A/N: Hello there. I'm not sure if I'll split this long story into many chapters. My best guess is that, it'll probably consist of two chapters or three (?). Well, I'm telling you...I'm not really sure myself lmao, but let's see (because it's just that long). I'm also bad at making low word count stories because- fleshed out characters with good plot structure rushed stories.
( ꈨຶ ̫̮ ꈨຶ )
I just re-read Pandora Hearts this past few weeks, and I just suddenly thought of Chilumi because they are a good angst material.
I'll add a few additional tags in every chapters that I upload. Just a warning for those who started reading the Pandora Hearts manga though. This story has heavy spoilers coming from that manga, but I added a few of my own and altered some in it; nothing too significant really.
Okay enough with the chit chat. Enjoy reading~
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[Jack/Lacie story retold but Chilumi]
The Song of Requiem
by springfieldofcherryblossoms/umi-sen-yama-sen
〜 Le début de tout
The beginning of everything 〜
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Again, fifteen year-old Lumine had fled their mansion because of her brother.
She was so enraged at Aether that she didn't even think about anything as she snuck out of the mansion with nothing—no slippers or shoes to protect her soles, nor a thick long coat to cover her bare shoulders and entire body. Lumine was simply dressed in her little sundress that she liked to wear indoors. Although it was unusual to see someone in public wearing a sundress during the winter season, she was unconcerned about how others perceived her oddity. Heck, not even her brother could persuade her to wear something warmer if she insisted on wearing less warmer habiliments.
She was strolling through the busy plaza's cobblestone pavements, completely unconcerned about the cold weather. As she watched people come and go from the stores, the golden-haired teenager only hummed merrily with each hop in her steps. She trotted along the street, observing the surroundings, until her wine-colored eyes spotted a large bundle not far away, huddling on a dark corner of the street.
Intrigued and silent as a wraith, Lumine approached it and when she got closer, she saw it was a person skulking on the corner, wrapped in a thick dirty rag blanket.
As she tilted her head, she stopped in front of the person.
"Hey, what are you doing in a place like this— alone and skulking? You'll catch a cold if you're planning to sleep in a place like this." she said.
With a slight shift of movement, the bundled person only looked up— as a pair of dull cobalts eyed her intently under the hood.
The unkempt teenager only eyed her blankly, motionless and silent. Somewhat mildly annoyed for being scrutinized like she was the most unremarkable person he saw in his life, she reached out and boldly took off the hood covering the stranger's face. "I'm Lumine, what about you?"
She noted that the person was a boy, perhaps with a similar age to hers. He no longer looked unperceptive, but he was absolutely bewildered by her bold move.
"I..." He slowly blinked, "...am Ajax." he said lifelessly, as he huddled closer to his blanket. "...Only Ajax."
"Oh?" Lumine suddenly grinned as she replied, "Is it? What a dull name!"
"..."
"Hey, hey. Are you a runaway too?"
"..."
Still grinning, Lumine crouched in front of him and continued to talk his ear off. "You see, I'm a runaway! Well, hmmm, only for temporary... I guess? I've run away from home, and I'm not going back until he apologizes! Not ever!"
"..."
"He still doesn't understand it, and it pisses me off so bad! I accepted my fate a long time ago, and I'm doing everything I can to live my life to the fullest! So what if I'm talking with it, by the way? He's really upset about it, and I don't really get it!"
"...go away."
"Are you even listening to me?"
"I don't really….care," he said blankly as he continued to sulk, "Just go away..."
Really annoyed with the response, she grabbed his shoulders and slightly shook him off; much to his utter surprise. "Why? What made you say that? You're lonely, so why would you want me to leave? Nope! I'm not doing it!"
Visibly shocked by her tirade, Ajax only looked at her with complete wide eyes as she continued. "Don't you want to ask me a tons of questions? Like such as—" she pointed to her thin sundress, "—why am I dressed like this on a snowy day?"
Ajax frowned momentarily as he eyed her dress in question.
"It's because it's comfortable! And I really like it because it's simple! Wearing huge dresses was a pain, y'know! Those corsets, ugh." Lumine ranted with a cross of her arms and pouted, "I only wear those just to make myself pretty for Jacques. He said women should doll themselves prettily, and that I should do the same." Ajax was only blinking at her owlishly, and she couldn't stop ranting all of her frustrations to him. Well, he doesn't seem to mind though, much to her inward approval.
"..."
"You know what? It's so cold that I think I might freeze to death."
