FIC: Seeking
Nov. 10th, 2007 06:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ficwizeTitle: Seeking
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
wizefics
Fandom: Original Fiction - set inside the Absent Heroes Universe
Prompt: 68 - Nurture at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
tamingthemuse
Warnings: Some mild language
Rating: Teen
Summary: It's a world where superheroes are no longer needed. A world where peace finally reigns supreme. For now. But change is on the wind. And that which is worth having is worth fighting for.
Disclaimer: This is a small section set inside a bigger work. I hope it stands on its own well enough to suffice as a story for this prompt. The concept of Absent Heroes is copyrighted and belongs to a select few.
A/N: I'm one of those crazy people trying to make NaNo and TTM prompts fit into the same piece of literature. Apologies if this doesn't stand on its own well enough to be independent.
*****************
Azrael studied the cities skyline from the roof of the Capital Building. His hair and jacket both flapped gently in the breeze and the Arch Angel leaned back and breathed deeply, his face tilted into the wind. The city stretched out in front of him, lights glowing softly as darkness fell over the city, hiding the bustle of every day life beneath a veneer of darkness. “Tell me,” he whispered into the wind. “Prepare me. Show me. Guide me.” His words were carried away from him on the breeze, prayers lost before they reached the ears of God and Azrael sighed.
“Your will be done. But sometimes it sucks.” The angel launched himself from the roof, wings appearing where there were none before, stretching six feet from tip to tip, reflecting the moonlight as he patrolled the city, mirrored back to him by the reflecting pool below. God had not spoken to him for countless years, lifetimes of men flew by in the meantime, and Azrael paid penance for his arrogance. It did not pay to defy the Creator and his hubris led Azrael to being cast down with the very humans he resented, forcing him to protect them from the same end which would eventually see his forgiveness. As long as a single man yet breathed, Azrael was ordered to protect, yet only his final failure, and the world’s end world would ever see his homecoming. The Creator was merciful, but Azrael never forgot that he served a vengeful God. The irony was not lost on him, and with a mighty flap of his wings, he propelled himself across the horizon towards a tall apartment building.
Angling himself, he folded his wings and landed lightly on a balcony. The glass doors were open and Azrael walked inside silently, his wings fading once again into a blur that passed on to invisibility. Shrugging off the jacket he wore, Azrael heard movement from the back of the apartment. Tilting his head, the angel did not quite smile, but his features relaxed subtly. “David, you’ve returned.”
“Azrael,” David greeted, his voice sounding through the hallway from the bedroom and Azrael followed it to where David was emerging from the bathroom wrapped in a towel and steam from the open door. “I just got home a few hours ago. Where have you been?”
“Patrolling,” the angel answered with only a hint of exasperation in his voice. “How were your visits?”
David toweled his hair dry and Azrael studied the flecks of gray in the once dark hair with an unreadable expression. David had kept himself in excellent shape, but his body yet showed the signs of his age. He was thicker around the middle than he had been twenty years ago and his face had traces of wrinkles around his eyes and mouth that had not been there before. “Peter will be here before next week.”
“And Sung?”
“She’s not coming, Azrael.” David looked up to meet the angel’s eyes. “She is staying with her family.” His voice was firm, not inviting discussion and Azrael’s lips thinned as he pressed them together, but he remained silent.
David turned towards the bed and shrugged on a robe. “We have a lot to do before Peter arrives.”
“Altimus will be a welcome addition.” Azrael leaned back against the wall. “ But he will not be enough, David.”
“Once he’s here, we can gather the others who want to return.” David walked over the mirror and studied his face, his eyes moving to Azrael’s when the angel moved to stand behind him. “And I am not the same man I used to be. I have friends other than members of the Protectorate that I can call on for aid.” He didn’t move, looking at the angel’s perpetually young face with a grimace. “If it weren’t for my own appearance, I might believe that time hadn’t actually passed.”
“Not much time has.” Azrael replied softly.
“Your sense of time and mine are different.” David looked between them pointedly. “I’m not a twenty five year old man any more. I’m closer to fifty-five.” He turned to stare at Azrael. “You don’t look any different than you did twenty years ago. You probably don’t look any different than you did two centuries ago. You just take over the body of a true believer and boom… eternal youth.”
Azrael arched an eyebrow and pushed his sunglasses more firmly into place. “Eternity isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
“Hmm,” David made a noncommittal noise and moved over to his closet. Going inside, he kept talking. “The youth part isn’t so bad. Getting old is a real pain. In the back, the knees, the hands…”
“You’re not so old, Paladin.” Azrael answered assuredly. “You’re still able to do what you swore to do.”
“Protect people,” David exited the closet, carrying a suit jacket and a shirt in one hand, holding his trousers up with the other. “I’ve spent my entire life, ever since that bus accident when I was 13, trying to protect people. With or without my gift… but it doesn’t seem to have made much difference. Forty years later, you’re here, telling me that the world is in danger again.”
