The night ended, and day came.

As the first rays of light emerged from the horizon, they left the dilapidated house behind and resumed walking along the wastelands, with a clear destination in mind.

“So… remind me again why you couldn’t just use your wings and fly us to where we needed to go? It would be easier.”

Within 5 minutes of walking, he had pointed out a glaring flaw in the plan that they had devised a few hours ago.

“It would be easier,” she remarked, “if someone else knew how to fly. I’m not gonna carry you, it’ll be too tiring for me. Besides, with our stamina, we can easily outrun anything and anyone regardless, so stop complaining.”

“Alright, no need to get all snippy. This is for yesterday, isn’t it?”

She didn’t reply, but he could see the smile on her face.

“I hope you are sure about this.”

“I know. I am on the right track, I’m sure.”

**********************

“First thing we need to do.”

As the lit fireplace slowly crackled out, she began to explain the plan, using the charred stick from earlier to continue scratching on the floor. This time, she drew what looked like several houses all bunched up together, followed by two faces. He quickly deduced it was the both of them based on the small horns on one and a circle on top of the other.

“We need to make contact with a survivor village.”

“Wait, what?” he was confused, “why do we need to do that? Can’t we just start searching for the particles?”

“We could do that, but I don’t like it. Also, making connections with the survivors might help us in the long run.”

“How so?”

“Let me explain. I assume you have seen what other people think of your appearance, right?”

The hooded figures popped into his mind, and he clenched his jaw slightly.

“I have felt it.”

“Exactly, people fear you. So, what happens if one of these particles is guarded by them. What would you do?”

“Not help you or get you to do it. Or alternatively you could always hide my face.”

“Err… ummm… that’s not the point!” she stammered, “my point is that as long as people fear you, we can’t ever get them to help us. Sure, maybe I could do it myself. Sure, maybe I could hide your face, but that’s not what I intend to do. I want people to see you, not as who you look like, but who you are.”

“What’s the point of that?”

“Relationships are built on trust, everyone knows that. And if we don’t show who we truly are or lie, we break that trust, and they won’t ever help us.”

“That sounds like a reach. Are you sure we even need this plan?”

“Listen. I need you to follow me on this. This is the only way we can get to appeal to the people here. Once we’ve earned their trust, word-of-mouth would most likely spread, and people will know how good we are. That could help us with our mission, you never know. Trust me, you will not regret making friends with these people,” she concluded.

Looking at her hopeful gaze, he sighed and conceded.

“Fine, but if these villagers aren’t friendly, we’re doing it my way.”

**********************

“There it is.”

After a few hours of trekking, they had finally reached their destination.

Hidden below a steep cliff, located near a protected stream that hadn’t dried up in the scorching heat, was a ‘survivor village’ as she had described it.

As they made their way down the cliff, she raised a hand to stop him.

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“Remember our plan.”

“Don’t worry.”

According to her, she had made a quick stop at the village before finding him, and had stayed for a short while before leaving, even befriending some of the villagers, so by all accounts, she should be safe from any trouble.

In addition, that would mean that she had already gained a little of their trust, so convincing them to welcome a person who looked like a literal devil might be a little easier to pull off.

“Stick close to me. We should go in together.”

“Noted.”

As they approached the village, he could see that it was bustling with activity, much unlike the emptiness of the wastelands above. Although everyone still had several bundles of cloth wrapped around them, even the children, they could be seen roaming around huts of different shapes and sizes, chatting and playing around. He could even see what looked like a market in the far distance, with people buying or selling wares and goods.

Overall, the atmosphere felt more homely and inviting than he expected. He was stunned to see that, in spite of the extreme environment they were in, these people were just going about their lives as if nothing had ever happened.

“Amazing…”

“Surprising, right?” she nodded in agreement, “this is the way things should be. Not hellish and not painful. This is why we need to fix everything.”

He didn’t respond, instead choosing to continue staring in equal parts awe and amazement at the simple, yet powerful sight.

“Hey, it’s Anten!”

A shout rang out. A villager had spotted them and was currently making their way towards them. The others close to them also turned to look at the sudden visitors.

“Anten?”

