Soaring Through Clouds

The blast of wind from when Miguel flapped his wings jostled Eric's posture, causing him to trip on his feet as he staggered back in disbelief. Eric landed on his butt with a yelp, his heart thumping against his bones like a bird wanting to break free from its cage.

"Y-you... You're a r-real angel?" Eric stuttered, eyes wide in disbelief. He'd only read about them in books, and angels were considered as mythical creatures that once live the Ciel Kingdom.

Miguel folded his wings and faced Eric, a sheepish smile on his face as he scratched the side of his neck with uneasiness. "You can call me that, I think?"

"You think?!"

The blond's high-pitched laugh rung like a bell, and his hand stretched an offer for Eric to take. "Let's go?"

He stared at the pale hand, reached for it, before a feeling of distrust washed over him. Eric retracted his raised arm, his eyes narrowing at Miguel. The blond wasn't trying to abduct him, was he? Wait, do angels abduct people?

The change in his expression deranged the Miguel's composure. His wings pulled closer to his body as he took a step back, regret flashing in his eyes at Eric's hesitation. Suddenly, footsteps and rustling sounds from nearby prompted Miguel to turn around and fly. Before Eric could dwell on his doubt, his desire to know the truth about his brother moved his feet and ran after the fleeing angel.

"Hey! Don't leave me behind!" Eric yelled as he sprinted to an open field next to the wall. "You said you'll help me!"

Miguel threw him a glance from the air. Just when Eric thought he would ignore him, he swooped back in, grabbed Eric by his armpits and soared above the trees. "I thought you got scared of me!"

"Hah?! Which part of you are scary—whoa!" Eric's words died down in his throat at the sight of his boots dangling above treetops. The harsh sunlight beamed down on his face, but Eric couldn't care less at the moment. He relished on the feeling of air against his body that made his heart flutter.

Miguel swerved towards the wall. The flutter of his wings became a reminder to Eric that they're mid air, it's happening, he's crossing the borders. It may seem trivial to others who can come in and out through the skyport, but to Eric, this was freedom. Something he could only dream of.

However, it was only short-lived.

"Sorry! Let's stop for a bit," Miguel said as they glided above the wall. "I'm holding you the wrong way. My arms are getting numb. You're a little heavy, Eric."

"Hah?!"

"What? You think you're a weightless sack of cotton?"

Well, he's got a point.

Eric sighed, a bit dejected their flight ended too early They both landed on top of the wall which has around three meters' width. While Miguel tried to catch his breath, Eric wandered his gaze to the ripples of endless thick clouds stretched below them. It's both a stunning and a scary sight because for centuries, nobody knew what lies beneath the clouds. Anyone who dared to find out never made it back.

The underworld, perhaps?

"Hey! What are you doing up there?!"

Eric whipped his head to the shout of two patrol guard below. The uniformed men jogged towards the wall, their eyes wide in incredulity. That must be what he looked like earlier when Miguel revealed his wings. But who wouldn't, right? It's not everyday someone will encounter a mythical creature in Aereo.

"Shit! I forgot to use cloaking," Miguel said.

Before Eric could protest, Miguel locked his arms around his torso and they descended into the sea of clouds, drowning Eric's scream because fucking damn it! Nobody warned him about this! He clutched Miguel's crumpled shirt tighter, and he was sure his life flashed before his eyes.

Coldness seeped in his body despite the thickness of his coat. Just as Eric almost convinced himself Miguel was truly trying to abduct him for whatever reason, because who knew what's running in this damn angel's mind; they emerged back from the clouds, drenched from all the water vapor.

"Woooh! That was fun!" Miguel cheered.

"Fun?! I almost died of a heart attack, you little shit!"

"Oh, hush. Stop being a chicken."

"Excuse me? I'm not the one with wings here!"

That only made Miguel laugh harder with a strong flap of his wings spanning an approximate length of eight meters, which still boggled Eric as they hovered above the clouds. The angel almost had the same height as him, if not shorter. His body was far from a gym-addict macho man, but he was lean and well-proportioned.

Still, Eric was around one hundred eighty centimeters. It's beyond him how it's possible for those wings to carry both their weight, and how it could propel itself in the air. Millions of question raced through his brain as Miguel flew them towards the dock where several sky vessels of different sizes lined the harbor.

"What's on your mind?" Miguel asked.

"A lot," Eric answered, keeping his gaze to the fluffy whiteness almost touching his face. "Like, how is it possible that you exist? But the more I think about it, I feel like my brain would short-circuit because I can't find a fucking logical answer."

"Same."

Eric craned his neck to the side, catching a glimpse of Miguel's solemn expression. "What do you mean?"

"I've been travelling around with my friends, searching for answers about what we are, and who we are."

"You mean, your friends are angels too?"

"No," Miguel said. "But they are also searching for something they've been longing an answer to."

"I see."

Somehow, Eric can relate to that. He didn't know why his brother disappeared. He needed an answer, a reason, a sign that Arman was still out there, alive. Eric wanted to search for him, but he didn't know where to start, and how to.

As they neared the dock and passed by a departing skyship, agitation wracked his nerves, so Eric stuttered, "W-won't people panic if they see you? There are lots of tourist at the skyport, and I don't think it will thrill them to see a human-chicken hybrid flying around the dock."

"Human-chicken?! How about I drop you right now?"

"Hey, don't you dare!"

Miguel chuckled at Eric's panicked yelp when he loosened his hold a little. "Don't worry. I'm using a cloaking amulet I borrowed from one of my friends. We are invisible to the human eyes right now."

"You could have said so! Fuck, that almost killed me."

"Why? There's land beneath the clouds."

"What?"

"It's true," Miguel said and let go of him, causing Eric to flail his arms in fear as he fell between two gigantic skyships. Only to land on his stomach with a humph! Miguel laughed and lowered himself to the waist-deep clouds. "See? There's still land around here."

Eric rose with a glare and flung the white shirt he's been holding on for dear life the past thirty minutes of his life. "Fucker."

Miguel appeared invisible now that they were a meter apart, but the swirling of cloud beneath formed a silhouette of a person with wings. Through another ethereal glow, he retracted his wings, then uncloaked himself, already fully clothed.

It didn't take Eric a long time to find his purpose outside the skyport. After they climbed the dock, Eric found a familiar ginger-haired man leaned against a concrete rampart not too far from where they landed, holding his camera with a smile on his face. It's as if he was already expecting him to come.

"Hey," Mr. Ginger-haired greeted. "Took you long enough."