The sound of the ferocious rain colliding against the stone cold pavement was the symphony of the city streets. It was late in the night and all of the sidewalks and roads had been deserted of all life. It was as if the entire city was being wiped clean by the rain water, cleansed for a new beginning.

But the symphony was being disturbed by the off tempo slapping of frantic footsteps against puddles of rain water from a runaway scoundrel. Accompanying the noise was the fluttering and gentle tapping that echoed of his pursuer’s presence.

“Stand your ground!” The misty voice of the pursuer cried out, with a mighty thunderclap to reinforce his point. The runaway man paid no heed to the threat and continued dashing in and out from between buildings, trying to escape. But ultimately it was futile as he was cornered in at a dead end, with nowhere else to run his pursuer closed the gap between them in one swift motion. He wore a large black tattered cloak over his body for reasons unknown. On of it was the face of a young man, defined and stone cold in expression. Most noticeable about his appearance was his hair and eyes. Despite the darkness in the alleyway, it was clear as day that he had long silver spiked hair that went down to his neck. But by far it was his eyes that caught anyone’s attention instantly. His right eye was a bright royal blue, while the left was a deep ruby red, both of them shining through the shadows and piercing right to the core of any human. It was also strange to note that the man wasn’t very old looking, at most 18 years of age.

“Hey, hey, man! That girl was just playing! Really!” The runaway explained frantically, waving his hands about to defend himself. However his pursuer ignored the flimsy reply, his right hand moving under his cloak, and in one stroke had drawn a long sword from his hip. The sword was simple in design, a straight silver blade with a circular hilt that had a large red gem embedded in it, along with a large talon curving upwards on one side with three other talons on the other side. He pointed the weapon straight at the rogue and let out a thin grin, the man knew that his prey had no chance to defend himself.

“I hate people like you…” The man murmured lowly, eyes narrowing dangerously. He moved his sword back and pointed it at the man’s head, readying to stab it right through his skull.

“Wait, I-I won’t do it ever again! I swear, just don’t kill me!” He pleaded, shouting frantically, but none of it would affect the swordsman’s decision.

“Die,” he breathed out quietly, starting his thrust to skewer the lowlife.

A powerful voice rang out in the man’s head, quickly making him fall back and cease his fatal attack. The pursuer fumbled back, clutching his head with his left hand. The runaway man decided to take advantage of the situation and made his escape into the night, soon the sound of the rain had drowned out his footsteps, he was long gone. Enraged by the last second turn of events the man growled to himself, jabbing his sword back into its sheath.

He stood there in the rain for a moment, thinking to himself. The albino knew exactly what the voice in his head was, his other half.

“I’ve had about enough of you…” He hissed under his breath.

“You’re not the person to lecture me about killing,” He growled instead. The albino let out a frustrated sigh and shook his head.

::At this rate my nightmares will never stop. Let alone finding out about any of my past…:: He reflected for a moment at what had just happened that night. He sat down against a wall and remained there motionless to think again.

::Four years…It’s been a long time since I started doing this…I might look human but…I’m just some…I don’t really know what I am…I wonder what happened to him though…I know he can’t be dead. But I shouldn’t worry about that yet. I suppose I’ll just keep moving for now.:: Having finished his train of thought, the man stood back up, cloak completely soaked and soggy by the rain water.

He crouched down for a moment and then leapt straight up into the air, and landing on top of a nearby roof with relative ease. The albino paused for another moment, and then broke out into a dash, leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

With the commotion finished with, the symphony of the evening rain resumed as if nothing had happened. It was as if nothing had happened as the rain continued to clean the city clean of all of its sins, except for the ones that the albino carried with him.

He finally landed on the ground once again, standing in the middle of the road and looking up to the sky for a moment, but something interrupted him. The accumulated water around him began to tremble and ripple, the symphony being disturbed once again, but now with the powerful rumble of machinery.

“What is it now?” The man demanded of no one in particular, spinning around to find the source of the sound.

In a few moments a tall mechanical behemoth entered the albino’s field of vision. It was about ten feet tall and was grey in color and humanoid in design. It was rather thin and skeletal in build, not a lot of care was taken in its construction since no one bothered to cover up its inner workings. The machine had a draconic right arm. On its left it had a set of knives with an equally massive claw. It was a wonder how it was even functional.

“Where did this thing come from?! Maybe…” The albino didn’t have the time to ponder about it as it threw its left fist at him. He quickly unleashed his sword and used it to parry the attack, stopping the powerful punch with inhuman strength. The albino pushed forward with his blade and with a burst of power he shoved the metal limb away, the mecha stumbling back by the force of the counter. Knowing it would be impossible to fight a metal machine with a metal sword he sheathed it again, then pointing his left arm forward.

Underneath of the black cloak was a complete red suit of armor that covered each component of his body. On his right arm the gauntlet let off a small glow and then a flash of light shot forth from it, leaving behind a long rectangular cannon that covered his entire arm. The barrel of the weapon pointed straight at the mechanical menace. Before the mecha could react, an electrified blast of orange energy erupted from the weapon, cleaving the left arm off with ease. However the mecha was unrelenting in its attack. From its back a number of vents opened up and from them a dozen rockets shot out, arcing through the air straight at the man. He was caught off guard by the sudden turn of events and was quickly struck by the explosives, a powerful blast shattering the gentle rain waters.

As the smoke and flames were being diffused by the raindrops, the mecha remained confident that its target was taken care of, but that simply wasn’t the case. From within the smoke and dust numerous blasts of energy shot out and struck the machine with the accuracy of a hawk. The mecha falling to pieces almost instantly under the power of the attack.

When the smoke dissipated, the strange man was indeed still alive, however large portions of his bodily armor were destroyed, underneath it were no human organs or systems. But just strange blue plant-like vine structures that had been severed and burnt from the explosive impact. Each of his wounds also emitted a small number of sparks, each time they did a small portion of the damaged area would light up from the damage.

The albino let out a pained hiss and stood up on his two feet as best as he could.

“Damn…What the hell…Who the hell created that thing?” He growled under his breath, using what was left of his cloak to cover himself up from the rain. But by then he couldn’t cover up how worn down his body had become. It would only take a few unsteady steps before he could no longer keep his composure and very quickly passed out onto the middle of the street, body being rained upon, but no waters could cleanse him of his worries.

However, it seemed as if by a strange twist of fate that someone encountered his body. More so, it was someone that he knew in the world, to add the final bit of irony it was a nun from a church.

She was a rather simple woman in appearance with black hair and auburn colored eyes, hidden behind a set of round glasses. The nun didn’t have many defining feminine features, and was a fairly shy person for the most part. However, she recognized the man, but never expected to see him sprawled out in the middle of the road in the rain, especially in such a state. She was just out to grab some groceries for the monastery next to the church, but quickly abandoned her chores and quickly tended to the man, lifting him up and onto her shoulders carefully.

* * *

“Tikai.” Began Father Franz, his tone heavy as he took a long drag on his cigarette. He spoke with a slight European accent as well. “I believe you should do something about your situation, you can’t keep coming here like this,” the priest continued, tapping his fingers on his desk thoughtfully.

The girl sitting across from him was a tall blonde girl with hair that reached down to her waist, and was a gentle golden color. Her eyes were sky blue in color and gave off a delicate warmth. But despite the rather calm appearance, the girl Tikai could questionably simply be putting a front for the world, underneath it all was a reckless and daring personality, but under that was a lonely and troubled girl, more than most 17-year olds should be.

Father Franz was a middle aged man with dirty blonde hair that was untidy and shaggy, rather strange for a man that was a priest. He was a well built man that used to travel the world greatly before becoming a man of the cloth. But even so, he still was rather unconventional.

“Father, I’m fine!” Tikai protested. “I’d just…Rather not go home for awhile…” The girl murmured quietly, shifting uncomfortably in her chair. Father Franz sighed quietly and shook his head before tapping thoughtfully on his cigarette.

“I would much rather that something be-” before the good priest could finish however, the doors to the church were shoved open, and the now violent thunderstorm was ushered into the place of salvation. Along with it, was one of the church’s nuns.

“Father! It’s him again!” Shouted the nun, Father Franz hearing her cry from his office and instantly standing up. He turned to look at the girl sitting with him and bowed quickly, throwing his cigarette into his ashtray haphazardly.

“You can stay here for the night, but you’ll have to excuse me now. I must attend to something,” he explained quickly, before running out of the room. Tikai was surprised to see the man ever react in such a way to anything before, having known him for many years, to see Father Franz take something seriously was strange and rare. She quietly left her chair and peered out into the church’s main area to see Father Franz and Sister Valeria carrying a man, however their bodies kept her from getting a good look at the person. Tikai moved closer, just enough so she could hear the conversation.

“My word, how did this happen?” Father Franz asked with a hushed voice.

“I don’t know, I found him outside on the road,” Sister Valeria replied just as quietly. Their conversation continued, but it was impossible for Tikai to hear anymore. But when she tried to look at the man again, this time she noticed that his arm had fallen limp to the side, and she caught a glimpse of the strange blue vines dangling from a large open wound.

“What the…” Tikai’s eyes went wide at the sight, Father Franz was hiding something in his church…

* * *

The rain continued throughout the rest of the night, and to the next day as well, but the dreary weather would not be enough to stifle the spirit of teenage students who had endured their final day of school. As the students streamed outside of the building many of them loathed, among them was the blonde girl, Tikai.

She paused when she exited the building, it was her final year in school, next was a college somewhere. But for the moment, Tikai was more concerned about finding a way to avoid going back to her home.

“Should’ve bought an umbrella one of these days…” Tikai mumbled to herself, starting to wonder how much money she had left in her bank account. But she snapped out the thought, realizing it was more important to try and find some refuge from home for a few days. However, when she approached all she knew she learned that they were all leaving soon and had no time to let the blonde stay for awhile. With the situation as it stood, it left Tikai with the distasteful alternative of returning home to her parents.

::Ok, if I just go in, take my things and leave, I can avoid them.:: Tikai planned, her footsteps slow and sluggish as she moved towards her home, despite the heavy rain and lack of an umbrella.

