A/N: Another late chapter _ sorry! Hm… hopefully we’re getting somewhere this time ^^ If anyone recognizes ‘names’ inserted very much later on in the chapter, do know they’re credited to the Holy Bible and I’m being a pig at using them. Once more, this is not for the religiously-inclined, for facts will be twisted, so if I’ve offended anyone I’m terribly sorry.

Resolve.

As he leaped towards her, already he could feel the blood splattering on him. His hands, outstretched, stopped still in mid-air, when he saw the crumpled body lying on the ground, a few inches away from the stationary red sports car.

Aeron raced over and gathered the little girl in his arms, taking no notice of the crimson tinges staining his clothes.

“Woi, Linny. Get a grip, girl. You’re not leaving me like that, are you? Woi… Linny!”

Just then the car’s tires shrieked as it reversed sharply, before turning tail on them. Aeron barely registered that as he looked down at the blood-drenched girl, his head spinning.

“Answer me, Linny. Godammit, stop scaring me!” He shook her not-too gently, looking frantic by now. Hell, he’d only just talked to her this morning and now she was… what? She couldn’t be. Not true. Not true. Aeron felt a dark dreaded feeling course over him, enveloping him in a numb embrace of shock.

A hand pressed down on his shoulder, gently prying his hands away from Linny. Aeron glanced up mechanically, before he found his dull eyes locking gazes with piercing blue ones.

Seraph looked back at him with a searching glance for a split second before he turned his attention back to the girl, surveying her condition as he tore his sleeve, turning them into make-shift bandages. As his pale hand touched her bleeding head wound though, Aeron noticed something through his daze. No it had to be part of the daze. Because…

Seraph’s hand was glowing.

He rubbed his eyes. He could see the boy’s lips pursed in concentration, as his black hair fell over his face and his hand moving in a circular motion. There was the luminescent glow… but it was getting dimmer…fading completely.

It had to be his eyes.

He was pushed aside roughly as white-clothed paramedics swarmed around them. He heard their anxious and methodic voices, saw them working mechanically on Linny. Broken ribs, crushed arm, twisted leg, suspected concussion… all these rolled off him when he heard the next.

“She may not be able to survive.”

~*~

The dark empty room came to life as bright white lights flooded through, accompanied by determined footsteps. The large leather chair creaked as a steady weight settled on it. Aeron rested his chin on his knuckles, and his elbow on the table as he shut his eyes and let the thoughts trickle through his mind.

Come to think of it, the car never did stop to check on its victim. Either the driver’s too afraid to, or… the accident was on purpose. If that was so…why? Why hurt an innocent young girl?

Innocent.

A sudden, unpleasant thought enfolded him as several flashbacks muddled together in his brain.

“Darren… m-my brother...” “He disappeared.” “Some say he’d been kidnapped.” “That’s why I’m here now.”

That was it. No matter how impossible it seemed, someone must have heard them. Someone involved. Someone hidden somewhere in that chapel when he and Linny were there.

His fist clenched.

That someone was the clue to solving this case. To fulfill his promise to Linny… that was all he could do now, a mere mortal he was.

“Doctor.”

He jumped out of his seat, and nearly, out of his skin as a clear voice penetrated and disrupted the mental pictures in his mind. He swerved around, looking half-wild with the messiness of his outlook. His eyes widened as they immediately registered the one before them.

“S-s-..Seraph?”

The boy was leaning against the doorframe, arms folded in front of his chest, eyes shut, or rather, looking downwards at his marble reflection while one white shoe lifted slightly and pressed against the wooden frame. His black satiny bangs hung down by the side of his face, shielding any expression he might have had.

“I knocked, but you seemed aware of that… ne, doctor?”

“I-I was busy, that’s all (what’s with the emphasis, huh!). A-ah… you came personally to see me? And to have been able to find me too, you -”

“It wasn’t that hard. Don’t flatter yourself.” Seraph retorted softly, his cold tone tinged with irritation.

Aeron hid a smile behind his palm as he stood up, gesturing to Seraph to sit down. “I am flattered, actually. But more so… grateful. If it weren’t for your help… Linny couldn’t have waited for the paramedics long enough.”

