TRUE TO HIS WORD, HER BROTHER MAKES IT RAIN.
She had loved the rain.
"When I die," she had said softly, looking out into the wet soil as lightning streaked the grey of the clouds and thunder rumbled lowly in the distance, "I want it to rain."
It seemed that the rain had loved her too.
With her no longer gazing out into it- sparkling eyes wide and lips parted in awe as it descended, it didn't seem spirited.
It was heavy, with every drop like a tear from the weeping skies, but without a single spark of life in any raindrop.
Thunder rumbled in the distance. But it was low. Feeble. Grieving.
More angels seemed to have descended. Their heads and eyes are downcast and full of sorrow.
Some have tears running down their cheeks, some are holding each other- but a select few- three, maybe four- seem to be carrying something else.
Her.
Rain leads them all. His eyes are downcast- and with every step that he takes, faint tremors seem to travel through the ground- accompanied by distant rumbles of thunder from the sky.
There was another solitary angel, sitting by the earth that had been dug up for where she'd rest.
She had skin that was dark, like rich soil- and eyes that were bright blue, like the oceans- but filled with anguish.
They said her name was Elisabel. They said she was the angel of the Earth.
And just as the Earth loved the stars and the skies, Elisabel had loved Stella.
It was only natural, that the Earth would mourn her loss too then.
The green in the grass was dull. No longer the sparkling emerald that often shined in her eyes, but dark, faded, and deadened.
Leaves seemed to droop, the petals seemed colorless, and the trees themselves seemed downtrodden as it rained.
But even as it continued to pour, Elisabel sat on the wet ground- gently stroking the soil- and coaxing fresh buds of flowers out from their seeds with her tears.
I want to stay here, on Earth- with the trees, and the flowers, and the streams of water.
Axel doesn't hear a thing that they're saying. The rain continues to descend on them, soaking through their clothes and hair- but he only watches.
He watches how it slowly washes away the blood staining his palms. Her blood.
He doesn't feel a thing either. He only feels numb, even as her voice rings in his head, over and over like a broken record.
I'm not going to make it.
Bea stands on one side of him. He thought he could hear her crying softly, but he wasn't sure.
He wasn't sure about anything, anymore- really.
The stars would be so proud, if they knew their stardust created someone like you.
His eyes follow Rain blankly. Even past the downpour, he could see him trying to conceal his limp as he led the others- carrying what seemed like a coffin.
There was another angel- someone much younger than the others, someone who looked no older than a teen. They were holding him back as he screamed, his eyes following Rain.
"Where is she?" he was yelling, "Rain, where is our sister? She told me she'd bring me back a trinket- where is she?"
He sees the look in his eyes. The despair, the denial, the tears that the boy, angel rather, holds back.
"She's just sleeping!" his voice sounded hoarse, "SHE'S SLEEPING RAIN, LET ME SEE HER! PLEASE, BROTHER-"
Most of the angels gathered don't turn in the direction of his cries. Some volunteer to talk about her, as they set her down under the shade of the huge tree that loomed above Elisabel.
They talk about how she was created- her wings from the light of a thousand suns, and her bones from the dust of a thousand galaxies.
They talk about how she was so young- one of the youngest, and so full of life, happiness, and care to give.
How she was brave- braver than the heroes of any mythology, and how she was blessed with commendably strong morality.
How she was kind, despite being strong-willed- and how she blessed some of the purest souls to grace the earth.
And how she was selfless, so selfless that she'd put those she loved before her, even it meant risking her own life.
I love you.
The skies were overcast, so the stars remained hidden from the Earth. But Axel feels like he knows why they'd prefer it that way.
They know they could never shine the same way, without her. And so, they stay hidden to conceal their tears.
Tell the stars about me, okay?
As the angels step back, after lowering her into the soil- for a moment, Rain stumbles, as his bad leg gives away into the slippery mud.
But he doesn't straighten.
He sinks onto his knees, and sobs into his hands. His cries are drowned by the thunder roars above them- louder than before, but still full of raging grief, as the raindrops pelt down harder on them.
And Axel only watches, because all he could feel- was numb.
His clothes are soaked as he steps back into the residential quarters of their unit. Water drips onto his mat, as his muddy shoes stain the carpet- and usually, that would have bothered him.
But it doesn't.
He was vaguely aware of Bea softly shutting the door behind him, but his ears choose to tune in to the familiar pitter-patter of clawed feet that seems to be drawing closer.
A blur of golden fur comes bounding towards them, skidding to a halt right in front of them- her tongue lolling and her tail wagging.
With an absentminded sniff at Axel's hand and one look at Bea, he watches as Marli moves past them both, almost as if she was looking for someone.
When she sees that there isn't someone else with them, she pauses.
Her eyes turn back to both Axel and Bea, as her tail stops wagging for a moment, her ears drooping.
And she lets out a whine.
Axel hates that he knows exactly who Marli was looking for.
Where's Stella?
A small, choked sound tumbles past his lips.
Even as he lifts a fist to press it against his mouth- it doesn't seem to do well in containing the sound. If anything, more choked sounds- that sound like barely repressed sobs- escape from him.
Because suddenly, Axel doesn't feel numb anymore.
His chest aches. It aches so bad, and it feels like it's constricting- closing in on his lungs, not allowing him to breathe.
His eyes sting painfully- as the pressure behind them builds up. Tears make their presence known- blurring his vision as they cling to his eyelashes- threatening to fall.
He's faintly aware of the palm that's placed on his back, as he kneels to gently stroke the expectant dog's fur- while she continues to look at him with her puppy-eyed gaze.
He isn't sure he can hold it back, when the dog slowly leans into his palm, her tongue gently poking out to lick his hand.
Because he hates that he remembers the exact moment that she took her last breath- as her soft hand slipped from his.
