"M-my Lord…" a quiet voice slit through the serene silence. "D-do you fare well? You have not seen the sun for days…"
The sleeping archangel responded and shifted a little, dark brown hair falling in long tresses around his tired face. His silvery eyes peeked at his apprentice, and then he elegantly rose to stretch his wings. The first pair was already there, still holding traces of the traditional yellow powder from all of the celebrations in his feathers. He summoned the other two pairs, and slowly stood as he spread all six of his impressive wings.
"I am fine, child." Camael yawned, watching as the younger angel took a polite step back to acknowledge the seraph. "I am an angel of light, I do not require it."
"I am sorry." Feliciano apologised quickly. "I thought embracing the sun would give you a chance to relax. Your skin is becoming pale, perhaps basking in the rays for a few hours would return...your...complexion…?" he hesitated because Camael had slowly lowered his head until it looked like he was glaring.
He shook his head. "Sinful thoughts, my dear child. I cannot think of such leisurely activities when I have an angel to watch." he tutted disapprovingly.
"O-of course, Camael." Feliciano nodded and bowed respectfully.
Letting out a deep sigh, Camael combed his long, slender fingers through his silky hair. His wings absentmindedly stretched out along with his arms, following their movements. It felt pleasant to use muscles that had been still for so long.
He noticed Feliciano watching with awe, probably wondering how he controlled so many limbs at once. Smiling gently, he decided to ease the poor angel's nerves, rather than put him even more on edge. "My child…" he began softly. "How does it feel to be a Principality now?"
Feli blushed bashfully, which Camael found endearing for a young angel full of such promise. Fingering his beautiful uniform that was decorated with lots of free flowing cloth and woven gold, he shyly looked up at Camael. "It is a glorious feeling, my Lord. More power than I deserve."
"Do not be silly," Camael laughed. "Of course you deserve power! You are, after all, my assistant in all of this." he gestured behind him, all the space he'd been watching over the Bereft. "You are as brave as he is, you know. He was such a gorgeous angel…" he said dreamily.
"...Was?" Feli inquired tentatively.
Camael turned around and faced the Principality with an almost wicked grin. "You don't really expect him to remain an angel, do you?"
The larger angel was slowly approaching the smaller one, who was backing away. "I-I do not understand, my Lord!" his wide gaze darted helplessly around the blue spherical room, which seemed to be flickering with faded lights, having been projecting images for so long.
"What is there not to understand?" Camael asked, his eyes alight with wild fire. "The Bereft has no place here, he never did! He belongs with the demons, if not further within Hell. He practically is a fallen angel!"
Feliciano gasped, and covered his mouth. "H-how could you say that?! Arthur sacrificed everything for us! Even if he is not truly meant to, he is going to save everyone from this war!" he defended proudly, standing his ground defiantly.
Only at Camael's frightening silence did he realise he had spoken out of turn. Stumbling over words, he folded his wings back and lowered his head subjectively in panic. "I-I'm so sorry, I-I did not mean-!"
"Did I give permission to address the Bereft by name?" Camael hissed softly.
"N-no, my Lord." Feliciano squeaked.
"Did I give permission to speak so blatantly?" the seraphim approached the principality ominously, almost looming over the smaller angel.
"N-no, my L-Lord!" Feliciano's voice rose a pitch out of fear, and his gaze was further averted to the floor.
Camael grinned. "Then why do you disagree, my dearest child? Surely you wouldn't want to end up like little Arthur, all sad and cold and alone with no one left to love…" he said pitifully, as if he were threatening Feliciano. "He lacks everything that makes him an angel! Angels are happy, warm, and always have plenty of others to play and frolic with! Are you not happy here in Heaven? I can give you and all of the other true angels everything...And I will. I promise, all Arthur was was an obstruction to the glorious future I have planned out. You needn't worry your little head about it." he walked past, ruffling Feliciano's hair. "Now, be a good principality and go inform a Messenger that we will initiate another attack soon. This time, I will lead it."
Feliciano looked like he was trying to hide the fact he was tearing up. "Yes, my Lord." he whispered. He quickly swiped at his eyes and solemnly spread his wings to flutter out of the dome-like room. Before he exited, he cast a frightened glance back at Camael, before using magic to open the door and fly off to attend to his duties.
"Mm." Camael sighed, his eyelids lowered pleasantly. "Such a typical angel. He can never understand what it is to be the maestro of fate...What true fulfillment is, what it means to desire…" he turned around, and strolled slowly to the centre of the room. "He doesn't know that sinning is forgivable, he's too strictly bound to the rules. Just like most angels, lacking in headstrong or bold wishes…" he opened his hands, weaving them around him until they glowed with an eerie blue light. "He doesn't know that his obedience is only due to his weak conscious...If it didn't hurt them so much, perhaps the angels would have done as you have, my dear Arthur…"
His content smile widened as the light danced around the room, lighting up the dull space with shimmering tendrils of light that began to dance around the seraphim. The thin vines of magic appeared to pulse, switching from silvery blue to golden yellow again and again light a heartbeat. Slowly, the gentle light began to form outlines, forming shapes and figures all around Camael. It was quite a dazzling sight, to see all of the scenery just with light. The spell always struck wonder into everyone who saw it, because the only other who used this magic regularly was God himself. This spell was how angels watched over humans.
Of course, Camael wasn't watching over a human. He always watched over the Bereft One, without any shame. He watched over Arthur as he battled his way around the maze of hell, and watched as he managed to get a foothold on his situation and begin what he believed he should do. Such an admirable character, normally any other angel would have given up and resorted to simply hoping and praying. But not Arthur, no, never Arthur. If something had to be done, he would not hesitate to do it. He would easily put his life on the line for what was right. Such an angel he was, yet, not even close.
