Day in the Life Of...
Hell, the realm of the sinners and the damned. Here, in what could only be described as a barren wasteland, filled with jagged rocks, dead trees, and pits of lava, was where the demons of the world resided. Gleefully torturing the damned souls sent to them, a wide variety of them could be found. Ranging from the somewhat graceful Water Demons, to the quick-tempered Fire Demons, to the soaring Wind Demons, and the giant Earth Demons. Looking at any one of them and one would be instantly terrorized, fear gripping at a person's heart at the mere thought of what sort of sadistic pleasures they would use to ensure maximum pain and anguish.
Then, there was Buwaro.
The purple-furred Fire Demon lay face down on a bed, snuggled up against a pillow, blissfully dreaming. Compared to just about any other demon in the world, Buwaro was relatively harmless. True, like any Fire Demon, he could breathe fire and was naturally resistant to most fire-based spells. But that was about as close as he could get to his fellow Fire Demon brethren in the aspects of being a demon. Carefree, almost constantly cheerful, it would be hard to find anyone who could see Buwaro as threatening if you got to know him, unless one considered near bone-crushing hugs to be a threat.
Laying next to Buwaro was Kieri the Angel, who was now starting to wake from her own slumber. In the home that was shared by her, Buwaro and their friend Rhea, Rhea had convinced the two to share a bed, mostly because Rhea enjoyed her personal space, something that Buwaro just couldn't seem to understand. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she turned to look at Buwaro, who was now chewing on his pillow. She smiled, wondering what he was dreaming about. From what it looked like, it was something with food.
Rubbing Buwaro's shoulders, Kieri attempted to wake him. "Buwaro wake up, Rhea will get mad if she sees you eating her pillows."
Buwaro opened his eyes, pulling the pillow free of his jaws, noticing that a fair amount of drool was now covering it. "Aww... it wasn't a marshmallow." Though now, fully awake, Buwaro stretched out his arms and legs, giving a great yawn. He turned to face Kieri, feeling the small wings on his back stretch out as well. His two pendants, shaped in a sun and star, hung around his neck visibly over his white undershirt. Seeing his angel friend awake, he reached out and hugged her, his tail wagging behind him in excitement. "Good Morning Snowy!"
"G-good Morning, Buwaro," Kieri stuttered hugging him back. It seemed no matter how much she tried, she couldn't quite break all the habits of being around him, despite the fact they now lived together. She looked to see Rhea's bed empty of the Jakkai, with only Thadius laying on a pillow. "Rhea must already be awake."
"Yay! Time to see Rhea!" Buwaro hopped out of bed, looking about for his black trench coat. Finding it, he slipped it on letting his wings out through the holes available. He tucked his Sun Pendant inside of his coat and out of view, leaving only his Star Pendant out. He walked over to Thadius, picking her up and nuzzling the pet rock. "Good Morning Thadius. Did you have good dreams too?" The rock remained silent, but Buwaro took it for an answer anyway, placing her carefully on top of his head. Kieri, who had gone to the bathroom to change out of her purple nightgown, a gift from both Rhea and Buwaro for her birthday, returned wearing her normal outfit for the day, her white undershirt and blue, loose-fitting pants. "Let's go Snowy," Buwaro said excitingly, balancing Thadius on his head as he carefully made his way off to the kitchen with Kieri in tow for breakfast.
Rhea was already seated at the table, eating some yogurt out of a small cup. "Morning you two," she said off-handedly as she scooped up another spoonful for herself. "There's some for the both of- Gack!"
"Good Morning Rhea," Buwaro said happily, hugging the surprised Jakkai from behind. The surprise action nearly caused her to drop her meal, as she wriggled around attempting to free herself from Buwaro's clutches.
"Let go of me moron! Gack! Buwaro. Need. Air. Stop. Hugging!" When the Fire Demon finally let go, Rhea was gasping for breath, dropped back down on her chair, shooting a venomous look in Buwaro's direction as he sat down to eat. "How many times do I have to tell you not to do that? Especially when I'm eating!"
