CHAPTER 379: PAST- 5

After the earlier tussle, Xion was left alone in the cell. Someone came in briefly, dabbing medicine onto his bruised face with rough hands.

As for the slave who had vanished, no one pointed fingers at the little kid, barely conscious of his surroundings.

Xion lay curled in the corner, blinking slowly when the metal door creaked open.

A figure crouched beside him.

Even in the dim, musty cell, the man’s yellow hair glowed so bright it made Xion squint.

He blinked blearily up into a pair of pale blue eyes. They reminded him of Raymond’s. Both had the same shade of lighter blue, like the cloudless sky in the afternoon.

So... was this person good?

"Hello there, little one," the young man said gently. "My name is Soren Vaelis. I will be your big brother from now on."

Big brother?

That title brought a face to his mind.

His hazy mind couldn’t recall how long, but he was sure he had waited a very, very long time for the pretty human to come.

But Darius never did.

Was it because he broke those vases?

Then again, humans tend to cling tightly to materialistic things. They didn’t understand that items were only temporary.

"Will you-" Xion rasped, then coughed, choking on the dryness in his throat. His voice cracked like brittle leaves. "Will you hurt me?"

A warm embrace surrounded him, patting his back and sending a rush of mana through his depleted body.

"No. How could I hurt someone as precious as you?" Soren whispered. "Come now. Let’s go home."

Home.

Yes, Xion wanted to go back home. He missed his mother. He missed Mr. Cat. He missed the sky.

Even though angels didn’t require sleep, Xion was so drained that he fainted for two whole days.

The next time he woke, he was lying on the softest bed he’d ever felt.

"Awake?"

Xion blinked up at the young man’s voice.

"Here. Drink this."

He was lifted gently and propped up against a warm chest as he sipped honey water from a cup. It was sweet. Soothing. Like the person holding him.

"Let me introduce myself properly," Soren smiled. "I’m Soren Vaelis. And you’ll be Xion Vaelis from now on. Okay?"

"Brother Soren?"

Soren’s smile widened. He ruffled Xion’s black hair with obvious delight. "Yes. I’m your brother."

The days that followed were spent in a similar fashion.

Xion would follow Soren everywhere, mimicking his movements like a small ritual of belonging.

Everything seemed... okay. His wounds healed. The food was tasty. His clothes were clean and new.

This arrangement — or home, whatever it was — felt better than that prison.

The only strange thing was Soren plucking his hair. They were just a few strands. But it made Xion wince every time.

"Bear with it, my dear," Soren would say soothingly. "We need to send these to the church."

Churches worshipped Mother.

Xion had been there once, with Soren.

The scent of candles and incense didn’t remind him of his home. It was far too humane to be considered a portal to the heavens.

Even the statue of his mother wasn’t as pretty as she was supposed to be.

He suddenly wanted to return to his real home.

Maybe, after a month or so, he could visit Eldoria again. But he wouldn’t make the same mistakes of leaving Mr. Cat behind.

"Will doing this," he pointed to the broken hair, "help Mother know where I am?" he asked one day as they soaked in the gentle sunlight peering from the large window.

"Can I go back then?"

Soren gave him a smile so indulgent it almost felt like love.

"Here," he said, offering him a glass of juice. "Drink this."

Just a few sips, and Xion felt like he was floating on fluffy clouds.

Warmth bubbled inside his chest like sunshine, melting everything heavy into joy. He even forgot Mr. Cat’s warning: Don’t trust too easily, little one.

"Xion, where did you come from?" Soren asked. "Is Myrthia your mother?"

There were many such questions. So many that by the end, Xion’s lips were dry and his throat sore.

He licked the corner of his mouth, murmuring, "Mother will surely give you a reward, brother. You are a good human..."

He rested his head on the cold surface of the table, letting the chill seep into his feverish cheeks.

His long lashes fluttered under the onslaught of sleep.

Soren laughed. He pinched Xion’s cheeks with so much fondness that it almost seemed real, or perhaps in his own twisted way, it was indeed real.

"Oh, my sweet Xion. Your dear mother is already rewarding me."

Black strands of hair held power. Enough that the elders of the church were beginning to beg for more.

And it was just hair.

Soren ran his hand over the silky black strands, tucking one behind Xion’s ear. "Only if you were bigger..."

That would be double the reward, wouldn’t it?

Through the haze, Xion heard it.

Soren had been kind. Gentle. Why wouldn’t he trust him?

Xion smiled softly. "Do you want me to grow bigger, brother?"

"Yes," Soren whispered.

And then, before his stunned eyes, a pure white light enveloped Xion, stretching from his toes to the tips of his hair.

The light forced Soren to shield his eyes. When it faded, what he saw left him breathless.

An angel.

Pure white wings spread over the delicate, bare back. His body was wrapped in a pristine loose robe, held with some holy brooch at his left shoulder, leaving the other bare.

Still resting his pinkish cheeks on the cold table, he smiled at Soren. "Is this big enough, brother?"

Soren reached out with trembling fingers, brushing his cheek, tracing the line down to his curled lips.

A wide and hungry grin spread across his face. "Yes. Big enough."

With no resistance from the boy, Soren stroked the pristine wings, marveling at how they shivered under his touch. Very much like that tiny plant in his garden.

Touch-me-not, was it? But he was going to touch this precious being.

When he tugged gently at the feather, a low groan of discomfort escaped from Xion’s throat.

Soren’s eyes narrowed. That sound... I want more of it.

As if possessed, his fingers slipped back into Xion’s hair, yanking sharply.

"Ah! Brother, it hurts..."

The drugged juice had stripped him of strength. With his senses dulled, even as his eyes watered, he didn’t notice the change in Soren’s gaze.

It no longer held the simple warmth for something that brought him benefit.

"Ah, my bad. I lost control," Soren said softly, rubbing the sore spot with deceptive tenderness.

"Tell me, my angel... what else can you do? Besides making gold and healing others?"

Xion murmured something incomprehensible, and under the rubbing of Soren’s hand, the angel fell asleep.