Plain, dull gray leaves spotted the ground, the same color as the rest of the place.

Pale, emotionless, and without gloss.

It seemed rather fitting for a funeral.


Gloomy and deafening silent, the normal color of natural and crestfallen gray was broken by a raven-haired male, who wore seemingly the most beautiful crimson satin clothes appeared without a single sound, eyes glazed in depression and clouded memories of the sight of this, and as he chose a place near the box which had yet to be buried, flowers already laid upon, namely statice and the freshest primroses, the male scissored his fingers to every slot, breathing slowly, but in absolute pain, not bothering to hide it.

"It seems as Oz and his friends have left, Master."

Behind him, an odd-eyed adult, much older than the previous, laid his gloved hand over the boy's shagged shoulder. His eyes then closed gently, while the others were wide open and now not hiding and trace of emotion, as if he didn't want to embarrass himself to the adult. Numb, without feeling he was now. The adult let out a held in sigh after several dull heart-beats of which neither moved, barely breathed, or spoke a word, both just in front of the casket.

"Do you want to say a few words?"

He seemed rather surprised when his master answered quickly and amazingly soft-spoken- it was unusual ever since that death, especially at a time like this, where the body was caged up and lifeless, like a shell.

"Of course. For the mean time, go to Echo and see if she's battle-ready for tomorrow."

"As you wish, Master Leo."

Clack clack clack. His servant's feet shuffled away, but even if it was just them, he appeared to be in a hurry for something, most likely the battle the other spoke of. Anyways, with the man leaving, this left the boy alone in the room, to which he took advantage of by shedding tears, still refusing to sob or scream- it wasn't worth it. Pandora, they had the most curious ears- it was possible one or two men were somewhere around, listening to every thing they said, trying to place the pieces of the puzzle in place. They wouldn't- for awhile, maybe two days, at least. Despite this, he still spoke- now in rage and uneven grief.

"Elliot, you idiot."

Why? Why did you have to leave me here, alone and in misery!

"You said self-sacrifice was meaningless and harmed the ones behind and.. look! Look what you did!"

Grabbing onto the coffin, Leo's eyes betrayed all the raw emotions that had been awakened from Elliot's death. Pain, misery, all of it adding up to his own agony inside. Resisting the urge to scream, kick the coffin or even punch it, all he did was sag, as if lifeless, over the place where Elliot rested.

"Why... You hypocrite!"

But he knew exactly why Elliot gave up himself.

Oh yes, he knew why.

He wanted to be the protector, the guardian, the knight. Not Leo, the servant who was supposed to save Elliot at all costs. Elliot was the one who did everything, who would do destroy anything that would cause harm to his beloveds, he truly was a noble knight.

His master was one in his short life- he showed the world to never underestimate him, to never erase the proud Nightrays, to hurt any relatives, and to top it off; daring to hurt Leo- even if he been the one to rip open his heart, even if he thought it was best.

Elliot, I thought it was all a dream.

But it wasn't. This is a living nightmare, where you're gone and I'm here. Alone.

Tightening his grip, he could only breathe in the faintest scent of the flowers, statice was all he could smell, then Elliot, it clogged his nose and only brought in more waves of grief he'd never admit he felt.

Minutes passed by, with Leo somehow managing not to cry out louder and wail to the roof, or for any being up there for taking him away. Leo's hands begun to regain their color, but the tips of his nails and fingers remained white, without any traces of his neutral color- even if it was barely below the said color.

"My Lord?"

As quiet as a mouse, not making any warning to his sudden appearance, Vincent's head appeared from the side, looking anxious to see his new master like this, flopped almost completely over, shaded in an unearthly taint that brought a new meaning to ivory. But all the raven-haired boy said was:

"Let's go. I'm sick of this place."