2016, District 13, Svartalfheim

An empty worship can be a grim reminder of agony. The pews were vacant, having just been filled with several crying souls. They all awaited the end of this dreadful day out on the streets. Inside the chapel, the family was left a few moments of privacy to mourn. That was the excuse Ricky sold them anyways.

"Go keep them all distracted." He instructed Deacon.

Though the politician wasn't one to take orders, he put aside his pride for today. It was what Chris would've wanted anyways. He never liked to hear people bicker, especially over petty things. Deacon walked out the front doors of the chapel to entertain the guests of the funeral. 

Two gorgeous coffins rested at the front of the worship. Candles and flowers covered the walls and ground. The death of someone so beloved as Chris wasn't going to go unnoticed. With the amount of people who showed, they worried if they'd have enough room for everyone. Now, as the dark church remained nearly empty, they had to do the one part they dreaded the most.

Ricky opened the black box that contained Angelo's body, Kuza doing the same for Chris' casket. They didn't have time to think it over or hesitate. As much as they wished they could have just one minute of closure, they couldn't let the guests out on the streets get suspicious. With a heavy sigh, they pulled their best friends' corpses from the coffins.

Ghost opened a tear in front of his husband. Ricky and Kuza carried their fallen through the portal. On the other side, a place that was left eerie in their memories. The sanctuary Angelo had once hidden in was as untouched as the day he'd left it. No one ever came here, making it the perfect place for their bodies to rest peacefully. 

The enchanted candles all still burned along the walls. Steps upon steps of lights, they all had yet to burn out after all this time. Kuza gently set Chris' body on the center of the marble floor. Ricky placed Angelo beside the love of his life, placing their bodies so they'd spend the rest of eternity in each other's arms.

"I know our bodies are not who we are, but I can't bear the thought of their graves being disturbed." Ricky said as he stood back up.

"You know it'll happen." Kuza grumbled, walking back to the portal.

He sighed, "It's inevitable."

The two climbed back through the tear and Ghost closed it a second later. Keeping them open too long really wore him down. He managed to keep his balance and headed out front of retrieve a few people. While he did so, Ricky and Ryan closed the caskets again. They locked the sides precariously.

Deacon and Ricky took down Chris' casket by the front. Josh and Kuza picked up the back, Felix and Cecil supporting the middle. Ryan and Ghost grasped the front of Angelo's coffin while Emerson, his brothers, and JC took the back and middle handles. Ryan-Ashley and Kitty pulled open the church doors for them. They walked out onto the crowed street with the empty caskets on their shoulders.

All the people who had turned out for the funeral held tea lights, illuminating their path. Rose petals danced along the cobble streets they stepped across. It was a tragically beautiful site. They walked for nearly two miles. The whole way, mourning people lined the pathway. Being on the surface of the realm for once, they could see the haunting sky. It was no wonder why few lived above the caves. Something about those swirling clouds of grey was unsettling.

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2018, Qrow Manor, Vanaheim

Dinner was only about a half hour away. With that thought in mind, and a heart missing his love desperately, Felix headed back to his room to clean up. He was unaware his girlfriend was still in the garden at the time. When he walked into her dark room, he saw a figure back on the rocking chair, but he knew damn well it wasn't here.

"We need to talk." Ricky said ominously. His red eyes were the only thing visible in the shadow of the corner of the room.

Felix began undoing all his necklaces as he walked over to the dresser. "Can't it wait?"

"No. Unless you want me to bring your mother into this conversation, but he probably wouldn't be too happy to know the price you paid to be able to stay at the manor. We didn't raise our kids to become slaves." 

He set his hands on the dresser, staring down his reflection in the mirror. That whole vampires can't see their reflection thing wasn't true. What was true, however, was that they could see their real selves. His red eyes glared back at him to remind him of who he really was. "How'd you find out?" He muttered.

"Ryan and I were concerned with the way the servants of the manor bowed down to Jasper's every whim. So, we did some investigating and found out Paris had a demon pact on him." Ricky explained, "He's not the only one, though, is he?" 

"No, he's not. Jasper has a very strong fear of traitors. People like Ryan come and go, and that doesn't bother him. People like me that planned on staying, though, we had to sign a much different contract." He threw his blazer on the bed. Then he unbuttoned his dress shirt, revealing the mark just below his collar bone. 

"Why'd you do it?" He sneered, "Why'd you do something so fucking stupid?" 

"It was the price I had to pay to keep her. You can call it slavery all you want. I don't care. She matters more." Felix pulled a silver key and a key card out of his pocket. He set them on the edge of the dresser, adding, "Tell Ryan he has to have these back to me as soon as he can. I could get in a lot of fucking trouble for this."

