War is closer than you think and soon enough, everything seems to go downhill. Sabo is acting weird, the information you get from Kalen are terrifying and, the worst, you’re in the middle of everything.
Your eyes were closed as you enjoyed the warm sunlight caressing your hurting muscles and limbs. The sun was about to set, but the warmth from the sun was still surrounding your figure laying next to Sabo on the ground. The both of you were laying in the backyard of your house, eyes closed, too exhausted to speak for the longest time.
It had been two weeks since the message of war had reached your hometown and it had been two weeks since your training had intesified to unimaginable extent. Kalen, the leader of the army of the south side of heaven- your trainer, was not lying when he had told you the next weeks would be painful. As soon as the sun would come to view, you and your best friend would march to the huge hall, where numerous of angels were trying to become more skilled than their enemy. Only after hours of pain and sweat, he would let you both go- most of the time, after the sun was already gone. Today was different, however.
Your enemys, a group of fallen angels, were becoming more rutheless and violent. Their powers were still unknown on most parts, but the thing that was known, and probably the most important factor: they were not backing down anytime soon. Thus, Kalen decided that you and Sabo needed to rest, to be strong and healthy for the fight, that could break out any time soon.
At first it had been little attacks on the border of heaven, but soon enough, more blood was flooding in midst of the country. It wasn’t sure what the fallen creatures wanted- but you guessed; they had no real reason to be violent. It was a pleasure for them; a hobby.
You could feel the hatred boiling in your veins.
“I don’t feel my legs anymore.” You could hear Sabo mumble next to you. You turned your head to the side and mustered the blonde boy. Just like you, he lay on the ground, eyes closed and pained expression on his face. His hair was sticking out to every direction. “I don’t think I will survive the day. I will just stay here and be one with the grass.” He joked.
“It’s getting real now.” You only said. “It’s not all just games anymore.”
“I know.” He whispers back and opens his eyes. He turns his head to you and stares into your eyes, the reflection of yourself visible in his blue orbs. “I wish it wouldn’t be like this, though.”
You nod your head and turn back to the orange sky. You had less than half an hour before the darkness would come. Your wings were spread lightly around you, barely touching Sabo, who’s wings were the same. Silence swims around you both, yet again too lost in your own thoughts to speak.
“It’s weird.” He suddenly breaks the silence. “Most of the angels don’t even know what’s happening around them, while we suffer not only physically, but also emotionally. Do you think if we asked one of the shop owners, they would know what was happening in their country? Of course not.” He spits bitterly and you can’t help but furrow your brows, the muscles in your back tensing.
“They enjoy their freedom, while we bleed and push ourselves so much. ” He says and closes his eyes, a sigh leaving his lips. The next words, he whispers. “I wish I could be like them, blind and naive.” It was like he was talking to himself, exposing a secret that was deeper than you first thought.
“It’s because they’re not made for it.” You say carefully. You don’t want to anger or hurt him any way- it seemed like the topic was sensitive anyways.
You couldn’t lie: you noticed his expression every day, how it changed, how it grew more and more bitter. While you grew stronger and more determined to win the war, he seemed like he only wanted it to end, like he had no interest in it. Kalen and the other’s didn’t seem to notice, but you did- you spend too much time with Sabo to not see him fighting with his emotions. When you learned new tactics, Sabo was standing in the corner and barely listening to anything the commanders told you- something that worried you. "The fighters are not just ordinary angels, we aren’t just ordinary angels. If we don’t fight, no one else will.“ You explain softly. Sabo’s eyes stay closed.
“We might suffer, but it’s not meaningless. Even if we take down only one bad creature, it will be honorable and mean so much for everyone else. We carry their freedom on our back, Sabo. It’s us who decide the future of heaven.” You frown. “We can’t take it lightly. It’s our duty to do so. Do you think it’s only luck that we both happen to be so strong? We were made to defend our loved one’s. We were made for it. We were made for heaven.”
Sabo sits up. You do the same, making the snow coloured dress on your body ruffle up a bit.
“But who fights for our freedom?” He asks again, staring at you. You could hear the pain in his voice. “The fighters from the north side… so many of them died in the last attack, but who fought for their freedom?” His blue eyes find yours again and instead of the innocent blue sky, you see ice staring at you.
“We die because it’s expected of us.” He whispers and heaves himself up. “We have no other choice.”
