Dark-birdie: I just wanted to say that many concepts for shinigamis in the manga Full Moon Wo Sagashite will be in this fic…so yah…enjoy!

Butterfly- Chapter 2

"Nn…" The half witch's eyes slowly opened to be greeted by the first ray of sunlight of the day.

A speck of black drifted across the window.

"Eh?" Cesia grasped the surrounding air around her and captured the black creature drifting in her room. The wind made the object float towards her.

"A black swallow-tailed butterfly? Where did this come from?" Her body froze as a sudden chill went up her spine. "I remember reading…" she pondered for a moment, releasing the insect to fly about the room once again. "The Book of Omens in the witch's house. The black butterfly symbolizes…" Sudden fear welled up in her chest.

Oh, god no.

"…death."

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She ran down the hallway, repeating his name constantly in her mind. 'Rath!'

He had not been in his room. The bed there had been neatly made, but all his belongings had not been present.

She turned the corner and then-

"OW!"

She rubbed her nose at the sudden impact and looked up.

"Rune!"

"Yes?" The blonde half-elf looked rather tired for his normal uptight self. Truthfully, he didn't look as if he had been in the best of conditions. His hair was slightly untidy and his eyes seemed a bit red.

"Have you seen Rath?" she asked frantically, not taking in his awkward appearance.

A look of pain contorted the Water Dragon Knight's face. "What are you…?"

"Rath! I can't find him! I checked his room and everything but-"

Rune grabbed Cesia's shoulders and stared her straight in the eyes. "Cesia, are you alright?"

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be!" she snapped, annoyed at the fact that her question was being ignored. "Now let me go, I have to find Rath!"

"Cesia!" yelled Rune, shaking the girl, "Stop it! Stop talking about Rath!" He had been trying so hard to forget about it all.

"Why should I! Let go of me!"

"Because he's dead!" Rune let go of the half witch and stared at the floor. Though Cesia could not see his face, she could see the droplets of water dripping down from his eyes.

"What are you…talking about?" she whispered mostly to herself.

"He died two days ago! Don't you remember!" yelled Rune, sobbing, "Suicide, Cesia, he committed suicide!" He had been trying so hard to forget, but he just couldn't throw away the memories. "He…hated us…that much…"

Cesia stared at the broken half-elf in shock. "No…" she muttered, "No, NO! You're lying! Shut up! I was just with him yesterday, he's alive!"

She took off towards the stairs, desperate to find the Fire Dragon Knight.

'No, it can't be true! I mean, I was just with him!'

"THATZ!"

The girl violently grabbed the startled Earth Knight, out of breathe, but speaking as loudly as she could. "Where's Rath! You know where he is, right? Tell me! You should've heard Rune, I mean, he said Rath had-"

"-died."

Her eyes focused on the soft green of Thatz's.

"He's dead. He died two days ago," said Thatz, clenching his fist until they turned a sickly white. Cesia had never seen him be so serious. "And you talking about him isn't making the situation any better! Why can't you just accept the fact that he's gone and be quiet!"

"SHUT UP! HE'S NOT DEAD! AND STOP IT!" she screamed, covering her ears, "If this is some sick interpretation of a joke, stop it right now! He's not dead. HE'S NOT DEAD!"

Thatz grabbed Cesia's arms and continued to yell further. "Why can't you just accept the truth! If you continue on talking about Rath, you're going to drive everyone crazy! Hell! Maybe someone else will kill themselves!"

"GO AWAY!" she yelled, running away from the sober knight. 'The Dragon Lord! He must know that Rath's alive! He can tell, I mean, he's the Dragon Lord!' She headed for the Lord's office, refusing to believe the two knights' words.

"My Lord!" she shouted, bursting the door to his grand office open, using her wind to help.

The Lord of the Dragons looked up from his pile of papers, which he was furiously signing away at, though with a little less energy than usual. "Yes?" he asked, golden eyes slightly dulled.

"Tell me, where's Rath!" she asked, not too politely.

Lord Lykouleon looked up from his work. "I'd expect him to be resting in peace…" he joked, unjokingly. "You…DID know that, did you not?"

"No, but-" The Dragon Lord, too. Why was everyone saying Rath was dead?

"But, my Lord, I was with him all of yesterday!" She argued, not wanting to believe what she had heard. "Please, I mean he MUST be alive!"

The golden-haired man formed a hand bridge with his fingers and sighed. "He isn't. I'd expect you to know that of all people," he thought for a while, "Although you weren't exactly present when the incident happened or during the funeral, but we had all expected you to be mourning in your room by yourself." He said, finishing his statements darkly. "You…didn't know? For two whole days, nonetheless."

No, she hadn't known.

He had been dead for two days…but she had been with him yesterday.

It couldn't have been a dream. It was too real. And plus, the note that she hadn't seen either the knights or any other of the dragons in the past two days was a concrete fact.

"Maybe you should get some rest," said the Dragon Lord, interrupting the half-witch's train of thought, "The events in the past couple of days have worn all of us out. Even Alfeegi. Did you know he's outside looking for someone to scold in Rath's place? It's very amusing to watch, actually." Said Lykouleon, trying to lighten the mood. "I saw him this morn-"

"Where is he buried?"

Lykouleon was startled at the question. "I beg your pardon?"

"Where is he buried? Rath! Where did you bury him!" asked Cesia, her voice gaining volume.

"Um…outside in the Queen's rose garden. Center court, near the fountain," he replied, hesitating before giving the information. "But why do you-"

"Okay, thank you! Bye!"

And the girl left through the giant double doors.

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"He's dead…" murmured Cesia to herself, staring lifelessly at the stone tablet with the boy's name cruelly etched into it. "He…He's really dead." She kneeled on the dirt ground, amidst the beautiful flowers laid out for the deceased knight. "He's gone, never going to come back, never going to say words like yesterday's ever again!"

No matter how many spells she cast, they all told her that it was indeed Rath's body beneath the soil.

He was dead.

He had committed suicide.

He had, indeed, hated his life that much.

"No…"

The petals of the mourning flowers were watered with a light shower of tears.

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dark-birdie: writing this is making me sad… TT poor Cesia, I do hurt you so… REVIEW PEOPLE!