Mikleo 3

7.5

Nayla can not remember much of when it happened that night. It felt as if she was watching someone else doing all of those things, yet she knows that she is somehow partaking in it as well. Perhaps it is because the consciousness of her mother that was also reacting to her will, thus ended up guiding her through the whole process.

Either way, it is too late to regret it now. The damage has been done, and she can never go back. Blood is already in her hands. Hero or not, she is a killer. He might not be human, but it still does not mean that it was okay for her to make justice by herself and kill him. Mikleo was right all along.

Yet, if she had not had done it, someone else would have to carry that burden. Better her than anyone else, Nayla thinks. This is the only resolve that manages to get her through the nightmares. At least she can carry this burden for someone else. That is the only redeemable thought that she has, and the girl carries it along with her like a candlelight in a storm she calls her conscience.

Nayla does not think that anyone else is going to understand this way of her thinking, so the girl ends up carrying this burden all to herself.

. . . . .

They are so distracted in trying to get the girl cured that they are not even aware of it when her spirit is depleting so much from blaming herself for the death of Lumiere. The guy might not be around, but he still causes problems for people. Will they ever leap through the ghost of his malevolence?

The five of them are sitting around a campfire, the props lying around them looking a bit too much for a girl that is traveling alone to the mortal eyes.

Mikleo and Nayla are sitting at one side, while the other three seraphs are talking to themselves, most probably in a deep discussion on their next steps, speculating precautions and all. They are only the five of them and the two horse pulling their carriage in the middle of this forest. They have to be extra cautious, especially since they are heading towards paths that are rarely passed through by anyone else except wild beasts.

This is not the first time that he sees his the girl — his girlfriend, he corrects himself (he is still trying to get used to the new title) — being his depressed. At first he suspects that it is just because she is stressing over not making any progress in her learning as of late. He knows that she cares about this world, even though it has never given her much.

She has her father to be worried about (and hopefully, he is important enough to be concerned by her). Not that him or any of them are using any method to guilt-trip her into training. The girl decided on that by herself. Mikleo admires her spirit for learning. If it were any other person, they would not have been so willing to help. After all, they don’t even know the exact scale of what they are supposed to fight against. The prophecy — just like any prophecies — has been very vague on the details.

“Hey, you okay?” He places a hand gently on her lap.

Nayla does not turn to him immediately, but she nods her respond.

“As okay as I can ever be, I guess,” she replies solemnly. She is still not looking at him, so Mikleo makes it his mission to really study her facial expression.

That is when he really takes a good look at her. The color on her cheeks are gone, lesser than before, even despite the glowing orange light that is shining upon their skin. Her condition is getting worse. They are running by a clock. If they want her to get any better, they have to quickly obtain the mystical flower that the girl’s father had mentioned.

“Here, have some water.” He hands her over a traveling drinking bottle.

“Thanks,” she rasps, only now realizing how dry her throat has been.

Mikleo waits for some good moments before starting to ask the questions.

“Okay, what’s going on in that mind of yours?”

“Well, you know, probably what everyone else is thinking. Getting stronger, saving the world, getting the cure—”

“Is that really all?”

“Should there be anything else?”

The white-blue haired gives her a look.

“Okay, maybe a little bit.”

“Ha! I knew it. There is no way you make that sour faces this whole time just because the world is at stake!”

“Hey! Now you’re making it sound like I don’t care enough about my duties,” she says, scowling at the water seraph.

“Haha, just kidding. But seriously, what’s getting you so stressed up?” He feels like there should be more than what it seems.

“Well, you know, the usual. You were right before, when you warned me about getting revenge.”

“So you’re regretting your choice now.”

“Yes, but not entirely.” She looks ahead to the spot where the other three seraphs occupies. Lailah notices her staring, and the fire seraph sends the brunette a reassuring smile, before returning her attention to the other guys. “I don’t really regret killing him. He killed plenty of our friends and family. I’m still not sure if he deserved to be ended like that, but we all agree that he must be stopped. If it was not me, someone else would have taken my place. Someone else would still need to taint their hands with blood. Having to take that burden of that someone else relieves me a little bit, somehow,” she sighs.

