. | Chapter 1 | .
"If I know what love is, it is because of you." —Herman Hesse
The streets echoed with the sound of the soles of his shoes slapping pavement but was drowned out in a blurred cacophony of noise. It was just past noon and the town was bustling with people. A few children filled the air with their laughter as they chased each other through the crowds, while one adult in particular voiced his distaste for the 'loud, noisy brats'. One child, blindly distracted by adrenaline, bumped into the running stranger.
"Oof!" His face rammed straight into the male's thighs. Clutching his nose, he mumbled a rather nasally apology. "Sorry, mister."
Once the stranger regained his lost balance, he smiled at the child and ruffled his hair. "Not a problem, kiddo. And the name's Diaval, not mister."
The child's face scrunched up in confusion. "D-Dabal?"
The raven-haired man merely laughed at the butchering of his name. "Dee-av-al."
"D…Diav…Diaval," he tried once more, then grinned from ear to ear once he had gotten it right. "Diaval!"
With a chuckle, he congratulated him with a pat on the back. "Great work! Now, why don't you return the favor and tell me your name?"
"My name is Phillip, Dia…Diaval." His small tongue slipped again, but he quickly fixed his tiny mistake all while still flashing a grin.
"Charming little kid, aren't you?" His face fell as he realized that he had to leave. "Sorry Phillip, but I'm already running late… I have to go see my mother at the hospital. She's terribly sick and I'd be a horrible son if I don't visit her as soon as possible."
"Oh… Okay…" The small brunet adorned an expression similar to his own, a little crestfallen that his new friend had to go so soon. Head hung low, the little boy stared at the ground for a bit until looking up at him through his brown locks. "W-will I see you again?"
And just like that, he felt a smile on his lips once more. "Of course, little one. Until then, be good for me, alright?"
"Alright…" Phillip's lips twitched into a small smile at the promise of a return. "Bye, D-Diaval!"
He waved before turning his back towards the man and ran as far as his little legs could carry him, shouting a, "Wait for me, guys!" to his other friends, trying his best to catch up with the group. Diaval shook his head but the smile and warmth in his eyes remained. Kids… Such funny creatures, they are. Crossing his arms and taking in the scene of the little children playing, he couldn't help but feel as if he was missing something. Wait… Oh right! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late. And with that, he broke into a sprint and raced towards the hospital, chastising himself the whole way there.
The enormous white building took him by surprise since the small town rarely offered its citizens any slice of city life. He felt a little stupid now that he looked at the large institution. He had taken a few small wrong turns here and there, thanks to his poor sense of direction. In the middle of panicking about his lack of punctuality, he failed to notice the obvious and very large building that practically mapped out his route for him. Well, at least I'm here, now… Better late than never, they always say. Feeling satisfied with his justification, he opened the glass doors and stepped in.
"Welcome, how may I help you?" a rather bored voice greeted him.
Following the voice, he found a receptionist sitting behind the counter, blankly staring at the computer screen as if it would offer her an adventure far away from her mundane life.
"Um, hello. I would like to visit my mother… Her name is Aileen Riley." He nervously tucked his hands into his pocket, watching as the woman clicked away on her mouse.
"And you are…?" she asked, still not looking up from the screen. Click. Click.
"Her son, ma'am." At this point, she finally turned her gaze away from the computer, giving him a once-over, before returning back to the screen. Her fingers tapped away at the keyboard and the robotic manner in which she did only made him more nervous.
"Room 127." She grabbed a clip attached to a small piece of plastic and a pen, then hastily scribbled the number and handed it to him. Bold letters stood at the very top: Visitor's Pass.
Diaval mumbled a soft, "Thank you…" before taking it and clipping it onto the front of his shirt, then taking his leave to go find said room.
He walked through the halls and noticed the bleakness in the building. White, white, white. Haven't they ever heard of something called color? he idly wondered, the corners of his lips tugging in a frown. He never liked going to hospitals very much and did his best not to cringe. The atmosphere was always heavy and dreary. For a place so clean, he couldn't help but think of all the tainted memories that have been spilled on the very walls, knowing that each and every hallway has seen at least one battle between life and death. He chose to stare at the blank floor instead.
