“I don’t understand what this means?” Philos said. “Why should we trust you?”
The Angel sighed. “I cannot force you to trust me, but I can certainly give you aid as a...peace offering. Hold out your burned arm.”
“What are you—?” Philos yelped, pain shooting through his body as Sir Smith took his arm in his hand.
“I am an Angel,” he began. “Every Angel is gifted with a unique magical ability known as a ‘Given Power.’”
Suddenly, the burn began to fade away, ashes falling from Philos’ arm and collecting onto the floor as the young man’s arm returned to normal.
“Your Starblood won’t heal magical wounds. But, do not worry. My Given Power allows me to revert the timeline of living things when I touch them.”
“Woah!” Alphonso blurted out, jumping from his seat.
“So that’s an Angel’s power?” Joseph scoffed, the gun still ready in his hand.
“That’s incredible!” Uri said, wide-eyed.
Philos raised his hand, extending it and wiggling his fingers, speechless.”
“What do you want from me?” he finally said.
Sir Smith donned a grave visage, his eyes piercing daggers that matched his hard, intense disposition.
“Philos. Uri.” He paused. “I want you to activate your Starblood and help me end the Morning Star Kingdom.”
“You want us...” Uri’s voice shook.
“To defeat the Angels?” Philos finished his younger brother’s sentence, his voice trilling just the same.
“Hey,” Joseph spoke up, “aren’t you an Angel yourself? Why do you wanna end your own people? What’s there to gain?”
“The power of this world is unbalanced. The Outskirts hold a treaty with the Morning Star Kingdom—the land beyond the Golden Sea. But inside the Kingdom, the other races—humans, Beastfolk, Darklings—are enslaved and used as tools, treated less than subhuman for the benefit of the Angelic race. But there is a greater problem,” he continued. “The ruler of the Morning Star Kingdom is a demented, insane Angelic king. He is no ordinary Angel. Though he himself holds immense power, it is the object he holds that allows him to rule the world as a god. With its power, he has sealed away the Aeons and thus stripped all might from the Starbreather. His name...”
Tension swam in the room like a thick and brumous phantom as the eyes of the boys locked onto the Angel.
“...is Azazel.”
Alphonse raised an eyebrow. “And you think Philos and Uri can beat this guy?”
“I believe that, if they can harness the power of the Birthright of Vespira, they might be able to rise to the challenge.”
Both Joseph and Alphonso turned their eyes to the other two young men. The two scions of Vespira held fearful expressions. They could tell that Philos and Uri’s heads were spinning.
“Sir Smith.” Philos finally spoke up. “I don’t know how I can do anything that you’ve asked of me and my little brother. But.” He looked up, his reddish eyes meeting the other’s blue-gray gaze. “I need to trust you. We need to trust you.”
The Angel bowed.
“Then I take your trust. For the sake of the world!”
“But.” Philos said, looking at Alphonso, then Joseph, then Uri, “we can’t just run off. We can’t just run away.”
“I don’t understand...”
“Yeah.” Uri said. “We have something we have to do.”
“I have a deal, Sir Smith.” Philos’ voice was low, wistful. He held up his healed hand. “The man who burned me took away two of our friends. I don’t know what he plans to do with them, but we want to save them. We need to save them. And...”
“We want you to help us.” Joseph said with a smile.
“Joseph...” Philos looked up at the smiling young man.
“What?” His cat-ears twitching as he blew out smoke. “That’s what you were going to say, right?”
“We gotta give this Adonai punk a clobberin’!” Alphonso cracked his knuckles.
“We have to save them!” Uri nodded. “We’re a family!”
Philos smirked. “And we will definitely trust you more! If you help save our friends!”
The four young men held the Angel’s gaze, each rife with fire and resolve. Sir Smith stood silent, his face an image of pale shock and disbelief. Suddenly, he burst into deep laughter, his voice carrying down the hallway and causing several nurses to jump as they passed by and scurried off.
“I see...” the Angel said as he wiped a tear from his eye. Above his head, his ethereal blue halo cast an unearthly light upon the walls. “I see...”
“What’s so funny, huh, guy?” Alphonso said, irritable.
“It’s just...” Sir Smith paused. “I expected to find the two Children of Vespira, but I didn’t expect to find them in such good, impressive company.” A soft smirk crossed his face, almost belying the stoic air of who he was when he entered the room.
“Family, you say?” Sir Smith asked. “Well. I believe a favor might be exchanged for a favor. I will do it, young men! I will help you save your friends, but you must rise to my challenge in recompense.”
Sir Smith bowed and turned, reaching for the door.
“We leave tomorrow.”
“We’ll be at the coffee shop!” Uri said. “It’s over by the—”
“I know,” the Angel said as closed the door. “I know where to find it.”
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