Angel begged.
He made himself look as frail and pitiful as he could.
He bought food.
He prayed to the Being of the Nights and Days.
He studied the ever-changing wall of Destruction and Creation.
Angel also learned a few things that would perhaps have been common knowledge for those who didn't have to be chosen.
He learned that he needed to have money put into where it couldn't be seen. No-one, not even a fool, would give even a coin to someone who visibly had a pile of money in a clear plastic bottle.
A jar was the most preferable vassal as no-one would be able to see inside of it, and the clinking of a coin dropping inside and clicking amongst the rest of the pile could be mistaken for clicking against the bottom of the pottery. That only made him more pitiful, and some fools would be tempted to drop a handful more coins inside.
Although beggars were hardly ever kicked or punched as the Stone-Dwellers found it beneath themselves to resort to violence with someone as pathetic as a beggar, sometimes they would steal the jar from Angel. Whereas the Stone-Dwellers thought using violence on a beggar beneath themselves, apparently stealing from one was not, neither was spitting or insulting one.
The last thing Angel learned was that he could never show his face to anyone.
Although all the children in the cathedral had been called 'of Sky', only Angel truly belonged to Sky and worshipped the Being of the Nights and Days. The Stone-Dwellers, although having also come from the Above, no longer associated themselves as belonging to Sky. They seemed to look down upon those who still worshipped the ancient being, and even the majority of the fools did. Only those who either didn't care for that or were the fools of the foolish would still give money to one that belonged to Sky.
Angel, his parents, grandparents and great-grandparents had all belonged to Sky. Although he was young when they had died, he still vividly remembered their hair, blond so pale it looked white, and the same bright blue rims inside of black eyes.
Sometimes he would think about what life would be like if they were still alive, but most often he would dismiss the idea. He couldn't even imagine what life would be like if he hadn't spent twelve years of his life inside the cathedral, so the only image he managed to summon up was that of his parents smiling and him growing up healthy and void of disease.
Angel did a lot of things while he begged, but what he did most was plan.
After spending hours sitting hunched on the cold stone streets of the city, he could do little else. Looking around meant revealing his face, and although he had daydreamed for the first few days, soon everything grew dull.
He silently prayed to the Being of the Nights and Days, he thought of his parents, and he planned.
Angel knew that he couldn't pray forever: eventually even the fools who willingly handed over coins would get suspicious of him continuously asking for money, and by that time he could have died from getting robbed of his belongings and clothing and therefore died of cold, gotten sick from the food and died, or gotten beaten by an accident that wasn't even his fault and died. There were too many variables, too many ways he could die.
The most likely one, however, was getting robbed of his belongings and clothing.
And so, after two more days of pondering about it, Angel decided that he would only beg on Secu'du and Ua'rt, leaving the rest of the week free to store some of the money somewhere else instead of lying in plastic bottles stored in the Temple of Sky as well as try and locate a more stable profession.
—————
Angel had, all those years ago, overheard a conversation between the ever impassive caretaker and a woman with a clear, beautiful voice.
The conversation had seemed friendly and open at first, but the more Angel listened the more he pieced together, the eerier the conversation seemed.
The woman did most of the talking, telling the caretaker how pleased she was that he was there to help the twins, Night and Day, although there always seemed to be a threat lingering in the certain way she spoke.
The caretaker would openly agree with her comments but subtly add in words such as: 'The Dove would naturally support your actions' and 'I'm sure the Dove will like that', meaning that whoever the Dove was would be against it.
And that conversation Angel overheard was a part of one of his plans. It wasn't one he had a lot of faith in, but one he wanted to try.
Angel planned to find the lodgings of the chooser of Night and Day, sneak in, and overhear their classes.
The Cathedral of Hope had offered mandatory classes in the city for its guests as well as several different courses.
Angel had taken the mandatory course 'Ophe' since being able to read and write well was extremely useful, even if his profession didn't require it, as well as the extra courses 'History' and 'Stealth'.
Angel was slightly naive and innocent in his own right, but he was far from foolish. The courses he had chosen, he knew, would laid the foundations for his future. If he had chosen 'Sculpture' or 'Tapestry' he would be an artisan and sold crafts for a living.
The problem with this was that the city was not short of artisans, and in order to compete he would have to have talent, which Angel had no idea of knowing if he did or not.
The other problem was that his entire success depended on who supported him and how long they would continue to support him. If one day someone closely related to the City Lords decided to mock him, no-one would ever buy a craft from him again.
While anyone could learn to be stealthy, even those who were physically lacking. Although it was not as good as a natural imprint of silence, stealth did what it was supposed to. In a way, those who were stealthy enough would easily be able to bypass one with a natural imprint of silence.
While stealth did improve Angel's physique, if only slightly, and his ability to overhear on conversations, it did not change how he acted on the situation.
Angel had to think for himself if he wanted to remain hidden—where to stand, where to walk, when to walk were all aspects he had to consider.
So when Angel wasn't begging, he started to gain experience on how to sneak into places. He entered a bookshop unnoticed, as it was the place he would get in the least trouble for entering, then a shop, then a restaurant.
Angel continued his cycle for three more weeks, having also entered especially shiny buildings with guards, then finally decided that he would find and infiltrate Night and Day's new home.
He prayed for what could be the last time in a few cycles.
'Being of the Nights and Days, bring us freedom
'Forgive our forefathers and the evils of the Day
'Here in Stone, we beseech you to set us free from the horrors of the world
'We bless you and plead for you to set us free
'Forgive us
Angel finally looked up at the Being of the Nights and Days, only his black eyes were no longer sorrowful nor sad, but strangely peaceful and serene in its stillness.