A Surprising Spring

Chapter Three

Zekiel sat on a long white marble bench, running his fingers across the stone next to him as he stared straight ahead, his eyes focused on something that wasn't there.

Instead of the white walls, he saw a life.

There was a child, fair-haired, laughing loudly under the afternoon sun in a garden, the whole image tinted slightly, as if being viewed under a lens of nostalgia. She - for the child, now running through a woods, a few inches taller, had a delicate face and a collection of pink jumpers - looked constantly at something just past the non-existent camera lens, a smile in her eyes.

Zekiel grunted.

Scenes flickered by as the girl grew older, grew out her fringe, grew a figure. There were plenty of her smiling and laughing, but there were a couple of tearful moments thrown in and, Zekiel noticed with something that he pretended wasn't relish, she was an ugly crier.

All in all, her life seemed pretty standard. There was a happy childhood, but the usual angsts and twinges of adolescence. There were sunny days and plenty of cloudy ones, haircuts and strange slippers, and several reoccurring siblings. Exams. Parties. Dates. Cooking. Those constant happy eyes.

The Messenger watched the clips for the fifth time round.

Still, she was human.

He groaned, blinkling hard and getting rid of the images.

The High Table had told him it was this girl, so... it must be. It was just unheard of. Well, he thought to himself, running a hand over his short hair, not unheard of, but definitely unusual. Very unusual. Then again, Zekiel supposed, it wouldn't be right for someone like Nicholas to have a simple way through life. He wouldn't get enough of a kick out of it.

Someone like Nicholas? A part of him he normally ignored said snidely. That sounds quite... familiar.

He scoffed at himself. It wasn't like they were friends or anything, just a Sprite and his Messenger. They didn't have enough time together to be friends, but it was nice to be on slightly warmer terms. It made his visits feel less obligatory and feel more as if he were visiting... Alright, alright, I think of him as a friend? What's so wrong with that?

Suddenly growing frustrated with himself, his Sprite and the girl with the endless smiles, he stood up, fists clenched.

"Here you are then," he growled, slamming his hand against the wall and shutting his eyes, conjuring back up the images of the girl before activating the power seal the High Table had put on her, Nicholas and their love story yet to come.

She was on her way.

Damn Nicholas, Zekiel fumed inwardly as he stalked out of the room.

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So it's super super short but it's super late so yay hurrah.

Also, everytime Nicholas is called 'Sprite', I just realised it looks like he's a fizzy drink. So that's all good.