T H E D E S C E N T

FOR A LAND of peace, Heaven had never seemed so chaotic. Huts were ablaze, scorching a heat through the cool of the night as angels screamed. While some worked to provide order, others attempted to tame the inferno by creating rain clouds. However, no matter how much water the angels threw at the flames, the firestorm was still greater than their efforts.

"We need to stop Lucifer before this is too late!" Adelia declared, pulling at Lucius's sleeves in the direction of Heavens Falls. "His plans stated that he wanted to bring down a portion of angels with him to this new domain. The only way for him to do that will be to—"

"Strip away their wings," Lucius concluded for her.

Adelia nodded, her lips pursed. "All the angels that are under him will fall if we do not do something about it. Once they go past damnation, they will be past the point of no return. That includes us."

"Then what are you waiting for? Let us go and put an end to this!" Leaving no room for argument, Lucius soared through the skies.

He was careful to dodge the fumes in which the flames had created, cautiously maneuvering himself in the direction of the commotion. Through the flight, Lucius had not turned back once to check if Adelia was following him. Deep in his heart, he prayed that she was not. If he had any say in it, he wanted Adelia to be as far away from the battle as physically possible.

It was such a selfish thought for him to have but Lucius wanted nothing more than her to be safe. If it meant that he had to put himself in the path of danger and accomplish everything by his own two hands, then so be it. He was ready for the challenge.

Before he even saw the edge of Heaven, Lucius first heard the roar of the waterfall. There came a clash of weapons, steel colliding against steel in powerful blows as the angels fought. A rumble came from the ground beneath Lucius, shaking violently before fragments of the earth collapsed and mixed with the roaring waterfall.

"You are all blind!" Lucius could hear Lucifer's voice crystal clear, echoing through the night before the former even saw him. "Blind to the possibilities of what could happen. Blind to the ways in which our world could be!"

Then, Lucius spotted Lucifer in all his glory.

The latter already had a wound sported across his face, his lip busted and tainted with the golden blood of angels as he hastily wiped it away with his sleeve. In his hand was a sword, its metal glinting harshly under the silver moonlight before he swiped carelessly at an angel that had gone after him.

For a fairly silent plotter, Lucifer seemed to have the support of the majority of his angels. A good portion of angels were all tutored under him, and out of all his pupils, at least seventy percent of them stood at his side. From the chaos, Lucius spotted the angels that guarded the North Garden fighting valiantly against the rebel force, slicing at them unforgivingly.

"You will regret betraying Heaven, Lucifer," Wilhelm spat. He headed the battle, his hair even brighter than the fires that burned the rest of Heaven. While Lucifer was the one to fight against those loyal to the Almighty, Wilhelm led Heaven's forces as their general, shouting orders to angels and standing at the very front of it all. "The Almighty will punish you for your crimes against peace."

"Fool! I am creating peace. I am fighting for what I believe prosperity to be and anyone who stands in my way will fall!" Ignoring Wilhelm's words, Lucifer was quick to take down those who dared to oppose him. In quick succession, he drenched the grounds of Heaven with gold, leaving the dead bodies of his soldiers in his wake.

"Stop this nonsense and plead the Almighty for forgiveness. He will pardon your betrayal if he deems you sincere!" Calvin attempted to reason but his words were met with blatant disregard.

Lucifer only grinned broadly, his handsome smile sending shivers down Lucius's spine as he landed a safe distance away from the battle. He was close enough to watch but far enough to not get hurt.

"It is too late, Calvin. We will all fall. If I cannot make you see that, maybe this will." Lucifer's word held an eery note, ringing through the night.

All of a sudden, it was as if the world was halted. The battle went silent, cries of the angels blocked out by a single deafening roar as time stood still. Lucius had not even noticed that Adelia had finally caught up with him, now hovering beside him as she watched Lucifer's actions in horror.

In a single blow, Lucifer stuck his sword deep into the ground. Immediately, the earth split upon with a loud crack, severing the edge of the cliff off from the mainland as the ground beneath them shook. Those who stood on the ground immediately felt the effects of the crack, their wings unable to move fast enough to take off into the air. So, when the earth finally broke off and fell, everyone that stood fell. Flying was of no use to them for the rubble was also following their descent, blocking a way for them to stay above the minimum requirement.

Both Lucius and Adelia watched in horror as the angels that took part in the battle collapsed far beneath. The mist from the waterfall sprayed past everyone, water colliding with bodies as the span of the waterfall broadened with the lessening of the cliff. Where the earth broke off, the waterfall engulfed it eagerly, hungrily occupying the land in an instant as the water raced down to help push the angels further beyond the boundaries of Heaven.