It would take about twenty minutes before Tikai arrived at her foster parents’ home. She never considered it her home, between parents that really could not care any less and having to provide for herself it felt just like being in the orphanage again.

The house was simple and generic in its appearance, it was a normal two story home that resembled every other one in the suburb. But she noticed something strange, there was a note attached to the front door. Tikai went up to the door and pulled the damn piece of paper from it. The note was completely soaked but it was still legible.

“‘Left for a few months. Locked the house, go find somewhere to live until we come back,’” Tikai read quietly to herself. She threw the soggy note to the ground and tried the door, only to find it locked. Her anger built up at that instant and she slammed her fist onto the door, but nothing yielded. Normally a person would have a second set of keys, but she was never allowed to have one, Tikai wasn’t trusted enough to earn the right to a key to her own home. She sighed under her breath and looked around to see if she could get in through any other opening, but that wasn’t possible. The entire structure was sealed up tight, waiting for its owners to return, someday in the future. However, for the blond she was left wondering what to do with nowhere left to go.

“Damnit…Why did you guys have to die…” Tikai whispered under her breath, starting to feel tears form.

* * *

“Where…Am I now?” The albino’s eyes reopened themselves, he was expecting to have been kicked to the side in an alley somewhere in the rain. However he awoke to something totally unexpected, flames, everywhere, the heat was so intense that it felt like it was lashing out at his face. More disturbingly was he awoke laying face down in a puddle of blood. He straightened up, looking down at himself to find he was in ruby red armor, except it was also covered in thick blood as well. The albino found in his hand his silver long sword, and like himself was drenched in the red substance. As he looked around he found he stood on a city street, but the city was in ruins, crumbling and set ablaze, and like everything else was dripping with freshly spilled blood.

“No…No…This isn’t happening! I…I didn’t do it!” He shouted at the top of his lungs, but his voice just echoed in the dead zone. He stood still and stared at the scene before him, and shook his head slowly. The albino lowered his head and let go of his weapon, but when it came in contact with the ground it was suddenly swallowed up by a puddle of blood. In fact, all around him the pools of blood began to sprout arms and ghastly faces, all calling out for the albino. He spun around and saw all of the limbs coming for him, he desperately tried to bat them away. However whenever he splattered one of the arms it’d reform and continue to reach for him.

“Get away! I’m not like that! I didn’t kill all of you!” He shouted desperately, but it was all futile. He was soon being pulled down by the arms into the wall of a building that had suddenly came to life, faces forming from the stone and concrete, each one calling for his soul. The man fought against the numerous arms desperately, trying to escape them as they tried to drag him into an abyss of blood and faces that were forming all over the ground and buildings.

“Stop this! Stop it now! No! Let me go!” He shouted, more desperate this time as he struggled against the arms. However it was all futile, it felt as if all of his strength was leaving him. The albino fought with whatever strength he had left but soon it was all gone, and he was barely able to lift an arm as he was drawn closer and closer to the abyss behind him…

* * *

In an instant his eyes shot up and he was sitting bolt upright. In reality he had another nightmare, and it was like all of the others, blood and despair everywhere. He looked down at himself to find that he was out of his armor, in fact he was only wearing a robe to cover himself up. It seemed that someone had attended to his injuries while he was unconscious. The albino looked around at where he was, and he knew very soon.

He was sitting in a slightly dusty bed with simple sheets, a black blanket covering his body. The room itself was small, a large window next to him that let him see the dark rain clouds hanging above the city as they continued to pour water downwards. The room was constructed mostly from stone bricks which gave it a strange feeling that made it seem old. Other than that all there was in the room along with him was a wooden chair, in it was Father Franz who was watching the man wearily.

The albino’s face was still contorted from his nightmare, but it would take only a brief second before his face returned to its stoic appearance.

“I knew that I would see you soon,” Father Franz said quietly, the albino not responding to the statement.

“I had Sister Valeria tend to your injuries. They look much worse than what you normally come here with,” the priest continued, the albino nodding slowly. Father Franz sighed and reached into his pocket, producing from it a cigarette and a lighter.

“You’re very lucky that she found you, who knows what could’ve happened if she didn’t,” Father Franz continued as he lit the cigarette. He took a long drag on it and then let out a puff of smoke before looking at the man closely. The albino closed his eyes and shrugged.

“You haven’t been sleeping again, have you?” Father Franz asked, the man pausing for a moment and then nodded his head.

“How long this time?” He asked again.

“About five days,” the albino finally replied. Father Franz shook his head dismally and sighed heavily once again.

“I know you’re not like us, but you still have limits,” Father Franz warned. The albino laughed quietly and waved some cigarette smoke away from himself.

“Maybe…” Was all he said, giving another casual chuckle. Father Franz wasn’t impressed and shook his head.

“You’re safe here, in my church. Only myself and Sister Valeria know about you, no one else here does. I don’t mind housing you here, so why do you continue to go out there like this?” Father Franz questioned. The albino didn’t respond at all and just looked forward at the wall.

“My reasons…Are my own, Father,” he replied under his breath, earning the concern of the priest.

“You may be something more than us mere mortals, but you’re human none the less. I know you’re hiding something from me. You can’t carry the weight of the world on your shoulders like this,” Father Franz warned again, this time more concerned than before. The albino laughed again and looked at Father Franz, his eyes giving off the look of gratitude, something his face couldn’t express.

“Your concern is appreciated. Don’t worry about me though, I’ll be alright,” he reassured, chuckling again. Father Franz sighed and flicked the burnt part of his cigarette to the ground and looked at the man again.

“What happened to you? Your injuries are unusually severe, even for you,” the priest asked, changing the subject casually. The albino scoffed for a moment, the thought of what attacked him was amusing.

“A mecha. Fully automated and autonomous. I don’t know who built it, though…” The albino looked over at the priest and he sighed yet again.

“The gears of destiny are starting to turn,” was all that Father Franz replied with, his voice becoming heavy upon hearing the news. An awkward silence followed the reply, in that time Father Franz finished up with his cigarette and had thrown it into a corner of the room. Father Franz finally stood up and began to head towards the door, but paused before he opened it.

“I believe the confessional booth is available this evening, if you’re interested,” Father Franz pointed out. The albino acknowledged the advice and simply laid back down in the bed, listening to Father Franz leave the room and close the door. It left the albino to his thoughts, most of which were to keep himself awake, despite how tired he was.

Father Franz let out a yawn and stretched his arms out, he was rather worn out from the previous night. As he walked through the monastery he was greeted by a few of the other nuns, a number of them asking how the man that came in last night was. All in all, the priest found himself in a situation that struck him as too mundane suddenly.

Of course his instincts were right as Sister Valeria came up to him, face a bit red as she was running around the large building looking for him.

“What is it? Has something happened?” Father Franz inquired, a nod coming from the nun.

“Tikai is here, she wants to speak to you,” she responded, slightly breathless. Father Franz took the news as best as he could, but he had a rather ominous feeling about his confrontation.

“T-thank you,” Father Franz replied a bit wearily. “I suppose you’ll want to tend to our guest in the meantime, Sister?” Father Franz suddenly mentioned as he was heading to his office. Sister Valeria paused and let out a small chuckle.

“Yes, am I that obvious?” She responded.

“A bit. Good luck in making him find God, or something like that,” Father Franz waved his hand as he continued on his way, for a priest he was a bit loose in how he did his job.

Soon he arrived in his office to find Tikai bundled up in a blanket, soaked thoroughly with her hair stuck to her head and draped all over the blanket.

“What happened, Tikai?” Father Franz asked urgently, he didn’t expect to find her in such a state. The blond was shivering slightly from walking in the rain for so long, and from what he could gather she was crying.

“Tell me, what happened?” He asked again, this time she looked up at him and nodded slowly.

“I was locked out of my home. I don’t have anywhere to stay again…” She muttered, Father Franz looking at her sympathetically.

“You know how much I disapprove at how you don’t do anything about your foster parents…But because I’ve known you for the last four years, I don’t mind letting you stay,” Father Franz smiled warmly at Tikai who returned it with a weak smile of her own.

“Father…” Tikai began after a few moments of silence. “I need a job as well…” She added on, Father Franz raising an eyebrow at the subtle request. He sat down in his chair, leaned back in it and then thought for a moment.

“I’ll pay you minimum wage, and you’ll work from dawn to dusk everyday. The church and monastery are quiet places, so it won’t be very hard working here. But that doesn’t mean it will be easy, Tikai,” Father Franz finally replied, a thin smile forming as he watched the girl’s face light up at the news.

“Thank you, Father. I just hope it doesn’t hurt the church…” Tikai said, feeling slightly guilty for asking so much. Father Franz laughed heartedly at the comment, then looked out of his office door to make sure no one was nearby. When he was confident there was no one else around he reached under his desk and produced the church’s Sunday donation basket, still full of a surplus of donated money.

“I was going to become a rich priest, but I believe giving you this money as payment would be more charitable,” Father Franz laughed again, Tikai joining in as well.

“You’re not a very good priest, Father,” Tikai pointed out, Father Franz shrugging it off casually as he put the basket away again.

“Perhaps, but I believe to do things a little differently than other priests. I like to have fun,” Father Franz replied, waving his hand about as he did so. However he suddenly remembered something important, leaning in towards Tikai slightly to emphasize his point.

“Before I forget, there’s a door in the monastery, it’s the only one that’s black and without any labels on it. Please refrain from going into that room. It’s just that we have a guest in there trying to rest, he’s rather worn out,” Father Franz explained quickly, however Tikai noticed a small lapse in his normally calm demeanor. Tikai didn’t mentioned it but took note of the strange behaviour, nodding to put the priest at ease.

::I wonder what he’s hiding…Maybe it’s something to do with whoever it was from last night…:: Tikai pondered to herself for a moment, pretending to listen to Father Franz as he lectured her on the work she would have to do.

* * *

“Enough, enough. I’m not a child, you don’t have to feed me, Sister,” the albino protested, pushing away a spoon of soup that was being shoved at him.

