_________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐

╰┈➤ ❝ [ How is life? ] ❞

—

Days and nights departed in a blur, with no signs of altering their nature. The once marvelous starry sky became just another sight to pass by in the eyes of Helios. With the moon as his guide, the journey of eternity felt tortures.

Hefty footprints formed a perfect line straight ahead of the shoreline, a lone figure calmly strolling along the sandy beach, the rhythmic sound of water crashing against one another reaching his ears, and his faded eyes bored with the familiar sight of the ocean.

Observing as the light of the moon grazed the ocean, illuminating what was underneath, a delicate humming reverberated from Helios’ throat, his crimson eyes sharper than a harpoon driving through the flesh of a whale. His movements ceased once he came near the shoreline where the crystal clear water met the sandy beach, the hushed yet salty breeze blowing against his hooded face as the chilly air tickled his nose, flushing his tan cheeks.

As the comforting sound of crashing waves and screeching seagulls reached his ears, Helios turned his eyes away from the pacifying view and resumed his journey to the ends of the unbeknownst world where he now wandered further away from where he once called home.

Night shifted into the early morning with the ocean sounds no longer harmonizing in Helios’ ears and his critizing eyes with no ocean in sight to view. Now, his clothed feet no longer sank in the mushy surface of the sand but of lushed green grass that ran in armies covering the dirt, spreading far and wide from the unfamiliar world ahead of him. Dandelions and lavenders and Yorkshire fogs were all prettily standing upright against the tranquil wind; their euphoric colors popping out against the colorful green of the grasslands and dark sky coated with dim and stormy clouds. Turning his head to the right as the thundering sound of footsteps rippled through the air before finally reaching his ears, Helios’ expression remained in the same unaffected state it has always been. Before his eyes appeared a towering naked giant, much representing a human with bulging blue eyes and a wide, slit mouth, who—before entering the meadow—scanned the area. Before long, their widened eyes finally caught sight of the frozen being, and then the both of them stared blankly at each other, neither moving.

After a brief minute had passed, the giant looked away, their long legs stretching outward as the giant walked forwards. The two soon crossed worlds, but neither made it clear of noticing one another, but to just walking forward, both existing pitifully.

However, when did Helios ever admit to caring about maintaining mutual peace among others? As quick as a wink, the Titan had fallen, smoke drifting up from its neck in blinding amounts as the Titan lay face-down on the ground, ruining the unsullied beauty of the wildflowers.

Retrieving his miniature knife, Helios swiftly securely placed it back inside his coat pocket before resuming his journey deeper into the unknown.

‘I have come to comprehend two things in what little time I spent here on this tranquil, disease-plagued planet: one—how pathetic the human race has become. And two: that this planet hasn’t changed since the last time I visited. Nevertheless, I have learned very little.’ Dissatisfied with this conclusion, nevertheless Helios didn't let that affect his plan as his feet walked on the plush ivory grass; the late morning sun blasted in full heat down at him, making the man sweat slightly as the black clothing that wrapped tightly around his muscular frame made the heat even more of an uncomfortable feeling to bear.

Closing his eyes as he took a deep breath, Helios looked up as the sight of a vast forest came into view. Trees that reached towards the thin clouds greeted his sight with their lanky forms, amusing the relieved Helios. He would rather be damned than not accept the thought of going into the woods for shelter under the tree's leaf-covered branches.

Quickening his steps, Helios began to jump from one place to another to get there faster, the heat already beginning to affect his body as his temperature reached an uncomfortable high. Don’t misunderstand his discomfort; Helios was just never particularly fond of anything hot—it has been that way ever since he could recall. So even though he could walk through fire just fine and survive being buried in lava with no more than just an annoyed frown on his face, anything hot that touched the outer part of his body did he indeed consider an inconvenience. However, spicy food was always on the table.

Finally reaching the outskirts of the small forest Helios took off his hood as he eagerly wiped away the beads of sweat that dripped down from his forehead to his lips. He found the taste of his sweat to be rather sweet—something he rather never invite onto his taste buds ever again.

Glancing up in wonderment, Helios gradually wandered into the ring of trees, amused by how mighty and cluttered the trees stood as they towered over the clouds and mountains. Scanning his surroundings, a gentle breeze journeyed by his roaming figure, blowing his long black hair before its ends retreated to his waist.

Just as he passed by another tree that was identical to any other in that bizarre forest, the sight of a swaying body caught his eye as a deceased figure hung upside-down, eyes wide and mouth opened as if she saw something frightening before taking her last breath. Staring at the dead eyes of the human that much resembles a dead fish’s, Helios permitted curiosity to take over him as he stepped closer to the hanging female, expecting to know more about her passing.

