Author’s Notes: Death.  And his lover.  And um…yes, do read.

Thirteenth Requiem

-i-

She pulled a brush through her hair; her motions fluid after five minutes of repetitive movement had already untangled the long strands.  She paused in her ritual and peered into the mirror.  A graceful, heart-shaped face and long black hair that fell to her waist.  Wide amber eyes framed with dark lashes that left whispering shadows against her smooth, pale skin.  The softest touch of rose graced her lips, which curved into a small smile as she continued her inspection.

The body was a beautiful one.  She had made a good choice.

Behind the long and sheer curtain of pale lavender mist that was draped across the entrance to her bedroom, he stood and watched her.  The moonlight fell through the glass of the French doors that led to the balcony and glimmered on her skin, surrounding her with an ethereal light.  He leaned his head against the wall, lids at lowering to half-mast.

She placed the brush back on her vanity and with a twist of her head, flicked her long hair over her shoulder to rest behind her.  Rising to her feet, she danced lightly to the doors, flung them open, and stepped onto the balcony, her face raised dreamily toward the night sky.

“Amerifluia chiattelle, amoruez lomfelis iels…”

Her voice drifted into his ears softly, the melody wrapping around him and caressing his skin teasingly as he lifted a hand and swept the curtain aside and stepped forward.

“Unlea si availla kaquel i zofilrie tawerttea mez…”

He smiled.

“Shinaquel lucifriel mortte.”

She turned when she heard his voice.  A lazy smile drifted across her features.  “Yes, he is, isn’t he?”

He arched a brow at her.  “So you’re a woman this time.”

“I like my body.”  She smoothed her hands down her sides, outlining her curves for him to see.  “Like?” she purred.

He laughed and did not reply, instead holding a hand out.  She looked at it, then raised her eyes to him, searching, and finally, with a glimmer of affection in her golden eyes, slid her hand into his.  “Beauty flowing sweetly, love’s only slayer…” They closed the doors gently and faced the dark sky.

“Ready?” he asked, looking down at her.

“If ever a mortal gives away his heart to an illusion…”

“You’ve planned it already?”  He stepped onto the railing and helped her up, her long skirts of trailing silver silk flashing in the light of celestial bodies that also cast off her inky black hair as well.

“Yes.  He will die in a fortnight’s time.”

He nodded and they walked off the railing.  “And Lucifer will be God of his Deaths.”

-ii-

Nobody could say his name except his lover.

Not that it was a difficult name to pronounce.  It was just that nobody knew it.  And the utterance of that name would inspire a thrill of fear, chasing up and down spines until mortals shuddered in their fascination and turned away.  But nobody could ever say it but Chiel, whose icy gray eyes would melt and long lashes would sweep down as desire racked his body and he wrapped himself around his angel of death.

My name, the angel thought, his lips twisted in what resembled an amused smile, is—

He closed his eyes and when they were opened again, the forest was cloaked with black.  The darkness extended in all directions with end, stretching into eternity with greedy arms and embraced the pure vision of sightlessness.

“Shini.”

And there was light.

That glistened off the blood. 

-iii-

A ring of promise encircled his finger, crafted of crystal tears and silken sweat and a thread of unbreakable love that gleamed in the darklight like his eyes gleamed with completion every time.  It was light, caressing his skin with the gossamer touch that his lover’s feathers stroked the wind.  It was warm, like his lover’s skin, surrounding him and filling him from inside.  It was the only thing he wore when he was truly happy.  And it matched the misty depths of violet and blue that were his lover’s eyes.  Chiel grinned.  And Death had brown hair.

-iv-

“He’s not an illusion,” I raged.

She only looked at me with her sad amber eyes.

“He’s not!”  I was furious.  “He’s real.  I can feel him—I touch him every night, all the time, I feel him breathe, I feel his heart beat, I feel him.  He’s real!” 

She twisted a lock of hair around her finger, quietly listening to me rant.  I hated her passiveness.  I hated her standing there, lying to me, ripping my heart to tiny little shreds never to be pieced together again and she didn’t say a word!

“He’s real,” I repeated, falling to a deathly calm.

“Shini,” she said softly.

“He’s real and he’s mine.”

I turned my back on her, my master, my god, and I left.  This angel would serve no one.  I was spoken for.  My heart—a heart I was never supposed to have—had made the decision for me.

“Shini,” I heard her say again, even softer.  “He’s an illusion.”

I walked out of Hell.

He’s real.

-v-

She was brushing her hair again, slowly, methodically, with graceful sweeps of her arm.  He walked in silently, but he knew she knew he was there.  When he seated himself behind her, resting his chin on her shoulder and watching their reflection in the mirror, she showed no surprise.  But she smiled a little.

