Angels Rising

Chapter Three: Music, Fire, Gifts

Mid-day. Liam and Rico went out to the Rolling Hills’ Museum at the Town Square where the center of artistic attraction is heightened. Unlike other young ones their age, they tend to visit the art gallery much more often. Other than painting, Rico tends to sit to the park and write like what he always wants. Liam, a friendly kid he is but, never had good friends: he’s always being bullied and called “chicken-boy” by refusing to punch a playmate because he said it was just an accident that he was punched after tripping on some rocks; teased by others of him being left by his parents to Aunt Marissa because he is an unwanted child and never been loved. To escape all of this sadness, he learned to play harmonica which his Aunt Marissa gave him for his fourth birthday. He still played it until he was 6 and befriended by Rico, which at that time, was a newcomer at Rolling Hills. He always wants to hear Liam play the harmonica because he was good at it.

After taking their tour around the museum, they went outside and a little chit-chat. But what happen next will make change in every way.

A man stood at the middle of the Town Square, people almost mystified, “Friends and loved ones!” shouted the man with the dirty robe covering his skinny arms and legs as it shows right through his dirty shorts, no footwear on, and the hair that is like never been touch nor even cleaned, “ –behold of the coming of the Fallen! They have come and death is their message to us! THEY HAVE COME AND DEATH IS THEIR MESSAGE TO US!”

Many people stumbled and take a good look at the beggar. Some of them tried to call police to stop what they call “madness”. Long dirty gray hair extending right at his face that almost conceals anything to people who could recognize him accompanied by his beard and moustache.

“We had been fooled! Manipulated,” and so he continued. He totally became the townspeople’s laughing stock right at that moment. He repeatedly uttered those previous words that almost sounded like mumbling and whispers to himself, even though he’s thundering his voice out of his dry and pale lips. “You have got to believe me! The Fallen has taken their feet on human soil everyone!”… No one believed. There, came out words from people. Words that can kill anything he believed.

“Please…hear…me…out!” he said as he catches his own breath, which is impossible at his present condition. “…please…every…body” suddenly, this man’s weak body began to show weakness and limit. He slowly fell unto his knees and almost like dying voice of despair has roared at the Town Square.

“We’ve got to-“ decided Liam to come close to the man who seems to be in a lot of pain.

“No,” said Rico, as he reach his right hand to Liam’s left shoulder. “Look! Something’s not right about that man…” he pointed his left hand to the man on the floor. Suddenly, a weird dark smoke came out of the man’s back as he started to growl becoming louder and louder, deeper and deeper.

“NO!!!!!” the man raised his head on the sky and unleashed dark smoke out of his body, covering the whole town’s sky that was bright and warm. People scattered, looking for place to hide, shouting, crying, house doors and windows closing, but the smoke penetrated through even the smallest gaps on people’s homes. The dark smoke moved as it was alive, as it covers the body whoever had been touched by it screaming and crying in pain like a predator devouring its prey whole, and suddenly be engulfed with flames. Liam’s on the ground and cannot move his body out of confusion and probably fear of being eaten by those smokes.

“Liam! Let’s go! We gotta RUN! We gotta HIDE!” thundered Rico, who was on his two feet, pulling Liam up to his own. Liam stood up, still wobbling on his toes. “Hurry, they’re coming!”

The smoke filled not only the whole Town Square, but it seems the village as well. As these smokes formed like demented souls, it rushes to Rico and Liam’s sight, reaching them by its bone-like-dead hands. At that moment, Rico and Liam are on their knees, dragging themselves to the ground. As it comes closer, the two hold on to each other closing their eyes hoping for help to reach their place, “What is happening-”

Right at the moment of nothingness, the darkness entity, slowly reaches at the boys’ shoulder “It will be all right-” light in front of their eyes flashed down in between them and the darkness. A person came out of the light.

“Miss Alicia!” the two boys looked in amazement. The Miss Alicia Silvernight they knew, but with a different view of her. Light coming out and surrounds her body, like an armor of sort radiating to the air. She wore silver armor-like on her shoulder, arms, hands, chest, knees, and legs. With a sway of her right hand, the darkness just disappeared in thin air.

“Liam, Rico, go! Run! I cannot hold these Heartless that long… go to your Aunt Marissa. You must live… You can’t be killed… not now… now go!”

“But Miss Alicia-”

“I SAID GO!”

Without any hesitation and thinking, the two stood up and ran desperately dodging the Heartless in front of them. The way out is nowhere in sight, the place is filled not with fog, but with the smoke and shadows. I front of them, many more smoke became shadows materializes and starting to make a form out of nothing. In front of them, they start to form undistinguished wings, (more like a bat wings) and then skeleton body slowly covered in smoke like robes. It looks like the Death had come to haunt them and eat them. Coming at their back, a shining arrow pass through the wall of Heartless and pierced and travels through like a cloud splitting at the sky. They turned their heads and look back, saw Miss Alicia holding a shining bow in her hand pointing at their direction, “Don’t look back! Just run straight!”

“There’s more of them!” said Liam.

“Have faith, my dear… go with faith, not by what you see…” said Miss Alicia in a calm, lovely voice as the Heartless appeared to have closely getting near more of her.

The smoke covers their sight of Miss Alicia from them. There is no other choice but to run the opposite way made by the shining arrow made. They ran and ran, until no strength is left on their legs but still the Heartless are at their trail. Reaching the end of the light, the demented ones are getting closer at their back. “We can make it, Rico!” as they reached the end between light and shadows, legs are getting numb, catching their breaths’ almost impossible, living either is as their eyes took a glimpse of where they are… right at the end of cliff, just at the outskirts of Rolling Hills. Without thinking, they jumped, never thought of what will happen next. Liam reached for his friend’s hand, but the darkness got a hold of him, and the time felt to move slower on his mind. While looking at his friend slowly engulf by the darkness, he can’t do anything but cry out for his name. Tears came down on his face unnoticed, as he falls through the cliff. He can’t move, only felt to be deprived of his consciousness more and more. Before his little body plunge into the waters, something hold his body and fly back up. He had a glimpse of the town on the birds’ eye view. The town’s no more, smoke filled the ground and fire gashes to the houses and trees. Nothing is left even his only friend, who was eaten by the darkness. Before he completely lost his consciousness, he looked up, seen a person holding his shoulders, but before he sees the face, he passed out.

“Liam, hold on. You will be al’right.”

Still in the dark of his unconsciousness, words and voice of a woman came out, “The Gift… your Gift, it is what the world needs. Conjure it, release it, and let it use to good use. Let not anything be of vain. Their lives, your friends, families… Alicia… Rico…. all of them. Let them souls be at peace..."