♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C ⋅• ♱She was on the floor, her eyes looked like a mixture of fear and confusion, it was almost as if she didn’t understand or believe that I was there."Come on... is it hard for you to stand?" I questioned her while trying to ignore the fact that she looked more like a trained puppy who was afraid of being thrown away by the owner.Elaine stared at me again and those cobalt blue eyes closed long as she nodded affirmatively."Di-difficult, I think..."Was she speaking well when she entered Callisto’s office, was that one of the effects of the handcuffs? The scene of Michael being chained and dragged to Callisto’s feet came to mind.In the original work, Michael - the great archangel, the one who drove Lucifer out of paradise and tore off his wings -, was sent by his father to take care of his saint. Michael hated the idea of Elaine being in Callisto’s arms and after falling madly in love with the saint, he became obsessed to the point of intervening in his father’s plans
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Asmodeus ⋅• ♱"Since when do you care about children?"Asra stared at me with a raised eyebrow, it was almost as if she was unable to understand me."And since when does that bother you so much?""She’s on Azrael’s side!" I said trying to argue, but she snitched."I don’t want to talk about it, enough..." she murmured with one hand over her face and I took her face."She looks angry" the little demon in my earring muttered."Asra!" I called her "you can’t pretend that nothing happened and that you’re not committing madness!"Nothing good would come from that angelic thing around her.Nada.How many times had I witnessed the death of that crimson-haired being?For a moment the memory of someone with equally wavy hair and the same color came to mind. To see that thing in front of me die again and again at the hands of Callisto because of that thing, that thing they call a saint, she tortures."What happened to you?""Asmodeus!" the grenade eyes stared at me "enoug
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱Asmodeus looked different - that’s what I thought, for a moment he didn’t look like that smiling, ironic demon, it was almost as if something in him had drastically changed.I sighed and when he was no longer there, I entered the dining room.It was beautiful - if I could say so, but not exactly a surprise. That was the palace of the king’s concubine and also of the duchess - it was obvious that it would be ornate and well decorated.Asra could be many things in his life, but had always had unquestionable good taste."Ma'am...""What was it?" I asked without much patience to the maid who entered the room."Am... came a... letter from the king."I didn’t want to read it, I didn’t want to know what Calisto wanted to tell me after the last conversation we had and when I opened my mouth to say it, I saw Elaine appear at the door leading to the corridor."Leave it in my office" I said banging the tip of the nail on the dark wood of the table "I see it as soon as I finis
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Calisto ⋅• ♱Asra had simply gone to her palace taking the child they called a saint with her."Still worried?" Azrael asked me about the plaster pile."No."I lied."Of course..." he snorted and crossed his arms over his chest as Loren ran ahead of us, in his little hands were freshly picked flowers."Look Daddy! I brought flowers!"The happiness in the childish and sweet face of my son made me question how someone was able to harm that little being."Thank you, dear," I said crouching in front of him and receiving the flowers he had picked for me."Do you think Asra would like that? I remembered her when I saw the red flowers back there, but..." he stopped and his eyes stared at the ground "she’s far away... and I can’t give the flowers to her anymore."As he had left very early as soon as we quarreled about the saint - Asra did not bother to take care of anything else and thanks to this did not say goodbye to Loren.It was hard to explain to him that she had
♱ •⋅ 1750 A.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Elaine ⋅• ♱It was in the garden again, in that garden - the one with yellow flowers and white roses near a dome. There were tall buildings full of people circling around and the colored-haired lady was still sitting next to her."Tiring" she murmured as she threw her body back.It was hard to tell if that girl was tired or just bothered by the conversations and the noise.Yeah, she hated the noise, she hated people being around her..."Still... she is here" I found myself thinking as those eyes that seemed to contain the immensity of the universe settled on me."How do you do it?" she asked me with her practically inexpressive face."What is it?""How do you keep smiling and being... perfect all the time?"Perfect? Since when was I perfect?Those words did not make any sense - and yet she stared at me waiting for an answer, for a miraculous recipe for "perfection"."What? I’m not perfect... than...""Come on... no need to pretend all the time, you know..." she
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱Even from my room I could hear the screams, agonizing cries that seemed to intensify night after night."She didn’t leave the room and didn’t eat much either," the maids said."Better this way" Asmodeu completed with a huge smile "at least it’s not hindering us, right?"But still, the screams came at night, at dawn - they came and somehow I seemed to be the only one listening."Ignore" my common sense told me "it’s not your problem" I repeated myself whenever I had the opportunity and yet, those agonizing screams invaded my mind, they kept me awake during the night - all the time until the sobs came from the other side of that door.Elaine had no nightmares in the novel, she had no such dreams and her sleep had never been so disturbed. Elaine did not feed badly.Was it all my fault? Was she like that for the things I did?Was it all my fault that I changed? It was inevitable that I would ask myself - especially when everything seemed to revolve around the changes I
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Elaine ⋅• ♱There were screams everywhere, they laughed and pointed while so many others knelt before me."The saint is among us!" they repeated with their faces writhing in a frightening expression and Michael’s hand rested firmly on my shoulder."Do you see them? They are here for you."I had condemned them all, didn’t I?My eyes fell on those who were dragged to the place that "god" determined as hell. Loren... that sweet, gentle child - was being dragged along with them and mortals, those same mortals who dragged me through the streets, who beat me, who abused me... they shouted my name as if I were a divine representation.As if I finally understood the line my thoughts were following - Miguel shook his hand on my shoulder even more."Don’t be silly, Elaine... you know very well where you belong" practically growled in my ear and I felt my whole body tremble.He wasn’t thinking about me or what I should consider - he was warning me.It was an obvious warnin
♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Calisto ⋅• ♱Loren stared at me for hours as if that alone would make me admit something I hadn’t done -, but when I finally fell asleep, I slipped my fingers across her face and found myself humming a song I long thought I’d forgotten.My eyes looked for a smiling face near the windows, but... it wasn’t there.It had been many years since I had been there and I could not conform because that smile had never been seen by my son’s bicolor eyes."I wish you were here," I heard myself say as I sank my face into the pillow next to Loren.How long has it been since I had a good night’s sleep?Quinn’s gentle smile came to mind; right... it had been that night.In the one where the moon was bluish and she hummed in our bedroom window with her hands over her belly that had not even begun to grow."What are you doing?" I asked and she stared at me with a huge smile."I’m singing... and I’m letting our little sun see the beautiful empire he will rule."Her response was qu
♱ •⋅ 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