“I didn’t do anything.” Seraph finally turned, the piercing blue hue of his eyes visible even through the mist-cloud of black that hung over them. He took a step slowly. “She had the will to live.”

“She did… but her body couldn’t have survived with those injuries, if it weren’t for your first aid help.”

Seraph didn’t respond as he walked step by step towards the table, towards Aeron his hand clenched around something which he was about to hold out to the man before him. Aeron’s next remark froze him from doing so.

“I could’ve been dreaming at that time, or possibly too distressed, but you know what, boy? I actually thought I saw your hand glowing… and then.. her injuries… I’m no expert, but I could see… they actually looked less serious than they were before.” Aeron brushed a hand over his eyes as a smile crept across his face and he dropped back into the chair, turning to face the window. “Maybe it was just an illusion… maybe a figment of imagination… but you helped her with that and I’m thankful for it. But for a moment it seemed… magical. And it hit me, so much I could almost laugh. How could a human have that kind of miracles after all? It must have been your presence, that made her better. It had to be.”

Aeron broke off suddenly, realizing he’d been babbling incoherently and swerved around again to face Seraph with an apologetic expression. Or, that had been his intention, for he was now facing thin air. Seraph was gone, with hardly a sound or trace. The only thing that managed to convince Aeron that Seraph had really been here moments before and that he wasn’t dreaming was the door, wide open.

“Where’d he go?”

Footsteps echoed and bounced off walls as they descended down the stairs, in an uncertain rhythm.

Glowing… hand…

For that moment it’d seemed magical to him?

How could a human have that kind of miracles after all, he said.

Does it matter?

A small hint of a smile curled at the corners of his mouth as the long black bangs lifted and swayed lightly with the breeze that passed through when he opened the door. He stepped past the doorframe, and paused for a moment, lifting his pale clenched fist.

He relaxed his hold and flexed his fingers fully.

A small pink rubber rabbit lay on his palm.

And I’d thought of returning this to him. Now I’d have to find another day to see him again.

His shoulders sagged as a ragged sigh broke from him, and he slipped the toy, not-too-gently into his pocket as he walked out of the building. The midday sun was up and at her brightest, casting hot white rays upon the shimmering metal of skyscrapers. He strode idly along the pavement, looking and caring for nothing, determined only on his way, as cold as the sun was hot. He stopped beside a glass window suddenly, turning to glance at it.

Behind him, reflected in the shimmering glass was a man, with short, brown hair coupled with a brown business suit who tilted his blue-tinted glasses, a thin smile covering his features when he noticed the glance given to him.

In the silence and darkness, a sole pale, white light bounced to and fro from the walls uncertainly. The white cross, from which the light had originated from, stood majestically and imposingly, looking seemingly innocent. A man stood before it, a tall man with long hair that seemingly merged with the shadows surrounding him and everything else. He stood, his eyes never wavering from the cross, never moving, not even when there was a slight creak and the darkness faded as a slow breeze slipped in, teasing the long hair of the stoic man, which only merged into the shadows more, and not a movement to be seen from the wavering strands. Natural light from outside illuminated a dark silhouette at the door which paused for a moment before leaning forwards in a small bow.

“My lord.”

Only then, did the shadows seem to lift with the dark, ringing tone. “Yes?”

“Ephesus is here, the one who has forsaken his first love and who seeks reprisal with permission of the lord. We already have five in our hands, and soon, the last two.”

“So I see.” The smooth, suave voice curled. “Once you have them and bring them to me, you shall have the reward you were promised with.”

“The right to eat from the tree of life, and leave it bare if I wish. I will most certainly do so. Excuse me for now, my lord and expect good news.”

The dark silhouette faded away as the huge door slowly creaks to a close, barring the natural light from shining in.

“After so long, it has begun again. The inevitable meet, the inevitable clash. All because of the forbidden love they seek, the calm will break and turmoil will follow. How beautiful it shall be once more. I am looking forward to meeting you again.”

The tall man threw back his head and laughed, a deep eerie laugh that didn’t quite fit in anywhere, and yet, did, in a way.

The white cross gleamed in response.

~TBC~