“That frog has lied to you, Ariel. That path is not as guarded as you believe.”

Her blue eyes narrowed. The resent for that scaly demon grew in her heart, but it did not matter now. They could have gone through a safer route, but she could not regret it right now. Right now, she could only think of one thing: her sister.

Heaving with every leap Lykaios made, she held tight onto his mane while riding on his back. With ferocious speed, they neared the mountain, where the only path through the mountain was. Her voice was urgent, determined and serious.

“Fine then.” She hit his side with a hand, urging him to keep climbing the path humans would use. “Let’s take this tunnel, guards or not! Run faster! We can’t lose her trail!”

With a deep growl, Lykaios ran up the path that went through the western mountain. They did not try to near the broken bridge over the dam, for it had been ripped apart. With such destruction in the valley, they only had one choice, which he had only admitted now. Now, when Aurora had flown away in anger, because of his words. They had seen the rage in her sharpened blue eyes, the incredulity for the actions of her father.

Not far above, an old man was trying to bundle what had been left of his old outpost. Talking with himself, he was trying to hold up his creaky chair, which had been broken by falling rocks.

“First, a crazy woman accompanied by a tall devil and a snarky mercenary. Now, a huge rumble that leaves my dear old post wrecked! This place is getting crazier every day! What will be next, the four horsemen of death?!” He had asked so with one hand up to the sky. He paled and gasped when he heard loud steps and fierce growls. Looking back slowly to the path, he yelped loudly, when he saw a huge beastly figure run at top speed towards him. “I take it back! Heavens, I was joking!”

He only saw Lykaios, and not Ariel. He screamed and hid behind his small shack and wooden tower, not wanting the huge monster to reach him easily. He covered himself there, mumbling silently, not noticing how the beast halted sharply in front of the huge gate of the tunnel.

“It’s closed!” He heard the beast try to pull up the iron bars, to no avail. “There has to be some lever or mechanism!”

“Let me handle it!”

The man blinked, seeing a figure seemingly come out of that black fur. A shadow began to examine the gate, and then neared the lever hidden by his outpost. Two claws held the lever near him, two blue eyes blinked when they noticed him hiding there.

Ariel realized the scare they had given to the old man, and said a few apologetic words with a frown.

“Sorry sir, but we need this gate open!”

She pulled strongly at the lever. He watched motionless as she ran off quickly, to hop onto the demon again. She yelled while pulling at his mane like if he was a horse.

“Keep going! We have to stop her before she breaks her wings or worse!”

With another growl, they both disappeared with a leap into the stony tunnel. The guard came out from behind the outpost slowly, and then looked into the tunnel blankly.

“…I wish taxes could pay for more guards here.”

With a loud sigh, he let himself lay down onto his broken chair.

Below the outpost, in the valley, the water still flowed. Back at Feiren, everyone was gathering at the top of the walls, watching the chaos in the valley. It had changed, ridden of snow to be reigned by blue. The dam oversaw all the destruction a vengeful being had brought.

Said being, still lived.

A claw pushed out of the water, sharply, strongly. Convulsing, those wooden nails divided into many threads, which stabbed the air in anger. A maw opened, which let out a furious hiss into the valley. As it crawled over onto shore, it slid like a snake, to then grow many limbs, which sunk into the mud.

It had to chase. It could not let go. It had to hurt them, kill them all.

It moved in pain, blinded by its unending wish of blood. Slowly, it made its way out of the dampest of holes, onto rocks and rivers. In a haze, it kept crawling towards the path that climbed the mountain.

It had to kill.

Little did it know that it was not predator anymore, but prey.

If it had not moved towards the mountain, it would have not neared a small island full of broken trees. Some still stood, shadowing the ground where it slid. The path was near, but still out of its reach. It had been moving insistently, with intent, but slowed down when one of the shadows over it moved. Its metaphorical head leaned up to look at the slick shadow that had curled downwards.

It saw two eyes, huge, sharp… hungry. And they were fixed on her.

