3: An Audience With Angels

Todotori couldn't tell if it was the swelling in his eyes or his raging concussion that made her look so unreal. Where did the shadows end; where did she begin? She blended into the darkness beyond like black watercolor ink, appearing like a ghost in the night.

"What?"

"My name is Halo," the woman repeated. Her smile was unsettling, inhuman. "I couldn't help but notice your performance just now. It was quite entertaining."

A strange feeling washed over Todotori, and it had nothing to do with the throbbing in his limbs. The way she moved, her body ebbing and flowing with every gaining step, made it increasingly obvious that she was something supernatural. It wasn't only her outward appearance but the palpable and quaking aura of the atmosphere around her that disturbed him viscerally.

"Where did you come from?" Todotori cut. He didn't recall seeing her amidst the fight. Had she witnessed the whole thing?

Halo stepped closer, the edge of her long, dark dress whirling like smoke as it caressed the edge of the light. "That's not really important, is it?"

"Like hell, it isn't," he spat. "Who are you? I asked where you came from-"

Suddenly, nausea silenced his words, and the world began to spin. Todotori clapped a hand over his lips, desperately attempting to keep his composure. The throbbing in his temples was worsening by the second, and everything around him was becoming obscure.

"That is exactly what I mean," Halo hissed. "By the time I explain who I am or where I came from, you will already be dead from your injuries. Now, the question you should ask yourself is this: what happened to the man you just killed?"

"What are you talking about?" Todotori looked down the alley, perplexed and dizzy.

The two bodies of the unconscious thugs were still lying on the ground just yards away. Continuing to search the shadows, he realized the woman was right. There was no third body. Through his daze, he thought he could see tiny blue sparks floating up from the ground and into the sky. His mind had to have been playing tricks on him.

"Interesting, isn't it?" Halo watched as the last of the blue specks faded into the clouds. "I've always found it beautiful, watching a soul leave the earth. I wonder where this man's soul will go. What do you think?"

Todotori didn't say anything; he could barely think. Did the man's body disappear? His mind wasn't working right. It had to be his imagination. A sharp pain rang across his skull as he strained to understand it all.

"You're right. I suppose there is no way to tell for certain," Halo continued talking to herself. She was pacing the thin line between shadow and light, only pausing to inspect him for a moment. "Instead, let's address a more urgent matter. You are about to die."

Halo held out a single finger, pointing at Todotori, and he stared at it with crossed eyes. The ringing in his ears was becoming unbearable, her words becoming warped as if they had been plunged under water. Todotori held onto his broken ribs, exhausting every last bit of his energy to remain upright. Given his breathing, he'd undoubtedly developed a collapsed lung.

His heart was fighting a losing battle, and they both knew it.

"It's such a shame, too. You were so close to becoming something amazing," Halo pouted. "It might not make sense to you now, but thanks to your valiant act of murder, you are about to inherit great power. You cannot let this opportunity slip away."

"No offense, lady, but you sound crazy," Todotori groaned, his voice weak. The last thing he needed right now were myths and stories. "As you can see, I don't have time for this."

He started to step away, limping unsteadily. He wasn't sure if he could make it to find help, but he had to try.

"There is nobody who can help you now. It is far too late," Halo said, her voice more aggressive than before. She clearly did not appreciate being ignored, the ground shaking as she stepped forward. "Do not make a mistake and turn from the only one who can save you."

Todotori turned his head, glaring back at her. His skin burned with dread and hatred as if she were stabbing him with her gaze. He began to tremble, unable to process his fear as his eyes met hers.

"Now, my pet, will you listen to what I say?" Halo questioned.

He didn't have much of a choice.

"As I was saying, you are about to develop unique abilities that will give you authority over many," she continued, waltzing through the light. Her skin was almost translucent compared to when it was in the dark. "It may not be clear to you just yet, but from the moment you killed that man, your destiny has changed. Because you killed that man, you will now take on his powers. Think about it, wasn't his strength incredibly overwhelming? Wasn't it unlike anything you'd ever seen? Wasn't it... inhuman."

Todotori couldn't deny it; the man was strong. However, he wasn't one to immediately give in to conspiracy. A man with incredible durability was one thing, but inheriting that trait by simply murdering someone was ridiculous. There had to be another explanation, but it hurt too much to think.

"If it isn't clicking for you at this very moment, it will soon. That is if you do not die first," Halo stated.

None of it made sense. Todotori could barely put the pieces together behind his piercing headache. He wasn't interested in mysterious powers, even if they were real. What would a person like him do with such a thing anyway?

