'Father?'
Luna's dad, Dante, looked up, chewing a piece of bacon.
'Mmm?'
'The cathedral, what happened to it?'
He choked on his bacon and started coughing.
He breathed a few breaths before starting to reply.
'The cathedral - few would ask about the place. I know little about it than... some, but i can tell you what has made it so... desolate.'
He took a sip of coffee and gave a huge sigh before continuing.
'There was a rich family that owned the cathedral once about a century ago. They were of the Takahashi line, rather famous for their generosity and it seemed that every single one of those people were highly skilled in at least one thing, for example, swordplay. If you challenged the wrong people of that family at ANYTHING, they would always fail. They lent the cathedral to the church, and that made their standing higher among the people. Eventually the townspeople coined a nickname for them, The Fatum family, which is, latin, i believe, and it means destiny. I have no idea why, but there is apparently a myth in the Takahashi family line, that their bloodlines were literally the line between heaven and earth and it is said they descended from a peacekeeping angel of the past. But there was a conflict that happened between one of that family and one of the priests of the church and soon after, the man who was in conflict with the church, Raven the first, he- Good heavens, be more careful Luna!'
Luna in her surprise had choked on her sandwich, coughing out bits and pieces.
'Sorry.'
Her father sighed and took a draught from his mug of coffee.
'Okay. Raven the first, he fell in love with that man's daughter. They both loved each other greatly, but once the girl's father found out, he was furious, for Raven had once entered their church and claimed salvation was a web of lies. Then he did something foolish. He spat in Raven's face when he caught him with her daughter in the town central. The 'Fatum' were also very famed for their fiery pride and Raven was no different. Raven slew the man on the spot and escaped to the cathedral with the daughter. Of course, the townspeople knew who they were and quickly mobbed together and attacked the Takahashi family, for it is the biggest offence to kill another, especially if not out of self-defense.'
'Father, did they fight back?'
'Of course, they had to. They were peace lovers, maybe excluding Raven, but they could not convince the townspeople to forgive him and thus had to fight back.
Obviously, due to their skills, the townspeople had trouble, but they were in great numbers. Eventually, many lay dead in the cathedral. The rest of the townspeople escaped and less than 10 of the Takahashis remained. Raven was among them, but he had lost his to-be-wife, grief-stricken and commited suicide. This fight was later named the 'Massacre of regret', and indeed, the townspeople and the remainder did regret it. The remainder of the Takahashi family began to clean and repair the damage in the cathedral, and continued to live in peace and solitude for another four years. However, one morning a boy came running into town screaming there were dead people in the cathedral. A boy was said to have been seen in the vicinty, someone draped in black with red hair. Some say it was the angel of death, or even one of the dead revived seeking vengeance upon his family killers. Sadly, when the townspeople came running with medical supplies and such, everyone there was beyond saving. It was bloody and obviously the work of someone wielding an axe, for people had body parts hacked cleanly apart. But some died from wounds apparently.. dealt with the very same axe.. but they died anyway, for later the mortician found traces of poison in the wounds. No one knew who killed them all. Only a few, bt of course, no one else knows who."
He took another swig of coffee.
Luna's eyes settled onto her father.
"Do you know who did it?"
Dante sighed and looked her squarely in the eye.
'Father?'
'I do. I am one of those people. That murderer... Was your grandfather, Howard.'
Luna froze.
It was too much for her to take in. She passed out and her head crashed into a bowl of wet, sticky oatmeal.
-----------
Luna awoke with a start, attempted to swing her legs out of bed, one foot crashing into the bedpost. She jumped out of bed and started cursing vehemently. As soon as she stopped, she noticed a piece of parchment on the desk.
She walked towards it, wincing slightly each time her right foot touched the floor.
I'm sorry that you had to know that, but i never thought you would be interested, so i didn't bother. Your mother and I are out to visit the McKinnons. Stay out of trouble.
Love,
Dad
Luna shook off the drowsiness that came from waking up and was about to open the room door when she heard a tapping noise.
She swung her head towards the source and saw Raven squatted outside the window tapping his finger on the pane of glass.
Luna brightened and rushed to the window and opened it up, letting him in.
Yeah. Let the flying guy into your house who's a possibly vengeful psychopath. Mmmmmhmm. Right choice.
She shook her head of the thought - even though it made perfect sense.
Raven folded his wings and they shrunk back into his back. His crimson hair seemed to be soaked with blood in the sunlight, but she couldn't tell for sure. He tilted his head and smiled.
'Hello.'
Luna smiled.
'Hello.'
Raven hopped onto the bed and rolled about.
'That feels nicely soft. Ive been squatting outside your window for quite a while now. Do you want to go back to the cathedral with me?'
Luna hesitated.
