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Max had always loved nature. He’d loved wandering around the old forests behind his cottage since he was a young boy. It was filled with escape. Escape from a father who didn’t love him unless he pushed himself to the brink of it. Escape from a village who saw him as an outcast.
He had never wished for anything more than what he got. The forest and the paths weren’t much, but they were enough. Max had never followed a way, he’d never limited himself to that. He grew attached to simply walking wherever he felt and finding his way home eventually. Maybe it should’ve been a hint that something was more afoot than he thought.
He’d never put much thought into it, unfortunately. Max just figured it was the way the forest was shaped. That he’d always end up back home. It never occurred to him that walking in a straight line and ending up at home was not normal. Even when he was older. Max was so used to it that he didn’t question it.
Today, it was another fight with his dad that had him wandering through the forest. Max’s cheek ached, a bruise probably growing on his cheek at that exact moment. He didn’t want to think about it and yet it was hard not to when the pain was constant.
Maybe it was better not to ignore it. Max should let himself feel for once instead of pushing it all down. Only Ares knew the emotions he kept deep down and to him, that was enough. All everyone else would see was the intensity of which he sparred. There was anger there, but to them, it was anger about the sparring. Rage at the potential of being below first place. Max supposed it was, to some degree. But in reality, it was so much more than that. It had always been.
It was the rage of being pushed into a role he’d never asked for. It was the anger of being shunned for having too much ambition. Ambition that was forced and beaten into him.
He hated the life he was pushed into but he couldn’t do anything about it. He was 26 and yet still under the control of his dad no matter how hard he tried to push out. Max had so much more he could do. So much more he wanted to do. And yet here he was. Miserable. Angry. He let out a quiet sigh.
It was getting chillier. Max looked around to notice it had also gotten darker. He should’ve been paying attention to his surroundings. But, did he… really want to go home? Maybe he could just, not. Maybe he could just stay in this forest.
Maybe…
His eyes slipped closed as he briskly passed out, falling to the ground. But as he was about to collapse against the ground, gentle streams of wind curled around Max’s body, protecting him against the ground. The body lifted off the ground, carried by the air. The quiet sound of leaves rustling accompanied the movement.
His body travelled through portions of the woods Max had never seen before. Not that he could see right now anyways. Or even be aware he was moving. Two eyes tracked the floating human, observing with curiosity, just like they always had.
Max felt at peace. He felt the pure relief of when you felt nothing but exhaustion and you finally rested your eyes. It was calm. It was nothing but an ocean of rest. His body melted against whatever he laid on, sighing softly. In his dream, they were two beautiful azure oceans. Reflecting and glistening, shining under the soft rays of the moon.
Though the oceans looked weird. They weren’t… shaped right. Odd. No movements shined in them either, as if waves didn’t exist in them. He shook his head in a bit of confusion. Max tried to force his eyes into focus to see what was wrong.
Those weren’t oceans at all. No… No, those were nowhere near oceans. They were eyes. Bright blue eyes that were staring right into his soul. Terror ran through Max. Who was staring down at him like this? And why were they in his room? As Max lightly pushed himself back, it hit him that he wasn’t in his room. He was laying on dirt. Hard, grass covered dirt that ran through the forest where Max had collapsed in earlier.
Fuck. He’d figured it wouldn’t be dangerous. He never faced wolves. Or anything remotely bad in these woods. He’d never thought he’d be facing… a… a blue eyed monster.
“You’re awake.”
Max almost had a heart attack. Then, he blinked. That voice… God. It hadn’t sounded human at all yet Max was entranced, not scared. It had sounded as if thousands of chimes gently shook in the wind, coming together to form words. So pure. How Max imagined heaven would sound.
As Max actually started seeing in front of himself, he quietly gasped. Sitting at his side was… an angel. It had to be. Blond hair flowed unnaturally around its head, as if wind was whipping softly around and around it. Its eyes were like pools of pure azure. Glowing in the darkness and unblinking as they stared right through Max’s soul.
Its skin was pale as snow and yet it also seemed scaly on some parts, blue and shining. Its ears were pointy and attached to them was something that looked like flowing fabric. It was see through but glowed with blue light as well. It seemed to have some sort of tail, scaly and shimmering with the same energy from everything else.
“Am I dead?” Max spoke quietly, staring at the inhuman creature.
“No… You’re perfectly alive. You fell asleep in my forest and I didn’t want you to get harmed.”
Max paused, even more lost. What was this creature if not an angel taking his soul away? How could anything possibly reach the heights of beauty it did without being celestial? He needed to touch it. This was a dream and touching it would just let him out of this delusion. But as his hand reached for the leg, the nearest part to his hand, it became clear, he was not dreaming.
“What… are you?” Max whispered, his thumb tracing over the scaly texture of it’s legs.
“I’m the spirit of this forest.” It spoke. “My husband and I have ruled over these lands for some millennia. Nobody ever comes into this forest, they think it’s cursed. We made sure of it. Yet… here you are. A soul who’s ventured here for years without getting scared off.”
Out of all of that, Max only really heard one thing that filled him with disappointment.
“Husband?” Max said, sounding much more petulant than he ever meant to but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. An amused grin crossed the creature’s face.
“I think you’ll like him just as much as we like you…”