Angels in Arcadia

[AkiBlue]

Alex only chuckled. The kid was a challenge. And Alex was born for the challenges. He stayed quiet for a few moments, watching Roy go through the sand and coming up empty handed. After those few moments, Alex cleared his throat and nodded toward the opposite, and lighter side of Roy. "Answer me this. Why wouldn't I talk to you?" A question with a question. He'd make the challenger, answer his own questions- or however that went. He didn't keep up with detail.

Alex looked on the more shady side and dug around. The things he found were pieces of shells and dull rocks or worthless coins. He waited for Roy to look on the brighter side to find a couple of shells, maybe a few other cool things.

~~~~~~~-------~~~~~~~~

Liu thought about the question at hand. Were her parents always gone? It seemed like it. Most of the time she saw them on maybe an occasional Saturday, but that was only because they remembered they had a daughter and didn't need to starve her because of their foolish and petty arguing. "Ah, yes...most of the time." She shrugged again. "What do you mean not convinced?" Liu asked quietly.

The empty they were walking to made Liu stop in her tracks. "Uh..." Joanna knew the owner. Well even if she didn't know him, Joanna did pay the shack owner. "Um...al-alright." Liu walked in with the woman and looked around. It brought back buried memories from her past. As a kid, her parents would take her to the beach and for lunch they'd go to the shack. It was a nicer time..

"What would you like me to do?" Liu blinked and followed her. She had no idea why she was doing this, but it felt nice, so she continued without complaint.

[Trinais]

"Oh, my dear, we are our own worst critics. Trust me when I say that you have skill." Ivy's sudden pulling away wasn't unexpected, but Parry frowned nonetheless at the sudden reversal. The clock was quickly ticking and soon he would be helpless to stop anything that came their way.

"New York, Boston, Los Angeles, they might as well be whole other worlds. I get this way whenever I have a coffee, m'dear," he said with a coy smile. "And it's getting a bit chilly out for my tastes. Would you care to join me in gassing up at a local shop? Would you, would you?"

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

The idea that Mark would reveal something he knew was Ian's most devastating secret, that they'd talked about it on a number of occasions, that he'd betrayed that trust, was absolutely overpowering his feelings that arose at Mark's confidences in this woman might raise.

"He wouldn't have said anything," Ian said, taking a step back. "He never would have said anything. To anyone! He knew how much this- that I needed-"

Okay. Breathe. Breathe. You're okay. You're not on camera. There's nobody around to listen. Just this weird girl. Quit acting like a scared rabbit. Game face, Ian. Game face.

"I appreciate your... coming to the funeral. It was nice to see you cared about him too. But I need to go. Goodbye."

Without another word, Ian turned on his heel and ran off the rocks and into the thicket next to the beach, treading heavily through the leaves, oblivious to any movement above him or beside him. He was running, but as often happens, he was running from the wrong thing, toward the wrong thing. He'd run through these woods a hundred times as a kid and thought he knew every step by heart, how to round every tree and move over every rock.

Much to his surprise when he stepped over an old oak that the ground didn't hold up over his weight. Between one breath and the next, Ian fell ten feet onto his left leg, pain and surprise competing with shock as he found himself in what looked like a kind of rounded tunnel. And he got the definite sense he wasn't alone in there...

[InkedWolf]

Ivy felt a small grin return to her face after the shock of Parry staring at her wrists. "Oh, I would love to go for some coffee..." She often knew several coffee shops, the specials and the hours they kept.

There was a specific shop that she came to, "I know a shop you'll love. Coffee and Art. Come on," she smiled as she took Parry's arm. As they walked to the coffee shop, Ivy spoke further. "I think I'm always my worst critic, when I first began to draw I could picture these amazing world. Sometimes to escape, other times to cope, other times it makes me happier to create these worlds where I don't feel so...cut off." She felt strange saying these things to Parry, but he appeared to bring the walls crashing down around her.

As the pair entered the coffee shop, Ivy smiled as she let the scent of all the wonderful drinks float around her. "Welcome to the Last Round," the coffee shop appeared to be a rather cozy nook. There were almost a dozen canvas' hanging on the wall. Ivy pointed towards two particular canvas, one of a girl, curled up in the corner of a room. She appeared quite hopeless, and heavy red lines covered her arms. The second was of what could be Ivy as she was younger, happy. As the pair came up to the counter, an older red-headed woman came to the till.

"Ivy sweety, it's so good to see you! Who's your friend?"

Ivy spoke softly as she replied, "His name's Parry...he's nice." The woman laughed as she looked over the shy artists' friend.

"He looks cute, you go take a seat sweety and I'll make your usual and Parry here is gonna pick out some food for you two." Ivy felt her face get a little warm as she took her usual spot.

The woman smiled as Ivy walked away before turning to Parry. "Allright hun, there's a few different types of cheesecakes, pasties and what not. Since you're the first person I've ever seen Ivy come in with. Consider tonight on the house, just be good for the poor girl. She's had it rough..."

