A few little questions and look how the air became flooded with noise. The retaliation against Faida's announced mission to Earth was a beautiful thing to behold. Shielding his mouth behind his fingers, Levien let the angelic voices drown out the sound of his chuckling. So many questions, words, and brilliant better ideas sullying the air. He wished he was sitting closer so that he could see if Faida had begun to sweat. Killing a child, not killing a child - he had trouble feeling the same burning passion over it as his brethren appeared to bear. Aurae was doomed either way. Let it carry on its corruption or disappear into the rifts.
Barely listening to Faida's words of explanation, he observed the stoic angels spreading official papers through the room. Fascinating to see how their ceremonious delivery of significance shifted immediately to shoving a piece of paper into a few hands as they reached the Archangel section. Levien took the unassuming paper into his hands after winking at the one who handed it to him for the sheer joy of creating awkwardness and began tracing an index finger over the red flower pattern at its center. Felspar's ideas and plans seemed to be woven through near every aspect of modern Aurae. Perhaps that was how he had managed to avoid suffocating in this place up to now.
Mentor, my mentor, thank goodness for thee. The teasing tone of his thoughts brought a smirk to his face and gave him inspiration to stand abruptly from his seat before Faida had entirely turned her back on the room.
He imagined it would likely be expected for the lesser ranks to stay out of the way until the fluff-winged upper ranks departed, but his patience had been consumed entirely by the dull length of the meeting. All that he had gathered from it was that he needed to be a part of this mission. The child, the fate of Aurae, honor and feathers and nonsense, meant nothing to him, but freedom was everything. The distant Earth with no sparkling Seraphim, with changing skies and speeding time - it sounded like a wonderland of chaos and creativity. The little world caught between grand Aurae and grisly Inferno... He believed with all his heart that he could be lost there and find the freedom of his dreams. That thought in mind, he darted out of the meeting room without regard for those he cut off and fled quickly into the anonymous white sky.
He flew like he had just gotten his wings, all speed and excitement weaving inappropriate patterns through the organized flight paths. The paper clutched in his hand inflicted equal amounts of excitement and nervousness on his mind. The thought of what it might take to convince the Seraphim to chose him for the mission if he had not been chosen was an exceptionally tiring notion. He hoped with gritted teeth that the paper would tell him what he wanted to hear. Not particularly wishing to return to his home, a humble place that screamed Aurae from every white bricked crevice, he swerved haphazardly from the sky and descended into an isolated and, hopefully, unoccupied garden.
A quick sweep of the perfectly maintained foliage circling a white marble bench revealed that his assumption was correct; he was alone. Lowering the bench, nervousness lead to excess vocalization.
"I hope this will be enough to satisfy your shyness, it doesn't seem a good evening for walls. Surely you can understand." The official paper, target of his utterances, was smoothed out and held up between the grip of both hands. A faint nod pretended to acknowledge an offered reply before he spoke his full name as instructed by
dearest Faida.
"Levien Phrixus." Black ink words appeared gradually over the page. A mere few words were read before he could not help jumping to his feet and proclaiming his excitement in a victorious,
"Yes!" The excitement filled him with electric drive. He laughed out his joy at the thought of Earth, seeing Earth, a dream come true, before turning back to the paper and absorbing the remaining words.
Simple enough instructions. Leave at the right time, bring the paper, keep the paper, and report back to the Seraphim. He had faith in his capability to manage the majority of the instructions. After a single read through, he folded the paper into a manageable square and slipped it securely into his pocket. Knowing he would need to be leaving, his thoughts turned to Felspar. Such a long time since they had seen one another and now he was to head off to Earth to scope out their future venue of freedom. Running fingers through his hair, he sighed lightly. Of course, it was not as though he imagined it would be particularly easy to convince Felspar to abandon duty for his well deserved freedom from obligation and the control of others... At least the most difficult first step has been accomplished. He had admittance to Earth, and, at his current rank, he felt that was spectacularly lucky.
