Strolling through the evening

Albel's eyes twitch slightly and he nods with a broad smile towards the boy, "Yes yes, of course. They live like you and I, there's no surprise in them finding you before you found them. They're as alive as you and I are, they feel, smell, taste, just like you and I do. Honestly, the only difference between us is that fact that they have to have our help to get around. Or the sun's of course, but that's too slow."

He turns away as the boy asks about how long he had had his power. "I've had them for as long as I care to remember. I always had no trouble with making the shadows my shield and my sword. They protected me when I was under attack and they attacked for me when I needed to swing a punch. It's a power I proudly wield and love more than any other I could have been granted."

Albel looks over at him and frowns. This boy was smart..but he was definitely no philosopher. He also knew that if he delved into details of the truth it would possibly be too complicated to explain to him. Instead, he figured he would take a different approach to the discussion. He would see what the boy truly believed before he dumped what Albel believed to be the truth on him.

He takes a few steps towards the boy and smiles, "I have a question for you, and I want you to truly think about it first. As a human being, what is your belief pertaining to what's beyond our own life. Like, after you die, what do you think will happen to you? What you told me sounded like an atheistic thing to say, and as such I find I'm curious as to your personal philosophies."

Albel chuckles at his last comment, "No, it truly wasn't. You said it was fate that we have our powers, not that they were granted. It made me curious as to what you thought of higher beings. Now then, in response to your statement, I'd like to pose a few questions. I don't want to sound like I'm grilling you, and I apologize if I do, however some things that you just said contradicted your statement a few moments earlier." He smiles at him reassuringly, "Don't feel pressured at what I'm going to say."

He reaches his hand to the side and pulls a shadows to him, turning it into a small kitten and stroking it quietly. He liked cats, and petting them helped him gather his thoughts for whatever strange reason. "You said that you believe there's a higher being somewhere deciding things, first off. If this is true, then this 'higher being', that I'm just going to call god for now, must have decided who is going to get what powers. Thus, this God granted us our powers. Do you see what I'm saying?." He pauses for a moment and looks back down at the kitten. "Now then, the second things I'd like to say is, if there's truly no place after our death, then what is truly the point of life? Is it just to be here and do whatever you want, then leave for eternity whilst your mind rots. In my opinion it sounds rather illogical. There must be some place we go after death, whether it be heaven, hell, or something entirely different. Another reason this must be true is because if this 'god' exists, he HAS to reside somewhere. It's not like he or she is just some kind of being that exists but doesn't exist at the same time."

Albel rises to the feet and sends the shadow cat back to the shadow he pulled it from. He then sighs and looks back at the boy, "Or do you think that maybe there are several gods?" He smiled a little before continuing, "The maybe we, those granted with these powers are the incarnated forms of these gods. That we exist to keep the world going in a way that we see is necessary for survival. This is also a very logical possibility as to why we have our powers. Tell me Sabriel, what do you think is the more likely?"