Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Summer didn't seem to ever rise outside of the car window. The stormy evening was taking me closer to my destination. I could barely see the trees covering the view of the hills and mountains from the car window. I was starting to think I've been sitting here for forever now, and I was getting tired of it. Those were my first few thoughts once I opened my eyes.

"Are we getting any closer?" I dared to ask with impatience. I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen such depressing weather. The city never knew this hue of grey, and in away it was rather concerning.
The driver peeked through the mirror at my boredom and tried to lighten up the mood.
"We are. Just a few more minutes, Miss Ether."

Bored, I looked outside again and finally I was able to get a glimpse of my grandparents' house: a tall gloomy mansion, perfectly tuned with the dark greyish storm blowing outside. It had two floors and two greenhouses at the sides. Because of the length of the estate itself, it was hard to realise how tall it was from afar.

Besides the old and depressing building, Hera and Ron weren't as bad, or at least that's what I remember from the other times I'd visited them.
As lightning struck down somewhere, the car finally stopped the engine and I finally touched the wet yard. The man carried my luggage inside and I followed him right behind under my umbrella. I thanked him and I was replied with a funny wave of his hand.
"Have a nice stay."

He looked at me warmly before turning away and leave.
The entrance was protected from the rain so I finally could close the umbrella again and looked for the bell. Clearly I must have forgotten the mansion was just as old as it looked: the only way to signal my arrival was to use those old fashioned lion head knockers, however, by the time I figured as much, the door was slowly opened by an old but rather tall man: my grandpa Ron.

"Sarah, you're finally here." He regarded me with a sweet wrinkly smile, like the good old man he was.
After a moment of surprise, I greeted him with a warm hug, "Ron! I missed you so much, grandpa." I was caught by surprise from his perfect timing, since he had no way to see I was at the front door since it lacked a spyhole, and the storm was hiding the sound of my steps. Nonetheless this wasn't the first time he pulled a foresight trick on me. Maybe he heard the engine of the car and rushed here.
“You've grown so much, I barely recognise you.” He spoke excitedly. And before he could let me speak again, he went on, "Let's talk inside, Hera still has to see you.”

I left the umbrella outside and walked inside. The old man was gently pushing me from the back, like he couldn’t wait to see my grandma's reaction to my arrival, yet his old age betrayed his haste. The interiors were just like I remembered: a great corridor at the entrance splitting into two wings the mansion, the latter being way longer, started perpendicularly to the first one. Countless tall white doors enriched the walls, together with the colourful wall lamps. The very ends finished with stairs taking up to the second floor.

"I don't blame you, it's been four years since my last visit." Ron continued as he caressed my shoulder sweetly; "Your room has also changed. We made sure it would suit you better... or at least Hera and I tried."
It really made me smile, I couldn’t help it.
"Isn't it a bit too reckless for your age?" But that tease was answered by a laugh, the kind that almost made elders look like they've already seen every corner of the world. But not just by looks, Ron was indeed an old and wise man I admired.
As we walked through the corridor, I noticed a brown teddy bear running towards me wearing a tuxedo, which perfectly fit his round and fluffy body.
“Miss Ether, we’ve been waiting for you. Welcome back.” Do lowered his chest quickly and revealed a cheeky smile. His gaze made him look a bit under the weather, it was the adorable charm of his ever-tired eyes, besides, his true feelings were shown by his demeanour.
“I missed you too, Do. Where are the others?”

The adorable talking plush was Do the butler. A sweet teddy bear with adorable droopy eyes. He's slowly getting smaller: when I was a kid, he reached my shoulders, and now I can just look at him from above; I need to kneel down to reach his height. Sometimes I wondered how he could do his chores with such short legs.

“Hera is waiting for you with the others.- he began to say once he remembered again he was doing something else,- I was just about to bring tea cups for everyone from upstairs. Follow me.” The talking teddy bear hurried elegantly through the corridor as we turned left and soon enough we would have been met with Hera and the other angels.

Once I finally met her gaze I rushed into her arms, as always. She quickly matched my enthusiasm as so the rest of the first choir greeted me.
"Sarah, my dear, you finally arrived!" She said sweetly as she patted my back. "How was the travel? Such a pity this storm is ruining your first day here after so long..." her other hand then messed with my hair. Her warm hug was nostalgic, like I was a kid once again.
I nuzzled softly on her chest and said, "it took so long I thought it was endless... or it probably was the weather that made it feel that way. -I stopped for a moment to capture her wrinkled and still motherly smile- But I'm finally here, so it's fine now."
Her concerns were smoothly put to rest with a quiet sigh, "Indeed, my dear."

While Ron went back to work, Hera and Do took me to the living room, where everyone was waiting impatiently for me. The entirety of the first choir was there, excited to see me again.
Sol and Re were sitting on my lap, while Ti sat next to me and grandma, and the twins helped Do to prepare the tea for us.
"You really had to wait four years before taking another vacation here?" Sol, the cat and my personal maid asked. She always had her ways to express her feelings.
"Is that how you greet a guest?" The other feline, Re, a lion that regardless the mane looked of the size of a cub, was in charge of the music suite and the theatre, if we needed some entertainment.
Sol could only hiss at him with the menacing tone of kitten who has just grown claws. Re was no better even with his mane he was just a cuddly cub.

Their childishness was no casualty, though. The first choir welcomed the souls of pure-hearted children who on Earth died at an early age.

I caressed the soft fur of the both of them, "I missed you both too," as I chuckled at their bickering. But it was enough for them to stop fighting. The purrs slowly engulfed my body. Hera also laughed at their scene, "it has been a while from the last time I've seen them so calm. The twins couldn't intervene, and their fights would last for hours."
"Is that so?"
Four years of these two fussing at each other... I admired her and Ron's patience. The two trouble-makers looked, using the all mighty cuteness of their eyes to win me over. A cub and a kitten indeed.

It was still raining. Tea is nice in any weather, but I was starting to miss the bright sun, the clear sky, the wind softly brushing the leaves; an harmony found only in this estate in the middle of nowhere. And Hera noticed it rapidly, maybe earlier than I'd expected.

"August is like that, my dear. You never know when it's going to rain, but once it does, it's like nature's against us. But fret not dear…"
"Everything is possible in the Light Palace." I said, just before Hera did.
That was something Hera always said. Those words always helped cheer me up. If I got hurt, Hera would have taken me to the greenhouse after repeating those words and mending my bruises. But alas, as I got older, those words started to wring my neck.

It was now getting rather late. By the time I got into the mansion the sun was supposed to turn orange in the twilight, but we had no sight of it under the grey sky. Finishing my tea was now reason enough to go to my room and reorganise the stuff on my luggage. Being in a room with mostly angels never stopped making me uncomfortable, so Sol and I got up and gave our last regards to grandma. Lapis wanted us to stay a bit longer but grandma didn't stop us. “She must be tired after all that traveling.” She said as Sol closed the door of the living room behind us.

This Palace was made of things that wouldn't make sense if not only in faith: the first choir was composed of angels, but looking at them, you'd think they're just a bunch of possessed dolls helping Ron and Hera around the estate. None of them had wings, contrary to the common idea of an angel, nor a specific skill. Yet they and the Principalities were the only beings who would actually show their face around here. Still, they were far from looking human.

I rushed through the anteroom and reached my room where I could finally fall down on the mattress of the bed. My bedroom wouldn't have lacked space if all the books beefing the shelves were organised better, and other books piled on the floor were placed back into the main library. Indeed, the place had changed, however what remained was the sign of the past: new Ron's recommendations were tightly stuck next to the old children's books making it impossible to put anything else. (I'll be sorting out those books another day…) I thought, knowing deep inside I was never going to have the energy or the time to do so.

They used lavender and touches of gold to repaint the room and the wall lamps looked like fancy lilies of the valleys blooming into the walls. I couldn't ignore the effort everyone put into making this room look so lovely.
I opened the wardrobe to fetch something comfortable to sleep in just to find out they outdid themselves like always. I bet Sol told them my preferences. Nobody knew my preferences better than her and I bet she knew that. Sol had her own ways to show affection, it's such a feline trait to have, it suited her perfectly.
One dress piqued my curiosity. A simple white nightgown with a midi skirt of a light fabric, enough to keep me from sweating in summer. It was about time this day turned for the better.

This mansion might had been even bigger than Versailles. Remembering all the rooms by heart was more challenging than anyone could think hence I was often accompanied by Sol.
In the morning she came by, I had already been up. Breakfast this time was being served in the tea room. Luckily, it wasn’t far enough from my room for me to get lost. Hera was waiting there as she chatted with the twins. Sweets and snacks were decorating the round ebony table over a lace tablecloth.
Like a duchess out of a historical novel, she put down the fine teacup and greeted me saying, "there you are." The smile on her face took away many years of her actual age. If you asked me, I'd say Hera knew the key to immortality. Then she said, "Good morning dear. Did you sleep well? You don't seem to have experienced any nightmares this time, am I correct?"
Right, the nightmares. As I sat next to the human angels, I realised I had a peaceful sleep. Every time those morbid voices and that merciless violence seemed too real. I didn't know the psychology of those dreams. Not even once in my life I'd ever been hit, flogged or hurt if not in those frightening nights.

