Golden Wings

Chapter 1~Present Day, The Blue.

"Samantha!"

I watched dully as Sam's head whipped around, a blur of maroon hair and blue eyes. The door of the library had burst open, and my Aunt Jacklyn stood in the doorway. Sam rose, seeming to tremble. With a pale hand she crumpled up the paper that we had been doodling on behind her.

"Samantha, wake up!" Jacklyn snapped, "Your brother. He's here!"

Sams face went pale. I stood up beside her, meaning to put my hand on her shoulder.

"Claire! Goodness, you two are slow today." Jacklyn's rough bark brought me back from my reverie. "What are you doing with your hand in the air? Sam's already left! Come on!" I blinked, trying to process everything that's happening. It was then that I realized that Samantha had already left.

"Sam!" I sighed, running out of the library. I ran towards the Stairs, my thoughts dragging behind me.

Samantha Ross had come to The Blue almost nine years ago. I had met her down at the bottom of the Stairs, where I had explained everything to her, just as Jacklyn had done for me. But instead of reacting as I had, Samantha cried not for herself... But for her brother.

I wonder how she's going to act... I thought as I reached the Stairs. I went down the, gracefully extending my golden wings as I went. Like I'm ever going to get used to that...

When I reached the bottom, what I saw split my heart in two. Samantha's brother, who I had thought must be her age, looked barely older than twelve. With blue eyes and dark skin like Sam's, it was impossible to mistake them for anything other then brother and sister. Samantha's shining gold wings were out, and she had one hand cupped over her mouth, the other extended slightly toward the boy kneeling on the Stairs.

"Samantha?" The boy asked cautiously, with tears and apprehension in his eyes.

Sam's smile broke through her tears, and she laughed, picking her brother up and spinning him around in her arms. "Rafie! Oh, my sweet, sweet, Rafie! You've come back to me!" She wept, bringing the both of them back to the ground together. She dug her hands into his glossy black hair.

Smiling, I went graciously down the stairs. "Hello." I said softly to the boy. Both him and Sam looked up startled, as if they had forgotten about me.

Samantha cleared her throat. "Oh- uh... Raphael, this is Claire. She's my friend." Her wings were draped causally over her brother.

Raphael slowly stepped out from under his sister, a look of deep concern in his eyes. "Hello..." He spoke quietly, and nervously. His next sentence took me by surprise, "Are you... Like me?" He looked up at me, a pleading in his eyes.

I smiled brilliantly, or so I thought. It's hard to tell sometimes, okay? Slowly I reached out and took small Raphael's hands. "Oh, Raphael. Yes." The smiles and tears in the room were contagious, I figured out as tears pricked the back of my eyes. "I'm... I am just like you."

"But what am I?" His whisper sent a shiver through my body.

"You're an angel Raphael. A shining, shimmering angel, who has done nothing wrong.." I smiled in sympathy as Samantha sobbed silently behind her brother.

"This is heaven?"

"It doesn't look like much now, but wait until you see the palace." I started backing up the stairs, as Sam took Raphael's hand and led him upwards. "We'll show you to your room and then..." I trailed off as I realised that the siblings weren't listening to me.

~

I sat on the balcony of my room, watching the busy town below, practising an enchantment. Though I tried again and again, I could not make the stupid flower grow.

"Come on!" I grumbled, getting irritated. I focused more intensely on the bud, willing a red flower to bloom. I tried a different tactic, flicking my fingers at it irritably. A shimmering blue flower flickered momentarily, then solidified. "Are you kidding me?" I sighed, then turned away from the mocking flower. The sky was clear, and I thought I could see Sam teaching Raphael how to use his wings below me. Probably not though. Raphael's wings would be silver, as he wasn't the first of his family to arrive.

Wings were a confusing and touchy subject. Those related to the 'royal bloodline' all came to the palace. Those who were first to come, usually had golden wings. All close family members after had silver wings. Also, depending on the way you died, you had a weakness. I can't touch salt water, it burns me. Weaknesses were also a touchy subject. Private, obviously, and sometimes painful to talk about. Sam had never told me, but I don't blame her. Some people don't actually know theirs, as the way they died was... well, confusing, to say the least.

Samantha was my cousin... To some degree. We're related somehow in blood, that's why her family has a place in the palace, and why all close relatives arrive on the Stairs. The people who live down in the town, Phoena, have their own arrival gate. I don't know why we live in the palace, history was never really my strong suit. Jacklyn had said that a long time ago, in the 'fairy' war, when the portals to earth had been sealed, and the elemental 'fairies' had been all but wiped out, some 'Goldien fairy' related to me had taken over the throne.

I was knocked out of my monological daydream by the caw of a shining bird that had landed beside me. I smiled, knowing who it was. "Hey, Kalie." I spoke to the bird, a giant phoenix. Kalie cawed at me, dropping a shell into my hand. I stroked her head, grateful for the company. "How's Kyle?" I whispered, stroking the sweet spot on her chest. Kalie only blinked at me, not quite answering my question.

I hopped off the balcony, heading over to my desk. I put the seashell on the shelf where I kept all of Kyle's gifts, and scribbled a quick note on parchment that I passed to Kalie, along with the blue flower. I scratched another tick onto my makeshift calendar. That makes day number 634... I thought sadly as I watched Kalie fly north with the note and the flower.