Chaos.

Chaos erupted as Azure looked on. 

He watched in silence as the ground below them ripped, cracking and tearing as if being pulled apart at the seams. Ezekiel stood still, his eyes burning into Azure's. His entire form vibrated with infinite, invincible energy. 

Corpses spewed form the earth, littering the cemetery till they were surrounded by a myriad of dead. He watched as the sky itself thundered, the stars unwilling to show themselves. The earth quaked, harder and harder till Azure was afraid it would shatter. 

"Azure-" Helios began, his eyes fixed in terror on the boy in front of them. Azure shook his head silently. Ezekiel needed to grieve, and if destruction was his way, then so be it. 

Azure tore his eyes away and shut them, his heart suddenly impaled with anguish when Ezekiel let out a blood curdling scream that seemed to rattle the very skies. A deafening din of howls and wails rose from all around them. How far would he go?

And all of it for naught.

He glanced fearfully at Ezekiel. A strange, eerie purple glow vibrated off his body as the earth seemed to turn herself over, spewing dirt, death, ashes up into the air till it was thick and almost opaque. Azure staggered backwards as the lights in the cemetery flickered and went out, plunging him in absolute, suffocating darkness. All he could hear were the terrifying wails of the corpses. 

"Azure!" Helios called, alarmed. The earthquake was getting terrifying. Azure knew it would be enough to bring down some buildings. Unless Zemouis was able to control. If he wasn't, then Azure was sure there was someone else who could. 

Aureus Greenwood.

For a moment he wondered if he should step forward and reveal the truth to Ezekiel. But he knew it would only make things harder. The boy was already too attached to the Earth Nuvue. If he knew of his survival, there was no way he would be able to make the sacrifice that he would have to in time. His agony was a small price to pay for the destruction of the Ultimaria. 

He gazed silently into the dark void behind which Ezekiel had disappeared when all of a sudden, the cries of the dead were silenced. Sharply. The light flickered on and Azure heaved a sigh of relief. The soil around him was still turned, but devoid of the corpses that had now crawled back into their resting place. The only remnants of the catastrophe was the upturned soil and broken and fallen trees. The cracks on the earth seemed to have healed. And at the centre, Ezekiel sat on his knees. Defeated.

Azure felt his throat closing up and took a tentative step towards the Asterius. His shoulders trembled violently. It was a while before Azure realized he was crying. He realized with a jolt that the earth around him was soaked with scarlet, glistening liquid that looked and smelled sinisterly like blood. 

Ezekiel was bleeding. 

Azure wasn't sure how it was possible. His entire torso was soaked with blood. His tattered t-shirt soaked through his trembling body. Was it possible that he had bloodlet himself in the process? The thought sent a shiver down his spine.

His grief was so great that he was harming, destroying himself. Masochistically. 

Ezekiel gazed up at him silently, his blood shot eyes glistening and whispered in a broken voice. 

"Please."

Azure stopped in his tracks, almost conceding. The words were a desperate plea on his lips. His quivering lips whispered again and again. Begging. He was broken. 

Azure remembered the power of love. What he had experienced once. That had been so long ago that even his memories seemed forgotten. He remembered he had been beautiful. Another fire Nuvue. He had sacrificed himself in the war. He had been devastated, but a thousand years had made him immune.

But then why did his heart still bleed for this boy who was so painfully in love?

Sacrifices had to be made. The universe was never fair. Not to anyone. Did that ironically make it fair to everyone?

He crouched in front of Ezekiel, steeling himself. 

"You have a greater purpose, Asterius," he spoke in dulcet tones. Ezekiel gazed at him, his eyes glassy. He took a deep breath and placed a trembling hand on his cheek. 

Vivid images flashed across the eye of his mind. Ezekiel as a child. A devil. Pain. Blood. The anguish. The images quickly turned violent, sickening and Azure recoiled his hand, his heart hammering in his chest. the vivid, devastating images flashed in the eye of his mind. Beady black eyes. Wiry hair. Muffled screams. 

Ezekiel gazed at him silently, his beautiful features hard. He smirked humourlessly. "Couldn't even watch it, could you?"

Azure gulped and rose to is feet, his head reeling. Ezekiel kept gazing at him, aware of his discomfort. 

"We can rid you...of the memories," Aure offered softly. "All of them."

Ezekiel rose to his feet slowly, his eyes deathly cold. Azure was stunned to find that the boy had grown much taller than he last remembered him. Almost shoulder to shoulder with him. 

"They are the sacrifices I made, Azure," he said, his voice mirthless. "Do they seem enough? There's more."

Azure was quiet, his ears ringing suddenly. 

"He also brought his friends," Ezekiel said, his voice almost mocking. "They took turns, Azure. Is that sacrifice enough for you?"

"Ezekiel," Azure whispered, his resolve at the breaking point. Ezekiel smirked mirthessly. 

"You are fucking pathetic to teach me about sacrifices, Azure."

"Ezekiel, " Helios spoke finally as Azure took a step back, his stomach turning in revulsion. He had often heard of the vile acts that humans created, but he had selfishly never let himself think about what Ezekiel had gone through on Earth. "Come with us to the Sognare. Please."

"Helios," Ezekiel began, his intese gaze mercifully shifting way from Axure. "When the Ultimaria is vanquished, will I die?"

He spoke so calmly, as if he couldn't care less if he did. 

Helios rook a sharp breath and sighed. "Not necessarily, no. But it is a very real possibility."

Ezekiel's gaze shifted from Helios to Azure, resolve forming in the poisonous amethyst. "I will go. But I must have your word that if I were to survive, you would kill me yourself."

Azure shut his eyes, his head throbbing form the vivid imagery still flashing in his mind. They seemed to have been burnt into his skull. He didn't answer, but Helios did.

"You have my word."

Ezekiel took a shuddering breath and nodded. "Thank you."

Azure stood still as Helios nodded at him and gently grasped Ezkeil's trembling, blood smeared hand. His own, dark scarlet blood glistening on his palms. Helios, however, didn't seem to mind it too much. Azure watched as they dissolved into the air, disappearing into what looked like nothingness. He gazed at the devastation around him, his heart frozen in terror. 

He wasn't sure when the time came Ezeiel would be able to resist the lure of the darkness. Not when it promised so much more than light.