Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Of an Escape (Part 1)

Rain had died down, soon turning into the most annoying kind of drizzle: the kind that felt soft on the skin, but was somehow able to soak anyone to the bone in a matter of seconds. Like a sucker punch from the skies, an insidious kind of rain pretending to be innocent and refreshing.

 

In this traitorous climate, one was supposed to seek shelter immediately, unless they really had a sort of deathwish. And yet, Gabrielle stood completely still, staring at the creature down in front of her with a mix of awe and fear squeezing her joints in place.

 

Baraqiel stared right back at her, first with fear, and then with growing annoyance. Was this girl really going to just look at them and do nothing? In the middle of a storm? With a pursuer still so close to them, the young “angel” didn’t have the time to just wait and rest on the muddy floor!

 

“Where… where did you come from?”

 

The girl’s voice finally spoke up, and the words just made Baraqiel’s impatience grow harder to ignore. Asking these sorts of questions!? Now, of all times!? When they were bleeding out in the rain?! What sort of idiot was this girl!? It was just their luck, to find an exit only to have to depend on a girl with air in the head!

 

…No, wait. That’s just mean.

 

A little sigh escaped the kid’s lips as they closed their eyes for a moment. They needed to reel it back, the fear and exhaustion were getting the best of them, this girl hadn’t done a thing to deserve such thoughts! Baraqiel mentally chastised themselves, thinking…

 

For a moment I was just like that Demiurge man, wasn’t I?

 

They would apologize for that later, though. Kind or not, they didn’t have the time to wait or to explain things– but then, how to make this girl understand their urgency!? Looks alone were clearly not working, and yelling at her would be mean, unproductive, and worst of all: it would attract the attention of the Demiurge, right back at them.

 

An idea came to Baraqiel, just then. A hunch, something they couldn’t even think about before just doing it: the kid slowly rose a single hand towards this girl, and looked right into her eyes.

 

Gabrielle winced, had she made this angel mad? Was she going to be punished for making dumb questions? Maybe it WAS a dumb question, but she really wanted to know! She waited for a flick, or a slap… but it never came. Curious, slowly opening her eyes, Gabi would see the hand open and just, waiting  instead. The look in the Angel’s eyes, she couldn’t really understand.

 

But the way they were holding the hand out, gently inviting her to take it– that much Gabrielle knew, it was the same gesture Sister Arianna made to told her to hold her hand, and go out for things in town! Gabi did not let others touch her, at least not if she could avoid it; it always felt uncomfortable, too close, too warm or too cold… but, if they asked for it, for some reason it felt better? Or, at least not as bad.

 

She was getting distracted again.

 

After staring at the inviting hand for a good while, she finally dared to carefully hold it with her own. And then, she felt it: cold, trembling skin, thin and brittle bones– fear, and hunger. It was obvious now, in the way they moved, that this angel was very badly wounded! The bleeding of their eyes was painful… wait, maybe it wasn’t even natural at all! 

 

It all clicked just then: this angel had been struck down, and now they were not looking for a chat or for some mysterious, important quest. They just needed a place to lay down, and rest.

 

Gabrielle carefully let go of the child’s hand, before smacking herself on the back of the head-pot.

 

“O-Oh, I see now! I am so sorry, your highness! Wait, no, your Principalityness? Your Angelicness…” How did one even refer to an Angel!? There was nothing about this in the Prologues! Gabrielle’s inner voice chastised her again.

 

There’s no time for this!! Help them!!

 

“Ah, yes! Yes! Sorry your Angelicness, this will take but a moment!”

 

The mallet on Gabi’s shoulders suddenly lost any and all importance, and weight! She simply threw it away as if it was light like a twig, ignoring the heavy “plunk!” it made as it fell and splashed on the side. Baraqiel stared, eyes wide open, jaw about to fall. Best not to make her angry, they thought.

 

“Excuse me, your muddiness!”

 

“Huh??”

 

Before they could protest, Baraqiel was suddenly lifted and carried on the girl’s back, almost hitting their head with the pot this Gabi was donning. They grumbled to themselves, maybe the girl had taken his gesture as authorization to treat him like a sack of potatoes!?

 

“Your wetness, you are incredibly light! Are you using magic to become easier to carry?! It’s like carrying a chicken…”

 

Gabrielle’s voice betrayed her intense admiration by the fact that the kid weighed much less than she thought, but to Baraqiel (and the world at large, really), the only emotions in this girl could be seen in her eyes: her voice only felt a bit louder now.

 

And something about being compared to a chicken bruised the “angel”’s ego in a way they didn’t even think possible. They didn’t even know they had a pride to be hurt at all!

“...Sure.” They finally said, lying to the girl’s teeth.

 

“I see!”

Silence. Gabi didn’t have a thing to add, and simply stood in place for a moment to keep her thoughts in order before starting to walk.

 

“Can we hurry…?” Baraqiel dared to ask.

 

“For sure, your featherweight-ness!”

 

Baraqiel grumbled a bit louder but decided to simply embrace those names for now. No real need to correct this kid until they were safe, they would have plenty of time then, right?

 

Well, yes. But they also seemed to have plenty of time right then.

 

As the winds blew and the drizzle fell, Gabrielle was doing her best to hurriedly walk around the Chapel. After all, it would take them a bit to get to the main entrance and back into safety! And that meant a long, uncomfortable silence.