Camael was endlessly enticed by his character.
It would be easy to say Camael had fallen in love with Arthur, but it was much more complicated than that. This love was different, not romantically related in any way. This was a kind of love that very few living beings could empathise or even begin to understand, because the love was a very rare kind. This was the love that sparked a strange kind of magic in his eyes that wasn't from the dancing lights around him. It warmed him, fueling his motivation to achieve what he had set years ago, and gave him inspiration to continue his life's work. It made his black heart catch in his chest at the mere thought, and left his mind to soften and relax.
This kind of love was an obsession. A malevolent desire that could grind on his nerves and make his heart sing. For Camael, the love was like that feeling that bubbles up when asked for his greatest wish. He knew exactly what he wanted, but at the same time, he had no idea. He could easily grasp it, but, for some inexplicable reason, he couldn't yet bring his hand to close. He wanted it so badly, and if frustrated him to no end because he couldn't have it.
"I could end this now," he whispered, reaching towards Arthur's still image with a sure hand, and delicately grazed the ever-changing strands with his fingertips. "I could end this, and watch you weep until the end of the worlds...But I cannot yet." he retracted his hands and expanded the image, looking at the soft outline of his sleeping angel. "I cannot bring myself to stop watching your story unfold. It is becoming an addiction...A beautiful...addiction…" he trailed off and smiled when the image showed the Bereft shift his position. Camael shifted the angle he was watching to get a better sight of him.
The light moved in such a way that Camael's eyes became overshadowed, and his entire figure became rather ominous. "It's bugging me, grating me..." he murmured, feeling himself move around the room and follow the pulsing magic. "And twisting me around...I am endlessly caving in, and turning inside out…"
As if Arthur could hear him, Camael lashed out his arms, making the magical image grow bolder and brighter, and began to yell. "I want you now...I want you now! Give me your heart and your soul!" his hands ripped at the magic, and it fell apart like sand before it fixed itself. "And I'm breaking out...I'm breaking out, last chance to lose control!" with one final wild thrash out, he let himself fall to the floor and curled up, giggling to himself.
"Too...far out of...reach…" he said softly, looking up at the spherical image again.
Arthur was still sleeping, and Camael observed his beautiful figure with yearning silver eyes. He wanted Arthur badly, but not in any particular way. Some days he just wished to embrace Arthur as tightly as he could and lay in silent peace, and others he wanted to cut him into small parts and dissect the angel just to hear him scream. He could never decide what he wanted, and most of his reason for anything he did was to find out.
The best way to have Arthur was to watch him as he grew, developing interests and preferences and opinions and wishes...It was so fascinating for Camael, and it balanced out his odd mixture of motherly, lustful, unconditional, and sensual feelings about the Bereft. Watching him meet and learn to appreciate new friends, and keep his angel self a secret piqued a very intimate interest in Camael. He could not wait until more of his flaws were uncovered, until he realised that his task was utterly futile, and until he broke down and fell for the final time.
Falling. That reminded Camael of that other demon, the one who called himself Alfred. He had done a selfless act by catching Arthur when he fell, which was unusual for a demon. He seemed to admire Arthur, and Camael could only grin at the thought. A new character to introduce to the story, perhaps that was the best way to put it.
Foolish angel. It would not be long before Arthur was driven into an insanity much like Camael, because there was no possible way anyone could fend for themselves in Hell. Not even demons from the inner circles. It might be prolonged now, most likely because of Arthur cleverly gaining followers and perhaps friends. Namely this Alfred character, because he seemed to respect Arthur even more fervently than the angels in Heaven.
Ah. Well. Only time could tell. Time indeed...The one thing Camael could not manipulate.
He could do everything else, though. Rising with the elegance of the most divine creature in existence, Camael used a spell to don his battle armour, and spread all six wing to full length. He took one glance back at the image of his little angel that caused all of this hysteria.
Camael, blinked slowly at Arthur. "I want you now...I want you now…" he repeated. "I'll feel my heart implode, I'm breaking out, escaping now…" his expression suddenly melted into a devilish grin. "Feeling my faith erode…"
O~o~O
*Shrieks* AHHH THIS CHAPTER WAS SUPER SHORT I'M SORRYYY D: Basically it's hard for me to write a huge chapter about Camael. I bet it's hard to read one too, since a lot of readers are in it for the UsUk XD I promise though, that all comes soon. One more chapter about what's up in Heaven, and then we're back to Arthur! Chapter twelve is gonna be aMAZING because I'm using a song from Muse's Drones~~~ :D But yea, most of the rest of this arc of the story is gonna be Muse songs. ^^' They just work really well with my plot.
Btw the guitar solo resonates with all the right braincells in my head like oh my stars :D I love this song!
ANYways, so here's the analysis: Hysteria is a song about wanting something so badly but it's just out of reach and it's frustrating to no end. I tried to explain Camael's particular version of Hysteria, but I don't think I did a very good job ;-; It's not romantic in any way, it's just an endless desire, the same one authours have for characters in their story. I'm sure you've all heard stories of amazing authour's going completely mad and insane over their own made up fantasy worlds XD
**The music video: it's a little self explanatory; this guy was stalking this girl, managed to get her in bed, tore up the room and scared her away, and now he's Hysterical :P
Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, Muse, Linkin Park, Heaven, or Camael. :P
Hope you had fun reading! *Nervous sweating* It'll get more exciting, I promise!
~Madz