<< Until the Levee - Joy Williams >>
Kaius took a deep breath and pushed aside the revelation that celestial beings could become corrupted by the Demon blight; filing the information away inside the box of, Let's not go there yet, items that were steadily growing in number. One of which had Rameses emblazoned across it in thick bold letters.
"Ok. We're going to put a pin in that one." He rubbed at his eyes, deep fatigue slowly creeping inside of his very bones, "Now explain what you meant about the Artifacts. Are you saying that the Angels create them or the Gods?"
Uriel nodded slowly, "Yes, myself and the Angels who serve the God of Creation; he oversees crafting, smithing, farming, everything that is created from other materials." He explained, and Kai nodded along.
He had heard of this one before, it was a God that you would be required to appease if you found your crops dying before they broke through the earth or your weapons splitting and breaking apart before their time. If you encountered such issues, it was likely that you had done something to irk this particular God, somewhere along the way.
"I was involved due to my connection with the Witches, who assisted in turning the Artifacts that were created into a spell. One that would mark the soul of a human to an Artifact that it resonated with, have it materialise into the mortal plane and then call to them. It is also the reason why they each hold a flaw or a backlash to activate. Any celestial or supernatural being is required to keep the balance. If you have an overly powerful Artifact with no repercussions, it would disrupt that balance."
Kai raised his eyebrow, not at his last admission, he knew this too. It was the same reason why Rameses had screamed in pain when his Artifact implanted itself into his eyes or likely why Kai's came with a single-use caveat. Time travel with no constraints would have been far too powerful after all.
It was the Angel's initial comment that gave Kai pause.
"What exactly is your connection to the Witches? Why would an Angel serving the God of Truth have dealings with them that the others don't?"
At this, Uriel's face took on a sheepish expression, his eyes roaming over Kai once more with a spark of barely concealed interest and excitement behind his ocean blue eyes, "My deal with Demetra...well...after we were pulled away from the mortal realm I was a little - disappointed."
He grinned suddenly, causing Kai's heart to stutter at the bright, angelic smile that made his eyes shine, "You humans are so fascinating, you know? I used to love watching you all go about your daily lives, the relationships, the struggles, the complexity of your emotions, it's so exciting!" He stepped closer to Kai, his wings rustling behind him like a feline swishing its tail as he grew more animated.
"And the food! Demetra gave me some of that - what do you call it - mushroom, last month. I didn't know human food tasted like that! We don't need to eat, so I'd never thought to try before, but it was truly delicious. And the clothes you wear! The way certain styles fade in and out of obscurity for seemingly no reason, it's so intriguing. Demetra made me these, do you like them? I wanted to keep up with the times a little but you don't think it's too plain, do you?" He continued to ramble in this manner for a full five minutes as Kai's eyes widened in disbelief.
He would have never thought that a celestial being such as this could be so - excitable. He was like an overgrown kimarie pup with wings, who could probably decimate an entire city in five seconds flat.
And yet, there was something endearing about his fascination with human life that began to gnaw at Kai in concern.
He just hoped the Witches hadn't exploited this for their own gain.
He held up his hand to halt Uriel's excitable babbling, "Hold up a moment. So, Demetra gives you information about humans, correct?" He confirmed.
Uriel nodded enthusiastically and was about to open his mouth again before Kai cut across him, "Ok. And what do you give back?"
The Angel paused, scrunching his face up in thought, "Well, I suppose it's just a simple exchange of knowledge. She tells me stories about life within the mortal realm, and then I tell her things she wants to know about the celestial plane. The Gods for example, what they do, their names, how they operate...that sort of thing." He waved his hand in a nonchalant gesture and Kai grimaced.
"But what kinds of things does Demetra do with that knowledge about the Gods?" He pressed, hesitantly.
He wanted to hope that the excitable Angel was simply swapping unimportant gossip with a Witch, and that his initial impression of Demetra's brutal honesty was correct, but something about Demetra and Neave led Kai to believe that they would not be opposed to deception. Even against an Angel.
