Divine Appointment, For Flex

[E'doa A'nii]

So it was that the gentle priest closed his door gave a small sigh. So very lost. He picked up the bowl. Oh Father, he addressed his Lord mentally, as he shuffled about and set to washing the dishes, do send someone to keep and guide her...

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Seia took another step. The action felt like she was prying her feet off the ground and forcing them forward, defying the magnetic attraction that was gravity. Rooted to the spot. Almost. She hated darkness almost as much as she feared it. The night terrified her.

But she was here.

She was here because she could not bring herself to sit inside a house with a priest who would surely be dead in the morning.

Dead.


Because of her. Sure, she had slain people for less. Much less. But Jordan's influence was stronger then he would have guessed, and killing people was taking second thought. Even if they didn't die directly by her hand.

Right now though, she would have killed to be back inside.

Terror made her small frame tremble as much as the cool night air. The shawl could stop most of the cold, but for all it's warmth and thickness, the shawl could not stop fear. Seia jumped at every sound, every twitch in the forest.

It was going to be a long night.

But then, every night was long. Seia couldn't remember the last time she had really, truly slept. Her sleep was always light and fitful; full of the nightmares that haunted her in her waking hours, and punished her as she slept. Always darkness haunted her.

It filled her nights with terror and shadowed her days in dread.

And so it was, that when a rabbit came bounding accross her trail, she gave a yelp and ran in the opposite direction. And never looked back. Suddenly, all that resistance gravity had put forth just a few moments ago vanished in the need for flight, and she was speeding along effortlessly, dodging tree limbs and leaping larger obstacles... Something was going to get her! She just knew it. Well, it would have to catch her first.

[beflexor]

Edgiel looked up into the sky, thousands of stars looking back at him and, at least, one person in the Afterlife department of Purgatory.

Why was he here again?

Paper. Maybe it was paper. They'd sent him down here to get office supplies because Falious was on vacation and they didn't have someone doing the general tasks that no one paid attention to.

No, that wasn't right, the last time he'd gone to get paper the entire division erupted into a Hellfire infenro when he tried to open the location. That was two hundred years ago, one would think they would be over it by now. Eternity wasn't mean to be wasted on being angry.

Before Edgiel could lose himself further a rabbit popped into his path, it was small and mottled with grey, making it stand out rather well here. Edgiel knelt down and it jumped into his arms.

"Hello," the angel said happily, stroking its fur and calming its thumping heart. Something must have frightened it. Edgiel could get a sense that it have been surprised by something that smelled like predator, except it wasn't like any of the normal predators the rabbit had to avoid.

Edgiel set the rabbit back on its way, dark hairs sticking to his kendogi and making it look tacky. He stood up and unfurled his wings letting the breeze tickle the primary feathers, whisper across the secondaries, and into his ears.

Something indeed was running through the forest.

Edgiel felt a pull toward that something, be it curiosity or perhaps a deeper feeling, but he knew he had to see it.

Tucking his wings back into hiding, Edgiel took off at a run, enjoying the feeling. In Purgatory, you weren't allowed to run though the halls. By instinct he managed to cut across a shorter path and it wasn't long before he was close to Seia.

Oh, he thought, it's a person. Then out loud he shouded "Hello!" and waved merrily.

[E'doa A'nii]

The sound took a moment to register. Well, more accurately, the word itself took time to register. The sound registered just fine. The nimble figure cutting a panick-stricken line through the woods leapt about twenty feet into the air, landed disgracefully on the ground --as she tried to turn a complete 360 and ended up tripping over herself-- and toppled unceremoniously onto Edgiel.

She had been so busy running, she hadn't realized he was there. Infact he might as well have just sprang up out of the ground. --In which case Seia's impromptu landing would have been more like a bad game of whack-a-mole--

No sooner did she collapse onto the Angel then she leapt back up, using him as a springboard (rather ungently) to push herself off from. Stepping back rapidly, she drew her dagger. The night shadows seemed to meet at her person. They always did at night. A black wraith with a dagger of pale green fire.

"W-what do you want?" There was a note of terror and danger there. She did not know what monster came in the form of a girl, but she was not going to let it get her. --It was a girl... wasn't it? It looked like a girl. At least in the darkness of night it did.

It had to be girl. No guy on the planet wore skirts... right? Seia was puzzled. It ...kinda... looked like a guy. Kinda sounded like one too. But it wore a skirt... and had long hair... Most girls weren't too dangerous. Obnoxious, naggy, a little peevish and sometimes down-right vapid... but not dangerous. Much. Witches, and warrior women had a way of rapidly changing one's perspective--

Whatever it was, it had better speak quickly. Seia was already settling herself into an aggressive crouch. It looks like Edgiel had just found something a bit more complex then paper.

