Japan

This just couldn't be happening.

This just wasn't real. None of it. Jasper kept his eyes narrowed to the ground as he walked, his feet heavy and tired from a night of no sleep. He was unfocused, which was terribly unusual for him, but the thought to pay attention to anything other than his own, near-obsessive thoughts never occurred to him. He was trying hard to convince himself that the previous events that took place the day before had never happened, that they were all simply figments of his imagination. He was a realist, but he was still a human being. Sometimes...sometimes humans got tired when they over-dosed on their studies, like he'd been doing for the last week, and simply started imagining things. It certainly didn't mean any of it was real. Not at all.

Let's think back for a moment, Jasper thought to himself, closing his eyes for a moment as he walked before lifting them up to the clear, cloud-less sky. The events, to what his warped little mind could recall, went as followed: He went to school, met that weird Kaede kid, followed Kaede and Taku until it was dark--for no stupid, logical reason--got lost and...got attacked by...by something. Something strange. A bird, actually. An abnormally large bird.

Jasper stopped where he was and snapped his fingers. Of course. The thing that attacked him had only been a bird of some sort and since he wasn't used to seeing a bird so large in the area before--maybe it just had a strange migrational pattern?--his mind just freaked and over-exaggerated the true reality of the situation. The bird attacked him. Maybe he got too close to its eggs or its territory? Predatory birds could be quite territorial, after all. Of course, none of that explained the shield that came out of thin air, or the human with wings... An angel, he would describe it. But he bit that thought back as he continued walking again.

The school was right across the street and he really wasn't watching where he was going. Jasper kept his head down, a hand to his chin as he focused more on his thoughts, focused on trying to rationalize every bit and piece of information. The stuff those guys were talking about must be some sort of video game. Maybe they were just screwing around, roleplaying even. He remembered when he was younger and used to pretend he was a wizard. Maybe it was like that. They're a little old to be so immature, he thought with a disapproving frown.

"Hey, kid, watch it!" a voice shouted out. Jasper lifted his head to see what 'kid' needed to 'watch it,' and why, when he realized he'd stopped in the middle of the road, eyes wide, the red hand sign frozen with a car headed straight for him. He shut his eyes, freezing up completely, and waited for the impact of the car. ...It never came. He gasped and opened his eyes, watching as the car swerved not-so-gracefully around him and kept on going, flipping him off in the process. He watched after it for a moment. "Get the hell out of the road, kid!" He blinked, coming back to reality in the middle of the road.

--

Dammit, why does school exist? Taku thought as he walked along the sidewalk, humming to himself and trying his hardest to ignore the girls that were flocking around him.

"Oh, Taku your so hot~" some blonde bimbo cooed to him. His only reply was flipping her off with a smirk, as if he was saying 'bitch I know I'm hot, I don't need you to tell me such trivial things'.

"Ne, Taku, where did you get your injuries this time?" a strawberry blonde girl asked him, eyes sparked with actual curiosity and not that fake interest girls tried to get into his pants.

Sorry ladies I don't dig you. If I did, I would probably fuck you all. At the thought his nose wrinkled and he gagged softly, pretending to not notice the astonished faces of some of the girls.

"Well..." he looked at the girl and frowned. What the fuck was her name? Shit...um, "Kuro, i got in another fight, cant you tell?" he grinned manically at her and laughed when she blushed a full deep rooted red color.

After his fight with the stupid bird Angel, Taku had wounds scattered around his body, though most were covered by his clothing. His whole entire torso was wrapped in thick bandages after taking a hit from one of the winged creatures talons. His fingers were covered in a thin wrap, protecting some cuts he had acquired from summoning his bow-like Animi. On his upper right arm, there was a gash wound, from something Taku couldn't currently remember. All he could recall about the injury was that it hurt like a bitch, and it still hadn't stopped bleeding, even after wrapping the damn thing so tight with bandages he thought his arm would lose circulation and fall off.

Taku heard a squeal of tires and a shocked gasp from one of the girls, a new one with bright ginger head and loud green eyes.

Too bad she isn't a he, he mentally pouted and sulked until his gaze locked onto dark brown/violet hued eyes, wide with shock.

It was Jasper, the kid...who him and Kaede had to save last night. He was the boy who had been attacked. the reason Taku had these wounds. Yet, he wasn't that mad like he thought he would be. Until...

Jasper...Kaede wants to meet with him...I remember him telling me to bring him to the Church.

That thought alone made Taku's blood boil. He didn't hate Kaede, just what he did. A couple years ago he had dragged him into the Organization, forcefully. It disrupted his boring everyday life and made it interesting, but he did not wish this lifestyle upon any other living person. The thought of this sweet and innocent looking boy killing Angels...his blood froze into liquid ice, still burning through his body as if on hyper drive.

Without a word he quickly walked over to Jasper and pulled him out of the street and over to the school gates, his bright blue eyes staring into darker eyes, searching for something. After realizing his hands were holding onto Jasper's shoulders rather tightly, he released them and took a hold of forearm, not breaking eye contact with him.

Jasper allowed himself to get yanked aside, just relieved to be out of the road instead of standing there like an awkward suicidal idiot with cars going at him. He sighed tiredly and gave the kid a once over. Oh. Him. he thought bitterly, the handsome boy's name sticking on the tip of his tongue. He knew his face. He was a classmate--that stupid idiot that was probably the cause of all this mess. Still, he thought secondly, he supposed he couldn't blame him for everything. There was still that other kid to take half the blame.

"Jasper, you do remember me from last night right?" his classmate questioned.

His face contorted from one of confusion to one of pure annoyance as the kid--Taku! That was it!--rambled on about getting him to remember.

If Jasper didn't remember jack shit Taku refused to involve him in this dangerous and life threatening lifestyle he immersed himself in. He started to say something that would trigger a memory, if he had forgotten, but then shook his head and caught sight of a small crowd around them.

Damn them for watching. Damn him for being so popular. It was his looks. He knew it was. He was hot and he showed it off. Hell, he was the sexiest thing that walked the Earth. Everyone else could eat his dust and kiss his ass.

Right, back to the boy Taku had been holding for god knows how long now. At this point he let go and took a step back, his eyes hard and cold with anger, "Meet me at the Church during lunch, if you remember anything. Someone important," Taku spat the word, eyes momentarily blazing with a cold fire, "wants to see your sorry unharmed ass."

