The deep heart's core

Mateo couldn’t help but laugh when Ayah explained how Sariel had broken her former coffee machine, or almost broken it. It was always funny to see how old souls coped with the new age things. Some didn’t really get the hang of it, clearly still stuck in the past and wanted to keep things simple and like they had been in the old age. Sariel moved her lips, almost as if she was mimicking Ayah and moving her hand to show that it was just words going past deaf ears. “Yeah, yeah, not my problem those things take time to figure out, and I have a horrible temper, one should think that after I broke your washing machine, you shouldn’t put me on the duty of figuring out how the dishwasher functions” she joked moving a teaspoon around in the cop of coffee that was now finished and walked over and sat down on a chair opposite Mateo and Ayah. “So, what is the story here?” she asked, giving them both a soft smile, Mateo looked towards Ayah “do you want the honor?” he asked taking a sip of coffee.

"You forget how stubborn you are. I said: no I will handle it, and you go, no I will show you how to handle it," Ayah pointed out with a laugh looking towards Sariel. Well, yes, Sariel had become much like a sister to Ayah over short time. Ayah looked towards Mateo when Sariel asked what the story was, and he asked if she wanted to explain it. Ayah gave a small nod before taking a sip of her coffee. "Well, I was out exploring a little bit of the world, when I found him living his best jungle life around what - four hundred years ago or so? Damn, has it really been that long," she chuckled a little bit shaking her head in a little bit of disbelief. "Oh well we had a few good years," she chuckled a little bit because it was always important to remember the good things despite it easily could be covered up with what had happened next. "Then a lot of things happened, and we were taken for a couple of years, or at least in my case. Mateo got me out, and we haven't seen each other since, till today," she looked to him and placed her free hand on top of his giving it a soft squeeze. Yet sshe still found it amazing how it felt like she had last spoken to him Yesteday, and it actually had been extremely long. It was a rather direct way of telling things, but she also knew better than to try hide out things from Sariel. "Anything you would like to add?" Ayah asked before then taking her hand back and looked towards Sariel with a smile.

“Wha – what! Nonsense, I’m not that bad” Sariel fought back, even though it had been with a smile on her lips. Because when it came down to it, Sariel was very aware where her shortcomings were, or she did now. Then she started drinking from her coffee while Ayah told the story about how she had met Mateo. Her eyes widened a little, four hundred years ago. Now that was some time since they had last seen each other then. “Amazing” Sariel said with a soft smile, before turning her head towards Mateo that shook his head. “No that is pretty much it, but if things aren’t happening here in Athena, where would they happen then?” that made the hybrid snap her fingers and point towards him. “Very true” she laughed knowing just how much her life had changed since she had gotten here.
Licking her lips, she looked at her coffee cup, now she had never been one to really care about who heard what she talked to others about. If there was something she didn’t want to share, no one would be let into her thought process nor how she was feeling.
“You want me to step out for a moment, so you two can talk?” he asked and earned yet another smile from Sariel that shook her head. “No, that’s not really an issue, it’s not a, I have a big thing I can’t share with anyone, thing” she chuckled taking a couple of deep breaths. “It’s just, well, witches don’t really age, nor does angels. At one point they just stop and then they stay that form forever, but, I might have used magic to slow the process, making me looking this young, and – I was just thinking about lifting the spell, especially after everything with Theo and that, so, but I just wanted to hear someone that knew me rather well, if that would just be problematic, when people know this form” she said, Mateo widening his eyes, witches always amazed him. Where he could of course keep a hatred for them like his father had. Or might still do. But there wasn’t really anything in him that could hate Sariel just because of the species she was. He had experienced that enough, just because of his skin colour. He didn’t need to add to the racism.

Ayah lifted her finger and pointed in the direction of Mateo as he made a fair point on it being Athena after all. All the drama that had happened here just last year was insane. Ayah could see that Sariel had something at heart, you learned to pick up a few things about people once you had lived with them for some time, even just by spending a few weeks together. But before she could ask, Mateo asked if he should step out so they could talk, where Sariel smiled at him and shook her head. It’s not a, I have a big thing I can’t share with anyone, thing even Ayah was a bit surprised by that sentence and pressed her brows a little bit together, then she always felt so blessed when Sariel came to her with something instead of keeping it in for too long. Now, Ayah had lived for small seven hundred years, she had never thought about the fact her body suddenly had stopped aging because it was such a natural thing. Then there was the whole Sariel having Jamie as a mate who was shapeshifter. "I don't think it would be problematic, and you should do what you would feel the most comfortable with, also given everything that happened - I don't think anyone would hold it against you, and its also a way of starting over," she spoke her mind about it now that Sariel asked.

