???: "Well, sorry for this, but i really thought it was better to be safe than sorry..."

  ???: "Don't worry. The time we waste here pales in comparison to the time we will waste traveling"

  A boy and an angel conversed as it was not the most twisted sight one could see.

  ???: "Where are you two headed? If i may ask... haha.."

  The angel laughed as it asked the boy sitting beside him where he was headed.

  ???: "We're going toward Aurelia. Since he can effectively conceal his identity, maybe we could settle there for a bit just to survive."

  ???: "Oh i see... well i was headed there too, coincidentally."

  The angel still bore a big smile on his face.

  ???: "Why would you be going there? You'll probably be killed as soon as you get close."

  ???: "Well..."

  The angel thought, but his smile didn't fade fully.

  ???: "Let's say i need to meet an old friend and gather information."

  ???: "Huh.."

  The boy wasn't convinced by his answer.

  A moment of silence passed and the two ended up staring at the headless corpse of Val beside them.

  Eisen: "Sitting here and doing nothing is still quite boring. When's he waking up?"

  ???: "Any moment now..."

  A blue and white light emerged from Vals' neck, and as it moved along the empty space where his head should have been, flesh formed.

  And once the light's journey was completed, all that remained was a brand new head.

  Val jolted up with a deep breath in.

  Val: "Hey wha-!"

  He stopped talking and instead turned his head. He saw Eisen and another angel looking at him, one with an indifferent expression, and the other with a big smile.

  Val got up on his feet and raised his hands to defend himself. But his hands quickly went back down before even saying anything.

  Val: "Who are you?"

  The angel to which the question was directed to put his own hands in front of him.

  ???: "Don't get all worried! I'm not gonna do anything!"

  Val didn't move an inch.

  ???: "I get that i killed you, but i was being overly cautious. Now that i know who you two are, i wont do anything like that again."

  Val relaxed a bit.

  ???: "Tell me... what's your name?"

  Val: "Are you from Meshen?"

  Even though Val didn't know exactly what having someone from Meshen around them entailed, he knew perfectly that it was a danger.

  ???: "Huh? No! Don't worry about that. But i do wanna know your name."

  Val didn't give in yet. Eisen saw this and reassured Val.

  Eisen: "He's not. Trust me."

  Even though he didn't really trust Eisen that much, he still trusted him more that any stranger.

  Val: "Well..."

  Val looked at the suspicious angel, and then at Eisen. Then he turned toward the angel to answer his question.

  Val: "I'm Valaeron. But just call me Val."

  ???: "Valaeron, huh."

  The angel made a surprised face, but it was the good surprised.

  ???: "My name is Norimhalo. But that's lengthy, and if i had to be truthful i don't really like it, so you can call me Nori."

  Val still didn't fully let his guard down.

  Eisen: "Meshen angels go by numbers, and when they are on missions like spying and gathering information, the use incredibly simple and common names. Definitely not Norimhalo or whatever his name is."

  Nori: "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!"

  Nori felt slightly offended.

  Val was now able to relax, and drop his guard slightly, even though it was hard to do so in front of the one who had just beheaded him. He looked around and checked his surroundings. Not so far from there, on the ground was a copy of Vals' head, the one he had before that was cut off. He gave a disgusted look in it's direction.

  Nori: "Yeah, that's how it works.."

  Nori laughed a little, seemingly trying to reassure his fellow angel.

  Val: "It's..."

  He felt nauseous and put his hand on his mouth.

  --

  Val: "Wait a minute... How did you get to earth?"

  The trio was walking through the forest.

  Nori: "Uhh, i guess you could say i fell just like you did."

  Val: "How long ago?"

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Nori: "Uhh, uhm... Well..."

  Nori was clearly in a difficult position. What was he trying not to say?

  Eisen: "Leave it be.."

  Val turned to the boy, clearly confused.

  Val: "What do you have to do with this?"

  Eisen looked at Val with dissatisfaction. His brows furrowed, and it almost looked like he was angry. But then, he turned around and looked away.

  Eisen: "You're right. I have nothing to do with this."

