Oh hell that was a bit of something I will never forget. I thought to myself for a while. But really, I had wings before. So why was I scared of it?
Anyways, I was lucky that the Guardian of Space and the Guardian of Wrath decided to give me a tour around the castle, I decided I would follow along to avoid seeing the Aethalgard another second after what I had done.
"By the way... Even if I know you might think that since I have been following you along for a long time, that I know your name." Wrath opened his mouth first since the awkward silence.
Space had to leave to attend a certain matter right after we had stepped out. She said she would be around the corner when we are heading out to the backyard gardens. After hearing about how it was a different kind, I was particularly excited since I never had the chance to see myth with my own eyes. Even through graphic photos online of different webtoons.
"I was obviously thinking that you knew my name... But I don't recall that one Guardian could exchange their names, to retain respect." I replied while looking at his direction.
"Yes that is true, but in some cases, if they are close and from the same division, they can tell each other names for an easier communication." Wrath answered while scratching the back of his head. "Since we are both from the division of the Esclipse, get to know each other more informally."
"Hmm... Is that the case? Then let's start with your name. What do the other members of the Eclipse division know you as?"
"Erebus. I know it sounds very edgy... The name..." He answered while stepping a little faster forward. "But as a Guardian, it is fit for being in such high ranking then even your Imperial family. We govern the nation we are to protect... Using our magic to block off any interstellar threats for our nation. Actually... We just look after our nations."
"Now for you. What is your name? You can select any..."
I thought for a few seconds. A name which fits my role as Guardian... I mean... I will only be using it with them for now... But I want to keep the legacy that the empress had given me too.
"Seraphina. I will go with that." I answered after a swift moment of thinking.
"Wow! That sure does suit you! Whoever gave you that name must have thought of you as a brilliant treasure to keep at close hand..." Erebus bursted out with a smile. "I honestly like that name too... Seraphina. The former Guardian of Death would have thought of you as a very useful toy."
"A useful toy?" I asked in question. I heard the previous compliment well enough, but I only felt like commenting what I just heard. What do you a toy? Was he or she a psycho?
Well it is not like I am not one.
"Yes. It was said that whoever she was very close to, she would end up using them to do a thing for her in return. People would say she is probably toying with their minds, but honestly... She is far more knowledgeable then to discard them. Because at the end of the day, she was actually helping them do the thing they didn't want to while claiming the name of a traitor to the others."
"Is she really that bad?" I could feel my eyebrows arch upward with his comment. Whatever I just heard, sounds somewhat something I might do in a real life situation. Maybe less or more.
"Bad?" Erebus turned on his heels and started walking backwards. "She was actually the most sweetest and calmest person from the entire realm. At times of battle, she would always bring back victory, but she could never have gotten a credit for whatever she did.
"The Guardians of the Rise division would often see her as a mere object on their paths. I feel bad that she was treated that way. Although many of us had tried to tell her to fight back, she just said that 'a human who barks back at a dog is no less than a dog themselves[1]'. I guess she just didn't want to become a conflict, but at the end... Those enemies ended up taking her out."
"That is... Sad... But what she said was true..." I couldn't help but sigh and clutch the space between my two eyes. "Who in their right minds would have the time to deal with those pest when you have an entire nation to look after?"
With my comment, Erebus came to an abrupt stop and looked at me with wide eyes, before his face dropped back to smiling.
"You know... I find it rather mysterious that the previous Guardian of Death was somewhat similar to what you look like. She was almost the same age as you and had the same tone of speech and mindset as you too. When you stepped inside the Chamber of Justice, I almost was convinced that you were her." He added after a short moment.
"Really?"
"Really! And she also happened to find those one shouldered capes a nuisance and those wings too... Unless she was faces with a battle and was in dire requirement of them." He answered back with a vibrant face.
"Well... How did you know?!"
"You were pretty irritated when the cape appeared. And those wings from the back of your head... Do I need to explain more?"
"Oh na... I think I understand it already." I answered back while letting my shoulders drop. "Alright so... I know that a cape in a battlefield is useful... But what is a wing useful in, expect of appearance? Unless she wanted to cover one eye and aim?"
"Well you haven't been faced with it, so you won't understand it just now. Learn to control it first... You know that your wings react to your expressions and emotions right? And to remind you... You like acting a lot." Erebus turned on his heels to continue walking.
I was suddenly conscious of those feathers resting on my shoulders. I had long since folded it and turned it into an accessory at my collar. I tried to fold it into a straight line this time, to hide it behind my hair and keep it out of view.
Then, Erebus' voice cut in, causing my attention to divert.
"You know why Justice was so happy to receive you?"
"He was?"
"Of course... After all, the previous Guardian of Death looks like you by a lot and she was like his own daughter to him. Because she was very smart and knew a sense of justice that not much others knew... Some even say that she must have been his biological daughter..."
"But I look nothing like him... And if I am somehow similar by appearance to her..."
"Yes... I know what you are thinking. But Justice covers up his appearance much like how you do or I do. He is said to have deep black hair, so you could say that she was distinctively similar to him in one way, and knowledge the other way."
"Huh..." I breathed out heavily. "So you did cover your identity by aging younger?" Of course, I had to change my eye colour to seem less recognizable. From a deep black to my current bright red.
"Oh well my age... I did change my age by a bit... But I am not much older though. I like this childish body to fool around with the others." He answered, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he turned somewhat upset and dropped his smile entirely.
