I walked down a corridor I hadn't walked down before. I enjoyed walking around, trying to memorise the bunker. It was massive and Silva kept expanding it, so there was a lot to check out.
"... But seriously though, what is up with the food?"
I stopped.
"I mean, yeah we're in the middle of a war, but do we have to eat like pigs?" a girl said followed by laughter.
"Okay, who would you go for. Rob, Ado or Saga?" somebody interrupted.
Oh, I was so going to hear that answer. I turned invisible and stepped around the corner. A group of kids were sitting in what appeared to be a hang-out room, fully furnished with couches and a TV.
"Well, Rob is kind of cute," a blonde, white-skinned girl said and tossed her long hair over her shoulder.
"I think there is something brutishly handsome about Ado," another girl said and looked down at her nails.
There were five of them, sitting on the couches, each with their own beer bottle. Two guys and three chicks. I relaxed against the wall just around the corner, finally getting more entertainment than I had for at least a month.
"I don't think I would touch Saga with a ten-foot pole, though," the blonde said.
Ouch.
"Why?" a dark-skinned guy asked.
"Uh, I like living? And isn't he like totally gay for that Mexican angel?"
"Not all the time," the other guy said and smirked. "He's a total gender bender. Didn't you know that?"
"What do you mean?" the second girl asked and looked up from her nails.
"Yeah, he changes all the time. Like, he can change how he looks, and he changes his gender all the time. I hear he gets sick if he doesn't change," he said and leaned back.
I think I would have liked him, if he didn't look so much like an asshole. Blond hair, fair skin, looked like the popular kid from a bad high school film. But he was hot, and he knew that. Which annoyed me to no end.
"That is so weird."
"It's gotta be even weirder dating him... Her... That."
"How did they even meet? Like, I've heard they've been together for years."
"Don't know," the dark-skinned boy said. "But I'd totally fuck the girl version."
"Yeah? Just think about it changing to a dude during. All of a sudden your balls deep in another dude," the asshole said and earned a round of laughter.
It wasn't like I hadn't gotten used to people being confused by the gender thing. I got it, it was weird to some. I just hadn't really considered it would be that much of a discussion topic for a bunch of kids.
"The angel must be seriously messed up. I bet the god claimed him and that's why they're together."
"You think so, Jacks?" the blonde asked looking very serious.
"Yeah, I mean why else would you be with a god?"
"I've talked to him and he's really nice, the angel..." the third girl said, finally breaking her silence.
"You're just saying that because you're a maygi," the asshole, Jacks, said.
"That's racist, Jacks," the blonde one said and sent him an angry stare.
"What I'm saying is, you can't be right in the head, if you actually decide to spend your life with a god. They're all seriously messed up."
"And Saga is the worst of them. He killed like two other gods. And he like... Spent so much time with Eri," the dark-skinned boy said.
"I bet it's going to just go back to Paradise again."
"What do you mean 'again'?" the third girl asked.
"It went back. I've been here since we started out in Alaska, and then switched over to Switzerland, and... Well, Saga went back to Paradise completely voluntarily."
"I heard it's because he's really in love with Eri," the blonde said and smirked. And that was the point where I had had enough. I turned visible and crossed my arms over my chest.
"Or maybe it was because I found out there had been a plan for me to kill the God of Gods set in motion by my actual father, Eri. I was made for one purpose and it was for me to be a weapon against other gods," I said, seeing all blood drain from their faces. I kept my body relaxed and leaning against the wall.
"And I realised I had to kill and eat the soul of Seth, the seriously messed up angel, for that to be possible. So instead of killing the one person who actually loves me, I decided to go home so Eri couldn't control me. Unfortunately, Eri implanted a piece of himself in me when he made me, so he could take over my mind and body, so I ended up killing the God of Gods after devouring millions of souls in Paradise." I pushed off the wall, and put my hands down on the back of the couch and leaned slightly forward. "So, no. I am not in love with Eri. I am not going back to Paradise. And I am not an 'it'. How fucking bigoted are you guys anyways?"
They were all staring at me, wide eyed, paled faced. I rolled my shoulders and took a deep breath. "You don't know shit about me or what's actually happening, do you?" I muttered, turned around and walked back the way I came. I kind of thought everybody knew everything by now. Why wouldn't the ones who knew the truth, tell the ones who didn't?
"How come no one has told everyone here what actually happened with me and Eri?" I asked Seth after we had settled down.
He looked up from his kindle. "Because it's not our story to tell, Saga," he said softly.
"Then I should tell it...?"
He put his kindle on the nightstand and leaned forward, kissing me. "Yes, I think you should. It would clear up a lot for a lot of people." He brushed his fingers over my cheek and buried his hand in my hair.
"I don't want to talk about the shifting," I whispered.
"I didn't say you had to."
"They... They talked about it. And you."
"Saga, I don't care what people say about me," he murmured and started massaging my neck. I tipped my head forward to give him more space. "People talk shit about stuff they don't understand."
I sighed and knew he was right. I shouldn't let what people were saying about me, get to me. I wasn't here because I wanted to win a popularity contest, and let's be honest I wasn't going to win any, anytime soon.
He slowly moved his hands further down on my back, not really focused on messaging me anymore. With his other hand he tipped my head up again, and smiled down at me. He pushed me closer to him as he gently pressed his lips to the corner of my mouth.