She nodded, Mateo parting his lips a little, and then clearing his throat almost as if he had come on better thoughts. Sariel looked towards him giving him a small smile. “You don’t have to hold something back, I lived alone with an archangel for almost four hundred years, I don’t really do – you know, normal curtesy things or even remotely how to be human” she laughed, which made Mateo widened his eyes, looking towards Ayah to see if she was being serious or not then looking back. “Wow, how was it living with an archangel?” he asked Sariel shrugged taking a sip of her coffee before answering. “I don’t really know how to answer that, he was broody and liked to be alone, so we could go for days, if not weeks without even talking together – we had this thing where we gave each other books we had read and liked” she didn’t even notice how her eyes glazed over for a moment while she let herself retreat into some of the really good memories. She cleared her throat and shook her head. “I think when you live with something for such a long time, you stop thinking about it as something grand, as it sounds like, because when it came down to it, he was just a broken soul that needed time away, and I was someone my mother wanted to protect and had placed me there” she waved her hand a little as if it was any other sob story. Clearly not wanting to go into greater details. Mateo nodded. “Wow, well, you surly got some new interesting friends, Ayah” he laughed nudging her shoulder with his own.

Ayah nodded to confirm that Sariel was very much telling the truth, and yes Ayah had listened to it a few times - mostly because she had asked questions herself when first learned about the whole Azrael and Sariel adventure. "As a matter of fact I do," she chuckled a little as he nudged his shoulder against hers. But it was true, she had found some rather interesting but amazing friends. "When one door closes another one opens, or so people say," she chuckled a little bit. Well, if it hadn't been for D'Avalos burning the village down she wouldn't have met Sariel. And if she hadn't met Sariel she wouldn't have encountered Mariella and Juniper again. Or at least not on that round. To be fair she had also met her fair share of people she should not have been wasting time on. Anthony, Ameer, Jasper to add a few on the list. At least they hadn't completely wrecked her heart and soul. "But I still believe you should do whatever you want, if you want a change, you make the change," she gave Sariel a supportive smile.

He gave her a bright smile; he was glad to actually get to meet one of her friends this quickly. Because it gave him some peace in his heart, knowing that there might have been bad times. But then there were people like Sariel that just stepped through her door and made herself at home. When you loved someone, like the way Ayah and Mateo did, because of the story they shared and the bond that was forged, then you wanted nothing but the best for them. Whatever that might be.
Sariel nodded and took a sip of her coffee letting out a soft sigh. “I wonder if I’m going to look like my mother” she wondered licking her lips a little giving Mateo a soft smile. Before looking back at Ayah and snapped her fingers. “I got that, you know... self… picture thing, you wanted me to take with my siblings” she found the smart phone that Jamie had bought to her, something about he could only handle one old fart that couldn’t figure out how a phone worked. She looked at it and started pressing around in the sides. “Why isn’t it working?” she hissed in a slow annoyed voice, shaking the phone a little as if that would magically make it open for her.

Compared to some of the conversations Ayah and Sariel had had over the time they had known each other, one should not think that they only had met a handful of months ago. Ayah didn't get to ask before Sariel tried to unlock her phone. Well, it was always easy to see the ones who had completely refused or hadn't gotten the chance to use technology and the people who embraced it. Ayah had never been scared of change and to adapt best to the world it meant tagging along even in the scarier stuff. And change could be terrifying. Ayah placed her cup on the table and got up to walk up next to Sariel. "It's because its not a glowstick darling," she took Sariel's hand and held it still. Then pressing the home, "Jamie hasn't even put a lock on it," bonus she didn't have to remember the password. And if she knew Jamie's family right, his niece would have made sure everything was safe and sound on the device. "There we go," she pushed a few of the tabs slowly so Sariel could follow along, laughing a little before taking a little step away watching Sariel try on her own now.

