~.~.~.~.~
The Past is Over
~.~.~.~.~
School was never Yosafire's strong point. Other than spell casting classes (which she now aced by breathing a hella lotta fire and showing her new spell called Glasses Beam), every other subject never caught her interest other than it was the time to scribble and nap. Ms Greif's class was the only class she didn't want to get distracted in, but history was too boring and she hated how angels and demons used to fight because Etihw and Kcalb couldn't get along. Why couldn't she just say 'The God and Devil fought, then realized they had UST and made peace. The End.'
"Ms Greif?" this was what caught Yosafire's attention while she doodled herself breathing out fire at Pervy McShades. The blonde angel behind her had her hand raised, still looking as elegant and calm as ever. Yosafire turned to her, a tiny grin on her face as everyone listened to what she had to say. But that was when she noticed something she rarely saw on her best friend's face.
She looked troubled.
"Ms Greif, there is something that had been bothering me."
"What is it?" the white haired woman asked, one of her talons holding a piece of chalk which Yosafire bet with all her pocket money that it was for flicking at her head.
"I was reading a book the other day and," Froze gave a pause in midsentence, "and according to it, most of us here are reincarnation from the ones that died in the war. Is this true?"
At first there was silence, but slowly there was a buzz going around the room. Everyone began to whisper about what the angel said, but Yosafire only had her wide eyes trained on her best friend. It took a while until Ms Greif to hush the class.
"Alright alright, settle down!" her tone finally ceased the whispers. Yosafire glanced back at Froze for a second before turning back to the teacher. "I have no idea where you got that from. That is actually a material I saved for your final year at school." The blonde angel didn't say anything. "However, whether this is true or not, I will not answer." She pursed her lips. "Some things are best saved for the right time."
"But does that mean it's true?" Yosafire pipped up.
"Well, glad to see you were paying attention, Yosafire," Ms Greif chided her. "I wouldn't answer this, nor suggest you to look it up yourself when there is a big test coming after the weekend and I'm sure you will fail in if you let your curiosity get the better of you. Now, Chelan…no, Dialo? Read the next passage."
~.~.~.~.~
For the rest of the lesson, Yosafire couldn't stop wondering about Froze's question. Reincarnation? Was that really a thing? "Fuh-roooooooze!" Yosafire quickly ditched her textbooks under her desk once class finished and Ms Greif was gone, leaning back towards her friend behind her. The angel just gave her a look before going back to packing up. "What was all that about?"
"Just a curiosity," she answered simply and picked up her bag to leave. Yosafire threw her pencil case in hers and tailed after her.
"I mean, you rarely ask questions in class, which really surprised me!" the demon began as they made their way out of the school building. "And reincarnation? Is that really true?"
"Not sure."
She pouted at the answer. "Well, we'll know in a few years' time…or we can find out now! Oh! Maybe we can ask Etihw and Kcalb-"
"No, Yosafire," she immediately stopped when Froze turned back to her. The demon was once again surprised to see her best friend's eyes didn't just show how worried she was, but it seemed to be pleading as well. "Ms Greif was right. The thing on us reincarnated from the war is best to be left for later." She gave a soft sigh. "It's a silly question anyway."
"What, no it's not!" Yosafire grabbed at her hand. "Whatever Froze thinks is never silly! Not one bit!"
There was silence between them. Froze looked at their connected hands and pulled back. "You're too kind, Yosafire," was all she said before she left her. The demon wanted to follow, but from how she acted, she couldn't.
"What's wrong…Froze…?" was all she managed to say as the angel went home by herself. From behind her, Macarona and Rawberry came up beside the green haired demon.
"Maybe she's been working too hard at Blancblack Castle lately," Macarona assured.
"Or she needs a bowl of maggots to feed on," Rawberry licked her lips.
"N-No she does not!"
Yosafire didn't really listen to them; all she could think about was Froze and the whole reincarnation thing. She never cared so much about the past, but thinking about it, it did seemed pretty cool because it sounded like something from one of the story books she loved to read while she stayed at home from a flu.