“Maybe not, but you’re not good at taking care of yourself,” Sister Valeria retorted, placing the spoon back into the bowl. He laughed quietly at the remark, it did ring true to him.

“I suppose so,” he agreed, voice trailing off slightly.

“Are you tired?” Sister Valeria inquired, the albino quickly snapping out of his drowsiness, shaking his head right after.

“No, I’m alright,” he declared, voice still hinting at weariness. Sister Valeria frowned at the blatant lie and hit him in the shoulder, a yelp escaping the albino.

“For a girl in glasses you hit hard,” was all he said, rubbing his shoulder gingerly since she struck him in one of his injured parts as well. Sister Valeria shook her head and leaned back in the chair she was sitting in.

“I’m worried about you! Human or not you can still die!” The nun nearly shouted. The albino was taken aback by the sudden outburst, left sitting there somewhat confused. Sister Valeria took a moment to recompose herself, adjusting her glasses slightly.

“You’ve been in and out of this church for the last 4 years, I know about you, and you still haven’t even told me your name after so long. You can’t tell me you don’t trust anyone here enough to at tell someone your name!” Sister Valeria watched the albino closely for a reaction, but nothing could be shown on his stoic face.

“It…This isn’t a matter of trust, Valeria,” the albino said blandly. The nun slumped slightly at the comment.

“That’s Sister Valeria to you. But can’t you at least stay here? It’ll be safer, and I won’t be as worried anymore,” she requested, the albino shaking his head.

“I still have something to do. Besides, you shouldn’t get too attached,” the albino murmured. Sister Valeria sighed again and watched him carefully.

“I remember finding your body laying in the forest that afternoon. Barely alive, your body damaged and nearly broken apart. I brought you back to the church, Father Franz wanted to burn you, until I asked him to leave you in my care. I don’t really know why I did that in the first place, but I’ve done my best to protect you throughout the years. I just wish you’d trust me to tell me why you refuse to sleep, or why you continue to leave the church, even your name will be enough!” The man looked over at the nun and shook his head. Sister Valeria looking down at her feet at the refusal.

“…I’m going to get dressed now, so please leave the room,” he finally said, the nun complying silently, leaving the room feeling a bit unaccomplished.

The albino sighed and let out a dark chuckle. He looked to the side of the bed, underneath it were his belongings; sword, armor and cloak. The man paused in thought for a moment, then began to put his attire on.

* * *

Tikai had finally dried herself off, and was given an extra set of clothes by one of the nuns, although she felt strange wearing the clothing of a nun, it would have to do until her normal clothes were dry.

Father Franz said she could explore the church and monastery freely, but she didn’t really need to since it hadn’t changed when she was in the orphanage of the church. She suddenly noticed someone coming out of one of the rooms. A man about her age with long spiked bangs of silver hair, wearing a large and somewhat tattered black cloak as well. Tikai’s suspicion was peaked by the man, her guess was he was the one they brought. But from what she could tell there was nothing unusual about him any longer, mainly the blue vines she saw coming from his arm.

She decided to follow him from a safe distance, interested in finding out more about him, and possibly what Father Franz was keeping from her.

The albino continued on his way, heading back into the church complex, however he paused for a moment. He had the strange feeling that someone was watching him, but when he turned around to look he realized it was just his paranoia as a few of the nuns were just gathered nearby and conversing with each other. He shrugged it off and continued walking, heading down the stairs to the confessional booth.

Tikai let out a breath of relief, nearly being caught by such an intimidating person might not have ended well. She decided to continue onwards in her pursuit for knowledge.

The albino walked down the steps slowly, his footsteps echoing loudly as he neared the confessional booth. He stood in front of the metal screen door, raising his hand slowly to the screen plate. He suddenly stopped, becoming fearful. However he finally mustered up the courage and slid the plate over, his confession was to start.

“Forgive me Father for I have sinned,” he began quietly, the priest listening closely. The albino sighed quietly and continued, leaning against the wall.

“For years I’ve been plagued with nightmares of blood and death…I woke up in the care of this church without my memories, unable to remember anything. However I know that I’m not human, I’m a machine. I know if I have dreams like that…I must’ve done terrible things in the past, killed many innocent lives. For this reason…I can not rest in my search to try and repent. Nor can I gain any rest in my nightmares…So because of this, I can’t stay in this church and live peacefully…Not until I repent,” he finally finished, voice nearly falling below that of a whisper. There was a pause on the other side of the confession booth’s wall.

“Are you going to leave again?” The priest asked. The albino nodded.

“Yes. I’ll be back again someday, Father,” he ensured.

“God speed then,” The priest wished, the albino sliding the plate back into its original position. He walked up the stairs just as silently as he walked down them, remerging back into the church’s main area. There the rain had finally ceased, leaving the night silent and bright with the light of a full moon.

Tikai listened to the man’s confession from afar, quickly seating herself in one of the long benches as he remerged, watching the strange person.

The albino closed his multi-colored eyes for a moment and then reopened them, taking note of Sister Valeria seated in a bench near the back of the church, from what he could see it seemed she was muttering a prayer. He walked over to her silently, cloak fluttering behind him. As he passed the nun he paused, glancing over his shoulder.

“Airaxen,” he said under his breath, catching the attention of Sister Valeria. “My name is Airaxen.” The named albino then turned around fully, a thin smile on his face.

“Good luck, Airaxen,” Sister Valeria wished with a slight bow, Airaxen chuckling and waving her off as he pushed open the church’s doors and ventured back out into the night.

::Airaxen…His name means Holy Stranger in Norse…My dad told me that once…:: Tikai mused to herself, but quickly stopped her train of thought as the onset of bad memories followed it.

* * *

A week past since the night Airaxen left the church, but unlike the times before when he left, Father Franz and Sister Valeria weren’t uneasy in his departure, knowing he would be back soon. In the meantime the weather had improved, the skies remaining clear and blue without a hint of rain anywhere in sight. Currently the priest was lounging in the church’s backyard, since the entire complex was built in front of a park he was given a portion of it for ‘religious gatherings’, or to him, a place he could smoke and enjoy the weather. He watched as some people passed by, looking at him funny for his strange conduct. Father Franz didn’t care much for them as he was more interested in reading the newspaper, since an article caught his eye. Upon reading it he had a chuckle and folded his paper up.

“Crime nearly inexistent, police baffled but grateful,” Father Franz said under his breath, reciting the article’s title, a small chuckle escaping him afterwards. When he re-entered the monastery he noticed that Tikai was busying herself with some chores, mostly just hanging up some laundry to dry.

Father Franz frowned slightly to himself, he was glad she didn’t mind having to work, but was worried at the fact it seemed all Tikai did was work. He approached the blonde, she turned around and greeted the priest casually.

“Tikai, you shouldn’t work yourself like this,” Father Franz recommended, waving his newspaper about slightly. She paused and shrugged it off.

“It’s alright. When I lived with my foster parents I had to do all of the cooking and cleaning at home as well as working and school work. So I’m used to it by now, it’s not really hard,” she explained, the explanation making Father Franz frown deeper.

“Some of the other sisters have mentioned how you work so hard. They’re very impressed, but think you shouldn’t exert yourself like this,” Father Franz pointed out, Tikai pausing again and simply resuming her work. Father Franz laughed quietly and put a hand on Tikai’s shoulder.

“You remind me of someone. But that aside, you’ve done plenty already. I’m not a tyrant, you can have the day off, I’ll still pay you. But go and enjoy yourself, a girl like you shouldn’t work herself so hard,” Father Franz moved the girl away from her work and back into the church. Tikai was a bit reluctant at first but decided she shouldn’t pass up the opportunity to have some free time.

“Thank you, Father,” Tikai said under her breath, feeling a bit guilty. Father Franz gave her a pat on the back and shrugged.

“Nothing to thank me for. Now get going, while there’s still plenty of daylight,” he urged, Tikai nodding and heading off to get a change of clothes, something other than her working garments.

Father Franz took a seat on a bench in the church and leaned back in it, simply relaxing. Again, the thought that things had become too calm to mind. He perked up for a moment and glanced around at his surroundings, nothing out of the ordinary so far. But the second he turned back around the church doors were shoved open.

“God has a funny sense of humour,” Father Franz muttered under his breath. He stood up and turned to look at the doors, and to his surprise it was the white haired albino, still wearing his tattered cloak and armor underneath it, and for once he wasn’t being dragged into the church from passing out.

“I didn’t expect to see you so soon,” Father Franz remarked, the albino nodding. He walked over to where Father Franz was seated and sat down next to him.

“So what brings you back here, on your own free will none the less?” The albino glanced over at the priest and sighed quietly.

“I feel unaccomplished still. No matter how much good I do, I never feel like I’ve repented at all. Father, I need…Guidance,” he muttered, sighing again.

“Firstly, perhaps if you also told me your name, I could help you a bit better,” Father Franz hinted, always a bit jealous that only Sister Valeria was told his name after 4 years. The albino glanced over at the priest and let out a small laugh, detecting the jealousy.

“Airaxen, my name is Airaxen. Is that better?” He asked a bit sarcastically. Father Franz nodded, also detecting the undertone of the comment, and laughing a bit.

“Well, to repent you must be forgiven. After knowing you, and how much you have been torturing yourself over these 4 years, I know that I can forgive you. But the question is can you forgive yourself? Can you find it in you to bury the past, regardless of what may have happened? Sometimes, just living a life is all you need to do, instead of beating yourself up for things that have happened,” Father Franz watched Airaxen carefully for a reaction, eventually he nodded slowly.

“Is it really that easy?” Airaxen asked in return, Father Franz nodding confidently.

“Sometimes life isn’t about tribulations, you just live a life,” Father Franz stood up and beckoned Airaxen to follow him.

“Sister Valeria told me to send you to her the next time you came to the church, so follow me,” Father Franz directed him through the church and into the monastery again. Along the way he was greeted by a number of the nuns who were surprised to see the albino walk in under his own free will. Airaxen was finally led to a brown door and then Father Franz knocked on it, from within Sister Valeria could be heard.

