Chapter Text
There is such a dimension existing in this universe.
That dimension being Heaven, as though only one was told, there is another one. Opposed to Heaven, there is a Hell. The both contradict each other, most people having done only good deeds to go to Heaven once they pass away. While it may seem that way, there is a reason for that choice.
The reasoning for most people down on earth preferring to go to Heaven rather than Hell is due to the cause that they would experience the greatest pain ever to exist, and they would rather not burn in the pits of Hell. Heaven, being the opposite as told, it is a place that 'good' people go to after passing. If Hell was such a bad place with torture, Heaven was the place where you would live your life to the complete fullest. That is what the story is being told to human beings, of course. People can choose whether or whether not they believe in it, your decision would be respected no matter the cause.
Most people on earth do care about social interactions, meaning that they deeply and truly are cautious on what people think about them. That being said, for some, that is a reasoning why they would prefer one over the other. The popular decision being heaven as if you were to choose hell, you would be judged by others. Why would one person who can feel and experience pain so easily ever choose the dimension where you are in constant pain and torture throughout your time being there? That is what people's opinions are on them, well, again, at least what majority believes in.
What exactly roams around Heaven and Hell? There are two types of beings that live amongst separately from them, an angel and a demon. The angels come from Heaven, being said as they are the spiritual entities. They are frequently in the role of a messenger or intermediary of God and humanity. They can also have other roles, like being a servant of God or protectors of human beings, such as guardian angels. They possess strong power, being able to banish humans that do not pass the rules of heaven at their own will. Most of the time, to distinguish them, angels appear as beings with halos and wings over their back and divine light, as though this is not always the case. Some angels can appear off as frightening or inhuman.
Contradictory to angels, demons are malevolent and aggressive supernatural entities. They are not supposed to be angelic-like and as soft as angels are, they come from Hell. Demons can also be benevolent, though they are harmful beings. They come from the banished ones from heaven, being dropped off to Hell. Hell is a place where torture is prominent, there being only fire and pain. Demons are said that their only goal is to hurt others, bringing them down with them. They tempt human beings or people in general to do bad things, for them to commit immoral behavior.
As though there is a third type of kind, fallen angels. Fallen angels—they are said to be angels who were originally from heaven until they had been banished from it for sinning or rebelling. A sin could be anything, lust, pride, greed, wrath, gluttony, envy, or sloth. Fear not, as everybody sins, even if they refuse to admit it. Nobody is perfect, if you are a good person, then that's that.
Not exactly like Angels, who have missions and can operate dependent or independently to help human beings and save them, Demons are independent operators. They have different demons doing different types of evil on earth, they can also tempt humans to commit sins. All contradictory to one another, yes. While angels follow God, as they are the ruler of Heaven, demons may or may not be considered as the Devil, though mostly it is said that they bow down to the Devil as they are the ruler of Hell.
And there is royalty in both dimensions, there is a kingdom. There is a hierarchy for angels, aswell. The prince of Heaven, a formal title of male monarchs who are the rulers of a small principality, being born in royalty or chosen for royalty. Then, there is a princess of Heaven, a formal title denoting a woman who is the daughter of royalty who represents her own kingdom and attending events as the muse. Now, in Heaven, the prince of heaven is otherwise known as Stormz A. Valerius, of course. As his own sister, Sophia Shaun S. Valerius, is the princess of heaven.
There is of course a prince of hell and a princess of hell, too. The both have the same exact goal, though it is hidden for now to the people. The prince of Hell, known as Dumb I. Acheron, who's sister is known as the princess of Hell, Dolphin N. Acheron.
The four siblings rival each other, only seeing one another when there is war between the two or there is a fight. They never get well together, as they would be a traitor to their own kingdom once caught with a demon or an angel. Because the two shouldn't be alike, in fear that they would influence the other with their behavior. The four vowed to kill one another once having the chance, as the Valerius siblings would kill the Acheron siblings. To prove their power, to save the skies from falling.
As the same goes for the Acheron siblings, who have set a promise to murder the Valerius siblings when finding the perfect opportunity to. They need to prove their strength, to bring down Heaven all together even if it will not be easy whatsoever. They hated one another with such a burning passion.