"Hopefully I won't have them anymore." I muttered reluctantly. Hera agreed with a smile.
It was something I'd repeated to myself countless times, yet it was never fulfilled. The degrading words, the spiteful torture bleeding endless... it was definitely not a topic for a peaceful cup of tea.
I grabbed a macaroon dusted over with cocoa powder. I immediately recognised the impeccable cooking skills of the chef Ti. Inside, wrapped in the sweet buttercream, then in the middle there was a black cherry enhancing the bite. Ti really outdid herself today.
Lapis smiled childishly, preparing to ask the same thing once again, "how's the city?" Perhaps, he was growing taller but the golden heart of an innocent child was still there, radiating from his curled lips and deep blue eyes. But to his disappointment I never had anything worth mentioning, if not the greyish fog, the smokes, the poisons and the gloomy days shared with passing strangers like this one. There wasn't a single good memory of the city I could tell him.

Still, perhaps the beauty of it was repeating those same words again. Nostalgia was the name of that feeling and his smile was its confirmation. Hera had nothing to say as well. This Palace was big enough to do anything but empty enough to feel each day the same as the other before.
Noticing my growing boredom, after everyone's tea was completely drunk and there was no pastry to taste, Sphalerite tapped my hand. Her serious gaze hid a gentle and caring personality that quietly revealed itself in her shy but classy gestures. She leaned on my ear whispering, "you should check on Mi. I've heard she's been going through an art block for a long while."
As much as I would have loved going to visit the art studio after so long, I didn't have the heart to leave Hera on a whim twice. The twin frowned at the disappointing lack of initiative and muttered, "I'll take care of Hera from here."

She fulminated her brother and before I knew it, Lapis had my wrist, "Sarah and I are going to say hi to Mi now." And just like that, he had the gall to pass through the door with a quick wave at the rest of them and to drag me with him. Still, I felt relieved of escaping the awkward atmosphere. Meeting Mi wasn't going to be any better.
I followed his energetic pace through the corridor of the first floor, admiring the monumental doors towering us. This building was an art museum I could admire daily.
Lapis then knocked the door for me, "Hera's granddaughter is here, Mi."
Soon enough the door was opened by a mouse with an apron stained of oil paint and probably other materials, creating crusty surfaces crumbling on the floor.
"You're really here- that explains yesterday's ruckus… -she squeaked in her usual shy tone- oh forgive me for not greeting you earlier, miss Sarah. I-"
As usual, Mi was one of the most humble angels I knew.
"No need for formalities, Mi." I interrupted her as I smiled, Lapis proudly poked at her agitation, "can we come in?" And she opened the door for us after a soft squeal. A room surrounded by colourful canvas, the floor completely different from its original color and brushes on the floor. This was how I remembered this place. However now I noticed how Mi's inspiration had changed greatly. I blamed the sound of the endless storm. If this room looked dark from outside, once inside it felt like it could have sucked you in. That sort of change shocked me, no, I definitely felt my heart skip a beat.
She recognised the uneasiness from our silence, and it took all my power to say something as quickly as possible, so that I wouldn't make her panic even more, "Mi, what's the theme of these paintings?" I said pointing at the canvases on the ground.
If only I had known she would have answered the worst way possible, I wouldn't have asked at all, actually, I should have already left the moment I saw the paintings.
Looking at them better, one of the canvases on the ground portrayed a black silhouette of a winged man with glowing eyes in a dark background. Many other paintings followed a similar idea but portrayed different dark creatures. The drawings weren't actually grotesque, but the attention to detail was off-putting.
And Mi was there, fidgeting on the fabric of the dirty apron.

"The theme is 'Lili-"
"Not a word further." Lapis suddenly said. Mi's guilty face and Lapis' stern gaze were a terrible combination. I felt a bit of pity at the sight of her terrified eyes pushing me to intervene on her behalf.
"Let's say Dark Moon, like usual, alright?" I added as I patted his shoulder. "Art shouldn't have limits. If she wanted to portray this, then let her." Lapis held back his hostility and Mi seemed much more at ease.
"You can take a closer look if you'd like." Her fluffy cheeks rose up into a sweet smile as she led the way. Lapis wasn't really excited for this… gothic exhibition however he felt obligated to follow us.
There were humanoid creatures as there were beasts, but one piqued my interest. The only one that wasn't a mere silhouette.
"Isn't that the statue in the library?"
"He is, Miss Sarah. As you already know, he protects the great Palace from evil."
"He?"
But she simply chuckled at me and riddled me with the usual phrase, "everything is possible in the Light Palace, Miss Sarah."
I looked back at the painting. A man standing with his heavy longsword ploughed on the ground before him. Wings coming from the sides of his head ready to swiftly move around the battlefield, his eyes blindfolded, symbolising he fought evil no matter who was actually in front of him. I couldn’t find an answer to my doubts within the painting, but instead there lied fragments of the past.
Years ago, I used to stay in the library for many hours. I liked to rest my back on the pedestal of this statue when I dedicated myself to reading.
"It's kind of nostalgic."
There was a silver lining to this collection after all. Hopefully, I was going to see more of her works soon.
"By the way, where did you take inspiration for the other creatures?" I asked, however, from her shy expression, I figured I overstepped.
Lapis grabbed my hand again, "Let's go now." But without even my consent, he dragged me away with that unusual grumpy look on his face.
As we walked out he began to scold me, "forget everything you've seen, Sarah. You shouldn’t concern yourself with this matter."
"They're just paintings, Lapis." I teased his anger, trying to lighten the mood once more.
"That's not-" but he stopped midway, "forget it." Probably it was because he saw Sol passing by. The kitten looked at us curiously before she wondered, "Lady Sarah? Why haven't you visited the library yet?" Then she glanced at Lapis again, as if she was blaming him. Lapis scoffed before letting go of my hand and Sol finally approached me. I felt a bit bad for him. It wasn't like he really did anything to deserve this treatment, in everything he did he had my best interest in mind.
"You know, Ron added a few more books to his collection." He spoke. He let go of my hand and he smiled softly again, giving up on his anger. Sol was waiting for me to go with her.
"I was planning to pay a visit to the statue anyway." And that was when we finally went downstairs. Once we were inside, Sol rushed to hand me a bunch of other books that Ron bought while I was away. Grandpa is really into theology, but his collection also had rare pieces of various genres. The pile of books in Sol's hands were taller than her. She placed them on the paved floor next to me while I looked at the marble statue. Mi's portrait was its perfect copy: the eyes blindfolded from the wrong path, the menacing stance as he held the greatsword on the ground, the delicate swallowtail wings right above the jaw and his back blocking a door to who knows where. Funnily enough, it looked an awful lot like the one that appeared right before another nightmare of mine... putting that aside, I could tell how quickly Mi's artistic skills got sharper while I was away.
Sol stood next to me and said, "he looks cooler and cooler the more you look at him, doesn't he?"
"Yet it's a mere statue." To my surprise, Sol flushed and looked away, "I'll leave you to your reading..." She muttered before wandering around the halls again.
I laid my back on the marble pedestal and grabbed the first book on the great pile. These books were going into my room too. I began to doubt I'll ever see the day my bookshelf will be tidy and neat…
The library had the scent of ink and old pages. How could I ever forget this smell? I couldn’t forget how I'd enjoy grandpa's company as he occupied the desk completely covered by towers of documents. And while he dealt with paperwork, I read fantasy books and fairytales laying on this very pedestal. I thought that this way, it wouldn't have felt lonely. After all, Ron wasn't the best company.
Talking about grandpa, where was he? I hadn't seen him since yesterday evening and usually he would have been working here by now. Could it be that his old age was getting to him? He was a really hard working old man, but I wouldn't blame him if he decided to get a bit more slack as he got older. And yet, I couldn’t help feeling concerned.

