Wrath

The sun was hotter. The air was thicker. The atmosphere was bitter. The pavement was denser.

An unsettling aura interrupted the intense gaze met between Axel and Midas. They looked over in its direction.

Abel stood in an unfamiliar stance. He convulsed on the floor no more. He was no longer in pain.

He no longer clutched his chest. The blood on his shirt was fresh, but the malfunction of bleeding was now old. Through the large hole that gaped his shirt, he was visibly unscathed. Where there was supposed to be a great wound was rather healthy looking skin, untouched, and unscathed.

His long blonde hair covered his face, yet the two could still feel his eyes glaring towards them.

"A-Abel?" Axel was surprised.

Midas said nothing. He observed his knife, seeing the fresh blood that dripped from its tip.

Venus watched the event unfold from the back.

"Why isn't he dead? I thought you stabbed him...?" Axel asked Midas with growing panic.

"I thought I did too..."

Abel continued to stand there, manifesting the dark aura he emitted.

"HE SHOULD BE DEAD!" Axel aggressively said.

Abel suddenly scoffed.

"Death can't catch me."

Axel felt worry arise within. He realized Abel's tone sounded different, as if from another person.

The air on top of the parking lot was slowly becoming more dense. Heat seemed to rise, as well as within Abel. He began walking towards Axel.

"Why do you still stand? Why do you still walk? Why aren't you DEAD?!" Axel felt his heart rate pick up.

"I can't die to an attack like that." Abel looked over to Midas and Venus who watched. "If they're Sins, they should know what I'm talking about..."

"Shit..." Midas said under his breath.

Axel looked over. "What do you mean they should know...? Know what?!"

Abel smirked. "Tell him."

"I guess it's no use now..." Midas sighed. "He's a Sin."

Abel suddenly lunged towards Axel, leaving a dent in the pavement from where he leaped.

"YOU'RE A SIN?" Axel yelled.

Abel didn't reply. Instead he swung forward, his fist connecting directly with the right side of Axel's face. The impact sent Axel flying in that direction.

Tumbling over hurdles of broken pavement from the power he expelled, Axel tried to pull himself back up onto his feet.

In an attempt to regather his thoughts, Axel's mind produced a variety of questions. They scattered about in an unforeseen panic. Why wasn't Abel dead? Where was his wound? Why was he so quick? Why was his one blow so devastatingly powerful?

Axel remembered he'd already been given his answer.

Abel was a Sin.

But doubt immediately overtook the thought.

"There's no way you're a Sin—!"

He was quickly interrupted by a kick to the face that sent him flying back the other direction. Axel's impact with the ground produced an agonizingly sharp pain that poked his lung. He ran his hand over his chest. His rib cage was broken.

He coughed and he coughed, each one spraying a mist of blood.

He saw Abel who approached him in the distance. Axel tried to muster up the strength to stand. In doing so, he was only met with a punch to the face that sent him straight back into the ground. This time the impact was heavier than before, grounding him into the pavement.

Axel felt his life leave in bursts every slam he underwent. He tried to sit back up for one final grasp at hope. But instead, his final words slipped off the tip of his tongue.

"I still need to avenge my broth—"

Crack.

His plea was interrupted by a merciless strike to the neck, snapping Axel's throat inwards in the process. His head tilted down due to the dent made against his Adam's apple. His eyes rolled back without the intent of ever returning.

Axel died in the instant.

Abel stood up, looking down at the dead man. Guilt was disregarded.

Instead, Abel smiled. He found himself content with the sight before him. A person that was behind a reason he experienced pain and suffering was dead at his hands. That fact alone satisfied him. The feeling of sadistic satisfaction blended in with the rage that fueled him, and the wrath that he radiated.

"Weakling..."

Abel now breathed heavily. As heavily as the memories that began to fill his mind. The heavy, heavy memories.

Abel couldn't find the need in feeling any emotion other than the anger that seduced him. That one emotion would now forever stay constant within him, as long as he carried the memories he'd had.

No matter how hard he searched within his blood-stained catalog of memories, nothing could remove his heart from indulging in his desire to be wrathful.

"Welcome back," Midas spoke up.

Abel looked in his direction.

"Your memories have come back, haven't they? You remember who you are now, don't you?"

Abel looked down at his bloodstained hands. Each one belonged to separate entities.

"I am..." Abel tried to look for his answers. "I am..."

"You're the imbecile Raphael wouldn't stop toying with!" Venus exclaimed.

Abel listened in silence as he felt himself burn from within. The name 'Raphael' brought up resenting memories. He looked at the dysfunctional bronze watch in his pocket. He recognized it now. A wave of rage flowed over him.

"Raphael…" Abel gritted his teeth. He looked back up at the two who eyed him. Their wandering looks irritated him.

Midas noticed his unsettlement. "We aren't strangers. We're just like you. We've all come from the same place. Do you remember your identity now?"

Abel clenched his fist. Anger swelled from deep within.

"I'm... the Sin of Wrath..."