Tales of Faith
Past Arc – Destiny
Chapter 49: Full-Blooded "Shadow"
It was really odd. How our group grew significantly before we reached the first waypoint to clear the Shadows residing in the Midnight Zone. There were my dormmates, Cipher, Reiga and Flaust. I wouldn't be able to believe it… the young boy living with us, Duke… also had the potential… And here he is. There was also… Ms. Colette's colleagues: Mr. Esprade, the school doctor. I always thought he was a 'she' based on his appearance even to this day… Mr. Etch, my co-curriculum instructor. He was the most experienced in close combat when compared to us.Ms. Celine , Cipher's history teacher. She can… conjure psychokinesis, based on what told me when I asked her. Who else was there…? Oh, and there is Arda-san. Hm… None of us know about him very well… he keeps some distance away from us all the time… Come to think of it… I remember seeing Duke eye Arda-san… I wonder why…
…I nearly forgot. Not long after we cleared the Shadows out of the first waypoint… we found someone. Ms. Colette said that she installed programs in me to detect Shadows: they work very well. Although… can a program be installed in a person? Anyway… That someone… was a small, gray being. This person wore some sort of strange headgear. There was a small bulb on both his arms. His orange eyes appeared glazed… My sensors went nuts when I got close to him… He is a Shadow. However, he didn't appear to be hostile like the others… Ms. Colette defended the Shadow… and she attempted to make acquaintances with the Shadow…
…And now, the Shadow is travelling with us. Everyone else are still wary of him… I am wary of him as well… It's late after the Midnight Zone had passed by… and we all noticed that he didn't disappear into the Midnight Zone when it ended… But… someone has to talk to him… Gathering my thoughts, I decided to make talk with the Shadow. But I am sure he wouldn't understand words, anyway…
"Hello?" I called out to the Shadow. He was sitting on a tree stump, staring at the skies. The Shadow turned his head towards me. He then faced back at the sky. Nodding to myself, I took a seat on the grassy land beside the Shadow. When I did that, I saw the Shadow shift slightly away from me.
"Please, come closer. I have no intention of harming you." I assured the Shadow. "I just want to talk to you." The Shadow turned to me, and rather cautiously, moved ever so slightly towards me. 'Alright… I just need to talk. Hmm… Maybe I could ask him more about the Midnight Zone. He is a Shadow, after all…'
"…Did you know about the time where we found you? Can you explain more of it to me?" I asked. The Shadow remained silent, and shook his head.
'Hmm… so he doesn't know anything about the Midnight Zone?' I wondered. I started to think again. 'What else should I ask…? Hm? Maybe I could ask about the origin of Shadows?' I turned to the Shadow. "Are there more similar like you? Do you know where they come from?"
The Shadow, once again, shook his head without speaking.
This is going nowhere… "Say something, please." I said. I was expecting no response, but…
"…Something."
"Hm?" I blinked.
"You told me to say something." The Shadow spoke. "And for your questions…" He clutched his legs. "I… don't know. I found myself there… I don't know who I am…"
"Amnesia?" I said. The Shadow turned to me. "Amnesia?" He asked.
I decided to explain amnesia to him. Having suffered from amnesia, I gave out the important parts of amnesia to him clearly. "…Okay. I understand." The Shadow nodded. I looked at him, and realized that he didn't have anything on. Like most of the Shadows we've encountered, he is nude. "Hey, do you need me to get you some clo-" Before I finished my sentence, I saw something quite unbelievable. The darkness melded around him, forming shorts around his lower body. A tattered black cape formed around his neck, fluttering behind his back. His upper body is left bare, however… "-thes?"
I realized that I didn't know how to address the Shadow. "…Oh, right… What's your name?"
"…I have no name." The Shadow replied.
'No name?' I thought to myself. 'That's worse than me…' I pondered for a moment. "…Would it be alright if I came up with a name for you?"
"A name? Why?" The Shadow asks.
"Your name is your identity. It tells you who you are." I said to him. I started to ponder. What would be a good name for him? I remembered that I was reading something about the angels back when I was studying…
"…Azrael?" I said.
"…Azraiele?" The Shadow asks.
"Az…ra…el." I said between stops.
"Az…ra…el…" The Shadow nodded his head with every syllable. "…Azrael… That… will be alright…" He then pinched his cape and drew out a black feather, looking at it.
"…Ravenloss." I said immediately. "That's the feather of a raven, if I'm not wrong, and also, 'loss' represents how we found you."
"Azrael… Ravenloss." Azrael said. "Then… your name is…?"
"Rose Armornal." I replied.
"Hey!"
I recognized the voice and turned around. I saw Ms. Colette heading over to us with three bowls on her hands. I quickly got up and helped her carry two of the bowls. I sat back down and passed a bowl to Azrael.
"So… how did it go?" asked me.
"He has amnesia." I told her. "And I came up with his name: he didn't have one."
"Azrael Ravenloss." Azrael told Ms. Colette. "And… Ms. Colette?"
"Oh, just call me Colette!" said to Azrael. He nodded, raising his bowl to her. "…What is this, Colette?"
"It's soup! Arda made it for us to enjoy!" Ms. Colette explained to Azrael. Azrael looked down at the bowl of soup on his hands. He then poked his finger in the soup and immediately drew it away, hissing lightly.
"It burnt me." Azrael said.
"You'll need to blow." I told Azrael. I pointed to the spoon in his bowl. "You can use that instead. See?" I demonstrated by doing it myself. Blowing on the soup, I took one soupful before I put it in my mouth. It was still a bit hot… Guess I didn't blow hard enough… But I tried to ignore the pain for a while before gulping. Azrael was watching me, then he turned to his bowl of soup. He then followed my instructions, sipping the soup.
"How is it?" I asked him.
"It's… really… good…" Azrael said softly.
"Isn't it?" I said in agreement. "Arda-san may not look like it, but he's a really incredible cook!" I turned to Ms. Colette. "Ms. Colette? Is it good?" I asked her. Ms. Colette didn't reply. She was taking spoonfuls of the soup rather quickly. Really quickly…
"…Hm? Ms. Colette,do you really like the soup?" I asked.
"…Oh!" Ms. Colette turned to me, hastily nodding. "Y-Yes! It's really tasty!"
"…Bleh. I don't like this green stuff…" Azrael scooped up green vegetables from the soup with his spoon. I looked at it. It's capsicums. They were spicy vegetables. Hastily, I turned to to inform her, but she was still eating. I thought didn't like capsicums. Was I wrong?
"I-I have to go now…" Ms. Colette suddenly stood up, soup still on her hands. "Have to tell Arda about the capsicums…" She mumbled before she left. …I was wrong, then. Azrael watched her leave, then turned to me. "Rose…san?" He started to say. "Rose-san?"
"Hm?" I said.
"Can I… stay near you?" He asked. I nodded. He just needed my company, right? Azrael shuffled closer, a minimal gap spacing apart between our bodies. Azrael turned his head up to face me. "Rose-san… what'll happen… if everything is over?" he asked. "I've heard everyone spoke."
"Hmm…" I pondered. "World peace?"
"Hm…" Azrael was now pressing his side against me. "I… want to stay close to you. Can I do that?"
"Sure." I said.
When I think about it… both of us don't have memories of our lives when we were found… I, at first, never thought of it as odd…
…But it wasn't just me and Azrael… … she was also part of this…
…It didn't take very long… For me to find out about myself… and to question why I am here.
Why I must be here.
Chapter 49 End
