Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Piece of Her Wings ~Untouched~ ❯ The Paradise that was Ours ( Chapter 6 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

By: sadamex

Chapter Six:
The Paradise That was Ours

Hitomi took a few steps back in surprise as to what she had just heard.

“You must find him before it's too late, Hitomi… or else they'll kill you… they'll kill you!”

“W-what do you mean kill me?” Hitomi asked after regaining her composure.

Faint rustling could be heard from somewhere among the trees. “The other… angels… are coming after you, Hitomi.” Ontrose explained, glancing behind him. “They do not want you to reach your destination, Gaea.” He smiled slightly at her. “It seemeth to me that thou hast been ever as hard-headed as to bring nothing but trouble, Hitomi,” he commented, lapsing into archaic speech.

Not finding the words to say for a while, Hitomi then succeeded in asking the question Man has been asking the heavens for as long as eternity. This time, however, she had every right and reason to ask it. “Why me?”

Ontrose winced and knelt down on one knee, Hitomi rushing forward to help him stand up. The rustling among the tress grew more pronounced, and alarmingly closer. Ontrose stole a barely noticeable glance behind him and spoke in a hushed voice not even close to a whisper. “I do not know myself, Hitomi. That was why I took a risk of finding it out for myself,” his face twisted in agony for a while, then he smiled a little. “But, alas…”

“But why you, too?” Hitomi blurted, close to tears. “This is… this is too severe! Too much… they've done too much…”

Hitomi bowed her head and quietly sobbed beside her sworn protector. Ontrose didn't say anything, but stretched one hand and placed it tenderly on Hitomi's head. It was the only thing he can do; an act one angel can do out of sheer kindness and pity.

Hurried footsteps and faint creaking of metal armor echoed down the deep impenetrable forest. Ontrose wheeled around, azure eyes intent like a hunting falcon, and shielded Hitomi's body with his, arms ready at his side. “Hitomi, run!” he tersely commanded.

“What?”

“Run, Hitomi! Hide, go away from here!”

Hitomi looked confused. “What do you… what… what about you?”

Ontrose just smiled at her knowingly.

Hitomi's grassy eyes widened. “You're not… no, Ontrose! You're wounded, you can't fight them back!” she objected, walking towards him.

He stopped her with his free arm and grinned. “What art thou saying? That thy protector and champion art so easily defeated?” he straightened, standing impressively at his full height. “Fie! For shame!” he candidly chided her.

Hitomi shook her head and grabbed his arm tightly. “Ontrose, I'm serious! You're too wounded! Come with me to the village! I'm sure the cat-people would understand. We'll nurse you back to health!”

Ontrose looked at her with pure tenderness. “No, Hitomi, I cannot… I must not. I cannot risk the lives of all these innocent creatures, and you as well.” He stopped for a while. “Forgive me,” he muttered, then gave off a long, low whistle.

The footsteps and rustling grew more frantic. There was no more use in hiding now: they were being hunted.

Eriya and Merle came running with catlike speed after hearing the whistle and was beside Hitomi in a very short time. “What is this about?” Eriya breathed suspiciously.

“Forgive me, noble sister,” Ontrose apologized. “But I must ask you to take Hitomi to safety.” He glanced back towards the fast approaching noise. “My… brothers have found me.”

Hitomi tried to speak, but Eriya got ahead of her. “And now you have revealed her hiding spot and one's village as well,” she snarled angrily.

“It can be not, noble sister,” he turned to them gravely. “For I shall distract them.”

Hitomi pushed herself forward. “Ontrose, please… listen to me,” she pleaded. “I don't want you… I don't want anyone… to suffer anymore because of me. Come with us, we can hide you there, it'll be safe.” She turned to the wise Eriya with hopeful eyes and begged. “Won't it, Eriya? It'll be alright, won't it? He can stay with us, can't he?”

Merle's jaw clenched and unclenched, her eyes filled with suppressed hate. Her older sister Eriya, golden in the moonlight, stood still as ever, stern-faced with her calculating eyes never leaving Ontrose's grave features. “One wants to know how far you will lead them away from here.” She asked lowly.

“As far as possible.” He assured her. “I shall take them flying over the northern seas.”

“And how long will it take you to reach the other side of the mountain?”

Ontrose blinked. “That's about forty leagues from here,” he considered it. “A little over a minute.”

“That is good.”

Ontrose nodded.

Hitomi looked back and forth from Eriya to Ontrose in disbelief. She just couldn't believe her ears! “What!” she exclaimed incredulously. “So you're just going to sacrifice him? Leave him out there to die, is that it?”

Eriya looked down on her. “It was his choice.”

“Well it was an awfully bad one!”

“Hitomi,” Ontrose wheedled gently. “It was my own decision.”

“But there are other options!” she snapped angrily at him.

“Look, Hitomi… I am your guardian. I need to protect you. That was what I was created for.”

Ontrose's last words struck her like a melodious chord, and something deep in the recesses of her heart made her soften a bit. Her heart melted; and she had almost loved Ontrose in that brief instant. Hitomi had noticed that herself, but she stubbornly refused it. “Not as long as I'm the one you're protecting,” she declared hotly, crossing her arms in defiance.

Ebony-haired Ontrose shook his head and let out a long-suffering sigh. “Now I know why your last protector was a bad-tempered fellow.”

“Alright, that's enough!” Merle snapped loudly, mildly surprising the lot of them. “Hitomi, no arguing. You're coming with us.”

The said honey-haired female blinked indignantly. “You can't boss me around!”

“Oh yeah? Watch me.” Merle quipped. She turned to Eriya and pointed towards the village. “You, tell the others to put out all the lights, and make sure every single bonfire is extinguished.” She turned to the slightly wide-eyed Ontrose. “You, better get to flapping.” Finally she turned to the gaping Hitomi. “You, close your mouth and follow me.”

Hitomi quickly clamped her mouth shut and motioned to speak, but Merle cut her off before she could start. “Quietly!”

Hitomi dropped her jaw, her face too flustered to mumble anything coherent.

Eriya smiled and patted her shoulder. “Do not underestimate the `Way of the Merle', my friend.” She chuckled and turned to face Ontrose, startling him when she bowed deeply in salute; an act of respect their race almost never gives to humans or angels otherwise. “One is grateful. For the sacrifice that you will do.”

Ontrose blinked for a while, astonished. He bowed in his response. “It would be a great honor, noble sister.”

Eriya smiled briefly and disappeared into the village hidden in shadows.

Ontrose turned to his stubborn charge. “Now go, my brothers approach fast.”

Hitomi pouted childishly, tears peeking at him under those soulful verdant eyes.

He smiled an honest, pure smile. “It was an honor and a privilege serving you, Hitomi.” He took her hand and gently kissed it, before turning to Merle who was still scowling at him. “Please take care of her, gentle sister,” he smiled.

A slow blush crept up her neck. Merle's eyes tightened, the corners of her pursed little lips twitching. Then, in a voice not more audible than a whisper, she muttered a quick “Thank you,” before running into the distance.

Hitomi's chest was beating rapidly, her eyes a silent plea to him that he should stay; that even for a moment, even for just a single time, he should forget that he is her guardian and come with her to the village. “Even if I stay here and cry, you're not going to change your mind, aren't you?”

He smiled. “I'd rather leave seeing you smile, Hitomi.”

A silent teardrop fell, cascading gently on her cheeks; a solitary testament to the power holding the two entities in this event in destiny. “Then I'll just say goodbye… goodbye and thank you,” she murmured sadly.

His eyes were warm, like ice on fire. “I could have wished for a much better meeting, but I am grateful nevertheless.” He grandly unfolded his bloodstained wings, drew his battle-worn sword and thrust himself willingly to the dark heavens.

His wings caused the air around them to eddy and swirl, tousling Hitomi's thick sunshine hair. She craned her neck upwards, catching a glimpse of him until the last possible moment. “Will I… will I ever see you again?” she half-shouted, uncertain and afraid of his answer.

There was silence. Ontrose smiled. “I would want to see you again, Hitomi, if it was destined for me to do so.”

Hitomi smiled a bit sadly, masking an incredibly unbearable pain inside her heart. Tear after tear began to fall gently, being as meaningless prayers as they dropped to the ground without a sound, or only to dissipate in the wind forgotten, like an aching melody that too soon fades out into nothing. She pursed her lips in feigned strength, deluding not only Ontrose but herself of what she really felt in that horrible moment. And then, with a final sweep of her verdant eyes to firmly fix the image of her protector in her mind, she regretfully turned and stole away to the darkness of the night.

“Be well, Hitomi…” Ontrose murmured softly, before tearing his wings with thrusts so powerful he was a blur on the thieving horizon.

He was angered. No one could have measured the heat that boiled his blood this very moment.

He was shamed. No one could possibly imagine the dishonor dealt to him with that single action.

He was frightened. No one would have thought of it, but he felt fear and uncertainty deep down to the very center of his being.

He was all of these. But above all, he was frantic. Everyone in the citadel was dumbfounded seeing the Ancient Angel without his aura of pristine holiness. His brisk manner was new to everyone's eyes that it alerted them of something unseen and somewhat powerful coming from a distance. They knew—though they don't know how—that something had gone definitely wrong. And knowing that his subjects knew the troubles that continually pestered his mind, made him even more frantic.

For it angered, shamed, and frightened him even more.

But if anything, he made no show of it. He made sure that whatever it was that the angels in Gaea saw in him, it wasn't those emotions that bubbled from the pit of his stomach. He took special pains in erasing the evidence in his face, in his eyes.

For the Ancient Angel, what his most trusted and indispensable son had done to him was truly unforgivable, irrevocable. Ontrose was the one angel he valued in his entire legion of angels, and his rebellion had deeply scarred his heart. Did he truly wish to anger him so? He would like to think that Ontrose did not. The Elder had had fears that one day too soon this might happen, like it had years ago. It was that same curiosity which had befallen his beloved Van, and now, years after, the same fate he had struggled to evade had finally caught up to his Ontrose as well.

“Father, are angels and humans the same?”

The silver-haired Elder lifted his face and smiled at his son lying down beside him. “No, my dear child. Humans and angels are very much different.”

The raven-haired young one cocked his head in thought, his sparkling blood wine eyes lost away. “Really? How much different?”

He took off his reading glasses and passed a hand over his tired eyes. “Well, for one thing, humans don't have wings. They cannot fly like angels and birds.”

The boy frowned slightly. “Can't humans grow their own wings?”

“No, my son. Humans and angels have different purposes, and their purpose in life doesn't require them to have wings like we do.”

The boy looked at his father with an alarmed look. “Then... does that mean they can't go up in Gaea?”

He smiled at him. “They can, my son. But only after they die. If they have served their purpose in life well, then they shall be rewarded by entering paradise in the afterlife.”

The little boy, relieved, smiled and settled back down. “That's good.” There was a pause. “But I guess... it'll take an awfullylong time before they get here,”

The Elder chuckled softly in amusement. “That may not be so, dear child, for mortals have shorter and more fragile lives than angels.”

