Arsheus
Fuuuuck.
Everything was going to hell right before my eyes and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
Things weren't supposed to be this way. The elders weren't supposed to be dead. They had to be fine, right in front of me, weak so that I could get what I wanted. This was nothing like how I had imagined things going. It was so fucking messed up.
I ruffled my hair and took a deep breath. I had to calm down. I couldn't be losing my shit already. There was a long way before I could actually fall to the floor. Why did things never go my way? Was it that hard for things to unfold exactly as I hoped and thought they would?
I sighed and plopped into Rin's bed. He stayed by my side as I sighed and growled, annoyed with everyone and everything and life itself in general.
" Everything is going to be fine" Rin's voice was soft as he placed his hands over my shoulder, giving me his warmth and the reassurance that everything could change for the better.
" I know" I took a deep breath and steadied myself. I had to focus and keep my shit together. This wasn't over. It seemed like it, but it wasn't. There were still multiple moves I could make. I just had to decide what I wanted to do first and find whoever had killed the elders. Then I would have what I wanted.
Rin looked at me with worried eyes as I paced all over the room, my feet clanking when I stomped on the floor.
" Do you know who is the second most important angel around here?"
Rin stared at me.
" I think you and I both know I don't"
Fucking great.
" Allea would probably know, thought"
I sighed and got up. Fine, I could ask Allea if that was what it took to get the information I wanted.
I walked up to Ria's room, where I could hear their laughter coming from behind the door. It hadn't been very long since we had found the corpses, but both of them seemed unfazed as they went on with their lives, laughing and cheering. They didn't even seem worried about the fact that someone had managed to kill the most powerful angels ever, though if I was telling the truth I knew deep down that they had probably died from old age. Angels didn't last half as much as demons did. Their lifes were but a fleeting moment in ours. That was probably why they wanted to do such great things, because soon they wouldn't be here and no one would remember them.
I knocked on the door and the sound of laughter died.
My heart constrained hearing the silence. I didn't want them to be afraid of me. I wanted them to be able to speak to me normally and laugh around me.
" Who is it?" Ria's tone sounded suspicious as she asked.
Pride ignited inside of me. I felt proud that she had asked before she opened. That was what was going to keep her alive.
" It's me"
There was a silence for a few seconds after I announced myself before Ria opened the door and let me inside.
Once inside I could see what they had been doing that had made them laugh so much. There were cards spread all over the floor, scattered all over as if they had just had a fit about losing.
My heart warmed up looking at that. It was a lovely scene from day to day activities. Both of them were happy and they weren't killing nor trying to kill anyone. This was what everything could be like. I would make sure it would, no matter what it took.
" Allea" I turned to look at her, ignoring the death glare Ria was throwing my way. Since earlier she had been on a mood, refusing to speak to me and giving me the silent treatment or glaring at me. I didn't know what I had done. I wanted to ask, but right now my head wasn't in the right place to be giving apologies or be thinking about anything else other that the elders. The images of their dead, cold corpses kept cycling through my head, screaming at me there was something I was missing. I gritted my teeth and pushed the images as far back down as I could. " Could you answer me a question?"
Allea smiled and nodded. I knew she would say yes. She was a good girl, unlike someone else.
I looked at Ria, meaning that she never listened to me. She glared at me and looked away. She knew as well as I did that she should have a little bit more faith in me. All she ever did was fight me every single step of the way. Couldn't she trust me enough to know that I was never going to hurt her? Couldn't she trust that I was doing what I thought was best for all of us?
" What do you want to know?" Allea interrupted our death battle of glares with her sweet voice.
I turned to look at her and smiled. That was right. I had to focus. Right now the important thing was knowing who had killed the elders and whether they had what I wanted.
" I want to know who is the angel with the most power after the elders"
Allea stood still for a second, looking at me with desbelieve, as if she couldn't understand why I was asking that. Instead of asking like Ria would've done she begunn to think about the answer, not giving me crap about it. Something inside of me winced. Maybe I liked the way Ria always challenged me. I liked the way she wouldn't take shit from anyone, not even me. Her stubbornness was one of the things I loved the most about her.
" I would say it's the councillor"
I stayed still waiting for her to continue, but she didn't. She looked at me as if she didn't know why I hadn't spoken yet.
