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Right in the center of Origin lied the architect of all the existing worlds and familiars, a tremendous tree called Sephiroth. That was a story every demon and seraph knew and it was more than a legend, it was a fact… at least for them.
One would assume Sephiroth was a hidden ‘existence’, but that wasn’t true. On the contrary, each and every familiar would see it at least twice in their life: after being born, then on the point of death.
And it wasn't like they were forced to go and see their ‘parent'.
That’s how among them, there are some who, at a certain moment, would forget about it, about its dark branches seemingly attempting to reach the deep blue sky, about its papery leaves scattered on its very top almost like a crown befitting a king, about its lone companion…
Truth to be told, Hajime didn’t exactly consider himself a lonely being. Visitors would still pass by and tell him stories, possible and impossible, about the worlds they have to guard. And of course, he knows all of them by heart, something expected from the familiar who watches over everything. Despite that, Hajime still listens to them. Because he’s fond of having company.
Allowing his six wings to spread between Sephiroth’s branches, the demon closed his eyes as if trying to separate himself from reality. This time he wasn’t by himself, the youngest Seraph was on a lower branch, eyes focused on the large book sitting on his lap and absorbing every ounce of information he could grasp.
A vessel which knows no limits for congnizance, a mind whose capacity tends to infinity when it’s about knowledge. The raven knew very well what the implications of being a Daath meant. Yet he couldn’t help the tender smile spreading over his face as he thought how much his counterpart resembled him. His ‘reflection’ reminded him of his earliest times as a familiar when he had nothing but Sephiroth by his side and mysteries to reveal.
Lost in those thoughts, he didn’t realize when the white haired familiar landed on the same branch as him and placed the opened book on his own lap.
“Shun…?” Hajime questioned as he fixed his sight on the page pointed by the albino.
It felt quite nostalgic for him to touch a book after thousands of years, at least a physical one. After humans stopped printing them, they’ve become real treasures. The one read by Shun was a genuine relic, a volume covering all sorts of dances created by humans along their entire existence.
The raven learned from Rui about how he’d smiled while listening to music for the first time, but he wasn’t expecting him to take an interest in performing arts too.
After analyzing the page for a few seconds, he took a glance at Shun again. His green orbs seemed to glitter as he directed the demon’s attention towards a picture illustrating two people dancing waltz.
Observing the sudden change in his glance, the albion took his hand away from the book and placed his index on Hajime’s chest.
“Me?” Hajime answered to his gesture then watched how his index returned to his own chest. “Shun?” and then to the book “Waltz…”.
“Perhaps… do you want me to teach you how to dance waltz?”
All could Shun do was nod his head, giving Hajime his silent assent. In those kind of moments, the raven wished to hear his voice. It could be that Shun was unable to speak, or maybe he didn't want to. Nevertheless, nobody has ever heard him utter a word nor knew the reason why he refused to do it.
Not even Hajime, although he was on the spot when the albion started his life as a separate being from Sephiroth, and whose birth he had the privilege to bless and lend his power to.
Without waiting any longer, Shun pulled his arms and threw themselves off the branch, entrusting his body to Hajime, like he'd always do. And Hajime didn’t disappoint. Wrapping his arms around Shun’s waist, he waited until he could fully spread his wings without tangling them between Sephiroth’s limbs, then brought the seraph safely on the ground.
“That was dangerous, Shun.”
The albion gave him a victorious smile as soon as his feet landed on the ticklish grass underneath him, making Hajime unable to continue his idea. Shun used to pull off such tricks back when he was learning how to fly too, often enough to turn it into a reflex for the demon.
Dropping all those thoughts, he took the other’s left arm and placed the opposite one on his right shoulder blade. Shun didn’t need words to know they were about to start and positioned himself in front of his partner.
Then one step, followed by a second and a third. Hajime started slowly, not wanting to rush the other during his first attempt to dance. His fragile palm felt almost like glass in the demon’s hand, cold yet fragile enough to break at the slightest touch. Were all seraphs this fragile or was Shun an exception? Or maybe he was too afraid to hold it tighter…
The white haired familiar was quick to catch up and soon enough the two were drawing invisible circles in the air, gently, tenderly, almost as if their lives would have ended if they went a bit faster or slower.
It didn’t take long for Shun to close the gap between them and throw himself in Hajime’s flow. Then distance himself again, swinging and swaying his upper body, whirling every so often, and finding his way back to Hajime.
The raven didn’t have any experience with dancing nor has ever tried to dance. He only acquired knowledge about it by watching humans, and yet, as endless minutes or maybe hours were passing by, he found himself gradually absorbed into the pendulum-like moves, sufficiently to turn them into something more evocative, more vivid.
Leading without knowing the next step,
One, two, three…and left, right, left…
Body and soul as one
A pair in all its meanings
And everything happened because they went by mistake into waltz, waltz, waltz…
Hajime didn’t seemed to mind when their fingers interlocked at the close of a pirouette, when the other dropped his forehead slightly on his shoulder, or when his icy breaths caressed his neck. If he had to be honest, he was willing to continue his movements until the end of time.
They had no need for music to play in the background. As he danced with him, drawing their forms towards each other with movements which felt almost natural, he could hear his own core humming a song. Unsteady heartbeats, growing more rapid and rapid each second, were composing a tune so powerful it could break his rib cage apart.
Familiars weren't supposed to have an actual heart inside because they weren’t life-forms to begin with, yet something was definitely throbbing within the confines of his chest. His heartbeats echoed in his ears and throughout the corners of his body for the first time and for a few seconds he wondered if everything wasn’t actually something made up by his imagination. But as Shun was there, he realized it was true.
When my heart is shaken, you are there.
If tearing out such raw desires and sensations was also Shun’s power, he didn’t mind being caged up in his spell, in an eternal waltz.
Lost in introspection, he didn’t realize when he stepped on the other’s feet, which made the albion rose his head from Hajime’s shoulder in confusion and stop his movements. His emerald eyes seemed to glitter as they studied his expression and not long after the raven could also feel Shun’s cold puffs on his visage and his snowy digits stroking his cheeks almost hesitantly.
But when i don't hear the music, the silence is killing me…
“Hajime...”
If meeting the familiar you bless for a second time is considered a miracle, meeting him for a fourth, fifth or sixth time could be nothing but fate.
Him meeting Shun was nothing but something planned by fate.