The expressions that had written themselves across Reginald's and Francis' faces were obviously ones of disbelief. When Alfred had awoken from his restless slumber that followed the ceremony, he had stumbled down the hall with as much haste as he could manage so he could retell the fantastic dream he had experienced. The young vampire had explained how their previous master had come to him in the dream and conveyed to him the extent of his knowledge on Arthur's mysterious marking and the terror that it held.
"So…" Reginald sighed softly, turning his eyes towards the floor as he gave his next phrase a moment of thought. He made sure his facts were organized before continuing, "What you are trying to say… is that Arthur's marking will… will kill him…" Reginald's voice strained on the last few words; the thought of his master's demise nearly too much for him to even utter aloud.
Alfred pressed his pale lips together, "I-I guess so…. Lawrence said that the older Arthur gets the more frequently the attacks will happen until eventually… he just won't snap out of it." The tension that followed was stifling. Francis tried to act like he was completely indifferent; instead focusing on the way his several bejeweled rings glimmered in the faint light of the sun shining through the windows. Alfred's striking blue eyes spared Francis a sideways glance before coming back to Reginald.
"Did he mention any way we can cure master? Is there a spell or a potion? Anything?" Reginald was beginning to sound desperate. It was almost as if he couldn't interrogate Alfred fast enough.
"No, nothing…. He said that mark is supposed to be a myth. He-!"
"A myth! How is that even possible! It cannot be a legend when there the mark is as plain as day on the Master's body!" Reginald quickly interjected; not allowing Alfred the chance he needed to finish his sentence. "What was Master Lawrence thinking? In that time he spoke to you he should have informed you of how to fix the situation! We do not need to know the origins of the situation only the solution so we may fix it!"
Alfred was become a bit frustrated with Reginald's attitude, but he supposed he couldn't blame the old dog so he remained as calm as he was able. "He said he had researched the mark over and over again, but it's not exactly a common thing. It's only ever mention a few times in a handful of books and none of them mention anything about a way to cure it. The books just say-"
"That it is the mark of a sinner and a savior." Francis took the liberty of finishing for Alfred though the young vampire really did not require someone to finish his sentences for him.
Alfred frowned softly at the man perched across from him, "Yeah…. The only thing we can do is stay with him. Lawrence said that if Arthur is left alone then the attacks will become more furious. If he is at least with someone who can keep the mark under control then he'll be able to last longer."
"But that isn't a solution to the problem," Francis replied coolly, still attempting to feign disinterest by examining the way each bejeweled ring was cut and shapes. "That will only allow his life to be extended, nothing more."
"I know!" Alfred finally shouted. It seemed as though both Francis and Reginald just kept pointing out the fact Alfred wasn't telling them the solution when the vampire had clearly stated that there wasn't any solution to be told. "There is no solution! Lawrence said there is no solution! The only thing we can do is stay with him and keep him from being consumed earlier than he should be! That's it!" The young man found his breathing had become a bit labored after his outburst. He had not intended to sound so angry, but he was becoming increasingly frustrated with this group. He had not asked to be part of any of this. His life was complicated enough before, but now that complication seemed to have increased tenfold and it was extremely vexing.
"So then… I am destined to die because of this mark…?" A small yet distinct voice came from the threshold of the living room. All three sets of mismatched eyes rose up to meet the striking green ones belonging to the object of their conversation. Arthur stood leaning heavily against the arch of the doorway dressed simply in a pair of brown trousers and an unbuttoned white shirt leaving his alabaster chest partially exposed including the outline of his fateful marking.
The word tingled on Alfred's lips making him instantly regret saying them in the first place, "W-Well uh… I wouldn't say that..." The young vampire tried to cover up; no meaning for it the reality to sound as harsh as it did. "I mean…. If you look at it-!"
Arthur did not allow the younger man the chance to finish, "You don't need to sugarcoat it for me!" He shouted, his echoing voice making the entire room fall into a tense silence. The three others stared wide eyed for a few moments. Arthur's green eyes smoldered, burning a hole through a distant spot in the floor's woodwork. "… There's no use trying to mask reality. It just makes finding the truth far more painful in the end…." No one spoke. No one even took a breath. How was one supposed to tell their friend that they hadn't much longer to live? A million possibilities burned on Alfred's tongue, but none of the seemed right. This one seemed too harsh or this one seemed too soft…. There was no right way to go about something so intense and life altering. "What's the matter…? You can all talk about me behind my back, but suddenly when I am present you can't utter a single syllable…" The laugh that left Arthur's lips was a dry and slightly bitter one.
