Annihilation
Canaima National Park, Venezuela.
Here: Mount Auyantepui, some 2,600 feet above the jungle floor.
Now: He stands, fearless, the chilling, misty wind rushing upwards from the sheer drop to the waters below. He thinks of nothing. Blank, his mind wanders the four corners of the world as the Universe before him fills his senses. For him, there is nothing left. There has been nothing for an unfathomable span of time. He leans forward, slightly, and gravity does the rest as the world beneath him tumbles and rises to meet him.
Welcome to Angel Falls.
He dives, spreading his arms at an angle behind him, the rest of his body perfectly straight as he descends. The roar of the waterfall is immense. It is then and only then that a single thought stands forth in his mind.
God, please forsake me. Please, set me free.
Whether God hears him or not, he doesn't know. He hasn't known for eons. He simply falls. He has Fallen once, many millennia ago, and now he falls again. He lets go. His life, his love, his existence and his pain, everything leaves him. He falls.
I never want this to end. I never want to reach the ground. I just want to keep falling.
Forever.
* * * *
The waterfall surrounds him. The rest of the planet disappears in the roar and the rush, and the Falls become his world. He lets go, he lets everything go, and he falls into the void of his own endless world of water. He is lost, forever lost amongst oblivion.
And then his world evaporates around him. A deep, powerful gasp of air, and he returns. Nijubu breathes heavily, hot water raining from the showerhead above. He leans back against a beige tiled wall to steady himself and stares at the water shimmering and pooling around his feet. How long was he dreaming? How long has he been standing there, motionless, off in his own little world? It doesn't matter, he reassures himself. Nothing to do and nowhere to go, anyway. As always.
He shuts off the water and sighs heavily as he reaches around the shower curtain for a towel, the dream still wandering around his mind. Prophetic, indeed. Even fallen angels have visions, he reflects. But doesn't everyone?
He exits the bathroom and proceeds to the closet, drying his hair, when the doorbell rings. It's an unusual sound. Simple and clean, he only hears it when the apartment owner comes for the customarily late rent for next month. He paid for November, didn't he? He's almost sure he did. Pushing his hair out of his eyes, he wraps the towel around his waist and walks downstairs through the living room to the front door, glancing through the peephole. His heart jumps, and he quickly swings the door open.
"Uh...Cam? What brings you here?"
The relatively small green figure shuffles his feet and looks around nervously. Or is he embarrassed?
"Er, hey. I. Well, I was just wondering." The Prince stops short, and then blurts out, "Ya see, I need some advice—"
"Advice? From me? Really?"
Nearly breathless, Nij brightens at this. It isn't often that Chameos turns to his guardian for advice. Or ever, for that matter. Cam eyes Nij thoughtfully.
"Umm. I can...come back later, if you're busy of something."
"What? No! I mean, no, I just got out the shower. Come in, sit down, I'll be with you in a sec."
Cautiously, the boy steps forward into the apartment. The walls and carpet are simple and off-white, giving the impression of a house not quite a home. Several boxes are stacked in the far corner, even though Nijubu moved in over two months ago. Aside from a computer, sofa and television, the den is nearly empty. Cam has a feeling that the rest of the duplex is similarly sparse. He slumps onto the couch and waits warily, wishing he hadn't sent Pharaoh Net-shopping earlier that morning.
After rummaging in his upstairs closet and debating himself momentarily, Nij slips on a pair of halfway clean corduroys and returns to the den, the towel draped around his shoulders.
"You want anything to drink? I have Vanilla Coke, I know you like that."
Cam blushes.
"No, no thanks."
He turns quiet, bouncing a leg and fidgeting as his eyes look for some deeper meaning in the morning sunlight drifting through a nearby window. He jumps when Nij plops down beside him.
"Okay then, so tell me what's bugging you."
The angel smiles lightly, Cam's eyes softening and distancing themselves even more from the world around them.
"You know."
"I do?"
"Yes. You do."
"Oh."
A pause.
"Then tell me, Cam, what do I know?"
"I want to go home."
A longer pause.
"I can't help you there."
"LIKE HELL YOU CAN'T!"
Nijubu, taken aback at the sudden outburst, lets the smile fade from his eyes. Cam sighs, then falls onto his side, propping his head on the arm of the sofa opposite Nij.
"I love living here on Earth, I really do. It's so different, so new, so...alive. Aeos was dying when I was drawn away, and I know there's nothing I could have done for it. Is there anything I could have done for it?"
Nijubu contemplates this.
"I don't know."
Cam sighs again, heavily.
"Me neither. But it's still home. I want to go home."
Chameos feels a sudden change in the atmosphere surrounding him, and turns his head to see Nij hovering over him, nearly lying on top of him.
"Why?"
"Why what?" Cam asks quietly.
"Why is Aeos home? Why isn't this your home, at least for now?"
Cam doesn't reply, but blushes deeply, instead. Nijubu lowers his head closer to the Prince's.
"You don't trust me, do you? Not completely. Not yet. All I ask is that you trust me, as your protector. As your friend."
He continues drawing his head closer to Cam's.
"And maybe," he continues, close to whispering, "maybe as something more..."
Cam blinks and shakes his head sharply. Raising his hands, he throws Nijubu forcefully to the floor. He lurches up in a huff.
"I knew it was a mistake coming here. Thanks for nothing."
"Wait!"
Nij jumps up and grabs Cam's arm. They stare into each other's eyes for what seems like eternity.
"You are straight, aren't you?"
Cam blushes for the hundredth time that day and yanks his arm free.
"No. I'm asexual."
Nijubu laughs silently, then stops short.
"My God, you're serious."
"I don't want or need love. You know that."
Cam turns to the door.
"Friends?"
He stops and turns back.
"What?"
"What about friends? Don't tell me you don't want or need friends. That would be an outright lie."
Chameos looks into his eyes defiantly.
"Fine then. Call me a fucking liar. And once again, thanks for nothing."
The sound of the front door slamming into its place echoes long after Cam has left. Nijubu stands silently in place, shirtless and barefoot, wringing the towel in his hands and looking at the door as though he means to set it on fire by staring alone.
