Ratella floated down towards the food hall of the castle. The food was nothing special much like most of the castle but it wasn't awful. It didn't bring him any pleasure eating their food but it at least satisfied his hunger.
The rations consisted of watered down soup and a small portion of bread. This had apparently been going for years after food was beginning to become a valuable resource. The endless skirmishes being the main culprit for the bland food sitting in front of him.
Ratella now sympathized with the soldiers in the castle at their lack of divine cuisine despite being of angelic origins.
Liliana eyed his food hungrily inching closer when his gaze drifted off to another part of the room.
"Do you want some?" asked Ratella snooping a small portion into his spoon bringing up to her beak.
Liliana cutely nodded her head swiftly practically begging for his scraps.
He tilted the spoon watching the liquid containing mostly water devoid of actual nutrition flow down her throat.
She made no gesture of disgust to the food instead shifting forward closer to his bowl begging for more. Despite her obvious hunger she didn't take any until she was given permission from Ratella. He found her behavior to be quite charming much like the rest of her personality.
"Such a polite bird." exclaimed Ratella bringing more of the liquid to her beak spoon feeding her until the bowl was practically empty.
He finished off the bowl himself. Liliana's eyes still held a ravenous hunger within, her crimson irises sparkling with the thought of more food.
Approaching footsteps filled the surrounding area, three men placed their trays filled with flavourless junk on the same table as Ratella.
Ratella ignored the new faces, tearing off a piece of bread and throwing it to Liliana who wolfed it down swiftly.
"Hey, you shouldn't feed a bird instead of yourself. You'll need your energy for the battles to come." stated an unknown man.
Looking upwards across from him, he was met with two unfamiliar faces and one holding the name of Sarian Valhorn.
"I'll do what I want with the food given to me. Whether that be to feed my bird or stomp on it." declared Ratella throwing more bread to Liliana in spite of the man's words.
His face twitching with annoyance at being completely undermined in front of his friends and the new virtue.
"Squack!" shouted Liliana cursing the man in birdtalk.
"Calm down Samael, let's not start our new relationship with each other on a bad foot."
Sarian put his hand out to prevent the man from doing anything he would later regret, his temper becoming volatile.
"I'm Sarian Valhorn. This is Samael Lordstone and to his right is Lilia Valentine. We are all in the elite unit set up to destroy the Sins of Lust and Sloth."
"I'm sorry about what happened to your father, Sarian. If I only got there earlier I might have been able to save him, his death is in my hands."
Liliana looked into Ratella's eyes after his statement tilting her head in confusion.
"It's okay, please don't worry about it but I hope you'll aid me in battle against Sloth. Actually it won't be a battle more like a slaughter."
Sarian clenched his fists, his rage and grief showing violently in front of Ratella. There wasn't a single tone of deceit in his words. Ratella guessed he had the strength to match Sloth in battle and reach far beyond that target.
"If I may, is Lilia related to Lucian Valentine?"
"Yes, I am his daughter although he doesn't really act like I am his daughter. I have yet to prove my strength in battle so I haven't been acknowledged as his daughter."
"That's quite a harsh law to press onto your children."
"I've gotten used to it, please don't worry about it. I assure you that Lucian is a valiant man and will not betray you in the field of battle." exclaimed Lilia, her words ringing hollow for some reason unknown to Ratella.
She was lying about her father and his character that Ratella could be sure of. Liliana perched herself upon his shoulder lapping up the last of his bread.
"Ratella, why do you have a bird in this godforsaken land? It'll only eat into the soldiers' rations, you know the people that actually matter, not some stupid bird." barked Samael, his anger revolving Liliana growing exponentially. His eyes burning with hatred regarding the seemingly innocent animal.
"Could this man be able to sense the looming danger revolving around Liliana?" thought Ratella, his curiosity was quickly increasing but being swiftly replaced by a wariness and caution when dealing with the man.
He thought about killing the man while time was stopped but that wouldn't solve anything just making everyone's suspicion fall upon him.
"My bird, my decisions."
"Samael, just stop it will you? No one has raised a single concern about the bird so it's fine."
Samael retreated backwards making himself smaller in his superior's ire but the fury in his eyes still burned bright.
"Ratella, have you ever met Lust in the field of battle?" asked Lilia looking downwards, not making eye contact with him.
"No but I hear she's a wicked freak. Have you?"
Ratella had heard the descriptions of the Sins from Liliana and how they all have their own wicked and twisted personality. According from Liliana Lust was one of the worst to face as an average soldier.
"Yes, I've faced her in combat once before and she was nothing short of horrific using soldiers' minds against. If we come across Lust I urge you to take extreme caution even if you are a Seraphim."
"I appreciate the tip. I'll take your advice to heart. If you don't mind me asking what weapons do you all use?" asked Ratella, wanting more information on his "allies" if he was to slay them later on.
"I use a bow, and am currently a wielder of the Edict of Light like my father," said Sarian, tapping his trusty weapon.
"I use two shortswords." stated Lilia placing the weapons on the table for all to see.
"A longsword is my weapon of choice if you must know."
"I hope to fight alongside all of you on the field of battle with our combined might. We'll be able to slay Lust and Sloth returning this area to peace."
Ratella properly left his seat walking towards the exit deciding their gathering to be over. His unexpected exit drew the gaze of the three but they did not follow him looking muttering to themselves.
His concerns involving the trio only grew after their questions, seeing them as dire threats to his continued position in Kathoros.
He walked over to the main gate awaiting for the newly founded unit to meet at midday while he was early he didn't want to stomach the conservation with those three any longer than needed.