Philosophical Meet

[nintendonut1]

Double D shared in the chuckling. "Don't fret, I trust you two." Calming down, he sighed. "...I almost wish I didn't have to keep the information only to my close friends, but... I'm not just a typical angel. I..." He looked up when he realized something. "...oh. I'm guessing you're wondering how it happened, am I right?"

[gantzgun74]

Wally and Otto, though they may be opposites but they agreed on that much.

"Uh what's the word I'm looking? Guh? Buh? Oh yeah! Well DUH!!!" Wally said, joking good naturedly.

"One of our new friends turns up after who knows how long with Angel Wings." Otto monotoned, grinning. "I think even mistress Yin would be thrown for a loop, despite how well informed she is."

Wally sat down on the couch, curiosity showing brightly. "Do tell mate! This is a tale I don't want to miss!"

[nintendonut1]

"Aha... well, then..." Double D sat down on a nearby chair, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "I have to warn you, this'll be a long story. I'll start at the very beginning, just so you know where I'm coming from."

"Oh, boy!" Ed plopped down next to Wally. "This story will be fun."

Double D cleared his throat. "Well, Ed, Eddy, and I come from the same world, if you couldn't guess that before. We stumbled across a dimensional portal that brought us here, not long before the Dark Insects began to invade. We all made friends here and there, and most of them live with us even now."

"The Skylark team came from our world, too!" Ed added. "They're Super Children like us, and live a couple apartments away from us."

Double D nodded. "Right. But they came later. Anyway..." He paused. "...the true adventure began when I met a Fallen Angel by the name of Felix Falora. He had been... hurt.. tossed aside in the freezing cold of the North Mountains... so, what else could I do besides bring him in and nurse him back to health?"

Courage nodded in approval.

"Well... he stayed for quite some time afterwards... and he hasn't left sense." He churned a little in his seat, a soft blush coming to his cheeks. "Because... well, I don't know how your world views homosexuality, but... we grew close. Very close."

[gantzgun74]

Wally shrugged. "Different world, different rules mate."

Double D lifted an eyebrow at this statement. "Meaning;" Otto chimed in, crossing his arms, "We were granted powers in order to be impartial judges. Our world, I'm sorry to say, has not yet seen the ranks of homosexuality, it's something of an unknown. The only reason we know is because we're supposed to know, so when it does we can act on it." He shook his head, "I'm not sure how the people of our world will react to Homosexuality, but when the time comes, we will impartially judge it. Whether it's accepted depends on Yin and Yang. We follow their will."

"AND," Double D turned back to Wally, whom was waving an index finger back and forth. "that means since homosexuality is otherwise accepted in this world, it's not in our ability to question it." Smiling a little, "I myself, though? I don't care about the subject. Whether they're gay, straight, or bisexual, I just want people to live happy lives. I'm straight though, you remember me talking about my girlfriend back home, Rachel right?"

Otto turned his head away. "I'm straight too. But I've got nothing to show for it..."

That was all he said before he took his nest jewel piece, and walked off.

Wally sadly watched him go, turning back to Double D. "He had a girlfriend once... But..." He wiped a tear away. "She was killed in a war that razed our land like a hellfire." He looked at him deathly serious. "Remember when I mentioned Kijin Kain? He was the bloody monster that lead the strike force that killed her."

Suddenly a lot of Otto's agression and moodiness had been brought to light...

"But enough of that, continue please." Wally didn't look in the mood to continue his story.

Neither did Otto, whom sat in the center of the dojo floor looking to be in meditation before his nest jewel piece.

[nintendonut1]

"Ohh... oh, dear, I'm so sorry," Double D expressed his apologies. "I-I didn't mean to open old wounds, I only..."

"Go on, Double D," Ed inturrupted, to which Double D slowly nodded.

"Ah... alright. Well... we all went through a number of trials together. Nest jewel hunts, battles... and more assassination attempts than we can count. At one point, Felix had sacrificed himself to save me, so he regained his wings... that makes him a pure angel now. We've gained and lost comrades since then...

"Then... well, to put it plain and simply, we..." He coughed. "...made love to each other. However, we soon discovered that in order to reproduce on Earth, the angels from Felix's world have the ability to carry and give birth to children, male or female." He paused, a small smile coming onto his face. "...nine months later, we became fathers."