Once again, the little boy frowned in thought. “But why is that, Father?” he inquired. “How much more are they different from us? And how come we were created differently from them?”

“One at a time, dear boy, one at a time!” He laughed, narrowing his eyes in thought. “We have many differences from mortals, my son. Humans are physically and mentally weaker than angels. And more foolish than us. But I do not know why we are different from them. It just is. It's just that, they have their purpose, and we have ours. And our purpose is to help them, to guide them in their lives, so that they could each find their own purposes.” He looked at his son. “That is why we were created, Van. To guide and protect them.”

The little angel sat up from where he was lying on the grass. “Then, if we were created to protect them,” he began slowly, his tiny face very serious. “Then that would make them more powerful than us, won't it?”

“Indeed? How so?”

“Well,” Van thought carefully, his brows knit deep in concentration. “I think, that it means that they are our masters, since weare the ones serving to protect them. I mean… even though we could fly and be strong and use swords and live forever and ever, the thing is, we were only created to servethem, or to protect them, because they are weaker than us, and so that is why we are strong and we can fly and live forever and have other powers, to protect them. Onlyfor them.” He stopped, finally noticing that the Elder was listening very carefully to what he was saying, and he actually blushed. “Well… at least that's what Ithink, anyway.”

The Ancient Angel laughed a merry little laugh and ruffled the already-unruly dark hair of the little boy he loved so much. “It just might be as you have said it, Van, my boy.” He said grandly. “But prithee, why the sudden interest in mortals?”

Van looked away, his chubby little fingers making intricate drawings on the grassy earth. He was gazing down on the world below, ruby eyes fixed on a certain sandy-haired little girl frolicking with her friends along the foot of the mountain, his eyes filled with wonder and innocence only a child could ever have. “They just... fascinateme,” he replied.

His Father, the Elder, Ancient Angel, immortal and unassailable, was above all, a very perceptive fellow, and his lips grew into a hidden little smile as he realized just how much his little boy had grown up in the past few years. “Well, then, perhaps in a few years more, you shall have a mortal life to protect.”

Van bolted upright, his face full of transparent eagerness. “Really, Father?”

“Yes. I think that you are man enough to take some responsibility.”

His eyes danced with pure excitement, a swirl of cinnamon and chocolate. “You promise?”

He smiled. “I promise.”

The Ancient Angel narrowed his eyes as if trying to make the thoughts go away. His pace quickened; his purpose more definite as he headed towards the observatory, the highest firmament in Gaea. He didn't want to destroy Ontrose liked he did to his beloved Van; he had suffered too much already in losing a son, and he didn't dare repeat it again. He couldn't take it to his heart to give Ontrose a fate that was much worse than death. He was going to save him. This time, his choice would be different. This time, he would make things right.

He was going to change the course of the stars.

The sisters Naria and Eriya stood by the open window of their neat little hut— which looked more like a den—eating the leftover grilled salmon Merle had cooked the night before. They were eating slowly and quietly, just enjoying each other's company in their peculiar little family that they all shared.

Merle came stomping by the door, ridding her amber fur of the dust and mud that had collected from her hard work out hunting earlier that morning (to which she had no luck) and entered unceremoniously inside the den. Her stomach—which was growling louder than any other wild cat in the whole village—had commanded her to feed it, and so she dutifully obeyed, sniffing the air with her sweaty nose. “What's for breakfast?”

Eriya tossed her a stick of grilled fish, which Merle caught easily. “You had to ask?” she teased.

She shrugged and bit into her item hungrily, sat at the rough stone table and looked around. “Where's Hitomi?”

“One hasn't seen her all morning,” Naria agreed.

“She is doing what she's been doing for the longest time,” Eriya said softly.

“Whining?” Merle piped in.

“No, sleeping.” Eriya corrected, but couldn't hide the smile playing on her lips.

“Ah, my mistake.” Merle grinned. “But you have to give my answer partial credits.”

“I heard that!” Hitomi snapped, hair disheveled and eyes tired and still half-lit as she shambled her way to the table with a grouchy expression.

Merle scooted beside her in a moment. “The greenness of your eyes complements the sourness of your face.” She said chirpily.

Hitomi buried her head in her hands. “Do you always pester everyone else this early in the morning?”

“No, not usually.” She chirped. “But you're an exception. Congratulations!”

“Go to hell.” Hitomi snarled viciously.

Merle pouted with a practiced look of disappointment. “But I don't know the way.”

“Then get lost!”

“I couldn't even if I tried.” She sighed.

Hitomi groaned and buried her head in her hands once more. “Go away.” She said weakly.

Merle patted her head insultingly and answered softly, sweetly. “I'd love to, Hitomi, but there's just one little problem… I live here!”

The girl groaned even louder and let her head fall to the table with a resounding smack.

“Are you not eating?” Merle asked.

“No.” she dully replied.

“Why? No appetite?”

“No.”

Merle thought. “Lovesick?”

“No.”

“Aha!” she snapped her fingers, making Hitomi jolt slightly from her position. “I knew you're still constipated. You are, aren't you? Being grouchy so early in the morning and all. But that's okay. You should've just told us right from the start. It's not that embarrassing, right, Hitomi?”

Hitomi's head shot up and cast a venomous glare on her. “Will you do me a favor and shut up!”

She grinned. “Shutting up.”

“One wonders why you haven't touched your food since last night.” Eriya asked politely.

“None of your business.” She spat insolently.

Naria and Eriya exchanged startled glances. “Are all man-creatures this disagreeable every morning?” Naria thought out loud.

“No, only the ones who don't regularly dispose of their bodily wastes,” Merle chimed in.

“Didn't I tell you to shut up!” Hitomi shot, annoyed.

“The command you gave me had lost its desired effect.”

Hitomi rolled her eyes. “You know, I'm only grumpy when I wake up in a house full of disgusting, smelly hairballs.” She sarcastically bantered.

“Okay. So what's your excuse for the rest of the day?”

A vein in her temple twitched. “Are all Kitty-poos this damn annoying?”

“Oooh, playing dirty,” Merle grinned. “Nope. Only those with a freakin' sore thumb.” She quipped, wiggling the thumb with the bruise where Hitomi had bit her in the forest.

“Merle, I think you should quit, and go kill yourself. Right now.” Hitomi advised her through clenched teeth, her eyes narrowed and flashing dangerously.

But Merle was not one to let herself lose. “And I think you should go to the toilet. Out there in the back. Right now.”

Hitomi abruptly stood up and pointed her finger rudely at Merle. “You know what I think?” she hissed. “I think that you, are a big, fat, stupid, annoying son-of-a—”

“Ah, the many powers of love,” Naria commented idly, a piece of fishbone dangling on her fingers.

“Yes, it is almost too much to bear.” Eriya agreed, listening as the two volley idiotic insults back and forth, Hitomi making Merle more competitive, and Merle making Hitomi even angrier.

“—finitely a spring of wholesome words, Hitomi,” Merle commented. “Such decent phrases tumble so naturally out of your lips.”

Hitomi's had it. “What is wrong with you!” she screamed.

“What is wrong with you!” Merle asked back, an eyebrow sardonically shot up. “You've been nothing but a pain since you've got here, to think that we only want to help you!”

“Well, I didn't ask for your help!”

“Oh, so now it's my fault that I rescued you from the hunters? I should have just left you alone in that stinking forest to rot for all I care!” she screamed back, finally lashing out on Hitomi.

“Merle, settle down,” Eriya gently instructed. “Don't take anything Hitomi says too personally… she's just a little off today.”

“Oh, and I suppose you know what's wrong with me, since the both of you are so wise to know everything going on in my life?” Hitomi asked mockingly.

Naria's ocean eyes were as cool as ice. “Yes, as a matter of fact, one does.” She said simply. “You just had a bad dream last night.”

Merle was going to ask if it was true, but she had all the answers she needed: Hitomi's face had turned pasty white.

Naria stood up slowly. “You dreamt that all of your loved ones were killed one by one.” She walked towards her. “Including the angel last night.”

“Along with your family back in the village.” Eriya added, her ruby eyes with a hint of coolness.

Hitomi was shaking and her face was livid, but the sisters nevertheless carried on. “And when you turned to see who killed all your loved ones, it wasn't the faceless boy wielding a sword that you were expecting.” Naria narrated.

Eriya had also stood up. “Because it was you, yourself.”

“What the hell is wrong with you people?” Hitomi stood up, her face awash in burning tears. “Can't you even give me a moment of peace!” she cried. “Stop getting to know me like you understand what's going on!”

Naria looked at her straightly, blue eyes swimming in green ones. “Do you?” she asked cryptically.

Hitomi's eyes flashed so dangerously in that mere instant, and she spat out a very dirty word that Merle winced. “I hate you! I hate all of you! Stop interfering with my life!” she screamed and bolted out the door.

The rattling continued to echo down the solitary cave. Loud jerking movements and grunts of saved strength accentuate the unbreakable chain's melody. Its slave—The Dark Prince—wants to be freed. He longs to release his anger. He yearns for revenge.

He Who was Bound in Chains, even before he was thus, was never openly talked about, even among his fellow brothers. It was said that he was a perfected model; an angel crafted when all the stars in the universe bestowed their light upon Gaea. He had the physique and strength of hundreds, the intelligence of thousands, and his swordsmanship unparalleled.

Indeed, he was led to believe that he was—is—truly the one superior angel. And that was the same reason why the cave trembles so; his anger had scared away even the foundations of the earth that they quake under his mighty strength.

But he wonders, the Dark Prince. If he is truly the ultimate angel, why can he not break these chains that burn and torment him so? The puny things! These mere links would not be able to stop his power.

So… why did they?

Ever since that day, that moment, when her voice, her awareness began to stimulate itself, he had been so restless. He could feel it. He could feel the power emanating from her core, her being. He could sense the apprehension, the warning of its fast approach.

She was a very dangerous creature; one who wields a power that she does not even know of.

It irritated him to the point of madness. Thus he pulled and jerked more on the accursed manacles, but the more he did, the more the chains seem to tighten their hold. “I… must… be… freed!” he cried angrily, a dead and hollow voice echoing inside his musty prison. “Hitomi!”

“Hey, Hitomi,” Merle greeted, noiselessly coming from behind the bushes where Hitomi sat sulking on a trunk of a cut tree. “How are you doing?”

The said female sat up, hastily wiped her face, still ungracious to Merle's friendly gesture. “Go away.” She said, not even bothering to glance from her shoulder.

Merle stopped for a moment, weighing down Hitomi's command, and decided to go against it. She hesitantly walked towards her, flopping down on the ground next to where she sat. “It's been awhile since you burst out and went crazy and ran out of the hut,” she mumbled, awkwardly scratching the back of her head. “So, you know, I'm just… checking up on you.”

Hitomi spew sarcasm at her every chance she got. “As if I asked any of you to check up on me, Merle.”

