The Angels Have Fallen

Chapter 2: Siris

*A few hours prior to the murder of the royal family*

"Brother!" A voice called out behind me.
  A wide smile plastered itself onto my face almost instantaneously as I turned my body around. Completely disregarding the fact that I had accidentally dropped the watering can I was holding onto some newly budding flowers, I grinned at my older brother, who in turn, grinned back. His brown curls framed his face and bounced up and down as he ran towards me for an embrace.
We both ran into each other and rolled onto the ground. As per usual, we would see who would be the first to get the other to tap out of a choke hold. And so we fought on the ground, horsing around of course. I grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him back a little bit so that I could immobilize his arms, but his 2 year superiority as well as army training well surpassed my strength. After my feeble attempt, he held me down with his weight, with my arm pinned behind my back and his hand holding my head down on the ground.
"EW OKAY OKAY," I spat out some dirt that made its way into my mouth, "I tap out!"
My brother chuckled in his victory and stood up, finally relieving me of the obnoxiously heavy brick that was just now pinning me down. He offered his hand to me as I flexed my wrist, which had grown sore, at what point I did not know. I took his hand and stood up, we both did our secret handshake and he patted me on the back.
"So brother, how has life been faring you?" He asked while rolling his eyes at my garden of lavenders.
"It's been well brother," I looked at Kyran, "and you? It's been nearly a week since you've spent the night home, what have you been up to? Don't tell me you are interested in some lady." I gasped and stared into his emerald eyes, a mischievous smirk playing in the corner of my lips.
Kyran looked at me as if I'd said the most ridiculous thing on earth.
"Siris!" He punched my arm playfully and shook his head. "I have a fiancée you idiot, you'll get me in trouble with talk like that."
"I know I know im joking," I lifted my hands up to plead my innocence.
"I've been surveying the capital if you must know," he glanced at me with a more serious tone. "Rumors have been spreading of earthquakes, along with those earthquakes, the small towns on the outskirts of our regions had many angels affected."
He must have sensed the confusion in my eyes because he continued on.
"Lately they've been growing more intense, some angels have lost their powers. Many of the government's best are investigating this phenomenon but no one has found a cause yet. Sadly there's not much we can do."
"Oh, I heard rumors but I did not know the situation was that serious." I responded back. "Should I be cautious, are we next?"
"The earthquakes are not predictable in terms of time but in terms of location, we may be next. Either way, I will let Ma and Pa know, as well as Lily. We will prepare accordingly."
I nodded and tried to hide my nervousness. My foot tapped the ground lightly and rapidly as thoughts raced through my mind. My brother noticed and placed a hand gently on my shoulder. I looked at him and he smiled reassuringly. He knew me well. Despite being older, he was still in touch with his inner child, yet he was  mature. He was the best brother I could ever have asked for.
"On a more positive note," I looked towards the sky and then back at him as I pondered whether or not to say my little secret.
"Spill it brother," his smirk made me even more nervous, "Im sure It wont surprise me."
"I.....maybe-might-have-been-training-in-my-spare-time-and-now-I-can-use-a-sword." My words rapidly fired from my tongue and a sheepish smile appeared on my face.
To my surprise, Kyran just laughed. A lot.
"Uh...brother? I know Pa says Im not cut out to fight but..."
"That's not it," he interrupted and regained his composure," I knew you were training."
"You-you did?"
"Who do you think sharpened and cleaned your brand new sword that you just happened to have found in your garden every day?" His smirk gave it all away.
I punched him in the arm, although he probably didn't feel it as he just appeared more amused.
"How could you!!??" I crossed my arms in shame, "I could have learned to care for it myself..." my words trailed off with the wind.
"Oh hush little one, I will teach you later on today." He picks a flower from the ground and crushes it in his hand. "Gardening is a boring practice, leave it to the older angels. We need not concern ourselves with farm life any longer."
"What do you mean?" I frown at the flower. "I've worked so hard with my garden and I've made a profit. Plus we've always been farmers!"
    "It's time you grow up, Siris. You're much too skinny and frail. I'll teach you to be strong, don't worry."
    I look down at myself and mumble, "I like how I look."
"Brother," he looks at me a bit condescendingly, "you must get stronger."
  "I-"
"That reminds me," Kyran began, "Pa is probably cooking pork today..."
My eyes darted towards him as he jumped into the air and took off, his large brown wings carrying him through the crisp air.
"Hey, I call dibs on the pork this time!" I called out and followed after him.
He looked back at me and just laughed. He challenged me with a middle finger and a loop in the air. Accepting the challenge, my wings soared through the sky in pursuit of the mischievous pork thief who threatened to leave me hungry tonight, and after just returning at that.
I was determined to get home first, so I took my favorite shortcut. My wings tilted slightly, making my body dip through the sky and dive through the clouds, the air brushed past my face and loosened my hair from the loose updo I had done earlier without a hair-tie at my disposal.
Ugh. Ma always pestered me about my hair, she thought it looked strange when it was long and wanted me to shave it short like my father's, however, I thought differently. I did meet her halfway though by making it always look nice when I was around her, I guess I'd have to do it while on the run.
My shortcut home took merely a few minutes since our town was just below a forest. The floating islands that make up my region could sometimes cause issues when navigating but at the same time, I found it fun to fly through my own little oasis and not know where to go half the time. I almost got lost since I passed my exit, so I stopped mid air and allowed myself to free fall a few meters so I could make a speedy U-turn and ascend onto the edge of my town's floating island.
Once I finally hit the ground, I ran as fast as I could towards my town. THE 'NO FLYING' safety policies really bother me in these types of situations. My humble abode came into view after running about a mile and I called out to my parents.
"MA, PA, IM HOME!"
Once I got to the front steps, I quickly ripped off my shoes out of respect for my home and ran inside to the kitchen, the thick aroma of stew and roasted pork filled my senses and I smiled in anticipation of the flavor. I must have gotten home first.
Plot twist, I didn't. My brother Kyran just sat there on the dining room table and grinned from ear to ear. My eyes narrowed at him and I sat down across from him. We both sat silently as we waited for our Pa to say something.
"Came only for the pork eh? How rude of you two not to even greet your father." My elderly father crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.
I looked at him and laughed.
"My apologies Pa," heading towards him I removed a small piece of paper from my pocket and handed it to him." How are you?" He hugged me and looked at the piece of paper.
"Disappointed that pork is more important than- oh what is this?"
"Just the count of crops we have sold in the past months." I smiled proudly, as our sales have been soaring. Finally people were noticing how good me and my Father's crops were.
He smiled with pride and patted my head.
"You've done well my son. Now go! Sit! I will treat you to extra pork today."
I tried my best to hide my joy but once I sat down at the beautifully carved wooden table, I couldn't help myself and I wheezed at the sight of Kyran's shock. It's good payback for his harsh words earlier.
"Father!" Kyran glared at him, "what about me???"
"I make pork for my son that acts like I exist." The grizzly voice said strictly as he walked over to my plate with a pan and placed some rice along with the sizzling pork onto my plate.
Kyran shut his mouth at my father's comment and sat there as our father put some rice and scraps of chicken on his plate.
I dug into my delicious food and paid my compliments to the always amazing chef. Kyran glared at me and jabbed his fork in my direction.
"One day...one day Ill get you." He mumbled between mouthfuls of rice.
I just nodded in amusement and kept eating my food, there was no point in bickering with him over his worthless threats. One day he will get over his pride.

