3 – A pain worse than death – Xai
My heart soared with me as I flew high into the darkness. I could finally return home.
I spoke too soon.
A searing hot pain erupted from my back, causing me to cringe. My left wing dislocated from my back, causing me to start losing altitude… fast. I hurtled towards the ground at a terrible speed. I wasn't too high, so the impact shouldn't hurt. I closed my eyes and awaited the pain.
It never came.
I must have passed out again, because I opened my eyes and couldn't see anything except darkness all around. Moving gingerly, I could still feel my wings out and still slightly stinging. Nothing hurt terribly though, sitting up, I looked around at my surroundings. I had no idea where I was. Looking around, I did however notice that I was in a bed, the covers pulled up really high. Moving the blankets aside, I climbed out of bed, gently stepping down onto the ground. I tucked my wings into my back and started to feel my way towards what looked like the door. Opening it up, I heard voices coming from another room.
"…I'm worried…woken…"
"Don't be…it's…don't worry…"
"I can't…"
I could only hear fragments of words. There were two voices, one female, and one male. The male's voice sounded very familiar to me. Aki…
"You have…help…" The male's voice said.
"I cant… you…yourself…" The female replied.
"I… I won't…"
"You love him…you…"
Love?
I walked towards the voices.
"Xai!" Aki jumped up and ran over to me, wrapping his arms around me tightly. "You're okay." I nodded weakly and hugged him back.
"Y-yeah…" I mumbled softly, patting his back gently. A warm sensation filled my face. What?...what is this feeling?
"I'm fine…" I added quietly. Aki moved away smiling.
"This is my friend. She's just over because I got bored." he said with a smile. I nodded.
"Hello." She said softly waving at me. I smiled and waved back shyly.
"Um…can I talk with you alone for a moment?" I asked Aki and he nodded. I pulled him back into the dark bedroom.
"You didn't tell her anything did you?" I asked him softly brushing my hair out of my face.
"No. I really want to though. She knows more about avian biology than I do." he said simply. I must have made a face because Aki crossed his arms.
"Oh come on…" he said pouting. My eyes twitched. A strong feeling ran through my chest.
"She doesn't know…only tell her so you can help me…" I whispered. Aki smiled.
"Thank you." he said excitedly, pulling me into a tight hug. "Don't worry, we'll get you back into the air." I nodded and he released me from the hug.
A few hours later it seemed that the moments passed by like grains of sand, but time is relative. I had learned the girls' name was Shu. She wasn't very surprised when I told her that I was a fallen. It almost looked as if she knew. Afterwards I was put down onto the bed with my wings spread out. She gently set my wing back in place, (of course this resulted in some pain, nothing too bad. I've had worse.) and then some questions. oh great…
"So…you're an angel?" she asked.
"Maybe." I responded.
"You have wings…"
"I know."
"Why are you here?"
"I fell."
"How?"
"Well…" I began, "there's a war going on between the worlds, Gaia not included…"
"Gaia?" she asked.
"You know…Earth. We call it Gaia, and the beings that live on it mortals." I stated. "Well anyway… I'm #66 in Angelic squad 58 and my squad was almost eliminated entirely by demons…"
"Demons?" Aki asked softly, adjusting his glasses.
"Yeah…demons. Bat wings, fangs, eyes like snakes, the real thing."
"Do go on…" Shu urged.
"Well there's not much more. Our squad was all almost dead, myself included. I ended up being closest to the edge and a demon pushed me off. Now I'm here…stuck with humans unable to get home…" I replied, placing my hands in my lap.
"Sounds like you hate it here…" Shu said. It wasn't a question.
"No, I don't…its just frustrating because my squad can't go on without me. They're probably all dead though." I said softly, looking down at the floor. Aki coughed.
"You make it seem like it's your fault that they died… its not though. You even said yourself that demon's killed them." Aki said softly, taking my hand in his, giving it a little squeeze. A hot pang ran through my chest.
"You have a point…" I mumbled softly. My chest hurts…what is this pain? It hurts so bad…
"So how old are you?" Shu asked.
"In human years? I'm 17." I replied.
"How about in Angelic years?" Aki asked.
"1700." I said with a smile. Aki and Shu's mouths dropped open.
"What?!" they both shouted. I laughed.
"What? It's not surprise. Just take an age and multiply it by 100. The oldest angel is 200,000 years old." I said with a laugh. Aki shook his head.
"Wow…that's really old." he said quietly in awe. I nodded.
"Yeah…quite a bit…" I replied, squeezing his hand, which was still attached to mine.
An awkward silence passed over the three of us. Noting that my wings were still exposed I tucked them behind my skin. My chest still hurts…what's wrong with me? Aki gently squeezed my hand.
"Well…" Shu began, "How does your wing feel, Xai?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.
"It feels fine. It's a little stiff though." I replied. Shu nodded.
"I see…" she said.
The silence was awkward again. Aki was still holding my hand, and it was making my heart ache.
Is this what love feels like?
A little while later Shu left to go home and it was only Aki and I. We had nothing to do so we went outside to look at the stars.
The two of us lay on our back and looked up at the night sky. A bell rang in the distance, signaling midnight.
"Every time a bell rings, and angel gets its wings…" Aki whispered. I looked over at him.
"Where did you hear that?" I asked.
"It's just a little saying that a lot of people know. Is it true?" He asked. I shook my head, looking back up at the sky.
"No, all angels are born with wings." I said quietly.
"Oh..." He replied, "Okay…"
The moments passed by slowly, and I kept my eyes on the stars. Since the last time Aki had spoken, he had moved close to me, and now he was leaning against me lightly.
"Aki?"
"Hmm?" he hummed.
"What is…love?" I asked. Aki laughed slightly.
"Love is a funny thing…" he replied.
"Funny?" I asked him.
"Yeah… it always comes up when you lease expect it."
"Does it hurt?"
"It can. It depends on what the situation is…" Aki let out a small sigh.
So maybe this is love? My heart throbbed. Do I…love him…?
"Why do you ask?" he inquired, his body stiffening.
"Oh, no reason…" I replied.
"Are you sure?"
"Uh hum…" I nodded.
"Okay…"
A silence shifted into gear over the two of us. So love is painful…This pain I'm feeling…is it for him? He's so sweet to me… he's cared for me all this time…could this feeling rally be love? Maybe it is…he seemed happy when I didn't fly away…maybe he… Aki gently took my hand in his again. Love is funny…it always comes up when you don't expect it. Maybe he meant that about me.
"Aki?" I asked.
"Yeah?"
"What did you mean by 'it always comes up when you don't expect it'?" I inquired.
"Well it does one day you'll be perfectly happy and then the next minute bang! You're in love…" he explained.
"Oh…okay…"
"Why…?"
"I…think I'm in love…" I mumbled.
"Oh? Really? With who?" I rolled over to face him and curled up into a ball against his side.
"Eh…it's a secret." I said as Aki laughed.
"Alright." He wrapped his arms around me, holding me tight. I closed my eyes and drifted of to sleep in his arms.
I'm in love with you…shh…don't tell.
Authors note:
Yay! Chapter 3 is done! Happy love story xD! Well R & R and it's good!