Into the Blue
Dedicated to Daisya Barry
Note: Spoilers for anime episode 39 and the manga's 43rd Night.
If Daisya had been watching his own death from a third person's point of view, he would have laughed. Killed by butterflies, indeed: how comical!
Yet this was no laughing matter. With the cocky Noah looming in front of him and he himself hanging upside down on a light pole in the middle of a deserted town square, he had no right to be amused. A dull sort of pain throbbed through his limp body, hazing and blurring his senses until all he could see—or hear—was his Charity Bell tottering onto the stone ground and see—or rather feel—his Innocence shatter into countless pieces.
If he had a sufficient amount of blood flowing through his veins, it would have been pounding in his head.
But this was not the case. As much of his blood had been consumed due to the Noah's attack, all Daisya could do was numbly watch the trembling city of Barcelona through his distorted eyes that saw the cobbled street as the sky and the sky as the cobbled street. Wisps of smoke from exploding Akuma shifted in the dark sky amid a stench drifting heavily in the biting air. In the misty distance, Daisya could somewhat hear the broken cries of fallen Finders, already masking his elusive memories of the Noah's bloodthirsty leers—Killing you will be fun—and of the indistinct calls—Did you say something—of Kanda and Marie—Daisya?—through his malfunctioning Golem.
Geez, is this the end?
Then the Noah floated ethereally into his restricted sight like a ghastly specter, and his flickering senses narrowed onto the solitary figure.
"Is that really all you got?" he said in a tone tinged with vague disappointment.
Head spinning in pain, Daisya merely gave a soft, noncommittal grunt in response.
"Any last words?" the Noah sighed.
"No, not really," Daisya managed to murmur through his burning pain.
I guess I'll die now.
He closed his eyes and felt the Noah press his cold hand against his neck where one of the violet butterflies had landed.
A sharp flash of pain.
Then came a sudden wave of bliss: the acrid darkness slipped away and gave way to a sun-kissed beach nestled upon the shores of a shimmering jewel of a blue, blue ocean under a blue, blue sky. He remembered it all. He remembered Bodrum with its temperate breezes and cawing seagulls and chalky white buildings all stretching out across the rolling landscape. He remembered the bright chime of the doorbell belonging to his noisy family that rang cheerfully each time the door opened and closed with a snap. His home.
Daisya felt nothing but the feel of the sun, the wind, and the cool salty waves of the sapphire ocean caressing his skin, the cream-colored grainy sand shifting under his bare feet after he had kicked around his ragged ball to his heart's content. Such a lackluster life. Yet never had he regretted leaving such a beautiful place of glistening whites and refreshing blues. Not even now in his last moments upon the dark earth.
I never was bored again…
He smiled a bittersweet smile.
Then all he saw was a glorious, aching blue.
A/N: While rewatching the Barcelona episodes in my boredom, I was inspired to write a tribute for Daisya, who is one of my favorite DGM characters even though he only had three episodes of screen time and barely any panels in the manga. I tried to base this off sensory imagery; please tell me if I did at least a fair job of it.
D.Gray-Man (c) Hoshino Katsura