Saichel Reis's Links
Saichel hates Zaqiel. Every part of him. Despite this, he can't afford Zaqiel's death or significantly do anything against his actions. He lives under Zaqiel's roof and fights for him at the underground arena. He doesn't remember much of his childhood, but Zaqiel has always told him that he was saved from a poor living situation. Zaqiel's words used to hit Saichel hard, his self-worth was down to nothing. He was just a husk of endless working, that is, until Sarai was born. She was the new reason why he should keep going and do his best. There is one thing that Saichel can thank Zaqiel for, and that's the fact that Zaqiel would actually give Sarai the world just as much as Saichel would.
Zaqiel still does instill fear in Saichel. What truly spikes Saichel's paranoia is thinking about Zaqiel's ability to foresee the future. He's aware that Zaqiel is a liar, but there has been many times that his clairvoyance is proved to be true. He continues to live normal life under Zaqiel's roof, but he continues to think of a way to leave this hellhole along with Sarai one day.
Saichel is one of the kids that are under his care right now. He believes Saichel to be a capable follower, doing all as he says to a T. Despite this, he still finds Saichel to be imperfect. Saichel still often makes mistakes, and that is why Zaqiel only leaves him with the job of fighting in the underground arena for money. He adopted Saichel as a small child, from a poor family that can barely take care of their own members. Despite having such a comfortable living situation under Zaqiel's care, Saichel was treated awful, emotionally. Especially after Sarai was 'born', Zaqiel made it clear that Saichel is only important if he does his job and be a good big brother for Sarai. That is his only purpose and interest, and that seems to keep Saichel in check.
Sarai is Saichel's little sister. Because of her, he found that he has a much better purpose than the godly bullshit that Zaqiel speaks of. His new purpose was to protect Sarai and to make her happy. To be the best big brother, and make sure she will never experience anything he has gone through. He enjoys doing all sorts of things with her, playing dress up, telling her stories, braiding each other's hair, all the fun stuff! Anything to make sure Sarai is happy. Despite all the joy and fulfilment Saichel feels when he is around Sarai, she is still the root of the biggest conflict in the back of Saichel's head.
He wants to leave the place they live in, but Sarai is treated like a princess there, getting everything a child should have. He can't leave Sarai on his own either, because he wants to be around so she doesn't become lonely, or worse, gain the same principles as their caretaker, Zaqiel. So, until the time is right, Saichel is willing to take the pressuring rules and abuse from being home. So long as Sarai keeps her childhood pure and happy.
Elijah is his boyfriend. He's gone through hell and back just to call him that! Zaqiel was very strongly against their relationship, even if it was just a friendship at first. Saichel admired how Elijah just did not become resentful considering their home situation, and still stay positive. Not only that, Elijah considered him his friend. That's not something he finds just anywhere. Saichel looked at himself as unapproachable and robotic so that's very different. Their interactions started when Saichel would find Elijah hiding and crying (likely because of Zaqiel), so Saichel would cheer him up by giving him a lolipop. Saichel really does love Elijah's company, though.
They would sometimes leave the house and hang out outside! Saichel does have to meticulously plan when they leave the house though, considering Zaqiel might make a big deal out of it. And look, at that, Zaqiel did. In an attempt to keep them from talking to each other, Zaqiel told Elijah that Saichel is only hanging out with him because he felt bad. That didn't work, and they kept sneaking out together. Now when Zaqiel finds out about that, he tries a little bit harder to keep them from talking to eachother. Zaqiel went out of his way to wipe Elijah's memory. Saichel was devastated, for once, he was not sure what to do. There was a glimmer of hope when this husk version of Elijah gave him a lolipop when he found hiding away and Saichel crying. Saichel did his damnest to remind Elijah more, and after some time, it worked.
He made Elijah run away from the place, promising he will visit him often and even promising to get him a place of his own. Both of them being minors, they can't get a motel room of their own to stay at temporarily. Saichel opted to possess someone nearby. Unfortunately, it was this guy named Bondye. They got their room (paying for it with their own money that Saichel took from fighting at the arena) but long story short, they were found out. Saichel was able to convince Bondye to let them go without calling the cops. Now for the fortunate part, Bondye was travelling to that region with someone else, Jiro. Jiro recognized Saichel as one of Zaqiel's 'underlings' so, in return for letting them keep the room without consequence, they just asked to be let into Zaqiel's lab. Saichel let them, of course. And he also let them trash the entire place. When Zaqiel came home, Saichel told him that he was too busy protecting Sarai while they broke in. He also took this as an opportunity to tell Zaqiel that Elijah was taken by the men.
After this event, Saichel has been able to sneak away with money to help Elijah get his own apartment. Zaqiel was just too busy trying to get his entire lab back together. Saichel would visit Elijah, hang out with him, and come home when he usually does. Once again, though, Zaqiel would find out. This time, he would make sure that he would know where Saichel is at all times, by putting a tracker with his leg prosthetic. The boys would still find a loophole, with Elijah sneaking over instead. It's a struggle having to work around all these restrictions, but they can get through it until they find the opportunity to get out of this situation.