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Summery; Warning; Copyright: See First Chapter.
Disclaimer: The verses in this story are from So Cold, by Breaking Benjamin. I don't own them!
“Crowded streets are cleared away one by one.
Hollow heroes separate as they run.
You’re so cold, keep your hand in mine.
Wise men wonder while strong men die.
Show me how it ends.
It’s alright, show me how defenseless you really are.
Satisfied and empty inside.
That’s alright.”
“What the hell is going on?” she demanded to the book, which was thrown on the floor as she grabbed her head in an attempt to get the voice out of her head. A throbbing ache filled her head, blocking out all other noise. Kyra dropped to her knees and clenched her jaw shut, determined not to cry out in pain. Stars filled her vision and she realized she was fainting just as the floor and ceiling met with a burst of light and everything went black.
“Damn angel,” he growled, remembering the last time. He had been so close to breaking her spirit the first time, but her cursed guardian had interfered. This time, however, he was sure the angel wouldn’t get there in time, providing the perfect opportunity for Ravyl to fetch the girl and bring her back to Hadrian, where the sorcerer could tutor her in her powers until she was ready to him take control of her soul, manipulating her power through her body.
“Looks like what ever you’re doing to her is working, old man,” the fallen angel pointed out, seeing the crouched form of Kyra huddled in pain and despair.
She whimpered suddenly, and the angel realized that he was quickly losing the battle over her soul.
“Go back to Hell, Hadrian,” Alaer growled, summoning his magic and directing it at the sorcerer he knew was the culprit. Where the sorcerer was, he gasped and fell back, his spell broken and unfinished.
Kyra slowly uncurled from her huddled form and lowered her hands gingerly, still feeling the effects of the magic. Alaer noticed the open book on the floor and mentally groaned at his stupidity. She blinked and realized that she was seemingly encased in a wall of white feathers and immediately began to panic, not realizing her surroundings.
“Calm down!” he said hastily, right before she kicked him in the thigh. Holding her arms firmly the angel spread his wings again, letting her see where she was. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she then turned red in embarrassment.
“What happened?” she asked groggily, and he rubbed her back gently before she pulled away sharply, obviously not wanting any contact. One image which stood out clearly in her mind was that of Ravyl, looking as if he was sorry about what was happening.
“Hadrian is the sorcerer I told you about,” Alaer said. “He must have waited until your memory was trigged before using another spell on you to try to ensnare you. I don’t recommend reading anything for a while.”
“Very funny,” she snapped, getting to her feet awkwardly. “That hurt, damn it! When I find that bastard, I’ll…”
“You won’t go looking for him until you’re ready,” Alaer interrupted sharply, and she looked at him in surprise. “You won’t do anything until I say you’re ready to, understand? You may not like me or what I think, but you’ll listen to me or I’ll be forced into drastic measures.”
“Like what?” she challenged, and regretted it when he stepped inches away from her, towering over her.
“You’ll find out if you don’t listen,” he said quietly, and she looked up at him, suddenly hesitant to piss him off. He suddenly clapped a hand on her shoulder and grinned cheerfully at her, almost as if nothing had happened. “Don’t worry – let’s get something to eat. Ikei’s probably woken up from his nap starving, and you look like you’re pretty hungry too.”
Kyra stared after him as he strolled from the room, and then slapped herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. Regretting that she hit so hard, she left the room after a brief pause muttering to herself. “The way he carries himself…and the look in his eye…he may not have fought in that big battle, but he’s definitely a veteran at combat.”
“That didn’t go too well after all,” Ravyl commented lightly as the sorcerer, who had been knocked down by the force of the angel’s magic, scrambled to his feet. “Too late, old man – she’s already gone for now. You’ll have to try again, I guess.”
“You guess?” the man, whose elderly appearance belied his strength and didn’t nearly come close to expressing his true age, eyed the fallen angel sharply. “You don’t sound as if you fully agree with me, Ravyl.”
“I do,” the angel said quickly, folding his wings behind his back calmly. “I just think you should try a different method. I haven’t forgotten that you’re the one who called me out of Limbo, Hadrian – I wouldn’t worry if I was you.”
“I’ve survived this long by worrying,” Hadrian snarled.
“Crotchety old man,” Ravyl muttered under his breath, thankful that the sorcerer didn’t catch it.
“Perhaps I should send a foot soldier to physically subdue her and bring her here, before she becomes able to use anything other than wind,” Hadrian continued thoughtfully, and the fallen angel gazed at him dubiously. “You’ll head out this evening and go to fetch her, Ravyl.”
“Me?” his wings shook in surprise before he recovered himself and straightened. “I’m not a messenger boy.”
“Why not? You did it before,” Hadrian reminded him. “If you’re not willing to help out, however, I suppose there’s no further need of you in this realm…”
“Fine,” he agreed sourly, and stalked away before the old sorcerer could order him to do something else demeaning – like make him tea.
