Night Time, At Raphael Cemetary.
Azik paid his respects to Klein's grave in the middle of the night and left without taking back the copper whistle. Just as his body vanished from the cemetery, the stone lab shook- and then a hand extended out from the ground!
The gravestone was shoved aside. The lid of the coffin was pushed open. Klein sat upright and looked around, lost.
His memory was still frozen at the scene with the brand new leather boots, and the palm that grabbed onto the urn of Saint Selena's ashes. Everything after that felt like a dreamless sleep.
Klein instinctively lowered his head and unbuttoned his shirt. He looked at the left side of his chest, only to see that his ravaged injury and missing heart were squirming as they healed, similar to how he recovered from the bullet wound through his temple back when he looked into the mirror. The only difference was that this time, the recovery was much slower and much more difficult.
Had he... just resurrected?
But he somehow felt that this ability of his was limited. He could only do this a total of two more times now...
Klein patted down his clothes and realized that he was wearing a brand new and expensive tuxedo- and it was now covered in soil and grass.
Such a waste...
Klein stood up with the help of his Clown abilities and glanced at the tombstone of his.
The best elder brother,
The best younger brother,
The best colleague,
The best husband.
"'Husband'..." Klein muttered out loud.
Not 'fiance'...
Ah...
"Today was supposed to be our wedding..." Klein felt a sharp wince in his heart.
Benson, Melissa, and Amon...
Just how much pain had he caused them?
damn, this was even more depressing than seeing Captain Dunn die in front of his eyes.
His thoughts were still scattered, but Klein knew that he had to take care of the scene as soon as possible and not let anyone notice.
He knew that resurrection wasn't something achievable by a commoner in this world! This was a world where Gods and divine beings existed and things like rituals and sacrifices were common and very real.
If the Nighthawks, Machinery Hiveminds, or the Mandated Punishers were to get a hold of this... Klein would not be in a good spot.
During the process of filling his grave, his spirituality noticed the existence of Azik's copper whistle. Hence, he dug it out and wiped it clean. This snapped some of his attention back to him and he panicked slightly over where his ring was-
It was not just the ring that had possibly aided his transmigration here and helped him control the gray fog more efficiently- it was his engagement ring to Amon and his connection to him! Losing it would be... Klein did not even want to imagine what he would-
Klein felt the ring's warmth on his ring finger.
He had been buried with his ring on.
This ring, which was possibly an extremely important family heirloom in Amon's family for generations- Amon had actually agreed to bury him with the ring.
A little dazed, Klein looked back at the carving in the gravestone.
"The best Husband..." Klein chuckled sorrowfully, "What best husband... I missed my own wedding..."
Realizing that this was not the place for this, Klein rubbed his eyes with his sleeve (making sure it was the clean inner shirt and not the outer muddy tuxedo) and finished covering up the crime scene.
When he was done, he clapped his hands and huffed a sigh of relief. Then Klein used the Topaz Pendent he was also buried with to find Captain Dunn Smith's grave.
The true guardian,
The most trusted partner,
The Captain forever.
Klein looked in stunned silence and somehow his sight grew blurry for some baffling reason. He felt as though he had returned to that day again. He saw the Captain turn his head to him and wink. He spoke with a mellow and relaxed voice.
"We saved Tingen."
Captain...
Klein allowed his tears to fall and talked to Captain Dunn as if the man was still there.
When he was done, he stood there silently for a few minutes before finding a hidden spot nearby. He took four steps counterclockwise and entered the world above the gray fog.
He was going to find the murderer behind all of this! The one who was responsible for all this tragedy!
Benson and Melissa sat silently at the dinner table, their eyes looked vacant and blank and were swollen and red from too much crying. The table in front of them was also empty as neither of them had enough of an appetite for food nor had the sort of energy to cook- no, not without remembering how much of a foodie their now-dead brother was and would conjure up weird but tasty recipes for them on the fly each time.
*Ding-!*
"I'll go," Melissa said quietly as she stood up and walked towards the door.
She did not even bother checking who the person was prior to opening the door for safety and was surprised to see Amon at the door, holding a package of something in one of his hands.
"Amon..."
Amon smiled faintly, raising the package in his hand, "It felt too lonely to eat alone at my house, so I brought some food hoping we could have a nice chat over some dinner. If you two would like to that is."
Melissa was taken aback but shook her head, "No, of course not. We don't mind. Please come in..."
"Thank you." Amon shut the door behind them as they entered the house.
"No need for thanks, we are technically family since..." Melissa's voice wavered and was lost. She took a breath and calmed herself down before calling out to Benson in a louder voice, "Benson, please bring out the plates, Amon brought food."
Benson expressed a little surprise at Amon's appearance but followed Melissa's orders nonetheless and before they knew it, with the help of all three of them, the table was quickly set. Each of them had a bowl of some warm meat stew with some extra leftovers in the dish in between the table for anyone who could want seconds.
Melissa blew on her warm soup before putting the spoon in her mouth, if it were a normal day she would have let out a gasp of surprise at the wonderful taste of the dish, but today it just tasted bland despite the fact that she knew it was supposed to be very good and there was nothing wrong with the stew.