The sound of rain has finally stopped but was rapidly replaced by an eerie chill penetrating into the bones. The first image that my eyes recognised was the book that fell from my lap into a carpet I didn’t recognise correctly. The warm yet weak lighting and the cold marble on my back were confirming that night fell while I was still inside the library: something completely unusual for me. I dragged my head off the cold marble and looked around. I realised that somehow they didn't realise I wasn't in my room. How was it even possible that no one had come to check the library at all? Not even Sol?
I looked at the door for the greenhouse, and saw the pitch black night sky outside of the Palace covering everything like a thick veil. I still had the book in my hands, but I completely lost the page I was left on before I fell asleep. I had to go back to my room. My body hurt everywhere as I got up due to the uncomfortable position for my long nap. In the obscure ambience my skin almost seemed to glow. I looked up, there was light coming from the locked room behind the statue, but sadly, I couldn’t get closer than that.
I peeked through the door to look around the hall. The hall was barely lit by the wall lamps, and its darkness made it harder to reach the first floor. Nonetheless it was better if I walked in the dark, down the hall. Quietly, I snuck out of the library. If I stepped on the stairs to my right, Hera and Ron would have caught me sneaking out, since their room was just next to the stairs. I was sure to be the only one awake, but I could definitely hear something else in that creepy silence. But maybe it was simply Re sneaking in the kitchen. These walls were extremely thin, which only meant that nothing was ever left unheard.
"Who goes there?" Someone behind my back said. My heart almost skipped a beat, but I was quick enough to stop myself from screaming. Still, that stern yet feminine voice... It sounded extremely familiar.
"Sarah? Is it really you?" Another one said gently after the clear ring of a bell. I turned around and I was greeted by the warm light of a lantern. I knew who used those artifacts.
"Lady, Signora, Domina! It's been so long!" The last one, an old lady covered with a coat, slowly stepped closer and welcomed my hug. She was Domina, the elder, and with the other two made the choir of Principalities who protected the mansion at night, during the Dark Moon.
"Young Lady Sarah, you're still the same little trouble-maker..." Domina said caressing my hair; "You know very well why you shouldn't be out of your room at sundown."
"I thought you promised you wouldn't do these stunts again, remember?" Lady said teasingly.
"It was an accident, I swear.- I shook my head after I stepped back from Domina's hug- Somehow I dozed off in the library and nobody noticed."
Signora, the leader, was quietly staring at me. Of the three she was the most strict and unyielding, the perfect woman to handle something as dangerous as the Dark Moon. Her eyes then shifted to stare at her group.
Lady and Domina noticed too but they quickly brushed it off, "Sol must have been really busy since you came back!"
Which was something I agreed with but only to a certain extent: I couldn’t fathom the idea that she could abandon me like this.
Signora finally spoke up again, "Let's get you to your room."

So, our nightly whereabouts began, and with them accompanying me I felt a bit more at ease wandering through the dark halls.
The Principalities were meticulous with their march: Signora would light the way and direct their path, Lady would cleanse the area by ringing the Oldest Ode, the lily-like bell with a heavenly sound she held, Domina would do the final touch, using the staff Peace Bringer and... and? Something, or someone, was surely missing. It has been four years now, but I could have sworn they were actually four.

"Where's Puella?" I asked the trio. Lady turned to me, though the veil wouldn't let me see her face clearly, but I could tell something wasn't right at all.
I had found confirmation of her words in their avoidance. "She's gone missing." Lady finally said reluctantly. It was then that they began to explain.
"During one of our usual patrols, her hat fell, and in order to get it back... she foolishly left her lantern behind and barged into the dark to find her dear hat. We weren’t fast enough to stop her. And then, she never came back.- Domina explained- Poor, poor child... all there was left of her was the lantern she'd left behind..."
Signora placed a hand on Domina’s shoulder as she towered me, "we believe those Fallen took her. Those creatures are the reason you shouldn't go out at night, especially because you're human."
But I wished I knew: from my grandparents to the first choir, no one dared to explain what exactly was going on; I was simply suffocated by things I absolutely couldn't do, just like wandering at night, entering the door in the library, talking about the dark moon…
"Signora, I need you to fill me in. What exactly is the Dark Moon and what are those ‘Fallens’ you were speaking of?"
"I see… However, you must swear to us your curiosity won’t make you do reckless things." But I didn’t promise a single thing, yet, Signora crossed her hands and gave a quick glance at Lady. She quickly picked the sign and started to talk;
"The Dark Moon, also called Lilith, is a cursed night with no light and no moon at all, making it easier for Fallen to come out and create chaos. Fallen are creatures of hate who have rejected God as their king."
"Poor little things... they don't know..." Domina sighed disappointed, like an elder complaining of the youth.
Signora was still analysing my curious expression, "you look like you still have questions." And I did; I had many questions.
"Why is the Dark Moon also called Lilith?"
This time, Signora answered me, "we usually don't use that term, as it is the name of the demon queen of darkness. Names have power: pronouncing the name of a demon makes it stronger."

By the time I ran out of questions, I realised we were already in front of the door of my room. Before I opened the door I turned around again, "I want to help you find Puella."
They were all shocked. "No. Absolutely not."
"How noble… but still…"
"I could never allow myself to put you in danger, young Lady Sarah."
"Why? Puella must be somewhere-" yet my insistence was soon interrupted;
"This is not up to discussion." Signora said, "you are not allowed to wander in the Light Palace during the Dark Moon. It’s Hera’s order."
Lady also stepped in, placing a hand on my shoulder, and gently accompanied me to the anteroom.
"We'll look for her for you too, my lady. We will find Puella, we promise."
"Sleep well, my child.”

That door again… the forbidden door of the library blocked by Ezra’s statue. I asked myself many times why this specific door tormented me the most. Once the door opened the way to my nightmare, I could only pray it would end soon. However if I had learnt anything from these horrific nights throughout all these years was to abandon all hope.
"Filthy bastard."
I couldn't tell if the pain diminished because I got used to getting flogged, it wasn’t a fun experience nonetheless. Under my knees there was what might have been grains of sea salt and rice. My back still felt hollow. The snapping sound of the whip echoed with the painful screams which matched mine. Why... Why so much hate? When will this ever end?
"I’ll make your regeneration your curse" The enraged man yelled as he grabbed me by the hair. Wrists and knees, they were all tightly chained like usual. Nothing has changed. No, I think something has. I could feel my chest had new cuts and new scars and my neck didn't feel like burning all the time. My back felt lighter, like something was completely missing. I wasn't missing any organ this time. Or at least… not yet.
"That’s all you are. You ignorant disgrace, you don’t deserve to still exist. It’s all because of…”
I couldn't see the look on his face but I could clearly feel it by the tone of his voice: hatred, anger, disgust... seething and making their way into my flesh with a powerful stab. The pain was deafening. The kitchen knife made an amateur cut on my chest again and opened it. If it wasn’t the violence the worst part, it was the morbid way I was treated. Whoever created me didn't allow me to die, so now I had to suffer this torture. His fingers dug on my flesh, bending and breaking my ribs open until he had found what he was looking for: the heart.
This perverse routine had been going on and on for years, snatching one organ at a time with his nasty fingers and the help of the dull knife to cut the tougher membranes. Once he was done, he'd leave me hanging on the chains, bleeding, cursed to still breathe life into my body.
How could that be even called living? Were my desperate screams going to save me anyway? Was anybody listening? Which of these thoughts were really mine, which of these dreams were real?

I don't know how many hours had passed. But the window of my private bathroom clearly showed that it was too early to be up yet. Or was it? This "Dark Moon"... I wondered if it also distorted the flow of time. While I was washing my face from the cold sweat, I heard a knock on the door, saving me from thinking of the nightmare again.
Behind the door there was Do, "Ah, Miss Ether, you're still awake."
He wouldn’t have knocked on the door in the middle of the night if Do hadn’t known I was still awake. Was he checking up on me when it was Sol’s duty? The flow of my thoughts was followed by a confused face, looking at the awkward butler.
"The Principalities reported to me your whereabouts in the Light Palace." Then there was another awkward silence, this time it was the type of silence from the realisation you were in trouble. Yet, the moment after, the bear gave a lantern and a black coat, "These are from Domina." He confessed.
"This is..." What Do gave me were Puella's lantern and the Principalities' black coat. "She said that even though your necklace protects you, it isn't enough to be safe during the Dark Moon."
I was surprised, I couldn’t believe she trusted me to go on my own. I wondered if I really could go and find Puella by myself?
Noticing my speechless gaze, he went on to say, "It seems Domina was only waiting for the right time, Miss Sarah. But, please know that it’s still dangerous." Then he bowed and closed the door himself. I was left with Domina's gifts, and one last question: wing it, or wait until the sun's up?
I looked better at the lantern. Indeed, the secret of that artifact, the reason why it could stay bright under that cursed darkness, was because what was burning were a few twigs of the Seneh, an ever-burning bush from the times of the Old Testament. It was really exciting to see such an old relic in my hands.
All holy relics with miraculous abilities were actually Virtues, and under Hera’s strict surveillance, they were pretty difficult to get their hands on: they were only used when extremely needed. The fact that the Principalities needed to use so many Virtues showed how concerning the situation with the Dark Moon was in the Light Palace.

I tried to sleep again, but to think I could end up having nightmares again didn't let me. I decided to simply try on the gifted coat. I noticed the gold seaming decorating the ends of the black coat, something unique to the original design of it, and the clips with two four pointed stars, matching my necklace.
It was heavy enough to avoid feeling cold in winter. Besides the raging storm outside, though, it was still summer, making it a bit too warm for my tastes.

