Author's Note: I dislike this chapter, possibly because I had to rewrite it
because I hated it the first time around. Ah well. See what you think.
It seemed to be some kind of place of congregation, many benches lined up in rows facing towards a large table of sorts covered in a white cloth. Behind this table was set some kind of seat which resembled a throne, two smaller seats on either side. Words came into my mind-pews, altar, church. And the scene suddenly made sense-I was inside of a church, the benches were pews, and the large table covered in a cloth was an altar. Standing behind the altar was Frank, putting away pieces of gold in the shapes of what appeared to be goblets.
A woman dressed in black, small red butterfly wings coming from the back of her garment, her head covered as well, entered the main area of the church, peering around cautiously. Spotting Frank up at the altar, she quickened her pace. "Father," she said softly, her voice slightly irregular. As I got a better glance at her face, it was clear that her face was not normal for her species-a long scar ran from underneath her eye all the way to her chin, marring her features. "Are you positive that he is coming tonight?"
"Positive," replied Frank, his eyes disturbed. "Just as sure as those flocks of crowds will be here.one day of the year, the only day they'll ever come."
"Don't lose hope, father."
"Any hope I had was lost when I was born," he muttered, moving to a small cabinet and unlocking it, placing the golden goblet inside. He tilted his head upwards, peering into the lights tiredly, as if expecting to see something. "If there is a God, he is awfully silent." The woman ran to him, grasping him by the arm.
"It's not healthy for you to speak like that. You seem so dismal lately-you always seem dismal around this time of year," she said, her orange eyes searching his. He gave a roll of his eyes.
"Who wouldn't be-knowing that when your replacement comes only once a year.that lazy bum gets more positive attention than you could ever hope for," answered Frank flatly. "Nomad my bum."
"Father Uriel is a good faerie-he doesn't mean to insult you."
"Of course he doesn't," said Frank softly, closing the cabinet doors and locking them, slipping the key into the pocket. He did not say anything after that, but walked down the steps to where the pews were, placing his hand momentarily on the back of the pew. "But nonetheless, I will not be present tonight. I will see you tomorrow, sister," he said, and walked down the long aisle in the center towards the door.
"Maybe-maybe he could heal you!" cried the woman after him, desperate, not wanting him to leave. She got very lonely when he wasn't around-she was the only other faerie that lived at the church. Although she had been born a normal faerie, an accident had doomed her to a life in the church, hiding her scars from the encounter behind a veil of religious service, as if it would redeem her. Frank shook his head, not even bothering to stop. She could not see his face, the tears running down it angrily, dripping down to his shirt. Wiping furiously at them with the back of his hand, frustrated at his weakness in emotion, he replied with a hoarse, cracking voice.
"Trust me, sister-he can't."
The sun was only slightly past its height in the sky when Father Uriel did manage to arrive. The woman had been fretting all day, sitting alone in the front pew, not knowing what to do, wringing the hem of her dress worriedly. She was not used to doing things on her own-all her life she had relied on the presence of her parents, and when they had passed away in the accident, on the church and Father Frank. So, naturally, when the knocking began on the door, she shot from her position on the pew and to the door.
"Father Uriel!" she cried in relief, and swung the door open, inviting the priest in. The male pulled back the hood of his black robe, revealing his face. No, it never changed, no matter how many years passed- and unlike all others in religious service, Father Uriel's face was smooth and youthful, handsome for being one of the only male faeries around. His hair, longer than one would expect for a male, was a deep jade color, contrasting with his crimson eyes. The woman would always wonder if male faeries all had the same hair and eye coloration.
"Good afternoon, sister, looking just as lovely as ever-did Father Frank actually decide to stay this time?" he asked, although his face made it obvious that he did not expect such a phenomenon, brushing his lips against her cheek. The woman shook her head regrettably, although was slightly stimulated by his affection.
"No, I'm sorry-he stormed off, moody as ever," she said with a tiny sigh.
"Just leaving you to yourself? Certainly Father Frank has more compassion than that."
"He's been abnormally gloomy lately.I'm beginning to wonder if it's bordering on depression."
"Don't be silly, sister-faeries don't get depressed, that's strictly a matter for the developing humans on a completely different planet."
"Oh, so you've accepted their presence then?"
"Yes, but that doesn't mean we can let the other parishioners as well- the religious community is always pretty good at covering up science where it needs be," replied Uriel, an ironic smile on his face as he pulled off his cloak, hanging it up on a nearby peg. "You don't want to be out of a job, do you, sister?"
"No more than you."
"Smart girl," he commented, his eyes twinkling. "Now, what do you say we finish getting ready for tonight's mass?"
