Chapter Three

Feliciano

"But Mom, I feel much better!"

"No buts! You went outside yesterday! Just because you've had this sudden burst of strength doesn't mean you can just use it all up. Let's try to make it last, okay?" Her stern expression melts into one of soft affection, and she leans in to place a kiss on my forehead.

"I'm sorry baby, but I want you to get better."

I sigh, a bit reproachfully, but finally give in. I sit back in my bed and let Mom tuck the blankets in around me. I lean back in bed and close my eyes, suddenly tired. She sits down in a chair that is located next to my bed, then hesitantly reaches out and grabs my hand in her own, gently stroking it with her thumb. Immediately I think back to when I was small and she would put me to sleep by stroking the top of my hand exactly like this. I try to open my eyes, but I'm just so, so tired... so... tired...

AYE**LUV**YOU

I wake up suddenly to the sound of someone screaming. I have just enough time to glance around the room, heart racing, before a nurse comes running in, asking me frantically what's wrong. That's when I realize that I'm the one screaming...

I close my mouth, then take a long, deep breath, chest heaving and jerking uncomfortably. I feel like I'm drowning on air. The nurse checks my vitals, then puts an oxygen mask on me, muttering all the while about how I was getting so much better. I gasp and heave, clutching at my blankets in an effort to steady myself as my lungs grasp for air almost of their own accord.

The nurse sets her hands on my shoulders, holding me still and looking me in the eyes. "Breathe..." she counsels gently. "Breathe, Feliciano... just breathe..."

Slowly but surely, my breathing calms down to a normal speed. My heart starts beating more and more slowly until, finally, I'm mostly back to normal. Well, as normal as I can be.

"There you go, honey... there, good job..." The nurse lets go of my shoulders and turns away. "I'm going to go get a doctor to come look at you, okay?"

"Mm," I answer. I don't pay attention as she leaves the room, instead focusing on my breathing. In, out. In, out. Iiiiiin, oooooooout. Iiiiiiiin, ooooou- HOLY HELL WHAT IS THAT?!

My breath catches in my throat as I stare at... at... what is it, it just appeared there, in the corner of my bedroom, just standing there, staring at me. It almost seems to blend in with the shadows, as if it's not really there. Suddenly, it takes a step forward, and my whole entire body seems to fill with liquid fear. My breath comes out raspy and faint as I try feebly to get free of my blankets, to call back the nurse to come save me, to call out at all, to speak. I need to save myself. I'm going to die.

"H-h... hel..." I gasp and choke as the figure steps closer and closer to me. "He... h-help... help m-me... please-"

Suddenly there's a brilliant, blinding flash of light and the sound of all the electronics in the room overloading and fizzling out. My oxygen mask goes flying off just before it begins to pop and snap with electricity. The lights shatter, but, luckily, nothing lands on me. The random, too-bright light that suddenly filled the room cuts out suddenly, and a loud, deep voice rumbles like thunder in a language I can't understand. I quake in my bed, trying to breathe, but there's a tightness in my chest that makes it hard, too hard, I can't breathe, I can't breathe, I'm going to die-

A hand lightly grasps my shoulder and suddenly my lungs inflate in a deep, long breath that goes in and out more smoothly than any breath of mine has in years. I blink my eyes to try to get used to the dark, and then nearly scream once more when a sudden, gently light flares out of the darkness, along with the sound of someone striking a match.

"Wh-who's there?" I ask, voice quaking but strong. I can't see much in the gentle, flickering light from the single match except the fingers grasping it. They're nice fingers, I suppose, and they look human, but I don't trust anything after what just happened.

"I'm sorry," says a gruff voice. "I accidentally broke all the lights in here. Wait a moment, please." The fingers holding the match let go, and I jump in fright at first, then just stare in wonder as the match floats above my bed. Another match is struck, and then another, and another, until the entire room is filled with little, flickering matches that are, for some reason, not burning out.

By the light of these matches, I see the person the gruff voice belongs to. It's a man- well, no, more like a boy -with slicked-back blond hair, piercing blue eyes, and a strong, sturdy form. The thing that attracts most of my attention, though, are the boy's wings: Long and white, they protrude from the back of his tight black tank top, stirring up a slight breeze every time he moves, making the thousands of matches flicker wildly, but never making them go out.