The bubbly kitten rolled her eyes theatrically and sighed. “Alright, Hitomi, you win.” She declared, throwing her hands up in the air in surrender. “All I came here for was to see if you're okay since you seemed so upset about the whole thing. But if you're going to be so snippy about it, I might as well do as you say, and mind my own business.” Merle said, sounding a little hurt as she stood up and turned around to leave.

Hitomi felt an ounce of guilt weigh down upon her. She felt ashamed for being such a jerk. Merle had come to look for her bearing good intentions. “Merle, wait,” she said, though in a noticeably less sardonic overtone. “Don't leave, I'm…” she sighed just as Merle had turned back around. “I'm sorry. I'm sorry for… for…” she muttered, having a little trouble saying it.

“For being such a jerk?” Merle supplied, smirking.

Ouch. Hit the nail right on the head. “Y-Yeah,” she agreed sheepishly. “I don't know. Everything that's happened seems to have finally caught up with my system, I guess.”

Merle looked down upon her and smiled. “That's okay, Hitomi.” She grinned, dismissing the sandy-haired girl's apologies with a wave of her hand. She flopped down again and stretched her legs. “Everyone's entitled to a little bit of irrationality now and then.”

The blonde woman smiled weakly in response and sighed. “I just can't believe that all this is happening to me.” She pressed her palms over her eyes. “Everyone that had been dear to me had been taken away from me, one way or another…” she looked at Merle a bit playfully. “You should run away, Merle, you might be taken away, too.”

“Nah, that won't happen.” Merle shrugged, stretching her arms and yawning big. “Heaven knows how much you've been a dear to me.” She faced her and showed her the gesture she made with her thumb and pointer. “This much.” The distance between the two fingers was less than a centimeter.

Hitomi snorted and punched Merle lightly on her arm.

“Ow,” Merle winced exaggeratedly. “What, and you intend to add another bruise to match this one?” she wiggled her swollen thumb at her.

Hitomi smiled openly. “Yeah, so it'll have a friend to play with.”

“Loony person. How'd you like it if I did a number on you?”

Hitomi snorted. “Like you could.”

“Could too.”

“Could not, you couldn't even catch a puny rabbit yesterday, and had to molest poor, defenseless fish.”

“Ouch. That was a low blow. Totally uncalled for. I demand that you be disqualified from this.”

“You perfectly deserved it,” Hitomi drawled smugly, putting her hands on her hips. After some time of giving Merle an overly haughty look, her shoulders shook and she burst into soft peals of laughter.

Merle watched her quietly while she giggled. “Much better.” She grinned after a while.

Hitomi stopped laughing and faced her, puzzled. “What?”

“I said much better. Much better that you are laughing, Hitomi.”

Hitomi blinked at this. Could Merle have been... comforting me? “What do you mean?” she asked dumbly, for lack of better words to say, more than anything.

“The reason you have been so miserable, Hitomi, is because you forget to laugh sometimes.” Merle looked at her directly, a soft smile on her lips. “Nono wait, change that. Most of the time.”

Hitomi flushed. “What do you mean that I forget to laugh? I laugh,” she said very much unsure of it herself, causing a loud snort to emerge from the kitten beside her. “Well, how could you laugh after all I've been through? If all I did was laugh then people would see me as crazy.”

Merle rolled her eyes. “You'd be crazy if you didn't cheer up.” She looked at her seriously. “Lighten up, Hitomi! It won't help you at all if you keep adding to the weight of your problems. It's true, there are loads of problems to be had, it's a given. Life's like that. But sighing and sulking isn't going to solve them faster.”

“And laughing will?” Hitomi answered half-mockingly.

“It certainly will.” Merle replied in a heartbeat. She looked at her, her lips pursed in seriousness. “A burdened heart and mind won't function smoothly. It will poison the entire body, sharing its dysfunction. Your decisions will be clouded with it. Your own outlook will also be affected. And worst of all is, you won't act rationally.” She smirked up a bit. “Like what happened to a certain girl I know a little while earlier.”

Ouch. Damn, she's getting good at this. “I know. But after what I've been through, somehow I can't find myself laughing. It's just too… depressing.”

Merle shook her head a bit. “You think that all of the world's problems are upon you. You're not the only one who's got troubles, Hitomi, but you're the only one who keeps scowling at the entire world.” She laughed. “You're so serious, woman! Try loosening up a bit.”

Hitomi frowned. “Life is serious, Merle.”

“Yes, but it's also supposed to be fun. You only get to live once, and you're just wasting it sitting here bawling and pouting and crying your little head off. There'll be plenty of time to weep, but there'll also be plenty of time to laugh as well. Stop merely existing as if the whole universe has decided to jump on you for a piggy-back ride, Hitomi, and start actually living your life. You might actually enjoy it, you'll see.”

Hitomi suddenly went very quiet, taking in the words Merle had said. She was subjugating herself, she knew, but Merle had been right. There was some sense between all that pink frill on her head. “Thank you, Merle,” she said simply, but sincerely.

“Don't mention it.” She replied. “So, are we going to see more grins or more grimaces?”

Hitomi shook her head and laughed. “I'll try to make you proud, Merle.”

Merle grinned and laid back, enjoying the soft morning sunshine as a moment of silence crept upon the two. The forest had been quiet; except for the birds and the little critters, and the wind which shook every leaf as it passed by.

Hitomi watched the treetops above her, her jade eyes a blank mirror on her thoughts. There was a question that kept nagging at her, but she wasn't quite sure on how to broach the subject. “Merle?”

“Hm?”

“Are your… are your sisters psychics?”

Merle looked at her quizzically for a moment, then burst into hysterical laughter, falling to the ground and clutching at her belly for dear life.

Hitomi flushed, embarrassed. “What's so funny?” she demanded a bit crossly.

“N-nothing,” Merle gasped, wiping away tears from her eyes. “The idea just n-never came to m-me.” She laughed still, Hitomi waiting patiently for her giggles to subside. Afterwards, Merle asked her. “Why do you ask?”

Hitomi couldn't answer. Instead, she busied herself looking down at a very interesting blade of grass.

Merle watched her intently for a while, noticing her discomfort, and caught on to her meaning. “Well, Hitomi… as you can probably attest to, we are not in any way normal.”

Hitomi tore her eyes away from the thing on the ground and fixed them on Merle.

The kitten continued. “Have you ever seen a real cat? I mean… a cat that doesn't speak and have a human body.” Hitomi nodded and Merle smiled. “Their eyes are enchanting, aren't they?”

Hitomi nodded again. “Yes, very mesmerizing. As if you couldn't look away from that gaze. As if that gaze has seen everything within you.”

“Exactly.” Merle smiled triumphantly, much to Hitomi's confusion. “That's what we do, Hitomi. We see with our eyes. Not with our human eyes, but with the feline within all of us.”

Hitomi blinked, trying to let it all sink in.

Merle closed her eyes for a while, trying to compose the words in her mind so she could explain her point fully. “What lies in the heart of every creature in this earth is the same for everyone. We all came from one source; we are all connected in some way with each other. In the simplest sense, that is, the bottom line of it all, is that we are all the same animal, just branching off with subtle variations from the original model.

“It is our feline eyes that connect with that inner animal, that most basic part of our core, and we understand it, not with words or languages that humans have developed to further separate them from their own natural brothers, but with something else. Something purer and more innate.”

Hitomi stared at her, saying nothing.

Merle pursed her lips and sighed a bit. “I wish Eriya was here. Then she could have explained it to you more clearly.”

The honey-haired woman shook her head. “No, Merle, I understood you.” She turned to look at her. “You see our souls. Your animal eyes aren't clouded with ambitions and avarice and malice and all that junk humans took upon themselves, that you can actually see what a person is.” Hitomi looked away, at awe with the revelation she just had. “That's why your sisters could understand me; they could see the real me, all my pain, all that I've been through… everything that has affected me shows itself within me, I suppose.” She sighed and smiled a wry smile. “That's something my clouded human eyes can never see.”

Merle's kittenish sapphire eyes locked into her emerald ones, boring into her, and Hitomi felt that sensation as if her core was being bared; Merle was looking into her very essence. “You're wrong, Hitomi.” Merle whispered softly.

Hitomi blinked. “What?”

Merle still gazed at her, sparkling eyes unknown. After a few moments, she finally tore away and grinned, the old perky kitten returning once more. “Well, that's cat-people for you. You'd better get used to it. Cats are known for being nosy, so you'll probably have more prying on your private life as long as you stay here.”

Hitomi smiled. “Yes, so I've noticed.”

Merle grinned at her. “Especially Eriya. She's one nosy old coot. Pretty accurate, though. Out of all the psychics, she's the one who sees most. She's the most gifted.”

“And Naria?”

“Ah, now that one's just psycho.” Hitomi rolled with laughter. “I'm only kidding!” Merle grinned, her own shoulders shaking. “Don't tell on me! Don't tell on me!”

Hitomi giggled. “I'll tell!” she threatened jokingly. “But honestly, between the twins, Naria's the one who gives me the chills. I don't know why.”

Merle's own laughter had subsided noticeably. “It's the aura she carries. Even I feel that sometimes, and I'm her sister!” she gushed, hiccupping.

The two young women giggled for quite some time, their melodious voices disrupting the dissonance of noises that Nature herself made. Soft sunbeams wafted themselves among the treetops, falling like golden pillars of benediction upon the scenery around them. When their laughter had died, the pair of unlikely friends sat staring at the distance, drinking in the seemingly blessed holiness that was evident all around them.

Merle had been fiddling with something on her back, and she handed Hitomi her item that had been ignored twice. “Here.” Merle said, tossing her the fish that was supposed to be her dinner and breakfast. “For the millionth time, Hitomi, eat.”

Hitomi barked a laugh and took the stick of salmon. “Don't tell me that you've been carrying this with you all day!”

The kitten took another one for herself and grinned. “Okay, I won't.” Hitomi frowned and stuck her tongue out childishly at her. She answered with an irrepressible grin and proceeded to eating her foodstuff.

Hitomi had other plans in mind. Still no appetite, she kept twiddling with the stick while her thoughts went to work. She had been thinking about what Merle had said… and she had the most honest of judgments that these sisters really did just want to help her. She can't placate the fact that ever since she'd been here, she'd been nothing but a… well, a jerk. Ouch! She inwardly winced. Damn it, even I have convinced myself that I'm a jerk. This is so frustrating. She frowned, a small grumble erupting from her throat.But wait. Surely this is not entirely my fault. Everything that has happened was a shock to my system, and I didn't know how to handle it. Yes! She gleefully thought. Being unaccustomed to such overwhelmingly disastrous events, my unwise actions towards the twins and to this kitten beside me were not being done on purpose; therefore the said irrationality is justified. Hah! Loophole. She secretly gloated, afterwards mentally shook her head and laughed at all the idiotic things she was thinking. Now I'm defending myself against myself. I am a hopeless case.

“They're not half-bad, you know,” Merle interrupted her inane train of thoughts, snapping her back to where the conversation really was. “They might look terrible at first, but actually, they're not.” Hitomi blinked in surprise. How could she have caught on to her thoughts? “Just give them a chance, Hitomi… it'll be good, I promise.” Merle wheedled gently.