“Well, that’s a noble way of thinking about it. I’m glad that you are no longer entirely blaming yourself for this. I shouldn’t be so hard on you as well. I’m sorry about that,” he says.

“Oh, what’s this? You are apologizing? The stubborn, hard-headed Mikleo?” She can not help but teases him with a grin smile on her face for this. They usually always have to argue whenever they speak with each other. And to be honest, she kinda misses arguing with him a little bit.

Mikleo scoffs at the girl, though she can not help but find this new expression of him cute also. “It’s not like I can’t reasonably compromise for a change. Besides, you’re still sick now, so just think of it as a free pass for now. Don’t think I’m gonna hold back next time though.”

“Well, maybe I don’t want you to,” she says, sticking out her tongue playfully.

“Why you—” Mikleo looks at her bewilderedly, yet not knowing what to do. This dating thing is new to him. He really shouldn’t be picking fights with her, right? But speaking to this girl only makes him want to bicker with her more. Nayla always finds a way to test his patience for some reasons, even when he is good to her.

She is glad that they have this conversation though. It makes her feels less guilty after talking about it. Just a little bit.

Nayla skips through as she heads back to their carriage to get some stuff out, a tingle of warmness spreading through her heart as she goes. Yes, definitely much better.

“Hey, where are you going?” the boy asks her from behind, catching up.

“I’m gonna take out some blankets.”

“Don’t do that. Let me. You need to save your energy.”

“Oh geez, Mikleo, I’m exhausted because I use my elemental powers, not because of labor tasks.”

“Well, you’ll never know. You stop arguing with me and just sit back down. I’ll go get the blanket.”

She has no idea how, but the boy is being sweet and annoying at the same time to her. Nayla snuffles, bringing her hands to her waist as she watches him go. She feels the need to prove to him otherwise, but decides to let it go this time. After all, what is the use of fighting over who gets to get the blankets out?

“Is that all?” she asks when he walks out with a pile of large blankets in his arms.

“Yeah, that should cover all of us.”

They hand over the blanket to Edna and the others, careful enough not to get the fabrics caught on fire, before settling back to their previous spots.

Nayla has a blanket wrapped around her, yet she can still the coldness of the night breeze. Mikleo moves and positions himself behind her, wrapping himself and his own blanket over her. Nayla can feel the earth seraph chuckling at the adorable display of affection. Her cheeks burn as she makes herself focus into staring at the fire. Mikleo does not say anything, only allowing his arms to wrap around the girl.

“Still cold?” he asks.

“Not anymore,” she says.

She takes the time taking in his warmness, noting on his usually alluring scent of lavender. She can never get tired of his scent.

Nayla scoops back to lay herself against his chest, getting comfortable. Somehow, this feels like. They might verbally spat at each other, but she knows that she can trust him.

“Don’t push yourself too hard.”

“I’m just trying to help a little. Besides, I don’t think it’s going to hurt me. My human body also needs to exercise more, especially after being cooped up inside the carriage the entire day.”

“That’s an understanding argument, but—”

“There are still other things I am concerned with though,” she says, changing the subject. They’ll never hear the end of it if she lets him continues. “Like about practicing—”

“We’ll have to postpone that until we get you better. There is no point in learning how to save the world when you’re dead.” His tone sounds harsher than he intends it to be, but they both know that it is an inevitable fact that they must face.

“I’m not gonna die,” she tells him.

“But you will, if you push yourself too hard.”

She can feel eyes staring at their direction. The others must have heard Mikleo as well. Well, that was fast. One moment they are making an understanding, and the next moment they are getting all serious and depressed once again, Mikleo reminding them of the solemn situation they got at hand.

“And how about saving the world? I won’t be able to do anything if I just stand back all the while.”

“We can’t risk it now, but I promise you, once we get the cure, we can practice as much as you want.”

“You make it sound like I am doing this for myself.”

