Angel of Chaos
Chapter II: Changes
The rest of their brief stay at the Morning Lights Coffee House went by rather uneventfully. Lucas had a somewhat difficult time getting out of his chair due to his aching back, but he was alright nonetheless. After saying goodbye to Cyrus, the trio was back outside at the intersection. Rush hour had started to pick up; cars and trucks were lined up on all sides of the junction, the hums of their electric engines vibrating the air. At first there was no chance for them to cross to the other side of the road. Then, one Good Samaritan, an elderly human female, was kind enough to let them pass. Waving their thanks to her, the trio walked down the sidewalk, leaving the consumer's section of St. Matthias in their wake.
Lucas's constant back pain seemed to be getting worse by the minute, for he was sweating profusely and leaning forward slightly.
"Ow, ow, ow," Lucas grunted with each step he took.
"Are you sure you're okay, Lucas?" Val asked, his azure eyes fixed intently on him.
"Yes, for the umpteenth time, I'm fine," Lucas grumbled.
"You don't look fine at all," Fae said with growing concern. "I mean, look at you! Your face is pale, you're sweating a lot, and you're practically dragging your head on the sidewalk. Now, tell me exactly what's going on with you or I'll make you do it the hard way." When it came to situations such as this, Lucas was like an open book to Fae. And the hard way with her wasn't a way he would want to stroll down again, so he reluctantly stopped, painfully straightened himself up, and began speaking.
"Okay," he said with a forced sigh. "It's my back…my scars. Something's wrong with them. They're suddenly burning like crazy and it's making my back extremely sore. This is no coincidence; I'm almost sure of—." Almost immediately after he said that, a lightning bolt of pain surged through his entire back, causing him to cry out in agony. He then collapsed on the cold, unforgiving sidewalk, squirming in anguish. His head began to violently ache and tears began to seep from his dilated eyes.
Oh my God, thought Lucas, his head hurting madly. Dear God, make it stop…wait. Wait, wait, wait! Something's…something's rising to the surface. My back…Everything went black.
"Lucas?!" Fae cried out, kneeling to his side.
"Damn, this is not cool," Val said while kneeling next to her. He then placed a hand on Lucas's back and realized that two areas were burning: the two scars on his shoulder blades. "Fae, take off Lucas's shirt," he said to her.
"What?"
"Just do it!" he commanded. Fae nodded and ripped off Lucas's black shirt and white sleeveless, taking care not to touch his back. She was taken aback at what she saw. His scars were glowing an angry red, and when she reached out to touch them, they burned her hand in the same manner a fire would.
"Lucas…what's happening to you? Say something!" Fae asked, tears in her glimmering emerald eyes. Lucas did not respond.
"What the hell is going on, Lucas?!" Val demanded. "Answer me, God dammit!" Lucas did not answer. He just laid there, his teary eyes wide open. Fae closed her eyes cupped her hands around both of her long, pointed ears, listening for Lucas's breath and pulse. Naturally, being an elf, she had much better hearing than humans, and can hear sounds as faint as a heartbeat if she focused hard enough. Faint beads of sweat trickled down her forehead as she listened.
Her eyes immediately snapped open. "He has a pulse, but he's not breathing!" she stated. "Lucas, snap out of it!" She shook Lucas violently. Then, without warning, a white and black light outlined Lucas's body. It was dim at first, but the light grew brighter as Lucas's limp body lifted off the ground by some unseen force. Fae and Val stared in astonishment as he hovered upright three feet in the air, surrounded by white and black light. Then he stopped, and was just floating there, the light flowing outward from his body, his eyes rolled into the back of his head.
"What…the…hell?" Val uttered.
"What's…happening?" Fae sobbed, tears stinging her eyes. Lucas said nothing as he just floated above the ground.
The pain had ceased. Lucas opened his eyes and found himself alone on a single stone platform in absolute darkness. The platform itself was engraved with a symbol of what appeared to be a sun at first glance. Yet on closer inspection, one half of the sun was snow white and had triangles surrounding the half pointing away from the center, whereas the other half was pitch black and had black fiery rays pointing outward.