Hitomi sat silent for a moment, frowning. Finally giving up all her defenses, she sighed. “I guess you're right, Merle,” she muttered and looked at the said creature. “I really feel bad for being mean to Naria and Eriya.”

Merle chewed on her fish, looked at Hitomi and smiled sweetly. “Oh? Great. Good for you.” After a while, she snapped back. “But I was talking about the fish.”

Hitomi snorted with laughter, her shoulders shaking. “You're crazy.” She stood up, intent on returning with a full-fledged apology in her head. She glanced back at the feeding she-cat and blinked. “What, you're not coming back with me?” she asked.

Merle shook her head. “No. I think I'm going hunting out again. Even though they're nice and all, fish can be pretty tiresome.”

Hitomi smiled and shook her head in return, eyes cast faraway in the distance. “You know, Merle… I've realized that I've been taking them for granted. They've been here all this time presenting themselves right in front of me, and yet I refused them.” Her eyes grew wistful as she looked at her odd companion. “I must have seriously hurt their feelings. I think I have some apologizing to do.”

Merle dusted off her palms while standing up, craning her neck to look at the honey-haired girl. “That would be nice. I'm sure Naria and Eriya would like that.” She answered, smiling.

Hitomi's answering smile was a relieved, elated one, and it was like the sun rising up. “Really? That would be wonderful!” she beamed. Merle nodded, and Hitomi sighed happily. After a few moments, she snapped back. “But I was talking about the fish.”

It was now Merle's turn to snort and shake her head. “You're a really loony person, Hitomi. Loony!” she snorted. “Now I'm even more certain to go hunting so I could get away from you!”

Hitomi's face of triumph was priceless. “Got you that time, Merle!” she boasted. “Can I come with you?” she asked after a while.

Merle shook her head vigorously. “No way.”

Hitomi looked surprised and a little hurt with her reaction. “Why not?” she inquired indignantly.

“You might be contagious.”

Hitomi snorted and stomped her foot, her hands on her hips. “Merle!”

The candy pink-haired kitten looked up at her and nodded. “Yes, I know. And you're Hitomi.”

Hitomi grunted and threw her hands up in the air. “There is just no talking with you.” She gave up.

Merle grinned at her and walked away from the clearing, leaving Hitomi behind. But after a few steps of hearing someone following her, she turned around to see the same girl close behind. She called out to her, puzzled. “I thought you're going back to apologize?”

Hitomi's answering grin was the high point of that morning. “I've got a better idea.”

“Thou called for me, Most Holy?” warily greeted a haggard-looking Kamion.

It has been a harrowing day for him, as it was his doing which led to the undoing of his childhood friend, companion, confidant, and above all, his brother Ontrose. He was the one who exposed his comrade's secret investigations, and he had been there to lead the battalion himself to chase down the raven-haired rebel. And he was aptly rewarded. Yes, he was rewarded recognition by the highest authority speaking his name, but he was also rewarded with a guilty conscience that will continue to haunt his soul until the end of his eternal days.

The Ancient Angel, his back turned to him, nodded his head in acknowledgement. He had been in the confines of the slender peaks of the observatory for the remainder of that morning. Its walls were covered with innumerous bookshelves; containing volumes and volumes of all the deeds and destinies which lay ahead for each and every mortal ever born, and each and every angel ever created. Considering the tower's immense height, just the task of finding one person's destiny in those volumes might take hours—days, even—and the Ancient Angel was in a bit of a hurry and he didn't have that much time.

He was peering over an aged volume, pages quite tattered and crackling. He turned around for his subject to see him, but his wrinkle-lined eyes never left the page he was scanning. “Kamion, how didst thy expedition go?”

An arrow of pain flashed before Kamion's eyes, but it vanished as quickly as it had come. “Thy angels met him above the northern seas, Holy.” He supplied, his voice a hollow-sounding echo from the hollow shell of an angel.

“And?” pressed the silver-haired Elder.

There was silence for a while, only to be broken by Kamion's dead voice. “He met his death and plunged into the ocean.”

The Elder nodded again, and returned to the book he was perusing. After a few dead moments of heightened tension, he sensed Kamion's discomfort and confronted him about it. “All for the better good, Kamion, thou shouldn't be bothered by such things.”

Kamion fidgeted. “But he was my friend, my Lord.” He simpered.

“And as good a friend as thou are, thou hath revealed unto me his wrongdoings and hath delivered his chastisement properly.” The Ancient Angel cut him shortly. “Thou hath done the right thing, Kamion. Better for it that he hath died into thy own hands than his soul be destroyed. If he hath found the truth which he doth seek, then his own destiny shall be far, far worse than death itself. For him, death is his reward.”

Kamion's tired eyes grew even more remorseful than it had a second ago. Truth be told, it was not his sword which had mortally wounded Ontrose. No; he was too much of a coward to face him himself. He had only been there to announce and lead the assault, but seeing his friend battle alone against the army of heaven was too much for him, and he stole away before his tears betrayed his eyesight. But he replied in a sighing voice. “I perfectly understand, my Lord.”

Getting that issue out of the way, the Ancient now came to the reason he had called his messenger in the first place. He nodded. “Now then, Kamion. Dost thou still recall the records of all thy brothers that hath fallen?”

Kamion glanced up, a slight interest in his eyes. Indeed, when Ontrose and he were just young, they had been given separate responsibilities. The two of them had been ahead of their brothers, and their accomplishments gave way to their tasks. Whereas Ontrose went out into the human world to protect the lives of mortal children, his days were consumed by being confined in musty rooms and yellowed parchments of records, summons and accounts of both mortals and angels. “A bit, Most Ancient. I cannot possibly recall all of thy records, for they are far too many.” He admitted.

“Prithee, recall it, even this once,” the Immortal One coaxed. “I might need one of their help sometime soon.”

Kamion blinked, fully aware now. “Which one dost thou speakest?” he asked politely.

The Elder closed his book and rubbed his chin in thought, his eyes narrowed down and his lips in a pursed frown. “His demise hath happened long ago,” he began. “He was one of the protectors. He liked mortals enough, but he hath this absurd notion about racial differences. He absolutely despised all the half-races.”

The blond Kamion cocked his head in reverie, then his eyes grew a bit wide. “I think that I may know of whom thou speakest, Lord.”

The Ancient Angel nodded and carried on. “He used to talk to me about it. Tried to make me agree to his horrendous will to eradicate the half-humans. When I turned down his offer, he rebelled.” He shook his head gently at the thought. “Pity. He was a beautiful creature. His hair flowed and shined like liquid silver when he was in flight.” He shook his head again, making the thoughts go away. “Anyway, he was severely punished after burning an entire village of half-humans to ashes. As he loved it so much to be with his humans, I turned him into a mortal as his lifetime punishment.”

Kamion nodded somberly. “Yes, Master, I do remember him. His records are still intact.” His eyebrows twisted in thought. “Methinks, if I am not mistaken, that he is still alive, and is still pursuing his will to exterminate the half-races, even though the Most Ancient hath deleted his memories.”

The Elder beamed at this pronouncement. “Well done, Kamion, I knew I could count on you.” Kamion looked somewhat ecstatic. “Now, where exactly here are his records? I might be in need of his services to achieve my goal.” He said and picked up the volume he was scanning a while ago.

Kamion blinked for a while. “But my Lord, I thought that I hath finished that goal.”

The Elder smiled a slow smile. “Ah, Kamion, thou art mistaken.” He flipped through the crackling pages. “The goal you spake of hath indeed been done; Ontrose hath been pacified. But if I were to let the source of it go unscathed, this same event might and will undoubtedly happen again.” He looked at him gravely. “Until she is alive, my sons will continue to fall.”

Kamion started visibly as he caught on to the meaning of his master. “M-Master!” he stammered. “Thou art going to kill her?”

“No, Kamion. I don't have to do that.” He looked at his pale-faced messenger. “But if I can urge his stars to change their course into the direction of where I was thinking, I wouldn't have to kill her myself.”

“B-But Holy!” Kamion interjected. “Killing humans on purpose doth go against our laws.”

The Ancient Angel went silent for a moment, and Kamion shuddered thinking he might have offended his master. After a few moments of silence, the Elder gruffly spoke. “She is an exception.”

Kamion's jaw dropped slightly. This has been the first time he had witnessed such disregard for the rules. When forced to think about it, Ontrose's violations pale in comparison to what the Ancient was planning to do. Purposely killing a human? Blasphemous! Such sacrilege, even for the highest authority in Gaea. Much to Kamion's dislike, his own thoughts kept nagging at him. What is the story behind Hitomi? Why is it that her identity has to remain a secret?

A vagrant and somewhat disturbing thought just occurred to him. What if… what if I sneak into the library and look into her accounts? Kamion mentally berated himself for even thinking of such acts. If he got caught, surely his fate would be of Ontrose's as well. Or even worse. He thought. For I know far much more about this, and I am far too involved with this than Ontrose had. Still, the more he tried to push it away from his mind, the more stubbornly it would stay, resurfacing itself again and again, seeking attention. Kamion's forehead creased, his traitorous thoughts gnawing at him.

The aged Angel flipped through his books without much success. He sighed resignedly. “It will take me eons to find his accounts, and it is nearing dusk.” He looked at the frowning Kamion. “I know that those events happened long ago, but dost thou still know of his name?” his scheming master asked.

Kamion nodded slowly. “Dilandau.”

“This is going nowhere,” Hitomi exclaimed with an exaggerated roll of her forest eyes, her arms crossed across her chest. Somewhere nearby, Merle stayed crouched, silent and unmoving, that is until Hitomi suddenly spoke and her quarry—a small rabbit—happily hopped away.

Merle jerked, gave a frustrated oath and snapped her head back at the woman. “Hitomi!” she hissed.

Hitomi looked at her. “What? That rabbit knew you were sneaking up on her.”

“I was about to catch it!” she snarled.

The older woman rolled her eyes again. “If you could, you would have done it hours ago.” She put one hand on her hip. “You've been tracking that same rabbit for four, stinking hours. If I knew better, she knew you were tracking her and was just making fun of you.”

Merle glared at her, standing up and brushing twigs and dirt from her knees. “I knew I shouldn't have let you come on this trip. You'll just ruin everything with your big mouth.” She muttered.

Hitomi smirked insultingly. “Just can't admit that you've just ruined everything with your big swollen thumb.”

Merle snorted and punched her on the shoulder. “Wise guy. If you're so smart, why don't you give it a try?”

She rubbed her shoulder slightly and smiled warmly at her invitation. “I thought you'd never ask. Come with me.”

A sturdy little boy with sturdy little legs ran across the palace halls, the wind tousling his unruly jet-black hair. The older angels all smiled and bowed to him, very much amused at his enthusiasm and energy. His father, the Ancient Angel, caught sight of him running down towards the open courtyards just as he was rounding a corner. He smiled and called out to him. “Van, my boy, where art thou going?”

