Strength to protect

50: STRENGTH TO PROTECT

Where did this calamitous power come from?

When did the inferno surging through my veins start to thrash through my vessel?

The heat in my hands could melt diamonds.

The fire in my feet left the marks of my passage.

The lucidity of my perception that disrupted my mind cost me my stuttered speaking.

Someone's death is coming; I could smell the fear in one's sweat and see the darkness of one's soul. But what were these powers meant for? Where will I use the conflagration that kept on trying to burst through the weakening seal of my body?

I did not wish to hear the cry of death. I did not wish to smell the scent of blood.

I did not wish to see the world end.

Let this fire die.

Let this power weaken.

Let me perish with it.

The world must not know about Hell.

I must search for the rightful owner of this power.

I must search for a suitable vessel of this power.

I did not want to continue to bear this strength that had no relation with peace but was the mother of destruction. I must continue to flap my wings and find them. I must continue to soar through the skies to discover my purpose.

Because despite this strength that I possess... I felt very tired.

'The world was a ruthless place.'

There were many gruesome gruesome things that my eyes could not see directly but managed to see clearly.

'The world was a very sad place.'

I could hear the pained cries of children from a mile away and bitter goodbyes from loved ones who lost their lives to the edge of the sword.

'The world was a very scary place.'

There was blood, a lot of it. There was the scent of rotting corpses and smoldered lives and I could not keep count.

'Then the world was suddenly a very bright place.'

"This is peach. Peach tastes good. Have you had one?"

There was light but it wasn't blinding. The fruit in front of me was ripe and sweet. This tender person's heart beat tenderly, it almost made me fall asleep.

I had flown for a long time.

Felt for a long time.

Hid for a long time.

But now I have found my purpose.

It was time to seek shelter. It was time to nestle down. It was time to protect my nest. And I will do it with all my power. I will not let this light die down. I will not let this sweetness fade away. I will not let this heart stop beating.

"Swak, come to me. We must escape for now," Lucian said from below.

He was far but he knew that I could hear him despite the distance between us.

Darkness pierced through the bodies of hooded skeletons; their bones scattered to the ground. After I was sure that there was nothing left but the giant, I connected my eyes with Lucian, observing his features.

He still had a blank expression on his face.

His clothes were dirty and tattered from battle.

His leg was broken and so were his eyes.

Two bodies of corpses were laid behind him and those two bodies were the keys to break the seal of this strength's confinements.

'You know what to do, don't you?' That blind boy spoke in my mind.

My eyes spotted him sitting on one of the debris with his clouded eyes staring at me directly.

'It is now time to give birth to Akuma.'

"Skwak will protect Lucian even if it is a God that Skwak is against," I said, sensing the tremendous power that the giant was emitting. "Will you help Skwak?"

The child stared at the turning pages of his book like he was reading the right choices for the plot of his story.

From the first time I saw him, I thought that his energy field was erratic. He would usually emit such a frangible emanation and even now, I felt little to no threat from him. He was like an infant.

But this child was no regular infant.

Normal infants did not fall from the skies.

'You have my blessing.'

I knew from the moment that I saw him that he had strength far greater than mine. I glanced back at Lucian and landed lightly beside him. I intertwined our fingers one last time.

"Skwak must protect the nest."

He tightened his hold on me and a slight frown formed on his unwrinkled face.

"You have done enough. Let us go together."

I swayed my head in disagreement.

"Skwak must keep your heart beating. Skwak is grateful. Skwak is ready to go now."

His hand trembled and the wolf creature whined.

"Will you let me follow you?" he asked.

He was trying his very hardest to keep his features unbothered.

"Not this time. This time, Skwak must go alone now."

I slowly let go of Lucian's hand who still kept a tight hold on me.

"Lucian must let go of Skwak now," I persisted even if his hold on me was soothing.

I did not want to leave but sooner or later I would have to go because I was merely a piece. The beat of his heart hastened that I was afraid that it would break at any time. I leaned my head against his shoulder to feel him one last time.

"Skwak will come back. Will Lucian wait for me?"

The shaking of his body lessened and he looked ahead, thinking it over. He released my hand, letting his hand fall limply beside him. The wolf transformed into someone with human-like features and took one of Lucian's hands.

"Come back in one piece," Lucian murmured.

"That...Skwak can promise."

"We need to go now, Lucian. It's not safe."

"I agree with Caleb, that thing isn't something we can handle," Crowley commented.

He placed his hand over my shoulder, nodding at me in acknowledgment.

"I misjudged you. Good luck out there."

I picked up the two keys, stretched my wings, and soared to the skies.

"Oi, brat and bony kid! Let's go!" Crowley yelled. "Where the heck is Kox?!"

The giant had noticed our incoming presence. A smirk spread across his lips. He hurled his spear, aiming at us and I looked back, finding Lucian and his group still there.

"The world will split and the earth will tremble with my thunder. Die!"

My heart pounded fast. I charged ahead. A whip of black fire shot out from my mouth. The giant hurled the spear and my smoldering dark power wrapped around his weapon. I was forcefully shoved, but I kept the three of us intact.