“What the hell is a glowstick?” Sariel almost hissed in frustration as Ayah walked over to her and took the phone from her hand, making sure that she would destroy yet another phone. She huffed, before letting out a deep breath trying to calm herself down. “It’s not like I don’t want to understand, but when it comes to all this technology you have to treat me like an old grandma, because I’ve been raised with nothing of the sort!” she complained, and in that way also explained to Mateo just why it was so hard for her to understand all of this. “A lock on it? You can lock your phones?” she looked towards Mateo with giant eyes that nodded slowly sipping from his cup. “Now if I didn’t already know the story of how the two of you met, I would never have guessed” he laughed putting his cup of coffee down, as Sariel started to try if she could find the photos. After a few tries she finally got the app open and found the picture she had taken with Laila, Kemuel and Seraphina. “Here, well, Tien and Zadkiel aren’t on any of these, but you know, we are getting there... adjusting to the fact that I’m part of the family, it’s just, it’s easier with those three” she said with a small smile, looking at the picture clearly very happy about the newfound family.

An old grandma, Ayah chuckled a little bit, sometimes it was so easy to see how some of the ways Jamie spoke started to sneak into Sariel's way of speaking. As well as her siblings. "Yes you can lock your phone," Ayah rolled her eyes a little bit, knowing that yes Sariel hadn't been raised with anything that even looked like technology - it wouldn't even surprise her if natural lights like the good old times had been the way to go. The fairy couldn't help but let out a delighted laugh by Mateo's comment, which was true. Ayah and Sariel were like two peas in a pot, that matched so well despite of people perhaps not thinking that they would. Ayah looked away from Mateo to Sariel's phone when she finally found the app and found the picture she had taken. As she pointed out with at least three of her siblings. "I love that," Ayah smiled happy to know that Sariel actually had connected with some of the family she had kept herself from for so long. One thing Ayah for sure could understand was meeting with your family after so many years, and they were in a sort of similar situation after all. Despite Ayah had been looking for Hope and Mariella for around seven-hundred-years. "I'm so happy that everything went like this despite of all," she breathed out knowing that there had been some rough moments as well, but it also just seemed like well at least with the three of them, Sariel felt like she had actual siblings and could connect with them.

Sariel nodded slowly as her eyes looked at the happy faces of her and her siblings. Funny, had someone asked her just a year ago where she was going in her life. She might have told them; she wasn’t sure she would be alive now. Mostly because of the quest that she had embarked on. And as ancient as it sounded, it really had been a quest of vengeance and hateful intent. Because she just wanted people to suffer the way that she had been made to suffer. But someone had turned her head around, and she had suddenly seen things in a different light. Even though she was a little scared that one day Michael would be standing in front of her, telling her that she had to pay for what she had done to his son. Well, not that she had done anything, but she wasn’t really sure what had happened after she had come back to the home she had lived with Zachary.
“Yeah, me too” she said and put away her phone and looked towards Mateo “So, what do you do?” she asked, and Mateo gave a soft smile. “Confidential” – “ooh, mysterious, now I understand why you like him” she teased Ayah looking towards her with a bright smile and winked before she quickly took a sip from her coffee.

Ayah looked shortly towards Mateo as he said what he did was confidential, but barely got to say anything before Sariel teased her about this was why she liked him. Ayah lashed her arm out at Sariel, "oh shut up," Ayah laughed a little bit as she walked back to sit down on the couch and took a sip of her coffee. Still chuckling a little to herself by Sariel's comment that had hit just right. "Sariel lives with her boyfriend in Aston, but we lived together for a few months prior that so, her boyfriend happens to be one of my sisters brother. So, we get to see each other quite a lot as well,"which was great. And Ayah was very blessed that she could visit Mariella and Jamie almost at the same time, even if Mariella was spending more and more of her time here in Grounds of Lily. Which again, now made it easier for Ayah to met up with her sister. Hope was another story, because she was more closed off not letting people in - but she tried and that was all they really could do. But she hoped that she would get to introduce Mateo to her sisters one day.

