Outside, everything was still just as bright. As odd as it was for there to be no sun, the silvery light that covered the land was rather comforting, because it meant that I wasn't alone. Although, it was another thing that set me apart from the humans. No human could stand here like I was, gazing across a world covered in angel light. They would go insane, like my mother had. Or worse, they could die.
Even though I knew that I wasn't alone here, it was very quiet. I couldn't see any angels around me. Although, when I looked up, I could see a couple fluttering around. I wasn't sure if they were flying closer to the ground, or my eyesight was still improving – but suddenly I could see them more clearly. I could see each individual beat of their wings, they were no longer a silvery blur. I remembered how Noah had told me that angels hardly ever walk – they didn't need to.
Even so, a couple of angels landed near me a few moments later. I watched them for a second, wondering what they were doing on the ground. They were each kneeling down and scooping something up off of the ground. After they'd gathered a fair amount of it in their arms, I realised it was chunks of the cloudsoil.
I looked down at the soil beneath me, it was solid and immoveable. It proved to me just how strong the angels were. I wasn't sure that I'd be able to dig it up with my bare hands, and I was already far stronger than a human.
Stronger than a human, but not as strong as an angel. As nice as it was that I could be included in this world, I was never going to truly fit in. I mean, I stuck out like a sore thumb here.
All the angels were clothed in pristine white garments, and then there was me, wearing a dark purple shirt with black jeans.
I sighed and carried on walking. I decided to venture past the five buildings that housed the angels and see what was beyond. Behind the towers was a huge clearing, and I wasn't sure if it was just me, but the mist seemed a little thinner here, and colder too.
On the left edge of the clearing, close to the drop, the ground seemed a little more golden, and on the right, a deeper tone of silver than the rest of the mist. I found myself wandering towards the golden side, and I felt an involuntary shiver go down my back as I approached.
I wondered why it was so golden here, it was a big contrast to the silvery tones of the rest of Heaven. The golden mist was thicker, like the rest of the mist in Caelum, and it gently spilled over the edge.
A gust of wind passed across me as an angel flew close by, carrying a few words. "I pray for Travis, I hope that he finds success on his task. I pray for Catherine, that you protect her as she searches the Earth..."
I looked up across the clearing, and I saw a small figure crouched on the other end. I wandered towards her slowly, recognising the slight frame as that belonging to Jasmine.
Up close, I could see that she wasn't crouching, she was kneeling on the silvery patch, praying, facing out across the drop.
"I pray for Noah, that he finds his answers. And I pray for Emilia, that she is kept safe, that no harm should come to her."
Jasmine must have known I was stood a few metres behind her, though she didn't acknowledge me, she had her head bowed for a few more minutes.
Eventually, she rose to her feet as though she were light as a feather, and spun on her heel to face me, smiling warmly. It was hard to believe how long it had took me to realise what she was, right now, dressed in white, even without wings, she was glowing. It was so obvious, that she was an angel.
"Emilia." She greeted, holding out her arms to embrace me. I hugged her back eagerly, glad to find a friend here. "I was just praying for you."
"I didn't know that angels prayed." I commented, trying to repress the blush rising to my cheeks – I was touched that Jasmine cared enough to pray for my safety.
"God rarely visits us, it is how we communicate." She told me, "I am glad to see that you aren't locked away."
I was surprised that God didn't stay in Heaven, was that not God's home? "They decided I could stay here as a citizen, provided I keep them updated on my abilities."
She nodded thoughtfully, "That is good." And then, she let out a peal of laughter, ringing like a bell. "I am very glad that you can stay Emilia. Very glad."
She smiled for a moment more, and then her face fell, and a mask of confusion replaced the smile. She was almost frozen in surprise.
"Jasmine?" I prompted, concerned.
"Oh..." She replied. "It just... felt so natural."
"What did?" I asked, watching the way her eyebrows creased together as she thought.
"To laugh." She frowned. "Angels... never laugh. It's a strange trait, only observed in humans. I hadn't even realised before... that I'd been doing it on Earth. It didn't seem strange there, but here... very peculiar."
"Angels don't laugh?" I guess I did remember a time where Jasmine had watched somebody laugh, I could recall her confused expression at the time.
"You have changed me Emilia." She smiled again, "I am not sure if that is a good thing or not."
I was surprised, did I have an effect on the angels, like how they had an effect on me? Was I changing them too? And was that a good thing? It's probably something I should mention to the Readers...
"Huh." Was all I could say in response.
"So, what do you think of Caelum?" She asked me, gesturing around herself.
"It's... it's beautiful. More so than I could have imagined." The most stunning thing was the sheer size of it, I wondered if I'd ever have time to explore the entire thing. Perhaps that would be difficult without wings, maybe I could ask Noah to give me a tour? "Though I do feel a little out of place. I don't think the dark colours fit in too well."
"Hmm, yes." She agreed, looking at my clothes. "It makes you look like the fallen."
"The what?" I asked, my eyes wide. What was the fallen?
"The humans." She corrected, not looking me in the eye.
"But what is-"
"I'll bring you to my room." She spoke quickly, asking as though I hadn't spoken. "You can have some of my clothes, until you learn to make your own."
