A lithe child's body was nestled in a bed of greens and blues that looked as if they were about to drown her in their grand beauty. Her long light blonde hair cascaded around her, creating a halo about her form, as she peacefully lay in the waves of deep holly and rich sapphire. A worried hand grasped her tiny ones tight enough to cut off blood circulation while she sank further and further into darkness. Her chest didn't rise and fall in the least, not a breath left her; she was perfectly still encased in the trap of blankets and sheets that seemed so heavy and burdening that it was certain they must be very hot.
The person holding her tiny hands, stroking over them lovingly and yet painfully, was Sebastian, and the empty shell was his beloved daughter. His heart called out to hers in some desperate hope to find her pulse. All he felt in return for all his anxious and frantic worrying was an ice cold, lifeless hand, and a cavernous depth of questions that made his heart ache. If he had a soul it would be trembling with fear, doubt, and suffering. He tried to deny it over and over, believing she would open her eyes and call him 'dearest papa' once more, but alas these were just seeming to be the demented dreams of a foolish demon.
Another form seemed to emerge from nowhere on the other side of the bed. The atmosphere was just as heavy as the covers that pulled her into the inevitable as everything about them seemed so harsh, drained of color, dark, and solemn. That form was Ciel returning from training wiped out and drained, but not nearly enough to not feel a lost emotion that he rarely ever felt before. All of what he felt tearing him apart inside was on display in his cerulean spheres that appeared to be nothing short of tormented and sorrowful. He silently watched over his lover's grief and inner battles with the deepest concern and heartbreak that could not be put into words. Just how desperately they wanted tears to be familiar to them was beyond understanding as they wished for nothing more than a good long sob to get all these bottled up funereal depressions out of them.
It was gloomily raining inside of whatever semblance of soul and heart they had. Being demons made this all the harder for them for they couldn't grasp at the true aching pain of it all but almost didn't want to. Their incomprehension of the matter almost made it all the more gruesomely tragic. More than anything it defeated a very stubborn demon. It created deceptionary thoughts that soothed him into disbelief and false insecurity. A dream of what could potential be if she would just awaken from this fairytale like slumber destroyed Sebastian more than anything he could possibly remember. The thoughts were asinine and should be stopped, but for the past week or more Ciel had let whatever be simply be.
It was difficult for the young blunette to function as a General when he had to deal with this settled in the back of his head. Sometimes he would let it attack him and break him down; often excusing himself as he let his self find solitude in the darkness of his melancholy. It was never enough though. He attempted to bite through these hardships like stale bread but even for someone as hard-hearted and tenacious as he this was wounding. Everywhere he turned he was confronted by the agony of all of this. Having her body just sitting there in the middle of his room, most likely decaying on his own bed was no help, but his dearest was grieving and depending on wishful thinking so he let it continue.
Not many others knew about this catastrophic turn of events, but those that did tried to comfort Ciel as often as possible as he was the only one who dared step out of the miserable chamber of demise and mourning. He always turned them away coldly, even refusing Li-Jin to see her even though he raised her much longer and felt just as mortally wounded by the loss of the being he had called his own child. They sent their condolences but it was never going to bring her back to life. Nothing was. No matter how much Sebastian was blind towards the idea. Just observing his silent pain was enough to crack any tough human or even some demons. Watching his hand grasp so worriedly and see his crimson eyes dull, and his face have a subtle frenetic hysteria could make a grown man weep.
He placed her delicate hand against his cheek, pressing it there, trying to mold her flesh with his in some half hearted attempt to transfuse his own life into her body. A ghost of a kiss touched her fingertips as he thought it cruel and almost rude that he was given the gift of walking, talking, and breathing when she had it cruelly swiped away from her. It seemed the circumstances which led into such dismal matters of his own child; the one thing he wanted so much, to be laying there in what was almost literally her death bed seemed to stem from something that could have been avoided. The fading of her light came from a strong gust of wind that wasn't accidental, but was starting to seem more and more maliciously purposeful. All these things that happened, all of this misfortune, came from one source.
Satan.
The twisted, sinister being that ruled over everything he could and puppeteered all his demons was the cause of all of this. He had reconstructed Claude, he had sent him back to hell, he made Ciel a General, and was the reason Lafayette and Sebastian had their breakup which in turn was the cause of Lafayette's personal sadness. Every sort of frustration and misery came from him but why shouldn't it? He was the master of those kinds of things. Toying with emotions is what he did best and he enjoyed doing it. Why them, though? Ah, there's the rub. Neither of them could piece together what they had done to exact vengeance upon them or if Satan was just bored and chose them at random. Whatever the reason it was entirely unfair, but what did they expect from the lord of darkness? He had struck a chord this time for sure. His little game had led to the fall of a person who hadn't experienced life to the fullest and hadn't gotten her one wish of normality.
Ciel despised himself for not completing her one dream before her untimely demise. It ate him away inside and part of him blamed himself for this. He had distracted Sebastian and this gave Lafayette enough time to steal their daughter away. He never hated himself more, but unlike Sebastian he could, somewhat, deal with this harsh, bitter reality. It almost seemed like they had prepared their whole life for this event for as demons they always wore solid black. They were always dressed for a funeral. It was like it was meant to happen. No avoiding it. That was fate or destiny and Ciel often believed whatever will be will be, but in this one occasion he understood Lafayette, and thought the world wickedly cruel once more. Things happen and they can't be controlled, however in this instance it was being controlled by a force that could not be reckoned with or destroyed.
"Sebastian," Ciel's voice, weak and frail, broke through the woeful stillness.
