Chapter 17

"Name me... Abel... do it... name me..." Rina hissed. Abel gulped. He felt guilt build up in his gut. Ethan glared at him.

"Say her name, Abel. I'll tell you what, you say her name, I'll say mine." Abel let out a breath of air.

"Daughter... of the... Greek Goddess of... Darkness..." He stared into his eyes.

"The... Goddess... Venus... stole you away... and trapped you inside a human body..." Ethan had pain in his eyes. Abel was speaking of the knowledge he learned from the poem he wrote.

"I know your name... Royal blood..." He took a deep breath.

"Eleos... Desecreta." Ethan chuckled. Abel felt a rush of memories and emotions flood his mind.

"Dammit!" He yelled.

"All those memories you purposely set aside coming back? Now you have an idea what Eleos feels like!" He spat at him. Eleos nudged his side.

"I guess now you get to know my name, Abel." Abel looked up at him, panting.

"It's Deimos." Abel's eyes widened.

"Deimos... Unic?!" He whispered.

"The same..." He shook.

"But... but... your clan... is-"

"Isn't suppose to exsist, right?!" Deimos yelled. He grabbed Abel's collar and pulled him up.

"Well here's news for you, we do exsist. It was said my clan was wiped out during the Methuselah uprising against the Vatican two hundred years ago. Well, we were hiding... Eleos foster clan took us in and hid us. That's where I met her... she was only thirteen then, I was seventeen. I didn't even know her, they kept her away from everyone because they said she was sick. I was just nosing around, like a curious little teen I was, when I came across her. She was sitting in the corner, drawing. When I came closer to her, I could see a pair of pure white wings on her back. I knew her from the legends. Eleos... the nameless child of the Goddess of Darkness, stolen away by the Goddess of Love out of jealousy. First I was just so amazed that she was on earth... so amazed that I was seeing her! I worshipped her... and then... then... I fell in love. We fell in love. We loved each other... She told me everything about her... I told her everything about me. I swore to protect her with my life!" Deimos bit his lip.

"But you Vatican dogs came and took her from me!!" He punched Abel. Eleos pushed him aside.

"Don't... it's my fight..." She whispered. He lowered his arms and nodded.

"Sorry..." Eleos stood up straight.

"Abel, it's time we fight." Her wings stretched out behind her, feathers grew back, blood still stained them. Her skin glowed a pale white. Her eyes went from red to black. Her black hair flowed out behind her like smoke. A weapon formed in her hand out of darkness. A large sword. Abel stared at her.

"Rina, please-"

"It's Eleos!! Krusnik!!" She leapt at him with agile speed. He barely blocked the sword with his syth. She flew up in the air.

"Come, are you too afraid, Abel?! Fight me!!" She screamed. A drop of blood from her foot landed on Abel's cheek. He felt it dry up and absorb into his skin. It scared him, but his instincts took over. He only saw an enemy now. He had to stop it. Kill it. Cease it's exsistence. He floated up towards it. He held his syth tightly in his hands.

"Krusnik... 60%..." He growled. Eleos flew down at him, holding her sword out.

"Ahh!!" She screamed. Abel quickly dodged the strike and went after her. His syth collided with her sword. She kicked him away and held her hand out, fingers outstretched. Small black spears sprayed out at him, lashing him like whips. Abel swung his syth out, cutting them down a bit and flew at Eleos. The black lines restricted him and wrapped themselves around his neck. Eleos broke her hand away from them and held onto the ends like ropes. She pulled down roughly and threw her sword at Able. His wings closed, the sword pierced through them, pinning them together.

"Damn!" He growled. Blood leaked from the stab wound. Eleos closed her wings and dove straight at him. she pushed the hilt of the sword in rougly. The sword skimmed Able's shoulder, leaving a line of blood. It dissolved into this air and disappeared. Abel felt Eleos grabbing his wings and pulling them towards her. He strained against her to gain his wings back. Eleos wings beat hard and rapidly, trying to pull herself from Abel. He felt some bones snap in his wings. He took his syth and swung it underneath his wings. He smelled her blood leak out onto his blade. Her grip was still tight, the wing beats started to slow. She let go. Abel fell back, his syth stuck out from her torso. Her hair hung over her face. She grabbed the syth, pain across her face and pulled it out. A thick line of blood went from her to the syth. It was absorbing her blood. Deimos saw it.

