The Corruption

Chapter 8

Amare Islands, in the forest

The leaves blew with the wind, yet the sound of the breeze was baffled by the anxious melody of sandals colliding with ground as the group of four rapidly moved through the mazes of plants covering the deepest parts of the forest. They came to a stop once they reached a small clearance. "We should part ways, it will guarantee an opportunity to cover more land." Lux took the initiative yet was answered by an exaggeratedly disappointed sign provided by Killian. "I expected you to be smarter Mr. General, we do not know the specifics of who we're dealing with, it would be counter-productive if one of us were to get injured." As it was proving usual to happen, the words made irritation brew inside of the wind angel's mind, yet he could only bite his lip as he was unable to counter them. "We could go in duos, if we do not get to separated it would not be a problem." This time it was Arthur who spoke up, his voice firm but hesitant, likely from the sense of danger the demon gave him with only his presence. "That would be fine. Killian, come." Amartya answered, wanting to put an end to the whole discussion, and with the words said he turned around and began walking towards their left. The demon stood quiet for a second, his signature grin not leaving his face, but his eyes glinted with a mysterious emotion as he glanced at both the angels, yet he only shrugged before following the god, leaving them alone.

The two angels continued searching for traces of the missing goddess, yet even as the sand fell into the hourglass and the sky moved they were still left with not a single vestige of hers, and with which minute that passed Arthur grew more and more uneasy... His hands trembling as he searched, his eyes filled with tears he forced himself not to drop. But as much as he tried to hide it, Lux was far too attentive, having already noticed the quickening of his breath. The wind angel bit the inside of his cheek in thought, staring at the ground as he wordlessly played with his fingers before finally speaking up. "We'll find her..." He cursed in his mind as his voice came out unsteady. Saying Lux was a workaholic could be seen as an understatement, the angel almost breathed his work, perhaps a consequence of the weight of expectations that shackled him to his office, and that served as a fertile soil for the roots of his lack of verbal diction. He has the maturity and the vocabulary, but expressing his feelings or trying to comfort someone else orally has always been a problem to him. Nonetheless, Arthur could understand the meaning behind his words, as he returned them with a glimpse of an appreciation smile. They both fell into silence, which to them was nothing out of the ordinary. To Lux, just the presence of someone was comfortable. To Arthur, just seeing the shadow of his friend made him feel warm. In their little tea times, it was always... It was always Hana who would do most of the talking... The cupid clenched his teeth as his shoulders shook from the other angel's point of view. Lux glared at the ground as he once again fought his subconscious to try and find the right words, and yet to someone so use to only apathetically report documents, helping someone find a calmness of mind was not something he was used to... And at that moment the image of Killian came to his mind, and a spark of envy ignited on his stomach as he heard the right words slide off his tongue like velvet. Even he had to admit it, while the demon's speech always managed to trigger his own irritation, it was still admirable the way even the crudest of insults could sound luxurious coming from him.
"I don't need consoling Lux, I should..." Arthur spoke, biting his bottom lip enough to draw blood. "I should have protected her. That's my job. That's the whole reason I'm here. I-" His voice broke as tears filled his eyes, as he wished he had his blindfold to cover them. His mind shooting poisonous arrows at his subconscious, making his spirit fumble and crumble, which second drawing closer to the bottom of his tornado of self-loathing... That is until a warm hand pulled him from it. "We'll find her." The same words, and yet totally different. Luxes tone was firm, certain, laced determination, his eyes like a warm ocean that helped ease Arthur's mind. A warm hand placed in the cupid's hair as the latter could no longer fight back his cries. Lux did not wipe them off, he did not say anything, only wordlessly guided Art's head into his shoulder and stared at nothingness as he patiently waited for him to calm down.
After a few minutes the cupid had finally managed to regain his composure, avoiding Luxes eyes in embarrassment as his blood rushed to his face. "I- uhm... I apologize..." He muttered, taking a step back to create distance, and rubbing his eyes with his arm to clean the vestige of tears on his now swollen eyes. Instead of an answer, Lux only replied with a warm smile. "Let's keep looking for Her Ladyship, yes?" He advanced, placing a warm hand on Arthur's shoulder. "Yeah." The cupid answered with his own shaky smile.