The night sky was alive with a various number of lights flashing across the sky, varying in colors. In truth, they were not beams of light but single points traveling at high enough speeds to render themselves as mere blurs-they were faeries, heading for their homes among the clouds. They all seemed to come from one single point-a small, wooden building; the church. Two figures, however, bigger than the average faerie, stood outside of the building, looking up into the skies, bidding the glowing faeries farewell into the darkness of night.
"Wonderfully inspirational, as every year, Father Uriel," gushed the woman, clutching Uriel's arm, her body leaning pointedly towards him. It was quite clear that, despite her vow to abstinence and singularity, that she had a sweet spot for the similarly-bound priest. He, though, was markedly disinterested in manner, his eyes locked on the departing faeries.
"Oh. Thank you," he said offhandedly, only half-hearing her, his attention, for the most part, fixed on the faeries. "Do you notice that they move away quickly, as if they're afraid of this place? They never come here any other time during the year-or so I'm told. It's like some kind of twisted holiday, letting those in who would never come otherwise. Should they really be allowed to do such a thing? Shouldn't it be considered a sin?"
"You can't reign in faeries. It's impossible. Free spirits we will always be, free to choose our destiny as we may choose. Our God gave us free will for a reason-isn't that what the good book says?"
"The book also says honor the Sabbath day. Do they do that?" The woman was struck speechless, beaten, for the moment, at her own game. He took advantage of the woman's shock by slipping out from her grip elusively, not making it totally obvious. He did not have much time to revel in his liberation, however, as he suddenly crumpled over in pain, clutching at his stomach in agony. The woman reacted, placing a hand supportively on his shoulder.
"Father Uriel.?" she asked. He pushed her away, however, staggering forward.
"N-no.leave me alone.I have to go.don't follow me," he stuttered out, bent over and trembling. With surprising, speed he took off, effectively leaving the woman behind. It took her a moment to recover from her shock, but after she had, she did not follow his directions-she shot off in the direction she had last seen him going, her wings working overtime. She did not care the questionable looks she got from some faeries-she followed his path diligently, drawn by an almost mystical force. She followed his trail through the streets of what could be considered a city for faeries, nominally independent individuals, to the forest of cloud trees, swaying their branches of gnarled, gray storm clouds. The wind seemed to have picked up in the area, whipping the branches, pieces of cloud brushing against her scarred face.
"Father Uriel!" she cried into the darkness, but was responded only by darkness, her own words seeming to ricochet back at her, slapping her violently in the face. Still she trudged forwards, her curiosity getting the better of her-she had always wondered where the beloved priest went after his annual visits. Was it true he went on escapades with the rogue Space Faerie, traversing throughout the galaxy, the universe, the cosmos? And what had been ailing him as he swiftly departed.
It was when she came to a clearing that she halted, instinctively stopping among the trees before she emerged into the pale moonlight. She could hear the sounds of faeries following her, but they were far behind- they would not arrive in time. Timidly, she poked her head through the trees, peering through like a peeping Tom. Sure enough, in the clear lay Father Uriel on his side, panting, groaning, curled up into a fetal position. There was clearly something paining him in his stomach, cramping, or perhaps bleeding internally.
From the side of the field came another dark form-much larger than Uriel's slight form. "Is the great Father Uriel in pain?" came a low voice from the figure, the voice slightly sarcastic, especially on the words 'great,' and walked out of the trees, revealing himself as Frank, his eyes narrowed. Uriel strained to look up at Frank.
"Father Frank.leave me alone.not even you can help me now."
"Who said I was going to help you? But I may as well anyway-I'm not going to let the good Samaritan get the credit this time," he replied, walking over to Father Uriel, reaching down for the faerie. The priest did not seem to want Frank's assistance, however, batting him away furiously with a hand. Pulling back as if he had truly been struck (which he very well might have been), he narrowed his eyes. "I'm only trying to help you, Uriel."
"I don't need your help.not a shred of it," he moaned, sweat running down his forehead.
"Unless you desire to die lying here, I wager you do," snapped back Frank, bending down to Uriel. Uriel did not resist this time. Frank slowly reached towards what seemed to be ailing Uriel. Uriel drew back, cringing, and Frank then approached more slowly, opening Uriel's shirt slowly. He pulled backwards when he saw what was plaguing the poor priest-gripping at his stomach seemed to be thousands of dark tendrils, groping his skin furiously. It was not a common disease among faeries, but known nonetheless, especially among light faeries. It had to do with the sudden shifting of lightness and darkness within a faerie's body. It was supposed to be quite painful, and eventually kill the faerie that possessed it.
"You see why I turned to priesthood now," smirked Uriel, and then grimaced, as the pain wracked through his body. "It has only recently flared up to such an extreme.I will die tonight, and there is nothing you can do to stop my imminent death."
"But.God."
