Descent of Nightmare (Chapter Twenty-One)
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saladloveChapter list: https://tanadin.dreamwidth.org/650.html
Map of Kaldriel: https://i.gyazo.com/332b0c0172dcc60acb46
Rough map of Hatu: https://i.gyazo.com/ea4f9f51b9dc7b9d8b86
Chapter Twenty-One
Disenchanted
Akrar, Kaldriel. November 10, 2277. Time instance 842N.
Gali shut the door behind her as she and Jimmy stepped into the house they shared, trying to calm her racing heartbeat and the anxiety growing within. She followed Jimmy over to the couch and sat down next to her, drumming her fingers against its arm and pointedly not looking at Jimmy until she tapped Gali’s shoulder, drawing her attention.
“So… this changes things, I suppose.” Jimmy looked anxious too, but she swallowed it more easily than Gali did. “I don’t know how I didn’t, well, know, but…”
“I’m sorry,” Gali interrupted. “I’m sorry I didn’t… I don’t know, tell you or something. I just...thought you knew, and I don’t use my nevtir powers much because I’m not very good at them and it takes a lot of energy so their uses are really specific and day-to-day life doesn’t really call for them and fighting the cyborgs-”
“Gali.” Jimmy put a hand on her shoulder and leaned closer, looking deep into her eyes. “It’s okay. This just…changes something, is all.” Jimmy looked annoyed. “I need to look into becoming immortal. I’m not leaving you on your own after I die.”
“That would be terribly sad,” Gali agreed. “I’d been trying not to think about it, which is why I didn’t bring it up.”
“Probably best that you didn’t. I would have been confused.”
Gali nodded and leaned against Jimmy, sighing in quiet relief and shutting her eyes. They remained that way for several minutes until Jimmy spoke again, making Gali look up at her.
“How did you end up in IAL? I’d assumed you’d been born there, as you’d never mentioned being transferred, but that’s...probably not the case, is it?”
“No, it’s not,” Gali agreed. “Well, to start with, I’m sixty years old.”
“Sixty! You never-”
“Nobody ever asked how old I was on my birthday!”
“I thought you were nineteen when we met, like me! So I just...assumed!”
“Nope.” Gali winked at her. “I’m an old lady.”
“Gross.”
“Jimmy!”
Jimmy giggled and nudged her. “Keep talking. I don’t mind that you’re ancient.”
Gali rolled her eyes before continuing. “Anyway, I was born in the Plane of Shadow but left when I was really young. I’m not a very good nevtir- I can’t use most of my abilities, like for example we’re good at enchanting things but I’m just...not. I was ridiculed a lot as a kid and eventually a group of other nevtir tried to kill me. The Shadowmother- that’s what I call her, anyway, the elemental Incarnation of shadow- gave me the power and will to get back up and run, run out of the Plane of Shadow and escape to Kaldriel.
“I met a water elemental willing to take me off of the Infinity Cascade and I ended up in Kesron Minor, with no ability to take human form, no way to get more elemental energy, and only a crash course in English. I hid in an alley and met a tall girl who dragged me into a secret base and invited me to join her group of thieves.” Gali paused, wrapping her arms around herself. “Her name was Leo. She’s where I got my middle name. Leo introduced me to Vess, another thief and a vampire, and Scorp, our fence. Leo herself was half-elemental, although she didn’t use her powers often. Together, we were the Varnic, and they taught me English and I eventually managed to take human form.” She reached up and ran her fingers over the ever-present purple mask on her face. “We wore these,” she said softly. “Leo had the white mask, Vess red, and Scorp blue. I took the purple when I joined, which had been worn by their previous leader Karen. I never did learn what happened to her…
“Anyway, we stuck together and did pretty well until the invasion. We were out getting pancakes when we heard the first screams.” Gali shivered and Jimmy hugged her tighter. “Vess died helping me stand after I fell to the ground. Scorp and Leo fought one of the alien units and he destroyed it, but a second one killed...killed Leo.” Gali shook and buried her face in Jimmy’s chest. “I don’t know if Scorp made it out alive. I don’t see how he could have. I was knocked unconscious by a falling building and awoke shortly before being registered in the Mainframe’s databanks. They learned of my past and I was put immediately in IAL because they knew I couldn’t be useful anywhere else.” She paused. “I saw Tanadin on the train so I recognized her when she approached me about a few months in. We got to know each other and when she set up the Black Market in Kyir’s basement, I was one of the first to join.”
“Apparently she didn’t know you as well as you thought,” Jimmy mumbled. “She didn’t even know you were an elemental.”
“I could have sworn I mentioned it,” Gali muttered. “I must not have. Or she forgot.”
“She might have forgotten,” Jimmy agreed. “She forgets things sometimes.”
