Notes: Written for Glen-ish on tumblr, who gave me the prompts Descole/Anton and "Look at me – just breathe, okay?" Set in an AU version of Pandora's Box, based on the old fan theory that Descole was looking for eternal life. Spoilers for PL2 and a few other games.

Folsense had always been a word that was followed by a question mark on Descole's internal map of his plans. He'd never been quite sure if he was actually intending to look into it or not.

But after exhausting his leads at the Golden Garden and Ambrosia, both locations having reaped few worthwhile results given the efforts that he'd put into them, his plans come to something of a lull. There would always be more chances for him, but perhaps while all was quiet it wouldn't hurt to look into Folsense, if only to be able to cross it off as another false lead.

So he'd dedicated time to researching it, as he was nothing if not thorough. Much of the documentation had proven fruitless, so he eventually ended up finding leads through the young town of Dropstone and in time (more time than he'd intended to spend on this endeavour) he did come to arrive in Folsense itself.

If nothing else came from this, he now knew for certain that Folsense was real. Though whether it proved useful to him or not was another matter entirely.

Those who lived there had all spoken of a vampire who resided in a castle just outside of the town. This seemed to be the only tale related to eternal life that Descole could find from skimming the surface of Folsense, so he of course looked into it.

He travelled to the castle alone at night, but while his visit there may have been unexpected it was certainly not an unwelcome one.

The Duke of Folsense, Anton Herzen, and his butler, Nigel, both seemed to be more awake than anyone had any business being at this late hour. And even if these vampire stories turned out to be nothing more than paranoid rumours from the townsfolk, Descole could see how they might have started, judging from the manner and dress-sense of these two individuals.

Anton's appearance was probably the first thing that Descole noticed – he was young and beautiful, as well as being eager for Descole to think of him as a gracious host. This was easy to work with. Because, while Descole's mind was usually so driven and focused, he was also nothing if not a shameless flirt. It came so naturally to him and this young man hardly presented him a challenge in that regard.

Since he was patient when he needed to be, Descole took the time to get to know Anton, to learn about him. It might prove useful to his research, though that was mostly an excuse by this point. He did learn that Anton was pining over the loss of a woman called Sophia, who he had dearly loved. After finding that out, it had simply been a matter of tempting Anton in short intervals – overwhelming him with flattery one evening and then avoiding him for enough time that Anton came to crave more. They had what Anton would think of as chance meetings just outside of the castle grounds on many occasions, but he didn't know that each one had been carefully planned out on Descole's part. Chance had nothing to do with it.

The longer these went on, the more Descole noticed that Anton was actually trying to seek him out. For Anton it was no more just the pleasant walk in the evening shade that may be interrupted by that charming stranger, but a desperate need to find him and listen to everything he had to say. What had started out as an occasional visit swiftly became Descole having to go there every night. This had been exactly what he'd intended.

By this point he figured it wouldn't be too bold to make a more forward gesture. Anton was clearly besotted with him as it was. So one evening, while they sat together under the moonlight, Descole allowed his tone to grow hushed and intimate, before eventually leaning in to kiss Anton.

Of course the young Duke was flustered by this and of course he fled. Descole expected nothing less. Undoubtedly Anton would return to the castle feeling as if he'd betrayed Sophia by allowing another to kiss him.

After that Descole left it a whole week before visiting Anton again. During which time he looked into the matter of Sophia, which had been nagging him in the back of his mind. He was sure that he'd come across that name before while searching the records for Dropstone, but the dates just didn't match up. If she was indeed the same Sophia who had founded Dropstone forty-eight years ago, well then, Anton was truly a lot older than he appeared to be. Perhaps there was a source of eternal life here after all...

He sent a message to Raymond to look into Sophia further. Because he felt inclined not to venture too far away from Folsense and communication outside of the town had proven to be unreliable, he opted to send the message by bird. As the creature ascended into the sky he watched it's flight patterns, which seemed to become somewhat disoriented as it rose further away from Folsense. This was worrying, since the bird had seemed healthy enough when he'd picked it out. Descole could only hope that the message reached Raymond.

