"So whose memories do you want to see first? Yours? Or his?" Little Eve asked me as she floated around me.

"His!" I answered instantly. I wanted to know what was wrong with him that he decided to make such a harsh decision of tearing off his wing. I wanted to understand him more so that I could help him.

"Then you shall see them." Little Eve snapped her fingers and the surroundings changed. That darkness dissipated into the particles of different colours. The different particles converged together and transformed into thin fibre like substance. Those fibres then weaved themselves together. I felt like I was watching the birth of a world.

The next moment, I was in front of a wooden house. I looked back and saw clouds floating around. I could see a few small and large islands above those clouds in the sky. From one of the island, water was falling into nothingness and it didn't take me long to realize that I was standing on one of those floating islands. I was sure that it was Eden- the world of angels. It looked so wonderful, but aside from a few things, most of it looked so blurred.

"So that's what Black meant by 'cloud' based," I remembered what Black had told me.

"Do you know where he was born?" Little Eve asked me while looking at that house.

"He said he was born in the wilds."

"So naïve. Are children born in orphanages?"

"Don't tell me he lied to me?" Little Eve didn't answer me but she passed through the door and entered inside. When I tried to touch the door, my hand just passed through. I walked through the door and looked around. Most of the things were hazy and I couldn't make out what they were. Then I heard faint sounds coming out of a room ahead. I walked to that room and peeked inside.

I could see two angels standing in front of a cradle. One was a man and the other a woman. Little Eve was standing behind that cradle and she hinted me to come in. I was hesitant.

"Don't worry. They're not real. It's just a memory."

When I heard that, my hesitation was gone, and I entered. When I went near the cradle, I realized that the faces of both of them were obscured and I couldn't see their features. It was funny how the important detail was blurry in the memory. I turned my head towards the cradle and saw a newborn with little silver hair on his head. He was wrapped up in a white cloth. His eyes were big and shining emerald green. His cheeks were chubby, and his toothless mouth was laughing. He was so happy.

That was my Black as a baby! He looked so cute! I tried to touch him, but my hand just went through him. Even though I knew that it wasn't real, it would be awesome if I could just hold the newborn Black in my arms. I could then tease him later.

Just then, the expression of baby Black changed. He became expressionless, and it looked so odd. His shining eyes lost their shine. He emitted a black aura from his little body and his parents took a few steps away from the cradle. After that brief moment, everything returned to normal once again.

"Black too was born like every child does. But when his parents realized he was a bloodthirsty, they decided to leave him in the wilds."

Those thin fibres made of particles dissipated like smoke and once again weaved themselves together to create the next scene.

This time, I was in a forest. A forest so dense that even light could hardly find its way out of the leaves and branches. I could hear voices, roars of so many beasts that my blood ran cold. Little Eve flew, and I followed her. After a few seconds, Little Eve stood beside a huge tree. Those two people were squatting down as they did something at the base of the tree. They left immediately. I walked there and realized that the tree was hollow. I peeked inside.

I saw Little Black there. He had a cute small wing growing on his back. Little Black was only old enough to barely crawl. He was lying with his arms wrapped around his legs. He was curled like a ball. His body still shivered because of the cold surroundings. But he was brave. He didn't cry. My heart hurt when I looked at baby Black like that and I reached out for him, only to realize that my hand once again passed through him.

"It's just a memory Eve." Little Eve reminded me.

"How can such a small baby survive in the wilds?"

"He was lucky. He possessed the legendary ability. He unconsciously devoured the lifestream as the source of energy."

"How can his parents be so cruel?" I know that I shouldn't but I couldn't stop myself from hating his parents.

"Do you know, when he grew up and Eden told him the truth, he didn't hate them. He wasn't even angry at them because he could understand them. He just let them go like they let him. The lifestream became his only family."

"What's there to understand?"

"Let me tell you a tale... A few centuries ago, demons waged a war against angels. The demons wanted to destroy everything. The war went on for years and angels defended bravely, but then it happened. A few of the bloodthirsty angels awakened as demons. The bloodthirsty were too strong and could easily overpower the strongest of seraphs. As they slaughtered their way into Eden, the delicate balance of war tilted in the favour of demons.

Eden screamed in pain when she saw her children being slaughtered. The lifestream created three blades that were later called Eden's Scream. The blade would provide angels with exceptional power, but at the price of their own life. The Eden's Scream fought off the bloodthirsty, but too many lives were sacrificed in the process. Angels won that war, but the wounds of that war can still be traced in present times.