--

Joanna smiled as she passed Liu a few round red potatoes. "Allright hun, now cut these into quarters. We're going to make some old home fries." She began to take a few burgers out of the freezer, along with a mixture of spices that had a wonderful aroma. Joanna looked at Liu, observing her responses. "You don't sound convinced about just eatin', sorry but I've been playin' poker for long enough to understand a bluff. So consider this a home-cooked meal of sorts."

Joanna began to heat up the grill, taking a few buns out. She began to smear a mixture of garlic, oregano and butter on the open halves of the buns. "So if you don't mind me askin', why yer folks not around much? They both work, or there more to this tale?" Joanna could tell her parents never got along, and she may have felt responsible for that. "So what would you like on your burger?" She smiled as she grabbed a few onion rings and tossed them into the vat. Joanna didn't technically need to eat, it didn't stop her from enjoying the meal however. "I haven't gotten to cook for anyone in ages, it's nice to be sharin' the meal with you." She passed Liu several spices along with some olive oil, "when you got the potatoes diced up, toss em in these spices along with the olive oil. Now if you need help, ask allright?"

[HiddenBeauty13]

The boy shrugged. That was a good question. Why did people talk to him? Was it because of the way he dressed? Or was it because of his 'attitude'? He had no frigging idea and decided to stop thinking about it for now, then answered the other guy's question. "I'm not sure. Guess I'm not used to being spoken to." He replied with a slight shrug before searching around in the sand once more. As he did so, his hand brushed against the smooth surface of an unknown object. Curiously, he moved away the sand until he revealed a pearl. It was a silver color and was smooth to the touch. "Wow..." the boy muttered in awe and picked up the priceless item. He'd never seen one before.

Roy placed the item into his pocket and then began to search around for more hidden objects. He only managed to find a few seashells and seaweed, things that didn't even compare to the pearl but he kept the seashells anway. He stayed quiet nearly the whole time but, for some reason, he hoped that this Alex guy would talk to him again. Since he was used to being antisocial, he had no idea what to say to start a conversation. Glancing up, he noticed that the sun was nearly gone from the sky, taking the bright, and warm colors of the sky with it...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"No, Ian! Wait!" Aoi called after the boy and took off into the trees. It was dark now and the spiritual pressure of the demons was overwhelming and seemed to press against her from all directions. The trees blocked an light that could have possibly still been in the sky and it was eerily quiet, besides thw sounds of her and Ian feet running through the dense area. After a few moments of hardcore running, the angel finally caught up with the boy. "Ian! Wa-"

She stopped and watched as he suddenly plunged downward, a look of surprise and fear on his face. Dammit! I may have just killed this kid unintentionally. Aoi thought with a frown and then peaked over the egde, breathing a sigh of relief. He was alive but could tell he was injured. "Hold on! I'm going to help you out!" She called down to Ian and slipped the ring off of her finger. As she muttered a few words, her whole body seemed to glow and her wings appeared behind her back; her ring transformed into the wand that she used to harvest and distribute her powers. Once done, the glowing dimmeed down a bit, but it was stil visible.

Aoi then began the descend down the area that Ian was now laying, hurt. Scaling down was a bit of a challenege and she only used her wings incase she lost her grip. Her feet touched the bottom on what she realized was a tunnel and looked up. They were a long way down and she could see dark shadows gathering around the tunnel. They didn't have much time.

"Are you okay Ian? Where does it hurt?" Aoi asked and stooped down beside him, placing her hand against his chest. Good, no ribs were broken...

[AkiBlue]

Liu quietly did as she was told, trying to make sure everything was perfect. An impulse she had seeing that nothing was every good for her parents. The question of her parents nearly made her cut off her finger, thankfully it didn't. "They....they work a lot." A full debrief of her life was nothing she wanted to speak about. Joanna was a nice woman, but that emotional wall was going to stay. "There isn't...much else to the story." Liu lied obviously. It wasn't hard to tell by the way her hand gripped the knife she held to cut the potatoes, or the way she never directly met Joanna's eyes with her own.

"Th-Thank you..." Liu attempted to say something else, but it only ended with her dicing again. She finished her task, and put them with the mix of delicious smelling spices. "Um..." Liu couldn't help but smile softly. "I don't usually add anything to it besides cheese and lettuce." All of the talk about her parents made her wonder where they were now. The last time she had seen them was probably a week ago. The last time, they both coincidentally came on the same day. An incident which led her to hide in her room as the two argued, yelling the same things from previous encounters.

Coming back to reality, she glanced over at Joanna in curiosity. Who was this woman that all of a sudden took a liking to her? And why?

