♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Elaine ⋅• ♱Amber eyes, short hair.I’d still be able to recognize that face anywhere."I hope you’ll be able to forgive me for being late," he said as he bowed in front of me.Samael.The angel Samael.No.The fallen angel - Samael. The one who fell not by choosing a side but by his own crimes in the midst of an internal war.Angels fought all over the place, but Samael... he was busy using his brothers as lab rats.It did not exist in all hell - who did not know this information -, and when I saw myself together that man, Calisto made sure to tell me.'Don’t trust Samael' he told me that night as he looked at me with the same expression as someone who really cares.Smile.In the end, it wasn’t in Samael that I couldn’t trust."Don’t worry about it" I said as I reached out to the chair "sit down, Prince Asmodeus told me he wanted to... talk."He nodded and bluntly sat at the table, his eyes fixed on me as if I were a rare creature.That look had bothered me man
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱"I think after that, we will meet more often" Samael’s voice was all I heard before he bowed with a confused expression and walked away from the tea table."Elaine?" I called her and the bright eyes stared happily at me.I didn’t know what Samael had said, but I would surely kill him if she were crying now."You came back fast," she said standing up and I smiled as she practically ran up to her and touched her face."Okay? He said something unpleasant? You don’t need to hear that thing... the emperor said..." she laughed and interrupted me."I’m fine" spoke and his hand landed on my "so please... can you relax a little? The priest told me nothing too much and also agreed to be close to us."I blinked."What is it?""He said he could stay in the palace if it was better for me, that he can use one of the rooms as a laboratory as long as no employee goes there."My mind felt like a complete mess. It made no sense at all.Had Samael agreed to this? Had he agreed to go
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Calisto ⋅• ♱My eyes could not turn away, even if I tried, I could not not not look at her.She was smiling. She was smiling as tears fell down her cheeks. He was smiling at the blonde woman in front of him who caressed his face and seemed to say that everything would be fine.'Where?' I asked myself as my body leaned against the wooden wall. As I went through the last months, the last years. Where had Asra stopped loving me? Where did she...'She said she would love me until her last breath, she said that...'It didn’t matter, right?No.My eyes remained fixed on both."Now... it doesn’t matter..." I heard myself whisper "I lost her."A low laugh made me turn my face to the side."Lost her?" Asmodeus asked me with eyes full of anger, but somehow... I just didn’t have the energy for him. To your mockery, your silly discussions."Prince Asmodeus" I spoke with one hand on my face "I don’t want to argue with you, so... could you leave me alone?""At peace? At peace
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Elaine ⋅• ♱"I’m not Asra," she said with trembling lips "it may seem crazy, it may seem meaningless, but... it’s the truth. A few months ago, I woke up in Asra’s body, in Calisto’s arms. I thought it was some kind of dream... or whatever, something that would end soon.""Dream?" I put my eyebrows together and she laughed low."Well..." sighed "where I lived... in a distant era of this, you, Callisto, Asmodeus - all were just characters in a story.""Characters?""Yes, characters from a book."I raised one eyebrow in complete surprise and confusion."Then...""So when I opened my eyes and faced this world for the first time, I thought I was asleep. I thought that after reading this work so many times... I had had a dream extremely lived."The more Asra spoke, the more it seemed confused and at the same time - it made sense."I heard Callisto receive the information about his emergence and how it was a dream... I wanted to try to change history" she laughed and m
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱Elaine had relived it. Again and again.Even if I tried to understand, even if I tried with all my might to be understanding, I still knew I was unable to measure how painful it had really been for her."At first... I saw Callisto as a salvation" she said with tears in her eyes and all I could do was try to hug her, comfort her like an idiot who didn’t know where to start. " It was all horrible, painful and then he was there. It was comfortable, it was hot... I wanted so much to be happy, but I was afraid. That "God" had given me everything and all I could do was to be obedient and do what he told me to do, but... what if he told me to take Callisto’s life? What if what I needed was to rip the heart out of the one being who deigned to be kind to me? It was painful..." she murmured between tears running down her cheeks like water in a waterfall "it was horrible, at least the first time."My mouth opened, but like a complete idiot, I couldn’t say anything."I questio
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Loren ⋅• ♱It hurt.My whole body ached, hurt every inch, as if even my nails could be sore, yet my hand rose in the air to reach my nanny’s face, who now cried as she stood on her knees beside my bed."Young master..." she whimpered with her eyes completely filled with tears, tears she would shed for me.Smile. A forced smile that I had learned to master since everything seemed to get worse. Well, at least I expected that - so it wasn’t so scary, but for Abbadon, it seemed too painful."It’s all right, Abbadon. No need to cry... I’m really fine" I lied.After so long watching Dad and Abbadon worry, I had become a great liar. So good that I forgot when it started, if it was the first time, it was simply a 'not hurting, I swear' or if I gave the excuse that I got used to giving 'I was painting, not blood, just paint, see?'.It didn’t really matter, did it?Uncle Asmodeus had told me that lies are part of life and for now, I was still alive.Abbadon’s hand shook m
