Regain the Balance

F I V E

Titus groaned loudly, stretching his hands above his head. The cleaning of the Inn had taken a lot longer than the two had expected. Hours had passed and Alta and himself were relaxing in the back, drinks in their hands.

"What a day." Said Alta, taking a sip of his drink with an exasperated sigh.

"You're telling me," responded Titus. "You're not the one that was attacked by an angel." The word felt foreign on his tongue, almost like it was never supposed to be there.

"If she even is one." Alta said in disbelief. "For all we know she could be a..." He waved his hand in the air trying to find the right word. "Damn, what's the word?"

"A demon, I presume, is the word you have been scrambling for." The bell like voice came from behind them and they turned to see the black haired woman leaning heavily on her left leg against the door frame. She was battered and bruised all over. Tuli had managed to make her a makeshift outfit from some old sheets she had found, but they didn't do much to cover the large bruises adorning her thighs, arms and chest.

Titus pulled his gaze away from a particularly dark bruise on the inside of her right arm and looked into the black eyes of the winged girl.

"A demon ya say? What'n the hell is that?" Alta stood from his chair and faced the girl, as did Titus. His eyes flashed to a bright white when Ophelia went to move and hissed in pain as her broken wing brushed against the wall.

"Let me help you." He said as he walked towards the girl. He watched as she glared at him for daring to invade her personal space, but reluctantly let him place an arm around her waist and lead her to their abandoned chairs.

Ophelia took in a sharp breath as she sat, closing her eyes at the sharp pain running through her body.

"A demon," she opened her eyes and looked to Alta, "is the tormented soul of a human who has died thousands of years prior to your world and has suffered in Hell. They have been through every type of torture imaginable and as a result, have had their humanity destroyed. They were once as human as you were but are now black masses of demented energy that seek solace in seeing humans being tormented as they once were."

Alta took a step back and shook his head.

"Wait a minute. You mean to tell me that there are 'demons' that use to be humans and now roam Saisei killing people?"

"That is correct. However, they are not the people of this Earth. You see, back before you were placed here, there was another place like this."

Titus tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"There was another Saisei before this?" He questioned.

Ophelia nodded.

"It was not called Saisei then. It was simply called Earth. They would have kept it that way had it not been for the Downfall of Humanity."

"And what is that?" Titus was very intrigued in Ophelia's words. Alta however, was still trying to process the fact that there was a girl with wings in his backyard.

"You two can have the longest conversation ya want. I'm going back inside."

Titus waved him away dismissively and sat before Ophelia.

"What is the Downfall of Humanity?"

She chuckled.

"It was rather fun to watch honestly. Seeing those pathetic humans running for their lives as they were killed by their own kind. Watching, one by one, their family die away into nothing. Cities burned, governments crumbled, and humanity was never more liberated. They could do whatever they wanted without penalty from the law and they did so happily.

Once they realized there was no 'God' to save them, they lost it." Ophelia looked up towards the sky. "Each and every single human of Earth lost what little faith they had in the year 2098. They all gave up."

Her black eyes shone with glee thinking of all the death that took place back then.

It made Titus sick to his stomach.

"Trying to clean up that place was a job in and of itself. Those humans really did a number on their former home. So instead of fixing it, the Higher Ups decided to start over." She lifted her hand towards the sky. "This is the result. Saisei, the planet of Rebirth."

"Rebirth huh...?" Titus absentmindedly flicked his tongue against his teeth in thought. "So if this planet is the second version of... Earth, does that mean we descended from the previous humans?"

Ophelia shook her head, eyes still towards the sky.

"You are an entirely new race of humans. You have nothing in common with the humans of the past, besides your chemical make up."

Ophelia fluttered the ends of her wings gently. She looked down at the white eyed boy with anger.

"You specifically, I don't know what you are. You are not human, nor are you an Angel or a Demon."

Titus scrunched his nose in confusion.

"I'm not human? What do you mean?"

The woman yawned loudly.

"I've answered enough of your questions. I'm tired and hungry. Make me something to eat."

She stood slowly and limped her way towards the door that lead inside the Inn. Titus could only stare at her retreating form in confusion at her words.

"I'm... Not human?"

Of course he knew he was different from everyone else since he was never a child to begin with, but to not be human?

The chill that ran up his spine seemed to penetrate his soul at the thought.