“When will be returning to our journey?” asked Lucis, following Cain outside.

The scholar, raising his arm above his eyes to shield them from the light, hummed for a moment before replying, “That is a matter best left decided by the evening table. I think we should hurry on our way. Perhaps two more days here should be sufficient. Anyways, where did he head off to? There is much I would like to ask him. Much.”

“Went to get food, I would assume.”

“Food, food is good. I haven’t had a good meal in ages.” The gray-eyed boy sighed and looked up at the sky. “Well, I doubt he will bring back anything of luxury. At most salted barrel-meat. I would love some eggs and fresh bread. Fresh meat—besides wolf meat, of course—would be nice. I do find it ironic that, in the hands of nature, we would have so little to eat. There are no chickens here nor cattle. Fruits are sparse and water can rarely be found. On that thought, maybe nature is not a romantic as we worship it as. There is no food, no shelter. It is brutal. From a distance, nature appears so beautiful, so pristine, so vast, so sublime. Yet the closer you focus, the more you notice the dangerous imperfections.” He shivered. “I do not like nature. I do not like it at all.”

Lucis nodded, not completely understanding Cain’s words. “Nature is indeed all those things.”

“I do wonder if I truly desire to leave this island.” Cain took a deep breath. “Do you even understand the significance? The secrets of the world, they lie here. From what I have read, there is an almost unbroken line of records reaching back thousand of years. Anything unknown to the outside world will be known in the books found here, on Vitaras. The Academy, I must go there before leaving this island.” He turned to Lucis, curiosity shone in his eyes. “You seem to know much about Vitaras. Tell me.”

“Tell you what?”

Eyes lingering on Lucis for a moment, Cain looked away with a frown on his face. “You changed. You seem… rather uncertain today. Where is your usual confidence? Did it die with the demon?” When Lucis raised an eyebrow, the scholar raised his hands with his palms outwards. “No, I don’t mean to accuse you of anything. I just want to know something. Since Oliver had accused you of being our enemy, I have been observing you. For the past few days, you acted with nonchalance, as if you had absolute knowledge of the environment around you. Of course, I did consider that you might just be a brave fool. But, seeing how you somehow found all those weapons in that maze of place, I think it is the former. Yet today, you did not even know what a Spirit Blade was. And, interestingly enough, the day before, you knew that the Lock was used to capture the spirits of demons. Who are you?”

Lucis blinked and took a step back. So Cain had noticed. Well, there was no reason to not tell the scholar the truth. After all, he did let a stranger join the group for the night without much questions.

“So,” Lucis began, “I had friend named Raphael. He was my best friend, my closest friend. Just like you had said, he was nonchalant and confident, intelligent too. Before I had woken up, he spoke to me.” He sighed. “I knew him my entire life. Only a few days ago did I… did I find out he the was not just a mortal, he is an angel who lived since the beginning of history itself. He offered to guide me for a few days, though whatever knowledge he gave me would be taken away at the end. Well, last night was the end. I know nothing now.”

“Raphael.” Brows furrowed in concentration, Cain rubbed his chin. “Interesting. Could it be him? If he is real, then…”

“Oh Remi,” said Lucis, as the white-clothed boy strolled out from an alley, “you’ve returned.” Seeing the boy carrying a full sack in his arms, Lucis asked, “What do you bring?”

Remi smiled at the two of them. “For you, a feast. Steak, a whole chicken, eggs, a couple loaves of freshly baked bread, a jar of honey, some butter, two river-fish, and a wheel of delicate cheese. I also brought a few smaller sacks of salt and various spices. I hope these will be of your liking. Come, lets return to the house. I’ll cook. It’s the least I can do. Oh, and Lucis, Courtney is there.”

“So?”

“Do you not know? Apologize to her, tell her the truth. Of all people, she would be the one most understanding to your situation, as she understands the enigma with higher beings.”

“Higher beings?”

“Go to her now. Go tell her what you told Cain. Then, you can go seek Caelyn.”

