Angel's Tale by Oriel
Rated: PG-13 for language and partial nudity >.>;
Disclaimer: Refer to previous chapter. Sorry it took me so long to come up with this chapter. I wrote about three versions of it before I decided to keep this one. Now I got basically the whole story planned out in my head. The other chapters should now come more quickly, depending on the amount of homework I'll have for college. Keep reviewing please!
" ": dialogue
/ /: thoughts
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Chapter 2 - A strange illness
Violent gusts of wind were shooting down the sand dunes slopes and then slamming into the two angels' faces, merciless, erasing their tracks almost instantly behind them, irritating their eyes and skin. But fortunately for them, it was almost twilight and the desert's temperature was slowly becoming somewhat more bearable.
They had found the source of the mysterious power and, as they were asked by the High Council, had observed it for a while and taken some notes for the Great Angelic Database. Once in possession of this information, the Council will be able to send a guardian angel to look after the bearer of the power. A force such as this one, bending either towards Good or Evil, could greatly affect the fragile balance of the universe. The unexpected death of one of those very few blessed beings could result in chaos and destruction in both the material and spiritual world, thus the importance of keeping them and their environment under the very strict control of Heaven.
Mikael suddenly stopped walking and lifted a hand above his eyes, casting his gaze over the vast sand plains that surrounded them, looking out for the remainders of their merkaba. He growled loudly as icy stiff wind yet again whipped dust onto them. For a moment, his breath was clogged. He coughed, hacked loudly and spat onto the sand.
"We'll never find that damn merkaba. It's too dark. For what's left of it anyway..."
Alexiel stopped short of her partner and watched the sun disappear beyond the horizon line. He was right. It was useless to keep going. They had already been searching for more than two hours, hoping to be able to recover the equipment which allowed them to transport themselves back to Heaven. But to no avail. Her feet were now killing her and her aching body yearned for rest.
"Fine then, we'll stop here. Make a fire, it's going to get real cold soon. Meanwhile I'll try to contact Heaven so that they can send us a rescue team here."
The red-head scratched his head as he examined the miles of barren wasteland stretching out in all directions around them.
"Just how exactly do you expect me to make a fire. There's nothing for me to burn around here."
Alexiel shrugged while taking a transmitter out of her bag.
"How would I know? I thought you were a pro when it came to fires. Maybe I was wrong then..."
"Grr! SHUT UP! Or I'll fucking burn you to a crisp! I'm gonna show you who's the pro!"
The Archangel was still cursing under his breath as Alexiel walked up a sand dune with an amused shake of the head and the communication device in her hand. As soon as she was out of sight, he started searching for something he could use as a combustible material but only found a few pieces of wood, so dry that they disintegrated in his hands. He frowned and tapped his chin with a finger, thoughtfully.
That annoying bitch had challenged him. Now he absolutely had to make a fire before she came back. Or else he'd be forever humiliated.
And suddenly, his eyes lit up and an evil grin appeared on his face.
"Bingo!"
On her side, Alexiel was desperately trying to establish the communications with Heaven, but they seemed to be jammed by a magnetic field of some sort. Distractedly, she looked up at the three silver moons crossing the star-filled sky.
/ I'll try again tomorrow. /
For the moment, she was stuck on this strange planet, in the middle of the desert with one, if not the most violent and elusive angel she knew.
/ There shouldn't be anything to worry about. I can handle his short temper and attitude. /
A nasty smell invaded her nose and snapped her out of her trance. Alerted, she quickly turned around to see a huge cloud of black smoke coming in her direction. She could hardly distinguish the thin silhouette of her partner on the other side. Coughing, suffocating and teary-eyed, she made her way through the smoke screen.
And what she saw then nearly caused her to burst out in laughter.
The vertically-challenged angel stood proudly next to a roaring fire, almost completely naked to the exception of a small piece of cloth tied around his youthful waist, which was barely enough to decently cover his dignity and behind. He was carelessly throwing his clothes, all of them, in the brightly-colored flames. Her eyes became glued to the dragon in all its sinuous curves, highlighting the perfection and strange delicacy of his musculature.
A strong breeze blew up Mikael's loincloth, his ass now swinging in the wind. Embarrassed, he hurriedly placed it back down as Alexiel smirked. He glared at her and rested his soot-stained hands on his sides, securing down the cloth in the mean time.
"Whatcha looking at? You wanted a fire, you got it now! Happy?"
She furrowed an eyebrow mockingly.
"You haven't found anything better to make a fire with?"
Not awaiting his reply, she took off her cloak and handed it to him.
"Here, put this on."
He stared at it for a few seconds, a puzzled frown pasted on his face. He then grabbed it and threw the large piece of fabric into the blazing inferno. They both watched as the orange flames licked the cloth, totally consuming Alexiel's only protection against the cold of the night.
She frowned, helpless, and folded her arms over her abundant chest. The small white cotton dress she was wearing wouldn't be enough to keep her warm. The temperature was now near freezing point. Clouds of condensation puffed out of their nose as they exhaled.
He smiled, flashing his pearly-white set of teeth.
"Bleh. We won't be here for a long time anyway."