From the corner of his eyes, Lucius could see Adelia's hand shoot out helplessly. Her screams echoed through the night, along with hundreds of other angels as they raced down, disappearing through the dust that the collapse had caused.

"No!" She yelled, voice hoarse with urgency as she prepared herself to chase down after them. Out of the angels that fell, Lucius was sure that he noticed all four of the angels that worked in the North Garden fall along, thrust beneath Heaven and straight towards Paradise and maybe even beyond.

If Lucius had not reached a hand out to stop her, she might have lost her wings as well. Adelia was prepared to chase after Dimitri, her wings are prepared and eyebrows furrowed in determination. Yet, Lucius's warm grasp quickly latched itself onto her wrist, pulling her back before she could progress with her brash decision.

When his scorching touch made contact with the cool of her skin, Adelia turned back sharply at Lucius with the look of betrayal. Tears had already gathered, welling up in her eyes as she sobbed out.

"Why did you stop me? We have to save them!" She cried out, clawing at Lucius's grip weakly.

"If we follow after them, we will lose our wings as well. Come on, I know another way."

Lucius left no room for argument. Before she could even reply, he sped off, hand still clutching Adelia's wrist tightly as he soared towards the North Garden. He scrambled towards the little alcove that hid the stairway, plunging down into the dark path without a second's worth of hesitation. Finally catching up to what he was doing, Adelia added her speed in his aid, zipping along beside him as quickly as her wings allowed her.

Although they were not as fast as the angels that had descended with the fall, they still reached the bottom while the fire still burned hot.

A hole had opened up near the base of the waterfall where Lucius and Adelia had emerged, some of the angels falling straight in while others lingering around the area with scars running down their backs. The grass of Paradise was mixed with blood that gleamed in the moonlight and feathers that varied in shades of black and white.

Lucifer, however, was nowhere to be found.

"Is this what death looks like?" Adelia sobbed. Before Lucius could even prepare himself, Adelia threw her arms around his torso, crying into his chest as he awkwardly ran a hand down her back in an attempt to soothe her. "Have we been too deprived of it in life that we are now punished?"

The wreckage was only growing, more and more rubble descending from the high heavens before colliding with the earth of Paradise with a loud thud. The true storm had just begun, a rain of rocks showering down on all that dwelled in Paradise.

In a flash of desperation, Lucius scanned his eyes through the grounds of Paradise. Most of the angels that he knew were nowhere to be found. Wilhelm, Fabian, and Calvin were all missing although he was sure he had spotted them in the battle. Immediately, he assumed the worst.

They were already in the new realm of Hell.

But then, a peculiar sight caught Lucius's eye. Sprawled across the ground was Dimitri, struggling to rise to his feet. Blood poured from his back where his wings once were, two jagged lines that ran near his spine. His nose was busted, a trickle of blood leaking from his nostrils as he crawled his way through the rubble. He was not too far away from them, just close enough for Lucius to catch how destroyed he looked. Under his left eye, a line was cut into his skin, most likely from hitting the rocks on the way down.

If death had a face, this was it. Dimitri did not look like he was alive.

"Adelia." Voice shaking, Lucius gently shook the night angel's shoulder, garnering her attention before pointing in Dimitri's direction. "Dimitri, he is there!"

Adelia's sharp eyes narrowed down on where Lucius was pointing, her pupils locking with Dimitri's figure. There was a trail of blood where the latter crawled, his figure shaking while he gathered his strength in his arms to try and get up. However, whenever he was even close, he dropped back down to the ground. Weakness was not a good look on him.

Disaster always did like to strike whenever someone was at their weakest. The cliff that hung above them had not stopped crumbling. More and more rubble was falling to join the fallen, collapsing onto the ground around Dimitri's frail figure. Just one miscalculated step could cost him his life and Lucius was not the only one that noticed that.

A particularly large portion of the soil was plummeting from the skies, racing down towards Dimitri. Time seemed to slow down once more and among the chaos, Lucius could only hear Adelia's desperate screams.

"No!" Her yells were piercing, striking painfully into the night and this time, Lucius was not fast enough to stop her.

Like a bolt of lightning, Adelia tore herself away from Lucius's side. She soared through the air like a menacing arrow, skilfully darting through the falling rubble just to get to Dimitri's side. Lucius was one second too slow, his fingers barely skimming Adelia's dark skin but not enough to grab hold. She was out of his grasp, slipping away from him once more.