You turn your head and watch Sabo leave the garden. A sigh leaves your lips, then you stand up as well, staring at the back door, where your friend left seconds ago. You decide to take a walk and enjoy the last few minutes of light, before you’d go inside and talk to Sabo- or not talk to him, you didn’t know how he would react anyway.
As you walk along the empty street in silence, you can’t help but think about what Sabo had said. The sun on your wings from behind was warm, almost comforting, while the thoughts in your head were the complete opposite.
You think about the fighters of the north side, who were attacked and killed not too long ago. They were on their way back home to train on their own side– away from the south, when the fallen creatures suddenly appeared and killed them. Goosebumps spread on your body as you think about the things the people that lived close by said; rumours about a blue phoenix were whispered from ear to ear, some even said rose petals were surrounding the dead corpses of the angels- a thought that made your wings twitch in anger and somewhat fear. One thing in particular was confusing you the most: It was the symbol that was carved into the trees around the corpses.
It was a grinning skull with a large mustache and a cross behind it.
Not many people knew about this, but Kalen decided that you and a few others should know about this, since it was them- their face, their symbol.
“What are you doing here?” You suddenly hear a deep, familiar voice on the right side, pulling you out of your own thoughts. You look to the side and meet the face of a red haired figure- Eustass Kidd.
Only now you notice that you walked into the park, where dozens of cherry trees were planted next to each other. Kidd was leaning against one of those trees, clothed in white shirt and same coloured pants. He had a pair of goggles on his head, something he already wore when he was in elementary school and his wings were folded behind his back- muscular and big. He glances at you with curious eyes.
“Where’s your little doggy?” You ask instead and scan your surroundings. You both were alone, standing a few meters away from each other with the warm orange sky above your heads.
“Do you mean Killer?” He says and crosses his arms. “I don’t think he would like the nickname.”
“I don’t think I care.” You raise one of your eyebrows and cross your arms as well. To your surprise, Kidd’s lips start to twitch in amusement.
He pushes himself off the tree and takes a few steps towards you. “You didn’t answer my question though. Why are you here?”
“I am taking a walk.” You say. “Or I tried to, before a certain someone decided to interrupt me.”
“Interrupt? You could have kept walking, but you decided to stop and continue talking to me.” Kidd starts to grin, as if he made a valid point, but you just shake your head and turn around, walking back home. It only takes two steps for the red haired boy to catch up with you and walk along beside you.
He wasn’t the little annoying boy in elementary school anymore. Yes, he was still annoying, but he wasn’t little anymore. He grew tall, at least a head taller than you and you had to admit; he was rather handsome. Not as handsome as Sabo, you noted, but still nice to look at.
“I saw you fighting yesterday.” Kidd says and takes a glance at you. You’re not sure, but you might see the tiniest bit of red on his cheek. “You’re really strong… I’m sure you could have killed that boy if it wasn’t for the training.”
You remember back to the lean boy you were fighting against yesterday. He wasn’t really a match for you, you had to be honest, but he had asked you for a little fight and who were you to say no? As soon as it started, it ended though. He was way less experienced than you and with quick steps and one kick, he was on the ground.
“I guess.” You just shrug.
“Kalen seems to be proud of you.” He continues and buries his hands in his pockets. “Everyone knows you’re his favourite. It’s just so obvious how he bets on you, as if you’re the only one who has to fight. ”
“What are you trying to say?” You stare at him and frown. Kalen might treat you a bit different from the others, but that didn’t mean anything. You knew him for years now, it was normal to build some sort of friendship after all those time. “Do you think I’m not good enough?”
He frowns back. “I never said that. ” He huffs and keeps walking. “What I’m trying to say is; Kalen is putting you under too much pressure. Sure, you might handle it well and shit, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’re not fighting alone.”
You look at him from the side, not knowing what to say.
“That one speech he held, it was as if he knew you will win this- even alone. I’m not sure, you might, but he keeps on forgetting that we are not just ten or twenty or one hundred fighters- we are five hundred angels, who will fight along with you. And that’s only the south.”
You nod your head and feel some weight being lift from your shoulders, weight you never knew you were carrying around. It was true though, Kalen did make it seem the exact way Kidd was describing.
“That’s nice to hear.” You mumble. “I’m glad I don’t have to go alone.”
“Yeah.” He whispers, almost to himself. “You’re not alone, Y/N.”
The red haired boy nods and takes another glance at you. He looks like he wants to say some more, but he doesn’t. A few quiet and slightly awkward moments later, you’re standing in front of your house in the dark.