[beflexor]

Edgiel thumped to the ground, his butt landing on a big mushroom, causing the smell of spores to fill the air. The springboard action made him grunt "Oof!" before he finally regained what little composure he had to begin with.

He stood up carefully, though more because of a sore bottom than the danger Seia posed, and dusted himself off. It took quite some time, as though it were the most important thing in the world, and would have taken longer had he not finally noticed the dagger.

The angel's eyes widened and his whole body seemed to shake, though the quiver wasn't from fear, as evidenced from his reaction.

"Wow!" he exclaimed, "That's so neat! Can you make the color change? The Seraphim's swords only have white fire. Green is way better though!" he looked up at Seia, puzzled, as her words finally sank in. "I don't want anything, well, there are things I want, but I don't want anything in particular from you. Okay, I do want things from you, but they're mostly things you want to keep doing too. It would be bad if I didn't want you to, like, breathe or something. Then again, am I bad for wanting things?" he seemed to seriously ponder this. "I mean, I want food when I'm hungry, and air is nice when I want to breathe, of course. Is it selfish to want a bathroom when I have to go? Ooh, I wish I could talk to the monks about this, they always had the best answers, and the best Purgatory too."

His rambling seemed to trail off before he popped back to attention with a warm smile, "Oh! I'm sorry, I got a bit off track there. I'm Edgiel," he bowed, careful not to hurt himself on the dagger (one incident like that was enough). "At your service. Is there anything I can do for you?"

[E'doa A'nii]

(LOL You do that so well XD)

--------------

Seia sighed. He was taking too long. Much to long. At the rate he was dusting himself off they would be here all night before she so much as got an answer. And she wanted an answer.

She did not want tohave to wait all night to get it. --Not that she wasn't going to be out all night anyway. His procrastination made her edgier, as did the silence-- She could practically hear the grass growing. Whoever or whatever this guy was, he wasn't very bright. It took him an age to notice the dagger, and an even longer age to give an answer.

Seia was almost to the point of rolling her eyes by the time he actually finished talking. And half-way through his speech she was debating on whether she ought to just stab him and have done with him--he... was male... right? Ugh. Seia was so confused. Edgiel sounded male. Ok, for the sake of argument, he was male. And vapid. Beyond words.

Not only did it take him forever to give an answer, he was actually admiring the dagger before he realized an answer was required. It didn't even bother him that he was on the point of death. Maybe it never occured to him. Or, maybe he was much to powerful to be bothered by Qiedra. Seia didn't know whether to laugh at him, or gape in amazement.

So, there were several moments of silence while Seia registered that he'd actually asked a question:

Do? for Her? Was he mad? He was in no position to bargain, much less offer favors. But then...he was incredibly dense. Wasn't he? The lonesome traveler couldn't remember the last time she'd met someone so confusing. Except Jordan. But Jordan wasn't confusing in the same way. She closed her mouth with a click. She hadn't realized it had been open.

Well, he seemed harmless enough. Maybe. She wasn't sure she trusted him yet. But she would sheath her dagger for now. She could draw it faster then he could blink anyway.

The dagger went into it's scabbard with a little 'fwiffp' and Seia resumed a normal stance.

She was still pondering this new phenomon which had presented itself. The terrified girl licked her lips. Her hand rested on her forhead as she attempted to wrap her mind around the being that was Edgiel. At least he was quiet now. -Boy did he prattle! On and on about the dummest things. Breathing and the color of her sword. Who cared?! And he was interminably happy. But then... they did say 'ignorance was bliss'.

The exile walked a little circle about the angel, inspecting him from head to toe. Mmph. Tacky. Well, at least he was dressed. Even if he did look like a girl.

Well, seeing as how he(?) didn't seem perturbed at all --which could be a very bad thing, depending on how one looked at it-- She might as well attempt to divest him of any food he might posses. She would worry about the other favors he could give after that.

"You wouldn't happen to have any food on you, would you?"

Not that she couldn't find any in the forest. She was surrounded by food. But having food given was much easier then having food found.

"And, you wouldn't happen to know a great place to hole up for the night?"

She was hoping it wouldn't take him all night to answer those questions.

[beflexor]

(OOC: Haha, good to know since I'm a bit out of practice with him)

Edgiel actually looked a little disappointed when Seia put the weapon away. She seemed to have a headache though, judging by where her hand was, that, or she just smooshed a bug. It was probably a bug since Edgiel didn't exactly inspire fear, awe, or even headaches in people with his divine presence.