Almost brown eyes met his giving Sebastian a far more human look than he could have possibly knew. The moment his eyes connected with Ciel's they understood one another without use of words. The impact of those darkening eyes, sunken in and morbid, could potentially be the most heart wrenching thing ever. Such a man as he, proudly standing, boastful, and full of life, was struck down by the arrow of death, something he often welcomed and passed off as not a big deal. Finally the bit of human left over from years and years past, the bit of human that was in every demon, allowed itself to show. A single, bitter, dry tear slowly streaked halfway down his face. The sight of it along with the suffering they both felt made Ciel choke and cry a bit too. There was nothing he could say to patch up the scar that was located inside of Sebastian.
As graceful and as slow moving as the somber symphony that played in his mind Ciel moved toward Sebastian, his black coat swishing about with each subtle movement. Ciel could scarcely bare it anymore as dyeing seemed to be something beautiful to him right now. As in, he wanted to kill himself. Certainly Sebastian felt the same. Call it what you may but it seemed the only solitude for them at the moment, the only bit of happiness and hope. Ciel's head was pounding from keeping up the bridge of emotions at bay that he wasn't allowed to feel. Because of his flicker of a soul he had he could feel more though and let another perfect yet still dry, small tear slither down his eye. He wanted them to burn into his flesh there and stay as a memory of her. All of the sacrifice and trouble they went through seemed for not and the war seemed so small in comparison to this.
Sebastian was treating her like Snow White; refusing to bury her and forget her presence. It was pitiful. He kept whispering for her to wake up but eventually his voice gave up on him. He didn't even know what words were anymore or how to speak. All he knew was he could not move and because of this the war was postponed for another week. Ciel found he could not postpone it any longer. That's why he was here, to break Sebastian out of this understandable situation. It was nowhere near time enough to detach himself from Genevieve's corpse but it had to happen sometime or another. Ciel, too, felt he was shoved into this for no reason other than for the devil to screw with his mind. It was almost as if his great lordship didn't want Ciel as a General but kept him in that position to run him ragged. Still there was no answer why.
"I…I love you…"
These words which usually meant so much and were so impactful had very little weight to them as Ciel whispered it to whoever chose to listen. Sebastian would not return them. He never did. He still loved Ciel, that much was for certain, but any form of communication was impossible for him at the moment. Ciel's now seemingly feeble hand touched Sebastian's causing him to give him a pain-riddled sideways glance that read as "Kill me". It was a dark thing to admit that Ciel thought about killing Sebastian because at least it would make him happy. Without a doubt, without even a hitch, Sebastian would kill Ciel too for the same reason. It seemed something out of a Shakespearian tragedy. The war didn't matter to Sebastian anymore, nothing seemed to and for a while Ciel agreed and even now he agreed. Part of him saw no meaning to it all but another part of him said, "That's just what Satan wants."
So he continued on, persevering despite this whole ordeal that crippled both of them, and understandably so. For anyone this was a big deal, even for demons, in fact even more so because of that. They didn't know what devotion, loyalty, and especially love were so to feel these things and recognize them was a new concept. Because of this Sebastian had a few people make fun of him on the side but were quickly disposed of by Ciel who could not stand that heartless behavior. Perhaps it was because he was once human and had a quiet reverence for feelings. He knew demons to be cruel and even he was too, but at this raw, touching, soul destroying moment he did not want any of that. He just wanted to be left alone. Oculi could never grasp this idea, but just because he had about twenty or so children did not mean he would not miss one if it died, but he would not grieve like they did.
"Please…this needs to stop…She would want us to move on."
No reply. Not even a grunt or a head nod. Nothing. He just continuously stroked over her hand and face with the gentlest of care. Ciel could not deal with this. He simply vaporized into the darkness, allowing Sebastian to sink with his daughter into the black hole of despair created by such an event. Ciel leaned up against a wall, shifting his body so he slid downward so that he could feel himself fall. His eyes searched the ceiling but found no answers. While creeping into slight insanity something came to him. From an empty corridor to land on his arm was a beautiful white dove, cooing softly and nuzzling its head against him. He looked up at it with a curiosity as to why such a holy creature of hope was in such a place like this. However, that was not as noticeable as its odd marking on its cheek.
It was a star.
"G…Gene…" He could barely force those words out of his mouth. The name seemed foreign now and hard to say. They made his chest burn and his head swim. It hurt too much but he had to try, "Gene…Genevieve?"
The dove's black eyes looked into his and an understanding formed. He reached out to touch it and surprisingly it was tangible. He could feel every feather and the warm heartbeat of the creature. Perhaps he was going crazy but it was the first real taste of actual bliss he felt in the longest of times. A sudden relief swept over him. If demons die where do they go? He somehow, for some reason, hoped that at least she went to heaven. This is why he suddenly felt warm and relieved. If she was there, then she was happy and was most likely living the normal life she wanted. Ciel, for the first time in eons, smiled and even laughed a little as another set of tears, possibly happy ones, met his cheeks.
The bird of dreams, the dove, seemingly kissed his cheek and then pecked lovingly at his chest, leaving a little mark there but Ciel did not care. He looked at the glowing mark for a while. Is this Genevieve's contract mark? It was so beautiful and intricate but it was also star-shaped like her birthmark. He touched his chest gingerly, suddenly having an idea. He turned to speak but the dove was gone. Just a feather stood there to tell him that maybe it wasn't all in his head. He smiled, though, as the heaviness in his heart started to vanish. He reached out for the feather and ran it across his face softly, sighing as if it was the last sigh he had, but oh what a long, beautiful sigh it was. He observed the feather as he imagined it black. A black dove. Is that what Sebastian is? He leaned his head back as his eyes found the dark corridor the dove had come from as he silently whispered to the darkness,
"Thank you."