Fan Fiction ❯ Dirty Wings ❯ Existence ( Chapter 2 )

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Dirty Wings

Chapter 2: Existence

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Light.

She reached her hand down blindly groping for the covers to pull over her eyes. Her hand met human flesh that wasn't her own and sent her bolt upright and backing towards the wall with a small scream. At the other end of the bed sat a man wearing only white pants with a black leather belt. He had a broad smooth chest and muscular arms. He was tall with long legs and arms covered in sinewy muscle. His face was chiseled with royal features. A strong nose and chin, and large crystal blues eyes that glittered in the light that shone in from the window. He had long black hair that hung to perfection down to the middle of his back. Two shorter strands in the front framed his face one of which he took the time to brush out of his eyes so he could get a better look at her.

"Your awake," he stated the obvious. He spoke in a strong tenor voice but his eyes were filled with sorrow, apparently he didn't like the reaction she had gave him. He put on a white jacket that was carefully laid over the bed, taking his time in buttoning it without his eyes ever breaking contact with hers. The jacket looked like a uniform of some kind with gold and red ornaments and lining. The attire confused her, distracting her for a moment from the more important questions of where she was and how she had gotten there. Not to mention whom he was and why he had been sitting on the bed without a shirt on. "My name is Griffin. Welcome home."

Whatever she was going to say after he had told her his name she forgot when his last two words hit her. Rua found herself blinking in shock, again. "Home?"

"No more games Phoenix, you've had your fun," he said coldly standing up and walking towards the window to look out at whatever lay beyond. "We've given you your freedom, now we need your help."

"Oh, that explains everything," Rua said happily. She stood up herself starting to walk over towards the man with a large Cheshire cat grin on her face. "See I'm not Phoenix, I'm Rua. So if you could just show me the door I'll forget the whole thing. You know, assault, battery, kidnapping. Not to mention scaring the shit out of me on more than one occasion."

"There is no mistake," he said cutting off her ramblings. He said no more than that, only turned and walked out the door with the same icy coldness. When Rua attempted to follow him she found her way blocked by the first man who had accosted her in the alley.

"YOU!" she shouted pointing a finger at him like he was a naughty boy. He was leaning in the doorway looking as carefree as he had the first time she had seen him, smiling only slightly over her antics. "What did you do to me?"

"I kissed you and you were so caught up in the moment, deary," he said stepping towards her like a very happy panther on the prowl, "that you swooned in my arms."

"I remember fighting you off and deliberating whether I should bite your tongue off or not when something stung me in the back of the neck!" she said feeling the small lump the size of a mosquito bite on the back of her neck. Very slowly her head was clearing and filing each new strange thing that was happening to her.

"Well, I guess we'll just both savor our own memories of the occasion," he said with another one of those left-sided smiles.

"Why did you abduct me?" she asked finally getting herself into the mode of distressed and distraught damsel. "Who the hell are you? And who is Phoenix?"

"My, my, my," he said clicking his tongue at her. "Aren't we just a bundle of energy and inquiry?"

"Just answer the questions!" she demanded as her patience began to fade.

"I abducted you only out of the orders of our Lord," he said with a curt bow. "I am Tobias, but you can call me Sexy anytime you want. And Phoenix happens to be you."

"See that's where me and the last guy got into trouble just a moment ago," Rua said exasperated. She sat on the edge of the bed with a heavy sigh. She knew that in any moment she would realize the gravity of her situation and go stark raving mad. "I'm not Phoenix. My name is Rua."

"We can talk about that later," he said walking over to her and extending a friendly hand.

"But for now you have an appointment to keep."

She took his hand reluctantly deciding that everything was topsy-turvy in her world and that she could careless about anything making sense now. She tried once again to figure out how she had gone from a perfectly ordinary morning to being abducted by a very strange man and brought to a very strange place. It was only then, when Tobias escorted her out of the room and through wherever she was, that she realized how strange it was.

