Vaverdí

Chapter 1---Heaven's Gates

(Xander)
September 17, 3924

Bright light flashed before Xander’s eyes, and when he opened them, he stood in front of large, pearl and gold gates. It took quite a while for his eyes to focus, but when they did, standing at least ten feet taller than him, guarding the gates with unwavering expressions. And deadly stares, were two people. They stood on either side of the gates with frightening spears in hand, which were about 3 feet taller than even them.

The two people were pure-white skinned, and both had two piercing golden eyes, the left one had a bandage around his left eye. No blemishes or dirt, however, were visible on their perfect bodies. The left guy had long hair in a low pony which went to his waist, while the right guy had shorter hair in a high pony, and it was thicker too. Above all, protruding from their shoulder blades, large, fluffy, and white feathered wings rested. They were bigger than the spears and even them. Honestly, everything about them left Xander in shock and awe. Their stares bore right into his soul.

“Human,” the guy to the left grumbled in a very unfriendly way, while the one to the right playfully jabbed his elbow into the other’s hip.

“Come on! You know the drill. We bring him to Lyexaví and get him turned into an angel,” the guard to the right said, his wings flapping a bit.

Xander blinked confused. He didn’t like where this was going, nor did he actually know where this was going, or what was even happening. He shivered from the cold breeze, then started internally freaking out because he realized he was standing on clouds. “Where am I?! Who are you?”

They both turned to him at that. The guard to the left said, “You are in Heaven because you died. I am Loral and the other guy is my colleague, Faremn.”
Faremn nodded to that happily and finished the sentence with, “You are currently in the best continent of heaven! Vaverdí! And these are the gates to the capital city, Ignxava.”
His voice was rough, but he was confident.

He froze at the words said to him.
“Dead…? H-Heaven? No…that can’t be right…”

“What do you mean?” Loral asked, tilting his head.

“I… am not dead.”

Both of the angel guards went silent. They stared down at him, then burst out laughing.

“What?!” Faremn chuckled.

“Impossible!” Loral whispered.

“… I just touched a stone and-”

“Stone?” Interrupted Faremn, then turned to Loral, “we have to bring him to the palace and discuss this with Hunter Auri.”

They suddenly glared at him with poisonous eyes.

“The Holy One? He’s in a meeting with the other higher-ups right now, I don’t think we should bother him,” said Loral.

“I think this situation is dire enough for us to bother him.”

“Fine, but I’m blaming you if we get in trouble.”

“Alright then.”
The guards grabbed both of his arms and forcefully dragged him through the gates and into the city.
“H-hey-,” Xander exclaimed, struggling against their grip, “let me go! I don’t consent to this.”

“Sorry, bud,” Faremn muttered, more as if he were talking to himself rather than another person.

They dragged him through the winding, maze-like, tile streets of the city, and Xander was surprised to find that none of the angels used cars; they all walked instead. While the guards dragged him along, all the eyes of the angels went to him, their pearly skin glistening in the golden sun. They were oddly thin, though not to the point where they looked unhealthy, just REALLY in shape. Their heights averaged fifteen feet, and their wings, massive. His eyes widened at the sight, and the fact that they were staring at him as if he were a demon roaming their lands freaked him out, but who knows? Maybe a human was equivalent to that.

Every building was high-rise, and high-rise for an angel was at least 60–70 feet. Stores scattered the place, as well as bustling cafés, quiet libraries, office buildings, and the like. All made from wood, quartz, marble, and tinted windows. Lush plants scattered the place, spiky, leafy, or full of flowers, it didn’t matter.

Woah
Xander contemplated, gazing at what he perceived to be the city square, where a substantial, opalite fountain stood. It was huge, the centerpiece being two intertwined, twin dragons, with water spouting out of their open mouths. Their deadly claws held gold spheres, the only color in the whole carving. You didn’t see that every day, mostly because nobody had the money to invest in these types of things, other than the bounty hunters, but he knew they would never share their fortune for all the citizens to enjoy. Everyone in Solara knew that, but then again, he was not in his hometown anyway. Xander's thoughts were interrupted when he was dragged through another set of gates. This time, he was led to a palace that was bigger than anything he had ever seen or heard of. It was probably the size of a skyscraper.

“Where are you taking me?!” Xander hissed, glaring at the two guards. He didn’t know where that confidence came from, but that didn’t matter.

“The Palace of Light, a place that every angel of any continent would die for a chance to see. The biggest palace in all of Heaven,” Faremn explained, he and Loral still tugging Xander by his arms, slowly making their way to the large front doors.

As they approached the entrance, Faremn reached out his arm, his outstretched palm making contact with the oaken doors of the palace. He pushed them open with delicacy, as if they were treasured relics of God himself. The very entrance was equivalent to that of half of a football field, tapestries as old as time hung about the pearl walls, and the windows were of the most beautiful stained-glass Xander had ever seen. He almost froze up completely, and he had difficulties even tearing his eyes from it, almost like an addictive drug. Colors of all danced around the room as they walked, their shoes clicking on the marble floors.

“Impressed?” Asked Loral in a bored tone, although it was a genuine question out of curiosity.

Xander froze, yet again, surprised he was even asked, and he could only nod in response.

“We’ll be walking up the stairs, and then to the second highest, and largest, tower of this palace. We might have to go through or by the mess hall, but let us hope we don’t have to, for your sake, and ours,” Faremn added before continuing to haul Xander along through the maze–like halls.

The stairs were, surprisingly, not made with marble, and were instead forged out of copper and lined with an unidentifiable, black stone.

During the travels through the palace, one of the hallways the trio was walking through caught Xander’s eyes. Along the left wall were scenes, pictures, like those drawings you’d see in movies showing a prophecy along a cave wall. They were painted in all different colors, dark and neutral shades coming out on top, like those old paintings you see with the angels in them. They seemed to tell a story, a story about Heaven?
Or maybe a story of this city, what was it called again? Ignxava? Thought Xander, soaking in as much of the palace, especially that specific section, as possible. He’d reflect upon it later on, as he wasn’t able to stop and do that now.

“Do not expect the answer, for it will never be answered. We shalt never know what happened to the device.” A medium toned voice said through the door, unmistakably female.

“Thou know that to be not true, thou of all people should. And do thee not understand that we must find that device?” Another voice said, it was deeper and very rich, and in a volume so low it barely passed through the door.

“You art correct, however, if it were so important, thou would not have lost it in the first place.” The female replied.

“Hey! I didn’t mean to lose it!”

“That, I believe, was the most emotion I ever heard exit your mouth, Auri.”

“Be quiet…”

So that male voice I am hearing is the voice of an angel named Auri? Xander noted mentally.

After five seconds of silence, Loral knocked on the door, waiting patiently for it to be opened.

And it was then answered by an ebony angel.