“Hmm…it appears that Ravyl may have been an angel before his fall, instead of the other which I believed him to be,” the sorcerer mused, and gazed back into his pedestal. “Perhaps I should call on the aid of another, in case he forgets that which he owes me…”
“Just because you can manage to use them a first time doesn’t mean you’ve mastered them,” Alaer cautioned her. “It will take a lot of practice and patience to be able to fully use the elements even to the least of your potential.”
“So, that’s wind and fire,” Kyra said, seemingly ignoring his words but really just skimming over the reminder that she was far from an able sorceress. “Am I able to mix elements together?”
“You can’t even try that until years of usage,” the angel told her. “And even then it takes centuries to learn appropriately without killing yourself. I don’t recommend you dod.”
“Centuries?” she repeated. “How old am I going to live?”
“Sorcerers don’t usually live past an average human life span,” Ikei told her, interrupting the angel. “But some are able to keep going through their magic – but those are only the extremely powerful ones, and those are very rare.”
“Why are you guys teaching me this anyway, instead of another sorceress or something?” she asked suddenly. “I mean, I know you’re an angel and a demon, respectively, but…”
“To be honest, there are very few humans able to wield magic these days that have survived,” Alaer told her. “Very few persons period, excuse me. Humans are even fewer. And the ones that have survived through the ages – for those are the only ones that would be able to teach you, having mastered their own skills – are either in hiding or have lost their power with age.”
“That’s possible?”
“Of course,” he nodded. “Like anything, magic depends greatly on the power of the person using it. If the power wanes, then so does the magic.”
“Oh,” she blinked, obviously surprised by this revelation, and then unconsciously created a ball of water in her hand.
“How did you do that?” Ikei demanded, shooting straight up from his lounging position. Alaer’s eyes widened and she glanced down at her hand in panic.
“Do what – what the hell!” she jumped in surprise, and the water ball disintegrated, soaking her clothes. “What was that?” she demanded, turning to them.
“It appears that you hold the greatest power over the element of water,” Alaer said calmly, still getting over his own surprise. “You subconsciously created it, apparently. That makes it easier, knowing what your master element is.”
“Master element?”
“Water is the element your soul holds a connection with,” he explained. “This will be the base element for any spells you may create in the future, as well as any elements you can use now.”
“How so?”
“All the elements are connected to each other, like a circle,” the angel told her. “Holding control over one will allow you to branch out through the circle, making gaining control of other elements much easier. Understand?”
“Not really, but I think I get the concept,” she shrugged. “I’m not a baby, after all. Give me some credit – algorithms were a breeze for me.”
“I know that,” he nodded. “I was with you your entire life, remember?”
“Yeah,” she mumbled, still embarrassed at the feeling of knowing the angel had watched her throughout her life – even if he had said ‘visual contact’ wasn’t necessary.
“God! Haven’t you heard of knocking?” she asked angrily, quickly pulling her long-sleeved black shirt over her head, grateful it had built-in support for her breasts and that she was already wearing her crimson pajama pants.
“I apologize.”
“And can’t you use the door instead of going right through it?” she continued, turning a lovely shade of pink. He regarded her with amusement, having never fully understood the concept of modesty for humans, being an angel where the body was never seen as an object but as something holy which was the shrine of the human soul, which carried a bit of Him inside.
“I’ll try to remember.”
“Quit patronizing me!” Kyra snapped, in that instant of surprise having been acutely aware that he was still an extremely handsome young man, and not that he was an angel.
“I’m not.”
“Yeah, whatever,” she muttered, turning around to glare at him. “What did you want?”
“Just to make sure you were all right,” Alaer repeated, and she rolled her eyes.
“Yes, I’m okay, okay? Can you let me go to bed now?” she asked testily. The angel merely smiled in amusement at her temper before leaving the room – but not before Ikei crept in the room in his cat form and lay on the foot of the bed without her noticing.
“Bingo,” he smirked, hovering in front of a second-story window and seeing the sleeping girl in bed. He noticed the cat demon, also asleep, and flicked his hand. Ikei suddenly hovered in the air before being locked in a closet. “Not the best, but enough to buy me time,” the fallen angel thought, using his powers to unlock the window. Stepping onto the carpet, he crept over to Kyra’s still form and placed his hand over her eyes, putting a spell on her that would keep her sleeping until he woke her up.
“Now, to get the hell out of this place,” Ravyl said to himself, scooping the girl up in his arms and hovering momentarily above the ground before shooting into the sky. Alaer, in a state of meditation, felt a slight twinge in the back of his mind, but paid it no attention.
“What the – you?!” she shrieked, trying to push him away.
