A/N: Boo :p Yes I'm back with more Angels Can Fall. This story has been ringing in my head for quite sometime so I thought might as well push along the story! But yeah, still typing it a chapter at a time. Sorry for the delay folks, a lot of things are happening. Dead internet... the dire situation in Bangkok and my asthma is making life wonderful. But yeah... After this story, I'll be updating Heir to Chaos. I'm almost done writing it and yeah, that's that.
Anyway, I added a new poll so do check it out and leave me your thoughts :D
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Summary: "Tell me Caius, do you believe in angels?"
Angels Can Fall (Part 10)
Lightning, my love. The person you seek wishes to meet an angel. When will you grant her dying wish?
It was him again. It was the sound of Raines's voice echoing through her dreams. Opening her eyes, Lighting laid on her side with her eyes fixed upon the dusty bent blinds in front of her. Carefully moving her hand to her cleavage, her finger traced her mark. The mark itself bore no texture but the moment her finger traced where the eye should be, it felt as if her skin transformed into hardened crystal. Breathing out, Lightning wondered how much time did she truly have? A month? Six months? Two years? No, the latter was impossible; Focuses were meant to be completed within a year once it was assigned.
"A year?" Lightning whispered. "I have a year to complete my Focus before I turn into a Cie'th."
It was a grim thought. She was unable to imagine feeling her body burn from the inside when the crystal eye fully opened, swallowing her body in a crystal cocoon. Lightning imagined her limbs would painfully extend in all directions while her mind was subjected to torture. Perhaps, an eternal reminder of her failure would play in her mind, over and over again. Transforming into a crystallized monster, she would be damned into The Void Beyond for the rest of her life. Curling her fingers around the edge of the pillow, that was not the life she wanted. The life she wanted was to be reunited with Serah in the High Heavens and perhaps, get the happily ever after she secretly wanted.
"Just one Focus," Lightning murmured. "I just need to complete this Focus and I'm free."
Rolling onto her back, her eyes were now fixed on the ceiling. Freedom. The word echoed in her mind like chimes. Would she be truly free? Lifting up her left arm, her blue eyes fell upon the vacant ring finger. She knew all too well once she completed her Focus, she was to wed Cid. Engaged without a choice, she did what had to be done in order to solidify the alliance. Forcing her arm to fall to the side, Lightning expelled a sigh. Angels, like humans had burdens to bare. Life was not easy, even as an angel.
"This is nonsense..." The angel whispered to herself before a yawn came to be. With heavy eyelids, the angel drifted off to sleep for a couple more hours until her body was ready to face the day, once again.
The long arm of the clock struck twelve; it was now one o'clock in the afternoon. Lightning barely slept. Forced to think of her Focus and the person she was expected to save, the angel was restless. Her mind was in turmoil. She wanted to know who she needed to save. Who was it? A baby? A girl? A woman? An elderly woman? Who? Frustrated due to the lack of answers, the angel forced herself to sit up right. She ran her fingers through her hair. She needed answers or at least some form of guidance.
Hearing faint clicking sounds from the door, the angel turned her head and watched the door knob turn, followed by the sound of the creaking door. Caius entered with two large paper bags filled to the top, packed with groceries. Kicking the door shut with his foot, the vibrations forced some of the contents to spill onto the floor.
Blocked by the paper bags, he greeted, "Good morning."
"Good afternoon," The angel mumbled, watching him stagger into the kitchen. "Why are you here? Don't you have... work?"
"Today's a half day for me," Dropping the bags onto the marble counter, he watched the bags topple to the side and the contents unceremoniously rain onto the counter and floor. "...Great."
"You're in a bright mood today," Lightning flatly commented, swinging her legs off the bed and approached the kitchen. "I assume you're having a bad day?"
"I don't want to talk about it," he replied, crouching down to pick up the pack of spaghetti, cheese and five cartons of Flan juice. Watching Lightning approach him, she helped him gather the scattered food items.
"Fair enough. Here, let me help you," The angel whispered, reaching out to a pack of meat.
