Arakiel did return much later than either had anticipated and when he stumbled into the house’s entrance hall, he collapsed on the spot, causing Aurora to panic and Marianka to head out in order to fetch a healer, who returned posthaste.
These ten minutes nearly broke Aurora for she had never seen her master, her champion, wounded or worse, unconscious. He was bleeding from several wounds and the clothing underneath his thoroughly grey cloak had been downright shredded, revealing gashes that nearly caused her to faint.
When Marianka returned with a bald man in his thirties, he briefly assessed the situation and wasted no time feeding Aurora’s champion some kind of potion after which he carefully brought him over towards the couch, somehow using his class’s ability to make Arakiel float slightly above ground.
There, he cut away his clothes and the sight of blood all over his fair skin was enough to make Aurora faint for good.
When she came to a while later next to her sleeping champion, he had already been bandaged up and his heavily-covered chest fell and rose slowly, but quite rhythmically.
She wandered around the house on wobbly knees, quietly calling for Marianka who wasn’t there. Neither was the doctor.
Over the next hour, she felt incredibly useless for Arakiel was definitely in pain, but she could do nothing to ease it, to soothe it.
She wallowed in self-pity and worry, never being able to decide which one made her feel worse, but it was probably her own uselessness.
At some later point, she felt thoroughly drained and lay down at his resting place, her small hands gripping his with too much force, but it was the only way she could stop the shivering in her arms.
When she eventually drifted off to sleep, she had a nightmare of Arakiel dying and her just watching it apathetically, feeling no emotion whatsoever, just like she had been trained to.
Aurora eventually jolted up in the middle of night to painful groans and when she at last found a small lighting crystal, she realized that he, Arakiel, was shivering all over, cold sweat having drenched his bandages.
She further saw a pair of scissors, several clamps alongside three bundles of fresh bandages having been placed on the nearby table.
In this night, she saw him in the nude for the first time, but she felt no desire at the sight, only dread that he might not wake up again.
Come morning, she drifted off to an uneasy sleep once again, the night having taken her all.
The next time Aurora opened her eyes, she was sitting in a chair next to him, her clumsy bandages having been replaced by fresh ones already. He was no longer shivering, but his chest rose and fell more or less in rhythm.
Marianka was there as well and when she noticed Aurora having drifted from slumber, she hugged her tightly, whispering her words of comfort and approval, stating that she had done the right thing, had tried the right thing, at least.
In return, Aurora queried her slave-sister’s whereabouts to which she was informed that the third heir of the House of Alexandrite had summoned her yesterday, interrogating her about Arakiel’s machinations and excursions. He hadn’t been keen on the details, but their master must’ve been involved in something sizable, something that seemed to have caused ripple effects all throughout the political landscape of Kalanaar and beyond.
Marianka couldn’t even dare to imagine what exactly had happened, confessing that she truly had no clue as to where he went or what he did and had done.
For now, all they could do was wait.
Both eventually found a modicum of internal peace in their return to a shaky, daily routine.
Come the next night, Aurora meticulously watched Marianka change his bandages and when the time to tend to him came again, she assisted first and by the fifth time, they were working in tandem while his condition worsened with each passing day.
When an entire week had come and gone since his return, another medic visited, claiming that it was only because of his divine ancestry that he had survived in the first place. Apparently, he had suffered massive internal bleeding alongside two types of blood poisoning, one of which slowed the healing process to a crawl while the other one prevented any healing associated with the Class System.
Only the Transcended and his own will could save him now.
On the next day, Lady Chryse visited. She lamented not having had the capacity to visit earlier, but she had been bedridden due to complications during the birth of her daughter – something with her being too athletic. She claimed to be over the edge now, yet Aurora could tell that she could barely keep herself on her feet.
When Aurora mentioned Lord Lyktos, Lady Chryse further bemoaned that he and his party had been called upon by the House for some very important business regarding some massive criminal plot that had happened. It was all over the parchments, not that Aurora had ever read one of these. From what she recalled, they acted as fonts of currently-important information and were created and consumed on a daily basis.
