He Was there

TRIGGER WARNING: This fic has main character death and Mentions of suicide. You have been warned.

It had always been a dread of Alice Asmodeus. Since the day he found out about Izumi Suzuki's secret. The poorest kept secret in all of Devildom. Since that day he had a horrible fear that would creep up on him in the dead of night.

It picked and tore at him, feeling him with the niggling anxiety. Telling him that he was worthless. Because try as he might, the pink haired demon could fight all of the girl's enemies, defeat every foe except one. There was one foe he was powerless to fight and that was time.

Sure at first, it was easy enough to throw aside the thought. After all, Izumi was young and strong. Surely there was time. But as the Abnormal Class graduated and became the newest crowns, it became more noticeable. The difference between the two species.

The idea crept up on him as he noticed each new hair that was losing color. Each time the woman complained about her back. As her face lost the bouncy texture, it gained strength. To a demon, seventy years wasn't that long. But, it must have been for a human as now the mantle of demon king had long since passed to her other mate Sabro Sabnock. And even then the yellow menace tried to encourage her that she had quite a few more years to reign.

The whole of the pack could see that this lifespan was coming closer and closer to an end. There was no opponent he could fight to save her from this fate, no spell he could use to slow down the clock (despite his frenzied attempts), and there was no victory at the end of this race. He wasn't sure what he should do.

The woman he had vowed his life to was bed bound by the age of 80. The age where most of the rest of the class was catching their stride. What was the rest of his life to be if this, his liege lady and truest of loves was to not be by his side?

He could not imagine his life without her, even as she pushed him from her. Telling him she was an old lady and it was time for him to live his life.

Life? What life was there to be had without her? He could not possibly understand why she thought he could. His only ally in this desperate fight against her age was surprisingly Opera. The two had researched and attended to the woman who was growing more feeble as the months passed. They stayed up with her on the nights where she had trouble with her body. When she was sick they were beside her.

Through it all they were there. The others in the pack visited occasionally, though some didn't, stating it was hard for them to see their mate in this light. Even Clara did not make it often and every time she did she left in tears. It made Izumi cry, but like the amazing woman she was, it was always forgiven.

Alice was there even as she raged at him, her final effort to get rid of him. She had thrown things at both him and Opera. Screamed at them with more vigor than she had shown in years. She insulted them and told them how stupid she had thought that they were being. It had hurt but they stood strong against it until she had broken. "I'm so sorry!" She had told them. "I am sorry you have to see me like this. I have burdened you so much and you shouldn't have to see this."

And he held her as she sobbed and apologized. She cursed her body and her species. She fretted that her hair had turned completely white and her face had become saggy and wrinkled. She begged him to leave her because she didn't want to hurt him anymore. She told him that she had seen the way he throw himself into a search but pleaded with him that he would stop. A whole series of emotions but not once did she command him to leave her. So he stayed there. But he couldn't fault her. Never. She, to him, was as beautiful and loving as the day he had first met her. He told her if he had to live this life again, then he would still become hers and he would stay hers as long as she breathed.

She grew weaker after that. He knew then he had failed entirely. She began to have trouble breathing and couldn't say much just stroked his face and Opera's, her two steadfast guardians. It hurt as she slept in his arms on that last night. He had felt her last breath against his chest. He held her body and wept for her. His human, his love, for everything they could have had.

He didn't cry at her funeral. It had been huge. All of devildom had come to celebrate her life and mourn her passing. He watched as the rest of the 'pack' cried and lamented that they could not be there for her in her final moments but it was the years before that she needed them. He had been there when they had abandoned her.

His heart turned cold, no longer attending pack events and even Valac could not coax him into anything. He did not want to be a part of a pack that did not have her in it.

He had fallen to the depths of despair. He had nothing. Noone would ever match the bright burning love that she had inspired in him and no one could fill the darkness she left behind.

His hand patted the stone marker, a human custom that she had made them promise to do. She left behind no heirs and a loyal and heartbroken mate. He had long since stopped crying and the area around her tomb had grown into a field of beautiful blue flowers. The color not quite matching her eyes and hair, try as he might to make them. It was frustrating but he had to admit. They would come nowhere close to her beauty no matter how hard he tried.

He had no idea what to do. Apart from managing the programs she had instilled in the underworld and visiting her, he had little else in the way of life. It could have been 10 or even 20 years after her death but he realized one day. That he could not recall something. Her favorite food, her favorite flower. He was slowly losing his memory of her. He couldn't recall the look in her eye when he said that he loved her.

He slammed his head against the wall for such incompetence. Blood poured from his head as he couldn't help but think had he really forgotten such things in just a decade or two? The pack had tried to intervene but he had threatened to reject them should they try that again.

He was lost. His life had been made around her so where was he to go without her? He knew that there was no life without her, and if he couldn't have her here. He would be with her there. Because obviously, wherever Izumi was he must be there.