A Valerius sibling had once almost reached their goal of killing an Acheron sibling with such a simple strike of their staff. While similar to that, an Acheron sibling had found a Valerius' weak spot and has a chance to use it against them in the next battle.
Golden blood runs thicker than black blood, that is what is told.
The sound of a book being shut is heard slightly throughout the surrounding area, as the book is placed down on to a dusty table. "It's.. Something," The person, or rather prince, commented after finishing reading the pages. He exhaled, feeling a wound pulse again. In the history between the two dimensions, a sibling of the Valerius family was striked by an Acheron, leaving a permanent mark.
Stormz let out a slight grunt as he held his hand over his arm; he was the sibling who was attacked. "Demons really are cruel, aren't they?" The princess of heaven spoke, noticing how the prince of heaven clutched his stomach after reading that book. It was a book about the history between the two dimensions, explaining the attacks and war more clearly. Even though it helped the two understand what happend and their tactics, there was a disadvantage.
Demons, once attacking an angel with all their power, the angel would have a permanent black mark burned into their skin that even their sacred blood could not heal. Once not fully recovered, if a battle occurs again, the mark would return and put the angel at a disadvantage with pain in the spot of where their mark was. However, in this type of situation, Dumb had been not too lucky as he got a bit golden blood mixed with his. If this ever occurred, then the demon would be weakened slightly as golden blood still had their divinely powers in it.
"Yeah. They are," Stormz responded, trying to keep stable. "..It hurts again, doesn't it?" Shaun asked, being able to tell it did by how Stormz moved in his seat. She had been the one to give Stormz her own golden blood as they were family to help him recover better, even if it would not completely get rid of the mark, it'd get rid of the burning pain. "Stormz nodded his head in approval, shutting his eyes. "We can go to the healing station, you know," Shaun suggested, placing a hand on his shoulder. She took a look around her, making sure that no demons somehow invaded their kingdom.
The arm was an unfortunate spot, wasn't it? Back then, it had been an exposed part of Stormz until that incident happend. Now, he covers it all the time no matter the cost. He would rather protect his own life then care about his fashion style or what other people thinked, you never know what would happen in battles against the angels.
"That'd be- nice," Stormz agreed, letting out a sharp inhale as the pain returned. "Or- Wait, I have an extra bottle in my bag. Hold on," Shaun said, pushing her seat back as she rushed over outside the room to get to her bag. He would need to back out from fights now, there would be a ton of bloodshed and.. If the demons blood ever got on to his scar again, well, he didn't know what to do. Stormz would need to be able to endure the pain until his sister came back.
Eventually, a couple of seconds later Shaun had came back with a bottle, antidote rather, of golden blood. Even though that it burnt against the scar, Stormz would need it to heal himself and make the pain disappear fast. "Ready?" She asked him once going over to him, opening the antidote in her hand as she brushed out the fabric out of his arm. "Yeah," Stormz answered, preparing himself. He inhaled, then once seeing the gold flow through his scar, he tried his best to stay calm. His fingers dug into his palm, feeling the pain throughout his body.
Stormz' eyes shut tight, until he heard Shaun's voice again. "It's done now," She reassured him, Stormz letting out that exhale after quite a while. "Acherons ruin everything," He finally spoke, sharing his opinion with the princess. "I know, right? After what they did to you it's unbelievable." Shaun responded in agreement, she had been the one to almost kill an Acheron, despite that, it was out of pure luck.
"I hate the demon who did this to me," Stormz stated, he of course didn't bother to care about what the name of the demon was. All he knew was the appearance, what was it? Around 6 feet, red highlights in their hair, and a scar over their right side of their face. The next time Stormz sees them, he's going to use all his power in dreams of killing them. "It's okay, I would too," Shaun replied, putting the antidote back in her pocket. "It's a war, I just didn't expect this.. would happen," Stormz added on.
"Father won't let us go out on our own, we don't even get any proper training!" Shaun crossed her arms in annoyance, frustrated at the fact that they're not allowed to do stuff that royalty should do."I'm perfectly fine now, I don't understand why we don't get to train," Stormz agreed with her, it was truly foolish of the heavenly principles. Stormz rules over the lower-ranked angels, Shaun is his right-hand woman, they clearly have power over the people.