When Marianka asked about details, Lady Chryse made them take a vow of silence after which she explained that the youngest princess, Selene ast Rhea, seventh heir to the Lunar Throne of the Eternal City of Selenya had been kidnapped a few weeks prior to her wedding in an unprecedented raid on Selenyean holdings. Apparently, Kalanite anti-immortal extremists had been involved in the planning and execution of the raid that had cost hundreds of lives while over a dozen bridesmaids, all in some relation to the imperial family, had been abducted.
Given the wounds that Arakiel had suffered, it was plausible he had been part of it – a fact that House Alexandrite tried to suppress by any and all means necessary.
The Five Eternal Cities were not only in a mutual pact of nonaggression, they were even loosely allied, with Elysia, Selenya and Solarius generally taking a more cordial stance on the issue of immortals whereas Kalanaar and Impyrea had both hardliners and traditionalists who pushed for the eradication, sterilization or at least enslavement of all immortals.
Despite these ideological differences, all five cities understood that they were the convergence points for the highest ranking planeswalkers who were both income and potential recruits. However, for that to play out nicely, the cities needed to be at relative peace. There had to be conflict, but it had to be subtle and under the rug. An attack on a wedding procession was quite the opposite, especially considering the fact that the groom had been a member of Solarius’ imperial house.
If Arakiel had a hand in this, things might get real ugly and to reinforce the gravity of the situation, Chryse offered to take them in if Arakiel was sentenced to death in case his involvement became public – if he was responsible at all.
Her words brought neither Aurora nor Marianka comfort, but it had to be said nonetheless. Only Arakiel himself knew, and he had yet to regain consciousness.
It was a miracle he had even managed to get here in the first place, which was a riddle in and of itself.
For a few days, they kept up the routine of wiping the sweat off of his forehead, feeding him thin soup or mashed porridge while constantly changing his bandages and although his state did not get any better, it didn’t get any worse either.
On the eleventh day after his return, Aurora and Marianka suddenly found a black-haired woman in a plain, nondescript black dress standing in the room where Arakiel was fighting for his life.
She had just appeared out of thin air without any sound whatsoever and her suddenly standing there caused Aurora to cry out, which in turn brought about Marianka who had been in an adjacent room.
The elf hurried to query what exactly had happened and when the woman was about to turn around without having said anything yet, Aurora suddenly found herself on her knees while Marianka pressed her onto the ground as hard as she could. She wasn’t a strong woman, but she was much stronger than Aurora.
“Lady Alexandrite! Find it in your merciful heart to forgive us for our boundless insolence!” Marianka hurried to apologize in an utterly submissive, apologetic tone and when invisible pressure suddenly began to crash down upon Aurora, she realized that she might’ve just offended a divine being with her absentmindedness. Who else could just come in here like that, who if not the very demigoddess that resided atop the color-changing throne on the Bejeweled Council.
The pressure, however, didn’t last long and a melodious, commandeering voice resounded throughout the room, one that left no doubt that the person speaking held absolute authority.
“Rise, aureas. You may attend me.”
Marianka dragged Aurora to her feet and made a long, deep curtsy, one that Aurora mimicked.
“Marianka li Arakiel humbly greets the Lady Alexandrite! I am yours to command.” The elf began in a less submissive tone, one that held no apology whatsoever.
“Aurora ay Elysia humbly greets the Lady Alexandrite. I am yours to command.” Aurora repeated after Marianka and when she looked up, she beheld the face of the most beautiful woman she had ever seen.
Aurora saw traces of Arakiel in the Lady Alexandrite’s countenance, but where his face was handsome for a man, hers was beauty-beyond-compare for a rather slender but not overly petite physique – but she really didn’t have any time to properly inspect the demigoddess for her eyes just drew her in, these wondrously large reddish eyes that held traces of amber and green… eyes that stared right into her own.