With his back straight and proud he walked away, skillfully ignoring the whispers of rumors soon to be spread and the crowd of boys and girls flocking over to him like sheep to a shepherd. Pitiful, ass-kissing idiots.

"If you don't remember last night, don't bother coming, got it Jasper Montague?" With a slight wave and a kiss blown to the other boy the crowd swallowed him whole, leaving Jasper standing there.

Remember what? he almost spat out, but the other boy never gave him a chance. The way he tried ordering him around like that, like he was some big shot, who did he think he was? So what if he was popular and good-looking and rough and tough and got all the attention of the student body? Jasper didn't care for him. He was a total brat.

And then the late bell rang.

As Taku turned and left him standing there, sending a wink and a wave good-bye over his shoulder, Jasper merely bit down an insult and turned in the other direction. Like hell he was meeting him at lunch.

--

...So at lunch time, Jasper found himself moving in the direction off-campus to the church. He was stomping, aggravated more than anything, over to his destination. He wasn't even sure why he was bothering to do this. He just felt like he needed to rant some more or clear his head to Taku that, hey, you're insane, and get this all over with so he could go back to studying like usual.

Jasper came to a stop outside the church, looking up at the building with a glare before leaning against the building and crossing his arms over his chest. "He's not even here yet," he mumbled to himself, checking his watch. "Idiot's probably flirting or something.." He continued grumbling to himself as he waited for the other boy. Maybe, he thought to himself, the reason he came here was for answers. Because, well, as much as he tried to deny it, some pieces of his made-up puzzle just weren't fitting into place. Yeah, so that was it. He'd wait here for Taku to come and he'd force the other boy to give him some answers. Then when he was satisfied with the story set in his mind, he'd gingerly go about his day and never speak to any weirdos ever again...

...Taku growled, no, he snarled at the next girl who touched him. She flinched slightly while all her friends giggled, swooning at his 'bad boy' behavior. If they didn’t knock it off, he refused to be held responsible for their untimely deaths.

"Taku-kun, where are you going?" A pale girl with dark green and blue eyes asked him, flicking her hair away from her face in a flirty manner.

He paused from getting off the table and looked at her clearly, his azure blue eyes holding no interest for the girl in front of him. Why wasn’t he moving again?

Right, a question. Stupid bitch.

He stood up and walked away from all of them, the girls trying to follow, but a cold glare paired with the words, "Out." were all that was needed to send them giggling like a pack of lovestruck, love drunk, high school bimbo girls with no life. Which they all were. Not that Taku wished any harm on them. But there were other drop dead gorgeous guys on the swim team that were half of his sexiness. Why not go bother them?

Taku took up a slow, lazy gaunt, one foot stepping in front of the other. He was dragging out seeing Jasper and he knew it. The kid, aside from being kind of cute, was annoying. And he would be even more annoying as soon as he bombarded Taku with questions he rather not answer. Ever. He shouldn’t have seen what happened last night. He should be at lunch with his friends, if the kid had any, and not waiting in suspense for information that will drag him into a dangerous, life or death world where Angels aren’t good, they are evil.

The world of Animi isn’t a pleasant one, if you couldn’t already figure that out. You could die at any given point, which is why it was always a good idea to have backup when fighting an Angel. Most people would freak out if you told them you fought Angels. if they even believed you to begin with. That meant you had to live a life full of lies, and quickly master the art of lying to anyone and everyone on the spot.

Stupid kid, what the fuck was he thinking? Taku thought grimly as he neared the Church, seeing the boy already standing there. He gave a short wave, and picked up his pace, now just wanting to get the thing over and done with. It wasn’t his fault. At least no harm came to the kid.

"Hey, come with me." he bit out walking past Jasper and into the Church, heaving the doors open and ignoring the blood that seeped through his bandages and stained his perfectly white shirt. The life ruin-er, also known as Kaede, would hopefully have some more.

He was in the middle of the church and then he paused, looking at the boy who was still in the same spot, staring after him, "You mess with Angels, you pay the price. Come on." he grumbled loudly to him, his eyes narrowed into slits and out of the corner of his eye, he saw the orb appear on the altar table.

With a internal sigh, he strode over to it and pressed the glowing orb, watching with a dull expression as stairs appeared just in front of the altar.

"Ready Jasper?" Taku said with a small smirk. Mentally he felt like steering the boy far, far away from all of this. To save him from the world he was now a part of.

Jasper Montague, Taku thought with a sad smile, your life as you know it is now over.

Jasper didn't reply. He wasn't sure why he was getting so nervous, anxious. His hands were twisting together and he bit his bottom lip lightly, looking back and fourth as if they were doing something bad and someone might be watching them do it. He didn't feel right, he didn't feel good about this at all. He felt like something bad was going to happen, or was happening, or already happened. Maybe that was it yesterday. Maybe that was the bad moment. And now, like Taku said, he was going to pay for being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Taku walked down the dimly lit stairs, not too far in front of Jasper, thinking about what would happen to the kid. He seemed innocent enough, why did he have to be there when the Angels fought with him and Kaede?

"Why me?" Jasper murmured out, feeling hopeless as his feet carried him subconsciously after Taku with hardly a hint of resistance. He couldn't explain why, but even though this felt wrong, he couldn't stop himself from doing it. Maybe it was the realization that he may already be in too deep into...into whatever this was...to back out now. Still, he cast a fleeting, longing look over his shoulder where freedom awaited him. With a deep sigh, he turned his head, and his life, away from it, going forward after Taku into the unknown.

"I'm a good kid," Jasper continued to mumble to himself. It was a nervous habit. He grew up in a secluded world, so he'd grown accustomed to talking to himself rather than others. He was no good at talking to others, even Taku. "I do my chores, I do my homework, I get good grades, I don't talk back, I'm a model student, I don't do bad stuff with bad people..." he trailed off, eyes narrowed frustratingly on the odd ground. "Why me?" This time, when the question was asked, it was more curious than aggravated. He looked up to Taku with the same sort of curious expression, tilting his head to the side as if to tell him he was waiting for an answer.

“Complain much?” Taku griped to himself, his seemingly glowing eyes rolling in annoyance.