'Um. I think my parents wouldn't allow it.. So I don't really-'
Raven raised a hand.
'It's okay. I can understand.'
He jumped back onto the floor and started to spin not unlike a ballet dancer, a frown on his face.
Luna slumped back onto the bed.
'So what do we do then? Im bored.'
Luna raised an eyebrow.
'We?'
Raven sighed.
'It really is boring to be cooped up and having nothing of interest to do.'
Raven paused mid-spin, miraculousy not tipping over.
'Perhaps... I saw you drawing in the past. Could I have a look?'
No harm in that, Luna shrugged.
She moved towards the desk and was about to pull open the drawer where her drawings were stored when something hit her.
His drawings are better than mine.. What if he mocks me?
She stared at the smooth knob of wood that protruded out of the drawer.
Raven noticed her hesitation.
'Hmm? Is there something wrong?'
Luna paused, shook her head and pulled the knob.
Raven walked over and peered into the drawer.
Luna flushed and turned around. 'I'm sorry. I'm not really um, a good artist and-' She hesitated, then lowered her head. 'I've been told my artwork was weird, including me.'
Raven raised one her drawings and smiled.
'You have your own style and it is original, so that's a good thing at least. And a normal girl would freak out at the sight of a inhuman kid, in a cathedral that is supposedly abandoned, all in the middle of the night. AND you also have the nerve to bombard me with a flurry of questions instead of running away at top speed.'
She breathed a sigh of relief. That's nice of him, not judging me as though I really suck.
Raven flicked up each of piece of paper one after another just after giving it a brief scan.
'They're good, but they need some improvement. You could use some work on some shading. Take this one over here for example...'
'What about this one here?'
'Aha, I already spot a flaw, look here..'
'But no, that is supposed to be part of the drawing. Oops, i forgot too add something to this piece..'
The two kept talking and talking, occasionally one raised their voice slightly in protest to what seemed to be a flaw on the artwork or the defense.
Several hours passed, and they argued about a painting of the town square, oblivious about the time.
'It's the fountain!'
'If you ask me, it looks flatter than a sheet of ironed rice paper.'
'How dare-'
Her words were cut short by a muffled slam from the bottom of the house.
'LUNA! WE'RE HOME!'
Raven flicked his eyes towards the door.
'I had better leave.'
He ran to the window and tried to lift it up.
'Its stuck! I could rip it out, but your parents...'
Luna ran over and tried to help, but to no avail.
Raven swore.
'Anywhere you can hide?'
Raven glanced under the bed and swore again.
'I can't squeeze under there, and your closet is packed.'
Then a idea formed in Luna's mind.
'Actually, have a rather simple solution.'
A maternal voice sounded from below.
'Luna? Are you there?'
They hastened with their plan for Raven to avoid detection.
The end result was Luna lying in bed, blanket covering half her face, with Raven nowhere in sight.
Footsteps.
Her mom swung the door open.
'I'm so sorry Luna, they wanted us to stay a little longer, I- Why are you still in bed?! Are you ill?'
Luna raised her head and gave a weak smile and forced a cough.
'Just a slight cough. I'll sleep early today, and i'll be as good as new tomorrow morning!'
Her mother thought for a moment, and finally decided.
'Okay. If you need anything, i'll be in the kitchen.'
She turned just as a single black feather came floating slowly down.
Raven, two metres up in the dark corner above the door mouthed an oath.
The feather seemed as though it would land on her mother's head, but she had bumped the door creating a slight breeze, altering the feather's course.
It landed on the floor just as she closed the door.
Silence.
Raven slowly walked down on the wall.
His and Luna's eyes met.
'That was TOO close.' They both said in unison.
Luna stared at him as he walked closer. His cloak somehow flapped as though there was a wind blowing in the room.
His red hair seemed to sparkle in the weak light of the lamps.
Maybe... Maybe he isn't that bad. Maybe he was just nervously shy when i met him.
Raven walked forward.
He looks so graceful..
Then irony kicked in and Raven tripped over a scroll and fell hard on the floorboards.
Then again...
A questioning voice sounded from below.
'Luna? What are you doing?'
Raven cursed and ran to the window and rammed it straight up, Luna followed behind him.
He turned around for a brief moment as his wings began to unfurl.
'Ill see you soon.'
And he fell backwards, just as the door opened.
Luna's mother walked in, her expression a mix of sterness and curiosity.
Luna smiled weakly yet again.
'I er, wanted some fresh air, so uh, I tried to open the window and it was a little stuck.'
Luna's mother looked thoughtful.
'I'll make you some soup and get you a piece of bread - you must be starving.'
They both looked at each other and her mother shrugged, closing the door.
Luna closed her eyes and slumped onto her bed.
She could almost swear there was something beating powerful wings in the dark.