Daniel woke up to faint voices. One of them he recognized as Ramielle, but the other was not a voice he had ever heard before.
He was about to jump out of the bed to get Ramielle away from this stranger, knowing how naive she was.
"What are nephillem?"
Ramielle's question stopped him. Daniel had read that nephillem are children that were born from angels and humans. They had extraordinary strength, speed, healing abilities, and they sometimes had superhuman abilities such as being able to see into the future, read minds, being able to communicate with angels and some could even see angels. Daniel wondered why Ramielle was asking this person about them.
"That is what you call the children of angels and humans," the man answered. "How is that possible?" Daniel heard Ramielle ask with a curious tone. He rolled his eyes. Did she never receive "the talk" from her parents? Or had she forgotten? Daniel smirked, intrigued at how this man was going to answer her question.
He heard shuffling and glanced in their direction without making it obvious that he was awake. The man picked up two rocks that was on the floor. He held one up, "When a man loves -" he held the other one up, "- a woman -" He brought the two rocks together, "- they marry -" he picked up a smaller rock, "- and have a baby." The guy smiled brightly, almost like a kid. It did not suit his size and appearance.
Daniel had to force back a snort. Was that the best he got? Daniel would have given Ramielle a much better explanation.
Ramielle giggled, "I know that, silly." Daniel almost choked. She knew? She remembered having "the talk" before?
"Oh? You know? Didn't you lose your memories?" The man asked, taking the words from Daniel's mind. But, he wondered how much trust Ramielle must have placed in him to tell him that she had lost her memories. Why was she so naive?
"I meant: is it possible for angels and humans to love each other?" she asked. For a second, she blinked, as if she might be remembering something. Then it was gone.
"Of course. Angels can love, just like humans do. Maybe even deeper than humans do," the man answered. He was staring deep into her eyes, almost as if he was talking directly to her - as if what he was saying applied to her. Daniel started to feel irritated with this guy. Who did he think he was to look at her that way?
"So one of your parents was an angel?" Ramielle asked him. He nodded, "My dad was an angel. He fell in love with my mother and came to this world from heaven to marry her. Then they had me." What? So this guy was nephillem? Judging by his physique it was possible, but he could just have said that so Ramielle would be impressed with him and fall for him. There were not many girls out here - let alone as beautiful as Rami--- What the heck was Daniel thinking just now? Did he just almost call Ramielle beautiful?
"Where are your parents now?" Ramielle asked as if she knew the answer to her question would be a bad one. Daniel did not think anyone had families anymore, so he knew that the answer to that question.
The man's expression turned somber and he sighed, "They... They died. My dad died trying to protect my mom... and she died trying to protect me."
The image of his mother flashed in Daniel's mind. He would never forget the last day he saw her. She also died protecting him... but she did not have anyone to protect her. Daniel's father was the one that killed her - where he should have protected her like this guy's parents.
This guy was really starting to piss him off.
"I am so awfully sorry, Ethan..." Ramielle said, regret clear on her face. So his name was Ethan? He even told her his name? What was he trying to do? Win her sympathy? Daniel sat up, crossing his arms over his chest.
"No, don't apologise. It's not your fault. They were happy together until the end," he replied with a sad smile. Then Ethan's expression turned bright and hopeful, it made Daniel want to punch it off his face, "Their deaths were not in vain. They saved me and now I can hopefully help save the world with you."
Daniel laughed, catching their attention, "What a load of crap." This Ethan guy was acting all angelic but Daniel thought he had just as much hatred in his heart as he did.
Ramielle's face lit up, "Daniel!" She ran to him and hugged him. It surprised him, his eyes widened. He did not know what to do, so he just awkwardly patted her back, "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Get off me."
Ethan walked up to him and held out a bottle of water, "Here. You're pretty dehidrated." Daniel wasn't an idiot so he did not take it. This Ethan guy could have poisoned it. Ramielle pulled away, took the water from Ethan and gestured for Daniel to take a sip, "It's okay, I had some too. It's safe to drink."
"You drank water from a stranger?! Are you stupid? It could have been poisoned!" Daniel yelled, grabbing Ramielle's shoulders. Why did she have to be so naive?!
Ramielle was startled, her eyes wide. Ethan grabbed Daniel's wrist, frowning, "Let go. You're hurting her." Daniel scoffed at him, then noticed the red marks his fingers were making on Ramielle's skin. He let go of her as if she was a hot coal.
Ramielle looked down. Her eyes were shiny, as if she was holding back tears. Did Daniel hurt her that badly?