"Who cares?" was all he could manage to say. "I'd rather die."

"Oh, I care!" Halo exclaimed. "You can actually do something useful with your life for once. Imagine all you'll be able to do with your new abilities! Don't you humans usually crave such power?"

"Not me." What Todotori craved was to be left alone to perish.

"How selfish. Won't you use your abilities for others? Don't you concern for other people?"

"I don't."

"You lie."

Todotori was lying, if only partially. He cared for one person, and now he would never see her again.

Without warning, Todotori's legs finally submitted to gravity. He fell backward, his eyes lazily following the looming skies above as his body slammed into the ground. He blinked slowly, embracing the expanding sensation of warmth and wetness pooling behind his head. Now would be a good time for a nap.

Suddenly, there was a gloomy shadow hanging over his face.

"Could you stop talking and let me die in peace?" Todotori mumbled, expressionless. His fingers were beginning to twitch.

"You are about to develop amazing, unparalleled potential. Would you submit to death and let your life go to waste in a moment like this?" Halo loomed over him like a ghost, awaiting her answer.

His life had already gone to waste. He couldn't list one thing that he had accomplished. He'd never done anything useful with his existence. His life and purpose ended long ago, and he had no one left. No one except Lazzir.

What would she say if she were here right now?

If you die, I'll kill you. He could picture her face so vividly, those wild red eyes staring into him with ferocity. Would he ever get to see those eyes again?

Halo watched Todotori closely, searching his face for a glimpse of what was flowing through his tragic mind. "I can help you, you know," she said in a whisper. "We can make an agreement, and you will not have to perish. You can live and remain with your loved one. You can live and use your power."

His mind wandered back to when he first met Laz. She was headstrong, even in childhood. Back then, they were just two kids sparring in a busy gym. That little girl would kick his ass every day for weeks on end, and he always came back for more. Neither of them had any other friends, but they didn't need them. They had each other.

He couldn't leave her just yet.

"How?" Todotori choked. He didn't have much longer. Everything was starting to fade. "How can you save me?"

"All you have to do is trust me," Halo answered with a delightfully scheming grin. "Will you trust me, my friend? Will you trust me with your life?"

The pain was starting to disappear. Todotori's fingertips had already gone cold and numb. His lungs were abandoning hope, his heart growing dull. His best friend was the only thing he could see behind waning eyes. Laz.

"I can't die."

Halo stretched her palm out, reaching towards him as if shaking his hand. "So, what do you say?"

Todotori finally closed his eyes.

"Sure... I trust you...

...with my life."

----

The air was bitter.

"You should've just killed her."

"I couldn't do that! I told you what happened. What would you have done?!"

"Killed her."

Two echoing male voices disturbed Lazzir's slumber. She tried not to stir, keeping her eyes closed and her head hanging as she wondered where she was.

Ropes roughly brushed against her wrists, which were adjusted tightly behind her. She was sitting upright in what felt like a small wooden chair with her arms restrained to each side of the backrest, strategically eliminating the possibility of movement aside from her unrestrained feet.

"Mai is going to be pissed at us." It was the same voice from earlier, the voice of the man in her apartment. Lazzir tried to picture him just a few feet before her, following the sound of light steps pacing back and forth.

"She's going to be pissed at you. I don't have anything to do with this."

"Help me out here, man. What do I do?"

"I told you already, but you don't listen."

Lazzir didn't recognize the second voice. It was deep and laced with an uninterested tone. From what she could tell, the man it belonged to was sitting farther away, somewhere to her left.

She had to come up with a way out of this.

The pacing steps halted for a moment, then began to grow closer. Lazzir's heartbeat echoed with every nearing stride until the sound stopped just inches away.

"She's been asleep forever," the man from her apartment stated, his voice hovering over her. "I didn't pinch her that hard. I guess I haven't mastered the technique yet."

She had no idea what technique he was referring to. Out of everything Misu had taught her, nothing she knew could cause a person to black out for long periods of time.

"Should I wake her up?" the man asked curiously. Lazzir could sense him bent at her level now, scanning her like a nosy feline.

Suddenly, Lazzir felt a warm finger on her forehead. It poked and then disappeared, then again.

"Come on, buddy, wake up," the man pleaded as if she were a sleeping pet.

This would be her chance.

He poked her once more, but this time, Lazzir's eyes darted open with flaming intensity. She reared her head, clamping her teeth firmly onto the man's finger.

