A/N: mind y'all, this fic has gone through a HECK lot of shit so I really prize it…this chapter precedes the epilogue…so yeah…hope you enjoyed this fic as much as I have…enjoy!xD
Wings of Glass
Chapter Ten
Oliver lost himself in a dark and tangled wood. His strength had left him and he collapsed underneath a big tree. No light penetrated the thick canopy of leaves overhead and an eerie green glow that lit the darkness seemed to be coming from the forest floor itself. There was no sound either. It was as if the animals have been swallowed by the massive plants. The only murmurs that broke the silence were his ragged breathing and that of the three beasts that kept him company. A lion, a leopard and a she-wolf lay beside him, having considered the boy's wretched state and decided to comfort him before eating him.
"Oliver? What are you doing here?"
A pale, dirty face was illuminated by the radiance of a certain red-haired seraph.
"Johnny!"
"Do you know where you are?" the usually kind voice was stern.
Oliver turned away with a look of indifference. "I don't care where I am...as long as I'm not near him."
Johnny spotted the three animals at the white boy's feet and flew into a terrible rage. The memory of what happened to the angel who finished his exam was still fresh in him. He himself had been a young angel then. Everyone in the Paradise above had looked down upon the error of a wood and witnessed with cold or heavy heart the cruel murder of Lucifer by the very same three beasts before his eventual descent to Hell.
"Back!" the seraph bellowed. "How DARE you tempt an angel of God?! BACK!" he wielded a great double blade axe and struck the belly of the she-wolf. Her precocious young melted instantaneously like acid as it hit the forest ground. Seeing that indeed more terror was in store, the animals fled into the unending darkness.
The green-haired angel watched this spectacle listlessly and looked away when his best friend sat beside him.
"He can't love me Johnny…" came the soft reproach in the stillness.
"He's not destined to love you…" Johnny replied sadly. "Maybe in another life."
Wave after wave of tears streamed uncontrollably from large, lavender-lilac eyes. "Oh if we had been together, I would've made him happy. All I want to do is make Enrique happy…"
The redhead looked at him thoughtfully. "This place is not of the earth. How did you get here?"
The angel stared ahead. "I wandered from the straight path…"
"Why?"
"Because I felt miserable when I thought what I was doing wasn't right…"
"What were you doing?"
That question made Oliver think. He was unable to reply and Johnny sighed.
"You HAVE always made Enrique happy." he said. "We see everything from Up There and we know that the times he's spent with you were the happiest he's ever had. He doesn't show it because he may not know it, but his heart is at its most peaceful when with you…"
His best friend looked at him with a mixture of disbelief and confusion.
"To know if he loves you or not is being selfish on your part," Johnny continued. "Us angels should never be selfish, right?"
The greenette nodded.
"Isn't it enough to know we've made someone happy?"
"But when the source of the happiness is gone, nothing was actually done!" Oliver argued. "Everything goes back to the way it was before you were happy…"
"That's why God invented the volatile thing called memory…" the seraph returned. "And…define love…"
"It's…making and seeing who you love happy…without expecting anything in return."
Johnny smiled. "You have your answer…it's your call Oliver," and he stood. "I trust you know your way back?"
The greenette replied with the bright, sunny smile he was known for. It was a profound picture, seeing the smile alongside tears.
"Thank you, Johnny."
He had the strength to let go now, and with that, he ran back into the world.
--
The quaint apartment in Paris looked older yet Oliver knew its walls by heart. He wound his way up various staircases and finally faced a door he loved so well.
With some reluctance, he knocked.
At an instant, it was answered by a tall gangly male with wilder blonde hair yet the same summer blue eyes. The angel gasped audibly.
"Oliver?!"
"…Enrique?"
The angel was even more surprised when the blonde hugged him tightly.
"I've missed you so much…" was whispered in the greenette's ear.
Oliver could not fathom why. "How longs…has it…been?"
Enrique let go and beheld him with a smile. "A year. Dr. Jurgen failed to find you…" he wiped a tear that welled in his eye. "Your speech is improving…"
It was the greenette's turn to smile. "I was…under…the best."
"Enrique-poo?" came a glittering voice from inside the apartment. "Who's at the door?"
The Italian led the angel inside. "Bianca! I want you to meet Oliver!"
"Oliver, is it?" a beautiful female with pastel yellow hair and strom-grey blue eyes emerged from Enrique's bedroom.
"Oliver, " began the doctor. "This is my fiancé, Bianca. She's from my home country. We're getting married a day from today."
Bianca flashed Oliver a beautiful smile and pinched his arm adoringly. "Enrique-poo always talks about you," she said. "I'm so glad to have finally met you."
The angel nodded affably. "Thank y-you…" then he turned to the doctor. "I won't…be…staying long."
Disappointment was clear on the elder male's face. "I wanted you to be at our wedding…"
"I just…came by…to see…if you…were happy," said Oliver.
"I am." Enrique replied and hugged the boy once more. "Thanks."
Lavender eyes slid closed in the delight of physical contact. Slowly he wrapped his arms around the one who took care of his so well in the hopes that he would feel his utmost gratitude.
"Goodbye…Enrique…"
"Ciao Oliver," he and Bianca replied in unison.
--
Two nights later, Oliver found himself once again in his dark bedroom. The newlyweds have switched rooms on account of the size. The angel watched the couple's slumber, so lovingly wrapped in each other's arms.
Unheard footfalls made their way to Enrique's side of the bed. A steady, pale, glowing hand caressed the tan cheek. His shining beautiful face turned to gaze at the sleeping girl beside him and he tucked a lock of pale yellow hair behind her ear before turning back to the object of his affections.
"Enrique, for the sake of seeing you happy, I'm letting you go at my expense. Never forget I've always loved you…"
The blonde stirred in his sleep. An incoherent murmur of thanks escaped slightly parted lips. Oliver smiled and blinked a tear away before looking up to the ceiling: his only barrier before the endless starry sky.
The angel sighed and closed his eyes. He had done it. He taught true love to none other than himself. He passed the exam.
Cracks rapidly trekked crooked pathways through the thick clear glass that encased the boy's enormous wings. The burden was finally being lifted off his back.
In a brilliant crash, the angel's flight was tailed by glittering shards of icy glass. Within two flaps, the pale, once-sickly green-haired boy ceased to exist on earth.
Oliver was going home.
--
A scream became Enrique Giancarlo's alarm clock the next day.
"Bianca! Bianca! What's wrong?!"
"Look around you!"
The Italian gasped and dared not move. "What the--?!"
Broken glass littered the entire room. Lethal shards were on the bed and floor.
"Where did this come from?" the perplexed doctor looked at his new wife for answeres, but her eyes were fixed on the ceiling.
A gaping hole in the roof was letting large amounts of sunlight in. The couple was lucky enough to be living on the top floor; the room looked like it had been bombed.
Enrique's first impulse was to tell his friend Robert, but someone had beat him to it. The telephone began to ring.
"Hello?"
"Master Giancarlo?"
"Gustav!" It was Robert's butler. The German doctor had always been very rich.
"I called to tell you bad news."
"W-what is it?"
"Master Dr. Robert Jurgen died last night. The cause is still unknown for he left the house and wasn't found by daybreak. His will however states that he would like to leave the mansion and his possessions to you…"
"WHAT?!"
Epilouge in a mo…
A/N: more concepts of Dante's Inferno shall be seen…some time later…enjoy!xD and ciAo…