horse's heels made dust fly beside Shadow's cloaked body, browning the black material.
"SERO!" He screamed, small creatures scurrying off as the larger animal bombarded it's way through the forest.
The skyliners of Akuma started appearing through the trees, the clock tower of Termina not far behind them.
He jumped off of the horse and ran into the Soldier headquarter, pushing people aside blindly.
"SERO!"
The small boy weakly rose his head, blood dripping over his bruised lips. "D-Danna..?"
"SERO!"
He bursts into the doors and over to the cell, grabbing the bars. "Sero.."
A weak smile slowly spread as Sero hung on the wall behind those bars. "Danna.."