The suffocation of silence quickly flooded back in to overwhelm Micah, dragging at his steps. Much to his relief, the path to Josephine's house was short and simple, and they didn't linger long outside it. Still, flickering flames rose again to beat softly at his heart as he watched Corinne shake her hand, reluctantly allowing the vigorous action, ending it by pressing a fistful of crumpled paper into her palm -- money, Micah assumed, from the silvery glints he caught sight of. Josephine's gratitude was fervent and animated, while Corinne accepted it all with her usual stoic expression. The hazel in her eyes was back, although that was likely only a reflection of the amber-lit lantern hung above the house's door.

The child clung to Josephine's hand, his wide gaze not leaving Micah for the duration of their conversation. He twined a silver-touched lock of hair over his finger, leaning as casually as he could against the opposite wall without crushing his wings. At least no questions were asked or pistols brandished. Perhaps there was some faith to be had in humanity.

Soon enough, they moved on, and Corinne led him deeper into the maze of streets. He'd lost all sense of where he was -- they might as well have been traversing the same four paths over and over -- and so he clung even more tightly to her form, sometimes even literally. The problem with silence was that every tiny sound was amplified. After the second time, however, he learned to stop seizing her arm.

Eventually, they approached the porch of a larger house, this one somehow a touch more intact than the majority he'd seen. Paint washed the brickwork in a smooth creamy white, and a window gleamed with a distant blue tint, too high up from the street to catch a glimpse of anything more than packed shelves and the electric light cast over them. Corinne marched up the pair of steps that led to the door and rapped on its surface.

A couple seconds ticked by with no answer. She threw a glance over her shoulder, then blew out an impatient sigh and knocked again. The door flung open the moment her fist met the wood.

A hand curled over her wrist. "It's late."

"It's urgent." She slipped her hand free, cooly lifting her chin to face the man taking up the doorway.

He reminded Micah, oddly, of a tree. Every part of him seemed to blend seamlessly in the knots and weaves of bark, from his brown skin to his choppy hair to his dulled eyes. Even the scar winding up the curve of his chin matched the effect. He was as stiff as a tree too, unmoving even as Corinne tried to shove past him, his gaze hard.

"Rivo," she snapped. "Let me in. I need to talk to Lilith."

Rivo's eyes shifted from her face, settling on Micah. He clasped his hands before him, wringing them even as he attempted a pleasant smile. "That would be nice, yes. It's freezing out here."

Looking back to Corinne, Rivo folded his arms. "Who is he?"

"It's complicated." She tossed another glance along the street. "And best discussed in private."

He examined her for a moment more before dipping his head and stepping back into the hall, making room for her to slip inside. She gestured to Micah, and he hurried after her, awkwardly shifting into the tight space and shoving the door closed behind him. He kept his back pointing towards it in some attempt to hide the inevitable bulge of his wings. In the dark street, safety had been easy to cloak himself with, but in these close quarters with bright light filtering in from the side, that feeling of exposure returned. He hugged his coat a little tighter around himself.

Leaning against the frame of the open doorway to the right, Rivo eyed him, only briefly letting his attention flick back to Corinne. "This isn't another of your lost puppies, is it?"

She threw him a sharp look before peering past him into the adjacent room. "Is Lilith even here?"

"Upstairs. Your compassion is going to get you killed, you know."

Compassion. A small smile crept onto Micah's face, buoyed by the reminder of Corinne's kindness, although she'd concealed it again now. Her lips set in a firm line as she met Rivo's stare. "This is different."

"Hello?"

Micah jumped, shrinking back into the door, then cursed himself for it immediately. This city left him far too on edge. The voice was hardly laced with malice; it carried a boyish swing, heightened by the yawn that hung from the question's end. The boy it belonged to stood halfway up the staircase pressed against the hall's far wall, leaning heavily on the bannister as he stifled the remainder of the yawn with a hand. His blue eyes shone faintly.

Much to Micah's surprise, Corinne looked as puzzled as he felt. She threw Rivo a look.

He only sighed. "You're not the only one adopting puppies. This is--"

"Kasper," the boy finished, perking up as if the prospect of introducing himself excited him. He grinned. "Master Lilith's apprentice. I'm assuming you've come for her assistance? Might I schedule you an appointment?"

