A/N: Finally back after a long dry spell. Started this one ages ago, but for some reason it gave me all sorts of trouble... And drabbles are currently competing with a whole host of other projects. That being said, hopefully my next update won't take so long...
Disclaimer: All characters originally created and owned by Sunao Yoshida; borrowed and manipulated by me.
Prompt: Crumble
He smiles as Barcelona falls, as the rumble and crash mingles with the Prelude and Fugue. He smiles, and in spite of appearances, there is nothing sadistic in the expression. No malice, no joy at the loss of life. It is the peaceful smile of one appreciating a certain remarkable beauty, the smile of an art aficianado in a museum, of a bibliophile in a grand library.
He smiles because there is an undeniable beauty in such destruction. Not in the the crumbling of buildings or the crushing of bodies. Not in the physicality of it, not in the event itself, but in the inherent nature of its aftermath.
It is the singular solution to an age-old inequality--the only thing that can erase the boundaries of age, gender, race, class... In destruction all is equal. Only in destruction is mankind ever equal.
Destruction is the key to peace.
He considers trying to explain that to the poor, pitiful priest below, crumbling inside right along with the city. But deep down, Abel already knows. He just needs to be reminded.
And so, still smiling, he turns.
"'He who sees beauty is taken early by the hand of Death...'"
A/N: Toying with Isaak and his possible motives. Or at least, justification. Or perhaps just a detached observation. The final quote is from Plato and taken from the Silent Noise arc of R.A.M. II. Title is taken from Shakespeare's "Fear No More," which was something of the inspiration for the drabble, but didn't wind up fitting in quite as directly as I'd planned...