Gali leaned back and raised an eyebrow. “Can you blame her? She’s got a lot on her mind.”
Jimmy nodded slowly. “She does,” she agreed. “I don’t envy her.”
~~~
Geluu sat easily in a chair next to Nine, nodding at him slightly before turning to Talmarian. As always, Shaadhun loomed behind him, but she didn’t seem to be as tense around them as she used to be. Still, Geluu eyed her warily, meeting her eyes briefly. She was a powerful demon, and he had a feeling that he’d get a few more scars if he were to battle her.
Shaking it off, he cleared his throat and leaned forward, drawing attention to himself. “We’ve gotten quite a bit out of our angel friend downstairs. He says they’ll be attacking through the Ruby Gate next, followed by Topaz, Emerald, Diamond, and Opal, unless plans change. After that, he doesn’t know, and I doubt the Archangels do either. He gave us a rough approximation of how many of each class of angel there are, and comparing that to Terok’s guess- he’s our fallen angel, Cataclysm’s nephew, if you didn’t know- we can take a stab at their numbers. In short, it’s not good. Hell outnumbers Heaven, but they’re far more equal if you discount the…” Geluu made a vague hand motion, the word escaping him.
“Hellions?” Nine suggested, and Geluu nodded swiftly.
“Right. The Hellions. They’re the weak, almost animal-like demons, right?”
“Yes.” Talmarian leaned forward to look at the map, tapping the location of the Emerald Gate thoughtfully. “I’m not surprised that they’re going through all the major gates early on, but Emerald surprises me. It’s a medium-sized gate that isn’t often used, as far as we know. I wonder what they’re thinking there…”
“Trying to throw us off, I’d guess.” Nine crossed his arms. “Well, they didn’t anticipate us finding out.”
“That’s another thing.” Talmarian leaned back in his seat. “How did you convince that angel to tell you? I didn’t take you for the type to torture someone.”
Geluu snorted. “We didn’t. We sent in Cataclysm.”
Talmarian raised an eyebrow. “Cataclysm?”
“He’s the black-winged angel, isn’t he?” Shaadhun asked, startling Geluu as he’d never heard her speak before. Her voice was deep and gruff, almost like she was chewing up the words before letting them out. “The one with demon horns and a single eye.”
“That’s him,” Nine confirmed. “He used to be an angel but something happened that got him thrown out of Heaven directly into Hell. Some crazy bitch found him and turned him into what he is now. I don’t know how he escaped, and I’m not about to ask.”
“Edme,” Talmarian hissed. “I’d bet my horns it was Edme that found him. Damn her! I thought the rumors of her getting her hands on an angel were just paranoia or her own doing, but apparently not. I’d love to know how he got away from her, but I suppose that now isn’t the time.”
“No, it’s not,” Geluu agreed.
“So how did Cataclysm get the information out of him?”
Nine snorted with laughter. “He walked in and sharpened his feathers. The poor angel almost had a panic attack on the spot, he told me, and taking a few slow steps forward was enough to have him sobbing for mercy. Geluu was back in the room in ten seconds flat.”
“And I’d just sat down, too.” Geluu rolled his eyes. “He didn’t seem to know much of anything that could help us but we’ll keep pushing for as long as we can. Until then, let’s get everyone ready for the next attack, at the Ruby Gate.”
“And when is that?” Talmarian asked, eyes glowing slightly brighter.
“Tomorrow, the angel said, but Terok and Cataclysm agreed that they’ll probably wait another day because they sustained such heavy losses.”
Talmarian nodded sharply. “Tomorrow, then. If they don’t show, then it’ll be a nice surprise.”
~~~
It was night, evidenced by the dimming and blueing of the light in Heaven. It was never dark, not really, but even this dimness was enough to make Myrzen uncomfortable. After all he’d seen that day, he didn’t want anything more to do with darkness, not even the ‘night’ that was the darkest he’d ever known the world to be.
All he could see behind his eyelids when he blinked was images of his allies being blown apart, demons tearing into fellow Guardians, and half-metal humans firing precisely into the heads of those without shields. Tremors wracked his body as he walked, arms crossed and silver wings folded tightly against his back.
The word had gone out that they weren’t going to attack through the Ruby Gate tomorrow, as they’d planned. It would take another day before the Guardians were recovered and reassigned into position enough to go back into battle. Myrzen’s commanding officer had been killed, and he was only one of many angels waiting to be reassigned.
And yet, he was one of the lucky ones. He’d escaped physically unscathed and, most importantly, alive. Glancing around at angels he passed showed that they were as troubled as he was, and most of them hadn’t even gotten through the gate. They’d seen the wrecks of the angels that had returned, but most of all they hadn’t seen the ones that had been slain by the machines.
