July 31st, 2007
With her hand full from the myriad of plastic bags, Feixue closed the door to her apartment with a light kick. Darkness closed in as the door took its rightful place in the frame, leaving only a faint silvery glow from the window as the sole source of light. In this semi-darkness, Feixue navigated her way through to the kitchen where she dropped off a large number of the bags in her hands. After flicking on the light switch, she took a minute or two to sort out the grocery, stacking the various little packages neatly in the refridgerator or in the pantry.
With the grocery put away, she picked up the remaining two bags and left the kitchen, turning off the light behind her, of course. She remembered how her parents would always tell her to turn off the lights when she leave a room. They said that that would save money on the bills. When she was little, Feixue would laugh at that. "How could a tiny lightbulb use that much electricity?" she had often asked. Now that she was paying her own bills, she knew.
Feixue set down the last two bags she was carrying and moved to draw aside the curtain. The afternoon sun gleamed off of the words "Descending Angels" on the front of the bags, which were obviously fancier than the plain white plastic ones that held the grocery. Feixue sat down at her desk and pushed aside the stack of books for class. She pulled out a big box and, after taking off some of the packaging materials, extracted a winged egg where a small doll floated in pale blue liquid. After digging through the box, she found a little booklet contain some very specific instructions on opening the egg. "Wow...This is the first time I've ever need instructions for getting a doll out of its packaging." Nonetheless, she followed the instructions and prepared a bath for opening the egg.
While the tub was being filled, she looked through the other bag. There was a laptop-like machine and a box of various fabrics and wigs. She took out the laptop and plugged it in, setting up the rest of the contraption exactly as the booklet told her to. When that was done with, she went back to the bathroom and turned off the water.
The winged egg sat on top of her discarded clothes while she slipped into the pool of warm water. "Ah..." she sighed as she closed her eyes for a few minutes, relaxing the comfort of the bath. "Okay, let's see what this Angelic Layer business is about." Reaching over, she grabbed the egg and submerged it in the tub. With a muffled pop, the top half of the egg was seperated from the bottom half. Feixue set asided the plastic shells. "Huh...So this is an angel," she said to herself, her mind already racing with the customization of her doll. Quickly, she finished up the bath and, after wrapping a bath robe about herself, rushed over to her bedroom with the doll. A sense of childish excitement bubbled within unlike any she had ever felt. It reminded her of when, years ago, she finally bought a PlayStation2, and how, on that very night, she stayed up to play the game she bought.
As she entered her room, the box of wigs caught her eye. Feixue sat down on the carpet and opened the box. A silvery tuff of synthetic hair stood out against the blaze of color in the container, and she immediately knew that that was the one. She picked up the wig and placed it on the doll. It was longer than she'd like, and so, with a pair of scissors in hand, she worked on getting it to the right length and style. The several minutes of work yield a cascade of silver hair that fell to just slightly pass the doll's shoulders. She held it up in the slowly fading sunlight to admire her own handy work. The perfectly layered strands gleamed a pale orange in the sunset, and Feixue couldn't help but be slightly jealous of the doll. "The hair that I could never have..."
She turned on the machine and placed her doll within the two circles, which lit up and began to hover, forming a little cylinder of orange-yellow light. The screen on the laptop-like machine lit up and prompted her for the stats of her soon-to-be angel. "Let's see...The booklet said that speed and stamina are important. That's true, but speed would usually mean sacrificing some attack and lots of defense," she reasoned, using those years of gaming experience she had. "A medium weight model sounds good, and attack based to make every hit count." Feixue punched in the specifics as she talked to herself, which have been happening more often lately. Soon, the monitor asked her to name her angel. "A name? Hm..." She typed in V-A-L-K-Y-R-I-E and pressed enter. Looking at her angel, she said, "Valkyrie, after the warrior maiden of Norse mythology who led heros to the afterlife."
After shutting down the machine, she took her angel out of the cylinder of light and examined it. The doll looked back at her with eyes the color of sapphires. Instead of the pale turquoise shade it came in, the doll now had a slightly tan skin. Feixue smiled down at it, "Can't have you sitting around naked, right Valkyrie?" She looked around for something to dress her angel in temporarily and found a light blue hankerchief. Wrapping it around the small body, she tied a bow in the front. She placed the doll on top of a pile of book and set about cleaning up the place.