The scaly demon moved in a dash. That huge mouth clamped down near the ground and snatched the thing in a single move, while holding on to the tree with his long tail. Thrashing, the thing convulsed in that huge maw, slowly taken in with strong gulps of air and saliva. Like a snake eating a mouse, the bigger devil swallowed, again and again. Against the predator, it tried to claw out, it lashed desperately with its sharp limbs, dividing and changing form. It tried to reach for the path, for the only thing that had brought her back… but to no avail.

If it had not chased vengeance so desperately, it would have lived. It could have grown again. But it did not.

The hands of the big demon moved to slam onto his huge mouth. Pushed in, the thing fell into the unending abyss that was his throat. It descended through his neck, to end up moving like a bulge at his stomach.

With it gone, the frog licked its mouth, eyeing the broken dam. He climbed down the tree, and then moved towards the water. There he sank, considering his debt paid.

—————

The room would have been eerie for them in other circumstances. His presence would have been ominous, but now it brought serenity. Like an old master, he knew of many things, his words held care.

“I find your curiosity admirable, even if grim.” Zelophehad read through her small diary, which she had let him hold. “You have given your knowledge a more honorable objective, which I commend you for.”

Ayako looked away for a moment, deciding to keep reading one of the books of the library instead of her old notes.

“Nothing has come out of it.”

Zelophehad licked one of his nails and passed the pages slowly. He retorted, eyes still fixed on her notes.

“Oh, no, you’re mistaken.” She looked up, confused by his words. “You were very close to the answer. You just lacked the centuries of experimentation needed to find out the right procedure.”

Ayako sat up instantly. Zelophehad moved down the notebook, where she had told of years of experimentation with angel wings and her intent of hiding Alexis’ nature. She asked, hopeful that all the mixtures she had fooled Alexis into applying had not been for nothing.

“You mean you found a way?”

Zelophehad hummed, slightly conflicted.

“I am not proud to say we did. You see, some devils, in times of war, would do anything to lay their claws on a being that had killed so many of their loved ones. Others just wanted to taste that blood, at any cost, feral and wild. They wanted to hurt them with such ire, that they would even resort to steal the prisoners other demons held. Devils were very zealous of losing the angels they had spent years breaking into submission. We, we had our own angels, who we wanted to keep for ourselves, to torture and get information from. We did many things to them, for centuries. Every substance, harmful or not, we made them intake them. We found what you have searched for years, after many angels perished and succumbed. It literally took centuries, in so many horrible ways…”

Zelophehad sighed and stopped speaking of those horrors. Alexis had looked up from the books he had at a table. The angel quickly kept reading when caught eavesdropping.

Ayako became sullen. She noted the regret in Zelophehad, the remorse for the acts of those times.

“That means you won’t tell me what mixture it is.”

“I do not know. I have to ponder, if the means can justify their end.” He crossed his arms and wings, looking out a window. They were in an outer chamber, which had arcs which let them gaze out the mountain, in the heights. For hours, he had let them explore and seek wisdom, knowing they would leave for their home. They were good hearted; they knew they had to leave back to their family. All that he saw of them made him trust them. “Maybe… maybe you could justify it. You could give it a greater meaning. You have killed many angels, yet look at you now. You shield one you would’ve slain. As this diary tells, you have eased his pain for years; you’ve tried to heal him. We used the substance we discovered to keep the angels away in the darkest of dungeons, but you could use it to hide his scent and keep claws from stabbing him again. With his lack of wings, and only a slight variation in the mixture, we could not only hide his presence, but make him seem human for any demon nearby.”

She regained her hopeful smile. She held her hands together, looking up at him with great wonder.

“You mean you’ll tell me?”

Zelophehad laughed kindly, nodding.

“I guess I will, Ayako. After all, I disappointed you greatly when I told you there’s no way to destroy the tie between an angel and demon, other than death. There is no sense in letting this knowledge rot away in this temple; I can’t imagine a better outcome than letting a smart human like you hold it.”