Somewhat skeptical and mildly bothered with her sudden shift of mood, he commented. "You shouldn't have worn something like that in the first pla— w-what are you doing?" he stammered when she began to reach for the blanket.
"Hm?" She hummed with a beautiful smile as she successfully peeled the other side of the blanket and positioned herself beside him. Lumine scooted closer, squeezing her body in his to seek for his warmth. "Mmmm, I like this one. It's so warm ahaha!"
Ajax only eyed her in utter disbelief as he tried to unlatch himself from her, chagrined. "You—! Get away! What's wrong with you?!"
" Oh." Lumine grasped his arm and leaned her head forward closer to his. Now that he doesn't have the hood covering his head anymore, she noted that he was eye-catching up close. Albeit unkempt, with bangs so long that it almost hid his eyes— the guy was definitely attractive. He has well defined jaws, long aristocratic nose with a perfectly set of almond eyes. Was he a nobleman?
And oh, look at those thin lips.
She almost wanted to bite it because his lips were so enticing. It reminds her of those juicy meat she likes to consume on a regular basis.
"Look at that..." She chuckled at him, her bright eyes with the color of blood almost flashed in the dark; but Ajax seemed unperturbed by it. Under normal circumstances, people wouldn't desire to be this close to her— not especially when her gaze happened to fall in theirs. "You finally asked me a question. Are you now interested in me?"
They stared at each other for a couple of seconds until he broke his gaze on her. Lumine noticed that he was getting paler and weaker as he slumped beside her. Was he sick?
"..."
"You..." She blinked as she also realized something about the guy, "You're not afraid of the ' child of misfortune'."
Instead of replying, the guy in question only wobbled next to her. His balance was slightly off as he swayed left and right with a blank expression on his face, and the sight bothered Lumine inwardly.
"Huh? Hey, are you alright—" He careened to the other side as he lost consciousness, but she was quicker enough to get ahold of him as she held his arm to steady him. "Ajax? Hey, wake up!"
She tried waking him up, but much to her disbelief, he only collapsed on her. Lumine only frowned as she touched his forehead. He doesn't seem to have a fever, so why did he collapse?
Now that she thought of it, cold weather could lead to a drop in a human's body temperature, which means one's appetite gets stimulated as a result. As she hummed in speculation while looking at the dozing teenager, she didn't even consider the thought that maybe he hadn't eaten a single food for the day.
So, with a goal in mind, she stood up and secured the blanket over him and left him to find some food in the meantime.
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Her search for food had been successful in a way when she spotted a small boulangerie shop. As she walked to the shop, the people around her gave her strange looks, possibly because of how lightly she was dressed in the winter season; some even scurried away when they saw her up close, wherein her ill upbringing as the child of misfortune was enough to scare them, as if she were a fickle, ticking time bomb that would combust instantly the moment they got closer to her.
While ignoring the obvious stares and disgust from the foolish people, Lumine was about to enter the shop when suddenly— a huge burly man stopped her by the wrist, squeezing harshly to the point of hurting her wrist bone and pulling her away from entering. Albeit surprised by the rude treatment ( she was only planning to enter the shop, after all) she was even more confused when he chucked a cold water on her head— soaking her from head to torso.
"Cold," she muttered to herself, as she blinked away the beads of water that were obstructing her vision. Again, humiliation reigns supreme wherever she goes. What did she do this time to deserve such harsh treatment?
Right, she almost scoffed to herself, for being a child of ill omen. For them, I do not deserve any kind of good treatment.
"How dare you try to enter my humble shop, you cursed freak! Freaks like you are not even allowed to parade themselves in public! What a shameless twat!"
"..."
"Let me guess, with the way you have nothing on your person, it means you're a meandering mendicant! Begging people to give you money, or even planning to rob them afterwards!" The burly man bellowed as he continued his tirade, "You're scaring my potential buyers! With demonic eyes like yours, a child of misfortune such as yourself doesn't even deserve an ounce of comfort! Not even my delicious bread! Now, scram!"
Lumine composed herself, from wiping the water with her palms and wringing her wet long blonde hair away from her face. After she did so, she eyed him impassively in return for his verbal assault. The man only cringed as he met eye to eye with her, and took a step back on the door.
"I admit I do not have a single penny with me, but I'm only here to help a friend." she said as she took off her quite simple necklace adorned with a real ruby stone. The man only eyed the necklace in surprise, probably shocked to see a hidden expensive jewelry on her person as she dangled it in front of him. "I'll give you this in exchange for a couple of loaves of bread and some other necessities. What can you say, sir?"
