Prologue

“Great, now left parry!  Right parry!  Feint and… Gah, you got it!”

            Valkyrie dropped her sword such that the point stuck in the ground.  She wiped sweat off her brow and smiled at her mentor.  He smiled back and sheathed his blade.

            “You’ve shown progress, Val,” he said, nodding approvingly.  “I’d say you’re well ahead of your fellows.”

            She couldn’t contain her grin.  “Really?”

            He nodded again.  “Well, when you spend as much of your free time sparring as you do, it’s bound to happen.”

            Her smile faltered the slightest bit at that.  “…You know I don’t have much else to do.”

            His hand appeared on her shoulder, comforting.  “Then the others are damned fools for missing out on your company.  Your practice with Sepheline has helped tremendously, I know.  I haven’t seen your eyes reddened in… days, I suppose.”

            She glanced downward, then back into his eyes.  “That doesn’t stop them from being scared.”

            “You know what?  They’re just jealous.”

            “Jealous?”

            He nodded assuredly.  “Yeah, they’re jealous!  I mean, you spend so much time with Sepheline, it almost seems as if you’re her favorite.  And the others don’t like feeling neglected.”

            “…They do realize the only reason for that is the demon, right?”

            He shrugged, then turned and placed a hand on his blade.  “Oh, you know angels.  Always the jealous type.  They don’t really need a reason to feel that way.  But let them be damned, I say!  You’re one of the kindest, smartest, funniest angels around…”

He trailed, turning again, smiling as he unsheathed his sword.  “You wanted to be ambidextrous, or did you change your mind?”

            Valkyrie smiled as she crouched and lifted her sword in her left hand this time.  “Why would I quit?  Switching hands can give you such an advantage.”

            He chuckled a bit.  “I agree.  Now come on, attack me with your left!  Show no mercy!”

            She brandished her blade but hesitated.  She smiled at his bouncing figure, it felt good beyond measure to have an unconditional friend.

            “Illium…” she started, letting her hands droop by her side, “I... I want to thank you.  You are… the best friend I could’ve hoped for, and I know you’ll be there no matter what happens.”

            He smiled and shrugged.  “Oh, what can I say?  You’re the same to me, Val.  Irreplaceable.”

            She smirked and bent her knees, ready for combat.  They made eye contact and he nodded once, then she came onto him in a flurry of steel.

            “Slash right!  Slash left!  Thrust and… parry!”  The practice field was filled with the sound of their clamoring duel.  She twisted, dodging his strike, saw his next attack coming, but her left hand faltered and his lightning follow-up nicked her in the side.

            She stumbled backward, wincing.  He sheathed his blade and stepped forward, looking at the wound as she smoothed it over with her hand.

            “Oh, sorry Val!”

            She shook off his apology.  “No, I’m just not quite quick enough on my left yet.  Besides, when Sepheline’s your goddess…”

            She trailed, light glowed from her hand and the skin mended itself.  Illium was watching, when she looked back up, he was staring at the distant sun setting over Elysium.

            “Well, Val,” he started, stretching, “our turn for night duty’s just about here.  We should probably report to the temple, we probably shouldn’t be late again…”

            She snorted at the memory.  They had been sparring long past their prescribed time and when they’d arrived, the angels on duty had been furious.  They had something of a reputation for being late…

            She tossed her blade over to her right hand and stowed it in her sheath.  “You’re right.  And let’s not forget our armor this time either.”

            He laughed at that, recalling another memory.  She walked by his side, smiling, as they made their way to Sepheline’s barracks.

            Red dashed across her sight all of a sudden, she shook her head and focused on the light.  She’d control it, she had to control it.  She’d made so much progress and couldn’t afford to lose that now.

            But it flashed again and her hand clenched against her blade.  Illium looked at her, brows clenched in concern.  “Val?  You alright?”

            She waved it off like it was nothing.  “Of course!  I was just thinking that we should probably hurry, the sun is setting fast…”

            The red flashed again, almost leaving her dazed.  But she kept pace with Illium and arrived at the temple.

            She’d keep the demon contained.  She couldn’t afford to do anything else.