With the grocery put away, she picked up the remaining two bags and left the kitchen, turning off the light behind her, of course. She remembered how her parents would always tell her to turn off the lights when she leave a room. They said that that would save money on the bills. When she was little, Feixue would laugh at that. "How could a tiny lightbulb use that much electricity?" she had often asked. Now that she was paying her own bills, she knew.
Feixue set down the last two bags she was carrying and moved to draw aside the curtain. The afternoon sun gleamed off of the words "Descending Angels" on the front of the bags, which were obviously fancier than the plain white plastic ones that held the grocery. Feixue sat down at her desk and pushed aside the stack of books for class. She pulled out a big box and, after taking off some of the packaging materials, extracted a winged egg where a small doll floated in pale blue liquid. After digging through the box, she found a little booklet contain some very specific instructions on opening the egg. "Wow...This is the first time I've ever need instructions for getting a doll out of its packaging." Nonetheless, she followed the instructions and prepared a bath for opening the egg.
While the tub was being filled, she looked through the other bag. There was a laptop-like machine and a box of various fabrics and wigs. She took out the laptop and plugged it in, setting up the rest of the contraption exactly as the booklet told her to. When that was done with, she went back to the bathroom and turned off the water.
The winged egg sat on top of her discarded clothes while she slipped into the pool of warm water. "Ah..." she sighed as she closed her eyes for a few minutes, relaxing the comfort of the bath. "Okay, let's see what this Angelic Layer business is about." Reaching over, she grabbed the egg and submerged it in the tub. With a muffled pop, the top half of the egg was seperated from the bottom half. Feixue set asided the plastic shells. "Huh...So this is an angel," she said to herself, her mind already racing with the customization of her doll. Quickly, she finished up the bath and, after wrapping a bath robe about herself, rushed over to her bedroom with the doll. A sense of childish excitement bubbled within unlike any she had ever felt. It reminded her of when, years ago, she finally bought a PlayStation2, and how, on that very night, she stayed up to play the game she bought.
As she entered her room, the box of wigs caught her eye. Feixue sat down on the carpet and opened the box. A silvery tuff of synthetic hair stood out against the blaze of color in the container, and she immediately knew that that was the one. She picked up the wig and placed it on the doll. It was longer than she'd like, and so, with a pair of scissors in hand, she worked on getting it to the right length and style. The several minutes of work yield a cascade of silver hair that fell to just slightly pass the doll's shoulders. She held it up in the slowly fading sunlight to admire her own handy work. The perfectly layered strands gleamed a pale orange in the sunset, and Feixue couldn't help but be slightly jealous of the doll. "The hair that I could never have..."
She turned on the machine and placed her doll within the two circles, which lit up and began to hover, forming a little cylinder of orange-yellow light. The screen on the laptop-like machine lit up and prompted her for the stats of her soon-to-be angel. "Let's see...The booklet said that speed and stamina are important. That's true, but speed would usually mean sacrificing some attack and lots of defense," she reasoned, using those years of gaming experience she had. "A medium weight model sounds good, and attack based to make every hit count." Feixue punched in the specifics as she talked to herself, which have been happening more often lately. Soon, the monitor asked her to name her angel. "A name? Hm..." She typed in V-A-L-K-Y-R-I-E and pressed enter. Looking at her angel, she said, "Valkyrie, after the warrior maiden of Norse mythology who led heros to the afterlife."
After shutting down the machine, she took her angel out of the cylinder of light and examined it. The doll looked back at her with eyes the color of sapphires. Instead of the pale turquoise shade it came in, the doll now had a slightly tan skin. Feixue smiled down at it, "Can't have you sitting around naked, right Valkyrie?" She looked around for something to dress her angel in temporarily and found a light blue hankerchief. Wrapping it around the small body, she tied a bow in the front. She placed the doll on top of a pile of book and set about cleaning up the place.
~Feixue