“Sister Valeria, Airaxen is back, he’s outside,” Father Franz informed, the nun then was heard scrambling about the room for reasons unknown, Airaxen standing there and getting a bit bored of the stares he was receiving from other people. Soon the door was opened and they were allowed to enter her room, which appeared to be very quickly tidied up for them. She smiled rubbing the back of her neck a bit feverishly.

“I wasn’t expecting company, so it’s a little messy still,” Sister Valeria explained quickly. “So, Airaxen, why are you back?” She inquired, Airaxen shrugging.

“I…I’m going to stay here, at least, for awhile,” Airaxen said, Father Franz beaming at the comment. Sister Valeria was also happy to hear the news, and congratulated him.

“That’s great news! You can stay here, and you’ll actually be safe for once,” Sister Valeria sputtered, Airaxen raising an eyebrow at what she said. She laughed nervously at the reaction and waved it off as she pulled out a small bundle of clothing, handing it to the albino.

“I got these for you awhile ago, I know you can just keep regenerating that armor, but these would be better to wear for going outside. Especially since you’re going to stay here,” Sister Valeria remarked, Airaxen nodding reluctantly, he was rather fond of his armor.

“Alright, it’s reasonable I suppose,” Airaxen submitted, he ushered the two out and closed the door. In a few minutes he remerged from the room, wearing a set of dark blue jeans, a white shirt and then a jean jacket to go overtop of it. He tugged at the sleeves and collar of his new clothing a bit self consciously, feeling a bit overly dressed, considering how he normally just wore a cloak.

“I’m…Not used to clothing,” Airaxen commented, still tugging at various parts of his new attire.

“I don’t know, you look good in that,” Sister Valeria mentioned, Airaxen blushing slightly.

“We’ll see then,” he muttered sheepishly. Father Franz laughed and gave the albino a pat on the shoulders.

“I’ll leave you in Sister Valeria’s care then. She’ll guide you through a few things you’ll do when living here. Also if you meet a girl named Tikai, she can help you as well, since she’s also new to the monastery. But I’m going to go make myself look busy,” Father Franz explained, letting off a yawn and walking down the hall, probably going to take a nap somewhere. Airaxen blinked, a bit stunned at learning how slack of a priest Father Franz really was, more so at how he never learned that in the previous years of knowing each other.

Airaxen shrugged it off and then produced his cloak, which was used to bundle up all of his armor nicely. As well he produced his sheathed sword, suddenly trying to attach it to someplace on his jeans.

“Airaxen, you can’t take that with you anymore! You’re…Going to be normal, live like a normal human,” Sister Valeria declared, taking Airaxen’s precious sword from him, the albino frowning a bit.

“No sword? But…Fine. So what do I do all day?” Airaxen questioned, handing all of his previous belongings to Sister Valeria who put them away in a box.

“Come along, follow me, you can help Tikai with some chores,” Sister Valeria led the albino along to where she had last seen the girl, however she was nowhere to be seen. Sister Valeria was confused at where she could be but decided to just find something else for the albino to do.

“I suppose you can always come with me, I was just going to go out and see if there was anything to do in the city. Think you’d like to accompany me?” Sister Valeria offered, Airaxen thinking for a moment and then shrugging.

“It won’t hurt to see the city during the day,” Airaxen decided. The duo went back to Sister Valeria’s room to get changed and then left with albino in tow for the outside world, so to speak.

Airaxen looked around at the surroundings, nothing that out of the ordinary to him, clear sky, hot weather and people just moving about doing their daily routines. Sister Valeria had put aside her usual nuns robe and stuck with a simple summer dress and hat for the outing.

“Since we’re outside of the church, you can just call me Valeria for now,” she decided, Airaxen nodding.

“So what does a city have to offer?” Airaxen questioned, raising an eyebrow slightly. Valeria shrugged, she wasn’t exactly sure herself, since Tikai had been doing most of the work she suddenly found herself with much more free time.

“Come on, lets just take a walk, it won’t do any good just standing around,” Valeria declared, Airaxen following her quietly, he was just along for the ride it would seem. However he didn’t mind very much, although it was strange not having to hunt around for criminals, it was much more relaxing of a thing to do. But it was because of the relaxing atmosphere that the albino was uneasy, it just felt too unnatural, to easy of a way out. Obviously his thoughts transferred to his expression, Valeria taking note of the dismay.

“Airaxen…Father Franz told me about your confession, and I don’t want you to get angry at him, but you can live life without slings and arrows being pointed at you,” She tried explaining, Airaxen looking at her strangely for a moment and then nodding slowly.

“It’s not that easy, Valeria. I…Nevermind, lets keep walking,” Airaxen dismissed, forging ahead silently. Valeria sighed and looked over her shoulder at the albino, it appeared he had no intent on cheering up.

“Come on, Airaxen, lets go and get a few things for the church at the mall,” Valeria finally decided, Airaxen raising his eyebrow slightly and then agreeing. What followed was an awkward silence that Valeria found unbearably uncomfortable. She never imagined him to be such a stubborn person, though all of their previous encounters were short since he was mostly unconscious most of the time.

Upon entering the large facilities, Airaxen was rather surprised to be surrounded on all sides by so many countless people, it was somewhat intimidating.

“So-so crowded,” Airaxen remarked under his breath, Valeria giggling at the reaction.

“I thought you were fearless,” Valeria commented, Airaxen looking away and scoffing before he mustered up his courage and ploughed right through the herd of people, though his nerves were still jittery.

::I’m just being paranoid. Then again, ever since that mecha appeared, I suppose it’s natural,:: Airaxen mused, looking around at the people, half expecting one of them to sprout cannons on their arms like he could, but that was just being irrational.

“HEY! COME BACK HERE!” A female voice suddenly shouted catching Airaxen’s attention. When the albino turned to look over at the source of the commotion he found a teenage mugger sprinting with a bag in his hands, to Airaxen it was so overly cliché it pained him.

Airaxen stuck his arm out as the mugger past him, grabbed onto the back of his collar and swiftly yanked him off his course and straight into a wall, very effectively knocking him out, and possibly sending him into traction. The albino muttered something under his breath and quickly took the bag back from the unconscious teen. Airaxen looked back up at the girl that was robbed, she was blonde with blue eyes and dressed in generic clothing for her age, again all in all she struck him as bland, but there was something familiar about her.

“Thanks for the help,” she said, giving a swift kick to the mugger. “This idiot nearly got away with all my pay for the week,” She took the bag back from Airaxen and then looked at him carefully, her eyes widening slightly.

Valeria caught up with the albino shortly after, taking note of his beat down on the teenage boy and quickly pulling him aside.

“How did this happen?! I can’t believe it, can’t even leave you for a minute before you do something like this!” Valeria exclaimed, moving her glasses down slightly to rub the bridge of her nose.

“Sister Valeria?” The other girl inquired, the nun perking up and pointing at the blonde.

“Tikai! This is where you went! And you don‘t have to call me sister outside of the church,” Tikai nodding, her attention redirected.

“Yeah, I went to the bank here since Father Franz gave me the day off. So who’s that…?” Tikai inquired, giving a glance over at the mute albino.

“Oh, he’s Airaxen. He’ll also be staying at the church and help out,” Valeria explained, Airaxen nodding his head slightly.

“Would you like to come with us, Tikai? Considering what just happened here it might be for the best,” Airaxen suddenly offered, for reasons why he wasn’t entirely sure. Tikai blinked and then agreed.

“Why not? It’d be safer anyway,” She replied, the three of them continuing onwards, with Airaxen bringing up the rear.

::I swear, I’ve seen that girl somewhere, but where was it?:: Airaxen pondered, but when he was still at a loss decided to leave the matter be for awhile.

In the meantime Tikai and Valeria had engaged each other in casual conversation, things that Airaxen overheard but didn’t understand, movies, current events and other things he also didn’t care much for.

“Sister Valeria, why did you become a nun anyway?” Tikai suddenly asked, Valeria fidgeting slightly and messing with her glasses before responding.

“When I was younger my family and I were in a car accident. I was lucky and wasn’t seriously injured. But everyone else wasn’t so lucky. After they passed away I felt like I should be able to help others…” She explained, taking off her glasses and wiping her eyes quickly. Tikai lowered her head and looked away, not realizing the bad memories tied to the reason.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know about that…” She quickly apologized. “You probably want to forget about those kind of things, huh?” Tikai continued, however Airaxen decided to speak up.

“You can’t forget the past like that…The past shapes the kind of person you become, never forget it,” Airaxen declared, his voice suddenly becoming strong and powerful. Tikai and Valeria looked back at Airaxen quizzically, Valeria smiling at him.

“That’s true, thank you, Airaxen,” the albino nodding sagely. Tikai on the other hand looked at him strangely.

“Such heavy words, Airaxen,” Tikai pointed out, the albino chuckling slightly.

“The heavier my words are, the bigger of an impact they’ll leave on you,” he said casually, Airaxen giving Tikai a coy look. The conversation afterwards was simple and conventional from that point, and was rather slow day of just picking up a number of groceries. Airaxen was stuck with the duty of carrying the bags back, he didn’t find it difficult, but it was rather annoying.

“Why am I carrying all of your things?” Airaxen grunted, Valeria smiling at him.

“Because you’re a gentleman, and you’re big and strong!” She laughed, Airaxen grunting some more, rather displeased with the explanation.

“You’re just abusing your extra hands,” Airaxen muttered gruffly.

“Well I’m surprised you can hold all that, since you’re so scrawny there, Airaxen,” Tikai suddenly teased, Airaxen grumbling some more.

“Be careful, Tikai,” Valeria warned lightly. “Airaxen doesn’t need big gigantic muscles to be strong, you saw what he did to that mugger that stole from you,” she pointed out, Airaxen letting out a thin smirk.

“Well, since you’re so strong there, Airaxen, you’ll be able to help me with chores at the church,” Tikai sneered, Airaxen’s triumphant moment quickly squashed. Tikai’s eyes narrowed slightly as she recalled her agenda.