"I'm gonna find out where this whole reincarnation thing came from!" she declared and dashed off the library, leaving a dumbfounded Macarona and a yawning Rawberry behind.
~.~.~.~.~
She never crammed so much before, especially till the late afternoons. She only got this serious when she only had an hour left before school started or when the final exam was coming up. And when it came to Froze, Yosafire could do anything really, even conquering her fear of heights to save her best friend. She had gone through all the books on past wars, just skimming through them since it was all the same. How it went on, how many lives were lost back then and how things were settled afterwards to gain the peace they now lived in today. But no such thing as reincarnation wherever she looked.
"Froze isn't the type to make things up…" Yosafire pouted as she closed the last book and put it away with the others. She made her way around the floor with them since the librarian told her off the last time she studied with Froze here. I was sure she read them off somewhere but it doesn't seem to be anywhere here…we don't go to many places, and Froze prefer doing her own things in Gray Village or in Blancblack Castle. I mean Blancblack basically have more stuff compared to here and let's anyone in. Cafeteria, an indoor garden, study rooms and meeting rooms, a small hospital, the achieve of the past…
"That's it!" she immediately dropped all the books onto a nearby desk and ignored the librarian yelling at her for her outburst. She dashed down the stairs and out of the library, heading back to the village fast. She was too stupid, Froze now spend her time in the Castle because she was one of those trustworthy angels Wodahs and Grora called upon on when they were short on hands like that time with the otherworldly invasion. There was this achieve somewhere in Blancblack where she saw adults reading over and Froze told her it was on history and legends of the past in this world. Surely she read something there!
"Teleport!" she touched the warp slate between the two benches in the village and within a second she was at the Castle's huge doors. She grinned in triumph, getting in easily to find no one. It was quieter actually, maybe because it was time for everyone to go home.
"Just a quick stop to the archive and I'll leave just in time for Dialo's cooking!" she made her way upstairs, trying to navigate through the huge castle to find the room she was looking for. No one in any of the rooms, not until…
"Eeek!"
"Ack!"
Yosafire's pale face went into a whole new shade of red that outmatched her red attire. Hands covering her face, she spluttered out apologizes consisting of "I-I-I-I didn't see anything! I'm sorry for walking in on you two again and I-I-I-I…"
"It's not like that!"
Etihw's giggles cut through the awkwardness as she put the pitch black coat on Kcalb's back. "Let's save this for next time, shall we?" she winked as she pushed him off her, getting her cloak as well.
"Don't wink at me!" Kcalb snapped, and Yosafire was still standing by the door in embarrassment. Etihw patted on the Devil's shoulder before she hoped off the table.
"Sorry for scarring you again, Yosafire," God said to the small demon. All she could do was shake her head, hands fidgeting the bottom of her huge sweater dress. Looking out the window, Etihw added. "Now what are you doing here this late?"
"Oh…I was looking for the archive," Yosafire answered after getting over the awkward moment. Both the God and Devil blinked, glancing at each other as Kcalb joined the two.
"The archive?" Kcalb asked.
"Yep! I think Froze read something there and I want to see what it was about! After all I never look through what you guys have here to begin with, so just a quick skim before dinner," Yosafire gave them a cheery wink.
Both the Rulers of the world didn't say anything. Couldn't really. "Yosafire," Etihw crouched down to her level, "what did you think your friend read? Could it have been at the library near your school?"
"Nope! I looked through most of the history books there but there isn't anything on reincarnation." She didn't notice how the God's smile faltered. "Froze mentioned it in class today and I want to know where she got this whole idea," she frowned a little. "She's never the one to make things up and Ms Greif seemed to know what she asked was true."
Both the God and Devil didn't say anything, but Etihw quickly said. "Yosafire, are you sure you want to know?"
"Of course!" the demon puffed out her chest, pointing at herself. "When Froze asked that, she seem to be bothered by it. I mean why would she ask? All I want to do is understand what caused her to think like that! I mean it's in the past, right? And the whole reincarnation thing is kinda cool!"