“Safety isn’t something to be earned once and then relished in perpetuity,” Azrael scoffed. “It is a constant goal; something to be striven for. Peace is not an entitlement or a guarantee; it must be nurtured or it will die.”
“Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” David quoted back at the angel. “I’ve lost count how many times you’ve told me that over the years.”
“Repetition doesn’t make it less true,” Azrael smiled a rare smile. “Take comfort, friend, in the knowledge that your tour of duty won’t last beyond a single lifetime.”
David snorted in laugher, pulling his shirt on over a white undergarment and buttoning it up. “I’ll try and take comfort in that,” he promised wryly. Turning away he went back into the closet only to emerge moments later wearing shoes and tightening a tie. “For now, I’ll take comfort in the fact that I’m not facing this alone. I’ve got you and Peter. And I’ve got people that I can ask for help.”
“Where are you going?” Azrael asked, mildly.
“I’ve called a meeting of the Senate Security Committee. With luck, I can convince them to strengthen our defenses.”
“You cannot tell them about me,” Azrael warned.
“I never have,” David replied swinging his jacket on. “But I have some credibility on my own. They didn’t know about you for the duration of the Protectorate, and every time I predicted a mass catastrophe of some sort, I was right.” He shrugged with a small smile. “Most of them think its divine intervention anyway. They just have no proof.”
“Do you think they will believe you?” Azrael demanded bluntly.
David paused, lowering the hairbrush he was using to straighten his hair. “I don’t know. But if they won’t believe David Miller, the Senator, perhaps they will believe Paladin. I’ll do what I can.”
“You always have.” Azrael moved from the door to let David pass him and followed him to the living room. “Ever since you were that boy of thirteen who lifted a bus full of people off of a collapsing bridge and moved it to safety, even though it nearly killed you to use your powers then.”
“It didn’t.” David pulled his overcoat on. “And I’m a lot stronger now than I was then.” He waved a hand and every piece of furniture in the room levitated six inches off the ground. “I can multitask now.” Another wave of the hand and the lamp began to unfasten itself. “I’ve gotten a lot better than I was at thirteen.” He smirked. “I’m better than I was at thirty-three, too. Age does have some benefits.” With that, he walked out of the door and the furniture settled back onto the ground, the lamp putting itself back together as the door clicked softly.
Azrael chuckled, feeling better than he had since he’d first walked into David’s Senate Office a week prior. “Showoff.”
Author:
wizeficsFandom: Original Fiction - set inside the Absent Heroes Universe
Prompt: 68 - Nurture at
tamingthemuseWarnings: Some mild language
Rating: Teen
Summary: It's a world where superheroes are no longer needed. A world where peace finally reigns supreme. For now. But change is on the wind. And that which is worth having is worth fighting for.
Disclaimer: This is a small section set inside a bigger work. I hope it stands on its own well enough to suffice as a story for this prompt. The concept of Absent Heroes is copyrighted and belongs to a select few.
A/N: I'm one of those crazy people trying to make NaNo and TTM prompts fit into the same piece of literature. Apologies if this doesn't stand on its own well enough to be independent.
*****************
Azrael studied the cities skyline from the roof of the Capital Building. His hair and jacket both flapped gently in the breeze and the Arch Angel leaned back and breathed deeply, his face tilted into the wind. The city stretched out in front of him, lights glowing softly as darkness fell over the city, hiding the bustle of every day life beneath a veneer of darkness. “Tell me,” he whispered into the wind. “Prepare me. Show me. Guide me.” His words were carried away from him on the breeze, prayers lost before they reached the ears of God and Azrael sighed.
“Your will be done. But sometimes it sucks.” The angel launched himself from the roof, wings appearing where there were none before, stretching six feet from tip to tip, reflecting the moonlight as he patrolled the city, mirrored back to him by the reflecting pool below. God had not spoken to him for countless years, lifetimes of men flew by in the meantime, and Azrael paid penance for his arrogance. It did not pay to defy the Creator and his hubris led Azrael to being cast down with the very humans he resented, forcing him to protect them from the same end which would eventually see his forgiveness. As long as a single man yet breathed, Azrael was ordered to protect, yet only his final failure, and the world’s end world would ever see his homecoming. The Creator was merciful, but Azrael never forgot that he served a vengeful God. The irony was not lost on him, and with a mighty flap of his wings, he propelled himself across the horizon towards a tall apartment building.
Angling himself, he folded his wings and landed lightly on a balcony. The glass doors were open and Azrael walked inside silently, his wings fading once again into a blur that passed on to invisibility. Shrugging off the jacket he wore, Azrael heard movement from the back of the apartment. Tilting his head, the angel did not quite smile, but his features relaxed subtly. “David, you’ve returned.”
