A D V I C E

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LUCIUS CAUGHT UP to Fabian rather easily. In the latter's defence, it was not that he was slow. It was just that he hadn't been flying that fast, careful to reduce his speed so that the angel of light could keep up. The dark-haired angel turned to look behind him every once in a while, making sure that the angel of light in which he had recruited help from was still following him closely. He was.

"Fabian, is it?" Lucius asked when he finally caught up, wings needing to flap twice as fast just to reach Fabian's side. "I do not think that we have interacted much prior to this encounter."

Fabian's lips curled into a grimace, nose wrinkling in distaste. "No, we have not. I do not venture outside the boundaries of the North Garden much. I am perfectly happy with where I am."

His companion had said those words with such a pointed look that it made Lucius grow suspicious. He then wondered if Fabian had been observant enough to have seen, to know that the former had actually left the grounds of Heaven in pursuit of some great adventure in Paradise.

Narrowing his eyes a little too dramatically, Lucius pursed his lips. "I don't suppose that there is a hidden meaning in there, right?"

It might have been a trick of the light but Lucius thought he saw Fabian smile. The latter's lips quirked into a brief smirk, one that seemed to hold knowledge far beyond anything Lucius could ever imagine. Before Lucius could confirm it, however, it was gone.

"It means whatever you want it to mean, Lucius," Fabian instead said enigmatically. "Just heed my warning. Not all angels are forgiving and even fewer would choose to turn an eye away when they can report you to the superiors."

"We were taught not to gossip."

"Yes, but we were also taught to speak the truth and never withhold information when it needs to be given. In this case, information that would lead to another's punishment matters a grave lot, if I remember correctly," Fabian countered.

"True," Lucius conceded with a shrug. "But I would like to think that I can trust my friends, my family. I can trust you, right Fabian?"

Silence elongated between the two angels, the void only filled with brief sounds of their wings flapping. It seemed like forever before Fabian finally spoke and allowed Lucius to let out a breath of air he did not know that he had been holding in.

"Of course," nodded Fabian. "What are friends for?"

Lucius couldn't help himself but grin but it wasn't long before curiosity overwhelmed him. He bit his lip, darting his eyes at Fabian suspiciously.

"How did you know, by the way?" Asked Lucius, voice wary and high on alert. He was careful not to provide too many details just in case he had misread the situation and Fabian had in fact been talking about an entirely different case.

Fabian simply shrugged, shoulders lifting only to drop as he pouted slightly, almost in a mocking manner.

"You did not choose a good place to head to, Lucius. The secret passageway is a place right behind the North Garden. It is a path that we, the angels of the North Garden, were supposed to guard. I happened to be on patrol when I saw you dart down there with a certain other night angel."

At his words, a single drop of perspiration began to trickle down the sides of Lucius's head. Hastily, he lifted his arm to wipe at the droplet, his throat suddenly dry, feeling as though a bag of sand had just been shoved down both his throat and windpipe. He couldn't breathe.

"But you were at the festivities," he weakly argued. Lucius's eyebrows crumpled into each other, confusion taking over his handsome features as he faltered for a second.

"I was," nodded Fabian. "I had returned to grab some other decorations that were required. Lucifer ordered for specific flowers that only the North Garden grew. Chrysanthemums are not popular flowers around Heaven due to their symbolic representation. Such a pity. They had always been a favorite among us."

Lucius's lips parted to form an 'o' shape, eyes darting down to eye the ground far beneath them. They were now amongst the clouds, amongst the imaginary stars. "Oh," he whispered under his breath, a volume that was, sadly, enough for Fabian to catch the disappointment laced with his tone. 

Lucius had never been one for subtlety. In fact, it had been one of his greatest flaws, something in which he desperately desired to improve upon. Maybe one day he would get better, hide his secrets and most inner thoughts and feelings. That day, however, might also be the day he would belong to those of the fallen.

"A word of advice, Lucius," Fabian turned his head slightly to face Lucius, his features still impassive as usual. Although, Lucius thought that he had caught on a hint of worry embedded into the angel's dark irises. He could as easily be an angel of the night, with his hair seemed to be laced with the very essence of the night and eyes hiding the chimes of the darkest hours. Fabian seemed to be a concoction of mysteries where the solution was found in the dazzling work of the stars.

"Yes?" Lucius prompted when Fabian halted in his words, edging just a bit closer instinctively.

That seemed enough to pull Fabian back to reality, from wherever he had drifted off to. He shook his head, allowing his perfectly combed back dark hair to fall over his eyes in wisps resembling smoke that rose from the flames before running a hand through it to comb it back.

"Do not get too attached. Nothing is forever, even with immortality."

