A Christmas for Cain
Originally this was a oneshot fic with 3 ghosts like A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. But Gilford's part of the story was too long so I just wrapped up the endingXO Dark Mage Makai suggested that I expand this story. This is an alternate storyline after the fall of Delilah.
Disclaimer: I don't own Cain Saga and Godchild, but Kaori Yuki sure does.
- Christmas Day's night -
In a deep green armchair were two sleeping figures. Cain's raven hair mingled above his little sister's golden hair. The light from the fire was still strong, what with their earlier celebration being only a few hours ago. The 17-year-old Earl fluttered one eye open.
And he'll wish that he'd never had eyes.
At first all he saw was a lot of wavy hair. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, Cain would've screamed like a girl, if the haughty ghost hadn't cut him off that is.
"Finally! I thought I would have to walk through you to wake you up!" snarled the ghostly figure of a young woman, with what used to be long purple hair.
Not that Cain was listening. In a strained whisper, since he didn't want 2 girls yelling at him, he said, "E-emmeline! Why?! You should be-?"
"I should be what, Cain Hargreaves?!" retorted Emmeline, immediately putting her face right in front of him, hands on hips. Her voice, while faint, echoed sharply.
Unlike with Gilford, Cain actually felt guilty for being the cause of Emmeline's premature death. He visited her grave everyday that he could. Her grave was in the Hargreaves family plot (vol.4). "Emmeline, is there something you need? Or… have you come for me?"
Emmeline Lauderdale's lip curled as she slowly stood up straight. With a ghostly sigh (pun intended), she crossed her arms. "Cain, you idiot. Stop acting so serious. Hasn't my brother, Gilford, visited you already?"
His eyebrows scrunched together as he slowly put two and two together. "Yes, just last night he took me on a ghastly (pun again) journey back in the past. Not to mention that it was my little sister's past," Cain paused for a second and then asked, "Are you here to be the Ghost of Christmas present?"
"Well, I'm a bit late since I didn't feel like seeing you," said Emmeline in a less-than-convincing angry voice. She averted her eyes away from Cain's golden ones and added, "But yes, I'm here to present to you the present (pun pun!) of someone who is er, a close acquaintance of yours."
Cain was already over his guilt trip and hissed his answer ungentleman-like, "Nuuuuuuuuuuuuuu! N-o, no Emmeline! I don't want to see anyone's past, or present, and especially not their future!!"
Emmeline swung her hand right through her ex-fiance, sending chills up and down Cain's spine. "It's too late for that! I'm here, I have a mission, and you'd better do what I say Cain!"
The clock's minute hand was past the 30 mark when Cain finally gave into Emmeline's plans. The two bickered like they used to with their witty remarks. He grabbed his coat and with a scowl on his face, silently bid his warm home good-bye.
Damn you house, why can't you be ghost-proof! thought Cain as he grouchily held onto Emmeline's hand.
If someone were to look outside their window (Heaven forbid thought Cain), he or she would see a young man dressed in deep red cotton pajamas, soaring like Wendy did with Peter Pan. Against the night sky, the Earl looked to his right, and smiled wistfully at the white shade of blush on Emmeline's cheek… combined with the most irritated look she could muster.
It was just too cute.
In a deliberately derisive tone, Cain broke the silence. "Well, well, Lady Emmeline. The last time I talked to you, you were wearing equestrian clothing and now you've went and gotten some flying lessons on me!"
Emmeline brought them to an abrupt stop, causing Cain's legs to swing from under him. "You, you haven't changed a bit. Tsk, it's such an insult that you treat my gravestone more kindly than you do me. This is exactly why you'll need 3 ghosts!" she spat, glowering at Cain.
"Three ghosts? You and Gilford are enough. And just what do you mean by 'exactly'? What am I 'exactly'?"
Emmeline took a deep breath. When she looked up, she smirked evilly at him. "If you can't figure it out, I'm afraid you'll be haunted forever… or worse..."
Once again, the two quarreled the whole way towards a brick town house on the outskirts of the city. Emmeline told Cain to shutup as they hovered near the only lit window. The candle's flame flickered when Emmeline drew closer.