I woke up to the loud sound of lightning striking nearby my room. I got up with the book I was reading on my legs. Ironically, it was that same book in the library.
[And powers that erst in Heaven sat on thrones,
Though of their names in heavenly records now
Be no memorial, blotted out and rased
By their rebellion from the Book of Life.]
I didn’t recall getting to that point, nor I even remembered where I was left at. I closed it once more, and waited a bit longer for Sol to visit my room. In the meantime I figured I also needed a spot to hide the lantern too. But it was too big to fit in anywhere...
After a few more minutes, the rain stopped, but the sun was still covered by stormy clouds.
I got ready for breakfast and looked for grandma. I thought she might have known where Sol was. The twins came upstairs and greeted me, Lapis holding the tray with butter cookies. He didn't seem to still hold a grudge on me for yesterday. "Hera is already in the tea room." And Sphalerite accompanied me inside. The room already felt amiss.
Hera was enjoying the tea, Re was sweetening his tea next to the butler. Ti was the first one to wave at me.
"That look on your face..." Hera laid down her cup of tea, "another one, right?"
Reluctantly, I nodded; "This time, I could hear his voice better. But... Right now I can't remember it clearly."
"It's better you don't sulk in those thoughts anyway. Now, now, have a seat, my dear." She patted the chair next to her. I let her pour my tea. The sweet aroma of the Earl Grey brightened that morning, but my mind was still elsewhere.
"Granny, have you seen Sol?"
I saw the surprised look on her face, "no, dear, I haven't. Of all people, you're definitely the one who sees her the most."
She said ‘people’.
That meant that maybe the angels knew something more. I glanced at Re, who was still looking at Hera mirroring her shock. There was a bit of a silence when the cub finally met my gaze. "Maybe she's cleaning the kitchen, or maybe she's taking care of the gardens, who knows. This place doesn't clean itself." He couldn’t lie, yet he spewed foolishness like it was nothing.
His answer was so disappointing that I continued to look for a better answer from the other angels. However, no one dared to say more than that. With the new insights regarding the Dark Moon and Puella's disappearance, knowing that no one had a single clue of where Sol was, only made me even more anxious.
After the tea time, Re and I went to visit Mi again. That cub was reluctant. I came to realise that Mi was getting ostracised by the other angels.
It took a quick glance to the right for Re to weasel his way out of visiting Mi.
"What..." he paled before the open entrance to the gallery hall. I could only grow more curious of his discovery, so I stopped and checked with him.
The great gallery: a small museum of wonders. This was where Hera's and Ron's collection shone the most. Carefully picked and exposed. But... I'd be damned if I didn't recognise Re's cause of stir. "Mi's ‘Dark Moon’ series..." Re and I didn’t share the same reason of surprise.
"You shouldn't know anything about this." He said with stern.
"Yes, I’m well aware of that… However, I should let you know that just yesterday night I got trapped in the middle of it." Hearing my response, Re frowned even more.
"What? Was it because of Sol?"
"I should have taken care of myself in the first place."
"That's not it, Lady Sarah. Sol should-"
"Angels are above anger, right Re?" Re was stunned for a short moment for cutting him off that quickly. I took the chance to mess with him a bit more.
I walked in, knowing how annoyed Re already was, and looked at the shelves. In four years of absence, skeletons of extinct animals, antique pottery pieces and marble busts filled those tall shelves on the sides. At the centre, lower shelves had butterflies and now even unusable relics were exhibited under a protective glass layer. Then, welcoming the breathtaking view was the wall used for the paintings. That wall was filled by the grotesque "Lilith" series. The bestiary of this Palace was now art. If it weren't for these paintings, I wouldn't have known what was awaiting in the Dark.
"Re." This house of miracles had curses that not even Principalities managed to completely lift. "Tell me everything you know about the Fallens."
"No way. You're not-"
"I am. I already got stuck in the dark night once, I don't know when that will occur again."
His voice was getting less confident as we spoke. My eyes were looking at the monsters, he was looking at my back.
"The less you know, the better Lady Sarah..."
In his eyes I still probably was a child to coddle. I missed the times when he fired my hunger for trouble.
I wasn't going to beg him to know more, so I decided to let go of him. In the end, Mi wasn't in the studio. Maybe, hopefully, she finally gained the energy to go out again.

Once again, grandpa didn't join us for lunch, instead, Lapis was sent to bring his plate to his room. I wondered if he was actually sick rather than sleepy, but I decided not to pry further. We had stuffed heart today, and since angels didn’t really need meals, they either kept us company or were on their own, so it was pretty much just the two of us right now.
Sol was "busy", Mi was… socialising? Puella was kidnapped... all of this was getting harder and harder to believe.
"You're avoiding eating meat today." Grandma stopped my chain of thoughts, "is it not of your liking?" I looked back down to my plate. It was hard to ignore how the beef heart was completely intact, while the steamed veggies making the side dish were completely wiped out. "I don't really feel like having beef heart today." In this room of shallow use, I sensed the phantom of the lowest points of my daily life. I couldn’t even look at my own plate without feeling sick as I was reminded of the pain of that miserable someone.
Like the good grandma she was, she was quickly alarmed, "oh my, I'll tell Ti to cook you some fish then. Proteins are essential, my dear."
By then, however, my appetite was completely beyond salvation and I couldn’t wait for the right moment to leave. But there was no way of stopping her now. Sphalerite quickly heard Hera and in no time appeared next to her, even before Hera could even spell out her name.
As we both waited for my meal, Re joined us, cuddling on my lap. His purrs were louder than Sol's, hers were softer.
Hera still looked worried for me, "I've heard about last night, my dear." she suddenly said.
I could feel Re freeze on my lap the moment he heard those words. I looked down, his eyes were like an open book. He didn't tell her. The Principalities also couldn’t have been, since they exclusively showed up at night, and yesterday night Hera was nowhere to be seen. Do was the only possibly responsible of this… but where was he?
"Relax, Re, nobody has told me anything. I have eyes everywhere."
Hera smiled. Now Re wasn't the only one with goosebumps. For a second, I doubted we shared the same blood.
"I figured you were trying to keep it a secret from me so I brought this up myself."
Now it was impossible to avoid the elephant in the room. The most important question now was how much did she know? "Besides, I'd have appreciated it if only you trusted me enough to ask me directly."
"I'm sorry..."
"It's okay. The truth only lies in your memories."
"The truth?"
Lies... in this mansion? It was so hard to believe. However, her words were absolute. Finally, my new main dish arrived. I wanted to ask more about the topic but she completely ignored my questions and indulged me to eat my meal.

In the evening Re brought me to the suite. The suite was truly the only room left untouched. The old piano, the expensive instruments all carefully cased and stored inside the shelf. The large windows gave a brighter atmosphere on sunny days, and romantic scenery on rainy days. And then, the stained glass door to the east wing greenhouse, the butterfly sanctuary.
He took the conductor's wand.
"Have you practised while you were in the city?"
"I haven't, actually."
Re summoned the rest of the orchestra with a simple flick of the wand. Those possessed by Virtue, moved like they had life of their own and each took their belonging place. There was only one empty spot which was meant for me, and a transverse flute floating before me.
"You still remember how to read a music sheet, so it will be fine." Said Re while getting over his disappointment. I took my place in the ghost orchestra and looked at the notes on the sheet. It took a moment but Re soon twisted the old melody on the sheet into a familiar sequence.
So it began. Under Re's guidance, there was harmony. Even if I was a bit rusty, it almost felt like I've never truly stopped practicing. Surrounded by the choirs it was hard to feel on the wrong track. Even those notes surging out of this room and irradiating the Palace of a brighter light than the one coming outside. It felt holy.

I remembered this melody. Hera would hum it to make me sleep. Back then, the nightmares weren't as animalistic as now, but still cruel. I'd cry after being trapped in those dreams for hours. For that same reason I refused to sleep at night and ventured outside my room, just for the sake of saving myself from utter boredom.
I knew I had done those things, I knew I enjoyed Re's and Puella's company during those times, but I can’t remember the smiles on their faces, I didn't remember what we exactly had done during those innocent nights. Were those childhood memories unworthy of their presence in the Light Palace?
The music stopped and I realised I was far behind the melody.
"You got off track, lady Sarah."
"I've just noticed. -I muttered sheepishly as I lowered the flute from the lips- I'm really sorry, Re."
"It's okay. You can keep practicing the piece if you want. We can rehearse another time." This partner in crime of mine, why did he look so sad now?

The forbidden door opened again and darkness sank into my mind one more time.
The steps of someone echoing alongside the clanking chains. What was it going to be this time?
"How could His wish be wasted on a mutt like you." I didn't have the strength to react in any way, I could only feel my wounds slowly regenerating.
Ah, right; last time he opened the chest of the prisoner again. I was soon going to find out why the sudden sound of chains on my own body. To our disgrace, he was holding a morning star, such a brute weapon, tearing down our skin. If only I stayed up I wouldn't have to suffer this. But... would he?
It's hard to differentiate between myself and this poor soul, even if it was indeed just a dream; part of me felt much better by believing I wasn’t currently me but rather somebody else.
There was more flesh to regenerate now. It was going to be impossible to feel any better as the stuffy air reacted to the open flesh. So, right when I thought it was really over, it was time to take something from them. And he did; the usual violent way. He carved an opening with a knife, and then forced his way into the chest. Not even a butcher had that cruelty. Yet there we were, experiencing the pain not even worthy of a vermin.