Sariel made an almost mock gasp, as if she was offended by Ayah telling her to shut up. Maybe she had spent too much time with Jamie, who knew? Maybe she was just finally building a real personality instead of focusing on how to hone skills or running away from feelings all together. Then she nodded as a statement that it was true what Ayah told Mateo. She did indeed live with Jamie, and it was Mariella’s brother. Which in itself was a little weird to explain sometimes, if people didn’t really understand the situation that they were in.
Mateo nodded and gave Ayah a smile. “That’s nice, seems like you have gathered a good amount of people around you” he said letting out a small breath of air. One could fear that after watching and losing every member of your village and your parents. You could have a tendency to close off, and not let people inside again. He had seen it plenty of times in combat. When someone lost a good friend in the heat of the moment, and they completely shut themselves off. Almost as if they felt like they needed to punish themselves for living on, while their friend had to die. He was just happy to see that it wasn’t the same that had happened here. Ayah deserved to know that it was okay to keep loving and find her family despite everything.

She nodded and breathed out. "I have," Ayah licked her lips a little bit before looking towards Mateo again and gave him a warmer smile, before returning her eyes to her coffee to take another sip. The good people with the bad. She knew around just as many bad people as she did good. It was a balance really, or so she excused herself along with the fact that maybe sometimes the bad people you met where just people who needed someone to see them for once. Well sometimes that mindset was giving her more trouble than good. But hopefully the whole Jasper situation had finally taught her something. But moving here she had Ace and Willow close, and she felt like she needed that as well. Having more of her friends close, being closer to more nature so she could get out. Yet, she hadn't even been close to where the village had been since it had burned down, avoiding the remains like she knew it would only bring pain to see it destroyed. And she had kept on trying to not let it get the best of her, allowing herself to grieve as well. But sometimes it was just hard to let yourself go that little mile. "It's been a balance really, with everything. But so is most things in life, I just appreciate what I do have," she exhaled a little before downing the remains of the coffee.

Mateo nodded and Sariel leaned back sipping her coffee as she mostly just observed now. For a moment so quietly, that Mateo even forgot that they weren’t just the two of them. Not that he really minded, even though it was clear that Sariel had quite a chaotic aura, there was something that made sense in all of that chaos, almost as if it beckoned you closer. Like a comforting hug, that told you that not all evil was bad.
“Isn’t life a balance in general?” he asked raising a brow, drinking the last of his coffee licking his lips before he placed it back down on the coffee table. “There was someone that once told me, that nothing in life is constant, and when you finally understand and agree to the terms that there will always be bad and good times, you’ll live a life in harmony” he laughed a little and shrugged his shoulders. “At the time I thought it sounded like some bullshit, and that if you just fought hard enough you’ll be happy all the time, but well, I guess he was on to something in the end” he looked towards his cup before he looked back at Ayah “could I perhaps ask you for another cup, before I have to go back?” he asked giving her a small smile, Sariel raised her cup “I would like another one too, please” she said with a bright and almost innocent smile.

Isn’t life a balance in general? She clicked her tongue a little and nodded, "I will drink to that," she pointed a little towards Mateo with a small laugh, even if it was actually true. Everything in life was a balance, sometimes things were very bad but it would balance out to a middle ground again, and the same when things were very good. Who hadn't thought for one time to another that you had to chase down happiness to keep it? Everyone had, she was sure of that. "Sounds like a wise someone," she chuckled a little and licked her lips for a second. Then Mateo asked if he could make more coffee, and Sariel as well. "You two are just here to run me out of coffee aren't you?, sneaky bastards, but sure thing," Ayah laughed a little before she got up from the couch and took their cups, picking her own up with some sweet air magic, making it rather easy not to drop anything. Then headed out to the kitchen to start the brew again, so she could make three new cups of coffee. Taking a deeper breath in, feeling both blessed to have Mateo reenter her life, but at the same time it was also hard having to explain what had been going on since last time. A lot happened in just a few years, then four hundred years were a very long time. She was just lucky that they seemed to talk like almost no time had passed them.

Ayah then poured the coffee up, knowing just by now how they liked their coffee and, brought back their cups and handed it to them. "There you go," then looking at the table, "bummer I forgot my own," she turned around on her heels and went back out to the kitchen to grab her own cup as well, and walked back to sit down on the couch.

