I really got nothing to say here. Honestly. I mean. I enjoyed writing the chapter and it took longer than I thought. But overall it was fine.

Um. Hmm. I've been playing some Overwatch for the past week. Having a lot of fun. I think.

But yeah. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I do.

Chapter 24

Angel's Lament

Cooper had been to a few village gatherings in his past. Most were about upcoming storms or harvests. Nothing too big.

But this was different. Cooper had never seen so many people gathered in one place. It was definitely more than Conter Valley had many times over. He wasn't even sure how that many people could fit into the forest. But he guessed that was just another thing to add to the list of mysterious things the Unseen had to offer.

As he walked through the crowd, he instantly noticed the mood. People were wailing and holding onto each other for support. Even the tough looking adults couldn't seem to control themselves. It came to his attention that Benjamin must've been rather popular with the Unseen.

He continued to cut through the crowd until he saw a gorgeous vaporeon who he instantly knew. She didn't notice him yet and he wondered if it would've been a good time to ask questions. He didn't know if he'd have anytime after the Ascendance to ask her. He walked over to her hesitantly until she finally noticed and stared at him.

He stopped a couple of feet from her and said, "H-hi. My name's Cooper."

"I know who you are," she said quietly reminding him of his first encounter with Elise. "I don't know if it's a good time to talk."

"Yeah. But… I think we need to. I don't know if I'll get the chance before I leave," he said. Cooper notice a little eevee peeking out from behind Seline. He was looking at Cooper curiously. Cooper smiled at the child and said, "You must be Simon."

He reached a paw down towards the eevee to pat him on the head, but Seline quickly shoved Simon behind her and asked with a frown, "He is. What is it that you want to know?"

Cooper was surprised at her sudden change in attitude towards him. He understood that any good mother would be protective of their child from a stranger. But he wasn't really much of a stranger. Or at least he didn't think he was.

"Well. I'd rather not pester you with too many questions seeing as we have little time to talk. So I'll go with more important ones. The first one being his surname. When I saw the pictures of him in the room he stayed in-"

"You went to his room?" she asked tensing and looking angry. Clearly she hadn't been told that Cooper was staying in the room which made him understand that she may not know as much about him as he thought.

He raised a paw in defense and quickly defused the situation with, "Blame Fenna for that one. I was just told to go to rest there," which seemed to ease her a little. But she still kept a frown on her face. "And the pictures of him never reminded me of any umbreon in Conter Valley with the name Brian. And trust me. The villagers in Conter Valley know each other very well."

"How old are you Cooper?" she asked suddenly.

"Nineteen going twenty in a month or two I think," Cooper said realizing that the time of being encased in darkness and the venture he made to get to the forest had thrown off his sense of time.

She frowned again and said, "He was seventeen when I found him and nineteen before he left three years ago. Which… probably means he's twenty-two now."

"Twenty-two years old?" Cooper repeated surprised that the age difference between him and Brian wasn't that vast. Which meant that if the mysterious umbreon had truly left for Conter Valley. Than Cooper would've noticed. Which also brought about new questions and fears.

Seline nodded. "He said he had something to attend in Conter Valley. He wasn't specific on what though. All he told me was it was important. Nothing else," she said with a touch of sadness in her eyes. Cooper looked at the vaporeon who had a child to take care of all by herself because her husband wasn't there. Similar in some ways to what Elise was facing. She knew where he was going and why. But she didn't know if she'd ever see him again. And honestly. He didn't know how long he would be gone.

He thought about asking for advice on How to keep the love of your life without abandoning her for a three-million year old voice. But realized that it wasn't a relevant question as much as he wanted it to be. So he pushed the thought into the back of his line of important questions and came back to the main one he still hadn't gotten an answer for. "Maybe his surname can help me find out more about him if you'd be willing to tell me."

She looked at him carefully as if she were studying Cooper. She turned her head and said, "Brian only told me his mother's surname. He said using his father's surname was like using a curse. I often asked him what that meant. But all he would say was that he and his father weren't really the best of buddies. But he loved his mother and always used her surname as his own which is... Diablo."

"Diablo?" Cooper asked finding the name entertaining to say. Brian definitely wasn't someone he knew because Conter Valley had never had anyone with a family name of Diablo.

She turned and looked around at the crowd that surrounded them as if she was worried. She turned back to Cooper and said, "Do not use the name lightly around here Cooper. Now that you know it, I expect you to be rather quiet about using it."

He gave her a confusing look. Now that he thought about it, the name did sound familiar. But not the "from Conter Valley" kind of familiar. Maybe she didn't want him to use it for the reason of keeping Brian's surname a secret. Fenna did say that he never told anyone within the forest. Even her.

Even with the theories in his mind, he asked, "Why?"

"You don't know?" she asked looking surprised.

"Am I supposed to?" he asked back.

"The Watchers. As in Halen Diablo, Chief of the Watchers," she said.

Then it hit him. He found himself remembering his history lessons of the Watchers who lived a great distance north of the capital. They earned their name from knowing so much about the kingdom and the Scourge. They were assassins and essentially predictionist in a manner of speaking. His teacher said the Watchers had eyes and ears everywhere. Some even thought the Watchers had positions with royalty and nobility. They were originally part of the twelfth Divine King's secret soldiers until the thirteenth Divine King took over and forced the secret soldiers to become assassins which birthed the Watchers. After the thirteenth Divine King fell, the secret soldiers formed a group with their families and travelled north where they built the large city of Evastrel that was difficult to reach even for flying types. They demanded isolation from the king and in return they would not interfere with the kingdom's affairs. But everyone knew the Watchers were everywhere even if they had sworn isolation.

"Are you saying that he's related to Halen in someway?" he asked knowing anyone who was related to the Chief of the Watchers was specially trained.

