A Break in the WorldsBy: ChocolateEclar

Full summery:  When Angie is pulled into another world entirely her life takes a drastic turn. She meets Talya, the obedient girl, Libanon, the talking dog, and Amarend, the Fallen Angel. Angie returns to the new world several times and tries to free Amarend from slavery. Over time, she finds herself falling for the Fallen Angel…

Chapter 1: The Fallen AngelAlone…

Always alone…

He knew he had fallen some time ago, but still he lay there, lifeless and cold. It had hurt and he had hit many things on the way down.

I shall never fly again…

His wings were bruised and tattered and he feared they were lost to the prospect of ever flying again.

It would be sometime before someone found him and then he would wish no one had. They would chain him and force him never even to attempt to fly again. He was a Fallen Angel.

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Angie was an average young girl, who lived in a typical enough suburb. Her shoulder length hair tended to bob when she walked and always shown in the sun, which illuminated its bright shade of red. Her eyes were an ordinary shade of light blue that tended to show her strong personality with an intense force. She was like this for her first eight years until she met Amarend and everything changed in an instant.

It all started on the day Angie received a postcard from her brother. It had a picture of a huge cascading waterfall. It read:

Dear Angela,

          I’m off to New York City now. I’ll see you after that. (In two weeks.) Then we can read ‘The Book’ again.

                    With love, Mike

Angie smiled. Her brother was always traveling and returning to tell her tales of anything from ancient tombs to natural wonders. She remembered his story about being chased by grizzly bears in the Rocky Mountains. She had a feeling he hadn’t done anything interesting that trip and had made that account up, but she didn’t really mind.

The book Mike was referring to was an old collection of fairy tales. They had often sat together when they were younger and read it for hours none stop. Now a days they would just take it out for old times’ sake and reread their favorite of the stories. It was called ‘Love: Unrequited and Accepted’ and somehow they both adored it. It was about a young woman who met an angel after her father died and she fell in love with him, but he never returned her love. Eventually, the woman met a man quite like the angel and she discovered the angel had just mirrored her future lover. Angie and Mike now found the story odd and hopelessly impossible but they both loved it all the same.

It was snowing outside. It came down in puffy white clumps, as later that day, Angie walked next-door to visit her best friend, Blare. Blare was an unusual pick for a best friend considering the fact Angie was quite the studious antisocial, and Blare was athletic and mildly popular.

Angie was bundled up tightly in a heavy hand me down purple coat and her mother’s old misshapen scarf, but still she shivered in the cold. She looked up at the gloomy sky and blinked back the snowflakes that got in her eyes. She could see someone coming up to her on the sidewalk and she looked to see a girl about her own age with chocolate-colored hair and a face covered in freckles. At first Angie thought it was Blare but she soon realized the figure was blurring and seemed to be in a dress too thin for the weather. It occurred to her that it had become far too hot and the snow seemed to have stopped. That was when she realized it was summer and the girl was wearing an apron and a bonnet.

Angie yelped in surprise. ‘How can this be?!’ she thought. That was when she saw a huge dog the size of a bear and fainted right there.

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‘Did I just do what I think I did?!’ Angie demanded as she slowly awoke. She was not the type of girl to falter under pressure but these images had overwhelmed the eight-year-old. She opened her eyes and found herself in a dim yet gorgeously furnished room. The walls were a cream color with beautiful gold panels and lovely paintings covering it. She was in a strange four-poster bed covered in silky linens of a sheer mauve color. ‘Where am I?’ she thought.

The same young girl she had seen before creaked open the door at that moment. “Are you feeling alright, Miss? You fainted,” she explained nervously.

“I’m fine. Where am I?!” Angie asked bluntly. She had realized by then that she was now wearing a quaint summer dress like the one the girl was wearing, minus the apron and bonnet.

“You’re in Lord Whinton’s mansion just outside the town of Fameel, Miss. I’m Talya and this is Libanon, the Master’s dog,” the girl replied.

Angie looked uneasily at the dog that had just entered the room. He was the massive brown dog she had seen before she had passed out, and she still felt uncomfortable around it. “My name’s Angela,” she told Talya.

“I see. Please come with me if you feel alright. The Master and Mistress want to see you now,” Talya explained brightly. Angie followed her out the door and down several stunning passageways. She felt exceptionally unclean as she walked into a grand study.

