New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

"I want to try something out to get home by my own means. Thanks for offering, though."

Alfred shrugged, uncaring since it wasn't his business.

Once Alex was off the property, the iron gate closing behind him, He looked around to situate himself. He had been here a few times by now, and remembered the path home.

But what he wanted to do was beyond just walk or run home. As he looked around to locate the direction of downtown, he also looked around to see if anyone was looking in his direction.

He only saw a little boy, no older than five, looking at him from a second-floor window, on the opposite side of the street. No one would ever believe what he was about to see, so Alex discarded his presence.

Focus on himself, and closing his eyes, Alexander reached deep inside him, pulling on something that was just an echo of what it should be. He pulled on it until the echo became large enough for him to grab at it mentally.

As soon as he contacted it, he was taken over by the familiar feeling of transformation he had experienced many times. But something different also came with it this time.

Intense pain.

Holding back screams of agony, Alex melded with Morpheus for the first time on this side of the veil, and he groaned and gritted his teeth, as his bone structure changed. Wings soon sprouted from his back, ripping through his skin as they grew.

The skin around the wing bases closed as soon as the wings were out, but he nonetheless bled a bit and stained his shirt. But as soon as they were done growing, Alexander opened his eyes.

The little boy across the street was screaming inside his room, as shown by his mask of terror and wide open mouth. Alex winked at him before launching up into the skies.

It took him a few seconds to get used to his wings again, the flight upward erratic as a result, but he quickly adapted and rose like a rock flung from a sling. Alex rapidly reached a height where the air was thinning and the temperature dropped, and he guessed this would be enough not to attract attention.

He spun around, finding the building where he lived with relative ease, and flapped his wings to alter his course. The cold air biting his skin was not the most pleasant feeling ever, but it didn't feel bad either.

At this altitude, the air smelled different. Less smoggy, with almost a tinge of freshness.

The feeling of flight in his own body also gave him a sense of freedom he hadn't felt in this world in a long time. The last time he felt so free, he was on a zip-line with his father, back when he was a child.

Yet, the two barely compared, as he wasn't in a harness now, and he was free to move like he wished.

At his current altitude, Alexander was passing by clouds, and his curiosity suddenly spiked.

'What does it feel like to pass through a cloud?' he wondered.

There was only one way to find out.

Tilting slightly to the side, he aimed himself directly through a large, white, fluffy cloud and dove inside it.

As he passed through, he felt his skin tingling, and his cheeks became slightly wet, as everything around him turned to white. It took him a few seconds to get completely across, but when came out, his clothes were damp, and his skin was wet, but his face was locked in a smile.

'This is what freedom feels like!' he thought, in glee.

At this moment, he felt like the world below him didn't matter. Like it was just a part of life that he could discard and disappear, never to be found again.

But a small whimper echoed in his mind. It was Morpheus, trying to communicate with him.

When he focused on the feelings the bat was trying to convey, he felt fatigued and understood what the bat meant.

At that moment, his body also got over the feeling of excitement, as the adrenaline in his system passed, and his body instantly felt heavier. He understood he was still too weak to fly for extended periods, and that he needed to reach home fast.

It had barely been a minute, but he knew if he didn't land in the next minute, he would faint and fall to his imminent death. He could already imagine the unrest in the news.

**A man falls from the sky, with no buildings nearby, and splatters on the pavement!**

This would be a terrible thing to see, and he still had a life to live, so he quickly changed his trajectory back to his home. He dove almost straight down, picking up incredible speed, and reached his tower in fifteen seconds.

Flapping his wings crazily, he slowed down his descent, just enough not to crash into his balcony, and landed in catastrophe, rolling to a stop as his back collided lightly with the patio door.

He felt his eyes go heavy, but managed to hold himself awake with much effort. But as he tried crawling back to a sitting position, he heard the door slide open behind him.

"What the hell?! How did you get here? And why is your shirt all torn and bloody?!"

Kary instantly went into panic mode, looking around the balcony, trying to find an enemy that wasn't there, until she heard her boyfriend start laughing weakly.

"Hehehe. Don't worry, nothing is attacking. I just tried something out, and I didn't expect it to result in this. Also, the view is marvellous from a mile up."

Kary looked at him like he had lost his mind. But looking at the sky, and then at him, she caught on quickly with what he meant.

"You came in flying?! Are you insane?! What if someone saw you?"

But Alex couldn't care less, right now, as he let his mind rest from the exertion of melding with Morpheus. His body wasn't yet ready to pull this kind of stunt.

For now, he only wanted to get washed, changed, and rest up for the rest of the day.

He tried pushing on his legs to get up but only ended up almost falling to his face. Kary caught him just in time, keeping him from kissing the concrete.

"Alright, take it slow. I'll help you up. I swear to god, you are one raging dumbass. What I found attractive in you, I sometimes wonder."

Lifting his head, Alex smiled and responded, "My Colgate white smile."

Kary lightly punched him, before laughing her head off as she dragged him inside.