Reaching his hand towards the woman’s jacket, Helios gently slipped the piece of cloth off of her motionless figure and held it in front of him. There, stitched proudly onto the dark forest green jacket, was a miniature pair of wings crossing one another, the right one dyed in a daunting blue, whilst the other was a plain snow white. The choice of color piqued his interest as he pondered then and there as to what the blue and white would perhaps symbolize—

“Captain! No signs of Luria! We’ve searched all over this damn maze and not even a piece of fabric do we get of her!”

The slightly panicked voice of a young man caught Helios’ interest as he slowly turned his head to the right only for worn-out eyes to gaze at the seemingly never-ending stretch of trees as a weak aura began to approach where Helios stood, his clammy hands still gently holding the dirtied jacket.

Inside a vast forest, next to a bloodied corpse, with the only clue that could point to the corpse’s death being the living being beside her who was but only standing calmly, unfazed by such a peculiar setting. Helios knew then and there that the incoming threat would not perceive kindly to his presence

From that sole moment, Helios thought of only two things: One, that he would either have to hide to avoid conflict. Or two: to feed his curiosity and linger for just a minute longer.

However, before Helios could ponder this for much longer, a deafening ‘roar’ echoed throughout the forest as nearby trees shook and swayed unpleasantly with the peaceful wildlife, who were quite shy now in hiding. Calmly glancing down at the disheveled state of the bloodied jacket, Helios tossed it to the side as a silent ‘thud’ was heard.

‘Though I would delight in entertaining the thought of lingering here longer to quench my curiosity, I’d rather not place myself into an unwanted circumstance that may lead me to some troubles. The most favourable move is to wander away and ignore all of these strange events—’

“Who goes there?!”

‘It seems that current events have put me in a tight spot and now staying is much more daunting now that I have the spotlight.’

Finishing his thoughts, Helios grazed his crimson eyes over the surrounding landscape as he silently awaited until the living creature who dared to approach him arrives and for Helios to humor the threats adorable skit. Thankfully, the wait wasn’t long as the devastated man appeared before him with a tattered uniform and all; and, of course, the blood on his face and the dry tears that decorated his cheeks could be quite easily spotted.

Finally, after a tiring journey of non-stop searching the man finally rested his feet on the lush ground as he tried his mightiest to not crumble down onto the floor in defeat—though all of those encouraging thoughts and pats on the back were for not as he caught a glimpse of his childhood friends corpse hanging upside-down from a tree, her face contorted into an expression that seemed as if she saw evil in the eyes—and in that moment; he was one with the earthly worms.

Staring down at the sorrowful man, Helios caught sight of the tattered jacket that he so carelessly tossed aside as he realized that the mysterious man also wore an identical one. Soon the jacket was floating over into his grasp as he clutches it gently, too afraid of doing any further damage.

“Um...” flickering his eyes back and forth between the two Helios ultimately concluded that escaping wouldn’t render him unknown since that human already witnessed his existence—though there were always various methods that would place him in a favourable position, these options weren’t very morally sane.

In the end, curiosity was all he could blame for his future endeavors.

“Excuse me, but what exactly does this jacket symbolize? I’ve been examining this for a few minutes now and haven’t thought of anything satisfying.” Attempting to maintain a calming voice, Helios sighed as the weeping man threw a knife to his face, only for it to disintegrate once it grazed his raised hand.

Staring in horror at the mysterious man that he only met a few minutes ago, the soldier backed away in disbelief as choked noises escaped his throat, eyes strained once he saw his beloved throwing knife now rendered to mere dirt. “What... what is this?! Who are you?! Shit–” Spinning around in an ungraceful manner the soldier attempted to flee Helios only for said man to already be standing behind him, hand on his gear as he yanked it away from the soldier's body and onto the ground.

“I don’t believe you've yet to answer my queries. You are free to leave once you answer all of them, but if you so wish to not do that, then your corpse friend will only be able to look away in horror. Do you understand?” Speaking in a low voice, Helios’ crimson eyes observed as the soldier peeked behind his shoulder and towards the hanging body of his other comrade as his face paled in defeat.

Noticing that the pale soldier’s stance tethered Helios contemplated on what his next move should be. Perhaps he should lock his curiosity away for now and flee. That would be convenient if he wished to continue his dead image. However...

Continuing to gock at the hanging body of his now dead wife, the soldier’s eyes widened in panic once he realized that the mysterious figure that was threatening him not too long ago to now be gone from his sight. Quickly, the soldier attempted to regain his stance as his sweating head snapped rapidly to the left and right, desperately looking for the disappeared man.