"One day, Fabian, your own words will become your downfall," Lucius pointed out.

"Yes. It will be my ruination because I had never been one to follow pieces of advice that are handed out to me. I can only hope that you will not be the same." Fabian nodded his head grimly, gesturing to the scene before them as they slowly came to a halt in thin air.

They were now flying over the skies that covered the North Garden, simply hovering over the majestic sights that Lucius could never seem to be able to rid the awe of. Every time he returned back to the garden, he would always be filled with the sense of wonder that he thought would be rid of him for all eternity. After all, very little things are not as majestic in the rest of Heaven's grounds. Yet, the North Garden was the prime, the paragon image of what Heaven should be like.

Laced with flowers of evergreen and with the sun gloriously shining down on the canopy of trees, Lucius felt at home. The view was serene and picture perfect, one that Lucius craved to have imprinted on his mind forever for it was powerful enough to lull him to sleep and strong enough to make him want to wake up every morning.

That was sort of like her. Like Adelia. She was also another sight that was too beautiful to be an ordinary chess piece of Heaven's game. She deserved to be queen, a sight that people worshipped day and night. 

Yet, Lucius knew that it was unlike her to want that. Adelia seemed to be the type of person that would content with lying in the shadows of the night, enjoying her time with the blazing starlight and bathe with the glorious silver of the moon. It was what made her glitter and shine as brightly as they did and made her stand out from the ordinary in the day who were too blessed with the sun's radiance to go seek out their own sort of beautiful.

"Lucius? Are you listening to me?" Fabian's crude voice was the one that drew him out of his reverie, bringing him back to reality and away from the realms of a daydream. "Did you hear a single word I said?"

Lucius shook his head a few times, blinking rapidly to rid the siren's lull in his head. Slowly, he turned to face Fabian, who was slowly descending to the grounds instead of hovering in thin air. Flying had always been taxing. More often than not, Lucius realized that it pulls at a certain muscle in his back, making it ache dreadfully whenever he uses his wings for too long of a time. Yet, when he does not use them for quite some time, they get sore and weak like a muscle that had not been at work for too long a period of time. It was a nasty addition to the body that he had to keep up but Lucius would not give up his wings for the world.

"I am sorry, Fabian. I must have drifted off somewhere in that flight." Sheepishly, Lucius admitted to his mistakes. He bowed his head down just as his feet grazed the ground, the strands of grass melting into the gaps between his toes and he could feel the grainy soil beneath his feet.

Fabian sighed deeply, shaking his head and folding his arms across his chest. "The beauty gets to you, does it not?"

Sharply lifting his head, Lucius glanced at Fabian with a look of pure concentrated shock. His jaw dropped, mouth hanging widely agape as he blinked dumbly at Fabian. The angel that stood as a stark contradiction to Lucius simply scoffed, a ghost of a smile lining his lips.

"The beauty of the garden is known for its sirenic abilities. Some angels claim to never want to come to the North Garden because it is too beautiful to look at. And if they did, they would never want to leave. Do not worry about it. It is a natural reaction. When I first arrived, I, too, cannot believe the sight that I was beholding. It was a sort of majesty that will forever be printed into your mind." Fabian seemed deep in thought, recalling the very first sight he ever had of the alluring garden that held an infamous name. "Maybe that is why we four never really leave it. We are still unknowingly entranced by its irresistible charm."

"What you say is true," Lucius nodded. "It does make me want to stay forever. It feels safe, almost. A sort of haven away from the duties and responsibilities of the world. But to stay, for me, would be to sin. My place is not here unlike the rest of you."

Fabian's lips quirked into a smile, one that seemed a little off-putting on his usually brooding and glum expression. Yet, it was just as exquisite a sight as the rest of the garden. The North Garden was truly a place for the divine.

"Do not worry. You will not be staying for long. After you help out with the sunlight, I will not keep you here any longer. We just require some light at the back. Usually, at this hour, the skies would seem a little too dull and Dimitri had been complaining about the lack of light for the flowers. He always had an affinity for them. Sometimes, it seems as though those strands of nature were more than his best friends but I cannot really blame him." Fabian shrugged lightly before gesturing to the far back, a little further away from where they stood.

"Anywhere else?" Lucius asked, wings already extended and ready to soar to the skies once more.

"No, just there. Thank you for your help, Lucius. We really appreciate it. And just from me, I thank you for keeping me company and becoming a..." Fabian hesitated, "friend."

With that, he was off to the skies, disappearing against the glare of sunlight and hiding among the white clouds, leaving Lucius very much alone on the ground. The latter had a smile on his face, one filled with accomplishment as he pondered over Fabian's parting words. Today, he had gained a new friend.

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