....
Night was coming and I stood from my spot on the floor beside my mother. She glanced up at me with a questioning look and paused her embroidering.
"I must go practice on my harp." I replied to her silent question and fixed my hair a bit. The silver strands were loose so I tucked them behind my ears.
"Yes go, have fun child." She smiled warmly and opened her arms to hug me goodbye.
My 6 year old sister Lily looked at me from her paper and smiled.
"Bye Lily," I returned my gaze back to my mother.
"Take care mother, and look out for warnings, you heard what Kyran said," I lightly kissed her on the cheek and grabbed my mini six-stringed harp from the table beside the door. The small harp was carved by my great grandpa who had been a great musician, and was passed down through generations. It was precious to me. Tucking it into my shirt, I headed out of the house, slipped my shoes on, and stretched my wings.
I would have skipped tonight's trip to learn to care for and wield a sword with Kyran as he promised, but he said something came up. Kyran kept sneaking off late at night these days. I swore he was up to something, he'd have to confess soon wouldn't he? The change in character can't be something good. I thought it would be best to follow him the next time he leaves.
The sunset at this time was more beautiful than any other time of the day. Tinges of purple lined the corners of the horizon and orange colored the usually baby blue sky. Clouds decorated the glowing orb of light and provided shape to its horizon. I took a deep breath and shot up into the sky, heading towards the forest I would always play in. Sunsets were the best time to play, it was as if I was singing to the light as it danced across the sky and traveled to my own eyes. With my harp tucked into my cloak, I freely did tricks in the air and sped up.
The forest I often headed to was not far, just two islands away, but the area itself was large. The forest was three times as large as my town, and was always left untouched by the other angels. Everyone respected these existing forests and left them alone for people to admire them. So that's just what I did.
Once I arrived and descended onto the land, I ran over to the stool I had made out of a cut down tree that had been there for ages. My fingers ran over the carving on the wood, it was two initials encased with a heart. Surely they came here as lovers. The couple chose the perfect spot as well, from here you can see the whole sky, there was hardly ever any obstruction from the clouds.
I sat down and took out my harp, gently strumming its strings with my fingers. With the wind I played. I listened for the rustling of the leaves around me, the chirping of the birds, and the crackling of twigs. Each noise just added to the beauty of nature, someone I regarded as a dear friend. I have grown accustomed to spending hours with nature, I am a tender to the gardens after all.
Since my primary job is to grow crops, learning all I can about nature is important. Father believed I was unable to do much else, especially since my powers did not revolve around 'power' at all, merely thoughts, which apparently weren't enough for the former veteran. Useful but not that useful. A sigh escaped from my throat. I hadn't realized how tired I was.
Upon discovering this, I decided to play a light lullaby, and I sang to the wind that blew through my hair.

"Sweet swallow,
Why do you wallow?
Dry your tears.
Listen to the song of the leaves,
     The sway of the trees.
The light is up ahead,
And in it, all the peace you've ever wanted."
In my opinion, the harp was the most beautiful instrument. Don't get me wrong, others were nice too, but this one just hit different. The strings carry tunes as if it is nothing but light work. The wonder of instruments astound me. And the mere existence of them filled my bones with life.
Or at least it did, my playing was interrupted by a rude rumbling of the land beneath me and a sharp, piercing pain in my chest. The pain was so intense and caught me so off guard that after I had stood up, I stumbled back a bit. The ground underneath me was riddled with tremors, weirdly enough, the tremors matched the pulse of the pain in my chest. I clutched it tightly and realized....These are the phenomenons Kyran was talking about. I had to get home to make sure my Ma and Pa were okay. I should have listened to Kyran's warning and stayed home.
I began to run despite the burning feeling in my core that began to spread to my limbs and tried to keep my balance as the earth continued to shake. My wings stretched out to keep me balanced and off of the floor. My futile attempts must have not done much as I ended up in total blackness after losing my footing and falling.

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Note:
What do you guys think of the story length? Too long or too short or just right?