The Corruption

Chapter 13

Hananoai temple, Amare Island

The moon still stood proudly against the dark sky, soft laughter contrasted with the characteristic silence of the evening. The two angels sat on the floor, leaning against the wall of the temple, next to Hana's balcony, their wings closed. Lux stared at the side, directing his attention to Art's face. The latter was looking at the floor, a half-honest smile resting on his lips, his blindfold laying on the ground next to him. Lux's eyes soften, he could tell something was bothering his friend, and he knew exactly what it was... Unfortunately, Lux had never been good at comforting people, he spent most of his time in the office, and barely had contact with people when not for official business, and as such he only gazed at the ground as well, the joint laughter falling into quietude, and just like always, Lux would only pretend not to notice for the moment, later expressing his worries to the goddess, who always had such a great way with words. However, this time Lux didn't want to wait for someone else to help his friend, his mind drifting for a second to Naki's unconscious form in the hospital bed, and then to the way everything seemed to turn upside down on such few days... After all, it had only been three moons since they first found the body corrupted by the curse, and yet a friend of his had been hospitalized with the same curse, he seemed to team up with a criminal and the highest authority in all Heilagt, (whom both seem to know each other much better than the angel expected...), and another of his friends had been kidnapped and found... Could he really wait? Could he really rely on the luxury of time? No, he didn't want to. Even if his words could not give much comfort, he could at least try. He wanted to try. Was it that demon's influence? Perhaps... Perhaps the way Killian spoke without fear, the way he didn't waste a second. But Lux would never admit that, not to the world and not to himself.

And so he only took a hesitant breath, his chest rising in full causing his wings to open slightly before closing once more when his chest fell. His eyes moving up to gape at the moon when he opened his mouth. "The moon was like this when we first met as well." Arthur glanced at the side, humming softly as a reply, waiting for Lux to continue. "Do you remember it?" This time the fire angel smiled softly, tilting his head backwards as he followed his friend gaze to the moon. "Yeah"

In the forest, Amare Island (years ago)

A small child stood alone, hidden away in the middle of the forest. He sat down near a small lake, hugging his knees while tears streamed down his face, a few bruises on his arms and knees, his small wings opened around him, trying to act as shields to his face. Suddenly he heard a snap to his right. His wings perched up in surprise as he turned his body to the source of the sound, being faced with a boy who seemed to be around his age. The boy was slightly taller than him, but he almost looked more delicate, with pale skin, medium length platinum hair that fell just above his shoulders, with bangs that almost covered his round blue eyes, and a small rosy blush that covered his cheeks as he smiled awkwardly, with pure white wings who stayed closed behind him. "Uhm- Hi?" The child only narrowed their eyes into a glare, with his ginger hair covering a part of his eyes. "What do you want." He asked harshly, causing the boy to flinch, sweat dripping from his cheek as the fiddly smile continued on his face. "I just though that you might want this?" He tilted his head to the side, raising his right hand to show the small bag he had. "For your bruises." The boy gave him a closed eye smile, warm even if awkward, causing the ginger child to lower his guard. The boy took it as a sigh to approach, his expression becoming brighter as he took a seat next to the other angel. "I'm Lux by the way!" The child scoffed, staring at the side as he sat more comfortably, extending his legs and leaning back, supporting himself with his arms. "I know who you are." Seeing Lux tilt his head in confusion, he explained. "Everyone knows who you are, you're the prodigy that is being taken care of by Lord Purizumu himself." The taller boy flinched in shock, his blush growing as he laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "O-Oh, I see..." The other child smiled in amusement, leaning his head towards the other boy. "I'm Arthur." Lux grinned. "Nice to meet you!" They both smiled at each other, feeling the atmosphere grow warmer. "May I?" The boy asked, pointing once more at the bag, Arthur nodded in response and as such Lux began to carefully disinfect and bandage the wounds. "If you don't mind... What were those boys and you arguing about...?" Art lifted his head to stare at the boy who hesitantly spoke up. "You saw that?" Once more the other boy flinched, and Arthur thought to himself that he was too expressive for his own good. "I heard a bit when the adults separated you all..." The ginger hummed, staring at the bandages as Lux finished putting them on. "Well, it was the usual. They want me to leave." Lux's eyes widen in confusion. "Leave? Why?" Arthur stared at him for a few seconds, almost certain that the boy was mocking him, surely the reason should be clear, yet he found nothing but pure perplexity in his eyes. "...Because I'm not like them. Not like you." He sighed, shifting his position once more, so he could hug his knees. "Are you blind or something? Do you not see how small my wings are?" He glared at the floor. Wings were too important to angels, they showed their mana attribute and mana quantity, the bigger the wings the more mana they would have. Yet Arthur's were small, too small, even for a child. "They say I'm to weak to be here, too weak to protect Her Ladyship..." Tears filled his eyes. He knew it was true, and he agreed with them. He truly was weak... But he could never bring himself to leave, he didn't want to leave the one who saved him... "You're not weak though?" Arthur's eyes widened at the boy's words, in shock he lifted his head to stare at the angel who only stared back at him with a completely certain face. "Are you actually blind?" Despite the rudeness, Lux only shook his head. "You lack mana, yes. But why does that mean you're weak?" Lux tilted his head. "Do you want to protect Lady Hananoai?" "Of course I do!" The taller boy smiled at the immediate response. "If you want to protect something so bad, you need to train hard. If you lack mana, then train without it. You already have the desire, power is something you gain." Arthur stared in shock, the tears that filled his eyes beginning to pour down his eyes like waterfalls, leaving Lux awkwardly fiddling with his hands, not knowing how to stop it. But before he could do anything, the ginger child began laughing, leaving him more confused. Lux only stared while Arthur laughed, but in a few moments, he found himself contaminated by the sound, as he began laughing himself.