"I love you," he murmured and kissed the other side of my mouth.
"They think I claimed you," I whispered and pulled away a bit.
"Saga," he groaned and rolled his eyes. "Why do you care what they think?"
Why did I care? Everything was getting to me down here. I needed to get out more. He smoothed his hand over my hip and then my stomach.
"They don't matter."
"What?" I blinked at looked up at him.
"I said, their opinions don't matter." He narrowed his eyes a bit. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah... Of course." I forced a smile.
He pushed me onto my back and rolled on top of me. His lips landed on my throat, on my sweet spot, and I couldn't hold back a moan. The way he was teasingly pressing his tongue against my skin was too much.
I took his face in my hands and tipped his head up. "I love you too."
He smiled widely, the one that included dimples and kissed me again. I circled my arms around his body, pressing it down on me
"I want you," he whispered in my ear before biting down on the lobe.
I grabbed his shirt and pulled it off him. He lifted up and slowly slid my shirt up, exposing my abs. A very satisfied smile ran across his lips and then his hands went for my jeans. He dipped down and kissed my stomach as he pulled my jeans off me. I ran my fingers through his soft as fuck hair and groaned, his mouth doing wonders on me.
"So, what do you think I should say exactly?" I asked, tapping the pencil against the paper.
Seth frowned a little and looked up at the ceiling, thinking hard. "Maybe just start from the beginning?"
I sighed and looked back down at the blank paper. It was mocking me. Dumbass yellow paper. What did it know about anything? Being in the cafeteria didn't help either. Everyone were staring and-
"Hey guys, what are you doing?" Gareth said and joined us at our table. He put cups of coffee in front both me and Seth, the absolute cutie.
"I'm uh..." I looked down at the paper again. "I'm trying to figure out how to address everyone. And tell them what happened."
"Oh. I can see how that can be a little hard, all things considered."
I nodded. "Yeah. It's like a chain of events that all led up to this. And there's smaller events in between. Like do I start with meeting Seth? Was that the start of it all? Or when Hiromi was taken prisoner? When I ate my first soul?"
Gareth frowned a little and then glanced at Seth. "I think mentioning what's relevant to everyone is the best way forward. You should probably touch upon how it all started. Like with your friend Hiromi. Seth is also an important part of all of this, but I don't know how important he is in the grand scheme of things."
Seth snorted.
"No offence," Gareth hurried to add.
"No I know," Seth said softly.
"Seth's important. Him getting beat up was... It was a breaking point for me." I met Seth's gaze. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have joined this fight at all." I put my hand on top of his. "The war started with Ado going after Seth. But that wasn't the war against Eri." I retracted my hand and rubbed my temples. "It's so muddled."
"If it wasn't complicated, I think people would be kind of confused, to be honest." Gareth ran his hand through his blond curls. "I don't think anyone expects this to be neatly packaged into one sentence. It's okay to take your time to explain it all. They need to hear it."
I smiled a little at my friend. I always forgot how thoughtful and insightful he could be. I really did need to give him a better present than that grass band.
"How's your back?" Gareth asked and turned to Seth. Gareth was one of the only people allowed to actually ask that by now. Seth had forbidden everyone else to ask.
"I'm still sore," Seth muttered and rolled his shoulders a bit.
"Tara taught me how to block the pain while you were out, so I could do that for you, if you want?"
"Please. It's been killing me today."
I hadn't even noticed he was in pain. He was so... Amazing. And strong. I wished he'd tell me though, despite me not being able to actually do anything about it.
Gareth rose, placing himself behind my boyfriend and placed his hands on Seth's shoulders. Gareth's hands lit up and Seth closed his eyes, his chin hitting his chest. It didn't take long before Gareth removed his hands again.
"Better?"
"It's like I can breathe again," Seth murmured and opened his eyes, smiling up at the blond boy. "Thank you."
"Aw come on, man. You don't have to thank me for that. I like helping. Comes with being a healer and all."
Seth just smiled, looking a lot more relaxed than before. I didn't know the stoic face he put on was to mask the pain. I wished he'd told me.
"Seth?" I asked softly, trying to figure out if he had fallen asleep or not.
"Yeah?" he asked from behind me, pulling me closer.
"You know you can tell me when you're in pain, right?"
He hesitated for a moment and then sighed. "I don't wanna complain."
I turned around and took his face in my hands. "You had your wings pulled out of your back. And I'm your..."
"Girl/boyfriend." He smiled and I smiled back.
"Yeah. Please tell me when you're in pain. Even if it's every day. I want to know."
He nodded a little and urged me to cuddle up. I didn't need that invitation twice. I loved cuddling with him. Had soft skin and he was always warm. It was probably the fire in him that made him so warm but gods, I loved cuddling with him. He smelt nice too. And he was just so damn hot.
Everything became very simple when it was just me and Seth. When we were alone everything else just melted away. There wasn't any drama. Not between us anymore anyways. We had become surprisingly mellow and I loved that. He was the supportive rock I needed right now.
"How are you?" he murmured.
Gods, not this question. I didn't wanna answer this question because I was sure how I was. I was... Fuck I didn't want this.
I moved in and kissed him, urging him to part his lips for me. I just needed him to touch me. To love me. Then I'd maybe forget everything Eri did. Even if it was temporary I just needed Seth to help me forget.