The said boy screeched to a halt and turned around to see his father approaching him placidly. He treated him to a great grin and ran to hug his knees. “Good morrow, Father!” he greeted.

The Elder smiled broadly at this, patting the child's head in return. “Where art thou going so early?”

Van looked up at him, his young face full of energy. “To the earth below.” He gushed.

The Ancient Angel smiled knowingly. “Thou hath started to serve as protector to the girl?”

The raven-haired boy nodded eagerly. “Her name's Hitomi, she's six earth years old, she's got a younger brother and she's going to meet me at the river!” Van gushed excitedly, his words tumbling into each other.

The Ancient Angel laughed heartily and bent down to pick him up. “Thou hath only been watching her for a week, and thou already know of this much?” he asked.

Van nodded. “She's really very nice, Father. Maybe someday you can meet her.” He smiled. Van glanced at the sun, noted its position, and a worried expression crossed his features. “Oh, no! I'm late! I'm late!” he exclaimed, struggling to get down.

His father proceeded in doing so. “Be careful, Van. Don't let her swim towards the deeper parts of the river.” He cautioned with a smile.

Van waved to him while running, unfolding his wings. “Don't worry, Father. If that happens, I told her to wave for me, so I could see.” And with that, he was off.

The Ancient Angel cocked his head in mild surprise. She could see him? He shook his head at the thought almost instantly. She is just a child. A child with pure and innocent eyes. This hasn't been the first case of such things. He smiled, feeling assured and relieved. He strode away back towards his quarters; Van will be safe down on earth.

“Father, a word with you?” asked a low, masculine voice as Van pushed through the heavy ornate doors of the Ancient Angel's main hall.

His father, the ruler and head angel of Paradise, looked up from the roll of parchment he was ratifying, his eyeglasses glinting in the afternoon sun. “Oh, Van, it's you. Of course, of course, sit down.” He said, motioning to an empty chair near his desk.

Van held up a hand in gentle refusal. “No thanks, Father, I am in a bit of hurry.”

“Oh? Where to?”

“To Hitomi.”

The Ancient Angel parted his lips, mouthing off a silent “ah”. Over the years it had been the norm for him to miss his beloved son almost everyday. He would usually wake up early in the morning and leave just after he'd washed his face to spend the whole day with his charge, the human girl Hitomi. He never forbade it; he knew that Hitomi was a gentle girl, and needed not that much attention. Furthermore, this contact with human beings had made Van receptive, observant and compassionate, and he sought it best for his son to be the best among all of his sons.

But of course, even the gentlest and most innocent things must come to an end. The human girl Hitomi was now fifteen, a tender age for females of her species. It was at that age when the females of their kind would blossom into a full-grown adult, and though he felt himself foolish to feel so, he felt frightened that Van might look into his charge with a newfound feeling.

A dangerous newfound feeling.

He must have admitted that his ideas were ridiculous; the mere thought of an angel falling for a mortal was a sacrilege. But still, it wasn't unheard of. And for him, as for all the fathers all over the world, he would find it better that his own son hate him with his decision than see him fall into a destiny that is clearly against heaven and earth.

“Father, are you listening?” Van's curious voice interrupted his thoughts.

The Elder blinked. He smiled and nodded vaguely, while his eyes were busy looking at his son.

He had grown tall and had matured. His dark hair was as black as always, and still unruly; dark strands falling softly over one of his eyes. His features, quite soft and innocent when he was just a child, had taken a life of their own now that he has grown up. His eyes, still that brewing wine color, sparkled with intelligence and authority. His nose and jaw, quite angular, was like chiseled into perfection. His muscles over the years of constant training had hardened, and it showed in just the right places. His rich, smooth skin, which was like alabaster when he had been created, had been darkened by the sun, and it healthily glowed into the now-caramel color it had.

Truly, he was a work of art.

“Father, I have the slightest suspicion that you are not listening to me,” Van announced again, a small playful smile gracing his features.

The Elder blinked again, and passed a weary hand over his eyes. “Forgive me, my son,” he apologized, laughing. “I am getting too old for this. Perhaps I should commission someone to handle the paper works instead.” He looked at his son once more. “What is it that thou art trying to tell me?”

Van nodded. “Yes, I think you should,” he agreed absently. He straightened himself afterwards. “Father, I've been asking you about Hitomi.”

His heart pounded a little faster. “Thy mortal responsibility? Yes, what about her?”

Van cleared his throat quietly, a little apprehensive now that he had caught his father's attention. “I've been meaning to ask you... if I could bring her up here in Gaea.”

The Ancient Angel turned to him sharply, as the other angels that have been present in that room began to whisper and murmur about the young prince's pronouncement.

“Everyone, please leave us,” the Elder commanded politely but firmly. The angels reluctantly obeyed, closing the high doors behind them. He turned to his son, eyes angry and suspicious. “What is this about, Van?” he asked curtly.

Van stared at him straight in the eye. “I wanted her to see Gaea. I'm asking you if I could bring her here.”

“Are you saying that she can seeyou?” he asked, quite shocked, actually.

“Yes, I've told you about that when I was younger,” was Van's nonchalant answer.

The Elder shook his head and stood up. “No, I mean until now?”

The raven-haired young prince cocked his head in puzzlement. “Yes, she always has, so why shouldn't she?”

The Ancient Angel strode up to him and stood before him, an impressive man with his towering height. “Van, humans aren't supposed to see creatures like us, or anything else that's related with us. It is beyond their comprehension to understand something like this.” He explained tensely but patiently.

“Why not? Hitomi has seen me since childhood, and she understands me.”

This point in time, his anger caught up with his brain, and the Elder lashed out onto his son. “You shouldn't questionanything about this matter, Van, it just is! It has always been, and always will be! You can't bring her here! Do you understand me?” he shouted in outrage.

Van looked at him with wide eyes, quite stunned at his father's reaction. He shook his head. “No, Father, I don't understand.” He whispered and turned around.

“Van! Listen to me, young man, from this day forward I liftyour responsibility over her! She is no longer under yoursupervision, do you hear me?”

Van neither turned nor answered. He just kept walking towards the ornate doors to get away from his father.

The Elder tried to follow him, thunder in his voice. “Van! You are no longer permitted to see that mortal. Do you understand me?” he caught up with him in front of the door and grasped his shoulder. “Van, I forbidit!”

Van stared at the doorknob in his hand, his jaws clenched in suppressed anger. He turned his head over his shoulder and fixed his father with a gaze that would haunt the Elder's days for eons to come. “You can't force me not to do what I wantto do.”

And with that, Van left the citadel, angering the Gods as he did so.

A single tear trickled down his cheeks as memories of his beloved son replayed over and over in his head. Blinking in surprise that he had, in fact, shed a tear for this ancient event, he absently brushed it away with an old, tired hand, and stared blankly at the heavens. The sun was about to retire for the night, staining the whole world salmon in its departure. His eyes darted to and fro along the horizon, but no stars have decided to twinkle down upon him at this early hour. He sighed.

He had started to see visions again. The same visions, reappearing themselves whenever someone dear to him meets their downfall. Van. Dilandau. And now, even Ontrose. These angels were among his best creations, yet they easily fell prey upon their own emotions. Why didn't they just heed his call when he told them to? Why didn't they just stay put when he asked them to?

It was all her fault. It was all Hitomi's fault.

If she had not met Van at all, none of this would have happened. He had to put a stop to this; it was a choice that should have been made a long time ago. Thinking to himself that the mistakes of the past would not repeat itself, he opted to let her live once more, and gave her a new life. But now that she has claimed Ontrose as well, he had to act quickly before another one takes the fall.

He gazed up at the sky. At last, the stars have decided to appear.

Damn visions. Visions that keep focusing themselves in my inner eye whenever one of my sons have fallen. Visions that I don't need. I do not need these visions.

I need my sons.

“Get ready, Merle, another one's coming out!” Hitomi shouted, fanning vigorously at the small bonfire she created to the simple task of catching tonight's dinner.

Merle tensed her hands, ready at the hole's entrance. True enough, one more long-eared rabbit came scampering out of the rabbit hole to escape the smoke Hitomi had been fanning through the back door, only to be grasped by Merle's viselike grip.

“Got it?” Hitomi hollered.

“Yeah, I got `em!” Merle shouted back, tying her victim and tossing it along her other quarries. “I never knew hunting could be so easy!” she grinned in spite of herself.

Hitomi grinned herself. “You just have to have the brains for this whole matter. Not everything in this world can be achieved through mindless brawn.” Hitomi slowed her fanning and cocked her ear to listen. “I think that's just about it, I don't hear anything anymore.”

Merle cocked her ear, too, and listened. “Either that or you just choked them to death with your smoke technique,” she said with much distaste.

Hitomi smiled lazily, extinguishing the small fire she made. “No, they would have sought out fresh air and come out of your end of the hole.”

Merle shrugged and picked up the bundle on the ground. They had caught six plump rabbits; a sizeable catch, not bad for a human.

“Do you think Naria and Eriya would like these rabbits that we caught?” Hitomi asked tentatively.

Merle smiled in spite of herself. “Naria and Eriya will be so proud, Hitomi.” She replied.

Hitomi's mint eyes danced in the starlight.

As they walked side by side home, Hitomi asked Merle about a peculiarity she noticed when she first broached the method of using fire to bring out the rabbits. “Why did you disagree at first, Merle?”

“I still disagree about it, Hitomi, not just at first.” Merle replied lowly. “But it was getting dark and we have to get food, so I followed your idea.”

The golden-haired woman stared at her silently for a while. “Why? Why do you dislike it so much?”

Merle never answered, but Hitomi was queer enough to notice the pain, anger and loathing swirling in her deep blue eyes. She knew at once that she hit a sore spot, and decided never to open the subject again. “I'm sorry, Merle. Forget I asked you the question.”

They walked quietly after that, none of them talking; the light of the moon and the stars guiding them back. Not long after they topped a small rise that announced the end of the forest, and saw the tiny huts of the cat-people's village in the distance.

Merle breathed in deep for a moment and stretched her arms, yawning. Hitomi looked at her and smiled, she had been pretty tired herself. But it was all worth it. “Nice stars,” she commented, noticing the many winking diamonds in the velvet sky.

Merle nodded and looked up herself. “The air around here is clear, since we're surrounded by mountains and forests, so there's no fog or smoke to block out the stars.” She smiled, and frowned after a while, rubbing her eyes. “Hey, that was weird.”

Hitomi glanced at her. “Why, what's wrong? What did you see?”

Merle narrowed her eyes and tiptoed a little closer towards the heavens, having a better look. “Nothing… for a moment there, I thought I just saw that star move…”

Hitomi looked up herself, calculating where the said star was judging from where Merle was gaping at. “Maybe it's just a shooting star.”

The kitten shook her head gently. “No, it wasn't a shooting star. But I swear… that star just moved…”

Blinking in puzzlement, the two decided to let it be and trotted down the small hill to where two grown cat-women stood hungry and waiting for their dinner.

