H a l o s and F e a t h e r s

Lesson 06

Maika had escorted Leanne to the area she was to descend back to earth for the task at hand. Alongside them Annabelle, who Leanne still saw as 'pixie woman', sashayed. Her smile was still wide despite Leanne's neutral expression that belied all of the aggravation for the situation. The hallways were lit by soft lavender lights and shadows that should have been deep and dark weren't as such though Leanne couldn't figure out how this was possible.

"Oh, just wait until you see the Gate, sug," trilled Annabelle, her wings fluttering excitedly. Leanne hummed in response.

The hallway ended in a large chamber stretching up high above them. The walls around them were a deep black though the pillars and floors were all stunningly white in contrast. A golden arched opening led into the next room and as they walked through it, their footsteps echoing around them to fill any silence, little golden orbs floated through the air.

Leanne watched the golden lights float and soar through the air, fascination morphing her expression. Annabelle spared her a giant grin at one point though it went unheeded. The lights reminded Leanne of fireflies in a way though these did not blink in and out of existence. She had to wonder what they were. In the next room her attention was torn forcefully from those lights to what could only be the Gate.

"Welcome to the Gate, Leanne!" Annabelle cried, gesturing to it with a flourish. Maika stood smiling at her side, finding humor in the dumbstruck look that had replaced Leanne's expression.

The Gate was misnamed if anything. Instead of being a large gate of any kind it seemed to be a pool inlaid into the floor. ringed around the edges in gold metal. The pool didn't seem to be filled with water or any sort of liquid, instead it looked like that of lights mixing and morphing into one another. It was impossible to tell what shades exactly where there one minute before they had evolved into some other shade or color. Subtle lavenders, steel grays, shining silvers and many more made up the menagerie of colors.

"What is this?" Leanne questioned stepping closer to the rim of the Gate. It seemed to admit a colorless glow of its own that lit up those around it.

"No one knows exactly what the Gate is made of only that it exists," spoke Maika in answer.

"Curious and curiouser."

"Sometimes the joy comes not from knowing but from seeing it," Annabelle chimed sagely. This startled Leanne who had pegged her for more of the ditzy type from what she had seen of her thus far that day.

"Now, before we get too distracted with things," Maika spoke, clearing his throat. "Let's get you down there."

A rough shove pitched Leanne forward and she began to flail her arms in a vain attempt to keep her balance. Face forward she fell into the pool and a strange lightness flowed into her. It was as if a light breeze was crossing over her and around her the lights she had seen in the large chamber of the Gate though they were larger and in more supply here glowing in all sorts of vibrant colors. The sensation of falling reached her then, her stomach dropping in response.

The lights whizzed by her before disappearing before her very eyes. Leanne yelped at the sight that greeted her now, her heart thundering loudly in her ears. She was rocketing towards earth, the clouds whizzing by her at high speeds. When she went through a cloud the moistness would reach her senses before it passed as quickly as it hit. Her hair and clothes whipped at her face and she futilely through her arms over her head as she closed in on the ground.

It was unnecessary however. Her descent was slowing and while she had squeezed her eyes shut to brace for the impact she now peeked them open to witness the ground coming at her at a much more reasonable pace. Still, even as her body seemed to right itself mid-fall so that her feet hit the ground first the momentum carried her forward sending her rolling into a heap on the ground. Leanne remained on the ground for several long moments, glaring up at the clouds she could see between skyscrapers. Around her people walked not seeing her. Some even passed right through her form leaving her with a strange sense of knowing the person even long after they had left her line of sight.

She tugged her hair out of her eyes and huffed. "This sucks already," she declared. No one around her heard.