Chapter 14 – Theft, Reconciliation, and the Angel of Pride

Time was running out. The meteor was descending faster and faster. The villagers—including me, Nadine, and Kaizel, just stood in terror. Paralyzed by fear.

A miracle, it seemed, that the meteor swelled up as it entered the zone Rubalkabara had set up.

It was bad, however, for Rubalkabara to have cast that spell. It was white magic. That used by priests. Christian priests. White magic was apparently forbidden here.

The sorcerers who once glared at Nadine and Kaizel now shifted their gaze to Father Rubalkabara, their staves drawn.

"What must be done must be done." One of them stiffly said, raising his staff in the air. The others followed.

The once blue sky turned a deep gray, and rain started to fall on the land, accompanied by the roaring of thunder. Lightning struck now and then.

The sorcerers advanced one step. Then another, changing their staves' position with each step, until the point that all their staves were directly below his chin.

"Looks like I get to die a martyr's death now, eh?" He sarcastically said. I found it stupid to act this cool during his final moments—or rather, suspicious. He was plotting something.

"Rahavu!" They all bellowed, fire erupting from their staves.

"—but I won't die alone!" An echoing voiced exclaimed. Clouds gathered into a spiral above us, and from within, pillars of light erupted, eliminating the villagers on a large scale.

"They're agents from the Sanctuary!" One of them bellowed, "Cast them away! Show no mer—" He was cut short as a pillar of light swallowed him.

I ran towards Nadine and Kaizel, who bore a confused look.

"What the hell is going on?" Kaizel exclaimed.

"Why are you here?" I replied.

Our conversation was going nowhere. Besides, we had other matters on our hand—like staying alive!

The once peace-loving innkeeper ran out into the storm, carrying a revolver. Obviously, he wasn't a sorcerer as were the other villagers.

He aimed it at me. I had no choice. I took out my shotgun and mercilessly killed him.

"Hey, where'd you get that shotgun?" Kaizel awkwardly said, "AND WHAT DID YOU DO TO MINE?"

"You still haven't told me why you're here!" I said, not even turning around to face him.

Hastily, I ran towards the innkeeper's corpse. However, I stopped abruptly as one of the pillars of light erupted in front of me. After it had subsided, I continued running.

I knelt by his corpse and took the gun. I examined it. Deciding to test it, I aimed it at his dead head and shot at it once more. Perfect. This should come in handy.

I scavenged his clothes and found several sharp knives. I took two and placed them by my ankle, hiding it with my pants. They could come in handy in the future. Or they wouldn't. But who knows?

Overhead, a figure emerged from one of the pillars of light. It began to morph into a woman's body with a white gown, pale white skin, and gushing silver hair. She ascended up into the clouds, and descended as the exact opposite—her gown had turned white, and her once silver hair turned a silky black color. I saw her glaring at me through deep, red eyes.

A sword formed on her right hand. She clutched it tightly and hurled it at me. Out of my shock, I just stood there, paralyzed by fear.

From the side, something shot it off course. Or rather, someone. I turned around to see Kaizel clutching his machine gun.

"Re! Kaizel! Here!" I heard Nadine's voice cry out. The angel spotted me, and once again, a sword formed on her right hand, but this time, one appeared on her left as well.

"So…" Kaizel began, as if this were some casual conversation, "What's the plan?"

Up ahead, a huge airship loomed in the distance. I could faintly see Nadine at its foot.

I ran behind the inn and quickly mounted my hoverbike. I drove it to where Kaizel was once. He had apparently ran back to get his hoverbike.

I didn't wait for him. I drove it towards the airship at top speed, not even noticing the angel was already hurling several swords at me—all of which missed. Behind me, I saw Kaizel driving his hoverbike as fast as he could as well.

Hastily, we drove our bikes in and closed the door.

"Know how to drive this thing?" I asked Kaizel.

"Vaguely. I'm not experienced."

"Well, you're the best bet we've got! MOVE!" I exclaimed, pushing him to the cockpit.

I paused for a while, trying to catch my breath. Then, we heard a loud banging on the door.