Jasper shook his head, putting a hand to his chin as he walked, not really bothering to pay much attention. It was a state he tended to go into when he was trying to think, trying to rationalize things. "Angels don't exist, you know," he said matter-of-factly. It sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than Taku, causing a slight smile to tilt Taku's lips upward. "Good or bad, that creature we saw yesterday was nonexistent. Fictional. More or less, you're delusional. It was a large territorial bird." He nodded his head, satisfied with his results. He seemed happy with lying to himself, so Taku said nothing, enjoying the silence.

Which of course, with this retarded, and rightly nervous, child, did not last long. Within seconds he was rambling again, trying to justify what had happened the night before.

"So, what exactly do you and that Kaede kid want with me today? I'm not joining a cult." Jasper looked at the surrounding areas. "And that's what this seems to be, of sorts."

Taku laughed out loud (which Jasper replied to with a scowl), though shortly, and hated the way it bounced off the walls. A cult? Damn, this kid was a riot. It was worse then a cult. It was a lifestyle. Like an assassin, except if you told people you were one of them they would be scared of you and never talk to you. Tell them your part of the Organization that helps hunt down Angels and they lock you in a fucking loony-bin. Messed up logic if you think about it that way.

Jasper hummed to himself as he studied the back of Taku's head. "Are you on any sort of drugs? Because being seen with a druggie may be bad for my reputation." He snapped his fingers, suddenly getting a 'revelation.' "And that must mean Kaede's the dealer! It all makes sense now."

Ignoring that fact that about 3 seconds ago Taku thought the kid was cute; now he just wanted to turn around and punch him in the face. Instead he stayed silent and thought about all the hurt and pain he would go through after he learned what he was going to be, or what he already was, and how he would fight Angels. I wonder what his Animi will look like…

When Taku heard a surprised gasp from Jasper, he looked around him to find he had reached the bottom of the stairs and was now staring at the tree…of whatever. Tree of life, tree of…something important. Anyways, Taku turned and quietly observed Jasper’s reaction, watching his eyes flicker from astonishment, to wonder, to uncertainty, to confusion, then anger. And that’s when those deep, dark violet eyes fell onto bright azure swirling with slight amusement.

Jasper looked at the new scene in awe. There were pillars--large, tall, looming, twelve in total--up ahead. There was no way a church so small on the outside could fit such architectural designs inside of it. He suddenly had the urge to study his other surrounding, coming to the realization that it was lighter here when it shouldn't be. He couldn't explain why, and that bothered him, but he learned to move on. The platform the pillars stood on mimicked what looked to be roots, twisting and turning into the nonexistent ground below. Where they led to, he couldn't see. It was too dark. Jasper's eyes led him upward, past the top of the pillars, and further beyond into what, at first, looked to simply be even more darkness. However, a longer look revealed leaves, branches.

With a smirk, Taku gestured to the pillars, the tree thing included, “Like what you see kid?”

"A tree," Jasper concluded dumbly, still in momentary awe. "What is this place? What is that giant tree doing inside the church?" He looked at Taku, his face melded into an expression of both frustration and franticness. Nothing made sense. "I've never seen that here before." He looked back and fourth, shifting his weight from one foot to another. "We can't possibly be in the church. Where are we, Taku?" He was really on the verge of pulling his hair out, taking daring steps to the other boy he never would of thought to do if he were in his normal state of mind. He glared halfheartedly. "Tell me everything. Now."

All the blue haired boy could do was smile tightly at him, in fear he would end up laughing at the seriousness that was clearly on the boy’s face. It was like watching a small kitten puff up its fur in defense to something that was out of the normal. It was too cute.

“Not my place to say anything,” he yawned and walked toward the center of the pillars, spotting the devil’s child, Kaede.

“You,” he barked at him. Just because they worked together didn’t mean he was nice to him. This whole thing was his fault anyways. He didn’t want to save humans to begin with, “got any bandages on you? This wound hurts like a motherfucker!” he tried not to whine, but it still came through in his voice, much to his dismay. To emphasize his point, Taku unbuttoned his shirt and showed Kaede the still bleeding wound, blood slowly trailing down his arm as the wrap could no longer soak it up, “Or you know, stitching me up would be fan-fucking-tastic too.”

He walked over to the edge of the pillars and looked down into the darkness before plopping himself down. He wasn’t needed at the moment, Kaede would tell him what to do next, “I did as you asked, I brought the kid. Don’t rape him.” He smirked and then turned and went back to watching the darkness, dangling his feet over the edge.

Jasper turned to Kaede, speechless, unmoving, scared beyond belief. Whatever was going to happen, he knew he was too far in to back out of it now.

“You came,” Kaede smiled, speaking with a slightly surprise tone. “I’m glad.” his smile widened, a spark of curiosity within the red eyes of his. It didn’t seem as if Jasper would be the talkative type in a situation like this, but Kaede knew that the boy was curious and the only reason he came here was to get answers. “It’ll take a while to explain, but more importantly, I didn’t call you here, they did.” Kaede’s expression took on a much darker undertone now, his gaze lowered and a smirk was present at his lips.

Jasper took in a deep breath and held it, letting himself stand there for as long as he could before he absolutely needed to let it out. He did this casually, so it would go by unnoticed. When he couldn't breathe, he couldn't ask questions. And, oh, did he have so very many questions. His narrowed eyes landed squarely on Kaede--well, a margin to the left--and he just about opened his mouth to give a reply, debating on something between a lecture and a bombardment of questions, when something else came from above.

“Good of you to come Jasper Montague,” almost as if on cue, a voice resonated from above. “Starting today, you will be sent on missions with those you see around you.” the voice sounded male, however it was hard to tell. “You will fight the Angels.” the was a short pause. “Yggdrasil, the world tree, continues to wither because of the missing cores. It is important that those cores are returned to their rightful places, you will be the one responsible.”

The violet-haired boy felt the blood rush out of his face. His hands went cold and he just froze there, eyes staring at the suddenly overwhelming sky. Only, there was no sky. There were only leaves, occasionally falling down from the tree above by the voice booming down at him. He didn't know what to do. This...this had to be a trick. Despite his eyes searching for sound speakers in the pitch darkness, his teeth began to chatter. It didn't feel like sound speakers. Deep down, he knew the voice came from somewhere else. He remained silent.

