A Song of Rebirth

A Song of Rebirth

Pain.

It gripped her heart and tightened like a clamp. Leks felt it travel through her body like molten lava forcibly injected into her veins. Her body weakened at the eruption of raucous cheering. The demons were celebrating.

At the centre of the happy crowd, lay the unmoving corpse of an angel. She could not see his eyes. His head was turned away. In disgust? Leks did not blame him. She had betrayed him. She killed him.

A desire moved within her. She had to reach the corpse before the demons desecrated his sweet remains. Through the tears and pain, Leks staggered forward. A hand stopped her and pulled her back. “No!” she screamed in defiance. More hands grabbed her. Voices spoke at her. Some whispered and hissed into her ear, but they held no form. She could not understand what they were saying. Her eyes could not see what was happening. Everything had blurred into chaos.

She felt searching hands drag and push her away from the angel. Leks felt her body move against her will until her back hit a wall with an unexpected powerful force. No, it was not a wall, it was the floor. Hands continued to explore while wordless voices taunted. The voices dripped with ‘bad’.

Through the creeping murmurs Leks heard another sound: the distinct flapping of wings. Hope stirred in her broken heart.

The angel must have risen.

He would save her again.

***

Her head began to spin as she felt the floor and hands evaporate. The sound of voices was replaced with a distant hum. A sudden flash of colours left her disorientated.

Like a rag doll, Leks fell to the icy floor. It didn’t hurt. The flapping of wings was heard again. It was so close. A small pressure was felt on her shoulder. She looked and saw a small brown bird on her right shoulder. A peck notified her of one on the other shoulder.

She got to her feet swiftly. As she moved, Leks saw dark echoes of her movements trail behind her and disappear. She was definitely not in the torture chamber anymore. All she could see… was the colour grey. Before she could think any more, a strange chant was heard behind her. Curiously, she looked behind her shoulder, and saw a tailless, hornless creature stabbing the air between with them with two fingers. He had the same bird on one shoulder, and a large black bird on the other. The words in question were worrying. It was so… unfamiliar.

“Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Banishment. Gesture. Not. Working.” he chanted.

Banishment? It was obvious, he was an enemy. However, Leks found it hard to find the hostility needed. Feeling numb, she turned to face him.

“Shit.” He stopped chanting and took a step back in surprise. “Well... yeah... that changes things.” The creature stared at her chest, before quickly jerking his head to face her upon sensing her animosity. “Uh... so. Where’s your Fixer?”

Leks stared blankly in return. This creature did not make sense.

“Oh. You probably don’t understand a word I’m saying, as I’m guessing you’re not local around here, well, no one is a local around here, and I have no idea where you would be... local” The creature fiddled with his hair as he observed Leks with curiosity.

“I understand what you are saying.” To some degree.

“Oh! In that case, I’m Song. Another Fixer.” He walked over to Leks and came to a stop in front of her.

Leks took a casual step back. Her ‘personal space bubble’ was a little larger than most. “Another? Honestly, you’re the first Fixer I’ve met.”

If Leks had thought earlier that Song could not look any more confused, she was wrong. A thought then dawned on her. She must have looked equally confused.

“The first?”

“To the best of my knowledge. I’m not sure what a Fixer is.”

“But... how did you get here? You can’t travel here without a Fixer taking you.”

Leks gestured to the small birds sitting on her shoulder. “They came for me.”

Song’s expression became blank. A few moments passed as his stare shifted between the two birds perched on Lek’s shoulder. “That can’t be good.” He raised his head in thought as he scratched his head.

Memories of metal binding her wrists invaded her mind. They tore viciously in the darkness. She began to tremble. Leks would not allow that kind of humiliation again. His lips moved as he talked to no one in particular. Leks could not decipher his words that travelled amidst new waves of fear. The creature seemed soft. He would not be able to stand up to her talons. She would-

“I guess I’ll help you then.”

The trembling stopped. She stood, paralysed.

“Excuse me?”

“I’m going to help you. You need a Fixer to restore your missing piece before you become a fragment and loose yourself forever.” Song spoke in a carefree tone, seemingly oblivious to Leks’s bafflement.

“I have a missing piece?” asked Leks. She only voiced one question, having decided that she rather not know the answer to the others.

“You mean... you haven’t noticed?!” Song pointed at her chest, where he had been staring only a few moments ago.

Leks looked down.

A bloody hole went deep into her chest. When had she become so wounded? She felt the pain, but not as she would have expected. It was not a pain that warned you of physical trauma. It was an empty pain. To see her pain manifested in physical form... it amplified.

