The Art of a Monster

CH. 38What if Stefano killed Sebastian

*This is the sad/dark ending. Warning: Not for the faint of heart*

It's over. Stefano stared at his new masterpiece. It was marvelous.        Yet,   Stefano felt no satisfaction as his sanity returned. Only anger and distraught. A new masterpiece is nothing compared to the original. Stefano was confused. He was so eager to turn Sebastian into art. But now it seems       pointless. There is no meaning to this new masterpiece. Stefano sighed before he turned away and teleported to the auditorium. He looked at the art he made. The bouquet of flesh and blood. It had meaning. His thoughts disappeared when he heard a girl scream. He looked over to see the young girl that was the core. Her fear gave him no comfort, no inspiration. Nothing could inspire him. Not without all that remained of Valeria. Stefano took a deep breath before walking away from her towards a piano. He sat down as he opened it before staring at the keys. He could see the girl hiding behind a chair in the corner of his eye. His focus returned to the piano as he carefully placed his hand on the keys. He felt a knot in his throat as he played the only song he knew. The only one he loved,     one key at a time.    Every note felt like a stab to the heart, but he continued to play. He missed her. He missed her dancing, art, music, presence. But above the others, he missed her love. He then stopped playing. He couldn't bear to play another note. He was still for a moment before he heard something fall on one of the keys. He looked down and saw a crimson tear. He tried to control himself but failed as he burst into tears and cried softly. Something that he never did for what felt like centuries. Something he never wanted to do again. He covered his face to try and hide himself. He didn't want the young girl to see him in his current state.

"W-why are you crying?" A voice asked softly. Stefano knew it was the girl. He couldn't comprehend why she would ask him, a monster, why he is crying.

"You wouldn't understand. No one on earth, this world, heaven, or hell would understand or even know who she was." Stefano said between his shaky breaths.

"W-who is she?" The girl asked nervously. Stefano took out a handkerchief from his pocket and tried to wipe the crimson tears off his face.

"She was Snow White, the fairest of them all. When we were at the Gala, she was more beautiful than Cinderella. She loved me, a monster, like Belle loved the beast, she saved me from drowning in the ocean of distraught like Auriel did Eric, she was trapped in her own prison during her last few years waiting for someone to free her like Rapunzel,       and when she died       she was at peace like Sleeping Beauty. She was my fairytale with a heartbreaking ending. Without her, I am nothing but a bloody mad artist." Stefano said as he continued to cry and soak the handkerchief with blood. He stared into space, forgetting where he was.

"She was a fairytale princess?" The girl asked in curiosity. Stefano was without words for a moment.

"Once upon a time, there was a fair maiden. The fairest of them all, with a heart of gold. All were jealous of her beauty and hated her for it. They were unwilling to know her. No one knew that she was her own prisoner, longing for someone to help her. One day she wandered into a dark forest and came upon a ruined castle. The dark night forced her to go inside. She met what appeared to be a man. He let her stay. She was kind to him, comforted him when he was distraught. But what she didn't know was that the man was a beast in a human skin. She was scared when she saw his true form. The beast cried as he explained to her that he was sad because she didn't know what he was. Scared that if he told her, then she would leave him behind and forever alone. She pitied the monster. She told him that she wanted to help him, because he helped her escape her prison. Several people from her village were jealous because of her happiness. They wanted to take it away. When they found her, they took away her eyes. The monster was sad seeing her suffer. He took her in and helped her in whatever way he could. But she was still miserable. She couldn't take it. One night the maiden begged the monster to give her peace and end her life. She loved him too much to let him cast his life aside just to get her through each day. The beast refused at first but saw how sad she was. He loved her too much to let her suffer each day." Stefano said as he stood up and leaned against a wall. He was quiet for a second.

"They shared their love one last time before the monster gave her a quick, painless death. Freedom from the prison of her flesh." Stefano said before looking at the girl for a second.

"The beast hunted down and killed the people that hurt her. He spent years drowning in the ocean of distraught. His sanity faded away and he turned into a creature destined for hell. Yet, he looks forward to it." Stefano said before he closed the piano and rested his head against it.

"Why does he look forward to going to hell?" The girl asked as Stefano stood up. Stefano closed his eyes and tried to control his breath. He lost the strength in his legs and sat down against the wall.

"Be-because he will see her again. She will be above him in heaven. He will look up and watch her in all of her beauty and glory. Seeing her again will be worth every second of pain." Stefano said between breaths before he started crying silently. He threw his now red handkerchief to the side. There was no point in trying to hide his tears. He wished that he lost. That Sebastian killed him. He didn't want to spend all the years in Union alone without Valeria. He then felt something on his knee. He took several deep breaths as he looked to see the girl resting her hand on his knee in attempt to comfort him. She looked into his eyes, but they showed no trace of fear. The girl felt sorry for him. She then gently wrapped her arms around him. Stefano tried to regain control of himself. The monster inside wanted to push the girl away. But the monster had no power over Stefano.     Not anymore.      He could feel the ice in his heart melt as he wrapped his arms around the girl and cried. He was tired of this world. Without Valeria's art,     Union was now nothing. He wanted to leave,     somehow. The monster in him was dying. It was clawing at his heart trying to survive. It hurt too much. 

"I just want it to end. It hurts to much.         I can't take it anymore." Stefano said between breaths. He grabbed his favorite camera and a tripod He set it in front of the stadium and aimed it as well as putting it into focus

"W-what  are you doing?" The girl asked nervously as Stefano climbed onto the stage. He looked at the girl. He could hear help coming to save her and get her home. He took a deep breath.

"I going to see her.                         I am completing what I started." Stefano replied before taking out his dagger. He started cutting his chest open. Serenade for Strings continued to play as he prepared to do the final,     most important touch. Stefano immediately ripped his heart out. The beautiful music quickly faded away. The last thing he saw before death took his soul was the camera's flashing light.  Stefano was finally free to see Valeria again. The theater was complete as promised.                        The last flawless piece of the great Stefano Valentini.