The sun was at its highest peak in the sky when we finally reached a village on an open plain. Arine pulled me close as we walked through the town and yawned. "Man, I'm tired. I haven't slept in a day and a half." I crossed my arms. "You shouldn't have flown so long. Now you might pass out on the road." I tried my best to be pleasant and push the memory of Sython into the depths of my head, but the sadness was still lingering.
As we were walking, I noticed that some people were staring at Arine. 'It makes sense. This is a human village, so they probably don't get many fairies passing by. Which means that they think he might be here to cause trouble.' I thought it over for a minute. 'Maybe if I let them know that he's my friend, they won't be as afraid of him. But how else can I do that if I'm already wearing fairy clothes?' I had an idea, but I was skeptical about how Arine would react. I then reached out and grabbed his hand, which made Arine's eyes widen as he turned to me.
I looked away while blushing. "Don't read too much into it, you pervert." He smiled and looked around, realizing that more people seemed less startled by him. "Thanks," he said with genuine gratitude. I smiled back at him and we continued to walk through the village. Later, we came across a tavern and Arine lit up. "I'm starving! Let's get something to eat!" He pulled me in and we walked up to the bar and took a seat. After we ate, we both felt so much better and I looked around at all of the people around us.
"Do you think anyone here knows where The Book of Souls is?" Arine shook his head. "I doubt it. This place isn't nearly as sketchy as it's supposed to be in order for someone to have even heard of it." A little while later, Arine and I continued to talk until I felt a chill and shuddered. The entire room then fell silent as a stranger stepped into the tavern. I slowly turned to see that a tall man was standing in the doorway wearing all-white clothes, black hair, silver eyes, and grey angel wings behind his back that were splattered with blood.
Arine noticed him as well but didn't say anything. It was a fallen angel. 'W-What's a fallen angel doing in a small human town like this??' I thought as I started to shake. The angel walked into the room as the people started to whisper. I heard one villager say, "Isn't that the angel who was kicked out of heaven for trying to kill their overlord!?" Then I heard another say, "He's said to be the most powerful fallen angel there is."
Their whispers echoed in my head as mine and the angel's eyes met. He stopped suddenly, and his eyes widened. I quickly turned away from him and Arine raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?" he whispered. "He looked at me weird," I said with uneasiness. Then another voice came from beside me and made me jump. "That's because you have extraordinary eyes, my dear." The angel was sitting right next to me. Though it was hard, I continued to look away from him. He tilted his head. "May I see them again?" I continued to shake. 'Wait, my soul isn't valuable. Why is he interested in it?' Arine started to get annoyed. "She doesn't have to show you anything." The angel ignored him and continued to talk to me.
"You don't have to be afraid. All I want is to see your eyes. What's the harm in that?" I sighed, realizing he was right, and turned to look at him. "There. You saw them. Now please leave me alone." He froze at the sight of my eyes and ignored me completely. "Your soul... It's so... beautiful..."
My eyes widened after hearing him speak. 'Wait, Sython wasn't lying?' Lost in thought, I didn't realize that the angel was about to put his hand on my cheek. But before he could, Arine grabbed me by the chest and pulled me away from him. "Don't touch her!" Realizing where his hands were, I immediately blushed and turned around to slap him in the face. "That doesn't mean YOU can, you pervert!"
Arine rubbed his cheek and the angel laughed. "And you're adorable too." Arine snapped back at him. "Hey! You can't just hit on her while I'm here!" The angel then rested his chin on his fist and his smile disappeared. "Oh, I'm sorry, are you two lovers?" Arine glared at him. "As a matter of fact-" I slapped his mouth shut before he could finish his sentence. "Yeah, you wish!" The angel's smile came back and he continued to look into my eyes. "How rude of me. My name is Ikko Oui. What is your name, darling?" I crossed my arms and looked away from him.
"Silvera." He then stood up and held my chin with his hand, turning my face to look up at him. "With a soul like that, your name might as well be diamonds." I blushed, and Arine moved the angel's hand away. "What do you want?" Arine seemed like he was on his last nerve. Ikko looked at Arine emotionless for a second, then sat back down. "You two are looking for The Book of Souls, correct?" My eyebrows went up in shock. "H-How did you know that?" He looked back at me.
"I can't help it that angels have good hearing. I heard what you two said and I wanted to see if it was true." I was hesitant for a moment. "Do you know where it is?" He closed his eyes. "No. But I know who does." Arine stood up. "And why exactly would a murderer like you want to help us?!" The angel opened his eyes again and sighed. "I'm bored obviously. Not to mention that Silvera's soul is giving me urges that I haven't felt in a long time." I immediately felt uncomfortable but Arine held his glare. "I assume you want something in exchange for this information."
Ikko smiled again. "Of course. Being as bored as I am, a quest sounds quite amusing. So, in exchange for this information, I would like to come with you on this quest, and I'll lead you to this certain someone." Both Arine and I were shocked at his offer, but I felt relieved that he didn't want anything sexual from me. Whereas Arine saw it a different way. "Not a chance! There is no way we can trust you-!" I put my hand on Arine's shoulder.
"Arine, wait a moment. We were hoping to get some idea of where The Book of Souls was in a few days, but instead, the answer was handed to us on a silver platter on the first day. Who knows when an opportunity like this will come again." Arine hesitated. "But we don't know anything about him."
I smiled. "You didn't know anything about me when you made me come with you. As you said, a quest is a perfect way to get to know your friends and make new ones along the way!" Arine was speechless and so was Ikko. I turned to Ikko. "We accept. You're now our friend and there's nothing you can do about it!" His eyes widened and I started to walk to the door. "Come on you slow pokes and lead the way!"