Time passed, and eventually both kids found themselves sitting side by side in silence, staring at the full moon. "You know Lux, you're way different that I though." Arthur commented, making the other confused. "I though you would be more of a brat, you know?" He laughed as Lux chuckled awkwardly. "It seems a lot of people get that idea because of His Grace care... But we're not that different..." The smaller boy tiled his head, perplexed. "Well, you were found by Lady Hananoai in the forest, right? Already as a very small child but with no memory of your past?" Art stared. "You too?" Lux nodded with a small smile. "His Grace found me and cared for me very graciously." The ginger child stayed quiet for a second, before hesitantly speaking up. "I'm... Sorry to have misjudge you..." The other boy only shook his head, still smiling. "There's no need, instead, how about you became my friend? I don't really have many..." Lux laughed awkwardly, causing the other child who laugh as well, before grinning brightly. "We're friend now Luxy!" This caused the boy to blush deeply in embarrassment. "What is that nickname?! Please don't use it!" "Whyyy? It's so cute!" "Arthur please!" "Are you blushing Luxy?" "Arhur!"

And soon the silence of the night was overwritten by the sound of children laughing and bickering. A younger looking Hana stood quietly by a tree, watching the two boys, before smiling warmly and turning around to leave them alone.

Hananoai temple, Amare Island

Arthur chuckled softly at the memory. "You were much more expressive as a child Luxy." Lux only shook his head, scoffing. "Please don't start with the nickname again Arthur, but more importantly, remember what I said about protecting Lady Hana?" He stared at his friend, who avoided his eyes, staring back at the ground. "You said I needed to train hard..." He closed his eyes, laughing bitterly. "But I see it didn't change much, I still couldn't protect her." Lux shook his head, extending his left wing to embrace his friend with it. "She's okay Arthur, we've found her." Art nodded, but his eyes were still fixed to the ground. "You've found her. Hell, it was thanks to that demon that we even got there in time..." Lux bit his tongue, that was indeed true, he couldn't deny that. He hesitantly opened his mouth again, but before he could, his friend beat him to it, staring at him with a soft smile. "I'm not that kid anymore Lux. I know I'm weak, and I know I'm still lacking in many ways... But I'm not going to run away and hide. I'm going to keep training, until I can finally protect her." Lux widened his eyes in surprise, before softening his expression as he smiled warmly. "I'm here for you shall you require assistance, or a friendly shoulder." Arthur smiled back. "I know, and you know both me and the Lady are here for you too right? ...It must have been hard on you to." The ginger reached his hand to rest at his friend shoulder who lifted his own hand to cover his with a soft smile. "Staying still will not chance anything, we can only continue moving and growing stronger to protect those we care about." Arthur smiled at his words, his eyes softening as he nodded.

After a few more moments of lighthearted conversation, Lux stood up, dusting his robes and stretching his wings. "It'll turn day in no time. I'm heading to the quarters to get some sleep. Are you coming?" Arthur shook his head. "I want to stay here a bit more, I promise I won't go back to late." Lux nodded with a smile, softly ruffling his hair before leaving with a smile. Left alone, Art raised a hand to his hair, pink dusting his cheeks as he narrowed his eyes in embarrassment towards the direction his friend had disappeared to. He sighed as stared back at the sky, the vanishing moon reflecting on his eyes. He raised his right hand, letting it rest over his right eye as he muttered a few words to himself, the contents getting carried by a small gush of wind that danced through the nigh sky. Felling more confident about the safety of his lady, caused by the first rays of the sun peaking in the far horizon, he decided to get up and move to his quarters, to try and get some rest before the official begging of the day.

Nearby a pair of eyes watched, a small hum resonating against the silence. A silhouette stood there, but in a second it was gone, as if it was never there in the first place.