Anya and Noraya

"Rell!" Alicia's voice rang out, snapping him from his haze. 

"What?" He asked, not bothering to look up from his sword as he cleaned it. 

"You've been staring at that stupid sword for twenty minutes." West commented, glasses buried deep in a book in the far corner. 

Rell jeered at him, before turning his attention to Alicia.

"Need something? You hungry?" He asked. "Is there a spider in your room again?" 

"Jeez stop treating me like a little kid." Alicia pouted, crossing her arms.

"Rell is the only person in the whole world that baby's the legendary hero of light." Mara teased with a wink, entering the room and taking a seat in a chair near West.

"Please don't call me that." Alicia blushed in embarrassment. "Wait! You're all distracting me!" She waved her arms. "Rell!" 

"Yes?" He asked, tilting his head. 

"Err, are you feeling all right?" She asked meekly, shifting her eyes from side to side.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about it." he assured. 

"You're lying. You know I don't like it when you lie." She said. 

"How do you know I'm lying?" He asked. 

"You squeeze your fists." She pointed. 

He released his grip, surprised.

"Well you touch your lips when you lie." He shot back. 

"Can you two stop flirting already!? I'm trying to read." West growled. 

"West..." Mara chided, grabbing his arm, causing him to blush a bit. 

Rell grinned at him, earning an annoyed glare from the red haired boy. Rell turned back towards Alicia. She had a stern look on her face. 

"Fine. No I'm not." He sighed, admitting the truth. 

"What happened today?" She asked. 

"Do we have to do this now?" He argued. 

"Rell..." She shook her head. 

"The Shadow....spoke." He insisted. 

"Spoke?" She tilted her head. 

"I...don't know how to describe it." He said. "It don't know what it said. But it did. Without a doubt." 

"This again." West sighed. "The intelligent Shadow theory has been debunked. They're just mindless entities. Admittedly they're capable of using basic tactics, but not further beyond that."

"I..." Alicia began to speak, only for West to interrupt. 

"You're both letting that traitor's words get to you." West said, slamming his book shut. 

Mara got up to stop him, but he waved her off. She sighed, crossing her arms. 

"I'm sorry to admit this, but I'm just gonna say it. There's no such thing as the Voice, neither are the hero of light, or the entity of shadow. Those are just old myths the church uses to control people." 

"This isn't about that." Rell said. "You know just as well as I that I don't believe in the Voice." 

"You should. If you want your Nin to be stronger." Anto said, entering the room. He had a tray of meat buns. 

Normally, Mara and Alicia would've jumped at the warm food, but the tension in the air was a bit much this time. 

"Anto, i'm just expressing my opinion. I'm tired of those crazy cultists and their weird ideas. I don't want that getting into our team." West said. "Rell, you're just hearing things cause of that crazy Shadow Nin that cultist used on you." He pointed. "And Alicia, your idea that you can hear Nin is probably just related to the fact you're born a bit more talented than a normal person. Five Nin is extremely rare, but it's not like it hasn't appeared in history before." 

Alicia quivered a bit. Rell got up. 

"Okay, that's enough." He pointed at West. 

"Guys, please." Mara took a step between them. "I don't want Alicia to have to break up another fight again." 

Both boys sighed, turning away from each other. 

"I'm going to go train." Rell said. 

"Rell..." Alicia reached out for him. 

"Alone." He insisted, raising a finger. 

Rell walked out of the room, carrying his sword with him. He exited out into the Headquarters ground, pushing his way past a few Holy Knights. They eyed him with suspicion. The recent incident with the doomsday cult and their growing popularity had sown distrust for Shadow Nin users. He ignored them, walking out towards a wooded area where people generally didn't frequent. 

Upon reaching his quiet spot, he drew his blade. Only a few minutes of practiced swords swings and parries passed before he was interrupted. 

"I wanna be alone." Rell said, wiping a drop of sweat from his brow. 

Anto smiled, offering a thermos. Rell reluctantly took it, unscrewing the cap to reveal its contents. The appetizing smell of soup churned his stomach. 