People in the distance kept whispering in low tones, and while the man had been so adamant about shooing her away from entering his shop earlier, it appeared that her simple proposition was enough for him to ignore her circumstances as he snatched the necklace from her.
"Get inside. I'm not telling you twice." he ordered gruffly in which she only grinned in return.
"D'accord~" she replied with a wink.
And Lumine entered the shop merrily without batting an eye.
While carrying a few things she got from the boulangerie shop, Lumine returned to the deserted part of the plaza where she had left Ajax earlier. And as she got closer, she saw the bundled teenager still napping on the side, softly snoring and unbothered.
She took advantage of the opportunity to examine his features closely while he slept. Now that she thought about it, his striking copper hair reminded her of a certain noble house she had heard about from Jacques. A clan that originated in Snezhnaya, but lived in Fontaine for decades until their wealth and family accomplishments brought them to the top alongside the other diverse upper clans.
Lumine hummed as she stroked his unruly but smooth hair. It was long and disproportionate in places, as if it had been trimmed carelessly by inexperienced hands. It was a wise decision of hers to steal a sharp scissor from that annoying bread shop owner at the last minute; she even stole one of his scarves without his knowledge, along with a few ordinary eating utensils she spotted in his shop.
And as for clothes, well, shopkeepers had been wary of her after she came out of the boulangerie shop full of food (perhaps they thought she had robbed the poor bread owner) so she had no choice but to use a miniscule portion of her power to deceive and snatch a couple of warm clothes along the way.
After a half-hour of messing with his hair, Ajax began to stir from his slumber, accompanied by the sound of his growling stomach— leaving them both staring at each other's eyes. While she seemed amused by the unexpected turn of events, Ajax was the exact opposite of her as he gaped at her in utter disbelief. "You..."
"Hello, Ajax! You woke up just in time," she said brightly, ignoring his puzzled yet disbelieving expression as she placed the small basket in front of him, which contained a variety of bread and jam, as well as two bottles of milk. "I brought some lunch. Come, let's eat together!"
He eyed the basket in front of him, absolutely clueless on what to make of her as she dutifully worked on applying a jam on a bread and she passed it to his confused face. "Here."
He blinked at the bread, but he received it from her without any protest. Just confused beyond belief. "What…?"
"You passed out from hunger, didn't you? So I went to search for some food for the both of us." Lumine replied with a smile, "You don't have to worry about food, I think it will get us covered for a few days at least, except for the drink."
"...oh.."
"And before I forgot," she continued as she reached for the scissor on the basket, brandishing it in front of her with a smile. "Let me groom that bird's nest of yours. If you don't mind, that's all."
He didn't say anything as he munched his bread in silence, and Lumine took that as a cue that he didn't mind her simple offer at all. Somewhat relieved, she sat beside him and started eating her share as well.
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When they finished their lunch, she happily reached for the scissors beside her and started snipping off the long parts of his hair. Ajax doesn't seem to mind her enthusiasm, and he only goes with the flow and lets her do as she pleases. Now that he was no longer famished, she noticed that Ajax was starting to get comfortable with her presence at least (which was a relief to her part because she had no idea what to make of him if he showed any ill behavior towards her).
Sometimes, she gets tired with the whispers and mistreatment from the common folks about her ill upbringing too— that even walking through the streets with her brother or Jacques on a business trip had been a real headache to her.
As she continued to cut his hair off, she finally asked the question that bothered her the whole time he was asleep.
"Ajax, are you by any chance related to the House of Krovopuskov?"
His reaction was almost instant as he replied almost warily, "W-why?"
Lumine hummed as she paused on snipping, "Your hair. It's a trademark hair color of those people who hail from that clan, and…" she then noticed an emblem being wrapped on his wrist like a bracelet and she couldn't help but chuckle, "Just as I thought. You really are from that clan. You have the Krovopuskov crest hanging around your wrist."
"This is...a keepsake from my mother," he confessed.
"Your mother?" she parroted in response, but then she steadied his head when he made an attempt to turn around. "Oi, face forward!"
"..!" Ajax was too surprised by the sudden reprimand that he didn't say anything in return.
She continued to cut his hair and commented, "Continue."
Snip snip snip
"Before my mother passed away… She said I'm the son of a nobleman….from the Krovopuskov family."
"I see. So you're the son of someone's mistress?"
"..." He clenched his fists on his lap as he replied, "You could say it like that."
