The Angels Have Fallen

Chapter 9- Siris

And we're back. Thanks for being here, lovely readers, brace yourselves for some action.
    •    Kota
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    "La da dad da da- Fly with me my dear, let us pass the hours."
    "We can talk about the things you love and all your favorite flowers~"
    In the middle of my song, I heard a sniffle come from the bathroom and I stopped singing. Myrah?
    Walking over to the bathroom door, I put the harp underneath my arm and softly pushed the door open. Myrah was crying while scrubbing dirt from my clothes. Clearing her throat, she wiped a tear away with her shoulder.
    She glanced at me through the mirror and looked down, I frowned.
    "You're supposed to knock.
    "You're crying." I put a hand on her shoulder, "are you okay?"
    "Im fine." She lied, her face was back to its usual stone-cold demeanor.
    "Okay." I don't think she'd appreciate me pushing her to talk about it.
    "Why'd you stop playing?"
    "To check on you." I leaned against the door frame and smiled.
    "….Can you play more?" She glanced back at me.
    I smiled and sat on the floor in the corner of the bathroom. It was spacious enough, with a stone sink, toilet, and walk in shower. There was a soft red rug on the floor that matched the wooden panels on the walls, and a few small candles on the walls lit the room.
    Plucking the strings, I hummed a melody I made on the spot. Truthfully, I was surprised that Myrah liked the playing. She didn't seem like the type of person who enjoys music…then again, I hardly know her.
    "Where did you learn to play?" She set the damp shirt on a towel and started washing a pair of pants.
    "My grandfather played often. Him and his husband were part of a small group that did acapella. I grew up with him since my parents were usually busy doing their old parliament duties. He taught me everything I know."
    "Parliament? Don't tell me you're royalty."
    "I'm not," I laughed, "I'm just a normal citizen. My brother, on the other hand, is engaged to the princess."
    She rolled her eyes,, "I should have seen that coming. Is he at least not an ass?"
    "Oh he is totally an ass, well, when he is goofing around…but he's nice. He's always looked after me. He's the one helping me train to join the royal guards."
    "We should spar sometime then."
    "You know how to fight?"
    "Its the only way to survive. Maybe I'll teach you a few things."
    I grinned, "that would be great."

                          ...

     I poked Myrah as she hung my clothes over the ledge of the window.
    "What if someone steals the clothes?"
    "We're up high enough and it's the back of the building, it's not likely in nicer cities anyways."
    "Nicer cities…do you have a favorite spot then?"
    She looked off to the side before walking over to the bed and grabbing a piece of paper from her pouch, she handed it to me.
    "Here."
    Opening it, I smiled at the graphite sketch of a forest, painted with a bit of purple dye and green paste fireflies.
    "Did you draw this?"
    "No." She sat on the edge of the bed. "My best friend did. She's a wonderful artist."
    I nodded and handed her the paper.
    "That's nice. My sister wants to be an artist someday, specifically pastel painting."
    "…Right." She looked off to the side again.
    Did I say something wrong? She couldn't meet my eyes.
    "Anyways, most of the clothes should be dry by now, the rest will dry on our way to the drop off spot."
    "Okay." I grabbed my shirt and pants and pulled it over my body."
    Myrah stared at me.
    "Dude, shower first. You have dirt all over you. And I just washed your clothes."
    Blushing, I quickly put the clothes back to dry.
    "Right, my bad."
    She tossed a bottle of something citrus smelling and some can to me.
    "Paste for the wings, spray it with the citrus and it'll stay."
    "You just carry this around??"
    "I stay prepared for everything..and I went to the store last night."
    I smirked, "how about this then?" My chest glowed and her hand, instead of reaching for her bag, grabbed a pillow and clumsily smacked her head with it.
    "SIRIS!!!"
    "Bye!" I ran into the bathroom and shut the door before the scary lady could attack me. I heard a few frustrated grunts and then some laughter.
    She's opening up a bit.
    I showered and while waiting for her to finish as well, dyed my wings with the dark paste. I ended up with some staining my fingers, making it look like I had recently dug my hands into dirt. We quickly got changed and left the inn. The air was a bit cooler now that the sky was filled with clouds.
    "With this heat, you'd think it would be impossible for it to rain."
    "Well, we do have oceans, we get the rain that you guys get too."
    "Why is clean water so hard to find then?"
    "Volcanoes fill our ocean, most of the water is polluted by sulfur." She pulled me away from some delicious smelling food booths and down a crowded street.
    "You know, our school textbooks say that most demons look like malformed bats. I never believed them because we technically share the same DNA, but its interesting."
    She scoffed, "that's what they told you? I mean ours say you angels look like rats with wings."
    "Rats-"
    "I've seen an angel before you though, images were spread. People don't really expect you guys to look like rats anymore."
    "Is it common to see angels here?"
    "Sometimes, you don't see people banished from above? They get their wings cut off and are sent here to live as a demon."
    I paused.
    "What?"
    "Oh." Her face grew dark, "I guess they've hidden that from you too."
    "But they'd never- our laws-"
    Myrah sighed.
    "People with power don't care about laws, they do what they please. And they're obsessed with population control. When our land has issues, they toss a couple of criminals in a volcano, say a prayer, and call it a day." She put a hand on my shoulder as I remained silent. "I'm sorry."
    "Don't be." I didn't know what to believe. The government had a program for older angels to be sent to a far off haven, sacred and untouched, where they'd live out their last century..but no one was allowed to visit. No letters were able to be exchanged. Did they do that to my grandpas?
    "Siris." She stopped me. "You're core, its glowing, you need to calm down before you draw attention." I could hear whispers around me and I felt the eyes of people passing by.
    With my hands in fists and anger deeply rooted in my chest, I felt the urge to fling her, fling others who were around me. No…what's wrong with me? I take a breath and look at her, slowly, my core dimmed.
    "Try to distract yourself. Did you bring your harp?"
    I nodded and took it out.
    "Teach me." She gave me a small smile.
    Grateful for the distraction, I smiled too.
    "Okay."