"God? God nothing. If God was really there.would he plague me with this?" snarled Uriel, his calm nature suddenly shifted into one of an almost ravaging beast. "The cause we work for.nobody cares. God has looked away from us.God will never look back, for his people have abandoned him.and so, appropriately, he has abandoned his people. Those that still do praise him.have been forgotten along with the rest." Uriel squeezed his eyes shut. "I just pray.that the gates of Heaven are still open to the holy men.to us.if God is there."
"This really isn't a good time to go doubting if your God is there or not. And you're not going to die, Uriel, you're going to live," growled Frank between clenched teeth. "You're the only one they listen to-you think they're going to listen to me? A abomination of their race?"
"Faith. Have faith."
"How can you talk about faith after just telling me you don't think God remembers us?"
"I.I don't know. Maybe it's the disease talking.but." Uriel swallowed, his eyes rolling slightly back into his head, and then focusing slightly on Frank, yet at the same time looking almost through him. He reached for Frank's hand, missing completely. Frank reached forward and took it, relieving him of the duty of finding it on his own. "I'm sorry.for the trouble I've.caused you." Tears dripped out of the sides of his eyes as his gaze shifted upwards, staring blankly into the sky. "Good-bye." With those last words, his eyesight seemed to completely go askew, any signs of life disappearing from his eyes.
Frank looked at the priest in disbelief, not able to believe what he saw. "Uriel? Oh God, no!" he screamed, and began to go off in a tangent of frenzied speech, a cluster of curses and other snippets of speech. Slowly, he began to wean off his angry shouts, bowing his head, clutching Father Uriel's shirt and then lifting his hand, looking off aimlessly into the distance.
"You can stop hiding, sister," he spoke gravely, his eyes staring vacantly at one of the trees surrounding the clearing.
"But, how.?" asked the woman, her face looking totally puzzled, unable to comprehend what she had just witnessed, despite seeing it all.
"I don't know, sister. I didn't-"
"MURDERER!"
The blunt accusation came from the woods, the definite shrieking of a Dark Faerie in a rich alto tone. The small point of light rushed into the clearing, followed by various other points of light, though not all purple as most dark faeries were, making some Earth, Fire, Light or Air faeries, though most likely not Water faeries, for not many of them knew how to fly. The dark faerie zoomed right up to Frank's face, shameless, and punched him quite firmly in the eye.
"What in the name of the good Lord was that for?" shouted Frank, covering his eye with one of his hands in pain.
"Fine, act like you don't know, murderer! It's been obvious since square one that you've been jealous of Father Uriel for being so much better at your job-but to go and kill him-now that's a sin worthy of death!" cried the obnoxious little dark faerie.
"Murder.Uriel?" asked Frank, not quite comprehending what she was trying to communicate. He looked blankly from Uriel's soulless body and back to the dark faerie, speechless.
"I could hear the struggle all the way from Faerie City-your swearing, his poor weeps as you gave him no mercy.and this!" She pointed downwards to her comrades, who patted Father Uriel's body, trying to wake him from his eternal sleep. "Is it not evidence enough of your merciless slaughter of an innocent man?!"
"But there isn't even any blood on him-and besides, this can all be easily explained-"
"Enough of your phony excuses-girls, have at him! Justice will be served tonight-our father will be avenged! Demon!" bellowed the dark faerie, and before Frank could even react enough to at least give chase, the faeries were on him, many pinpoints of light rushing towards his face. Their numbers seemed to increase by tenfold, transporting in from absolutely nowhere just to participate in the cruel sentence for the wrongfully accused priest, a large misunderstanding that seemed to be the very end of his existence.
The pain was intense, as it came softly but in many numbers, enough to justify blinding pain. It was brief, much to Frank's relief, however- something seemed to pick him out of the massacre, lifting him into the air. He watched as the faeries seemed to continue to beat himself, although he wondered how he could have been up in the air while he was also down there. Was his soul rising, having already been 'justice-a-fied' by the insane faeries?
"Honestly, dear, you need to be more cautious-those faeries will take any excuse possible to eliminate a blemish on their skin of perfection," sighed a voice from above him, familiar. Straining his neck upwards, he spotted the Space Faerie, grasping to his hand and pulling him upwards. "That illusion will last for only a few more minutes with the beating they're doing to it," she said, motioning down to the ground, "and then there'll be a manhunt. They're all too predictable."
"What about.the sister.?"
"Her? Oh, she'll be fine. They hardly even notice she's there, though she'll probably think you're dead by now. All the better-you won't be returning anyway," replied the Space Faerie offhandedly. "Hold your breath, now-we're going to have to accelerate to get through the atmosphere, and there isn't much oxygen past that. Unless you're developed for outer space travel," she commented dryly. Frank did as told, and just in time-for the Space Faerie did things hastily, as there was no time for halting in space; everything was just too far apart for delays.