Rivo shook his head and ducked through the doorway, vanishing into the next room. Corinne stepped forward to take his place. Annoyance sharpened her features. "Just tell her it's Corinne," she said on a long exhale.

"Corinne?" Kasper's eyes widened. "Oh! Of course. I've heard all about you." He tipped his head, a lopsided smirk sliding to follow the action. A few brown locks flopped over his eyes. "And I was joking, anyway. You don't need an appointment. My master is always happy to serve."

"Your master," she echoed flatly. He gave an eager nod before racing back up the stairs, his thumping steps fading.

She rolled her eyes. "Nothing Lilith does should surprise me anymore, and yet she still manages it. Come on."

Micah followed her into the room, still unable to release his grip on his coat. Perhaps being in the confines of a human home again was returning his former jittery nerves. He remained standing, allowing Corinne to crash into the bulky chair in the corner, kicking her legs over its covered arm with her arms folded over her chest. Rivo was already seated at one end of the sofa opposite. His gaze rose again, set on Micah. He averted his eyes, flicking at the rug before him with the toe of his sandal.

He was just wondering whether it was wise to say anything before Kasper scurried in, skidding into place right in front of Corinne. He ignored her glare and gestured with both arms to the doorway. "Master Lilith."

It was hardly worth the attempt at a grand announcement. A woman sauntered into the room, threw him a lazy thumbs up, and then flopped onto the sofa beside Rivo. Dirty blonde hair had been thrown into a messy bun, several escaped strands dangling over her ears. A huge pair of round glasses took up the majority of her face. Unlike the other humans he'd seen, who seemed to favour greys and blacks, her jacket was a vibrant pink littered with yellow polka dots. Unbuttoned, it spread out at her sides like some poor mimic of wings.

She zoned in on Micah immediately. Her eyes seemed unnaturally large, emphasised by the glasses. "Nice hair."

He reached up a hesitant hand to touch the silver ends, wondering too late whether they were also worth hiding. "Thanks?"

"You're welcome." Propping her elbow against Rivo's shoulder, she swung her gaze to Corinne. "Hey."

Expression hard, Corinne removed her legs from the arm, pressing her boots flat against the carpet. "I asked for a private conversation."

Lilith sighed. "Fine. Kasper--"

"Hey, are you supposed to be growing feathers?"

Micah froze. Even as Kasper's chirpy voice sounded from behind, he recognised the tug on his coat, the brush of fingers just registering over the bottom of his wing. With a sharp gasp, he spun around. Kasper grinned back at him, pride mingling with his bright curiosity.

Hurrying to smother his fear, Micah mustered a shaky laugh. "That's just, uh, fashion. Haven't you heard of feather shirts?"

Kasper lifted his chin. "Take your coat off."

Micah swallowed. Automatically, he looked at Corinne, although her obvious glare was hardly helpful. And then Kasper was swiping easily through the coat's buttons, opening it out within a couple of seconds, his hand wrapping around one side and yanking at it. Micah made a futile grab to stop it. The boy had nimble fingers that jerked it just out of his reach, and he was surprisingly strong. Besides, the sleeve was baggy and loose. It was easy enough to slide off, and by the time he felt cool air brush his shoulder it was already too late.

Panic spearing through him, he wrenched himself away, this time successfully, and stumbled towards the wall, trying to shove back the welcome relief that rose at the absence of the coat's prison. It hung off his left arm, exposing the entirety of his tunic. His wings stretched out stiffly, refusing to remain still any longer. They must have been horribly obvious.

Another nervous laugh shook his chest. "It's a... an unusually styled shirt."

"You have wings," Kasper breathed. Before Micah could move again, he darted forward, tearing off the final coat sleeve and reaching out over his arm. Micah jolted back, holding out his hands in feeble defence.

It didn't bother Kasper. A slow smile rose to his face, lighting up his eyes. At least that wonder Micah had been waiting for had finally appeared.

"He does indeed," Lilith murmured, cupping her chin in her palms. Rivo merely stared. Corinne wore simple, familiar annoyance.

"Forget privacy, then." Looking down, she rubbed at her forehead. "Meet Micah. Somehow, he's an angel."

"Somehow," he muttered, somewhat affronted at the obvious insult.

Slowly, Lilith rose from her seat, adjusting her glasses as she peered at him. She hummed, tapping her fingers on a rounded frame. "It explains why your eyes are so sparkly."