I stopped the spear, tossing the weapon away. Lightning shot out from the skies to strike us. I dodged the attack and kept moving forward.

"What is your purpose for going against me? Kneel!" he yelled.

Electricity surged through his body. Spheres of lightning came about and caged me. My body felt the severe intensity of the bolt that gave me a shock of needles. A scream erupted from my throat and I did my hardest to dispel the electricity.

The strength of lightning became even more intense. I was beginning to lose consciousness.

I made a promise to come back in one piece.

I will keep that promise no matter what!

"Ease," Kox's voice ordered.

The electricity dispersed, giving me time to regain my composure.

"What?!"

Another sphere of electricity stopped me in my velocity. Kox relieved each one of them with that one word.

"Ease."

"Ease."

"Ease."

"Which God do you serve?! Which God is interfering with my ruling?!"

"You call yourself a God?" Kox asked.

He was heard by the giant who frantically searched for him.

"Gods aren't so weak. Guardian must be laughing his arse by now."

"Where are you? Reveal yourself!"

"You're dying, so just die."

The giant became even more frenetic, letting out a scream of frustration before beginning to flee.

"Be careful not to get pricked."

A steel bar pierced through the ground and skewered the giant up through his mouth. Lucian and the others were still standing from where I left them.

Lucian, who had his left hand lifted, rotated his wrist and snapped his fingers gracefully.

The tip of the bar peeled by itself. It twisted like a drill and slowed down into an elegant bloom of a steel rose.

It was brutal in a form of beauty.

"Do what you have to do...and come back to me, okay?" he murmured with his gentle voice.

I protected my nest and in return my nest protected me back.

At the giant's atrocious imprisonment from Lucian's steel rose, I took the advantage and sped towards him. I landed right on top of his forehead and placed the two keys down.

I stared at the dark skies that were smoked with terror. My feet burned the front of his head. The warmth I produced melted his skin like ice and the bones protecting his structure disintegrated into ashes. I released a wave of scalding hot steam and the giant's eyes zoned out from the agony.

His exterior bones collapsed. His eyes dried and reddened. His mighty armor rusted. He wanted to kneel but he could not because the steel rose kept him up.

I was the reaper's strength. His strength was meant to be dark and potent yet humble. It must not be seen as a strength, instead, it should be seen as a privilege given by God.

One's strength must not be abused. One's strength must not be misused. I must return to Saint—the instrument that was given the right to use this power and Sin—the instrument that could utilize this power.

"God of Creation

God of Love

God of Mercy

God of Light

I am your humble servant."

Thunder clamored the heavens and the winds heave-ho. My body emitted a darkened aura. The two keys were pulled into standing by the force that I had called.

"There is no greater God than you.

I have sinned.

I have wept.

I served you with shame."

The dark and sorrowful clouds parted ways and a ray of light illuminated us. Saint and Sin spoke with me; our hands intertwined.

"I ask for your forgiveness.

I ask for your enlightenment.

I am your creation.

I am your reaper.

Bestow your power once again.

Here we stand before you as Sin, Saint, and Strength.

And now we are ready to be one.

Let us continue to feed Hell.

Let us be Samael."

The ray of bright light swirled with a scarlet red tint. A downpour of fire engulfed us, including the giant we were standing on.

The bright scarlet fire became sinister and scorched my skin. The power of my creator that I requested with my strength was consuming. This was how we were offered to become the Akuma.

We were siblings of three. Our mother had died and our father became devoted to serving His Grace. One day he was given an order from the heavens to lock his children in the house and set it on fire. He did so with no regrets. He did not tear. He did not shake. He was ecstatic.

He had brought glory to His Lord. His fidelity was unrivaled. He was promoted into an angel.

The three of us cried to our deaths. We were scared. Smoke had conquered our lungs and the fire licked our skin.

But now I was at ease.

I did not feel any sorrow.

My long flight had finally ended.

I could finally rest my wings.

The voices and the memories of the other keys joined mine and despite not feeling my cheeks, I knew that I was shedding tears. It wasn't out of sadness. It wasn't out of anger.

It was out of love.

It was out of excitement.

It was out of relief.

We each had our own share of painful journeys. The three of us were lost in our way. There was more pain than pleasure, living as a fragment. We were all finding a way to escape. Yet we ended up finding a new way to start our lives even if we knew that it would inevitably end. We were the parts of someone. We were the pieces of someone who lost his dignity.

He who did not experience companionship.

He who did not experience the meaning of life.

He who was betrayed.

He who was hurt.

He who had lived in isolation.

He who was feared.

He who was unloved.

He who was hated.

No one wanted to be cursed.

No one wanted Death.

And he was a bringer of both.

"Samael...hear your fragments..." the three of us spoke in unison.

"I was respected..." Saint murmured.

"I was accepted," Sin spoke.

"I was protected," I ended.

"Know that you were loved and cared for by someone special," we told him.

A huge magic seal formed outside the monsoon of fire. A two-horned and one-tailed being emerged from behind the seal. The blaze dispersed and showed the damaged giant that was scalded with hellfire.

"Guardian...can you see what I'm seeing?" Kox asked, his clouded eyes reflecting the vortex of firestorm