Caius nodded in thanks. His amethyst eyes suddenly fell on the mark charred onto her cleavage. Maybe it was his eyes playing tricks on him but when they first met, the mark barely had any red. As Lightning moved, he was surprised to see light reflect off its crystallized surface. He had initially assumed her mark was tattooed onto her skin. Clearly, that was not the case. Quickly diverting his gaze before the angel caught him, he hastily picked up the rest of the groceries and placed them on the counter. With everything counted for (except some of the contents by the door), he turned to Lightning.
"Today I'm not coming home," he informed. "I promised to keep Yeul company tonight."
"Yeul," Lightning repeated. "Oh, that girl in your care."
Nodding, he reached to the drawer and pulled out a knife. Placing it on the counter, he freed the apple from its plastic enclosure then washed it. Carefully slipping the knife gently under its waxy skin, Caius delicately ran the sharpened edge horizontally and produced long strips of apple skin. Lightning intently watched. She was interested in what he was doing so she did the same. She believed it was easy but while running the knife under the skin, it tore. She tried again and produced the exact same result: Failure.
Slightly annoyed, she turned to the human. "Why do you do this?" She spoke irritably, pointing to the pile of apple skin in the sink. "Why don't you just eat it with the skin?"
"I find it tastier without the skin," he replied, washing the apple. "You know, it gets stuck in your teeth."
Lightning leaned by the counter and crossed her arms. She huffed. Watching him slice the apple into eight equal pieces, he gave four to her.
"Here. Sorry I won't be able to help you to find who you're looking for today."
Waving her hand dismissively she replied, "No problem. I can find them on my own."
Popping a slice into mouth, the gears in Lightning's head carefully turned and locked onto Yeul. To much of her knowledge, this Yeul meant a great deal to Caius. Vanille and Fang apparently knew her as well. Lightning was curious to meet this Yeul. She sounded like a legend, waiting to be discovered.
"Hey Caius," Lightning piped up. "I want to see this Yeul,"
Turning his head to her, he asked, "Why?"
"Well, why not?" Lightning arched an eyebrow. "I see no harm."
It was the way he looked at her, Lightning had to reconsider her words. Caius looked at Lightning as an angel and not as a human. He knew what angels were capable of and quite frankly, he didn't want Lightning to meet Yeul in fears of her taking Yeul away from him. Caius reminded himself: Yeul had much to live for. There was no chance in hell he would give up on her easily.
Watching his features darken, Lightning asked, treading on glass. "...You're afraid I'm going to take her away, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"I won't," Placing down the remaining slices, Lightning exited the kitchen. Stopping, she slightly turned her head, "You don't trust me, do you?"
"I trust you, Lightning, I do," Caius hesitated on his next words. "...It's just... You're an angel."
With nothing more to say, the angel nodded her head in acceptance. Heading to the bathroom, she slammed the door behind her leaving the human to ponder his words. Shaking his head, he didn't mean to offend Lightning in any way; he was wary of angels. The fact Yeul continues to hope for an angel bothered him greatly. Crossing his arms firmly over his torso, he looked at the bathroom door again, feeling terrible for what he said earlier. His general attitude to angels was evident, and he knew it. Lightning already promised she wasn't going to take Yeul away; she promised. It seemed as if she believed her Focus was someone else but it was not Yeul. Surely, it couldn't be Yeul.
"It cannot be Yeul. I won't allow it." Falling into a distinct pause, he turned around and headed to the large windows. Tilting his head for his eyes to match the sky, Caius quietly whispered. "If angels are real, then can they grant this poor man's wish? Please let Yeul live. Please don't take her away. She's the only one I have left."
About half an hour later, the angel remained in the bathroom, battling through the selection of human clothes. Still uncomfortable in human threads, she continued to adjust the enlarged white wool shirt on her body. No matter what she did, the shirt kept on slipping off her shoulders. There was just no winning today. Mumbling a curse under her breath, she reached out toward a leather belt and secured it around her waist. Pulling on a pair of navy blue tights, she seemed more presentable than before. If she remembered correctly, she noticed some of the women in Academia enjoy wearing oversized shirts and stroll through the city. Lightning wondered, if they wore pants underneath under those large shirts of theirs?
Taking a good look in the mirror, she reached out to a pair of black beaded bracelets and quickly slipped them on. Tilting her head, the beads were made out of plastic. Reaching out to a pair of thin golden bangles, she slipped them between the black beaded bracelets. Truth be told, the angel had no concept of 'fashion'. She noticed the girls in Academia enjoyed wearing accessories and maybe she should too? Vanille was wearing them so Lightning saw no harm in mimicking the style.
