Greyashe chapter 308 is entitled 'Selflessness'.

Previous chapter 307: 'Two beings's inconsequential love affair. X'

Next chapter 309: 'The flower which should not have been there.'

Summaries page.

-Short summary-

Dio and the Elder Soul find themselves in the midst of a major decision for their people as does Ambriel...

-Long summary-

Dio sits in his encampment with his arms crossed and a table separating him from Ambriel whom has her head down. The God sighs and starts up a joke about how they've done this before, but stops himself. The time for levety had long passed. Unfortunately for him, he's not entirely sure what is supposed to happen next. He had heard the account of the events that had occurred after his angels had gone to pursue the Youngest and Silent one, or well...the most that they could explain, which is not much to be completely honest. One thing that is obvious is the amount of power that had surfaced around the angels (and natives) involved around this whole situation. The forest in that area had been almost completely decimated, the ground charred beyond recognition, and a few animals had been found hurt or...worse. Truth be told, the God really has no desire to question Ambriel as even he can tell she's been traumatized enough. She hasn't been eating, speaking, and even moving since the incident. He had sent several requests for her to see him, and only got a response when he literally walked over to her abode and took her by the arm (though one shouldn't get it wrong, the elder God did have to do some coaxing and even then gently lead her to his encampment). Even now, they've been sitting in silence for what seems to be an eternity. Truly Dio wants to leave the girl alone and proceed with his investigation using other means, but...

Sadariel had been discovered at the site as well, but he was no more than a shell of his former self....literally. It's as if his life energy had been completely depleted, and they had nothing but his remains. Even his angel remnant is completely gone, and the choir can't quite explain what happened to him. As for the other Native who had been confirmed by his breathern to be missing, he had completely disappeared as well. As such, the only person left to question about the whole matter is Ambriel. Numerous attempts had been made to try and awaken Sadariel, but they were all to no avail. For all intents and purposes, both young men had all but disappeared and getting them back is in the realm of impossible. Dio mulls this over for a moment, and realization pokes him in the cerebellum. He could probably get the little angel to talk, but is this really the right thing to do? He really is skittish about opening further wounds, and heaven hath no fury like an angelic woman scorned, but....for the sake of his people...

Dio calls out to her by name. Ambriel stiffens in a reactive motion, even in her current status she still is extremely nervous to be in the same room with the angelic leader. He notices this and asks why she refused him when he had asked for an audience with her so many times? Although he understands she's been through a lot (?) and probably requires time to recover, he is their leader after all. If he couldn't get a response out of a teenage girl, how could he possibly expect the choir to listen to him? Though now at least he understands what fathers of the aforementioned teenage girls have to go through. After allowing a moment of silence to pass, Dio groans realizing that his current audience wouldn't find his brand of humor funny even if this were a time of celebration. He coughs and asks if she's doing at least okay? Ambriel stiffens and nods affirmatively. Dio tries not to let this one response trigger a flood of other questions, and asks if she's in any pain, in which she doesn't respond. The God taps his finger patiently for a moment and then sits up straight, as if he has a superior who could come in to check on his productivity at any moment. Ambriel seems to sense this and stiffens even more, which in turn causes Dio to relax. He leans on the table, his chin resting between his thumb and index finger. He then states to the angel that he realizes she's lost someone incredibly important to her. He goes further to ask if she truly loved him.

Ambriel slowly lifts her head, and meets the deus's gaze with her own. Though technically she cannot, as a bandage is wrapped around her head and covers her eyes. Dio fights his curiosity, as he would like to see what her eyes look like now. The angels who had found her had stated her physical condition is surprisingly sound, save for one wing being completely severed, and some cuts and bruising. There is one caveat to this though, and it's a major one; her eyes had been damaged. Normally the healing and regenerative prowess of angels is extremely high, so the choir had high hopes that her eyesight would simply return...but a few days later and there is no improvement. It's as if whatever had taken her eyesight was actively stopping her healing process.

Like a malignant curse.

In any case, Ambriel can't actually see Dio, though his presence alone gives away his current mood and even his posture, hence Ambriel being able to tell when his eyes are on her. He crosses his arms and repeats his last inquiry. Ambriel has trouble finding the voice that had all but vanished since that incident, but she does and rasply replies that she did. Dio nods slowly and offers her a genuine apology, regretful that one of his people, especially one so young is suffering. Ambriel relaxes and accepts his apology, though she inwardly wants to complain about being called 'so young'. Though honestly after everything that had happened to her, to him, to Sadariel....she does feel small and inconsequential...like a child complaining life is unfair. Dio then walks over to her side and bending on one knee asks her on the same eye level if she won't please tell him what happened? He only wants to understand her position, not to nag her, or judge her. What is said in this room will be between them. He wants her to feel completely comfortable in talking to him about anything.