“He was” Mateo said with a small but slightly sad smile, but then started to laugh as Ayah told them that they were some sneaky bastards. Sariel raised her hands, almost as if Ayah was pointing a gun towards her. “Hey, I’m not very sneaky, but well, I am a bastard” she said with a bright smile, as it was in fact true. Her parents had been married, which would make her the definition of a bastard. It was still very weird to her, just how much the English language had changed over the ages. If one thought about it, queer and gay didn’t mean the same as it had once done. “Isn’t it wild to think about, just how much the language as chance over the last couple of years?” she asked, looking towards Ayah and thanking her for the cup that was handed her. Mateo did the same, and then shook her head with a teasing smile on his lips, when she announced that she had forgotten her own. “But I agree, by the way” Mateo said nodding as he took a sip from he knew coffee. “It is wild to think back and see just how much has changed, but also how little some other things have” he added licking his lips for a moment, knowing that racism still was very much a problem, and some thought back to the olden days as the ‘golden’ days.  

Ayah nodded agreeing blowing a little in the cup, feeling the warmth dance over her skin. It was insane how things had changed. Everything changed with a blink of an eye, but they got to experience first hand the changes the world brought them. There were a whole lot of things that started to get better, and some got worse, again with the balance. "Yeah, we get the whole hands on experiences," Ayah licked her lips a little bit. Ayah had always been glad that she had tried to seek out most of the supernatural communities because they just viewed things a little bit different compared to the mundane world. And the mundane world could be so cruel in different ways than the world she was from, yet still having so many similarities as well. There was a lot of things she wished she could change, change the hunters way of seeing things, she understood that some people were dangerous, but sometimes humans were just as dangerous as a demon could be. But one thing she could never forgive was how her entire village had been slaughtered simply because they were fairies and some hunters had viewed them as not worthy of living. "But bless we have better beds, toilets and showers by now," she chuckled a little lifting her own mood.

Both Mateo and Sariel raised their cups of coffee as Ayah blessed the fact, that they had better beds, toilets and showers. “Amen to that” Mateo said and took a sip of his coffee shaking his head, as he was trying to shake out the bad memories that formed in his head. “Yeah no, there are a lot of things that I do not miss from the past” he laughed, looking towards Sariel that nodded slowly “Well, I lived you know, very old fashion, but I get where you are going!” she laughed, knowing her and Azrael had lived with the bare minimum. “Which reminds me of this really good story” she chuckled, looking towards Ayah “Don’t even think I’ve told you this one” she licked her lips, and Mateo turned around, clearly waiting with anticipation on where this story was going.
“Okay so, one day Azrael decided that we should try to go out eating” she giggled already by the memory of it. “Trying to be a little normal, as he put it” she shook her head as she looked into the wall, as if she was seeing the scene for her. “Well, the food was horrible, and then he wanted to leave hallway through, he got up” she laughed shaking her head trying to get through the story while she could still explain it. “So, he got up, puts down gold coins and tells me that we are leaving, the look on people’s faces – it was priceless” she laughed, Mateo was quick to join “Noo, what, really?!” Sariel nodded when Mateo clearly had a hard time thinking it was real, even though he laughed with great joy. Damn, he would have paid good money to have seen the servers face when they found gold coins on the table.

Oh yeah, Sariel had lived with an archangel who believed that change shouldn't happen, it wasn't healthy for human kind and thereby Sariel had to learn perhaps the hard way to embrace the future. Then having one story she hadn't told Ayah yet, Ayah always listened in to Sariel's tales, because they were unlike many others. But no matter what Ayah loved a good story. Azrael wanting to go out eating, off to a good start. She could almost see it for her eyes as Sariel told them what had happened. Almost not able to not laugh as Sariel laughed almost having a hard time keeping up with the story. Then laughing as she could imagine how the people must have looked at the archangel. "It's the same guy who created a rumor about their being a monster near the mountains to haunt tourists from coming by, and yet people these days seeks out danger like their lives depend on the thrill," she shook her head a little bit, remembering some of the things Sariel had told her about Azrael hating tourists and that social media and phones were the devils work.