Two young adults were sitting in high backed leather chairs. They both gave the impression of exceeding elegance and it made Angie feel worse. The woman nodded her head politely. She was extremely good-looking and was wearing a fine long flowing gown of a satiny lavender color. She had on many diamond pieces of jewelry that glittered in the light that came in through the three sunny windows.

As for the man, he had on an expensive looking suit of a deep crimson with delicate gold trimming. He had a prominent nose and broad shoulders. Angie had an impression of immense willpower and nodded her own head respectfully.

“Who are you, child?” the man asked.

He was obviously Lord Whinton so Angie said politely, “My name is Angela Hesiant, Sir. I seem to have gotten lost,” she added because she wasn’t sure what had indeed happened.

It seemed that was all he wanted to know for he then replied, “Very well. You are welcome to stay here for awhile but be prepared to work when we need you.” Then he stood up and told Talya, “Give her a tour of my mansion. Beware the garden though,” he added meaningly.

Talya practically shoved Angie out of the study and began showing her the mansion. Angie saw a huge surprisingly modern looking kitchen where Talya explained she worked, a dazzling dining hall with three crystal chandeliers, and then Talya finally took her out into the gardens.

Before they walked out the huge glass doors, Angie explained to Talya that she was welcome to call her Angie if she wanted. By then they had become good friends though Angie was a little annoyed by Talya’s unconditional politeness.

When they came out onto the terrace of the garden, Talya said blandly to Angie’s surprise, “Looks like the Fallen Angel’s family has finally arrived.”

“Who?” Angie asked puzzedly.

“Just see for yourself. Those guys over there are the End Brothers and the little one is Amarend. He’s now a shameful Fallen Angel,” Talya replied.

“He’s a what?” Angie questioned.

“A Fallen Angel. It’s an angel that’s fallen from the clouds and damaged its wings really. Like Amarend over there, they usually become slaves.”

Angie looked forward to see three youthful looking men with broad feathery wings and hair the same pure white as their wings. They were wearing different gem colored tunics that seemed to make them look even more outstanding, and around each of their necks was a talisman made of gold adorned with a bright matching gemstone in the middle.  As for Amarend, he appeared to be a boy a little older than Angie herself. He had the same colored hair and wings as the men, but his wings were battered and torn looking and around his wrists and ankles there were tiny silver manacles attached to chains that was clamped to the building itself. He was wearing a faded tan shirt, a pair of frayed brown pants, and had no talisman like theirs’. They all were standing under a broad oak tree.

“I’m a End Brother too!” the boy exclaimed.

“As far as we’re concerned,” the tallest man said, “We’re the End Brothers and you’re some runty Fallen Angel.”

This seemed to anger the boy to no end and he retorted fuming, “I’m the same as you, Dharmend!”

“Calm yourself, Amarend,” said the smallest man, “We have to go now. Father wants to see us.”

The boy, Amarend, yelled back, “So you’re just going to leave me here! I’m your brother for Lord’s sake.”

The men just gave Amarend a false pitying look and promptly turned to go. They flew off with a speed and grace that Angie doubted the boy, in his ragged wings, could achieve.

As the angels became hard to see, Amarend hollered, “SOME BROTHERS YOU GUYS ARE!!!!” He then jumped up into the nearby tree and began to sulk. His weather-beaten wings sagged and the chains, to Angie, seemed to make him look sad and unfortunate.

“Let’s go back inside, Angela,” Talya said somewhat pleadingly. She was obviously frightened of Amarend and now Angie understood what Lord Whinton had been talking about in the garden.

“I’ll be there in a minute. I want to enjoy the garden some more,” Angie lied. She had the urge to make sure the strange winged boy was all right. She waited for Talya to go promptly back inside before she walked up to the tree. Amarend’s head perked up at the sound of her footsteps and he slowly looked up. Angie found herself meeting the strangest eyes she had ever seen. They were hazel, but they had a strange inhuman quality to them.

She gave him her brightest smile and said quite calmly, “Hello. I’m Angie Hesiant.”

Amarend gave her a puzzled look and replied indignantly, “What do you want?”

“Nothing honestly. Not everyone is out to get you,” Angie retorted with a bit of scorn at his lack of faith in her intentions.