Kcalb was about to say something, but Etihw put up her hand to shush him. "Well…it might not be pleasant…I believe you never liked history and the war that happened?"
"Yeeeeeeah, but you and Old Man made peace and…" she blushed a little and said this softly, "about to resolve your UST…"
Kcalb spluttered at her words. "Our what!?"
All Etihw did was laugh. "Well alright, if you insist."
"Yeah…sorry to bother you two! You may go on with your adult moments," and with that, Yosafire left.
Kcalb snapped his head at the God, face red as he yelled, "Why!?"
She sighed. "She's the one who wouldn't give up on something she set her goals on…even if there is danger up a head and it would make her sad."
"No, I mean why you laughed about her talking about…" he pointed to each other, "us!"
Etihw looked up at him. "Is that all you care about?"s he asked with a smile.
"Yes well, and that girl as well! She's still-"
"Aww, you don't like other's seeing our PDA?" she giggled into her long sleeves as she stalked up to him. Seeing him stepping back, going into denial made her pleased. She loved it when he got like this, and it was a way to get him to forget about Yosafire. This was something a God choose not to intervene on, as she knew if she stopped her today, she would be back tomorrow.
The truth may hurt her, but she was sure someone would remind her that it was already over. Like how she and Kcalb were now, together they enjoy the world they lived in today.
~.~.~.~.~
Even though the room was small, they were packed with books in the shelves. There were books on the old legends in the world, then there were sad stories, but what really interested Yosafire the most were the ones on memories and the ones titled with familiar names yet the pages were.
"Surely this one is on reincarnation!" Yosafire chirped, hoping that she got the right book and could get home soon so then she wouldn't be back tomorrow. It was weird with the adults walking around and she remembered she needed to ask Froze to help her with studying for the history test.
Flipping through the pages, she realized most of the words were in ancient ruins, one of the things she was failing at in school. Gulping, the demon knew she should have studied harder on this if she wanted to know if Froze read this or not. She tried to decipher them, even sitting down in the corner of the room with the book on her lap.
"Maybe it would be easier if I just read the chapter contents," she murmured as she flipped back to page one. Trying to decipher one single page in the middle of nowhere was no help. "Hmmm…'con…tents'," the words were easier to read now that it wasn't a block of text and no need to worry about grammar structure. "'Beginning' … 'History '… 'Re…Re…Rebirth'!" Finally! But there was more. "Ummm… 'Af…ter…maths', 'In…Memories', 'Today'…" she creased her eyebrows, but flipped to where the last few chapters were anyway, glad to have some clues at last.
At first she blinked, surprised to see the chapter on 'Rebirth' was actually pretty thin, maybe around a dozen pages or two while the rest of the two chapters were a hundred pages or so each. It was more of a list as well on the third page, but then it said there was more in the appendix.
"Let's see…" she flipped to the end of the book and saw a whole list of words. Looking at what it was, Yosafire frowned. "Names?" she scanned through the list, wondering if she could found something. After a while, she did.
"Froze!" she gapped from seeing her friend's name in here, but then it made her giggle when she realized what this list was about. "Sher…Sherbet?" she kicked her legs about in delight. "Was this…her incarnation's name? And she was a guy!" she started to laugh, falling onto the side while she hysterically clutched her belly. She kept on repeating the name; it never left her lips until she settled down. "Sher…Sherbet…a very unique name, Froze…" she giggled before she went through the list. "And what was my name?" she quickly flipped to the last page, only to have her eyes brighten in delight. "Yosaflame? That is…so cool!" she squealed, standing up with the book in her hands. "I sound so cool! Yosaflame! Yosaflame! I was the flaming green demon, Yosaflame!" Who cared if she was a guy, she sounded amazing and she imagine how hot she looked!
But…
She stopped jumping around the room, pouting. "But this doesn't really tell me much!" she kicked her feet about while holding the book. "Froze wouldn't ask a question for this reason, right? She seemed more bothered than having Sherbet as her past name." She walked around the room, twirling round and round to wonder what really bothered Froze. "Hmmmm…should I try one more book?" she checked her phone for the time. "Yeah, one more. This time in modern language."
