-Day 4-

I was beginning to suspect something... Saria slept last night a bit more peacefully, and since then we traveled for half a day. And while I wasn't using Take Over to try stuff, everything was peaceful. But whenever I started using Take Over to fine-tune my control, loads of these antler-rat-like fae things showed up.

I was totally attracting all these monsters somehow, wasn't I? Urgh, I wanted to stay out of trouble so I wouldn't end up having to serve time in some sort of jail here as well! I only just escaped from the Earth I knew because of a literal miracle. And who knows, maybe some rich guy's dog goes off the hook rabid near us and suddenly charges at me while I'm trying Take Over. I had no idea what things people keep as pets here, or if they have any in the first place.

Well, it was an opportunity to try combat. If there is magic here then I could only imagine this being a place with swords and stuff. Humans likely wouldn't be able to match up with our speed and power anyways, and Saria said they can't use magic like she can. But we could kiss goodbye to opportunities to get a job to kickstart whatever business we could come up with if we started attacking humans and their pets like that.

(Saria) "Mister Shadow..."

Saria dragged me out of my thoughts as she was pointing behind a bush.

(Draven) «Huh? What's wrong?»

(Saria) "Look."

On command, I looked into the direction she pointed at. Ahead was a faint glow coming from someone sitting down, leaning up on a tree. Not a holy glow like Saria's but one with a purple tint instead.

(Draven) «A person?»

(Saria) "An angel."

(Draven) «Oh, is that so?»

(Saria) "I saw something glowing far away and went to look at what it is."

In my life, I never happened to think I would see an actual angel in the flesh and blood. The angel before us had the shape of an amazing beauty with long golden hair. But the features that made me realize this clearly wasn't a regular human being, was the purple glowing rune-looking lines all around her skin. I had never seen glowing tattoos like that, if they even were tattoos. It almost looked robotic, her forehead having beautiful lines almost looking like some tiara, with the glowing purple lines going down her eyes to her upper body. What really made her angelic was the wings that sprouted from her back though. Overall, a real looker.

But despite how beautiful she was, it looked like she was missing half of her left arm through her blood-soaked clothes. If that wasn't grotesque enough, a deep wound was located in her waist and very visible, and of her now half-bloody wings, parts of the right wing was missing. It's as if she had them penetrated by some sort of bullets from a weapon. The purple light she was emitting was focused on the two injuries to the body, likely stopping the injuries from worsening and preventing blood-loss which let her survive right now.

Straight across from her was the body of three wolves, again with antlers like the rats we encountered, which probably were the cause for her injuries. But despite everything, her breath was still active. Each time she inhaled air was really loud, that's why it was easy to hear it. If she stayed like this, she would surely die soon.

(Draven) «We need to heal her right now. If she stays like this she won't have long.»

(Saria) "You mean that I should heal an angel?"

Of course there was animosity between angels and demons. Should have guessed that one. But despite everything, seeing someone bleed out doesn't feel right, especially when it's a damsel in distress. And this is an angel too, no way am I not having an angel in debt to me. This was also our first contact together with someone else, I wouldn't just let that go to waste and let this woman bleed out. Oh, and not to mention that I wouldn't want to miss my opportunity of meeting a real angel.

(Draven) «Just do it already. Who cares, if she becomes a threat, you've got me. She could barely handle three of those weird antler wolves by herself, so she's not much of a danger.»

(Saria) "Hnnn... I don't want to help someone like that. Angels are bad news with their justice and all of that..."

(Draven) «Saria, just do it. Heal her.»

(Saria) "Alriii~~ght..."

Saria scoffed at me and approached her, and while she didn't attempt to hide her presence towards the angel at all, considering she was stomping towards her as if marching, it wouldn't seem like any kind of subtlety would be necessary. The angel spent all of her power just staying alive, so she just kept on looking forwards with a blank expression.

Had it not been bloodied, then the clothes that this woman wore would have been a perfect fit for her. It looked almost identical to those white chitons that the greeks used to wear. Apart from that, not much more. She was barefooted just like Saria, but the wings on her back no doubt were a reason why being barefooted wasn't as much of a bother for her. That is if those wings actually worked. Birds can fly because they don't weigh a lot, but a human-sized bird would need some real power in those wings.

(Draven) «Make sure to repair her properly, alright? Even though you don't seem to like helping angels, it's always good to own favors from others.»

(Saria) "Bah, if angels even honor favors..."

What a negative nanny you've suddenly become.

Could Saria even restore limbs that were mangled like this? We would be in the green if we could get a lift from this angel by flying us somewhere nicer than this never-ending forest, and repairing her arm would help the angel respect the favor we could ask. Or maybe she would just attack us like Saria insinuates. Come to think of it...

Shadow Substitute is a skill that lets me create something I have. I hadn't tried this one yet, I never really got a chance to since I didn't know what it did. Maybe the angel could be patient zero for me on this one. Saria has an arm, so maybe it worked like some healing spell?

Saria had been at it non-stop for about 15 minutes by now. Her constant pouting about how terrible the angels were was getting real boring by now. How she's able to hate them so much for existing really means she is a devil's child.

