Chapter 31 - Human

Iris

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Corryn laughed.
"Who I am?? Me?" He chuckled, shaking his head. The skeletal forms arching from his body quivered, trembled. "There's nothing to say, Valkyre. You see me. It is all I am."
The angel shook his head. "You've known Iris," he said, keeping his voice soft, low. "I want to learn about him, about you... ...About Raguel, about all of you."
Corryn snorted. "And I'm meant to believe this, archangel??" His voice was mocking, in disbelief. "You're getting desperate, Valkyre. Don't lie."
The other sighed, staring down at the black earth. He folded up his knees, fingers rubbing lightly against the hilt of the blade strapped to his boot. Valkyre looked up at Corryn, who merely smiled back, leisurely.
"I don't know what's going on," the angel murmured. "And... if I am going to die, I want to know the truth."
The other laughed, dryly. "Truth, hm? And what would you consider the truth? Would you believe it, coming from my lips?"
Valkyre stared at the golden-black eyes, holding them evenly.
"Why do you want Iris, Corryn?"
The other stared back, unblinking. He smiled at last, slowly, but it was sad and drawn, a hurt expression from a crumpled, distorted body.
"Look at me, Valkyre." Corryn came closer, movements slow, steady. His hair hung over his eyes, the splayed joints from his back jabbing quickly at the ground then twitching up again.
"I'm just a failed experiment, a freak put together on a human's whim. Do you see me??" Always asking that question.
A spider crawled along his shoulder, and this time Corryn snatched at it suddenly, grabbing it by its legs and holding it, jerking madly, up in the air. He shoved it in front of Valkyre, the angel flinching back from the beady eyes and scrambling limbs, the black body bristling with short, thin hairs. A red smudge showed on its abdomen, white on its back.
"You see it, Valkyre??"
Corryn's gold-black eyes, demanding, wide. It took all he had for the angel not to suddenly strike out, to hit the hand and the trapped spider away, to fight back and to run away, escape from this place forever.
Corryn stopped just as suddenly, drawing back. His grip on the small arachnid loosened, and the spider crawled off along his arm. Corryn pushed it up gently onto his other hand, running it along his fingers.
He seemed to have forgotten what he was saying, suddenly caught up in watching the creature skim over his fingertips, playing a game to keep it on his hands.
Corryn looked up after a moment, the spider still running along. His voice came out quiet, soft, almost gentle.
"How long do you think a spider has to live, Valkyre?"
His black-ringed eyes, so hollow, filled with that dark nothingness beyond desperation, of existence without purpose, of finite dawns and endless darkness.
"I'm a ruined attempt, archangel. I'm falling apart."
Corryn sighed, almost inaudibly under his breath. He raised his head, glanced back at the quiet, sleeping form of Iris, a gray form on the ground.
"He saw me, Valkyre. He was not afraid. He understood me."
Corryn turned back to the other, eyes clear again, voice slightly stronger, expression calmed. "And when he's near me... When he touches me... ...It doesn't hurt so much. And I can forget, just for a moment, that soon I'm going to die."
Corryn sighed, gaze soft, almost warm.
"I'm a selfish creature, Valkyre. Just like anyone else, I want Iris for myself." He leaned closer, eyes unblinking. "But what about you, archangel? What do you want him for?"
Valkyre looked away, uneasy again. He didn't know what to say. What did he want Iris for?? He'd simply taken over the role of a guardian to a boy who might not even need it. ...And in the end, he didn't even know Iris, did he??
"...I don't know," he murmured. Valkyre raised his eyes again, staring into the golden-black. "...But I need him, too."
Corryn hissed sharply, pulling back. "And he'll go to you, archangel? Won't he?? Do you honestly believe he thinks anything of any of us?? We are nothing. We are earth-bound, we're weak, and we always end up hurting him. Iris has no reason to remain with us."
Valkyre took in a short breath, something inside of him jerking around painfully at the words.
Corryn was right. All-too right. The angel could tell, just by looking at the boy. He wasn't meant for this world. He should be somewhere else, somewhere alive, flourishing. Even his white skin, his loss of life; it was that of a creature caged up, forgetting colors and seasons and beauty.
And he, just like Corryn, was but someone holding Iris down.
He heard the other laugh, dryly. "You know what I speak of, archangel. You knew it all along. Iris was made for much, much more."
Valkyre jerked his head up, then paused.
"...You say he was made for something... Iris, he..."
Corryn laughed. "Ah, I'd forgotten. You're still ignorant on the details."
The angel breathed out a ragged, unsteady sigh.
"Then Iris, he..."
The other smiled, black-ringed eyes gleaming, blinking in the darkness. "Of course, Valkyre. Iris didn't come from the labs at all."
The angel felt another sigh of relief escape him. Yes.
He glanced at the sleeping form of the boy. Did Iris know himself?? He had a purpose now, didn't he?? A reason for existing? Would he want to live, now?
"Where did he come from then, Corryn?" Valkyre asked, barely able to hold back the impatience. He knew. He'd known all along.
The other smiled slowly, crawling closer, voice kept low.
"I was in the labs much longer, Valkyre. I saw many things. I saw Iris there, too, but he was brought in. Found by the humans. But of course Iris was not created there. Humans are incapable of such perfection, of such power." He chuckled, tilted his head back. "You see me, Valkyre?? I'm one of the little experiments that actually survived. Humans can never completely mimic nature. All of their creations are flawed, broken."
