Little Flower |Scaramouche| ✓

◤XXXVIII |The Heir and Her Protector|

Scaramouche was dead. There was no other explanation as to why Maram was wrapping him up in an ethereal glowing light and lifting him up towards the sky. Scaramouche had died before she could see him again and now Maram was helping him rest peacefully.

Tears rolled down her cheeks rapidly as the girl's vision became blurry. Her body shook from the facts sitting right in front of her and she let out a bloodcurdling scream of agony. Without even thinking, (Y/n) lunged towards Maram, reaching out to grab him, but she'd forgotten that he was a ghost. And so, she simply passed through him, falling to her hands and knees. He, of course, was unfazed by this as he didn't flinch nor make any kind of reaction towards her action.

Looking up, the girl saw that if she jumped high enough, she could possibly reach Scaramouche. She would take any chance to get him back. Quickly, she stumbled to her feet and was about to jump up and reach for Scaramouche before she felt someone tug her arm harshly making her back collide with the cold ground.

"What are you doing, Kuragari? Let me go! Let go of me! He can't leave!" She once again tried to get up, but her cousin locked his arms around her waist and pulled her back with him towards his right hands, far from the floating Scaramouche. No matter how much she thrashed around and screamed in his face, Kuragari kept his cool and planted his feet on the ground to prevent her from lunging after Maram or Scaramouche again.

"You need to calm down," Kuragari finally told her sternly. "Let Maram explain things before you jump to any conclusions."

"B-but..." she wiped the dried tears from her cheeks.

"Trust Maram, remember?" He finally loosened his grip around her, trusting his cousin that she wouldn't try and lunge forward again which thankfully, she didn't and chose to stay put. Though (Y/n) didn't say anything in response to Kuragari, he could tell that she would wait and hear the ghost god out before coming to any more conclusions as to what was happening right in front of them.

Moments passed of silence. Maram kept his eyes shut with his focus solely on doing whatever it was to Scaramouche.

"I can spare some time now," he spoke up and turned to the girl. She stepped forward and pointed at the floating boy.

"Explain yourself, Maram! You... you better explain or... or I'll—" She was cut off by the phantom putting his translucent hand up to stop her from continuing. He motioned for her to come closer. Hesitantly, she trudged towards Maram until she was standing near him, just about an arms length away. He reached his ghostly hand out and gently pressed his fingertips against her forehead.

"It'll be easier to explain if I just show you."

➷➹⧫➹➷

Out of the corner of his eyes, Maram spotted the short indigo haired boy dart off towards Zapolyarny Palace. While the crowd clapped and cheered for the newly crowned prince of Snezhnaya, Maram wondered why Scaramouche would suddenly run. Curious, the ghost god surveyed his surroundings before floating after the boy.

The sight before him wasn't surprising at all once he'd found Scaramouche. The boy was leaning against the cold wall with his eyes closed and his breathing was unstable. Blood seeped through his clothes and he was clutching the fabric around the bleeding hole where his heart was breaking. Translucent eyes scanned the puppet before Maram let out a sigh and passed his hand through Scaramouche's face.

The coldness of Maram's hand woke the slumbering boy. Scaramouche fluttered his eyes open and looked up at the ghost with a dead expression.

"Have you come here to watch me die?" he rasped with a laugh. "I'll join you... as a ghost... or maybe not. I've sinned too much to deserve a good time in the afterlife."