Angel Sanctuary Fan Fiction ❯ Imperfect Sky ❯ Etemenanki at Atziluth ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: And this time, it's far too early in the morning; I haven't even had my coffee yet! I write at odd times, ne...? Oh yeah, and Angel Sanctuary ain't mine.

 

AN: Does anyone read the quarter-panel notes besides me? I mean, a boiled egg? About all you can really say to that is `...huh...' Also, isn't it cute how Katan is always trying to get to Etemenanki at Atziluth? Don't worry if that doesn't make sense, since it's a reference to book 18 or somewhere around there... Spoilers and warnings about the same for this chapter, I think (book three and nothing, respectively, sweatdrop).

 

 

Chapter Two: Etemenanki at Atziluth

 

 

If you wish to meet me, come to Etemenanki at Atzuiluth. When you do, you will be free to thank me, or curse me, as you wish...

 

 

For the first week or so after his `birth', Katan was given temporary quarters while the other angels searched, in vain, for someone to whom he belonged. As he had nothing to do in that time, he was more than a bit bored, and he found it rather depressing to wonder if life was always like this. The other angels always seemed so busy, but he couldn't quite understand with what...

 

They had asked him repeatedly, that first day, where he had come from. At first he tried to tell them about that amazing one who had shone more brightly than any of them, but he couldn't think of the words, and by the time he could, he was feeling strangely like he didn't want to. He wasn't sure if he liked the way that he wanted to keep that vision all to himself, but there it was. All they ever managed to figure out was that he had seen a bright light, and couldn't remember anything before that.

 

He had had some questions for them, too, of course. Besides from his burning desire to learn absolutely everything, they were most bemused by his incessant inquiries about how to get to `Etemenanki at Atziluth'... Unfortunately, they were only able to confirm his suspicions that it would be very difficult indeed.

 

After the initial excitement wore off, however, the other angels became much too busy to give him any more answers. For the first few days he despondently wandered the gardens, hoping against hope that another miracle would occur, but in the end his insatiable thirst led him to a place he was told was called a `library.'

 

The sheer bulk of the materials stunned him, and he staggered through the shelves with his neck craned back to take it all in. It was wonderful, but at the same time it was agonizing; how was he ever supposed to find what he needed?

 

All in all, it was lucky that he noticed the person before he bumped into her. He stared up at her, opening his mouth once or twice, but the words wouldn't come. She merely smiled, and he thought it was a very pretty smile, but somehow sad.

 

“Can I help you find something?”

 

He gaped helplessly. “You - you can help me find-?”

 

“Books,” she elaborated. “What books are you looking for?”

 

“Books about Etemenanki at Atziluth, please,” he said eagerly. “I need to get there.”

 

She arched an eyebrow above the wire rim of her glasses. “Do you now...?” She hesitated, but after a moment she just shook her head and led the way.

 

Mana's life story was, incidentally, rather unremarkable. She had been terribly average all through school, and she was nothing much to look at, so while she'd always dreamed of the soaring heights of Etemenanki - because that was what all good little angels were supposed to dream about - in the end she'd just wound up working here. Katan didn't know any of this, of course, but he did know that she looked rather sad, so he held her hand while she guided him through the labyrinth of books, and when she went to leave, he smiled and said `thank you.' If she had been human, she might have described the sensation as being smiled upon by an angel.

 

Katan soon found that all the books in the building were not enough to sate his desire. After coming back for several days in a row, however, he found the name of the one who ruled over Atziluth. On a hunch, he asked about him, and was told with reverence that this man was the most glorious angel in Heaven.

 

The `thirst in his soul' was now named Rosiel-sama. This, he discovered, only served to focus his determination.

 

TBC