"That's what you think. I wasn't able to contact Heaven. Hopefully, the communications will be better tomorrow. Now we better get some rest."
The young man sighed as he sat down on the sand, curling his knees to his chest and burying his head in his arms.
"G'night then."
"You must be cold like this, aren't you?"
She teased him as she too sat in front of the crackling fire, letting its soothing heat scorch her and penetrate her frozen body. He laughed.
"Pfft, not at all. Never. I'm not a pansy."
But in truth, he found the sand was rather cold. The air around him was cold too. Heck, he was freezing. And the flames dancing in front of him didn't change anything to his situation.
/ Shit. I hate cold. /
And then there as Alexiel who was glancing at him, her lips curled up in a sneer.
/ She can keep dreaming if she thinks that... /
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her voice.
"Are you sure that you're not cold, Mika-chan?"
He shivered and tried to restrain his teeth from chattering.
"D-don't call me that! And I'm not f-fucking cold! I'm boiling hot, c-can't you see?"
Alexiel sighed, got up and sat by his side. He was shaking like a leaf. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and surprisingly enough, he didn't even protest when she pulled his frozen body against her. He looked away, seeing this as a jab to his male pride.
"I am not cold."
She sighed, pushing a tuft of mahogany hair off her face.
"I am."
He looked up at her. His honor was safe. He thus extended an arm around her waist.
"Ok then, but it's only so that you stop bothering me."
Alexiel nodded and yawned, resting her chin in the hollow of his neck.
/ Men are so predictable. /
****
Alexiel awoke as the first rays of light filtered through her eyelids. She slowly opened her eyes and, still laying down on the smooth, cool sand, she tried to take stock of her surroundings.
There was sand as far as she could see. Mikael, half-naked, was curled up against her, back to her, his head buried in his arms.
/ I remember now... /
She sat up and stretched. Bringing her rough, once bloodied hand to her face, she brushed the dust off her pale cheeks. She then again peered down at her sleeping partner, shaking him softly.
"Wake up."
In vain.
She shook him again, harder this time, his head lolling dully as she did so. He winced at her firm grip on his arm.
"Get up, lazy! We have no protection against the sun here. And it should be too long before it beats down on us mercilessly."
But he remained still and silent. Alexiel frowned and rolled him over so that he was now laying on his back. His body was feeble and still numb from sleep and cold. He protected his face with an arm. A soft growl escaped from his throat. She poked him a few times.
"Stop it!"
His reply was barely audible. She got serious again, a glimpse of concern shone in her usually void of emotion eyes. She removed his arm from his face and gasped. His cheeks were bright red, contrasting with the ghostly white of the rest of his face. A white-coated tongue weakly passes over dry chapped lips.
"Mika-chan, are you alright?"
She rested her hand on his boiling forehead.
"Mmmhmmm...."
... came the faint reply.
"What does that mean?"
The Archangel quickly sat up, a hand crisped on his stomach, the other covering his mouth, his face distorted in pain. He gagged.
"URGH!"
Alexiel barely had time to figure out what was happening that already the Great Power was hurling his insides out on the sand, his arms folded around his frail, shivering body. She waited patiently until he was done, rubbing his back to comfort him.
/ So strange... /
He had got sick so rapidly. Maybe he had caught a cold. Then she notice a bluish sting-like mark on the side of his neck. Could it have been an assassin?
/ Impossible! Not here! /
She would have noticed if anyone had tried to approach them anyway.
/ Then what is it? /
She helped Mikael walk, or rather crawl away from the smelly mess he had made and laid him down on the sand. She kneeled down beside him and allowed him to rest his head on her firm thighs. With the back of her hand, she brushed off a lock of crimson hair clinging to his sweat-coated face. She bent down over him to protect him from the sun which was starting to make the air wave around them.
They had to be rescued, and quickly! They didn't have any water, food or clothes to protect them. At least Mikael was the guardian of the element of Fire, and she didn't have to worry about him suffering from the oppressive heat. But she was afraid that his state would get worst. He could dehydrate himself and die, which would definitely not be a good thing for the universe. It was only a matter of time.
"Hold on, Mika-chan."
Leaving a drowsy and moaning Mikael behind her, she ran up the dune and pointed her transmitter towards the sky, punching a few buttons on the keyboard pad. She prayed so that it would work. After several minutes of unbearable awaiting, she finally got a reply from Heaven and immediately ordered that they sent a rescue team in their area.
When she finally came back, Mikael was mumbling nonsense, his eyes were shut tight and he would flail his arms and legs as if he was caught in a nightmare. She held him protectively against her, his body untensing at her touch. She searched the cloudless sky for any sign of their salvation as the pale yellow sun kept rising higher.
/ Please, come quickly. /
The archangel's eyes rolled back in their sockets as he let out a hoarse breath through half-open mouth. She could feel his pulse getting weaker and weaker by the minute.
She glanced down at his young features and pressed her lips against the purple dragon on his feverish cheek, hoping to get some kind of reaction out of him.
But the Archangel didn't even flinch.
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(So? What do you think? I know that's probably not how Alexiel really is. But heck, I'm sure she still has a conscience/morals and cares about people.... Anyway. Review please!)