This Isn't About Reya

Chapter Nine

Reya stared.

And stared.

And stared some more.

The shadow - she didn't think she could call it that anymore - simply stared back. Its face was completely human, beautifully sculpted, like a model's. Its skin was tender and white, untouched by the world. It was bald, even lacking eyebrows. But the face was still attractive, its striking blue eyes piercing her own.

Reya was unsure of herself. She was sure, however, that the thing, whatever it was, was not human. It was too unnatural. She couldn't tear her eyes away from its face, though. It was perfect.

And she felt like she should care for it.

She found her thumbs absently stroking the boy's cheeks. Suddenly she didn't know what to do, what to say, how to act, and she quickly drew her hands away from it.

The being did not move.

"You're... beautiful," Reya whispered. 

It reared its head back, the column of cloaks following suit. Then it turned its back on Reya, and did not move further.

Reya wondered if perhaps she had embarrassed it. 

If it even had emotions.

"Um..." she said. "I'm sorry, did I offend you?"

"No," it said.

Reya hesitated. "Are you... Do you have a gender?"

The head turned halfway towards her, one of the blue eyes stabbing towards her out of the corner of the eyelid. It was a human gesture.

"Yes. I am male," it said.

Reya nodded. So the it was a he. "What should I call you?" she asked it. Him.

The face turned away from her again. "I have not been named."

"Yes, I know," Reya said. "But can't you name yourself?"

The column froze. Then, it straightened significantly.

Reya giggled to herself. It seemed surprised at the idea.

"Yes," the shadow-boy said.

"What shall you call yourself, then?" Reya asked. Despite the situation, she felt herself smile.

The column was silent for a moment. Then, he said, "Michael-Gabriel-Raphael-Uriel-Raguel-Ezekiel-Barachiel-Jegudiel. Archangels. Heaven. Hell. Earth. Man. Christianity. Bible."

It paused there. It's running a search! Reya thought to herself suddenly. That means it has to have some sort of connection to the net. And that means that it has to have telelectrical abilities. It has to be inorganic, at least partly.

She was beginning to make sense of the situation.

"Azrael." 

Reya looked up. She was not familiar with the name. "Sorry, what?"

The shadow turned back towards her, gliding across the red-needle carpet. It stopped short of her and gazed at her with the blue eyes. "Azrael," it said again, slowly, deliberately.

Reya blinked. "Your name?"

"Yes."

Reya stood for a moment, her lips pursed, as she inspected the being before her and the name it had chosen.

"Sounds a little grim, don't you think?" she asked.

The shadow stared blankly. "No. I chose it based on the names of my brothers."

"Yes, yes," Reya muttered. "I know. But you don't have to be just like your brothers. You can be different. You can be you."

The boy face remained expressionless.

She smiled, attempting to draw out some sort of response.

The sharp blue eyes refocused on her lips.

Reya felt herself suddenly tense.

But not out of fear.

Out of... desire? For this thing?

That's ridiculous, she thought. It would be like falling in love with a robot, or a computer. Absolutely ludicrous. I don't want to kiss this thing. For all I know, it might kill me yet.

But she did not believe her own thoughts. 

The smooth pale head tilted in one direction. "I do not want to be like my brothers," it said.

Reya felt her smile widen. "That's good!" she began.

"But I will retain the name 'Azrael.'"

Reya sighed. "Fine."

The face continued to stare at her. Reya stared back.

She began to wonder...

"Azrael," she said, "why are you here? On Aquilo-Nix?"

"Class-..."

He hesitated.

Reya raised an eyebrow.

Suddenly, the entire column of cloaks shot upward into the air, propelled by a wafting burst of bright white light.

Reya shrieked and shielded her eyes with her arms, turning her head away. The air wooshed past her in an enormous gust, tugging at her hair and coat. She felt the chill strike her in her bones, penetrating the layers of cold-resistant clothing.

The air began to relax, and Reya looked up. 

The shadow was not in front of her.

It was perched gracefully upon a lone branch stretching across the air above her head. The boy face was gone, hidden once again by the layers of hoods. She could barely make out the vague form of a head, swivelling towards her to shoot ice into her veins with those cold blue eyes.

She couldn't see them, but she could feel them.

"I am here because the Left Hand has determined that you will be instrumental in the coming weeks."

Reya stared up at the shadowy column.

What?

What did that mean?

When she did not reply, Azrael continued. "I am here," he said, his voice ever mellow, always ringing, "to protect you."

Reya felt her jaw drop open.

Azrael flitted out of sight in a swirling mass of blackness.

"Azrael!" she called out. "Wait!"

But there was no reply.

The presence lingered, though.

"Azrael," she murmured to the silence, "I know you can hear me."

The cold swept across her with the breeze that wafted between the trunks of the trees.

"Thank you," she whispered.

And she turned to run away.