A fall into Darkness

“Dunno. I’m not really in a place to question it. He says you’re the strongest guy here. I may have to beat you.” He shrugs nonchalantly, “Name’s Cloud.”

"Just tryin to do my job kid." He tries to be apologetic. "I have to do this... or else I won't get some answers. I made a deal with Hades."

Ahaha I tried to make it look like a Chinese painting when I tried to color it. Oh well, this is the best I could do.

” W-wha….Oh. It’s not that, I think it’s really impressive..” she seemed to stutter the words, looking down a bit.

“Impressive…?” Cloud tucks his wing to put it at rest, successfully hiding it with his cloak once more. “Hn… one would think.” he lowers his head, averting his eyes to the ground. “It’s not something to be impressed of… It’s a symbol of my Darkness..”

“Y-you don’t….seem like you have any darkness..” she said with a gentle tone. Inspecting him to see any trace of “darkness” he might have.  ” You seem pretty normal to me.”

Cloud makes a doubtful noise in his throat, saying that she could be wrong. He's anything but normal... and he'd always want to be normal again. "Wish I could agree with you... You look normal yourse--" Cloud stops as his eyes trail over to the tailfin that connects her body, "Oh."

” W-wha….Oh. It’s not that, I think it’s really impressive..” she seemed to stutter the words, looking down a bit.

"Impressive...?" Cloud tucks his wing to put it at rest, successfully hiding it with his cloak once more. "Hn... one would think." he lowers his head, averting his eyes to the ground. "It's not something to be impressed of... It's a symbol of my Darkness.."

” I-I don’t believe we’ve met.” Ariel blinked, looking on at his wing with surprise. She seemed mesmerized by the sight of it. ” W-wow…”

"Wh-- oh." His wing twitches, and Cloud feeling a bit self conscious of it, tries to tuck it into his tattered red cloak, but there was no use hiding it. She had already seen. His wing spreads out shyly for her to see. "S'not as bad as it looks..." he tries for a shrug.

” Hey there <3”

"Er... hey?" He blinks owlishly at the redhead.

What does her being 18 have to do with anything?

So?

Not. Interested. /hides behind Zack

“So this is who Hades wants me to go up against? I thought he’d be bit older.”

"Dunno. I'm not really in a place to question it. He says you're the strongest guy here. I may have to beat you." He shrugs nonchalantly, "Name's Cloud."