Everything within the house seemed ancient. It was built like an Indian Maharani's palace, decorated like a Shinto shrine, and furnished like a European castle. But the religious artifacts and writing on the walls were all completely foreign to her, but still gave her the same sense of déjà vu she had been having since she had first run into Tobias. Walking through she kept stopping at points to exam one artifact or painting after another and Tobias had to pull her forward again. Finally they stopped at a pair of wooden doors marking a grand entrance. Each door was carved with a dragon, both facing each other with a large blue stone as the eye. Rua paused a moment as if waiting for them to come alive. But even that could not have startled her more than what she saw on the other side of the door.

Inside the room it was completely dark, only a small circle around a table was illuminated, but still she could see as if the sun were shining down upon her. There were no dimensions to the room. No ceiling or walls, just the floor, the table, and the door. Sitting at the massive round table were five people, including Griffin and the girl from the fire escape. She and Tobias took two empty seats leaving only the seat directly across from her open.

Each person in the room was staring at her in-between conversations with their neighbors. The child-woman gave her a friendly smile and a wave before returning to her conversation with a young woman at her side. This one looked to be in her twenties but held a maturity that was enhanced by the childish woman next to her. Tobias tried to talk to her a few times but gave up when he found that she was too intimidated by her circumstances and turned to a huge man on his left who only nodded his head in response to Tobias' questions and comments. Only Griffin concentrated his attention solely on her, his eyes eerily never left her. She felt terribly uncomfortable in his gaze, as if he was accusing her of something, expecting her to jump up and announce her foolish games.

Suddenly a fire sprang up in the middle of the blackness, scaring Rua so bad she jumped inches from her seat. The rest of the room, while a few were a bit unsettled by it, took it as a normal occurrence. The flames were green, burning a circle that was maybe three feet round and eight tall. They all watched as the flames flickered down into a figure and finally died away into the solid form of a man. He was about six feet tall, a thin build with a small waist and hips. His hair was the same dark green black color as the flame, cut short and spiked. His eyes were the same emerald color with flecks of amber gold in them.

He held his hand out to her, his deep eyes penetrating. "Come," his voice was seductive and along with his eyes, she was mesmerized. She followed his command, her body willing its self to move around the table to his side. He took her hand into his and placed a gentle kiss. "Do you remember me? Do you know who I am?"

"No," Rua replied in a whisper shaking her head in sync with her answer. She couldn't have broken eye contact with him if she tried.

"Do you wish to be awakened?" he moved a step closer bringing his green-fire eyes only inches away from her own.

"I...I don't know...I don't know what you mean," she replied her mind trying to think in its muddled state. "Who are you?"

"I am your Lord," he said pushing a lock of hair out of her face. "I am a god and your creator. You will call me Lord Aagni."

"God," the word escaped her on a breath.

Lord Aagni was becoming closer and closer; all she could see was the blackness of the room and the green of his eyes. They became deeper and deeper until they seemed to take on a world of their own. She felt herself falling, and wasn't for sure how to stop the sensation. But a sudden slightly familiar voice snapped her back to reality as the emerald eyes broke their link and looked away. She gained her composure stepping back to shake herself physically.

"What did you say?" Lord Aagni asked someone behind her. The mesmerizing seductiveness in his voice was gone leaving a coldness that made Rua shiver in response. She turned around to face the others to see who had the courage to interrupt.

"Its to early. We must tell the child slowly," Griffin said looking in-between her and the Lord. "You'll scare her away if you push her to hard."

"I will take none of your insolence, Griffin!" Lord Aagni said. "But I will take your advice under consideration. Take your seat."

The last of his speech had been directed at her. Feeling light headed and dizzy as if she had been turning circles, she made her way carefully back to her seat next to Tobias. She took comfort in the strength and stability of the chair. As strange as it seemed, in this even stranger room, filled with the strangest people, this chair was the only thing she could depend on.

