The Morning Star

Chapter XI "The Unfortunate Coincidence"

A few weeks have passed since Ray discovered the past buried behind. His father, his demons, his entire life was slowly making sense. All that was left were a few questions that didn't hold much value to the indecisive teen. His sleeping irregularities drastically decreased, his nightmares were controllable, and his school days were passing normally again. Lilia would pass by every now and then to check up on Ray's progress, the mysterious teen never left him any ways of contact, only with the wait till their next meeting. David as well was shrouded in mystery. Since their last encounter, David seemed to have vanished into thin air, nowhere to be found. The other Keepers seemed to be quite uninterested in Ray anymore, not that any of them, other than that one creep that showed up last time disturbing his date showed any interest to start with. The teen developed a new hobby as well, starting to use the devil's clearing to summon and learn more about his demons seemed to be quite beneficial. After all they'll be there till his death for all he knew.

The meetings were smoothly held whenever the clearing was empty of any other Keepers. Ray would sit down within the borders of the clearing and summon one of his demons. The demon summoned would be asked a few questions, trying to gain an understanding of his powers and nature. None of them seemed to mind at all, this left Ray wondering why Jengrith gave him such a hard time to begin with. Weren't there tests to know if he's worthy? Or was Jengrith the only one to test as the head of them all? This wasn't obvious so far, but Ray was nothing less than grateful for not having to deal with such events all over again.

On one specific day, Ray was settled in the park, awaiting his turn to enter the clearing for a meeting was held once more. In the given spare time, the yeen managed to lay back and sharpen his senses once more. Allowing his soul to flow out of his body, he hovered around the park. Nothing really interesting was happening outside the dense forest like center. His visions were startled as he felt they were being pulled away into the sides of the clearing. Until they resided onto the lips of another young male which whispered out. "Boo." Ray immediately woke up, his hands clutched the ground for support as he made his way back to his feet. One good look around, and he sighed in relief. He didn't recognize the young male he saw, yet as he expected, he heard his invitation walking out of the forest.

-Unknown Young Male "You shouldn't be waiting for the clearing today, the meeting won't be over before a couple more hours."

-Ray "And who am I speaking with?"

-Unknown Young Male "Ah I forgot to introduce myself. Michael, the Keeper of Lost Souls."

-Ray "Ray, the Keeper of Hell's Wrath."

-Michael "You're very well recognized among our ranks Ray, there's no need for introductions."

-Ray "W-what do you mean by that?"

-Michael "some call you a miracle, some call you a curse. For me, you're just another Lost Soul that found its way to our universe's magnet, power."

Ray seemed baffled by this little talk,he slowly gained a clearer view as Michael kept closing the distance between them. Michael looked a bit older than Ray, probably by a year or two. His hair was extremely blonde, some would mistake it to be white due to how light its color was. He was dressed in the same manner David dressed in, a formal attire, covered with a vest, and a black leather coat to wrap everything underneath. Taken by Michael's words, Ray asked once more, yet keeping his indirect tone. "I'm sure you're not here to be telling me this, are you?" Michael took a moment to laugh at the question before shaking his head, he then gazed at Ray with sympathetic eyes while replying. "Meet me here tomorrow. For now, go get some rest. The meeting won't be over anytime soon." With these words, Michael waved his hand and turned back to leave. This somehow reminded Ray of David, the same manners, as well as Lilia once he took a deeper thought into the matter. Defeated, Ray returned back to his home, being left with more unsolved questions than he intended to be.

The next day, Ray moved on with his routine. Going to school, returning home with his bag for some Lunch. Keeping everything within the ordinary for he knew the surprises to come. Marking the hour he met Michael the previous day, he made sure to make it in time for the anonymous meeting. There, in the clearing, he met Michael, which was checking his wrist watch.

-Micheal "Right on time Ray, right on time."

-Ray "Thank you. Now may I know what you need from me?"

Micheal waved his finger in a no gesture, raising it to his head which shook left and right in sync. "Not so fast, first, I'll need to see how worthy you are. The kid that everyone has been talking about." Ray sighed, only to be interrupted by a familiar sensation. A sensation of a power overflow, as the skies dimmed declaring the start of a battle. Michael held his hands out, forming his body into a cross as he prayed. "Scourge the living and bind their souls, for those gone no longer belong, Harvest, Nathaniel." from behind Michael, a red pair of glowing eyes was slowly being formed, hovering above the male's head in a dark void. The demon's shape was slowly being revealed, as its body glowed with a deep orange light. A large pair of horns protruding from his head, a bulk body made from stone, and two scythes, each held in one of his hands as he approached the center light, the only light. The demon stood arched forward, dragging its scythes behind it, next to the stone tail that dragged itself on the grass. With each step it took, the ground shook to the mighty beast. Michael grew a smirk on his face as he stared at the awe of Ray. Nathaniel was at least twice the size of Jengrith. Finally Michael broke the silence with a ridiculing question. "Are you planning to play along without your toys Ray? Where would be the fun in That?"