XX-V
"Welcome to the world, baby Stephen!" the host yells as the balloons pop and the confetti fly throughout of the small pavilion. Stephen Ferrer, first born child of the owner of Ferrer Publishing Co., has been born after the crucial nine months of pure contractions and weird cravings. Baby Stephen grew up very active and friendly. His face is filled with joy and pure happiness. Everything looks normal and the family is just happy as if problems don't bother them at all. But when you look closely, something is not right. Baby Stephen may look normal in the eyes of other people but to his parents, he is not normal at all. They came to every doctor that specializes with different genetic conditions but none of them could explain everything that is happening to their child. In the end, they just accepts that their kid is different compared to others, and they can't do anything about it. They decide to hide about him as much as possible.
They never let him play outside with other kids. They never go to any family vacations except going to their province in Maras every summer vacation; but other than that, nothing more. Stephen never got to taste of what is like to be a kid. As he grows older, the doors of the Ferrer family start to close until it was locked from all the people they used to invite inside. Years had passed by and the weird marking seen in the boy's body hasn't disappeared. What happened is they grew bigger after his last visit with his grandmother. Mr. and Mrs. Ferrer thought that he ate something that is bad to him when he was in Maras. They were so worried of what could be happening to their only child, so they decided to never allow Stephen to go back there until his grandmother died.
Stephen never had his rebellious phase. He never talked back to his parents. He can't get angry or get mad to anything. As if happiness is plastered to his face every now and then. Nothing could make him mad. He would rather help you or ignore you. Three years since his grandmother died, the markings have slowly fading. His parents' got very excited that they decided to go to the beach after a long time. What they didn't expect is that, Stephen's eye color starts to fade into nothing. They thought he was going blind but the next morning, the colors went back. They were relieved but what Stephen said next forced them to go back to Maras and look for Laryo, Stephen's grandmother's friend and asks him to do his very best to heal their child.
Stephen is so excited to see Laryo again but when the older man saw him, he was petrified. Stephen does not look like a human. He is not human, at all. Laryo steps back when he saw the kid and looks at their parents who is giving him a confused look. "What is wrong?" Mrs. Ferrer asked as she tries to comprehend what is happening to the older man. "What happened to him?" Laryo asked as he looks at the boy in front of him with fear visible in his eyes. "What do you mean?" Mr. Ferrer asks in confusion. "Who are you and what are you doing to this poor boy's body?" Laryo asks Stephen and the boy just smiles and answered, "I am someone who was not supposed to exist but here I am."
Both of Stephen's parents and Laryo are shocked to what they heard. It was not a child's voice. It was something deep and scary. The voice is filled with regret and sorrow as if it was suffering from something or he was being punished. It was Salthifer's voice that they heard. Stephen's parents got scared and offer Laryo large sums of money just to fix their son. Laryo nods and called his brother for help. His brother came over the next day where it is only Stephen who came. "Help this kid, and you can ask my help in return. But when I came back, I am making his soul free and there's nothing you can do about it," the spirit said. Laryo nods and the ritual begin.
Dark clouds start to form from the sky, green light shines through Laryo's hands, the inverted triangle starts to form above Stephen's head and in a blink of an eye, Stephen is on the ground. With the help of his brother, they erased Stephen's memory of Alviary and the other creatures that he had seen before, including Salthifer. They came home to Anlami, the moment they knew Stephen is okay. After that, nothing out of the ordinary happened to Stephen again, and the boy starts loving his life as he had his first taste of it.
~0~0~0~
"What did I just saw?" Stephen asks to the man in front of him. "Your past that your parents asked to be erased," he answered in a tone that is used when you are either pleading or begging. Stephen is speechless, not because of the memory, but because of what he said about being him. "What is your name?" Stephen asks trying to hide his emotions to the man. He is scared, without a doubt, but it seems like he knows the man for so long to be scared of him. Stephen doesn't understand such emotion so he decides to hide it instead. "Salthifer," the man answered, as he says the name, his wings shown their true form, and they looked like his wings. "We have the same wings," Stephen said, as if it wasn't obvious enough for the guy. "Yes, we do," the guy said approaching Stephen. The boy tries to step back, only to realize that if he steps back, he will fall. He still doesn't know how his wings work. "Don't be afraid. After all, I am still you," Salthifer said before chuckling and went to sit at the small stairs when he came from. Stephen follows his every step and keeps quiet to himself.