When the week had gone by with no reply from him, Descole decided to visit Herzen Castle once more. While usually he would linger some distance away from the castle, this time he came right to the door, knocking confidently and requesting to see Anton once Nigel answered. This change in tactic would show Anton that the conversation they were about to have would be unlike any previous.

The wait had been a good idea. When Anton arrived his eyes were so wide and he so desperately needed to talk to Descole. It seemed that during the absence Anton had managed on his own to go through all of the confusion about what had happened, the fear of betraying Sophia, the frustration at himself for Descole being the only thing he could now think about and had reached the conclusion that, while he might not know what would happen next, Descole definitely did.

He was right in that assumption.

Anton led them through to a room in the castle that Descole had not seen before and then asked Nigel that they not be disturbed. The butler simply bowed, murmured that he would make sure of this and then left. Descole wasn't sure how much of a distance Nigel would truly keep from the room, but he didn't have time to dwell on this as Anton burst into feverish ranting almost as soon as the door was closed.

Descole let him talk himself out, not saying a word until Anton fell into silence. When that happened he moved a gentle hand up to stroke Anton's face, whispering that these panicked red cheeks did not suit him. This was a lie. The way the red hue sat upon Anton's pale complexion was intoxicating to look at and Descole assured himself that he would see more of this face before his time with Anton was through.

There were tears, which worked well for the situation, as they gave Descole a reason to pull Anton close and hold him in an embrace. As he whispered sweet comforts into Anton's ear he felt the other man's weight slump against him in full acceptance of what was happening. His soft, blond hair felt nice against the side of Descole's face. So Descole allowed them to sit there a bit longer than he had planned would be sensible, because he was enjoying this too much.

By the end of the evening, Descole had secured a second meeting with Anton and, although these words had not been spoken, a relationship as well. This was the first time they'd arranged to meet together as opposed to just crossing paths and clearly being able to prepare helped Anton feel more as if he was in control. He was dressed even more finely than usual next time and had prepared a quiet evening dinner for the two of them. This trend continued into several more meetings and it amused Descole a little to see Anton act as if he was the one pulling the strings of their relationship when he couldn't have been further from the tru.

And while he allowed Anton to dictate the setting and the events, once it came to the romantic gestures Descole would always make sure that he was the one planting small kisses onto Anton's lips, holding his hand as they walked privately through the forest, murmuring increasingly filthy nothings to him at every chance he got.

Admittedly he got so caught up in their little game that he began to let his focus slip.

Then one evening, as the two of them walked together, a sudden sound came across the sky. It was a dangerous rumble that lasted only briefly and seemed to come from a part of Folsense that Descole had not yet been to.

He asked Anton about it and the Duke had simply said it must be workers down at the mine his family owned. Descole knew this was something he'd have to look into later. But through his own actions he'd made it hard for himself to be able to get away from Anton for long stretches of time. It reached the point where he'd had to convince Anton to take him to the mine.

Clearly Anton was bored and frustrated at the idea of having to go somewhere that to him was nothing more than a workplace for people who his family were gracious enough to provide jobs for, but Descole stemmed this by promising him that it would be worth the while. That perhaps they would find a place there just out of sight and spend a moment of passion together under the risk of being caught by the workers. This idea seemed to do the trick of thrilling Anton and renewing his interest.

But it turned out there was not a single worker in the mine. Instead, the only soul there was the last person that Descole had intended to see.

Raymond.

The elderly man rushed over to Descole, claiming that the source of the town's problem was in the mine and that they should leave this place at once.

Anton was not at all happy about this stranger taking Descole away, but Raymond insisted that they both needed to go, not just Descole. That he'd apparently promised Nigel he would come look for them both.

"What about the rest of the townsfolk?" Descole asked. It seemed like the first clear question that had come out of his mouth in weeks.

"There are nae others," Raymond insisted.

"Don't be ridiculous, I've seen people each time I've gone into Folsense itself," snapped Descole.

"None o' them are real," assured Raymond, "I were confused meself when I went to the castle an' saw a much younger Nigel there. The real Nigel's been livin' in Dropstone fer years."

"Then what is all of this?" Descole pressed, motioning around to what was visible of the town from over the tree-tops.