Ayako contained herself from screaming in glee. Zelophehad huffed and went wide eyed. With his eyebrows raised and his body tense, he looked down at Ayako, who had lunged to give him a tight hug.

“Thank you!”

The demon looked up to the angel nearby, who gave him a shrug that told him she tended to do these things.

Zelophehad moved his wings a little, while he nervously tried to pull away from a touch he had not felt in a very long time. He felt very apprehensive while feeling the embrace of a human, a being he had promised to never touch again.

“Yes… well, let me just go and grab the book where I wrote the ingredients. If you let go, I-” Zelophehad became even more nervous and tense, because two eyes glinted in the dark, piercing him. His wings trembled as Uriel walked by in a corridor. His descendant was glaring right through him while Ayako ended her grateful hug. Uriel pointed with his tail, and motioned two nails onto his eyes as he walked away. Zelophehad sweated, less for the reminder of what he once held close, and more for the other demon. “Really, there’s no need for hugs and this… thankful closeness.”

Ayako stepped away, still smiling up at him.

“Oh, but I am grateful! You’re being of great help, you great wise owl! You know everything I could have hoped to find out!” She laughed, winking at him like if he was a relative that had been missing for a long time. “If I had my way, I would hug you a hundred times, grandpa!”

Yes, you could hug me, but the lion that is my grandson would rip my four wings off.

He did not say those words, but kept them in mind while he coughed awkwardly. He flapped his wings to push away the haunting touch of a human, and kept speaking of the matter at hand.

“Let me show you the recipe of the elixir, I think I left it in one of the upper chambers. Come, I’ll tell you how to craft it.”

They were going to step away, but Alexis stood too. He called, quickly joining their side.

“Wait, I’m coming too, I want to hear it.”

Zelophehad eyed him, frowning slightly.

“I don’t know if you’ll like what the mixture holds, Alexis. It contains things that might not seem appropriate for you to apply on yourself.”

“Exactly!” Ayako whistled and feigned ignorance while he complained loudly. “You don’t know what crazy things she has tried to give me, for years! If she is going to slam something worse on me, I want to know what it is this time. Besides, if it really can hide what I am in front of any demons, I better know how to do it as well.”

Zelophehad nodded reluctantly, and then motioned for them to follow.

“Very well, I understand. But do not look at me harshly when I do show you what it contains. I was going to tell her, because she seems eager to do anything to help you two. Come.”

They left through one of the many stony corridors. They followed the trail of his dark wings as they climbed tall stairs. Above, the chambers became more open, wide, with much more light. There were no torches here, because huge openings stood at the walls. The light of the moon stabbed into the top of the mountain. If they climbed a few more stairs, they would reach the towers and crown of the temple.

Zelophehad began to rummage through the smaller bookshelves in the connected chambers, while searching for the book he hid somewhere.

He smiled, with his hand half raised over the books. There it was, between some dust and cobwebs. Taking it in his claws and blowing the dust off, he turned around, triumphal. He blinked, because there were not two behind him, but three. Almost out of nowhere, Uriel stood there; a little apart, but there. His wariness was still there, as he leaned onto one tall bookshelf near a huge stony window.

“If they hear it, I must as well.”

From which stair he had got here, he did not know, but Uriel never failed to make him feel watched. Trying hard to not falter under those wary violet eyes, he smiled again, displaying the book to the human and angel.

“Without more delay, here it is.” He opened it for Ayako, and placed it on her hands. Alexis peeked over her shoulder with an eyebrow raised while he explained. “First, you need a phial, with water, boiled with intense heat.”

Uriel snapped two fingers and toyed with a small flame, feigning boredom.

“I can do that. Keep going.”

Zelophehad gave him a knowing look, because he knew that under that aggressiveness, hid interest. Uriel wanted to know of this as much as them, his tail was waving sideways.

