Soul Bond

"Big Brother, are you being serious?" Aurelia heard herself say. She had nearly tumbled over by his reasoning. 

"One hundred percent." 

'Please, I—" 

"Shhh!" Aurelia hissed at the dying man, trying to make her point clear. "You've already incapacitated him." 

"Look at you!" Zariel suddenly exclaimed with a hint of praise in his voice. "You used Incapacitate correctly. Seems your vocabulary is getting better." 

"Right! Aurelia's the best!" 

"... Yet you still seem to talk in the third person." He pointed out, though he couldn't help but admit he had gotten used to her childish way of speaking. "Well? What do you suggest we do? I'm curious. If we leave him, he'll return." 

"What if we make him promise not to—" 

"You still believe in other people's promises?" Zariel snapped, forgetting her young age. "And are you still waiting for your father to return?" he sneered. "He promised he'd return, but here you are." 

Aurelia felt her breath catch and her chest ache. She had wanted to retort him, to scream, but when she saw his wicked smile, a coldness slithered down her spine like the touch of a great many strangers. Aurelia had wanted to take a step back. But when she saw him hand her his sword, her eyes went wide, and her heart dipped. 

"You do it," He said as if he were talking about killing a rat. " Kill him, and I'll teach you how to draw on your spirit to not only cast Zero Spells but how it can be used to mask your presence and so much more." 

"But…" 

The Silver Devil grinned, slithering to her side. "He's dead anyway. He's lost so much blood. Do you think he'll make it?" he said with a bewitching smile that seemed to draw color from the world around them. "This is but a mercy." 

"No," Livius tried to say, but he was too weak. Darkness had long since crept into his eyes, and it was cold… so… so cold. 

"Do you remember what I told you? Aim for the heart," He said like a devil upon her shoulder, placing the sword she never reached for in her hand. His grin deepened when he saw her small fingers curled around the tattered grip. He took a step back to allow her demons to guide her. 

"It's a mercy…" Aurelia whispered so softly it had only been heard by the devil watching her, tracking her movements with poised focus. She took a step forward, and before she knew it, she was over him, the sword tip pressing against Livius's chest.

The sword had been so devilishly sharp that it had already found flesh at the slightest touch. Aurelia shook, feeling slivers of sweat slithering down her cheeks. She gulped and looked back to—

"Over here,' he said, emerging like a ghost… a silver demon that bore the kindest smile. He slowly curled his fingers around hers. 

As if to aid her in this matter, he gave her a look that made tears want to stream down from her eyes. He was warm… 

"It's alright. Do—" 

She jerked the sword down.

'Ah," When Livius took his final breath, pearly red beads slid down his chin as he gargled on his blood for a long while and died. Zariel had been watching Aurelia so intently he almost smiled, for what he saw was neither guilt nor pleasure. No relief or joy. He saw greed, for when she looked at him, her eyes shone a brilliance amidst the endless sea of gold, amidst the chaos of emotions. 

"Good job, little Aurelia," He softly praised, patting her head as the blood pooled from around the rim of the obsidian blade that had pierced Livius's heart. "Good job." 

Ravaged by emotions, she couldn't quite place. Aurelia looked up at those silvery eyes and knew with all her heart she had done the right thing. She purred like a cat being praised. 

"Now. Go take another bath." 

***

Covering his tracks, Zariel looked up at the body that hung alongside the skeletal remains of those that had been pecked clean by the ravens and crows.

"She's quite a natural. I wonder what monster birth such a girl." He mused, standing in the very spot where he first met the little silver-headed child. He laughed and returned home, where he met the golden-eyed girl staring at him intently. Her hair was wet with an expression that was one of brooding. 

"Teach Aurelia,' she demanded. 

"In time. But before I instill within you my Arcane Path. I do want to know why you are so intent on becoming strong." He asked, sitting beside the campfire. He stabbed his tattered obsidian sword into the earth and stared her down. 

These past few weeks, Zariel had ensured she could survive on her own if she so pleased. She didn't need to become stronger, yet she trained every day as if she were being chased. 

Aurelia's small fist curled into balls. "So Big Brother doesn't abandon Aurelia," she said, staring down at the fire. 

And there he saw her for what she was: A six-year-old child whose father abandoned her in the forest to die. 

Zariel looked her over, measuring the young thing with cold, lifeless eyes. "You know I'm not a good person, right? The amount of people I've killed could fill this entire sector in space." 

"Aurelia doesn't know what that means." 

He scuffed. " Of course you don't. I'm a murderer." 