Everyone glanced around at each other a moment. Francis turned his crystalline eyes away in a silent gesture that this was not his problem. A small whine escaped Reginald's throat as he lay down and rested his large black and white head on his paws. It was clear that neither of them were planning on taking the responsibility leaving it to fall heavy on Alfred's square shoulders. The vampire swiped his tongue over his bottom lip, trying to figure out how to word his thoughts. "W-well…. Yeah… that's pretty much it." He said, bluntly as Arthur had wanted it to be. "There's no way to fix. All we can do is try to extend your life for as long as we can and… and that's it. I'd love to tell you Lawrence told me that there's some kind of magical potion or amulet that'll make the mark go away, but… there's no such thing. That's it. That mark is going to kill you, Arthur, and we're all just going to have to accept that." Francis and Reginald both seemed a bit taken aback by Alfred's harsh bluntness. Arthur had instructed him not to sugar coat the truth and Alfred had done just that. Sometimes reality was harsh and that was something people had to accept as well.
It seemed like Arthur was also bit surprised by the fact Alfred had abided and spoken so ingenuously. The wizard did not believe that Alfred was capable of such a thing, but there was a dark side to Alfred that he did not reveal often, but that did not make its existence any less real. Arthur cleared his throat softly and tried to regain himself, "I… I-I suppose you are right…. Everyone has to die some time and I guess my time is just a bit sooner than others…." Arthur had asked for the truth, but… it seemed that now he had heard the truth in such an unadulterated state it was nearly too much. "… I do not wish for anyone of you to treat me any different from before…. Just pretend as if the mark does not even exist…. It is a hindrance to us all and I do not wish for any of you to feel so…. It is my burden and I shall bear it alone. Understood…?" Arthur did not wait for a response from anyone. The air around him indicated that his word was final and he did not wish to hear even the smallest utterance of anything other than a word of agreement. "I'll be in the garden if anyone should require me." Still, the air around him clearly conveyed that he wished to be alone.
The trio watched from their individual perches as Arthur glided like a lifeless specter across the living room floor and out the front door so he may find temporary sanctuary in the confines of his endless garden. "… You nothing about the art of subtly, do you?" Francis inquired coldly, running a hand through his golden silk hair and flipping it slightly.
"He said not to sugarcoat it. You heard him since he practically screeched when he said it. I was only doing what he said." Alfred griped in his defense.
"Still, that does not mean you actually have to listen to him."
Now Alfred was confused. His dark blonde brows knit together, "What're you talking about? I told you, I was only doing what he asked me to do. You and Reginald weren't going to have the balls to do it so I had to."
Francis sighed dramatically, "No only do you not know the art of subtlety, but you also lack the ability to read the atmosphere." Subtlety? Atmosphere? What in God's name was Francis talking about? Why was he pushing this so much? Alfred only did what he was told. What in the world was wrong with that? "Had you the ability, you would have realized that Arthur's mouth and eyes were saying two completely different things. He said he didn't want you to sugarcoat it, but his eyes were full of the fear of the reality. You could have told him the truth, but you didn't have to do it in such a brusque manner."
Alfred still had difficulty grasping exactly what it was he had done wrong, but obviously what he had said hurt Arthur. A pang of guilt found itself a nice home in Alfred's chest much to the young vampire's displeasure. It forced him to stand from his place on the club chair and head for the front door. "Are you an idiot!" He heard Francis shout, the effeminate man rising from his seat and forcing the ruffles of his coat to swish around his legs. "We are all aware of you lack of ability to read atmosphere, but even you should have been able to notice Arthur's air of 'No disturbances'."
It seemed as though Alfred could do nothing right today. "Then what do you want me to do? First you're telling me I was too harsh on him so I try to go and apologize and now you're telling me not to bother him?" Alfred was becoming frustrated even more so than he was previously.
"I am saying you should give him time; let him work things out for himself first and-! W-wait, Alfred! Have you not listened to word I've said!" Alfred did not stick around to hear Francis gripe and merely left out the front door as he had intended to do in the first place. He did not need Francis to instruct him on what he should and should not do. If he had hurt Arthur, as the Royal Magician said he had, then Alfred's first instinct was to apologize and try and make up for his austerity. The vampire's instincts had failed him many times in the past, but this time he felt relatively confident in them for reasons of which his mind didn't quite understand.