Where the hell am I? were Lucas's first thoughts. It was then that he realized he was all alone. "FAE! VAL! WHERE ARE YOU?!" he called out. He heard nothing but the echo of his voice in the darkness. Okay, he thought, trying to keep himself from going insane. I'm hallucinating. I'm having an out-of-body-experience. I'm only dreaming. He pinched himself in an attempt to wake himself up. But several pinches later, he realized the terrible truth that it was no dream; it was reality. Lucas was shaking in fear; for the first time in his sixteen years of life, he was alone. It was then that he looked down at that symbol. "Why does it feel like I've seen this sign somewhere before?" he asked himself while examining it.
Because it is your family's crest, a soothing, melodic, feminine voice answered.
Lucas thought his heart had skipped a beat as he jumped. "Who was that!" he cried out. "Show yourself!"
Come on, now. Is that any way to speak when you are about to meet your birth parents for the first time? spoke a deeper, more masculine voice.
"What are you talking abo—," Lucas started, but was interrupted when a flash of light lit up the inky blackness. The light was so bright that Lucas had to shield his eyes. The flash lasted for about ten seconds, then dissipated. Lucas opened his eyes, only to find that the surrounding area had changed; instead of oily blackness, everything around the stone pinnacle was cloudy grey. Then Lucas saw it: a towering inferno consisting of white and black flames, floating fifteen feet in front of him. Soon, the different-colored flames separated from each other, the white flames changing to a bright cyan color, and the black flames turning to a dark violet. Soon, Lucas could make out the faint outlines of two humanlike figures engulfed in both. The flames shrunk and the figures became more distinct until, ultimately, with a final flash, the fires extinguished themselves completely, and Lucas found himself staring at the two forms before him.
To his right was a woman who seemed to be in her very early twenties with pale skin and long, blonde hair with faint white streaks. For a shirt, she had a piece of gold that simply covered her cleavage and breasts and nothing more, exposing her fine, hourglass-shaped waist. A tattoo could be seen on her upper-right arm, showing a white circle surrounded by eight triangles pointing outwards. Her lower body was covered in a white, flowing skirt that reached to her feet, held up by a thick, gold-embroidered brown belt. Yet her most amazing feature were her wings; two, pure white wings were partially folded on either side of her spine, their size telling that she had a fifteen-foot wingspan when they stretched out. Her eyes were a sparkling, icy blue.
To his left, however, was a completely different being, almost polar opposite to the young woman. This being was a man who, even with the thick, black goatee, looked to be in his twenties as well. His skin was a dark reddish-tan, and his body was lean and muscular. He wore no shirt, exposing his heavily built arms, chest, and abdomen. His pants were black and ended in black, heavy boots. Red, bony spikes sprouted from his forearms, shoulders, and even the temples of his head. Scars of different shapes and sizes were marked all over his body. His head was bald and had a symbol of what looked like a black circle surrounded by eight separate black flames. His eyes were a piercing, fiery red.
Lucas stared in astonishment. Then, he gathered up enough courage to speak:
"Who are you?" he asked.
"You don't recognize us?" the man replied. "We are your birth parents."
"Wh-what are you talking about?" Lucas retorted. "I mean, I knew I was left on a doorstep as a baby, but I don't remember my birth parents at all."
"Of course, you were so young, Lucas," the young woman replied. "You were barely two when you were orphaned."
"H-how do you know my name?" he demanded. "Unless…you…really are my birth parents…wait. You can't be. You're two completely different people."
"Indeed," the man stated. "I was of a demon race known as the Hui Rauko, and your mother was of a race of angels known as the Kala Aini."
"Was? What exactly do you mean by 'was'?" Lucas asked quizzically.
"Your father died of a great battle between the two races, and I died bringing you to the home you now know," the Kala Aini woman answered. "What you see before you are our essences."
Lucas wasn't sure that he was believing what he was seeing or hearing, but he went on. "Well, that doesn't explain how you can be my real parents. You are of warring races that are completely different from each other in terms of customs, views on life, religions and, well, appearances. You must have had negative views on each other as well. So, how can you be my parents?"