Sunrise was the only thing keeping me from turning mad and these days I was greeted by a dark grey sky. I couldn't tell what time it was, but I had my answer as I opened the door to the hall. Darkness welcomed me once again along with the feeble warm light of the wall lamps over the hall. The empty space was filled by jet black fog, like miasma. I closed the door again before that abyssal essence could reach and swallow my room into its domain too. I wasn't jumping in while only wearing a nightgown.
In fact, it was the perfect moment to make better use of Domina's gifts. I opened the wardrobe and I looked at the coat like it was waiting to be worn. Usually, Principalities also wore gloves, to avoid touching any essence of darkness in the way but I highly doubted that those were normal gloves. Then, it was time to equip the most important item; the lantern with holy fire burning inside it to light the way. While a Dominion would have been way stronger, I didn't have any for me to bring, Virtues were more common and versatile to use anyway. I only had to pray the guardians of this Palace would protect me too. But just to be sure, I also grabbed the flute. Two Virtues were definitely better than one.

I was finally ready to head out. There was a time when, guided by reckless courage, this feeling of being swallowed by this supernatural winter air thrilled me. But now, within this sea of darkness, my friend was being washed away, and I felt obligated to follow suit. I welcomed the sharp cold reaching my skin through the thick coat as I made my first few steps forward, under the bright light of the Seneh, my only source of warmth.
I carefully moved downstairs and I soon noticed another light coming closer. The sounds of a bell only confirmed my concerns hurrying me to hide. I quickly covered the light of my lantern under my coat and began to rush toward the wall opposite to the stairs. As of now, I was in no position to walk around the corridors, so if they found me this time… I preferred not to even imagine that outcome at all. I was sliding through like a gecko crawling on a wall while the trio approached the stairs faster than I expected. It was ideal to enter inside one of the rooms but I couldn’t do it in time. If I moved now they were definitely going to hear me.
"I thought I saw a strange light." Signora said to the other two as she illuminated her surroundings again.
"Must have been a ghost."
"Ghosts don't exist, Lady!"
"But our junior, Archangel Gabriel, said that everything is possible, didn’t he?"
"Just shush, will you?" Slowly their voices turned into whispers while they continued going farther.
Once I heard their voices getting far enough, I took out the lantern again and double checked that they were truly heading to the second floor, only to realise one of them made eye contact with me: Domina, the elder. Principalities cover the radiance of their halos by covering most of their heads with hats and veils, for that exact reason there's barely anything you could see of their faces; despite that, despite the lack of actual genuine emotions, I knew she recognised me and for some unknown reason she was smiling. It was funny, eerie and funny altogether: without her help I wouldn’t be safely exploring the Dark Moon, but nonetheless, the fear of getting caught and turned in, froze my body still. However, even knowing very clearly that it was only her right to inform Signora, not only Domina didn’t do so, she even smiled at me. I watched her turn around and take the stairs completely dazed. If I knew this was going to be the last time I saw her, I would have properly thanked her.

Walking down the hall I began getting used to the gloomy atmosphere. I still couldn't catch the source of Mi's vein of artistic inspiration if not the silent air conquering the Light Palace every night, a kind of silence that only thanks to the hard work of the principalities was possible.
The lack of artificial lighting in that room didn’t help either; the dark consumed everything but a white silk curtain towering before the barely opened door like the vest of a tormented soul, and the black piano that faced the window. My anxiety could hear it playing.
The dining room was just next to the living area, and it was one of the smallest rooms, since it had the single purpose was to have their meals there, except for breakfast, which grandma prefers having either in the tea room or the living area. Based on her words, it’s that small so that we could feel close to each other like a real family, so, the long table placed right in the middle of the room with thirteen chairs, had a meaning for Hera. But in my eyes, thirteen chairs were simply way too many: I’ve never heard of more guests visiting this place besides me and the rest of the ninth chorus rarely showed up at its full extension, since they didn’t really need food, the last time I remembered all of them showing up for dinner was probably years ago, a silly thing to please a child. But now it was better if I didn’t dwell in those memories and headed back.
This deafening silence was only disturbed by the sound of the steps made and the crackling everlasting flame. No amount of glances in the dark saved me from the fear of the dark. I could feel every nerve in my body capturing the stillness of the night, ready to sense the second anything shifted. It was fear born from the chaotic singularity of chance. No matter how equipped, the awareness of being merely human weighed tenfold each step forward. On the other hand, that murderous silence was the clear sign of the importance of the Principalities’ work within the estate… yet Puella was nowhere to be seen.

Another day without the sun. Once I left my room I noticed how the hall was oddly empty. By now, either Re, Do, or Sphalerite would have been walking around with trays of fragrant tea and freshly baked butter biscuits. At first, I could barely believe it was even possible for this mansion to be so barren. The notion slowly crawled from the spine and reached my ear and started to seriously concern me. It was all so quiet. Too quiet. I saw the tea room and its seats and table were abandoned. Not a tray, not even the sweet smell of tea lingered in the room.
My steps echoed through the stairs as I felt suffocated by so much isolation. It was probably because I grew too accustomed to the nerve-racking claustrophobic feeling of the darkness or even the quiet discomfort of interacting with angels who pretended to be humans.
Downstairs I saw the suite was also empty, if not only inhabited by the still, yet alive, instruments. I always thought Re was the first one to wake up, and his first stop was here, moving the curtains of the door windows, letting in the natural light. They were closed. I skipped through the bathhouse and the theatre on the right and the ballroom on my left, since they were only visited in the evening.
Finally I stopped inside the lounge, which was under the same predicament as the other rooms.
My heart sank. I didn’t like the sound of my steps echoing into the entire room at the rhythm of the rain. The room Hera sweetly furnished was barren by its vitality: Do should have greeted me with those adorable sad eyes, grandma would patiently wait for Sphalerite to pour her tea while Lapis had the bad habit of dragging me inside. My mind indulged in those fantasies from a fragmented past into the bleak present where the sofas around the coffee table were occupied only by the shadow of my imagination, the tea cups grandma treasured dearly were covered in dust inside the shelves and over the embroidered tablecloth there missed the ceramic plates and elegant trays of baked goods; now it was only hiding the chessboard in the coffee table. But I was digressing foolishly; after all the table wasn’t actually entirely empty: a letter was left behind.

I couldn’t deny it anymore. Everyone had left, and if they hadn’t, a letter wouldn't have been necessary to tell me anything at all. I didn't want to open it. I didn't want to know the reason why they all suddenly abandoned me without warning. And yet, even then, the wax seal slipped over with reluctant ease. I should have checked the time first.

「To my dear granddaughter,
Please forgive our sudden disappearance, leaving you confused and oblivious of how important you are to us. You'll soon come to know why we fled.

Hidden within these walls lie dangers above our comprehension;
In unison we tried our best to
Desperately find a way to keep you safe and only let you
Experience the beauty of our Palace.

Our efforts were futile. However,
Radiant of your courage, I believe you’ll succeed where we failed.

Rest assured that I blindly trust your judgement.
Understand these mysteries veiled in shadows,
Never lose faith in yourself;

As I'll be by your side till the very end.
With love,
Hera Ether.」

Knowing grandma, I read the letter twice to have a complete understanding of its subtle implications, however I barely understood what she fully meant. There was something awfully wrong with the letter, or maybe I had that feeling due to the flickering light of the chandelier. I should have indeed checked the time. It was too late now. Only after a sharp cold filled the room I finally noticed the hidden message of the letter. Hera loved puzzles, she especially liked testing me herself. She twisted her words in a way so that there was always some sort of code behind it, and of course, this letter was no exception. In the central body of the letter there was a small detail easy to leave ignored: the capital letters formed a short message which didn’t help with the dark atmosphere and clearly said “hide or run”.