During Saria's treatment, the angel fell unconscious and the purple light she created on her injures vanished, and so did the purple glowing lines across her body as well. Those probably glowed while she used this purple light. Or she just died. That would be a very unfortunate moment if she did. Regardless, by now Saria was finishing mending up the wounds anyways, and she was still breathing and all, so at least she isn't dead.

(Saria) "Hnnn, now I spent most of my juice on healing a stupid angel..."

She looked away as if she had been treated unfairly.

(Draven) «Don't pout like that. Now, let me try something. I'm taking over for a minute or two.»

(Saria) "I know humans like angels. I'm watching whatever indecency you are planning."

(Draven) «Where the hell is this snarkiness suddenly coming from?»

(Saria) "Heheh."

This kid was getting a bit too warmed up to me. But I got a chuckle out of it.

After using Take Over, I tried using the Shadow Substitute skill just like I had used Take Over. It was different this time, as Take Over felt more like a switch I turn on, but this felt like I was applying a salve of sorts. Much like Saria's healing light, I had to touch the angel before any effect came to be.

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When I touched her, however, my shadows suddenly extended across her bloodied body. It almost felt like it crawled under the skin of the angel and deep inside it. Nothing further really happened, but something had taken effect.

I focused on the arm the angel had gotten ripped off by those wolves, and sure enough, that's all I needed to do. Saria could not do anything about it, but out of the missing part of the arm came the flowing shadows just as fast as they had entered her. Before long, her arm reformed from the shadows, even changing into the color of the pale skin the angel had.

It only took five seconds, but the arm looked completely normal now. What the hell! This felt like a completely god-like thing to be able to do! I expected my shadowy powers to make some nightmarish shadow arm, which would be kind of cool, but not a normal looking human hand. But, uh, is the arm even functional? Not much I could do to test that.

Saria had previously talked about how draining too much juice (why is it called juice again?) would tire you mentally and physically, and this skill probably took a lot of whatever juice I had to work, because I felt tired after this speed-operation. So not as god-like a power as I imagined, but still amazing if it's just one fatal injury to heal, because if one use of Shadow Substitute made me dizzy, I wonder what one more use would do to me. This weird juice thing I was using was something weird to get used to.

As I expected, I couldn't repair the angel's wing like I replaced the arm. The holes in the wing remained even if I focused on them with the skill. So it's a no-can-do on that one. Restoring an arm should still be more than enough though. Saria had taken care of the wound she had at the hip. All Saria's light could really do was close the wound and provide a painkiller effect, according to her own experimentation.

And so we waited. And waited. Okay, the angel wasn't waking up. Saria herself was getting drowsy from sitting around and it would soon turn dark. We sort of wasted the time we could have spent reaching the mansion today still, but I took a chance and told her to stay next to our patient until tomorrow at the latest.

(Saria) "Yawn... How long are we gonna wait for her? Let's just wake her up with a kick or something."

(Draven) «You're a real racist demon, you know that right?»

(Saria) "How can you not be? Just look at her. Probably would have died to some weak fae if we didn't help her. It's her own fault for being that weak."

You were the one who was insecure about your own weakness of having light magic, and now you're calling someone else weak...

(Draven) «Not everyone has super strength. Besides, why let her stay like this if you're a wolf pack? If you're looking for food then you wouldn't just snack on an arm and be done with it like it's some sort of drive thru. A wolf would eat her whole and not think about food for a few days afterwards, we've seen these fae things and they always come in large packs, not just three.»

(Saria) "I don't know. Still her own fault."

I was so going to have to rehabilitate this girl so that her terrible indoctrination leaves her head.

(Draven) «Whatever. You want to sleep, don't you?»

(Saria) "I don't think we will be able to get to the mansion until tomorrow, but I don't want to sleep with that thing here. I don't know why you even want to help it."

(Draven) «Sigh. You know that I can keep watch for you. So just shut your trap and get some rest.»

(Saria) "Hnn... Fine."

The temporary rebellious phase was luckily over due to her own fatigue of healing the angel and, of course, the walking she had done today. And for someone this stressed she sure fell asleep fast.

I've been keeping away from triggering my weird dream watching ability, mostly because the danger of some wild fae animal attacking Saria in her sleep had become very real after having fought with a few. If I joined her in her dream, we would be wide open since I couldn't just leave once I entered. They typically come around when I'm using Take Over, so they might get attracted if I use this dream skill I apparently have. And now especially when this supposed arch nemesis of the demon race was resting next to us in the form of a beautiful angel, I couldn't just join in on the nap. I didn't need sleep as an apparently inanimate being after all.

While Saria was sleeping, she warmed herself with her light again. Even while asleep she was unconsciously causing herself to become a beacon in the middle of the woods. This was my time to try moving independently as a shadow, and I was getting good at it. Moving back and forth wasn't a problem, but moving towards the light was difficult. It's like travelling against a stream of water, it always pushes you back. So that's on the schedule for this night so that I wouldn't bore myself to death.