Awhile later, a sword pierced through. It was the angel.

I grabbed my wand, but the second I did, the sword was blasted into oblivion. I looked at Nadine, she held her rosary in front of her, coiled around her outstretched arm.

"What?" She said, in a sort of "popular girl" style.

"Nothing. Kaizel! Start the engine!"

We had to leave. Now. This place was going crazy. A fallen angel was chasing after us, and pillars of light had just blasted the villagers to oblivion.

By now, several swords have been pierced through the door. Nadine was trying her best to blast them all, but to no avail.

"Need some help?"

"Yes, that would be appreciated."

I sensed a tone of sarcasm in her voice. Copying her, I coiled my rosary around my arm as well, and grabbed her arm. With the other hand, I grabbed her other arm, and seemingly started dancing the waltz.

Yes. The waltz. Not the classical waltz. The other one. The waltz of death. More popularly known as the dance of death.

At the same time, we pointed at the swords and blasted most of them. But the angel was persistent. Instantly, the door filled up once more.

I spun her around, as was the custom, then she rammed me on the wall. Ouch. Deciding to strike back, I grabbed her waist and began to dance. We turned around slowly, on beat even, then I suddenly rammed her to the door, she missed the swords by inches, and I could see the anxiety she felt.

All on beat.

"So…how's life been?" I asked as I grabbed her once more. She placed her arms around me. But somehow, I knew only bad would come out of it.

"It's been—"She paused as she tried crushing my bones. Surprisingly, it was hurting, "—fine"

I bent down, with her weight on my arms. Without hesitating, I let go of her. She hit the floor with a loud thud, while biting her lip. "And you?"

She stood up grabbed my waist, and we started turning around on beat once more. She then abruptly bent down and took my knives, hurling them at the door.

She stood back up again and I grabbed her waist once more. Now spinning off beat, I rammed her into various objects including chairs, tables, and our hoverbikes. In her rage, she blasted me—the same blast she used to blast the swords. It was so powerful and full of her rage, that I was being pushed towards the door, where several swords were. Seeing a nearby pole, I grabbed it and spun around it. The blast passed me and instead hit the door. The air pressure acted like a vacuum, sucking us in. Instinctively, I sealed it with the same green wall Rubalkabara had used—somehow I had learnt it…or was it just the adrenaline I was feeling?

"What is wrong with you?" Nadine finally exclaimed, walking towards me hastily, every step making a loud thump, "You're a murderer! You're not the Re I know!" And she slapped my face.

"You've changed into someone else I don't know and love!" She slapped me again, about to burst into tears.

"Why did you have to kill an innocent person like Gustav?" She slapped me once more, crying.

"Was it because you were jealous?" She slapped me yet again. "Were you envious?"


She stopped slapping me and just started sulking on the floor. By now, my face was bloody red. I tried to stop the tears that haven't fallen in aeons, but I couldn't. It just…fell.

I knelt down beside her, yet looking away, avoiding the shame. I removed her hair from her eyes, caressing her gentle face.

"I want to love you…because I do, but….I can't." She said, rejecting my hand. "I-I can't…it's gone. The passion we had for each other, flushed down the dra—" I placed my index finger on her lips.

My sight was blurry. Tears had flooded my eyes. Slowly, I placed my arms around her, looking around if she would accept it. She did. We stood up.

"I was jealous. Envious. I wanted you to myself." I began confessing, "I couldn't take the competition. Couldn't take the fact that you were choosing someone over me. Couldn't—"

"Hold on." She said, stopping me from talking, "Whoever said I chose him over you?"

More tears gushed down my eyes as she drew closer to me. Moments later, I felt her soft, gentle lips press against mine for a split moment.

"I-I'm sorry…" I apologized. She began to lean on my shoulder, tears still gushing down, as did mine. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you."

Unlike our little dance of death, we spun around, indulging ourselves into a world of our own. A world apart from this one torn by sin.

Of course, we had totally forgotten about the angel. An angel born out of one of my countless sins. An angel born out of my pride.