She was correct; it was the man from her apartment, and now he was flailing in surprise. She released his finger, acting quickly while she had confusion on her side. Lazzir planted her feet and gripped the sides of the backrest with restrained hands, launching her shoulders forward and the chair off the ground.

She spun with her head tucked in, whipping the legs of the chair horizontally until they forcefully smashed into her kidnapper's side. The man staggered as the legs of the old wooden chair broke against his flank. She wasn't sure why her hits landed now, considering he was impenetrable before, but she didn't have time to contemplate it.

Scanning the room, Lazzir noted her surroundings rapidly in an attempt to find an exit. They were in a church. The inside was gray and dull, dust covering every wall and surface. To the church's front were nearly twenty rows of artfully carved, dark oak pews facing a small painted platform. Along each side of the building, towering over the pews with sorrowful compassion, were several giant angelic statues. They were made of ancient stone, cracking and crumbling along the edges, their instruments breaking into pieces on the ground below.

Behind the pews, where Lazzir was standing, was an open, circular space lined with enormous yellowing pillars. The floor was made of rotting marble, rubble and chipped paint freckling the slick surface. Several stained glass windows overlooked the area, deteriorating images of doves and sheep reflecting a soft light onto the ground.

Throughout all of the space, there was no exit in sight.

Instinctively, Lazzir bolted down the stretch of pews towards the front end of the church. The stone angels watched as she distanced herself from the captors. Her heart raced as she clumsily sprinted, still hauling what was left of the chair on her back. She'd have to worry about a route of escape later once she'd gotten far enough away.

Suddenly, a figure stepped out at the end of the pews. It was a woman. She halted, watching indifferently as Lazzir barreled in her direction. Quickly, the woman raised two fingers from her body, flicking them down towards the floor with authority.

"Sit down."

Lazzir's legs seized, the muscles clenching painfully as if instantly frozen in ice. Her momentum continued, hurling her body forward as she lost all control of her lower extremities. With an echoing thud, her face slammed into the marble floor. The sound danced around within her skull until it faded into silence.

She couldn't move a single muscle in her entire body, and every fiber cramped intensely. Her legs felt as if they might explode into shards from the inside, her heart racing and screaming for blood. Like a mouse in a trap, her head was glued to the floor.

Footsteps.

"What have we here?"

Her voice was frigid. She stepped closer until Lazzir was staring at nothing but her shoes.

"Boys, you have some explaining to do."

Before she knew it, Lazzir was right back where she started. Only this time, she was on the ground with ankles restrained, seated in a legless chair.

She stared at each of them with distaste. There were three, two men and one woman. One of the men was the one she'd encountered in her apartment. He stood in the middle, still cradling a bitten finger.

To his right was another man. He was a bit taller, leaning against a nearby pillar with hands shoved into the pockets of his holed jeans. His hair was like snow, sharply draping over his forehead and the tops of his ears in handsome contrast to his dark skin. With his eyes closed, he almost appeared to be sleeping while standing up.

The woman stood to the far left of the trio, pale fists placed firmly on her hips in a stance of power. She was wearing light green scrubs and a long white coat, blood stains scattered on her worn-out sneakers.

"Tilluan, tell me what's going on here," the woman commanded, her voice singing a chill across the room. She had staggering eyes, their lifeless gray color scorning the world around her.

The ghost man from Lazzir's apartment spoke up. "Look, I know I didn't do what you told me to, but the situation changed, and I had to make a decision," he said defensively. "The original plan didn't feel right anymore. I just went with my gut."

"And your gut told you to bring her here?" the woman raised her brow. Even as she cut her gaze at him, her ebony hair remained obediently still upon her shoulders, not a strand out of place.

"Yeah, maybe we could use her instead of just killing her."

"Use her how, Tilluan? We don't have the luxury of taking risks. It's better to eliminate her right now before she becomes a threat."

"Mai, you don't understand-"

"You don't understand! This isn't up for debate."

Lazzir whipped her head back and forth, watching as they argued. She didn't have a clue what they were talking about, but there was no doubt that the woman, Mai, wanted her dead. She was growing agitated. How could they talk about her life as if it were something expendable?

"Hey, bozos!" Lazzir spat, her face twisting with irritation. "Stop talking about me like I'm not sitting right here! I have no idea what's going on, but if one of you tries to murder me, I'll snap your neck!"

Mai snatched her head to the side, glaring at Lazzir like a peasant who had spoken out of turn. "Prisoners don't get a say in their own execution," she replied plainly. "Remain silent until we sort this out."

