Summary

Arthur is panicking and, at last, the demon's plot begins to surface

Shadow Smile

Chapter Eleven: Blood Rush

It wasn't uncommon for Arthur to see demons. As a grand courier for heaven, his duty to slay demons and protect the miserable humans below often put him in sticky situations. However, nothing he saw before could compare with the red with which Alfred's wings were quickly molting into. The bloody crimson was spreading faster than his brain could process and his unintelligible speech was an obvious indicator that he had no idea what was happening. Yes, this centurion angel had never before seen an angel with blood red wings.

Alfred was miserable. His only protector was useless in stopping the flow of red coursing through his back and into his wings. He knew that sooner or later he would have to face the horrible fact that he wasn't even doomed to be a lowly demon. He was something and a monster was the only thing he could think of. No angel in heaven or on earth had wings like his. Its color was as threatening as a full blown war and yet to Mathew knew him well enough to see the truth. Red is truly the color of pain.

Poor Mathew could only look on as Arthur was stricken with pain and worry being consumed by his own need to protect someone. Francis had quickly set to dragging everyone back into the castle forcibly uprooting Arthur and carrying him inside where the man fainted with fatigue after stalling a magic circle for just a half minute too long. Mathew held onto Alfred's hand pulling him inside and quickly wrapping him up in a hug understanding that it wasn't Alfred's fault that all this was happening. Questions were running rampant inside each of their heads, but no one had the ability to answer them. At least they thought it was that way.

Francis moved Alfred into the kitchen where they could wait comfortably for Arthur to recover. The one winged spawn was crying into the shoulder of the other who was sniffling and trying to hold back his tears. A few murmurs could be heard going between the two, but Francis left the spawns to comfort each other knowing that he knew as much as they did.

Alfred sniffled and looked up at his friend Mattie. They hadn't known each other long, but to Alfred any love at all was so welcome it didn't matter. "I-I'm sorry Mattie…It's all my fault, I'm sorrwe…" Matthew wouldn't let him continue apologizing instead he just held Alfred closer burying his head into his shoulder knowing that once Arthur woke up they could somehow find answers to this mess.

Francis could only sigh in amazement at all the trouble that was brewing around Alfred. He couldn't judge Arthur anymore. The man's worries were all spot on. Alfred was indeed the spawn of two very different creatures, a half breed of the world's most powerful beings.

Arthur mumbled in his sleep drawing Francis from his thoughts. The thoughtful angel swiftly got to comforting the other and reassuring him that nothing was wrong.

"Nothing is wrong?" Arthur barked. He let out strained laughter at the thought. "Alfred's wings have turned all bloody and 'nothing's wrong'?" Arthur was starting to look half crazed and less like his usual self.

"Mon ami pull yourself together!" Francis glanced at the door worriedly, "Please, for the boy, he can't see you like this." Francis was roughly shoved out of the way and Arthur stood to his feet. He stumbled toward one of the many bookshelves that lined the library walls a worried Frenchman at his heels.

"I can't bloody remember. I can't bloody remember which of these books has it." Francis grabbed Arthur's shoulder before the half awake man could topple over in his search for information. Francis only felt a little strained as Arthur put his whole weight on the other.

"Has what?"

Arthur's eyebrows were locked in deep concentration and he burst out, "The bloody answers that's what!" Standing up again he brushed of his shoulders before going to pull dozens of books from their perches glancing at their covers angrily before throwing them haphazardly around the room.

Eventually, the man found what he was looking for and drew himself up on the sofa. He glanced up at Francis for only a moment quickly turning back to the book when he reached some conclusion. Francis was mystified. He could only guess what was going on behind Arthur's furrowed brows.

It couldn't be true could it? If what Arthur was reading was the truth, danger was closer than he had anticipated. Flipping through the pages of the book he found himself constantly looking back and forth between what was written and Francis. Spawns were always considered natural events. They came out of nowhere and showed up wherever there were people so they were all found eventually and yet Alfred grew up near a town that knew nothing of spawns. He hadn't thought of it before, but now it had him itching for answers.

The book itself should have been burned as treason, but his busy schedule left it unnoticed until he thought of it just moments before. The book was a human's guide to raising angels which would have been harmless if it hadn't resulted in failure. The original author was long gone, but his creation still lived on. The demon he had created lacked wings and was doomed to be lost among the humans. Was the creature truly a demon? No one could tell for sure since it lacked the traits of both worlds. It became restless being unable to enter either afterworld and turned to God for answers. God felt pity for the creature and gave it a destiny even though it was not God who had created him. The creature became known as Eden, the Gardener whose tears could bring the dead back to life. Arthur held a great interest in this story noticing how the bonds that a spawn holds with its caretaker could be likened to chains and most importantly how spawns change in appearance after accepting their destiny.

A destiny was a final resting place in the simplest terms, a home. With two caretakers Alfred had no singular home and therefore had no single destiny. He was doomed to be rejected by both worlds until the traces of one disappeared. Like Eden, he was unlike either of his caretakers instead pulling from his surroundings to find an appearance that would fit and Alfred had chosen what had been closest to him at the time of their meeting, a rose.

Arthur felt himself understanding more, realizing more with each page, but poor Francis was still in the dark his only clue the frequent glances in his direction.

The Author Speaks

Thank you for reading this far! I'm so happy that this story has interested you. This chapter was written with pastaaddict in mind thank you so much for your constant support! I know you may be like "grah I hate cliffhangers explain more!"

Alfred grew up hated, but longed for the attention any child would require to grow up properly. At first he was only shunned by the adults while the children of the town kept him fed and clothed. When they grew up however he lost favor with them and was driven out into the woods. While he was there he grew fond of gardening which influenced his appearance at the end of the last chapter.

The main problem here is the battle between Ivan and Arthur. Even though it is not face to face, Alfred has the hardest time dealing with his inner emotions. For a full century he was alone with only his garden to comfort him, but with the arrival of Arthur he was forced out in the open to face his fears. This sudden shock is causing him to retreat back into his mind and into his garden.

Alfred's wings (well wing) is red. This is happening because he can't follow a singular destiny anymore. He now has to choose his own destiny and with his love of gardening he is coloring himself to match his beloved roses.

Summary

"Alfred! Oh Alfred you know I'll always love you, you're my precious baby brother."

A girl with brown hair and a loving smile who one day disappears into a shadow of her former self and a baker who is constantly at war with a small boy. Roses are torn apart and evil makes its appearance for the first time.

Stay tuned for…

Shadow Smile

Chapter Twelve: The Baker's Candle