"Why did you not intervene?" Asked Leo as he gazed at the small Free Angel.

"My orders are to clean up the damage you cause and restore order to the forest, I do not have any power nor orders to stop you." Nervously answered Lone. He was just as confused about the entire ordeal as Leo himself was.

He did not lie, Free Angels had free on their name because they have the right to refuse orders from the Gods should they choose to. The only Divine they were truly close to was the Goddess of earth Adea. Yet even she could not command them to do anything they disagree to.

The Free Angels were a different race, neither human nor Divine, they mainly inhabit the Great southern forest due to their love for nature, which could be considered one of the main reasons for their close relationship to Adea.

Not long ago, Lone was leisurely enjoying his days in the forest when he was suddenly contacted by his Goddess. She informed him of a disturbance in the forest and asked for his help to restore it to its previous state.

He agreed, yet when he arrived at the location of the disturbance, what greeted him was a sight he had never seen before. An ominous shadowy standing in the middle of a listless patch in the forest.

Long gone was the lush green grass, the tall trees, the beautiful flowers he was so used to seeing, in their stead was a dull gray color, a color he had never seen before. Flustered, Lone did not know how to react at first, his first instinct screamed danger at him whenever his eyes looked at the shadowy figure.

In all of his existence, Lone had never felt fear before, he had heard from humans that fear is what they feel when they are faced with a monster and unable to escape, fear is what they feel when they had to pray to the Gods for the monster to get tired of eating them alive, fear is not knowing for how long it would take. 

He never really understood such sentiment before, yet when faced with the shadowy figure standing in that desolated field of gray, for the first in his existence, Lone felt fear gripping his heart.

Had it not been for the Goddess sending her Mana down to calm his mind, and help him, Lone would have without a doubt ran away and never came back. That thing was not something that should exist. That was what he thought.

Yet the Goddess assured him that it was, that this was necessary and that his job was to follow that 'thing' and clean up after him. He didn't like it, he didn't want to, yet it had been years since the last time the Goddess personally asked for something, she even went as far as providing her own Mana, Lone could not refuse.

He thought it would be alright, he would lay low and observe the strange creature as it went about, and whenever it recked havoc, Lone would step up and clean up its mess. 

It should have been a rather simple job, that was until the creature reached the village of hope. Lone curiously watched as the strange shadow met with a young child. 

He watched as the two conversed as if all was normal, he did not understand how the little girl could not feel the terror he felt when he gazed at the creature, yet he did not intervene, he simply watched.

He watched as the creature spoke of Death, a concept Lone had never heard of before. An idea so ridiculous it baffled him. Yet he did not intervene, he simply reported everything to his Goddess as he listened with curiosity. 

He watched as the shadow followed after the child to the village and met with its people, Lone then watched in horror as the creature seemed to lose control turning the entire village and its inhabitants to that dull gray color, leaving behind their bodies that looked like empty husks of the people they once were. 

As he stared at the vacant eyes of the villagers, Lone suddenly recalled the conversation the little girl had with the figure. Looking at the unmoving villagers, his mind quickly spun as one word kept repeating. 

Death

This was death, a concept so foreign, so bizarre, so unfathomable. It was the end of things, the end of the forest, the end of the trees, the end of the grass, the end of the flowers, and the end of humans...

With his emotions, running wildly, Lone contacted his Goddess through the Mana link between them. He explained to her what he saw, he recounted the horror he felt when he looked at the empty eyes of the villagers when he looked at their unmoving bodies. 

But Adea seemed unsurprised, she calmed him down and explained that it was necessary, that this was how things were supposed to be and that he should simply continue doing his job, which was to clean up after the figure.

Lone wanted to argue, yet he held himself, he asked about the villagers hoping for a different explanation from his Goddess, only to get none. She told him to watch, to watch the figure's journey for it was fate. 

Lone did not understand, yet he simply nodded. He watched over the Shadow as it took care of the young girl who survived when others didn't, he observed as it taught her to bury the villagers. To bury her parents. He taught her to mourn for them and taught her that Death was not the end of the road, leaving him more confused than ever, yet he would continue after them, he would continue to watch over their journey for it was his fate, and he will see it to the end, for better or worse.

"I see." Said Leo as he carefully observed the Free Angel.

"Why didn't your Goddess herself come down but sent you instead?" He asked.

"The Goddess can not leave the Divine plane, none of the Gods can for it would cause disturbance to earth." Swiftly replied Lone, as if what he said was common knowledge.

"Does this mean Lone will travel with us?" Asked Naya with a beaming smile. 

"I-" Before Lone could say anything, Naya hurriedly jumped and grabbed its hand and eagerly shook it.

"Nice to meet you Lone! My name is Naya!" Seeing the overly enthusiastic child shaking its hands, Lone awkwardly looked towards Leo who simply let out a long sigh before walking away. 

"Oh? Wait, Leo!" Turning towards Lone, Naya spoke.

"Come on let's go, I want to catch a bear!"