- Heaven's Last Breath -

Friends in High Places

- Death -

---

"Hold it there you two!"

The moment before Aaron and I clashed, we shifted our stances, standing at each other's backs. My eyes scanned the chamber, searching for the source of the voice.

"Hey, hey, no need to be on edge."

On cue, a bright flaming spiral flashed before us. The fire dissipated, revealing a tall, tanned, muscular man. His hair was long, coloured a fiery ombre, matching his glowing orange eyes. The man stood taller than me at almost seven feet.

He wore an unbuttoned black tropical shirt, decorated by red and white hibiscus flowers. Chocolate brown sandals covered his feet, khaki brown bremuda shorts clothing his lower half. Around his neck hung a flower lei, filled with pink ginger and white jasmine blossoms.

His smile was warm, giving the impression he wasn't an enemy. But I wasn't ready to lower my guard, careful of the man who had appeared before Aaron and I.

"Aaron? No fucking way! It's been so long!"

I turned to the wine haired boy at my side, seeing what he thought of this man who looked like he was ready for a vacation. I saw the gears turning in his brain, thinking back to see if he remembered who the man was.

"Oh really? You don't remember me?" The man rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, looking to the two of us, "Ah well, it has been some time so I can't blame you."

Then, he turned to me, his smile growing wider as he examined me, "Holy shit! The Grim Reaper! That means the Soul Sorceress and the War Goddess are nearby, right?"

Before I could say anything, the man slammed his fist into the rocky floor, kicking up three elevated flat stones. He invited Aaron and I to sit, taking his seat opposite us.

"Hurakan? What are you doing here?" Aaron sat down on the flat stone.

I guessed the man wasn't an enemy, sitting down Hurakan's lips curled into a wide smile.

"So you do remember me! I was starting to think you forgot about me. Anyways, I was nearby and saw something going down by the volcano so I thought I'd check it out. Who could have guessed that it was you Aaron!"

I leaned forward a little, interested by the man who had joined us deep within the volcano, "You're an Incarnate, aren't you?"

Hurakan turned to me, nodding, "Sure am. Wildfire Incarnate, pleased to finally meet you."

He then turned to Aaron, a more serious expression taking over his face. "You're probably wondering why I'm here. It's a long story but in short, I got into a fight and here I am."

"Why don't you go back to Heaven? You're a Celestial so there's no reason why you can't."

The Celestials sounded familar to me. I thought back, trying to remember where I had heard the name before. I wracked my memory but I couldn't place a finger on where I had seen the Celestials mentioned.

"Ah well, I guess it's for the same reason as you-"

"Wait a minute." I cut off Hurakan, more than surprised by how casually he had just said what he did. "You're a Celestial Aaron?"

Sheepishly, the wine haired boy turned away, rubbing the back of his neck. "Uh, I guess the cat's out of the bag. But, yeah, I am a Celestial, just like Hurakan over here."