Melancholy Wings: Decadence (14 page)

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“We aren’t going to take any action against him unless we have proof.” Adelais realised there was no point in hiding it from her as she was aware of it already, “And even then, I don’t know if I can do anything that would cause him harm. He is my friend after all.”

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“Yes, but can we trust him? I personally don’t know if I can. If he is no longer part of this sector, where does that leave me?” Aurora admitted whilst looking down shyly, “If not him, who else can I trust? He is my commander, and I am new here. I hardly know anyone.”

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“Hey, it’s fine. You can trust me.” Adelais comforted her, what brought her gaze back up.

 Adelais could slightly sense Aurora’s feelings at that stage. Since beings of the Internal World were a lot more attuned to the energy that comprised them, they could sense feelings and emotions of others better than anyone in the External World. Because of that, Adelais could sense the confusion Aurora was going through and the worry it was causing her. Angels didn’t have tears, but Adelais could tell that if they did, Aurora would’ve been shedding some at that moment. It’s only then that he noticed that Aurora’s eyes weren’t completely blank like his or Malakai’s. He could faintly see beautiful pale brown irises looking back at him. She eventually gave a feeble smile and then said:

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“Thanks Adelais. Hey, why don’t you tell me how you and Malakai have become friends? He often talks about you.”

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“All right.” Adelais agreed.

It was Adelais’ fifth interim in the Underworld. A lot was still new and unknown to him, but he was determined to become one of the best dark angels ever. It was a dream come true to have become one of the angels and to be a soldier of the Creator. Azrael was briefing him, as well as Ethel and Lazarus, on their next mission.

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“One of the dark angels of the Purgatory sector has fallen from grace, and he is wrecking havoc all over the Underworld. His name is Sion. We must find him and stop him by any means necessary.” Azrael informed them.

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“Why has he fallen?” Ethel was curious.

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“Something must’ve corrupted him during one of the battles. He hadn’t joined the Pandemonium forces. He’s just gone rogue.” Azrael told her all he knew.

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“Do you know where we’re starting our search?” Lazarus asked the next question.

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“He was last seen on the Eastern side of Gehenna. I fear he might’ve gone into the wastelands beyond the five rivers.”

Ethel and Lazarus understood everything there. Adelais didn’t ask any questions and just decided to follow the others for the time being. Azrael took them to the Southern dock, where they took a boat and headed to the Eastern-most side of the Underworld, past the Gehenna sector. This was the first real mission Adelais was partaking in, and so he was extremely curious.

 Upon reaching the Eastern coast of Gehenna, they carried on to the far bank of the river, the one that came out into the wastelands. There were three other boats there, what meant that troops from some of the other sectors were already at the scene. Once docked, Azrael jumped off the boat, and the others followed him. Adelais was slightly anxious whilst they walked through the barren land to a large mountain. He didn’t know what to expect. When they got there, they saw two dark angels standing at the foot of the ascent. One was dark angel Tarasios, who was one of the dark angel commanders in Infernal Pit, and the other was his new recruit, Malakai.

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“What’s happening?” Azrael asked, “Has Sion been found?”

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“The dark angels from Purgatory and Helheim flew up there to find him, but I still haven’t heard back from them. I remained behind in case someone else arrived and needed to know of our progress. Looks like it was good I did that.” Tarasios explained.

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“Would that be fine if we went up there too?” Azrael then suggested.

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“Do as you please.” Tarasios didn’t mind at all.

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“All right then.” Azrael turned to his team, “Adelais, it might be too dangerous, so I’d like you to stay here with Tarasios and…”

He realised he didn’t know the name of Tarasios’ new recruit.

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“Malakai.” Tarasios let him know.

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“Right. Greetings.” Azrael greeted Malakai, then turned to Adelais and continued, “Stay here with Tarasios and Malakai. The three of us will go up there and see how others are doing.”

Adelais nodded without arguing, and on that note Azrael and the others flew up into the mountain. Tarasios didn’t speak much. Malakai, however, walked up to Adelais a few minutes later and started a conversation.

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“Hey. You’re new as well?” he asked.

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“Yeah. Pretty happy to join the dark angels.” Adelais responded.

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“Me too. I really hope to achieve a lot whilst doing this. It’s what I always wanted - to fight for the good.”

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“You read my mind exactly.”

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“I didn’t quite catch your name. What was it again?”

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“Adelais.”

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“It’s very nice to meet y…” Malakai didn’t get to finish saying that, because he was interrupted by shouting coming from above.