“You sound so cute when you’re trying to save the world.” That complement totally comes out of the left field. Nayla almost instinctively tries to turn around, but his body keeps her still. She knows that heat is rising onto his cheeks though, just like how it does to hers.

Yep, sweet and annoying.

They spend the night sleeping outside, watching the stars sparkle from the night sky as they try to wonder to sleep. The other female seraphs sleep next to her, Lailah to her left and Edna to her left. It feels nice being surrounded by friends like this. Nayla has never had a sleepover before, and this kinda feels like that. The idea gets her excited. The girls make small talks before slowly drifting to sleep, all the while making sure that they do not mention any heavy topics.

They are being overly careful with her. She can understand their concerns, but she also wants them to share with her. After all, she is no more involved with this than they are. Even much more than them, in fact, since she is the main subject for this entire mission.

She thinks that she can probably get used to it soon, but being around strangers will feel strange, no matter how fascinated one is with the idea of a sleep over. Nayla tries to ignore the feeling, brushing off the way their scents rather overwhelm her. She is so used to being asleep alone this whole time. Except with Mikleo, who has been finding ways to lying against her from time to time again, the girl has never felt comfortable around strangers.

She had been so used to sleeping alone ever since her mother died. Her dad wanted her to be more independent, so he asked her to practice sleeping alone every night. It was rather cold and lonely at first, but her younger self just got used to it after a while. She still longs for her mother’s gentle touch during the night, who she knows occasionally checks on her when her mother thought that Nayla is sound asleep. She is a light sleeper, so she can tell when someone is around.

Nayla almost flinches in her sleep when she can feel a shadow moving above her. A hand pats on her head, and the girl is almost compelled to open her eyes. This hand. It belongs to Mikleo, no doubt. He is probably worried about her.

She lets him brush a couple of strands of her face, patting her head silently before leaving, heading back to his own sleeping spot. He probably noticed how worked up she is, even though the girl tries hard not to let it show. It is touch how he manages to notice the smallest things about her, and Nayla can not help but starting to fall in love with him.

Maybe this is not such a bad thing after all. This whole dating thing.

. . . . .

Mikleo leads them to an ancient looking temple when the day comes, leading them into a whole new path through a secret entrance. They had to abandon their carriage, but it is not like they will need to take it with them since they are almost there anyway, according to the water seraph. The architecture inside is way bigger than what they had first expected.

Lailah had been living alone in her own temple when her previous Shepherd had died, and she was not that much of a traveled since then. It was a quite a long time ago. Meanwhile, Edna and Zaveid originated from another seraph village from far away land, but they had not known the path to this one, or has ever had the chance to be show by a seraph of its village. So overall this has been quite an exciting rare opportunity for them all.

Nayla knows that she had been here before, but seeing through someone else’s memory and actually experiencing the place on her own is completely different. When she recalled her memory through the help of the circlet, it was her mother’s power that activate the visions in her head. At another time, her own memory was also returned, and she recalled some hazy details of her brief visit to this place.

The followed the path that has runic covered stony walls all the way past the indoor waterfall, before sleeping through another secret entrance.

The vast green land that lays before them is beyond magnificent. After days of being cooped out inside the carriage, passing through forest and forest, this lively field beings a refreshing new sight for sore eyes. Nayla knows that she is not the only one who is at awe of the sight though. She can hear Zaveid whistles from behind them, Edna opens her umbrella to block some of the sunlight, and Lailah following them in clam steps.

“You wouldn’t be able to enter through here if you are not guided by a residence,” Mikleo informs them.

“So does that mean just about anyone can go in? Even humans?” Nayla asks with wonder.

“Well technically, you are part seraph. But a human can enter, if you are deemed worthy. Like Lailah. Though I highly suspected that she got in by accident, one of the spirits had deemed her worthy to be trusted,” he explains, his eyebrows knitting together a little bit as he tells the story.

“How was she able to get in? And, spirits?”

Mikleo is about to answer, when he recognizes something — or someone — far ahead.

“Gramps!”

“Mikleo!”

The four of them watches as the usually cool-headed Mikleo cheerfully sprints towards an elderly man. His stature is short and a little bit round, his hair white as snow, his shoes unreasonably high and has a smoking pipe in his hand.