::This will be a good time to see what he is exactly, and hopefully without Father Franz or Sister Valeria trying to cover up this guy…:: she mused, a thin smirk forming over her face as well, one that somewhat scared Valeria.

* * *

Upon returning to the church Sister Valeria pulled Airaxen aside, lecturing him upon the importance of secrecy.

“The other sisters here have been told about you when you decided to stay, and most of them barely took it without yelling things like ‘blasphemous’ or ‘sinner’ and such. So…Try and refrain to keeping to a normal life?” Sister Valeria asked of Airaxen, the albino cringing at how he finally understood some of the looks he was receiving from the other nuns. But regardless he agreed and then left to attend Tikai and help her with chores.

Airaxen sighed as he took note of another number of nuns whispering among themselves and pointing to the albino. He had wished that Father Franz didn’t mention him to the others, he knew no one would understand or give him a chance because of what he was.

::I should never have hoped that leaving behind my past would be so easy…:: Airaxen thought to himself gloomily, his expression becoming even more serious.

Tikai picked up right where she left off in her chores by continuing to hang up the laundry. Normally she’d still take up Father Franz’s offer and continue to enjoy her day off, but she was more interested in learning more about the albino, Airaxen. Having found numerous things about him that perked her curiosity she found that if anything else, it’d be fun to learn about the man.

Airaxen appeared in a few minutes, hands in pocket and looking rather disgruntled. Tikai looked over at him and frowned slightly.

“What’s wrong there, Airaxen?” She inquired worriedly. Airaxen shook his head and let out a low humming sound.

“It’s nothing of importance. Now, about those chores I’m supposed to attend to?” He said, redirecting her attention. Tikai frowned some more but decided to press on in her attempt to decipher him.

“Well, for now I just need some help hanging the laundry up,” Tikai informed. Airaxen nodded and pulled out a sheet from the basket, looked over at Tikai and then mimicked her action. The blonde glanced over at her mute companion.

“Why so serious all the time? You shouldn’t be so uptight all the time,” Tikai advised, Airaxen chuckling at the comment.

“That’s nice of you to say, but it’s not in me to be anything else, Tikai,” Airaxen replied quietly, eyes closing slightly. Tikai paused in her work and looked over at Airaxen.

“You sound so sad all the time, why is that?” Tikai questioned, Airaxen also pausing in his work slightly.

“For now, I don’t have any reason to be otherwise,” Airaxen muttered, continuing his work. Tikai’s expression grew to concern for a moment but she decided to leave the albino be for awhile. Suddenly, Airaxen stopped his work and looked over at Tikai carefully, the girl taking note of the occurrence and tried her best not to look back.

“I remember you now. I’ve seen you around the church before in the past few years,” Airaxen recalled, Tikai nodding.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t have it so great when I was growing up,” Tikai explained, reminiscing slightly.

“If that’s true, how are still so happy?” Airaxen suddenly asked, his question catching Tikai off guard.

“What else can you do then? I’m still alive, I’ll live my life,” Tikai answered, and she was actually smiling to herself, a feat that Airaxen was floored by. The albino laughed to himself and then gave Tikai a brisk pat on the back.

“You have strength that I can only dream for. I admire that,” Airaxen commented, his mood lightening up slightly. Tikai smile waver slightly at the pat on the back, but at least the thought was there.

But suddenly the pleasant atmosphere was shattered with a frying pan flying through the air and striking Airaxen in the back of the head with a loud clang. The albino didn’t fall over, but regardless whoever threw the frying pan got his attention. Tikai quickly tended to the albino, rubbing the spot of injury and looked around to see who threw the object, and to her surprise it was one of the other nuns.

“Stay away from him! He’s a sin! Blasphemous creature!” She shouted, quickly pulling Tikai away from the still stunned albino. She looked at Airaxen sympathetically, trying to tell the nun to let go of her.

Airaxen sighed at what had transpired, he couldn’t blame her for what she did, but he was still hurt in all senses of the word. He turned around and very quickly covered the distance between himself and the wrestling females, and in one swift action pulled the nun off.

“Pick your fights with me alone. But let her do what she wishes,” Airaxen hissed, shooting a deadly glare at the nun before letting her run off. Airaxen growled under his breath but inevitable let the situation go, it wasn’t worth upsetting the church and Father Franz. He shoved his hands into his pockets and then briskly began walking away. However Tikai grabbed Airaxen by the shoulder to stop him, turning him around quickly.

“Wait, Airaxen, I know you’re not human, I saw those blue vines from your arm when you came here. And I heard your confession as well. I want to know what you are!” She nearly demanded. Airaxen’s eyes narrowed at Tikai dangerously, she wasn’t extremely tactful as that was about the last thing the albino wanted to hear. He grabbed onto Tikai’s hand roughly, even starting to tighten his grip, the girl finding it becoming rather painful. She winced and tried to break free from his grip but it proved to be impossible.

“You all seem to be the same. Lies and mistrust everywhere. It makes me lose my faith,” Airaxen growled, finally letting go of Tikai’s hand and walking away angrily.

::Shut up,:: Airaxen thought to himself, closing his eyes while his shoulders slumped slightly.

* * *

“Wait! You’re being irrational, Airaxen!” Sister Valeria protested as she banged on the door to Airaxen‘s room. But her words fell on deaf ears as Airaxen continued to gather his small number of things.

“No, I don’t belong here with real humans. I’m leaving!” Airaxen declared angrily from inside of the room, throwing his jacket against the wall.

“They’re good people! You can’t just leave because of one bad incident!” She pressed on, only to hear the sound of another article of clothing hit the wall.

“No, they’re all the same, to judge me before I’m given a chance! So no more!” Airaxen shouted, throwing open the door to a surprised Sister Valeria. He had stripped himself of his ‘normal’ life in an instant and was clad in his armor and cloak once more.

“Please, at least let Father Franz get here to talk with you!” She continued, Airaxen pushing her out of his way.

“You can’t do this now! Not after all of the things we’ve been through!” She cried out, Airaxen tightening his fists. But he soon let them go, mumbling under his breath.

“Fine. For your sake, I’ll talk with Father Franz first,” he muttered, glancing over at the sister who returned it with a weak smile. Sister Valeria led the albino through the facility, fending off the gatherings of other nuns that would mutter and point at the albino. She looked back at Airaxen, who looked less than pleased to be in the church.

“Please, don’t take it so personally, Airaxen. And if anything else, you can depend on Father Franz and myself,” she said in an attempt to encourage him, but he didn’t show an change in expression. It was as if nothing had changed.

When they arrived to Father Franz’s office they found he was actually tending to some paperwork, much to both of their surprise. But he didn’t mind the interruption. It seemed that it was just the excuse to procrastinate his work with anyway.

“What is it you needed to see me about?” He inquired, soon taking note of the flustered expression on Sister Valeria’s face and the stone cold one on Airaxen’s face.

“Airaxen had an unfortunate run in with one of the other nuns. And well…” Sister Valeria was cut off by Father Franz standing up.

“I think I can piece the rest together. Sister Valeria, can you please leave the room for a moment? I would like to have a word with Airaxen in private,” he requested, the nun obliging and left the room. The priest shut the door to his office and then offered Airaxen a seat, which he politely refused. Father Franz sat down in his own chair and then let out a quiet sigh.

“Is there nothing I can do to change your mind?” He asked, Airaxen shaking his head. “You must give them the benefit of the doubt sometimes, Airaxen. They’re human, and being human means they will not make things easy for you at first. But I know they will understand you soon enough,” Father Franz continued, it seemed that his words were having a slight effect on the albino but it didn’t appear to be much. They remained in silence for awhile, Airaxen glancing downwards at the ground.

“I suppose you’re right…” Airaxen muttered, his anger fading away. Father Franz smiled warmly at the albino and moved over to him, giving him a pat on the back.

“Now come with me, lets go explain things in more depth to the other nuns,” Father Franz suggested, guiding him out the door. Airaxen nodded and reached for the door, except it suddenly burst open and nearly struck the albino. Sister Valeria had done the deed, her expression panicked.

“Airaxen! Outside, there’s a…Just come outside!” She exclaimed, grabbing his arm and pulling him outside. At first he didn’t understand the point of things, but what she pointed out through the church’s windows needed no explaining.

Outside of the city, crashing through it was a gigantic serpentine mechanical beast. It was completely silver in color and had three machine heads. Each one was different in its appearance, the very right head resembled that of an insects’ with its sets of pincers. The left head was very mechanical in its appearance, a blocky build instead of something elaborate. The middle head was that of a dragon, fangs and sharpened points forming its entire shape. Between the connection of the two side-mounted heads were massive metal wings, each one adorned with a blue gem.

The massive beast was tearing into stone and concrete with ease, the city would not stand long under such an attack.

By then the rest of the nuns in Father Franz’s church gathered to watch the devastation. Tikai however was more interested in looking towards Airaxen, but she couldn’t find him among the people.

::Did he run? Or is he going to fight? I wonder if this is when we’ll see what kind of person he really is…:: Tikai mused to herself, shifting her gaze at the mechanical dragon.

* * *

“Why…I can’t remember why I fight now,” Airaxen thought aloud. He had slipped out of the church and was walking through the screaming crowds and running people, towards the mecha as it continued to destroy.

“I don’t know if I fight for a reason anymore, maybe because it’s just in my nature and I say I have a reason,” he continued, drawing his sword from his hip, swinging it to the side to move his cloak out of the way.

“Sometimes I watch these people, the people I try to protect. And I just can’t understand them as they try to do such horrible things against each other,” Airaxen muttered some more as the mechanical dragon suddenly noticed him.

“For what reasons I can’t begin to understand. Things so childish and stupid, their efforts all ultimately being futile. So really…Why do I fight for them? Only to ultimately be forgotten in the wind,” Airaxen chuckled to himself quietly, the mechanical beast rearing all three of its heads and letting out a ferocious roar.

“I have no answer or understanding of my own actions. So I suppose because of that I’m human. And being human I must in turn understand other humans who act outside of all reason. To live, to die, who knows. But now…I remember why I fight for them,” Airaxen laughed, raising a finger and motioned for the beast to attack him.

