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    As the wind whipped in one direction, the sun shined gently in another. A burgundy reptile, barely larger than a child’s fist, scurried across the forgotten sands in search of food. Raising its tiny snout into the air, it caught scent of fresh blood, the smell wafting into its nostrils as the reptile darted across the barren rocks. It soon came to a small pit, where the body of a young boy was curled up inside. The lizard, though with its high senses, couldn’t tell if the boy was alive or not. The reptile had to make sure.”

    Jumping a short distance into the pit, the lizard surveyed the boy’s chest for any signs of heartbeat. There was none. With a look of glee in its eyes, the reptile scurried onto the boy’s ankle and sniffed his flesh. At once the creature showed its tiny set of teeth, dried grime and sand in between the fangs. It reared its head back to strike, and then sunk its teeth into the boy’s ankle.

    “Ah!” the boy suddenly jumped at the penetration of flesh, his eyes darting towards the small creature. With a worried look, the boy muttered a quiet sorry. The lizard then froze, slipping its teeth out and feeling its body numb without warning. Its heartbeat slowed to a stop and fell over, dead. With a feeling of regret, the boy slipped away from the body and wiped his ankle of blood. The boy sighed; he suddenly realized where he was, but at the same time he didn’t know who he was!

    The boy had dark blue hair that hung softly around his head due to the heat, while wearing white-based clothes around his body that looked as if he wasn’t supposed to be there. And right that was. It was normal in his aspect, though for the life of him he couldn’t exactly place his name and why he was there in that pit. Pulling himself up by a jagged rock just above his head, he climbed out and into the bright sun. At once he recoiled; not out of fear, but more out of pain. With a struggled grunt, he stood tall as he scanned the horizon. To the front of him was a large valley of shaded mountains; though he could tell that what he called mountains were very much less than a ridge. It looked as though something had changed the structure of those mountains long ago. The boy hoped that this would give a revelation of some sort, but to no avail. To his left was a far-off blip that looked somewhat like a large district.

    Looking to the right, a stinging headache overwhelmed his head as he looked at a blurry sight, what looked like a hulking object sitting atop a large rock. His body began to shake lightly as if he wasn’t supposed to look there. With a sigh, he turned his attention towards the place in the distance that didn’t seem to cause him pain. Taking one cautious step towards the unclear horizon he slowly began to realize that he hungered for something a bit more than food. What was it? It felt like he needed liquid, but he would know for sure when he saw what it was he needed.





    Her brow raised, the beautiful young girl with emerald-green hair that fluidly cascaded down her shoulders with large, wide blue-painted eyes and white porcelain skin that shined in the light, looked at the man across the pale room.

    “Do you need anything else, Chrono?” she asked politely, her full, soft-looking lips parting to speak those words. Chrono shook his head, letting his hair move from the combed position from just a minute earlier. The male’s dark black hair fell to his ears and just above his chiseled brow. He definitely had a unique face, with a tough jawline and sculpted face along with a small scar that traveled from his lower lip to his chin. Crossing his shaped arms across his chest that bulged every time he made a significant movement, his chest rising and falling with each breath, he shook his head in reply.

    “Naw, I’m good. Just go get some rest, or at least take a walk around town.” he replied. Quickly recalling his advice before she left, he reached out and gently grasped her shoulder. “And Sutziem? Be careful.” he said with an edge of icy baritone in his throat.

    Sutziem smiled, “Of course. Why wouldn’t I?” she replied with quiet tone of relief. As their eyes locked for a few moments, they both leaned in for a soft kiss which had them smiling at each other out of comfort. Without another word, Sutziem turned and walked out of the inn, heading into the hot sun which covered the whole part of town. She began to think why she was there, although she knew the reason: her assignment. Quietly, an object in her right hand flashed and twisted brightly, forming into a long, narrow white staff with exquisite marking traveling down onto the staff’s spire. She felt safe with the weapon in her hand as the girl scanned the various businesses and buildings. He wasn’t there yet, and for all she knew he wasn’t even close to arriving. Drawing in a long, full breath that seemed to last for numerous seconds, he felt a familiar aura a few feet behind her. Sutziem’s body immediately stiffened at the cold, drawling voice of Zephira.