Who was Caelyn?

Before Lucis could open his mouth to ask, the white-clothed boy, with grace, spun around and strolled across the streets to the other side, where the house’s door stood wide open. Without even a glance back, Remi disappeared into the cottage, the door closing behind him. Annoyed by the holes in his memory, Lucis, lips pressed together, looked towards Cain for explanation.

The scholar, with his storm-gray eyes, stared at the closed door across the street, thinking. “I should speak to her. She might know something.” With that said, he took large strides over to the other side and entered through the door, leaving Lucis alone.

Perhaps he should not have agreed to Raphael’s offer. After all, what help did that angel do? Take away his memories? He could have spent the last few days getting to know Caelyn and the others. And, he surely not have made Courtney, that scary girl, angry and try to kill him. How did that even happen? What did Raphael even do?

Scratching his head, Lucis contemplated whether he should follow Remi’s advice or not. He did not feel particularly lucky after all that happened. But what else was he supposed to do? Run away? He turned his head eastward, eyes lingering at the vast blue sky. Imagining the sun rising from the peaks of those mountains, he took a step forth and then another step. Why should he follow the others when he could explore this vast world by his own freedom? He quickened his pace.

Until he heard a scream coming from the cottage.

Turning around on the heel of his foot, he ran towards the house, shoved opened the door, and looked inside. Standing on the table was a tall figure, skin ashen gray, with eyes filled with, not demonic malice, but relief. It wore rich scarlet cloak over a well-fitted crimson attire. Then it spoke, its voice subtle and sweet, pleasing to the ear.

“I am interrupting dinner?” it asked, neck bent, head looking down at those seated by the table. “I am terribly sorry. It hath been much years since I stood in a house. I forgotten what it feels to me.” It stepped down from the table and bowed to Cain and to Courtney.

Since Lucis had entered the house, Courtney had been glaring at Cain, who held the cube gingerly in his hands as he stared in horror at the demon. Remi did not seem to mind the sudden appearance of the demon, for he cooked with such a singular focus, as if at that moment his entire purpose was to fill the room with that delicious smell.

The demon, returning upright, said, “I am the Goetia Berith. I suppose thou art have slain me night before.” He pointed at Courtney, who was still glaring at Cain. “You, girl, have great skill, thou weakness lies in mortality. But ‘tis strange. Thou dealt final blow, but thou had not a Spirit Blade. Another had dealt true blow that fell me. Who?” Berith’s eyes began searching the room, but soon closed his eyes after taking a deep breath in. “Boy, that smells tasteful. Maybe I join you all for dinner? I have not had a good meal since… many years.”

He took a seat beside the table and leaned back. “You seem all so goodly. May I join you in the journey you are going? I could be of some help. My power might be diminished from last night, but I am adept with my blades. I forged him myself, you know.”

“This is the demon from last night?” asked Lucis, raising an eyebrow.

Cain shrugged. “Last night’s demon was more savage, more blood. But he does claim to be Berith. I don’t know.”

“Oh,” the demon said with an embarrassed smile, “please excuse me for that. It unpleasant what I did. You know with demons, their spirit is chaotic.” Spreading out his fingers, he hurriedly added, “But I won’t be chaotic. I promised. Look, I’m too weak even to bleed.” He pulled his clothes aside to show a scar on his chest, right over where the heart was.

“How long have you been alive?” asked Cain, moving his chair closer to the demon. “You are a Goetia, right? So—”

“Yes, I lived a thousand, two thousand… many years. Too many.” Berith stared at the wall, expression filling with gloom. “I have done many terrible things, regretful things. I wished for death, many times, yet those wishes kept me alive. If I could only die.”

Cain, slowly nodding, looked over his shoulder and watched for a while at Remi cooking the eggs.

Sitting down at the table, next to Courtney, Lucis sat up as straight as he could. He glanced at the demon, who seemed more preoccupied with the food than at him. So, taking a deep breath, he said, “Courtney, I’m sorry.”