Somewhere in the middle of that impenetrable dark forest, a patchwork band of hunters were awake, drinking strong ale and badly singing songs around a roaring fire. Inside a sizeable tent, a tall, slimly muscular man with silver hair and menacing ruby eyes lay brooding, his arms crossed beneath his head as he rested on his makeshift bed. He had been bent on destroying all of the half-races, and he had almost succeeded, having burned a whole village of half-wolves and other creatures before. But for years now, his sporadic sweeps across the boarders and forests and mountains have been fruitless. He does not believe that he had eradicated the world of these filthy things; he could still feel them in his blood. And now that his attempts to find them all result to nothing, his blood boiled in anger and irritation.

His hands itched to hack, slash, and burn another filthy village once more.

He had been thinking. He had been sweeping the eastern side of the continent, for that is where all the great rivers are. If his prey needed to start anew, the only logical choice would be to start near a water source. So, firmly fixing it into his mind to sweep eastward of the continent, he closed his eyes to catch a few hours' sleep.

But suddenly, something kept nagging at him to change his decision, to change his heart. Somewhere deep inside of him, his instincts told him that his quarries were not along the east coast, but on the southern side of the continent. Having questions in his mind as to where and why this sudden change of heart, he didn't know. The only thing he knew was this: the very next day, they would start their trek southward.

He stood up and stepped out into the clearing; one of his men saw him and greeted him. “Boss! Why're y' still up at this late hour?” he asked in a slurred voice.

“Get everyone up, Miguel, I've got news.” He instructed.

His subordinate, Miguel, did as he was told. Shambling his way, he poked and even kicked the men who were asleep, and slapped the faces of those who were drunk senseless. “Lissen up, everyone!” he bellowed. “Th' boss got something t' say.”

Everyone focused themselves—or at least, tried to—on the silver-haired man standing before them.

The red-eyed man grinned viciously, his eyes dancing like the flames in the campfire. “Boys, we've got a new trail to pick. I smell a rotten village of filthy creatures. Tomorrow, we're heading south!”

The boys, all who have been hungry for some wild action, took joy from hearing this, and rewarded their leader with loud roars of approval.

Miles away up in his observatory, the Ancient Angel smiled with satisfaction. “Well done, Dilandau.” He murmured at Dilandau's brightly twinkling star. “Very well done.”

A cheeky little sparrow perched upon the edge of the open window of Hitomi's room, heralding the dawn with short, melodious chirping songs. Sunlight streamed through, casting a luminous, golden glow inside her quarters. She lazily opened her eyes; beautiful jade orbs that reflected the glory of the morning sunshine, and let them adjust themselves to the sudden brightness, focusing on the roughly made stone roof.

Hitomi pressed the back of her palm to her forehead and moaned gently. For two nights since her sudden outburst, she had not had any more nightmares. She had finally managed to catch two full night's sleep, and she enjoyed every minute of it. For the first time in a very long time, her subconscious had given her peace.

Breathing in deep the fresh morning air, she blinked her eyes a few times, and sat up from her bed, stretching her arms as she did so. She felt oddly energized. From the dining room outside her borrowed quarters, the smell of deliciously seasoned stew wafted through the air. Hitomi smiled. Today's breakfast consisted of rabbit once again.

Merle sat near the windows, looking out, licking the amber fur covering her paws. Naria and Eriya were standing near the stove, stirring in various herbs and spices into the thick broth of the rabbit stew. “Good morning,” Hitomi chirped in happily.

“Good morning, sunshine.” Merle grinned. Naria and Eriya smiled and also said their morning greetings. They had been quite accustomed in having Hitomi around the house; once her tantrums have been properly taken care of, she was a joy to have around, like a ball of sunshine bursting its light into the whole room. And if they would be asked about it, they would gladly tell in a heartbeat that they would want the girl to live with them for life.

“Mm, that smells delicious!” she sniffed, closing her eyes at the wonderful sensation it brought in her. Through the days she had been staying with them, she felt a sense of belonging; as if she had been intended to be there. All thoughts of angels, paradise, Gaea, were temporarily forgotten, to be replaced by Eriya's kind words and Merle's playful taunting.

To Hitomi, this was her home.

“It'll be ready in a minute, Hitomi.” Naria said softly.

After a while, they gathered around the stone table and ate their breakfast. Hitomi ate her food with a soft, contented smile on her face. She really wanted to stay. For once in her life, she really felt that this is the place where she belonged—with creatures that understand her, that accepted her for the half-human that she is. In that short period of time that she had spent with Merle and the twins, she had already learned to love them, and she honestly felt that she was being loved back.

She secretly stole glances at them and frowned a bit. She knew it was wrong to stay. In her heart, even though every piece of her screamed that this is the right place for her, she knew that that isn't so. In her heart, she had been longing for paradise; but the question her faceless angel asked her in her dream still remains: is there really such a thing?

A deep sadness mirrored in her eyes. She thought about what Ontrose said before he left. Can she really jeopardize everyone else's safety by staying here? Surely she didn't think that she could hide here forever. The whole of heaven is searching for her; these creatures would be of no match if there was a battle.

Hitomi looked at their faces and her heart seemed to shudder. She couldn't bear to see them get hurt.

Seeing the troubled look on her pale face, Eriya, always the observant one, gently rescued Hitomi from her predicament. “Are you finished, Hitomi?” she asked gently.

Hitomi blinked as she snapped out of her thoughts. “Uh, y-yes,” she stammered.

Eriya smiled. “Why don't you join me outside for a little talk? It's been days since we had a nice, long chat,” she offered.

“I would like that very much,” Hitomi accepted graciously.

Eriya and Hitomi left the two with the dishes—Merle sulking just a bit—and walked a ways until they topped a grassy knoll. They sat side by side, the gentle breeze caressing their hair and the soft grass beneath them. “Come on, tell me what's on your mind,” Eriya chuckled.

Hitomi looked at her and sighed. She still hasn't come to grips with what their eyes could actually see. “I've been thinking, Eriya…” she began. “I've been thinking about… about leaving.”

There was a moment of silence. “One rather thought you might.” Eriya broke in.

Hitomi gathered her knees in her arms and rested her head upon them. “I just can't stay here and endanger all of you, Eriya. You've been so nice to me! I don't want anything to happen to you,” she explained.

Eriya looked at her and smiled an enigmatic smile. “That's not the reason you want to leave, is it?”

Hitomi blushed. “Well…” she muttered. “It's partially true.” She conceded, trying to evade the answer. Eriya's penetrating gaze prevented that, however, and she sighed in surrender. “I want to find Paradise.”

For the longest moment, neither of them spoke. The wind filled in those awkward silent moments; rustling the leaves from the trees surrounding the village. Eriya neither objected nor agreed, she just stayed there; silent and mysterious, her eyes glinting in the sun as if deciphering what hidden message she had just said.

Hitomi wordlessly craned her neck upwards, her eyes searching the heavens for an answer. If only I could fly, she thought, her new wings twitching automatically in response. If only I could fly... then everything will be alright. I could fly far, far away from here...

“Why?” Eriya piped in, shattering Hitomi's ruminations.

Hitomi snapped her head back at her. “Huh?” she dumbly asked.

“Why?” Eriya repeated; her face deadly serious. “Why do humans look to the sky when they know they can't fly? Why do humans look at the ocean when they know they can't swim?” she asked.

Hitomi blinked in her response.

The red-eyed feline twisted her body so she was facing Hitomi directly. She looked at her; rubies embracing emeralds. “Why must humans prove to themselves that they are superior? Why must humans destroy everything to prove to themselves that they are superior?”

Hitomi could not answer.

Eriya continued. “Hitomi, why do you look to the sky to search for paradise?”

She blinked. She hadn't really thought about that. “Because… because paradise is somewhere up there,” she pointed upwards. “I saw it before.”

Crimson eyes held her, they pinned her to her seat in their force. “Open your eyes Hitomi, and look around you. This is paradise.”

Hitomi's eyes widened for a while, and she swiveled her neck to look around her, only noticing the village for the first time. There were thatched huts, crude campfires, muddy watering holes and barren earth around them. Sparse, grassy areas were too far away for their safety, wilting under the blazing sun. And the forest that surrounded them was fast dwindling away, ancient trees disappearing one by one like bubbles that in a mere instant vanishes. Hitomi's verdant eyes gazed at the lonely and desolate enclave about her.

And it clearly wasn't what she pictured paradise would be.

She glanced at Eriya, and was quite surprised to see her features hard as stone. Her eyes searched the ruby depths for a reason, and what she found there made her lower lip tremble. “Humans did this,” she whispered.

The silence that followed was broken by Eriya's steady voice. “Long before man had been born, long before cat-people were born, long before the angels were created, the earth had existed.

It is our mother; it is she who gives us life, sustenance. It is the earth which gives us our water to drink, our air to breathe, our food to eat. She is our ultimate mother, and we are all her children.

Long ago, this place was a fertile plain. Trees stood majestically to reach for the heavens. Animals and creatures of all kinds and sizes roamed wild and free. There was harmony in everything; everything had a place, had a purpose. There was nothing missing, and there had always been plenty for the young that will inherit the fertile earth.”

The abrupt change in Eriya's face almost made Hitomi cower in fear. “But man changed that.” She whispered with heavy distaste.

Hitomi stayed quiet and listened.

“Humans always strived for perfection, never accepting the way of nature. They never accepted any of us as their equals; they always had to be at the very pinnacle. In their constant greed for domination, they even challenged the very foundations of the earth. They persevered, devoting generations and generations to science and philosophy which made them slowly drift apart from the rest of our world. Soon after that, the world was no longer one; it was divided into two. Nature, and Man.

But humans were insecure beings, too afraid and stupid to accept that they are not alone in this world. They ventured the earth, raping the landscape, owning everything as if they are the only ones who needed it. And in their quest for supremacy, they had destroyed the land which is the only source of life.”

Eriya stood up straight and gazed down at Hitomi. “Think about it, child. The paradise that you search for, it is for man, isn't it?”

Hitomi nodded silently.

“Then why do you stubbornly search for it in the sky when humans weren't even created to fly?”

She didn't have an answer to that.

Eriya's eyes narrowed with intensity. “This is paradise, Hitomi.” She said insistently, almost begging. “No matter how harsh and awful life can be here, this is our home. This is our paradise.” She paused. “Until your kind took it from us.”

Hitomi could feel tears welling up inside. For a moment there, she had almost hated her race for the injustice that they had done to these hapless creatures. In the few days she had been here, she experienced how hard it is for them to survive, to even eke out a meager existence, and it was all the fault of her kind. And yet they accepted her and treated her as though she was one of their own. “I'm sorry,” she whispered to the woman standing before her.

Eriya blinked, she was caught off guard. She looked at Hitomi with warm and tender eyes. The next instant she was holding the honey-haired woman tightly as she crouched next to her. “Just remember, child. A paradise that exists somewhere beyond the reach of those who were intended to inherit it is just a lie. That is not your sanctuary, it is just an illusion. If the place you so desperately long for has hurt you this much, then it is not real.”