Well, sometimes headaches, he had to admit. It was still probably a bug though, there were lots of them around.

"Hm?" he realized she was talking to him. She sounded so much nicer when she wasn't all angry sounding. That should have gone without saying of course, but sometimes people sounded nicer while still being angry. Just less-angry. Less-angry was better than angry-angry though.

She was starting to look at him in a funny, angry-angry sort of way, so he quickly replied, "Yes, I have some food right here," he reached into the folds of his robe, which was strange in itself, but stranger was the fact that he produced two hot, freshly-baked loaves of what looked like bread. It smelled like honey and cinnamon, with a touch of vanilla.

"This is called manna. It nourishes both body and soul, but only beings with the purest of hearts can eat it. It tastes like scones too!" He took a large bite out of one, moaning at its deliciousness before handing the other one to Seia,.

"Try it!" he said, spewing crumbs at her.

[E'doa A'nii]

(Well, if that's ;out of practice' I can't wait to see 'back on my feet'! XD)
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Seia was so delighted by the prospect of food. Food! It was hard to gain weight or even sustain oneself on a completely vegetarian diet. The lack of cheese or even bread, not to mention meat meant that she was wasting away. Nuts were hard to find, and harder to access...and Seia was no camper. So anything she got a hold of was within reach, and not too hard to prepare.

Which meant a pretty scant diet.

So she was delighted by his production of two delicious, warm, crusty loaves of chewy bread. The thought made her mouth water. They smelled wonderful. Like cinnamon and honey. And vanilla. Seia loved vanilla. Her large cavernous black eyes took on a look of gratitude and longing.

Until he mentioned that little clause about pure hearts.

Crash! There went all her hopes for a meal. Crinkle chink. There went all her good feelings about the bread. If the sound of a rampaging forest fire could be heard that would be what Seia sounded like at the moment. That was just cruelty. Pure hearts. She could never have a pure heart. Not after--not after--Not after what she'd done! She would not be like Vanessa. And Jordan had shown her what an awful person she was. (If Jordan was right anyway. She wasn't sure yet, who was right.)

It wasn't fair! How was she supposed to know?! He was taunting her, that's what. JUst being mean because he could be. She bet he knew. He knew! He wasn't any better then the rest of them! Fatigue, hunger and fear had taken their toll on her emotional well being, and the girl sat down on the ground and indulged in a fit of tears. She would strangle him. Her left hand worked Qiedra's hilt, as her right hand shielded her face, which rested on her knees.

The spewed crumbs simply bounced on her back and rolled off. He was offering it to her. See?! He was being mean. Telling her she couldn't have it, and then giving it to her. Taunting her. She had a mind to hit him with the loaf. She snatched the bread from him with a grunt and proceeded to tear off a big piece, which she stuck in her mouth. It was good. Exceptionally good. Dumb oaf. As soon as she was done with the bread she would hang him up and flay him for being mean.

She tore off another piece...

[beflexor]

Edgiel smiled, "There's no need to cry, the vanilla isn't that strong." At first she seemed to be struggling for her blade, the angel guessed it was because she wanted to cut it into dainty pieces to eat it. that was okay, girls needed table manners. Edgiel was an angel, but he was a boy, so he figured it balanced out to having okay manners.

She took a bit chunk and ate it, and Edgiel wanted to flutter his hidden wings with joy.

"See? It's really good. I baked it myself, with my mother's help of course, but I wouldn't let her mix in all the ingredients, I wanted to do that myself. She did help me bake it though, that's why its still warm. Mine would porbably stay warm for only a week. These have stayed toasty for a year now!"

He took another bite, his face screwing up with concentration as he studied the flavor, "I can't be sure I got everything right though. Does your soul feel much more fulfilled than it did before? I don't know, I've always been kinda worried about the whole soul fulfillment thing. If you eat too much manna, can your soul get fat? I mean eating manna doesn't make your body fat but maybe the calories go right to your soul. I wouldn't want a fat soul, would you?"

Edgiel finished his bread and lay down on his stomach, his chin resting on his hands as he slowly moved his feet back and forth in the air, watching Seia finish her bread, as he continued to talk. "You're really pretty, kinda short though, I mean I'm short for my kind but you're a tiny thing. Your hair is nice though, my mom has black hair, but yours doesn't glisten with the stars of an eternal night galaxy, which means it isn't distracting. It's nice, plain, but really nice." His bright eyes met her dark ones, "You've got pretty eyes too, they're like pools of water at midnight, I've only seen bad things with black eyes like those. Most people's eyes are like mine," he gestured to his. Despite his claim, they were a very unusual light blue.

