Chapter Text
My eyes indeed did not agree with me upon exiting
The vaunted halls of His refuge, none contesting my departure.
My legs, unsteady from my ordeal of strength, failed me,
I collapsed to the marble cobbles
A puppet, bereft of strings to uphold its virtue
Nor to provide direction upon which to guide oneself.
I shudder to remember the sensation of burnt flesh,
Of the sickening sweetness from my own body, rent asunder,
The taste and scent of blood too much to bear.
“Dear Commander,” A voice rang from my side with steady arms,
“Don this and suffer no more from His totality,
Of which the human mind was not meant to know.”
My ruined eyes could still yet see
Mine own visage, reflected in the perfect helm
Of burnished silver held out to me by the hands of
The Archlord Kristya, who knelt himself before me.
His wings shone brilliant crimson, fading to gold in the way
The dawn makes rise a new day, wondrous in beauty,
With his aid I fixed the polished mask to my face
And at once my body seemed to weep from the lack and yet
Too, thanks to such lack, I no longer burned from within.
“Dear Commander,” he proclaimed, “Now
Your life is in danger no longer of collapsing
Beneath the weight of which you witnessed,
So long as you possess this mirror which
Shields your soul from the embers without.
Pray tell, where shall you make haste?”
“I do not know the path back home,” I admitted with some shame,
For I had wanted to flee the Sanctuary with haste,
And did not dedicate my failing mind to the journey itself,
“I know only that this land is seated among the clouds,
And my home nestled along the mountains of that coastal region
Of the land that proclaims freedom among
Ruin, destitution, and suffering,
Upon which me and mine are not spared its grasp,
I fear my cat shall die of hunger.”
Upon my words the Archlord seemed quite amused
By my priorities, and the justification
With which I departed from the halls of the Most High,
“Indeed, those which provide companionship freely
With a simple love, no less pure for its clarity,
Are to be cherished, and be called family within your house.
But such a creature as the common feline
Cannot care for itself in the manner a human can,
For this I see your caution and your fear.”
I garnered the sense the dear angel
Had some form of jest on my behalf,
Though the words were sincere, and thus I paid no mind.
“To depart from Paradise requires skill
And a guide, for those who reach this place
Seldom return, for lack of want or necessity,
There are those who fall, never to return,
Those who descend to their homelands are
Not heard of; Dear Commander, you are the first.
As your faithful sword, I who have brought you
Victory, again and again, the
Duty shall be mine; I am glad to carry such.”
A hand gilt in finest argent rose before me
And I, still uncertain, relied on Kristya’s kindness
Which guided my feet to rise and steady themselves,
For the road ahead would not be so kind to
Me, a mere mortal walking the realm of Light Unburdened
As a adjunct who denied His offer of greatness.
“Will the road be long?” Asked I, and reminded
Of my simple-minded reasoning, the Archlord Kristya
Shook his head both yes and no,
“It will feel the longest for you, perhaps, you
Who will walk between the stars and their inhabitants,
Supplicants towards His glory desiring audience,
As for the mortal realm, none can say,
Mine own vessel was carried with you here,
It may take many days or none at all.”
They were grim tidings, but they were words
Which bolstered my heart, for they told me
It was possible at all to descend to the place I belonged,
Not the vaulted halls of gleaming marble
Cleaned of any and all imperfection, for
That was not where any mortal should be.
No, what I held in my heart was hope
For my future, though it might be changed,
A future built with my own hands which I desired.
“Then let us depart,” Kristya proclaimed,
For I see your resolve is quite firm
As that which won the victory which accoladed you,
Come, let us descend through this Sanctuary
And all its heavenly spheres,
To roost upon the ground beneath the blue sky.”