Ricky stood up, picking them up. "Does she really mean this much for you? That you'd give up all your freedom? That you'd bow down to a psychopath like that?"

He looked him straight in the eyes, "Yes, she does. You'd do the same for mom, wouldn't you?"

"That's different. Your mother and I have been through Hell together. We've been together over five hundred years, we had nine kids together. We fought along side each other in wars and we lost the people we loved the most. When you have that kind of history with someone, then you can put your life on the line for them!"

"You don't know what her and I have been through together!" He snapped back.

Ricky scoffed, "How could I? The past two, three years you never said a damn word about her. You love her enough to sell your fucking soul for her but you won't ever mention her to your own parents?"

Felix tightened his fists, finally letting himself break. "I wanted to protect her from you guys!" He yelled, "In case you haven't noticed, everything you touch goes to shit! I mean, look at Angelo. He managed to live for a thousand years just fine. It only took him and Chris being together a year for him to get killed! Ripper, Knox, the twins, they all died because of you! I'm not letting that happen to her!"

Ricky delivered a hard slap to his son's face. Being that it was his mechanical arm, it cut Felix's cheek. "Don't you dare speak to me that way. If this girl turns you into such a mindless, foolish, disrespectful waste of space, she's not worth your breath. I suppose there's nothing we can do now, though. You can't break a demon pact."

"I wouldn't have changed what I did." He touched the gash on his face, looking at the blood on his fingertips with disappointment. "I can only hope that someday you'll understand. I love her, and I'd do anything for her. Even if that means protecting her from the people I love. You're still my family, but I can't ignore the truth. Now, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to take a shower before dinner."

With clenched fists, Ricky excused himself from the room. He felt like a failure of a parent. Not just for the decision Felix had made, but for what he'd said. It was, in one way or another, his fault he lost all his children. The only ones still breathing both ran away with girls they shouldn't have. Ricky thought back to that breakdown Ghost had over their kids leaving. As upset as it'd made him, their reasons were justified. Of course, he could never tell his wife that. He didn't want to lose another arm.

As Ricky stepped out, he happened to pass by Marci. He had yet to meet her, so he didn't realize it was her until she walked towards the room. Glancing over his shoulder, he took a good look at the woman that had turned his son into a fool for love. She caught his stare. Instead of reacting negatively, she simply offered him a timid smile. Marci was gorgeous, and she seemed sweet enough, but no woman could truly be worth it. Right?

She slipped into her room to find her love moping. Marci sneaked up behind him, wrapping her arms around his bare torso. Felix placed his hand over hers and smiled blissfully, "Hey, princess."

Marci rested her head on his back, muttering, "You know I don't like being called that."

He sighed lightheartedly, "I know, you don't think you're a princess. You're not either. You're a queen, my queen."

"It's hard to argue with you when you're being so sweet." She replied.

He smirked, "It's hard to argue when you know I'm right."

"You're such an ass." She teased him.

Felix laughed, "But I'm yours, Babe. You gotta put up with me."

She lifted her head, glancing up at him through the mirror in front of them. "I'm pretty sure you're the one that puts up with me. Who was that? That was in the room before?"

"My dad. He figured out I made a pact with Jasper and he's not happy about it. He'd probably be more pissed if he found out what the pact was. After Chris died, him and my mom really wanted to normalize the family. They didn't want to be warriors anymore. They just wanted to live a normal life with a nine to five and a family dinner every night. Anything that disrupts that just makes it harder for them to accept what happened."

"Do you think they'll ever be able to move past it?" She asked.

He sighed as he stood up straight and turned towards her. "I don't know. I worry... I worry they won't. Maybe, if they'd never come here, and never found out about the condition the others were in, they would've been able to live a normal life."

Her large eyes searched his, trying to figure out what was going through his troubled mind. "Ignorance is bliss."

"Hm, true." His hand glided up her curvy side, "I'm going to take a shower before dinner. Would you like to join me?"

Marci reached up and pecked his lips, "Gladly."

No matter what happened, he could always remain happy with her in his arms. He unbuttoned her blouse slowly while stealing away kisses. Felix was the only one she'd ever let see her with her shirt off. After all, her body was still in the state it died in. A massive hole would always be left in her stomach from where she was shot. It didn't bleed anymore but it wasn't for the faint of heart.

He still found her gorgeous. Nothing could ever change his love for her. He could only hope, in time, his father would come to understand that. 

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Comment question: What deal do you think Felix made with Jasper?

Also, I kept forgetting to include these in the last chapters but here's Croc and Jasper's marks