After the war, the council of the surviving seraphs and higher angels decided that a bloodthirsty should be exiled to the forest of darkness as soon as they show first signs of awakening. The angels, left weak, couldn't bear the risk of the awakening of another bloodthirsty. Black's parents, they were still kids when the great war happened. The horrors of war were still alive in their hearts. And it scared them when they found out that their child was a bloodthirsty, an abomination, a scourge to Eden. They can not be blamed."

Little Eve recited the tale of the great war to me. There was no one to be blamed for this. But my Black went through so much pain because of that. Even though he suffered from injustice, his heart was big enough to forgive them and let it all go. I was so proud of my Black.

The scenes changed at a rapid pace. Black started to grow up and learn. Lifestream taught him everything, from speaking normally to writing, from climbing on the trees and picking up fruits to hunting the beasts of wilds, from swimming to building a treehouse. I couldn't see or hear Eden, but with the way baby Black behaved at times, I could tell that there was someone he was talking to.

When he was ten, he wanted to venture out and see the world beyond wilds but little did he know that there was another injustice waiting for him.

The scenes changed. This time I was in the middle of a giant hall, shimmering in gold and silver. The walls were carved with mysterious and beautiful designs by a master craftsman. There were pillars on both sides of the halls, so huge that they appeared to be able to support heaven. There was a platform up ahead where some angels were standing. On the red carpet, in the middle of the hall, many little angels were chatting among themselves. Even though most of them were different in height and shape, they had one similarity. They all had only one wing. Some of those wings were white, but others had a tint of greyness.

Black was standing quietly in a corner, just looking at others with curiosity. It was the first time he was seeing other angels.

"Can I have your attention, little ones?" The angel standing in the centre of the platform spoke up and the little angels stopped talking.

"Do you know why you all have gathered here?" The little angels looked at each other for an answer, but none of them knew.

"Sigh. I hate to be the bearer of this truth every time." That person sighed in a low voice. "Let me start with the story of wings then. Do you know the reason we angels can pass through the different world barriers is because of our wings? The reason we don't feel tired despite constantly flying is because of our wings. But these abilities were not ever-present. The wings were not present in the angels of the distant past. They weren't nigh immortal either. It was the legendary angels who crafted the wings, the abilities. Ever since then it became an inseparable part of us. And these are the blessings we receive at our birth.

But not everyone could perfectly inherit these blessings after the era of the legendary angels. And some unfortunate ones are born with only one wing... The pair of wings use lifestream as the energy source for the abilities. But one wing... It feeds off the lifeforce inside one. The amount it requires is too immense. As the wing grows, the lifeforce it syphons off increases. Unable to meet its need after a time, the lone wing starts to rot. It turns darker and darker until there's no lifeforce to feed it. And that is the day the angel dies..."

The little angels looked at each other with horror in their eyes. Black was stunned. But despite that reaction, that angel continued.

"There is a way out, though. An unstable wing can be attached to someone with one wing and that one can become whole once again."

Those little angels were solemn. It was like they understood everything. Black was just blankly staring with anger in his eyes. The bloodthirst that he had suppressed since his birth had finally flared up again. He repeatedly shook his head, trying to bring his mind to the normal state. His anger was completely understandable. When he was a child, his parents left him. And now he found out he can not live despite the suffering he went through.

"Lifestream did not tell Black about it. The cruelty of fate awakened the bloodthirsty nature of Black once more and his lifeforce started to corrupt." Little Eve spoke.

"Even though this is the case, we cannot choose the fate of anyone. And that's why the council had decided long ago that when they turn ten, the one-winged angels are to be sent to Gaia and battle it out. The victor gets to become whole, and the ones who lose their wings become a mortal and live the rest of their life on Gaia, never to come in contact with us again. Today is the day you will be sent to Gaia. What happens there is entirely your choice... And we all apologise. There is nothing we can do." That angel sincerely apologized to the little kids and stopped talking so that the little angels could get time to understand his words.

"What happened after that?" I asked Little Eve who was beside me.

"You didn't look around carefully."

"What does that mean?"

Instead of answering me right away, Little Eve pointed in a certain direction. I turned my head, and I saw a girl. She was trying to hide behind one of the pillars. I knew that hairstyle, that small stature and those bright eyes. Another Little Eve standing there! 

"How?"

"Eve, you too were once an angel."