"Pfft, this is a waste of time." Lightning muttered.
Exiting the bathroom, Lightning slipped into a pair of knee-high brown leather boots leaning by the wall. Tapping her foot a couple of times, her eyes unexpectedly landed on a nicely packed blue lunchbox. To the side of it was five cartons labeled 'Flan Juice'. Approaching the contents, Lightning picked up and examined two of the five cardboard cartons; it seemed to have different flavors, she noted. One box had a shape of a gelatinous type monster and was colored orange. Another box had the same jelly monster but was colored purple. Glancing down the other boxes were colored red, green and blue.
"Strange," The angel spoke aloud. "What strange things this city has."
Placing down the boxes, her eyes moved to the lunchbox and to much of her amazement, there was food inside. There seemed to be rice, some vegetables and sausages that were split and sliced to look like octopuses. The octopuses had seaweed decorated for its eyes and its 'O' shaped mouth.
"So he cooks." Lightning concluded. "Who knew?"
"Surprised?"
Lightning whipped around honing in on the voice from the kitchen. Hearing a couple of shuffling sounds and then seeing a pair of oven mitts tossed onto the counter top, Caius stood up. Lightning was becoming more and more perplexed with this human. She always assumed men didn't know how to do anything. Stressing on anything. Lightning had always assumed women had to do things for them such as cooking, cleaning—the usual housework. To see a man like Caius himself do all these things was... strange. Now that she thought about it, men in Valhalla never needed to cook. When they were hungry they seated themselves in the dining hall while food was served to them on silver and gold platters. All the food they ever wanted was at the command of their fingertips. Lightning wondered: Does this small act distinguish humans from angels? Most likely.
"Are you leaving to see Yeul?" Lightning questioned.
"In a bit."
Then there was a pause. Caius wanted to apologize to Lightning for coming off as harsh and distrusting. Formulating his apologies, the angel nodded in response and headed to the door.
"Lightning, wait!" The angel stopped and turned around. "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For mistrusting you." Walking to her, he relayed the rest of his apology. "I didn't mean to offend you in any way. I know that you're not the angel who will take Yeul away."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Just a feeling."
"Well that's good to know," Lightning spoke. "Good to know you don't hate me."
Resuming her walk to the door, she heard him call out to her again. Turning around, she crossed her arms wondering what else he wanted. He told her to wait while he returned to the kitchen and pulled out something aromatic out of the oven. It smelled oddly like apple. Hearing the sound of a knife cutting through the food item and scraping across the pan, Lightning soon heard some crunching noises made by tinfoil. Hearing the sounds of cracks and crunches later, he emerged out of the kitchen and placed the delicately wrapped objects into a bag with the lunchbox followed by the cartons of Flan juices. Quickly dusting himself, Caius hastily made his way to Lightning, giving her the cloth bag with the food items. Taking it, she merely stared at it.
"These are for Yeul, correct?"
"Indeed." Reaching out to a large umbrella in the umbrella stand, he opened the door. "Ladies first."
"Why?"
"It's courtesy, Lightning."
Shrugging, Lightning exited and waited outside. Watching him close the door and locking it, both made their way outside the apartment where they were greeted with light rain. Snapping the black umbrella, he walked out first and motioned for Lightning to follow. Walking side by side, Lightning's eyes narrowed; she detested rain after being drenched sometime ago. Pressing the cloth bag close to her chest, whatever food items was in the bag was giving off warmth. Secretly, she was enjoying it albeit, she was never going to voice it.
Walking down the pathways of Academia, it was a chance for her to look around freely and in the same time, observe the locals' behaviors. Many seemed to enjoy the light drizzle, she noted. She noted that couples preferred to stand side by side under the umbrella. Looking to the left, she saw a mother and daughter holding hands crossing the zebra painted walkway. Stepping over a puddle, she watched two children, a boy and a girl playing games, jumping from puddle to puddle. Hearing their laughter and teasing tones, the angel wasn't sure what to make out of it.