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Asmodeus ⋅• ♱"It won’t work" the blond said as he threw himself on the couch "it doesn’t matter if you’re going to try one or 5000,000 times."Asmodeus grunted."You should be HELPFUL, not walking around."The blond man laughed."Oh, heavens! Are you disappointed, Prince Asmodeus?""Yes" the demon said without at least disguising "I’m extremely disappointed" his toes with pointed nails slipped through the dark wood of the desk "do you know by chance the work I had to pick up his remains? I had to go... UPSTAIRS" growled "I had to deal with... angels..." he seemed about to vomit as he spoke the word and the blond man looked at the ceiling as he decided whether or not to be offended."It’s a shame for you that I can’t use all my skills, isn’t it?""A feather?" Asmodeus threw himself back, letting his body just fall with gravity "not a pity, my dear. It’s a disaster, I wanted to be with my daughter... I..."He sighed and the blond nodded.He understood, understood
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱Elaine said she’d live it all over again. That day where we sat in the garden and she was next to me, where she smiled upon discovering the truth - she said she would relive. I would relive your worst nightmare to be by my side again.That was the first time anyone ever told me that knowing me... was worth it.When we held hands and entered the palace, I told about Callisto’s decisions, about how he had accepted Asmodeus' suggestion, how he had asked for the palace back and how we would both have to leave."Leave?" Elaine stared at me."Yes" I sighed "this palace is of Callisto" my words came out with a mixture of irritation and understanding.It was really natural for us to get out of there, it was natural when the king’s mistress was separating from him, but... it was at that very moment that I realized how ridiculous the system of rules and laws of the kingdom was."So... where are we going?" Elaine asked as she leaned on my shoulder.That was a question I had a
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Azrael ⋅• ♱I watched her without realizing it, watched until the sun was setting and the barrier surrounding Samael’s plan was thinner, until the rune fragment she sent me was strong enough to enter."Don’t be an idiot," I remembered as my wings throbbed, "there’s no room for kindness, not after all you’ve done, don’t be such a hypocrite".I swallowed hard and a smile easily appeared on my lips when I crossed. It was like a fog touching my skin, a comfortable cold, a feeling I had missed even without realizing it.What the hell was I thinking? What was going on with me?I closed my eyes tightly, but my wings just beat, just took me there, to that breathless breath and that smile that could be felt in her voice when she called me."Azrael!" His arms wrapped around my neck and... had they always been so warm?"I thought you couldn’t come..." whispered her face down to my neck, I could feel her lips arched into a smile "okay? Did you get hurt getting past the barri
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Azrael ⋅• ♱The child began to be able to move gradually, in a way that was still a little time consuming and different from his usual, from the child who ran around and insisted so much to have his little body in that garden.His speech had returned too, his voice was less guttural, more understandable and a smile that was not painful could be seen, one that was not put on that face just because of the melancholy of Callisto."Look! You can move your arms better now" the quartz eyes were flickering as you said that as something equivalent to Loren’s first steps, as if that was some kind of novelty that should be celebrated with various gifts and a party "how is your breathing? Something still burns?" tried to caress that small face as if it was something that would break by any slip on his part.Loren was now like a valuable piece of porcelain, one that could not risk being damaged after being restored."I’m fine, Dad..." the child’s voice was still low when to
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Elaine ⋅• ♱"I like stars," he said while playing with a pearl between my fingers "I like how they look, how they’re bright and beautiful. I like purple, I like how the sun in this world is red, even though here where Samael lives he looks different."Keir smiled, his hands still playing by my hair."What else?" asked me with her face resting on my thighs."I like salty foods, slightly spicy, bittersweet and especially the dessert that the boss of the mansion always makes." The one that looks like jelly with syrup."Pudding? ' She asked me smiling from the corner and I nodded."That’s right, pudding.""Um, um, uh...""I also like pretty dresses, braided hair, flat shoes, delicate swords..." I continued to list "I like hardcover books and slow songs.""And old scrolls? You live surrounded by them" Keir joked, his lips arched in a mischievous smile that made my heart beat."Silly" I hit with my fingertips on his nose."I know, I know" gave up "continue... what els
