The Definition of Evil

Chapter 2

2. Bastian

    "Okay guys, first up in our training session is hand-to-hand combat. Pair up everyone," I tell the class. Being the combat commander for all of the warrior angels, I am the one who runs all the combat classes. "Brendan, you're with me," I randomly pick the first student that catches my eye.

    As I grab Brendan and drag him onto the mat with me, I look around and make sure everyone is partnered up. Everyone is and has already started fighting. I turn back around and face my partner.

    Brendan is about a foot shorter than me, but what he lacks in height he makes up for in muscle. The problem with being bulky, though, is that you often mistake strength for skill. We'll see which one Brendan has.

    "Arms up!" I yell, making sure my voice is heard over the smacking of fists on flesh. I watch him get into position and then motion him forward. He comes forward and places all his weight onto one foot and swings. I sigh. How did I know it was going to be strength. I nimbly duck out of the way and slam my elbow into his solar plexus, making him collapse to the ground. I have little hope left for him when suddenly, he tucks and rolls just like I taught him to and gets back up. I am happy to see that he does have some skill. I'm about to invite him to come back at me, when I hear a cry of pain a few mats over.

    I look over to see Oliver on the ground clutching his leg in pain while Alyshia  dances around him in victory.
"Bastian! Bastian!" Oliver calls out. "I think she broke my leg. I call foul play."

"Are you sure you're not overreact-"

"Oh the pain!" Oliver cries.

I sigh, tired of Oliver's antics. I call for a paramedic to come take him away. I'll be requesting to have him drop out of this class and into the lower one before the end of the week. A paramedic comes and takes him away, making fun of him the entire way. We all prey on weakness. Only the strongest survive in this realm.

As Oliver is being carted away, my second in command, Liam, walks in.

"What in the world is going on here?" he asks, with a tiny bit of his english accent coming through. He takes in the shortened class and the student being taken away the medic.

"Just another problem that I didn't feel like dealing with today." My shoulders felt heavy with the stress of the first day weighing down on my mind. Liam claps a hand on my back and then puts his arm around me. I feel comforted knowing that my best friend is by my side.

Liam is older than me by three years, but we are the same height. He is bigger than me, packing more muscle to swing around his sword with ease, while I am leaner, liking my bow and arrows. I always see him in his silver breastplate, showing off his muscled arms, and with a hand on the sword at his side. When I came here, Liam already had the reputation of being a troublemaker. He was mean and ruthless, but as we got older, he seemed to mature more. We became best friends when he saved my life on a mission, and have been inseparable ever since. When I raised to the rank of Commander, I argued that Liam would be a better Commander than I would ever be, but they told me that I was more powerful and would be a better leader. Liam agreed with them, so instead I made Liam my second in command.
"Well, since your class ended early, at least you get the rest of the day to do something. Wanna hang out, or do you want to go do that thing you are always doing by yourself?" Liam asks. I did really want to hang out with Liam, but I needed to spend every chance I could take looking for Lenora. When I came here, I was told that Lenora died along with my parents, but I don't believe that. I feel like somehow I would know if she died, and I have the gut feeling that she is still alive. I intend to get her back. I just have to find her.

"I think I'm just going to go off on my own for today." I mumble, ashamed that I never spend time with him anymore. Not after I was given the freedom to go to the human realm whenever I pleased, over the excuse of 'training'.
"Of course, Bastian. Whatever you need. I'll see you around, okay?"

"Okay," I respond, already turning away. I walk to the portal at the end of the training fields. When I reach it, I think of the church near our old house that we used to go to every Sunday. Walking into the church always feels strange after leaving the portal. When I came here as a kid, I never really believed in all this angel and demon shit. Even now that I'm living it, I still have a hard time believing it.

I leave my confusing thoughts at the church and hitchhike back to the old family house, way out in the middle of nowhere. When I refound this place a couple of years ago, it was almost exactly the way we left it, aside from a thousand cobwebs and dust bunnies. I cleaned up the place before buying the property. It didn't cost much considering the murders that happened in the house. I'm surprised that they even bothered trying to sell it at all. I'm glad it didn't sell. I wouldn't want someone else living in our home. Well, I guess it's just my home now, with Lenora and my parents gone.
I can still remember that morning as if it happened yesterday. I was sleeping in Lenora's bed with her after having a nightmare. This happened quite often, but my twin always welcomed me into her bubble of safeness. That was the first thing that was disciplined out of me, the feeling of being safe. While we were lying together in bed, I heard a lot of banging and screaming coming from downstairs. I shook Lenora awake, and we crept to the top of the stairs to try to see what was going on. Then the strange man came and took me away from Lenora forever. Lenora was always protecting me from bullies and nightmares. I felt like it was long past overdue for me to protect her this time. I don't know how I made the big mean scary guy hear me over Lenora's screaming. Somehow he did, and listened to me. But every time that I try and remember that scene, I can't make out who the man was, like it has been blocked from my mind. The last thing I remember is Lenora's screaming, then I was waking up in the angel realm, training with Eae. They told me that the 'big scary man' was a demon who killed my family, and they saved me from being killed too.

    That event was a long time ago, though, and there's no time for me to reminisce over bad memories. No, now is the time to find Lenora.