The more she walked, the more she began to understand the humans a bit better. Most of them seemed to be so happy, she observed. The majority of the populace she came across seemed to be content with their lives, she assumed. Lightning wondered: When she was human, was she like this? Did she act like this with her friends and family? Trying to dig deep into her memory, she was unable to fish out the images of how her parents looked like. The only family she had for the longest time was Serah. Lightning tried to remember the faces of her relatives but she was unable to put a face on faceless ghosts. It frustrated her; why couldn't she remember? Was it because when she was a human she wasn't close to them? What happened to them?
"Are you alright?"
Lightning looked up meeting Caius's worried eyes.
"I'm fine," Lightning responded. "I was just thinking. It's nothing."
"Don't think too much," she heard him say. "Gets you thinking about unnecessary things."
Lightning narrowed her eyes. "You dare give me a lecture?"
Her question came off as a mild challenge which he caught on. Looking down at the angel he grinned, "Perhaps."
Lightning huffed. Quickly walking forward, Lightning unknowingly stepped onto the road. She hadn't seen the stop sign and was oblivious to the racing hovercraft zipping towards her.
"Lightning!"
Everything happened in slow motion; the angel turned her head to the right and saw a blazing red hovercraft trying its best to screech to a halt. Lightning's mind barely had time to register what was going to happen next. All she remembered doing was hugging the cloth bag as securely as possible while an arm pulled her back onto the sidewalk. At that very moment, time seemed to resume. The black umbrella that once shielded them was tossed to the side. She felt an arm wrapped around her, restricting her in its warm confines. As seconds ticked by, the arm slowly released her unshaken frame. Feeling hands on her shoulders, she was spun around and was met with distressed eyes.
"Hey, are you alright?" Caius asked, gazing into Lightning's blank expression. Snapping his fingers in front of her eyes, he said again, "Hey, Lightning."
"What?" The angel responded. "I'm fine. What just happened?"
Clearly, the angel had no clue what was going on. Looking over her shoulder, Caius nodded apologetically to the man who emerged from the hovercraft. She heard words exchanged but her mind was completely muddled, unable to register what was actually said. A couple more minutes ticked by and she heard the sound of the engines roaring back to life followed by a sound of distinctive pop from the vehicle.
Turning his attention back to her, Caius said, "You were almost hit by a car."
"Oh... I'm... sorry?"
He sighed. "Let me guess: Valhalla or wherever your from doesn't have cars, don't they?"
Lightning shook her head. Patting her shoulders once more, he released her and retrieved the umbrella. Shaking the raindrops out of it, the umbrella was once again lifted above her head, shielding them from the rain.
Gently patting her back, he coaxed her forward. "Come on, let's get you somewhere safe before more accidents happen."
It took them another half an hour to get to the hospital. Lightning continued to remain blank from the sudden event. It was unlike her to not be alert. Shaking her head out of the clouds, she needed to focus. Observing the humans too much was bad for her health, she thought. It made her think about her human life and worse, it made her think about her family which she not familiar with. Sitting down, she inhaled and exhaled to compose herself. Why would she start thinking of her family now? Why would her memories force her to remember the faces of her mother and father? Why would she suddenly hear the sounds of her parents voices—which she assumed they were—to faceless phantoms in her mind?
"This sucks." Lightning grumbled irritably. She needed to focus. Focus!
Suddenly, a paper cup filled with water popped in front of her face. Looking up, it was Caius.
"Here."
"Thanks," Quickly draining the cup, Lightning sighed again. This was unlike her. She has to stop thinking and again, focus. Turning to the man who downed his cup of water, she said, "Thanks. Thanks for saving me."
"You're welcome."
Leaning back into the plastic chair by the wall, the duo sat in silence. Lightning's fingers rubbed the mouth of the cup, wondering what she should say. She already expressed her gratitude to the human. Moving her eyes away from the cup, she looked left and right. Being at the hospital was something different, she thought. She watched as patients—some in wheelchairs, stretchers and crutches—were admitted instantly into emergency rooms. Some were transported into metallic door-like things that open and then swallow the patients and a couple of other people, whole. Blinking, she concluded the metallic doors were no threat. Shifting her eyes to the right, she heard the sounds of the doors slamming open from the outside. Entering the building, was a young boy in a stretcher, covered in blood from head to toe. The doctors and nurses quickly rushed to his aid while the other people, who Lightning believed were his relatives, bawled by his side. She watched as the middle-aged woman scream out the young boy's name and her husband, the man in his late fifties trying to calm down his wife. Lightning watched intently, sensing the boy's life force slipping away with every heartbeat.
