Chapter Seven; Some Explanations
Alfred woke, for the second time, to a sleeping Angel. The others were all quiet, worried. Alfred was worried, too. He didn’t think that sleep was necessary for Shoulder Spirits to function: he’d never seen Gil or Mattie sleep; indeed, they never did. And even if Shoulder Spirits did need sleep, Alfred didn’t think it would be normal for anyone to sleep as long as Arthur has.
“Any change?” he asks, wiping off his jacket and folding his slightly damp blanket before putting it into his backpack. He’d slept in the backyard of a house that was for sale (there was a sign in front) and he was beginning to regret not trying harder to get into the house, or, at the very least, the small tool shed nearby. He couldn’t exactly stop to dry his blanket, and the dew, not to mention the chill, would make tomorrow night very uncomfortable. But, regardless, it was too late now.
“No,” Francis replies, from his position of kneeling beside Arthur, “Nothing.”
“But he’s not, like, dead again?” asks Alfred uncertainly. “Or, I don’t know, in a sort of post-life coma? Is that even possible?”
“I wouldn’t really know.” Francis retorts. “That sort of information is dealt with by Afterlife, which you can only become a member of after you’ve retired. Clearly, I am not retired. Even so, I have seen him sleep this long before, so it’s too soon to panic.
“For instance, almost all he ever does between jobs is drink until he passes out-which doesn’t take long-or just sleep off his ‘existence exhaustion’” (which is a term that Afterlife came up with specifically for Arthur. Since Francis didn’t seem to be hampered by it, though, there was a branch working on a theory that either: A, Angels were more susceptible to it; B, it only affected those who had experienced great pain or loss; or, C, it was a phenomenon specific to Arthur, and might, possibly, be caused by his abilities.) “But it can’t be either of those, because he’s on assignment. Still, he’s still been brought to this state on two separate occasions. Once after dreamwalking in an attempt to discover the identity of the true person behind the controls of Headquarters, and after his daughter’s death.”
“Why would his daughter’s death send Arthur into a deep sleep?” Alfred asks, with all the innocence and self-assurance of a child who is certain he knows all there is to know about the worlds suffering. “Doesn’t death just mean that you become a Spirit and spend the rest of your existence either advising people, ‘living’ in the afterworld, or” Here, he gives a little shudder. He doesn’t like ghosts, never has. It was something his sister had constantly teased him about, and used against him, but they freaked him out. It wasn’t natural, wanting to stay here on earth without any sort of form, just hanging around, scaring people. “haunting the living?”
“Non, mon ami.” Francis says, his voice full of infinite sadness and regret. “I’m afraid that sometimes, death is not so kind.”
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Of Angels and Demons
FanfictionWhen you die, it is your first task to act as someones Shoulder "Angel" or "Demon," serving, with a partner, as someones conscience from birth till death. However, sometimes these partnerships can be considered dangerously unbalanced, and Headquart...