 

The silence of her cell was screamed into oblivion as the heavy iron door swung inward.  A wedge of brilliant, blinding light entered unwelcome and grew, billowed outward until she could see nothing but white nihility.  She blinked, sat up and tried to make sense of the sight before her, but even as her eyes began to focus, a black silhouette swept forward like the Reaper to seize her soul.

            “No… No!” she cried, thrashing about as she felt his callous hands lay hold to her.  The sounds of her shackles banging against the stone and the clean tinkling of the guardsman’s armor made the cell sound like a battlefield.  She clawed at his helmet, dug her fingers into his arm… anything to avoid judgment.

            One of the frantic fingers found its place beneath the cold steel mask, and she pried it off just as his meaty hands held her arms to her side.  The helmet clattered away, spinning on the floor, and as her eyes adjusted to compensate for the half-lit cell, she recognized the face before her.  His eyes were blue like the most valuable sapphires, his hair was blonde, golden like the precious metal itself… just like hers.

            “You… you know what they’re going to do to me…” she sobbed as he lifted her to her feet and tied her hands behind her back.  “We’re friends, d****t, don’t do this!”

            He stood behind her, checking the bonds and shaking them as if making sure they’d hold.  She felt his breath against her back, felt his hands tremble as they finished the knot.  He spoke, his voice acerbic.  “…Friends, huh?  They sure mean a lot to you, don’t they?”

            Her throat ran dry, she blinked tears away, tears that sprang as if they could justify her.  “He… he was my friend… I never would have hurt him…”

            He turned her around none too gently and tied a gag around her mouth.  “…I’d say you’re getting nothing less than you deserve.”

            She bit against the rag, tear-stricken eyes begging with all their being.  Still, he shook his head, replaced the helmet, and with a hand on her back he shoved her forward.

            She stumbled and barely regained balance before stepping outside into the luminous hallway.  As she looked back over her shoulder, her eyes were filled with the pangs of betrayal. Behind the gag her lips trembled, all the tears and snot soaking into the cloth.  He broke eye contact and pushed her again, gentler this time.  Hunched, head hanging low and dejected, she let him guide her.  She knew the sounds of her screams would get her nowhere, nor would the struggle against her bonds.  Like everything else the Divines declared… her punishment was law.

            Looking up, she saw the twin pearly doors through her tear-blurred vision.  Like anyone else who had spent their life within these walls, she knew what lay within.

            I-I can’t believe it.  This…  Th-This is the day that I die…

            She began trembling with her whole being, and as the angel pushed the doors along their elegant hinges, she was able to do nothing but watch… then walk through.  Like a good prisoner.

            He gestured for her to enter, and she listened as the sounds of her bare feet slapping on the marble floor shattered the silence of the room.  There was nothing, nothing but her footsteps.  One, two, three, she counted, each echoing tenfold in the grand expanse of the room.  Four, five, six, as if her death deserved a countdown.

            She stepped up on the tiny circular pedestal in the center of the room, felt the glaring heat as the sunlight shone through the overhead skylight.  She bowed her head, felt hundreds of stares glued to her ragged body, bound as it were.  These were friends, brothers, sisters… all gathered to watch her burn.

            But there was one stare even more blazing, more radiant, more heartbroken than the rest.  She stared at her bare feet, knowing well how it would feel to behold the stare of her goddess.

            “…Look at me, angel,” said the great, high, authoritative voice in the front of the chamber.

            She bit hard on the gag and shook her head, watched the tears drip and splat on the marble below.

            “…I said to look at me!” the goddess snarled, the sudden noise jolting the angel to her senses.

            The goddess stared back, her golden eyes shining across the chamber until they seemed to pierce the angel’s very soul.  She backed away, almost stepped off the pedestal but was stopped when she heard a dozen halberds click into position behind her.

            “…You told me that you’ve learned to control it… and yet here we are, weeks later, a bloodied corpse the only thing to show for all your progress…” the goddess muttered, rising to her feet and walking across the chamber.

            The angel’s breath was caught in her throat. There was a look in the eyes of her matron, one that ran rather contrary to her expected anger.  She blinked sadly, disappointedly, as if she wished she was mad but found herself unable.