"I have an announcement to make," Amon said after a while, earning the attention of the Moretti siblings, "I will be moving to Backlund."
"Backlund...?" Benson sounded surprised, "Why? And why so soon?"
Amon sighed, "It has something to do with... my family, yes. I've been pushing it back for a while but with Klein gone I no longer have a reason to stay and ignore my duties..."
The reminder about Klein's death brought down the mood a little, especially with how fresh the wound was, but Melissa nonetheless pushed back her pain and replied, "Your family, yes. I just remembered that we've never met them..."
"My father is extremely sick for the time being and my brother... well, you would have seen him if the wedding were to have gone through but I'd say it's not that much of a loss not meeting him," Amon explained as he ripped off a piece of bread and dipped it into the stew, "Of course, this is not the end of our relationship. If you two would like, I'd like to move to Backlund together. There are much better schools there for Melissa to finish her university education."
The dinner table was filled with silence for a moment as the two siblings looked at each other, finally, the silence was broken when Benson said while shaking his head, "We'd... like to stay here at Tingen for a while longer... at least until we both are fully able to move on." He smiled ruefully.
"I understand, it is reasonable." Amon smiled, "Just remember that I'm one letter and telegram away, I'll make sure to send you two my new address when the old place gets cleaned up."
"Thank you... we'd appreciate that." Melissa said quietly.
The three went back on slowly finishing their food as Amon continued to observe the two siblings.
'So these are humans in grief...' Amon wondered in his mind. He had observed countless human beings in their moments of sadness and sorrow and had even stolen those emotions many times from curiosity and it still slightly amused and surprised him seeing the wide range of ways humans expressed the same emotion of 'loss' in different ways.
Some cried silently, some wailed, some refused to believe it, some went insane, some laughed in disbelief, some tried to drown their sorrow with worldly pleasures, some became a husk of who they once were and countless more...
Sometimes he wondered where in that spectrum he lied, or whether he lied there at all. Did an Angel like him who had never experienced being a human have the right to claim these 'human emotions' as his own? Or were it the humans who were wrong for claiming these emotions as something solely theirs?
What was it that he felt when Klein truly died right after putting a ring on his finger? When his feelings were rejected again and again by the man he thought he loved? When he was thrown out of the Sefirah Castle with nothing but his extraordinary characteristics and the tattered remains of his soul? When he had felt so alone and abandoned he wanted to 'die'...
How many times had he already mourned Klein's loss? Could something like him even mourn?
After the dinner ended, Amon bid his farewell, stole some distance and arrived on top of the highest building, and looked up at the crimson moon.
"You just left me with more questions than answers... help me with figuring out my emotions? Like hell, you failed so spectacularly at that." Amon dangled the pocket watch in front of his blank expressionless face. "Yet, I feel like you also succeeded spectacularly at that."
The Angel played with the pocketwatch, twirling it around his finger with its silver chain as his gaze landed on the dark figure miles in front of him, seen only because of his extraordinary vision.
The newly resurrected Klein was standing longingly in front of his house- no, his previous house. Amon watched the figure stand unmoving for a minute or two before the figure seemingly made a decision and with one final look at the lit windows and the silhouette of what once was his family, he walked away.
"And he never returned." Amon grabbed the watch in his hands, bored with the twirling. "Despite promising to himself that he would come back one day..."
"Hm... I wonder if he can fulfill this wish of his this time. Or 'Klein Moretti' will truly be lost. Like last time."
Amon raised the pocket watch and watched dazedly as the crimson moonlight reflected against the glass.
"It was nice meeting you... 'Klein Moretti'.
"I hope you keep making me fall for you again and again with your other selves as well."
With a smile, Amon summoned a clone of his, the crow sat on his lap obediently as Amon ran his fingers through the thick smooth feathers. He fed the crow two of his extra Sequence 2 characteristics quickly making the Sequence 4 clone jump to the level of an angel before releasing it.
The crow pecked on his hair a few times before it went off in the direction of Klein as per Amon's requirements.
The crow found Klein just as he was preparing to fall asleep at some park, it pecked at Klein's hair affectionately a few times before the man gave in with a smile, "You have no place to stay the night as well?"
The crow was hugged close into Klein's arms and squished against his chest comfortably.
"You surprisingly feel so warm..." Klein said in a hushed voice, he was afraid he might have to sleep in the cold but now he felt as if he was surrounded by a warm and comfy blanket.
Klein looked at the white tuft of feathers around the Crow's right eye, it reminded him of someone and his heart ached, "I'm sorry... Amon."
The crow raised its head and pecked at Klein's face again as if to say to go to sleep already.
"Yes, yes, I'll stop interrupting your sleep." Klein, despite himself, found himself chuckling, "Good night."
The crow nuzzled its head against the human.
It made sure that no one else would disturb Klein.
The future was uncertain and dangerous, but Klein enjoyed the warmth he had at the moment and fell asleep with a happy and peaceful smile on his face.
Volume 1: Clown, end.
[ book 2 is out ]