"Umm... I forget," Buwaro said sheepishly as Rhea growled at him. Fortunately for the demon, Rhea thought it was far too early in the morning for her to attempt to literally knock some sense into Buwaro's thick skull. Kieri sat down as well, wisely staying silent at the pair's antics. It sometimes surprised her how the two of them haven't somehow managed to do worse to each other before she met them.
"Ok Buwaro, after breakfast today, we are going to start your lesson," Rhea said, as Buwaro looked up from his meal.
"Ok, Rhea! Thadius and I are going to try hard," Buwaro said confidently. A couple of days out of the week, Rhea and Kieri would assist Buwaro on his self-quest to becoming a better person, a person in his eyes that was worthy of the angel's feelings. While Kieri did not mind, nor did she think that Buwaro was not worthy of anything, she was proud that he decided to try and improve on himself a bit. Rhea and Kieri would help him with learning to read, while Rhea focused on making him stronger and more adapted at using the magic power that was granted to him. Today was a lesson of the former.
Once breakfast for the three was settled and all the dishes washed and put away, the three of them moved to the sitting room. Rhea sat on a chair, with Buwaro seated on the floor before her and Kieri next to him. Rhea was looking through a book in her hands before turning it around and showing Buwaro. "Ok, so this is where we left off. This is the letter, 'J' Buwaro."
The Fire Demon looked closely at the book, taking in the shape of the letter. "Hmm... 'J'. Oh! Like your friend's name Rhea?"
"Um, yeah. Kind of," she said, recalling her human friend Jake who lived in Farun. Although only 'J' was a nickname she gave him, just as he called her 'Snake'. "His name starts with the letter J, so yeah."
"J! J! It's really easy, huh Snowy?"
"Hey, pay attention," Rhea said with a stern look, which caused Buwaro to fidget and face her again. "You need to be able to know how to recognize the letter and-," she said trailing off when she noticed Buwaro talking to his pet rock and no longer paying attention ("J is a funny letter, huh Thadius?"). Rhea used the book in her hand to poke Buwaro in the head causing him to look back up. "I said pay attention! Jeez."
The trio continued the lesson normally, which for them, meant that Buwaro would constantly be distracted talking to Kieri or Thadius, causing Rhea to have to repeat herself, and him asking various questions, about half of which had nothing to do with learning letters. By the time it was lunchtime, Buwaro had learned a total of three new letters. A rather good achievement compared to how the lessons went sometimes.
Rhea was sure she would NEVER wear that shirt again.
After lunch, Kieri had gone to take care of her flowers, leaving Rhea and Buwaro to their own devices. Buwaro wasn't sure what Rhea was doing, but he sat down before a small stone monument, holding Thadius in his lap, along with a raggedy, old book with a single white feather inside. The book was the journal of Buwaro's foster father, Darius Elexion, the same with the feather inside. They were the last things that remained of him that he knew, his own memories of the Earth Angel long since forgotten. That, and the Star Pendant around his neck. He clutched it tightly, a permanent reminder of his 'condition', and the danger he presented to himself and others should the star ever be removed from around his neck.
Buwaro reached into his trench coat, pulling out the Sun Pendant. Like the Star Pendant, the sun had also belonged to Darius, but Buwaro never saw it as a gift from his father, but rather from his sister Sakido, to whom Darius had originally given it to. He gave a sigh, knowing that he would never see her again, as she had performed the ultimate sacrifice to allow both Rhea and him to escape from the Ring of the Slightly Damned. The Sun Pendant had given Buwaro his small leathery wings that he would normally never have otherwise, and he never took it off, not because it was necessary, but because it was to honor his own sister's wish to treasure it.
The monument Buwaro was in front of was simple, a stone that with the help of Rhea's magic and Kieri's sword, had been shaped into a crude statue of an angel. On the stone angel's chest the name 'Darius' was carved. Upon one wing was the name 'Sakido' and the other, 'Iratu'. Finally underneath them all was his own name, 'Buwaro'. A symbol of the Elexion family.