She tucked the book she was reading under her arm and went back to the shelf with the memory books. Before she did though, something caught her eyes. "Eh?" She took two steps back, blinking before she pulled a book out from the shelf full of books with blank pages. She had no interest to look through them at first, but this one…
"Wow…this one is titled 'Yosaflame'…does this have anything in it?" she quickly flipped it open, and to her delight, "It does!"
Quickly sitting down, she skimmed through the pages, happy to see it in modern language as she slowly learned about her past life.
~.~.~.~.~
After Kcalb ran away and Etihw decided to stop teasing him for the day, she began to walk around the castle. She was humming to herself, planning to see what Wodah was cooking for dinner, until the God was startled when Yosafire came running out of the achieve room in haste. Staring after her, she realized she had forgotten all about the demon before peering into the room.
Grey eyes unwavering, she saw the two discarded books on the History of her garden and the Diary of Yosaflame on the floor. The books were open, but it looked like it was dropped in haste. Turning back to where Yosafire ran, she frowned before she went into the room and picked up the books. As God, she could read any of the Diaries, unlike everyone else except Kcalb. Remembering the demon that fought with one of her best angels, she flipped open the diary to page one.
~.~.~.~.~
A strange thing about weekends was when a certain demon was amiss. From time to time, it had become a habit for Froze to glance around to see if a certain apple green-haired demon would jump at her for attention. But none of that came since school finished yesterday. Assuring herself she might be with her other friends doing who knows what, she decided to finish the day by going home to study after filing in the last report Wodah assigned her to last week.
"Thank you. You're free to go." She nodded before she headed out the door. She didn't even take two steps out before Etihw strolled towards her.
"Oh, Froze. Finished work today?"
"Yes'm." The angel noticed she was carrying a couple of books. "Are you doing a bit of research?"
"Hmm? Oh no," she waved her hand dismissively. "Just putting these away."
"I see."
Smiling at the angel, Etihw offered her hand. "Why don't we talk a little? It's been a while."
The blonde angel nodded and wordlessly followed the God. Etihw didn't drop her smile, commenting how everyone was in the castle and asked how everyone was in the village. Froze would have thought she would know, but didn't question it and answered politely. Etihw seemed happy to hear that, and she looked out the window when they walked passed it. "The sky is as clear as ever."
The angel looked out of it, blinking. "Yes…" she never told anyone, but Froze loved the sky; it always calmed her by how peaceful it was as the birds flew above her. But she loved it more after seeing it turned back to normal after the other world's invasion.
"I'm glad you agree," Etihw closed her eyes and sighed, silent for a moment. "This world in the past…it wasn't always like this."
She didn't need to explain. "I have heard."
The God glanced at her. "Of course. Lowie and Greif have taught you well then," she looked back out the window. "I wish it didn't happen back then, but it had. A lot of angels and demons died on that day because we couldn't stop…" her eyes became downcast. "All I can do is to let them have a chance to enjoy this peace after the war, not knowing about everything until it was the right time."
Froze silently bit her lips, tensing a little. "Yes…well…" she tried to push the whole reincarnation thing at the back of her mind and speak nothing of it till it was alright, but Etihw just brought it back to the surface at once. "Ethiw…" she began hesitantly. "I…"
"You do not need to speak. I know what is on your mind." The God turned to her, calm with her divine grace. Froze should have known she would know one way or another. "It was fated you would learn about your past someday, but I didn't think it would be soon," she smiled a little. "You were one of my best angels back then, and know that I just wanted the best of everyone after the war."
She nodded. "Yes. I know."
Etihw closed her eyes. "It's not just me too. Kcalb felt the same after receiving this peace," she opened her eyes to look into Froze's. The angel didn't know what to say, but when her eyes landed on the books she was holding, especially the title of a diary, it made her body run cold.