Myrzen was shaken out of his thoughts when he almost ran into another angel, sidestepping and stumbling to avoid falling and apologizing as he looked up from the ground at their face. She smiled at him, insisting that it was fine, when he blurted her name in recognition.
“Damia Luos! You’re… you’re a rank five Seer!”
She nodded, friendly green eyes twinkling. She spread her sky blue wings slightly, soft feathers blending together in the low light. “I am. And you’re a rank one Guardian, one who had the misfortune of going through the Sapphire Gate earlier today.”
“I…” Myrzen nodded, gaze sliding away from hers. “Yes. I did.”
“I’m so sorry.” He glanced back up at how genuine her voice sounded, and was surprised to see tears prickling at the corners of her eyes. “I saw the carnage from here. I’m so, so sorry you had to witness that in person.” She gently placed a hand on his shoulder and her eyes flashed dimly. “But you have somewhere to be.”
Myrzen tilted his head. “I do?”
“Yes. You need to go back to where they will give you your new assignment in the morning. You can be helpful to someone along the way if you hurry.”
Myrzen nodded, taking a step back and bowing slightly. “I will! Don’t worry, I won’t let you down!”
“I know,” Damia said softly as he took off running back the way he came. Myrzen considered taking to the air but figured that he wouldn’t be accessible to whoever needed his help if he was flying, so he strained his legs and raced across the landscape of Heaven.
He couldn’t keep that pace up forever, though, and eventually slowed to a walk, suddenly aware of how quiet it was. This area of Heaven tended to be more crowded, but now it was almost empty, the few angels that were out and about slipping away from each other with their heads down and wings folded. Myrzen passed between the buildings, looking around at the few angels he could see and his heart sank further and further with each one.
We’ve only been fighting for one day and we’re already this down. What’s it going to be like months or years in? Will we even survive? Myrzen shoved his hands in his pockets, lowering his head as he continued to walk. How am I supposed to help anyone like this?
Angry voices caught Myrzen’s attention and his head snapped up. To his left, a familiar angel- the Purifier he had protected in the battle earlier that day, he realized- was backed against a wall, dark red wings folded tightly behind her back and fingers gripping her staff so tightly they turned white. Two other angels- Guardians, Myrzen noted with anger- were standing in front of her, wings half-spread in an aggressive position as they moved closer to her.
“You let Kahzan die!” one of them snarled, stepped forward and clenching his fists. “You were assigned to him, weren’t you? And you let him die!”
“She’s probably working for the demons,” the other grumbled, raising his wings further. “Look at her. She’s clearly demon-tainted.”
“Please leave me alone,” the Purifier whispered, but was almost covered up by their growls. One of them started to raise a hand, as if to strike her.
Myrzen didn’t think about what he was doing as he leaped forward, flapping his wings to propel him further. He shouted “Hey!” and stormed up to them, spreading his wings fully in an aggressive stance and making both of them take a couple of steps back. They were both rank two as indicated by the small stars on their shirts, higher than him but not above being confronted for their actions. “Leave her alone!”
“She let my commanding officer die!” the first angel snapped.
“No, she didn’t. I was there when he was shot- one second he was fine, the next he was in a bunch of tiny pieces. Not even Archangel Festra could have saved him.”
The two angels looked at him for a moment more before slowly lowering their wings. “Oh. Well.” The first angel looked embarrassed and the second just coughed awkwardly. “We...should be going now.”
“That would be for the best.” Myrzen didn’t relax until they were both out of sight, turning to the Purifier to see if she was okay.
“Thank you,” she whispered, slowly unclenching her hands from around the staff. “I wasn’t sure how I was going to get out of that one.”
Myrzen frowned. “Do people do this to you often?”
She nodded. “Unfortunately.” She spread her wings slightly, indicating her red feathers. “I was lucky to become a Purifier at all with these. It took Tirion’s word that I would be good to convince them to let me in.” She sighed. “Sometimes I wonder if I should have just gone with the Punishers. At least then people wouldn’t mess with me.”
“I thought other Guardians at least would know better than to judge someone based on wing color,” Myrzen muttered. “They’re rank two, even.”
“Rank doesn’t matter. It was Archangel Festra who didn’t want me to join the Purifiers.”
Myrzen’s eyes widened. “An Archangel? But… but they… they don’t…” His wings drooped. “I thought… I thought they’d be above…”
The Purifier shook her head sadly. “They’re not. Nobody is, it seems.” She folded her wings tightly against her back. “Thank you for the save, but I need to get home.”
“What? Oh, right.” Myrzen nodded and stared at the ground as she left, mind and heart in turmoil.
If even the Archangels could fall so easily to hate, what chance did everyone else have?