Lumine hummed, as if telling him to continue; so he did. "My mother was an idiot. Even though she'd been abandoned, she kept believing that my father would come back one day….until she finally lost her mind and committed suicide in the process."
"My deepest condolences, Ajax." She offered sincerely, somewhat feeling bad for knowing about it from him.
He only scoffed.
"Love could be like that sometimes, and love could render someone like a fool. Well, I haven't been in love with a guy yet; so I'm not going to judge. I only just witnessed it from Jacques, and he could be overly sappy at times and annoying as well."
Snip snip snip
"Do you hate your father?" she asked.
He was silent for a moment, but finally responded after a few snips of his hair.
"Not just him… my mother too, and everyone else."
Snip snip snip
"But it doesn't matter anymore." He said as he hugged his knees closer to him, " I've lost everything."
Snip snip…snip
Lumine stopped at her ministrations as she stared at the back of his head for a moment. "Oh?"
Somewhat bewildered at her change of tone, he slightly turned his head to the side and was greeted by her cold expression. And in a blink of an eye, she hit him suddenly with the scissor— wounding the flesh of his ear in the process.
"Ouch!" He let out as he touched his wounded ear, which painted his fingers red with fresh blood. " You're a psycho—!"
"Oh, Ajax," she cooed to his ear, her voice soft like the sound of wind chimes. "Your face is so cute when it's all twisted with pain."
The Krovopuskov's bastard child was so taken aback by her underhanded remark that he didn't even manage to brace himself when she suddenly pushed him on the cobblestone, earning her a pained grunt from him. Lumine crawled over to him and straddled him on his hips, leaning much closer to his body. Even her face was too close for his liking, with their noses almost touching and their breaths mingling with each exhale.
And then she changed course, licked his wounded ear and the teenager could only cringe out of surprise from her somewhat suggestive assault.
And when she gazed down at him, she almost wanted to rejoice in glee at the sight of his flustered look that he was sporting beneath her; with a face so red and awkward—
— so human.
She preened inwardly at the sight.
Oh, Paimon. He's a lot more eye-catching than Aether and Jacques combined. Look at that beautiful, handsome face.
"Hm?" She hummed as she trailed her fingers on his lean torso, making him ramrod straight beneath her like a statue as his face got more redder in every second. "Embarrassment suits you well too. And stop spewing out nonsense, monsieur. It's not true that you've lost everything."
Again, she leaned forward closer to him as she whispered, "It's just that…. you've lost the will to live."
As they wandered for days in every place, Lumine and Ajax fell into a simple routine. Sleep, eat, wander, and hang out. She had to admit that their routine was the most enjoyable and exciting she had experienced during her years of complete seclusion. Jacques often locks her up in a tower, and she was only permitted to go outside of the mansion whenever they were on an official expedition— or when Jacques was not at home.
She was not permitted to wander all by herself because of her unique constitution as a child of misfortune. Her fate had been sealed from the very moment she was born to the world with red eyes.
A cursed child, they said. An ill-bred. A forerunner of disaster— wherein their very existence has been frowned upon by so many people.
"If you are hungry, eat." she said as she hopped on the pavement, "If you have no money, steal. And also, you've got good looks, Ajax. In fact, you could sell your body if you wanted to."
"That's…. that's just wrong!" he retorted almost instantly.
She glanced at him and offered, "Why is that?"
"Because being a whore is a dirty job."
"So what?"
Ajax could only stare at her, wide eyed.
"Listen, Ajax. If you accept everything you are told without question, you'll lose your ability to think." she said as they turned around the corner, "Even if you reached the same conclusion, it would still be worth analyzing the reasons behind it."
"..."
"As you can see, I despised common sense. I've seen the world from every possible angle." Lumine stopped as she looked at the sky, and then smiled at him. "This cruel, ridiculous, beautiful world."
She was aware that the moment she used a huge fraction of her power, her time with Ajax would be over.
It was pouring heavily that day, and they were both taking refuge in an abandoned building. Although Lumine had a sneaking suspicion that someone was following them from behind, she didn't expect their pursuers to attack them head on— even as well as beating her companion to the point where he vomited blood all around while clumsily fighting for her.
Despite his best efforts to save her, Ajax was smaller in comparison to their burly attackers; and after a hard punch to the gut, the teenager could only double over the ground and swam in his own blood and mud, completely exhausted as he gasped for air.
Lumine was dangling pitifully from her pursuer's hold by the neck. But even though he was squeezing on her neck a bit too much, she still displayed a look of defiance as she eyed his pursuer with the most bored expression she could muster in herself.