It didn’t have any hesitation in lunging its three heads at the albino, in response he lunged forward and underneath the attack, narrowly avoiding the jaws. Airaxen stuck his leg back to halt himself, then used it to kick off the ground and attack the middle head from under it, sword at the side and ready to swing. He slashed at the head’s connector joint with the blade, however the second he made contact he quickly learned the metal of the beast was much stronger than his sword’s. Airaxen was sent rebounding from the beast as now he was left vulnerable and the beast sent its tail straight for the albino. He saw the attack from the corner of his eye, spun around in the air and moved to parry the attack as best he could, the result however was the tail knocking Airaxen and his sword in different directions.

Airaxen stuck his hand out and skidded along the ground with it, slowly himself down until he eventually got back onto his two feet. He eyed the mecha dragon for a moment as it did the same, suddenly it flew forward and tried to tear into him again. The albino jumped up as the heads smashed into a building. Airaxen formed his cannon over his right arm and pointed it downwards, raining blasts of energy from the sky. However each attack had no effect on the beast’s armor, the attack was simply deflected. Airaxen was shocked by the turn of events, the beast simply charged up into the air, totally unfazed. The albino stripped himself of his cannon to have both of his arms again and at the last second countered two of the heads that were coming at him, one hand to stop one head, and he was successful in the maneuver. But with its third head it came in and bit into his left shoulder. The albino let out a loud grunt of pain, trying to hold back from crying out, he had to focus in escaping the situation instead.

With a burst of strength Airaxen forced the two heads he was holding back straight into the one that had bit into him, the result being stunning all three heads of the beast, Airaxen able to pull himself free. He rotated his body in midair and kicked off of the beast to land on a nearby roof. From that attack Airaxen had a massive gash in his shoulder, the blue vines underneath visible and damaged.

::Damn, this isn’t good,:: Airaxen growled mentally. ::My sword won’t help against its armor, neither will my cannon! So now what…:: He didn’t have much time to think on the matter as the tail of the mecha dragon came flying at him. The albino leapt back to avoid the attack, then peered behind him, taking note of something on the ground.

Airaxen did a back flip off of the roof and landed in the middle of the deserted streets once again. The albino quickly ran over to the object of his attention: a fully loaded semi-truck with a full tank of gasoline attached to it. He placed both arms underneath the hulking vehicle and then with some difficulty Airaxen lifted the entire vehicle up and clear over his head. The mechanical dragon didn’t hesitate whatsoever to attack again. Airaxen struggled for a moment and then with a burst of strength, launched the hulking vehicle straight at the three mechanical heads. Before the dragon could react, it was struck by the massive object, the truck and its cargo exploding in a fiery blaze that lit up the sky.

With the entire area set in flames, the metal body of the leviathan began to heat up and glow red, just as Airaxen had hoped. With the mechanical beast distracted Airaxen dug in with his feet and then pointed his right arm up at the central connection of all three heads.

Airaxen flexed his right hand and in a flash the skin and armor over his arm suddenly broke apart and fluttered away like pieces of cloth. Underneath the limb were masses of intertwining blue vines that formed Airaxen’s entire body. From each open crevasse in between the vines a white light began to emerge until it was as bright as the sun itself. At which point the vines began to unravel and shift about.

::With that fire heating up that machine’s armor, it’s become more susceptible to my attacks. A full discharge should be what I need to get rid of this thing,:: Airaxen mused, his right arm still reshaping itself. As the vines continued to move around a ball of light could be seen growing within the mass. It didn’t take long for the albino’s arm to turn itself into a strange cannon, its design intricate with almost wing-like structures coming off of it at his shoulder joint.

Airaxen then sneered, letting loose a straight beam of pure untainted white light. His attack cleaved clean through the machine, striking right in the center where all three of the heads were connected. The beast, already weakened and stunned by the fire was no match for Airaxen’s attack, his beam shredding it apart, the heads, wings and body all crumbling to the ground in pieces.

The albino laughed quietly to himself, falling down onto one knee, his weapon breaking back down into his right arm.

“So now what?” He wondered quietly.

* * *

Another week passed by since Airaxen destroyed the mechanical monster, and while the city was still trying to recover from all that had happened, Airaxen picked up on life as if nothing happened.

“Are you sure we can’t convince you to stay?” Father Franz asked, the albino nodding. Airaxen had recovered from his injuries and stood outside of the church in the rain which had started again. With his armor repaired and cloak fluttering slightly, the albino appeared to be dead set on leaving once again. The entire church’s staff had gathered to see him off, a number of them also feeling a bit guilty for driving the hero off.

“No, I’m afraid not,” Airaxen replied solemnly.

“Are you sure?” Father Franz pressed on, the albino nodded. Tikai, who had also joined in to see the albino off, suddenly grabbed him by the shoulder before he could leave.

“Wait! I know we did stupid things to you, but you can’t just leave like this! You have to understand-” Tikai was cut off when he suddenly grabbed her hand. She winced slightly, half expecting him to start crushing it again but he simply examined it carefully.

“I must understand that humans will act outside of the bounds of reason at times. It is something that just can’t be helped. After all, it’s only human to be irrational,” Airaxen mused, letting go of Tikai’s hand.

“I’ll be back soon, but for now I want to investigate the origin of that mecha. When I’m done I’ll return here, it is after all, my home,” Airaxen declared, a thin smile forming over his features. He waved at them and left the church, laughing under his breath.

* * *

The weather stayed the same after Airaxen left the church once more, still raining and dreary. The albino had left far away from the urban stronghold, and was wandering through the forest in his damp and rather soggy cloak.

It took a long time for Airaxen to find the exact spot in the forest he was looking for. Within the forest there were a number of mountains, simply there for some reason, giving them a rather unnatural appearance. Within one of the mountains was Airaxen’s birthplace, a deserted and demolished laboratory.

::My memory is faint, but the last time I came here I destroyed this place…I wonder if it’s all really gone…:: Airaxen wondered, in the back of his mind there was fear that it wasn’t all gone yet.

Although for the most part Airaxen’s memory was fragmented, he did recall upon the feelings of death in the structure. But he shook it off, he had to continue onward.

He finally found what he was looking for, the entrance to the abandoned lab which was blocked off by rocks and large pieces of twisted metal. Airaxen didn’t have any difficulty in shoving the debris out of the way to uncover the barely standing door. It was charred black and covered in scorch marks from the explosion and fire that followed it years ago. The albino moved the doors apart with his hands, the loud groaning of bending metal echoed through the air as he did so.

Airaxen stepped back into the laboratory and marvelled at what he saw. It was as if time forgot about it, nothing had changed in the last four years. The laboratory was covered in burn marks everywhere, many things were just laying on the floor with shards of glass and metals. He cringed as he looked around, whereas he couldn’t remember most of his past, he had the faint impression of what had transpired in the dark workstation.

Airaxen immediately halted his movement when the voice came back. The albino growling angrily at it.

“Keep quiet. You, are not allowed to speak!” Airaxen ordered, the voice not objecting to the demand. The albino, satisfied with the obedient behaviour, continued moving through the laboratory. As he went in deeper he noticed the abundance of shattered glass capsules laying around, among them were strange burnt masses of organic material.

::It looks like nothing survived here…But…Could he still be alive?:: Airaxen wondered darkly, hoping against all odds it wouldn’t be the case. Suddenly he heard a loud crash coming from within the darkness in front of him. Airaxen didn’t let it startle him too much, but it was enough for him to lift his left arm up and materialize his cannon. Underneath the barrel there was a light that clicked on, illuminating his path and the source of the noise. However, there was nothing there except a pile of metal against the wall.

The albino let out a low growling as he tried to figure out what had caused the noise. Airaxen looked around and was still unable to locate the sources, assuming it was nothing more than part of the old lab falling to the ground.

Airaxen took a deep breath and then gathered his wits to press onwards. He turned to the side and through a doorway to find himself in what appeared to be the main experimenting room. In it were countless shattered glass capsules, each one covered in dry fluid that used to be in the container. Airaxen continued through, moving his cannon around to illuminate the area bit by bit. He paused for a moment as he recalled on what he might’ve done in the past, thanks to what had transpired in the laboratory.

Airaxen leaned against a wall for a moment, recalling upon his dreams, covered in the blood of the innocent. He didn’t remember the deed, but without any proof he didn’t commit the deed, he wasn’t sure what to think. Nor did he really want to.

::Still nothing. It looks like this place is empty after that explosion…Bah, I should destroy this place for good,:: Airaxen pondered, to change his train of thought before it began to engross him. Airaxen began to lower his weapon and eased up slightly as he came to the opposite wall in the room, leaving him with no other part of the lab left to explore. Confident that the lab truly was empty, he decided it was best to leave the lab before anymore thoughts could creep into his mind.

Suddenly another crash occurred behind him. The albino spun around to find something strange. Sitting on top of a large piece of jagged metal was a pitch black owl. It was currently facing away from Airaxen, quietly hooting to itself. The albino pointed his light right at the owl, causing it to look straight at him, the sight was enough to cause Airaxen to leap back.

The owl was certainly not natural, it had only one eye situated in the very center of its head, the eye was that of a human. The eye was not only startling, but was glowing red, gazing upon Airaxen dangerously. The strange creature continued to hoot and then flew straight at Airaxen, who didn’t have to hesitate to fire a blast of energy at the creature. It splattered into tiny black masses, leaving Airaxen startled and unsettled.

“Be patient,” a voice suddenly echoed. The voice came from nowhere and everywhere at the same time, its tone was deep and foreboding, enough to send all of Airaxen’s nerves on alert. “I don’t need you yet. For now, let this entertain you,” with that the voice ceased.

The walls suddenly began to seep black liquid from them, pooling in the center of the room. Airaxen leapt away and opened fire upon the black liquid, however none of his attacks affected it. The albino glowered at the substance for a moment before deciding it would be best to start making his retreat.