“Oh, you returned?” The girl reached for her pendant. “Do you seek death?”

“No, please, listen to what I have to say. I beg of you.”

“Speak.” Courtney took a deep breath. “Who the fuck are you? You were not on the list and you are not from Vitaras. Who brought you here? Belial? Zagan? Asmodeus? Are you one of them in disguise?” Fire in her eyes, she wrapped her hand around her pointed pendant.

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“I have nothing to do with this,” said the demon, taking a sip from his cup.

Lucis stared blankly at the girl. “I don’t know what you are talking about.” He glanced at Remi, who was carefully arranging the meat and vegetables on the plate. “Do you know… do you know… Raphael?”

“Raphael?”

He held his breath, beginning to panic within about Courtney not recognizing the name.

She let out a small breath. “Raphael the Archangel? Did you say that Raphael brought you to Vitaras?”

Nodding, Lucis quickly said before she could interrupt him, “Yes, he took control of me for the past few days. This morning, he left me devoid of most recent memory. I do not know what I did and what I did wrong. Please forgive me.” He bowed his head.

“I do not believe you. Raphael is infallible, yet even in the past few days, you have committed many failures.” Taking a step back, Courtney released her pendant. Light extended from the palm of her hand, from which a trident became material. “I deem you a threat to Vitaras. By the hand of the Deus, I condemn you with death.”

“Dinner is ready,” said Remi, before Courtney could strike. He appeared calm and composed, setting the plate down without a sound on the table in front of the poised girl. “Come, disarm yourself. The food will become cold.”

“And you,” she said, without looking back, “how do I know you had not poisoned this food?”

“I am a Vitarian? Did you not see my Mark?”

“It can be faked.”

“Only by… You think I am a Goetia.” Though Remi crossed his arms, his face did not express any emotion of annoyance. “Do you really look down on me in that way? Please, listen to what Lucis has to say. He is genuine in his words.”

Courtney did not lower her spear. “Why should I? He speaks of Archangel Raphael who, as you very well know, had not appeared since the War. Do you really think that Raphael would bring him to Vitaras? What is he? I am looking at him, and all I see is a confused boy. But Lucis, he just had to make Caelyn run away. How did he even know that I was a Vitarian?”

“You already received your response to that question.”

“I should have killed you the moment I laid eyes upon you. You were not on the list. You were a danger from the very beginning. I hope the Deus forgives me for my mistakes.”

The door creaked opened as Theresa and Charlotte stepped in. Until seeing the situation, they had grins on their faces. But after, they stood there, rendered frozen by the confusion they had found themselves facing. Berith looked up from his food, staring at the two girls. He dropped his fork and stood up with a deliberate slowness. The demon’s eyes trembled with confusion as he took steps closer and closer towards Theresa and Charlotte, who were retreating past the doorway.

“Brother?” he asked, clasping his hands and bending his knees to a lesser degree.

“Who let the demon here?” asked Theresa, hiding behind Charlotte. “Cain! Stop eating and help us!”

Berith dropped to his knees before Charlotte, whose fear held her in place. “Brother. Many lives may have passed for thee but know that I still remember. Even as the days go by, I still mourn for thee. I betrayed you, my brother, and I will never forgive myself. Let me lend thee my strength and let your path be clear, for this life and the next.”

Charlotte stared at the demon, mouth ajar.

“Do not hold your betrayal too close to your heart,” said Remi, putting a hand on the demon’s back. “It has been three hundred years since your brother had died. Do you know what his greatest regret was? Putting that wound in your heart. But do you know what he never regretted? Becoming your brother. He took great pride in you, even after you betrayed him. And his dream, his dream to free the people from war. You contributed no small part to that dream. Stand, for the King of the Pirates kneels to no one.”

He turned his head toward Courtney, a serene expression on his delicate face. “And you, Courtney Eve. You are a Warrior of Joy, not a merciless killer. I know you, I know it pains you to hold that wicked spear. It does not have to result in death. Find Caelyn, bring her back. Both of you, apologize. I am certain she will forgive you. I promise.”

