Breaking the Habit
Her fingers swiftly moved along the ivories, each key she pressed letting out an angelic sound. Her expression was blank, but it was like she was searching for something in that place filled with people where you couldn't even take a breath. No one paid attention to her, and it was like no one will do, the entire world moving in fast forward, everyone, everything, excluding her.
She was playing piano, with no one disturbing her.
The crows were crowing madly, flying around in the air imbued with the strong smell of steel. One of them landed on her shoulder, loyally studying the way her long fingers were moving along the keyboard of the piano without pausing for a single second.
The white grand piano was like 20 centimeters above the ground, on the stage the crows love it. People passed around, but no one even wondered anything. The brunette did the same, and never looked anywhere – sometimes her gaze shifted from the keyboard of the piano, her eyes looking straight forward, but nowhere else.
She... with the crows... forever... in harmony. The crows roared around as they encircled her gracefully, but she didn't care. Non-player characters, no one had feelings, everyone was stone-faced, going to their respective businesses. Just the crows were there to accompany her; they know it, they feel it – people come and go as wind blows through empty lives. Everyone is the same, and the same is everyone, as all the people passing by are ordinary living creatures, born to die.
The time inside her has stopped already, she's now living through different times and universes.
It's gonna last forever. She'll be with the crows forever, in peace, and no will ever disturb her. She'll play piano, she'll play piano with her fingers smelling like steel, she'll play piano for the crows, she'll play piano because the crows like it. It's gonna last forever, it's gonna be, oh, so good... It's gonna be a peaceful place, where she'll run to nowhere, accompanied by the crows. And, oh, yeah, she'll be staring into the sun, into a new sun fulfilling her mornings.
Waving her hand, whispering sweet confessions no one will ever hear, her soul will find its peace. It's gonna be the same monotonously life, as well, how she was used to her precedent one, with nothing to believe in. Just in the piano. The piano, yeah, she loves it. The crows love it. Doesn't matter if the people passing by don't like it, all that matter is that the lullaby will last for forever, it'll be echoing in eternity, and it'll cease her soul from trembling within the empty time and space.
Her fingers... they hurt... they're scratched... but she'll perform... She'll perform, the crows love it. The crows love it, which means that she has to perform. She'll perform until the infinity gets tired of her. She'll stay here; she'll stay here until the crows will get tired as well, more, until her lungs will stop yearning for air. All her weaknesses, all the emotion that ever flowed through her, all her feelings, the crows will take them away for that price.
Still, she has to perform. For them. Because... They're the single thing she will ever love.
There's dust everywhere, accumulating like snow does at winter. It falls from the sky, and covers everything.
Excluding the keys of her piano. Dust will never amass on the keys of her piano, because she'll play them in the infinity; instead, her fingertips will collect all the dust, they'll get gray, they'll turn black sometimes, even so, she'll never stop playing. The smell of steel, maybe that smell will somehow go away if she keeps playing. The wind blew fiercely, playing with her locks of hair.
Please... Don't leave... Don't leave... me...
Stupid whoever's wishing this. The story just began. The weather never changes here. It's nothing complicated... It's all about dust, steel and crows...
Dust, steel, crows...
Dust...
Steel...
Crows...
Why did she hear that voice?
Dust...
Steel...
Crows...
The crows... their sound should've covered that voice. It's coming from above... There's a light in the sky... It's not coming towards her, but she can reach it.
Nah, fool! The dust, the steel, the crows... They are her universe... She'll perform... for the sake of the crows. For the sake of her world, that world she created so hardly, with all her strength... That light wants to destroy her world, her... her everything... The crows, no, the crows are flying away! Come back, come back, please, don't leave! They're flying towards that light! Don't leave!
The night settled over the town, the people passing by disappeared, and so the crows did. There's just one left. That one which stopped on her shoulder... That one... is still with her. It still follows the movements of her fingertips. They never cease from playing.
Please... Don't leave... Don't leave... me...
Her eyes got wet. Don't leave me... Please... Don't leave me, I love you! I also love you! I'll... perform... with all my... being. Just come back, don't leave me... Why...? I've... performed... Even if I'm tired, even you're tired as well, I've performed... I've performed with my fingers scratched, reeking of steel... But... you... left...
She stood up, stopping playing. Her empty gaze analyzed her fingertips – bleeding scratches everywhere over the rough skin, infected by the dirt which entered them, so the blood all over her fingers was mixed with an ugly shade of gray. It oozed down on her fingers, and painted her unkempt palms.
Her nails were long, uncut, hooked, filled with dirt and coagulated blood. Her cuticles were like untouched for years. Slowly, her fingers caressed her cheek unconsciously, the blood and dirt combining with her tears.
She looked down at her piano – dust began to cover its keys. Her eyes went wide while the angelic keyboard she loved so much started to fade away as well as how the crows kept moving on towards that dazzling light. Her eyeglasses reflected it, but everything around her was faded away – even her glasses were dirty. She watched the crows flying away... from that sinister place... Fly away... from here... letting the dark sky empty...
The crow that kept staying by her side let out a low sound of pain as it slowly detached its legs from her shoulder. It was the time. No, no, don't go away... Why you? Is this really the way it ends? It looked at the brunette. Somehow, its expression seemed sad as it picked a liquid pearl on her cheek and drank it. Its wings started to flutter, and it went up in the sky, up, up, flying away from this dark place... It merged with the flock of the crows disappearing into the light.
One by one... they left me... They abandoned me, one by one, one after another, their pitch-dark wings taking away my feelings, my weaknesses, again and again... they... forgot... I've performed.
My story of eternity...
Is ending..
Finally.
Rest in peace; let your helpless soul be saved. I've found it... Finally. I can move on... Finally, I can stop running and staring into the sun... I've found... my peace. Tiredly smiling, she weakly held out her hand to the light. You've finally... came. I've looked for you, why haven't you come before? I hope you'll... stay. Not forever, but at least stay...
The innocence in my heart... Oh, it feels so good... Her body slowly faded away, heightening to the sky, metamorphosing into a crow. She flew away, joining the bunch of dark-winged birds.
I've reached it...
Finally.
Madoka widely opened her eyes, panting madly. She was facing a ceiling, a perfect white ceiling, with no spots. She looked at the left, then at the right. "Uh... Where am... Eh?"
She intended in sitting up, but her body had wires everywhere over it, plus it was very weak and hurt. Next to the bed she was lying in, there was an EKG, measuring her heart activity, which seemed to be really weak. "Ugh... W-What's going on... Where am I...?"
She sneezed, then to find out that Gingka was sleeping, and resting his head on her chest. Her expression turned into a bored one as she monotonously started to stroke his hair, but kept quiet and continued analyzing the room around her. There was a hospital room for patients, with a window on the left part of Madoka's bed.
As a coincidence or not, there was a crow resting on the exterior sill of the window, knocking on the window with its beak. It was like it wanted to steal Madoka's attention. Angry as remembering what happened, she opened the window and sent it away with her hand. The crow immediately flew away.
"Oh, I hate you, damned, cursed, ugly bird!"
A/N: Okay, I felt like writing this because I got this idea and though it is a good one. I personally adore crows, that's one of the reasons. XD And I adore pianos.
Okay, now what really happened in this angsty thingy? Well, Madoka had a car accident and found herself in a parallel world between life and death, that happened. Oh, yeah, that's me and my dark imagination... XD And, if you understood this fic, you rock XD Title from a song by Linkin Park.