"Y-y-you... wings... What are you?!" I gasp, unable to look away from them. I can see individual feathers even in this feeble lighting, and they look so soft and downy that I want to touch them.

"I'm Ludwig," the boy says, staring at me with an almost hungry expression on his strict, rather handsome face. "I'm an angel of the Lord."

I finally manage to look away from his wings to stare at him, eyes wide open, for once. "An... an angel of the Lord? Then... why are you here? Don't you have important angel stuff to do?"

"I do. You are my important angel stuff."

"What was that... that thing that was in here before you came?"

He hesitates for a fraction of a second before saying, "That was a demon. It came here to kill you. I came to stop it."

I frown. "Why would it want to kill me? I'm nothing. I'm no one."

He shakes his head slightly, then reaches out slowly, very slowly, and brushes my hair from my face. My breath catches in my throat and a sudden wave of wellness rushes through me.

"You're not nothing," he says softly. "You're very important."

I stare at him, hardly daring to believe that he's just said what he did. No one thinks that I'm important- well, except Lovino, Mom, Dad, and possibly Carmen, but they're family, so I don't think that that counts.

"I... I can't be important," I insist. "I'm just some little kid who's dying of leukemia."

"That's what everyone thinks," he tells me, moving to sit in the chair next to my bed. "But, in actuality, you are very important. That's why the demons want to kill you; they want to end your life before you have a chance to do anything important."

I frown. "Important? What important- what's so important about me?"

He smiles. It's small and, on anyone else, it would seem uncomfortable and fake, but I can tell that it's the biggest, brightest smile he's practically ever produced.

"I've been watching you, Feliciano Veneziano Vargas, and you are not as unimportant as you think. You are kind and you are good and you care, and I am certain that you will grow up to do great and wonderful things."

"But-"

"No, listen to me, Feliciano. You won't be seeing me after tonight, okay? Not ever again. Don't try looking for me either."

A sudden emptiness fills my chest. "Where will you be?"

He hesitates, then speaks in a slow, careful voice. "I... will be somewhere that no angel has ever gone." He looks at me searchingly for a moment, then begins speaking in a quick, businesslike tone. "Feliciano, soon more angels will be coming to visit you. Whatever you do, don't- I repeat, don't -let them touch you. Tell them you're mine now. Tell them they can find me at the Rock of Prometheus."

"But Ludwig-"

"Feliciano, do you understand? Repeat everything I just said back to me."

"Where are-"

"Come on, Feli, we don't have much time!"

I think it's the use of my nickname that finally gets me to stop protesting. Or maybe it's the fact that he sounds so heated all of a sudden.

"More... more angels will come. I'm to tell them that I-I'm yours-" I feel my face heat up embarrassingly. "-and that they can find you at the Rock of Prometheus."

"Good. If they try to touch you, just repeat that you're mine and where they can find me. If they insist on staying in the room with you, pray to me, okay?"

"Pray to you?"

"Just clasp your hands together and say something like, 'Ludwig protect me.'"

I blush again. "Ludwig, where will you be-"

He jerks his head towards the window suddenly, staring out with a dark intensity, then turning back to me. "I'm sorry, Feli, but I have to go."

"But why-" I'm cut off as he leans forward suddenly, pressing his lips to my forehead. A sudden warmth fills me from the ends of my hair to the tips of my toenails. I close my eyes and revel in it, and when I open them, all that's left of Ludwig is a pearly white feather resting atop my blankets. I pick it up, then slowly look around the room. Suddenly, I feel completely empty and alone, like there was a light in my chest and it suddenly went out.

AYE**LUV**YOU

A couple minutes pass with no hint of Ludwig or other angels. My eyelids begin to droop sleepily, and I vaguely wonder where that nurse who left a while ago is. I blink open my eyes and begin to stretch, then shriek as at least ten shadowy forms appear in the room. One of them moves quickly toward me, hand outstretched as if to touch me. I clasp the pure white feather Ludwig left behind tightly to my chest, then blurt out, "I'm Ludwig's, you can't touch me. Go meet him at the Rock of Prometheus! I'M LUDWIG'S! He's at the Rock of Prometheus!"

The shadowy form stops in its tracks, then turns around and seems to discuss things with the other shadowy forms in a language that isn't anything I'm familiar with.