The Hui Rauko man chuckled. "You're very perceptive, just like your mother. Yes, our races were very different in those terms. We've never liked each other, especially by customs, views on life, and, of course, appearances." The woman giggled at the mention of this. The man rolled his fiery eyes and went on. "Yet we lived on the same continent, and there was nowhere for us to go. We knew we couldn't live a meaningful life with our constant quarreling, so we formed a non-aggression pact between each other. Our differences were never settled even when this occurred."
"But your birth father and I saw past those differences," the Kala Aini woman continued. "It took some time, but we learned that love stretches beyond all contrarieties, no matter how strong they are. So, we were overtaken with love for each other. Your father here was just so strong and handsome." The Hui Rauko man blushed furiously, though not noticeably, when she said this. "We were engaged and then held a secret marriage. Then we had you."
Lucas felt a lump form in his throat. "I-I don't remember."
"You were only two when the war began," the Hui Rauko said.
Now Lucas was afraid to ask this question, but he had to. "What caused this war?"
A sad look fell across the Kala Aini's face. "A misunderstood human caused it. Chao Arcana is his name. Why he had done this, your father and I may never know, but he defiled our sacred shrines and made it seem that the opposite race committed the act. Thus, the non-aggression pact fell, and the war began."
"I was a soldier for the war, and while I was an exceptional fighter," the Hui Rauko man said, a sad look crossing his face, "I was killed in battle. The last thing I saw before I died was your mother holding you in her arms, already wounded. Then I left the world of the living, feeling helpless."
"After your father died, I realized that it was that human, Chao, that had caused this meaningless battle. Then I remembered that you were born from an angel and a demon, a hybrid of light and darkness. We had dubbed you the Angel of Chaos."
Now Lucas was really shocked. "Angel of Chaos? A child of an angel and a demon? That can't be. I look nothing like you."
"Of course, as a result, you had looked more human than we anticipated when you were born," the Hui Rauko man replied. "But you still hold unusual traits, such as your black and white hair, your different-colored eyes, your strength and durability inherited from me, as well as your grace and dexterity inherited from your mother."
"Well, I guess that makes sense," Lucas said while rubbing his chin.
"Yes, it does, but we are getting off-topic," the Kala Aini woman stated. "Back to this war; I fled the battle that was taking place and left you at the gateway to Earth. I died getting you there, and now, here you are."
"Wait a minute," Lucas said. "What do you mean? Are you saying that I was not born of this world?"
"Exactly," the Hui Rauko replied. "Are you aware of the last Apocalypse?"
"Yes," Lucas replied.
"Well, by some unnatural event, the Apocalypse hit the Earth with so much force that it had actually ripped open a fissure in the time-space continuum, and brought another world so close to Earth that it actually became parallel to it," the Kala Aini said. "That world, your original home world, is Skyryu."
"Oh," Lucas said. "So that's why there was evidence of a second world near Earth."
"What?" the Kala Aini asked quizzically
"Nothing," Lucas said. "Just thinking aloud."
"Well, in any case," the Hui Rauko man continued, "We should tell you about what you must do."
"What can I possibly do?" Lucas asked, baffled.
"Chao Arcana now has control over almost all of Skyryu. You must face him and end his regime of fear before it reaches to the home you now know," the Kala Aini replied. "To do that, you must search for four individuals who hold the power of the four Elements; the discipline of Earth, the rage of Fire, the tranquility of Water, and the freedom of Wind. Two of those individuals are two friends I am sure you know."
Lucas's eyes widened yet again as he immediately realized who those two people were. "Fae and Val," he murmured.
"Exactly," the Hui Rauko man responded. "Yet even after that, it will be only half the ordeal. In order to truly defeat Chao, you must realize your inner power's full potential. That will occur only when the four individuals realize theirs."
"For now," the Kala Aini said, "You will undergo your first major change."
"What major change?" Lucas asked.
"Something that has taken sixteen years for you to develop," the Kala Aini replied. "Something that has been growing under your scars and is now so desperate to surface that it hurts. Lucas…," a small tear could be seen forming in one of her brilliant, icy blue eyes, "you are about to grow wings."
