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Home is Where You Are
"Auriel, will you help me tomorrow evening in the archives?" Turning, the priest studied the young man who spoke. He had arrived at the door to his chambers, above the church where all the priests of the Casiers resided---preaching the teachings of their old gods, their Casiers, who granted them wings at the beginning of time and shielded them from the perils of the human world. "Of course. The students do make a mess of the place, don't they?" Auriel smiled shifting his white wings to fall comfortably on his back. "Are you staying to pray at the altar?" The young man nodded, picking at a bent feather at the end of his own wings. "Yes, I am. I've been having pain in my shoulder, and hope to request a relief." "Remember, our Casiers work in time. Do not expect relief for nothing, and do not expect it immediately." "Of course not, Auriel, thank you." With a small bow Auriel was left alone, and he slipped into his room, closing the door and leaning against it. He shed his constricting white clothing and let his platinum hair out of its conservative bun, shaking it out. His chambers, like the other priests' chambers, were modest. A single bed in the corner, beside a domed window, and a desk and stool. A wall of bookshelves, and a comfortable chair in front of it. Along the other wall, beside a door to a closet and personal washroom, a mirror sat propped against the wall. Auriel approached it, sitting and spreading his wings around him, waving his hand at the silvery surface of the mirror. It began bubbling, then glowed, and smoothed away to reveal a caravan. "Ah, my love, where are you...?" Auriel sighed, his hand shifting this way and that, changing what he saw until he came to rest on the correct person. |
It hurt. Blayze had never felt the sensation of pain before. Back in his homeland, very few feelings and emotions could be felt. It had shocked him when he had stepped on the Earth plain and felt... Happy, for the very first time in his existence. Humans were incredible creatures, able to feel so many emotions. They cried when they were sad, laughed when they were happy... Blayze wanted to be a part of it. He was sick of the barren, volcanic world he had been born into, one where no love was felt. Few demons crossed over to the human world, mostly to mess with them for fun. Blayze was different. He wanted to meet a human, maybe live peacefully with them in their beautiful world.
But that had not happened. He had been captured, tortured. His wings had been cut from his body and his horns sawn off. His tail had been next, and then they beat him and threw rocks and unkind words at him. He had cried, hot tears falling from his yellow eyes. The humans had been so cruel, simply because they thought he was evil. But not all demons were evil, and he was certain he wasn't. He curled up in the small cage he had been forced to live in, burying his face in his knees and sobbing. It did hurt, his body where his wings had been torn off, where his tail had been cut, and his insides as well. Was this what a broken heart felt like? He looked up from his misery, to where the blessed silver bars kept him weak and trapped. People were staring at him in horror, some threw rocks through the bars at him. He wished he had some clothes to hide his nudity, but those had been taken from him as well. "Mommy, he looks so sad..." a child spoke to his mother, who was holding his hand. She tutted and looked down at her son. "It's a demon, son. It's an evil creature and would hurt you if it was free." She then pulled the child away from Blayze's exhibit. He watched them go, his long pointed ears drooping slightly. Only the innocence of children could see that he wasn't a bad person. If only adults weren't so corrupted. |
There was the one Auriel was looking for. There in the cage, crying in pain and in torment and sadness. There were scars on his back. He hated them so much, could almost feel them. The horns that once adorned his head had been sawn off like tree branches, as if he couldn't feel them. The mirror showed Auriel such a view of torment, awful sadness, and yet it was the only way he could see the demon. His love was crying, stared at by humans that didn't know his torture, and it made him mad. It made him sad. He hated it all. What did they see when they looked at his demon? Something bad? Wrong? Why didn't they accept differences? Didn't they ever look into his beautiful amber eyes? Those eyes were mysterious, hid so much. "Oh, why do they hurt you..." Auriel sighed, pressing his hand to the mirror. He could almost feel the heat of the other being. But they were separated by so much. A physical barrier. A world. And no one, not even their own gods, helped Auriel get him out of his Hell. The door opened without warning, and Auriel swiped the image away and stood quickly. "F-Father Genivere!" Auriel bowed low. "I... I didn't expect---" "I have heard that there are strange conversations coming from your chambers at the end of each day." Father Genivere said, crossing his arms. His wings were grey, but that was a sign of age. The appearance of youthfulness didn't vanish as Auriel and his kind aged. "Ah, well, I---" "Are you speaking to a human?" "No..." "Are you speaking to others?" "No..." "Then tell me. Ah, but better yet, show me." Auriel swallowed hard and looked behind him. He hadn't returned the mirror to its reflective surface. "Ah... I don't... I'm not sure that's---" "Pardon?" Father Genivere stepped forward, wings shifting in agitation. He knelt down, shifting the image back to where Auriel had it before. He stared for a moment, far too long, so long in silence that Auriel felt that time had stopped. Then the man stood, and stared at Auriel coldly. "A demonic being." He muttered. "A demon? You have become infatuated with a disgusting demon?" "F-Father---" "Silence." The man waved. "Dress in your humblest of clothing, and come to me before the altar." With that, he spun and went to the door. "This is a matter that must be dealt with immediately." When Auriel was alone, he started shivering. He began gathering his clothes, dropping them as he tried to slip into them, his breaths quaking out of him. |
The lights were being turned off and the people ushered from the carnival. Blayze was relieved. No more stares, no more insults and rocks being thrown. He could hide in the dark and not feel so embarrassed by his nakedness. He heard the other performers and "freaks" sigh in their cages and tanks. They happily started to talk to one another, but Blayze was not welcomed by them. Even those creatures and deformed humans that were treated like monsters wouldn't talk to him. He crawled over to the straw that was piled up in the corner and curled up on top of it. Maybe he could get some sleep tonight?
