Ene's journey home that evening was a gauntlet of nerves. With every step, Malum shadowed her. She could not see him who was walking behind her, harmonizing with her steps, yet the air around her bristled with a menace that made her skin crawl.
Feels like he's going to kill me.
A sigh of exasperation slipped from her lips. She glimpses him by turning her head only to meet his piercing gaze, which made her heart skip a beat. He was clearly dissatisfied with her action. As she knew he didn't like it when she tried to dig up a history that meant nothing to him.
Slowing her pace to match his as they now walk side by side, akin to a tandem. He no longer keeps his gaze fixed on her but looks at the path ahead—a nervous fidget between her movements, as she is too afraid to anger him any further.
"I was just... joining a club. Besides, I can see spirits and demons, it's good that there's a club interested in those things... no?"
A bit of hesitation, she doesn't sound confident at all with her own reasoning, as she feels like Malum could see through her lies.
"You think I don't know what you're doing? You were trying to ask 'them' about me, didn't you?"
He grumbled deep, eyes once again glaring, making her wince. A downturned smile, rather adorable. Somehow, it felt satisfying to see her reaction as such, more than he wanted to admit. Malum hid a slight smirk as her head grew lower, guilty as charged.
The evening was painted in gold as the sunset settled, casting long shadows, only hers apparently. Although a bit disheartened, he, accompanying her on the road back home, was the only thing she needed at that time. She wouldn't want it any other way, and those thoughts alone vanish her earlier worries.
Raising her head once again to meet the brilliant, blazing sky. She felt a sense of serenity as she glimpsed the slight to his regal presence, ever so present beside her. Reflected by the orangish hues on his face, he looked ethereal, much to her swelling heart.
A warming smile settles on her lips, her gaze softening. Taking a step closer to him, an inch that seemed like nothing, yet to her it was grounding. To be present in the moment with him.
A few more blocks away from the apartment, upon arrival, the sun had dipped much deeper, welcoming twilight. The neighbourhood is relatively quiet and peaceful, with only a few people and cars passing by, creating Doppler effects in her ears and swaying her printed ankle-length white skirt that she had paired with a blue long-sleeved blouse with its cute bow. She tried to dress appropriately and ladylike before him, hoping just a glance would turn to her. Even if nothing had changed from the past years, this moment would suffice her little wish.
Walking past a darkly lit side street, the streetlamp a few meters ahead flickered slightly, catching their attention, before the whole street's light went out with a thud. Prompting Ene to tug Malum's sleeve by instinct, it momentarily caught him off guard before his head turned to inspect the area, trying not to mind the slight tug.
Fluttering of wings was heard around them as if thousands of birds were circling them amid the darkness. Despite Ene's alarm, Malum recognized this grand entrance from thousands of years ago. The lights turned back on as the surroundings came into view again. Yet, the difference was that of how not a single being was around them anymore, but feathers suspended in the air, stuck in time.
"Ezrael."
The name he uttered made her eyes widen slightly. Malum had his focus going around the place as if searching. A smirk on his lips laced with annoyance, she could see that.
Ezrael? 'The' Ezrael? It's Death, the Angel of Death.
Ene leaned much closer, hiding from whatever was coming for them.
If Ezrael is coming to meet Malum... I don't know if it's a good thing or not, but... if Ezrael is coming for me...
The thought alone made her grip his sleeve, much to his notice, the shift and the shakes in her eyes. Somehow, it felt seething within him. He didn't know if it was toward her or Ezrael, who had come unannounced, yet it made him clench his fist with immediate, intense focus.
"The lost soul."
The vibrating voice echoes in our minds. Before, the feathers swirled in a whirlwind, growing more acute with each passing moment, as they obscured their view. Ene, not by mere tugging anymore, she was anchoring herself to him from the vortex-like feathers.
Whilst Malum kept his cool, assessing the situation, as a light blade pierced through the thick, blinding feathers from the side, heading for Ene. An instant reaction as he twirled her around to avoid getting hit, then pulled her body flush against his side. Without a doubt, Ene was utterly stunned by the sudden happening.
"Can you not take my vessel, Ezrael?"
Following his words, the gyre-like feathers abruptly came to a stop. Momentarily airborne before falling to the ground, covering it whole. The feathers moved to a singular direction, assembling into a tall figure in a makeshift feather cloak.
Not a face seen as their gaze pinned to the figure. Ene was still hiding behind Malum. Its presence was intimidating, towering over them at least 10ft. It didn't say anything; it just stood there, unmoving.
Ene came out of her hiding as her head peeked to the slight to see the entity before them, an angel. She'd never expected she would meet her first angel, much less Ezrael, the infamous Angel of Death, who appeared in such a form.
The angel raised its arm, its finger pointed at her.
"Missing soul. Lost soul."
Once again, its voice feels as if it's vibrating in our minds, rather disorienting to hear. Ene froze, stunned by Ezrael's statement, her confusion evident.
"Missing soul? I'm... a lost soul?"
Her eyes shifted to Malum, noting that he wasn't surprised at all by the fact, then it must have been the truth. She knew Malum was hiding something from her, but she didn't expect it would be about her. Only now had she realized how much she didn't know about Malum, whether he was indeed good or bad to her.
"More like a demon."
Adam's words echoed in her mind. Ene let go of his arm. Taking her steps forward, confronting the very Angel of Death, only to be stopped by a painful grab on her arm by him and forced to meet his furious outlook. She had never seen that face before; he is truly enraged this time.
With that, she firmed herself; this was the only chance she had to finally know with what, with whom, she had been together those past years.
"Ezrael... Who is this man?"
The term 'this man' somehow irks him. They gaze unwaveringly at one another, one enraged and the other determined as they braced themselves for Ezrael's answers. Whatever it is, she wanted to be brave enough to face it.
"Karita. Destruction. Arbitrary; Deity of Calamity. Karita is your destruction, so was to your mother, Marina."
Her reality shatters, and he could see them clearly in her eyes. It was new; he had never seen them before, unlike her usual reactions to his calamities to her deaths. His lips contorting into a wide, eerie smile, ear to ear, and so were his eyes, much to the dread she felt. His eyes are no longer mere, stern, but pure malice. She had never felt such fears, never toward him.
Yet, much to his perplexity, that beautiful sorrow turned into something else as he watched the very eyes, which usually turned to him with much tenderness, now pooling with tears, trailing down her cheeks in a great rush. Ringed red and puffy eyes that kept looking into his, deeply, it made his own eyes shake. His earlier elation fades together with his grin. Malum's grip on her arm momentarily falters to his own confusion. He couldn't understand; why was she crying?
How could he understand; such a deepening feeling that bloomed in her once-tiny heart, the moment they first met under the glittering night sky. When she was just a little lady who dreamed of the thousands of lights above, ever wondering if it was reachable. It was a one-sided affection after all; impossible, hopeless; even she knows that.
A betrayal. That's what she felt; indeed, it was the first betrayal she experienced. Her head slumped down as more tears rained down from her lower lashes with sobs that made him uncomfortable entirely. The warm liquid dropped onto his hand, sending a weird, sinking sensation through his cold heart.
"Malum..."
Her almost-pleading words were gripping, as his hand tightened slightly. Those innocent utterances clenched his chest tighter, stacking to his bewilderment even more; he honestly didn't want to hear or see her like that, much less that he was the reason for it, and to Ene, this is but a betrayal by the one she had come to learn to love and care for, leaving her only with a broken heart.