The albino began to move back, continuing to fire shots at the mass as it grew in size and began to rise up.

::Damnit! I didn’t know that something like this could be built! What kind of mecha is this?!:: Airaxen tried to figure out, trying to break through the entity but with no avail. Each one of his shots simply exploded on contact and did nothing to the body, it would simply regenerate whatever portion was destroyed. The albino was having trouble keeping away from the mass as it began to move faster and finally shape itself a proper body.

Airaxen had finally left the lab and was back in the raining night, right behind him was the entity, now shaped like the owl that he first encountered. It soared up into the air and let out an ear-splitting screech.

The albino spun around to face the creature, deciding to let his cannon dematerialize. The black owl blinked its eye and then let out a blast of red light, aimed straight at Airaxen.

The albino leapt back and was up against a tree after avoiding the blast. He then kicked off of the trunk of the tree to shoot straight up at the owl, bringing his sword around to slash off its left wing with ease. The owl recoiled from the attack, crashing to the ground. Airaxen landed a ways from the beast, watching as the wing he took off turned into black liquid and seeped across the ground to the body and reattach itself.

Airaxen growled under his breath, unsure of how to battle such a creature. No matter how much damage it sustained, the bird could simply regenerate the damaged areas. But he didn’t have much time to think about the matter as the owl took flight again and fired another blast of energy downwards. Airaxen dashed into the forest to avoid the attack and obstruct the owl’s view of him.

Airaxen stopped behind a tree, watching as the owl flew by in search of him. The albino let out the breath he was holding in, slumping down slightly as he did so. He put his sword away once again and glanced at his right arm, flexing his hand somewhat.

“If I need Soul Limit again, I had better know where to aim to destroy that thing…” Airaxen murmured under his breath. He lowered his right arm and then raised his left arm, forming its cannon and then scanned the skies for a sign of where the beast had gotten too. Airaxen spotted it heading towards the city, screeching as it did so. It appeared the bird wasn’t happy trying to find the albino to destroy.

Airaxen growled under his breath, he didn’t expect the creature to actively seek things to destroy. The albino began to dash after it, pointing his cannon up and opening fire to try and get its attention. His blasts were all well aimed, taking chunks out of the bird, but none of it seemed to catch its attention as it continued towards civilization.

The albino growled again, leaping into the air and moving his cloak out of his way to have it flutter behind him. He got as close to the owl as he could, now able to see the head of the beast with its great big eye. He spun around to look straight up at it and then began to blast up at the eye, the owl suddenly paying heed to him and performed a barrel roll to evade the attack.

Airaxen sneered to himself, knowing the weak point of the creature. He fell back down among the trees, going back to dashing along as he concocted a plan.

For the citizens of the city, they were able to see the black creature soaring through the air, and it instantly lead to mass hysteria. After just being attacked by the three-headed dragon, the city was not ready for a gigantic black owl to rain death onto it.

Airaxen growled, he was barely able to keep up with the avian, and it had breached into the city limits while he was still a good few hundred meters behind it. The owl wasted no time in blasting the facility with beams from its eye, quickly shredding through the buildings faster than the previous attacker.

The albino had finally caught up to the beast, but not before it was able to wreak havoc to a fairly large portion of the city, setting it ablaze despite the rain. Airaxen looked around the area to see what he had to work with, which was just a number of partially standing buildings. It wasn’t much but for what he planned it would be enough. Airaxen leapt up onto the closest building and began to run straight up it, leaping from it to a somewhat taller building, something closer up in altitude to the entity.

The owl halted for a moment and turned around to see Airaxen running up along the side of the building towards it. The beast let out a deafening screech and then let loose another red beam at Airaxen. He saw the bright light coming towards him, so in response he kicked off of the damaged building and leapt straight up into the air before he would be hit by the attack.

Airaxen’s leap sent him high above even where the owl was situated, the bird suddenly confused by what had just happened. The albino glared down at the beast, blasting down at the eye with his left arm cannon. The owl sustained the damage with ease since Airaxen’s attacks didn’t strike it in the eye it paid no heed to what Airaxen was trying to do; stun it.

::Now! Before it can recover fully!:: Airaxen declared, his cannon leaving him in an instant as he shoved his right arm forward. He gritted his teeth and forced the armor and whatever else over the limb to flutter off into the wind. Airaxen’s arm rapidly began to shape shift into its cannon form, the wings and barrel of the weapon emerging from the limb.

“Soul Limit!” Airaxen cried out, from the weapon a beam of radiant white light erupted. The owl wasn’t prepared for the attack and was easily hit in the eye with Airaxen’s ultimate technique, the entire entity collapsing.

The owl’s body began to evaporate into black steam, Airaxen proud that he was able to halt the beast’s rampage. Although he did turn a blind eye to the massive destructive power his own attack had. The albino reached back with his left arm to grab his cloak, then brought it in front of himself to make it into a makeshift parachute to descend with.

“I think I’m done investigating for now…” Airaxen mused to himself, but suddenly sneezed for some reason unknown to him. Airaxen sniffled for a moment and then rubbed his nose with his hand. “I think I’ve been in the rain too long…”

Off in the distance were Father Franz, Sister Valeria and Tikai, all of which were out getting groceries and supplies to repair the church with. But the light show definitely got their attention.

“Does he ever just walk into town or something? Can’t come back here without destroying something first?” Tikai commented, shaking her head and letting out an audible sigh.

“Well…” Father Franz began, pausing to think of a plausible explanation. “I like to think of him as a very spirited young man,” he offered as his point of view. Sister Valeria however snorted at his comment.

“At least things will be more lively with him back,” Sister Valeria pointed out, however none of them were ‘lively’ enough to keep up with the albino.

* * *

Airaxen quickly left the battlefield before any of the media could arrive, heading off towards the church. However he didn’t realize the increased level of paranoia the city developed, finding he had to stop and sneak through armed officers as he tried to leave ground zero. The albino however wasn’t able to sneak past everyone. A number of the officers stopped him suddenly, Airaxen deciding it would be best to remain somewhat inconspicuous despite his silver hair and the tattered cloak. He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head slightly to look confused.

“Is something the matter…?” Airaxen asked innocently, the officers in front of him approaching him slowly.

“Please come with us,” one of them ordered. Airaxen let out a low growl as his plan to try and use his silver tongue to escape the situation. He stealth fully moved his right hand underneath his cloak and gripped the hilt of his sword.

“Well, I’d rather-” Airaxen was cut off when someone suddenly reached under his cloak and grabbed him by the left hand. He looked over only to find it to be Tikai, slightly out of breath and holding an umbrella in the other hand.

“There you are!” Tikai exclaimed, giving off a smile and wink, along with it a stomp to his foot. Airaxen winced and held back a yelp, glancing over at her tentatively. The blonde shifted her glance towards the officers and smiled yet again.

“Thanks for finding him, the church wouldn’t know what to do without its cleaning boy,” she explained quickly, Airaxen suddenly contemplating the use of his sword. “You see when that monster attacked we were separated so we’ll be leaving now,” Tikai ranted onwards, quickly dragged the albino off before any of the officials could object.

When they had left the general area and met back up with Father Franz and Sister Valeria, Airaxen quickly broke free from Tikai’s grip. He grunted and looked away from the girl, letting out a quiet sigh.

“Before I leave you want me to stay, I come back and you stomp my foot into the ground, what do you want from me?!” Airaxen grumbled. Tikai shrugged and kept walking along, Father Franz apologizing for what happened.

“Out of fairness, we were all worried about you when you left. So it doesn’t look very good when we saw that owl,” Father Franz explained, giving him a pat on the shoulder. “Well, nonetheless it’s good to see you again,” he expressed, also starting to walk back to the church with the others.

However, Airaxen and Father Franz intentionally moved slower than the two women, hanging back and allowing the distance between them to increase. The two did it intentionally, only Father Franz knew the extent of Airaxen’s dark past, and Airaxen wanted it like that.

“What did you learn?” Father Franz muttered quietly, Airaxen pausing for a moment before responding.

“I learned that there is some very strange things happening. And I mean beyond the slough of mechas appearing,” Airaxen replied just as quietly. He was about to continue speaking, but suddenly noticed that Tikai was glancing over her shoulder, straight at Airaxen, her eyes full of suspicion. The albino suddenly decided to stay silent and waited for her to look back around.

“Father, we’ll talk about this later,” Airaxen stated, Father Franz also catching wind of Tikai’s gaze.

Tikai gave Airaxen another glance and then decided to leave the matter be for awhile.

::I wonder if I can find anything else out…:: Tikai schemed, a thin grin forming on her face, Sister Valeria catching note of it and shifting away from the girl slightly.

* * *

Airaxen paused for a moment as he once again had the feeling that he was being watched. He had just returned to the church no less than an hour ago, and for the whole time it felt like someone was almost stalking him. But whenever he tried to find them, there was no one. He found the feeling to be the most unsettling when he felt it as he changed from his cloak and armor to generic clothing.

The albino gave the area one more glance and then continued walking along. Unbeknownst to him, Tikai was the person stalking Airaxen, hiding in small corners concealed by the shadows of the night. It wasn’t too hard to evade him, it was late at night so it gave her plenty of places to hide. However, because of the time, Tikai was wondering why anyone would still be awake, even her.

::What is he doing still awake? It’s almost midnight!:: Tikai wondered, still following Airaxen as he seemed to venture aimlessly. Finally Airaxen stopped in front of a door and opened it quietly. Tikai raised an eyebrow and ventured to guess at what he was doing, and then he came back out with a mop and bucket.

::What is he…?:: Tikai was more than intrigued at what Airaxen just did, he then looked no more than an overly dressed janitor. Airaxen twirled the mop around and began to fill the bucket up with clean water. The blonde was amazed to see the fighter prepare to just clean like an ordinary bum.

Airaxen however didn’t seem to mind the menial labour, humming to himself quietly as he began cleaning the floors of the church. Tikai watched him as he did so, confused at why he was doing it.