Despite the secrecy imposed over the mission, Levien saw no problem going to inform his mentor that he would be leaving to Earth. The man organized the ordeal after all. Walking quickly to expend his excess energy, he made his way through side alleys and cobbled roads to search the library for Felspar. Midway through the journey, he began to wonder if Felspar would be joining the mission. It was something of a grand new war to save the first world, it would not be a stretch to imagine he would be dragged out to fight for
dearest Aurae once again. Then again, he wondered if Faida would dare to let her "little" brother slip out of her control. Faida... Her smiling face and pretense of affection made her eventual manipulation of Felspar feel almost worse than the openly cruel treatment from Detritus and their father. If only he could have been there, he would not let his mentor continue to accept things as though it was alright. He would have fought them off. In his heated determination to fight for Felspar, he ignored the sensible voice at the back of his mind noting he would hardly be powerful enough for such a thing.
A thorough search of the library turned up no signs of Felspar. With mild disappointment he accepted that Felspar could be busy in a hundred different places and tracking him down could take days. He was briefly tempted to hold up in the library until Felspar inevitably appeared, but he thought better of the idea. He was no longer a child that he should need to wait for Felspar to pat him on the head before he left. Managing to find a scrap piece of parchment, he left a simple note for Felspar to find.
Gone for the third. Signed,
Le'ph. It was more than clear to him that sleep would be impossible, so he decided to spend the night out in the bright as day Aurae night. His room was briefly visited to fill a small shoulder bag with a small number of possible useful things for the trip. After that, as a test of his resolve against Aurae, he walked familiar paths and visited all the places that ever meant something to him. Garden hideaways, particularly lively fountains, the place where he met Felspar. As much as they had meant to him at moments in the past, his perspective was far too poised by knowledge of corruption and the suffocating bonds of supposed honor. Seeing places now only brought memories of what his mentor had suffered for this place, along with the thoughts of how he would need to bow and likely be manipulated the same to ever earn a place here. To an abundant patch of white hyacinths he shared in passing,
"This place is not my home." By the time that the specialized clock's hands had shifted to announce the coming of morning, heavy thoughts and frustrations made way for the excitement of seeing Earth to make a comeback. After pacing the streets had become a fruitless effort, he took a seat at a cafe not too far from the market gauntlet that would need to be crossed to reach the Corridors of Sarira. He let the early morning fade away into the day as he observed those who passed by. As much as he would like to leave immediately, he decided to vaguely attempt fulfill the stipulation of picking a more subtle time to approach the gate. When meals taken started to earn the title of brunch, he took his leave of the outdoor table and made his way to the path of merchant tents.
Absorbing the atmosphere, he reprimanded himself slightly for not visiting this particular market more often. The array of tents tucked into every available space with their glistening colorful wares and friendly salesman filled the air with a buzz of curiosity and enticement. As little interest as he had in candle holders, one man had managed to enrapture him for a good few minutes with tales of the make and precious metals that comprised it. This place felt alive. Perhaps containing the most freedom he had seen in Aurae. Though it may have been his own enthusiasm that was changing his mind - the bright smile stretching over his face painting optimism over his view of the surroundings. Halfway to the Corridors of Sarira, he found himself breaking through the crowd to answer to the becoming of a particular item on display.
Raising his hand to clutch his chin, he stared down the item thoughtfully. It was a silly thing to be enthralled by, but he could not deny a quickly rising affection and desire for ownership. A sheer scarf tinted with rainbow colors. It would make him look terribly unprofessional. Yet scarves reminded him of Felspar and rainbows of his dear bird familiar, Jiya. A silly thing, but he would wear it with a grin and tease them both. A faint noise of surprise sounded in his throat at the realization he had not informed Jiya of his intended travel. The lovely bird, nimble and small enough to sneak through the tears in the barrier, had been scouting out the Earth for him. He had not even gotten to meet with her to hear her report and here he would be joining her.
At least I can enjoy surprising her with my presence. He had spent a little too long in his thoughts and the salesman spoke, "Does this scarf pique your interest? It is good quality, I assure you. Feel the fabric if you wish."
Refocusing attention on the unnecessary purchase, Levien replied,
"Ah, thank you." Rolling the fabric between his fingers, he found the salesman's words to be true enough. It was relatively soft and felt to be rather durable. A question he had been taught to consider by Felspar arose,
"Has it been previously used, or is it new?" "I received it and others like it from the one who made it just a few days ago." The salesman began rifling through items hidden inside the tent. "Wait a moment. I have other colors."
