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Clarity didn’t know exactly when it started.
All he remembered was the calming breeze during one autumn night that gently brushed his face, carrying the fallen leaves away to fly through the sky. When Clarity turned around, his golden orbs were met with rich obsidian ones.
There stood a man, or if he could call him one, standing in the middle of a pool of white lilies that bloomed under the gentle light of the full moon.
Clarity was stunned in his place, unsure if it was the beauty this man possessed, or if it was the strong and dangerous presence from the stranger. For him, everything about the man was almost too magical. Other than the horns curling to his crown, to what it seemed like the entire galaxy in his garment, and his sickly purplish skin…. Clarity wasn’t sure which he should start with.
As the man opened his lips, there was a beautiful serenade that came out, lulling the guard into a deep slumber on that one fateful night.
—-
“They are onto you.”
Clarity sighed wearily. His eyes locked onto the city in the far distance, away from the main castle. Behind him, standing in the darkness of his messy room was someone he knew very well.
Ever since that night, Azrael had made himself known to Clarity.
He would come to him every night without fail, just like tonight. Whether that was just to have a small talk, or to be a silent company, Azrael had always been there. At first, he wasn’t sure why the man had come to him.
My name is Azrael, was what he said to him. There was nothing else other than a name.
Needless to say, Azrael was the least of Clarity’s worry.
“Aren’t you worried?” Azrael walked forward into the light, his steps light and confident. He stopped beside the guard, his hands linked behind his back.
“I would be lying if I told you I’m not, do I?” Clarity replied bitterly.
A chuckle followed suit. “Of course, so that is the nature of you humans.”
Clarity turned around to look at the man, his stare bore into the abyss in the other’s eyes. He had grown rather fond of it, even finding the stars hidden behind the rich darkness of his orbs to be breathtaking, at the least.
It was a cold night, so were Azrael’s hands that brushed his face.
“What are you going to do then?”
Clarity closed his eyes, letting the other slowly pull down the hood that hid his face for the most. Those cold fingertips then moved along his cheek, brushing his brilliant blue locks away from the guard’s solemn face.
“Do what I must, there’s no turning back.”
Azrael’s brows furrowed, then there was a shaky sigh.
“I understand.”
—
When Clarity met Azrael again, he was not in his room.
When Clarity met Azrael again, it became clear who Azrael truly was.
Earlier that day, Clarity’s plans were ruined earlier than he had expected—yet he was not shocked by the least. When Nostalgia had barged into his room with a group of soldiers behind her, and a disbelief expression on her face, Clarity knew it was his time.
He had thought he could at least play the role a little more, but alas, his time came closer than he thought.
So per Nostalgia’s selfish request, she had begged the young Lord to let him live for another night. Therefore the reason why the guard ended up in a prison cell in the first place.
The place was damp and dark to say the least. Clarity had started to adore the night more, bathing in the gentle light of the moonlight and found his serenity. He never admitted, but another part of why he started to enjoy the night was his very curious companion—who reminded Clarity that he was not a human, judging by his disgusted comment at the moment.
“This place is disgusting.”
“I know” Clarity could only brush it off, yet he couldn’t help but smile at Azrael’s pout.
His guest kneeled down beside him, hand reaching out to cup on his face like he usually did lately. Clarity leaned against the cold palm, as he smiled sadly at the angel in front of him.
Truthfully, Clarity was scared. He had thought he would be brave enough to accept his fate the moment he led the revolution, that he would be strong like his brothers in arms who sacrificed themselves for their cause. Their bodies being hung and put in front of everyone like a form of entertainment more than a threat.
And his body would be next.
King’s trusted guard turned out to be a part of the resistance, and he’ll pay for his actions—what a fitting tragedy for everyone to see and laugh at.
Azrael embraced him.
It was Azrael who managed to keep him calm during the storm. He was his angel, his source of comfort in the middle of the calamity he had in his mind. The angel himself who had always accompanied him days leading to his death, providing the guidance he never knew he had needed.
It was Azrael that had given him the strength to accept his death.
His heart would skip a beat whenever Azrael had touched him, even looked at him with concern in his eyes. Clarity knew Azrael had sung him lullabies in his sleep, driving his nightmares away from the harsh truth of the world. It was Azrael who had been there for him, for the better or for worse.
Clarity finally admitted he had fallen for the angel of death himself.
“Will you be there… for me?”
There was a momentary silence that followed.
“Of course, like I always do.” Azrael whispered, there was a hint of sadness in his tone.
Clarity wrapped his arms around his angel’s towering figure, holding him close like he was afraid his angel would disappear any soon. The guard buried his face into the crook of his angel’s neck, choking back his tears as he did.
“You are a brave man, my rose…. you are the light that your people needed, the star amongst others, and you shone brighter than anyone else.”
Azrael pulled back, his thumb wiping away the tears off the guard’s warm face. A flush crept up to Clarity’s cheek, his golden eyes looked away from his angel—unsure if it was the embarrassment he felt or it was the deity’s presence that made him unfit to look at him in the eyes anymore. Azrael insisted, lifting the guard’s chin up for him to stare at him, blessing the poor Clarity with a beautiful smile he could call holy.
“I will always be there, and guide you until the end.”
As Azrael leaned closer, Clarity’s eyes fluttered close. His heartbeat was beating loudly in his ears, and it became deafening when he felt the angel’s breath tickling his skin like it was a prayer.
Clarity cried out his angel’s name as a pair of cold lips pressed against his.
—
It was the end of autumn.
Yet the atmosphere was nothing but fear, tension clearly hanging in the air.
The city that once beamed with certain joy from the crowd, had died down like the leaves in the winter. There stood the angel, in the middle of what used to be a beautiful garden that was said to rival heaven's itself. Now left with only the remains of the once flower field.
There was a beautiful serenade in the midst of it all. The angel looked up into the night sky to offer his voice and prayers, singing his heart out like he used to for a certain human he once loved.
But when Azrael turned around, the familiar figure he once loved was not there.
And he was the last leaf of the fall.