Author's Note: Hey. You all mad? You can be mad. I totally forgot about this story, but I still have the plan for it, so here it is! Gosh, it's been a while…

PS of ps-es: Hey. I rewrote some important parts of the other chapters, so you might want to read it all before reading this chapter. Thank you.

When light pierced my eyelids, it wasn't long for me to realize I wasn't in my room. The walls, the furniture, everything was different. Especially that smell. That horrible stench… It smelled like someone had forgotten some food on the table for weeks! Whose room was I in anyway? As I tried to stand on my elbows for support, I groaned, having slept on my wings; they were now all wrinkly, just the way it hurt annoyingly. A blonde mass suddenly came in my face and tall, worried eyes stared at me, making me gasp in shock. As a reflex, I struck out with my foot, pushing the man away from me.

"Whoa, whoa!" he cried out, dodging the hit by a hair. I nearly hit his nose. "Calm down, it's me, Jecra!"

"You…"

I held my head, feeling a sudden pain run down from my brain to the bottom of my spine. His hand gently pressed down on my back, and two fingers pressed at a certain place that suddenly made all the pain go away. I looked up at him in surprise, not understanding why he would do such a thing for me. I still hated him! He was supposed to be looking for my death! I saw it in his gaze everytime he looked at me during training…

"You're pretty nervous," he said casually, scratching his messed up hair. "I inspected you while you were out and all your muscles are horribly tensed up. No wonder you feel pretty weak… You okay though?"

I simply stared at him, astonished. He was… actually worried about me? I never thought this day would come. However, the small joy this news brought me was soon replaced with anger and confusion as the souvenirs came back. They all thought I was a demon… Why? Was there a proof? Did Jecra think so as well, like everyone else? He probably did… I ran a hand down my head, and I suddenly realized something. My head! Sir Arthur had seen something on my head! But I had forgotten about this… Stupid Meta! Stupid memory!

"Quick! Look at my head!"

Jecra gave me a weird look, wondering about this sudden outburst.

"Wha…"

"No time for questions! Just look at my head and tell me what you see!"

He stood there a moment, then shrugged and walked over, tilting my head so he could see properly. I felt his hands travel on my skin, searching for anything unusual, and he suddenly froze.

"What in Nova is that…" I heard him mumble, astonished.

"Describe it to me."

"It's… kind of weird. It looks like the logo of Holy Nightmare Corporation… A tattoo of some sort. It's small though…"

I froze. What? Holy Nightmare… Corporation? So… it was true… But why didn't I remember? Why couldn't I remember? Why was I far away from my place of birth? Was I supposed to be a spy? Was I just a time-bomb, slowly ticking away until the demon came back in full force? Too many questions, not a single answer… Why had everyone hid it from me? Was I this expendable…? What about what Sir Dragato was telling Sir Arthur? About his son? Was that why… he named me Meta? This was too much…

"You okay there?" Jecra asked me, walking back in front. "You don't look too good…"

"I don't look good?" I repeated, looking up at him. "I think you would look the same if you just learned that you were a demon, idiot!"

"…You didn't know?"

…He must have been kidding me right now.

"What do you… mean?" I asked. "Everyone… knew?"

"Have you ever looked at yourself in a mirror?"

What kind of question was that? Of course I did! I answered him promptly, then asked:

"Why?"

"It's your eyes, kid. There is blood flowing in them."

…So that was why…

"But… what about Sir Galacta? Aren't his eyes red as well?"

"It's not the same," he answered, shaking his head. "His are natural. Yours… not really."

But… this wasn't fair… I was a demon… For a brief moment, however short it was, I felt a strong push in my guts, almost telling me to go back home. The instant the thought appeared, something brushed it aside. I couldn't go back. I had done something. What? I didn't know. Now that I thought this over, in the silence that extended between me and the blond man, it didn't change what the others thought of me. There were some nice people. I could still do things to make the others change their mind about me. I was a demon among angels. Maybe… I could earn my place. I sighed deeply, and looked up again at Jecra. He had sat down on a backward chair in front and was waiting, his arms crossed on the back of the chair.

"You okay?" he asked. "You took it rather well."

"Can you… help me get better with a sword?"

He looked surprised for a moment, then, to my own surprise, he offered a small smile. He held out his hand.

"Alright! Before we do anything, you should go rest in your room. I'll tell Sir Arthur you're unable to train today."

"Thanks… Sincerely."

I guess he wasn't what he appeared to be… Maybe he had his reasons to act like this with me. Had he thought that, since I was a demon, I knew it already? That I was already mentally strong enough to uphold his treatments? I never knew. I never asked him, nor had I got the chance to.

Since that day, I… guess I changed. I focused more on my training and I guess I mentally grew up, even if just a notch. It was still enough to make a difference. I remember that the day after, when I met Sir Arthur, he wouldn't look at me directly. It was subtle, very even, but I noticed it. Maybe he was ashamed. But, the more I thought it over, the less I cared. Sir Arthur had given me a name. Whether it was really his son's name or not mattered not for me. I was just grateful for it. I didn't know what my real demon name was, but I didn't care for that either. I was living with the Star Warriors now. I could only laugh about fate's irony. But still… what exactly had drove me away? Was I a traitor? A failure?