She held her at arm's length and gazed at her cool emerald eyes. “Look with your human heart, Hitomi, not with your human eyes. Then for sure… the paradise that you so long for… the paradise that you've been searching for… will be real.”

A single tear swept down Hitomi's cheek, falling gently down her chin, landing on the earth. If only one tear could restore the land which her race had abused so much, if only one tear was all it took for these people to reclaim their Eden, she would gladly shed a thousand and one tears to replenish all the things they took away from them.

From somewhere in the village, a bell tolled, ringing high and proud into the still air. Eriya and Hitomi sharply looked into the direction of the village, just to see Merle running up at them, panting slightly. “Eriya, Hitomi,” she gasped. “The leader wants to speak with us.”

Hitomi looked at them imploringly, green orbs darting from Merle to Eriya.

The older feline filled in her queries. “He wants to know why you're still here, Hitomi.”

The large communal hut was filled with curious cat-people, old and young alike. Candles were lit around the clan leader's high-backed ancient chair, which stood upon a small dais at the northern end of the hut. Hitomi, Merle and the twins sat on the dirt, getting anxious by the minute as the whispers of the other villagers grew increasingly louder.

A sudden lull filled the room, and the cat-people's clan leader strode out into the cleared path for everyone to see. Hitomi turned her head and looked at him.

He was tall, much taller than Naria and Eriya. Like all the other villagers, he was covered in short, thick fur, grey in color. Black and brown stripes adorned his body. His long, flowing white hair had been washed, and an intricate headdress made of long leaves and twigs was resting on his cat-shaped head.

He reached the dais at a stately pace and seated himself on his chair, his long-fingered hands clasping the end of the crooked armrests. His face was old, but robust. And his penetrating orange eyes were so full of wisdom and serenity that Hitomi had trouble taking her own eyes away from them.

Naria, Eriya and Merle bowed in their seats; their foreheads touching the dusty ground as they did so. Finding the need to mimic their acts of respect, Hitomi did the same, though in a less graceful manner due to her thundering heartbeat.

The leader raised one hand and spoke in a low but calm voice. “Naree-ya, Eree-ya. Yad ho, groja dalee-en.”

The twins responded in unison. “Yad ho, groja dalee-en. Yad mar isshum.”

The villagers surrounding them stirred in their seats. The ceremony has now begun.

Orange eyes fell on Hitomi's head, and she felt burned by their immense power. “Iad hara an kit-kaeel, semmara gorim ud jal narad-gorek tal at kell-reeva, Naree-ya.”

Hitomi's eyes darted sideways to Naria. “Ud jal dal-eet kell-reeva mar gat-tajo det kihael-en dal-saeem. Iaru-ha kara an Garaed ael-saud.” Naria replied politely.

“Morte hakar-enja, kell-reeva akk-haya an ael-saud.” Came the stern reply.

“Iaru-ha kara an Garaed ael-saud,” Eriya spoke, polite but firm. “Yad kell-reeva en kar-kaeel grakaur anda-et semmara ud jal mihasshir akk-ha dal are-ho kit-tajo an Naree-ya.”

The leader turned his eyes on Naria. “Ud tal hak-kaeen ruha-jar?” he asked pointedly.

Naria nodded slowly.

The villagers' whispers grew louder as they cast looks on Hitomi. She roamed her eyes around her, very much confused, very much lost. The clan leader tapped his finger on his armrest, and the whispers died down. His eyes narrowed. “Iad hara kal aun Garaed har-meeya kraan-ket mar gayum, Eree-ya? Ud kit-hara an akk-hael dal are-ho kit-tajo? Set tahir en har-haeem kal kure ud torak!” he shouted.

Naria bowed even lower, Eriya refused to meet his gaze, and Merle's bowed head shivered slightly, her ears flattening themselves while Hitomi grew increasingly nervous. She was as lost as ever.

After a few moments, Naria dared to speak. “Iad kir et tol-gorek at kell-reeva,” She replied slowly, but steadily. “Set tal hak-kaeen kell-reeva ar garan-dal yad kaya har-shirkaet.”

“Mar teki an gar-marrum!” the leader bellowed and pounded his fists on his armrest, causing the villagers to an uproar.

Neither of them could speak, even Hitomi. After all, what could she say? She couldn't even understand half of what they were talking about, though she was pretty sure it was her—the particular word kell-reeva was said with much distaste by the leader—that they were arguing about.

“Akk-hara ud jal kell-reeva!” roared a burly male citizen.

“Iad tahir kal-kahen an kell-reeva ud semmara!” shouted another.

Voices overlapped, shouts and bellows were thrown at every direction, and it was all too much to bear. Hitomi's head was spinning; her mind was so confused, so lost. How could she have understood everything, when she could understand nothing? She clamped her hands over her ears trying to make the awful sound stop.

“Iad mar-hayem kur-hagga at graja en al kaho dal semmara Meruru!” the leader Garaed angrily blurted out.

At this, the scene changed. Naria and Eriya both snapped their heads up, Naria with a shocked face that she locked on to their leader, and Eriya with a slightly frantic concerned one that was hovering over Merle's shaking form. The said candy-haired kitten had slowly lifted her head, revealing a pale, loathe-filled face that trembled with eyes filled of unmasked anger.

“How dare you!” Merle spat, standing up and pointing rudely at the shocked leader. “Not even you could talk about me like that!”

Eriya tried to placate her. “Merle, calm down,” she said soothingly.

Merle's face was livid, and she was shaking with fury. “I know that I am not one of you, you people practically scream the fact everyday!” she growled loudly, silencing the lot of the villagers. “Naria and Eriya had been so kind to help me and keep me as their own sister! And you shouldn't shout at them for that!”

Garaed's eyes narrowed dangerously.

Naria sharply turned to her. “One cautions you to calm down, little sister.” She said, her voice failing to mask the edge and danger in it. “Remember that this is a sacred place. Do not anger our leader anymore or you would be punished for your impertinence!”

“Ipunish myself for the death of my people!” she screamed, her face bursting forth with tears of anguish. “What could hedo to make it any different?” she turned and faced the hushed crowd. “I know that angels burned my village years ago, do you have to remind me? Do you not think that I still grieve for my mother and father and my brothers and sisters that were burned alive just to let me live?” she howled, the tears falling one after another. “If you would put me to death by my doing this, thengo ahead and do it! You think that I still want to live after all that I've loved has left me behind?” her shoulders shook, she sobbed bitterly, uncontrollably. Tears dropped continuously and stained the dirt underneath them. “I thought that I could start anew, and with Naria and Eriya I was able to do that. But you people have been so unkind!”

Eriya went beside her and wrapped her arms around her, whispering soothing words in her ear. “It's not my fault our village was burned, the angels did it! But please don't accuse me of bringing in bad luck because heaven knows that has never been my intention!” she choked in a half-whisper, weeping uncontrollably.

“Merle…” Hitomi helplessly uttered, still rooted on her spot. Her eyes misted with sadness. This was the reason Merle didn't approve of her method during their hunt; it reminded her of her own cruel fate when her family was taken from her all at once.

Eriya was rubbing Merle's arm with her hands, while Naria had moved so she was nearest to Hitomi. The pink-haired kitten wiped the tears from her red and puffy eyes and fixed the leader with an angry stare. “And you don't have the reason to involve Hitomi with this.” She sniffed.

Hitomi turned sharply towards her.

“Even though she's a mixture of two of the most dangerous races, I know, and I'm sure that both my sisters Naria and Eriya know as well, that she is a good, gentle person, and she is not a threat to your people.”

The twins lifted their chins high up at that pronouncement, affirming Merle's strong statement as they met Garaed's orange eyes with their steady gazes.

Merle continued in between hiccups. “Surely you can see for yourself, Garaed,” she hiccupped. “That this girl—this half-human—is not an ordinary one, to say the very least… even by half-human standards.”

Garaed managed to hide a sneer. Yes, she was indeed extraordinary… but in a volatile, treacherous way.

Naria helped Hitomi to her feet, and stepped forward. “One stands by one's judgment, clan leader,” she announced matter-of-factly. “Even though it is not in our blood to help outsiders, one and one's sisters shall aide this entity in her journey.”

Eriya and Merle nodded. “Whether it be for good, or for ill of one's own.”

A man was crouched beside a cut tree trunk and was foraging the ground for trail marks. Another man noiselessly walked towards him and bent down beside him. “Find anything?” the silver-haired man asked.

The man in question held out a piece of fishbone. “It's still fresh, Dilandau.”

Dilandau lifted his eyes and scanned the edges of the trees that enveloped them in the nearing darkness. His fiery eyes lit up as he caught sight of a few bonfire smoke columns rising in the distance. He grinned. “Miguel,” he almost purred. “Somebody's gonna burn tonight.”

They reached their tiny hut in a hurry. Naria and Eriya went inside and fished out every possible carrying case they could possibly find. Merle barged in and lit up a candle in Hitomi's quarters, grabbing her things and other items that she might need in her travels.

“W-what's going on? What are you doing?” she asked, her voice finding her at last.

Eriya tossed Merle a fairly-sized deerskin bag. “Listen, young one, you must leave here at once.”

Hitomi blinked. “W-what?” she almost shouted. “What about you?”

“One and one's sisters shall accompany you to the cave in the mountains.” Naria said, jamming clothes into a bag.

The golden-haired Hitomi stared for a while. Cave in the mountains. The cave that Ontrose wants me to find. She stepped forward. “You'll come with me in the cave?”

Eriya stopped for a moment, regarding her with glinting eyes. “No, Hitomi,” she sighed. “It is not our purpose to come with you on your journey. We are only meant to help pave you the way.” She had but only noticed that Eriya had dropped the heavy accent when she mentioned that word “you”.

“B-but I won't leave you!” she objected.

“Listen to us, Hitomi, this is what's supposed to be,” Naria told her, her hands fell lightly on Hitomi's tense shoulders. “What Merle said back there in the hut was true. You are not an ordinary being. You were destined to do great things. But only you can accomplish that. Not us.”

Hitomi's eyes misted but she nodded reluctantly.

Merle skidded outside clutching the bag in her hand. “That's everything, I think.” She huffed, eyes still red and nose quite stuffed. She looked at Hitomi. “I've seen that cave once when I was younger. It's not far from this place, Hitomi.”

Eriya nodded and turned her attention to the shaking girl. “Merle will show you to the cave, Hitomi.” Seeing the look in her eyes, she smiled. “Don't worry. Garaed will forgive us. He is not one to hold grudges.”

Naria smiled at her also. “One thinks that he has also sensed it. There is a higher power that has been holding us to this place, as if telling us that something important shall happen here. Perhaps that is why even though this place seems so desolate, we have never thought of leaving.”

Hitomi shed a tear. She hated this. “I will miss you,” she mumbled.

The twins smiled. “As we will miss you, destined angel and human,” Eriya held her close for quite some time.

Naria smiled. “Now go, go now before the nigh—” she was cut off by a deafening boom as loud as a thunderclap and the screams and shrieks of the villagers outside.