“It hurts,” she murmured quietly to herself.

“You’ve lost someone.”

Song’s accuracy stung. She nodded in reply.

“Good. No! I mean... that’s not good. But... I think I know where your missing piece is now, I’m just glad I don’t have to ask my mother. Who knows what she might have said about... erm... this.”

Leks swallowed her pain, and took a deep breath. “Can you fix me?”

Song smiled back. “I’m hoping someone else will. We have to go to the Docks.”

***

The curious creature named Song led Leks through ‘The Grey’, as she had come to call it. He had called it something else, and it was followed by a tiring attempt of an explanation of what manner of place it was. It was easier to simply accept it as The Grey.

It was a long journey, and Leks discovered the strange power that Song had. His random ramblings were not as pointless as she had first thought. It took away pain. Or, at least, it hid the pain. It hid the pain very well. Also, she now knew about the exciting concept of watermelons.

At last they came to the Docks that Song had described. Leks followed Song along the creaky wooden planks, as he scanned the area, searching for her missing piece. His strange features, however peculiar, did hold one appeal. He looked like an angel. He acted like one too.

“He should be around here…” Song narrowed his eyes and put his hand above them, apparently shielding them from the non-existent sunlight.

“Who?”

“The one you lost. This is where those who died…”

Song did not have a chance to finish his sentence. Leks did not need to hear the rest. The angel was here. Somewhere among the pale passengers was her violet-haired angel. She ran to the end and looked upon those on board the boats, travelling into the distance. Too late.

Feelings of failure had not even entered her mind, when a familiar voice drifted to her ears.

“Leks?”

The power of his voice stunned her temporarily. Unexpected tears formed in her eyes. She wiped them away hastily and turned. There he was. The angel. What was left of him. His features, even his once violet hair, were greyed, but it did not hide his beauty. A faint outline of blue wrapped him in a protective aura.

Song ran up to the couple, and stood between them. “That must be your missing piece.”

Leks looked at what the angel held in his hands. His heart. The blue flames were dimmed, but they continued to flicker.

“I told you before, Leks, this only belongs to you.”

“I gave it away... I don’t deserve a second chance. I killed you.” Unworthiness washed over her. She felt so small.

“A... murderer? W-well yes, it’s a good thing I kept this to myself. I wouldn’t want Uncle Hao to find out... he’d... best not think of that.” Song shuddered a little. Whether it was the thought of Uncle Hao, or the confirmation that she was a monster, Leks could not decide.

“She did not kill me, do not worry, Song,” the angel reassured them both. In graceful movements he stepped around Song and came in front of Leks. “This is yours.” With both hands, he placed his heart inside Leks’s chest.

The fire grew. She felt the heat spread within her body, expelling the pain-filled darkness. Leks looked down in wonder as blue flames licked the outside of her wound, closing it. Soon, the gaping hole was gone. She was healed.

“Leks, you must go to Lady Eros.”

“But-”

Before she could finish, Song interrupted. “Lady Eros? The Eros that is son of the Goddess Aphrodite and the God Ares? I thought... he was... male...”

The angel remained quiet for a few moments. “Lady Eros, is indeed female.”

“Ah, right. You see, we have an Eros... more commonly known as Cupid. You know, a little baby angel with a bow and arrow, causing love to bloom... and disaster with love, even though love is quite amazing, it can have disastrous consequences. Right?”

Leks wanted to glare at Song at that moment, but couldn’t. Not after his assistance to find the angel. Politely, in an attempt to match the angel’s soft tone, she spoke. “I think you are mistaken then. You must be speaking of a different Eros.”

“I guess so,” replied Song, while stifling the laughter that planned to escape through his smile.

“It’s time for me to board the boat Leks. Do you promise to find Lady Eros?”

Her heart thudded against her chest, reminding her that she had broken one promise to him already. “I promise.” This time she’ll keep her promise; her new heart will not allow any other way.

“Goodbye, Leks.”

She watched as the grey wingless angel boarded a small wooden boat. She watched as he disappeared into the clouded horizon.

“The birds will take you back to... erm... where you were before you were here,” notified Song as eloquently as was possible for him.

“Thank you, Song.” Thank you, kin of angels.

Song nodded in reply.

The birds flapped their wings, and took her back to the torture chamber.

***
Leks landed heavily on the floor. Demons surrounded her. They grinned at their prey, oblivious to her disappearance. She leaped up, and raised her talons. She would not break her promise. The massacre began.