Chapter Two:

The Queen was not one to here other peoples opinions on things. In fact, there were rumours that told of her ordering a man's execution simply for offering her a bit of advice, and no one had dared disagree with her since that day. She was the very example of a tyrant, even her own husband falling victim to her every desire. However, the queen was growing old and was very aware that she would not be able to hold onto such power for much longer, and it was her desire to change this. She wanted to become young again! She wanted to live forever! And no matter what anyone told her, she would find a way to achieve this... The Queen paced up and down the corridors from weeks on end, her thoughts straining as much as they could to achieve a plan. She even had a whole committee full of her smartest servants searching for a way to make her wish come true. It was all for naught though... for no one ever seemed to find a way to keep her young and alive and powerful, not even her... Until the man fell from the sky.
"Tell me, my dear," She said to her most loyal servants that day, "What runs inside of us that keeps us alive day after day?"
"W-would that be... blood, my Queen?" he replied with a fearful voice, pleading to God that his answer was correct.
"Yes," she smiled evilly, "It would be... and tell me, what happens when humans lose all their blood?"
"T-they die... my Queen," the man's eyes swirled with terror, fearing the destination her train of thought might arrive at.

"Yes... and what type of person would it take to lose all their blood and never die?"
"A-an immortal?"
The Queen sighed, as though he just wasn't getting it fast enough, "Yes, and who do we now have in our possession that is such!?"
Finally, the man understood, "The angel, my Queen!" he said with far too much glee in his voice, causing him to get a snarl from the Queen.
"And don't you think he could spare some for the good of the kingdom?" The Queen spat with sadistic cheer.

"Yes, my Queen!"
"Then bring him to be!" The Queen ordered hastily, "It's time for bath!"

When Alfred Jones had been cast down from the heavens, he had expected to fall to earth... not all the way down to hell.

Upon awakening he found himself stripped, tied up and standing alone in a dark, warm, humid room, the sounds of water dripping from someplace high onto the floor in front of him. The floor under his feet was unpleasant and sticky, as were the Drip... drip... drip... Alfred waited in silence for a moment, his breathing calm and collected as he took everything in... then the whole situation hit him like a ton of bricks. WHERE THE FUCK WAS HE? He started to pull against the ropes holding him firm against some type of column, the movement causing friction between the ropes and his body, leaving a burning sensation on every spot they touched. His wrists, his neck, his stomach, his thighs and his ankles. When it became too much to bare he stopped, a single tear falling down his cheek. He thought of screaming, but it wasn't like it would do him any good. Whoever tied him up here was not going to let him go just because a bit of screaming and begging. He needed to think. Why was he here? Where was this place? Why was he tied up? How could he get out? There were too many questions to think about all at once, he felt like his head might explode.

Drip.

The damn dripping certainly wasn't him helping him stay calm.

Drip.

It was like a fucking clock ticking away his life, not to mention building up his anxiety.

Drip.

Something warm ran down his leg.

FUCK. Alfred suddenly realized that his entire body was covered in cuts made by knifes so sharp, he couldn't even feel them at first... but now he was suddenly aware of them. Drip... drip... drip... It wasn't water falling from the cieling, oh no. It was his own blood dripping the floor, and that's when he lost it. Alfred screamed. It was a shrill scream, anything but human. A cry of despair that seemed to shatter the air surrounding him, and would have caused such despair in the hearts of anyone listening, that they would have fallen to the ground in tears instantly... that is... if they had hearts. The door burst open, revealing the room. It was a bath, with a large sunken marble sub at his feet, and huge murals depicting scenes of war and victories on every wall around him. Even the cieling had a large painting, full of angels and sunlight and song... completely ironic considering the circumstances, which were made quite obvious due to the fact that the once-beautiful room was compleately tainted by splatters of a brownish-red, dried liquid... his own blood. He could not believe that such a place could exist on earth... it seemed like the workings of hell. In seconds, a collection of huge, muscular guard burst in, grabbing Alfred all over, in places he would prefer their unwashed hands not to touch. Squeezing him, scratching him and tearing his wounds open again, they held is strugging body in place as someone forced something in front of his face, his eyes filled with tears of pain. Before he knew, the world was swimming with little back dots that filled his eyes as he faded out of conciousness, not waking for ten whole days.

When he finally woke up he found himself untied, and laying on the floor, his had cradled in a lap, a small, shakey hand gently stroking his hair. He could here a voice from the darkness singing softly a beautiful song unlike anything Alfred had ever heard in a heaven. The voice was strung with both pain and hope, powerful and heart wrentching and so, so beautiful.

"There's a empty song you sing,
you feel like no one is there.
But I know hope and love will bring,
The person who truly does care."

Alfred made no sound, no movement, not wanting the voice to stop. It was so moving, and... pure... that it brought tears to his eyes. He had no idea that such a beautiful voice could exist within this terrible place. A place that Alfred only knew he was still in due to the stickiness of the floor, the humidity, and the smell of rotting flesh and dried blood... his own. He could feel the scabs from the cuts all over his body pulling at his skin, and he was sure that if he moved even an inch, he would be filled with excrutiating pain.

"Have you heard the angels sing their song of love and fear?

That voice... it seemed so familiar somehow. Alfred tore at his memories. Why would he know a human's voice? Did it have anything to do with why he was here. He clenched his eyes closed hard and tight. He could tell the voice belonged to someone very important to him... but he didn't know how or why. What else could he remember? He thought so hard that it actually cause him physical pain, but he got nothing.

"And everyday my skies are gray and foggy,

knowing tears are flowing in your eyes."

Alfred's heart throbbed... he knew it was just a song, but someone he felt like it was being sung to him. For him. He wanted it to be sung for him. Wait... why did he want a man he had never met before, whose name he hadn't even heard, whose face he hadn't even seen, to be singing something of a love song to him? It didn't make sense... unless, of course, Alfred did know him, and he just couldn't remember... but how could he have known him? Yes, Alfred did watch over the humans on earth, but there were so many, how could he remember just one? Most importantly, why?

"Shock replaced with something... an emotion that I don't know.

Love is not that far away...

when your eyes see the one in front of you"

Finally, Alfred sat up, and just as he feared, his body was filled with intense pain that led to a loud gasp, and the man stopped singing.

"A-are you okay?" the mysterious voice asked.

Alfred's eyes rushed with tears, but he bit his lip and nodded... before realizing that the room was dark, and there was no way the man could see him. So he opened his voice, and tried to speak. It was more of a hiss, than an actually tone, but still understandable to a degree, "W-what is your name?"

The man sighed and rummaged around in a bag of some sorts, "T-that was random... I am just a lowly servant to the Queen... my name is of no importance," the was a couple for noises and a spark, and soon a candle was lit, the candle was slowly raised to his face, and Alfred lifted his arm slowly (as not to hurt it anymore than he had too) and wiped the tears away from his eyes so he could see more cleary, the candlelight finally showed upon the mans face, "My name is Arthur Kirkland."

And suddenly Alfred remembered everything.

A/N In case anyone cares, the song Arthur was singing can be sung to the tune of "Penny's Song" from ~