The Venantium Auallonia Trilogy: Midsummer Sky

Chapter 11: Passion

"Passion...it lies in all of us. Sleeping. Waiting. And though unwanted, unbidden... It will stir. Open its jaws and howl. It speaks to us, guides us. Passion rules us all and we obey. What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love, the clarity of hatred, and the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion, maybe we'd know some kind of peace. But we would be hollow. Empty rooms: shuttered and dank. Without passion...we'd be truly dead."

— Angelus, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Emery walked up casually to the fountain, his shoulders relaxed and arms crossed as he gazed up at all its entirety. "They say it is supposed to tell of how Lucifer fell from heaven, defying God and thinking himself mightier than the All Mighty. What do you think it means?"

"I think it means you're either stalling or your just soulless," I hypothesized.

He turned with his arm still crossed and titled his head as he gazed at me, "There are things that are far worse than losing one's soul, believe me."

"Well? Go on, start explaining," I pushed him. The night had gone colder, leaving my bare, sensitive arms prickling from the cool rush of wind. I stood there, not wanting to move in case he decided to do something else to hurt me. Instead of standing with me he had sat down on the edge of the fountain, and leaned back with his elbows on the stone. He had gone a lot calmer than a few minutes ago; seemingly careless to the world around him as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath; taking in the night. Then again he has already fooled me once; making him quite the skilled actor. But who else would know? I used to envy that kind of assuredness in people, if only because it was surely unreachable to me. We stayed that way for a moment or two in silence until he spoke, "I am sure you are wondering what happened to me after I left you."

I crossed my arms, partly because I was cold and the other part because I felt overly exposed, "Why does it matter to you what I think? You left me to be with Charlotte. You killed both of my best friends, and instead of letting me die like I should have, you went with her. You didn't really love me. End of story."

"Not exactly. In fact, I would argue that the story has just begun. You never truly knew anything, have you?" he said half to himself before descending his head to look me in the eye. He got up and walked a ways until he gestured for me to follow him back to the palace, "In all fairness, you deserve to know."

The cold began to make my teeth chatter as I questioned him, "Is there any particular reason as to why we walked all the way here to see a fountain, only to stay a few minutes, and go back?"

"Think of it as a prelude to the rest of what I have to say. Some angels have a farther fall from grace than others," was all he said. We walked for another five minutes; long and silent minutes to reach the palace again; ending up at a partially raised balcony made of a shiny white stone that glistened from the candle light that showed through the glass walls where you could see the ripples of figures swirling dizzily. Emery leaned forward on his elbows on the stone terrace railing, looking down out at the twinkling candlelit gardens below.

His head tilted in my direction to eye me peripherally before turning around to lean back on his elbows to face me, "I love the dress by the way. It makes you look ethereal."

This guy is going to give me a serious migraine by the end of the night, "Enough sweet talk. If this is all you plan on doing, then I really don't give a damn what you have to say!" I said defiantly, and I spun around to head back to Gabriel, whom I could vaguely see something strange happening to him. Why were his eyes glowing red? He looked like a demon; inhuman, like an animal growing angry and ready to strike. I didn't get very far, because Emery snatched up my wrist.