Caelum hesitated and nodded, biting his lip. "Are you... angry at
me now?" he said, looking up at Melez with worried eyes. He was
remembering the time when he was alive--it was mostly a blur now,
but he remembered getting very sick for a long time. Then, when he
thought harder, he remembered the day that he must have... died.
All of his family was gathered around him and he closed his eyes
and didn't open them for a long time. The next thing Caelum
recalled was waking up, and that was how he had been for a little
bit now.
Melez's face melts into a warm smile. "No... I'm not angry... If I
was you wouldn't be sitting there." She chuckles. "It must be
somewhat surprising to learn that a demon isn't dead... When they
are most commonly created in death... My father was a demon..." She
turns to the counter and bites her tongue as she realizes that this
child, isn't one of the living. Most people don't like to talk
about how they died. And most avoid the topic completely. She
shakes her head and turns back to him smiling, "Eat your ice cream
before it melts..."
Caelum took this opportunity to avoid more conversation gratefully
and nodded, smiling slightly. He started eating the ice-cream once
more, realizing it was slightly less tasty once it was half-melted.
Still, he was thankful that Melez had bought him ice-cream in the
first place, so he decided it was best not to complain.
She turns back to the counter and orders an apple. She sets the
coins on the table instead of handing them to the shop owner who
ignores the coins. She takes a bite of her apple slowly, deep in
thought. "Who is this child? Why did he die? Where are his parents?
Parents.... I haven't talked to mine in a while..." She looks up to
the shop owner and asks for a pen, paper, and a candle. He brings
her the items and she begins writing a letter. The store is bright
enough that she shouldn't need a candle. She signs the letter,
folds it and writes the address in such a way that it can't be
read. She holds the letter in the fire of the candle as it burns
dropping no ash. There is no trace of the letter at all.
Caelum watched this with great interest as he ate his ice-cream.
Finally, he paused and spoke his thoughts aloud. "What was that,
miss Melez?" he asked, wondering why there were no ashes after she
burned the piece of paper she had written on. It looked like a
magician's trick to him. What was written on the paper? He
let his mind wander and blinked away his thoughts, telling himself
not to be so nosy.
Melez grins and turns to Caelum. "As I am demon... I can use dark
magic... I just sent a letter the demon way. Is there anyone you
would like to write a letter to?" She chuckles "And though you are
being very respectful calling me miss... I would prefer you to just
call me Melez... Though I thank you for being polite. Not many your
age are like that today..."
"You're a demon?" Caelum breathed. "But you aren't dead..." He
shook his head and moved onto Melez's next question. "I don't have
anyone to send letters to, mi-- I mean, Melez."
She sighs, "As I had said before... My father is a demon... I was
born like this... I never died..." She turns to him as any sign of
happiness or joy leaves her face. "Some say I'm lucky to have not
died. But it leaves me with many many questions. Questions I won't
know the answer to until I find it out first hand..." She shakes
her head, "My apologies..." She turns away and stares straight
ahead at the wall. "This must be rather boring..."
"No, but if you want to you can stop talking about it," Caelum
offered, and subsequently returned to his ice-cream, which was
almost done and just a sloppy pile of mush in a bowl at this point.
"I remember being 8, but... I don't know. Maybe I'm older..."
Caelum looked down at his hands, moving them around a bit. He
looked up. "Are you really 54? You don't look old."
Melez bursts out in laughter. "I really am 54! Demons and angels
don't age at the same speeds that humans do... I am to humans about
17 or 18... But I have lived for 54 years." She looks at him still
smiling a little. "You remember being 8? Hmm..." She stares off and
then looks back at him. "Do you have a place to stay?"
Caelum giggled. "No," he replied, shaking his head. "I haven't
gotten a lot of sleep because I haven't had a good place to stay
for a while. It's really hard to try and sleep on a cold street."
(Hodor, why would you do that? Please don't do that.)
Melez stares at him all trace of smile leaving her expression.
"Well. I will ask for a second cot and you will stay in the tavern
with me. How does that sound Caelum?" Her smile returns as she
finishes her sentence.
Caelum nodded thankfully. "It sounds great! Thank you, Melez," he
added, and smiled widely. He felt relief surge through
him--finally, he'd have a good place to rest his head.
"Well, I can't let a young boy live on the streets... How could I
live up to my m...' She purses her lips for a moment. "How could I
live with myself if I did that? Just to let you know, I may ask you
to... leave the room or area we're in sometimes... My life gets a
little rough..." She chuckles.
Caelum nodded, taking in every word she was saying. "Okay," he said
seriously. If he was going to share a room with Melez, he wanted to
make sure he wasn't a nuisance and followed the rules carefully,
and what better way was there to learn the rules than to listen to
them?
She rubs at her shoulder. "I think you and I will get along very
well." She gets up from her chair. She turns to Zack, "I hope we
can meet again." She bows elegantly to him and then turns to
Caelum. "As it is early in the day, what would you like to do?"
Caelum glanced at Zack and then at Melez. He paused for a moment
and said, "I usually walk around and look in the shops, but that's
kind of boring..." he explained. "There's a field that I go to
sometimes... I think it's peaceful there."