~~~~

Alex watched Roy as he stumbled upon seashells. Seeing the pearl, Alex only nodded. He enjoyed the serene silence, the seagulls, the pretty beach the sunset- Ah, flip...the sun was setting. And in the dark of the night, the demons were going to be out, terrorizing. It wasn't too late yet, so Alex stood, dusting his clothing off. Then shaking his head, sand flying out. "There's a shack, restaurant thing over there. Let's go!"

Alex never really asked if Roy wanted to go, more like told him. He only waited for a few seconds, before hurrying off to the shack- smelling food being cooked. "Oooh yummm~" He grinned and took a seat in on a stool.

[Trinais]

"I absolutely love coffee shops," Parry said as the journeyed down the street. "There was this fine place in Istanbul I loved to visit back in the 1800s. Best baklava and Turkish coffee this side of, well, Turkey. And they had a dancing hedgehog!"

Parry could feel himself blushing under the woman's watch. The coffee shop was this side of trendy and the baristas seemed to be quite cheerful too, but the way the locals looked at Ivy, he could sense that there was some history to this place with the girl. That, and that one dreadful painting she had hanging in the corner. It intrigued Parry to no end- masterfully done, an excellent command of lines and color for someone her own age. But the subject matter was quite grim for such a cheery coffee place.

Speaking of coffee..

"Oh nonono, you misunderstand- I'm not- we're not- that's to say-" I'm about ten thousand years her senior was on the tip of his tongue when her decided to cut that route. "We ran into each other earlier and she's been kind enough to show me around town. And... can I have a hot chocolate and two cheesecake slices please? It's been............ too long since I had some."

Parry gave the Baristas a smile and quickly stepped off toward the table where Ivy had settled in- complete with a view of her paintings.

"You have quite a gift for capturing emotion on canvas," Parry said- speaking for the first time in a subdued, serious tone. "It's the mark of budding talent. Tell me... when was the last time you painted while happy? Or feeling a sense of wonder? Or awe?"

And would you like to again?

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Dimly, Ian could hear the words of the woman who'd followed him through the blackness and rough, gravelly dirt beneath his palms. When were there ever tunnels beneath Arcadia? This wasn't a mining town. Rolling onto his side, he didn't smell any chemicals or- god forbid- sewage. None nearby. But there was something on the tip of his tongue that made him want to get sick.

Ankleankleankleankleankle!

Sucking in a breath, Ian struggle upright- flash of light- did the woman have a flashlight with her? Did people...

make...

blue...

"Wings?"

Ian sat still as Aoi settled on the earth, wand in one hand and retracting blue wings giving off pale light in the darkness.

"Right... I'm dead and this is the road to hell."

Ian was not entirely wrong as, above their heads the sun dipped below the horizon and the cave shook from the force of a screech, someone or something making the deepest shriek of nails on a chalkboard Ian had ever heard, until he could swear he felt blood seeping from his ears.

