Junkbox: Rose on the Grave

An original character of mine, though inspired by the concept of demons from "Kuroshistuji".
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White-faced Winter Roses,
O'er the grave I plant you
Where the dead reposes,
That a soul may haunt you,
And your ghostly whiteness
In the Winter gloom,
Seem some spirit-brightness
Shining from the tomb!

-F.W.Bourdillon

This poem reminds me of this character. His name is Rossieu, a demon, who met his sad fate sacrificing himself for another.

Kinder than most demons, though a bit violent in nature, the "Grave Rose Demon" lurked in a descimated cathedral ruin; the site of a cultist massacre. He was summoned into this world by a tainted soul, who wished to manipulate him for their own dark ambitions, but before the contract was completed, he was slaughtered by a lone survivor, who perished shortly afterwards. Stranded there, Rossieu meant to collect the lingering souls, but a single opposition; a reaper in charge of severing the souls from their bodies and gathering them for their proper judgements, challenged him. Though neutral, the reaper battled the demon, and the clash was long, and bloody. A stalemate was found; and the pair fell to the floor beside eachother, exhausted, in pain, and overwhelmed. Soon, prejudice gave way to admiration... and the reaper conceded to taking the innocent soul, while the demon collected the murderer's soul (however, the reaper, curious about the demon, took the soul of the murderer, so that the demon would not return to Hell).

Stranded there, the demon remained at the broken cathedral. Months passed, and the reaper snuck away from his duties to visit him, which were simple observations at first, but as the visits persisted, the demon let the reaper know that he was well aware of his presence. Visits led to conversations, and the more they spoke, the more the admiration grew...

But love always has it's struggles and it's battles...

And as the years ticked by, the demon became weaker, and hungrier. Eventually, the demon finally admitted to his lover that he would have to leave, and forge a contract with a human to gather a soul.

But the reaper was selfish, and of the jealous sort. Unable to cope with the thought of being deprived of his one ounce of pleasure in a constricted fate, and not willing wait, or to share him with any other; let alone a filthy human being, the reaper offered to break one of the ultimate taboos for the reaper kind. He offered to abuse his abilities and position, and supply the demon with as many souls as he needed, in exchange for the demon to never abandon him.

Rossieu agreed to this, establishing his contract upon the reaper's skin, stating, "I'll be with you always, if you will always supply me with what I need."

But the reaper's plan to offer up souls did not go unnoticed. The management of his division noticed the disappearing numbers of souls retrieved, and discovered the reaper in the act of stashing away the souls.

The reaper was condemned to death, for breaking that taboo and condemning souls...

But Rossieu came forward, announcing that he had manipulated the niave reaper to do his bidding through seduction. The reapers, instead, condemned the poor mislead reaper to solitary captivity, while the demon was committed to death in his stead. His essence was torn apart, and used in the forging of death scythes...

... Years later, the reaper was freed from captivity...

... and still bears the mark of the one he loved most.

Characteristics:
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Hair Color: White
Eye Color: Deep scarlet
Associated With: White Roses, Black Briars, Black Birch.

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Though invented based on the concept from another source, this character belongs to me.