It was not long before the two had arrived at a small space craft, the Space Faerie opening the hatch, slipping both of themselves inside of it, shutting it tightly behind her. "Alright, listen closely, because I won't be able to repeat myself," she stated in a cold, logical voice. "This is an escape pod, disconnected from my main mothership. You can send messages back to it, but only within this galaxy-and this puppy is designed for outergalatic travel. You can steer manual or set her on autopilot with these buttons. Everything else is stated in a manual within her system- she's already on, and you can search her hard drive with this joystick. You should be able to survive on the oxygen and food in here for approximately two decades, more if you're lucky-enough time for that stupid little dark faerie to demise and your 'murder' with her."
"You have this down to a science, don't you?"
"Well, I always figured they'd eventually pin you for something, and I just wanted to be sure that you had some way to escape the heat for a while."
"That's kind of you," stated Frank flatly.
"You'll repay me someday, I'm sure," she replied, smiling. "Now don't get lost or anything-and you'd better be coming back," she said grimly, narrowing her crimson eyes.
"I will."
"Well, then I guess I'll be seeing you in twenty, eh?" she said, her smile not quite too sincere. It was almost sad, regretful. There was something much more than friendship between the two faeries, drastically different as they were-it was clear enough by the way their identical eyes locked briefly, expressing something far deeper than merely the surface friendship they shared. They were two lonely souls destined for solitude, yet seeking another.
At this point, I halted my watching and listening, reverting myself ultimately back to reality. I had gotten far too caught up in the virtual memory displayed before me, everything making an eerie sense, understanding implanted into my brain like a computer chip. (Although at the time, I had no knowledge of computers either, so would not have given such a comparison.) Yet I suppose I had not known the magnitude of my crush until that very moment-for something deep within me stirred uncomfortably seeing Frank so obviously impassioned over another entity. I could not even focus enough to bring it back, to have an explanation-no, I was utterly back, my eyes regaining their life from a dream-like state.
"Is there something the matter?" asked Frank, obviously noticing the perturbed look on my face. I quickly wiped it away as I came back to painful reality, and shook my head.
"No-I'm fine. I'm just slightly confused," I admitted. True, I was perplexed, slightly, but I was fibbing about myself being fine. It felt as if someone had reached inside of my stomach with a great clawed hand and twisted it in a violent manner. I remembered having this feeling before, some time back-it was when I had still been about child-aged and I had had an intense crush on a cute Shadow Grundo seer male my age. The feeling came from when I had come upon him fawning upon another female Grundo, not a seer but certainly a looker even for her stupidity and relatively young age.
"There's not much to be confused about-the point is, they think I killed their favorite priest, and at the moment.I'm just waiting out my time. Although.there could be a few side projects," he said thoughtfully, his mind seeming to drift easily into other places. That slight darkness seemed to grip at the edges of his existence again, but blurred to nothing again, although its comings and goings alone were disturbing enough.
"So, then.that was how I got here-yet the future is still to be written, hmm?" he said with a shrug. And within his words I found a spark of hope.
The future could rewrite the past. Perhaps there was still room for my little crush-and the hand released its tight grasp on my intestines. I muffled a long sigh of relief, although at that time I did not notice the darkness creeping in once again, but moving away just in time for me to hardly notice. This was just another example of my extreme naiveté-even being a seer, I could not see into the future, was blinded by my affection for him. The formula was all laid out for a dangerous situation: a spited man with something much darker than goodness brewing inside of him, small, perhaps, but escalating, a tiny error resulting in an enormous error in the end.
I sensed that it was late, although less time had passed than I would have thought, as the clips had been stretched over a longer set of time, somehow taking a shorter time to play through. "I suppose it's your dinner time, now," said Frank, looking at the numbers on the control panel, completely irrelevant to me. (Grundos did not measure time in a mechanical fashion.) "I don't have much food here, so I'm afraid I can't offer you dinner." he began.
"Oh, no, it's fine," I amended. "I need to get home anyway.Dipak's going to kill me if he finds out I wasn't doing my exercises," I commented, swallowing, realizing that these words I spoke were indeed true. I looked up above me to see the door, quite out of my reach, way over my head. "Uh."
Frank laughed softly. "Yes, well, this door isn't exactly suited for Grundos. Shall I help you out?"
"Please," I said, sustaining a blush that was just underneath my skin, ready to break through and embarrass me even further. He stood up, reaching upwards, opening the hatch and lifted me up, placing me on top of his abode.
"Alright, well, I guess I'll see you later, hopefully?" he suggested. The blush almost broke its way onto my skin, but I managed to hold it back.just barely. I nodded furiously, almost too eagerly. "See you later, then." With that, he closed the hatch, disappearing back inside. I paused slightly on top of the escape pod, and then slid down as if I were on a slide, scratching myself slightly on the gears outside of it, landing smoothly on my feet.
As I began walking away, the faint song of the instrument floated after me, its tone darker than it had been before, lower and more shaking. A shiver coursed through my body. Convincing myself it was just the steadily dropping temperature of nighttime, I quickened my pace, jogging back home.
