Chapter Text
It was a nice day. All the days had been nice; since the beginning of eternity in the fresh realm, the divine beings- angels as some called them- called home. Even the usual gloomy rain was always brightened and colored by soft sunrays. The realm was everything a mind could muster when thinking about a domain for divine beings. It was a garden that always seemed full of color and life. Large fruit-decorated trees and bushes. Pools of clean water sparking and resembling diamonds, imitating the hopes of an oasis in an endless desert. The gentle songs of harps created by the delicate hands of angels with silky wings and cream robes echoed throughout the realm. The realm had its own wildlife, of course, but none would be aggressive; Especially towards the divine beings.
It was what anyone would hope for.
This may have been a slight overestimation… One creature had had so many sickly-sweet fruits, celestial harmonies, and lazy days of lounging in the sun with absolutely nothing to do; that he had gotten tired of it to his core. This angel answered to the name Aziraphale.
Aziraphale had always kept to rules, believing you should never stray away from The Goddess’ wishes. He always made sure he stayed in line, and that everyone was pleased with him and his actions. However, his views began to change when his tender hands first brushed the leather cover of an item that had no business in their paradise. A book. A fairytale book. One of the rules that should never be broken was that an angel is to never leave their realm under any circumstance.
To be frank, none of the future events of the story would have unfolded without the mischievous travelers of the 4 realms; The spirits. They’ve always had a knack for causing trouble for their own pleasure. Oh, how entertaining it would be to stray a divine being away from the light.
“Aziraphale.” The call of his name made the golden-haired angel flinch, his eyes quickly darting away from the apple in his hands. His attention returned to the purple-eyed creature he had been conversing with just before his mind spiraled away. “Have you been even listening to anything I’ve said?” Gabriel scoffed, sounding offended “I was explaining how Michael found an odd item the other day”
“Odd item you say...” Aziraphale’s curiosity began to peak as he watched the other picking at a cluster of grapes. There was finally the slightest change to this eternity. His eyes sparkled an excited pale blue at the thought, a hand brushing his chin.
“Quite so...” Gabriel began straightening himself, using his slight height difference as an advantage to seem authoritative. Along with his ruffled feathers, he looked not far from proud. “Now, I personally made sure it was well taken care of, of course” he smiled to himself.
Aziraphale nervously laughed, a crooked smile plastered onto his lips.
“If you are to find anything unusual-” he continued “you are to bring it to The Goddess’ temple or me. You never know what type of dangers such objects hide”
“Oh, why yes, I wouldn’t have thought twice on the matter” The softer angel kept his smile until his stare hit the apple in his hands. It remained untouched.
“Shouldn’t have doubted a devoted angel such as yourself then” his expression morphed into a too-friendly smile as he patted Aziraphale’s shoulder. Gabriel sprang to his feet “Which means I’ll be on my way, got to spread the news!” his smile showed a bit more teeth, emphasizing his words with a halfhearted hand wave. Gabriel looked a tad bit too excited for simply ‘spreading the news around’.
If he were to be asked, Aziraphale would leave the question of ‘Do you enjoy Gabriel’s company?’ unanswered. He didn’t necessarily have anything against the dark-haired creature, but he did feel as if a boulder was raised off his chest whenever he walked away. He felt he could breathe again and wouldn’t need to force his expressions after Gabriel was no longer around. Though the same would be said for all other divine beings Aziraphale would face.
Aziraphale watched him leave, the cold shade of purple of Gabriel’s eyes and uneven feathers still fresh in his mind as the taller angel disappeared behind the rows of trees and bushes. Seems I’ve found myself some entertainment he thought to himself. He got up from where he had been sitting at the edge of the pool of glimmering water.
Before he realized it, he started walking in the complete opposite way Gabriel had gone. Perhaps wanting to get away from prying eyes. His eyes were scanning the grass with what anyone would describe as enthusiasm. He hoped to find something, anything that strayed away from cones, fruits, moss, or whatever else the lands had in store for him in this too-perfect realm.
Nothing seemed out of place in his surroundings. He out of anyone would know, for one of the ways Aziraphale enjoyed spending his days was by checking the forest. A boring activity to put it simply, but it was something that kept him busy. He would note any new occurrence. Any new plant that sprouted its leaves. How the fruits changed their color as the days passed. The bark and trunk of trees as it hardened and thickened with age. It was like taking all the books out of a bookcase, just to place them back as they had been before.
It took a bit too long for him to fully ask himself ‘What was he even searching for?’. Of course, he was looking for something out of the ordinary. But now that he skimmed over his thoughts, that could be absolutely anything by any other angel’s standards. For heaven’s sake, what Michael found could’ve easily been a sculpted rock! He’d gotten his hopes up for absolutely nothing.
Aziraphale began feeling discouraged in his already sharpened craft of finding anomalies. He fell onto the roots of an old tree, already feeling the need to sulk.
As he was about to give up on this fruitless search, something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He began cautiously making his way towards it until he could start making out what it was exactly. The item stood out in the green of the damp grass, a dark oak brown with golden accents which formed writing, and the silhouette of a child surrounded by equally golden greenery.
“Andersen’s Fairy Tales”
Aziraphale stared in awe at the book in his hands. He by that point was sitting neatly in the grass, brushing his hands along the somehow familiar letters, golden leaves, and childish figure on the cover. It didn’t hold any magic whatsoever. It looked less harmless than a gentle blooming flower. The weathering of age didn’t help it seem any more malicious either; The once sharp corners were dulled and raw, he could see a few spots where the gold of the cover was flaking, and as he turned it over in his hands, he also noticed the browning pages at its middle- some of them poking out of their assigned spots and bent at the corner.
Despite Gabriel’s former order to bring the item to him as soon as possible, Aziraphale instead opened the artifact. The pages- despite their missing pieces and small stains- were smooth, crammed with earthly smells- which they themselves told a story of what this book had seen- and perfectly stamped black lettering. As Aziraphale took in the details of the book, his eyes began dancing to the contents of its stories. He felt a hunger, a greedy curiosity as he examined each story of princesses and kings, of creatures he’d never heard of before. Of ice queens who took children from their families. Of mermaids who fell in love with humans. Of naïve kings who were played right in front of their subjects. Of Angels who guided kids into the afterlife. Of endings that first seemed bitter but also prickled into sweetness.
It seemed his appetite, which fled due to the conversation with Gabriel, had returned. Aziraphale was taking giant bites of the apple who, up until that point had remained untouched in his hands as he wandered through the woodlands. It eventually found itself watching the angel continue the endless adventures which the book appeared to contain.
Now Aziraphale sat under the thickened branches of an apple tree, along with the discarded core of the fruit he had just consumed. The book was held close to his face, eyes filled with wonder and moving from side to side with the straightened rows of writing.
Time had become something abstract in the confinement of the sprinkled words. Aziraphale was quite sure he felt the chill of night over his skin and the morning dew stick to his fluffy golden curls. He knew he had spent time in this single spot, yet it all warped and fused as more pages were turned. Everything only connected and felt real again once the final page finished its story. The world was as it was before; Just a bit bare, as if something the angel couldn’t quite put his finger on was missing.
He had learned of a new world that he wanted more of. His mind began asking things it had never asked before. If humans had such exhilarating tales crafted in but a single artifact, who was to say that the other two realms didn’t also possess something similar? Could there be even more variety among these small portals the humans created? Was there a continuation to these stories he had laid his eyes upon? How could he find more? Where could he find more? It was something impossible that his thoughts did not wish to let go of.
He needed to find the source of this artifact.