And then, the edge of the Lady Alexandrite’s irises began to gleam golden and for a moment, Aurora felt an inexplicably light tug in her own chest, but it was gone as soon as it had appeared. In fact, her own mind might’ve just played a trick on her given how awed she was by Arakiel’s mother’s presence.
She blinked, and the woman was suddenly right in front of her, having somehow stepped through the very fabric of the plane without ever opening it. Arakiel needed to gesture and he always turned blurry first.
The edges of the woman’s irises still gleamed golden and as she reached out towards Aurora, her entire right arm began to take on a golden sheen as well.
Aurora’s heart didn’t just skip beats, it just stopped altogether. She held her breath and felt thoroughly unable to do anything. She just patiently waited for the woman to do whatever it was that she wanted, no matter what it’d be.
She was in the presence of a true goddess, a goddess that had somehow taken an interest in her.
The Lady Alexandrite guided her gleaming hand right towards Aurora’s face, towards her right eye in particular, the one that somehow began to form a single tear and just as she shed it, the ethereally exalted woman wiped it away at which point the gleam around her irises and hand vanished.
Her full lips formed to an impossibly slight smile and her eyes briefly – so very, very briefly – held a trace of smug satisfaction.
Aurora watched the Lady Alexandrite’s eyes’ color change from red to amber in real time as the room fell into complete and utter darkness first, only for several floating orbs to appear out of thin air, giving off warm rays of a dim golden light, enough to bathe the entire room in it.
Its mere touch cradled Aurora’s skin with a warm tingle and she felt all the tiredness and worries of the past week melt away in cozy, warm happiness.
“So that’s where you ended up,” she whispered in words softer than the finest gossamer silk. These words held nigh boundless pride in them, even if Aurora wasn’t sure they were directed at her.
She blinked and the woman’s face had frozen to a regal mask of authority, her amber eyes piercing right through Aurora, making her quiver beneath its impossibly regal, divine gaze.
And then, right as she turned towards Marianka, Aurora gasped for air, finally able to breathe again. She nearly coughed while the demigoddess addressed the elven aurea.
“This light will fill you with warmth. When the night comes, you will radiate it. Lie with my son and let him bask in your glow. Any further interference would undermine the message.”
“Message, Lady Alexandrite?” Marianka blurted out. When she realized her misstep, she hastily covered her lips.
It was the first time that Aurora had witnessed Mari making a mistake.
Aurora held her breath once more, hoping that the Lady Alexandrite wouldn’t punish her for her insolence.
“Actions have consequences,” the demigoddess stated, thoroughly ignoring Marianka’s antics.
The elf froze for a moment before her expression briefly widened only for her expression to darken as she nodded determinedly.
A split-moment later, the demigoddess vanished right in front of their eyes, leaving behind four golden orbs of radiating light.
Neither Aurora nor Marianka spoke for a long while as both had to regain their bearings and while Marianka began to glow with an increasingly intense golden light, Aurora did not. In fact, it almost seemed as though the elf began to draw all the light in the surroundings towards her.
All this time, Marianka’s gaze had been on Arakiel, showcasing a wide range of emotions from anger over irritation to care, relief, love and finally… devotion.
But when Aurora eventually tried to address her, Mari looked over towards her, suddenly showing a pained expression and when she opened her mouth to reply, no sound escaped.
A few minutes later, the elven woman suddenly bend over as her entire body began to shiver first and when Aurora hurried over in an attempt to help, Marianka’s body began to thresh about randomly.
Her slanted eyes were widened in terror and she tried to scream, but still no sound escaped.
Aurora reached out for her, only for her hand to get singed in her teacher’s proximity. Marianka had turned glowing hot and still, the light began to gather inside her.
She had to watch in horror as her teacher's body became so incandescently bright that she had to avert her eyes and in a desperate attempt, she tried to fetch Lady Chryse.
But the door leading outside had been locked and didn’t budge at all no matter how hard she tried to open it and when she hurried over towards some of the windows as she grew more panicked by the second, she cried out at the sight outside.