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Quinn ⋅• ♱His arms wrapped around my body and then everything seemed to be fine.I no longer felt the blood, nor the weight of the souls that I plucked, that I hurt."Everything will be fine" he repeated as a melodic song and if it was Calisto who told me those things... I naturally believed."How can you not like it here?" I asked as I stared at that landscape, the sky, the grass that resembled a red foliage. The stars that always shone in the sky almost always cloudy.Calisto snorted."I don’t know..." he said sincerely "maybe... I just can’t see the beauty of hell when I didn’t have you by my side."A twinge struck my chest, a twinge of happiness and hope."Fool" I mocked wrapping my arms around his neck.I loved that being.He loved his color-changing eyes, loved his foolish way of thinking that the world was more beautiful outside of hell. He loved the way the rebellious waves of black hair he had struggled to unravel around his delicate face.I loved the
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Calisto ⋅• ♱I could not sleep.My eyes weighed and weighed, but I could not sleep - because there, in my arms -, there was a fragile being who did not seem able to open his eyes again.Whenever everything was cloudy and sleep pulled me down, I saw myself awakening in fright and looking at him.Checking.Checking to see if he was still alive, if he was still breathing.It was every day, every second - more complicated to watch, to watch."You should rest," Azrael told me one night, his eyes sharply in pain as he stared at the child, my child."How?" I heard myself ask, Loren’s sleeping face was so pale I had to put my fingers close to her nostrils to make sure he was still alive."Samael is good" he said hoping to console me, but it didn’t work.How would it work?"Then why haven’t we heard from you?" I practically growled, my hands closed in fists, tears burning in my eyes "I sent letters and more letters... I... I did everything I could... I DEMANDED answers a
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Asmodeus ⋅• ♱"Asmodeus is a great...""This time it’s going to work," I said ignoring the voice of that damn demon in my earring as I focused on that crystal, that crystal I was able to form from Quinn’s blood."You’ve been repeating this since...""Shut up" growled tearing the earring from my ear and throwing it at the wall.I wasn’t in the mood to be careful about whether or not I could hurt him or even break his prison.I was just tired.I wanted to see her."It needs to work" I muttered as I imbued more and more magic in that little crystal "work, work..." I kept repeating, as if somehow that was a stupid mantra - strong enough to make everything work; but nothing could be easy when it was for me, right?Nothing worked as it should.I bit my mouth hard, the fangs thrust into my lip until a sliver of blood came down my chin.I couldn’t see her, I couldn’t be with her or protect her. I couldn’t go to her even though time was passing and yet, the least I was a
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Loren ⋅• ♱My eyes weighed, my belly looked strange and at times it was like floating in my own body.I could feel my father’s affection as he tried to talk and distract me, but now even opening his mouth was a complicated task."It’s going to be okay" he repeated and at that point I already knew he was saying it more to himself than to me."I know" I wanted to answer while smiling, but my mouth did not move, in fact, opening my eyes was already a gigantic effort, so I was content to grunt and hold her hand.It wasn’t a squeeze, I couldn’t even call it anything but touch. A soft, almost nonexistent touch that my father should be questioning if it was real.He was sad, wasn’t he? Abbadon should also be, but after I started sleeping more than 17 hours a day, she was no longer there, just Dad.A version of Dad who stared at me with a red face from crying."Do you want to hear a story?" He asked me with a broken voice and I forced myself to smile, forced my face to
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Samael ⋅• ♱I blinked."What was it?" she asked me as she sat in the armchair and the red-eyed duchess stared at me with an raised eyebrow."I did not expect... the two" I spoke sincerely, after all the agreement I had made with Elaine was already a clear way to make the duchess calmer with all that; even so, the sharp gaze of Asra shot me as if my mere mention of her being there was an offense. Maybe it was the result of years on the battlefield, but I knew when I wasn’t able to win a war, so I sighed winning "but since you’re here..." I muttered indicating with one hand to the armchairs - sit down."Where will you start?" Asra questioned, the red hair falling with perfectly braided waves on her back, the sharp eyes staring at me and looking for any sign of flickering in my attitudes or decisions."I’ve been thinking about tears..." I said remembering Quinn, the way he had acted.Since that day, the bastard did not even give me a mere sign of life and Callisto’
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Elaine ⋅• ♱Samael did as he said he would, but from the day we arrived at the camellia mansion - a name given by Keir, since the garden was full of camellias -, I did not even see the slightest sign of the priest’s existence, but now, when morning came by the door of our house.The huge smile on his face made me question my own sanity as he said - what was sweet? If you keep looking at me like that, I’m gonna think you don’t like my presence.I opened my mouth to confirm that assumption, but I chose not to."Just... I thought it was too early for you to be here," I lied and apparently that wasn’t one of my best lies, as he just smiled as he drank his tea."Early? We have a lot to study, especially if we want the child to experience one of my theses before dying."I swallowed it hard."Is he... very ill?"Samael laughed quietly."Does it really matter to you?"'No' I realized as I pressed the skirt of my dress between my fingers.My concern for Loren... was mini