A tear rolled down Courtney’s eyes as she made her trident vanish. “Who are you? Why do you know so much?”

Remi said, “I am friend.”

Through her moist eyes, she glared at Lucis. “I still don’t believe Raphael had summoned you. The time will come when the truth is revealed. I will not show you any mercy then.”

“I tell no lies,” Lucis said, before running away past Charlotte and Theresa. His heart pounded. He had thought that Courtney would have ended him regardless. Slowing down, he stood in the midst of the house that, he remembered, had been destroyed by the demon last night. He was alone, overwhelmed by everything that had happened to him in that one day. Damn Raphael for giving him such torture.

The question was why. Why did Raphael make that offer? What was its meaning? It could not have been to benefit him. Who did it benefit? Raphael himself? Seeing how high Courtney placed the angel as, Lucis could not understand why Raphael would take interesting in possessing him. After all, he was not special in any way.

And yet, the angel had been alongside him for more than ten years.

Was there something that not even Courtney knew?

Lucis, taking a seat on the ground, took the ring off his finger and held it to the light. It shone with a pure of a color as the cloudless sky. Though it was modest in its embellishments, no doubt could be made that it was a fine piece, with its shape being round like the sun and the moon. Its simplicity granted it perfection, for nothing added or subtracted could make the result outshine its current form. How did he find such a piece?

“Nice ring.” Remi’s voice came from behind.

Returning the ring to his finger, Lucis stood up to face the white-clothed boy, who held a plate of steaming food in his hands. “Hello, Remi.”

He handed Lucis the plate. “You must be starving. I brought food.”

Until he had placed the first piece of steak into his mouth, he had not realized how hungry he really was. Soon, he had devoured the entire plate, so quickly that he could not taste the entirety of the flavors. Licking the plate clean, he returned it to Remi with a bow.

“That was delicious,” said Lucis. And it really was. The textures and the flavors worked well together. “You are very good at cooking. That was the best meal I had in… forever.” He paused, remembering what Courtney had said earlier. “Raphael, is it true that he had not been seen in many years?”

Remi shrugged. “Perhaps. But do not forget that Courtney is just a mortal like you. She does not know everything. Maybe she is wrong, and Raphael had appeared many times in the past few hundred years. Who knows?”

“I don’t know what to think right now. I don’t know what Raphael, whom Courtney claimed to be infallible, decided to befriend me, bring me to this island, make my decisions for me, and then strand me here. What was the purpose of any of that?” He looked down at his ring, taking on and off and on again. “Of all people, why me?”

“Why do you think that you are stranded here?” asked Remi, tilted his head. “At least, any more so than Courtney or Charlotte or Caelyn or Theresa? Everyone here is stranded, in their own ways. Come now, lets go for a walk. It is a beautiful day today.”

“Just like any other.”

“Why would that diminish the comfort of one? Would you rather all days be terribly cold or terribly hot?” Remi tucked his hands in his pockets and started strolling away.

After brief hesitation, Lucis followed. First, they walked out of the village, to where the empty fields were. The edge of the forest stood in the distance, with its trees acting a wall for the crops. He took a deep breath of the warm, yet not too warm, summer air and let out a content sigh. Then, they turned around the returned to the town, their pace mellow as they traveled on the mossy brick streets. If only it had not been abandoned, the town would have been a rather cozy place. Perhaps one that Lucis might live in.

“What happened to this place anyways?” asked Lucis. “It’s such a wonderful place, why would anyone leave? Was it because of that demon?”

“That demon?” The white-clothed boy let out a laugh. “Why would we abandon this town because of a lowly demon?”

“Lowly demon? Wasn’t that a Goetia?”

He let out another laugh. “It’s a demon, Lucis. The last time a demon posed any real trouble was a thousand year ago. Even then, it had been on the verge of ascension. Frankly, a few trained soldiers could have defeated that demon without much difficulty.” With a grin on his face, Remi added, “The Berith that currently sits at the table would have been a more troublesome enemy than the Berith that attacked you and friends last night.”

