#no need to match length obviously im getting all the introspection in first

[hollowfaith]

「✦」 When Aurelius next awakes, it is dark, and he is warm.

Blinking at the unfamiliar surroundings, the angel tries to stir—and finds himself floating in some sort of enclosed space, just wide enough for him to stretch and touch the walls. A moment of confusion ensues—had his angels moved him indoors?—before a messy jumble of memories hits him straight on.

Sky. Swords. Blood. Klaus—

Of all the people he had trusted, Klaus had—

He doesn't finish that thought before an involuntary shudder wracks his body. Feverishly, he inspects his body in the dim lighting, checking to see that all his limbs are intact, then touches frantically at the walls, looking for a way out.

Seconds later, the giant, golden-leafed tree ejects him from its trunk, and Aurelius falls on all fours at its base. It's late afternoon and bitterly cold; he wonders if this is why he's shaking as he climbs to his feet, fingers trembling beneath his gaze.

"....."

He looks at the tree, then at the familiar house beside it. It's a place he knows, but now utterly foreign to him. For some reason, there's a sweater and scarf around the trunk of the tree as well, along with a completely unnecessary jacket—as if a plant could use those things to keep warm. He doesn't recognize them as gifts for himself while his mind plays catch-up with the present.

I need to leave.

Certainly, it wasn't safe here anymore. Klaus had chosen his side in their last fight, and condemned him to confinement in a world where death was meaningless. As long as a world with humans existed, there would be no room for him to stand by his side.

It was a truth he'd guessed from the start, but been too stubborn to accept until his partner—his soulmate—had stood against him, and very nearly killed him.

The thought turns him woozy; Aurelius pauses to catch his breath before pushing off from the tree to walk forwards. Could he fly? Or would that make him too easy to spot from the skies? Perhaps going deeper into the woods was an option until he figured out where to head next. His legs feel like jelly—how long had he been asleep? A root from the tree catches him unawares, and he trips, sprawling on the dirt like some uncoordinated fawn.

He crawls back upright—faster this time—and keeps stumbling forward. At the house he pauses, holding onto its walls as he scans the forest for his best way of escape. East or southeast, perhaps. Using the setting sun to gauge his position, Aurelius picks out a suitable opening in the trees and dives right in.

@anghexescu ໒꒱ hurry klaus ur not-BF is going awol