"So is Aurelia." The young girl said, looking at the fire-blistering embers that danced through the air. "Big Brother helped with that." She was smiling, and he all but wondered if she even understood the value of life. 

'Did I?' he wondered and said. "If you follow me, you are bound to die. Shit. I'm bound to die at the hands of someone one day." he stared at the smoldering flames. "I've many enemies. So,… so many enemies. And when they learn of my resurrection, all hell will break out." 

The young girl gave him an odd look. She didn't understand. 

"Yes…" He looked up at the four moons. "Once they learn I've returned, all the Nine Sovereigns of the Exalted Wheel will do everything in their power to find me, even if they have to sell their souls to the Nine Hells. They'll do everything in their power to find me. Gods that walk the underworlds will pull themselves from death's embrace to rise before me…" He laughed, snapping his gaze that burned with a deadly silvery flame settled on Aurelia. "Ancient Gods, so old they are unbound by time, will open their eyes to find me." 

"Why?" 

He grinned. It was a grin so dark the four moons appeared to drip with blood. "Do you know what they call me?"—Aurelia shook her head—"Before I had been cast into the Nines. They called me the Silver Devil, the Lord of the Second Sin. The one who caused the Exalted Wheel to collapse beneath my fury." 

"And now?" Aurelia asked. She didn't really understand, but she could hear his pain. "What will you do? 

"I've no clue." He admitted, losing his earlier vigor. The taste of the hells had yet to leave his breath. He jerked his sword from out of the earth and pointed it towards the girl. "But this isn't about me. It's about you. Are you sure you want to follow a dead man walking?" 

"Don't worry, big brother!" Aurelia exclaimed, pounding her chest with her small hand. "Aurelia will protect you."

Zariel smiled, "Protect me, eh?" 'How many dared to say they'd protect the Silver Devil?' "Then I'll make you a promise. Should you accept my sword, I'll promise. I'll never abandon you so long as you choose to remain by my side. In turn, all I ask is that you stay alive… even at the cost of betrayal." 

"Huh?" Aurelia frowned, standing to her feet. "Why would I betray you?" The very idea made no sense. If anything, it made her mad. She stepped forward, glaring, feeling the tattered obsidian blade press against the center of her chest. 

Strangely, the sword didn't seem to cut despite meeting flesh and clothing like it did Livius. As if the blade had no edge or point, it nestled over her chest like a dull, pointed pen. 

"All I need from you is to remain alive. I've little interest in what you actually do." He said plaintively. "I've got the skills to survive most situations. A fundamental understanding of all seven schools of magic." He closed his eyes, finding peace within the darkness that slowly turned to images that made his stomach churn. He opened them, staring at the young girl. 

He felt tired and weary: weary of fighting, weary of killing, weary of vengeance, weary of schemes. He had been nothing more than a boy when his nightmare began. A child when it all happened. To humans, a thousand seemed endless. But to God's and Demi God's that give birth to children, many of them age far slower both mentally and physically than the average human.

The day Zariel committed the Second Sin, he was but ten years old in human years. Even now, having lived Seven Chaos Cycles within the Hells, he was still nothing more than a Ten-year-old who wanted nothing more than to… 

"Aurelia will never betray…" 

"It's not up to you," He cut in, voice cold and hard. "You'll do it. I don't want to die again, nor do I wish to ever return to the Hells. That is the deal. If we are to Soul Bond, if you were to die, I'll die. And I can't have you dying. Not until I'm strong enough to protect myself." he said, through truth and lies. 

Though what was truth and what was lie all alluded Aurelia. She still had many questions, like who were the Nine Sovereigns, What was the Exalted Wheel, what were the Nine Hells, and what was your Second Sin, but as she stared at Zariel, she felt all her questions dissipate. It didn't matter. None of it did. So long as he didn't leave her… like her Father did.

"Fine…" She relented. "

Solemly, Zariel gave a nod. "Then do you, Aurelia Morningstar, so wish to remain by my side for all eternity to share a single fate?" Aurelia nodded, though that wasn't enough. The Arcanes demanded words, not gestures. " Say it," he commanded her. 

"I swear it!" she said, shaking, unable to recall everything he said word for word. 

Runic Symbol lit the air with Arcana gleaming multicolored light so profound they seemed like endless wonders of stars. And without another word, his sword pierced through her chest with ease. Turning the young girl's eyes wide with disbelief. She stared at the devilish smile of the Silver Devil that began to speak. 

"Then, before the Arcana, I, Zariel Snow, hereby decree us Soul Bonded."