It was pitch black – in fact, it almost appeared as though this bubble of darkness came closer, almost like it tightened.
She tried to take heart, tried to gather any pieces of courage that she might possess if she had ever possessed any – and found herself unable to move at first.
Marianka needed her.
Arakiel needed her.
Aurora had to get help, somehow.
Becoming increasingly frantic, she began to turn her fear into restlessness which in turn allowed her to just do something, anything.
She tried to open the windows but they had been sealed, tried to break down the door but only hurt her shoulder in the process. Lastly, she threw the heaviest thing she could find against the window, only for it to somehow repel the heavy plate of gold.
By now, the entire house had become almost pitch black and even when she tried to light a crystal or a candle, their light immediately wandered off to the living room, towards Marianka.
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And then a hand touched her shoulder from behind, from out of the darkness, causing her to freeze over in a state of shock.
“Be at ease, little seraphim. This sacrifice is not yours to make.” A female voice spoke, a voice that closely resembled the Lady Alexandrite’s voice.
Aurora, however, could not react, terror having fully taken hold of her.
It was just too much.
“The elf understands what is asked of her,” the voice went on, sounding almost apologetic. “I wish there was another way, but I fear it is the only one. Aeseon and naara-poisoning is lethal and nigh incurable, even to us…” A brief pause, then the voice added dejectedly. “...even to me.”
Another moment of silence.
Somewhere in front of her, two rooms afar, the glowing light began to move about every so lightly.
“It is rare, such devotion. The Transcended values it greatly. He will respond. He has to.” In the end, the voice sounded as though it tried to convince itself.
The voice that followed turned flat, devoid of any emotion whatsoever.
“Remember this, seraphim. Light begets shadow, but only through dawn can twilight flourish.”
Another pause.
The voice returned, but as a whisper.
“You must become that dawn.”
Aurora opened her eyes to the paneled brown floor in Master Arakiel’s house.
Her body felt drained and her mind was in turmoil, many events blending together into one. A sentence whose meaning eluded her lingered about, but then she recalled the darkness, the light, Marianka and Arakiel.
She hastily got up, her body crying out in protest at the sudden exertion.
Aurora gave it no thought.
Scrambling to her feet, she hurriedly made her way over towards the living room – just two rooms away.
It was deathly silent here – she could only hear her own breathing.
The light, however, had returned. It seemed to be the early morning hours.
Even a cool breeze wandered past her.
Someone must’ve opened the windows, giving her a glimmer of hope.
It had to have been Marianka, right?
But why did she doubt it – and why did it hurt so much to think about it?
She crossed the dining chamber. No food or cutlery was on the table.
Her heart sank.
She felt cold.
The living room.
Several remnants of early, golden-orange sunlight entered through the wide windows, dividing the room into light and shadow.
On the singed couch in the room’s center lay two people entwined, one illuminated by a faint remnant of pale golden light, the other thoroughly hidden in shadow.
Both bodies were naked and unmoving, the fabric around them having darkened to the point of black. Pieces of stuffing had billowed from inside the couch.
The faintly glowing body was female, but it looked charred, the skin brittle and full of cracks. Not a strand of hair remained.
The smell inside the room was oddly… neutral, nondescript.
A gust of wind blew by.
The male body beneath had a smooth texture, showing only light patches of red.
Disbelieving her eyes, Aurora slowly approached the pair, approached Marianka and Arakiel.
Neither body showed any signs of life.
It couldn’t be.
No, it just… it just could not.
Why weren’t they moving?
She arrived in front of them, her eyes having turned wide.
Marianka’s body no longer gave off any light on its own. Only the remnant rays from outside shone on her now and… it looked horrible, as though she had…
Aurora's thoughts trailed off, not daring to finish it.
Instead, she focused onto Arakiel, whose body looked much better, in fact – it almost looked pristine.
There were no more bandages, but the parts of his skin that she beheld were flawless, not a trace of his injuries remaining.
But he wasn’t moving.
It was as though…
Again, she dared not finish the thought.