Cain cocked an eyebrow at her, and rested his elbows carelessly on the window sill. Just to mock Emmeline's dramatic presentation, he pouted and said, "Great, another poor house. I would fix the holes if I'd remember to bring my toolkit."
Which earned Cain another set of chills, making his skin get all goose-bumpy. The young woman took the moment to kick her ex-fiance's rearend inside. He tumbled ungracefully onto the flat of his back. He sat up and was about to yell a few curses at her but found that she had disappeared.
"Peek-a-boo!" squealed Emmeline, her ghostly figure right behind him as she bent over to face him upside down (please check out my devart account to see my fanart of this).
Or not. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! YOU FLOATING TART!!" yelled Cain, scrambling up. But Emmeline laughed as she disappeared in and out of sight in front of him.
Cain watched as Emmeline headed toward a heavily curtained bed. She pulled out a dark velvet book from under the blanket. He took a quick look around, seeing that the room was richly adorned, with drapes on the bed and Victorian sofas. And he also saw a very familiar money-bag on the stand.
"CREHADOR!! We're in that penny-pincher's room???"
The ghostly woman frowned. "Took you long enough. But never mind the room, I want you to take a look at this photo album."
Pictures were a luxurious privilege and only the wealthy could afford it. It was a fairly new innovation from having to wait long hours for a portrait to be painted. With his pale hands, Cain handled the black and white photos with care.
Her once deep blue eyes gazed at Cain as he slowly read the writing on the back of the photo.
Me and my beloved Shela
December 13, 1908.
Together, the two silently went over each photo, putting the pieces of Crehador's past to the present. He met her after he left his cold mansion. The pictures of him and his mother totaled about 5, quite a lot during that time. His smile was much more warm but his later photographs were bare of emotion as he performed magic tricks in disguise. But in the recent photos, his smile grew bigger in each one as he stood next to Shela.
"This is Shela. The woman he sought to avenge."
A hint of a smile rose on Emmeline's face. "Yes, as you know, Crehador's skills were recognized by your father. But even Alexis couldn't persuade him to join Delilah. As he continued to watch out for Delilah, he refused the sentiments of being together with the one he loved in order to protect her. So he would often treat her indifferently, despite the fact he frequently paid for her 'services'. Not that he touched her rudely."
Cain looked from Emmeline's beautiful and strong eyes… to the woman's in the photo. They're too alike. Even in the fact they fell in love with cold-hearted men.
Guilt pulled Cain's eyes downcast, his eyebrows pointed upward together as if to plead the heavens. The moon glowed behind the Earl, giving more light to his golden eyes. "Crehador and I are both fools. In the end, we couldn't protect what was important to us."
A photo went flying towards Cain's forehead. "OUCH!!"
"JUST WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH YOU?!! That wasn't the point I was trying to make! But yes, you are a fool if I ever did lay eyes on one!!!"
"Just what the heck are you talking about woman?! I'm over here, feeling sorry for you, the woman, and even that Crehador, and you go and fling a projectile at me. Jeez."
She yelled, "It's because you're not realizing that you've already made up for your EARLIER idiocy when you solved the Jack the Ripper case and so all your guilt now is perfectly POINTLESS!"
"WELL THEN! I suppose I'll go and pretend to be happy, even though solving that case didn't bring you back to life."
Cain was breathing quickly after yelling like that. As he lifted up his gaze, he saw Emmeline's sad smile. Their eyes met and a mutual understanding passed between them.
And this time, it was Emmeline who broke the silence. "Cain, I hope I don't have to tell you what you need to do."
The Earl of many maiden's hearts (and some guy's) regained his mischievousness. "That I need to stop being such a cold-hearted bastard and start giving free hand-outs to Crehador?"
The young woman sighed incredulously. "Good enough I suppose."
In the dawn's early light, Cain moved towards Emmeline, and placed his hands around where her waist would be. "Merry Christmas my Ice Princess."
With a sidelong look at him, she replied mysteriously, "You've still got one more visitor tonight."
So that was the 2nd ghost! I'm going to revise the 1st chapter to have Gilford down as the ghost of Christmas past. Thanks to Dark Mage Makai for giving me Shela's name (I don't have GC v.6) and those who have read this belated chappie, hopefully I've portrayed these two genuinely (and it's kinda in time for Valentine's) and please review too!