“Whatever you say Gramps… If that’s what you honestly believe, then I’ll take your word for it.” Azra was totally unconvinced that his grandfather was the mortal avatar of a god, or that he and his sister were reincarnated deities.

Yuri nodded and then gently patted the old man’s bony left shoulder, murmuring “We still love you, even if you’re a compulsive liar.”

“You freaking brats! Don’t worry, in a few years, once you’re both old enough… I’ll let you two finally leave this crappy cave! Hahahaha~, if you seriously think that this is Japan, you’re in for a rude awakening!”

***

Four years passed by so quickly, especially for the old man. He was laying on a straw mat, with a thick cotton blanket covering everything below his neck. It was an especially cold winter and his body finally couldn’t take it anymore.

“Grampa… I apologize for being so useless. If only I had access to some medical equipment, even simple herbal supplements would have allowed you to live for a while longer.”

That little girl had grown into a young woman. She was still fairly short and her breasts were practically nonexistent, but it was obvious that she was at least sixteen. Even though her face was expressionless, there were streams of tears rolling down her cheeks.

The old man’s blue eyes weren’t glowing anymore, as if they had run out of batteries. He reached out from under the covers with his bony left hand and struggled to say “Little Yuri, don’t cry… There is nothing that you could have done to prevent this… I’m sorry for being so selfish.”

“Damn it Gramps! You can’t just leave us like this! We still need you!” A young man was weeping as he hugged tightly onto his grandfather’s tiny chest.

Azra had changed much more than his sister. His facial features became more masculine, but not by much. However, the most important difference was that he was close to six feet tall and had a decent amount of muscle mass. He wasn’t a bodybuilder, yet it was obvious that he had performed lots of physical exercise over the years.

“Heh~, you freaking brat… Are you trying to put me out of my misery by crushing me to death?” The old man chuckled some more, before he started coughing violently. Azra pulled away and sat to the side, while wiping the snot and tears onto the linen sackcloth that barely even fit his body.

After glancing between the two of them several times, their grandfather smiled wryly, whispering “I’m sorry for being so selfish… I was supposed to complete my mission two years ago, but I couldn’t bare… I couldn’t bare to leave my kids.” Tears suddenly slowly pooling in his hazy eyes as he continued “My name is… Sariel King, avatar number 739, charged with the mission of finding the souls of Azrael and Uriel. What are the odds that I would have found them when they were only babies? Twins at that… I couldn’t do it…”

“Couldn’t do what Gramps?” Azra was gripping the old man’s right hand so tightly that it was on the verge of breaking, as he struggled to keep himself from crying anymore.

Sariel closed his eyes and whispered “I’m sorry… But I’m out of time… I love you both. Please remember the stories… The stories are real… I love you brats so much…” Then he let out a long sigh and the twins felt their hearts sink.

Yuri pressed her fingers against her grandfather’s throat for a few moments and murmured “Grandpa died… It’s only the two of us now. Azra, it feels like I can’t breathe… My sinuses are clogged and my facial muscles are spasming uncontrollably.”

Prologue: Grandpa

Prologue 1: Uriel, Azrael and Sariel
Prologue 2: The Divine Chess Set
Prologue 3: The Mysterious Old Man
Prologue 4: Presents
Prologue 5: Books
Prologue 6: The Truth
Prologue 7: Elysium
Prologue 8: Sariel King

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Sariel’s Guidance

Part 1-3
Part 4-6
Part 7-9
Part 10&11