“Hey, calm down,” he told her, “Or I’ll knock you out again. I’m not going to hurt you, for crying out loud! Keep still or I’ll feed you to the sharks.”
“Sh-sharks?” she repeated, her eyes widening. Managing to look down, she shrieked again when she saw they were flying slowly over water – apparently, Ravyl was taking his sweet time, since the sun was already over the horizon. “Where are we?”
“Sharks don’t live in lakes, babe,” he pointed out. “Yep, the ocean. Like it? Considering your element is water, I’m surprised that you don’t look like you’re enjoying yourself more.”
“I…hate heights,” she forced out, squeezing her eyes shut. Feeling them suddenly drop she locked her arms around his neck with a squeak.
“If I’m going to drop you, babe, I’d do it,” he informed her, “Why don’t you take a look?”
Kyra managed to open her eyes, and immediately wished she hadn’t. Her fear of heights was crippling, at best, but their current position was doing nothing to ease her mind. Ravyl was on his back, his wings folded underneath him and apparently keeping them hovering, and she was laying on top of him. She instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist tightly, willing herself not to be sick. He grinned at her reaction and folded his arms behind his head, causing her to press flush against him.
“I thought if we were closer to the water you’d stop freaking out so bad,” he shrugged, the slight movement jostling her. They were only a few feet above the rolling waves, and the motion was enough to send Kyra’s throat into convulsions.
“I wish you’d stop,” she croaked, and he glanced at her.
“Damn, you look green,” he commented, and placed his hand against her forehead. It felt surprisingly cool, and for a brief moment it was like ice against her skin before he removed it.
“What did you do?” she asked, suddenly feeling much better and much more at ease.
“I healed you of your height-phobia, that’s all,” he shrugged. “Momentarily, at least. Since I Fell, most of my powers are weaker than they used to be.”
“So…you used to be an angel?” she asked, and he snorted.
“What, you thought I was a devil? Nah – babe, devils who are turned to fallen angels are Raised, not Fallen. I Fell because I didn’t agree with some stuff He said, if you must know,” he told her, looking slightly uncomfortable at talking about it. She remained silent for a moment as they hovered there before laying her cheek against his torso with a sigh.
“You’re bringing me to Hadrian, right?”
“He brought me from Limbo – I’ll be sent back if I don’t do what he says, babe,” Ravyl told her, looking more uncomfortable than before. “He won’t hurt you.”
“Whatever,” she shrugged absently, gazing at the clear water. She suddenly dropped her arm past his side and let her fingers dip into the water, swirling it around her hand with ease. “Why do you call me ‘babe’?”
“Dunno,” he replied, surprised by her question. “Never thought about it. What, you got a problem with that too?”
“I don’t care,” she sighed. “Were you a guardian angel?”
“What do you care?”
“Just wondering. Since it doesn’t seem like you’re going to move anytime soon,” she pointed out.
“You want me to hurry you to Hadrian?” he asked, and she fell silent. He thought for a moment before speaking again. “Yeah, I was a guardian angel. My ward was killed, and there wasn’t anything I could do – apparently, it was the Plan. I got pretty pissed off, and as a result, I Fell. My ward was only about ten.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Eh. Most guardian angels, due to their life-bond with their wards – Alaer explained this stuff before, right?” he asked, interrupting himself. She looked at him in surprise.
“Well, he said angels were given wards at the time of the person’s conception.”
“Yeah. Anyway, the life-bond connects the angel and ward in a way that nothing else can connect. When the ward dies, most angels simply fade away into a Limbo-like state of existence, waiting until the time of the person’s reincarnation. Some, if their ward dies in a particularly violent or sudden way, simply die along with them.”
Kyra was unable to find anything to say to that, seeing how Ravyl looked. They remained silent for a few minutes, which seemed to stretch out for centuries. He suddenly clasped her tightly to him and straightened himself, his feet skimming the water.
“Ready to go? We can’t delay for long,” he told her, looking rather depressed. She nodded without saying anything, and he took off once more, his black wings casting shadows on the otherwise clear water.
“Ow,” the cat rubbed his face, stumbling to his feet. “Ravyl must’ve locked me inside the damn closet when I was sleeping. I didn’t hear a thing. Didn’t you sense anything?”
“A twitch,” Alaer admitted. “It was so faint, I assumed it was merely a nightmare. Looks like it was, of a sort.”
“Damn it,” Ikei muttered, scratching the back of his head. “Now what? Once she gets to Hadrian we won’t be able to track her.”
“You stay here,” the angel ordered, moving to the window. “I don’t want to have to worry about you when I meet them.”
“Like hell I will,” Ikei snorted, transforming. He jumped onto the angel’s back and curled around his neck, making his decision clear. Not wanting to waste time arguing with his companion, Alaer merely sighed before shooting out of the window, briefly skimming treetops before gaining height.
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