Maybe it was that very moment, Lightning saw first hand what angels did; a bright light above the boy shone brightly and illuminated him in majestic warm light. Ascending down from Valhalla, was an angel. Lightning dropped the cup and stood up. Her sudden actions were noticed by Caius.
"Lightning?" He reached out to the angel but she had already moved, walking to the boy. "Hey, wait!"
"Angel..." Lightning quietly whispered. "So... this is what they do..."
She took several more steps and stopped at a green pillar, watching the angel extending her hands to the boy. Lightning watched the angel smile, coaxing the boy into the light. Lightning watched the boy open his weakened eyes upon the being above him. The boy used his final ounce of energy and reached out to touched the angel's fingertips. The angel warmly smiled, pulling his soul out of his mangled physique. Looking to the right, Lightning watched his parents scream out their son's name which was no longer heard. And just like that, his arm fell to the side. Arriving by Lightning's side, Caius watched the boy's parents fall onto their knees and sobbed. Suddenly, Caius got the chills. Looking at the boy, Caius noticed the boy radiated a faint light before it dimly faded. Tilting his head up, he blinked a couple more times believing he saw an angel hugging the boy tightly and expressed a saddened smile. Blinking again, they were gone.
Looking down at Lightning, he said, "Did... Did an angel come and take him?"
"Yes."
"Angels..."
Lightning looked down at Caius's clenched fist. Hearing the sound of the paper cup crushed in his palm, she merely blinked. At the back of his mind, he visualize the day an angel would take Yeul away.
"Caius," Lightning quietly voiced. "Understand that boy's time was up. There's no way of saving him."
"How can you be certain? Maybe he had a chance."
Lightning shook her head, "He didn't. His ribs punctured into his lungs and heart. He barely held on. And... his family are unable to afford his medical bills. He passed peacefully, knowing his family was by his side."
"How do you know?"
"...The angel told me." Gripping onto his leather jacket, she spun him around to get her point across. "We see everything from Valhalla. Everything. The moment of conception, birth, life, heartbreaks, success, disease, accidents and deaths. That is why we know when to come down and save their souls."
Caius was not convinced. Lives could be saved in this day and age. The doctors and nurses were skilled enough to save any life. Technology breakthroughs were made during the past ten years, extending a person's life. But... money. The technology and skilled persons were there but if no one could pay bills, they couldn't do anything. Maybe that's why Caius worked hard. He worked extremely hard to pay Yeul's bills even if he barely scrapped by. Taking on night shifts and working seven days a week with minimum rest, he did everything to pay Yeul's bills. At the least, he was too prideful to ask for loans. He couldn't make himself do it. Through hard work and dedication, he was going to help Yeul until she was cured.
"Caius," Lightning said gently. "Yeul has a bright future ahead of her, I know it. Her life force is strong. There's no way an angel will take her away, I promise."
"I hope you're right, Lighting. I hope you're right."
Yeul sat on the bed happily humming a song while cutting away layered paper. Triangular, white confetti rained on her blanket and the floor while the girl snipped away. Carefully guiding the steel scissors through the paper, Yeul was making sure she snipped out the perfect shape. Watching the patch of paper fall onto the blanket, Yeul placed down the scissors to examine her handiwork. Delicately extending the folded paper, she made a series of cutout paper angels, hand in hand with one another.
"Angels!" Yeul said happily. Turning to the enlarged window, Yeul dangled the paper angels in front of her eyes while placing them on soft, fluffy clouds in the distance. "I want to see an angel."
Smiling, Yeul's ears picked up the sound of the door unlocking. Turning her attention to the door, Yeul never expected to lay her eyes on a pink-haired woman with sky blue eyes. Still holding the paper angels in front of her, Yeul unconsciously aligned one of the angels' body with that of the woman. Lowering the paper angels, Yeul blinked again and again. Wishing for an angel all this time, was it an angel? Did an angel come to save her?
What came out of her lips was unintentional. Widening her eyes, Yeul believed her wishes were about to be granted.
Summoning the only word in her mind, Yeul voiced, "...Angel."