The tops of Lazzir's ears grew hot. "Excuse me?! You're the ones who kidnapped me-"

"I told you to shut up," Mai ordered.

She swiftly raised her arm, tapping her index finger to her thumb like a closed mouth. Lazzir's jaw clenched, her teeth rattling against each other as her lips involuntarily sealed. It was the same feeling as when she had fallen before, only this time, she couldn't open her mouth. Her body was betraying her and obeying someone else. Fighting it proved impossible.

Tilluan's expression dropped. He stepped in front of Mai, holding his arms away from his body as if blocking her way to Lazzir. His brows furrowed, and his voice shifted, becoming more serious than before. "Stop it, Mai. You know this is wrong. You're not the only one who gets to make decisions around here, so back off."

Mai's gaze did not break from Lazzir. She stood there for a moment, cold and still as stone. Slowly, begrudgingly, she lowered her arm back to her side.

With a gasp, Lazzir's jaw released. Her facial muscles ached terribly. First, it was the ghost man, now this. "You people are freaks," she said.

Spinning on his heels, Tilluan turned to Lazzir and approached with an energetic stride. He stopped at the end of her feet and looked down with the same strange smile he had before.

"It seems we might have gotten off on the wrong foot here. I'd like to apologize for my friend's behavior. I haven't finished training her yet, so she tends to bark at strangers." As he pointed in her direction, the woman rolled her eyes, turning up her nose in disapproval. "Her name is Mai, I'm Tilluan, and that brooding emo-boy over there is Spoons."

She looked at the three of them, taking in every detail of their faces. She wasn't sure why he bothered with introductions, considering they debated her execution moments before. Lazzir lowered her head. She couldn't trust these people, no matter how friendly they presented themselves. After all, these were her kidnappers, and they still had her limbs tied to a chair.

"Alright, Mai, Tilluan, and... Spoons, you better start explaining yourselves," she replied, watching them cautiously.

Tilluan closed his eyes with a sigh of relief, placing his hands on his hips. "I'm not very good at explaining things, but I will try to keep it simple. Maybe it'll be easier if I start with a question. When did you first notice that mark on your neck?"

Her eyes grew wide. She'd almost forgotten about it. The right side of her neck was still marked with a small, black symbol, 'I.' As far as she knew, it had appeared while she was standing in her apartment.

"Uh," Lazzir stuttered, "I guess it was earlier tonight after I got home."

"After you killed that man," Tilluan corrected.

Her body froze as the image of the man's face came rushing back into her mind, his life diminishing beneath her hands. She was cursed by the scene of a body fading away behind mysterious blue ashes as rugged breaths turned to silence.

"H-how... do you know about that?"

"I saw the whole thing," Tilluan admitted. He began to pace. "I was supposed to kill the man that you hit, but you beat me to it. Unfortunately, that made you my new target."

Lazzir's confusion must have been written on her face.

"That mark on your neck once belonged to the man you murdered," Tilluan continued. "Nobody knows why, but that's how it works. The mark transfers from owner to owner based on killing. And the funny thing is, you're not the only one with that mark."

Tilluan pulled on the bottom of his shirt, revealing a few inches of his abdomen. On his left side, just above his waistband, was a mark. It looked almost identical to Lazzir's; however, the number was different.

'VI'.

"Mai and Spoons have one, too," Tilluan explained. "Each of us has a different number in a different location on our bodies. As far as we know, there are only twelve of these marks out there, and the owners of these marks are called Angels."

"Angels?" the name rang around in Lazzir's head. The information was coming at her too fast. She couldn't understand it.

"I know, it sounds corny," Tilluan smirked. "It's kind of cool, though. Once you become an Angel, you gain unique abilities. Each Angel has a different ability, differing even from the person they inherited their mark from. For example-"

He stood next to Mai, stretched his arm to her head, and stuck his hand to the other side of her face. He comically wiggled his fingers on the other side with a smile.

"Tada!" Tilluan giggled as Mai attempted to swat him away, her hand flying through his body as if he weren't there. "That's not it either. Watch this-"

Suddenly, the man's head was gone. The rest of his body remained, his arms doing the wave as he made an odd, ghostly noise. Lazzir's jaw was practically on the floor. He truly was a phantom. She'd never seen anything like it in her entire life, nor had she heard of such power outside of comic books and cartoons.