After a long period of silence, the boy can't take it anymore so he decides to ask Salthifer. "Are you also a living God like Alviary?" the boy asked, the man looked at him and smiles. "Yes, I am," he answered, before looking back whatever he is doing with his wings. Stephen approaches him and stares at his wings, which is a bit crippled and old. "What happened to them?" the boy asked, as he looks at them with worry. "Oh, Sartilliane forgot to comb them two days ago, so they started to crippled and look old. You should comb yours every day. Ask Triton for help, if you need to," he said, giving advice to Stephen on how to take care of his wings. None of the Angel Gods or even Alviary told him how to take care of his wings, so he is glad that Salthifer told him about it.
"I didn't know about that. Thank you!" Stephen exclaims, looking at his wings to see if they are crippled and getting old. "None of them had ever seen such wings like yours, so they don't have anything to offer to your aid when they get very heavy," he said as he finished brushing them. Stephen's mouth forms an "O" to imitate his understanding of the situation. Then he nods in agreement afterward. When the man is done, he crumpled the frizzy feather and blows them in the air, turning them into snows. Stephen was amazed by the sudden changes and claps his hands in excitement. "That is so cool!" he said and watches as the snow falls down from the higher sky. "Can I do that, too?" Stephen asks, as he hopes that he can.
Salthifer nods and gave him the brush, he carefully brushes his wings, scared to injure them because of his excitement. He winces in pain when the brush came in contact with his wings. "Your wings are too crippled, let me help," Salthifer offers and went behind him. "Sit down," the living God orders and Stephen follows. As Salthifer brushes Stephen's wings, the boy asked him about Sartilliane. "Who is Sartilliane?" Stephen asks, curious if she is his wife. "She is my sister, a living God like me," Salthifer answered, Stephen felt blushing after he wrongly guessed who could Sartilliane be. "Oh, I thought she is your wife," Stephen said sheepishly, chuckling nervously along the way. Salthifer chuckles and answered him, "She is married to former Queen of Hell, who is now a warrior and a living God like her," he said, combing carefully and continuously. "Can I ask the definition of a living God? I think Alviary forgot to mention it to me," Stephen said and looks at Salthifer is now beside him.
"A living God is someone who can create a portal and dressed like a human. We will find a suitable host and turned their soul into ours. We will infiltrate a human soul in exchange for our life. When we came back to life, we will set that human free and he will reincarnated as a pure human, and as for us, we will return in our rightful throne until it is time to find a new host. The cycle just repeats its self," he explains, but he suddenly stops and sighs. "But for me and Sartilliane, it's different," he said and continues to comb Stephen's wings. "How different?" Stephen asked as he stares at the living God in front of him. "We are warriors, a slave to humankind, a slave to our ruler, a slave to our people; we cannot be reborn unless our human host will sacrifice his life for ours," he explains, exasperating a sigh and finishes his combing.
"So, if I were you, I need to sacrifice myself for you to be reborn?" Stephen asks, and Salthifer nods but looks away. "You won't be reincarnated as a pure human if that happened," Salthifer said before looking back at Stephen, who is in awe instead of frustration. "I will do it," Stephen said, earning a wild howl, which came out of nowhere. "Other one condition," the boy said and smiles. "Win the war and save the people of Biringan," he offers. Salthifer smiles and nods, "I will for you and for all the people of Biringan," he said and shake Stephen's hand.
"So, how is the reborn being done?" Stephen asks, earning a chuckle from Salthifer. "We will wait until the portal is open, then that's when we part our ways," Salthifer said and Stephen nods in agreement, looking far away and already forgetting about his frizzy wings that could turn into snows. He is more focus on sacrificing himself for Salthifer. His decision is stupid, he knows. But at that time, he is more contented if he will sacrifice his life and save the people of Biringan rather than fulfilling his wish to Laryo before he went to his journey. A very selfish wish he hoped he could erase.