Ethereal

Chapter 18

Up close, I could see that the tall, cone buildings didn't appear to made of bricks, like a human building would perhaps be. It was oddly smooth, and it looked almost as if it had been grown from the ground itself. 

They were as tall as I had thought when I first saw them, and further away than I had thought I could walk without needing a break to catch my breath. But things were different now - I was different now. 

It made me wonder just how big the birds were that I had seen flying in and out of the holes on its surface - something which I soon got the answer to. 

The surface of the buildings were covered in huge, gaping holes, several metres across, and at least twice my height. There was nothing particularly interesting within the holes that I could see, just empty space. Though each seemed to be an individual room, built into the side of the buildings. I wondered what possible use they had, though they were the only buildings for what seemed like miles - was this where the angels lived?

As though answering my thoughts, a strong gust of wind suddenly billowed, threatening to knock me over - though naturally, Noah stayed completely upright and unaffected, he barely even noticed. A giant grey shadow accompanied the disturbance, and I ducked in shock at the sheer size of such a thing. 

I glanced up in fear, and for a few seconds I saw something magnificent. A giant pair of silvery white wings passed overhead, they were high above us, yet their strength had practically knocked me over. Most stunningly, attached to the giant wings was a girl. Her skin was dark, and it stood out brilliantly against the pale wings. She wore the same white clothes that everyone here seemed to wear, and she appeared tiny against the huge wings. They were at least two metres tall (the silver tips of her wings would drag along the floor if she were to walk with them unfurled) and spanned several metres, and suddenly I understood the reasoning behind such huge holes in the walls. 

The girl landed gracefully at the edge of the room, and the wings seemed to disappear within her back. 

"Wow." I breathed, suddenly looking at the towers in a much different way. What I had thought were birds, were in fact the angels, flying in and out of their homes. I wondered if there was another entrance to the rooms, if I had been assigned one, how was I meant to get into it if it involved flying?

"Are you okay?" Noah asked, concerned, he reached his hand back down to me (I had dropped it when I ducked). I grabbed it gratefully and allowed him to pull me up to my feet. 

Glancing above me at the tall buildings, I took a moment to watch the winged angels swooping in and out of the buildings. There was so many, all fluttering about with ease. The ones taking off seemed to leap out of the rooms, waiting a few seconds before unfurling their wings.

I wondered how it felt, to not be afraid of falling. 

"I'm fine." I breathed heavily, trying to absorb the shock of this strange new world. "I just... that's incredible."

Noah frowned as though it was absurd to him, but he had been around angels his whole life - he was one. Wings were nothing new to him. "Does everyone get their own room?" I asked. 

He nodded, and gestured to the large building in front of us (the Searchers tower - he was taking me to see his room first, since it was closer) "We made the buildings so that there would be exactly enough rooms for us each to have one. 1,562 rooms in each building." 

"So... there are 7,810 angels?" I asked, surprised at how easily the number had come to me. It made me shudder to think how even my intelligence was changing - would my personality change too? 

"That's right. So I'm not too sure which room they would put you in." He muttered, "Although your room is G1563, so perhaps they've had one built for you."