A Devils Heart
X
Friends
Inside the café it was unusually slow and pleasantly quiet. You could hear the faint sound of music playing in the background mixed with the sounds of clinking of cups, the utensils for eating and the preparations of beverages by the baristas while people quietly conversed at their tables. The café was brightly colored and decorated inside and out, several words in different languages which translates to be 'Love' are painted on the glass in a spiral like design of colors. Edward felt uncomfortable in the café; speechless as to what he observed around him that it felt awkward being out in public having been awhile. All the colors blared brightly at him it was an eyesore, and sitting down with a woman he hardly knew only added to his discomfort.
She sat there happily, holding a large mug, which was in a shape of a cat filled with hot coco. Angelea bought Edward English tea to his request of her asking, which was in a cup shaped like a heart to his displeasure—not a human heart, but a heart you would see in children's drawings—as he awkwardly let the offending cup sit before him, cooling off. He looked at the cup confused; disturbed with the idea that tea was served in such a thing instead of a regular teacup. He regretted even coming here with her but it was too late to back out now without seeming rude and he wanted her to approve of his character.
"So… you have an interest in demons, devils, and monsters eh? What do you know?" Angelea interrupted Edward's thoughts, as she looked straight at him sipping at her coco.
Edward looked at her direction and cleared his throat as he folded his hands on the table, "Ask me anything and I'll answer," He replied calmly.
Angelea sat up straight in deep thought and came up with something difficult that most people wouldn't know.
"How many wings does the devil Lucifer possess?" she asked confidently grinning as she held her mug.
There was a pause, Angelea began to think he didn't know until Edward broke the silence, "The claim is twelve, some argue more, others less, but who's counting really? Does it really matter how many wings an angel, or in this case, what a fallen angel possess when gravity or air is most likely nonexistent in the realm that is not of this present reality on earth. I don't see why they would bother with wings." he finished, sipping his tea, realizing what he was holding and quickly sat the cup down in annoyance.
Angelea stared at him in surprise, "Wow I… I never really thought of that… you're right about the claim of twelve but… what you said after I never even considered. …It, it kind of makes sense."
"Ask me another one."
Angelea had to think of another hard one, "How well do you know your sigils or symbols?" she asked before deciding on her next question.
"Quite well." He answered as he crossed his arms.
"What is the distinct symbol in the middle of Lucifer's Angelic sigil?"
"Another questions about Lucifer?" he thought in annoyance, "A symbol shaped like an Ankh inside an inverted isosceles shape triangle besides other simple designs it is coupled with." he explained while he traced the symbol with his finger on the table as Angelea closely followed it wide-eyed.
"Holy crap, you really are knowledgeable!" she exclaimed in excitement and disbelief as she sat forward.
Edward took another sip of his tea, savoring the taste again before setting the cup down, "Is there any more you wish to test me? And please don't ask me another than question that is centered on Lucifer… I really could care less, despite knowing a great knowledge on such a creature." He finished bitterly looking at Angelea's offending cup.
Angelea noticed Edwards disdain and decided to move on to something else, "Hmm… uhm, what do you know of possession?"
Edward's brow furrowed upward, "What about it?"
"Can a spirit or angel that comes from good possess a human to help or assist someone or others or to pass information to another?"
"That's a simple question," as he paused to take another sip, "No, that goes against their moral rule or law. Why would a spirit or angel have to possess someone to allow them to give information to another when they can easily do that them self without using a conduit or vessel. Any entity— spirit or angel— that claims to be of good would refuse to ever possess a human if given the opportunity, because that is facilitating control of ones free will and invading the body and mind of the possessed. It is only daemons and devils that are willing to do this to a person, even as far as to possess animals."
Angelea almost choked on her coco as she sat her mug down and coughed. Edward just stared at her blankly, handing her a napkin he was offered from the barista earlier.
"Are you alright?" he plainly asked.
"Y-yes, I'm fine." Angelea replied between coughs as she took the napkin from him to cover her mouth, face going red.
Once Angelea was able to end her disruptive cough, she calmly took a breath and took another attempt at her coco. Edward observed the café some more, looking at his surroundings lost in thought, as if he was searching for something outside the large wide windows behind Angelea.
Angelea noticed and asked another question, only this time it wasn't to test his knowledge, "So… how do you know all of this?"
Edward adverted his gaze at the young woman, "As I've stated earlier, I enjoy reading."
"I see," she said smiling.