The voices went quiet as he heard footsteps walking along the hall where the "freaks" were kept. His heart stopped beating as he smelt the approach of an evil man, a human that could pass off as a demon. The owner of the carnival didn't care for others, he was the reason why so many were locked up and abused. But he had saved Blayze from the church that had mutilated him. He also gave Blayze the energy he needed to stay alive, by letting him to... Certain things that Blayze felt disgusting for doing, but knew he had to in order to survive. And the man came for him now, letting him out of the cage and taking him back to his private quarters. |
There was a trial. He hadn't expected a trial. The church was full as Auriel knelt at the altar and was evaluated by the other priests, Father Genivere acting as judge. Auriel had no way to speak---they cut him off when he tried to. They told him to keep quiet as they tried to figure out what to do with a corrupted being. Never in the history of time had an angel fallen in love with a demon. Scum. Disgusting creatures that darkened the light and harmed the good. Auriel couldn't tell them how goo this demon was. How wonderfully unlike the others of his kind he was. He couldn't stop thinking about his love, until Father Genivere's deep voice boomed. "Our church is defiled by this corrupted angel. We mustn't allow him to continue his work here, his preachings are defiled. His body is tainted. His soul has invited darkness and evil into it and it will invite evil into us as well. My punishment is: Banishment." Auriel's heart seemed to stop in his chest. Banishment. He could only keep repeating the word in his head as he was turned to face the congregation and kneel atop the altar. His wings were ripped to the sides and flattened as Father Genivere accepted a silver blade, and approached. "Auriel, you are no longer a priest of the Casiers. You are no longer our angel. Once your wings are removed they will grow back red, and you will forever be among mortalkind as a fallen." Auriel was held up, and for that little bit, he was glad. When the blade began ripping through his skin and feathers, his screams filled the hall until he blacked out from the pain, and hit something oddly soft. Soft and damp, it prickled against his face and body. But he lost consciousness again before he figured out what it was. |
Blayze was led back to his cage, pushed into the metal box and locked in. He had spent most the night pleasuring the evil owner and gaining a tiny amount of energy for himself. He hated being what he was, because incubi and succubi had always been looked down upon by the other demons. They were whores that worked closely with humans, causing them pleasure and happiness rather than pain and suffering. It was one of the reasons why Blayze wanted to leave the Other, the grey washed deserts that were always burning with fire and smothered in darkness. He was sick of being picked on, sick of being hurt. He had no idea that the same would happen once he arrived in the human world.