 

“So, uhm. What is your name?”

 

Baraqiel knew this was not the time to talk. But it had been so long since they saw a new face, especially one that still felt this silly and, well, childlike. A child acting like an actual child! The thought alone was refreshing to them, so they couldn’t resist!

 

“Gabrielle.” The girl answered quickly and dry, adding nothing more to it.

 

The “angel” sighed, defeated. It was alright, maybe the kid was shy? Or maybe she just didn’t want to speak much to an angel, or something like that. Religious folk were odd like that, and hard to treat.

 

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They had lost any and all hope, when suddenly the girl spoke once again.

 

“May I ask for your name as well, your multi-eyed-ness?”

 

It was an overly long way to say it, this girl had a serious problem with words! But that spark of interest, that hint of curiosity coming from this stoic, pot-headed girl? It gave Baraqiel life.

 

“Some call me Baraqiel”.

 

The “angel” was trying their best not to make that odd, made-up name too much of a big deal, but a perfectly timed thunder shook everything in the night for a second, to the point that the girl had to stop her march and take a deep breath.

 

There go all hopes of making this a casual conversation, thought the “angel”, bitterly.

“Does…” Gabrielle swallowed, trying to contain her fear. “Does that mean something?”

 

Baraqiel took a deep breath to answer, before realizing that they weren’t really sure! For them, that name was only a bunch of jumbled letters kidnapped and pushed together into a word the Demiurge had made up for them, with no context or meaning behind them.

 

It was not like they had to pretend they were an “angel” anyways, whatever that meant or implied. After all, that was a delusion shared by this girl and the Demiurge!

 

But then, what if the girl suddenly lost all interest in saving them after the truth was revealed? It’s not like they could know, they didn’t know this girl at all! She was as unpredictable as they came.

 

Then, what? Should they simply make something up on the spot!?

 

With a heavy sigh, Baraqiel decided to just try their luck, let it all out and see what happened. After all, if a detail like that was enough to make the girl lose all faith and not want to help them anymore, then she definitely couldn’t be trusted at all.

 

“...I have no idea.”

 

“Oh.”

 

Silence. The girl didn’t move at all. Baraqiel closed his eyes and clung a little more to her, before feeling how she turned. And when they finally looked, they saw the girl doing their best to smile at him. It was a bit awkward, the way her lip lifted to the side like a sort of tick, but it was a very honest attempt.

 

“It is fine, your absent-mindedness. I do not know what ‘Gabrielle’ means either!”.

 

Was this the third or fourth time they sighed in quick succession? Baraqiel was not taking count of that at least. But they did feel the relief of it, knowing that there was some odd sense of empathy coming from this girl.

 

It almost felt as if she was trying to comfort him for this fact. All because, unknown to Baraqiel, Gabrielle had been teased endlessly for things that she was “supposed to know”, yet seemed to forget. The meaning of her name, her age, unimportant trivia from the Prologues of the Saints that she just couldn’t memorize for some reason?

 

She knew what it was like to be “ignorant” and “silly”, and wanted to reassure the Angel that it was alright. She wouldn’t tease them at all.

 

And a bit of this silly empathy was rubbing on Baraqiel as well. They couldn’t help but smile back, nodding slightly. There was this sort of complicity, between two children in the middle of the night, both ignorant of the meaning behind their names.

 

This was very silly, of course, so Baraqiel tried not to dwell too much on it now.

 

“Did your parents never tell you?”

 

Despite all they had gone through, Baraqiel still clung to the idea that a child was supposed to have parents to take care of them. I must be just a bad, unfortunate case, they tried to think.

 

“No, your dampness. Never really met them. The Nuns didn’t say a thing about it either, much less Father.”

 

Gabrielle didn’t think much of the question either. People seemed to talk about “parents” a lot, even in the books the nuns read to her, so maybe she was the weird one without them, right? If the angel asked, then it was the norm, right??

 

But that answer was certainly odd to Baraqiel. “Father”? She didn’t mean her parents, because she had made it clear she didn’t meet them; what kind of person was this Father, then? Something religious too? Something from these lands?

 

Where were they, anyway!? Questions for later.

 

“I think that the name is to honor the Prologue of Saint Gaibrael? An interesting one, really! But not my favorite at all. It was boring, but interesting, but boring. Do you agree, your bleeding-ness?”

 

“Ahhh… sure, yes.”

 

No religion talk, this was something Baraqiel soon decided. They didn’t know much of it, and considering the place they had been during the past months, they really didn’t want to get into these sorts of topics now or for a very long while.

 

Besides, the risk of offending this girl by offhandedly saying something stupid was way too high, so they needed to deflect, as soon as possible.

 

And by thinking of ways to change the topic, Baraqiel casually stumbled upon a crucial question. One they should have asked before.

 

“Where are we going anyways, Gabrielle?”

 

“Into the Saint Loretto Chapel, your shivering-ness. You will be safe and sound there, no one ever comes around during weekdays!”

 

The blood pumping in Baraqiel’s neck suddenly froze solid, their body tensing up, their eyes opening wider and wider. No, it couldn’t be, right?

 

But it was. 

 

This entire time they were not walking away from this wretched building, but right around it. The girl was taking him back in! And once inside, it was a matter of time before the Demiurge snatched him away again…

This was bad. Very bad.

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