Author note: I do not own Count Cain: Godchild. Nor do I own the piece that inspired this fanfic into being, 'Your Lullaby' by Adrian von Ziegler.
Hey there, you Count Cain: Godchild fanfiction readers and writers! I'm sure you guys probably noticed my lack of updating stuff lately. :( I sincerely apologize for the delays, but writers block, life outside fanfiction, and working on fics for other fandoms has gotten me really busy lately (or uninspired to the point that I can't write...). To help me get out of this writer's block slump, I've decided to give myself a series of challenges. The first one is one I'd like to call 'The Adrian von Ziegler Challenge.' (If you don't know who Adrian von Ziegler is, he's an independent composer whose works are really awesome-check out the music on Youtube.) Basically, it goes as follows...
1. You must use a piece of music composed by Adrian von Ziegler as a prompt for this fic, and the title of said piece must be the title of the fic.
2. Use any characters you want.
3. All pairings are allowed. Even yaoi and yuri, you CainxRiff fangirls. :)
4. It can be somewhat or fully AU if you want, and it must be a oneshot or short chapter fic (about 3-5 chapters at the most).
Yeah. That's basically it. You guys can try out the challenges, too, if you want. I'm sure the results would be interesting.
So...This is what I came up with.
1. I'm using the piece 'Your Lullaby' by Adrian von Ziegler. I do NOT own it.
2. I'm using Jizabel and Cassandra, with Cassian and some other people from the organization of Delilah being mentioned, too.
3. Probably a bit of possibly implied JizabelxCassandra as the main pairing...
4. Somewhat AU, takes place at around the end of the Castrato arc-except Cassian does not get stabbed by that sword. Nor does Jizabel. It's basically my take on what would have happened if that didn't come into play. And this fic will be a oneshot, by the way.
Constructive Criticism would be great, and I hope you guys read, review and enjoy! Thanks!
Your Lullaby
Jizabel glanced at the pocketwatch he held in his hand. The two hands had stopped moving, the glass of the watch having been cracked. Despite that, though, the music-box-like tune was still playing. He closed it briefly, silencing the watch, before looking down at the unmoving body of Head Priest Cassandra.
A pair of dark brown eyes stared up at Jizabel, blank and devoid of any life as a pool of blood surrounded his body, leaking from an open wound in the stomach. Jizabel had removed that black tailcoat and vest hours ago; discarded to the side, and Cassandra's white, bloodstained shirt was unbuttoned completely, revealing the skin and blood underneath.
It was too late to save him. Jizabel should have realized that as soon as Cassandra collapsed on the floor.
The sword that Cassandra lunged at Jizabel with never reached Jizabel. Cassian had stepped in, just in time, and he'd thrown that little dagger of his at the Hierophant. It knocked that sword out of the older man's hands, and Jizabel seized the opportunity to do what he'd wanted to do...To kill Cassandra Gladstone. Jizabel had always despised Gladstone from the beginning, and that hatred only grew once Cassandra started playing with him like a puppet after reading all his memories of the past.
It was a clean stab that Jizabel made, straight through Cassandra's torso. He remembered Cassandra's eyes widening in horror, staring at the wound as Jizabel pulled out the sword, before collapsing into tears and pain, begging-yes, begging for mercy, fighting to stay alive, but-
He didn't make it.
Jizabel could have went in for the real kill, and slashed that pitiful man's throat to finish him off. But no, he couldn't get himself to do that. He wasn't sure why. Instead, he just simply watched the life fade from Cassandra's eyes.
He couldn't help but find it fascinating to see Lord Cassandra Gladstone, Jizabel's object of hate, die. There was only one word that was emanating itself from Gladstone's lips as Jizabel kept watching him; and even now, even though Cassandra was dead, Jizabel could still hear his voice.
"Please...Please..."
Wait, no. Actually, there were two words, not one. The first word was 'Please.' The second was...
"Jizabel..."
The Death Card crouched onto a knee, reached towards the Hierophant's face and closed the eyelids. It wasn't out of respect that he was doing it...Or at least, he thought so. He was just simply getting sick of staring at the blank eyes.
Wait...That was weird. Since when did he ever get sick of seeing things that could have possibly become a new piece in his organ collection? Wait...He didn't even have an organ collection anymore. Jizabel trashed it completely into nothing but shards of glass and destroyed organs, after Cassandra basically taunted and twisted his memories that one time.
The Death Card looked at Cassandra carefully, and realized that once the eyelids were closed, Cassandra didn't look so dead anymore. He looked like he was put under some spell, to sleep for eternity like that princess in the fantasy stories. Jizabel tried to remember from when he was a child, of when he heard that tale. Nothing came up...
He glanced at Cassandra again, and felt that something was missing. He took out the pocketwatch and opened it. Instantly, the quiet, music-box melody started to sing again. When it was in Cassandra's hands, it was his tool to have anyone and everyone obey him. But now, in Jizabel's hands, it was nothing but a mere toy, really.
A mere toy, the pocketwatch might have been, but...
Jizabel gently put the pocketwatch into one of Cassandra's hands, wrapping the fingers about the open watch so precisely, as if he was worried the fingers would break. Then, he touched the side of Cassandra's face briefly, gently adjusted the chocolate-brown strands of hair so that Cassandra looked more like he was sleeping, and then touched two fingers to his own dry lips, before pressing them gently to the former Head Priest's forehead.
He really wasn't sure by now of why he was doing this, but he was thankful that no one, not even Cassian, was here to watch. It was a good idea of him to send Cassian back to Delilah headquarters post-mortem. Besides, Jizabel knew that Cassian also hated Cassandra, maybe even more than him.
The pocketwatch of Cassandra Gladstone once served as a tool in an attempt to take over Delilah. Now, it was reduced to a tool of giving an appropriate lullaby to its dead master.
Jizabel stood, looking down at the dead man before uttering two words.
"Sweet dreams."
He then walked away, only looking back once at the dead Cassandra Gladstone, leaving the former Head Priest to nothing but the gentle melody of the pocketwatch.