“With the phial heated, one must add a mixture of exotic herbs. They are listed here, write them down.” Ayako quickly let Alexis hold the book, in order to grab her notebook. While she wrote wildly, Zelophehad kept talking. “Now, I’ve seen in your notes that you humans have discovered demons are quite allergic to a certain substance. That ingredient is needed as well, but untreated, in its primal form, which does not affect us. However, you have to let it mix and boil with something else… something that you might feel reluctance to add.”

“And that is?”

She was still eager. So he said it.

“Blood.” Alexis showed instant dislike, but more when he added. “To be precise, human blood.”

The angel exclaimed, quickly slamming the book closed.

“Ah, no, there’s no way she’s going to slice her own skin just to-”

“Perfect!” Alexis looked at her with his mouth open, startled by her relieved sigh. “It thought it was going to be something worse! It is quite an easy ingredient! Anything else I have to add?”

“With a few drops of your blood, not much else is needed, besides applying the elixir over most of his skin. It is-”

Alexis interrupted, looking at them both with wide eyes.

“Excuse me, but… Ayako, are you deaf?!” He nudged her with a finger, questioning while she rolled her eyes. “Hello? Blood?! I’m not going to wear your fluids like if they are makeup! Much less let you cut yourself!”

Zelophehad had seen the care they had for each other, and had presumed this would happen. Uriel frowned, seeing Alexis throw the book back into the shelf with more complaints.

“I can handle being smelled by demons. Besides, this crazy potion might not even work.”

“It does.” Zelophehad coughed, admitting. “I have tested it multiple times.”

“Doesn’t matter! I don’t want to know where you got the human blood, or what you did in those times. She is not going to be a freaking ingredient.”

“Actually, in my misdoings against angels, I rarely used human blood. As I said, we experimented greatly, for centuries. We found…. other ways in which to cast this mockery onto angels.”

Uriel stood away from the bookshelf and looked at him with narrowed eyes.

“Which ways?”

“Ah, I see you reflect on what can substitute her blood. I see your concern for her; you would gladly give your own blood.”

“Get to the point. Did you use demonic blood as a replacement or not?”

“It can be a substitute, yes. However, an addition is needed. A small incantation, for our blood is not completely human. Some runes written onto the skin with blood, and a few words.” Uriel’s eyes glinted with great interest. “If you wanted, I could teach you.”

Uriel grinned and stepped closer. He eyed Zelophehad, cracking his knuckles smugly.

“Just show me in which page it is written, I don’t need you to teach me anything.”

“Hey, guys, I could really do it. I am not fragile; there’s no magic needed.”

Alexis spoke as well, with the same annoyance Ayako showed.

“Having Uriel’s blood on me is not any better!”

Uriel looked at the two, snatching the book for himself.

“I an emergency, I might let you do it, Ayako.” He spoke to Alexis next, showing his usual kind care in his violet eyes. “Alexis, you know we should at least know of this, in case we need it someday. I promise I will only let it be of use if we must.”

After a long angry moment of thought, Alexis huffed, crossing his arms angrily.

“Fine.”

Uriel looked again at Zelophehad, who was staring at him with a look he did not appreciate. He was giving him a look a proud parent would show.

“Stop looking at me that way.” Zelophehad obeyed, not without smiling mockingly to a side. “Now, show me the spell.”

“Of course, grandson.” He enjoyed the small annoyed growl Uriel let out. He led him closer to the windows, which had stony railings, big enough for them to place the book there. They sought some privacy and focus. While they spoke, Alexis and Ayako bickered. “This is the page. See it for yourself.”

Uriel leaned with both hands onto the railing, eyes fixed on the page. Even if most of it was written with runes, the book had seemed to be written by demons, with many illustrations. Most of them were grim; they displayed perfectly the shedding of blood out of a claw and the placement on an angel’s skin. The runes over the angel’s forehead were simple, easy to draw.

“Must they be placed there?”

Zelophehad shook his head, sitting on the balcony. He began to fidget with one of his wings, trying to not look to those judging violet eyes.

