Time of Dying
A Hagi story based off the song "Time of Dying" by Three Days Grace
Serin: Hm, where'd Aldedron go?
Saya: Yeah, I wonder…
Aldedron: I'm right here, you dumbasses!!
Serin: Where could she possibly be?
Saya: Yes, where? Did she finally commit suicide or something??
Serin: Oh, I think that's a bit drastic. Aldedron's not suicidal
Aldedron: Hello!! Right here, people!! Quit ignoring me!!
Saya: Then where could she possibly be?
Serin: Maybe she's writing Time of Dying *emphasis on the 'writing Time of Dying'*
Aldedron: *glare* Okay, I'll take the hint and start writing!! *stalks off to work on Time of Dying*
Saya: Oh we are GOOD
Serin: *victorious smile* I think we make quite a good team, Saya. We should do this more often
Saya: Definitely!!
Not long after Andre Vick had left the room, Hagi entered. The moment he stepped through the doors, he paused. The smell of smoke… He immediately knew there had been a visitor and he could easily guess who. A particular French agent's name came to mind… And his speculations were obviously correct. But Hagi was more worried whether the visitor had been able to deduce anything of actual importance from the books. Particularly if he'd noticed the slight breeze brushing between the spines of the center unit.
He approached the shelves, standing exactly where Vick had only moments before. He pushed three books in and the shelves shifted, swinging open to reveal a dark passageway hidden behind them. A secret passageway… And several feet into the passage, the stairs began, spiraling down into the deepest depths of the earth. So deep and so dark, one might call it Hell. To humans, it would most definitely be hell, but to Hagi, it was Heaven.
He pulled the shelves closed after entering the passageway and became enveloped in an abysmal darkness. But to his Chiropterans eyes, the darkness was no absolute, and he could see as clearly as if shadows didn't exist in the first place. He savored the sound of his footsteps echoing off the stone walls as he steadily descended into the depths. Thousands of times, he had walked these stairs which led to the place of his only reprise.
After what seemed like centuries, he reached the bottom to be faced with a thick, steel door. Only two people held the key – he and Joel II. Hagi now pulled out his brass key, placing it into the keyhole and turning it so slowly, the click was nearly inaudible to even his Chiropteran ears. He wouldn't want to disturb the one hidden within, after all…
"Saya," he breathed as he opened the door to reveal a massive coffin in the center of a round, dungeon-like chamber. It was within that coffin that all he held dear existed. The cocoon which had wrapped around his Queen and separated them.
Ever since she had fallen into her deep slumber, he had felt an acute sense of loneliness and loss. He felt he had no real purpose, for his purpose was to serve her and yet she was not awake to be served – as odd as that surely sounded. But that was his blood-purpose as her Chevalier. Plus, he had been her manservant for an entire decade, catering to her every whim once they'd gotten over their differences and come to understand one another. But now, he had nothing. No purpose or reason. All he could do was sit and await her return.
But there was one thing he could do as he slept. Ever since he had become her Chevalier, he had a sort of a psychic link with her. Even from miles away, he could still feel her presence beneath the new Goldschmidt Manor. And sometimes, when he was close enough, he could see the dark world through her sleeping eyes.
The Chevalier sat on the cold, stone floor, back against the coffin, and closed his eyes, searching for the link.
…
Warmth. Soft. Floating, yet not. Dreams? There are none. Thoughts? A blank slate of emptiness. Sound? None. Sight? Only an abysmal darkness that could just as easily be considered blindness. Taste? What is there to taste in the first place? Smell? The scent of the encasing softness, but it is not something which can be described in words. It is like there is nothing but the sense of touch. The warmth encasing all. The fell of the soft cocoon encasing the warmth and the being absorbed in that warmth within. It like falling, yet going nowhere. There are no conscious thoughts or consideration. No content or contempt. Just… being. Existence. Nothing more, nothing less.
For most, this sense of nothingness would drive them to insanity. For most, it would be torturously quiet or dark. They'd claw at the soft walls, begging to be released, only to have their voice absorbed by the soft material, their screams as lost as sound in a vacuum. There would be no one to hear, anyways. Their attempts at escape would prove fruitless as they'd be forced to curl up in a ball, rocking back and forth fearfully as they succumbed to insanity.
But the one within was not like most. She was not a fragile human, but a Chiropteran Queen. She relished in the sense of touch and was content with her empty mind, even though it was too empty to even register its content. Asleep, she needed nothing, yet her body allowed her the gift of touch. If she could register her content, she would be drowning in happiness at the soft warmth encasing her body as she slept away the years peacefully.