As much as Stormz doesn't want to admit it or even say it out loud, he hates his life.
Stormz sighed, "You almost killed an Acheron too, it's pretty stupid to not let us do what we want," He stated his opinion yet again. Shaun nodded in agreement, glancing at Stormz' scar for a split second again. "You rule over the lower-ranked aswell, we've brought this up to the heavenly principles once, no?" She said, recalling memories of when she addressed the heavenly principles. "I don't remember, though if we haven't that is a good idea for the next meeting," Stormz answered back.
"If they even care enough to do anything," Shaun sighed, leaning back in her chair as she looked around the library of knowledge. The two siblings usually go here once on a mission, or if they need to expand their education on something, just like the book they had just finished reading through that contained information about the wars between the two dimensions. "They won't. We already know that part," Stormz said casually, thankfully it's just him and her.
Because once someone from heaven had caught them talking in this tone about the royalty, they would be banished from heaven itself and taken to hell. The two trust each other deeply with their shared opinions, promising to never tell their family about this. During events, the princess, Shaun is the muse. She is escorted by the prince, Stormz. And as much as they both dislike how careful they have to be and not take any risks, they still have to put on a smile.
Even if behind the curtains, there would be a faint angel forcing himself to go through the pain of a mark set by a demon with no one taking care of him. Then, there would be a weeping of an angel, one who will adjust every bit of her being to appeal to others.
"Do you want to go to your people? I'm sure they'd be excited to see you, give them their basic needs and stuff," Shaun suggested, changing the topic for their own comfort. "Oh, yeah, sure. Definitely," Stormz agreed with the idea, brushing his hair out of the way. "I'll get ready, then," Shaun put a smile on her face once facing her brother, him returning the smile. "Me too, see you later?" Stormz responded, standing up from his seat. Shaun stood up from hers, stretching.
"See you later."
-—-
Stormz had looked at himself in the mirror of his own bathroom, the scar on his left side of his face identical to the demon who attacked him. Then, his eyes wandered over to his arm at the thought of it. It was on his right arm, the mark, scar, rather. Maybe, there was just a slight chance, maybe he could benefit from this. If you truly know the location and what was happening during the time he got the scar, then it would open up a new idea. What was going on was that there was an ongoing attack on the regular angels, the ones that roam heaven and help others.
Once hearing about it, another battle had broken out. Stormz rushed to the angels, his weapon in hand as he flew as quickly as he could with his wings. The scene was a total mess, down on earth, it is said that gold is a good thing as it helps you obtain your dreams. While as for heaven, seeing gold everywhere was not a good sign. Because angels had golden blood, and the first thing the prince of heaven saw once coming to the area of sight, was a shade of sirocco all around the place. It had twisted Stormz' stomach just a bit, yet he immediately flew over it and tried finding the demons.
He succeeded in killing them, of course, yet he too had also been injured. It was brutal out there, black ichor mixed with gold. Stormz, no matter what, valued the demons most in situations like these. His sister, Shaun, she would evacute the people as soon as possible once arriving there, as her brother would kill the other remaining demons with all his power to make sure the ones left behind wouldn't be killed. There were also people fighting by his side, and healers immediately attending to the field, of course.
At the very end of the battle, when the angels had won, Stormz had been extremely exhausted. His appearance was a mess, gold dripping down his arms, and satin black on the tips of his fingers. He was on the verge of collapsing, trying his best not to let go of his scythe. His eyes felt like they were shutting so easily, where was Shaun? Was she hurt? Are the angels okay? Were the only questions running through his mind. And even so, there was only a vivid memory of him seeing a heart before he was ambushed. Then, everything faded from there.
Stormz only remembered waking up in a soft bed, his sister sitting by his side. And the burning-like pain through his entire body, scars on his body.