    “Hello...sister.” the voice remarked, the other girl whispered so lightly that it tickled her ear, but at the same time made a quiet growl escaped from the female’s throat. Sutziem was abruptly thrown forward by the middle of her torso, an invisible force plunging her into the sand. With a groan and shake of her head to let the sand fall, she gained her feet and turned around. Parallel to her distance was none other than Zephira, a cerulean-blue haired girl that seemed to be a bit older than Sutziem in comparison. She wore a silver vest that covered a large portion of her torso and arms with four identical buttons down the middle of her chest, three letters were inscribed onto her right side of her chest: AoD. The only fully intriguing feature on her person was the utterly sterile-white feathered angelic wings that folded behind her back. They stretched languorously until they covered her body, hiding the bottom half of her stunning face.

    A malicious smirk spread across her lips as her long lashes that curled at the tip batted seductively in mock. The perfectly white sandals pattered on the sand lightly as Zephira began to circle her rival.

    “What do you want Zephira?” Sutziem snarled. This wasn’t the time for fighting, and especially not with the blue-haired angel in front of her, who was so bravely challenging her stature. Zephira began to laugh slowly, taking in the fact that she was there and able to face her. "I think you already know Sutziem. You see, the Angels of Death have become suspicious that you haven't already found your mark." she begun, obviously enjoying this encounter and getting everything out of it as she could, "Now Angelus has sent me to finish the job for you."

    Sutziem was clearly distraught at this news, that the Lord of Angels doubts her! Lord Angelus was the leader of the white-winged race since the creation of Earth, born to lead the Realm of Angels (or known as Heaven) to safety. It was speculated that Angelus was the father of the Angels, but he had not acknowledged the inquiry at all.

    The girl huffed, placing her delicate hands on her hips as a sign of exasperation. “Angelus has no need to send the likes of you. I just...haven’t sense him yet.” she replied with hesitation, her eyes traveling towards Zephira’s wings in slight jealousy. Although she was the leader in the Angels of Death, Angelus prohibited the use of her wings in the Mortal Realm! In order to change the subject that was so readily brewing in her mind, Sutziem lifted her white staff threateningly towards her rival. “Now leave, before I make you leave.” she warned. She dearly hoped Zephira would take her threat to heart, before things just got a bit too nasty if Chrono felt their Element signals skyrocketing.

    With an even louder huff, the Angel seemed to flinch at her words...or was it something else? “Hmph, fine. But remember; your Guardians won’t be able to protect you always.” leaving Sutziem with a look of confusion, the Angel left into the white sky. Guardians? Did she mean Chrono, or something that she had no idea of? Hopefully it was the former, because if it was people she didn’t know, she was kept in the dark. And she didn’t like being in the dark, for whatever reason.





    The sand dashed in a heap when the boy’s movements became slower, heavier as his body began to burn hotly. His middle finger twitched, the rays of Light slowly damaging him to a great extent. Where the heck was he; and how far would it take to reach it? His breathing quickened, the heat affecting him so much that it hurt. For some reason, the front of his teeth began to ache, threatening to pop from place. Slowly, clouded and blurred thoughts –or memories, he wasn’t sure— flowed into his mind. Unintelligible voices overcrowded his hearing; the most prominent of them all was a dark sort of timbre, telling him to turn the other way. He couldn’t; if he did, then it would most certainly mean death.

    “Almost there...just a bit longer.” he told himself, clenching his bleeding fingers to rid himself of the pain. A sharp intake of breath, and suddenly the voices were gone, leaving the boy alone once again. Getting closer, the young boy could see more details of the district. Dark gray concrete that branched out towards the sky, seemingly wanting to touch beyond the barrier of air that separated worlds, if there was any. Dimly painted gold supports hugged the concrete, holding it up and not liable to come crashing down at any moment. It was unusual, though; the town seemed deserted, void of any life if not for the fact that a gentle melody rang through the air. The boy smiled faintly, his dried tongue trailing along his teeth. He needed something to satiate his hunger and fast, or else.

    His eyes immediately spied the gorgeous young girl, Sutziem. A loud, high shriek filled his ears as he kept his eyes on her, His hands shot up to shut out the noise, but the sound seemed to originate from inside himself. The boy’s body shook violently as he closed his eyes. Wrenching his mouth open, his aching teeth slowly began to grow and extend, the canine teeth exceeding his natural limits. Stopping, they almost extended beyond his bottom lip, the tips opening to reveal small holes as the thirst overwhelmed his conscience. His eyelids snapped open, revealing blood-red tinted eyes gazing upon Sutziem. The boy’s pupils narrowed the top and bottom growing small to prevent less sunlight from entering into his sight. As his body fell, Sutziem noticed and rushed over to him, her drowning, almost angelic voice breaking through his hearing.

    “Are you okay? Answer me, please!” the boy couldn’t respond, as he could only close his mouth and eyes, drifting off into sleep...