Amarend only laughed at that. It was a quivering sound that seemed almost unused. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t in the mood to talk,” he said politely.

“Ah huh. So you’re Amarend?” Angie inquired good-humoredly.

“Yep. I bet Talya told you that. She’s-well she’s-afraid of me really,” he said unhappily.

“I know. I thought you could use some cheering up though,” Angie remarked truthfully.

Amarend jumped down from the tree amazingly gracefully and curled his wings behind him. They were even bigger to Angie up close and she discovered, while they were the same size as her, Amarend was a good three inches taller than her himself. “You did cheer me up,” he replied, “I can tell you’re not from around here though.”

“Maybe you can help me then. I’m not sure how I got here, but I feel like I’m from another world entirely,” Angie said. She wasn’t sure why she was telling Amarend this, all she knew was he seemed to be the person to tell these things to.

“I can tell you definitely are. I’ve been to many worlds and I know the signs,” Amarend said with a considerate look. He looked innocent and content now and Angie realized she liked him. “I’m afraid I can’t leave this garden,” he continued giving the clamps on the mansion an expressive sort of look, “but I can still talk to you.” He had an earnest tone to his voice that made Angie feel even more compassion for him.

“Okay. How do you think I got here if you’re such the expert?” Angie asked curiously.

“Well, I’m not an expert, but I suspect you just discovered a break in the worlds,” Amarend replied thoughtfully.

“A break in the worlds? What world is this then?” Angie questioned. She was just a rather befuddled young child after all who needed someone to look up to for help.

“This is Hafit. I used to travel to lots of worlds before…before, well, I became a Fallen Angel,” Amarend answered. He looked awfully distressed talking about being a Fallen Angel to Angie and she found herself nodding understandably.

They talked for some time before Lord Whinton came out onto the veranda and yelled, “What are you doing lounging about, boy?! I want that garden in tip top shape when I come back or I’ll break your wings again!”

Amarend winced and Angie noticed how his wings stiffened behind him. ‘Poor Amarend,’ she thought sadly, ‘He really is a slave.’ She watched Lord Whinton go back into the mansion through the glass doors and turned to Amarend. “Do you have to listen to him?!” she demanded.

“Yes or he’ll do what he threatens. He did it once before…” Amarend said gloomily.

“Oh come on! You’re an angel! You should stick up for yourself!” Angie retorted confidently.

“You just don’t understand,” Amarend replied. His wings twitched and he gave the sky a searching glance. “Looks like you’re going home. The break is back,” he said.

“What?! Wait a minute!” Angie exclaimed in a hurry. She had realized everything was blurring again.

“Don’t worry. Maybe we’ll see each other again,” Amarend said brightly.

Everything seemed to be fading around her. Angie looked up at the sky to see snowflakes coming down again. She was standing in the middle of the sidewalk still clad in the summer dress. She shivered and sighed. ‘I’m definitely back home,’ she thought running back into her home.

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Angie didn’t see Amarend for some time after that. It was on her tenth birthday that day and the sun was shinning overhead as she paddled in her family’s swimming pool with her friends. Her brother was leaning over the side of the pool splashing some of the girls as if he was their age and she couldn’t help but laugh. Mike’s own auburn hair was soaking wet from the little girls’ retaliation and he looked thoroughly content. By then she had almost forgotten about Amarend. She had tried to tell her parents about what had happened, but they had just dismissed it as one of her childish stories.

She climbed out of the pool dripping on the grass and felt the impulse to look up at the sky fall upon her again. Everything began to haze once more, but this time she was ready. Suddenly, sitting in the grass before her, rubbing dirt off his hands was Amarend. He looked up at her and smiled as if she’d never left. He had obviously been told to plant flowers and he was getting awfully dirty doing so. She was unquestionably back in Hafit.

“What on Earth are you doing, angel?” Angie asked him happily.

Amarend, who looking a little older now too naturally, smiled and replied, “We’re not on Earth. Anyway, Lord W. ordered me to take care of his garden since that seems to be the only thing I’m good at.”

“I see. What’s been going on here the past couple of years?” Angie inquired beaming.

“For one thing it may be warm here, but girls don’t usually appear out of nowhere dripping wet and dressed in their bathing suits,” Amarend pointed out.

