Something about her was different, usually all Ezekiel saw when he looked at others was a cage, but not her. He was entranced making him feel as if everybody else in the world had faded.
He began to walk, and slowly he caught up to her, he reached out and grabber her.
Spinning around while looking annoyed, she glared at him while asking
"What?"
Ezekiel finally got a good look at her, she had long blonde hair, and deep brown eyes, she was a bit shorter than him paired with a mature body, she was beautiful, there was no hiding that fact. But that wasn't what he cared about.
Up closer he could finally tell, she wasn't like the rest, she was different.
He had found something interesting.
"Who are you?
He asked with a slight smile
He was interested in something, no he was interested in somebody and he wasn't going to let it escape him
"How can you see me?"
She questioned with confusion written all over her face
Ezekiel racked his brain looking for the words that would grab her attention. 'How was she different from the rest' he thought to himself
As he was about to speak, a searing suddenly assaulted him, the pain spread out in paths, tracing across his entire body. Then is slowly disappeared, leaving as fast as it arrived.
It had felt like hours had passed for Ezekiel, but looking at the girl in front him he realized only a few seconds had passed
"H-H-how did you do that" She questioned in a shaky voice
But Ezekiel didn't hear her, he was trying to figure out what was going on inside his body.
He could feel it, inside his heart. He didn't know what was going on but something was there, something new.
"What did you do to me?"
He suddenly asked, hoping for an explanation, but instead of an answer all he received was the view of her back as she ran away.
"Don't let her get away"
Behind Ezekiel a voice rang out, in the distance four men seemed to be running towards him
"Look she has an accomplice, get him too"
'Now this was one interesting development' he began to smile and although his mind was still recovering his body was stronger than ever.
He started to sprint, easily managing to catch up with the girl from before
"Who are you?"
It was the question Ezekiel had decided to ask her hoping to get a little bit of information as to what was going on.
But instead of answering him she just started to run faster.
Catching up once again Ezekiel took a different approach. He had noticed that she seemed lost, and that the 4 men were catching up so he had decided to offer her a deal
"Tell me what's going on and I'll help you get away, deal?"
As she was about to say no she noticed the 4 men slowly reducing the distance between us. She was obviously nervous, and after a few seconds of silence she conceded.
"Alright deal, help me"
At those words Ezekiel couldn't help but begin to smile, something different, something new and interesting was happening, he could feel his existence regaining stability. 'Even if something bad happened, even if I did get caught it would be far better than continuing on the way I was living before' Ezekiel thought to himself with a large smile plastered to his face.
***
Ezekiel had changed, something was different, he used to be a plain mortal.
But as soon as he touched this girl something changed.
'It's like Ariel was dormant, and I awakened it' Adeline muttered to herself
Adeline suddenly felt herself being pulled in a different direction, she instinctually tried to fight it but quickly noticed who was pulling her.
She ended up being dragged through an alley, up a ladder and onto a roof
After a bit of running Ezekiel suddenly stopped in front of her
"There jump into that tree" Ezekiel commanded
"Are you crazy" She said with a shriek, Adeline hated heights, and although her body was tough enough to barely feel a fall of this height, she couldn't bring herself to jump onto the tree.
"Watch" he said while chuckling to himself, Ezekiel then proceeded to jump landing on a branch and then slowly letting himself down, making it look as easy as getting out of bed in the morning
Knowing it was her only option Adeline finally decided to jump, landing on the branch Adeline breathed a sigh of relief
"See it's easy" Ezekiel suddenly commented as I was about to let myself down
But instead of gracefully letting herself down Adeline slipped and fell right in Ezekiel's arms
She felt his arms wrapped around her, she was looking directly into his eye, his blue eyes which seemed to get brighter with every minute
She was bout to say thank you when
"Where are they"
"I think they went this way"
The voices of the earlier men reappeared
As soon as Adeline heard those words she felt herself moving, a man who she didn't even know the name of was carrying her away, they weaved through the trees, going deeper and deeper into a forest.
Only after 5 minutes of running did he finally put her down, looking around only trees could be seen for miles.
As soon as her feet hit the ground she quickly turned away from Ezekiel her face beet red, she had never been carried like that in her life, much less by a man and one she didn't even know the name of.
"Name" Due to Adeline's embarrassment, her attempt to find out Ezekiel's name turned into that of a toddlers
She looked at him, who was amused by the fact she was embarrassed, 'luckily he didn't mention anything' Adeline though while breathing a sigh of relief.
"Ezekiel, and you"
"So Adeline, I held up my side of the deal, so why don't you explain what's going on"
***
While escaping Ezekiel realized the opportunity he had been waiting for had arrived, and if he didn't seize it, he was going to be swallowed by the void that was his mortal life, this is his chance, his chance to escape.
And for the first time in years, he was enjoying himself. Talking to a beautiful girl, running from unknown men, feeling pain he's never felt before. It was all so interesting to Ezekiel, something that had been missing form his life for the past 4 years. For the first time since the incident, the world seems bright and alive.
"Fineeeee" Adeline said while slowly losing her earlier embarrassment
"Thank you for happily sharing" Ezekiel said with obvious sarcasm, he didn't know when but he started to show his emotions again, it was a new feeling and he wasn't used to it. Made him feel vulnerable.
But he didn't care, it was fun, and that made everything worth it
"First tell me what happened to you"
Ezekiel then began to explain the sequence of events from his perspective, causing Adeline to go silent.
"Those 4 men, and myself are from the Land of Ariel, and they were chasing me due to certain circumstances" Adeline finally said making Ezekiel's heart tremble in excitement.
"What makes the Land of Ariel different" He asked with genuine curiosity.
"Emotions"
A simple word with many meanings, even now humans can't fully understand their own emotions. Ezekiel locked away his emotions for years.
He was forced to hid his emotions, keeping them away from the light, making sure they never escaped. Cause if they did escape they would've destroyed him. But now that there might be a path to grow, a path to gain what Ezekiels always been looking for. His emotions have begun to show, causing them to run rampant.
After that one word Adeline had gone silent, seemingly thinking about what to say next and Ezekiel opted to just wait for her to speak again
'Do you know what Ariel is?" She suddenly asked
About to say no Ezekiel remembered something, when he was being chased something had appeared, it was there but no there.
He could clearly see it for a second, but if he didn't pay attention to it, it would just as easily disappear. He tried to focus on it again but he couldn't see it anymore. It seemed to only have lasted for a few seconds.
"Yes I think I recall something like that popping up" He finally said after racking his brain for a few seconds
"Okay this is much easier now, say Ariel" Adeline said with a exhausted smile, trying to think of a way to explain everything must've tired her out
"Ariel"