He went back to his straw and curled up, trying to get the awful taste out of his mouth and the smell of sweat and cigarette smoke. The man was married, but his wife didn't do the things Blayze did. She didn't let him tie her up and hurt her. Blayze didn't like it either, but his incubi genes made it hard to resist the lure. Especially when he was around humans all day and most of the night, their energy and smell driving his senses wild. But without his tail, he could not take the energy needed to be truly sated. That would kill his partner, and give him life. So he was constantly in an unsaited mood, his insides twisting at the sight of any human, young or old. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep, another thing that was new to him. He'd be able to stay up all night and day if he could get a proper meal. But his body was weak from starvation, and when he slept he could escape into nice dreams. |
When he startled awake, Auriel immediately regretted the sudden jerk of movement that sent waves of pain radiating down his body, congregating in his back. He froze, curling his hands into soft grass and biting the earth to keep from screaming so loudly he might lure some carnivore. He knew he wasn't in Vale anymore---his home, his world, which looked so like the human world, only clean and unharmed. He was in the human world itself. Cast out. Banished for his forbidden love. His adoration of a demon. Where was he? He was in a forest, it looked like. Or some wooded area. Gritting his teeth, Auriel shifted and breathed out, hating that he was opening the wounds on his back but needing to sit upright to close them. They were too large to completely get rid of, so he would have rather uncomfortable scratches for a time. But with his willpower and angelic energy, which couldn't be taken from him even if his wings were, they closed up and a good amount of pain disappeared with it. Still, he hurt elsewhere. His arms, legs, knees, his head. The light was hurting his eyes and there was an odd, different scent to the air. He was wearing bloody clothes, his shirt had no back because that clothing couldn't accommodate his kind's large, elegant wings. But he didn't have those anymore. It took a few minutes of stumbling, but Auriel found his feet and leaned against a tree, reaching up to pull his shirt off. He wore only a pair of modest, thin pants. Breathing through his mouth to combat the wave of horror and illness he felt, Auriel turned and started grasping tree branches to keep himself upright. He had to find... something. A way to live. Exist. He'd watched humanity advance, he knew what he was getting into. He'd just never been a part of it physically. It wouldn't be so hard---he had to make himself believe that. But something was nearby. Civilization? It had to be. He looked human, after all, there was nothing to be afraid of. No one would shun him. And now... Now he could find his love. He had to find the demon. Had to help him. |
The light from the sun burned his eyes slightly, but he had nowhere to hide from it as it rose over the horizon. The carnival would be open later in the day and at night, when the rides would be lit up like fireworks. He stayed on his pile of hay, listening to the others as they woke from their sleep. He wished he could talk to them, but whenever he did he was met with silence.
A carnie walked past his cage, poking in a slab of rock hard bread and a bowl of water through the bars. Everything locked inside the freak show part of the carnival were fed the things they liked, enough to keep them healthy and happy. But not Blayze. He hadn't shown any interest in anything given to him, so they just handed him stale bread and disgusting water every morning. He usually tipped the water out and threw the bread to the birds, who didn't seem terrified at his appearance like everyone else. He ran his fingers through his long black hair, feeling the bumps that once were magnificent horns. They had sawn them off and mounted them like they would a felled stag. Was that all he was to them? A trophy? The owner sure did treat him like one. |
This most certainly wasn't civilization. Things had wheels. Tents were set up. Odd tracks, and animals were nearby, penned up. There were people wandering about, and Auriel was getting more confused by the moment. It looked familiar... So familiar... The cages... He gasped, slapping his hands over his mouth and backing away into the underbrush. He knew this place. He knew it so well, but had only ever seen small bits and pieces of it. No wonder it was so hard to take in all at once. His love was here, the demon that wasn't a demon, tormented and harmed and humiliated for others' amusement. Oh, where was he? Auriel's piercing blue eyes stared about, watching what others called 'freaks' sit around in the cages they were kept in like animals, sleeping or eating, or talking through the bars to one another. He had never seen anyone talk to his love. In fact, he had only ever seen them harm him. Throw things, poke and prod as he tried to hide away from the humiliating jeers and laughter. Auriel swallowed and stepped around. There he was, in his cage, threading elegant fingers through silken hair. He was no freak; he was gorgeous. He didn't deserve to be locked up. "Oh, how shall I help you...?" Auriel sat on his knees and sighed. Could he bring himself to open that cage? He could easily break human metals with a little help from within. And no one seemed to be interested in staring out the back where Auriel was. He crept forward, holding his breath. Never did he believe he would get so close to the object of his adoration, who may not even feel the same. |
Blayze tipped the water out through the bars, casually looking at the other prisoners. He was always fascinated by the others, and wished they would talk to him. There was a mermaid in a tank, a hairy beast-man, a very tall woman and an Asian woman with strange feet. They would talk to one another, but completely ignore him. Or say hurtful things to him. He turned about and took his stale bread to the other side of his cage. Where trees and bushes grew, he threw the bread on the ground there, watching as the cute little birds flew down to peck at the food.