"She's so cute! Her name's Marion!" Ed chirped. "'Cause that's Double D's middle name!"

[gantzgun74]

Wally stared rather blankly at Double D for a moment...

"Gay pregnancy... ... ... Didn't know you could really do that..." After a second, he shrugged smiling cluelessly. "I guess rules are different for angels." after a moment, he smiled even wider, "You know, if you need a baby sitter, I'd be more then happy to take the job. I'm good with kids, and I think I would love to me meet Marion."

[nintendonut1]

Double D chuckled. "We have plenty of caretakers, but if you ever wish to visit her, you're more than welcome to. She's... beautiful," he sighed raptly.

"Yup! And she's totally got Double D's eyes," Ed noted happily.

"More than that. She's been inheriting each of our powers, bit by bit; quite useful when that manic monkey Mojo Jojo first tried to capture us by kidnapping her and luring us to his lair. Thankfully that venture ended quite well, and she was unharmed.

"Ah, but I'm digressing. Afterwards, things were all well... until..."

"...the big battle," Ed muttered, intimidated. Even he knew of the graveness of that brawl.

"...A religious group caught up with us and laid siege on the entire apartment. They were one of those fanatical organizations that believed the devil gave us our powers or whatever nonsense." He paused, shaking his head. "...but the result was the same. It was a horrid, bloody battle..." Another pause, in which he uncomfortably swallowed and rubbed his neck. "...and it was the first time I took someone's life."

"But he threatened Felix and Marion!" Ed sat up, realizing Double D was growing weary. "He was the one leading them! He would've killed YOU!" He frowned to Wally. "We keep telling him it's not his fault, but..."

"...I was lucky," Double D continued, as if he hadn't heard Ed. "I thought I'd never be able to live with myself after that... but we managed to contact the dead... and we apologized to each other. Both of us." He sighed. "I believe... I believe that saved both of us."

Ed nodded. "He looked like he was in Hell, suffering... but right before we broke off, it looked like the chains were breaking..."

"A voice told me, privately, that I had an air of salvation about me... I had no idea what he meant... until later."

[gantzgun74]

"Ed."

The simple Ed-boy quickly turned to Otto whom had his back to him. "Trust me when I say it is not as easy to take a person's life as it looks or sounds." A crimson red eye looked over the boy's shoulder. "I know it's asking much, but try to imagine it; killing is like staining your very soul. Even if you do it for the right reasons it's still enough to drive a person to the point of insanity. It doesn't matter how much you ignore it or try to wash it away; It will forever stay." He shook his head, "killing is the most horrible crime imagineable, and it shocks me that some humans are still trying to kill."

"'Life is precious'." Came Wally monotoning. "It should not be snuffed out because a person feels it." He raised his eyes once more. "I know this probably doesn't make sense to you Ed; all we're saying is you need to look through Double D's eyes. He had enough reason to be sure, but you should imagine that it was still a horrible thing."

Ed and Double D really looked at Wally strangely there.

"Either way, I am glad you got the chance to wash yourself clean of a kill." Wally patted Double D on the back. "Very few get to do that." He sat back in the chair, patting Courage comfortingly. "Go on then mate, what happened next."

[nintendonut1]

"...oh..."

"...Thank you, Wally," Double D quietly replied, thinking of how to continue. "Now... angels have rules to follow. One of them is that if they want to stay here on the ground, they have to be a mortal's Guardian."

"And Felix is MY Guardian Angel!" Ed piped up, confusing them slightly.

"Yes. I know you would expect him to become MY Guardian when he regained his wings, but another one of the rules is that they cannot love their charge. Thankfully, the higher-ups were gracious in giving him the role of protecting Ed. That way, he could stay... with me.

"When he was Fallen, a close friend watched over him. His name was... Shinichi." He paused at the name, but quickly proceeded. "Even after regaining his wings, Felix was still quite a force to behold; his powers are driven heavily by emotion. So in order to prevent a tragedy from happening, Shinchi became my Guardian Angel. He protected us for the longest time...

A heavy pause. "...but even the strongest angels are capable of Falling. The pure anger and hate he felt after the aforementioned battle was enough. He disappeared for some time, time we all took to recover. All efforts to find him were futile, so we let him go for a while...

"Then, I stumbled across him. I was overjoyed to have finally found him, begged him to come back with us, hoping we could find a way to help him regain his own wings... it was then I discovered... the REAL reason behind his Fall. It went beyond the anger... and was seeded long before the battle."