"W-what?" Lucas murmured. This seemed to have hit him the hardest, for he sank to his knees. Had his birth parents really blessed him with the gift of flight, the one thing he so desperately desired? Words flowed from his dried-up mouth that he didn't even think about saying: "I can't believe it," he muttered, tears forming in his different-colored eyes. "Can I believe it? This is what I have always wanted. I've always dreamed of flying." He gave a sad laugh as a hot tear flowed from his fiery red eye. He then directed his gaze at the Kala Aini woman, a half-smirk planted on his face. "Did you read my mind or something?"
"Not at all," she said, a smile spreading on her face. "I never knew that you wanted to fly. I suppose that makes matters easier." She then spread her pure, white wings to their full length, and with a powerful downward stroke, they shot her thirty feet in the air in an upward arc towards Lucas, and she descended to the stone platform right in front of him, landing without a sound. She then folded her wings neatly on either side of her spine, knelt down and placed her hands on his shoulders. Her icy eyes met Lucas's own. "Now, no matter what happens to you, even though you might not know us very well, never forget that we love you, then, now, and forever."
"Now, I feel like I've known you since the day I was born," Lucas said with a sad smile.
"That's good to hear," the Hui Rauko man said as he floated over to Lucas's side. "But also, don't forget about your adoptive parents and your sister. Even if you're not related by blood, family is family."
"Alright," Lucas said.
"Now, listen carefully," the Kala Aini said rather firmly. "You will experience a great deal of pain when your wings sprout. Be strong for the both of us and endure."
"I will," Lucas replied.
"Are you ready?" the Hui Rauko asked.
"Yes," Lucas answered. "I'm ready."
"Good," said the Kala Aini. "Then let it begin." Both of them embraced Lucas in a hug. Lucas hugged them back, despite being surprised by the physical contact. Then he felt them disappearing from existence, turning back into the black and white inferno.
We love you, Lucas, always, his mother's voice echoed.
Be strong for us, our son, his father's voice reverberated.
The pain started again. This time it was at its worst; his scars were now burning like the fires of Hell as he doubled over in agony. Pain of an unheard of magnitude surged throughout Lucas's back as he was forced to his feet by an unseen force. He actually felt something within his back squirming around, desperately trying to free itself via his scars. Lucas grunted and cried in anguish. Then, he emanated a final scream of pain as his scars finally burst with a brilliant flash of white and black light. The last thing he felt before he became unconscious was something erupting from his back. Everything faded to black.
Lucas slowly opened his eyes, only to find his sight blurry. He blinked multiple times in order to get his sight back into focus. He then saw that this was the secret place that he and Val had found since their elementary school days. Found in a forest behind Lucas's house, it was a clearing that consisted of a small lake, a beach, a circle of stones for making fires, a hut (which they finally got around rebuilding last summer), and plains surrounding the lake. It offered a place for the three of them to hang out, talk, and blow off steam.
He then realized that the pain had stopped. He was lying belly side down on the dirt, and as soon as he craned his neck upward, he saw Fae and Val staring intently at him.
"Ah! He's awake!" Val exclaimed.
"He is? Oh, thank the gods! I was so worried!" Fae cried.
Lucas pushed himself upright with his arms, and as he did so, he noticed that his back was heavier. He also felt something protruding from both of his shoulder blades. He sat on his knees and placed a hand on his forehead. "Ugh. What…happened?" he asked weakly.
"Lucas," Fae said with a hint of shock in her voice, "you're not going to believe this, but…you…have wings."
"W-wha?" Lucas muttered. He then looked behind him and almost broke down at what he saw. Two giant wings had sprouted from where his scars were, spreading out to an almost sixteen-foot wingspan. The feathers were the whitest white he had seen yet, and at three feet from the wingtips, the feathers were the blackest black ever. Lucas couldn't stop shaking. "So…what they said was true."
"What who said was true?" Val asked, confusion eminent in his azure eyes.
"You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you," Lucas replied shakily.
"Try us," Fae said firmly.
"I can't argue with you, can I?" Lucas sighed. He then proceeded to tell them about his dream, his real parents being an angel and a demon known as a Kala Aini and a Hui Rauko, the parallel world of Skyryu, and how he was an Angel of Chaos. Fae and Val listened intently, their eyes growing wider with each passing second as he told them of Chao Arcana and how he is supposed to stop him. When he got to the part about his mother telling him about him gaining wings, tears started to form in his eyes. Finally, he told them of his age-old desire to fly that he had kept secret for so long. When he finished, he left them in utter amazement.