"Now it is my turn to ask questions,"
"Okay~"
"Why are you reading lore of lycanthropy? Quite unusual for a young woman to have any interest in something based on that subject. Do you have a fascination with shapeshifters?" taking another drink of his tea, then imagining how ridiculous he looked and sat it down, brows furrowed.
"Is there something wrong with your tea?" Angelea asked concerned.
"No, it is not the tea it is the cup," he pushed the cup to the side away from him, "I can't drink out of this ridiculous cup, I don't understand why they didn't serve the tea in a regular tea cup, this cup is absolutely horrid."
Angelea grinned at Edward and apologized as if it was her fault and went to grab for the cup as she stood up to suggest changing it. Edward prevented her from grabbing the cup with his hand and shook his head telling her to not worry about it. She was stubborn and went against his protest as she took the cup and went up to the cashier to discuss the cup problem. The woman, who wore a messy apron and had a nose ring and dreadlocks with beads in her hair, apologized and quickly changed the cup to a simple one and handed it to Angelea with a wide grin. Angelea thanked her and returned to her table where Edward was sitting. Edward realized that Angelea's character was too kind for her own good and felt a little awkward as he clasped the simple clay cup into his hands, thanking her.
"No problem, hopefully this cup is better suited for you. It did look quite ridiculous with you holding it," She said amusingly, not admitting that she was inwardly laughing when she watched him use it. "Returning to your question, uh," she hesitated in thought remembering that she had to be careful in how she answered, "I do have a fascination with shapeshifters among many other things. I'm… a little rusty on the lore of lycanthropy and I have… a, uh… a test on it coming up pretty soon. So I'm studying it to cover what I forgot."
"I see." Edward knew she wasn't being completely honest and was holding back. She didn't trust him and he intended to change that.
A long pause as both of them made their attentions to what was around them or the cups in front of them. The silence broke as Edward spoke up again, "What other interests do you have besides religious and theological myths?" finishing with another sip of his tea anticipating her reply.
Angelea's expression quickly turned into excitement after she heard the question, "Oh everything!"
"Everything?"
"Yes everything in this world and beyond! I'm interested in a variety of music, all forms of art, history, all religions that is new and ancient besides Christianity, symbology," Edward began to regret asking her that question when hearing her ramble on the list of interests, "angelology and daemonology, philosophy, the sciences, sociology, anthropology, and so much more! I love to learn and hope I can travel the world and visit every country so that I can meet all kinds of people from diverse backgrounds. I really want to understand this world it's so fascinating and beautiful!"
Edward just blankly stared in response, processing the information given, "That's… quite a lot of interests." He exclaimed.
"What about you?"
"Pardon?"
"What are your interests?"
Another awkward pause as the question lingered in the air. Edward was never asked that question before, and inwardly he felt confused as to how to answer. He was again at a loss for words, what were his interests besides reading books. The very thought troubled him as he pondered over it. Angelea patiently waited for his reply as she finished her coco.
"Like you I have an interest in history, I fancy art, specifically by Johannes Vermeer, Gustave Courbet, Vincent van Gogh, Michelangelo, and Caravaggio to name a few. I prefer classical music and can play a couple of instruments—"
"What kind?" Angelea interrupted with great interest as she sat forward in her seat.
"Piano, violin, and cello; however, it has been a long time since I've played."
Angelea replied in a sound of amazement and curiosity, thinking out loud how she would like to hear him play. Edward heard the wishful thinking and ignored it as he continued, "I enjoy horseback riding, hunting, fencing, and the occasional traveling, and of course, reading for pleasure and knowledge sake." He finished as he folded his hands around his tea.
Edward's character and his interests dazzled Angelea that she imagined she could really learn a lot from him. Edward finished his tea, which was already cold by the time it met his lips.
"So where are all the places you've travelled?"
"Too many to count." Edward replied, beginning to feel uncomfortable, he had to be careful with what he said.
"Of all the places you've been what is your favorite?"
"I couldn't really say."
Angelea didn't seem satisfied with his answers by trying to get to know him, judging he seemed to be the type who kept a lot to himself.
"So what do you do as a profession?"
Edward was silent in thought over the question and then quickly turned the question on her, "Judging by the uniform, I'm not familiar with yours."
Carefully answering, "Oh, I guess you could say… I work at the Church."
"You guess?" he raised a brow questioningly, as he rested his head on the palm of his hand.
"Well, I don't really see it as work. My entire life has been devoted to the 'Holy Church of Saint Michael the Archangel'. I mostly study, teach, and care for people both in the Church and outside of it." Edward just nodded in reply.