"That's what I'm afraid of. I don't know why someone who's related to Halen Diablo would be so far down south. But what's more interesting is what would he want with Conter Valley and its people," she said looking at him with concern. That did raise a lot of red flags. Halen Diablo was known to never concern himself directly with anything outside of his city and his people especially if it had to do Conter Valley. The villagers who had fled the thirteenth Divine King to Conter Valley three hundred years ago were hunted by the Watchers. Most of them got away. But the Watchers had caught some of the refugees and had taken them back to the capital. No one knew what happened to the refugees who had been caught. But the thirteenth Divine King ended up punishing the Watchers severely due to their failure to capture all the refugees. And thus the people of Conter Valley had always had a deep hatred for the Watchers as did the Watchers for the people of Conter Valley. So the thought of someone related to Halen Diablo wanting something to do with Conter Valley scared Cooper.

Cooper scowled and said, "Maybe that's why I don't have any memory of an umbreon named Brian coming to the valley. He very well could've hidden somewhere inside the mountains." But that didn't explain his story to his wife promising that he'd be back in a month or less which now raised even more questions on what could've happened to him.

"Maybe. Well. If you end up learning anything about him. I hope you wouldn't mind telling me," she said quietly. Cooper notice that the little eevee was peeking his head out again.

"Um. One more question. You wouldn't perhaps have any advice on-"

"There you are Cooper," a familiar voice said behind him. He turned around and found Fenna walking through the crowd towards him. "I've been searching everywhere for you. The Ascendance is in five minutes."

Cooper looked around and realized that he had lost track of time talking to Seline. "Oh. Sorry. I almost forgot. I was just asking Seline a few questions seeing as I probably won't have time after the Ascendance."

Fenna didn't look convinced and she said, "Well you've had your chance. Now we have to go." She turned to Seline who was looking away. "I hope he didn't bother you too much."

Cooper felt offended by Fenna's words. But Seline responded quietly before Cooper got to say anything, "He didn't. Just a few simple questions about Brian. You two should hurry and go."

"I agree. I'll talk with you later Seline," Fenna said turning around. Cooper gave one last smile at the vaporeon as he turned to follow Fenna. But she kept looking away as if something was bothering her. He wondered what she was thinking at that moment. He pushed away his worries and followed Fenna through the crowd.

They eventually escaped the crowd to a platform that was attached to large root. On the platform were a bunch of different people who were crying and weeping more than the crowd which he guessed were friends of Benjamin. In the middle of the platform was a strange looking stone that had been carved to look like a pyramid. On the face of the stone facing the crowd was a picture of a young looking Benjamin. He had a great smile on that captured his courage and strength Fenna was talking about. His body was much more built and had sharper features in contrast to what Cooper remembered of the leafeon. To his surprise, the pyramid was surrounded by flowers. But that was just it. It was only surrounded by flowers. And only one type of flower.

"Golden Flowers," Cooper said remembering the Golden Fields which also brought about the sore reminder of Elise.

Fenna walked closely to the pyramid although she wasn't able to get anywhere near the stone because of the sheer abundance of flowers that surrounded the stone. The crowd got quiet and the forest fell into silence as Fenna sat down in front of the stone. "Out of all the flowers he knew. These were his favorite. Everyone here knows that. And before I left to return to the forest, he asked me of one request. A very simple, but challenging request. Golden Flowers. He asked for nothing but Golden Flowers if he were to somehow pass. He said it would take him closer to the sun. It would help him embrace the light. Help him ascend."

"I have lived over eight hundred years with family and friends to help guide my path. To help me make the right choices. But when Benjamin came to us. He taught me so much more. He taught me bravery. He taught me how to be strong and how to trust in those around me and to trust in myself. He was a teacher as much as he was a lover. I owe to him so much that I cannot repay to him in person anymore."

"So instead. I will give him one final gift that will grant him his f-final moment in this world," Fenna said stuttering. Cooper could see tears following from her face. "M-my final gift to him as an ally, as a friend, as a student, and… as a mate."

Fenna opened her mouth slowly and took a deep breath. Cooper noticed the trees of the forest seemed to shake and rise as if they were awakening from a deep slumber and then fall slowly and gracefully as Fenna breathed out. And then the song began.

Cooper couldn't recognize the words and what language they were from. But he somehow understood them perfectly. The tone of Fenna's voice was soft and gentle but loud and fierce. The branches of the trees twisted and any flowers that had yet to grow fully were blooming to perfection in all different colors. The grass on the ground swelled and entwined with each other. And the sky filled with the blankets of the Aurora. The patterns danced across the sky in unison to the grass and the trees.

Then as Fenna's voice lowered, Cooper felt a wave of something he couldn't describe. Words flooded his mind and the song he did not know about previously came to him in almost a perfect understanding. As Fenna's voice picked up again, he sang along with her which made the dance of the forest burst ever so brighter and greater. He felt the words leave his mind and out through his mouth perfectly with no hesitation. He heard the voices of the people on the platform begin to follow along and then soon after the crowd picked up right behind them.

Fenna was the conductor, the forest her choir, and the world her audience. All who had eyes witnessed her song cover the sky with an ocean of colors. All who had ears were enchanted by the choir of her song. All who could feel embraced the passion and spirit of her voice.

The world was with her for that moment in helping Benjamin ascend to the light. To the heaven where Angel Nightfall was waiting for him.

So this is Angel's Lament.

I really enjoyed writing the bit at the end. It was nice. I also think writing Angels and Demons has given me a different perspective and better understanding of writing.

Although both stories are written differently in different worlds. They both play the same role in helping me become a better writer.

Anyways. Criticism and reviews are appreciated as always. See you in Angels and Demons.

"Make the leap" - Nice Guy Wolf