  It was clear Eisen wasn't fully truthful. This made Val even more confused.

  Nori: "Well, i'll say, i've been on earth for some time now."

  Val was still pretty confused, but taking Eisens' advice, he stopped asking questions and stayed silent.

  Around him, the forest was the same as ever, and the only anomaly him and the boy had come across was the small mound where Nori had been found. But the rest was trees, and more trees, each the same distance from each other. They did not let in much light, and when occasional patches did come across, walking through them warmed the travelers up a bit in the unusually cold forest.

  They were now close to the edge of the forest, and they approached the planes that stretch all the way to the capital, Aurelia.

  Eisen: "We're almost out of the forest. It might be another hour."

  They passed by another group of travelers. The three paid no mind to the group, as they walked at their side.

  The humans were no simple travelers. They were lightly armored, and had swords at their hips.

  They froze as the three light-heartedly chatted while they walked, not knowing who they had encountered.

  The humans turned to face them as they happily strolled on. As soon as the trio realized something was wrong though, they froze too in their tracks. The two groups were completely still, waiting, knowing something was coming.

  Eisen was still, and for once he looked somewhat worried. Nori looked down, but he didn't face the humans yet. Vals' eyes widened and he didn't move, as if he had zoned out.

  Hunters. The humans were definitely a group of hunters. The armor, and the swords... They all lined up to what Val had seen on Masako and Riney.

  But he preferred to block out memories of those two, so he simply stopped thinking. He already knew what he wanted his plan of action to be.

  Nori: "Ready..?"

  Val: "Yes."

  Nori: "Alright."

  Nori took a deep breath.

  Nori: "3...2..."

  They were both still.

  Nori: "One."

  Nori swiftly turned around and sprinted toward the hunters, who were still incredulous. Instead, Val started running away, as fast as he could. Eisen remained still.

  Nori and Val had come up with two completely different courses of action. Nori saw fighting as the only way out, while Val refuse to fight and did everything he could to get out of the difficult situation.

  As soon as they notice their misunderstanding, they both quickly turned around again to face each other.

  Nori was in front of one of the humans as he was about to attack.

  Nori: "What are you d--"

  Nori closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as he grabbed the sword that was attacking from behind him. He turned slightly and threw a kick in the man's stomach.

  Val faced Eisen and behind him Nori. He wasn't able to quickly process what was happening, but he knew that Nori was planning to hurt the group of hunters. Even if it wasn't him, he still couldn't stand seeing it.

  Val: "Hey! Nori! Let's run!"

  Nori: "What are you saying?"

  Nori was now talking to Val while successfully fending off the hunter's attacks. It was like he could see behind him.

  Nori: "There isn't so many that we can't take them! Though that was based off the fact that we were two angels..."

  Val was still, listening to Nori but still trying to get what he was saying.

  After a moment...

  Nori: "I'm saying, it'll be hard to take them all on my own! Help me? I know you know how to fight, you're an angel!"

  That last part made Vals' heart drop. Why did being an angel mean you were able to fight? He didn't want to fight, and he had no intention to, not now and not ever.

  And so he would do what he had to to get out of there.

  Val: "Eisen. We're escaping."

  Val started walking backwards, looking at Eisen. For once, Vals' face was determined, since he finally knew what he wanted to do. Eisen looked at him with worry, but he was obligated to obey.

  Val: "Nori. Decide now, if you want to follow us or stay there to fight."

  Nori had turned around to face the hunters, and a standstill was reached. Since 3 of them were already knocked out, they were wary of how to continue.

  Val knew, since Nori had said so, that leaving him alone would mean he'd have no choice but back out. They were too many to take for only one angel, once they settled down and coordinated a group attack. Even though Nori was exceptionally strong and fast, he would be powerless if the hunters attacked together.

  Val turned around and started running. He figured Nori would most definitely follow him.

  Eisen looked pretty worried, and, standing between the two angels, he didn't even look at Nori before starting to run too. He was also forced to.

  Eisen began running to and, even if he wasn't as fast as Val, his escape was efficient enough.