It seemed to be some kind of place of congregation, many benches lined up in rows facing towards a large table of sorts covered in a white cloth. Behind this table was set some kind of seat which resembled a throne, two smaller seats on either side. Words came into my mind-pews, altar, church. And the scene suddenly made sense-I was inside of a church, the benches were pews, and the large table covered in a cloth was an altar. Standing behind the altar was Frank, putting away pieces of gold in the shapes of what appeared to be goblets.
A woman dressed in black, small red butterfly wings coming from the back of her garment, her head covered as well, entered the main area of the church, peering around cautiously. Spotting Frank up at the altar, she quickened her pace. "Father," she said softly, her voice slightly irregular. As I got a better glance at her face, it was clear that her face was not normal for her species-a long scar ran from underneath her eye all the way to her chin, marring her features. "Are you positive that he is coming tonight?"
"Positive," replied Frank, his eyes disturbed. "Just as sure as those flocks of crowds will be here.one day of the year, the only day they'll ever come."
"Don't lose hope, father."
"Any hope I had was lost when I was born," he muttered, moving to a small cabinet and unlocking it, placing the golden goblet inside. He tilted his head upwards, peering into the lights tiredly, as if expecting to see something. "If there is a God, he is awfully silent." The woman ran to him, grasping him by the arm.
"It's not healthy for you to speak like that. You seem so dismal lately-you always seem dismal around this time of year," she said, her orange eyes searching his. He gave a roll of his eyes.
"Who wouldn't be-knowing that when your replacement comes only once a year.that lazy bum gets more positive attention than you could ever hope for," answered Frank flatly. "Nomad my bum."
"Father Uriel is a good faerie-he doesn't mean to insult you."
"Of course he doesn't," said Frank softly, closing the cabinet doors and locking them, slipping the key into the pocket. He did not say anything after that, but walked down the steps to where the pews were, placing his hand momentarily on the back of the pew. "But nonetheless, I will not be present tonight. I will see you tomorrow, sister," he said, and walked down the long aisle in the center towards the door.
"Maybe-maybe he could heal you!" cried the woman after him, desperate, not wanting him to leave. She got very lonely when he wasn't around-she was the only other faerie that lived at the church. Although she had been born a normal faerie, an accident had doomed her to a life in the church, hiding her scars from the encounter behind a veil of religious service, as if it would redeem her. Frank shook his head, not even bothering to stop. She could not see his face, the tears running down it angrily, dripping down to his shirt. Wiping furiously at them with the back of his hand, frustrated at his weakness in emotion, he replied with a hoarse, cracking voice.
"Trust me, sister-he can't."
The sun was only slightly past its height in the sky when Father Uriel did manage to arrive. The woman had been fretting all day, sitting alone in the front pew, not knowing what to do, wringing the hem of her dress worriedly. She was not used to doing things on her own-all her life she had relied on the presence of her parents, and when they had passed away in the accident, on the church and Father Frank. So, naturally, when the knocking began on the door, she shot from her position on the pew and to the door.
"Father Uriel!" she cried in relief, and swung the door open, inviting the priest in. The male pulled back the hood of his black robe, revealing his face. No, it never changed, no matter how many years passed- and unlike all others in religious service, Father Uriel's face was smooth and youthful, handsome for being one of the only male faeries around. His hair, longer than one would expect for a male, was a deep jade color, contrasting with his crimson eyes. The woman would always wonder if male faeries all had the same hair and eye coloration.
"Good afternoon, sister, looking just as lovely as ever-did Father Frank actually decide to stay this time?" he asked, although his face made it obvious that he did not expect such a phenomenon, brushing his lips against her cheek. The woman shook her head regrettably, although was slightly stimulated by his affection.
"No, I'm sorry-he stormed off, moody as ever," she said with a tiny sigh.
"Just leaving you to yourself? Certainly Father Frank has more compassion than that."
"He's been abnormally gloomy lately.I'm beginning to wonder if it's bordering on depression."
"Don't be silly, sister-faeries don't get depressed, that's strictly a matter for the developing humans on a completely different planet."
"Oh, so you've accepted their presence then?"
"Yes, but that doesn't mean we can let the other parishioners as well- the religious community is always pretty good at covering up science where it needs be," replied Uriel, an ironic smile on his face as he pulled off his cloak, hanging it up on a nearby peg. "You don't want to be out of a job, do you, sister?"
"No more than you."
"Smart girl," he commented, his eyes twinkling. "Now, what do you say we finish getting ready for tonight's mass?"
The night sky was alive with a various number of lights flashing across the sky, varying in colors. In truth, they were not beams of light but single points traveling at high enough speeds to render themselves as mere blurs-they were faeries, heading for their homes among the clouds. They all seemed to come from one single point-a small, wooden building; the church. Two figures, however, bigger than the average faerie, stood outside of the building, looking up into the skies, bidding the glowing faeries farewell into the darkness of night.