Suddenly they flew away and someone crawled out of the bush. A beautiful young man with strange scars on his back. Blayze watched him carefully and full of curiosity. "Who are you? Are you OK?" The man did seemed pained in some way, yet he stared at Blayze with utter adoration and it was... Strange. No one had ever looked at Blayze like that before. |
When he first heard the voice it was almost like one of his deepest and most carefully locked away dreams. Auriel smiled like a fool before he managed to stand up, gripping the bars of the ugly cage to help himself and pressing against it. "I am well enough." He promised. "And you, I know, will not know me, but I've been watching you from my world since your first appearance in this human realm. I watched your trials and your mutilations with dread because the more I watched you, the more I began to adore you, but now... Now I can free you. I can take you away from this torture... if you want me to?" Why hadn't Auriel thought of that first? This was torture, indeed, but would the demon even want to leave? Prisoners often felt their current situation was better than what might come of them outside their cage, their shackle, their prison. |
Blayze tilted his head, confused at what was being said. Who was this man and what did he mean he adored him? It was strange, as though this stranger was insane. He didn't look insane. Blayze was conflicted. "You can get me out?" At least now he could hide his true nature easily. He could try to look more human and then be able to live like one. "Are you a demon too?" He had never seen another demon take on such a beautiful form. Usually they liked to look as disgusting and horrendous as possible.
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Auriel shook his head. "No, I'm not a demon, I'm an angel." He glanced behind him. All his life he could see his wings, but now... he felt too light. Too... incomplete. But he didn't need wings now. He was in the human world. He needed this demon. He was hardly a demon, after all---if anything the being in the cage was more of an angel than any Auriel had met. He wrapped his hands around the bottom of two bars, and a spark emanated. Well, he still had his power, which was all he could ask for after being cast out. "My name is Auriel." He added, wrenching the bars up and bending them away from one another. Then he offered a hand. "Come, we must get out before that disgusting ringmaster comes about." |
An angel...? Blayze had only heard fables about the pure creatures that lived in the clouds. He didn't think they really existed, thinking they were myths simply told to exaggerate how wicked demons should be. And why would an angel want to help a demon, let alone feel enamoured by one? He assumed it was his pheromones, the stuff that made humans easy to sleep with so he could collect their energy. But did it work on angels?
He crawled out of the cage, sighing at the feel of grass on his bare feet. His nails, which were sharp like claws, dug into the Earth. He ran with the angel, away from the carnival and into the ancient forest. He half expected to hear the sounds of chase, but it seemed no one had noticed he had left his cage yet. When they stopped to breathe deep in the forest, Blayze looked up at the angel, suddenly feeling embarrassed. He was naked, after all. |
Auriel ran with the demon, feeling curiously lopsided without his wings to speed his feet along. Their comforting weight was gone now, but eventually they would return, ugly and red, and then he would have to wear them like brands of embarrassment. He didn't care, however. Their red color would remind him of how he had tried to stand up for what he knew to be right, what he knew was good. His kind was so biased, like the humans they now lived among. Freaks were freaks, to be stared at and poked, prodded, stuffed into cages for entertainment. When they stopped in the cool shade of a clear area, Auriel smiled at the demon. "I'm so glad to finally see you face to face." He said after gathering his breath. "It's been a long time... And I have watched your torment for far too long. I'm sorry I hadn't come sooner..." He sighed and lowered his gaze. "Ah, but you need clothes! Of course..." He stretched his hands, rubbing them together, the movement producing a spider silk-like fabric, thin but opaque, and stepping forward, Auriel tied it around the demon's waist. "There we are... Are you well?" Auriel was concerned for the gorgeous creature's well-being after being locked away and abused for so long. |
Blayze was confused. How long had this... Angel watched him and from where? He didn't even know who he was. "You still have your magic? Mine no longer works... Else I would have escaped days ago..." Had it been years or days? Blayze wasn't used to human time yet and so, could not tell how long he had been locked away. "They took my tail... I can't gather enough essence without it... Maybe that's why my magic no longer works..."
He sat near a tree, rubbing his sore legs. What had the angel seen? Probably everything, from him being mutilated to being forced to be with the ring leader. "Auriel... I am confused... You say you have been watching me... But how? And why are you here now?" |
Blayze looked so shellshocked, Auriel felt pain within his soul, which was still most certainly intact. When the demon took a seat, he moved forward and fell onto his knees in front of him. "My, I apologize... I will admit, my observation of this world led me to see you. And see your pain, I suppose I... fell for you rather quickly... but please understand that it was not your base appearance that appealed to me solely, but you. Who you are. What you have gone through. I have watched you through my scrying mirror, and I suppose still I would be watching, had my superiors not found out that I had fallen for a demon." He sighed, looking down and running a hand through his still-white hair. Eventually it would take on a dark, ugly blackish undertone. "They cut my wings off and banished me. They are bigots, refusing to believe that any pure of heart angel would ever consider anything less than animosity toward a demon." He blinked slowly, recalling against his will that ugly glare that was given to him by so many of his own kind. |
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