  Nori watched the two with dissatisfaction. But he wasn't given a lot of time to think. The hunters had regrouped and coordinated a new attack against the angel.

  --

  As the sky got darker, Val and Eisen slowly walked through the forest. They were able to get away and avoid fighting. Val didn't stop to think what Eisen thought of it, since he was forced to come along.

  Val turned to look behind him while walking. Nothing was there. He turned back around.

  The temperature was even lower during the night, but it seemed to only bother Eisen, who was basically trembling. Val didn't even seem to notice it, since it looked like he was occupied with something else.

  There was silence between the two, with the only sound being their footsteps and occasional birds or insects making themselves heard.

  Val turned around once more. Still nothing. He turned back and looked down. A feeling he had held in the back of his soul for sometime now resurfaced. Eisen noticed.

  Eisen: "At this point, pretty sure he stayed there."

  He wasn't sad, or angry with Val, or anything. He simply said what he thought.

  Val: "I thought he would be less stubborn. I hoped he would understand what i was trying to do.."

  Val was clearly sad or disappointed about the situation from the tone of his voice. Was it really his fault if Nori ended up dead, even if he gave him the choice?

  Eisen: "It-it's getting d-dark, we might want to stop and look for something t-to eat."

  It was also really getting cold, but Val still couldn't feel it. He also wasn't able to notice it on Eisen.

  Val: "Okay, fine."

  Val stopped and walked toward the nearest tree. Eisen sat down.

  --

  Eisen walked back breathing heavily, holding something in his hands. He threw it toward Val who was sitting still.

  Eisen: "This good?"

  Eisen sat down on the ground, then he lay on his back still breathing heavily.

  Val looked over at what Eisen threw at him. A small animal, something equivalent to a bunny, had been captured and killed.

  Eisen: "Oh man, that was hard. It kept bouncing around. Thank god it's over."

  That description made Val feel sick. But still, to survive, he would eat it.

  Eisen sat back up and looked at Val.

  Eisen: "Well?"

  Val took a deep breath and looked at Eisen confused.

  Eisen: "You just wanted to make me flail around like an idio--"

  ???: "Finally i found you!"

  Eisen got up quickly and moved in front of the frozen Val. He was quick to defend against the one speaking, who wasn't yet visible in the night.

  A small knife appeared in Eisens' hand, and he swinged at the figure.

  ???: "Oh, no need for that!"

  Eisen suddenly stopped as the figure came in to view.

  Nori: "Not a good hiding spot for someone who's being hunted..."

  Nori looked around as if verifying his disappointment.

  Val: "Wha--?"

  Nori turned to Val calmly. He expected Nori to be angry, maybe scold him or even decide to abandon the group. Val looked at Nori, covered in splashes of blood, and a soft smile appeared. It wasn't what he expected, but for Nori it seemed fitting. Since Val had met him, he was always wearing a smile.

  Nori: "Hey... uhh, you're looking awfully confused."

  Val looked down, unable to look at Noris' face for much longer.

  Val: "Sorry... uh, i'm real--"

  Nori understood what he was getting at.

  Nori: "Um, you shouldn't worry about that. I get what you were trying to do, and you don't even know me so i guess it makes sense..."

  Val: "Well, still, i'm sorry if i put you in danger, i just really needed to get away!"

  Nori was now the confused one.

  Nori: "Danger?"

  Nori sat down close to Val.

  Nori: "No, there was no danger. You should know, us angels are stronger than that!"

  Nori was basically smiling ear to ear. To Val smiling about things like those felt wrong.

  Nori: "It's weird, it's like we're made for fighting!"

  Nori still held his smile. It's like he was saying something amazing, something exciting. It was nothing like that. The only thing fighting and killing has ever brought Val was pain, guilt and suffering.

  What would it bring to keep fighting?

  Val: "Why are you smiling? What is there to smile about?"

  Nori: "Huh?"

  Nori got confused.

  Nori: "What isn't there to smile about?"

  Val looked down.

  Nori: "You okay?"

  They had two completely different mindsets. They possessed different ideals, and the events of today were the proof of it.