Take a Bow [Rose]

Rose lay where he had fought, a broken body strewn amidst the wreckage like a discarded toy. Surrounding him was a sea of golden petals, the hilt of a broken sword clutched so tightly in one hand that it might well have been a death grip given his positively pale complexion. One might have mistakenly thought the Captain was simply resting, as he was wont to do, were it not for the chunk of his upper chest that was missing. A garish hole left in the wake of an attack that had nearly split him in twain. Lilac eyes were glazed over, his facial expression locked in a grimace of both shock and anguish, as he gazed vacantly at the stars above him.

His mind wandered to thoughts of faraway things. All the beauty that he had seen in his life began to flash before him, from the smiles on his comrades' faces to the laughter shared between friends. The music he had weaved to bring everyone together, and the pain that drove them all apart. The first step upon that distant moon, the sun setting behind the shadow of Neptune.

They were calling to him, his memories, and Rose found himself quite terribly tempted to allow them to consume him. To give in and pass on, leave behind this mortal realm and ascend to something greater. It would be so easy, the easiest thing he had ever done, and yet somehow he resisted. There were too many promises he had made, too many oaths yet unkept, for him to be allowed to take the easy path.

He had been close. So terribly close. So how could this possibly be the end? A betrayal, that cruel twist of the knife, needed to be repaid in kind.

It was that acceptance of sure a base urge, that final spark begging for survival before it was smothered, which prompted a response. Like the rippling of the tide that warned of an approaching wave, Rose's body began to shudder and contort. His mask began to reform, encasing his face in a prison of bone before the rest of him was pulled to its feet like a puppet on invisible strings. Their pact had never been forgotten, the musician and the monster, so just for a moment they would bend the rules of that century-old agreement. For both their sakes.

Then, with no ceremony or rhythm, Rose began to walk.

It was quite a sight to see, the Captain shambling through the surrounding chaos like a zombie. Each step took the effort of every fibre of his being, a heavy footfall landing before the next began until he arrived at the medical station. Only then, as his shadow loomed over the doorway, did that Hollow mask begin to crack and break away to reveal Rose's listless visage within. He stood for only a moment more before falling forward, a pool of blood soon beginning to form around him once more.

His body as broken as his blade, shattered into a hundred and one pieces, Rose slipped from consciousness once more.