Levien raised a hand to stop the man.
"That's quite alright, this color is acceptable." It was second nature to keep a calm tone. Professing too much interest could make things more difficult when it came to settling payment if one was dealing with a salesman who clung a little less tightly to ideals of fairness.
"Let us see if we can make a mutually beneficial exchange." Levien looked to the man with a bright smile. It had been a while since he had purchased something beyond food, and he found the exchanges to be such fun opportunities to experiment. A brief glance through his bag and he had an idea that he enjoyed. Pinched between finger and thumb of one hand, he drew out a marble sized chunk of gold, while with the other he brought out a small white envelope with contents that rattled faintly with the movement. His voice became the flowing, pleasant tone that often surfaced when he was testing someone - or speaking with a superior.
"I can offer you this bit of gold... or... a package containing the seeds of one of my favorite plants." He had to keep his smile in check so that it did not turn to a smirk. It was a silly game, he knew all too well, but he wanted to see what curiosity might do.
The salesman raised his brow a slight amount, mockery faintly invading his tone. "Oh yes? And what is this favorite plant of yours?"
Levien continued to smile and keep his purple and blue eyes locked with the salesman's own shade of blue, saying nothing in response.
The salesman chuckled at him and crossed his arms. "I believe that I am going to have to ask for both. As I said, new and good quality."
Levien reached into his bag and took out an additional piece of gold. He did not waste breath to reiterate that the option remained one or the other, he could see that the man understood. He watched closely as the man shook his head and scoffed. He watched as his eyes fell on the seeds, curiosity slowly consuming him, it seemed, with each glance between the mystery and the gold. Levien imagined he would not be able to try such things on humans, they knew more of greed than angels.
With a shake of his head and a small chuckle, the salesman took the seeds. "There, now kindly leave my tent, good sir."
Levien chuckled brightly, stowed away his gold, and took the scarf from the display. Bowing a small amount to the man, he replied,
"Thank you, and goddess bless you." Letting out a few further chuckles as he contemplated the man's choice, Levien carried on through the tents and busyness. The scarf was added to his wardrobe as a makeshift hood, overlaying rainbow tint over his white blonde hair and wrapped neck.
Escaping the mercantile maze, he looked affectionately upon the fanciful dome structure of the Corridors of Sarira. As with most things, all his appreciation for it arose from Felspar's work that had gone into its creation. Walking with confidence he took time enjoying the trip through the weaving sections of the white fence waiting to organize the line into the dome. A few others were waiting in front of him, looking official and serious as they were likely off to complete some bold chore on another distant plane of Aurae. During the wait for his turn, Levien watched the green light turn on and off as angels entered and vanished to make way for the next. Time was also spent watching the ceremonious acts of the blue-clad twins.
As the last person in his way disappeared behind double doors, Levien took his official page from his pocket and unfolded it. The words had faded and left the flower of life insignia to stand for itself. When the green light went out a final time, he stepped forward and showed his paper to the stern twins. In his eagerness, politeness faded a fair amount and the only words he listened for and recalled hearing were, "You may proceed." Whether or not he gave any reply, he had forgotten as soon as he entered the dome chamber and saw the colors shining onto the ceramic floor. As the heavy doors sealed behind him, he took a few moments to absorb every detail of the domes architecture, taking it as new reasons for his admiration of his mentor.
Imaging that dalliance was not appreciated, he pulled his eyes from the streaming color patterns from the glass of the dome above and made his way onto the beige platform. Knowing from the instructions listed on the paper, and more so from discussion with Felspar about how his place functioned, he kept a firm grip on the document as the dome began its work. The paper would guide this place to send him off to Earth, and it would bring him back. He wondered where on Earth he would- His pondering was cut short by the activation of the device, breaking him apart to less than dust to whisk him away for his chance at freedom.
Just after gaining back his awareness, before he had a chance to assess how the process had made him feel, he found himself blinded by a terrible light. Shielding his eyes, he fell through new air away from the unfamiliar sunlight.