Occasionally, her eyes would flicker behind their respective lids, as though searching for something amidst the darkness. But they were in fact doing no such thing. It was an action often made when dreaming, yet this girl did not dream. Her mind was empty and she only registered her sense of touch. There was nothing else. She only moved her eyes to feel them rubbing against their lids. Could she know happiness, she'd be relishing in the feeling. Her mind unconsciously did so just for that blank mind to be blissful, to no avail, considering that it was empty.
Hagi relished these same senses using his psychic link. Usually, he was absorbed in his thoughts, drowning in loneliness. But like this, there was nothing to think. Only feel. It provided a great relief to his turbulent mind. He liked the silence and quiet. And the very fact that he felt these things through Saya made them even better. It was like they were together again, instead of separated by her sleep…
Why was it he so despised thinking during these lonely times? Well, because there was never a time he couldn't think. An eternal insomniac, sleep was never a reprieve. And his mind was always working, too. He was the brooding, quiet type who always thought over every single thing in the universe. It was something that helped to pass the time, but could also be a curse. Contemplating the workings of the universe was distracting enough, but sometimes he couldn't help it if his mind drifted to other… less kindly distracting things…
Loneliness. Isolation. Lack of reprieve. Inhumanity. Memories of carnage.
But mostly, it was just memories in general, rather than just carnage.
When Hagi had fallen off the cliff, attempting to retrieve the fire lily Saya wished to give to Joel for his birthday, he had entered a deep, dreamless coma. No sensations whatsoever. Pain. Time. Thoughts. It was an oppressive nothingness much like Saya's mind while she slept. Much like he was experiencing right now. And it was the exact reason he relished these psychic contacts of nothingness. That coma had been the turning point. Before, she smiled and laughed and was the kind, goodhearted girl he had fallen in love with. The moment he'd woken, the first thing she'd shown him were her tears. Everything they'd known was destroyed in flame and blood and he had even added to that carnage by murdering those two hundred agents. It had been done to protect her, but still… it had only added to her trauma. He had seen a distinct fear in her eyes at the sight of his new, horrific form. And now he could only loathe himself for being the cause of any of her fear. And he had an endless amount of time to do so, as well.
Endless night. Quiet, isolated days. Nothing to truly distract him.
And his heightened senses didn't help, either. Through the windows, beyond the walls, he could hear water lapping on the shore of a nearby lake. He had once rowed across the lake at the Zoo with Saya. Such… happy times… now lost. It was nostalgic. He could still smell her perfume if he entered the room she'd stayed in the day they came to David – Joel II – after the massacre with nowhere else to turn. It so haunted him. Sometimes, if that door was open, the scent would drift through the halls and envelope the entire mansion in her taunting scent. For he was truly alone now. She was no longer there smiling or laughing. She was asleep within her cocoon, dreaming of nothingness. And he was all alone…
But this was why he had linked with her. Why he was refusing to think at that moment. It was a reprieve for his tormented mind, if only for a moment. And he would relish this blank bliss while he could, waiting out her sleep. And when she woke, he would be there to greet her. This, he silently vowed to himself, and he would never break this vow, for it was made for her sake.
So, for now, he would drift in an empty bliss. Waiting.
Aldedron: Ah… You're so sweet Hagi
Saya: He's STILL not here, baka
Aldedron: *frowns and crosses arms, pouting snidely*
Serin: Oh, just give it a rest, Aldedron! We don't CARE if you're feeling insulted!
Saya: So… seriously. Where are those three?
Serin: Probably prancing around in The Black Knight somewhere. Speaking of which… *goes off to 'prance around in The Black Knight'*
Saya: *sigh* I've been abandoned. Left with a crazy lady
Aldedron: Cool! I'm crazy!
Saya: Just say it, already!
Aldedron: *rolls eyes, sighing* Fine… Happy Thanksgiving!! This is my Thanksgiving gift to y'all, my lovely readers!
…
Aldedron: Review!
Saya: Don't forget the other thing! *huffs, blowing hair out of face* Jeese, how does Serin DO this night and day?
Aldedron: She's got an undying sense of duty to keep my typing, 'cause otherwise she fears I'll be mauled by my readers for lack of posting and her and Tahn's tale will never bet old O.O
Saya: Right… Well say the other thing, too
Aldedron: Oh yeah! *calls out distantly* Thanks for reminding Saya to remind me, Serin!!
Saya: *annoyed frown*
Aldedron: I don't own Blood+! I.G. Productions does! And, this little story about Hagi while Saya's sleeping out her first Cycle is ALL my idea! Not in the novels, anime, or mangas, people! Believe me… I CHECKED
Saya: She's serious. She just got done reading those four light novels just two weeks ago
Aldedron: And they were AWESOMETASTIC, too! Everyone else should read them, too!
Saya: Yeah, yeah, you say that then. Now get typing!!
Aldedron: FINE!! *stomps off to type*