The Archangel Legacy -- Chapter I

“Two hours...” Subaru muttered as he waved to Zack from his doorway. “Can’t believe he stayed for two hours. He’s the one who said ‘stay home and get some rest’...” He trailed off, into some incomprehensible babbling. Head hung low, and eyes on his feet, Subaru walked towards his room to get some shuteye. Golden light tickled Subaru’s peripheral vision, but he took it only as a sign of how tired he was. It wasn’t until he stretched and yawned that he saw the soft glow radiating from within the folds and creases of his cloak. What’s that? Subaru shifted the cloak around until his gaze settled on a feather, seemingly born of the sun. Subaru came to this conclusion from how it hurt his eyes to look directly at it.

          “What in god’s name?” Subaru motioned to drag a finger along the article. The golden texture of the feather was comparable to silk, one of his favorite fabrics.

          Reacting to Subaru’s touch, the feather violently exploded with light, but did not turn into many orbs of golden power. Instead, it rushed Subaru as it was; now glowing crimson. Subaru flipped out of the path of the attacking feather, horror on his face. For inside the feather’s crimson body: he saw...his death.

          Subaru must be pissed that I stayed so long...but then again, Subaru doesn’t anger quickly. Zack continued his casually-paced walking. He was one of the few people of Mu that enjoyed walking on the ground rather than the spirit roads. That was strange because his favorite thing to do was star-gaze, and the spirit roads presented a much more desirable star-gazing spot. Zack enjoyed looking at the stars from below the roads though, because they brought him back to earth when his mind was lost in the eternal blackness of the night sky that twinkled with so many stars, and the ether that extended beyond that.

          It was fortunate he decided against star-gazing on the spirit roads tonight, for he wouldn’t have heard the terror-filled scream echoing from Subaru’s domicile.

          “Holy crap, that was Subaru!”

          No matter what time of year, the nights were frozen in a perpetual winter. It was the only time when the temperature went below 10 degrees Celsius, and frost permeated the grass almost immediately after the sunset.

          Zack whirled around, and took a step forward to dash back to Subaru’s home, when the devilish frost-allowing zero traction, caused him to slip and fall. A jolt of sharp pain tore through him like a knife. Zack had sprained his ankle. Damnit! I have to get back to Subaru! Luckily, there was a nearby stick, about the perfect height for Zack to use as support. Easing himself off the ground, and propping the stick upright, Zack limped as fast as he could to Subaru...then he fell again. Pain shot through him again, but he paid it no mind. Be alright Subaru. Worry wormed its way through all of Zack’s mental processes. Everything he thought was about what could be happening. Was Subaru alright? Was someone trying to kill him? What could make Subaru scream like he did? God damnit Subaru Ryou! Please be okay!

          Somehow he knew. Somehow, Subaru knew he would die if he let that feather touch him. So he did his best to stay as far away from the feather as he could. What’s going on!? The feather lunged at him, and he dived under it, sliding on his stomach and hitting a wall. The feather dashed low, Subaru jumped high. Every move the feather made, Subaru had a counter for. He had ditched his cloak a while ago, realizing the possibility of him tripping on it. I gotta get out of here! All of a sudden, Subaru’s house altered into a maze. His sense of direction was his downfall; left was up, down was left, up was right, and right was down...or at least that was what Subaru thought it currently was. It seemed as though every time he had a grasp on which way was what, it shifted again. Subaru had to do something to fix his perception of reality. Then he recalled a scenario with Misora while teaching him the art of combat.

          “What’s an important thing to remember in a self-defense situation?” Subaru had been asked this question (along with many others) many, many times. “Stay calm.” He responded. Misora smiled, signifying his being correct.

          “What does ‘long before short’ mean?” Subaru concentrated, trying to dig the answer out of the pile of dirt that was his mind.

          “’Long before short’ means its better to stay farther from your opponent, so you can use weapons-your legs, rather than closer where the use of your legs is restricted.” Misora smiled while shrugging.

          “Close enough.”

          I’ve got to get calm. The feather ceased its unyielding attacks, and had it been a person, would have been studying Subaru. Subaru was performing a technique Misora taught him, called “butterfly breathing”. He inhaled through his nose while sweeping his arms upwards (To allow more room for his lungs to expand), then exhaled through his mouth while sweeping his arms downward. Doing that a few times slowed his heartbeat, and Subaru did indeed become calm...as calm as he could get anyway.

          Sliding into a fighting stance known in the shaolin kung-fu world as the “Broken-bo” (arms up, in a guarding position, one leg forward, bent until visibility of the foot was not possible, and the leg behind was bent slightly, keeping a sleek, small profile, that allowed for a wide array of attacks, blocks and maneuvers.), Subaru smirked, as he drew his intricately designed wakizashi from the sheath on his back (generally hidden from the public’s eye by his cloak). He raised it so that it was eye-level and it pointed forward towards the feather.

         

          “Bring it!” The feather accepted the challenge, and it seemed to acquire a bloodlust, as it rushed Subaru. Okay, maybe that wasn’t such a good idea... Subaru masterfully swung the weapon at the feather, connecting before it could reach him, blowing him back. Wow...this isn’t lookin’ good. The feather moved side-to-side fast enough to leave after-images, before completely disappearing. A howl was heard behind Subaru, and he whirled around to see the feather in front of him.

         

          Zack heard a terror-imbued scream, and then complete silence.

          “NO!” Ignoring the protests of pain shooting from his legs, he darted as fast as the same legs would let him towards Subaru’s house. The door swung open as Zack’s hand applied pressure to it. Following a trail of burn marks, Zack entered the kitchen to see Subaru collapsed on the floor. The feather was no where to be seen. Zack bent over Subaru’s seemingly unconscious frame, and rolled him over. Intricate scarlet markings, ranging from strange angel wings to flames adorned his body and clothing.

          Subaru stirred, and revealed yellow eyes with halo pupils. He got off the floor, and stared at his palms. Crimson flames shaped like angel wings circled by a ring decorated them. His gaze lingered on his arms and worked their way up to his shoulders. On his arms were golden-yellow lightning marks that raced from his biceps to his wrists. On his shoulders were double-crescents, one of a teal color, the other of a sky blue.

          “I’m born again, this time...as a Grim Angel.” He said simply, a delighted undertone lacing his voice.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
Author's Notes: So this wasn't as long as the prologue; sue me. I was new to writing when I started this story, so it was rather hard to write chapters longer than 1200 words. Also, the prologue was originally released --and written-- in three different parts.