“Yeah,” she awkwardly mumbled, her finger absentmindedly scratching her cheek as she looked away, “that’s the name they gave me. I didn’t remember my name, so they made one up. Kind of a strange name, but I like it.”

“That’s nice.”

The villager abruptly stopped in their tracks. It seemed they had spotted him because they began to slowly back away towards the village. The others had also begun to start murmuring and shifting to the huts they were closest to.

“I’m not surprised.”

“Hang on,” Anten reassured him, “let me try things my way.”

Without warning, she began to shout, in a register that he had no idea she could reach.

“People of Mahu Village! I have returned, with the companion I was talking about! Please do not be afraid! He may look scary, but he is not that bad! Trust me!”

“…!!!”

Needless to say, her shouting did not work. Instead, more of the villagers began to panic and run to safety. The friendly chatting and playing around had been quickly replaced by screams, shouts and yells, and the peaceful looking village soon devolved into chaos.

“Nice going.”

“…shut up.”

“Ah!”

The villager closest to them, who had also started to run, suddenly tripped on something, and landed on the ground hard. They could hear a brutal crack on impact, so it was certain that they had broken something. As they lay sprawled and injured, they could hear soft sniffling and sobbing.

A wound?

In that moment, a strong feeling resonated within him.

Something that he had to do.

“Oh god, hold on!”

“Anten, wait,” he put out his arm and stopped her before she could move towards the fallen villager, “let me test something.”

With that, he walked slowly and carefully to the villager, who began to panic even more and try to get up, but since they were hurt, they couldn’t easily move again, so he was getting closer to them with each step.

“I think you’re scaring him, come back!”

“Just wait!”

He had reached the villager, who was now flailing and shaking in fear.

“Please… stay away from me… monster!”

He could hear their unmistakably feminine voice pleading and begging, but he didn’t stop. Kneeling down until he was at eye level with them, he put on the kindest smile he could muster and opened his mouth.

“Are you ok?”

The villager, who had ducked behind their hands as soon as they saw him open his mouth, paused. Very slowly, they peeked their face out, and their shaking began to slow down.

He knew he was on the right track, so he persisted.

“It looks like you might have broken something. Do you mind if I take a look at it?”

“…”

There was a slight flinch, before the villager gave a slight nod.

“Come on, Anten,” he beckoned and called out to the angel, who was standing with her mouth slightly open, but also smiling at the development.

It was almost complete, now he just needed her help to finish it.

She quickly came over, and kneeled down before the villager as well.

“You’re an angel, so I assume you… know how to heal people?” he whispered.

“… I can, but how did you guess?” she whispered back.

“Just a hunch.”

“Alright, stand back.”

He got up and stepped away as she closed her eyes and began to chant. As soon as her hands touched the villager, he could see a bright light emanating from them, and he watched as the broken limb slowly returned back to its original position.

After about a minute, she took a deep breath and opened her eyes. The process was complete.

“…”

“…….”

The villagers, who had been hiding in their huts, had witnessed the whole exchange. One by one, they all came out, talking among themselves and pointing at him, wondering about the being looking like a devil who helped one of their own.

This time, he stepped out and spoke to the villagers.

“Everyone, listen up! I may look like a monster, or a devil, or whatever you want to call me, but I don’t care about any of those labels at all! What I want is not to be seen as one! Believe me, I mean you no harm! I… we just need your assistance! If you still don’t trust me, you can drive us away! You’ll never see us again! But… regardless, I still want a chance to earn your trust! Please, give me that chance!”

As he finished speaking and bowed, he could hear more murmurs from the villagers.

“…”

“…….”

“…..”

This time, instead of running back to their houses, they were slowly making their way over to them. Even though he could not see their faces, he could tell that the atmosphere had changed. There was still fear, but it was dissipating, replaced with a more welcoming air.

“Well,” Anten remarked, moving up next to him and placing her hands on her hips, “seems like your test worked.”

He nodded in response, with a satisfied smile on his face.

“People are always afraid of the unknown. That’s what makes overcoming that fear much more powerful.”

“…thank you.”

“For what?”

They turned to face each other, and she let out a slight laugh.

“For proving me right.”