The garden was as trifling as ever when looked upon from the outside, but once Alfred preceded through the first row of hedges everything opened into the vast, fertile land he had come to know as its true form. The sky was still set in its state of eternal sunset save for a few strong patches that rained down to deliver sunlight to the foliage that required it most. Alfred looked around at the nearly endless lines of flora and vaguely wondered where Arthur may be. The vampire hadn't been through the garden more than once and it seemed like the kind of place one could become very lost very fast. Alfred drew in a breath through his parted lips and tasted the air. It seemed that he also would not be able to locate a scent on account of the various aromas of plant life lingering in the air.
The young vampire looked to his left and then to his right. To the left he saw a few rows of various blossoming trees with their waxy leaved shuddering in the slight breeze. To his right was a large hedge just barely taller than himself intertwined with velvety roses basking in the warm afterglow of the vanishing sun. Something told Alfred that he would have better luck following the hedge of roses than the route of trees. Alfred followed the hedge, brushing his calloused finger tips against the sharply cut lines of the leaves and the downy petals of the roses. He felt as if were coming closer; the way the blood tingled and warmed inside his veins told him so. He was also aided by the fact he could hear a soft noise that he believed was a whimper growing louder and louder. Yes, it wasn't just the deceiving noise of wind rustling through the leaves, but it was most definitely a cry of sorts.
As Alfred drew closer to the loudening noise he came across what appeared to be a stone gazebo set with a stone table in the middle and a bench nearly circling its circumference. The roses continued to wind their way around the fluted columns of the gazebo along with thick vines of deep green ivy. Sitting in the center seat of the table Arthur sat his hands pressed close to his face; his ivory splotched with stains of scarlet. For a moment, Alfred panicked with the thought of what Arthur had done to himself, but within a moment he made the startling discovery that the blood was not from self-harm. The blood that stained Arthur's cheeks was his form of tears.
The wizard looked an absolute wreck with his cheeks stained with streaks of red as if it were some sort of war paint. His narrow shoulders trembled while diminutive sobs shook the rest of his slender frame. The wizard sat so he was curved in on himself; the stance making him look so minor and insignificant in the most pathetic way Alfred could possibly imagine. Guilt sent several rounds of sharp pangs stabbing in Alfred's chest like a dagger at the pitiful sight of Arthur breaking down…. Perhaps he had been far crueler than he had originally thought.
"Arthur…" Alfred whispered softly, but it must have been loud enough for Arthur to hear for the wizard's head quickly shot up; blood streaked eyes wide and surprised by the sudden presence accompanying his own.
"A-Alfred…" The wizard quickly attempted to make himself as presentable as he could by wiping his stained cheeks with the sleeve of his white shirt. It was needless to say that the action only ended up making more of mess than Arthur had intended. "I-I-I… this isn't what it l-looks like…" He tried to cover up; obviously ashamed by the fact his tears were not the normal salty droplets of water they were for everyone else.
"It's alright… I-I think I get it…" Alfred could feel his mouth running dry at the sight, but he willed the primal side of himself back into dormancy. "It's uh… it's because of the mark… right?"
Arthur sniffled and drew another deep breath in hopes that it might calm him. The wizard's head nodded up and down softly in response to Alfred's inquiry. "Y-yes… i-it's only happened recently though…. It wasn't always this w-way…" Arthur responded with the small whimper still in his voice. "… I should have k-known that I would only get worse and w-worse…. B-believing that I may be spared somehow is a-absolute r… rubbish…" The confession seemed hard for Arthur for the wizard's narrow shoulders trembled more furiously and sobs became stuck in the back of his throat as Arthur attempted to choke them back.
How insensitive had Alfred been? Was he truly so oblivious that he had not even noticed that his harsh words had hurt Arthur in such a way…? Perhaps he truly was an idiot…. "D-don't say that, Arthur…. There's gotta be something that can be done… right?"
The wizard shook his head from side to side and once again and buried his face back in his palms so Alfred could not witness the fresh bloody, tears streaming from his eyes. "You said yours-self… there is no way. I am just going to d-die because of is and… and I just have to… a-accept it…" He wept quietly, furiously wiping away the fresh tears and further staining his previously unsoiled shirt.
Alfred's wheat brows dipped and his blue eyes slid to a spot somewhere off to the side. He couldn't bear looking at Arthur in such a state any longer knowing that he had been the one to cause it. "Well I mean… Lawrence researched a lot of things, but not everything, right? What if we look in your library? We'll search every self a-and-!" Arthur did not allow Alfred a chance to finish.
"Shut up! Just shut up will you!" The Wizard's acid eyes burned with a new intensity that Alfred hadn't seen the likes of in the short time they had known each other. He looked nearly mad with his face and eyes lined in bold streaks of sticky scarlet. "You have no idea what you're talking about! You don't anything about me or my curse! For fuck's sake, you don't even know the simplest forms of magic! Now you're suddenly expecting you'll find some sort of cure in books you aren't even able to read!" He shouted furiously, pounding his balled fists onto the stone of the gazebo's table.
