Her Emerald Eyes - Mahoutsukai no Yome (Short Story)

"You Promised..."

"You promised me..." Elias could only whisper.

She laid in his arms as she bled, her blood seeping into his garments, staining crimson his cloak, his shirt, soaking through the legs of his trousers as he knelt for her. She coughed, blood splattering all over his jaw."Live for me..." she managed. Her hand reached up to caress his skull; he kept it there, not wanting to let go.

"You promised me," he croaked out. "You promised me to never leave me until I'm done with you. I'm not done with you, I never will."

Her emerald eyes glinted up at him with the same gaze that he'd seen in them everyday, a gaze reserved only for him, a gaze no one else has ever given him, a gaze that had always put him at ease, that had reassured him of her love. Love, a concept he finally understood. It was love he felt for her, it was love that rendered him unable to withstand her absence, that drove him to a recklessness that even she wouldn't approve. It was love that brought him pain and fear. Hers was a gaze full of love he vowed to cherish, for she had never given them to another.

She smiled up at him, blood dripping down her chin. "I love you, Elias."The glow in her eyes dimmed and died out, her hand slid out of his and she went limp.

"Farewell, Elias." Ruth said, and the Grim faded away with Chise's death.

Elias felt a terrible pain wrenching within him, before it exploded and his body shuddered in a violent sobbing fit, tears streaming down from his eye sockets. He wanted to call her name, to tell her he loved her, but the pain choked his words. He couldn't breathe. He held her body tight in his arms as he cried.