“Thanks for disturbing my walk, I guess.” You tease and walk towards the door. Kidd only laughs- a loud, deep and somehow nice sounding laugh.
You turn your back to the red haired boy and open the door to your house, about to slip inside, when he talks again- almost shy this time.
“Y/N… When the war is over, let’s take another walk together.”
You close the door behind you and stay frozen in the same spot for the longest second, cheeks warm and thoughts a mess. What you don’t see is Kidd standing in front of your house at the same time, grinning widely, before he turns around and leaves the street.
As soon as you close your eyes that night, without talking to anyone, you can’t help but think about Kidd again.
Something in your chest was swelling up and you weren’t so sure about what it was. Was it a potential crush you had on Kidd? Was it the effect of the conversation you both had earlier? Or was it, maybe, the feeling of your soulmate?
When the war is over, he had said. You can’t help but feel more and more determind to win this. If you don’t win this fight, you would never be able to see the park again or talk to Sabo again- you could never have the chance to meet someone like you met Kidd today. You couldn’t live anymore.
You fall asleep with an unknown feeling in your chest.
The time bomb, that you didn’t know was existing, was slowly coming to an end above everyone’s head. In that moment, you didn’t knew it would go off in less than 48 hours, changing everything you were used to and pushing you into a life you never knew existed.
After you woke up the next day, got ready and quickly put on some clothes, you left the house with Sabo next to you. Your muscles were still aching, but not as bad as yesterday and you were happy Kalen had let you both leave earlier last night. The sun wasn’t out yet, but the sky was slowly getting brighter. It was a greyish blue that was above your head and some stars were still glimmering too.
“I’m sorry about yesterday.” Sabo says while he buries his hands in his pockets. “It’s just that I’m stressed. I hope you don’t feel bad.”
“It’s fine.” You say and go around the corner. You take a glance at the boy next to you and tighten your lips. His blonde hair was messy, he had the faintest hint of dark circles underneath his eyes and all in all, he looked like he didn’t get much sleep last night. “I’m not mad.”
Sabo nods. You try to leave him be, but the curiosity in your veins was getting the best of you. “Sabo, are you sure it’s just you being stressed? I’m your best friend. You can talk to me, if something’s wrong.”
The streets of the golden City were empty, the small café’s and little shops were still closed and the smell of flowers was only faintly swimming in the air. It was just you and your best friend.
He looks at you and you’re about to stop walking, but before you can do anything, he throws an arm around you and lets out a long sigh.
“I’m fine, Y/N. Don’t worry about me.”
You do, though. You worry about him- a lot, but from the expression on his face, the conversation seems to be over. Neither of you talk some more, until you’re arriving at the hall.
“Y/N, Sabo.” Kalen says after you both walk into the little office room he had. He almost never left the hall, so he had his own few rooms in here. He didn’t like colours, but he had a thing for paintings, so his rooms were colourless, with a few paintings hanging from the wall. You sat down on the couch in the corner, while Sabo leaned against the wall, looking out of the glasswall to the main hall, where more and more angels arrived with weapons in their hands. Sabo watched with neutral eyes how they fought each other, all while you watched him.
“I have some important information for you.”
Both of you snap your eyes to the brown man sitting in his chair. He had no hair on his head and a few scars even sat in his skin. His wings were spread, not wide enough to hinder him at anything, but still enough to be intimidated. He had big feathers, strong muscles and an aura around him that was scary enough to make the kids run away whenever he appeared.
Kalen locked eyes with you, then with Sabo.
“We now know who their leader is. Some of our spies caught two of their commanders talking about him. ” He says, with a proud undertone in his voice. But as quickly as it appeared, it left again. “They call him their father, but we know it’s just what they prefer to call him. His real name is Edward Newgate- also called Whitebeard. ”
There’s silence hanging in the room.
“Whitebeard?” Sabo asks, confusion in his voice. “I haven’t heard his name before.”
“Me neither.” You say and lean your head to the side. If he was the leader, how come he was so unknown? Shouldn’t he be famous? You were confused. Someone who had an army as big as him should be somewhat known.
“It doesn’t matter.” Kalen says quickly. He looks to the side and it looked like he was deep in thoughts, maybe for a second too long. “We also found out about their level of strenght.”
Sabo walks to the middle of the room, his whole attention on the trainer.