"What about you?" Angelea chimed, really interested in learning about him.
"Business,"
"What kind of business?" she pushed further for more.
"Prefer not to say." Edward answered sternly to end her intrusive personal questioning that he very much disliked, narrowing his green-blue eyes at her as a warning.
Angelea felt intimidated by his behavior and decided to drop it, she didn't want to upset Edward and apologized. He waved it away as if to forget about it.
The interaction was beginning to turn awkward again as Angelea thought of something else to talk about, "Are you good with the sword?"
"Yes." Edward smirked; this was the first time to see an expression other than the kind that was emotionless or serious, it suited him.
"Could you teach me?" she said with hope as she clasped her hands together as if pleading.
Edward hesitated with the words, "I… suppose." His smirk changed into confusion. Angelea inwardly jumped with joy, which quickly went away as she noticed the clock on the wall behind Edward from afar. Edward noticed the smile disappearing from Angelea's face as it was replaced with one of concern and worry, her attention focused behind him.
"What's wrong?" as he turned to look briefly seeing nothing in particular concern.
"I have to go, I'm late for something sorry to end this abruptly."
Edward nodded as he stood up; Angelea took the empty cups to hand to the baristas at the drop off location. Edward tried to think of a proper way request another time to meet her as he watched her quickly gather her things and boldly blurted out, "I like to see you again."
Angelea paused in surprise as she looked at Edward, her face warming and slightly smiled in response as Edward waited for her answer. "Sure~ uhm… I'm gonna be busy the next couple days, not sure when I'll be free again to meet you but do you have a way I could contact you such as a number?"
"No."
"Oh." Angelea answered disappointingly, realizing she didn't have an easy way to be contacted with either, she never owned a cellphone but she does have e-mail.
She took out a piece of paper she ripped from her notes and scribbled down her email and extended it to Edward. He looked at the piece of paper in question before taking it and looking at it confused, it read: .
"My e-mail in case you want to contact me and arrange another get together sometime. What's yours?" as she stooped down to pick up one of the large canvas bags.
Edward grabbed the one by him and handed it to Angelea, "I… don't have one."
Angelea gave him a look of disbelief, "You're telling me you don't have an e-mail or a number to call you and you're a businessman?" she raised an incredulous brow.
"My apologies for not keeping up with the times, I simply lost my phone and never replaced it." He exclaimed, annoyance in his tone.
Angelea just smiled, shaking her head and apologized, "Just contact me whenever, I'll let you know when I'm free or if I have another question to ask you." She smiled, already feeling the weight of the books again. "I hope we can be good friends, I very much enjoyed our conversation and look forward to another, see ya later~!" she chimed and left Edward behind, alone in the café, which became busy with the usual regulars. He stood there with the small piece of paper in hand and put it in his pocket with the word 'friends' lingering in his mind.
Slightly frustrated, Edward was deep in thought on the events that happened and concluded that he needed to get an 'e-mail' to use. He also realized that he was willing to teach her how to use a sword and inwardly cringed at the prospect. He quickly left the café behind as he walked towards his destination for "home" if he could call it that. He was pleased to have the opportunity to meet with her again which was his intended goal, and with her to suggest friendship made it all the easier. His only concern was to not mess up and continue on with who he was: Edward Crosse, friend.
Author's Note: I am so sorry to my readers of my ninth chapter. I realized to my horror, that I submitted a rough draft and not the chapter I intended to submit. There are some minor changes, except Edward Crosse appearance is definitely not what you have read before. My intent for my OC's is to have a variety of ethnicities instead of the typical white man appearance (no offense). If you wish to re-read the last chapter you may, or you can move forward and figure out what Edward looks like later on in the story. My sincere apologies to all of you for my error. With that said, I have also gone back and edited my other older chapters to fix any grammatical mistakes to allow the story to fit better with the new chapters I update so it would flow better for any newcomers who read. It is still being edited at the moment.
Thank you all for coming this far by sticking to my fic and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I have enjoyed writing it. A recent review gave me the determination to complete this chapter in a day because I was so delighted to hear from an old fan and I felt I owe it to them. I hope you continue to follow and don't be shy in leaving a review of what you think. It may just encourage me to work on and update the next chapter this week; I'm already working out the details. If any of you have questions or are confused about what I have wrote in this chapter, such as the section between Angelea and Edwards conversation on demon lore, don't hesitate to ask me. Got to use my degree in Religious Studies and Philosophy for something. ;3