Little Boy Blue

SEVEN

FRANCISCUS

Being a bit player wasn't so bad, unless you were a bit player in your own life, then it was just a little ridiculous. It was almost enough to make him wish that he had had final scripting rights, but that was a fool's dream. Fates and destinies were written before people were born, and there had been no hope of going back and changing things once he had left the womb.

Franciscus sighed and crossed his arms tight to his chest. He felt like he was on the outside looking in.

It was strange how everything was going. It had been his idea to go and live in the Mortal Realm, but it was Ashley that became famous and made whole flocks of friends. He had always seen himself as the braver one, yet Ashley was the one that always seemed to be having life-altering experiences that left him stronger than ever before.

Looking at Ashley now, Franciscus wondered if he had ever really known his friend. There was something in Ashley that he had never seen before, a strength that he simply could not wrap his mind around.

It had always seemed to him that Ashley was fragile. He gave off this air of needing protection and guidance; yet when push came to shove, Ashley kicked ass. What was happening to his world? How had everything just suddenly changed like this? When had he become so petty and weak, completely unable to control his own life and face his own problems?

Franciscus drew in a deep breath. From the way things were going, he didn't even know why the presence that had taken over Ashley had wanted him to go along on the journey. It wasn't like he was going to add anything productive to the mix. Somehow, he had become completely useless.

Still, Ashley expected him to go, so he would. Never mind that he was slowly but surely being eaten up with doubts inside.

Going back to the Pit had reminded him about what he was. He was a serf--a worthless, weak, lowborn serf. And though in the Mortal Realm he was considered something of a bright star, in the Pit and here on the Celestial Plain, he was nothing more than a serf and never would be. He was the lowest of the low, forever.

"Maybe we should get started with this adventure," he said, forcing the words out cheerful. There was no reason for him to let his bitterness show no matter how hard it was to hide.

Ashley looked at him and smiled. Erusidamus raised an eyebrow at the brashness of a serf daring to rise above his station. Franciscus stuck out his chin, daring to meet the Master's eye. No matter how he felt about himself, there was no way he was going to let himself flinch. He was beyond that.

 

ASHLEY

He couldn't quite understand what was happening, but he could feel a sudden tension in the air. He knew he had to do something to make everything all right again.

"Aleksandar, where does the parnilian say we should go?" he asked, turning to the Domineris.

The angel looked down at the stone he held, his brow furrowing. "I do not know. I can feel the warmth and the thrum of the heartbeat, but I do not know where it wants us to go. I do not have the gift of understanding its silent message." He held the thing out to Ashley. "You take it and tell us where we should go."

Ashley licked his lips with a suddenly dry tongue. He wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do.

He took the parnilian.

It was hard to explain, but there was a sense of sudden brilliant light behind his eyes. There was the evolution of a million stars bursting into existence, the pounding of a billion heartbeats in the darkness, all urging life. There was such a sound inside his head that it was impossible to hear any single voice, or even if there was a voice at all.