It was a silent walk there except for his shoes against the clean linoleum floors. A few nurses passed his way, probably to an operation or something, he figured. His eyes glanced around, the numbers all running through his head but none the one he wanted to see.
The number appeared after a few more footsteps and he stopped at the door, knocking. His mother would not hesitate to disown him if he did not exhibit the manners she had raised him with.
Hm… No reply? Perhaps she is sleeping?
He opened the door as quietly as he could manage but instantly froze when he came into the room. A woman sat on the bed, hooked up with cords and wires. The white hospital gown only made her porcelain skin look even paler, almost making her look sicker than she already did, with the cloth barely hanging onto her frail body. Her dark brown hair was short and thin, framing her face. She was comfortably leaning back on the pillows and staring at the window, although her curtain covered her view of the outside world. With a sigh, she turned her head to meet his gaze, but instead, stared at him in shock before recovering quickly.
"Well, you're not my normal doctor…" Her eyes raked over his form and he instantly felt small underneath her glare.
"I-I'm terribly sorry… I was looking for my mother—"
"Mother?" she parroted, then chuckled half-heartedly. "How peculiar, I don't recall being a mother to anyone. Not that I know of, anyway."
He relaxed a bit, relieved that she was making light of his mistake. "I'm sorry, miss, but I seem to have stumbled upon the wrong room. Is this not Room 127?"
"It is," she replied, pursing her lips a bit. "But this is Room 127A."
"…A? Are there rooms that go all the way to Z?" His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, unused to the idea of using the alphabet to differentiate numbers.
She smiled slightly, amused at his bewilderment. "No, there isn't. But there is a Room 127B. There's a separate wing to each floor, so each room in that wing has a B and each room on this floor has an A."
"Oh. My apologies, miss. I hope you don't mind my intrusion… The receptionist failed to mention that tidbit."
"I don't get very many welcome visitors," her eyes darted towards the wilting flowers and a card on a table, then back to him, "so it's alright…"
He coughed to chase away the lump in his throat. "I'm sorry to hear that…"
She nodded, then turned away to stare at the curtain once more. "Shouldn't you be paying your mother a visit?"
Realization dawned on him and he quickly jumped, color draining from his face. "Oh right! I'm late… She'll have my head for this!" He either did not realize the odd look she was giving him or did not care. "I'm already late by an hour! It was nice meeting you, miss, but I have to go."
And with a slight bow, he rushed out of the room.
Green eyes lingered on the door, leaving the woman to wonder about what just occurred.
Since I am God awful at coming up with names...'fun' fact about this chapter: all the names in this chapter just kinda, happened. I was not intending for the kid at the beginning to be Phillip, but since I was drawing a blank as to what I should name him, I just figured: Eh, why not? And also, when I was trying to come up with a name for Diaval's mom, I read somewhere that in the original script, Diaval was supposed to be an Irish man with an Irish accent and was intended to be Maleficent's lover (YAY, Maleval is practically canon!) so I just randomly Googled Irish girl names. And the name Aileen just stood out to me. Turns out that it also means "noble", and I figured why not, since Diaval is a raven and ravens are depicted as honorable creatures. And the last name was just because of Sam Riley.
Thank you to milarion1234, Diosa Luna, sBerry181, and Kokospinguin for reviewing! Thank you to I luv Milarion 1201 and DarthWasabi for favoriting! Thank you to Diosa Luna, kurotenshi-08, The Silver Trumpet, Crimson Pendent, sBerry181, I luv Milarion 1201, and Kokospinguin for following!
Also, to milarion1234: Thank you for the lovely review; I'm sorry I couldn't reply since you were on a Guest account, but I hope you see this and know that I appreciate your kind words and the support by reading my story :)
Hope you guys enjoyed the first real chapter!