::So strange…For someone full of that much angst he’s…Strange…:: Tikai concluded, leaning up against a wall when suddenly a mop was dropped into her lap. She was startled to find Airaxen looking down at her, however it was the fact that he looked tranquil and even on the edge of gentle.

“If you wanted to talk, you could’ve just asked,” Airaxen pointed out, Tikai nodding slightly as she stood back up. She was caught and was quickly running excuses and explanations she could use to throw Airaxen off. However he didn’t appear entirely concerned with the reason.

“Since you’re still up, you’ll help me out,” Airaxen stated, Tikai agreeing since it was an easy way to get off the hook. The two then commenced in mopping the church floors, remaining in silence for awhile, neither of them feeling entirely comfortable in speaking.

“Uh…You know, back there, when I called you the cleaning boy, I really didn’t mean it, Airaxen,” Tikai suddenly spewed out, trying to break the silence.

“Yes, I know. I do this every night,” Airaxen explained, walking back over to the bucket and cleaning his mop for another use.

“But the church is gigantic! When do you get to sleep?” Tikai inquired, Airaxen pausing and then shrugging.

“I don’t,” Airaxen answered quickly, Tikai confused by the reply.

“You don’t sleep? But after all of that fighting you do…” Tikai mentioned, Airaxen just answering with a shrug of his shoulders.

“I know. It takes almost everything out of me to fight like that. But it doesn’t matter, I can still force my body to continue,” Airaxen declared. Tikai looked over at the albino and frowned, he didn’t show the fatigue but he probably felt it.

“When was the last time you slept?” Tikai asked, Airaxen thinking for a moment.

“About two weeks ago, I think,” he said, waving the response off as if it were nothing to him. Tikai sighed and shook her head, stopping in her cleaning.

“It’s dangerous to do things like this, Airaxen. I mean, I’ve seen the kind of hits you take out there, what if you…” Tikai suddenly trailed off, unwilling to complete the thought. Airaxen however didn’t have such a hesitation.

“Die?” Airaxen finished, laughing slightly. Tikai looking over at the albino who shrugged it off and continued mopping. “I don’t care. I can’t rest until…” Airaxen paused and decided to leave his sentence unfinished. Continuing in his cleaning casually.

“Until what?” Tikai pressed on, Airaxen ignoring the question.

“Nothing. Just keep working, the church is very large,” he dismissed, the blonde frowning at him. She put her mop against the wall and then took Airaxen’s away from him as well. Tikai then sat down on the ground against the wall, motioning for Airaxen to do the same. He wasn’t sure of it at first but decided to sit down next to the girl, not like he required to clean the church floors anyway.

“Well, what is it?” Airaxen inquired, Tikai simply shrugging back.

“Life isn’t always about doing something big and life altering. Take it easy, lets just talk,” Tikai suggested. Airaxen wasn’t entirely sure of the statement but was somewhat curious what she had in mind, so he didn’t argue.

“What is there to talk about then?” Airaxen asked, stretching out his legs and arms for a moment. Tikai shrugged and thought for awhile.

“How about a proper introduction?” She insisted, Airaxen chuckling slightly.

“What do you want from me? Isn’t my name enough?” Airaxen laughed, Tikai pushing him slightly.

“Come on, a proper introduction!” Tikai insisted again, Airaxen thinking on how to approach the request. Finally he just shrugged and began speaking.

“What is there to say? Four years ago I came into existence. My body is made from machines and human genetics, I remind myself of a plant really. Oh, my name is Airaxen,” he joked, the albino glanced at his talking companion and she didn’t seem to be thinking about his little joke.

“What is it? Did I upset you?” Airaxen asked, becoming a bit worried that he might’ve done something wrong. Tikai suddenly snapped out of her mild trance and smiled weakly at the albino.

“No, I just remembered something. It was four years ago when I started coming to the church…” Tikai trailed off for a moment, eyes loosing their youthful energy. But before Airaxen could inquire more into the change of demeanor, she changed the subject.

“Why haven’t you been able to sleep, Airaxen?” Tikai suddenly questioned, the albino not detecting the change in topics away from herself.

“Nightmares,” Airaxen replied, glancing away from the girl.

“What kind of nightmares?” Tikai inquired, Airaxen however decided to end the conversation, his nerves beginning to fray when he thought about the nightmares. Tikai also stood up but grabbed onto his shoulder to halt him.

“Come on, you can trust me!” She said, Airaxen glancing over his shoulder and giving her a quizzical stare. “Oh come on! You really can trust me!” She reassured. Airaxen scoffing at the comment and walking back over to his mop.

“My nightmares…Haha…They’re too bloody for me,” Airaxen muttered. Tikai looking more concerned when she heard the comment.

“Tell me about them, Airaxen…” Tikai asked again, the albino ignoring her casually. “Airaxen! Come on!” Tikai tried again, the albino still continuing to mop the floor silently. But before she could try again, he spoke up.

“Why are so concerned about me? We don’t even know each other,” Airaxen pointed out.

“Does it matter? Besides, you’re more interesting to figure out than anyone else here,” Tikai retorted. Airaxen laughed at the response.

“So I’m a puzzle? I hope it’s something cultured like a rubrics cube,” Airaxen joked.

“What’s this? The dark brooding albino has a sense of humour?” Tikai mocked, the albino snorting at the remark.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Airaxen perked up, shooting a glance at the blonde. He let out a quiet sigh and shook his head slightly. “You shouldn’t be so reckless. It’ll cost your life one day, Tikai,” Airaxen warned, eyes sinking slightly.

“Ah, it doesn’t matter! I’ll do what I want, it’s my life after all!” Tikai stated. Airaxen let out a thin scowl and then another sigh.

“To risk your own life like that is no way to live,” Airaxen lectured, the girl giving him a strange look in return.

“You’re not one to talk, you know. Fighting battles and just scraping by with the skin of your teeth. Shouldn’t you take some of your own advice?” Tikai shot back, Airaxen ceasing up and lowering his head slightly.

“The luxury of a simple life is something I can’t afford. I need to keep fighting for now. Especially with the onset of these new machines appearing,” Airaxen explained. He decided to stop cleaning for a moment to lean against the wall and think. Tikai felt bad for upsetting the albino but he seemed to recover quickly enough as he straightened up.

“Alright, I’ll be able to finish cleaning on my own. Get some rest,” Airaxen instructed. Tikai frowned but caught the hint.

“Ok, take it easy there. You should get some sleep too,” She recommended, the albino nodding his head slowly.

“I’ll consider it,” Airaxen replied, going back to mopping the floors silently. Tikai began to walk away but paused for a moment, looking over her shoulder at the albino who looked rather sad at the moment. She felt like going back to continue talking but decided to leave for her room instead.

Airaxen finished mopping the church floors in rather short time, for him it only took an hour since he didn’t tire from the task. However he felt like he was at the end of his rope. The albino looked at the clock, it was nearing 1 A.M.

He decided against trying to rest and live through another of his nightmares, it would after all, be just seven more hours until someone else was awake. He stood around for awhile and then decided to take a walk through the city, without the armor, the sword or cloak, just as a casual trip. It would be enough to pass the time and clear his mind.

The man left the church silently, wandering through the quiet city streets like he used to. The city itself was silent, no rain, no footsteps, no cars, just silence. However, as Airaxen went further from the church the cityscape became more damaged, buildings crumbling and falling apart. They were all roped off, and to Airaxen’s surprise, there were city workers toiling away to clear out rubble and start reconstruction.

The albino felt somewhat responsible as his eyes fell upon a gigantic crater in the concrete that was a direct result of his last use of the Soul Limit manoeuvre. He approached the construction site quietly, a number of the workers giving him strange looks.

“Hey, kid! It’s dangerous here!” The foreman shouted, Airaxen nodding and decided he’d turn away and continue walking.

::I think I should go somewhere else…:: Airaxen thought quietly, closing his eyes and letting out a sigh.

::I…Don’t belong here…I destroy more than I can protect…I’m just a weapon really…:: Airaxen mused sadly, pausing to think for a moment then continued walking along.

High above the city, on top of a crooked barely standing structure in the damaged sector of the city was a strange thing.

A tall dark skinned man stood on the structure, standing tall and looking down on the destroyed city with a bored expression. He had long black hair that was tied in a ponytail and was down to his waist. The rest of his hair was spiked and dangled at angles. The man’s eyes were a deep crimson red that emitted a strong presence.

He was adorned in a navy blue suit of blue armor, on his right forearm was a large cannon that was in the shape of a wolf’s head, the barrel of the weapon being its mouth. On his back he also carried two finely crafted katana swords.

He looked down at the street, watching Airaxen slowly walking through the streets, the man snarling under his breath.

“You’re still alive after all you’ve done to me…Against my will or not, this will be finished at long last,” he uttered under his breath with a deep resonating voice.

Airaxen paused for a moment as his nerves suddenly flared to life, the albino looking around only to find that he was completely alone. However a large slab of concrete came tumbling down to the earth with a mighty crash.

He looked up to the night sky, scanning it for signs of what caused the rock to just fall. And it wasn’t hard to find it. At the top of a nearly collapsed building was a man. In the corner of Airaxen’s mind, a spark went off as he suddenly had an all too familiar feeling lurked into the forefront of his mind, something wasn’t right, and it had something to do with that strange man.

“Who are you?!” Airaxen demanded, voice echoing throughout the night. The man shifted from his position and then took a step off of the structure, descending down to the ground below. He drifted through the air, downwards, as he did so he pulled out one of his swords. Airaxen caught the glint of moonlight reflecting off of the sword’s blade, the albino leaping back just as the weapon sliced into the ground with devastating force, slabs of concrete being forced upwards by the simple blade.

Airaxen watched as the man pulled the weapon out of the ground with ease, taking note that not even the blade was damaged by such an attack.

“I didn’t think you were still alive,” he began, looking at Airaxen with his red eyes. “I don’t understand why you went rogue. Destroying our master…It doesn’t matter…” as Airaxen listened a few of his memories seemed to resurface. Airaxen faintly recalled knowing who the stranger was, but he suddenly felt like it was being shut off from him.

“So you know who I am?” Airaxen questioned, la