Hi guys! Sorry it took me so long to update. We had semi finals at my school, and stuff like that. Plus I was grounded. But we digress. Lots and lots of credit to Nikkler, who gave me brilliant ideas to work off of! (I was out of ideas and going to just let this story die) Just so you know, anything in italics is a memory. Lotsa angst in this chapter, I promise that it'll get better! I just had to nearly kill someone first:) pleasepleaseplease don't forget to review, everybody! I totally love having some outside opinions. And there is a VERY IMPORTANT author note at the bottom of the page, so if you could take a look at that before reviewing, that'd be awesome! Thanx!
Yami no Megumi: Thanks for your review!
Nikkler: Yes, actually, the syrup war was from personal experience. My friends and I had a mess
day a couple of years ago where we did all of the messy things that we wanted to do on a
regular basis (like mud wrestling, pie eating contests, etc.), and a syrup war kind of morphed out of it.
xImperfectlyx : Thank you for your review!
Now then, on to chapter two!
Wolfram was wandering about in the garden. He simply couldn't bear another moment inside, surrounded by well-meaning but totally oblivious people.
It was could outside, and still raining. Now there was mist, too, raking it's foggy fingers through Wolfram's blonde hair, sweeping through his body with bitter coldness, making him shiver with misery. The tears in his eyes blended with the tears of the angels, coursing down Wolfram's face with the essence of sorrow.
Ironically, both Wolfram and the angels wept for the same reason: the loss of love.
"One of the angels, a beautiful girl named Lydia, was particularly well-liked," Konrart had murmured, slipping his arms more securely around his brother as the little blonde boy had settled in for a long story. "Lydia was sweet and kind to everybody she met. Everyone marveled at her beauty. Her eyes were a deep, expressive, moist black, shining with both beauty and joy. Her hair was dark, too, black as ebony and as long as a lifetime, glowing with a light to rival the sun. But all Lydia's beauty and goodness brought her was sorrow.
"The angel Zephyr, one of God's favorites, fell in love with Lydia, and begged her to marry him. Lydia, who was fond of Zephyr, but did not love him, was shocked and horrified by this turn of events. The more Zephyr pleaded with her, the more resolute she became not to marry him. Every time Lydia refused to marry Zephyr, she plunged him into utter misery.
"And Wolfram, you must understand: all an angel consists of is joy. They are the very essence of all that is perfect and true and good. Despair can kill joy: it makes all that is good wither and die. Therefore, it is impossible for an angel to be sad. Joy cannot live where there is misery, so when an angel disappears, he vanishes. As Zephyr did.
"Needless to say, God wasn't wildly happy with Lydia for vanishing his favorite angel. But it is not a crime not to return love, so technically she had done no wrong. But God was still angry with her, and as the years went by, his fury simmered and festered away.
"One night, Lydia was looking down on earth, watching over the people below her, when she spied a boy of about 17. He had beautiful golden hair, and dancing green eyes full of warmth.
"Lydia's heart turned over and melted. The angel Zephyr had spent two full years failing at what this boy had done in a matter of seconds: capturing Lydia's heart."
Konrart paused. The rest of this story wasn't quite G-rated. Resting his chin on his older brother's's chest, Wolfram stared up at Konrart with innocent, expectant eyes. Rather like Lydia's, Konrart's heart turned into butter. 'I'll just skip the gory details, then.'
"Without a second thought, Lydia flew down to earth, and...well...seducedtheboy, whispering her love for him into his ear all night long. The boy realized that he returned her love, and asked her to marry him. Lydia happily consented, and returned to heaven to share the good news with her many friends.
"When Lydia returned to heaven, hey joy made her literally shine with a goodness and beauty that neither heaven nor our world has ever seen before. Her light was so strong and so true, no one could possibly mistake the fact that she was in love, least of all God.
"At first, God was inclined to be thrilled. His resentment and hatred of Lydia couldn't stand against His happiness at any of his angels falling in love. He wanted there to be more love and joy in the world, and seeing any of His angels that happy made Him content.
"Then the other foot fell, and God discovered Lydia's true love was a mere mortal boy, entirely unworthy of any angel's affections. In a fury, He flung Lydia out of heaven and forever shut it's immortal gates closed to her.
"All of the angels grieved. They had loved Lydia for her goodness and beauty, and were greatly saddened by losing her.
"And Wolfram, when that many beings of pure joy grieve, all the rules are temporarily suspended, and a sort of magic happens. The gateway between heaven and here lifts, so that everyone can mourn together.
"None of the angels vanished. They became, for a little while, beings of pure sorrow and misery. The world stopped itself as the angel's tears rained down from heaven, mourning for forgotten and rejected lovers everywhere, and the rest of the world grieved with them."
Konrart stopped, glanced at the clock. It was getting late, really, and Wolfram should be in bed. Perhaps they would just finish this story tomorrow. Come to think of it, he was feeling a bit sleepy, as well. Everything was so soothing, from the rain softly tapping at the windows to the warm reassurance of his little brother's body nestled on his lap. Leaning his head back, Konrart closed his eyes and nodded off. Soon all that could be heard in the room was the soft, gentle snoring of the two brothers.
Wolfram stopped short. He was in a part of the garden that he didn't recognize, and there was something dark looming at him from out of the fog. Half-heartedly, he drew his sword, hoping that whatever it was, it would be big enough to eat him quickly and end his misery. The thing didn't move. Stepping through the curtain of mist, Wolfram realized it was a fountain. A beautiful one, as well.
Without thinking, Wolfram stepped into the pool around it's feet. His stomach turned over as he realized the state was an angel.
She was beautiful, made entirely out of marble. Except for her hair and her eyes: they were made of ebony. her skin was so pale it appeared to glow. Her dress had the softest tint of blue in it. And streaming behind her were a magnificent pair of wings. Each feather was perfect. The angel's eyes were cast heavenward, as water streamed down her cheeks and collected in a pool at her feet.
There was such a look of sadness about this statue, a Despair so real, yet somehow a pride as vast as heaven. Almost as if this women was proud to suffer, and if she could have fixed whatever she had done wrong, she wouldn't.
Wolfram closed his eyes to stop tears from raining down his face. He wished he had even half the strength the women had. But it had all become too much: loving someone who honestly didn't love you back was the most bitter thing in the world, so miserable it took your breath away. And Wolfram wanted his breath back.
Tiredly, he sank down and sat at the base of the statue, ignoring the two feet of water he was not sitting in. He had, after all, already been drenched. A little more water wasn't going to make a difference.
Tilting his face skyward, Wolfram cried harder then he ever had before. He poured out his anger, love, and pain over Yuuri, and somehow knew that the angels were crying for him, crying with him.
And afterwards, he felt better, calmer, purer, as he sat waiting for something to come along the would take his pain away. The last thing he saw before his eyes shut was a small, black-clothed person, running out of the castle and towards the garden.
Ehh, now my fingers hurt from typing. And by the way, everybody, I'm making a talk show fic hosting the KKM cast. The first character up is Konrart, so if you've ever had a burning question or two that you've wanted to ask Konrart, send me a review and include the questions in it. Thank you so much!