"Have some." he insisted, taking a seat on a nearby stump. 

Rell sheathed his blade, taking a seat on the grass near the stump. He poured some soup for himself, taking a sip. He hadn't realized how hungry he was. It wasn't long before he had emptied the contents of the thermos. 

"Do you truly believe that you heard something?" Anto asked. 

"I did." Rell nodded. "It wasn't just a one off thing. I kept hearing it. It was wasn't constant, but every once in a while, I would hear it. I ignored it, right until the final moment. That was when I heard it clearly and froze. I thought... I thought it was a person." He admitted. 

"Yes that Shadow almost took your head off hadn't West shot first." Anto chuckled. 

Rell grit his teeth. It irritated him that he now owed his life to that person. 

"My people have many stories of the Shadows that predate the church you know." Anto said. "Even after the church had absorbed our religion, we still told the same stories." 

"I still wish they were stories." Rell sighed. "The Shadows I mean." 

"As does the world." Anto said. "But it seems those legends were based on fact." 

"Did any of those stories have anything about those Shadows talking?" Rell asked. 

"Well, not exactly." Anto shrugged. "You know the story of the Voice of Light and the Voice of Darkness, no?"

"It's kinda in the title. We're Holy Knights for a reason." Rell shrugged. 

"Well, as you know, in that story, the Voice came and created the world, and the Darkness came after, chasing her. We do not need to go into a theology lesson and cover the whole scripture." Anto waved his hand. 

"Yeah that's the basics of it." Rell said.

"And the Shadows were his minions. Demons created to oppose the Voice's creations. Us. All living things." Anto continued. "Well, that was all they really were in the scriptures. Just, well, creations in of themselves." 

"Even though the scriptures state that the Voice of Darkness cannot create." Rell answered. "A common theological argument, citing that example."

"Exactly." Anto grinned. "But in my culture, in our old religion, where we called the Voice, Anya, and the Darkness, Noraya, there is a difference. The origin of the Shadows. And the Shadows are much more than mere minions."

"Oh?" Rell leaned closer. 

"In our people's myth, the Shadows are exactly as they are. Shadows. The mark left by life itself. We believed that all living things cast a shadow, and that correspondent shadow moved on its own. It didn't necessarily have free will, but in our legend, it always hated the living being it came from, and sought to destroy it. They wanted to be near Anya, you see. That's a whole different story that comes with her great beauty and all that." Anto laughed. "But I'm sure you do not want to be bored with all that."

"That would solve the idea that the Darkness cannot create. Shadows merely came to be." Rell pointed out. 

"It would, wouldn't it?" Anto smirked. "I figured that out as a small boy. Unfortunately the priestesses that helped instructed me didn't take too kindly to such heresy. Oh my butt was sore for many days." He laughed. "I feel this may be related to what you are hearing. They are not truly voices. Just echoes of once were voices. At least, that is what I believe." 

"Did your people's myth have anything on the Hero of Light? Or..." 

"The Son of Darkness?" Anto asked. "In a different way. I'll tell it next time." He grinned. 

"Shadows of life..." Rell thought about it for a moment. 

The idea made some sense, with a lot of Shadows imitating animals and such... but it didn't explain the more unusual Shadows, like the dragons and chimera. Those definitely weren't living things. And what about people? There were certainly no humanoid Shadows, did they have Shadows themselves?

"Some living beings cast greater shadows than others." Anto answered, seemingly reading Rell's mind. "Does not a mighty mountain cast greater darkness than a mere boulder?" 

"From another story?" Rell asked. 

"Yes. About great Shadow beasts that ruled over other Shadows. Almost like, lords, in a way." Anto answered. "Are you feeling better? I assumed you were hungry. That was what cheered Miss Alicia up, so i figured it would do the same for you." 

"Yeah. I'm feeling a lot better. Thanks Anto." 

"Of course my brother. Always." Anto smiled, reaching a fist out. 

Rell met it with his own.