"An illusion created by the hallucinogenic gas that comes from the mines. Sound crazy, I knae, but ya need to trust me on this," Raymond replied.

Descole did trust Raymond. There was no doubt about that. The doubt came from Anton, who clearly had no idea what Raymond was talking about.

"What does he mean by the real Nigel being somewhere else?" Anton demanded, "I know where Nigel is, I saw him before we left the castle."

Leaning forward, Descole took Anton's hand and said, "Please, I know this might be hard for you to believe, but Raymond is my trusted ally. If he says that it's dangerous for us to be here then we need to go with him."

Anton was hesitant, which was only natural considering how long it must have been since he'd last left Folsense. Even Descole was no longer sure, if the information Raymond had provided turned out to be correct. But he did trust Descole and if wanted him to extend that trust to Raymond then he would.

So he nodded silently.

Raymond led the two of them away from the mines, away from the castle and away from Folsense. As they walked, Anton's breathing became increasingly laboured and his pace slowed considerably. It wasn't long until he was lagging behind and Descole had to go back for him.

When he reached him, Anton was bent over and staring at his hands in horror. It took a moment for Descole to realise exactly why that was, but then Anton raised his head to look at him and he saw for himself. Though his eyes were still as wide and scared as they had been before, his face was now wrinkled and his silky hair a raggedy white.

His words were coming out as sharp gasps and Descole knew that what had happened was sending him into a state of shock. He put a firm hand on Anton's shoulder to reassure him.

"Look at me – just breathe, okay? You're going to be fine," he promised.

"...F-fine...?" Anton wheezed, "...How can... I be-be... fine when... I'm...?"

In that moment he didn't know how to say what he was.

Descole put an arm around Anton, helping up back up so they could carry on walking; "You are Anton Herzen, the Duke of Folsense, and you are too strong to let any of this stop you."

Anton did not reply, but Descole's words seemed to have renewed his vigour enough for him to carry on walking with the support of Descole. Raymond also came back to help, leading the two of them back to a carriage he'd had waiting. It seemed that he hadn't dared to bring the carriage any closer to Folsense itself. A wise decision.

Once Anton had been helped inside and they were on the move, Raymond filled Descole in on all that he had discovered. It seemed that Descole had not been away for just a few weeks, like he thought, but several months. Because of this they were now far behind in other plans that Descole had put on hold for what was supposed to be a brief detour. This fact seemed to annoy Raymond greatly and would probably in turn make Descole feel the same way once he'd had the time to dwell on it.

In regards to Anton, he was truly the Duke of Folsense, but Folsense itself had been abandoned some forty-eight years previously, once the hallucinogenic gas had been discovered in the mines. Anton had been living under the influence of the gas this whole time, assuming he was still a young man waiting for a beloved partner who had left him.

Raymond claimed that Sophia was the founder of Dropstone, as Descole had suspected. At this time she was still alive, but very old and frail. It was unlikely that she would be in this world for much longer.

Upon hearing this, Descole frowned, looking inside the carriage to where Anton was resting. He himself had opted to travel up front with Raymond, who was steering the horses. This was all so cruel. He had been cruel to Anton, but he'd never expected any of this.

"It would be right to take him back to Dropstone," Descole resigned.

"I was hopin' ya'd say that," replied Raymond, "I've already made some arrangements with Nigel." Descole was still looking back into the carriage as he spoke, so Raymond went on, "Ya could stay an' say goodbye to him if ya wanted."

"No... that would not be wise," Descole sighed.

Admittedly, Raymond knew Descole would think of it that way, but it couldn't hurt to ask.

As evening fell, the still sleeping Anton was left with the true Nigel in Dropstone. They were assured that a doctor would check him over in the morning, but he would most probably be fine. After that he would be reunited with his family, which included a granddaughter he'd never even known he'd had.

Descole was glad it wasn't him in that position. He had to force himself not to think about how terrifying all of this was going to be for Anton. Because if he thought too much about it then he'd want to stay and he'd already spent too much time on Anton- ...no, too much time on Folsense. Too much time on a false lead.

So instead he left with Raymond and never looked back to Anton again.