Both of them looked up and saw an entity plunging down from above, eventually slamming into the hard ground not far from them. Without saying anything, the two of them took a few steps towards the point of impact and saw a battered dark angel, or more precisely, a battered fallen angel. They had no doubt it was Sion, the one they were after. He stared up at them from the ground and growled with rage; his face looked like it received at least a dozen of punches. Within the next second he rose up and was prepared to attack them, but Tarasios got on his way and began fighting with him. Sion was extremely mad and kept aggressively attacking with his mace with no regard for pain or any of his injuries. Tarasios had to defend continuously with his great blade, but then Sion shot a powerful bolt of lightning out of one of his hands, which struck Tarasios and knocked him down.

 Sion looked back at Adelais and Malakai and without hesitation charged at them whilst waving his mace very dangerously in front of himself. Adelais and Malakai had their weapons ready, but not only were they still inexperienced fighters, but also an aggressive individual charging at them like that was an intimidating sight. As a result they began backing away.

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“Watch out!” Adelais yelled to Malakai and pulled him back just as Sion got too close with his deadly swings.

As soon as Sion was about to follow that swing up, someone landed right on top of him, pressing him right down against the ground. It was Azrael. Sion was not stopped by this, however. He recovered immediately and began trying to get up frantically. Azrael was trying to keep him down, but Sion’s berserk state was overpowering him. Eventually one of the dark angel commanders from Helheim, Balder, landed right beside them and pounced on Sion as well, helping Azrael in restraining the fallen angel. They were doing fine, but Sion continued resisting. Finally Sion’s dark angel commander from Purgatory, Amadeus, landed as well and without hesitation thrust his long sword into Sion’s torso as the other two kept him constrained. Within seconds all of the other dark angels that participated in the battle landed from above as well. There were at least half a dozen participants in that battle.

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“That was something. You all right?” Malakai finally vocalised and turned to Adelais.

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“Yes, not too bad. I think it’s over.” Adelais said in response.

At that stage their teams approached them and they had to separate and leave the area.

Adelais finished explaining the flashback and saw an astonished expression on Aurora’s face. She was awed by the story.

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“If my first real mission was at least half as intense as that one, I think I will be pretty happy.” She finally said.

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“Well I thought so too back then, but then you realise that nearly all the missions are just like that.” Adelais responded to her comment, “Ever since then, Malakai and I were good friends. Anytime we were on a certain mission together, we were delighted.”

Adelais could see that Aurora was cheered up after hearing that story. She stepped a little closer to him so that their hands were almost touching.

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“I wish I could make some friends here. Back in my human life I was very lonely.” She admitted.

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“Are you serious? You strike me as someone who would have a lot of friends.” Adelais realised he didn’t quite see Aurora in the correct light.

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“I have strong opinions and irrational ideals – not something many people like. You know, two interims ago my family held my funeral. I saw it, and…” Aurora was feeling sorrowful again.

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“What is it? You can tell me.” Adelais was trying to comfort her.

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“Hardly anyone came to it. It’s then that I finally realised how unwanted I was in the world.” She said the rest of it.

She looked down and began weeping, but no tears came. Adelais quickly put his arms around her and embraced her tightly. He really could sense her sorrow. Not only was she confused and lost in this new place, but also the world she just left didn’t seem to care about her so much. He understood that she probably felt like she didn’t belong anywhere, and hence he wanted to make her feel as welcome and as comfortable as possible.

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“I was quite lonely too.” He finally said after a few moments of silence, “I had a few friends, but they were distant, my parents died early, and I only ever had one short-lived relationship early on in life. That’s it. Because I had virtually no-one in life, I ended up adopting a daughter, because I really wanted to take care of someone.”

Aurora looked up at that moment, coming out of Adelais’ grasp and feeling rather surprised. Adelais noticed that it wasn’t something she heard being mentioned often.

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“That is so wonderful, Adelais. What’s her name?” Aurora got very interested.

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“Her name is Caira.”

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“What a beautiful name. I bet it was extremely difficult for her when you passed away.”

Adelais remembered how sad Caira was when he visited her after dying. That memory was making him uncomfortable. He only wanted to hope that she was happy and had a good life.

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“Yes, but one of my distant cousins took Caira into her family when I died. She is fine. I visited her three times ever since.” Adelais said after a pause, trying not to release the emotions he had stored deep inside.

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“I bet she couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw you as you are now.”

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“She was quite surprised, yes, but I reassured her that I was doing fine. I wish I could visit her more, but right now I am needed here. Maybe once my duty is complete, I will get to see her more.”

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“I am so glad for both of you.” Aurora commented with sincerity, “I really wish I met you back in my human life.”

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“I know. I wish so too.” Adelais said; he could very clearly feel Aurora’s emotions at that minute.