“Your angel of death has deserted.”

“Yes.”

They were silent for a long while and she continued to brush her hair and he continued to watch them in the mirror.

“It’s been a while,” he finally said, straightening.  “I thought you would’ve changed your body by now.”

She shrugged and her hand fell to her lap as she stared at him through the mirror.  “Perhaps I will.”  His hand reached around her to rest in her lap and his head laid on her back.  She wove her fingers through his and lowered her gaze to their intertwined hands.  “Would you like a male form this time?”

He smiled into her back.  “I’m not picky.”

“No, archangel Gabriel would never be picky would he?”

“Never.”

“But he would deign to an affair with Lucifer.”

He raised his head and laughed, his free hand coming up to turn her head to his, capturing her lips in a soft kiss.  When he pulled away, her body had changed into the lithe male form, slender but toned, a pert face framed with shoulder length white hair but the same golden eyes.  “Yes, he would do anything for his golden-eyed lover,” he whispered.

The other’s eyes drifted shut, a smirk on his face.  “You want me to keep Chiel alive, don’t you?”

“Death needs his lover.”

-vi-

Effervescent laughter tumbled in the air, chasing after Chiel and Shini.  Wings flapped, slicing through the air cleanly, rapidly, as they rolled through the waves of wind and drowned in a tide of sunshine.  Starlight rained down on them, glittering, gleaming, soaking them in a warm glow as they dried themselves off on their beaches of clouds.  As snow drifted lazily to the mortal earth and darkness crept tentatively to blanket it, Chiel and Shini slowly descended from their playground and returned home.

Chiel leaned his moonlight pale hair on his lover’s shoulder and wondered softly why their home was Hell.

I am the Angel of Death, Shini had replied resignedly.  I am Lucifer’s pawn.  Though he had turned his back on his master, he could not deny his bondage.  His home was still Hell and the daemons were his family.

But the Angel of Death works for God.  He merely interacts with Lucifer through his job.  Chiel lifted his head to gaze solemnly into Shini’s eyes.  You are not his.  Nor mine.

Shini pulled his lover into a tight embrace.  I am always yours.  Forever

-vii-

“You’re real.”

“I’m real.”

“You won’t leave me.”

“Never.”

-viii-

I am a fallen angel.  But I am not Lucifer.

I am Lucifer’s lover.

I am Gabriel.

Yes, that Gabriel.  Archangel Gabriel.

What caused me to fall?  My love, naturally.  But why did I love?  What was it about that golden-eyed devil angel that entranced me, blinded me, fell me?

I really couldn’t say…

-ix-

“You’ve killed him.”

He stared at his master, no, never his master, only the devil who had misled him to believe… He should have never believed.  “You killed him.”  His teeth were clenched, tears burning hot in his eyes, his heart torn into millions of shards that pricked in a torturous pain.

Calm golden eyes regarded him.  “He was never alive.”

“He was real!  He was real!”

A slender finger raised and rested on his lips.  Golden eyes peered deeply into his.  “He was an illusion.”

Grief, anger, madness, his mind was whirling, he couldn’t breathe, it hurt, it hurt so much, it wasn’t true, he was real, he is real, he’s dead, he’s an illusion, was, is, he’s real, you’ll never leave me, you’re mine, always…

“What did you do?” he wailed, anguish in his voice, tears streaming down his cheeks.  He clutched the shoulders of his deceiver, shaking, demanding, crying.  “Bring him back!  He’s real and I loved him!  He loved me.  Bring him back!”

Sobs echoed through the empty brimstone halls, flames licking silently along the ground.

-x-

amerifluia chiattelle, amoruez lomfelis iels

unlea si availla kaquel i zofilrie tawerttea mez

shinaquel lucifriel mortte

-xi-

I am Death.

You are my lover.

The guilt-

-of those forever lost.

The pain-

-of those waiting to be found.

You understand.

Always.

Cherish me in your dreams.

Yours, always yours.

Hold me in your prayers.

I’ll never let go.

You are-

Yours.

Mine.

Always.

-xii-

Death could never die.  But Death could shed his black wings and return home.

Home.

Where the light reminded him of the darkness, and he never saw golden eyes again.

His feathers were white.

And his dreams were gray.

-xiii-

yoyokagirinaku

More notes: The last word is Japanese for “forever and ever.”  The little italicized incomprehensible words really don’t mean anything.  I just put together random vowels and consonants that looked nice.  Heh.  So…this was, um…odd.  But reviews would be nice! *hinthint* ^______^.