“From what we heard, they are pretty much on the same level as us.” Kalen says. “They have about the same number of fighters as we do and-” His eyes lock with yours again. “I’m afraid they might have the same joker as we do.”
You try to stay still. “That means?”
“It means,” Sabo thinks out loud and looks to the side, eyeing you with an unreadable expression. “They have someone just like you.”
“Exactly.” The commander stands up from his chair and walks across the room to where you’re seated. Sabo goes through his hair and sighs for the second time this morning. “They have one person- we don’t know much about them, but the person seems to be just like you, Y/N.”
You tried to progress his words. For some reason, this information was worse than anything you would have thought would come out from this little meeting. It was like ice cold water slowly dribbling down your spine.
“What exactly is a person just like me?” You say. Your fingers graze the fabric of the sofa softly, a way to calm yourself without anyone noticing. The reason for your behaviour was simple; all this time, the thought of you being the strongest angel was pushed inside of you. Ever since you were little, people would compliment you and, to be completely honest, you were the only one like this. It wasn’t arrogance that was speaking, it was something else. Like some sort of attitude that was forced inside of your brain.
“Someone who is extremely strong, fast and has an aura just like you, Y/N.” Kalen says and leans back against his desk. “Probably even with the same wings. ” His expression was neutral, but the slight undertone in his voice told you- he wasn’t too happy about this either. “Our spies not only caught the name of their leader, they also caught them talking about someone in a way, that sounds like us talking about you.”
“We should have prepared ourselves for something like this.” Sabo suddenly spits out and clenches his hands to fists. “You always talked so high about Y/N, but none of you ever thought about the fact that she is not the only one that could be that strong.”
Kalen’s eyes turn to slits. Yours grow.
“The possibility of someone being as talented as her is not very high, Sabo. Someone as strong as Y/N only comes to life every few years- she’s a wonder. How could we know that there are two of those wonders at the same time?”
“You say the possibility is not high, but it’s still there!” From your seat you can see the muscles in Sabo’s jaw tensing. You slowly stand up and try to come near him. “This is a mistake on your side. You should have thought about every single thing that could happen and make us get ready for it! This is supposed to be your job. But instead, you just pushed her more and more and fed her ego.”
“Sabo, calm down-” You try to stop him, but it’s like he is unable to hear you.
“What if the person knew about Y/N all this time and got ready to fight her, all while we didn’t know shit!” Sabo’s voice was getting louder and he even took a step towards the man with grey eyes. Kalen didn’t look insulted, nor did he look intimidated- he only looked at the blonde haired boy in a way that screamed; either you stop talking now- or I will make you. “What if she dies, because of your mistake? What will you tell your little army then, hm?”
“That’s enough.” Kalen says lowly, voice rumbling with authority. Goosebumps start to spread across your body. “The only thing you’re doing is making her fear the enemy. You’re not helping either, Sabo. You say it’s a mistake and you might be right-”
“But you scaring her is not going to help anyone. It will just break the hope of the fighters. If we believe that we will win this, we will.” Kalen takes a step towards Sabo, both men now standing eye to eye. Sabo is half an head taller than his trainer, but there is power glimmering from both of them.
“If they don’t have someone to believe in, the war will be over even before it started. Y/N is not dumb, she can adjust easily and she trained harder than most of the men here- even harder than you. She can defend the monster that is hiding, and she will. So don’t you come up here and talk to me like some sort of dog barking at-”
Before Kalen could end his sentence and before Sabo could spit some insults back, the door to the office broke open and a man with orange hair tumbled into the room. His chest was heaving fast and his forehead was shining with sweat.
“Can’t you see that I’m-”
“It’s starting.” The man coughs out. It’s like thunder rumbling through the room. “The fallen creatures were spotted in the old temple. There are so many of them- they have weapons ready and are destroying villages around them. The West and North are already on their way to them. We need the South- now!”
You can see Sabo’s shoulders dropping with disbelief and you can’t help but let out a loud breath too.
Now? You should leave now? After you got to know about the enemy that could crush you?
Kalen instantly turns around and walks to the closet, where he rummages through the shelves with fast hands. “Sabo, Y/N- go and tell the other commanders what is happening and get ready. If we leave in less than an hour, we might reach the temple in the afternoon. We can’t lose a minute now.”
His brown head turns to you- only to you, and only now you notice your body shaking. “This is the moment we were waiting for, Y/N, you can do this. I know you can.”