Vespers (Fields of the Nephilim: Interlude)

Chapter 23

It was sunset when I finally opened my eyes. I was still lying down the boat with Miki but the oar was finally left beside us. I don’t see Lune around anymore. I stood up and realized we were already near the banks or was it a shore? Yes it was. I could hear the crying of the sea. I tried to wake up Miki but I was horrified to feel his cold skin. He couldn’t be dead yet. I took him in my arms and managed to get him out of the boat and towards the shore. I laid down Miki’s body down the sandy shore as I gently touched his face. The wounds have already healed and I could see the same radiance I have seen in him the first time we met. His eyes were closed and I could still hear him breathing.

“Miki, are you okay?” I asked as I cradled his head down my lap.

“Yes. Where is Lune?” his eyes were glancing around. I didn’t know what to tell him. All that’s left of Lune are scattered black feathers on the boat.

“Is he okay? He isn’t dead, is he?” Miki’s eyes were pleading like he would want me to tell him a lie. I didn’t move nor speak.

We stayed that way for a moment and as much as I could, I tended to Miki’s own wounds which seemed to start healing as well as my own. It could be the blood of Lune. As darkness fell, I gave up all hope in the finding of Lune. I couldn’t feel him near. I knew he is already dead. Miki was silent as well. Perhaps, he had already accepted this before I did. The silence went on and all we could hear was the song of the sea and the howling of the nocturnal animals.

Miki stayed motionless for a long while. He might not make it for long as well. I nudged at his shoulder and he looked at me.

“Will it be fine that way? I mean, Lune could be somewhere” he asked me. Confused with my own self, I shook my head slightly.

“I don’t know. I really don’t know….” I said. I saw him smiled as he looked up towards the bright full moon.

“Cien, I feel so tired. I wanted to sleep so badly. Please, take me away from here” he said softly. I nodded to this. I lifted him up as I spread out my wings and in a couple of moments we were finally away from the sea.

I didn’t know where my wings had taken us but as I landed, I saw the vast desert which was cooled down by the night. I started walking and amazingly, it was as if my feet have its own mind as I trudged along the sand. I stopped in front of a caved rock and in here I made my way inside towards its deepest cavern. Miki was weightless against me as I heaved him down some sort of a stone slab. He was breathing evenly now as I wrapped him in the dark cloak I found in the boat which I believe was Lune’s. Then I left him.

I wasn’t surprised to see a high rank angel waiting for me outside. His face was beautifully alluring. Unlike Lune’s beauty which seemed dangerous, this angel’s was that of pure innocence or something that is almost saintly. There was not even a streak or hint of malice in his eyes of dark velvet.  He was looking at me as he sat comfortably down the stone just in front the mouth of the cave. I didn’t acknowledge him. Instead, I worked on the stones and with my own power I let the rocks crashed as it blocked the entrance. No one would know what lies beyond those rocks. Then I felt his presence beside me and to my astonishment, he sealed the whole place with some kind of a barrier.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked. He just looked at me intently.

“Hunters are all around the place and you wouldn’t want thieves to loot his bones, would you? He would be better left here untouched. He is not a threat compared to Lune”

“So, you are all still after him”

“Hmm, probably yes” he mused as he stared at me with a sly smile on his face. I couldn’t answer. I looked away and prepared to leave. He didn’t stop me as I flapped my wings to fly away from the desert.

As I let my wings glide, I couldn’t help but wonder what else to do. Should I go back to Naoe? Should I go back to Gehenna once more and seek justice for Mina? Oh but that wouldn’t change a thing. And yes, Lune is right. He didn’t gave us his blood for nothing and he didn’t chose to die rowing the boat towards the mortal world just so I’d go back to Gehenna once again. And of course, he would definitely laugh at me had I chose to go down with him towards the abyss. He wouldn’t like that either.

Looking back at the direction of the desert, I thought of the sleeping angel behind the seal. What could have been my purpose? Not to look after that boy, is it? Well perhaps I’d linger around for now, I thought as I flew straight ahead towards the city where the lights were brighter as ever. I let my wings vanished and walked through the alleys like a mortal man as Lune could’ve done before. I might as well hang around sometimes, drink and kiss girls on the dark corner of the clubs. The thought had actually made me smile.

It saddened me that I haven’t told my sister that I loved her and that I was sorry. There was so much still that I would like to know and understand but nobody could answer my questions now. Lune is gone. Perhaps that is the only answer I need for now; the death of Lune. It could’ve freed me from the invisible shackle I have created around my own self. I could now choose my own path without anyone’s shadow hovering around me.

I know that the real war in Gehenna is just about to begin. Too bad that the one who wants it in his own palm will miss it. If not him, then who could’ve taken Gehenna for his own?

Well, sometimes I wondered if the sea breathes of Lune’s life, but that is only wishful thinking. He is gone. I know that for sure and all I have to do is to wait for the boy to wake up from his slumber. There must be a reason for Lune to let him live like that and I wanted to know.

It was then I have chosen to write down this draft for a reason I still couldn’t find. Reasons….I believe I have always lacked these. After I left Miki, I went back to the beach once more hoping to find any trace of Lune though I know it was all futile.

The beach had been emptier than it had been…

I went on walking with no direction until the break of dawn, only stopping to gaze at the morning star shinning bright against the dappled sky.

---Cien

First Draft

01-20-2012  07:27pm