The angel looks down again, and purses her lips. Truth be told, she had wanted to talk to someone, but who could she go to? She doesn't really have an idea of what happened out there that night either, and more importantly, she feels as if reliving the whole event again will only cause the hole in her heart to widen. Despite this, she knows deus is only trying to get to the bottom of what happened and help her, and even if he really isn't, she knows he has pressing issues dealing with both the natives and her own people that require her account of the matter since neither her love or Sadariel could speak up for themselves. If she doesn't want to be treated as a child, she would have to get over her feelings and tell him....no, them everything sometime. She clears her throat and gives Dio a small nod, promising to tell him everything. Dio pulls up his chair and sits beside the angel, wordlessly asking her to begin her story. Ambriel delivers the tale, including how the Native had signaled to the angels on above, to Sadariel's 'deal' to the fight in the forest against the other natives. Dio at first nods, but realizing she can't see him, he changes tactics to a non verbal 'mhm' when he has come to an understanding. Finally Ambriel finishes the story and Dio thanks her. She asks what he will do now, and he gives her a weak half smile, replying that he's not entirely sure now....but he will ensure the safety of everyone. That is his job as deus. Ambriel processes this mentally and thanks him for being understanding, and the God waves it off. She stands and asks Dio if he could watch her go to her abode? She counted how many steps it took to get from her place to his, and can make it there on her own, but she's had a strange feeling of foreboding ever since that night. Dio's eye brow raises and he asks if she'd like him to escort her home, but the little angel quickly replies that she needs no help, just his watchful eye as she heads back. The God thinks this is a strange request, but agrees all the same. Ambriel bows and leaves his encampment slowly, making sure to take her time with each step. Dio watches her and marvels at her perseverance, all the way back to her abode until she goes in and disappears from his sight. The God mulls over her request for a few moments before realizing that he too has business to attend to, and strides over to the choir's place of gathering.

Once there he spies them examining the remains of Sadarel with both great interest and confusion. Dio asks with his newly discovered 'hey', if everything is okay, and one of the choir members who isn't busy being shocked or intrigued answers him with a simple 'Not sure'. Sadariel's current status is something they can't really explain....his body has ceased to function, and his remance has ceased to exist. Dio frowns stating that he knows all of that from the preliminary report; he was hoping for something new. The choir member's eyebrow furrows for a moment and he then states they have inferred something interesting. Dio nods and he continues. Sadariel's current form seems to be related to what they call 'fading', which is something that only occurs when an angel has lived his or her natural lifespan. The lifespan for an angel is usually much longer than what Sadariel had lived, and since there hasn't been a precedent for 'fading' to happen before the end of the natural lifespan, no one had considered it as a possibility of what happened to Sadariel, though after enough examination the similarities are clear. Dio rubs his chin and thanks the choir member for their hard work. He then asks about those who have been in league with the Youngest and Silent one, and the choir member shakes his head, but asks for the deus to follow him.

The two travel to another encampment where angels are being held by what seems to be halos of light, their expressions blank as they stare down at the floor. Some are so unfocused that they drool on the ground as their unfocused eyes dart to and fro. The choir member states that these angels had come in contact with the natives and used their power, and no amount of remnance or healing has been able to return them to normal. Moreover their angelic properties had been...altered....tainted even. Like Sadariel's premature 'fading', this is another phenomena that they couldn't explain. The angels who had directly been in contact with the Youngest and even those who haven't, but have experienced the powers of the Natives would apparently never be able to function as ordinary angels again. Moreover their erratic, unexplainable behavior would make them dangerous to other angels, especially since there seems to be no 'cure' for this condition.  Dio asks what the choir member is insinuating, and he is unable to give the God a response. Dio infers the answer and leaves without a word.

Ambriel sits in the darkness, despite the sun being high in the sky. She unwraps the bandage around her head and tries with no success to rub her eyes into functioning. She sighs and lies sprawled on her back, the pain of losing a wing still making her body very tender and sore. She recalls her words to her love, 'if you can't be happy, make someone else happy'. Crying hurts her now, due to whatever the Youngest had done to her eyes so now she can't even do that. She can only sit and numbly accept that she had not 'faded', and the two boys had, all for the sake of protecting her in their own ways. Knowing this, she knows she can never be happy again. Then....she must bring someone else happiness. But how? And who? She recalls asking her love why he'd say such a thing, and his reply 'Because if one person strives to make another happy, and this cycle continues indefinitely, then eventually this happiness will find its way back to you.' Truly she hopes this is true from the bottom of her heart which lays in shambles in deep within her soul. She shivers in both pain and sadness as tears flow gently down her face and down to the ground.

At night, Dio meets the Elder Soul in the patch of forest cleared by the battle of angel and native, a clear sign of communication breakdown between both parties, which only a few days earlier would have merrily met in each others encampments to discuss future plans. The fact that they have to choose neutral ground now plays party to only one future. The Elder Soul glances at the deus, his form fading in the moonlight. He and Dio meet eye to eye, and exchange an at first strong, and it's climax weak handshake, after which the Elder soul apologizes and says he will soon have to abandon his current form and go back to his people. Dio nods slowly replying that he's at the point where he'll have to do something similar. The Elder soul comments that some of his people are fond of the angels, to a point of detriment, to which Dio remains silent. He wonders how things could have gone so wrong? He truly saw their group as comrades, and now they separate not in mutuality, but in reprehension. Dio gives a weak smirk and reminds him that they are leaders of a people. As much as he would love to try and mend things, his people need him to make a decision. It's mere sophistry at this point, but he will be the bad guy, the scapegoat to both of their people.

Dio crosses his arms and states that he will selflessly accept all responsibility for this tragedy, and starting with this moment cut ties between angel and native.