Out of nowhere a bright light began to shine just in front of Jasper. A device manifesting itself. It was floating in mid air and appeared to be a capsule of some sort with a glowing red sphere in the centre of the glass. Three bands of runes surrounded the item, moving slowly around its body.

“Reach out your hand, Jasper Montague,” the voice continued. “For this is your Animi.”

Jasper shook his head and stared at the items in front of him, his mouth slightly agape with awe. He wanted to ask so many questions, but they all died on his tongue before he could muster the courage to ask them. He forgot, for a moment, all about Kaede and Taku and even the voice. He forgot about the tree and the church and the teachers at the school that were probably wondering why he hadn't returned to class after lunch. "Animi," he repeated, his voice hardly above a whisper.

His hand was shaking slightly, but he lifted it anyway. There was a part of him that told him to run, get out of there now and never look back, never speak to any of these people every again. Just go. But he ignored it. For once, he ignored the logic and simply delved into the curiosity and the fear and just went for it. Jasper took in a shaky breath before reaching out his hand towards the red sphere.

Upon being touched, the capsule shattered like glass and the runes began to swirl around Jasper’s body. Starting up at the arm and working its way up the body until completely circling Jasper whole. There would have been a slight pain, however the runes disappeared quickly, leaving no trace of them being there.

At the reaction, Jasper flinched. His reality finally came crashing back down on him and he took in what exactly was going on. He didn't like it. He didn't like it at all. He wanted to get away from here, but he was too scared to move, too scared to scream, to breathe. He knew he was acting like a total, shaking, mess of a baby, but he didn't care. He didn't want to do this. He didn't even know what was going on and he didn't have the voice to ask. He wanted everything to stop and go away, but he knew wishing for something didn't make it happen.

“It’s okay, it won’t hurt you.” Kaede smiled reassuringly. “The data’s just been written into your body.” within a flash he was at Jasper’s side. “Let’s see if you can activate it.” He stood behind Jasper, reaching out and grabbing onto his right arm. “Relax and focus your consciousness into your right hand. Focus on a weapon which you will use to fight. Focus on that which dwells deep within you, your Animi.”

When Kaede spoke, a margin of tension was able to drain from Jasper's body. The other boy's voice wasn't exactly warm, but it was reassuring. It made him realize he wasn't the only one in the room, that he wasn't alone in the darkness. He closed his eyes and let out a shaky breath. "I'm scared," he admitted, frowning at how much smaller his voice was than he wanted it to be. He shook his head, straightening himself and focusing. He needed to focus and get his head away from things that seemed illogical. He was a person of realism. He couldn't handle something like this.

"Don't be," Kaede said in a calmed voice, "You're Animi isn't something scary, it's a manifestation of your will. Something good which will help you fight the Angels." he kept a hold of Jasper's arm, doing his best to calm the boy's nerves. The Animi would not manifest if he didn't want it to.

"Okay," he breathed. It didn't take as much as he thought it would; not to mention, he had no real idea what exactly he was supposed to be 'activating' other than a weapon of some sort. The thought of generating a weapon from thin air just from pure willpower seemed ridiculous...until it actually happened. At the feel of something solid in his hands, his fingers wrapped firmly around the cool surface, Jasper opened his eyes and stared at it in a mixture of shock and fear.

As the weapon manifested itself, Kaede took a few steps back. He gave Jasper room to test his new weapon. The albino had a smile on his face, obviously pleased with the result. Though he never once expected the will of Jasper to be--

"A-a scythe?" he questioned, letting the rhetorical question hang in thin air. He moved his arm sideways, the scythe moving along with it. He let this set in for a few moments before spinning and turning on Kaede with a look of anger returning to his expression. The fear was starting to wash away and he was starting to become confused again. He hated confusion. The anxiety he would normally have with speaking to someone so forcibly washed away with the aggravation. "Tell me everything right now," he demanded. "What is this?" He held the scythe out in front of him for emphasis. "And what was that?" He pointed above them. "Where are we!?" He took in a deep, calming breath. It didn't help. "What the hell is an Animi? Huh? Am I ever going to get any answers out of you people!?"

Even as Jasper shouted questions at him, Kaede remained calm, with the same innocent smile plastered on his face. Suddenly the tree above shivered, letting a huge amount of leaves to float the ground. "Ah, it's happening again..." Kaede lifted his head up, watching as the delicate leaves descended. He quickly noticed the confused look on Jasper's face. "Yggdrasil is whithering away." He raised both hands with open palms, continuing to look up at the tree which loomed over head. "Yggdrasil is the pillar that supports this world, should it die, this world and the others will merge together. Resulting in chaos and the ultimate destruction of humanity. To prevent that from happening, we need the cores to support Yggdrasil." Catching a leaf within his hand, Kaede stared down at it, delicately holding it between two fingers. "Even though you are here now, let's say you had gone home yesterday -- in that case you probably wouldn't be here right now. The choices we make can lead to a various number of futures."

Yggdrasil, Jasper repeated monotonously in his head. Was. Was this guy seriously right now? Kaede, the calm, cool, new kid he met just the day before? He was insane. He was really insane. How had he missed it? But, still, that didn't explain the scythe that came out of his own self. That...he didn't have an explanation for that. The giant territorial bird story was a bit sketchy, too. And this tree and this room--none of that was able to be simply explained away as some sort of psycho's mental illusions, because he was here too. Jasper was pretty sure he wasn't insane. There seemed like there was more even still that Kaede was keeping from him. So much more. Jasper narrowed his eyes in a silent glare, aimed straight at the other boy. Kaede was rambling. Not helping.

Kaede lowered his gaze and smirked faintly, glancing over at Jasper who was surely annoyed. "Oh come on, don't glare at me like that." The leaf within his hand was crumbling now, whithered within the boy's hand. "I'm only saying what could have happened, I'm not trying to rub your face in it by saying 'You got what you deserved'." Kaede laughed slightly, glancing once again up at the tree. "As soon as man realizes that they have the freedom to choose in life, Yggdrasil begins to craft those paths -- the branches you see. Just like a tree, the branches never meet." he glanced sideways at Jasper. "The branches must never meet, to prevent that from happening we must collect the cores. That is why we hunt the Angels."