"Why…"
Etihw didn't try to hide it. "Your friend Yosafire came over yesterday…she mentioned about you." Froze bit her tongue and tightened her fists to stop herself from losing it. She didn't want to let Yosafire know anything about it for now, but it seemed that mentioning it at school had set something off inside her friend. Deep down she really didn't want to believe it was true…but…
"Froze," the angel snapped out of her thoughts to see the God closer to her, eyes at her level. Those dark grey eyes were calming and it settled Froze down a bit. "Froze, Yosafire choose to find out herself. I could have stopped her but I knew she would be back someday."
Of course. "It wasn't your fault." It was hers to not able to stop her.
"But I want to know; what did you think of your past in the war? What you and Yosafire did to each other until the very end?" Etihw took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. "Do you hate yourself and Yosafire for what we had done?" The question was unexpected for Froze, but Etihw waited patiently for her answers. No one was around but the two of them, and the birds that flew by chirped as Froze opened her mouth to say:
"I…"
~.~.~.~.~
It was Sunday already, but ever since that night, Yosafire hadn't left her bed. Her stomach felt empty, but not from hunger, and her chest hurt. She felt like a total mess, especially from crying nonstop and wouldn't leave the comfort under her warm blanket.
She really wished she hadn't read that diary. And that Froze hers as Sherbet. But it was highly possible she read it, and right now the angel hated her for what she had done.
"I'm sorry…" she sniffled and hugged her pillow tightly. She wanted to say that to Froze, but she was too scared to, almost as frightening as the time she feared flying. Thinking about seeing her again made her tense up because she might be mad at her and would never forgive her, ruining their friendship. "I'm so sorry…"
Suddenly, knocking was heard from outside. Yosafire glanced at it but didn't get up. She hadn't been bothered with answering the door ever since she got home. She had heard Macarona and Rawberry coming over a few times, first if she wanted to go picking seashells at the beach, but then it gradually grew to concern when Dialo and Chelan came over too when she skipped out on eating the red haired demon's apple pies. She just felt too miserable to even get up.
"Yosaf, I know you're in there."
Her heart stopped at the voice, making her snap back at the door. What was Froze doing here? Yosafire was too shocked to move from her bed as more knocks came, becoming rapid.
"Yosafire, come on!"
She cringed at her impatience, but she gradually got out of bed as Froze continued. Yosafire quietly tip toed to the window and took a little peek outside. She saw her angel friend at the door, looking impatient while carrying a basket in hand. At the back of her mind, she wondered what was in it, until she heard the door unlocked.
"Epp!" she quickly scrambled back into her bed and pulled the blankets over her, trying to make herself invisible. She could hear Froze's footsteps coming towards her bedroom, followed by a sigh as she set the basket down. Yosafire tried to stop herself from shivering, wanting to stay perfectly still so then Froze wouldn't notice her.
"Yosaf…" the demon winced and shrunk back as she came closer. She felt the bed shift as she sat down on it, followed by silence. Yosafire curled up under the blankets more, too scared until she felt a hand on top of her covered head. It was a gentle gesture, and it made her want to cry again. When Froze started to pat her head, she couldn't take it anymore and jumped out of her bed, tackling her friend onto the floor as she sobbed against her.
"I'm so sorry!" she wailed against her chest, not noticing the stunned look on Froze's face. All she could do was blabber out apologies after apologies, only to be reduced to pathetic sniffles and hiccups when she felt Froze sitting up and gently hugged her back. Not knowing how long it took for her to calm down at last, she glanced up at the blonde to see what expression she was making. It may look like she felt nothing, but Yosafire could see Froze was concerned.
"Wha…What are you doing here?" she sniffled as she got off her, rubbing her tears away.
Froze silently sat up in front of her. "Everyone's worried about you, that's why."
She winced. "I…I haven't been feeling well, that's all…"
"Whenever you're sick," which rarely happened, "you would always whine for me to take care of you and bring one of Dialo's apple pies if she made any." Yosafire frowned at that comment. The angel sighed and slid closer to her. "Yosaf, I'm not mad at you."
The demon looked up at her. "You're…not?" she hiccupped, frowning. "Really?"