"What's with that look huh, you brat?" Her assailant spat on her aggressively.
"Hey, don't hurt her too much!" The other pursuer said as he stepped on Ajax repeatedly with his boot, "Rich folks would pay a lot for children of misfortune, and that kid is beautiful as well. A golden haired bitch, her aloof aura alone could pass as a noble. Don't you ever think about marring her face; I'm telling you, no one would even bother if they saw scars on it. Goodbye to our future hard-earned penny."
"Tsk, don't worry. I won't."
"Don't talk right in front of my face."
"Huh?"
"Your breath smells and it's disgusting." she commented.
"What?!"
"You stink and also," Lumine gave him the widest grin, all teeth bared, and her tone simply mocking. "You're so very ugly. So hideous that I couldn't bear seeing your face for even a second."
"You filthy bitch!" He yelled, flinging her to the ground with such force that Lumine could only grunt on the hard impact.
"Lumine!" Ajax bellowed at the distance, but the other assailant kicked him on the head. "Ugh!"
Lumine stood up as she rubbed off the mud away from her arms.
"I didn't use my powers for days because I didn't want to be traced," she said nonchalantly, "but you make me consider using it otherwise."
She raised both of her arms and continued, her red eyes glinting amidst the heavy rain. "You dared to hurt Ajax, which is unforgivable and that makes me mad— a lot."
Before the assailants could make a move, the place was filled with their pained cries as she used her power to attack both of them. Large, pointed, bladed chains appeared behind her, mauling and dismembering the assailants mercilessly in a blink of an eye.
As her chain mercilessly plowed through their bodies in the air, blood spurted from the flying mangled limbs and heads. The entire scene was a bloodbath, and Ajax could only stare, shell-shocked beyond belief as he, too, was bathed in red with Lumine.
"Look, Ajax! It's raining in blood!" she exclaimed merrily as her chain continued to do its assault on the completely mutilated bodies. As it continuously began to shower the place with red, Lumine started singing amidst the chaos and the heavy rain— in that sorrowful tune that she was fond of humming that her brother had composed.
"Lalalala lalalala lalala lala," she continued to sing as she danced gracefully near on a red puddle.
Ajax could only stare, struck by the image of her dancing amidst the rain of blood.
But her moments of rejoice were absolutely cut short when someone called her name. "Lumine!"
She stopped and looked at the bunch of fully-cloaked individuals who only bemoaned at the sight of blood and the mangled bodies scattered around her. "Tsk. I was inwardly hoping that you wouldn't find me right away. But I guess you're just being that good with your job. What a bummer." she said, annoyed.
"We finally found you! Did you know we nearly went insane from flipping the entire city for days just to search every nook and crannies for you?! We have to endure Lord Jacques' foul mood for days, and you know how unhinged and scary he could be if he found something happened to you! We are not allowed to go back to the estate without you! So please spare us from this suffering!"
"You're….so noisy!" she complained.
"You definitely deserved it!"
She only covered her ears as she stuck her tongue out.
"Lumine, your brother Aether told me to extend his heartfelt apologies to you, and he even said it will not happen again, and he was so sorry. A lot."
For a brief moment, Lumine was deafeningly silent, and the cloaked individual continued. "...That should settle it, right?"
She suddenly grinned manically, "Ufufu~ What do you think?"
"Ugh, spare me from this."
"Tsk. I should appeal to Jacques to fire you instantly when I get home."
"You wouldn't dare."
"Just kidding," she chuckled as she turned around to see the still-shocked Ajax staring at her in complete disbelief.
Well, I couldn't blame him. I'm a child of misfortune, after all.
"I'm sorry, Ajax. But I have to go now." She said as she kneeled in front of him, albeit shocked, Ajax was able to frown at her as he processed her words.
"Lumine, you…."
"Don't worry. We'll definitely meet again, if you want to." She reassured him with a smile and hugged him tenderly as she whispered in his ear. "Just don't forget the name 'Alberich'."
"..."
Lumine pulled away from him and she took off her left ruby earring and placed it on his palm discreetly. "Next time, come looking for me. Till we meet again, dear Ajax."
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〜 Le début de la frénésie florissante
The beginning of the blossoming frenzy 〜
A/N: It's actually the calm before the storm. (;ŏ﹏ŏ)
What do you think about it? Tell me what are your thoughts and comments are absolutely appreciated. See you in the next update!
—springfieldofcherryblossoms/umi-sen-yama-sen