Shu sat on his bed, rubbing along his arms with a wince, the soreness of his muscles was proof of his earlier mishap with the curses. "Hello!" A sweet voice said, making him turn.

Honey smiled at him and walked over. Gou was also there sitting by the table in the room, his sword resting in front of him. "Hi, you're here?"

Honey nodded, "Yes! Daigo asked us to come here. Are you feeling okay?"

Shu smiled, ruffling her hair, "Yes, could've been better but yes." He turned to Gou, "Where's Lui?"

"In a meeting," His expression was grim. Shu's gut coiled as he raised his brow in question not wanting to ask what had happened now, but Gou instantly recognized his unspoken question. "Something happened," He said, choosing his words carefully. "The demon lords are asking for a peace council to discuss," He paused, "To discuss about everything."

Shu stood and made his way to the door. Then he started sprinting towards the mess hall with his heart racing, blood rushing against his ears. Shit, shit, shit. This is bad. When he burst through the door, the conversation halted, "What the fuck is going on?" He asked, catching his breath, crimson eyes wild with worry.

"Oh hello, Shu!" Sasha said, but her voice was devoid of any cheer. Shu just nodded at her reaching for the scroll Lui handed him. They waited in silence as he read the sentences repeatedly, they wanted him at the venue, and of course, they did.

"It's a trap," Lui stated the obvious, "They want you, Snowflake. For whatever they have planned, they want you."

Shu looked up from the letter and nodded, "Yes, it's an obvious trap but they know we're going to walk right into it. That's the only way we're getting any answers."

Wakiya groaned, flopping back to his chair, and running a frustrated hand through his locks. "This is insanity, we can't even wait for any of the other forces because it might be too late."

"He's right," Free said, "Because they can attack, any time, and with the power one of the Demon Lords holds to control your body, they might hold it against us."

Shu winced, reminded of the blinding pain he faced that day. He was their weak point and the Demon Lords knew the team cared too much about his well-being to try anything shady during the council. Why me? He wanted to ask, the question he'd asked countless times from his mother, why did it have to be me?

"So?" Daigo asked, "Are we going?"

There was a palpable silence in the room. Shu placed the scroll on the table, sighing. "Do we have any other choice?"

"Yeah," Lain said, walking in. "We could kill you and get over with it."

Lui smiled, "Or I can kill you and get over with it."

"You wanna try?"

Shu tuned out their conversation as he started running his mind through the information he'd gathered since the beginning. The dark continent, the angel, his uncle's books. Why didn't he mention any of those in his books? Maybe he didn't find anything else? If the assassins followed his uncle to the castle and imprinted him with this disease, shouldn't it be a coincidence? Shouldn't he be an unfortunate bystander who got caught up with the collateral damage? "We need Adeline," Shu announced, "I need to meet her."

"I thought you hated her," Valt generously pointed out drawing a smile from his best friend.

"I do, but there is something I need to know. The rumour of the angel being white-haired and red-eyed, the rumour that it looks just like me, I need to know when the rumour started."

"What a coincidence, we were talking about the same thing earlier," Besu said, "And we all realized it came after the initial rumour."

"If it was after they attacked our palace, then it makes sense why the angel looks like me because they wanted to make it convincing that I am the angel, but then again," Shu turned to the ghost circling Jin, agitated. Jin followed his gaze to him as well.

"The ghost has memories that are supposedly thousands of years old," Jin paused, "Unless someone replicated the memories."

The ghost screeched, an inhumanely loud noise which made Shu wince, "Memories can be replicated?"

"Yes," Jin said, shifting uneasily, "I don't usually distrust any of the souls but after all that's happening, it's possible."

The ghost was getting even more agitated, now circling the room, flying over their heads, the others were oblivious to the conduct but Shu watched, transfixed. "He knows something is up," Shu blinked, "He knows-" Then the ghost attacked, Shu stumbled back, narrowly dodging the clawing hands from skinning him alive.

"Stop it," Jin demanded. The rest watched, comically oblivious.

"I feel like an idiot," Honcho announced, "I cannot see anything and it feels like you two are chasing around a voice. But is it bad?"

Shu grimaced, "I think he's trying to kill me, so yes, pretty bad."

"Heavens, Snowflake," Lui said, "Can you go for five minutes without being a target?"

Shu smiled, ducking as the ghost crashed against the wall. He sincerely thought he'd go through the wall, being transparent as it is. "I'm trying!"

"Stop!" Shu said, holding his hands up, "Talk to me," He urged as the little ghost stopped in front of his face, his brows knitted in unspoken, unsolved confusion and pain. "Am I the angel you've been friends with? Are you confused too? Is someone making you confused?"

The ghost child started flying in circles in front of him, his tiny hands gripping his dark hair, a whimper echoing back at him every time he moved. "Hey..." Shu said, gently approaching him. "Are you alright?"

The child stopped and charged at him, his tiny hands flailing about as they grabbed Shu's cheeks, staring deep into his crimson eyes as he uttered one word. The first word he had uttered since Shu had arrived. "Angel." He said, his voice hoarse, yet holding the innocent simplicity of a child. "Save. Angel."

"Yes," Shu said, encouraging him. "Save the angel? From what?"

The child shook his head, tightening his hold on his face. Shu winced, feeling his ragged nails breaking into his skin. "Angel. Saved."

"Oh okay," Shu said, "The angel saved you?" The child nodded vigorously. "From what, love? From what did he save you?"

"Bad." He answered. "Hit. Hurt." He said pointing at himself.