“Master…” she said in a quiet, timid tone. “Master… wake up.”
No answer returned.
“Arakiel… wake up!” She repeated a little louder.
Again, no reaction at all. His eyes were closed and unmoving. A thin stubble had grown on his chin, but his hair was a little longer than she recalled.
“Master… my champion, please wake up!” She plead even louder.
Once again, nothing happened and Aurora felt her body beginning to tremble while her head began to shake in disbelief.
It couldn’t be. It just couldn’t.
She reached out to his cheek but just before she touched his face, she hesitated.
Usually, it was her Master that touched her first, not the other way around.
Her indecision lasted only a brief moment and she couldn’t say what exactly made her go through with it, but she did it nonetheless.
When her shaky right hand’s pointing finger touched his skin, it felt warm to the touch. Right when their skin met, a small, tiny mote of golden light began to light up in the shadow without banishing it.
She blinked, and the mote had begun to turn into a small golden-colored flame that enveloped her fingertip. It still gave off no light and she couldn’t even feel it, but there was definitely a golden-colored flame flickering around her fingertip.
And then it began to move towards him, inside him.
Suddenly, Arakiel jolted up with such force that it caused Aurora to shriek and stumble backwards, causing her to trip over while Marianka’s lifeless body fell off the side.
“What the…!” Arakiel yelled in utter confusion, only to fall silent in shock.
His entire body froze mid-motion and Aurora could watch in real time as he slowly, ever so slowly turned his head with difficulty in her direction.
The eyes widened, bulged to the point where they nearly dropped out of his eye sockets. His lips parted, but it took a good long minute before he managed to make a sound, one that sounded utterly confused. “Aurora…?”
She blinked several times, fearing that her eyes were playing a trick on her, yet when his voice reached her ears, she suddenly scrambled up on her feet and dashed towards him while repeatedly shouting his name.
“Arakiel, Arakiel! Arakiel!”
She hugged him tightly while he remained nearly unmoving. His body was warm, his skin felt smooth as velvet and she could even hear his heart beat as she pressed her head against his chest with as much force as she could muster.
“What… happened?” Arakiel muttered, the tone in his voice betraying his lack of comprehension.
“Arakiel… Arakiel!” She kept on shouting as tears began to fill her eyes and then it just burst out of her. A swathe of words that were meant to relay her worry about him, how helpless she had felt and that she had missed him so much and that he must never leave her alone ever again and above all he must never, never ever frighten her again!
After all, they both had been worried sick over–
Her voice broke as her mind caught up once more and she cried out. “Mari! Mari needs your help, Arakiel!”
His body ground into gears and he grabbed her by the shoulders, asking. “What!? Where?”
And then he froze once more and as Aurora peeked upwards from her point of view, she saw his head having turned downward just a little.
She couldn’t make out his eyes, but he suddenly gripped her very tightly, a bit too tightly.
But then Arakiel let go of her and scrambled to his feet, only to fall on the ground right next to the couch, shouting. “Mari… Mari! What happened, Mari! Wake up, Mari…!”
Aurora, who had been more or less dumped onto the couch, turned around to see him, her limbs suddenly feeling very cold and sluggish again.
“Mariyella Annkalya, I order you to wake up!” Arakiel shouted as his lightly trembling hands gripped the lifeless body’s head which had been thoroughly disfigured.
No answer returned and no matter how often Arakiel ordered her to wake up, her body remained still, unmoving… lifeless.
All Aurora could do was watch in silence, sorrow having long gripped her in full.
Silence set in and when the tears began to slowly curl down his cheeks, he swallowed and his eyes narrowed as he swirled around, his eyes searching for the perpetrator.
They found only Aurora.
“You did this you…!” He growled and Aurora’s heart stopped to beat.
And then he seemingly realized what he had just claimed and opened his mouth while his eyes widened in disbelief.
She began to cry, unable to understand his line of thinking.
“No, no I didn’t meant it!” Arakiel eventually added, but it was too late. “Aurora I… but…”
He stumbled over his words and nothing coherent followed, only a single question eventually formed.