“Then why did you abandon this lovely village for a… cave, you said?”

“Well, for one, the cave is much nicer.” Suddenly, he stopped, putting a finger over his lips, and with a hushed voice said, “Be quiet. Listen.”

Taking soundless steps, the two proceeded forward. At first, Lucis did not hear anything. But soon, a faint sob of a girl crying could be heard. As he got closer to the sound, his eyes widened in realization. “Is it Courtney?” he whispered.

Remi nodded, then turned around and started the way they had came.

“What are you doing?” Lucis started to follow the white-clothed boy.

“No, no. Don’t follow me. What happens next does not regard me. It is by your decision. Go on, or go back. It does not concern me. None of this does.” With a sad smile, he turned away and stepped away, leaving Lucis alone once again.

He lingered there for a moment, not knowing what he should do. If he talked to Courtney, what would he even say? He had already tried begging for forgiveness. Anything more would just bring more resentment. Also, would seeing her in her current state further her distrust towards him? Why did Remi have to lead him here? Damn it.

Taking a step forward, he took a deep breath and rubbed his temples. He could claim that he just so happened to stumble upon her by accident, but that would make him a liar. Should she tell her the truth? That Remi had brought him here.

Getting nearer to the crying, Lucis felt his heart throb. Even though the girl had tried to kill him numerous times that day, he could not help but feel sorry for her. From what Remi had said, Courtney never had many friends. Perhaps that was why Caelyn was so important to her.

And he had taken that friend away from her.

Peeking from behind a corner into the alley, he saw Courtney sitting on the ground, head buried in her arms. At first she did not notice, but when he walked towards her, she looked up in alarm. In a swift movement, she got to her feet and wiped the tears off her face. Raising her hands to fight, she tried to step forward but stumbled.

“You followed me, you demon,” the girl snarled, “I will destroy you. Destroy you.” She clawed at the air, sparks flying from her hands.

Lucis did not move to defend himself. “Do whatever you wish. I cannot say I did not deserve this. If I am of any importance to anyone’s plans, then let them save me. But if I am not, then let me fall by your hands.”

Growling, she clenched her hands into fists and took a great leap forth. Pain erupted in Lucis’ chest as her fist connected, causing him to fall back onto the ground. Darkness falling over his eyes, he groaned, not even having the strength to roll from side to side or move his hands up to the wound. All he could do was lie there helpless and wait for the second blow.

But the second blow never came.

When the shadows dispersed, he saw that Courtney stood over him. Her hands had fallen limp to her sides, trembling with her body. Shock filled her wide eyes, as well as tears. She sniffed.

In a shaken voice, Courtney said, “I can’t do this. I’m not a murderer. I can’t be. I don’t even know if I hate you anymore, if I ever had.”

“Courtney,” Lucis groaned, coughing up blood.

“Oh, I am sorry.” She fell to her knees and put her hands on his chest. “Lucis… I’m sorry I had hurt. I-I didn’t mean to. Heal! Heal!”

The pain did not go away.

He coughed up more blood.

“Come on, heal. Why can’t I do it?” She closed her eyes, streams of tears rolling down her check. “Please, Lucis. Don’t die. Forgive me, please. I never wanted to kill you. I never wanted…”

Lucis reached for her hands, causing him more pain. “Courtney. Caelyn… she would forgive you.” Through blinding pain, he saw a familiar face—a girl with emerald eyes and flowing dark hair—one that resembled his own. “She knows how you feel. We can… we can bring her back. Then, we can, all of us, meet the Deus and see… see who I truly am.” He took a gasp of air so painful that he felt himself falling into the abyss.

It was then the pain ceased, and his breath became free.

Letting out many sighs of relief, Courtney stood up, bent over, and offered a hand to Lucis. “Rise, then. Night is soon coming. Let us bring Caelyn back to safety.”