"Who are you?" Reiji threw the question toward Raizel.
Raizel kept staring at Reiji with his weakened eyes for some moments; then replied in a broken and hesitant voice, "Me? I don't know…"
"What do you mean by 'I don't know?' Just tell me who are you?" Reiji shouted, looking a bit angry.
Raizel indifferently kept looking at Reiji's angry eyes, appearing extremely helpless as his entire appearance was like a devastated soldier who came out from a deadly war.
"I was never given a name by anyone…I don't know what my name could be…But some people used to address me as Reiji…But the person I was back then is no longer the person I am now…I don't know why, but…everything I did in the past seems meaningless to me now. What could be the reason behind that? I wonder…why the world was so noisy and destructive to me…I don't know." Raizel replied, pretty much the same as he was in the earlier moment.
Reiji listened to him the entire time without showing any expression. Even after Raizel finished his sentence, there was no sign of expression on his face. After several moments passed like that, Reiji smiled carelessly.
"The person you're talking about is no longer with you…It was a ruthless fool all along who never knew the truth of the world, only existing to sacrifice everything just for the sake of the world, just for the story. But the person you are now is the true person, the person you were fated to be, on the most righteous path one can ever choose. Protect the world, protect everyone around you, everyone across the story; this is what a righteous person like you is supposed to do." Reiji replied while smiling carelessly, his voice straightforward and quite commanding.
"Don't ever change the path you're on, the soul you have. No matter what's going on in the world, the happiest person in the world is the one without emotions. And that person is you." Reiji added, smiling wider than earlier in the final part of his sentence.
The presence of the sun slowly erupted into the world. Reiji lifted his gaze upward to the sun and smiled one more time. Time came for his move; looking backward toward the city, Reiji prepared himself to step ahead there.
Suddenly thinking of something; Reiji looked back at Raizel and spoke while smiling for the last time, "I almost forgot to tell you, you are looking for your name, right? Your name is Raizel, Edward Raizel."
Carrying the final smile, Reiji returned his gaze to his destiny and stepped ahead toward it.
Raizel kept looking at Reiji's exit, as he seemed to have fallen into the depth of endless thoughts that were keeping him in a little pain he didn't seem to care much about. Perhaps those words coming from Reiji enlightened the world to him, or could have become the very reason for his further wonder. But one thing was sure for him: the world is now a crystal-clean story for him where the concept of emotions doesn't exist. His destiny was final; protecting the world and the story became his religion.
Reiji hated his emotions; he hated his love for his friends; he hated the very concept that kept him away from world salvation. The thing wasn't about his hatred toward his friends, but his hate for the emotions he was carrying. He wanted to believe in the salvation that could keep the world at peace, keep the world in a state where everything would rest in eternal peace. But his emotions, his love for the ones he loved, kept him in a puzzle of questions where finding the true salvation became an eternally impossible task. Then a question came to his mind: why was he protecting the mortals that kept forcing him toward such a destiny where he couldn't decide the truth between his emotions and his salvation? Why was it him who was facing every possible conflict in existence? Why was he doing all this just for those foolish mortals who were causing chaos just for their foolish and stupid emotions? Why did he have to be the one to do it? Why did he have to be the one to sacrifice?
It wasn't his question; it was the birth of negative emotions in his mind and soul. The warrior who was removing the concept of negative emotions from the face of the world was now facing the cruelty of negative emotions; he failed to be the exception to escape the cruelty of emotions. Following his hatred and questions in mind, his mind ran ahead toward an open space covered with nothingness.
I stepped forward there and figured out the conversation between Reiji and the figure standing a bit away from him. The figure was entirely covered under a huge, dark, chaotic shadow.
"Who are you?" Reiji threw a question immediately upon seeing the figure.
The figure smiled narrowly and replied with his voice; a voice like a person in the prime stage of life, "Name? Identity? Nothing necessary for me."
He took a break and resumed speaking, "You are in a conflict between questions, huh? If you're looking for an answer, then I will give you two answers, with two different souls and minds; and two different people." His voice slowed its pace of speaking in his final sentence.
Reiji changed his surprised expression to a careless smile. Keeping the smile on his face; Reiji spoke, "Was it hard for me to understand? Never."
The shadow figure smiled back as a reply. Reiji's figure slowly began to disappear into countless pieces of snow. While disappearing; Reiji threw a final question toward the shadow figure, "I'm yet to know your name; mind telling me?" The careless smile was still intact on his face as his eyes were confident alongside it.
The shadow figure smiled once again; then replied a bit loudly, "You want to know my name? Then hear out, it's 'Faceless'."