“Who?”
It lingered in the air, but Aurora only knew despair and she gave herself over to it. Why would he think that she…? It didn’t make any sense… but he had certainly meant it, thought it.
And then, a female voice flatly stated the reality of the situation. “You did this, Arakiel il Kalanaar. Your weakness left your devoted aurea no choice but to sacrifice herself.”
“WHO!?!” He roared in fury and from behind blurry eyes, Aurora saw him swirling upwards and around in search of the accuser.
“You do not even recognize your own mother’s voice anymore, Arakiel?” The woman, the Lady Alexandrite accused further. She was here, somewhere.
“Liar! I would never harm Mari!”
“Be that as it may, my son,” the voice went on, not doubting the integrity of his words. “But she harmed herself for you, gave herself up for you.”
“Lies!” Arakiel protested, but his words rang hollow.
“You raised her well, but you failed to grasp the simplest concept: actions have consequences, my son.” His mother praised, reminded, accused.
“No, no! This is all wrong!” Arakiel protested loudly, yelling in increasing desperation. “It wasn’t meant to be like this! I just need a little more time… just a little…!”
“Just a little more time?” The voice repeated, sounding disgusted. “You had time, time in abundance – you chose to spend it on chasing fairy tales!”
“Lies! What would you know of me?!” Arakiel bellowed back.
“For the past eight years, you have not accomplished anything, Arakiel.” The voice accused harshly. “You struggled and instead of prevailing, you gave up and found solace in petty thievery and daydreams!”
“What would you–” He began, yet the voice cut him short.
“You fell to a youth who had just achieved his ninth level on his ninetheeth birthday. It was a simple diversion, yet you nearly botched that as well – and now all of Kalanaar has to deal with the fallout!” The voice went on coldly, mercilessly.
“No that’s…!” Arakiel tried to object, but his mother went on.
“You chose to abandon the path that your family paved for you. You even went so far as to denounce your name – both actions I approved. But then you failed miserably, for you failed to grasp what following in the Transcended’s footsteps means. It is in the word itself – you did nothing of the sort. You not only stopped improving, you even wasted the few skills you had on meaningless machinations that even a child could disrupt!”
“SHUT UP! YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME!” Arakiel screamed, roared.
“I know everything about you, son – and even if I didn’t, there is one thing that is plain obvious. Had you been stronger, had you trained and improved instead of chasing dreams, then you would not have been wounded and your devotee would not have had to exchange her life for yours.”
“I refuse to accept this!” Arakiel yelled in an increasingly desperate tone. “I refuse to… you know nothing about me, about my plans, about…!”
“Actions have consequences, Arakiel. This final time, I shielded you from the worst of it. There will not be a next time.”
“Begone!” Arakiel shouted, screamed. “I refuse you! I denounce you, I… I…!”
His sorrow caught up with him and he began to break into sobbing convulsions. He tried so hard to not weep, resulting in sounds so pitiful that Aurora couldn’t ignore them even in her own bubble of misery.
She rubbed her tears away to clear her sight and seeing him sitting there on the floor, his shoulders cramped, his posture hunched and the face a pitiful mixture of snot and tears while his hands desperately tried to stop his eyes from shedding new ones…
The sight nearly broke her heart – perhaps it did.
She slipped off of the couch and more or less collapsed onto the ground, her limbs refused to stand straight. The resulting thump caused him to turn towards her and his eyes widened in disbelief. Right now, in this mixture of light and shadow, they held traces of green, red and mostly amber.
Marianka’s head rested on his lap, but he turned his upper body her way and when Aurora began to crawl towards him, his lips parted… but were left agape.
He remained speechless as she pulled herself over towards him, her arms somehow having enough strength to drag the rest of her limp body along.
When she arrived right in front of him, she looked upwards into his eyes that stared down at hers and with lots of strain, she pushed herself into a sitting position, not once breaking contact with him.