Soon enough the lights weakened and the floor under me began getting flooded by a dark fog. I could have sworn it was too early to be evening already or maybe my perception of time was at fault. I looked around but it was no use: pitch black matter was covering everything in its way. It was impossible to see the rain or even the windows. The night was taking over the estate and I wasn’t ready for it at all. It was getting cold.
I'd found my way out of the lounge relying on my memory and by feeling the walls with my hands, sort of like last time. As I rushed with haste to the stairs, stumbling around in the dark, I could hear loud thumping noises and mysterious cries. Yet I deluded myself that the Principalities were still around, and the ravens outside were those causing those odd sounds.
And just when a single mistake could have marked my demise, I forgot the carpet that followed on the hall of the second floor and tripped, twisting my ankle. As I struggled to get back on my feet I heard the heavy steps of a beast coming closer, while my eyes deceived my ears with the sight of a familiar silent smile of an angel. Through the dark, with a bit of effort, you could see the bright blonde hair falling neatly over her forehead and shoulders. Those green eyes that glistened like gems even in the dark tricked my fear and lowered my defenses. I felt relieved. Sphalerite was indeed an angel, but for a second, it was finally a pleasant sight.
But the stark reality of my fears hit me again when I saw the protruding fangs glistening in the dark as she opened her mouth for the very first time.
"Found you..."
The only angel who wouldn't move, not even flinch, when it spoke was Sphalerite. I had always avoided talking to her for more than what was necessary due to this simple reason: of all, she was the closest to resemble an android who failed the Turing test. At the beginning, Hera assigned her as my lady-in-waiting, but she never blinked, nor opened her mouth. Especially at that early age, her eyes bothered me deeply. In the end, she began serving Hera, and I chose Sol to replace her. And now that she actually had some sort of resemblance to a human, I felt even greater grimace than before.
Her body began to slowly change into something far from pleasing. A grotesque metamorphosis was happening in front of my eyes. Her arms and chest bloated and exploded like balloons and in their destruction, a chimera was being created, with lion paws and fur loosely stitched to her body, then bear paws appeared right under. Like a doll’s soft stuffing, darkness oozed out whenever her body parts were destroyed. Her human legs disappeared and the angel grew more in size as more beastly features were stitched into her body creating a new monstrous doll with slim cat legs stitched on rat's body and tail. When she blinked, the jewel eyes turned into the wet irids of a toad. In that transformation that seemed to take hours, she kept smiling at me with the fangs and elation slipping out of her lips.

This was the worst way to realise why Mi refused to answer me: the source of inspiration for those mysterious silhouettes were none other than the Fallens; and they were no random creatures; they were fallen angels. I could finally figure out the source of so much reluctance around the topic. I started regretting my stay in the Light palace. I didn’t think this was going to help with my fear of angels. Over its long furry neck, the pale face of the former creature I knew was looking at me differently. If once I was an esteemed guest in her glistening eyes, now the horizontal slits of its pupils were looking down at me with the same excitement of a hungry predator.

I swallowed the pain of my sprained ankle. The panic made me crawl and roll down the stairs, hitting the floor with my back when I reached the ground floor. I thought it wouldn't have given me the time to get up for how quickly it was following me, however its gigantic body came into my advantage instead. I could hear its roars and the loud noises of each time it hit the walls. By the time the beast was also on the ground floor I was already inside the library. I couldn’t even feel the ache as I looked for a good place to hide. It was too dark to count the shelves before the door to the greenhouse and I didn’t have the time to trip again, so in the end my eyes then fell on the door behind the statue. Part of me had always been drawn to it, even if it was a terrible omen. There was no other option, and in a desperate act I pulled back the marble statue… finding it oddly simple. Marble wasn’t light, and even then, this curious situation was also justified by Hera’s words.
[The master of this palace shall move the statue of Ezra.]
The current master was Ron. But regardless of the fact this silly story was indeed true, up until now I didn’t have a good reason to foolishly test my strength and I had no good reason to break the rules. The beast was inside by the time the forbidden door could finally be opened and I rushed inside before the beast could reach me.

Once the door was shut I was blinded by the light of the chandelier. I was too used to the dark to face so much light so suddenly. Before I gradually got used to the light, I could hear the Fallen’s attempt of forcing down the door before it went quiet again. Around that time I was already a few feet away from the entrance. I saw dark armours aligned to the sides like columns leading up to the presbytery, making this narrow room even more suffocating. The pure white walls made me believe it was a secret cathedral; a foolish idea which was also supported by the rose window up ahead. However, it was far from the truth. Starting from the armours, the weapons hanging around and the odd splashes of black matter over the white walls.
Once again I was surrounded by unusual silence, but this time it felt less threatening. The pale white walls gradually darkened as I walked closer to the presbytery. There, stepping up the raising I noticed a slow sound of chains moving. My eyes refused to see what was in front of me until I reached up the altar, when I should have already recognised the stench. A coppery smell of dry blood filling my nostrils. I should have known something was wrong the moment I saw the morning star blackened from the same substance of the walls. And there was no altar under my feet, only the horrid realisation that I walked into the very source of my nightmares.
In this dungeon I looked at the chained creature before me, knelt over and exhausted; on a floor covered with dry rice and salt. Those dirty rags stained with dried blood and sweat that I recognised way too vividly to be on a different body. Heavy metal cuffs chained to the wall behind. I was horrified to realise I finally saw him. The prisoner's ears poked out of his hair, reminding me of a lamb. There was a time those ears were gilded with earrings, now there were only the scars of his riches being violently torn off. His head was bent, attempting to rest through the pain and the slow and excruciating process of regeneration. The horns that coiled out of his hair finally showed me the motif of so many years of violence: strife. I was still lost in thoughts when he raised his head, looking at each other for the first time. I finally had the utmost certainty of the reality of my nightmares.

The blue skin wasn't helping with my feeling of complete loss. The intense smell of his blood, the appalling sight of his torture that we were forced to bear, all those years spent with daily nightmares I endured now flashed before my eyes and so his were a reflection of the same pain. Did he think I was looking in horror at his scars or at his appearance? On the contrary, his eyes reminded me of the night sky, something that compared to everything I had witnessed this far was all but from frightening. A night with no Dark Moon. But what kind of night was that? And what sky was I speaking of, when the only thing I could recall after entering this mansion were the clouds covering me from looking at the moon?

I made a step closer and I quickly noticed the way he flinched. I refused to believe anyone within these walls could commit such cruelties.
"It's going to be okay, you’re okay." I said, or at least I tried to; I was stuttering and shaking like a leaf. Those words were more myself rather than him: I was bumping from one problem to another and now everything was starting to get weight on my mind.
The moon-kissed devil stayed quiet and slowly lowered his head again, looking down at the floor even if we were both well aware of how the floor was tampered to cause him more pain.
It was written all over his face how he considered me the same as the man keeping him here; he was waiting for the violent routine to start again, and that was because we both knew there was no hope for us. It was time for me to change his mind.
That started by checking the chains. The metal didn't have any sign of a keyhole, or any sort of locking mechanism at all, instead it seemed like they simply appeared on his ankles and wrists. His skin didn’t show any sign of burning, so they weren’t seamed on him, they actually looked like they randomly appeared there.
I wish I didn't know how such a thing was even possible, but it definitely wasn’t explained through physics.