"Do you know much about angels?" Corinne pressed.

"Bits and bobs." Her eyes slid to his chest.

"I've read a little about them," Kasper chimed in, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "I thought they were all extinct now, though."

"No." Lilith edged closer, shifting past him. "No, they just left. Many had faith they'd return." Her lips quirked, her glance at Corinne not particularly subtle. She sank further into her chair.

"They were hunted for their hearts," he added, his eager tone rather at odds with the dark happenings he spoke of. "Their hearts were--are magical, right?"

"Yes." Lilith's smile broke out in full. Breath catching, Micah shifted a step back, aware that there was no space behind him to flee into. The air closed in, a compacted barrier pinning him in place as she placed a hand on his chest. She squinted as if looking hard enough would grant her a path to see through the skin to the organs beneath. "They say one beat of an angel's heart can mend the deepest of wounds."

A sickening coil tied a knot in Micah's stomach. The heart's healing magic wasn't a foreign concept to him, but only now did the recollection of its mention fully return, swarming in amongst his muddled thoughts. "An angel's heart is too strong to simply fade," Nerezza had told him once, long enough ago that was more adept at listening to her, "too filled with goodness. Even when your lungs lose their breath and your mind is empty of thought -- not that you've got far to go for the latter -- your heart will live on. It is filled with Elysia's currents of magic, and with every pulse, that magic flows."

"Is that what happened to Asariel?" he'd asked.

She smiled, curling one of her huge wings around him. "Yes, sweet. Asariel remains tied to Elysia's life force, and his virtue lingers, powerful enough to sustain his creation long after his passing. But, if your heart stays true, then who knows? One day, you might be just as powerful."

She poked him in the heart then, and Micah had fallen over laughing, wriggling out from under her wing. He wrenched himself sharply from the memory, but the pang still cut through his chest, aching with distant longing. The tips of his ears grew warm.

The flush spread down his neck as he realised Lilith had turned her head, glasses skewed, ear pressed to his chest. She released a soft gasp. "It just sped up!"

"Stop touching me," he snapped, shoving her away as he scurried back over to the doorway. His wing brushed the arm of Corinne's chair. She'd sat up straight, shifted to the edge of the seat as if ready to spring.

"Alright, sorry," Lilith murmured, though her wide gaze didn't leave his chest. "If you die, do let me know. I'd love to study an angel's heart."

"He's not going to die," Corinne said -- rather too calmly, but the interjection still flooded gratitude through Micah.

"I wasn't saying I wanted it to happen." She cocked her head like some polka-dotted predator. "But just in case--"

"That's why I brought him here," Corinne continued with a curt glance. "Micah is looking for another angel's heart, and we need to find it before the snake-biters do. Have you heard of Asariel?"

"Yes!" Kasper exclaimed. He'd materialised next to Micah, his blue eyes racing over his left wing as he edged closer. Micah yanked it inwards, but the boy didn't seem to care. He whirled around to face the others. "I've read the name somewhere, anyway. He's an important one, right?"

Corinne's gaze zeroed in on him. "Isn't it a little past your bedtime?"

"I'm hardly going to sleep through something so revolutionary." He stole another awestruck glance at Micah. "Angels are real."

Micah's wings fluttered at his back, betraying his nerves, but he forced up words, filling the brief pause before anyone else could pounce on it. "Can you all stop talking about me like this?" he tried. "I am right here, you know."

"You are." Corinne leaned back, crossing one leg over the other as she turned to face him. "Micah, what sort of magic does this Heart of Asariel have?"

Lilith gave an indignant huff. "I already answered that. It's healing."

But Corinne shook her head. Her stare lingered on Micah, flashing with expectation.

He squirmed beneath its pinning claws. "H--Healing, yeah."

Her fingers drummed on the chair's armrest. "Healing is a vague concept. There are many kinds of wounds." Her nails abruptly dragged over it. "Wounds within people's minds, for instance. Could it heal those?"

There was bitterness scratching at her tone, but the final question softened it, something lighter and hitched with hesitancy breaking through. It was fainter this time, yet that same flicker of hope he'd seen earlier flashed through her expression, alight with an odd kind of desperation.

Stranger was the lurch within his chest, a wind current funnelled with the simple desire to simply say yes. He wanted to feed that hope. Perhaps, if he did, she would smile again.