“What's happening?” Merle asked. Suddenly, angry red and yellow flashes of light filled the air. Thick, heavy smoke seeped everywhere, choking everyone. The smell of ashes and smoldering wood filled the night air.

The village was burning!

“The whole village is on fire!” Hitomi exclaimed, her voice laden with fear, worry and panic. The hunters had finally found them.

Eriya gathered them all beside her. “Come, everyone! Let's hurry outside and find shelter!”

They nodded and went for the door. But another loud crash and explosion deafened their ears, and when they opened their eyes, they found that their doorway, the path leading outside as well as they rest of the house was engulfed in raging flame! “No!” Hitomi howled.

They clung to each other, panic very much evident on their faces. The scorching heat from the blazing inferno was leaching deep down to their very bones. The sickening odor of charred fur and flesh bit their nostrils. Obviously, a few of their kind had been burned alive. “Sister! What are we to do?” Naria shouted, her voice trembling.

Eriya squinted towards the blazing doorway. “If only we have water in this hut!” she screamed. She gathered her composure; her family needed her strength, she would not fly apart. “There is still a chance to get out through the doorway, we just have to jump out fast enough!” she said.

Merle swiftly threw Hitomi's deerskin bag outside to test the flames. It went out the other way with only a few scorched places. “I'll try it first,” she volunteered, and jumped into the roaring mouth of hell before anyone could protest.

“Merle!” Hitomi shouted, extending one roasting arm after her.

Silence.

A voice broke through the intense air. “Hi-Hitomi?” It was the kitten's voice. She survived!

“Merle!” Eriya shouted back. “Are you alright?”

Merle's face broke through the jagged flames of the doorway. She had a few spots of smoking fur, but she looked fine. She shielded her eyes with one arm as the fire was so intense that it blinded her eyes. “Eriya! Naria! Get out quickly before this fire fully engulfs this house!” she shouted hoarsely.

The twins nodded, and held each of Hitomi's shoulders. “We're sending Hitomi outside first!” Eriya said, and pushed Hitomi quickly before she could object.

With a surprised yelp, Hitomi shut her eyes and shielded her face with her crossed arms. She could feel the heat penetrating her clothes, her skin, her flesh. Her feathers were melting and curling themselves due to the extreme heat. Smoke filled her lungs and it rebelled and she coughed. She felt faint. She was sure that she was about to die that very instant.

Then strong arms grabbed her shoulders and pulled her outside. She smelt of burnt fur. Merle had helped her escape the burning hut. She peered and abruptly sat up. “Let's help your sisters,” she said weakly.

Merle nodded and the two of them stood outside their smoldering hut. “Okay, who's next?” she shouted at the twins that were still left inside.

The roof groaned and heaved downwards. It was about to cave in. The twins nervously glanced upwards, both knowing that they have to escape now. Eriya turned to her younger half. “Naria, you're next.” She instructed.

Naria nodded. “Follow quickly, Eriya.” She nodded in her response, and Naria steeled her body for the shock of the heat she was about to encounter. She took a boost and jumped in.

Merle and Hitomi bent forward a few inches more to try and reach Naria a bit faster. From the swirling blaze that was in front of them, Merle could see Naria's face coming closer. “Grab my hand, Naria!” Hitomi shouted.

Naria, her eyes closed, heard Hitomi's voice and instantly held out her arm. It was inches before the girl's outstretched hand. Then, the ceiling groaned once more and finally caved in, burying her arm in a pile of burning wood and leaves.

“Aaaaaaaaaaagh!” Naria screamed, the searing pain making her eyes open only to be instantly blinded by the flames. She was pinned to the ground, unable to move. The piece of the roof that fell upon her was too heavy to even budge.

Merle and Hitomi scrambled, desperately trying to tug her out.

Eriya's voice broke through. “No Merle, no!” she snapped, lunging forward and grabbing hold of her twin sister's foot, pulled her towards her and held her tightly, laying her heavily-burned arm aside. “No Merle, no…” she tearfully said.

The doorway has been blocked. More of the roof fell downwards to further block any chance of escape. The only space that was left was a small square about the size of a head. From that minute space, Merle could see her sisters' faces huddled in the middle of the consuming fire. “No, Eriya! Try to jump out, try pushing the rubble!” she screamed, panic overpowering her.

Hitomi looked around to see if she could find anything to throw at the blockage. She threw rocks with all her might, but it was no use; the wood was just too heavy. Soon, tears were blinding her in her hopelessness, and she was throwing everything in sight. After she absently threw her deerskin bag that was instantly consumed by the fire, Merle held her middle from behind, weeping as well. “Stop it, Hitomi, stop it,” she sobbed.

Despite the intense heat surrounding them, the twins' faces were surprisingly drenched with tears. Naria's eyes were closed—she had been blinded when she opened her eyes in the middle of that fiery maelstrom. “Merle, take care of Hitomi.” Eriya gently instructed.

The two young women cried outside, Hitomi finding her voice. “Eriya! It's all my fault! It's all my fault!” she wailed.

“Hitomi, I knew for the first time that you are destined to bring this world to its end. You will end it in good health, or bring it to its ruin. Right then and there I've decided to aide you in any way. It is done, and you will survive. This is our fate. One will gladly accept this.” Eriya smiled sadly.

Merle's shoulders shook and her hold of Hitomi slackened a bit. She let go and sank to the ground, her knees buckled under her weight.

“We trust in you Hitomi…” Said the ruby-eyed woman.

Naria managed to smile through her ordeal. “Merle, my little sister. Please take care of yourself,” she whispered. “I love you,”

The last of the ceiling above the doorway crumbled, finally closing in on the twins' blazing tomb.

“Naria! Eriya!” Merle wailed. There was no answer; just the scornful sound of the fire blazing merrily before them. She closed her eyes bitterly, her fists clenched so hard her knuckles were white, and she pounded fiercely on the ground, yelling and screaming her lungs out in anguish.

The twins have retreated and curled to a corner of their hut, holding each other tightly. The flames were licking at their fur now; it was only a matter of time before they are turned into cinders.

Eriya stroked her sister's hair, and gently kissed her forehead. “One shall never leave you, beloved sister.”

Naria smiled, and opened her now-white unseeing eyes. Like a miracle, she thought she could see her sister's form outlined with an almost heavenly blue haze. “And one shall never leave you, beloved sister.”

Eriya smiled back and held her tightly, caught in each others' embrace, until the whole hut shuddered and collapsed, finally sealing their fate.

Somewhere along the way, Hitomi's knees failed her and she fell to the floor, panting and gasping for air. Her lungs burned; it was far too abused by the smoke and fire that had entered it a while back. Tears were still streaming down her eyes. She knew it was all too foolish to think so, but how could she not imagine that this is entirely her doing?

Merle glanced back, turned around and helped her on her feet. “Come on, Hitomi, you can do it,” she said encouragingly in between sniffles. “The cave's not too much far; we'll make it there in time.”

Hitomi nodded and ran on, not minding her body's screams of protest that she needed food and rest.

“My sisters asked me to take you there, and I will take you there, Hitomi,” Merle said, gasping a little.

They were climbing out of a small valley quite a distance away from the burning village when they saw the small grotto hidden by the shadows of the trees and the mountain—and of something else. Hitomi knew there was something magical inside that cave; she heard herself inwardly take a sharp breath.

“That's the cave,” Merle said, walking before her. “Come, I'll see you off,”

Hitomi nodded and followed until a cold arm yanked her from behind. She yelped with surprise, and she felt her arm being twisted back and her body banged close to that of another person. “Well, well, well, two rats want to escape,” chuckled a cold male voice.

Hitomi took a glance to see the face above her. His skin was like alabaster; his hair was shining like silver. But what really made her blood freeze like ice were his eyes.

They were as red as blood. Just like the man she saw in her dreams.

His grip on her wrists was so tight that it hurt. “Let me go!” she hissed.

Merle turned around, and her face went deathly white. “You!” she snarled viciously and lunged at the man.

Dilandau violently tossed Hitomi aside, and she fell to the ground roughly. He parried off Merle's attacks with obvious amusement. “Ah, cat-people. My favorite firewood.” He drawled.

Merle's emotions were costing her focus. “It was you! It was you who burned my village! Damn you!” she growled loudly.

Dilandau chuckled, his teeth glistening like pearls under the moonlight. “I knew there was one who escaped.” He said as he dodged Merle's claws smoothly.

“Damn you! And now you have burned my new home and my new family! Damn you!” Merle howled, lunging herself foolishly.

“Merle, no!” Hitomi shouted, seeing the vulnerability of her attack.

In one fluid motion, Dilandau's eyes narrowed and he grinned. He twisted sideways to evade Merle's lunge, brought up a knee to connect with her stomach, and grabbed hold of her arms from behind, twisting it slightly.

Merle growled in pain.

“Merle!” Hitomi stood up, intent on fighting for her friend.

“No, Hitomi!” Merle said weakly, though her eyes were like burning ice. “Go! Go to the cave! Leave me here! I'll be right after you!” she needed to make her face as straight as possible.

Hitomi was uncertain. “Are you sure?”

Merle nodded while fidgeting to break free from the maniacally laughing Dilandau. “I'll be fine after I take care of this monster!” she even managed to smile. “Go, now! Before his men try and catch up!”

Hitomi nodded despite her awful feeling, tears falling down like rain. “Merle, I'll always remember you…”

“Go, Hitomi, go!” she shouted, and Hitomi turned around and ran with all her might, tears blinding her way. “Don't look back!” Merle shouted after her before she disappeared into the welcoming darkness.

“Don't look back…” Merle softly whispered and smiled. She could feel the cold blade kissing her back. She knew she had no way out, but she had to save Hitomi. It was the last thing that she could do.

Dilandau brushed his cheek against hers, and she felt herself shiver. In a swift moment, pain ebbed from her back, to her middle. She fell down to the earth, shivering as all went deathly cold. All she could hear was her own heartbeat; slowing their pounding, until all she could feel was a calmness that is so welcoming. For the first time, she gazed up at the sky with her half of human eyes. Men all over the world had gazed up at the heavens and adored the stars, but she had never really had time to look at them. She never really noticed that they were indeed beautiful. At that moment in time, Merle finally felt as if she was lying in the middle of Eden itself. She closed her eyes, a content smile on her lips. The pain was fading now. Everything was so peaceful…

A tear gently slid down her cheeks. Naria, Eriya. I shall be with you again soon.

Tsuzuku

Eriya blinked, she was caught off guard. She looked at Hitomi with warm and tender eyes. The next instant she was holding the honey-haired woman tightly as she crouched next to her. “Just remember, child. A paradise that exists somewhere beyond the reach of those who were intended to inherit it is just a lie. That is not yoursanctuary, it is just an illusion. If the place youso desperatelylong for has hurt youthis much, then it is not real.”

She held her at arm's length and gazed at her cool emerald eyes. “Look with yourhuman heart, Hitomi, not with yourhuman eyes. Then for sure… the paradise that youso long for… the paradise that you'vebeen searching for… will be real.”