The four of them watch they way they interact with each other. This man must be close to Mikleo, looking at how relaxed and friendly the boy is. Perhaps a family member?

“Nayla, come meet with Gramps,” he says, waving at the girl. “This is Zenrus, Elysia’s village elder and ward guardian.”

“N-nice to meet you,” Nayla greets him nervously, “My name is—”

“Nayla, right? Yes, I know who you are. You look too much like your mother for me to forget.”

“Wait, you know her?” Mikleo asks in surprise.

“Why, don’t you remember, Mikleo? She and her mother visited our village a while back ago. You even played with her,” Gramps explains.

“Must have forgotten,” the boy says.

Gramps silence for a moment, as if pondering on something. “Ah yes, you were quite young back then, so you must have forgotten.”

“But I’m surprise you still remember. If I were not wrong, we were only here for a short moment,” Nayla says.

“Well, I don’t know you that much. But your mother, I do. She was one of the most talented seraphs I’ve ever known.” When he speaks of her mother, she can hear pride resonating from his wise tone.

“May I ask, does everybody in the village know each other?” she asks as she stares at the houses that stand around the field, inside her head counting less than a dozen.

“Why yes. There are not that many seraphs living over here, and we all work closely together,” Gramps says.

“Then, Elder Zenrus, does that mean my mother used to live in here? You seem to know her well enough.”

“There is no need for formality. You can call me Gramps also. Sorey and Mikleo call me by that,” he tells her, eyes smiling.

“Alright, Gramps!” Nayla says cheerfully. She has a feeling that she likes him already. They have probably met before, but she was too young to remember him. He seems like a nice person though.

“And to answer your questions, yes, I did know your mother. She used to help protect this village from invading hellions and work on missions to eradicate malevolence. You might not remember this, but she usually went off for several days a time to be send off to missions.”

“I don’t remember, but my father had recently mentioned something about that,” she says.

“Speaking of Sorey, has he arrive yet? He said that he’s going to come as well,” Mikleo asks Gramps.

“Is that so? I haven’t seen him around yet.”

“He must be running late, it seems.”

“How come he is not tagging along with you guys then?”

“He has some business to take care off, so we decided to go ahead first,” it is Lailah who offers to answer. “Pleased to meet you, elder Zenrus. My name is Lailah.” The flame seraph gives the elder a polite bow.

“The pleasure is all mine. It is great to finally meet one of my grandsons’ friend,” Gramps nods in acknowledgment.

“Please let us introduce ourselves as well. This is Edna, an earth seraph, and Zaveid, a wind seraph.” The short blonde gives a slight courtesy, while the brawly shirtless guy grins cheekily. “I myself am a fire element.”

They exchange greetings before finally settling in. Lights shine through the windows as they pass through the houses. A man walks out of his door and notices us, welcoming Mikleo back with open arms. They seem pretty close, but then again, it is a very small and secluded village after all.

The first man calls out to the people inside his house, and pretty soon more people pop out from the house. Several other doors open, and more people flood out. They all greet Mikleo for his return, while some move on to ask about the new guests. Before long, they all gather around the center of the village, talking animatedly to one another, though the focus is definitely on the new faces.

It was rather quiet when they first arrive, but then the villagers start to come out and everything suddenly turns crowded.

. . . . .

“Gramps, there is an important matter that we need to ask with you,” Mikleo starts off once they all finally settle inside their house.

Nayla can not help but take in the details of her surrounding. The place is build around with a fireplace at one side, the walls made of hard stone and the floor covered by wood. It is overall a very homey and warm place. It has enough space for all of them to sit around the place sparsely. The house is much fancier than hers. It is not as extravagantly luxurious like the palace, but giving more of a friendly and homemade sense.

“First of, just let me clear the air first. Nayla is—”

Before Mikleo can finish his sentence however, Zenrus cuts in.

“Your lady friend, right? Yes, this old man can tell.”