"Yours seem kinda sad though," his expression changed to one of concern, and his feet grew still, thumping back to the ground. "Is there anything wrong that I could help with? I-I mean that's what I'm here for. I know I'm a Purgatory-class secretary, but we all know how to do some simple requests. I went to a recent seminar about it, I mean it's not as recent as the Angelsoft Powerpoke seminar, they were updating to Version ‡.4 and had to teach us about the newest features, but the help seminar whatever-thingy is still pretty fresh in my mind." He remembered her other request, after the food, "I can't really help you with finding a place to stay, well actually..."

He could fly. From up high he might find a town or a good sheltered spot to stay the rest of the night. Or maybe even some other travellers nearby. She would see his wings though, and the other angels tended to get mad at him when he ran around with his wings for everyone to see.

He grew hesitant, "Okay I might have a way but you'd have to turn around and close your eyes. I would take me a minute, so if you spun around five times one way, then five times the other, I would be back by then. What do you say?"

[E'doa A'nii]

The bread was very good, and Seia ate it with relish. The crusty loaf dissapeared in a matter of minutes, and withit disspeared some of Seia's frustration and anger. She wasn't annoyed with him anymore. Much. It was still rotten that he'd been so mean. But he'd fed her.

And now he was going on about his mother and how they'd cooked it together.The rest of his words about calories and soul food went unnoticed. Mother... Seia wanted to burst out in tears all over again. Her mother had betrayed her. Both of them had. Seia did cry again, but not a fit. Just slow sad tears that trickled down her face silently as she rested her chin on her knees. It must be so nice to have a mother who actually took the time to cook something with you.

Vanessa had never done that.

She was always too busy.

Seia would have gotten angry again except that this strange and wierd fellow was going on about her appearance. Did he always prattle on so? She tucked the last bit of bred into her mouth--with some hesitation about saving it for later-- and watched Edgiel flop on the ground in a very relaxed manner. He was irritating, but not tottally annoying. Kind of like an endearing idiot. The kind of person who despite all his annoying and troublesome ways manages to squirm his way into one's affections anyway, and stay there.

And he went on about glaxies of stars and pools of water at night. Seia didn't know if that was a bad sign or a good sign. Vanessa said those words were a very bad thing to hear. Jordan had said they may or may not be bad. Well that was one and a half bads and one half good. Seia sighed. She didn't know anymore. Did it matter? The company of the Angel Secretary had to be better then staying by herself amid the monsters and terrors of the night. Truth be told, she would have taken a sentient naked mole rat as company.

Anything not to be alone in the darkness.

She didn't get what he was going on about. He had pretty blue eyes. Unusually luminescent and a bit more vibrant then most; but nice. She would have said so too. If she had been feeling nicer and cared more. Instead she just nodded tiredly.

And now he was concerned. Seia had never seen someone switch throgh so many topics and so many emotions in so short a time. Vanessa had two emotions: Anger and irritation. Well, three: Impatience. Jordan had more but it took him a while to phase through all of them. She hadn't been sitting here that long had she? Not more then thirty minutes tops. Maybe? How long had she been here? Edgiel had a way of making a minute feel like an age.

Anything he could help with...Everything, nothing. She didn't know. Only that she wanted a place to sleep, and not to be alone. Not at night anyway. Not in the darkness with all the monsters. Not in the darkness with the pain and the fear. Not to be alone.

He could even babble on about that Angelpoke-whatever-it-was if he would just stick around.

And then he said he could find aplace to stay if she would close her eyes and psin around ten times. He wasn't going to leave was he? As far as she knew, it would be just like him to take off and leave and call it a joke. Well, she was not going to turn around ten times and close her eyes. She would make him promise first.

Well, if she could trust his word.

She didn't know if she could do that either.

That made her angry. Quidera came flying out of it's hilt. It whizzed past Edgiel's head and sliced a path through a tree trunk stopping only when the blade passed through at the hilt. "NO!" She yelled. "You will not go anywhere!" She commanded, taking a threatening step towards his person.

"Y-you--you--!" She spluttered in an attempt to say something remotely rational. She would kill him if he left. "Stay right here....we'll...look for someplace to stay in the morning..." She muttered huffily walking over to the tree to retrieve her dagger. It slid out with ease. She flopped down on the ground and proceeded to wittle at a twig she picked up.

"...you just stay right there..." She sighed. It was a weary sigh.