The little girls

Sinners belong in hell. 

The reason for one's sins matters not, the fact remains that they sinned. Sinking is the requiem of all souls. The ones that sinned, the ones that begged, the ones that wept, the ones that bled, the ones that screamed, the ones that cursed and the ones that died.

Noah's body lost all its mobility, all his barely opened eyes could see were the floating dimmed lights of the souls that clung to his person. In the nudity of his soul, his body neither felt nor did it shrive when the phantom souls clawed his pale skin. The souls were in the form of a body from their past lives. Their eyes bled with nothing but rage. Sharp nails dug into his skin and drew out his blood as painfully slow as they could.

 The cold bloody tears of the souls stained his pale skin, what started as a slow drawl of torture, it had turned into a rampage of flocking souls. And they came for revenge. His thighs, his arms, his face, all were bloodied from the inflicted wounds. Noah watched as the faces of those soul who came to him for revenge, it was in the most distraught form he had ever seen.

“Forgive me.” He mumbled but no voice came out. The souls heard him anyway. They paused from shredding his skin from piece to piece. “Ha..!” A woman's voice echoed from behind him. His apology meant nothing. It would never mean anything. “You don't deserve it.” Another male’s voice echoed in the void of darkness.

I'm so tired of living like this..

“I don't deserve your forgiveness father. I deserve no one's forgiveness.” Noah admitted, closing his eyes in resignation. If torturing him- if tearing him to shreds brings them any peace, then so be it. These were no random souls, these were the souls of the people he had killed with his own hands. The hot blood on his hands was not his own but it was by taking their innocent lives. “I'm so fucking filthy. I-.. oof!” something- someone heavy jumped on his chest.

The translucent frame of the human he once killed. He never found out if they were a male or a female, Noah had simply clawed his hand through their chest when they were alive. The roughed up mess of their beautiful face remained the same even in the face of the abyss. Noah still remembers meeting this human, they were simply a child. Crying by their lonesome. As a tiger of the forest, he had wished for nothing but to stop their crying. 

Noah had gone to them in his tiger form, giving that child a lick of warmth. That was until he found the markings of gold twirling around the child’s arms, nape and their face. He had not wasted any time in biting the child’s throat, tearing the air passage way and clawing their heart out. Noah was cruel, more than necessary but he had to do it.

The child had bled out after life left their body. They died instantly the moment Noah clawed their heart out. He had dug a grave for that child himself. He did not deserve this child's forgiveness, however this child was no different than any other cursed living he had killed. “Then why…” He mused, reaching out to touch the child’s cheek. “Why can't I forget you? Why are you still haunting my dreams?”

The child’s dull emerald eyes looked into his tired ones. The small fingers wrapped around Noah's throat, gently squeezing the life out of him. A touch so full of hate and yet, Noah couldn't help but be grateful, for he could feel the loving resentment of this child in their eyes. Hot tears of blood fell on Noah's face. He was ready. Noah was willing to accept any and all punishment.

Please don't cry…

My heart aches when you haunt my mind with tears in your eyes.

I would rather see you smile but I guess, I don't deserve that either.

I wish you would just curse me out.

Why do you cry as though your sorrow and tears were for my sake?

I'm a filthy man, not worthy of anything… do not cry for me. I deserve only your hate.

The hold on his throat tightened, slowly but surely cutting his air supply. One last look at the child’s crying face, “Please do not cry for my sake…” and Noah closed his eyes, accepting the fate present before him. But that fate never reached him. The weight from his chest had disappeared, his throat was released and he could breathe freely again. Confused, Noah opened his eyes again, only to find the child gone.

Everything was gone.

The requiem of souls was gone, the haunting abyss had replaced itself with a soothing hue of blue around Noah. The wounds on his skin no longer bled, blooms of dandelions had grown from the torn skin. “Where am I..?” Noah wondered but this time, he could speak. He wasn’t sinking in a dark abyss. His back tickled from the soft rustling of the grass beneath him. The scent of morning dew tickled his nose and Noah had never felt so free before. No eyes were daunting at him, he had no need to plead for forgiveness. But most of all, he did not feel the hate for himself.

“Hero.” A child’s voice called him. "Hero!" voices of many younglings called for him again. He turned around to see where the voices came from. As if subconsciously guilty for being unable to save a child once, he wanted to know if these children were alright. The voices giggled gleefully, leading Noah away from the soft grass field and towards the small hut build ahead of him. And there she was, sitting on the ground and playing with other little girls.

Noah made no sound when he approached her and sat down in the little girl's tea party. The silver haired little girl surely noticed him and she didn't reject him. Silver hair and flushed skin like a child her age usually has. She smiled, fully pleased with the tea in her gold plated and very real-looking tea pot. She poured a cup for herself first, then the other little girls and then another for her new guest. Noah.

“One for my dearest moons and one for my dear hero.” She served him the brown liquid, it surprisingly smelled like actual tea. She also served him a piece of cookie in a children's kitchen appliance, a child sized plate.

“You should drink up, Hero! Tea isn't very tasty when it's cold.” She urged him and he listened. This little girl, the sweetest little girl was stealing his heart. After finishing the tea, Noah simply watched her. Taking all of her in. “Who are you…?” He finally dropped the question, no hostility, just genuine curiosity. She giggled again, excited that he finally asked her. She got up on her tiny feet and toddled towards Noah, she climbed onto his lap and stretched out to her arms to wrap around his neck. The little girl gave him the strongest hug in the world, the kind that made Noah melt. The kind that he probably needed the most. The other little girls giggled along and circling around him, joining in the embrace.

“I'm the one who you're here to see, silly. I'm your Damselette!”

The moment her words whispered in his ears, the ground beneath him vanished with the little girl in his arms. He could only hear her giggling throughout the fall, the laughter of her other little friends echoed along, until it turned into bell ringing sounds. His body splat thud on the ground and his eyes snapped open. Noah's vision was hazy but when he came to, he found a crying a Bell hugging his cheek and a very concerned Levi.

“What happened..?” Noah inquired, still slightly bobbly. He felt something wet on his face and ears, he touched his face when Bell flew back and when he looked back at his hand, his fingers were stained with blue liquid. The mystic blood was different from the humans, they possessed blue blood. “What happened, Levi!?”

Levi leaned forward and wiped the blood flowing from Noah's face and ears, it was as though they were busted. “The moment you touched the tomb, you started bleeding and fainted.”