"Y-You just l-love playing the… the hero a-and…" As suddenly as Arthur's anger had come it had vanished it had dissipated once more. The wizard's glistening eyes once more filled to the rim with crimson tears that threatened to spill over. "Y-You don't know how… h-how… terrified I am… how completely an utterly terrified I am of… of dying…." He sobbed, laying himself on the surface the table and burying his head in the crook of his arms. "S-so many people have d-died around me… I can't… I can't take it anymore… It drives me absolutely m-mad and… I'm so s-scared…."
Alfred gazed upon the sobbing, pitiful mass that Arthur had melted into all in the matter of a few passing moments…. Arthur seemed so distant and detached, but it was all a ruse, Alfred had decided. The wizard only acted in such ways so that he would not be hurt when he was once again left in solitude by the people he believed would always be with him. The real Arthur, the one Alfred saw wailing before him, was nothing more than a scared, lonely child who needed someone to hold onto and tell him that he would be alright…. Was it possible for Alfred could be that person…?
Without his mind agreeing, Alfred's body seemed to move on its own, sliding onto the seat next to Arthur and tugging on the wizard's shoulder so he could be pulled into an embrace. Alfred held Arthur into the curve of his chest and, surprisingly enough, Arthur allowed it and merely let himself be held. The older man sobbed in wailed in his grief, his unique bloody tears raining down and staining Alfred's previously unsoiled shirt as well. The young vampire hardly cared and merely allowed Arthur all the time he required in order to feel well again; offering soothing words and hums along with tender circles rubbed into his lithe back.
They could have stayed like that for minutes or hours and neither one would really be able to tell just how they sat together in that small stone gazebo locked in each other's arms. Still, it mattered not to either man and within whatever allotted amount of time had passed Arthur's howling sobs had died into a few small hiccups. The older man sniffled softly before pulling back from Alfred's embrace, once again trying in vain to wipe his blood streaked face. "S-Sorry I… I-I can't remember the last time I had felt such a surge of emotions…" He groaned softly, hating how his eyes stung so terribly in the aftermath of all the tears he had shed.
"It's alright… everyone needs to have a good cry every once in a while…" His smile was somewhat forced, but still sincere and a tad bit weary. Silence passed between them and the trees' waxy leaves rustled with the wind almost as if it they all whispering words of an old song. The fleeting sun's warm rays still streaked across the sky like bleeding watercolors across paper. The velvet roses gazed in reserved silence with the velvet petals unfurled as Arthur and Alfred exchanged glances. Alfred drew in a shaky breath, "Can I… c-can I… kiss you…?" Alfred whispered softly, not entirely sure where such a statement had come from, but not objecting it in the least. Something about the air and the world around him urged him that this was the right thing to do next….
Alfred was sure Arthur's face had started to glow red at the question though it was difficult to tell under the resulting mask of his previous sorrow. His lips parted and closed and did the same thing once more before a noise finally rose from his throat. "Y… yes…" It was spoken so softly, uttered like the smallest prayer in the vastness of a cathedral. It held so much meaning and confidence, but was so beautifully intimate….Slowly, but surely Alfred leaned in closer and Arthur followed suit. They were both trembling with what could have been nervous anticipation, but also apprehension. Their faces burned all the way to the tips of their ears and the backs of their necks, but…. The space between them closed and Alfred could feel the sharp point of Arthur's nose pressing into the soft skin of his cheek. The wizard's lips were soft and warm and slightly chapped by the elements of life. Somehow Arthur's lips fit together so perfectly with Alfred's in a way that the vampire never thought was possible.
Somewhere in the distance of Arthur's nearly endless garden, a rain drop fell down from the sky followed by another and another. Soon, everywhere one looked there were crystal clear droplets falling like pure angles coming to cleanse the earth of all its impurities. The gazebo proved not to be the greatest defense against the elements and the cracks in the stonework allowed the droplets to fall through and land on Alfred and Arthur's faces. It was cool and crisp and… like the washing away of sins. Never had their hearts felt so light.
Wow, it's been a long, loooong time since I have updated this. I sincerely apologize, but I had lost my muse for this story for a good while, but I hope after this chapter I'll have it back. I know where I'd like to take the story next so hopefully there will be more updates soon, but I start my second semester of college next week and I have five classes so it might get a bit hectic, but I'll try my best. Thanks so much for bearing with me everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!