Typically, this would be seen as a major disadvantage for Stormz. He would be weakened throughout his entire body by the scar, his right arm significantly more weakened even if that is the arm he prominently uses more for his scythe. He had learned more of this once his recovery began, if he was near a demon of some sort, the scar would begin to slightly affect his abilities and pulse until full recovery. It was said that it's a permanent mark, though just a couple seconds after Shaun left, Stormz had rummaged through a book to find out if it was really stuck on his skin forever.
And the answer was no, no it wouldn't. It wouldn't stay permanent, although Stormz didn't know how to make it go away or when it would. Most of the page was torn off, nor allowing Stormz to read through it. He sighed in the mirror as he decided to just let it go for now, preparing himself as he exitted the bathroom casually.
He placed his hands in his pockets as he looked over to find his sister to check up on his people, the memory of his panic once he couldn't find her during the battle resurfacing. Stormz cleared his throat, inhaling and exhaling. "Stormz!" He heard a familiar voice in the distance as he turned around, humming in response. Ah, Shaun. She was running over to him for some reason, "Yeah?" Stormz answered. Once she got over to him, she was already catching her breath. "I've been looking everywhere for you!" She playfully smacked him on the shoulder, him giggling in response to that.
"My bad," Stormz apologized, "Whatever. Let's go?" Shaun asked, as Stormz walked by her side. "Sure," He approved of it, hm. If anything bad ever happend to Shaun, he wouldn't know what to imagine. He loves his sister in a familial way—she was the only one who understood him growing up and he was sure the same went for her. As though, there would be a distant memory of Shaun hugging Stormz tightly once he woke up after passing out with tears streaming down her face. No, Stormz couldn't imagine her.. dying. He just couldn't.
The two were having a chat together, laughing, as their steps through the castle made noise, Shaun could swear she heard someone flying along them. She didn't think Stormz had noticed it either, which is why she kept quiet about it and just kept talking to him. Maybe it was just a messenger, she thought.
The entity flying through the hallways of the castle, they were an actual messenger. But even so, Shaun didn't believe it was for them until this very moment. "Is there a messenger here?" Stormz asked, looking around. Shaun felt a moment of relief when she knew that he felt it as well, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is," She answered. Then, in the glimpse of an eye, they saw an angelic-like feather fall by them so fast. "Oh-" Stormz stopped in his steps, Shaun following his movement too. "Your majesty!" They heard in the distance, as a messenger angel flew towards them.
A messenger angel: a celestial being that is tasked to deliever divine communications, messages, or important events happening. "Yes?" Shaun said, fixing her posture. "The heavenly principles request your presence," The messenger angel bowed to them, delivering a message to the prince of heaven and princess of heaven. Stormz and Shaun looked at each other for a second, Stormz mentally rolling his eyes. "..We'll be there, thank you."
Now, the two royalty were heading to the meeting room. Deep down, inside of the two of them, they were just as nervous. Because usually, the heavenly principles do not require their presence so usually, and especially not on such a regular day like this. Unless, their father had tasked them to go on a mission. No. That couldn't be, because the man of the Valerius family had never been there for his own children. Only their mother had been present, and even so, when did their father need them in a time like this?
Once the two opened the doors to the heavenly principles, there he was. Their father, after quite a long time with no contact, it is the first time they've seen him again. Stormz' expression turned monotone, he didn't care for his father and he never will. Where was his father when he had been attacked by a malevolent demon that left a scar on his arm? Where was he when Shaun was left in a state of always being alert and cautious of her surroundings for 2 weeks straight after that had happened?
The heavenly principles had stopped their work once the three reunited, bowing down to them as a gesture to show their respect. "What is it?" Stormz said, his voice filled with hatred. "Wouldn't a 'Hi' be nice?" Their father spoke, "Get to the point already," Shaun instantly responded, her voice laced with poison. "Stormz, Shaun, you two are set to go on a mission," The man of the Valerius family started, Shaun not daring to let go of her sight on him until this was over.
"That being to protect the lower-ranked angels as there is a current attack on them."
Stormz' eyes widened in shock, letting out a small gasp between his breath. "What?" He said quietly, heart pounding in his ears. "What?! You want us to fight?!" Shaun instantly snapped, her voice cutting through the silence sharply. "Father, Stormz is injured! You can't just do this, why not do it yourself?! " She yelled, "No, I can't go," Stormz let out. "You need to prove your worth as a Valerius, time is ticking." Their father said, as Shaun could feel anger burning in her heart. Stormz, felt like everything was set on fire around him, yet he just couldn't move his legs.