[InkedWolf]

Joanna could feel Liu's heart was heavy at the mention of her parents. She decided she'd try to ease tactfully into this.

"You're doing great hun, thank y' fer all the help." She placed the freshly spiced patties upon the grill. The scent of the meat cooking began to permeate the air. Joanne looked towards Liu as she continued to cut the potatoes. "Hun, if I didn' know any better. Yer grip on that knife says wonders 'bout what's layin' in your heart." Joanna didn't like pressing the issue, but time was against her.

"I've been on this earth a long time sweetheart, seen good men sin, bad men cryin' and played enough poker to know a bluff." She mixed a bit of the potatoes in with the spice mixture and placed them into the oven. "So how about this Liu, let's throw our cards on the table." She stood up from the table, she removed the heavy leather duster for the first time in what felt like ages. She began to arrange the toppings on the buns while the food continued to cook. "To prove things to you darlin' I'll go first."

She took a breath, unfolding her wings for Liu to see. "Now before you go panickin' darlin, I'm an angel. I'm here wit' friends to investigate the tragedies that keep happenin' to kids your age. We're also here to help a few others alon' the way. You happen' to be one of em. As she waited for Liu to understand what was going on, Joanne placed the burgers, home fries, and onion rings on a plate. Placing the two plates on the closest table, she gave Liu a smile.

"Now I was honest wit' you, I trust you Liu. Hope you can plac' a little faith in me now. Come, eat, and let's talk."

--

Ivy didn't say much as she quietly sipped her drink. Shortly after Parry had arrived with his drink, and two slices of raspberry cheesecake. She slowly skimmed her fork across the top of the cheesecake. It resulted in a thin film of cheesecake wrapping around her fork.

She smiled softly as Parry continued to talk about her art. When he asked when the last time she was happy Ivy's smile began to fade away. She slowly chose her words as she responded.

"I honestly can't remember that, I've been this way for quite some time. Sometimes, I'm so tired. When I first started to paint, I had this tube of sky blue that...it was so blue I felt like I could reach through the canvas and feel the wind blowing around my hand. After awhile, I found certain colours that just, made me see the world differently then what I was stuck with." She took a sip of the coffee before she continued, "Eventually, I became numb. Colours lost their magic to me, and I was alone...you know what it's like. To have the world around you yanked away, to have everyone around you sound like your love is so easy. Eventually," she gestured to her wrists, "you lose the reason to keep trying and hope you can just feel something."

Ivy hung her head, she couldn't keep talking. She probably sounded like a spoiled child for what she did. When Parry asked if she wanted to find her passion for art again. She didn't have much of a response.

"Yes, I would love to find that again."

[HiddenBeauty13]

Aoi frowned. Maybe he was in shock, or shocked to see her in such a state. She had to admit, she would have been in shock too if she wasn't dead when that angel saved her own life, but the only different was that Ian wasn't dead. And she wasn't surrounded by demons when she died. "No, you're not dead Ian." She said softly with a shake of her head. "You're just in shock...maybe..."

A creepy howling sound came from above them, sending a shiver down the angel's spine. She wasn't afraid, but the noise wasn't very pleasant. "Uh, not to alarm you or anything Ian, but we kinda need to get out of here." Aoi said in a low tone and looked down at the boy. He was hurt but she was sure that he could still use his arms. "Do you think you can hold on to my back while I climb back up this tunnel?" She asked him, gently placing her hand aginst his arm. She really needed for him to trust her if they were going to make it out of there alive.

Above them, the demons got more anxious, their whispers and creepy howling only getting louder...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roy stared after the guy for a moment. Man, he was so enegertic and happy all the time. How did he manage to do it was definately a mysetry. After searching through the sand one more time, he pulled his hoodie lower on his face and jogged over to the little shack thing. It was actually very nice, despite its size and location. The inside was even better.

After taking a seat next to Alex, the boy looked over at him. "I hope you're paying for this." His family wasn't exactly the richest ,so he didn't get much extra money. Plus, any extra money always went for something school related.

