A soft, mechanical hiss pierced the silence, alerting me of my remaining ability to hear. Hear? I should be dead right now? Can dead people hear...? That's not right... I tried to pull open my eyes however, a blinding light sealed them shut.
This could be— No, that's foolish... Perhaps I'm dreaming? But that doesn't feel right either. Then I noticed the steady rise and fall of my chest. I was breathing. Without difficulty, I couldn't pray to remember a time when breathing wasn't an ardours task. One after another I became more aware of my body though, it felt completely different. The beating of my heart echoed with power throughout the chambers of my chest, I could clench my hands into fists without struggle and I hadn't broken out in a single fit of coughs.
Once more, I tried to open my eyes, mustering up my body's newfound strength I fought against the harsh beams of light shining down onto me. Slowly, my eyes adjusted and the blinding light formed to create shapes, awaiting me was a bright, pure silver ceiling.
With little effort, I pulled myself out of the strange device I had awoken within. Now sitting instead of lying, I tried to gauge my surroundings. The room's silver walls were adorned with blemishes of gold in intricate patterns, weaving across them like a tapestry portraying a forgotten tale. Other than the device I had emerged from, the room was eerily vacant.
The device, a small cylindrical chamber with a crimson interior had a glass door. 'This hiss I heard must've come from it opening.' The device was shockingly similar to a cryogenic stasis chamber from sci-fi movies in my old world.
Effortlessly, to my surprise, I stepped out of the chamber. 'For some reason I was placed in here. Perhaps, to preserve me for some reason...?' Scrutinising the chamber a spark ignited within my mind. In quick succession, I moved towards the glass door of the chamber, the sensation of walking feeling strangely alien.
Staring into the glass, I immediately noticed the differences in my appearance. My skin, previously pale and sickly now held a sort of divine health, smooth and perfectly flawless. My eyes, once a dull brown now shimmered a piercing gold, and my hair? A striking snow-white colouration. My physique wasn't overtly muscular, but neither was it fragile or sickly — the ideal balance of strength and grace. Adorning my physique was a luxury suit, snow white with piercing gold accents, mirroring the colour scheme of my hair and eyes.
My self inspection came to an interrupted halt as a strange sliding sound pulled me back down to earth. Turning, I spotted a beautiful woman enter through a door I hadn't even noticed. She moved with divine grace, her eyes focusing on the clipboard gently resting in her grasp, completely unaware of my gaze.
Autumn brown hair cascaded down her face like a waterfall of amber leaves, barely covering her equally brown eyes as she practically glided across the room. Each step seemed as though it been planned years before she had even thought of taking it. She moved with a grace I had never witnessed in my short existence. A fluidity rivalling that of the very angels in heaven.
Reaching the stasis chamber she finally moved her gaze away from the clipboard. Upon seeing the chamber vacant the colour drained from her face and her eyes widened in shock. Her gaze flicked towards me and then back at the chamber as if she believed what she was seeing was a hallucination.
"Lord Caelus...?" She muttered, her eyes finally choosing to rest on me, narrowing to focus. "You're awake?" The clipboard in her hands slipped from her grip, falling to the floor with a soft thud. Carefully, her hand reached towards my face, gently caressing my cheek. Her touch was soft, as if she thought I was only an illusion of mist, bound to disappear at the slightest disturbance.
"I was worried you would never wake up!" She shouted passionately, any sign of caution instantly thrown out the window as she dived towards me, wrapping me in a tight embrace. The close proximity between us brought her soft scent to my attention—Camellias, a beautiful pink flower symbolising love and devotion in China.
A while later, she had finally calmed down and so I decided to make my move. "I sincerely apologise miss... While you are beautiful, I can't say I have any recollection of you." 'Or anything for that matter...' Her face flushed crimson as my words registered in her mind.
"Lord C-Caelus... Called me b-beautiful???" She muttered tumbling back away from me giddily, although slowly, her blush seemed to fade as she fully took in what I had said. "Pardon, what do you mean you don't remember me Lord Caelus?" She questioned, the worry and concern on her face evident by her eyebrows knitting together.
"That too! I have no clue who 'Lord Caelus' is?" I sputtered throwing my arms up slightly. Her worried expression morphed into one of riddled confusion. She didn't speak instantly and for a while a soft silence hung in the room.
"So you mean to say... You do not remember me or yourself...? whatsoever?" She questioned me once more, I noticed her worry had been short lived instead morphing into a muddled curiosity.
"That's right." I quickly responded with a nod. She went silent once more but this time for only a fraction of the previous time.
"What about Gabriel?" She asked. I quickly shook my head in denial, "Michael, Raphael, Azreal...? She paused for a moment, as if debating the final name on her mind. Eventually, she swallowed her hesitation and spat it out. Lucifer...?" Yet still, none of the names stirred any missing memories. The only thing coming to the forefront of my mind were angels from the Bible.
"You really don't know any of them?" She asked once more though her words seemed more like a plea than a question. Reluctantly, I shook my head again.
"None of those names ring a bell. I've never met any of them before." I answered gaining a wide-eyed, bewildered expression from the woman, who's name I still didn't know. Her bewildered expression made me think that the seriousness of the situation was finally leaking into her. Well, serious to her I suppose.. I'm mainly confused on where I am.. Who I am?
"Oh and I should ask what your name is Miss." My voice came out still sounding unfamiliar to myself, I was used to my weak pathetic voice, having such a smooth yet authoritative voice come from myself was nothing less than chilling.
She shook herself out of her thoughts and greeted me, her smile like the rising sun. "Well, Lord Caelus, I'm Uriel!" She announced proudly. I couldn't help but wonder if I was being pranked but I'm also very sure I died...
"It's nice to meet you, Uriel." I answered with a small smile of my own, which for some reason caused Uriel to turn around in a fit of coughs.
I recoiled slightly my eyes widening as I took a quick, sharp breath, an action that cost a lot less stamina that it did in my other body. "Are you okay?" I sputtered leaning down towards Uriel with an arm around her back supportively.
For some reason this action only seemed to make her cough more viciously. Instead, I eventually moved away after realising any aid I tried to give only resulted in more coughing.
A few more moments of her composing herself before..
"Oh! I'm fine Lord Caelus!" She exclaimed rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment, "I just got a little surprised is all." Surprised by a smile? The words rang aloud in my head and I wished I could've said them aloud but I decided against it.
"Now that we have been reintroduced we really should focus on the problem of your memory loss. I mean I didn't even know it was possible for you to get hurt let alone lose all your memories." She explained only raising more questions about the body I currently resided within.. Like why she believed I couldn't even sustain an injury.
"And how shall we deal with that?" I probed, that awkward silence filled the room again as she delved into a deep introspection her finger tapping on her chin lightly as she thought.
"Honestly, I'm not sure... You've always been mysterious even to us angels... We'll have to involve the other Arch Angels." She explained, casually mentioning Angels as if they weren't a supernatrual being but rather a regular everyday occurrence.
Am I even in my own world anymore?