“They can be drawn anywhere, as long as it’s near one of the parts of the body where the blood and mixture is spread. We usually drew them on the foreheads, an easy place to access while the angel struggled in chains.”

“I find your actions against angels disturbing.”

Zelophehad smiled sadly at him, turning his head with a lean.

“And I find your dedication to one of them invaluable.”

Uriel shook his head and softened his glare, deciding to not look at those honest eyes.

“I swear, I do not understand how you can admit those crimes so easily.”

“Because they are true, and I regret them wholeheartedly.” He joked with a bat of wing. “If I did not hold this honesty, you would surely push me off this edge, right now.”

“I still consider it, so try not to annoy me.”

“So hostile…” Uriel groaned when the older demon leaned to him, whispering with a smile. “But I understand. I know well why you feel so wary. I can only imagine the fear that flows in your mind, remembering how bloody those wings were. You want to curse me, but you share the same guilt. He has told me the truth, what you did. You cared for an angel, like I did; yet as well, you hurt him.”

Uriel closed the book loudly. Zelophehad did not stop smiling, but did lean away when Uriel commanded with a sharp glare for the sky.

“Say one more word… I dare you.”

“Rest easy, young demon.” Uriel breathed out nervously, noting how Zelophehad eyed Ayako. “Your crimes shall stay a secret. I won’t utter a word of them.”

Uriel closed his eyes for a moment. He returned the book to him, slowly. With a sullen expression, he resorted to ask; to a man he hated to look at, a man which reminded him of what he did.

“I have one question, Zelophehad, and you may be the only one who may know.”

The ancient demon saw acceptance in those violet eyes, surrender. He did not glare hatefully anymore.

“Ask away, I will answer as best as I can.”

Uriel looked back to make sure Ayako did not hear anything. He was sure it was safe when he saw her there, arguing loudly with Alexis, both cursing at each other.

“I was wondering… if there is a way to return him home, other than my death and that portal.”

Zelophehad raised an eyebrow, confused.

“You want to bring him back? I thought you cherished his presence. He has too much in this world now to leave it behind; your children would not see him again.”

“No, no… I do not want to send him there anymore.” Uriel confessed, for the first time giving him a soft glance. “I did something once, something that has never left my mind since then. A book reached my hands, in it I saw words that told of a ritual. A humiliating ritual, meant to hurt an angel, enough for it to go back with their duty denied. I held a sword to his neck, intending to mix our blood, onto his own runes. I wanted to force him to claim submission that day; I was desperate to end his plight.”

Zelophehad pitied him. He felt pity, for those actions and the obvious fear in his eyes. As much as it hurt, he told him the truth, which would make him feel guiltier.

“Uriel, that ritual is fake. I don’t know who wrote it, but they surely had been hateful while doing so. No spells but the ones god gave us can send back an angel. You would have cut him and mocked him, for nothing.”

Uriel’s eyes filled with an emotion Zelophehad was familiar with. His descendant looked down slowly, haunted, claws clenching. He leaned onto the railing again, this time clenching his teeth. He stood there in pain, and only opened his eyes when he felt a claw lay softly on his shoulder.

“You meant well, son. You should not dwell in it now.” Uriel looked up to those wise eyes, frowning. Zelophehad was speaking kindly, offering advice. “You may feel guilty, but nothing will come of it if you lose yourself in sorrow. Act while reflecting in your mistakes, do not fear them. Hold them in your mind, and keep going. Until now, you have shielded what you love, and you should not falter for the whispers in your mind. Remember them; do not live them in the present.”

Uriel stared at him for a minute. In that moment, he really seemed thankful for those words. It was gone quickly. Looking away, he straightened his pose, like if they had not talked about anything.

“Thanks for showing me this spell… I will keep it in mind if dangerous demons roam.”

“It was my pleasure, Uriel.”

Uriel fixed his eyes on the book, to pretend he was fine, focused. They both stayed there for a while, knowing that the other two were not done yelling.

However, Uriel noticed that Zelophehad tensed, suddenly. Looking sideways, he saw the demon stand off the balcony, to look outside, with a sudden serious glare.