Mateo shook his head with a smile on his lips, as Ayah told another story about who this Archangel was as a person. A monster to make sure that tourists wouldn’t come to the place he lived with Sariel. “Well, at least I don’t share his point of views, well, at least not anymore” Sariel chuckle, knowing that there was still a long way to go, before she could call herself fully integrated into the twenty-first century. At least, things hadn’t gone downhill, the way they could have done if she had followed through with her intentions for even coming here. She still knew that there might be a chance of it to happen, and maybe that was why she wasn’t so afraid for the fact that Jamie wouldn’t stay young forever, and there was a day where they would both die. Because then that might be the thing that would stop her from ever ending up, as the evil woman that had no love in her life. The woman she had seen so many times when looking into the mirror.
Mateo drank the last of his coffee and let out a small sigh. “Now, even though this has been really nice, and I would love to stay, I actually have to go” he said with a sad smile as he looked towards Ayah. Knowing they would find mere opportunities to talk together and catch up.

Ayah turned her head towards Mateo as he announced he had to go, and she gave him  bit of a sad smile, wishing he could stay longer so they could just talk everything out. But they had time. One thing she thought she wouldn't never have that she had gotten back, a chance to talk to him again. "I will follow you out," Ayah nodded a little and got up from the couch and gave Sariel a small nod to that she would be right back. Then following Mateo out to the entrance, "that was short, but I get it. Places to be," she exhaled softly giving him a warm smile, before giving him a warm hug, just holding him close for a while, "don't be a stranger okay? Promise me," she closed her eyes for a moment before slowly letting go, allowed herself as she pulled out of the embrace to place a little soft kiss on his cheek, then letting go of him. "Because I really did like talking to you again," Ayah grabbed his hand for a second, giving it a little squeeze.

He got up and nodded towards Sariel as a goodbye she nodded back and quickly let her eyes glide towards the cup in her hands, giving them the privacy, she thought they deserved. “That would be nice” Mateo said with a small tug of his lips, letting her step in front of him to walk on ahead. As he walked behind her, he was reminded of her smell. Which he now realized she had made sure wasn’t something you could pick up on, when she was outside. Unless you came close enough at least. It also told him, that there were still things around her that scared her, something had to remember to speak to her about next time they saw each other. But there was also something about going now, knowing that they had to see each other again. Because this couldn’t be the last time, not if he could make it so at least. He nodded, still with a small smile shadowing over his lips. “Places to be, things to take care of” he said nodding a little sad as well, that it had to end this quickly. But two coffees, and a walk around the marked had already been far longer than he had meant to be away.
He hugged her back with no restrains, closing his arms around her in a soft and proactive manner. His eyes closing for a moment, as she asked him not to be a stranger. “I promise” he whispered, letting go and chuckled as she kissed his cheek. “Same” he then remembered the small figurine. He padded down his pockets and pulled it out. “Here, remember I’m not farther away than the wind whispers” he said feeling a sigh escaped his nose. “See you around Red” he placed a kiss against her temple. Before he walked out looking over his shoulder with a small wave before he got going.
Sariel sipping her coffee waited patiently for her friend to come back into the living room, as she looked up, giving her that look.

Ayah took a slightly deeper breath in, "I will remember, see you soon," she exhaled slowly as he kissed her temple, then opening the door for him. She kept standing in the door while he walked down the street, lifting her hand to give him a small wave when he looked over his shoulder. But she still stayed there till she couldn't see him anymore, it was an odd twist around her stomach that almost knocked the air out. Because there was a part of her that felt sad that they had to depart so soon, maybe it was the not knowing when they would see each other again - then there was the part of her that knew they would try. Some moments in life just forged bonds between people not even time could tear apart. Then she closed the door, running a hand through her hair, before walking back to Sariel who gave her that one look. "What?" Ayah sat back down keeping her eyes at Sariel.

Sariel sipped her coffee closing her eyes for a moment, while she waited for Ayah to come back. Who took her sweet time if she was being honest, which only spoke about the truth how much this guy meant to her friend.
The hybrid shrugged her shoulders when her friend clearly didn’t find her lock all that amusing which only made the smile widened on her lips. “What do you mean what? I should ask you the same” she hummed shaking her head a little while she chuckled, taking a sip of her coffee before she placed it on the small table and leaned back in the chair, she was sitting in. Her hands folded and as she put them on her lap and crossed one leg over the other.
“You’ll see him again, if that makes you feel better” she winked “I would know” she closed her eyes, because it was the truth. Now that she wasn’t filled with anger, it was easier for her to decipher the visions she was getting, even though most of them only were small glimpse. The big ones usually came with it was raining and thundering.