I had some free time so I drew Vexen with... well I'm not sure who, I haven't really thought it out XD. Either way, I enjoyed doing this. Vexen's hair I think is my favorite part. I think it looks silky ^_^! The following is just a little something to go with it I guess. You don't have to read it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There she lay, her eyes warm with the fever she had been consumed by for days. She was feeling weak and alone. No one dared to speak with her for fear of the disease she seemed to ooze from her breath and her infecting touch. She still appeared beautiful, but her health had faded and she felt on the brink of death, thinning dangerously. The night's cool breeze fluttered through the window, and gently brushed her burning skin. She sighed softly, the breeze wasn't really enough to help. She looked into the shadows of her moonlight bathed room. The shadows of the furniture and wall decorations seemed to stand still as death. Except for one. The young woman suspected it was her fever, starting to go into the next stage before her demise, but there was no way to disprove it. Sure enough something moved again. The blazing inferno in her veins seemed to freeze with tension. Her breath caught in her throat. This time, the shadow stood. She could make out the fine ethereal figure of a man. At first, the black cloak seemed ominious and a foreboding to what lay beyond the veil between life and death for the woman. She remained unphased, however, 'if death came to seal my fate' thought the woman, 'so be it'. "Who are you?" whispered the woman softly, the male turned to her, his face obscured by shadows and his own cloak hood. He cocked his head to the side slightly and spoke not a word. He slowly aproached the woman who lay prone and defenseless on the bed. He held out a long slender arm to her, clad all in black, his palm waiting for her to take it. "Come with me," he whispered softly, his voice like silk and velvet to the woman, who had not heard someone speak to her in such a long time. She did not expect on any account, however, that her arm would move up and take his hand. She never expected her body to have the strength to stand when he asked her politely to stand, and certainly not enough to follow the man to the window's balcony. The cool evening breeze gently glided over the woman's skin, her long thin silk nightgown gently flowing. "Why did you come?" asked the woman, long abandoning the question of whom he was. The man quietly replied to her in a soft voice. "Let's say a little bird told me a certain Petite Marionette was about to die," A raven in a nearby tree looked down at the couple, and almost seemed to smile. The woman was ready to die, she knew the fever would kill her sooner or later. "And I decided this Marionette, needed a /little/ comfort." The man smirked slightly as he gently pulled the hood of his cloak back to reveal long dirty blonde hair and dark emerald green eyes that slightly shone in the moon's light. He was tired looking and appeared to be at a loss of sleep. He still held the hand of the woman though. "You may call me Vexen, my young marionette." he said delicately. The woman was slightly puzzled by the way he said /my/ marionette. She, however, never expected him to suddenly pull her into a soft swirl of a waltz and gently hold her hands in such a gentle way. They seemed to be dancing to music only Vexen could hear and soon she felt more like a puppet on a set of strings. The strength she was using to move was not her own, and she felt almost helpless as he held her in that almost endless dance. She was surprised, but soon that surprise changed to comfort and she felt calm and loved. Most of all, the pain that racked her body constantly had now stopped. She felt... free. If it wasn't for the feeling of being someone's puppet! A child's toy almost. Vexen softly chuckled, as if he had read her thoughts. "True, the strength you possess at the moment is not your own," He turned his emerald gaze to her, "True, that you may be feeling weak most of the time due to that dreadful disease you suffer," His face drew closer to hers as he slowed their dancing pace before moving faster again and swirling her around, "But there is no need for you to feel chained to this room." he whispered behind her and into her ear. Shivers trilled through her spine like sparks of electricity. Her eyes drooped and closed and when she opened them she found herself in a beautiful room bathed in moonlight. Unlike her dreary dark room, this room was much larger, huge windows allowing light from the celestial moon to flood in. "Your mind holds no bounderies, /my/ marionette." he whispered again. This time, the woman could hear the beloved melody. Every sound was like a joyful memory of years and days and hours gone by. If the song was that of her life, it would have sounded nothing like it. Hers would have been low, soft, and saddened. Sorrow seemed to play at her heart strings all the time. Whether it was the neglect of all around her, or the absolute lonlieness around her and saturated the air. She sighed slightly though at the happy moment she was sharing with the stranger she only knew as Vexen. Vexen's eyes rested upon her gently glittering ones and he then began whispering sweet nothingings into her ear. She gently rested her head against his shoulder and sighed softly, how she wished, oh how she wished, she had met him sooner. She would have loved to hear some of those things said to her before her fever and almost imminent death. Then he softly whispered into the woman's ear, "Oh, we've known each other much longer, /my/ marionette." The woman was slightly confused and peturbed. She could not remember his face anywhere... except... those eyes. The eyes were so familiar. She could swear she had only seen those eyes once, but she was sure he had died or had been a dream. Vexen chuckled again softly into her ear he whispered. "You're /mine/, /my/ little puppet, /my/ sweet Petite Marionette. No one else can have you or take you away." he smirked slightly at her wide-eyed reaction. She remembered now, the man she was dancing with. She remembered, but couldn't remember his face or name, she just knew for sure she knew him! Vexen smiled, assured now his purpose here was fufilled. The woman's eyes drooped and closed and soon she found herself in her room, on her bed, under the covers, and alone. She smiled softly, she had 'I saw him that one sweet last time,' she thought. Then she nearly jumped at what she remembered now. Her body, it wasn't twisting in agony anymore, her blood didn't feel like it was boiling, and her eyes were dry and not filled with tears like so many nights ago! Oh how she ran towards the balcony, gazing at the moon and smiling with glee! she looked down at the country side, a large grin plastered onto her small thin face. Then she thought something else. Where did he go? Where was he? She silently searched for him in the lower levels of her estate, but no such luck. She climbed back towards her bed but not before picking up a small piece of parchment, rolled neatly up and tied with a bright blue and white silk ribbon. 'How could I have not seen this before?' she thought silently before delicately removing the ribbon and letting it fall onto her lap. Her eyes became slightly teary at what she read. /To my Dear Sweet Marionette, We will see each other soon, but not yet. Not until I have finally found what I and my companions have worked so hard for. For what we strive to achieve. When I find that, then I can truly love you. Deep in your memory you will know me. You belong to me, and I to you, but not until my goal is complete. Until we meet again my sweet Marionette. Sincerely and forever yours, ~Vexen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I hope you liked it, please comment on them both if you can! Sorry if there's grammar or spelling mistakes, that kind of happened because I wrote this on the spot so to say ^_^;; Thank you so much for reading though!!!