            “That… that demon is to blame, I know.  I know that at heart you’d never break our laws, you’re far too loyal…”  The goddess’s eyes were cast downward, her arms were folded about her chest.  “But here, the law stands irrevocable and even I cannot break it…”

            The angel almost stepped forward to plead, beg for her life, but as she took the step she heard a dozen crossbows click, aimed at her broken heart.

            “…I… I gave you a chance and you gave me a corpse… the bloodied, broken body of one of my finest…” the goddess trailed, head shaking.  “It’s hard for me to justify you, but as always you have the right to make your case…”

            Crouching, frowning, the goddess stooped and pulled the gag free.  Breathless, the angel fell to her knees, bound hands still behind her back.

            “E-Everyone thinks I’m a monster, a murderer… can’t you understand that he was my friend?  He was… he was my best friend…”

            The other bent down, eyes cast downward with disappointment.  “…He’s dead all the same…”

            “I… I’m getting better… you’ve helped me…”

            “…You killed another angel and the law stands.”

            Sepheline stood tall once more and shut her eyes, nodding half-heartedly at someone outside the angel’s line of vision.  “…Go ahead.  Do it.”

            The angel crouched, saw the cruel steel axe in her mind’s eye.  It was rising, singing as it parted the air, singing as it parted her flesh.  So much life, so many years, so much laughter, so much sadness… only to be ended in a single silver stroke.

            “Wait, Sepheline!” she cried out, her voice cracking.

            The goddess turned and blinked, her attention making the executioner hesitate.  Between heaving breaths, from a sweaty visage, the angel looked up at her mistress, childlike fear springing from her eyes.

            “I… I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…  I wish I could bring him back, but… but he’s gone… and I can’t do anything but apologize!”

            The goddess crouched, she hesitated, a hand on her servant’s shoulder.  Still, the angel’s eyes were cast abjectly at the ground.  “…Justice, angel, justice is necessary.”

            The angel’s stare broke at the betrayal, and in an instant, she saw the goddess careful façade melt.  She thought of all the time they’d spent together, mentor and student.  This person had been her rock through the storm, her confidante, her shoulder to cry on.  “The guilt…  Isn’t that suffering enough?  I… I don’t want to die…” she hiccupped.

            Sepheline stared deep into the prisoner’s eyes, and her internal struggle was obvious.

            The angel spoke up, her feeble voice squeaking.  “R-Remember what you told me?  An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind…”

            “No one likes their own advice turned on them…”

            Sepheline turned such that her back was almost to the angel.  Her voice dropped low, but in the utter silence of the chamber the volume hardly mattered.

            “…Pandemonium,” she muttered.

            Chills shot down the angel’s spine, so cold it was as if she were laying on a bed of ice.  “…P-Pardon?”

            “Pandemonium,” Sepheline repeated, louder this time.  “…Perhaps you can find yourself there.”

            The angel’s mouth worked fruitlessly.  She’d heard the stories, she’d heard the legends…  Angels couldn’t survive, estranged from the heavens, even visiting Halcyon for too long would cause them to decay.  But traveling to Pandemonium… that was tantamount to suicide.

            “It’s settled, then,” Sepheline stated, nodding to someone else in the room.  “Prove yourself worthy of return, show me that you can control what led you to kill your brother.”

            The angel’s face fell grave and she bowed her head as if the executioner’s axe was still falling.  That was a land without law, without conscience.  “Down there it’s… it’s kill or be killed.  Predator or prey.  I… I’m not a killer, don’t you understand…?” 

            She felt Sepheline’s hand on her chin, pulling her face up to look her mistress in the eye.  “…You’ll land in Halcyon, from there, I’ll force you no further.  But if you want back… you know what must be done.”

            “E-Even there, I’ll waste away!  You know as well as I do what happens to exiles!”

            Sepheline looked down, her hand appeared on one of the angel’s.  “…I’ve trained you well in the art of war, you have what it takes.  But do know return is impossible until justice has been satisfied, until you’ve suffered enough… until then… goodbye, Valkyrie.”

            “…Please,” the angel whispered.

            The platform shot out from under her without warning and she screamed as vertigo stole her senses.  Her hands still bound, she couldn’t even flail as she plummeted out of Elysium and down towards earth.

            In distress, she screamed as if someone could hear.

            In grief, she sobbed as if someone could comfort.

            Silently, she prayed as if the winds could help her plight.