The young couple blushes madly while the others share scandalous looks. That totally came out of the left field. Well, it is true, but Nayla was not expecting them to talk about this so soon, especially to Mikleo's and Sorey’s grandpa. Wait, is this what they call, meeting the parents? But she is not meeting Mikleo's parents though, but more like his grandfather.

“Well, that is true.” Mikleo's eyes drift to Nayla’s amber ones, and his blush deepens a few shades redder. He quickly averts his gaze. “But that was not what I was trying to say.”

“It’s about time, I’d say. So when can I start expecting some great-grandchildren?”

“Gramps!” the boy shouts in a protest.

“Alright, alright. What were you trying to tell me again?” Zenru asks in slight defeat.

“What he was trying to tell you is that Nayla is the new omniseraph,” Zaveid finishes for him.

“Oh, is that so? Ah, so you have found the new omniseraph after all,” the elderly says in amazement, not at all sounding surprised. But then again, when one has lived through as many years as he, there will not be that many things that can surprise him anymore. But considering that omniseraphs are the thing of legends that the seraphs believe, it should be a pretty big deal.

“Is that all you are trying to talk about?” Gramps asks.

“No, there’s more,” his grandson says.

“Do you know anything about the rare flower that the previous had consumed?” Edna asks with serious blue eyes, though her hands playing nervously around the umbrella that is settled on her lap.

“The one that only bloom in the red full moon?” Gramps questions.

“Yes, that one. We are hoping that we might be able to find and use it to cure Nayla’s sickness,” Lailah explains.

“Sickness? What kind of illness is she experiencing?” he asks, brows frowning in concern.

“If you know about Jade, then you should know that Nayla also inherits her mother’s abilities. Nayla is an Omniseraph. But even though her powers are that of a seraph, she still has a body of a human. That is because Jade had consumed the flower before she is pregnant with her daughter.” The fire seraph pauses for a second as everyone waits for her to continue. “I don’t know much about the flower, but I do have a theory. I think that not only had the flower allowed her to be seen by humans, but it also allows her to extend her powers to that of her bloodline. And as we know, seraphs are not born, but created. I doubt Nayla’s mother was thinking about creating another omniseraph when she gave birth to the girl.”

Now that is news to Nayla. She has been so overwhelmed in procuring the cure and getting to her training that the thought had not even occur to her. But what surprises her the more is the revealed fact about seraphs. Nayla has no idea that seraphs can only be created. She was just a village girl before any of this happened, after all. Even though she likes to read, she does not always know every other bit of information that exist out there.

“Yes, I do happen to know about it. In fact, it was Jade who first asked me about the existence of that flower in this very room all of those years ago.” They can see Zenru’s facial expression hardens by the recollection. “That theory might be true, though I can’t say I can confirm that theory for sure, since there is not a good deal of information regarding the flower recorded. And even if there are seraphs who have taken it, most usually disappear afterwards.”

“Why would they disappear?” Nayla can not help herself but to ask.

“One can only assume, but they might not want to involve themselves in the world of seraphs anymore, it seems.”

“But not my mother though? According to father’s story, she took it so that she could be with him.”

“That’s true. Your mother had been very infatuated with your father back then.”

“You know about her feelings? And you let her?” Mikleo asks, though Nayla is not sure if he is just curious or baffled by the notion — it hurts her heart when she thinks of the later possibility.

“She might be the omniseraph, but she also deserved to be happy. We agreed that she would help out whenever the need arises. Though having her conceiving Nayla was totally unexpected, especially when we found out that she is also just like her mother.”

“It has a lot of healing property, it seems. Do you think we can also use it to cure Nayla’s sickness?” Lailah asks.“She has been rather depleted every time she uses her seraph abilities, you see.”

“Depleted? Like energy drainage?”

“Yes. Her mortal body can not handle the amount of power, especially when she is dealing with all four elements at once continuously. We’ve been preparing her, you see. For the prophecy,” it is Zaveid’s turn to explain.

“Ah yes, we all are fully aware of that certain impending doom.”

“It could be. There are still plenty of the red moon flower’s uses that we have not exploited yet, after all.”

—