"Wonderfully inspirational, as every year, Father Uriel," gushed the woman, clutching Uriel's arm, her body leaning pointedly towards him. It was quite clear that, despite her vow to abstinence and singularity, that she had a sweet spot for the similarly-bound priest. He, though, was markedly disinterested in manner, his eyes locked on the departing faeries.
"Oh. Thank you," he said offhandedly, only half-hearing her, his attention, for the most part, fixed on the faeries. "Do you notice that they move away quickly, as if they're afraid of this place? They never come here any other time during the year-or so I'm told. It's like some kind of twisted holiday, letting those in who would never come otherwise. Should they really be allowed to do such a thing? Shouldn't it be considered a sin?"
"You can't reign in faeries. It's impossible. Free spirits we will always be, free to choose our destiny as we may choose. Our God gave us free will for a reason-isn't that what the good book says?"
"The book also says honor the Sabbath day. Do they do that?" The woman was struck speechless, beaten, for the moment, at her own game. He took advantage of the woman's shock by slipping out from her grip elusively, not making it totally obvious. He did not have much time to revel in his liberation, however, as he suddenly crumpled over in pain, clutching at his stomach in agony. The woman reacted, placing a hand supportively on his shoulder.
"Father Uriel.?" she asked. He pushed her away, however, staggering forward.
"N-no.leave me alone.I have to go.don't follow me," he stuttered out, bent over and trembling. With surprising, speed he took off, effectively leaving the woman behind. It took her a moment to recover from her shock, but after she had, she did not follow his directions-she shot off in the direction she had last seen him going, her wings working overtime. She did not care the questionable looks she got from some faeries-she followed his path diligently, drawn by an almost mystical force. She followed his trail through the streets of what could be considered a city for faeries, nominally independent individuals, to the forest of cloud trees, swaying their branches of gnarled, gray storm clouds. The wind seemed to have picked up in the area, whipping the branches, pieces of cloud brushing against her scarred face.
"Father Uriel!" she cried into the darkness, but was responded only by darkness, her own words seeming to ricochet back at her, slapping her violently in the face. Still she trudged forwards, her curiosity getting the better of her-she had always wondered where the beloved priest went after his annual visits. Was it true he went on escapades with the rogue Space Faerie, traversing throughout the galaxy, the universe, the cosmos? And what had been ailing him as he swiftly departed.
It was when she came to a clearing that she halted, instinctively stopping among the trees before she emerged into the pale moonlight. She could hear the sounds of faeries following her, but they were far behind- they would not arrive in time. Timidly, she poked her head through the trees, peering through like a peeping Tom. Sure enough, in the clear lay Father Uriel on his side, panting, groaning, curled up into a fetal position. There was clearly something paining him in his stomach, cramping, or perhaps bleeding internally.
From the side of the field came another dark form-much larger than Uriel's slight form. "Is the great Father Uriel in pain?" came a low voice from the figure, the voice slightly sarcastic, especially on the words 'great,' and walked out of the trees, revealing himself as Frank, his eyes narrowed. Uriel strained to look up at Frank.
"Father Frank.leave me alone.not even you can help me now."
"Who said I was going to help you? But I may as well anyway-I'm not going to let the good Samaritan get the credit this time," he replied, walking over to Father Uriel, reaching down for the faerie. The priest did not seem to want Frank's assistance, however, batting him away furiously with a hand. Pulling back as if he had truly been struck (which he very well might have been), he narrowed his eyes. "I'm only trying to help you, Uriel."
"I don't need your help.not a shred of it," he moaned, sweat running down his forehead.
"Unless you desire to die lying here, I wager you do," snapped back Frank, bending down to Uriel. Uriel did not resist this time. Frank slowly reached towards what seemed to be ailing Uriel. Uriel drew back, cringing, and Frank then approached more slowly, opening Uriel's shirt slowly. He pulled backwards when he saw what was plaguing the poor priest-gripping at his stomach seemed to be thousands of dark tendrils, groping his skin furiously. It was not a common disease among faeries, but known nonetheless, especially among light faeries. It had to do with the sudden shifting of lightness and darkness within a faerie's body. It was supposed to be quite painful, and eventually kill the faerie that possessed it.
"You see why I turned to priesthood now," smirked Uriel, and then grimaced, as the pain wracked through his body. "It has only recently flared up to such an extreme.I will die tonight, and there is nothing you can do to stop my imminent death."
"But.God."
"God? God nothing. If God was really there.would he plague me with this?" snarled Uriel, his calm nature suddenly shifted into one of an almost ravaging beast. "The cause we work for.nobody cares. God has looked away from us.God will never look back, for his people have abandoned him.and so, appropriately, he has abandoned his people. Those that still do praise him.have been forgotten along with the rest." Uriel squeezed his eyes shut. "I just pray.that the gates of Heaven are still open to the holy men.to us.if God is there."