“Azrael,” David greeted, his voice sounding through the hallway from the bedroom and Azrael followed it to where David was emerging from the bathroom wrapped in a towel and steam from the open door. “I just got home a few hours ago. Where have you been?”
“Patrolling,” the angel answered with only a hint of exasperation in his voice. “How were your visits?”
David toweled his hair dry and Azrael studied the flecks of gray in the once dark hair with an unreadable expression. David had kept himself in excellent shape, but his body yet showed the signs of his age. He was thicker around the middle than he had been twenty years ago and his face had traces of wrinkles around his eyes and mouth that had not been there before. “Peter will be here before next week.”
“And Sung?”
“She’s not coming, Azrael.” David looked up to meet the angel’s eyes. “She is staying with her family.” His voice was firm, not inviting discussion and Azrael’s lips thinned as he pressed them together, but he remained silent.
David turned towards the bed and shrugged on a robe. “We have a lot to do before Peter arrives.”
“Altimus will be a welcome addition.” Azrael leaned back against the wall. “ But he will not be enough, David.”
“Once he’s here, we can gather the others who want to return.” David walked over the mirror and studied his face, his eyes moving to Azrael’s when the angel moved to stand behind him. “And I am not the same man I used to be. I have friends other than members of the Protectorate that I can call on for aid.” He didn’t move, looking at the angel’s perpetually young face with a grimace. “If it weren’t for my own appearance, I might believe that time hadn’t actually passed.”
“Not much time has.” Azrael replied softly.
“Your sense of time and mine are different.” David looked between them pointedly. “I’m not a twenty five year old man any more. I’m closer to fifty-five.” He turned to stare at Azrael. “You don’t look any different than you did twenty years ago. You probably don’t look any different than you did two centuries ago. You just take over the body of a true believer and boom… eternal youth.”
Azrael arched an eyebrow and pushed his sunglasses more firmly into place. “Eternity isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
“Hmm,” David made a noncommittal noise and moved over to his closet. Going inside, he kept talking. “The youth part isn’t so bad. Getting old is a real pain. In the back, the knees, the hands…”
“You’re not so old, Paladin.” Azrael answered assuredly. “You’re still able to do what you swore to do.”
“Protect people,” David exited the closet, carrying a suit jacket and a shirt in one hand, holding his trousers up with the other. “I’ve spent my entire life, ever since that bus accident when I was 13, trying to protect people. With or without my gift… but it doesn’t seem to have made much difference. Forty years later, you’re here, telling me that the world is in danger again.”
“Safety isn’t something to be earned once and then relished in perpetuity,” Azrael scoffed. “It is a constant goal; something to be striven for. Peace is not an entitlement or a guarantee; it must be nurtured or it will die.”
“Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” David quoted back at the angel. “I’ve lost count how many times you’ve told me that over the years.”
“Repetition doesn’t make it less true,” Azrael smiled a rare smile. “Take comfort, friend, in the knowledge that your tour of duty won’t last beyond a single lifetime.”
David snorted in laugher, pulling his shirt on over a white undergarment and buttoning it up. “I’ll try and take comfort in that,” he promised wryly. Turning away he went back into the closet only to emerge moments later wearing shoes and tightening a tie. “For now, I’ll take comfort in the fact that I’m not facing this alone. I’ve got you and Peter. And I’ve got people that I can ask for help.”
“Where are you going?” Azrael asked, mildly.
“I’ve called a meeting of the Senate Security Committee. With luck, I can convince them to strengthen our defenses.”
“You cannot tell them about me,” Azrael warned.
“I never have,” David replied swinging his jacket on. “But I have some credibility on my own. They didn’t know about you for the duration of the Protectorate, and every time I predicted a mass catastrophe of some sort, I was right.” He shrugged with a small smile. “Most of them think its divine intervention anyway. They just have no proof.”
“Do you think they will believe you?” Azrael demanded bluntly.
David paused, lowering the hairbrush he was using to straighten his hair. “I don’t know. But if they won’t believe David Miller, the Senator, perhaps they will believe Paladin. I’ll do what I can.”
“You always have.” Azrael moved from the door to let David pass him and followed him to the living room. “Ever since you were that boy of thirteen who lifted a bus full of people off of a collapsing bridge and moved it to safety, even though it nearly killed you to use your powers then.”
“It didn’t.” David pulled his overcoat on. “And I’m a lot stronger now than I was then.” He waved a hand and every piece of furniture in the room levitated six inches off the ground. “I can multitask now.” Another wave of the hand and the lamp began to unfasten itself. “I’ve gotten a lot better than I was at thirteen.” He smirked. “I’m better than I was at thirty-three, too. Age does have some benefits.” With that, he walked out of the door and the furniture settled back onto the ground, the lamp putting itself back together as the door clicked softly.
Azrael chuckled, feeling better than he had since he’d first walked into David’s Senate Office a week prior. “Showoff.”