Slowly itching his hand down to his waist, his scarred hand tightly gripped another hunting knife—his last one.

“What a beautiful hunting knife you have there, sir. Decently sharp, though it isn’t very special.” Tossing the knife that he snatched from the rattled soldier, Helios huffed in impatience. “If you wouldn’t mind dear sir, tell me of this jacket’s significance–”

“You bastard!”

Calmly staring down at the charging soldier, Helios grimaced in dissatisfaction as he finally realized that the soldier was in no state to humor him; nor was he in any mood to live.

The deafening long draw of a sword rang in the soldier's ears before his head fell onto the floor with a muffled ‘thud’, his vision now turned as a pair of dirtied fur boots came into his vision before his eyes ultimately shut—never to witness the sun’s glorious image ever again.

Sheathing his sword back into his left hip holster, Helios began to calmly walk away from the corpse scene, already aware that his curiosity will have to be locked away—for now.

After wandering around the woods for a few minutes, Helios’ eyes finally caught sight of a bright clearing. This was wonderful news for him as he could now flee this boring forest and go on with his adventure—only one problem: there were dozens of humans on the other side. Blankly staring at the brigade that awaited him, Helios could see them armored and equipped with glistening weapons of steel and mass destruction with stern and sure expressions on their faces.

‘This is a strange predicament. I thought I disguised my presence perfectly until now. There is always the chance of them awaiting something else. However, they are stationed right in front of my path. Either way, avoiding conflict is my best course of action.’ Settling on that idea, Helios turned his heel to the left and continued his reach to the clearing.

‘ZOOM!’

Snapping his head to where the brigade stood, Helios watched as a dozen human soldiers flew towards him with weapons already sharpened and at the ready. It seems that his original theory was right. Unfortunately, that means he doesn’t have enough time to wallow in satisfaction.

There was something about Helios that even he didn’t enjoy about his character, and that was his indecisiveness.

As Helio quietly observed the incoming flying soldiers, Helios’ mind was in a tight plight on what his next move should be. Should he stand there and await their sure arrival as he risks his cover? Or should he flee? Well, fleeing isn’t his character at all; but he isn’t Archangel Helios no more, he was–wait, who was he?

As that thought sunk into his brain, Helios froze; his usual blank face was now overcome by confusion and panic once he came to the realization that he was no one. He wasn’t perfection; he wasn’t an Archangel; he wasn’t even the Helios that he supposedly knew so well—so who was he?

The few collective seconds that he stood there in a panic was plenty of time for the group of human soldiers to reach where he stood, their faces weary yet confused as they stiffly observed his actions with caution. Their Captain sent them to this location who earlier conversed with another captain: Captain Levi.

Puzzled by catching another human with no gear nor any official outfit, the group collectively glanced at one another in confusion, unsure of their next move.

What was a normal human doing wandering outside of the Walls? And how have they survived for more than a few minutes without gear?

‘I’m nobody. I’m nobody. I’m nobody. I’m nobody. I’m nobody. I’m nobody. I’m nobody. I’m nobody. I’m nobody. I’m nobody. I’m nobody. I’m nobody. I’m nobody. I’m nobody.  I’m nobody. I’m nobody. I’m nobody. I’m nobody–’ Feeling his ear twitch as the rustle of leaves caught his attention Helios snapped his head to the right only for his normal deadpan face to appear once he saw a dozen soldiers next to him, their confusion clear as day on their faces.

“Oh,” Watching as they observed his peculiar image, Helios slowly retracted his hands away from his head, his blank eyes calmly maintaining eye contact with the puzzled dozen.

“–hey.” A few seconds passed after he greeted them before awkwardly bowing, stiffly standing up afterward as one of the soldiers coughed, choking everyone in the awkward silence. 

Now Helios was left with only a few options: One; he surrenders, or two; he kills them. He does have to look for some more peaceful and fewer bloodbath ways to render others unconscious. Knocking them out would be a perfect solution, but his existence will still be remembered and will later cause him to transform into a folk legend. Besides, why should he care? His only morals consist of comfort.

Yet... he was given two opportunities to quench his curiosity, so why pass it up once more when it is served on a silver platter?

“Ahem!” Loudly clearing his throat, Helios glanced up at the now less-frazzled dozen as he maintained eye contact whilst lifting his arms towards them. “I have to confess to a crime! I, Helios, murdered in cold blood one of your own!” Awaiting to be thrown to the ground and dragged to a dungeon, Helios’ stance loosened as he saw them still frozen to their spots on the trees, now even more confused.

“Just send me to your captain.”

“Oh, yes, of course. Right this way, please.”