His kingdom, people, they were being attacked and his forsaken father had forced him to go on a mission that will possibly harm him. Shaun bit her tongue, grabbing Stormz' hand and running through the doors as she held her dress in a state of panic. Stormz had only snapped back to reality at the grip of his sisters hand, Shaun let go as she flew and flew, while Stormz followed her movements to get to his kingdom as fast as possible. His scythe could easily spawn at his desired time, while Shaun's celestial rope would activate whenever she needed it to. For now, their only focus was on the people.
Stormz summoned his scythe, Umbra, as he flew in the air. Gold. Gold was on the ground instantly when he arrived to his kingdom, he could spot Shaun in the corner of his eye with her golden rope, capturing all the people she could to save them from the demons. Stormz, however, had set his targets on the ones closest to somebody. Why? Why was father like the way he is right now? Why did he send his son and his own daughter to protect their own people without any further help from him? Stormz couldn't care about his father, no, he needed to care about the present.
He can't care about all the birthdays missed, all the times he had gotten sick with no help from his father, the times Shaun had gotten injured, the time where even mother had almost died in war. Stormz felt a burning pain throughout his body, spreading further and further as black blood sprayed on his face, staining his scythe. A tear specked at his eye through his fury, his hands moving with such power and grip on Umbra, fighting until his hands felt numb.
Stormz would continue to battle like this no matter what would happen to him, no matter how badly his legs felt like they were going to fall, no matter how many feathers of his wings fell, no matter how close his crown was to falling, he would continue fighting against dthe emons to protect heaven itself. He would not allow demons to simply pass by the skies like that, of course he wouldn't. Demons can pass by the gates of heaven by sneaking past them, acting as a regular human. And it truly was a gamble on everything, just take caution when checking if someone was worthy amongst heaven.
Stormz felt gold swirling through his arms, black staining his wings and his clothing so easily. He flew in the air, forcing his body to keep on moving even if he felt as if he physically couldn't anymore. Stormz was the prince of heaven, and he needed to prove himself worthy of that title. He was back to that situation again, fighting relentlessly, worrying about his sister, his body feeling like it'd go numb, he truly hasn't changed, has he?
Even though his arm was completely bandaged, it felt like the scar was opening again. No, Stormz doesn't care how much pain he has to take, if anything, he should think about his people. Umbra felt like it was going to collapse at his own hands, hah, it was stained with so much black ichor he felt bad for whoever was going to clean it. Everything about this was laughable, wasn't it? His father was going to laugh at how weak he was that he can't even go through all of this without feeling like he was going to pass out.
Shaun was taking in all the people she could with her rope, and also delaying the demons movement with it. Stormz could see the bottom of her dress being consumed by black, but he doubts she cared about such a small thing now.
Stormz let out heavy breaths, his entire body trembling as he swung his scythe without any care in the world if he would die right here and right now. There were just a few more demons left, he could do this. He can. He's strong, at least that's what gets him going everytime this happens. So much time has passed, and yet he couldn't make sense of it at all. There was one goal he had to achieve now, kill every single one of them.
Stormz felt dizzy, he felt sweat running down his forehead as it turned into a mix of gold and blood. He didn't know if he could take this anymore, he felt like he was going to fall and pass out. The angel looked around, there was no more demons. All of them were now dead, just as he pleased to. But.. Fuck. His scar, the bandages had somehow came off and now it was exposed. Stormz instantly didn't know if he should drop Umbra, he decided to just let it fall, as he placed a hand over his scar.
It hurt. It hurt so badly, everything hurt. He felt like crying from all the mixed feelings and the pain, no. Shaun, where was she? Where was his sister? His legs were shaking badly, meaning he couldn't move and was stuck. He could only helplessly find his sister, was that her? His ears were ringing, he couldn't hear anything she was saying. But he knew to look behind him, and.. the heart and the red highlights in the hair. Then, that means—
Shit.