Blind vengeance, strange love,

Child born of Flesh, child born of Tears

Love of Cards, revenge of Life

Past, present, future intertwined

Then will come the time,

Lost souls...

Will you help?

Poem for Anonymous, The Forgotten Times

***

When Caleb entered His Most Messy Divinity's office, the demon Samael and His Most Messy Divinity were in active conversation. Surprised by Samael's presence, he paused for a moment, then quietly approached the two men.

- Is something wrong?" he asked.

Adonaï and Samaël stopped talking, stunned by the human's sudden presence. Their confusion lasted only a moment before Adonaï spoke up, looking him in the eye:

- Trouble has been reported to me, in the region of Jin'hao. I have a mission for you...

- And to go and have a look. Right?" finished Caleb, suspecting the end of the God's answer after having thought it over many times during his rest.

The Almighty Deity nodded. Taking a breath, he was, alas, cut off by Samaël's unmistakable voice:

- I'll go with you, then," the demon concluded gravely.

His beautiful voice and the serious look in his eyes, which Caleb only half understood, sent a gentle shiver up his spine.

Unsettled by her gaze, he suddenly looked away. Samaël's brief glance at him made him freeze for a moment, only to relax quickly the next.

- You'll be leaving tomorrow, so pack what you need. And Caleb?

The interpellant glanced at him expectantly,

- A new set of clothes has been prepared," finished the deity, dismissing him.

Caleb nodded, having nothing more to say, and headed for the door, but before he could reach it his legs left him and he found himself slumped on the office sofa. Looking behind him, Caleb saw that the two of them had fallen back into a long conversation, taking no interest in what was happening to him.

What had made him slump was an unknown force like the one that had taken him by surprise on his arrival. And Alew's raspy old voice, which had disappeared days before, had resurfaced, startling Caleb.

- Have you ever heard of the Clan of Tears? Oh yes, silly me, you're not from this world," said Alew, his tone thinly veiled in contempt that Caleb didn't recognize.

The elder left him no room for reply and continued his diatribe. I knew I couldn't trust anyone. Caleb, what the hell! he thought, listening to the man.

- The Clan brings back a lot of memories when I think about it," he said with a wicked grin that wasn't without a hint of unwelcome pride.

It wasn't the first time Caleb had felt arrogance coming from people he'd crossed paths with. But one with such malice! Perhaps.

Anyway, no point in remembering. Let's listen to the old fart, he thought.

- We were the Tears, a clan of proud and powerful warriors! Created nine hundred millennia ago by Eraïm, scholar and proud fighter chosen by God himself! What an honor that was! After his death, I was chosen. Me! The one who was to become the sole patriarch all along," inveighed the mad Allew. But I digress. Unfortunately (and of course), it wasn't my fault," he added, "this empire was instantly destroyed by the arrogance of some of these cruel people, who made a pact with the child of the Moon and chaos, Apophysis, during the Apcalypsüs, to wipe out the Tree of Life. How sad! Those poor fools...," Alew described with disdain.

He's completely insane!" Caleb guessed with disgust. Doing less partisan research would be far better than listening to his ramblings. Alew resumed with repulsion:

- I was killed by those nameless glapyrs*, two stakes through the heart. A river of blood, shredded legs, crushed heads, bodies eaten away by acid. What a vision of horror that was!" he finished, a light of sadistic pleasure in his voice. But what a pity, God, plunged into a mad rage, hadn't been able to contain himself and had slaughtered this merv... monstrosity... It was all his fault!

- Enough!" cried Caleb inwardly, overcome by an urge to vomit.

He struggled to get up from the sofa, but his legs failed him a second time. Samaël, alerted by the scream, moved towards Caleb and grabbed him by the hips before his knees hit the floor. The strength of his arms had given him a warmth that remained for a few moments before disappearing as if it had never existed. In the background, His Serious Divinity looked on coldly, his thoughts unknown.

- Is your embrace over, lovebirds? asked his sneering Deity, pursing his lips in a tight line.

Caleb's eyelashes fluttered for a moment, before he understood His Most Playful Divinity's words and pushed the demon away as if those arms had burned him. Embarrassed, they nodded.

- Well, before you go, one last thing. Michael will accompany you.

Nodding a second time, Caleb turned toward the door as if to flee the office and its occupants.

and its occupants. Adonaï called out to him just before he closed the door behind him:

- Caleb, be careful. I've got a bad feeling about this...

In the corridors of the ice-blue tower, Caleb headed for the garden to visit Han. Over the past few weeks, Han and Caleb had found complementary emotions, a sadness of soul and the same rancor of heart. With that, the young blind prophet had quickly become his confidant thanks to the hatred they both shared for their eyes.

At first glance, Han had seemed the shy type, but he was in fact a rather quiet man who nonetheless hid a spirit stronger than anyone else. Unlike mine, Caleb thought. Han hadn't confided in him yet, but Caleb would wait, he'd told him. For both of them, it wasn't time yet. But soon, he mused with a confidence he didn't recognize.

Arriving at the cottage of the person he could call friend, he entered. Engrossed in their own discussion, they stayed up late chatting over a soothing cup of herbal tea. Before he left, Han called out to him like God that very afternoon and mysteriously said:

- "Down with envy, see the present, see the future" may Ludvaetyr keep you, Cal.

Caleb kept the words in mind, not yet understanding what they meant. Entering his bedroom, he didn't bother to remove his clothes and fell asleep as soon as he hit the pillow. So quickly, in fact, that he failed to see the shadow of a fox approaching him, as if to protect him from the vicious, obsessive gaze of a figure behind the room's large, ornamental mirror. Seeing this terrifyingly fluffy guardian, the figure faded away.