[You are the new master of the Light Palace.]
Those words coming out of nowhere were like spiders crawling on my back, much like the first time I saw Sphalerite moving her lips. My first reaction was to look behind me, but there was nothing to look at, besides the iron black armor and the door to my nightmares. What actually spoke, however, was right in front of me, even if the familiar voice seemed to come out of somewhere else in this room. So, when I turned my head back around, what actually met my eye wasn’t the poor creature tired of his own existence, no, the look in his eyes was the one with murder in his mind.
[Congratulations child.]
Repulsed by that appalling smile as he got up, I began stepping away from him, but I knew I couldn’t get out of here yet. And when he started laughing for once he truly resembled a demon.
The next thing I knew the demon pulled the chains off the wall with an uncanny ease for someone who was out of blood and hanging on an incomplete heart. [There we go. This mutt was weakened enough to be unable to break these shackles... How cute.]
I could feel my guts churning as I figured out how everything connected together. There was only one person who could enter this room before me. This, added to the contempt as he pronounced the word “mutt” gave me a bitter taste of reality. I thought I was taking a break within these walls, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.
"Ron?" I asked amused, partially because I wished I didn't recognise that voice. He glared at me with that creepy smirk. Then his eyes moved towards the door.
[We thought we were clear with the rules.]
He did circle around the question, but there wasn’t much to clear out anymore: starting from him opening the door before I would knock, to the uncanny amount of energy at such an old age when he accompanied me to the living room. I didn't have the power to be angry anymore, or at least that was for our family matters, if I could even call them that anymore. He too wasn’t family at all.
[We are Metatron, scribe of heaven.] He said briefly.
However, getting that devil out of this place and his control was a completely different matter.
"Metatron, let go of him."
There was a short glimpse of surprise. He wouldn't have been if he saw how much I had changed during these few days.
[why, are you sympathetic to this bastard? You don't even know who this is, child.]
"You'll have the time to explain who he is once you get out of his body, Metatron." Instead they laughed mockingly, something that made me question if they really were of the ninth choir.
[You cannot give us orders like that, you-] They began saying before his words were cut out the moment I pointed a sword from the various armour around the hall to the already scarred neck.
"Do not move, or I'll show you a taste of your own medicine!"
The sword seemed to be threatening enough for him to actually stop pulling my leg.
[‘Our own’? Oh, we see now… You know about this place- about him. Of course you do.] Metatron smirked as they looked down at the tip of the blade carefully poking the skin, then at me again, confidently ignoring their predicament, probably because they already noticed the hand holding the sword was shaking.
[We must have pushed you too far if we managed to make you unleash your power on us, child.]
“What power?”
My confused expression made them giggle bitterly. I was surprised to notice Metatron seemed to struggle. They had the energy to free the body from the chains, but clearly that was all there was in that pitiful devil. Now, the exhaustion was taking a toll on him as well.
I traced the point his eyes looked at, reaching their wrist.
[If you focus enough you should be able to see we're unable to move.]
Indeed, there were golden threads tied around the devil's wrist. They were thin enough they could have been mistaken for spider webs. But not only the wrists, but also the arms, legs and feet were tied into that delicate trap. And despite their frail appearance, those threads seemed to restrain him better than those metal chains. [Words have power, child. For that same reason if we were you, we wouldn't be saying our name.]
"No… there’s no way I’ve done that."
[I don't see why you could not? You were made in His image after all.]
"That again…” With a sigh I lowered the sword. I didn't buy his words at all, but at the same time though I was obligated to still consider the absurd notion that mankind had power over angels. There wasn't a single time this was ever mentioned in the old testament and this has never happened to me before.
[Leave now, and let us handle the mutt, child.]
“You should already know my answer.”
[We insist. You don't realise whom this body belongs to, child. You're even showing reluctance at hurting this bastard further.] Their exasperation echoed throughout the entire hall and fell deaf through my ears. Once he understood I wasn’t going to repeat myself, I could see their eye twitching with an annoyed grin.
[You don't realise what this demon is capable of.]
I didn't, but I felt like I knew enough to finally make a decision of my own. Powered by seething anger and pain of countless restless nights I had to suffer, golden chains began to tie around the old metal cuffs on the devil’s wrists and ankles. The terror in the eyes that were not their own clearly showed their current thoughts. The seraphim inside him struggled, but it was no use. Metatron should have stopped me before I accepted the mechanism of this crazy skill as my own. It wasn't the word itself to hold power, it was intention. Will.
[No!] He screeched with unfiltered panic. The metal cuffs shattered into pieces and violently hit the ground. If I only needed willpower to control the nine choirs, what couldn’t I do to them? I couldn’t blame Metatron’s fear now, it was starting to scare me too.
Once the golden chains accomplished their purpose they started to slowly disappear into small shimmering particles ascending into nothingness. Words jammed right into my mouth into a bitter taste of guilt. I wished I was actually sorry, but I was more than happy to stop the source of all my nightmares; however, that meant defying him and disappointing- if not betraying- my family.
[You’re just like Him. Mercyful only to the lowest of bastards.] I was glad Metatron didn’t take Ron’s form while he revealed to me how deep his hatred was rooted into his soul. He was coming closer again and as I followed his pace backwards I reached the end of the fake altar.
"You pride yourself for being the highest of all angels, the one closest to God, yet you broke the most important of His laws."
Metatron fed up hearing my taunts lunged with his clawed hands towards me. Any remaining feeling of filial kinship for him withered right in that instant and I had no other choice but to improvise a parry with the sword weighting on my hand. My mistake was that I immediately closed my eyes.

His attack never managed to reach me nor the sword, instead it pierced his own body into the chest. There was shock in his eyes, the gaze of someone that had never experienced pain. His chest pooled out an horrific amount of blood, the same black substance that coloured the white walls of this dungeon.
"Enough..." the low tone of voice tainted with indescribable pain was completely different from the audacious one from earlier. The seraphim wasn't the one speaking anymore, but him. The hand still stuck on his chest now plucked out of his own body something covered in his blood. I clumsily stepped down the presbytery, disgusted by the gore of the scene in front of me. The blood-bathed parasite took the form of a creature with six wings. That was Metatron. There was nothing you could see of him under those wings, not his face, nor his body. That was how He designed him to be. The quiet contempt of years of suffering now looked at the heartless angel and his last struggle.
[First Fallen-!] An echo of thousands of voices vibrated into a disgraced symphony disorienting the mind. It looked like a murder of crows collectively fighting over the same carcass. A chaotic flapping of blackened wings under the thick demon blood that finally had him firm in his grasp.
The grip on the sword was faltering, I was still shaking as I digested the crude feeling of betrayal. I found it hard to believe that someone I trusted for so long actually had the intention of killing me.
The broken ribs of the wounded devil were slowly growing back bit by bit whilst more blood poured down, and with goresome sight I wondered what the demon was going to do to Metatron. Part of me was still fond of my grandpa, that traitorous angel. Was I supposed to stop him? Between affection and loathe, which one prevailed in my heart?
However, I needed to also consider not just my own point of view, but also his, the one who has suffered for years in this dungeon because of that same angel I called until now family. He had far more rights to decide what was going to happen to Metatron. It was time for me to wait, and let him do what he deemed as right.

The devil’s claws pushed deeper into the winged vermin, who was flapping their wings hysterically. Then in a cross lament, they softly popped like fireworks of white iridescent lights. The dark feathers fell to the ground as the chilling silence.
Everything was still a haze after hearing Metatron's real voice. Those hopeless empty eyes were in front of me again, and that was enough to put me at ease.
I believe he tried to tell me something but I was still too deep into my own thoughts to hear.
Those absent eyes lacked any feeling. The bare feet stepping on raw rice and sea salt did not result in any sort of discomfort or annoyance, nor the logorating pain of the open wound or the oxygen burning within the blood and the terror he had back when he first saw me.
"He isn't gone." He repeated again,
"He isn't...?"
"That was just his physical appearance. He’ll be back."
He was indeed talking about Metatron but avoiding to say his name. It was a bit depressing to see my grandfather being treated like a calamity, but on the other side the Ron I knew was a mere appearance, a facade designed to fool me. So, since he never actually existed, not only was I grieving a mere ghost of my affections but also the man of, not only mine, but also his nightmares.
I looked down at the wound on his chest still gushing out blood, "You're still bleeding.”
"I'm used to it."
Maybe it was because he was completely ignoring the open wound on full show on his chest but I also forgot he was bleeding too, if I came back to my senses sooner, I would have done something way sooner. While he sat down on the steps, I ripped off part of the already torn fabric of my dress. I can’t exactly remember when that happened, but by the looks of it, it was probably while I was being chased by that fallen.
“Still, you should get yourself patched up if you want to get out of here.”
He quietly accepted the torn fabric and lazily wrapped it around his chest. No matter how much I tried I wasn’t helping with the awkward silence. But I couldn't blame him for refusing to speak up more. For him I was nothing but a random stranger, while I, for some reason, knew way too much about his suffering.
“Throughout my life, I've been dealing with horrible nightmares. I was knelt down on a rough floor and kept in constant pain in the worst ways humanly possible. All the blood I shed inside the dream, all tears and sweat felt so real, too real. Only now do I find out that those nightmares were linked to you and this very place.”
There was an interesting, yet small, glimmer swelling in his eyes. Those light blue eyes finally gained a flicker of life.
"Who are you?" Those words were spoken slowly, pondering over my existence. Now I was wondering as much as he was.
“I am Sarah Ether, master of the Light Palace. We're currently inside a secret room inside the library." I turned around and placed the sword back around the iron gauntlets which first held it.
"I didn't catch your name." He took his time to answer, furrowing his brows a little.
"I don't have one." I was ready to apologise but he soon interrupted me, "I remember a voice calling me by the name of Datrim before you came through that door." Now that was interesting. A voice? Was that from a dream too or was it something else?
"Datrim, then?"
He then quietly nodded. When his gaze raised to see my hand towards him, he looked surprised. "Let's get you out of here, Datrim."
I was amused to see him declining the formal camaraderie frequently used inside the mansion, but at the same time I was relieved. The Light Palace was a gilded cage, where I couldn't go to certain places, I couldn’t act certain ways, and couldn’t stay anywhere alone, if not my own room. And by agreeing to these absurd rules over the years I turned into a pushover. It is the reason why I feel so lost in my own home now, contrary to the power of his independence, making him find the energy to get up on his own.

It was time we got out here for good. That door was finally going to stop tormenting me, and this dungeon wasn't going to imprison him anymore. Everything was extremely quiet here. Under the blinding light of holy blessing, I could have forgotten it was still Night. I would have forgotten there's a Fallen Angel after me. I stopped in front of the door with the hand on the handle and turned to look at him. He had the face of someone who has seen it all. I wondered how he could find this much dignity while injured badly.
“When I open this door, we might need to run,” I said before lowering my eyes to the blood-stained improvised bandages. The wound was far from healed. Still, he was far from human as well.
“Can you really do that in this state?"
"The less I stay here the better."
That wasn't the answer I wanted. Part of me wanted him to stay there and wait for me to come back with some actual remedy.
"Let's go." Datrim repeated adamantly.
I slowly turned the handle, finding the time to swallow my fear once more and remember even slightly the map of the mansion, then I slammed it open quickly, flying out of the dungeon. Not even a step past the exit and we were immediately welcomed by a heavy sword nearing our heads. No, it wasn’t going after me, but at Datrim.