Uriel blinked at him in confusion for a moment, as though the concept of ulterior motives were entirely mythical, "I should think she is just interested, like I am with the human world."
Kai sighed again, wearily.
He did not expect to be placed into a situation where he would have to explain methods of exploitation to a celestial being, but here they were...
'Must be a Tuesday.' He scoffed internally.
"Ok, Uri. I'm going to call you Uri by the way, is that alright with you?" He paused for a brief moment and then continued before the Angel had a chance to respond, his ocean blue eyes already lighting up at the prospect of receiving a nickname.
"Here's the thing, Uri. Sometimes people will find a weakness in others, and then use that weakness against them for their own personal gain. So what might seem like a harmless exchange of information to you, could actually be Demetra using your love of knowledge about the human world in order to gain confidential information about the celestial plane. Things that Witches and humans aren't meant to know. Do you understand?"
Uriel paused.
"So...you're saying that I shouldn't have told her that Angels and Gods can have weaknesses equivalent to their power as well?"
Kai's mouth fell open for a moment before promptly closing with an audible snap, "No Uri...no I don't think you should tell anyone about that."
Uriel outwardly flinched, his wings drooping back down to the floor in a manner that could only be described as, guiltily.
"Oh...oops." He breathed.
Kai pinched the bridge of his nose as his sluggish mind attempted to settle on a decision for what he wished to do next.
Bizarrely, he found that he was experiencing an odd sense of protectiveness towards the excitable and rather naïve being. A sense that compelled the next words that left his mouth:
"Uri. How about a new deal? One that's just between you and I?" He posed, watching the Angel's features light up in hopeful excitement.
"A deal with a human? Really! Do you have stories too?" He asked, eagerly.
Kai shook his head, "No, not for stories and information. I need help, you see. Katesch showed me a version of the future where I might end up on Asmarata again, facing that - thing." He scrunched his nose in distaste, "And now my Artifact is basically a useless piece of metal. So..."
He held the amulet up in front of his eyes and watched it twist upon the end of its chain, "I need it to not be useless anymore. I need a new one. One that will help me protect my own life and the people I love." He mumbled, almost forgetting the Angel's presence as he worked to repress that snide, malicious echo of the Spectres:
'You don't even want to live, so why are you still fighting?'
'Shut up.' Kai winced, curling his hand around the small disc of gold and squeezing it until it left a deep indent in his palm.
"If you can help to create a new one for me, then in exchange, you can come and stay with me a while. And I'll try to show you what you want to see of the human world. All of it." Kai offered, looking back up at the tall, angelic being with those perfect, otherworldly features and smiled.
Uriel had gone very still.
The excited gleam in his bright eyes was still there, but his body had seemingly turned to stone as he contemplated Kai's offer; teetering between what would be a clear overstep of their shaky rules and the overwhelming desire to live among the objects of his fixations.
His wings betrayed him first, twitching and rustling over the ground in restless enthusiasm, before his face broke out into another blinding smile.
"Deal!" He beamed, flashing a row of pearly white teeth whilst Kai struggled to remember how to breathe correctly, "Ah, but I cannot do anything else to interfere with human life. No healing the sick, no smiting your enemies, no giving riches to the poor, none of that. Is that ok?" He added.
Kai grinned back, "Sure, sure. Don't worry, I don't care about riches and I can smite my own enemies, thanks." He chuckled, approaching the Angel until they were within touching distance and fighting his very soul to stay calm when the proximity made his heart begin to race in his chest.
He held his hand up in front of his heart, his palm facing outwards.
"So, we're agreed? No more gossiping with the Witches, Uri." He winked.
Uriel glanced down at his hand in confusion, "What's this?"
"Oh. Right." Kai blinked back, "It's how we seal a deal on Zenin - between humans." He added, his smile widening at the way Uriel's eyes flashed in delight.
"Just hold your hand up too and press it against mine." He instructed.
**