Lucius did not even register himself screaming. He did not even realize that his throat was now raw, voice hoarse with physical pain as his eyes glued themselves to Adelia's figure. Their voices rose above the others, each screaming for the angel they loved but not for each other in such times of crisis.

With a strong shove, Adelia quickly pushed Dimitri out of the way just in time. The latter rolled on the ground to a safe distance away within the trees, tumbling out of range of the falling rocks as he looked in the direction of his savior in shock.

While Dimitri got lucky, Adelia did not. The rock that had been falling after the collapse of the cliff raced after her, pinning her body down to the ground with a sickening crack. Although the rock had, fortunately, landed on her leg and not on her torso, the crack of the bones was still loud enough to reverberate into the night, followed by her screams of agony. The rock dug into her skin, reducing her limbs to nothing as she clawed at the ground in pain.

"Adelia!" Now it was Lucius's turn to be in her shoes. Within seconds, he was at her side.

With as much force as he could muster, Lucius heaved the rock off of her, pushing the boulder with all his might just enough to pull Adelia out. Ever small movement he made only forced Adelia to cry even louder, tears trickling down her cheeks as she choked on her sobs.

Their blood was sunlight that soaked the ground. Lucius held Adelia's frail and weak body in his arms, cradling her near-death physique close to his chest. From the corner of his eye, in the dark, he thought he saw Dimitri rise to his feet. When he turned to face him, Lucius noticed Dimitri's metallic gaze resting on Adelia's body for a split second. His lips were parted, chest heaving with pants and blood running down the sides of his head. When he finally tore his gaze away from Adelia, Dimitri's eyes clashed with Lucius's own dirt brown ones, lingering with regret before he sharply turned on his heel and disappeared into the trees.

Without a word, Dimitri left, escaping into the night into an unknown world.

In Lucius's arms, Adelia stirred. Her cries had died down, reducing to haggard breaths and painful whimpers as she looked up at Lucius. Her face, no matter how battered, was still magnificent in its right. However, it did not make it less painful to see an angel like her dancing so near the brink of death.

"Lucius..." Adelia breathed, voice airy and distant. "Dimitri, is Dimitri...?" Her eyes fluttered open and close as if fighting to stay awake.

"Why are you so foolish?" Lucius could not stop himself but allow a traitorous tear to fall. It landed on Adelia's cheek, trailing down her smooth skin before dripping to the ground. "Are you that foolish to give up your life for him? For someone that could not care less about yours?"

At his words, Adelia softly smiled.

"Love makes people do stupid things. I know that love was supposed to be reserved only for the Almighty and because of that I have sinned. I knew Dimitri for a very long time and although I knew he never reciprocated my feelings, I still fell further and further. I may have kept my wings but it was still a painful fall. I am not the one for you, Lucius. Maybe one day, you will find someone worthy of your love but that woman is not me."

She took a heavy breath filled with pain and agony. Lucius opened his mouth to speak but she was quick to place a finger on his lips, silencing him.

"Death awaits me. Goodbye, Lucius. May you stay loving and kind for as long as the sun could shine."

Her final words rang like bells, repeating itself over and over again in Lucius's mind. Adelia's fingers turned heavy, unwillingly drawing a line down his lips with her blood as her eyes rolled back, head drooping in Lucius's hold as she breathed her last. The seconds seemed to drag on. After all, the aftermath of war had always been longer than the battle itself.

Although the sun was starting its rise across the horizon, Lucius had never hated the light more. The golden sunlight matched the blood of the fallen angels, irritating his eyes as he gritted his teeth in rage. Hatred replaced his muscles, resolve melting into his bones as he looked up at his surroundings. Although sunrise was the image of a new day, it was nothing but a bridge for Lucius to cross.

He no longer admired the sun. But even more so, he loathed the night and how it had taken everything away from him.

Carefully, she rested Adelia's dead body on the ground before rising to his feet, his wings dragging behind him with each step he took towards the waterfall. It was time for him to return to Heaven and report to the archangels about what had happened on Lucifer's side. Since they stayed back to vanquish the flames, most of them should be safe, including Cassiel and Gabriel.

However, he was not looking forward to seeing his friends.

With Adelia, his love for the world had died. All that made up his blood was nothing but despise for the fallen angel that had taken the life of the one he adored. No matter how long it took, Lucius made a silent promise to himself to return the evil that had been committed against him.

One day, he will have his revenge against Dimitri and those he held dear to his heart. Lucius was determined to uphold his solemn oath to himself.

Ultimately, he was a love that became violent.

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