Buwaro had never known his father, and his sister Sakido was buried in the grave that had been dug originally for Rhea. As for Iratu, Buwaro had no idea what had become of his Earth Demon brother. For a time, Rhea entertained the idea that Iratu may be somewhere in Medius, having come through the strange light that had also brought them here. It certainly explained where the Fire Demon that caused Kieri to become separated from her brother had come from, as well as Lazuli. Occasionally in their trips, Buwaro, Rhea and Kieri would be on alert for any signs of demon activity, particularly Earth Demons as they were giant and hard to miss. Buwaro was hopeful that despite the potential problems with him and Kieri's family, she would be safe to meet his brother as he was raised by an angel and would be the most understanding.
Buwaro breathed deeply. "Hey everyone." Buwaro entertained the idea that by speaking to this statue, somehow his family could hear him, wherever they may now resided. "Today, Rhea and Snowy were teaching me some more stuff. I learned a lot of new letter things! Rhea keeps getting angry though. She hasn't changed much, right Sakido," Buwaro said happily. "Snowy was really nice to me though. She helps me understand things. You would have liked her Sakido. You too dad. I bet there are all sorts of angel stuff you two could talk about." Buwaro thought a bit more, before raising his rock up. "Thadius says hi too! She's always there for me. I think she and Rhea like to do girl stuff though."
His smile faded slightly. "Iratu, I miss you lots. We keep looking, but we can't find you. Would you tell me some stories about dad? I want to know more about him. And, I'm sorry I hurt you too. I didn't mean it." He held up the journal next. "I'm taking good care of this too dad. Snowy reads it to us sometimes." Buwaro smiled again. He always loved listening to Kieri read about how Iratu and Sakido were kids. It was fun to imagine what they might have looked like, since for most of his life he could only remember Sakido being somewhat distant and Iratu being a giant who loved to drink.
"I'm getting stronger too! Watch." He placed Thadius down on the ground and held up his hand before concentrating carefully. He bit his tongue lightly as he focused before a small flame appeared in the palm of his hand. When his concentration went away, the flame did as well, before Buwaro let out an exhilarating breath. "Sometimes it makes my head hurt... But I'm getting better! I'm still not as good as roaring like you Iratu. I don't think I'll ever be as strong as you either. But Snowy says I'm doing good, so I must be getting betterer and betterer!"
For awhile everything was quiet, until a sudden movement caught his attention. Rhea sat next to him, looking at the statue of an angel. Buwaro leaned in and Rhea brought her arm up and gave him a reassuring pat. It was times like these that Rhea seemed, more than ever, the big sister that Buwaro had with Sakido in those final few weeks in Hell before they escaped. Rhea could admit to herself, though perhaps not to many others, that despite all the annoyances she put up with, she would feel a certain kinship with the purple fool that she had come to know. A fulfillment of her own promise to Sakido to watch out for him in the world they were in. "I'm sure they are proud of you," Rhea said.
"Yeah..."
The two sat in silence for a while before Kieri appeared on Buwaro's other side and hugged him as well. Together, the three sat in silence as Buwaro thought of those he had lost, knowingly and unknowingly, and those he had gained. Rhea stood up and broke the silence. "Hey you guys, I could use some help moving some things in the bedroom."
"Ok Rhea," Kieri said calmly getting up as well. Buwaro too stood up and began to dust himself off before picking up Thadius again. As Kieri headed back with Rhea, Buwaro took one last look at the statue.
"OK... I'll come back again. I've still got a lot to tell you." Buwaro smiled, and then for an instant, something seemed to shift in the statue's looks. White hair, dyed yellow at the tips. A yellow uniform, marred with dust and wear. Bandages, partially covering a smiling face. And a golden eye, filled with all the love a father could ever give to his son. The figure seemed ghost-like, faded as if there but not.
A split second later and it was gone.
Buwaro blinked once, then again, but the statue remained the same. He tilted his head in confusion, wondering if what he thought he saw was real. "Hey Buwaro, you coming," came Rhea's shout.
"Huh? Oh, yeah! Coming Rhea!" Buwaro turned and headed back into the house, knowing not to keep Rhea waiting for too long. All the while, the statue remained, a permanent testament to one forsaken angel, and the family he bound together.