He probably would have chuckled at the look on her face had millennium of depressed solitude not erased the knowledge of how to laugh.
Her already-large eyes were impossibly wide and as blue as his own. She had not changed at all from their last meeting, so long ago. That night was decidedly unpleasant and he almost shuddered when the memory resurfaced. It had stormed. His hands had been stained crimson with blood. She had been wearing that same look of utter terror that twisted her face now.
She shuddered and backed away. "Bringer of death, why are you here?"
Casshern shook his head, but remained where he was. "I'm not here to hurt you, Luna."
She flinched at the sound of his voice.
He continued. "Too long have I walked this earth as a wraith. The world has been completely recovered from the Ruin for a long time, so long that I have faded into legend. My sins have been atoned for."
She waited, no longer trembling.
"You want nothing more than to see me destroyed. I have come here to allow you your wish."
Luna hesitated, a frown appearing. "You want me to…kill you?"
Casshern nodded. "I believe you are the only one who can."
"But…why? Why do you yearn for the blackness of death?"
His blue eyes reflected millennium of sorrow. "The only thing I yearn for is peace. Rest. To be reunited with the few people I have ever cared about."
Luna shook her head, clearly not understanding. "What makes you thing that there is any kind of existence after death?" she asked.
The way he sometimes heard Lyuze's laugh in the wind. Or how the prettiest seashells, the ones that Ringo would have adored, seemed to lay in his path when he was near the sea. Or how he would look down and see paw prints next to his feet that would disappear after he blinked.
These were his reasons, his proof, and his hope. It was because of these occurrences that he hadn't gone insane long ago.
But he simply replied, "It's a risk I'm willing to take."
Suddenly, there was a blade protruding from his chest. Scarlet flooded out, staining his white suit and the floor around him. Luna jumped back with a cry, eyes horrified at the blood. Her hand slipped from the grip of the sword.
He didn't feel the fall, but the world was suddenly sideways.
His vision swam and began to dim. His body, which was usually so light and agile, started to become heavy.
"Thank you, Luna," he choked. "I'll give your regards to Dune."
He was gone before he could hear her broken sob.
…
The first thing he heard was the whispering roar of the ocean.
Then a bark.
Then Ringo's laugh.
Then Ohji's rough voice.
Then…
"Oh, Casshern," sighed Lyuze, sounding as if she were right next to him. "You're finally here."
He opened his eyes.