Kaede finally let the leaf within his hand go. The thing was completely dead now but still fell with grace towards the ground. He span around on his heels and began to walk towards the exit. "We're not going to force you into this." Kaede stopped and glanced over his shoulder. "More like we can't force you. 'If the wielder doesn't have the will, the Animi will not manifest itself.' That's what the commander said anyway, i'm not sure what it meant." Kaede continued walking now, "Regardless of what you choose, that will only be one of your possibilities. Whatever you chose now, be weary of the Angels, we don't know what form the Angels chose to inhabit." Kaede finished as he disappeared up the stairs.

Jasper studied the leaf that dropped to the ground as Kaede left the area. He ignored the presence of Taku behind him and bit down on his bottom lip. What could he do? What should he do? The logical side of his mind scoffed at him and told him he was an idiot for even questioning these things. Of course Angels weren't real. Of course Yggdrasil wasn't dying--it didn't even exist! This tree was just a normal tree, like any other; so what if it died? However, the more imaginative side of his mind told him to explore the world he'd just been opened up to, to think about the scythe. You can't explain that, can you, Mr. Genius? it taunted him. For once in your life, do something that doesn't make sense. Don't think, do.

But he remained silent, his footsteps were the only noise made as they echoed off the walls of darkness and back into the outside world.

---

Jasper sighed as he stared down at his text book. He couldn't concentrate on anything. The teacher was rambling about something he lost track of half an hour ago and the writings on the board seemed almost foreign to him. He squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again. It hardly worked, which earned another heavy sigh for the wasted efforts. This was so unlike him, and he knew it. He didn't exactly like it.

His eyes trailed off towards Kaede and Taku and narrowed as they passed between the two boys. They were so casual in school. All the girls were staring dreamily at the redheaded boy, while some others even started giving the new kid some flirty looks. Nobody ever gave Jasper those looks. Jasper's frown deepened and he turned away with a huff. If any of those desperate girls knew anything about who those two really were or what they were really like, they'd surely be running in the other direction.

---

After school, Jasper came down the steps, stumbling a bit before catching his balance and skidding to a halt on the sidewalk as masses of kids rushed out around him. He mumbled some sort of obscenity under his breath as he straightened his shirt out and adjusted the bag over his shoulder. Just as he was about to turn and go home, he caught sight of Taku and Kaede again. He paused for a moment, a fleeting thought shooting through his mind: should he follow them? But the logic won out--look what happened last time he followed them!--and he turned away, heading in the opposite direction and never looking back. He decided from that moment he wanted nothing more to do with them.

About a mile or so from the school, Jasper waited for the light to change so he could cross. He noted how strange it was that he was the only one walking at this time. There were a couple cars here and there, but he probably could of crossed a little bit ago. But he was a model citizen and didn't want to be fined for J-walking. Just as the little white man appeared on the crosswalk sign, he took a step forward to cross, but found himself pulled back by the sleeve of his shirt. It wasn't rough or threateningly, just a light, short tug.

He looked up to see a woman standing there. Jasper wasn't sure what it was about the lady that made him feel suddenly nervous, but he had the urge to run. He didn't, though. That would be ridiculous, he chided himself. He was just being paranoid. This was a perfectly normal woman. "Can I help you?" he asked.

"Actually i'm a little lost." She replied with a smile. "I've been walking around for hours now. No can point me in the right direction." frowning for a fleeting moment, she grabbed a hold of Jasper's shoulders and brought her mouth close to his ear. "I'm looking for the cores and the Shemhazai, do you know where I could find them?"

Jasper's breath hitched in his throat. His violet eyes widened and his entire body suddenly froze in fear in the grip of the woman and her words. They were simple. To anybody else, they would be meaningless. To him, only a day ago, they would of been just as pointless. He would of stared at her blankly and maybe even laughed a little, before giving her directions and going about his day. But not now, not today. He knew exactly what those words meant. It meant he was in danger. He stuttered something unintelligible out before shoving her away, stumbling back a couple inches.

"Oh, why'd you push me away?" the woman cooed, walking once again towards Jasper. "And even after I came all of the way out here to show you my gratitude." White marks began to fade onto the woman's body now. Her eyes dilating until they were nothing more than blank white orbs; no iris or pupil. "You and the other Shemhazai put me through hell yesterday." the skin on the left side of her chest broke open, a red gem surfacing. It was protected only by strands of skin pulled over the rounded surface. Finally the faint outline of wings appeared on the woman's back. "I only came to repay the favour."

Oh, god, not again. Jasper thought as he took another step back, stopping as his back hit the metal pole of the cross walk sign. "I-I," he gulped. "I d-don't know wh-what you're talking about." He looked around frantically for someone--anyone--but nobody was there. His luck could only last so long. Yesterday he'd been lucky. Today, not so much. He refocused on the angel in front of him. She would kill him and there was nothing he could do about it. He shut his eyes tightly and waited for her to finish it.

The Angel kept advancing until she was just a few steps away from Jasper. "You know exactly what I am talking about Shemhazai. Now where are the cores you stole from my family?!" The Angel was shouting now but there was no one else to hear them. Suddenly she glanced over her shoulder, leaping into the air at the last second. A red spear whizzed past the place where she just was and landed just above Jasper's hand, the forked end either side of the metal pole. Kaede cursed under his breath and tilted his head to stare up at the Angel who was now laughing.

Jasper opened his eyes to see what was going on--and regretted it. Just as soon as he opened his eyes to see what it was that was taking the Angel so long to finish him off, a spear of some sort nearly impaled him. He sucked in a sharp gasp of air, holding it in and watching the scene unfold in front of him with wide eyes. He wanted to look away, but, just like the day before, he found it increasingly harder to do so. It wasn't just frightening beyond belief; it was intriguing. Something new to learn about. Something deadly.

"There you are Shemhazai, you came to help your friend." The Angel called down, floating gently on the unfelt breeze. Kaede growled a little under his breath before walking over to where his spear was. He glanced towards Jasper but focused back on the Angel in the air. "You have no need for those cores so why not hand them over? Including the one your friend found." Kaede stood still with his eyes focused on the Angel above, not even bothering to glance back at Jasper. He held the red lance firmly within his right hand, the tips of the forked end touching the ground.