“What are you-?”

“Phil.” Before Uriel could question, Zelophehad turned for some stairs, towards the towers. “He’s flying towards the barrier.”

Direct and blunt, the old demon wasted no time and headed away without more explanation. Meanwhile, Uriel glanced out. He saw something in the distance, far, small. It definitely could fly, for it was up in the sky, shadowed between misty clouds and the dark sky. He let down the book and followed to the towers, not stopping when Ayako and Alexis sent him a confused glance.

“Uri, where are you-?”

“The angel Alexis saw, he’s nearing.”

Both exchanged a look, frowning. Without word, they both chased after the two demons, jumping up the steps that led to the top of the fortress.

Above, Zelophehad slammed his trident on the stony ground, looking over the edge of the tallest tower.

“I don’t know what you plot, Phil… but you can’t enter, and you know it.”

He glared at the figure, which was moving in strange dashes in the sky. The three caught up to him, and Uriel asked, his eyes narrowed to see better.

“Didn’t you say there was a barrier?”

“Exactly.” Zelophehad shook his head worriedly, confused. “If he nears from the sky, he will meet with an unnatural force that will cast him down. I don’t know what he is thinking; I thought he learnt after many futile attempts.”

“Well, he seems to not care anymore!” Ayako pointed over the edge, squinting. “He’s headed here. He will slam down at this rate, unless he has a new plan.”

Alexis paled at her words. All jolted when Alexis leaned onto the edge and yelled, to the cloudy sky.

“Philander, if you can hear me, turn around! It’s not worth it!”

The shadowed figure seemed to make another turn in the air, like if it had not expected his yell. Ayako grabbed Alexis and slammed a hand on his mouth, glaring through him. Even Zelophehad seemed displeased with the warning he yelled.

“Shut up, Alex! Why do you warn that psycho?!” She frowned deeply, seeing the figure head more directly towards them. “Great! Now he knows you’re here, chatting happily with his archenemy!”

Zelophehad had the sharpest eyesight. He was ready to see Philander strike the barrier, to see him fall to the far ground below… but he was not ready to realize it was not him. His hand lowered, trembling, when he caught a better glimpse of those wings. They were not red, but bronze like. Shiny, not plain.

“It’s not him.” All blinked, because Zelophehad threw his trident down, tensing to take a leap. “It’s not him!”

Before they could question, he took flight. They looked up, and instead of seeing an angel who would wish to murder them, they saw something far worse. Someone they loved.

“…I- I’m seeing things… right, guys?” Alexis began to stutter, haunted by the figure that was nearing, which he could see better now. “I’m seeing things, tell me!”

He was frozen, but Ayako was not. She quickly bolted for the edge, and slammed her hands there, whishing she could fly. She yelled, wide eyed, fearful.

“Aurora?!”

Uriel held a claw to his chest, seeing Aurora fly closer, still far, but diving towards the top of the fortress like an arrow.

“What is she doing here, of all places?!”

As they panicked and screamed for her to stop from below, above, she flew. Aurora was still glaring, headed straight for that tower where she had heard Alexis. In the mist of the clouds, she moved in a lunge downwards, fast. She barely could see, but she knew perfectly her destination. Her necklace had told her so. Like a falcon, she was soaring down towards him, with furious narrowed eyes.

She was so intended, that she was headed straight for disaster. In moments, she would hit the invisible incantation that protected the fortress from winged beings. She would collide, be stricken with pure energy, and fall down unconscious.

She would have… if something did not dash out of the shadows onto her. Down ahead of her, a blast of light glinted all over the mountain, and a figure soared upwards out of it. She huffed when said figure tackled her in the air, after moving a claw swiftly. With wide surprised eyes, she stared at those red eyes, which pierced her, looming.

Zelophehad had moved quickly. He had flown up, had neared his own barrier and against all common sense, and had dissolved it. As it flashed into nothingness, he pushed past it, and grabbed her like an eagle would take a small bird. She was easy to pin in his hold. He was not surprised when she seemed to cower, tremble in between his arms and claws.