Upright, her body began to tremble uncontrollably at the sorrow she felt, sorrow over Marianka’s sacrifice, sorrow over her champion’s state of mind… sorrow over her own uselessness.
But perhaps… just perhaps, there was something she could do right now.
“Master… please hold me,” she whispered in a quiet, feeble voice. It was hard to speak, but it had to be done. “I am cold.”
At first, he just stared, eyes wide, mouth agape, tears running. His convulsions stopped, however.
“Aurora… I…” He began, but then cut off. He broke contact and looked down, ashamed.
“Please…!” She spoke up once more, her voice more pleading, a little louder. “Just… just hold me… please…!”
She felt so incredibly cold, like her limbs had turned to ice, like she had been inside a chiller for the past hours. The trembling only grew worse and her teeth soon began to chatter.
“P-p…” she cut off, unable to form any more words.
The sorrow came back with a vengeance, driving away the modicum of courage she must’ve mustered to make it this far.
And right as she began to sob once more, she suddenly felt his shivering arms closing around her, pulling her close. He was cold as well, but not as cold as she felt. There was a bit of warmth in him.
“You’re so warm…” he then suddenly whispered right above her. “Forgive me… Aurora.”
A slightly salty smell began to envelop her. It was subtle, but it was there, just like he was.
“J-just… h-hold…” she whispered quietly in-between her chattering teeth.
Aurora closed her eyes.
Silence began to reign supreme yet again, only occasionally broken by a breath of air or a beating heart. Time passed and as it did, she felt his heartbeat calming down slowly, but steadily. Through it, his body composed and at some time, he was no longer trembling. By this point, he had long since began to embrace her in earnest while softly whispering words of comfort.
Many, many hours passed – or perhaps just a few minutes. It didn’t matter.
This moment was theirs and theirs alone.
When she eventually opened her eyes again, she found herself sitting on his lap right next to the couch, her entire body having snuggled up to him while the sun’s warm rays shone on her back.
He gently stroked her hair while she listened to his slow, rhythmic breathing.
She felt… tranquil, like having just braved a storm, a tempest of some kind.
More importantly, she felt… sheltered. He was all around her in scent, in body, even in her mind and when she carefully but also a little playfully began to toddle two fingers over soft peaks and valleys from his stomach all the way up to his chest. When she arrived at his collarbone, Aurora lightly tilted her head to look up at him without really moving much.
She really liked this position right now.
Noticing her slight shift, he looked down, his eyes having turned to a lush green in the golden rays of the sun.
“Master… my champion…” Aurora began to whisper, the mere words filling her stomach with a tingling sensation.
“Aurora… my seraphim.” He returned in a similarly soft tone, his face coming a little closer to hers.
“I forgive you,” Aurora spoke softly, wanting to ensure that her words properly relayed her feelings.
For a brief moment, his eyes widened, but then he nodded lightly while his mouth’s edge tried to form to a smile. It didn’t quite work and looked somewhat forced, but she appreciated the effort nonetheless.
All of a sudden, she realized just how close she was to him… how close he was to her – and how little he actually wore.
Her heart’s beat began to accelerate to unhealthy levels while her cheeks flushed red hot. The feeling inside her stomach threatened to put her to the torch but when she tried to get away from him, he merely tightened his embrace just a little bit, enough to hold her in place.
Meanwhile, his face came ever closer, his wondrously green eyes beginning to take up more and more of her field of view.
And then she felt his breath on her skin: warm, slightly moist.
“You’re beautiful, Aurora.” He praised softly and as she tried to turn away, he lightly pushed her chin back up so that she had to look him in the eyes.
It struck her like lightning… this gaze, the way he addressed her, this lightly accelerated breath.
Had it finally happened? It had to have, right?
But what happened now? Would he…?
Her mind went haywire and she began to form flustered half-thoughts while it felt as though her head might burst open any second now.
Arakiel’s lips formed to a genuine, wide smile, stating affectionately. “Cute.”
And then he pressed his lips onto hers and Aurora’s world was turned upside down.