"I'm not."
"But back then I…" Yosafire whimpered at the memory of what she read. "Back then I hurt you a lot…and then I was the one to…"
"Hey," a hand came up and patted her on the head, just hard enough to tell her to stop. Froze was frowning, but not her annoyed frown. "You didn't kill me."
She sniffled. "B-But…"
"You did not kill me," Froze patted her head a bit harder to tell to stay quiet. "That was Sherbet and Yosaflame fighting back then, not us." She sighed again and lifted her hand off her. "I was surprised too, didn't want to believe it. And I didn't want you to know…I should have not mentioned it back at school."
"I-It wasn't your fault!" Yosafire fretted. "I was the one who wanted to know why you brought it up to begin with!" she fiddled her night gown. "I mean, you seemed bothered by it and I wanted to know why…I believed it didn't matter to me since it was in the past and us being reborn sounded cool, but knowing what I…Yosaflame did in war was unbearable…" she bit her lips. "I don't want to fight with you anymore."
This time Froze slapped her upside on the head, hard. Ignoring her cry and rubbing her poor head, Froze snapped at her. "Didn't I say you didn't kill me!? Never have and never will!" she added quickly because sometimes Yosafire seem to have the ability to make anything she say happen. "I don't care what we did, right now, we're friends…and friends…don't fight, right?"
Whimpering at the bump forming on her head, Yosafire noticed how Froze looked away after the last comment. She looked so torn about this, and it made the demon sad to see her like that. Pouting a bit, she crawled over to give Froze a hug, squeezing tightly when she startled her. After I while, Froze accepted it.
"You're right," the demon said after a moment. "We're friends…it was stupid of me to let that get to me." She cuddled closer. "I'm sorry."
"You are stupid, but I forgive you," Froze deadpanned, but Yosafire didn't mind since she forgave her. She looked up and asked this too, "So…you don't hate me or anything? Ouch!"
Froze gave her forehead a flick. "That is a stupid question and you know it." Yosafire smiled brightly before tackling her into a hug again. Snuggling and giggling at Froze's embarrassed, she was interrupted when her stomach grumbled for food.
"Ah…" They both got up, Yosafire clutching her stomach and pouting for ruining the moment. "I thought you haven't eaten anything." Froze said as she got up and went over to the basket on the table. Yosafire stared at her as she unveiled what was inside, making the demon gasp and started to drool.
"Apple pies!" Yosafire dashed up and stood beside her, smelling the aroma of her beloved food along with a bunch of flowers that were gently placed into the basket. She recognized them from the garden, and she was touched by Froze's gesture to get them for her. "You brought these here for me?"
"Well, Dialo and Chelan were worried," Froze said as she took out the basket's contents. Yosafire giggled in glee and jumped around in excitement, until she noticed there was more than just the pies and flowers.
"Um…Froze…" she started. "Why…did you bring your history textbook?"
The angel gave her a look, though not surprised. "Have you forgotten?" she waved the said book in hand. "History test tomorrow."
There was a moment of silent, with Yosafire staring at the book and Froze counted how long it would take for her to snap out of it. Three…two…one… "N…Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!" Yosafire threw her head back and wailed. "I haven't studied at all!"
"Thought so," Froze sat down and told her to come over. "Hurry up and eat so then we can get to work."
Yosafire's wails came to a stop at once. "You…You'll help me?" she asked in awe.
"You'll bug me about it anyway." With that, Yosafire skipped over to sit next to her, having a happy smile on her face. Froze already gave her a slice of apple pie to eat, planning to only give her that much until she got some serious studying done.
"Thank you, Froze! I love you sooooooo much!"
The angel blushed at the confession. "Yes yes, I know." She brushed it off. But instead of eating, she watched Yosafire instead. The demon was smiling again, and it brought relief to Froze's heart. She firmly believed Yosafire and Yosaflame were two different beings, like how she believed her and Sherbet were different, and that this was their life now. Today in this peaceful garden that Yosafire loved the most, they were happy together, and no past life was going to destroy that.