"You're... Ludwig's?" the shadowy form asks, turning back to me. I nod emphatically.

"Yes yes yes, that's what he told me to tell you, and also that he was at the Rock of Prometheus, and he gave me some other instructions but I don't think that I will tell you because he never told me to tell you, so I'll just keep quiet."

There's silence for a moment, and then the shadowy form steps toward me. I squeak and try to back away, but I'm sitting in a bed, which makes it rather hard. Well, impossible, really. The form reaches out a hand, fingers reaching dangerously close to my skin. I try to lean away, but I can't lean any farther, and then, suddenly, the feather in my hand begins to glow and grow warm in my hands. A sudden spark zaps from the feather, landing right in the form's outstretched hand. Instantly, it starts screaming and flailing about, and then suddenly disappears. I stare at the spot it was just occupying, then stare back at the feather. Whoa. Ludwig is way cool.

There's a small pause, and then one of the other shadowy forms says, "We are leaving now to meet Ludwig. Two of us will be staying here with you. Is that agreeable?"

I nod slowly. "Y-yeah... I'm good with that..." I watch, wide-eyed, as all but two of the shadowy forms suddenly disappear. I sit there for a moment, then tell them that I'm going to sleep now. They don't react at all, but I get the distinct feeling that they're watching me.

I fall asleep with the feather wrapped in my hands, feeling safe and protected.

AYE**LUV**YOU

Weeks pass. I am soon let out of the hospital. I have healed as if by a miracle. Everyone is happy.

I am waiting for Ludwig, though he told me we would never meet again.

Years pass. Carmen and Lovino get married almost as soon as they get out of high school. Carmen goes to college to study to be a doctor. Lovino begins to spend less and less time with people other then Carmen; he is writing an epic novel, apparently.

I am still waiting for Ludwig.

More years pass. I get out of high school and start college. I am trying to find a cure to cancer that isn't and angel. Carmen and Lovino have a beautiful baby boy that they name Antonio. He has bright green eyes and dark brown hair and is a happy-go-lucky sort of man. Lovino is nearly done with his novel; Carmen is a doctor. I watch Antonio for them quite often- whenever I'm not looking for a cure for cancer.

I wait and wait for Ludwig. I pray every night before I go to sleep and every morning when I wake up.

I pray to him.

More years pass. I date a couple guys, a couple girls, but none of them seem quite right. I'm consumed by my search for a cure. Carmen and Lovino have another child, a little girl they name Louise. Somehow, she turned out with blond hair, blue eyes, and a serious face. She's adorable, and I watch her and Antonio, now a sweet little eight-year-old, as often as I can while Carmen is off saving lives and Lovino is doing stuff to do with his book, which is a worldwide bestseller.

And still I wait for Ludwig. I've nearly lost hope. But I won't ever truly give it up.

More and more and more years fly by. Antonio is twenty, Louise twelve. Lovino and Carmen are nearly fifty. Carmen has saved hundreds of lives; Lovino has three bestsellers and is nearly universally famous. The world starts to get its act together, accepting gay relationships, making gay marriage legal, giving equal rights to everyone, be they black, white, male, female, trans, Muslim, Christian, whatever.

I finally discover the cure for cancer.

The world seems to be turning over a new leaf.

I still wait for Ludwig.

Antonio is twenty-eight now, Louise twenty. Antonio gets married to a man named Romano. Louise is trying to decide if she is more interested in guys or girls. They both have good jobs- Louise as a scientist, Antonio as a reporter.

And then, a terrorist group rises from the heart of America, starting World War III. Life begins to go in a downward spiral.

I still pray to Ludwig. I pray, and pray, and pray. I pray for him to save us.

I don't know if my prayers reach him, but World War III ends, bringing with it what seems to be universal peace.

More years pass. Lovino dies, then Carmen. Antonio and Romano move to Japan for some reason. Louise moves to Greece with her girlfriend, Felicia.

I am old now. Old and moldy. I have nothing to do, now that I have cured cancer. So, I sit in my nursing home, reading Lovino's books over and over again.

I am still waiting for Ludwig.

But he never comes.

A/N Heh, you think THIS is bad? Just wait: There's an epilogue. *smug, evil grin* Yes, I know, this will kill every single one of you. That was my plan from the beginning. X3 Well, sorta. I knew it'd end badly.