Valkyre shook his head slowly. "...Then... where did Iris come from?"
Corryn looked away mildly. "He is an organic creation. Created by the world, as all others are. I don't know more than that."
The angel nodded, then paused. "But when I asked him... ...He said he remembered the labs."
The other yawned, stretching, seeming now bored and tired of the interrogation.
"Chances are Iris doesn't remember anything more. He was born of the world, Valkyre, but no creature alive can give birth to something like him. I doubt his life has been very long, despite his form. He was created by something else, Valkyre. He cannot be the age of even a boy."
Valkyre frowned, staring down at his arms, watching a small spider leave a trail of silk behind as it crawled past. "So... Iris was probably formed, in the body he is in now? Unaging?"
Corryn shook his head. "I know no more, Valkyre. Most of this is just theory, proposed by Raguel."
The angel looked up sharply. "He came up with this? Raguel? He knew, or he...?"
The other shrugged, carelessly. "Raguel believes it all. He also thinks Iris was created to restore the world. I honestly don't care about that..." Corryn paused, then scrutinized Valkyre, eyes narrowed.
"Do you trust him, archangel? Trust Raguel??"
Valkyre sighed. "I don't know who to trust," he admitted. "...And that doesn't exclude you," he added as an afterthought.
Corryn barked out a sharp laugh. "Of course," he chuckled, "That would be wise of you." He calmed down, gaze steady and serious again. "You should stay far from Raguel though, for more than one reason. He's somehow played you into his plans."
Valkyre smiled back grimly. "And why should I heed your advice? I thought you told me I shouldn't trust you."
The other grinned in reply, flashing sharp teeth. "Yes, but it's an obvious decision. Unlike Raguel, I do not seek to kill the boy."
Valkyre stopped, feeling a cold fear flush through his veins.
"...He wants to kill Iris?? Raguel?"
Corryn sighed, but nodded. "Yes. He believes something of a sacrifice to bring back with dying earth." He snorted, rolling his eyes. "He's a fool, if you ask me."
The angel shook his head. There was a silence as he took in the information, then he lifted his head again, expression calm, collected again.
"...And what about you, Corryn? What do you want Iris for, if not to kill?"
The other snarled suddenly, curling back his lip, the gangly limbs jerking, flaring. "I am not a senseless murderer," he hissed. "I want Iris so I can stay alive. I have no intention of harming him."
Valkyre stared back blankly, blinking. He nodded at length, then looked away. He said nothing.
Corryn settled down at length, breathing steadying. "I don't need you to understand, archangel," he muttered under his breath.
The other made a 'hm' sound in his throat. "I won't form opinions, Corryn," he said, voice soft. He decided to change the subject, to find out anything more that he could. "...What about the other two? They... Eire, and the other..."
"Rheis," Corryn supplemented. He scoffed again, scowling. "Those two are nothing. They're more machine than flesh."
"But they managed to escape the labs," Valkyre commented, "And they want Iris. Why?"
The other shook his head.
"Those two are just puppets," he muttered. "They were made to follow programs coded into them. And after the damage they took while escaping, they've twisted around their own logic. They think their programs are telling them to get Iris."
He laughed again, dryly. "But of course, there's no place to bring him back to. Those two are completely mindless, with no purpose."
Valkyre sighed. "It doesn't make them less dangerous," he commented.
Corryn growled. "Of course, they are powerful. But they're human-made, Valkyre. And that makes them flawed. They can still be destroyed."
The angel paused. "Why were they created by the humans anyways, Corryn?"
The other shrugged. "They were unable to create a perfect being like Iris, so they sought to create two, as they couldn't combine the opposite types. Eire's more of a failure, really, but Rheis was designed better. After all, they based him off of Raguel."
Valkyre frowned.
"Raguel? Rheis was...?"
"You're still so oblivious, Valkyre." The other smiled. "I was in the labs for a long time. I saw them bring in Raguel. He was of agreeable blood and fit, so they based the design of Rheis off of him. It's why the two are so similar."
The angel frowned. "But Raguel, you say he was brought in...? Then he wasn't made in the labs??"
Corryn sighed. "Of course not, Valkyre. You give the humans much more credit than they're worth."
He came closer, leaning over until he almost touched the other's face, his empty breath blowing over him. "Raguel was born what he was, then taken by the labs and... tested on. As was I."
Corryn's eyes were bright golden, rings of black spiraling to their cores.
"I used to be human, Valkyre," he breathed, smiling softly.

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AN: Another chapter at last. I'm sorry it's been taking a while, but I'm still/also an on-going artist, and trying to improve. I alternate between writing and drawing, and there's still lots of other online stuff I have to work on, so Iris will be in probably more spaced-out chapters for now, sorry.
Well, unless I get a major 'brain surge' for ideas as to where to go next... ehehehe.
Well! This chapter explained a LOT, ne?? ^_^- Man, I think I put in way more actions than I needed to, but, whatever. Just ignore it. X3
Most of the plotline ideas [roughly] are out, I should believe... So hopefully soon we can move on to action! I'm so sorry, this 'stuck underground with the wonderful little spiders' is getting a bit old, ne?
Thanks for waiting for me, and for the continual comments! ^______^-
See ya next.

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