Shu's heart melted, his lips setting to a grim line. He stared back at his sunken eyes, empty, only darkness left and wondered how much pain those eyes must've held when he was alive. "Can you show me?" He asked, softly placing his hands over the child's. Shu knew the ghost could show him everything through his memories. Maybe this would be the way. He nodded as the world surrounding him melted. The wooden stripes of the halls and the faces of his friends disappeared around him and were replaced with the solemn face of a young child. His golden brown eyes stared at a figure in front of him, crouched on the ground, drawing patterns on the dirt. The figure was the angel, Shu knew before he saw his face. Silky white hair in disarray, gently cascading over his back. White robes tainted in black and smears of dirt.

"It's like this," The angel was saying, "You know, in heaven, we do not have extravagant festivals each day as the mortals believe. It gets lonely sometimes."

The young child hummed, sitting with crossed legs on a nearby rock, his black hair tied back in a ponytail. "Oh," Shu thought, recognising the scratches on his arms, his bandaged neck and the jagged cut running over his cheek with rusted blood. This was him, this was the ghost child. "But I still want to go with you to heaven! I don't like anyone here. They're all so caught up with their own lives and hatred, that nobody has the time for me anymore."

The angel looked up, his crimson eyes brimmed with unspoken grief as he walked over. He patted his cheek, carefully avoiding the wounds. "I know, I'm sorry."

"What about you?" the child asked, "They hurt you too. I've seen it. Why don't you go back?"

The angel shrugged, looking up at the sky. "I am here to help everyone. I just can't leave like that. I'm afraid they will not take me either." And that's when the first abnormality occurred—a smaller discrepancy in the memory. The silky white hair suddenly changed colour, and the angel's eyes were not crimson anymore, they were gold. Pure, glistening gold. Shu blinked, taken aback as the memory shifted again, the angel's appearance kept changing as if he was unsure what he looked like. Then Shu was back at the city plaza, a raging fire burning in the middle. The angel was sprawled on the ground just besides it, snowy white hair cascading onto the dirty marble, rusted with decades of violence. The boy stood amongst the crowd, his hands together in a silent prayer as one of the men grabbed the dainty wrist of the fallen angel and started dragging him towards the fire — golden eyes staring into the depths of those insolent souls, they were not red anymore. Not his crimson.

The chains on his wrists rattled as the first flame licked his porcelain white skin. "No!" The boy cried, charging towards the fire, two armed men held him back as he was forced to watch the melting skin, his beloved, lovely friend being burned alive for all these rugged citizens to see. The angel caught his eyes for a second, a laugh crinkling his soft features before the flame cackled and spit fire along his delicate skin.

"I'm sorry," The boy howled, sinking to his knees, and smashing his head against the marble floor. That's when Shu felt it, the heavy burden of guilt on his shoulders. The angel was no more, and the boy was holding onto the crawling veins of sin and guilt, making him immovable and unable to move on from his ghostly form to ascend to some kind of heaven as he desired.

Shu placed a hand on his shaking shoulders as the memories faded away, "It's not your fault," He said, kneeling beside him on the floor, "The angel will never blame you for any of this."

"It's my fault," He screamed, clutching to his chest, and Shu caressed his hair. "I could've done something. If only I was a little stronger, I could've saved him!"

Shu shook his head, taking the crying child in his arms, "You're a child, what you needed to be was not strong, but protected. The adults around you failed you, they were so consumed in hatred. If there's any crime, which there isn't, on your part, I believe the angel might've pardoned you a million times over." He paused, placing each palm on his tear-stained cheeks.

"I think he's waiting for you to come home."

"Home?" He whispered, "But where is...home?"

"Wherever you want to be. The place where the angel must be looking forward for you."

"You think so? That he's waiting for me?" He frowned, rubbing his eyes. "But I thought...aren't you- you aren't?"

Shu smiled a sad smile, "I'm not, love. I'm not an angel. Hardly. I believe he's still somewhere waiting for you to come back. I think it's time for you to let down your burden. You've suffered long enough, I think it's time you let yourself free."

The ghost child stared, confused. Shu reached to touch his cheek and his fingers touched the air. "Okay," He answered, his eyes taking form again, his skin glowing in a yellowish glow. "I'll go and meet him." A flash of uncertainty. "In heaven?"

Shu smiled, "Home." He answered. "Wherever he is, that's your home."

Soon Shu was staring not at a ghost, a skeleton of a being who has been wandering through aimlessly for centuries to come, not a child who died a little too young, shackled with the chains of grief and unable to set himself free. Shu saw a boy, waiting to go home. His skin glowing a healthy tan, his eyes crinkling with a genuine smile. He waved, "Goodbye Shu-san!" He said, "I'm going home."

Shu waved, his heart filling with a sense of nostalgia for a life he'd never seen but also seen flash by his eyes. "Good bye," He whispered to the remnants of memory as the child disappeared, the strategy room coming back to focus. He stared ahead, stunned by a deep sense of loss.

"You released his soul," Jin whispered, marvelling. "You put his soul to rest."

Shu stared at his fingers, "It was a long time coming," He answered. "He had nothing to long for, when he realized I'm not the angel."

"What do you mean?" Sasha questioned, "What did you see?"

Shu shrugged, Lords, he was exhausted. "I'm not the angel," He said, his eyes searching for Lui. "The memories were indeed replicated. The angel had golden eyes. It was eerie."

"Hey," Lain dryly complained, stretching his arms. "Well, I guess that's a wrap."

"No," Shu said, pausing the assassin. "It's not a wrap until we find answers." He stared at the scroll laying on the table. "It's not a wrap until we attend that damn banquet and find out what's really going on." 

Hehe, Im alive, sorry for any mistakes, i couldn't proofread anything!! i wanted to publish this for a while thank you for waiting for me!