Heavenly Mortals-Act One

VII-Aetos

Aetos flew up, up, up, higher than the peak of a mountain. Up to where clouds should have been. He slowly let go of Aella, who floated in the air.

He thought about how different they were when it came to staying airborne. She floated gently. He flapped his mighty wings.

There was so much difference between cloud spirits and Prasidiei, yet they always work towards common goals. It was the ways of nature at its finest.

"Are you ready?" Aetos asked. Aella replied with a cheerful, "Yup!" She began to suck in the air in the surroundings, unyielding, like a deep breath that took forever.

Gradually, wisps of water vapour built up around her hands. After a few minutes, a large cloud formed over them. But it was more than just water vapour.

There was magic within it, no matter how little. Magic was a part of the world. It helped things go round. Magic helped support life, nurtured it. It was peculiar, strange, but it was essential. And it was beautiful.

"Well? Dig in!" Aella said to Aetos, shaking him out of his train of thought. "Thank you," He told Aella. He flew into the cloud and began to consume it.

He always thought about what his body did when he consumed clouds and winds. He inhaled them through his beak, and the essential stuff was absorbed into his system. The excess things went out through his air ducts. It was strange, it always had been to him.

He always wondered why clouds, of all things, were their natural source of nourishment. What did clouds have that kept him alive? It was a mystery. To him, at least. The other Prasidiei seemed to know, or not care at all.

After he was done inhaling his cloud, he checked on Aella. She was floating around, happy and carefree. He felt an irrational desire to protect the little cloud spirit at all costs. He decided it was part of the Aureo-Prasidius mutualism.

He flew over to her, "You ready to head down?" Aella shook her head, "I wanna fly around for while,"

Aetos found her courage remarkable. He personally felt uncomfortable being so high in the sky, what with the Apoklesti. But even so, he decided a short flight wouldn't hurt.

"Alright, let us race! A spiral pattern to the ground. What do you say?"

Aella didn't say anything. She turned into a column of wind and took off.

Aetos flew after her, laughing in delight. Flying around, he scanned the landscape. Below them was a field of grass dotted with trees with monkeys dwelling in their branches. Mountains loomed in the distance to the south. That was where they would be heading.

To the north lay mountains as well. He recalled Calum causing an avalanche. To the east and west, more land lay ahead, and endless expanse of colour. He was so distracted by the scenery that he didn't notice he'd flown straight into a portal until a few seconds after.

He found himself in the middle of nowhere. There was only black sky all around, with splashes of light and colour.

Stars.

Galaxies.

He knew where he was.

He swooped down on the smooth, hard floor that reflected the sky. A woman shimmered into existence. Her skin was radiant with starlight. Her eyes shone like quasars. Her dress looked like it was made of stars liquefied cosmos, the hues of light shifting this way and that. Her hair seemed to be dyed with faint blue light, dotted with stars.

She looked like she was submerged in water. Part of her left hand was missing, it ended in a wisp of light. Aetos could look at her without difficulty. The light she gave off wasn't harmful to the eye.