1 First Encounters

First Encounters

Little did it matter what scale was used to measure it, what standards were applied in its evaluation or what rules were followed in the classification of Maximillian Conan's day, as it would only be justified by giving it a half point out of ten.

Of course, this was all through the eyes of a third party as Max could not remember a thing. Not his past, not his name, not even how to breathe. His memory loss was that severe and it could only be done by a god itself or one of its emissaries.

A being at the height of what could easily be called colossal stood in front of a minuscule wisp of energy. What kind of energy it was though, only They knew and dealt with.

Their curious eyes flashed now and then as they went through the memories of the wisp that Max was. Light filled wings, with a span as wide as the eye could see shook slightly as the Being chuckled lightly at what it was seeing.

It seemed as if a white waves were crashing through the sky.

*)&%%$%"?

The Being recited something unintelligible and shifted its focus to the wisp floating in front of it. A feather fell from the heavens up high and slowly integrated with the wisp even as other smaller beings appeared in front of Them.

These beings were a quarter of the size of the larger one. If one would be able to see their faces at this moment, they would recognise the confusion in their eyes at the proceedings.

One by one they all bowed to the Being and with one last pitiful look at one of them, they faded, or burst, or teleported, or integrated into shadows, or one of such methods of travel of their choosing.

All but one.

Having allowed one of their feathers to integrate with the wisp, the Being lost their curiosity and instead shifted their focus towards the last remaining one by their feet.

They looked in its eyes for a moment before distorting spacetime itself and disappearing from this world.

*sigh*

A long sigh escaped the Angel. It looked to be going through an assortment of emotions itself as it looked towards the wisp, which was gaining momentum in its spin.

Finally the angel couldn't keep it in and stomped its feet and threw its arms in a frustrated manner.

The revolving wisp changed from a static flaming shadow to a tornado of colours and finally started taking the shape of a human being.

Maximilian Conan opened his eyes once again in this strange world filled with light.

*-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*

Max was feeling downright divine as he floated in the darkness of the void. He had no memories, no recollections of his past life. He didn't even know his name. But none of it even mattered to him at this time. He was comfortable.

In life, he might never have been as happy and filled with bliss as he was now. An infinite void filled him, even as he filled this infinite void, having no boundaries, having no form, yet having his feelings.

Slowly these feelings began revolving in an ever accelerating manner as all of 'him' was sucked into the form of a tornado and began being funneled into an alternate space. He began taking form like this with his feelings and emotions making him up, be they of happiness or sadness, pain or bliss.

He was beginning to lose his comfort now.

Finally he took his old form due to some faint instincts that were on the verge of being forgotten themselves. He felt through his closed eyes the light on the other side.

Strangely the light was flickering oddly, as if being interrupted by something here and there. Slightly irritated by this, he decided to open his eyes and take a look.

What he saw was the most beautiful of creatures that he could imagine. Perfect features with white wings their size coming from behind their back… throwing a tantrum.

Seeing the absurdity of this scene the little instinct that kept his form stable seemed to blink as he went poof into his wisp form.

The female Angel felt this and immediately began panicking. She had barely been given a chance and she couldn't afford for the feather of the Being to go to waste.

Using some kind of energy she collected the wisp back into a stable mass of energy and frantically tried her best to keep the form as close as possible to what the feather had left behind.

Sometime later, Max regained consciousness.

Learning her lesson this time, the angel spoke calmly before Max could get agitated again.

"Now now, little guy. There's no need to be so stressed out, is there?" She said in an unconcerned tone. "Just take a deep breath or two."

Her beautiful voice felt like the songs of the muse to Max's consciousness. As he was lulled into obeying her suggestions, he took a deep breath, or at least tried to. In his ethereal form, it was not like he could inhale any gases to respirate.

Suddenly panic set in again deep inside him. His mind couldn't remember a thing, but he felt like he should've been able to breathe. After all he had obeyed the angel's command without thinking.

"Wha - what is happening??" he yelled in a raspy voice, as his form started dissolving again.

Truly, this was the most absurd moment in both of their lives. The angel tried to help him again, but this time since he was consciously panicking, she didn't have too much leeway in helping him.

Ultimately deciding that she couldn't let his form dissipate completely another time, she beat her wings against the air and like a bolt of lightning appeared before Max's dissipating form.

Wrapping him in her arms and them covering him in the layers of warm and light feathers, she did the only thing that she thought would work right now.

She began singing.

A slow, wavy and peaceful lullaby came out from the depths of her memories, and flowed out from her lips. With the voice of an angel, literally, she whispered the calming words to Max, and helped him relax.

These words, containing an ancient intent and meaning, were unrecognisable to Max. But as he listened more, he became more and more solid. Until he could again feel the hard white marbled floor under his knees, the warmness of the feathers enveloping him and the softness of the body pressing against his back.

Even long after the song had ended, Max didn't utter a word of complaint, and the angel didn't release him from her feathery prison.

"Ahem!"

After some time, both of them having calmed down, they resumed back to their earlier positions. This time, Max was much more solid and less ethereal. But neither of them could explain this, nor were bothered anymore.

"Now that you've calmed down, we can finally get back to our discussion." she sighed lightly, her cheeks a little red from embarrassment. She had never thought her first test would go this badly.

Resolving to not make any more blunders, she resolutely set her eyes on the now stable Max.

"You must have questions. Why don't you ask them first?" she intoned, in her muse-like voice.

Max on his end, was very interested in asking her the questions running through his mind at this very moment.

Even as dozens of questions fought to make themselves known to his mind, one questioned burned with the brightest flames in his already cluttered mind.

"Who the hell am I??"