Though, he was surprised after a moment, when she growled and seemed to overcome her fear and confusion.

Alexis gasped, because he saw Aurora kick Zelophehad above. Uriel frowned, because she tried to free herself from him. She managed to fly a few meters away, still headed for them. Ayako just laid a hand over her eyes, relieved to see Zelophehad grab her again, this time more firmly. Unharmed, she struggled in the hold of a stranger, taken down to the tower.

It was not a nice landing for her. He let her down, for she kept thrashing. She would have hit the ground if Uriel had not reached quickly. She fell against his chest, which softened the drive of her moves. He noted how her body relaxed in his hold, how her eyes looked up at his with recognition and relief.

But it was gone quickly. Uriel was startled when she pushed herself away with a tired snarl, when she fixed her eyes onto Alexis, who had ran to her with a fearful dash.

“Auro-!”

He did not finish. Ayako saw something she had never seen. Furiously, her daughter tackled her father to the ground, with a loud angry yell. Uriel stood frozen as Aurora punched Alexis, not quite knowing what to do in a situation like this.

Alexis braced himself at first, while his daughter growled at him, pinning him down.

“Idiot!” She kept punching his chest while yelling, something they would have not ever imagined. “Stupid, liar, reckless!”

She ran out of curses, and Uriel was glad Alexis had never said other words in her presence. She grabbed her necklace furiously, and neared it to his wide amber eyes. Instead of looking at her sharp nails, he stared at the pulse on her amulet, which was pointing directly at him.

“You left us alone; you lied, to come to this stupid place! What were you thinking?! What did you think I would feel when you came back like you want?!” No one made a move while she shook him and grabbed him by his collar. Even Alexis stayed motionless while she growled tiredly. “You truly want to make me think angels are monsters, do you?! You want me to see you differently, to fear what you are now! Because you are ashamed of yourself! How do you think that makes me feel?!”

He tried to speak when she took a raspy breath.

“I didn’t-”

He tried, but she did not let him retort.

“No, you never say what you feel, so keep quiet! I know what you want from this place and I won’t let you do it! You think you are a terrible thing, you truly believe ALL angels should kill ALL demons! You think they are right, that you are a failure for letting me live?! That I should not love you as an angel?! That’s what you want me to think?! You want to push away everything you are, to become what hurt you?! A devil like the one that mauled you?! I can’t stand how you believe to be worse than that thing! You don’t care about what I really think of you; you just want to disregard everything by turning yourself into what I am! Just change, instead of understanding me! I hate it! I can handle you keeping quiet, but not about this! You just swallow everything, without ever sharing your pain with me! I don’t hate you, and I don’t want you to change!”

“Aurora, I-”

She did not let him finish. He huffed when she hit his chest again, angrily. His sorrowful frown grew even more when she began to shed angry tears, while lifting a claw over him.

“Shut up! I am done keeping my thoughts down! You almost turned into something you don’t have to be! I’m tired of you lamenting, not your wings, but all of you!” Alexis closed his eyes and let her yell and hit him, much to Zelophehad’s dismay. “You want to stop being an angel, don’t you?! Well, let me show you what demons can do! I’m going to claw you, j-just like that beast! I’ll let you remember your wings! I’m going to make you t-think twice about this!”

Aurora moved her claw a little more upwards, clenching her fangs while she readied a swipe to his face. Yet she could not do it, not when he looked right into her blue eyes, welcoming it. His expression was sad, remorseful, accepting.

Ayako sighed when Aurora lowered her claw with a sob, sitting on Alexis in a broken heap of tears and jolts. The angel quickly seated up to hold her, even folding her wings close in between his arms. She did not push him away, even though part of her wished to. All this time, she could not handle the knowledge of his loss, of his pain; it hurt much more to know he did not blame her, but himself.

All watched as he whispered, full of regret.

“I’m sorry, Aurora.”