"If you're not going to fight, run away." Kaede instructed Japser, never once taking his eyes of the floating creature. "Forcas!" The Angel's gaze shifted from Jasper to focus entirely on Kaede. "You'll be going back to where you belong whether you like it or not!" The Angel merely laughed as Kaede lunged into the air, stabbing the thing with his spear. At the last second the Angel disappeared from sight and Kaede landed on the ground with a light tap. He growled under his breath, but managed to sense where the invisible Angel was.

Run away..? Jasper thought in a surreal sort of mind. His thoughts passed by hazily, as if there were a deep fog covering the words that he didn't want to make the effort to make out. Nothing came in clearly. He shook his head and still the fog did not clear away, so instead, he remained where he was. He felt frozen in place, although his hands were shaking uncontrollably. The Angel appeared too close for safety nearby, but he did nothing to stop her.

"Jasper!" he called out, racing forward and quickly deploying a bright orange hexagonal field. The Angel let out a loud shriek, appearing whilst attempting to break through the shield. "I thought I told you to go home." Kaede hissed out just as the shield shattered. The Angel lunged forward with a blade in both hands, straight for Kaede. Suddenly it stopped as the red lance pierced straight through her body and out through the other side. Kaede forced the creature to the floor and limiting her movements with the lance. With a sickening, flesh tearing sound, the spear was pulled out, revealing a gaping wound which just oozed bloody. The lance disappeared from Kaede's hands and he stared down at the creature bleeding below him. The wound had pierced several major organs and would instantly kill a human.

"No..." The Angel whispered weakly under her breath. "I... don't want to... go... back there..." Her pain filled eyes glanced up at Kaede who was staring down at her with a dark expression. Holding his head up high and staring down at her from the bottom of his eyes.

The sounds made by the weapon piercing through flesh, bone, and organs alike were enough to make Jasper feel sick to his stomach. Again, he wanted so badly to look away, but by some sick, cruel sense, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. If anything, he leaned in more to get a better look at the fallen creature. His stiff, scared expression softened without his realizing. He didn't know where 'back there' was, but he suddenly wanted her back. Jasper remained silent as he watched the creature die away. He didn't want her to die... He wanted to mourn for her, but he just stood there, eyes glazed over with tears he would never bring himself to shed. He'd never seen someone die before.

"I wonder if you'll die if I leave you here like this." Kaede said in a dark tone to match his expression. "Just like a human."He paused as he bent down and reached for her core. "...If only I could grant you that much." His tone was soft now and full of pity. "I'm sorry." The Angel stared up at Kaede as he grabbed onto the core. The air was filled with a wet twisting noise and with a few turns the core came loose, leaving a bleeding hole where it used to be. The life instantly drained from the Angel's eyes and the human's body decayed within seconds. Kaede wrapped his hand around the core and stared down at the rotting corpse of the Angel's human host. He didn't speak for quite a while, until he finally turned around to face Jasper.

Jasper let out an involuntary gasp when Kaede tore the core from the Angel's heart. He winced, his own face twisted into a look of pain and regret. He wanted to...to... Well, he didn't know what he wanted to do. He wanted to help, but he wanted to run. He wanted to do something. He just couldn't decide what. Kaede looking at him like that made him silent.

"Do you understand the danger you are in now?" Kaede growled at him. "You could have been killed by that Angel! Why did you not fight it?!" Kaede stopped himself from shouting further, taking in a deep breath to calm himself. "Be more careful, okay?" he sighed, turning around and facing out into the streets. It was dark now, the streets were empty and only illuminated by the various street-lights. "Let's go home."

Kaede turned away, but Jasper did not make a move to follow him. Instead, his eyes were narrowed toward the ground and his hands were squeezed into fists. His nails dug deep enough into his palms to nearly make them bleed, but he wasn't bothered by the pain. He felt numb. "I..." he started, his voice more even than he was expecting it to be. He paused to choose his words more carefully. "She looked like a human..." he whispered, the tears glazing over his eyes threatening to spill; he refused to cry here. Not in front of Kaede. "I couldn't just fight her. I couldn't do that. I couldn't..." He took in a shaky breath to get the water out of his eyes.

Kaede turned to stare at Jasper once again. The boy seemed like he was about to cry any minute. Though Kaede had no clue why. The creature they killed was an Angel, nothing more. Jasper’s protesting words made Kaede sigh, though he understood Jasper’s reason behind them.

Jasper looked up at Kaede, his gaze piercing, but desperate, searching for something. Reassurance, maybe. "I won't have to kill a human, will I?" he asked, his tone almost pathetic. "Please, Kaede, I won't kill a human." Despite his feelings a few minutes ago, he could no longer bring himself to look at the woman's bleeding body. He took a heavy step towards the other boy, lost between wanting to punch him and squeeze the life out of him. He did neither. "But I don't want to die," he added after a moment, his eyes looking at the ground.

“That thing was not human.” Kaede said simply. “It had already killed the human’s body it inhabited. That woman you saw was nothing more than a walking corpse.” He hoped Jasper would understand. Angels must kill to inhabit bodies. “We were simply setting her body free.”

Whatever internal issues he'd been having almost seemed to resolve themselves as Jasper finally looked up, his expression more firmly set this time as he met Kaede's eyes. "I understand," he said, his voice even and sure of himself. "I-I'll do whatever needs to be done to stop that," he motioned towards the body without actually looking at it, "from happening again." He almost--almost--gave Kaede a smile, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Not yet. He walked up past the other boy. "Alright, let's go home.."

Judas frowned from his rooftop view, the moonlight being more than enough for his sharp eyes to see the events unfolding below, in the dark night. It wasn’t favorable for him at all. Not like he was weak, depending on other fools, but he liked jerking people around and pretending like he needed them… Until he took a bite out of their heart; literally. He mentally shook his head. As much as he wanted to go hunting (as he called his occasional meal of human flesh), he wanted to see if this new Shemhazai was anything or all talk… And he didn’t even look like talk. The boy clearly relied on his white-haired companion, doing nothing more than screaming and quivering at the sight of blood. Judas’s mouth twisted into a cruel smile; he could have lots of fun with that one, which was for sure.

His smile soon became a frown, seeing the fifth Angel being defeated by the white-haired Shemhazai (his name Judas wasn’t certain of, but he was pretty sure it started with a K) and his lance. That fool… Forcas… Judas growled softly, watching the Shemhazai take the fallen Angel’s core without a moment’s hesitation. Judas was about to fly away, knowing that he would have to plan before attacking a skilled fighter like that white-haired one, but hesitated, hearing the two Shemhazai speak. So… The younger, the black-haired one, doesn’t want to kill humans? Judas thought that would come in handy later. Knowing your enemy’s weakness was always a good thing, after all.

