The Birth of the Black Rose

Chapter 4

Damn, they love their blinding lights. Couldn't see anything for a good 5 minutes. When I finally could, I let out a gasp: a city above the clouds. Golden buildings lined the streets, ordinary people walked along cirrus cloud pavement. I was amazed. I was shocked. This was a world that I had never really believed in. And now I was in it. Savannah smiled. "Beautiful, isn't it?" She walked along with me in tow. I kept looking around, surprised by just about everything I saw.

I stopped for a moment. "Hey, Savannah?" I called out, "Why did you bring me here?" She turned and pointed at my shoulder. "We're going to see why you're not affected by the Ripper's toxin in the slightest." Her brow furrowed. "Not even the usual rot." She shrugged and continued walking along. With no other choice, I followed. We kept walking until we reached one of the larger houses. A palace, really. Savannah spoke in a language that I had never heard before. Its smoothness made it sound like a gently flowing river, and the massive gold-and-white door blocking our path opened.

We walked inside and were immediately met by a cocky looking college kid. You know the type: sarcastic smile, douchebag beard, the works. "Hey, Savi." He said, waving. "Who's your friend?" She looked at him with contempt. "Not now, Nolan." She almost spit out the last word, which I was guessing was his name. Next thing I knew, he was right in front of her with a hand raised. Savannah winced. Next thing HE knew, he was on the ground clutching his stomach with a fist in his face. "Let me get this across to you," I growled, "You. NEVER. Hit. A lady." Savannah stood behind me, mouth agape, smiling slightly, eyes saying Nice job! He got up, mumbling something about sticking something up me, dusted himself, and skulked off.

Savannah threw her arms around my neck. "Cory, that was AMAZING!" She squealed. "Thanks so much. He's such an asshole." I shrugged. "Just glad he didn't hit you." She smiled  as another person approached. "Oh!" She exclaimed, "There's who we're here to see! Come on." I followed her further through to meet this guy.

"Hey, Mike!" She yelled across as he turned around. Woah. This dude was pretty good looking. Couldn't be more than my age and he already looked like he belonged on one of those magazines my sister always brings home. Had the classic look all the cliche' girls want: sandy blonde hair cut short and tight around his head, piercing blue eyes that did not in ANY way match the laugh lines on his face. He looked like he'd throw you off a cliff, then save you from the danger he himself had just put you in. You know: heroic stuff like that.

Anyway, he turned around and smiled at Savannah, only momentarily hesitating when he saw me, but long enough for me to notice. They hugged (Savi seems to like her hugs) and he extended a hand out towards me. "Name's Michael. But everyone around here just calls me Mike." I shook it and introduced myself: " I'm Cory. Nice to meet you, Mike." Huh. I had studied a lot of different languages, but I couldn't place his accent. It didn't sound like any used today. He raised an eyebrow, that smile still on his face.

"Wondering about the accent?" He said with a laugh. I did a little half smile like always when I'm slightly embarrassed. See, I have this thing with meeting new people. A little... process, where things can get awkward fast. Social skills were not always in my repitoire. "Kind of. If i may ask, what is it?" I asked after it was clear he wasn't going to tell me unless i did. "Oh, what isn't it?" He exclaimed with another slight chuckle. "Little Roman, little Greek, little Arabic, Byzantine--" I cut him off, "Wait, didn't the Ottomans destroy the Empire of Byzantium in... what, 1461?" His eyebrows went up in surprise. "So, you've done a little reasearch." He went back to his former calm demeanor. "Yes, sadly. They did worship me more than any others did. Now I'm just some second-in-command in the book." He shook his head. Suddenly it all clicked. i looked at Savannah, and she winked like she knew i had just guessed it.

"Cory Miles, meet the Archangel, Michael, General of the Lord's Army himself."