"That's generous of you Jasmine, but really, I couldn't take your things!" I exclaimed, "Now what was that about the fallen?"
"It's fine, I don't wear them all anyway." She told me, ignoring my question.
"If you're sure..." I said, frowning.
"Okay, so. I'll fly us up then." She sounded unsure.
"Okay." I responded, watching her. She stayed still, looking (for probably the first time in her life) awkward. "Everything alright?" I prompted.
"Uh, I've never had to carry anyone before." She muttered, "I'm trying to think how I should hold you."
"Oh, um. Noah carried me earlier, he like, wrapped his arms round me and held my feet between his."
"Okay, well... we'll work It out." She nodded, as though trying to convince herself.
She took a step backwards, and rolled her shoulders back, closing her eyes. And with a strong gust, her wings unfurled, almost knocking me over.
Her large wings stretched out far behind her, the silvery tips hidden in the mist, dragging behind her.
I gasped as they were unfurled, I knew she was an angel, and I had seen Noah's wings. Though his weren't such a shock. I had already seen them in my dreams.
But Jasmine, her face suited her angelic status nicely. She looked right with wings, almost like there was something missing when they weren't there.
"Okay. Come here." She told me, opening her arms out.
I stepped towards her, trying to be careful not to stand on her wings. I backed into her arms, which she carefully wound around me.
"Ready?" She asked.
"Yeah-" I had barely got the word out before her wings had beat, and we were zooming up into the sky like a rocket. I practically choked on the word from the shock of the sudden take-off.
As we flew upwards, she caught my feet between hers in the same way that Noah had, though I felt a little more on edge with Jasmine. Flying with Noah had felt natural, he was very conscious of the fact that I wasn't quite as durable as an angel it would seem, he flew slower, more carefully.
Jasmine's flight lasted only seconds before we were landing in a room, similar to Noah's. It was in the same building (they were both Searchers, after all) although Jasmine's room wasn't as high as Noah's, so she mustn't have as high a rank. The numbers weren't displayed on the outside of the room, so I couldn't say for sure how highly she was ranked (although she wasn't that far below Noah).
She dropped me right before landing, and though I had no warning, I still landed pretty gracefully (for me, at least. It was nothing compared to the grace of the angels) on my feet.
Jasmine receded her wings very quickly, so that she could immediately step into the room without breaking anything.
Her room was one of the crowded rooms, the shelves piled high with items, though her tastes did seem to differ from Noah's. Noah seemed to appreciate common, everyday human items, whereas Jasmine liked more unusual items. There was a stack of framed paintings in the corner, none that I could recognise, so most likely they were originals. A lot of her things looked to be handmade, like a carved wooden sculpture of a bird.
The biggest difference between their rooms was that Jasmine actually had a bit of furniture. It wasn't much, but she did have two white rails, filled with her clothes. "Here we are." She said, noticing what I was looking at. "Do you have any preference?"
"Um, no." I said, feeling the smooth fabric of a blouse. The fabric felt very light and thin, I was surprised it wasn't at all damaged.
I watched as Jasmine rifled through the stacks of clothes, occasionally holding one up in front of me as though to examine it on me, tossing it onto her shoulder if she liked it, and placing it back on its silvery hanger if she didn't.
Eventually, she handed me a stack of the clothes. Up close they weren't an opaque white, they had a silvery sheen that you could see when you moved them. "You didn't have to give me so many." I told her, a little surprised.
"It's no problem. I can make more. I like to refresh my wardrobe every now and again anyway." She replied with a soft smile.
I nodded and stared at the clothes for a moment. They were neatly folded, though I noticed something strange in one of them. A pair of parallel ridges, almost invisible, but not quite. Running my fingers across them, I found them to be slits.
"For our wings." Jasmine said, watching what I was doing. "It's tiresome to rip your clothes apart every time you take flight."
"So," I began, as Jasmine started to take the now empty hangers off the rails. "Where's Travis?"
"He's already on another task." She explained. "Helping a Guardian search for a stolen necklace. One of a kind, supposedly it's quite valuable."
"Right. He finds rare things?"
She nodded. "That's one interpretation of it."
"How come you didn't go? If you can find things that have been lost?"
She shrugged. "I would mislead them. The necklace wasn't lost, it was stolen. There's a distinct difference."
"Oh, I see." I nodded, "Are you going on any tasks soon?"
"If I'm needed." She said, walking over to the archway with the hangers in her hands. "We're supposed to go to the portal pretty often to check, I should probably do that soon."
"Are you going there now?" I asked, "Could you bring me with you? I... I want to see my dad."
"Of course." She sounded sympathetic. "We'll go right now."
True to her word, we took off flying once more (although she never let go of me in the way that Noah had when we took off from the archway), making a stop in my room for me to get changed and put away the rest of the clothes (so my room no longer looked quite as bare).
The dress I had chosen was just below knee length and flared out a little, sort of like a skater dress. It was a very simple design, and though I didn't feel quite like myself dressing this way, at least I fit in.
It was a step towards fitting in, at least.
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