"Eleos!!" He yelled. She looked down at him, hearing his voice. She was distracted. Abel saw his chance. He flew at her in a blink of an eye and hit her dead on. He found her neck and buried his teeth in it. Eleos struggled, trying to push him away. His teeth were clamped down too hard. She would risk getting her neck ripped out if she pushed away from him. She kicked and screamed. Her wings beat Abel's body and battered wings. It hurt Abel a lot, but he held on, drinking the blood from her. He had to drain her. He had to kill her. Deimos looked around and found a sharp, broken metal pole. He aimed it at Abel.

"Get off of her you beast!!!" He screamed, launching the pole at him. Abel felt it go through him. He released Eleos. A pole stuck out of his shoulder. The pole had entered his lower back and poked out of his shoulder. The pain was enormous. Eleos gripped her neck. She was started to black out from the lose of blood. Her breaths were ragged. She formed another weapon, a spear. She flew at Abel, stabbing him through the gut with it. Abel stared at her. His senses returned. His blood escaped his body. Deimos watched them silently. Eleos eyes glared at him. His eyes stared at her. They were silent, then they began to drift down. The Vatican army was drawing nearer to their location. They fell on the pile of rubble. Eleos rolled down the pile, her face getting cut from the pieces of metel laying hidden amoung the stone. Abel lay flat on his back, the pole sticking up from his shoulder and the spear in his stomach. Deimos rushed to Eleos. He supported her. The spear disappeared, dissolving into air like the sword.

"You didn't kill me... Eleos..." He gasped. Eleos glared at him. Deimos hugged her. Abel heard the army drawing nearer. He sat up. He grabbed the pole in his shoulder and pulled. A horrible slick sound came from the wound as the pole left his body. He threw it to the side and stood up.

"You'd better... get out of here..." He gasped, holding his stomach. Eleos snickered.

"Same with you, Krusnik..." Deimos licked her blood.

"Abel..." He muttered.

"You held back the entire time you were fighting her... You made a horrible mistake..." Abel's syth was beside him. He slowly reached for it. Deimos let Eleos sit down and started walking towards him.

"Instead of Eleos killing you... I will..." His fingers extended into long, thin black spikes. Hatred was in his eyes. He leapt at Abel. Abel grabbed his syth.

"Deimos!!" Eleos screamed. Abel's syth stabbed Deimos side, the blde stuck out on the other side of him. Deimos claws had extended, they pierced Abel's chest. Abel threw Deimos back, his claws left Abel's body. Abel put a hand over the wound. He barely missed his heart. Eleos crawled to Deimos, crying. Abel watched them. It was like in her notepad. The pictures were coming true. Eleos and Deimos laying together, bleeding and dying. Abel opposite of them; alone, hated and bleeding. He heard the army enter the square.

"Father Abel!!" The commander yelled. He turned his head. He quickly released his Krusnik form. He was Abel again.

"You're hurt!" A few soldiers ran up to him, they saw Eleos and Deimos.

"The enemies are here, sir!! They were attacking father Abel!!" One yelled.

"Hurry up and bring Father Abel down here! To safety!" Eleos watched Abel.

"Just because you fought well, Abel..." She smirked.

"I guess... I can forgive you... You're more gentle than I thought..." He stared at her in shock. She'd forgiven him? So easily?

"Look through the wall again..." She whispered. The wall? Where he found her secret collection? He was set on the ground, a medic immediatly started treating his wounds.

"Father Abel, who are they up there?" He shouldn't tell them their names. Eleos still peered at him from her perch.

"That's... Rina and Ethan..." The commander nodded.