When I asked Sir Arthur one day about demon in exile, he told me:

"They usually don't come here. Whether it is because they already have another destination or because they don't have the time, we don't know."

"Don't have the time?"

"Exiled demon-beasts are pursued until they are dead. If they escape, they are free. If not… well, we wouldn't have met."

It explained my pursuers… but nothing else. I decided to just wait.

And soon enough, my prayers were answered. My very first mission outside the HQ. I don't know why I was so ecstatic. Was it because I would be able to leave? Or just because I would see something else? I didn't know, but I couldn't wait, and the day of departure couldn't come any faster. It wasn't a complicated mission. We would just need to go down on a planet that was recently saved from demon-beasts and help the smaller villages. It was more of a rescue mission, but I still liked it. I would be able to be… useful. Before we embarked on the vessel that would take us there, Sir Arthur came up to me; he wasn't coming, for he had other important things to do. He handed me something wrapped in a blue cloth…

"I would like you to have this," he told me with a small smile and eyes that read a distant solitude. "It belonged to my son. It should be your size and should be pretty useful if you run into any trouble."

I could only stare at the hidden object, mouth agape.

"I… I can't possibly…"

"It is not yours to refuse, but mine to give," he said, his smile widening a little. "You don't have to wear it if you don't like it. I just want you to have it."

He had to leave before I could open the present, so I took it inside the ship as my group entered. I sat down on one of the seats and tied my belt, holding the present on my 'knees'. There were a dozen soldiers with me, most of them I already knew. Men and women from distant planets, all reunited together… Jecra sat across from me and he gestured toward my extra package.

"What is that?"

"I don't know," I answered. "Sir Arthur gave it to me before we left."

Without waiting more, I unwrapped the blue cloth, which quite appeared to be a cape… and under it was something even better. A metal mask. It was light in my hands, round to shape my face, and had a V visor on its center. There were small dents here and there, but otherwise it looked almost unused. How old had his son been when…? I found myself staring at the mask, while the others around me almost marvelled about it and how it came from our leader. So Sir Arthur really saw his son in me… How did he look like? And his wife? How had they…? I never knew. I never dared to ask such a personal question. The only image I ever had of Sir Arthur's son was my reflection in a mirror, wearing the mask to hide my eyes and the cape to hide my wings.

"You know," Jecra said as I put on the mask. "It kinda suits- Oh!"

I looked up, having just put on the mask.

"What?"

Not only he, but everyone else was staring at me. Was the mask ugly on me?

"Dude!" a man a little younger than Jecra said in disbelief. "Your eyes!"

"What about them?" I replied, completely oblivious.

The only thing I first realized was that my voice was slightly muffled by the mask. One of the women among us took out her bag and shuffled in it a moment, until she took out a small pocket mirror. She walked over and handed it to me, so I took a quick look. My eyes… Not only did I now look more intimidating than I had thought, my eyes… my bloodshot eyes… They were golden. Golden! What… sorcery was this? Silently, I handed the mirror back to her, so she could go back to her seat with a satisfied smile. I quickly took the mask off and inspected it closer. There was nothing that could have permitted this miracle… Nothing.

We landed on the planet a few hours later. This part of the world seemed like a paradise. The land was stricken with thousands rivers and seas, and we were to help the people living on the land. The temperature was perfect, even a little fresher than I thought it would be. It had been so long now since I walked on land… The grass was tall and fresh, everything was beautiful. We walked out of the beach we had landed on and followed the road. The more we walked, the more I felt… sad. Things happened here… As we marched on in silence, I looked down at the closest stream. It was poisoned by blood, subtly blending in with the water. There were no fish, and insects wouldn't land on its surface. My skilled nose detected even the slightest drop leading up the stream to a biger river.

We arrived in the village. And I felt my shoulders drop with a sudden weight. All around us… The people here were still burying their dead. The river bank had yet to be cleaned, and two people were hoisting a swelled up body out of the water. I sighed and followed the others, relieved that the mask hid my eyes. The sight of another demon would have scared the villagers into destroying me. Probably. I followed the others closely as the leader of our group went to talk with the village elder, an old woman who had to walk using a cane. The people here were strange, but marvelling in their own way. They looked like tall birds with a more human look to their faces. Their fingers were almost hidden underneath the feathers covering their arms. The old woman, whose white hair was tied up in many small braids, told our leader something in their native tongue, and he turned to us.

"Alright ladies," he called out, "you'll just have to disperse and help as much as you can. Rebuild houses, clean the mess or heal the injured – do what you please. We leave in a month, so make yourselves at home."

I remember the first thing I did on this mission. It was my very first act as a GSA warrior. I walked up in the depths of the village, where the river turned into a lake, and I saw a woman and her young daughter trying to pull a large piece of broken roof off of their destroyed house. I quickly walked over and, without a word, started pulling with them. We managed to pull it out, and the beam fell to the ground with a thud. I helped for two hours on this house, and soon it was cleaned of the mess, even though it still needed to be repaired. Breathing out in relief, the woman stared at me and said, in the commercial language:

"Thank you Star Warrior! Thank you for your help."

With her daughter in synch, they both leaned forward, holding out a wing like a veil. I simply stood there, eyes widened. I wasn't a Star Warrior… but it felt good.