Angie blushed and retorted, “Well excuse me for going swimming on a day the worlds decide to break!”

Amarend chuckled and said, “I suppose so. Talya’s been wondering what happened to you these past two years.”

“Oh! I clean forgot about her. I should go see her,” Angie exclaimed. She jumped up and before Amarend could protest she had said good-bye and had ran into the mansion.

“Oh well,” said Amarend sighing and turning back to the garden. His chains clinked as he worked, but he ignored them. They were just a nasty reminder that he was just a Fallen Angel, a slave.

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Angie felt terrible about leaving Amarend like that, but she wanted badly to see Talya. She quickly ran to the kitchens were she knew somehow Talya would be. As she pushed open the swinging wooden doors she met a familiar freckly face.

“Who? Angela is that really you!” Talya screamed as she dropped all the pots and pans she had been holding. She ran over to Angie, totally oblivious to the mess on the floor.

“Hi, Talya,” Angie said lightly.

“I wondered what happened to you ‘cause it seemed the last person who saw you was that awful Amarend,” explained Talya.

“He’s not awful really, Talya,” Angie defended Amarend.

“Whatever you say. I’m just glad you’re back,” Talya replied, dismissively.

Angie smiled. ‘Same old Talya,’ she thought cheerfully. She talked with Talya for some time, while helping her pick up the pots and pans of course.

After a while, an elderly man, his hair falling out, barged into the room. “WHO’S LET THAT DEMON OUT?!” he roared.

“If you mean the Fallen Angel, the last time I saw him I think he was in the garden,” Talya replied kindly.

“Well he’s not there now!!!” the man bellowed.

“I don’t know what could have happened to him, Mr. Rillin. He was there before,” Talya explained.

‘Talya’s my friend and all but she can be so irritating sometimes with her pleasantness,’ thought Angie exasperatedly.

“The Master is going to be furious if I’ve lost that slave!” the man yelled. He pulled at his receding hairline desperately and glared at Angie.

Angie was wondering what could’ve happened to Amarend when Amarend himself strolled in, twirling his chains blissfully. The man shouted, “What the devil are you doing?!” and advanced on Amarend.

Amarend barely faulted his casual walk. “I was just coming in to tell you my shackles seem to have broken,” Amarend replied innocently. He gave Mr. Rillin a bright smile and winked at Angie. He apparently knew what to do in this circumstance.

“The Master will have you hanged for sure this time!” Mr. Rillin said venomously.

“Oh really. But, Sir, you do realize it would be pointless. I can’t die after all, being immortal does have its perks,” retorted Amarend pleasantly.

Angie almost laughed at that and Amarend shout her another wink. His snow white curls bopped slightly and he added coldly, “I may have fallen, but I’m still an angel, Mr. Rillin.” He turned to go, his chains dragging and Angie had the desire to follow him.

She excused herself, saying she had to go, and silently followed Amarend. She found him again in the garden reconnecting his chains to the wall. “I wish Rillin wouldn’t have found out I left again. He’s always trying to find reasons for Whinton to get rid of me,” Amarend explained without looking up.

Angie looked at him miserably and asked him, “Where did you go?”

Amarend stood up and leaned against the wall. “For a walk through the worlds. Angels can actually create breaks in the worlds,” he explained mildly.

“Oh. Why didn’t you just leave for good?” Angie inquired.

“I’m afraid Whinton has something important of mine that I can’t leave without,” Amarend answered. He gave her a gentle smile and added, “I would love to leave though.”

Angie nodded. It made sense. Amarend wouldn’t stay here otherwise. “Do you think you’ll ever leave?” Angie asked and then she wished she hadn’t.

“When Whinton dies, his son will claim me and so on unless someone gets ‘em to release me,” Amarend replied. His face had gone grim and doubtful and it wrenched at Angie’s heart.

She gave him her most reassuring smile and said, “I know you’ll be free someday, Amarend. I just know it.”

“Maybe,” Amarend remarked smiling himself; his confidence seemed to have been renewed by her smile.

Suddenly, Angie comprehended the fact that everything was vanishing once more. She gave Amarend a gloomy sigh and said, “I hope I see you again sooner than last time.”

After she had disappeared back to her own world, Amarend whispered, “Me too, Angie. Me too.”