Chapter 2 "Fallen Angels "
Sing your song little one .
The night will dawn , never be done .
Quickly now , not a word ,
... and never mind that noise you heard ..
It's just the rats beneath your bed ,
in the alley , in your head .
Oh ive seen better days , but this century will be rare ,
I can't remember the sun , the rivers or the air ..
Just keep one eye open ,
and grip your'e pillow tight --
If they come looking for us ,
We'll always have the light .
No matter the time of day or night ,
the back alleys of Empyean are no friend to the light .
Commings and goings here are furtive , unseen-- which is just how the Citadel's darker denizens like it .
Cassidy thew her hair over her shoulder as she paused to drink from one of the swells .
Her hands cupped tight , she laded the clear water into her palms and drank , her pale cracked lips grateful that it at last rained .
Long ago , he'd discovered Aqua 's counterpart ;
a wise girl whom she sought for advice .
She had Aqua's mane , her unique eyes , her sweet , sensible spirit .
For over three years he'd lived with both maidens -- the one who slew his dragons , had answers to all his comebacks , and the gentile one who saw how life was -- when the dragons were gone .
Real life .
Cass was that heroine .
..and he'd failed her .
Hard as it was to face , the fact stared back at him like his relfection in the water .
....Zim had done it .
Elbows resting on his knees as he knealt at the water's edge , Dib squinted at his relection .
"...If this hard for you , its just as hard for me , " Cass said .
" Ive never been a fighter -- im the one who refrees . "
Cassidy glanced at him , pleased that she could still make him smile .
"Its a lot safer standing on the sidelines and blowing a whistle than it is playing the game , my bell . "
she looked into the crystal reflection , her jewel toned eyes getting sirious .
"....But what happens when it stops being a game ?..."
He dropped a stone in , pooling the image .
" ...Thats what ive been trying to figure out all along .."
CREEeeekkkk !
"Sister ! Sister ! "
Orian let out a tremendous squeek as he lept from the pools .
ZimLover lifted her head as he bounded cherilly toward her .
Orian was slim and young --maybe six now , and yet she could still rember holding him in her arms , wrapped in a shawl , watching his eyes gleam as he shut them for a dream or two .
He was a beautiful child , with gray , nearly silver hair cascading over his pale , alabaster shoulders , and spritely eyes that were almost as blue as the skies once were .
"Chibi , she said ,
what are you doing out of the chamber ? "
" You know how Aqua fears for you so . "
He kicked up some dust , eyeing the floor .
" ..I knooowwww ....."
She knealt and kissed each of his cheeks , european wise .
" Off with you then , Kitling . "
Orion calmly obeyed , skipping on after a cricket that had snuck in with her .
She watched him leave , her eyes empty and sad .
Even though he wasn't directly desent from him , It was amazing how much he reminded her of Zim .
...It broke her heart .
The binding of the neckclasp unwove , and the cloak slid down , falling away from her shoulders .
Then and there she pulled the ring off her finger and threw it aganst the wall and into a nearby puddle , Shattering the reflection .
..... She dissapeared into the hallway , her soft crying echoing the dank rooms .
Sing your song little one .
The night will dawn , never be done .
Quickly now , not a word ,
... and never mind that noise you heard ..
It's just the rats beneath your bed ,
in the alley , in your head .
Oh ive seen better days , but this century will be rare ,
I can't remember the sun , the rivers or the air ..
Just keep one eye open ,
and grip your'e pillow tight --
If they come looking for us ,
We'll always have the light .
No matter the time of day or night ,
the back alleys of Empyean are no friend to the light .
Commings and goings here are furtive , unseen-- which is just how the Citadel's darker denizens like it .
Cassidy thew her hair over her shoulder as she paused to drink from one of the swells .
Her hands cupped tight , she laded the clear water into her palms and drank , her pale cracked lips grateful that it at last rained .
Long ago , he'd discovered Aqua 's counterpart ;
a wise girl whom she sought for advice .
She had Aqua's mane , her unique eyes , her sweet , sensible spirit .
For over three years he'd lived with both maidens -- the one who slew his dragons , had answers to all his comebacks , and the gentile one who saw how life was -- when the dragons were gone .
Real life .
Cass was that heroine .
..and he'd failed her .
Hard as it was to face , the fact stared back at him like his relfection in the water .
....Zim had done it .
Elbows resting on his knees as he knealt at the water's edge , Dib squinted at his relection .
"...If this hard for you , its just as hard for me , " Cass said .
" Ive never been a fighter -- im the one who refrees . "
Cassidy glanced at him , pleased that she could still make him smile .
"Its a lot safer standing on the sidelines and blowing a whistle than it is playing the game , my bell . "
she looked into the crystal reflection , her jewel toned eyes getting sirious .
"....But what happens when it stops being a game ?..."
He dropped a stone in , pooling the image .
" ...Thats what ive been trying to figure out all along .."
CREEeeekkkk !
"Sister ! Sister ! "
Orian let out a tremendous squeek as he lept from the pools .
ZimLover lifted her head as he bounded cherilly toward her .
Orian was slim and young --maybe six now , and yet she could still rember holding him in her arms , wrapped in a shawl , watching his eyes gleam as he shut them for a dream or two .
He was a beautiful child , with gray , nearly silver hair cascading over his pale , alabaster shoulders , and spritely eyes that were almost as blue as the skies once were .
"Chibi , she said ,
what are you doing out of the chamber ? "
" You know how Aqua fears for you so . "
He kicked up some dust , eyeing the floor .
" ..I knooowwww ....."
She knealt and kissed each of his cheeks , european wise .
" Off with you then , Kitling . "
Orion calmly obeyed , skipping on after a cricket that had snuck in with her .
She watched him leave , her eyes empty and sad .
Even though he wasn't directly desent from him , It was amazing how much he reminded her of Zim .
...It broke her heart .
The binding of the neckclasp unwove , and the cloak slid down , falling away from her shoulders .
Then and there she pulled the ring off her finger and threw it aganst the wall and into a nearby puddle , Shattering the reflection .
..... She dissapeared into the hallway , her soft crying echoing the dank rooms .