He hates that he remembers the way the light left her eyes, as they turned lifeless, her body going limp.
And most of all, he hates himself for allowing her to die in his arms.
I love you, Axel. Tell the stars about me, okay?
Axel can't hold back the loud sob that escapes, as the hot tears finally spill down his cheeks.
Once the first tears fall- the rest refuse to stay back.
Marli whines again softly, nestling into his hold, as he sobs into her fur- while a palm gently rubs his back.
"I'm sorry, Axe," he hears Bea murmur- her voice sounding heartbroken, "Let it all out."
"H-How?" his voice breaks as he tries to speak through a cry, "H-How could I have let this happen to her?"
She had spent her last words, her last breaths, on him- to tell him that she loved him.
He never got a chance to say it back.
Stars were meant to be beautiful, and bright- and even as they left, retreating into their cores at their destruction in explosions, scattering their dust back into the abyss they came from- the stardust in the rest of the universe was meant to rejoice on reuniting.
Stars weren't meant to fall. They weren't meant to leave heartbreak in their wake.
Why was it, that she fell then? Why was it, that his heart broke when her dust returned to the universe?
She had told him that the stars would be proud to know that their stardust created someone like him.
He only wished he had said, that,
'My stardust was only made for you.'
He finds himself with her, the next day.
Sitting underneath the shade of trees on the wet earth, among recently bloomed flower buds- all of them a different color, as it continued to drizzle.
He hadn't noticed the stone they had laid in the ground above her.
It was pure white marble, that seemed to glow faintly despite the overcast skies, and it was engraved with Latin text that looked like it was written in gold.
ANGELUS STELLA
Mors ab Aethra.
Ad Astra.
He had brought Marli along, and she was sitting beside him- her paws on the edge of the marble, her head resting on them.
Her eyes were fixed on the stone, with faint, but unmistakeable whines escaping her every few seconds.
Every whine strengthened the constant pangs of pain in his chest. But he can't bring himself to get up and walk away from there. From her.
His hand absentmindedly strokes her fur, as soothingly as he can manage- but he pauses when he hears footsteps.
When the footsteps finally stop, as the person comes to stand next to him- Axel looks up.
"Rain?" he murmurs, pulling a soft face of confusion.
Pale, but bloodshot eyes observe him for a second before they flicker to the marble.
"Axel," the angel says in acknowledgment.
For a second, Axel almost considers asking him what he was doing there- but then he realizes that that would be a very stupid question indeed.
She was his sister. Why wouldn't he be here?
"I shall cut straight to the point," Rain mutters, before Axel can try to make some sort of attempt at small talk, "I am here to offer my help."
Axel's eyebrows furrow, as he stares at Rain. "What?"
Rain doesn't meet his eyes, as he turns to the grey clouds. Thunder growls lowly in the distance, but it dies down just as abruptly as it sounded.
"I," he repeats, his voice deliberate, "am here to offer my help. Whenever you need it. If there's something, or someone bothering you-or if you need someone to give you counsel, you can call me, and I shall give you my assistance. I do not ask for anything in return. I promise."
Axel's confusion only deepens. "But why?"
He turns his head back in Axel's direction- his stare sharp and calculating. But in a moment- almost as if he can't help it, they soften.
He realizes that it's because his sister's eyes were the same in her last moments.
"My sister," his voice is soft, but pained, "cared very deeply for you. And the least I can do for her is make sure that the human that she loves- lives a life full of peace."
Axel looks away, as his throat threatens to close up.
"You can think on the offer," Rain says softly, "and call me whenever you feel the need for it. Besides, I am also here to return this."
Axel turns back to him, and when he sees what Rain was extending in his direction, his eyes widen.
"Is that-?" he blinks at it, uncertainly.
It was a feather. A gleaming, snow-white feather- with a streak of gold running along the middle.
"It is hers," Rain affirms gently, "She would want you to have one."
He swallows, slowly reaching for it- to pull it out from his calloused fingers. The moment he touches it, however, a sharp zing runs down his finger, and a voice rings out in his head.
She'll have my blessing in parting.
Axel retracts his hand immediately, his eyes wide. "Did-Did you hear that?"
Rain tilts his head at Axel. "You heard something?"
"I did," Axel affirms shakily, staring at the feather, "Do you hear it too?"
Her brother only stares at him for a moment before he shakes his head softly.
"I do hear something," he murmurs, almost wistfully, "Anyone who touches the feather and has spoken to her will. But we all hear different things. Things that she has said to us."
"Oh," Axel looks at Rain hesitantly. After a beat of contemplation, he asks,
"Uh- what-what do you hear?"
Rain looks back up at the sky. Thunder rumbles in the distance once more.
"When I touch her feather," his voice is distinctly desolate and pained, and as Rain finishes, Axel understands why,
"I hear her asking me to make it rain."
And I want it to rain. Will you make it rain?
Before he can dwell too much on his emotions, however, Rain's eyes meet his - his expression completely blank, as he extends the feather in his hands towards him.
"Take it," he repeats, "and listen to what it says."
Axel frowns reluctantly at it. He was her brother. Wouldn't he want to keep it?
"Don't you want it?" he questions softly.
"Aspen and I have one," Rain says, his eyes turning sad for a single moment, "take it."
As Axel pulls it out of his grasp, and the familiar zing runs down his spine from his fingertips- with her words ringing in his head- a small realisation comes to him.
There was a tiny part of Stella that still lived on.
And with that realisation- for the first time in weeks, he knows exactly what to do.
[Mors ab Aethra:Â death by Aethra (poison)]
Still isn't the end! I tried to make this one a little less sad- the next chap, which should be out by tomorrow at the same time- will be happier, I promise. I think you'll like it.
until then, be well xx