"Terrorists men!! Ready your weapons!!" He yelled. Abel shook his head.

"No!! They aren't terrorists!! You're misunderstanding me!!" He yelled. The soldiers surrounded them and readied their weapons. Eleos stroked Deimos hair.

"This is it for us..." She whispered. Blood dripped from the corner of Deimos mouth. He smiled.

"At least it's with you..." He said. Eleos kissed him deeply. Abel was screaming for them to stop. He was struggling to move, the medic was holding him down.

"Open fire!!" It was all one big boom to the three. Abel watched in horror. Eleos and Deimos bodies were ripped open from the amount of ammo that was shot at them. Their lips left each other. Eleos rested on Deimos' body. Abel felt a tear leave his eye. His vision got blurry. Tears rolled down his face.

"Eleos..." He whispered. The firing stopped. The commander smiled to himself.

"That'll show those methuselah..." He muttered. Abel punched his stomach. The commander doubled over.

"You idiot!! Do you realize what you've just done!? You killed Eleos and Deimos!! You killed them!" He screamed. He stopped himself. He said their names.

"Father Abel! Don't step out of line! They were terrorists!"

"No! They were normal, innocent methuselah who were forced into a corner by the Vatican! By us!" He yelled.

"You just killed two civilians!" Abel took in a deep breath.

"They were hiding from the battle up there. They were beat up. I was fighting others. I was protecting them. The people you saw me fight are dead now. You just killed two innocent civilians, commander..." Abel said darkly. The commander panicked.

"I-I didn't know Father Abel! I just thought... since you were up there and... and!" Abel stood up and waved the medic away.

"I'm not fighting anymore. Go back to the Vatican, everyone. I'm ending this fight now. The Vatican gives up. That's it," Abel ordered. Everyone was silent. Abel was barely able to walk. Blood dripped from his wounds. He was making his way back to the Vatican.

"And make sure you bury those two properly! Report to me when you have proper tombstones for them both! Their names are Rina and Ethan!" Abel yelled. He took out a transmitter.

"Abel?"

"Lady Caterina... Get me out of here... Rina and Ethan... were killed..."

"How?"

"Rina... her special power awakened. Aparently, they were originally lovers. Rina sealed her memories away during the time before she was captured. It was during the last time the Vatican attack Methuselah territory."

"That was a dark time... I understand... I'll send a car to you. I have an idea where you are. I'm also ordering you to hae a two week vacation time after you get healed. And Abel... Did you find out Rina's name?" Abel sighed.

"Yes... I also found out Ethan's real name. But this is secret. I've told the army to prepare proper graves for them and to have tombstones engraved with their fake names. I think they wanted to stay hidden from the world and for a good reason. They were both from prestigious methuselah clans during the last war between humans and methuselah. They went into hiding."

"Don't tell me their names. From what you've said, I think it's best that only you know. Rina trusted you. I'm sure Ethan trusted you as well, but didn't show it. You've been through too much. I'm sure this is a confusing and horrible day for you, Abel." The transmission ended. Abel leaned against a building. In a few minutes, a truck pulled up near Abel. He climbed in. He smelled blood in the back of the truck.

"What's back there?" He asked. The driver smiled. He took off his hat. Ester.

"Rina and Ethan's bodies," She said softly. Abel smiled.

"I'm guessing it's my job to decide where to bury them?" She nodded.

"Those are my orders." Abel looked behind him and saw two bodies covered with thick blankets. Their hands were linked and still together.

"They're holding hands."

"For some reason we couldn't get them to let go. I guess they didn't want to go to heaven without their other by their side, right? Father Abel?" Ester said kindly. He smiled and nodded.

"Yeah..."