He tethered down the senseless thought. Kind as Corinne might be beneath, she was still human. There was little difference between desperation and hunger, and hunger led to greed. He couldn't let her take what she wanted.

Still, conflict strangled his voice, digging in the roots of confusion. "What do you mean?"

She gestured vaguely. "Corruption, I suppose. Hatred. Insanity, even."

He opened his mouth, grasping uselessly for an answer. What exactly was she asking? His mind couldn't help but wander to the only kind of corruption he knew, the one that hissed with violence and spawned the term demon blood. If she was looking to heal the demon bloods -- to cure them of their dark impulses -- wasn't that a good thing? The current tugged at him again, stronger now it had a precise direction.

His wings tensed in their struggle to resist. He couldn't be swayed. He was here simply to fix his mistake and escape this awful place, to get home again. He didn't have time to crumble under the desires of a human, good intentions or not.

"Asariel is the most powerful of you, right?" she added when he didn't reply. Impatience tightened the prompting tone.

"He is." It was a mistake to let the words free. Once they tumbled out, more couldn't help but follow. "If any heart could do those things, it... it would be his."

"So it's worth a shot." Another leap of hope, only barely tinged with a questioning air.

Micah bit down on his tongue. Finding the Heart was the sole aim, and if she had a way to do that, then he needed her. He couldn't do this alone. And without hope of her own goal, perhaps she wouldn't help him.

He couldn't give her what she wanted, but he could promise it. Dangle bait before her to keep her interest snared.

"Yes," he said. "Yes, I'd say it is."

With a short nod, she turned to Lilith, any sign of escaped emotion painted over. "I thought you might have some idea of how to find it."

Lilith jolted up. She'd been perched on the sofa's arm, fiddling with her jacket, but now she spun to shoot them both a brilliant smile. "I was afraid you weren't going to ask. Come."

Waving her hand with a flourish, she swept past Micah, Kasper scurrying out of the room ahead of her. His skipping steps echoed as he climbed the staircase, pausing halfway up to wait for them to follow. With a long exhale, Corinne heaved herself from her chair and started after them, pausing in the doorway to swing back to face Micah.

"You can stay here," she said. "Go back to sleep or whatever. I doubt you'd be able to fit up the stairs."

He scowled at her, although it wavered as he threw a glance over her shoulder and upwards. The staircase wound in a tight circle, and the bannister was a huge mahogany thing, taking up much of the space. It would involve wrestling his way up, and he had to admit that sleeping a little more sounded far more inviting. He summoned a teasing grin instead. "If you say so, Cori."

She glowered at him and stalked out of the room. Despite her sturdy boots, her steps were near soundless, drowned out entirely by Kasper's eager chattering. Micah didn't bother to pick apart his rush of words. A sudden wave of weariness sank into his bones, dragging at his wings. Sleep rarely tugged at him so fiercely. Duine seemed to drain him of energy.

Or perhaps this was his own fault. Perhaps the Heart's absence was eating away at Elysia, and chipping at his life force along with it.

A whimper built up in his throat. He dropped it to a groan as he crashed into the chair Corinne had left vacant, curling into a ball with his head resting on the arm, his wings shifting to shield him from the cool air. He accidentally caught Rivo's eye and stiffened. The man still sat as straight and rigid as a tree, swayed by only the slightest breeze of curiosity.

Micah pulled up one side of his mouth in a sheepish smile. "Hi. Um... How are things with you?"

Rivo's gaze was unchanged. "We don't have to talk."

"Right." Micah let his eyes droop closed. "Just checking."

Promise Corinne that the Heart would serve her purpose. Let her lead him to it, and then he could steal it back, let it whisk him home and away from the earth's troubles. That was all he needed to do. He didn't need to worry about what she was, if she was good or bad, whether or not she smiled.

Even so, it was a long time before sleep finally broke the tangle of his thoughts and he fell to calm darkness.

⋄┈┈┈⋄⋄✧♡✧⋄⋄┈┈┈⋄

Wordcount: 3359

Total Wordcount: 18405

I have been looking forward to this chapter. I love these three. They're very fun, as long as you ignore the fact that Kasper looks a lot like a certain blue boy from AToD.

Also!! Yeah, Micah has a magic heart, go him. Also he's bby. Bby boy. Protect him.

- Pup