Finally, Tilluan's head returned to his body, and he brushed his shoulders with accomplishment. "Anyways, you get the point," he said. "Each of us has a different ability. As you might have noticed earlier, Mai can control people's muscles, blood, and other gross stuff. She's a doctor, so she can explain the little details of it better than I can."

That justified the green scrubs and white coat. It also explained the stuck-up and bossy attitude.

"Finally, Spoons over there can warp matter or something like that. It's not really that cool."

Lazzir took a moment to soak it all in. In summary, the twelve Angels were humans with unique powers. To become an Angel, a person must inherit their mark by killing them first. It had yet to make total sense, leaving her with more questions than she started with. Refusing to believe it, she assumed it was all just a distraction.

"What does this have to do with you guys wanting to kill me?" she struggled not to become heated, coating her voice with wariness. She hadn't forgotten why she was there in the first place.

Tilluan rubbed the back of his neck meekly, his head lowering. "Well, most Angels aren't exactly friendly. The sad thing about humans is that they change once they get a taste of power; it's inevitable," he stated. "As a group, we've decided it's smarter to heed caution, eliminating the threat of other Angels we aren't familiar with. At first, that included you. I just couldn't do it. Something in my soul told me it was wrong."

"Something in your soul?" Mai scoffed, finally breaking her silence. Her arms were folded tightly over her chest. "She killed an Angel, and you took the risk of bringing her here. Our location is compromised, and we have no idea if she can be trusted-"

"Make her join us."

The room went silent. Their heads turned slowly, following the voice behind the words.

It was Spoons. The white-haired man was still leaning against a pillar a few yards away. Lazzir had almost forgotten that he was there, considering he hadn't spoken a word the entire time. However, his sudden vocalization wasn't what shocked her; it was his eyes. He stood there, watching her with irises of different colors. His right eye was like a blue-green gamut, and his left was a dazzling pink moonstone.

"What?" Mai looked almost as shocked as Lazzir.

"I said make her join us," Spoons repeated. He straightened himself, stepping away from the pillar. He walked up to Lazzir, stopping to stand at her side, and peered down at her. "What's your name?"

"Lazzir." Her name fumbled out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

"It's nice to meet you," he said softly. "If I release you right now, do you promise you won't run away?"

She didn't want to promise anything. How could she guarantee that anything they said to her was the truth? She looked down at her ankles wrapped in thick, itchy rope, her body still restrained to half a chair on the ground. She was in this situation because of them. Yet, he expected her to be willing to join them? It was lunacy. Still, she asked herself why.

Tilluan and August, why did she trust them?

It was an unexplainable feeling. Deep down, something told her that she was safe with them, even when everything they had done proved otherwise.

"Spoons, what do you think you're doing? Between you and Tilluan, I thought you were the one with at least a little bit of sense," Mai snapped, speaking before Lazzir could think of her answer.

The man shrugged. "At first, I agreed with you. Even still, I think Tilluan was stupid for allowing her to live," Spoons admitted. "However, for some reason that I can't explain, I trust the girl. I also trust Tilluan, as dense as he might be."

Mai was studying Lazzir closely, her knuckles turning white from straining fists. An aura of rage was boiling behind her with greater significance than before. She clearly wanted to interrupt, but she continued to listen nonetheless.

"If I happen to be wrong and she poses a threat to anyone, at any point, I will take full responsibility and eliminate her myself," Spoons went on. "I've always happily followed your lead, Mai, but I think you're on the wrong side of this one. We should let her join."

At that moment, Mai's eyes lowered. Whatever response she had prepared fizzled out, and she had no arguments left. The dynamic between the three of them was obviously complicated, and the group didn't appear to have a set democracy regarding such situations.

Spoons looked down at Lazzir once more, his face gentle. "Plus, if we keep her around, I might get to watch her kick Tilluan's ass again," he chuckled.

Lazzir was still unsure. She lifted her eyes, meeting those sparkling eyes of his. He had such a genuine smile, much like Tilluan. For a moment, she wondered if it were possible to peer into someone's soul and take a peek at their intentions just by witnessing their smile. She didn't want to make the wrong decision.

"What do you say?" he asked.

Hesitantly, she made her choice. There was no telling if Angels and strange inherited abilities were real, and she couldn't guarantee they wouldn't change their minds and kill her later. Still, she knew she had to go against her instincts if only to investigate things further.

Slowly, Lazzir nodded her head in agreement.

"Good," Spoons smiled lightly, a few wrinkles appearing in the corners of his gleaming eyes. "Don't make me regret putting my trust in you."

She didn't know what else to say. He had taken the words right out of her mouth.