"Is something wrong?" I asked with concern. It was typical coming from me facing a child.
"No... It is just that... Death was actually the only relative that I knew. And she used to like seeing me in this appearance."
"What kind of a relative was she?" I blurted out of curiosity.
"She was my half-sister. The origins of our mother is still unknown to date... And she was the only person who I could get help from when I first took office as the Guardian of Wrath." He answered while letting out a deep breathe of resent.
"But it seems to me that you have been trying to keep your head above water ever since and finally made it up to shore. Because you are still standing where so many, including the Guardian of Silence, is almost impossible to maintain." I smiled at him while replying. I was pretty good at comforting a younger sibling... But I wasn't used to comforting them like this. Because my way was probably going to be like...
"Lewis! If you don't stop crying like a kid over a small piece of leave... Then you are not getting ice-cream for the rest of your lives!"
But Erebus wasn't quite my sibling... He was the half-brother to the previous Guardian of Death, not the new one. However, I am still used to taking care of a younger sibling... So does it hurt to take care of him in her behalf?
I walked over to pat him on the head, but as soon as I did that, he embraced me tightly until I was left without an inch of oxygen at my lungs. When he let go, his lashes were quite wet, so I assumed that he might have broken down... I may have not been used to that. I am not used to seeing others cry right in front of me... Except of Nada of course.
"Thank you for that... I won't forget it..." He spoke after a long time, then grabbed my wrist and pulled me forward, like Henry would usually do. Since I was still just starting to change myself, I didn't know the reason someone cried like that. But that is something I want to know.
"Space must be waiting at the garden by now! We better hurry... Sister!" He laughed while yanking me along with him. Maybe I did look a lot like the previous Guardian of Death.
In two weeks that I had been in-between a bloodbath of killing and getting injured, this was the first thing that could bring me back the feeling of freedom, like when I was with a constant argument with Lewis. He was a bit hard to fight off, but I always ended up satisfied whenever he had to admit to his mistakes.
Not just any types of mistakes... Funny ones. Like accidentally slipping on a fleet of stairs while trying to seem nerdy with a book. That one time, Henry had intervened and added that Lewis had actually tried to perform a cartwheel down the steps, but ended up almost snapping his back. I laughed a lot to myself just by imagining it. What dumb and hilarious brother had I gotten?
"Space! There she is! She really was waiting!" Erebus interrupted my thoughts, and then yanked me harder towards the large glass doors that sparkled with a different intensity. For someone who was supposed to be the 'Guardian of Wrath'... He isn't really as fierce as I had expected.
Just as I stepped out of the doors, I was greeted with such mystical scenes that I could hardly believe it was a garden. It was a huge land that spread across mountain ranges and had fresh grass so bright, it shone like the surface of a cool lake. Then there was spread apart shades that held fruits of some insane shapes and colours. They looked like crystals, but also looked edible like real ones.
I could easily say I was dreaming, but I was actually in reality. How do I precisely describe it? My eyes felt like beeing fooled around. Even movies with insane CGI and graphics were nothing to this. The most creative person on Earth would have never been able to imagine it out of his or her mind to have create it.
"I know it is a lot for you to take in... But there are a lot of artifacts hidden in this garden in the form of harmless objects. It is so that if faced with danger where we have been seized of any sort of help, we will have this one place to gather our help. You don't know yet... But you may once in a lifetime need this information too." Space smiled while stepping up beside me.
"Oh wow... This truly is... Splendid." I answered while facing her slowly. "It is hard to maintain it? I don't doubt your powers or anything... But this is a huge space."
"It is hard... Given that enemies always somehow end up spawning all in here. We were thinking of getting a better and more specific place to store our hidden help."
"I was going to say it too..." I looked away again, back to the garden where the flowers were not too far from where we were. I wished to go there, since there was a particular type of bush that I remember seeing back at the palace.
The fate roses... Those that turned black if you were ill-fated. Although I was sure that it is kind of wrong to take part in fortune-telling stuff. I know that these bushes are more like a defense mechanism instead. They detect dark nature and turn black. That's why it attacked me the last time.
I had an unknown presense and so I was practically a threat.
"Pandora..."
"Hmm?" I looked back at where Space was zoning out towards where the green grass were flowing with the breeze.
"My name... It's Pandora." She answered back while clarifying properly.
"That's actually a nice name. For me, I go by Seraphina." I replied while bowing at her presense. I had done the same to Erebus too when he first came to meet me in person.
"Ooh... So you have the same name as her too?" She asked back.
"No. It is actually my middle name. But I like being called by it." I answered politely. Erebus came to stand right beside me.
"Well it very well suits you and your current standing. I used to be a friend to the previous Seraphina. I hope that we–"
Her words were suddenly cut off by a cough, and she spit blood onto the ground the next second.
"Pandora!" Erebus shouted while clenching my wrist until my own blood circulation almost stopped.
[1] This idiom is a derived version of a Bengali idiom that translates to, 'if a dog bites you, and you bite back, then you are no less than a dog'. Although it is a bit different and is supposed to describe a person's word and action towards someone after they were harmed verbally or physically, it carries the similar meaning to the one I wrote. That if Seraphina argued back about her own actions, she was no less than the one who opened their mouth first. This is just a persception of hers that tells about her personality.