Another long pause before he looked up.

"...he broke the rule... and fell in love with his charge."

[gantzgun74]

"Seriously?"

Wally had taken in that part of the story carefully, thinking it through... ... ... "And who was his charge?"

Otto's meditative state was gone, and he listened intently.

[nintendonut1]

"I told you... it was I." He paused, noticing their looks and holding up his hands defensively. "Don't think I returned those feelings. I treasured Shinichi as a protector and friend... but I could never love him as much as I love Felix.

"But that made him... angry. I believed he was willing to go to any lengths to catch me... even using my...." he trailed off, old wounds slightly resurfacing.

Ed knew where he was going, so he took over. "Um... everybody's got a soul name. It's a secret name, everything that you are, wrapped up in a tiny little word. It's a name that only really, REALLY close souls share, y'know?"

Double D nodded slowly. "Correct, Ed... Felix knows mine, and I know his." He shuddered slightly. "However... this isn't a name you give to just anyone. It's heavily sacred, a guard, one might say, to your very soul. When used by those who don't deserve to know it... it's a pain unlike any other."

[gantzgun74]

"Soul names, eh..." Wally considered this. This sounded serious, and usually seriousness passed over his head rather easily. "Is a person born knowing his soul name or something..?" He thought a moment, "Cause I don't believe I know mine."

"Nor do I know mine."

Otto was standing behind the couch, where Double D sat, catching him by surprise. "In fact this is the first I've heard of such a thing."

[nintendonut1]

(oh, btw, this idea is born from the comic Elfquest XD)

Double D shook his head. "You don't know it until someone discovers it. You'll know when someone says it, even if you've never heard it before, because something deep stirs inside of you... it's an indescriable feeling.

"The proper way to discover it is during times of great passion, like it happened for Felix and I. Others, however... they force their way in and steal it for the soul purpose of manipulating them..." He shivered deeply. "...that's what Shinichi did. He tried to use it to force me unto him... it was horrible... whenever he said that name... it felt like he was pulling away a piece of me, each time...

"It was the single most difficult trial of mine on this island," he chuckled mirthlessly. "I broke down, for heaven's sake, screamed to the heavens 'why?', begged them for help, for an end to all this pain...I was so used to them answering... and was discouraged when they wouldn't... but only for a moment...Because then I realized... there is no help needed when you have the power to help yourself. I had a firm belief that if I tried my hardest, I could make things right again... call me idealistic all you want, but... I think it was that belief that kept me sane, even during my darkest hour."

[gantzgun74]

Wally considered this. "You're a lot like me in that case Double D, I'm very much idealistic myself." Smiling widely, he pointed a thumb at himself. "I thought there was a better life outside the temple and look at me now!"

"Oh yeah, you have powers but now your a gossip who likes to play Cupid." Otto nodded, when everyone looked at him. "It's true."

"Hey!" Wally argued, "I'll have you know mate, that I actually helped start some healthy and far-reaching relationships." He grinned and lounged in his chair. "Can't hold THAT against me."

Otto shook his head with a groan; Wally got him there.

[nintendonut1]

A smile came to Double D's face at Wally's story. "Wonderful. I always knew pessimism never got anything done." He cleared his throat again. "On this same principle, I knew I had to take care of Shinichi myself, if not try to help him restore his wings. Of course, he was far beyond help in that sense..."

"He's not coming back, is he?" Ed asked quietly.

"Not now, no," Double D shook his head. "We encountered him in the park... and got more than we bargained for. Apparently he struck a deal with Lucifer himself; open the portal to let him escape from the underworld, and in return he'd give me to Shinichi. Of course, he went back on his word; said I was too pure, not fitting for his envisioned world of darkness.

"In order to defeat him, Felix and his brother Leon needed to combine their own forces of light and dark to create a Twilight power that could best Lucifer's. But Shinichi struck down Leon. In his last moments, he sent most of his power into Felix, using the rest to erase my soul name from Shinichi's mind. With the Twilight power at his disposal, Felix fought Lucifer in a deadly duel, and it looked like he would be victorious... but the Prince of Darkness knew the greatest wound he could inflicit would be on the one he cared most about...

"...and he struck me down."

Courage gasped.

Ed shivered a little. "...he was... he was dead... we watched him die... it was... really scary."