"Whoa," was all Fae could utter. "I don't know if I should believe you or not."
"So lemme get this straight," Val spoke after a moment of silence. "Your real parents are an angel and a demon. And you're supposed to save some other world in control of a sadistic megalomaniac?"
"Yeah," Lucas stifled through his tears.
"Well, to be honest, I don't believe you," Val replied stiffly. "I mean, the wings I can see, but unless I see some proof as to who your birth parents are, as well as to what they said, I'm afraid I'll take this as just a dream you had while you were unconscious."
"Val!" Fae shouted. "How can you be so cold?"
"I'm sorry, Fae," Val retorted, "but unless I actually see his parents in the flesh, I won't believe him." Fae scowled; Val was the type of person who always wanted evidence of something before he could start taking this as a truth. Some say that he would make a great judge or lawyer, whereas others think that he is just hot-headed and stubborn as Hell. Still, his stubbornness drove Fae crazy. She wished that he would just believe someone for once without physical evidence.
"Stop it, you two," Lucas said as he wiped away his tears. "It's okay if you believe me or not. I know it's all confusing; even I don't understand most of it, but that's a problem that doesn't need solving right now. What should be important right now is what you see in front of you." He then pointed to his wings, which were just lying limply on the ground on either side of him.
"Well, I guess you're right," Val said. He then held out a hand to Lucas. "Need help getting up?"
Lucas chuckled. "I suppose," he said as he grabbed Val's hand with his own. Then Val lifted Lucas up, surprised to find him so lightweight. Yet as Lucas attempted to stand, his wings weighed down on his back, causing his balance to be offset. Lucas swung his arms as he struggled to regain his composure. Luckily, Val caught hold of him, thus, Lucas retained his balance. "This is harder than I thought," Lucas sighed. "Now that I have wings, my coordination is completely screwed up."
"I guess having wings is a real inconvenience, huh?" Val said.
"Whaddya mean?" Lucas asked, confusion highlighted in his eyes.
"I mean, think about it," Val said. "You'd have to cut holes in all of your shirts in order for them to fit through. And I'll bet it'll be a real hassle for you to sit and lie down with them in the way all the time. Plus, with your balance completely messed up, I'd have to say that having wings sounds pretty bad."
"Well, I guess so," Lucas said in a low voice.
"Hey Lucas?" Fae said, looking at his limp wings. "Can you…move your wings at all?"
"Huh?" Lucas said. "Well, I guess that I can try to. I mean, why else would they be here?" He then closed his eyes and focused his mind on his wings, trying to send an impulse of movement from his brain to his back. After what seemed like hours, he felt a warm awareness in his wings. Soon, the muscles surrounding his shoulder blades began to move, lifting both wings up from the ground. The feeling soon ran down the entire length of them, and he was now able to move the joints in his wings. He then spread them out the full sixteen feet, revealing them in all their glory. They were large and powerful, yet so beautiful and graceful.
"Wow," Fae breathed. "They're…so beautiful." She then reached out with her slender arm to touch one of his wings. His feathers were as soft as silk and ran in perfect alignment with each other. "They're so soft."
"Are they really?" Lucas said while blushing furiously. He reached behind him to touch his right wing. As he touched it, he felt the sense of touch spread to his wings, telling him that they were actually part of his body. Indeed, the feathers were soft, like nothing Lucas had ever felt before. "You're right," he said simply.
"Do you think you can actually…fly with them?" Fae asked.
"I don't know," Lucas replied. "I don't know." Even though he always wanted to fly, he never knew how to. Now that he had wings, one part of his dream had been accomplished. The other part was learning how to utilize his wings and use them for flight. Yet he never flew before, and he didn't know if he wanted to jump right in and fly without knowing how. He sighed in exasperation; this was just another stone wall in his way of truly realizing dream…
His thoughts were interrupted by a flash of white and black light…
Well, here ends Chapter II with a cliffhanger. Heh…I just love leaving people in suspense. Okay, take the time to review, please!