"It's all over; was it worth it?" Antón looked at the Marquez's corpse and wondered where that arrogant man who claimed to have it all had gone. In the end, like a water current, everyone was slaves to a beginning and an end.
When Antón understood that the soul was what mattered in life, everything else didn't make much sense. Appearance didn't matter when the vivacious essence existed and shone bright; not everyone might understand it this way, but he did.
Bodies were just tools; those who controlled these tools were truly what mattered in this life, which is why Antón looked at the corpses with a certain disinterest.
"Where have you gone?" Antón shook his head and walked alongside Akira as the sun rose on the horizon.
When Antón reached a place with benches and sat down, his gaze turned towards the sun, feeling a bit strange at his sudden introspection.
"Akira, I never thought I could have someone by my side."
"Nor did I ever think I would surrender to someone else."
Akira's eyes looked exactly at what Anton was seeing; she felt very different since she started talking with him about deeper topics.
"I didn't fall in love with you for your appearance, but for everything that shapes you... What makes people special is how they themselves show that feeling that brings others closer. What makes you special is who you are, and that's what's important; many are scared of my new scars and wonder how I got them."
Antón felt that the only person he could vent to was Akira, so that's what he was doing.
She could sense Anton's tone; unlike him, Akira didn't believe in assigning meaning to the soul, as it was special to think about.
"I used to adopt different ways of seeing death, the meaning of people, and the importance of the body. Now you make me think that once someone dies, no matter the body, that special person isn't there."
Akira felt it was nice to talk to Anton; she naturally took his hand, feeling that warmth.
"If you don't like how I cook, I'll kill you."
"I'll be honored to eat your meals—something special."
...
"Are you ready?" Antón looked at the man beside him and asked with some doubt.
"I trained them to eliminate evil and to take care of supernatural beings." The man who was actually John looked at the over two hundred people entering.
Anton would be a fool not to take advantage of John's skills to train his men and say, "If you haven't found a path, you might as well start eliminating dark entities."
"What I've thought..."
When he knew it was time, Anton entered the huge hall, and someone beside him shouted, "Greetings!"
"Greetings, Archbishop Guardian!"
Antón nodded and said, "I won't be here long due to work, but I introduce you to your martial arts, marksmanship, and combat tactics, master. You should all feel honored to have a teacher like John; whether you know him or not, all you need to know is that he's one of the best."
John waved a bit awkwardly in front of hundreds of people.
Everyone, upon hearing these words, looked at John, recognizing the man before them. They greeted him, and after the introduction was directed to everyone, he left the place.
How John would train those people, he didn't want to know; he knew he would somehow manage it.
Just as he was about to go buy vegetables that Akira had asked for, his cellphone vibrated, notifying him of a dark entity.
"How serious could it be?"
"Just an alert; our sensors went off in a nearby forest."
Anton, after hearing that, headed home for his first mission in a while.