[Trinais]

Parry could understand, after a fashion. The way she spoke of her depression reminded him of those days when he was not succesful in his missions. Contrary to popular belief, good was not all powerful and evil wasn't always punished. He'd often fallen into the darkened slumps in the aftermath of failure. The scariest part was, he'd often succeeded with less powerful allies and failed with more qualified ones. It made his life- and work- a maddening series of nerves. Nerves he soothed by trying to find joy in the most mundane places.

"It's wonderful being an artist, but more often than not it is painful. It's like being touched by the fire of the gods. You burn brightly while working, but if you aren't careful then the fuel might not last. Van Gogh taught me that the hard way. And yes, I've felt that way. People... people find out what I do for a living and suddenly their thoughts change. 'Where have you been for all my life? Can't you do more for me? Why did you let these things happen?' And I have to look them in the eye and say 'What you've heard about me isn't always true. I can do lots of things, but I'm not all powerful. Nobody is.' And then it just gets... difficult... to make any difference."

Parry dipped a stirrer into his coffee, playing with the cream therein, drawing shapes and lines and making a general modern-art-masterpiece (that is to say, a mess) of his drink.

"I think- and I mean that, I only think- that I can give you-"

Then there was the screech. That all encompassing wrenching of steel nails across a chalkboard, coming from everywhere. Beneath the floor, above the ceiling, through the walls and windows. It was a miracle that the glass panes didn't break. Doubly so that the baristas continued chatting about some TV show that was currently all the rage- their voices swallowed by the scream but their bodies betraying the fact that they heard nothing to be concerned about.

Outside the windows the pedestrians continued on their way home through the now darkened sky oblivious to the fact that from a crack in the street there emerged a plume of smoke that rose ten feet into the air, and stopped. It grew in mass, solidifying into a six-legged beast- a shape of tusks, a trunk, and taloned feet becoming clearer as the moments passed and the creature took form.

"Oh dear..."

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

Ian nodded numbly, his brain flipping between ankle/angel in its thought patterns. But the screech of the... thing made him put his game face back on. He wasn't too particular who had his back on the field, as long as somebody was willing to watch it.

"I... yeah, I can do that." Ian struggled upright, wrapping his arms delicately around her neck while looking into the darkness of the tunnel. She was slight, but Ian got the feeling that Aoi could stare down a train if she wanted to- and the train would back down. "So an angel, huh? Unless I'm seeing things. I mean, I've taken some hits that made me see stars, but none that made me see wings."

Hushed whispers carried through the walls of the tunnel, and they didn't sound particularly friendly either. "There's... my house isn't far from here. I can show you the way when we get out."

[AkiBlue]

Alex grinned, thankful that he didn't have to force the boy to follow. "Of course I'll pay~ heh, I brought you here didn't I?" He looked at the kid and leaned against the bar. "So tell me. What's really wrong?" Night was approaching fast and the aurora of the demons was growing stronger. He had to figure a way to get Roy to talk, so why not try the blunt approach? Then maybe, slip in the fact that he was an angel here to protect...etc etc. Baby steps.

"There's something...more. The reason why you're so to yourself and play loner." Alex reiterated to clarify his meaning. "And you can't deny it. It's written on your face. I've lived way too long to not know when something's up." He added, just to keep from being sidetracked or procrastinating on the topic.

///

So much personal talk. Liu loosened her grip on the knife and stayed quiet. Her eyes stayed down, away from Joanna. The woman seemed to be trying to "peer into her soul" or something of the sort. She wanted to know...a lot about her.
"It...isn't very important." She tried to reassure Joanna, but mostly herself. Liu always pushed her parental problems to the side, wanting to ignore them, hoping it would go away on its own.

What was she talking about now? Cards? Liu looked up to pay more attention. "I'm sorry but what are you-" Liu's eyes widened at the sight of the wings Joanna gained. Don't freak out she says. She's an angel she says. Liu hesitated and pondered whether to freak out or not. She decided against it. Joanna was a nice lady, Liu trusted her at the least.

"A-An angel." Liu whispered in an admired tone. Then Liu blinked and ran her hands through her hair. "I'm dead aren't I? This can't be real. I'm either dead or asleep. This...you must be a figment of my imagination of some sort...What I must think of as a 'happy place.'" She slumped into a chair, dazed and confused- and in hope to wake up.