"This really isn't a good time to go doubting if your God is there or not. And you're not going to die, Uriel, you're going to live," growled Frank between clenched teeth. "You're the only one they listen to-you think they're going to listen to me? A abomination of their race?"
"Faith. Have faith."
"How can you talk about faith after just telling me you don't think God remembers us?"
"I.I don't know. Maybe it's the disease talking.but." Uriel swallowed, his eyes rolling slightly back into his head, and then focusing slightly on Frank, yet at the same time looking almost through him. He reached for Frank's hand, missing completely. Frank reached forward and took it, relieving him of the duty of finding it on his own. "I'm sorry.for the trouble I've.caused you." Tears dripped out of the sides of his eyes as his gaze shifted upwards, staring blankly into the sky. "Good-bye." With those last words, his eyesight seemed to completely go askew, any signs of life disappearing from his eyes.
Frank looked at the priest in disbelief, not able to believe what he saw. "Uriel? Oh God, no!" he screamed, and began to go off in a tangent of frenzied speech, a cluster of curses and other snippets of speech. Slowly, he began to wean off his angry shouts, bowing his head, clutching Father Uriel's shirt and then lifting his hand, looking off aimlessly into the distance.
"You can stop hiding, sister," he spoke gravely, his eyes staring vacantly at one of the trees surrounding the clearing.
"But, how.?" asked the woman, her face looking totally puzzled, unable to comprehend what she had just witnessed, despite seeing it all.
"I don't know, sister. I didn't-"
"MURDERER!"
The blunt accusation came from the woods, the definite shrieking of a Dark Faerie in a rich alto tone. The small point of light rushed into the clearing, followed by various other points of light, though not all purple as most dark faeries were, making some Earth, Fire, Light or Air faeries, though most likely not Water faeries, for not many of them knew how to fly. The dark faerie zoomed right up to Frank's face, shameless, and punched him quite firmly in the eye.
"What in the name of the good Lord was that for?" shouted Frank, covering his eye with one of his hands in pain.
"Fine, act like you don't know, murderer! It's been obvious since square one that you've been jealous of Father Uriel for being so much better at your job-but to go and kill him-now that's a sin worthy of death!" cried the obnoxious little dark faerie.
"Murder.Uriel?" asked Frank, not quite comprehending what she was trying to communicate. He looked blankly from Uriel's soulless body and back to the dark faerie, speechless.
"I could hear the struggle all the way from Faerie City-your swearing, his poor weeps as you gave him no mercy.and this!" She pointed downwards to her comrades, who patted Father Uriel's body, trying to wake him from his eternal sleep. "Is it not evidence enough of your merciless slaughter of an innocent man?!"
"But there isn't even any blood on him-and besides, this can all be easily explained-"
"Enough of your phony excuses-girls, have at him! Justice will be served tonight-our father will be avenged! Demon!" bellowed the dark faerie, and before Frank could even react enough to at least give chase, the faeries were on him, many pinpoints of light rushing towards his face. Their numbers seemed to increase by tenfold, transporting in from absolutely nowhere just to participate in the cruel sentence for the wrongfully accused priest, a large misunderstanding that seemed to be the very end of his existence.
The pain was intense, as it came softly but in many numbers, enough to justify blinding pain. It was brief, much to Frank's relief, however- something seemed to pick him out of the massacre, lifting him into the air. He watched as the faeries seemed to continue to beat himself, although he wondered how he could have been up in the air while he was also down there. Was his soul rising, having already been 'justice-a-fied' by the insane faeries?
"Honestly, dear, you need to be more cautious-those faeries will take any excuse possible to eliminate a blemish on their skin of perfection," sighed a voice from above him, familiar. Straining his neck upwards, he spotted the Space Faerie, grasping to his hand and pulling him upwards. "That illusion will last for only a few more minutes with the beating they're doing to it," she said, motioning down to the ground, "and then there'll be a manhunt. They're all too predictable."
"What about.the sister.?"
"Her? Oh, she'll be fine. They hardly even notice she's there, though she'll probably think you're dead by now. All the better-you won't be returning anyway," replied the Space Faerie offhandedly. "Hold your breath, now-we're going to have to accelerate to get through the atmosphere, and there isn't much oxygen past that. Unless you're developed for outer space travel," she commented dryly. Frank did as told, and just in time-for the Space Faerie did things hastily, as there was no time for halting in space; everything was just too far apart for delays.