He sighed, grabbed the bottle out of her hand and gulped down the remaining water in it. It tasted normal.
"Are you healing up alright?" Ethan asked, taking the bottle from Daniel after he was done with it and pointing to Daniel's bandages.
"Who are you anyway? Why are you here?" Daniel asked. Ethan was really starting to work on his nerves. He was acting like a prince on a white horse and Daniel really wasn't buying it.
Ethan smiled, "I'm Ethan Thornsmane. I'm a nephillem and I saved your ass after you passed out, leaving Ramielle to fend for herself." Daniel scoffed, "Yeah, sure. Are you expecting gratitude? You think being a nephillem changes anything?"
Ramielle looked up, frowning. This was probably the nearest thing to angry that Daniel had ever seen her. "Daniel, I mean not to be rude but this man saved your life. I know it is most probably not in your nature to show gratitude but a simple 'thank you' could suffice for now."
Daniel blinked.
"And do you know how worried I was? I thought that you were going to die, for heaven's sake!" Her face was turning red and tears were brimming her eyes. She was worried about him? She was afraid that he would die? Daniel could only continue to blink in shock.
Ethan put his hand on her shoulder, a calming smile tugging on his lips, "It's okay, don't worry about it. I was only joking around, he doesn't really have to thank me." He pointed at Daniel, "And see? He's okay. He isn't going to die." Ethan was so calm while explaining to her not to take everything too seriously. He seemed to have an endless amount of patience. It made Daniel regrettably envy him.
Daniel felt bad for making her feel that way. He was just so used to being alone all this time that he didn't know how to interact with others, let alone girls. He forgot that Ramielle didn't seem to understand sarcasm and took things that he said a lot more serious than they were.
Ethan took Ramielle to another bed, next to the one they sat on earlier. There he gave her a can with canned fruit and a spoon, then he urged her to eat it. She followed his directions silently.
Then he came back to Daniel, handing him some canned fruit too. Ethan sat down on Daniel's bed, "Hey, man. I'm not here to hurt anyone. I'm here to help. I know it's hard to trust me... shit, it's hard to trust an old lady in this world. But we're on the same side. We have the same goal." Daniel tried to calm his temper, "How do you know what my goal is?"
Ethan's gaze travelled toward Ramielle, who was now asleep in her bed. "I just know."
As morning came, they packed up and readied themselves to leave for the next town. Ethan was travelling with them to Danica and Hector. Daniel still did not know who exactly he was, nor where he came from but settled with letting him follow them for Ramielle's sake.
She had been quiet the whole time, responding with slight nods and shaking her head if she needed to say no. Ethan asked her if she was alright and she only answered with a nod.
Daniel hated how she was acting. She used to be annoying, talking and smiling way too much. Now, she barely did either. It was even more annoying.
Ethan knew where they needed to go, so he led the way.
When he was out of earshot, Daniel matched Ramielle's pace. They walked in silence for a while because Daniel struggled to make his tongue speak the words he had on his mind since the previous night.
"I... I'm sorry," he finally uttered.
Ramielle's eyes met his. Then she sighed covering her face with her hands, "You have no need to apologise. I was the one that let out my anger on you. I am sorry."
"You had good reason to do so. I have been an ass - I mean I have not treated you with much respect - since I met you. And last night I hurt you," Daniel gently touched a small blue bruise that his fingers had left on one of her shoulders. "I just... I don't know how to interact with others anymore. I've been alone for... quite some time."
Ramielle held his gaze for a moment. Then one of her usual gentle smiles spread on her lips, "Thank you for opening a little piece of your heart to me. I accept your apology." Daniel felt his cheeks' temperature rise. "Daniel, I want you to know that you are not alone anymore. I am here now and you can rely on me."
With that, Ramielle took off one of necklaces that hung around her neck and hung it around Daniel's. He glanced down to see that the Teardrop was now resting against his chest. Cool and calm.
His gaze slowly traveled back to her. "Danica said that the Cross's bearer should give give the Teardrop to someone they trust the most. Daniel, you're that someone to me," Ramielle said.
Daniel felt the urge to hold her against him.
"Rami... I... Are you sure? I wouldn't say that I am that trustwor---"
"Guys! There's a horde of demons ahead!" Ethan shouted. Daniel and Ramielle looked into the direction that he was pointing and as they neared him, an awful stench filled Daniel's nostrils. It smelled like rotten garbage. Screams could be heard.
Ahead was the next town that they were supposed to pass before reaching their final destination...
It was filled to the brim with demons.