"Ah. I got blood on my clothes again," a young boy muttered. He was underdressed being in the frigid cold of Noxio's eternal winter. His frail body caused by malnutrition didn't help his case either, so he took off the dead man's puffer jacket and wore it as a blanket.
Luciel wanted to leave this place, but the snowstorm was more severe than he expected. "Sleeping with a corpse again?" He sighed. He didn't like sleeping near someone he just killed. That didn't sit right with him. Besides, the man was mutilated. Intestines were laid out on the snow. His face was gnawed beyond recognition as if a ferocious animal starved for a week attacked him.
Well, that man deserved it. He did so many bad deeds. He sinned against the heavens. Stealing from the elderly, beating up kids, abusing vulnerable women, everything was laid out there. So, Luciel decided to just kill the man as brutally as possible. That was the way of the slums. He would bury the guy tomorrow.
How did he kill him? Luciel lured the man in a dark alleyway using a beer can. Alcoholics like him could sense beer from a mile away. Such a pathetic sight to see the man walking on all fours like a dog because he couldn't stand properly. Right when he fell into the trap, Luciel came out from the dark and stabbed his neck. Dead immediately.
He wanted to torture him, though, but he was still a nine-year-old child. He didn't have the physique to overpower him. All he could manage was one strike, one kill, and it had been this way since the 1749th day ago.
Luciel had to kill to keep himself sane. A human life was fragile, and you could be killed one day when you became careless, so he wanted to kill instead of getting killed. Living in the slums since birth was hell. There was no mercy for the weak.
'Anyway, I should get some sleep,' he thought, his mouth opening to release a big yawn. He had tons of work to do tomorrow, so he should better sleep. Luciel wanted to dream of a dream where he would stop living this life. He wanted a house. He wanted warmth and love. And so he drifted off, submerging into the deep sea of consciousness when he heard someone.
"Dear." The voice soft and soothing.
Luciel's expression hardened. Wait... did he even have a body in here? Was it outside or in his dream? He wanted to speak but couldn't. He slapped himself in his mind to wake up but couldn't. Then he heard the strange noise again.
"Dear... I'm here."
Confused, he looked around what seemed like the vast sea when he noticed an ethereal light with a shape of a female body. It was all light and no other features.
Instead of being scared, Luciel was curious and wanted to talk to it. Perhaps this was an angel that had descended to make his dream come true! But he couldn't open his mouth for some reason.
"You can see me, right?" the angel asked, her voice sounded like a lullaby.
Unable to do anything, Luciel nodded and raised his arms. He wanted to touch the light so bad. What if this was salvation?
"Aw. Trying to touch me? Well, it has been a long time."
'...?' Stupefied, Luciel retracted his arms and stared at the light.
"Anyway, I finally managed to meet you again." Somehow, Luciel felt the melancholy that the angel was feeling. He could feel the guilt so deep and unbearable that it hurt his heart.
The angel came closer, picked him up, and hugged him. "I'm sorry I couldn't even give you a proper life in this life even though you have gone through so much," the angel's voice quivered. "I want to tell you everything, but I should leave you be. I want you to live your own life and have your own choices. I won't restrain your destiny no more... No. Our destiny. I decided to cleanse my soul and live this life with you, so if you could somehow find me, then it is fate that we are together."
Even though Luciel couldn't understand what the angel was saying, he could understand her emotions. For the first time in his life, he felt that he was loved and cared for. He wanted to be in her embrace forever.
"If you were meant to walk the old path again, the God of Life will come and help you. I... have made some arrangements."
Suddenly, Luciel levitated off the ground, released from the angel's embrace. The angel extended her hand to him. "Here. Take this." Her index finger touched his. Scarlet flame started coursing through the angel's veins toward Luciel's. He could sense a foreign energy entering his body, but it was warm and cozy like a fireplace.
"This is my scarlet flame. You may not remember, but you have always loved it. I was the happiest girl when you complimented my flames, so this is my farewell gift."
Luciel widened his eyes, finally realizing what was going on. He had a past life that he couldn't remember? And this must have been his life partner. He had felt all the emotions from the angel, so he couldn't help but cry even though he only had met her once. They were so deep and profound as if she had lived thousands of years bearing those feelings. He wanted to remember everything.
"My dear Luciel, don't try to remember anything. I'll disappear and live a new life too. You wanted this to relieve of our suffering, so if this life allows us to be together again, then it must be the string of fate."
Why was he crying like a baby? He had never cried in his life. Even when he was on the verge of death, he never cared and moved on. Constant learning and applying helped him surviving this cold world. Yet, he was bawling. Sadness that he could never feel, anguish that he never tasted, guilt that never settled.
Slowly, the light revealed itself. Particles of fireflies dispersed from the angel and revealed the soul inside. One fragment to another, Luciel was able to see what was hidden inside such a beautiful light.
"Am I beautiful?" the woman asked, her doe blue eyes clearer than the ocean itself, her silky brunette hair flowed like the river, her fair skin so smooth and luminous as if kissed by the heavens themselves.
Luciel could only nodded. He thought he could never see anything more beautiful than her. His past life was this great?
"Truthfully, I have been living here for the same amount of time as you did thanks to the God of Life. This is the last fragment of my soul imparted to you so spend your time with me wisely," she said jokingly, her voice so heavenly that it could melt Luciel if he was careless.
"It is unfortunate that you can't speak, but your presence is enough for me to truly depart from this world as me without any regrets." She then gave Luciel the prettiest smile he had ever seen. One that he would keep inside his heart forever and ever.
Luciel approached the woman and embraced her tightly. He really wanted to say something. He didn't want to let her go. He could already feel her slipping into the unknown.
"I guess time is running out. I'm sorry that I couldn't stay longer, dear." Suddenly, a tear dropped onto Luciel's pale white hair. A tear so small yet the weight of it equaled the whole universe.
"You won't remember this dream after you wake up. I don't want to chain you with regret or anything related to us. You understand, right, dear?"
'No. I want to remember you forever.' He wanted to say that. He wanted to say how much he loved her and how much he cherished her. Why was she so sad even when she said she could go without any regrets? He didn't believe her at all. He knew that she wanted to stay for eternity, but the circumstance wouldn't allow her.
As if she knew what he was thinking about, she tearfully patted Luciel's head. "It took me a lot of courage to take on this road, forgetting myself and you. Still, even if there were regrets, I'm happier letting us begin a new chapter in our lives. Letting go is never easy. Don't worry about me."
The light started to dim, swallowed by the encroaching darkness. Luciel panicked and screamed to the void, desperate for another miracle, but all he could see was her disappearing gradually until there was nothing left but her voice.
"I love you, Luciel. Live on. Fate will bring us together again, I promise..."
And the world turned dark.
Luciel woke up in the middle of the storm. He just had a strange dream. Tears were submerging into the snow. He felt feelings that he never felt before.
Confused, he stood up and felt a sharp pain on his wrist. He took off the jacket and pulled the sleeve up, only to see that the weird drawing on his wrist he had since birth had become more pronounced.
He then felt a weird sensation in his body. Even though the world was freezing, he was warm and felt like he could even emit fire. Luciel tried to focus on that feeling and to his surprise, a small scarlet fire was burning and dancing on his palm.
'Beautiful... I love it.' He didn't question it for some reason. He just accepted that he had it.
He then turned to the corpse and burned it to ash completely. Even the bloodied snow melted, leaving no trace of the dead man. Just like that, the man completely disappeared to the unknown.
Luciel turned back to where he came from and continued to live his life. If only he could dream more, would he be able to feel more? Would life be more meaningful? He wanted to find out.