After three days in the hospital, Abel went back to Rina's old room. It was still left the way it was before. The battle had delayed the construction crew from fixing it up. He found the hole in the wall where he had found Eleos' secret collection. He dug out more wall, finding out that the hole was bigger than he thought. One more pad was in there, along with an envelope. He looked through the pad. Happy pictures. Eleos was with Deimos, holding hands and standing under a tree, a sunset in front of them. The next picture showed a younger Eleos sitting in front of Deimos who was trying to juggle, she was laughing. The flipped to the back. He dropped the pad. Three people. It showed Eleos in the middle, Deimos to her right, and Abel to her left. They were all laughing and smiling. Happy as could be. A teardrop fell on the paper. Abel went to his knees.

"She already knew it would happened... she already forgave me! Even after she said she hated me!" He cried. He remembered the envelope. He opened it. A letter.

Dear Abel...

By now, I shouldn't be here. You shouldn't know where I am. If it isn't that, then I'm dead. I was with Deimos, I'm sure I am right now. I said I hated you, but that was just because of what you did earlier in life. I've learned to forgive easily. Forget what happened in the past and go on with the future. I know you want to correct everything that happened. I knew you tried to forget when the Vatican attacked the Methuselah, you're too kind to keep that on your mind. You wanted to forget the horrible things in life and keep remembering the good. That's why you seem really clumsy and kind to people as a first impression. That's what you want your life to seem like. But underneath, you're under a lot of stress, your life has been painful and you've lost so many people you love. You've just lost another one. But this was something that was supposed to happened. Do you know what day it was when I died? It's the same day as my birthday. It was the same hour, same minute, and same second as when I was born. It had to happened sooner or later, Abel. I just want you to know that I'll always be your friend and I always loved you like a brother. Thank you for taking care of me. Thank you for trying your hardest to save me. It was all I needed to ensure myself that you were a true friend.

Sincerly,

Eleos.

Abel's hands shook as he read the letter, twice, three times. He read it over and over again. Her birthday was the day she was supposed to die. She had already known everything. June 1. The day she died, the day she was born. Abel set the letter down. The picture of Deimos, Eleos, and himself was burned into his mind. He smiled.

"Eleos... you were always happy..." He whispered. He took the letter and placed it back in the envelope. He picked up the note pad and flipped the last page. On the back was another picture. One of a little baby hugging a teddy bear. Under it, a quick note.

That little baby happened to live, Abel. Her name is Rebecca Thompson. Look for her on Yenser street.

Abel stared at it. He closed the notebook and held it in his hands for a few minutes. He looked up at the battered ceiling to the sky.

"Thank you, Eleos! Thank you!" He ran out of the room. He knew that street. It was just outside the Vatican walls. He ran quickly out of the gates. He saw the street sigh. He looked around. Where would he start his search? Go door to door? That was his best option. He knocked on the first door.

"Is Rebecca Thompson here?"

"No, sorry." He went to the next door.

"Rebecca Thompson?" No. He went down the line. Fifth door, seventh, eleventh, twentith, twenty first; no Rebecca. Someone stopped him.

"Who are you looking for again, sir?"

"Rebecca Thompson, she lives on this street!" Abel panted. She smiled.

"That's my niece! Come on, she's just down here." She lead Abel to a small market stall set up on the side of the road.

"Rebecca! Someone is here to see you!" A small child of about eight years old stepped out. She was silent.

"Don't think she's shy, she's a mute. There was a little... battle over on this street when she was small. The doctors think that's what made her mute." Abel bent down at her level and smiled.

"His Rebecca." He said. She smiled slightly at him. Abel recognized her face. His heart felt like it stopped. The same eyes, the same face, the same innocent smile. She looked just like Eleos. He rubbed her cheek.

"You look like someone I know..." He said softly. Rebecca looked up at him. She blinked, her eyes changed a little. She moved towards him and cupped her hands over his ears.

"My angel says she knows you and is happy with her lover, Abel Nightroad..." She whispered. Abel stared at her.

"What is your angel's name?" He asked softly. Rebecca hesitated.

"Eleos..." She fled behind the legs of her mother. He stood up.

"I hope we can be friends, Rebecca. I'll stop by here later to check on you and your family..." He said. Abel walked away, happy to know Eleos still remembered him.