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Death did not come quick.
It took its time, painfully twisting around his wings as his body disintegrated limb by limb, stone pieces scattered in the sky and falling like a meteor shower. It was almost beautiful in a way, and although Louis no longer adored the night sky as he once had, even he could appreciate the way his destroyed body appeared. That Elda, or rather, the prince that had once stood before him was gone, replaced by a mechanical creature he recognised as an Archetype. It wasn’t like he could do anything besides wait. His body was in half, his future ripped away, and his dream shattered. Death’s loving embrace wrapped around his form, an invisible hand resting over the one eye that truly looked correct, and his vision blurred.
Ah. So this was what Death felt like.
He wasn’t burning up, and nor was he freezing. He felt stuck, like a fly caught in a spider’s web. It was almost peaceful, if he ignored the agonizing pain coursing throughout his stone body. It hurt, but he wasn’t focusing on that. What was it that he was feeling? It felt like fear. But that couldn’t be correct, right? It made him feel like a young child again, when the flames ravaged the ground, and the screams echoed out. Who would have thought that things would have come down to this. Louis Charadrius, defeated by his adversary, and in a way, killed by everything he was not.
Darkness engulfed him whole, and then, he was gone. Vanished in the wind and dragged down into the abyss, falling eternally. Hands, which weren’t really there, grasped at his now proper elda body, tearing though his skin and yet never drawing blood. Blonde locks were scrunched up and tugged at, jabs were made at his chest, and his head swum. He couldn’t move, couldn’t try to fight back or stop all the touches, no matter how hard he tried, and he couldn’t speak. He could only feel and think. Death was cruel, but so was he. Another trace across his skin, trailing up over his cheek and into his hair. His body tensed, expecting another harsh grip and a yank, but received none.
Was that…a caress?
What was happening? The touch shifted from a small pat on the head to beginning to untangle his strands. He could feel himself flinch, the reason beyond him as he relaxed into the touch shortly after, unable to stop himself from letting his guard down. He was no longer falling, his back softly resting against what felt like grass. He couldn’t tell. His eyes were still closed, and he felt no need to open them. Soft breathing, none of which was his, reached his ears and he changed his position, finding that he was now able to move again. He was on his side now, his head laying in someone’s lap and his hands grasping at the surface below him. It felt nice. No longer was he being poked at like he was some sort of animal, and no longer was he being held down. He was just…laying there, having accepted his fate and letting whoever it was just keep him there.
A single tear rolled down his cheek as he exhaled quietly, the liquid falling, phasing through the ground and from the cloudless sky. Down it went, falling down, and down, and down. It landed with a small plop, causing the person behind it to pause and look up, red eyes scanning the sky curiously. A soft call from ahead of him and his attention shifted back down, a smile reaching his face as he quickly moved to catch up to the group ahead of him, pushing aside the unease he felt.
Another drop fell, and the heavens above soon began to gently trickle rain down onto the city below.
The sky was clear the whole time.