Judas snarled as the black-haired one turned and carelessly motioned to the body that once held an Angel. Judas had no love for Forcas, but all Angels were better than a Shemhazai… Even if he really hated both, but that didn’t matter. The weakling was just walking away, and the temptation to kill him and drink his blood and eat his flesh was crawling up Judas’s skin, sending a light shiver down the cannibal’s body. Without meaning to, he licked his lips. The urge to kill, to eat, was getting stronger now that Judas paid attention to his senses. The smell of blood was in the air, but he had no wish to eat anything that had been touched by a Shemhazai weapon…. Besides, he had other things to do that night.

He stood up, eyes flaring. They became a bright red, as if filled with the bloodlust that he constantly kept under lock and key. He sneered, teeth gleaming in the moonlight, as they slowly turned red, as if the blood of his meals were finally appearing. His nails became sharper, just a little longer, and yellowed like a beast’s. Because, really, that was what Judas was. An animal. Lastly, his wings appeared, released from their invisible bonds. He let out a blood-curling laugh, flapping his wings so he hovered an inch above the roof. “Forcas was a fool; you will not be killing me like that.” Judas laughed again, flying up a little higher as the two Shemhazai looked at him with different expressions. The black-haired one looked scared… Terrified, to be more exact. And Judas loved it. “Remember the name Judas, little Shemhazai, because he will be the one who feasts on your heart.” Without waiting for a reply, which would certainly be accompanied by an attack, Judas leapt off of the roof in a back flip, landing on the opposite side the Shemhazai were on. With that, Judas fled into the night, a smirk on his lips.

Before anything else, even before keeping his meeting with Abana, he needed to feed.

---

Humans. They had such strange habits, but Judas was hardly complaining. The nights humans spent drinking their foul drinks, dancing their sinful dances, and sleeping with another all benefitted the Angel. After all, it was always easier to kill a human who was already intoxicated with drink, soon to be lured by the false promise of sex, with their emotions running wild and their minds as dull as a rusty blade. Judas smiled confidently to himself, grinding sensually next to a female.

She had pretty brown eyes, Judas decided, for a human. Her long blond hair was down in tangles, and her body was half-covered with skimpy clothes. She was soaked in sweat, but Judas didn’t mind. There was rich blood pumping through her veins, and the smell added to his bloodlust. The whole building, a nightclub with pulsing lights and beating music, was full of the smell. The blood, pumped by a single organ, was enough to drive Judas crazy… More than usual, at least.

“Wanna go somewhere else?” Judas whispered, bringing the woman closer. She shuddered as his cold fingers grasped her, again running his body close to hers. He couldn’t care less if she said yes, since there was doubtless more woman (and, perhaps, some men) willing to fall to Judas’s false charm, but it was easier if she said yes. She nodded, breathless as Judas started to feel her up. Who said that he didn’t like giving his victims a little bit of a show? Well, to be more correct, a carrot to keep them coming. Just enough to convince them, not too much so that he’d loose himself and rip them open… Literally.

“Follow me,” Judas hissed, calmly leading the woman out the back and into a dingy alleyway. The woman, to Judas’s disgust, almost immediately tried taking Judas’s shirt off. While the Angel knew he was attractive (though, almost anyone was when the viewer was drunk and full of lust) he didn’t really feel that much lust, not to mention love. No, the only lust he ever felt was bloodlust… And that was about to get satisfied. “You first,” Judas muttered, easily sliding the woman’s shirt (if it could be called that; it barely covered her in the first place) off. Instead of ogling her like most males would, he reached an arm around her neck and brought her close. He casually licked her neck, enjoying the mixed taste of sweat and lust. He could just taste the blood on his tongue…

“A-Ah!” The woman cried out, shuddering at the strange feel. Judas smirked as he started to kiss her, sure to leave marks. The woman kept crying out, annoying the Angel, though. Couldn’t she just be quiet? At this rate, someone was going to come and interrupt Judas in the middle of his meal, and then he’d have to be a total glutton and eat two people. Not like he ate all of them, only a little. The best part was actually the blood and the heart. That was the part of the meal he always looked forward to the most. “M-More… Please…” The woman begged, clearly turned on just by Judas playing with her neck a little. This is getting boring, Judas thought. And this woman is starting to disgust me. If Judas was turned off enough by her actions, then her blood tasted sour or tart (depending on the human, and just how annoyed Judas was) and that was no fun. He hated it when a meal was destroyed because his victim refused to be a good little person and just shut the fuck up and let him do things at his own pace.

“All right… Enjoy,” Judas told her with a smirk on his face. He pulled away for a moment to see her lust-filled eyes, the brown dark and hazy, before leaning in again. His lips were pulled back and his teeth gleamed. With that, he angled himself carefully before biting down on her jugular. She let out a scream for a split second before Judas silenced her with a hand. She bit down, causing him to bleed, but Judas just smiled more into his bite. He was stronger than your average human, and he was more than able to break the skin and cause her to bleed. Her movements became more frantic, trying her best to break away from her killer, but she wasn’t strong enough and had been caught off-guard. It helped that she had been drinking earlier, and was two drinks into a hangover the next morning. If she were to live that long.

Judas pulled away, licking his lips and enjoying the somewhat metallic taste of blood on his lips. The woman’s dead body rested against him, still warm. There was blood dripping down her throat. Hating to waste something so good, Judas made sure to carefully lick up the path, reaching the wound he had created and reaching inside a little with his tongue, sucking up some of the red liquid. The taste was a little metallic at first, but the aftertaste reminded him of some cherry candy he once had… Perhaps the woman had been drinking some kind of cherry drink? No matter. All Judas cared about was finishing up and leaving, before too much blood was spilled or another human happened to stumble upon his killing. That wouldn’t be good; after eating he usually became sleepy, and loathed fighting afterwards. All the movement made his stomach churn, and throwing up blood (while terrifying to your enemies) was worse than normal throwing up… Both of which Judas was familiar with, unfortunately.