Lord Aagni sat at his spot across the table from her. Heaving a huge sigh he settled back to study her again. "I find I have no patience for this game," he said to no one in particular. "Lara, begin her questioning."

Dr. Lara Corring, the girl who had been talking to the child-woman, nodded acquiescence. She was a pretty twenty-nine year old. She had soft brown eyes behind a pair of oval glasses. She had a narrow face tipped by a straight nose and strong chin. She was tall and thin, and very feminine in her build. Her hair was a soft brown held up by a clip with a few loose tendrils falling down around her face. She wore black slacks and a black blouse that was partially un-tucked under a white lab coat that had seen better days. For all her professionalism she had a messy forgotten look about her.

"What the hell is going on here?" Rua shouted before the doctor could speak. The fog had finally cleared from her mind and the questions were now replacing it in full force.

"Um, well..." Lara stumbled to think of something to say.

"You are Phoenix," Griffin interrupted. "You are our messiah."

"You were given immortality in exchange for your powers and will," a man sitting next to Griffin said. He was tall at about six foot one with a strong build. He was a dashing blond with straight hair that grew to his ears in a bowl cut. He had brown eyes set in a square face and golden tanned skin. He wore an old pair of jeans and a nice T-shirt. "You are an angel, and we seven…six, are your warriors."

"I'm sorry, but I'm not an angel," Rua said she was on the edge of hysteria. Her hands were shaking; she didn't like what she was hearing. "You don't have the right person. I'm telling you I'm just a girl. I'm just Rua."

"Then who are your parents Rua?" Aagni asked with a sadistic grin.

"My parents?"

"When were you born?"

"What?" Rua's mind was spinning. She tried to think of the answers but only a huge headache sprang up in her mind for her attempt.

"Where were you raised?" Lord Aagni asked mercilessly. "Come now, for being just a girl you should be able to answer these simple questions about yourself."

"My name is Rua!" she shouted at him. By now they were both standing staring each other down. Lord Aagni wanted her to admit everything, and Rua held back, clutching to the last remains of the only life she knew.

"Could it be you don't know?" Aagni asked. "Could it be that Rua doesn't exist?"

"No!" she shouted tears streaming down her eyes as the last walls of her world crumbled around her. Her eyes searched those in the room, looking for someone to believe in her. "I am Rua!"

"There was never a Rua."

"NO!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Her fingernails gripped into her shoulders as she hugged her self and dropped to her knees of the floor. She slammed her eyes shut as tight as she could. She tried to shut out his voice, and this strange world. She tried to shrink herself away into nothingness.

When she ran out of breath she collapsed coughing on her hands and knees. When she looked up again her eyes were a fiery gold, and they focused all their energy on the god across from her. Running forward she lunged at him, her hands tightening around his neck as she knocked them both to the floor.

"I will not do this!" she cried. It was no longer Rua in control; some one else now had possession of her body; some one that had always been a hidden part of her. "I will not come back."

Lard Aagni easily dislodged her and sent her sprawling to the floor at the foot of the table with a blast of hard energy from his hand. Seemingly unhurt, the possessed girl turned to the occupants of the table who were all now standing. She whipped around to face the six people who all stared back at her with wide eyes.

"I don't want this!" she shouted like a child. Energy surrounded her, tossing her hair in an unseen wind. She prepared to attack those before her. But a tap on her shoulder sent her spinning around. Her golden eyes cooled as they peered into a familiar pair of crystal blue eyes. Her heaving breaths slowed and her eyelids drooped. "No…" the last coming out as a whisper before Griffin's mouth closed over hers. In a moment she had collapsed, all her strength gone. Rua lay like a rag doll in Griffin's protective arms.

"Good. The awakening will be easier than I thought," Lord Aagni said looking down at the collapsed form of the girl. "Already Phoenix is showing signs of surfacing."

Griffin said nothing. He only turned from the room with the girl cradled carefully in his arms.