It was not long before the two had arrived at a small space craft, the Space Faerie opening the hatch, slipping both of themselves inside of it, shutting it tightly behind her. "Alright, listen closely, because I won't be able to repeat myself," she stated in a cold, logical voice. "This is an escape pod, disconnected from my main mothership. You can send messages back to it, but only within this galaxy-and this puppy is designed for outergalatic travel. You can steer manual or set her on autopilot with these buttons. Everything else is stated in a manual within her system- she's already on, and you can search her hard drive with this joystick. You should be able to survive on the oxygen and food in here for approximately two decades, more if you're lucky-enough time for that stupid little dark faerie to demise and your 'murder' with her."
"You have this down to a science, don't you?"
"Well, I always figured they'd eventually pin you for something, and I just wanted to be sure that you had some way to escape the heat for a while."
"That's kind of you," stated Frank flatly.
"You'll repay me someday, I'm sure," she replied, smiling. "Now don't get lost or anything-and you'd better be coming back," she said grimly, narrowing her crimson eyes.
"I will."
"Well, then I guess I'll be seeing you in twenty, eh?" she said, her smile not quite too sincere. It was almost sad, regretful. There was something much more than friendship between the two faeries, drastically different as they were-it was clear enough by the way their identical eyes locked briefly, expressing something far deeper than merely the surface friendship they shared. They were two lonely souls destined for solitude, yet seeking another.
At this point, I halted my watching and listening, reverting myself ultimately back to reality. I had gotten far too caught up in the virtual memory displayed before me, everything making an eerie sense, understanding implanted into my brain like a computer chip. (Although at the time, I had no knowledge of computers either, so would not have given such a comparison.) Yet I suppose I had not known the magnitude of my crush until that very moment-for something deep within me stirred uncomfortably seeing Frank so obviously impassioned over another entity. I could not even focus enough to bring it back, to have an explanation-no, I was utterly back, my eyes regaining their life from a dream-like state.
"Is there something the matter?" asked Frank, obviously noticing the perturbed look on my face. I quickly wiped it away as I came back to painful reality, and shook my head.
"No-I'm fine. I'm just slightly confused," I admitted. True, I was perplexed, slightly, but I was fibbing about myself being fine. It felt as if someone had reached inside of my stomach with a great clawed hand and twisted it in a violent manner. I remembered having this feeling before, some time back-it was when I had still been about child-aged and I had had an intense crush on a cute Shadow Grundo seer male my age. The feeling came from when I had come upon him fawning upon another female Grundo, not a seer but certainly a looker even for her stupidity and relatively young age.
"There's not much to be confused about-the point is, they think I killed their favorite priest, and at the moment.I'm just waiting out my time. Although.there could be a few side projects," he said thoughtfully, his mind seeming to drift easily into other places. That slight darkness seemed to grip at the edges of his existence again, but blurred to nothing again, although its comings and goings alone were disturbing enough.
"So, then.that was how I got here-yet the future is still to be written, hmm?" he said with a shrug. And within his words I found a spark of hope.
The future could rewrite the past. Perhaps there was still room for my little crush-and the hand released its tight grasp on my intestines. I muffled a long sigh of relief, although at that time I did not notice the darkness creeping in once again, but moving away just in time for me to hardly notice. This was just another example of my extreme naiveté-even being a seer, I could not see into the future, was blinded by my affection for him. The formula was all laid out for a dangerous situation: a spited man with something much darker than goodness brewing inside of him, small, perhaps, but escalating, a tiny error resulting in an enormous error in the end.
I sensed that it was late, although less time had passed than I would have thought, as the clips had been stretched over a longer set of time, somehow taking a shorter time to play through. "I suppose it's your dinner time, now," said Frank, looking at the numbers on the control panel, completely irrelevant to me. (Grundos did not measure time in a mechanical fashion.) "I don't have much food here, so I'm afraid I can't offer you dinner." he began.
"Oh, no, it's fine," I amended. "I need to get home anyway.Dipak's going to kill me if he finds out I wasn't doing my exercises," I commented, swallowing, realizing that these words I spoke were indeed true. I looked up above me to see the door, quite out of my reach, way over my head. "Uh."
Frank laughed softly. "Yes, well, this door isn't exactly suited for Grundos. Shall I help you out?"
"Please," I said, sustaining a blush that was just underneath my skin, ready to break through and embarrass me even further. He stood up, reaching upwards, opening the hatch and lifted me up, placing me on top of his abode.
"Alright, well, I guess I'll see you later, hopefully?" he suggested. The blush almost broke its way onto my skin, but I managed to hold it back.just barely. I nodded furiously, almost too eagerly. "See you later, then." With that, he closed the hatch, disappearing back inside. I paused slightly on top of the escape pod, and then slid down as if I were on a slide, scratching myself slightly on the gears outside of it, landing smoothly on my feet.
As I began walking away, the faint song of the instrument floated after me, its tone darker than it had been before, lower and more shaking. A shiver coursed through my body. Convincing myself it was just the steadily dropping temperature of nighttime, I quickened my pace, jogging back home.