There was a loud noise and debris of the wall falling all over our heads. I could still feel the adrenaline rush slowly weighing over me as I figured that I managed to shield the demon from the sudden attack. I slowly looked up: the heavy sword nailed us for less than a few inches and got stuck within the wall.
While the weapon stalled there I recognised the glowing stars engraved into the blade and the decorated hilt with two pairs of wings.

Then I noticed his heartbeat. It was beating so fast it looked like he just ran a marathon. After Metatron carved his heart out a few days ago, he took a lot to grow it back and, at his current state, forcing his body into great stress was simply going to kill him. We got lucky we didn't have to run at all.
While Datrim was still hyperventilating, I turned around. I had a short glimpse of the current state of the library, if I could have called it such anymore. All the shelves were completely destroyed, there were books and broken pages floating everywhere. Those books were Ron's precious collection, my fairy tales and novels, now they were just a white cemetery of words. Then I saw Sphalerite's body completely dismembered. Those beastly features were scattered around the room completely butchered. Looking at them now I realised that the beast was made of the entire ninth choir. Do's and Re's paws, Mi's tail and fur, Sol's legs and Ti's eyes. Everyone had been fused into one wretched monster, a fallen angel.
The culprit of this mess was just right in front of me. I looked up at the cold marbled statue that stepped down his pedestal to slay evil. Up until now, I firmly belived he wasn't alive, but I should have realised that when the other angels referred to the statue as a “he” wasn't just a mere casualty. Yes, there was no mistake that it was him. Wavy locks of brown hair fell over the bandaged eyes and behind the swallowtail wings. There were three stars on his armour covering his shoulder, and if Virtues were only objects, he must have belonged to the sixth choir. Finally, to confirm my doubts, there was the empty pedestal missing its living statue now towering me.
"My lady- he spoke curtly- I advise you to step aside.”

Chapter Text

The moment we got out of that door, another angel came into this hellish roster threatening the both of us. This cursed stubborness of mine only accentuated the nerves on the angel's neck.
I came to recognise the heavy sword he was extracting from the wall: Verbum, a strong Dominion long sword, like many others of its choir, it was meant to kill demons, but by the looks of it, it could have also killed me by sheer strength.
Ezra with a disappointed sigh accepted my bravado and got into position, lightly holding the weapon. "Your time as the master this Palace was short-lived."

Just when I thought I was about to face an early death, Datrim pushed me to a side. I heard the sword hitting the wall again but this time when I opened my eyes there was no bloodshed, instead there was Datrim breathing erratically with a hand over the wound he had dealt to himself shortly before. Barehanded he dashed torward the angel approaching menacingly to proceed their fight.
I ended up feeling utterly powerless once again. Such was the predicament of being the only human in a supernatural mansion. I didn't have the complete comprehension of my ability, so it would've done more harm than good attempting to use it now. I might have killed someone. That was how I was obligated to watch helpless as everything unfolded, with Datrim using his bare hands and Ezra effortlessly swinging his blade with the sole purpose of killing the demon.

But something was off. I could have sworn I saw Datrim taking some heavy blows, but not once he backed down. Ezra sure knew how to keep a fight to a certain range, and yet, right when I thought Datrim would had lost on many occasions, I find my eyes falling to the swift tail grown down to sweep nervously the dust and debris on the floor. in those dreams his tail was missing, making our sense of balance feel off. And now he was healing, somehow.
During the fight he was attempting to get closer into the angel's body, but he simply couldn't break his defence. Before I knew it Datrim was thrown into Ron's desk, and just like that Ezra was about to behead him. This time for good.

With that sword Ezra had no weaknesses if not a command or something I completely missed.
Something he left behind and we all ignored.
Could a statue stand still without its staple?
Suddenly it was like I could see better my surroundings, on the other side of the library glittering gold shimmered through the unnatural dark. I slowly crawled closer to it and read the incisions. "Ezra". That name carved in stone, has it always been there? And thin golden veins scarred the pedestal. Why couldn't I notice them earlier?

I decided to try something.
"Datrim, can you hold up?"
I could see their fight was moving further to the narrow shelves, unfortunately causing further damage to the precious books inside the library. I saw him skipping from another slash and his eyes flicker at me for a short moment before avoiding more attacks from Ezra.
He nodded and lured the angel into a dead end.
"Then cover me for a bit longer!" I had no time to waste.

On the rubble of the former desk laid Ron's paperknife and I used it to tear open the ezra's staple from the dent made by the angel's sword. I could overhear their conversation through the fight
"You gave her your name." he began saying;
"I don't understand how you managed to manipulate her into making you escape, but you won't make a step past this room."
I heard Datrim crashing on one of the still standing shelves. I had to hurry...

Using the paperknife as a chisel, I grabbed the heaviest book I could find still in good shape and made it my makeshift hammer. A cry echoed though the room. It was useless to pray it wasn't Datrim, he could barely dodge the chain of attacks until now. The air in the room suddenly seemed to electrify, every hair in my skin rose up signaling me to hasten up, to use more force. The marble didn't seem to budge, even if the small blade seemed to fall deeper and deeper.
"I shall head to the heavens with your head and your blood on a charger."
I saw golden chains wrapping the stone before I gave another hit at the hilt of the blade.
"Thy. Will. Be. Done!"

White and golden marble rolled in front of my knees. The paperknife was laying on the wooden ground. I heard something tumbling behind me. But when I turned i only saw a trail of black blood staining the floor of the library.
"No..." My words choked with the terror of hearing the steps of the angel to retrieve the devil's head. But I had no time to mourn.

"Found you..."
The butchered body of that chimaera I once called Sphalerite loosely connected their limbs together with the dark fog. That beast finally found the chance to kill me.
The second thing I knew was that a headless body took the violent slash for me, and Ezra rushed right after, neutralising the foe a second time; hopefully for good. I was utterly confused. I just saw dead bodies moving again.
I saw with my own two eyes Datrim's body laying on the crater of the wall completely limp, with black blood oozing out of the neck and chest carved by the beast's claws. If he wasn't dead before he was probably dead now.

Ezra let out an irritated sigh, then his eyes moved to look down at me as he stood on the rubble of a broken bookshelf.
"Why did you break it?" Ezra said as he pulled the long sword out of the chimaera's neck. Black fog spilled out of the neck like a gruesome fountain.
"If it wasn’t for your foolish stunt I would have killed him."
I was late to realise that I was indeed looking at his eyes now. I could see the glimmer of his mellow eyes once covered by that odd golden band. Alas the change wasn't as critical: his gaze matched his tone full of spite.
"Are you implying he's still alive after all that?" it was hard to believe he was still somehow alive despite missing his head...
"Unfortunately, yes, he is."
The beast lying on the ground finally dissipated into the dark fog, becoming one with it. What if they all turned into fog when they die? There was only one way to check.
I got up from the floor and walked past the signs of battle. Black blood was scattered everywhere just like inside the small cathedral, especially where Ezra probably attempted the execution, blood mixed with the ink of the torn pages.
On the opposite side laid Datrim's head in a pool of blood like a door to the abyss.
I dipped into the blood as I stepped closer. One hand at a time I reluctantly lifted the demon's head. All that blood gushing out colored the chemise. It was... light, and slowly turning cold. I coun't really tell if it was a bad sign.

Ezra saw me coming back and winced appalled.
"Why you... no, both of you are out of your minds." said witnessing me placing the head back to the body
Ezra looked just as imposing as ever but had changed now was that he had a voice to also be extremely dramatic. Even then I couldn't exactly blame him.

"This place has never been normal, don't you think? Those I called family and friends are after my head. You included." The black blood dried on the open ends of his body turned back into that same fog that connected the limbs of the chimaera just earlier. It seemed that he was healing back, but he didn't seem to wake up just yet.
The stern look on the angel's face slowly changed with the regret of his cynical approach. Ezra knew he failed with the utmost important task, one that was carved within his own name.
"I may not trust that fiend, but I can't not trust you, young master." He lowered his head apologetically, but also reluctantly. He had no other choice. Ezra was in no position to object. Just like he couldn’t object Ron even if he knew what was going on behind that door he ought to protect.
"Would you trust me even if I wasn't the head of this Palace?"
"No," the angel said abruptly, "but I'd probably believe there would always be reason even in your worst decisions."
I guessed that was supposed to be good. Probably. But it was definitely better than nothing, better than traitorous angels with murderous intents... his honesty was better than thousands of lies.

The sun was finally coming up through the glass door to the greenhouse, and by that time Datrim was fully healed but not awake yet. He looked so peaceful. This was probably the first time he could sleep without any unwanted surprises waiting for him.
"Ezra, help me take him to the entrance hall and leave this place."