The tomb

“I sense no life yet I feel eyes on us.” Noah noted Levi’s observation.

Broken walls of ivory stones, wilted trees as though life had left them in splinters. Bell hugged the charcoal hair of the devil, seeking to disappear behind it. Pixies hardly ever left the forests but Bell had tagged along with Noah because- well, it was Noah. They had always been together and she'll make sure they always do. A land with no alive green in sight was equivalent to hell for a pixie. Levi could sense the fear and anxiousness in the pixie, he allowed her to simply hide in his flowy dark locks until they were out of the village.

As the trio walked further inside the village, the feeling of being watched increasingly grew. In the beginning, Levi had decided to not act up on it but as they went deeper into the village and started finding more and only vacant houses.. it was obvious that the village was not a ghost village, people living there were hiding from them. And yet, he still couldn't feel any life forms around them. “Sir Noah.” Levi warned. Noah nodded and kept walking in. “I know,” he added assuringly. “Keep walking.”

Noah’s hearing was extraordinary. But he preferred biding his time. If they posed no harm to them then there was no need to approach first and initiate conflict. Noah had his suspicion on what it could possibly be but he would rather not be proven right. It took them about two hours of exploring to finally reach the last acre of land in the Damelsing village. It was perhaps the most beautiful side of the village he had seen so far.

The whole village was like a solidified cloud on land. A cloud that was carved to make houses. A haven of ivory stones that sparkled under the sun’s gaze with not a single alive greenery in sight. Just white. However, this was the only place in the whole village that beamed with green wines, they were curled around broken pieces of vacant houses. While there was no signs of a single flower, the water dews sparkled like flower buds made of diamonds. Something about this place felt far too intimate… it was too alive. And in the middle of it all was a pearly mausoleum. The free walls were crowned with a hollow large dome.

“It's someone's tomb…” Noah mumbled to himself, unable to even avert his eyes. Noah felt a hand pat on his shoulders and when he turned around, he found a frowning Levi. Levi's hollow eyes were swirling with conflict.

“I.. this place defies all logic..” Bell peeked from behind Levi’s hair. Noah did not understand why Levi would think that. He waited for Levi to elaborate further. “Right. I suppose I should tell you so you understand it better..” Levi dreaded at the thought and sighed. Noah crossed his arms together and raised his brow, from how much he knew of devils, none had ever behaved so vulnerable in front of him. Granted, his experiences were never polite ones.

Levi inhaled deeply and then exhaled slowly through his mouth. His dark eyes relaxing before locking with Noah's golden ones. “I was born with the ability to see the dead.” Levi declared calmly. Noah blinked in surprise. He had not expected that. “There is no place in this world that does not harbor the remnants of the dead. However, since the moment we entered this village, i had not been able to see one wandering soul. But somehow, we feel the burning gaze of someone on our skin. This place was already freaky and oozing with mysteries but what stands before us.. it's freakier.” The devil warned, pointing his gloved hand towards the ivory mausoleum.

“I can sense life from that mausoleum. Before coming here, the only thing I knew about this place was the existence of a temple of the moon goddess. A temple, not a tomb of someone. Do you understand what I am saying, sir Noah? Tombs are a place for the dead! Whatever is inside there, it has a heartbeat-! It's,-! It's not a human!” Levi blurted out. The fright in his voice scared Bell further. It caused her to jump out of Levi's hair and fly towards Noah and landed on his head. 

Levi apologized with his eyes. For reasons unknown, Levi looked shaken up. Noah could not under what could have shaken up a lieutenant of the Devil's queen. A very unlikely behavior for someone who claims to understand emotions well.

This is why I prefer working alone…

The young tiger was not the best at comforting another individual. Given his situation, Noah was not used to interacting with others. Noah sighed, he was feeling uncomfortable. Regardless, Noah took a hold of the hand Levi had raised to point at the tomb and gently pushed it down. He gave his wrist a reassuring squeeze. Levi finally looked at the man in front of him with shaky eyes. “I know. But we have to see this through. I need you to be strong for me, sir Levi. I need you to have my back when I go inside there.” Noah spoke as though he was speaking to a child and miraculously so, it worked.

Feeling guilty, Bell finally came out of hiding from behind Noah’s round tiger ears. She flew towards the devil's face, opened her arms and hugged him. She made bell ringing sounds again and Levi didn't need to understand her language to know she was assuring him too. The duo of best friends were more than understanding and reassuring to a devil like him. All the tension in Levi's body melted. He sighed a sigh of relief. “Right… you both have my gratitude.”

The moment Noah and Levi entered the mausoleum, they were met with white silence. Even the breath they took was echoing, an odd chill was in the air. Noah had assumed the tomb to be of someone influential. Alas, from the looks of it, it wasn't. The walls of the mausoleum had no written scripture to understand the history behind the tomb. The only thing related to the tomb was… the grave in front of them. A pearly white bed with ivory silk on top of it.

Noah..

Noah could hear the echo of his name whispered sweetly in his ears. As if deafened by everything that existed around him, Noah found himself to be allured towards the tomb. He paced forward in a trance, steadily and quietly. Soon inside the mausoleum, his eyes landed on the only thing existing inside. A tomb. The silk sheet on the tomb was snatched away by someone Noah didn't pay attention to. Beneath the silk was.. It was a coffin. A white coffin. Was someone inside it? Was it someone who was asleep? Or was it a corpse. He did not know. All he knew was that he needed to touch it. Touch it like he meant it. And he did.

Noah would never have guessed that he would see what he was seeing now.