" What else can you tell me about him?"
" Her" Allea cut me and spoke in a soft voice. " The councilor is a woman. Has always been"
The way Allea said the last two words, as if it was an undeniable truth made my skin crawl. From the corner of my eyes I saw Ria wincing too. There was something very wrong with the way Allea had spoken about that woman.
" Always been?"
" She's been here...." Allea swallowed and looked at us with pity. " For a long time"
The sadness and regret I could read in her face was enough to push me back.
" Allea?"
She smiled and pretended it didn't break her heart.
" You shouldn't ask me anything more about her"
" Why not?" Rin snapped and ran over to where Allea was, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her. Allea stood still, tears welling up in her eyes.
What the fuck was going on?
" I.... I can't"
Allea got up and ran away from Rin, escaping into her own room.
I stared at the door she had left through, stunned. That had been surprising. My surprise was nothing compared to how Rin was feeling. His eyes didn't leave the door as he stared at it, as if he did it for long enough Allea would come back with her usual smile.
Minutes passed by and we all stayed there, not talking as we all thought about what Allea had done. Running away like that, escaping without even saying why she was mad was nothing like Allea.
Not only were Rin and Ria worried, I was beginning to suspect something wasn't right.
I moved to check on her. She had had enough time to calm down already. When I moved a few steps away from my position Rin held me down, pushing me back into my place.
" I'll..... I'll go check on her" His expression was grim as he spoke.
I stared at him.
" You don't have to do it alone" Before I could rest my hands on his shoulder or touch him as a sign that I was with him as always he pushed me away, his eyes hard as he looked past the door and into the room where Allea was right now.
" It isn't the same" Rin's words were but a whisper that I barely managed to catch.
" What did you say?"
Rin shook his head and gave me a sad smile.
" I'll go check on her"
I was left in the middle of the room with Ria, who seemed more worried about Allea than I was.
I walked up to her and asked her the question that had been eating at me since Allea had acted up.
" Did you notice anything strange in her?"
Ria looked at me with confusion. They hadn't known each other for very long, but she was the one Allea had spent the more time with. I had been too busy to pay attention and I was now regretting it. Allea was part of my family and now I didn't even know what was going on with her or if anything had upset. I was a shitty family.
" She's fine" Ria stopped and frowned. " At least I think so"
I nodded and walked away. I had to go see how Allea was right now. She hadn't seemed so great when she had run away, escaping from us.
I left Ria sitting on the floor, her eyes focused on the cards scattered everywhere and walked over to Allea's room.
Through the door I could hear her speaking with Rin. Their voices were low, but I could still make out their conversation if I focused hard enough.
" You have to let me in"
" You think I don't want to?" Allea's voice was broken as she whispered. I had to place my ear on the door in order to hear them as their voices got softer and softer, sorrow drowning them.
" Then what do you want?"
" I....I can't tell you"
" Please let me in"
" I can't"
" Allea..."
" I said no!!!!!"
I flinched hearing Allea screaming. She never screamed, ever. Something was very wrong.
Before I could get inside the door swung open and Rin came out looking defeated.
His eyes barely focused on me before he grabbed my sleeve and pulled me away. I tried to look at Allea, but all I could see was her silhouette by the window.
" What are you doing?" I hissed at Rin, but he didn't back down.
I noticed the tears in his eyes as he pulled me away from her room, only stopping when we were far away.
" Let her be. She needs time"
" Are you okay?"
Rin nodded, but I could see the truth. He wasn't fine, but there was nothing I could do about it. I would have to accept it for now.
" Let's go drink" Rin's voice was shaking as he spoke.
I looked at his tears and then back at Allea.
Fine, if he wanted to drink I could drink with him.
" Let's go"
Rin's smile came back for a second before he hugged me, his big arms enveloping me. I hugged him back, using my whole strength. Rin wasn't fine and I felt he needed someone by his side right now.
" She's going to be fine"
Rin nodded and wiped the few tears that had fallen down from his eyes into his cheeks.
" She's strong. She'll be fine"
" Soon we'll know what is wrong with her"
Rin nodded, not looking very convinced.
All I could think about as I took him out to town was that this whole problem had started when I had asked about the main suspect. I didn't like that coincidence, not at all.