The moment I was just a tiny bit distracted, the angel we were treating earlier was suddenly standing right in front of Saria. Whoah, whoah, whoah, lady! I didn't pay attention to her for like ten seconds and already she just non-chalantly stood right in front of Saria just looking at her!

(Draven) «Hey, hey! Keep your distance, lady!»

I tried telling her to keep her distance, but there wasn't much of a reaction. So my theory regarding my communication skills had to be true. A shadow naturally couldn't talk (well, it usually can't move on it's own either), so this whole time I unconsciously talked to Saria through the Soul Telepathy skill I had. Other people or creatures in the world were likely not able to hear me as a shadow.

The only solution here would be to use Take Over to gain access of Saria's mouth. In the blink of an eye, Saria was covered in her shadow again when I took control. Luckily, I didn't go straight to sleep like Saria currently was and was as active as I had been just now. I got into battle position immediately. Sorry Saria, but if you're listening in, you're probably fine with me taking the rudder on this one.

The angel instinctively backed up slightly, but looked down on her arm. Is it just me, or did she not seem hostile at all?

(Draven) «"What do you want? Don't come any closer."»

(Angel) "A shadow beast?"

She sounded surprised, but knew what I was. That aside, her voice sounded exactly like what I expected an angel to sound like.

(Draven) «"And her guardian. Again, what do you want?"»

(Angel) "You are her new guardian?"

I was taken slightly back by the authority in her voice.

(Draven) «"Of course. Heh, what kind of man would I be to leave a kid to fend for herself in the wild?"»

Hm? New? She didn't say much in response. I had to gulp when looking her in the eyes. They were completely calm, very fitting for someone angelic. I'd say this woman is just the perfect angel to create a stereotype in my head.

(Angel) "Fate spins itself in unimaginable ways..."

I just raised a hypothetical brow. Was this one of those people you read about in books that only talk in riddles? Hopefully not...

(Micah) "My name is Micah. An angel of the arcane. I would have wished to talk with her, but I suppose there is no need."

I thought angels and demons didn't get along though? At best, I thought the only response we would receive was her leaving or at worst hostile interactions.

(Micah) "She healed me, did she not?"

She patted her left arm which we successfully healed back to functioning condition, it would seem.

(Draven) «"Wha- Well yeah, Saria healed you and I substituted your missing arm. Can you move it alright?"»

(Micah) "It is as new. I am eternally grateful for the generosity of yours. And it is good to know that the child is save and in good hands. Perhaps I can still make it back to report then..."

Huh? She knows Saria? I thought Saria despised every angel?

(Draven) «"You wanna let me in on what you're talking about or is this a secret monolog?"»

(Micah) "No, nothing of concern."

She smiled briefly and then looked upwards with a concerned expression. The entire goal was to have her be a flying taxi, but considering the shape of her wings...

(Draven) «"Then can you help us with something?"»

(Micah) "Yes, of course. Anything for her. What is it?"

(Draven) «"Can you fly us somewhere that isn't in the middle of the wilderness?"»

She looked around herself as if only now figuring out we were stuck in a forest. Her wings started a light flap with seemingly no result.

(Micah) "I'm afraid I won't be able to fly with these injuries."

She sighed when she looked back at her wing.

(Draven) «"I figured. What can you give us then?"»

(Micah) "As compensation?"

I nodded. No way did we just spend half a day tending to her if she can't repay us at all.

(Micah) "A lot. But I have to leave immediately, there are still things I need to do."

(Draven) «"You need to leave? Why?"»

(Micah) "I know the demon kid you are protecting, and for me to help, I need to settle things first."

So she does know Saria. But what was she even saying? I was starting to get the feeling that if what this angel says is true, I might have just gotten a glimpse of some bigger picture. Was Saria some important player in a bigger plot? No way she's the main character of some story.

(Draven) «"What do you mean with settle things? I have no idea what you're talking about."»

(Micah) "I apologize, but every second I spend here is precious time wasted. I believe it is best if I don't talk with her for now if she is in the hands of a guardian. I have to keep this secret for the time being."

(Draven) «"...Aight, if you want to go then go I suppose."»

Either she was bullshitting her way out or some bigger plot was ongoing. With a slight bow, tilt with her head and soft smile, she went into the dark of the night, as abruptly as she had confronted us. But just as she was about to fade in with the dark environment, she conjured up a freaking light saber from her hand as if she was ready for round two against the wolves, which created a lasting impression in me. I had no idea what exactly she suddenly felt like doing in a pitch black forest but my main interest was a flight ticket to some sort of settlement which wasn't going to happen anyways, so I didn't really care if she left. I just thought she maybe she had something to give us for saving her life. Guess not, with all her secrets.

This woman... What was her name again? Micah? Oh well. Let's just hope karma works in my favor this time around and doesn't come back to bite us in the ass later.

The big question now is whether Saria was still sleeping or not. I've been moving her around a bit while she was asleep, so logic would dictate that she would be wide awake now. When I laid her down and went back to my shadow form, she kept on snoring. Sound asleep like a rock. Jeez, now I had two characteristics of her that painted a good picture of her personality already. A racist towards angels and someone who managed to entirely sleep through a confrontation with one. Back to shadow movement training I go to forget all about it.