“Time to eat,” Judas said with a smile on his face. His lips and teeth were stained red with blood, and the steady stream of blood down his bitten hand slowly stopped. The woman’s body had long since stopped pumping the liquid of life. With that, Judas switch spots so that the woman was pressed against the wall. “Where to begin…” Well, like always, the heart was best eaten as quickly as possible. Judas smiled darkly as he began to eat.

---

Once he was done, Judas walked away, having licked the blood off of his arms and face. He could do nothing for his soiled clothes, but if he met anyone he could always run away. That meal had been more satisfying than usual… Perhaps because of his somewhat close call with the Shemhazai earlier? It didn’t really matter. Judas sighed, his boots hitting the empty streets lightly. It was hard to hear, but another Angel could hear it easily. On occasion Judas liked to surprise her, but today he didn’t feel like it. Besides, Abana was already waiting and would likely be impatient. Testing her wasn’t on his list of things to do.

Not like Judas was scared of her. Hell, Judas pretty much knew he could kick that Angel’s ass if he wanted to. But he wouldn’t, simply because she was good company and didn’t mind that he was a cannibal… And it always helped to have someone who could control earth on your side. You never knew when the Shemhazai were going to come a-knocking, and she could escape much easier than Judas, though he was loath to admit it. Judas shook his head, walking up to the door of the run-down house he was staying in. The door was, of course, unlocked. No lights were on, though Judas saw the gleam of candles as he stepped inside. He walked to the living room, leaning against the doorframe. Abana was sitting, probably having become impatient with her friend not appearing when he said he would.

“Hello, Abana. I had to stop and grab a bite to eat. I hope you don’t mind I didn’t bring you anything.” Surprisingly, Judas hadn’t eaten much, and left plenty for the police to identify the body with. As a little sign that he was there, Judas had drawn a trinity symbol on the woman’s stomach in her own blood. It would mystify the detectives a little, and probably send them in the wrong direction for a few days. Not like Judas really cared if they caught him; he could always switch bodies.

Looking up, and finally seeing Judas, leaning against the doorframe in the living room. “Nah, I don’t mind, just that you took forever to get here.” Abana said getting up and walking over to him. “But it’s alright.”

Abana’s hand just turned back to the normal state, using her powers had only just started making her into stone, nothing too bad. “But, another angel dead, I felt the core join the damn shrine before you got here.” She said, not knowing that Judas already knew that, and even saw it happen. “Besides that, not much been happening, mainly just lying to the ice queen about her letting me go out.” Abana knew Judas knew who she was talking about. “But, I got one thing, you ever going to take a bite outa me?” She said with a flirty style smile, obvious flirting with Judas.

Judas sighed, knowing that Abana really just flirted with everyone and didn't really care for him more than anyone else. Besides, he wanted to get out of his blood-covered clothes, and he had never eaten another Angel before... And he really doubted that Abana wanted him to literally eat her. If she did, well, Judas supposed he could make her death quick and relatively painless... He smiled darkly, reaching up with a hand and gently cupping her chin in his hand. He pulled her closer, closer, closer... They could feel each other's breaths coming off, the warmth in the otherwise cold air tickling Judas's lips, which were caked with dried blood. He licked said lips carefully, almost hungrily.

"I suppose... I have enough room for one more meal..." Judas laughed softly, letting Abana go. He walked away from her, sitting down on the couch. He swung his legs over so that he covered the entire piece of furniture, looking up at Abana with his dull red eyes, satisfied with his previous meal. The bloodlust had disappeared, mostly, for now. There was a pause in conversation. "I saw it happen. The Shemhazai... There was a white-haired one, clearly in charge. Another, with black hair, seemed new and quite cowardly." Judas's face smirked. "He said he didn't want to kill a human." Judas didn't see why some people had something against killing others. Morals weren't a question with the Angel. They probably wouldn't have changed much, though. No, Judas saw it as the humans simply dying a little quicker than usual. They already died at alarming rates.

"As for you... I'm not hungry. Ask me again in a week or so." Judas yawned, waving a hand towards the door. "Now get out of here. I don't feel like entertaining a guest anymore, and your little 'ice queen' is going to get curious."

Abana smiled hearing Judas’ sigh, and also just letting him pull her close and closer to her, feeling his body heat, the head heat of the blood, either one. Abana kept eye contact, but saw Judas lick his lips, probably anyone else that just asked what she did and then happen to her, they wouldn’t smile like she had. Hearing that he might have enough room to eat, didn't change her expression, “So that’s a no?” she said, knowing that Judas was joking, and just chuckled along with her quiet laugh, and then being let go.

Abana leaned against the wall, knowing that Judas was about to saw something, she could tell with his body movement, and how he sat, this wasn’t her first time visiting. Noticing his eyes were had a little light in them, knowing that he was still feeling the effects from him eating another victim, probably another whore or prostitute. I wonder if he can taste the sex they have… Abana thought to herself, and laughed, then hearing that Judas was actually there when an angel was killed. “New kid huh, and doesn't want to kill humans, well, as long as we keep looking like humans, we’re good.” Abana said with a faint smirk.

“A week huh? I’ll start adding the seasoning then.” Abana said, not adding any laugh in smile, mostly because she saw that he wanted to leave. “Eh, fine. You need to change anyways, I can smell the dead off of you. Oh and yeah, well get ahold of me before you go after the Shemhazai, or when they attack you, I want to see you kill them. I still have the same phone so don’t worry.” Abana said, knowing that if Judas knew the number of her phone, and would more than likely call to text her since she asked. She quickly walked outside and continued down the road.

Judas scowled as Abana left. She wasn’t that annoying, not really, but he wanted to be alone. Besides, like she had said, the stentch of the blood was starting to get to him. Now that he wasn’t lusting after some warm blood, the pure smell of fresh blood was mingled with drugs and alcohol. I really should pick my meals more carefully, Judas told himself. He hated it when his own senses were dulled because of some human quirk. Honestly, the species was so inferior to Angels. Most Angels didn’t drink or do drugs, though the affects wouldn’t be quite as bad (especially once they changed bodies). It just didn’t make sense to them… Or, at least, to Judas.

No, the only thing I lust after is blood… Judas sighed and smiled darkly to himself, sitting up and getting off the couch. He needed a shower, and then some sleep. He could plan on how to kill the Shemhazai later.