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White Knight
Chapter Thirty-Nine - The Angel of the Hour

Chapter Thirty-Nine - The Angel of the Hour

Kneeling to the ground, Isaac breathed deeply with decay in every one of his breaths as his body had started to wear down from fighting the otherworldly cultists of Sloth. Alongside him, Axel had grabbed onto his shoulder in an attempt for some sort of energy, as he hurriedly forced his other hand to usher a stony set of walls to conceal them as they sought refuge. Stained in terrifying black blood, the two had looked on at each other with horror as a sudden realisation crept up to their eyes.

"Oh, Isaac! What are we fighting?" Axel fearfully asked, his hands blemished with blood.

"I...I...I don't know." Isaac said.

"Someone will come and help us surely! I don't understand why we both feel like this!" Axel cried out in despair.

"Yes, Maxwell will come..." Isaac painfully said.

"Maxwell has come. What is the matter with you two?" It indeed was Maxwell, as he had been levitating above the two like an angel. "Save your breath. They have cast a fatigue effect on you both. It is whatever they are cursed with." He noted.

"Cursed!" Axel wailed out at the thought.

"For you, it will be a short feeling. My very essence here will wear the feelings away." Maxwell smiled with warmth, his aura bearing a blinding light.

"Well...why don't you go...go and save your cherished child..." Isaac dryly suggested.

"Oh! Maxwell! You're glowing!" Axel cried out in childish awe.

"Good. I am preparing my divine power. The scoundrels will soon have no choice but to give Elsa back." Maxwell said with feist, as he had begun shedding several gusts of golden feathers from his heavenly aura.

"You find it fitting to use it now of all times!" Isaac sluggishly scorned him.

"I am sorry, but even for a sin, it is a waste to use my power on one person. It is perfect here, against such an army." Said Maxwell, with little remorse.

"I shall repay the favour someday, Maxwell. My divine power will aid you." Axel happily said, as his eyes stowed on the angelic resonance of his saviour.

"It will be hard to outshine the beauties of mine." Though the immense light had likely shattered their sight, Maxwell winked with deep respect.

The Guardian of Wind, Maxwell McClane, soon soared higher into the skies in sight of a clear outline of his fearsome foe. His appearance was now so sweetened with stunning glimmers of goodness, the clouds had chosen to avert his path of flight, paving way for his spotlight on the field. The pure essence of his divine power had allowed him to blossom into a form of excellence that truly redefined the definition of a divine power. Finely arched out from his backbones, a set of glowing wings fluttered in the cool breeze. His eyes sparkled with a tint of gold. This had come from the long-tipped rapier that he clasped in his right hand. It was delightfully named Nere, a word that had been carved into the handle with such precision, it could only be pronounced by a diamond tool. Already a gem of blessed sorts, this weapon, this brilliance, had carried an enchantment on itself that blessed it with the power of a thousand swings, all within just one single swing.

Such a divine thing could only demand six seconds. Three for the wings to judge one's life, and a further three for them to be blessed with Nere - would it be mercy or judicious punishment for the army? An answer was soon to come but to allow a mere mortal with the right to judge several hundreds of people was unacceptable. The rapier was the possession that directed the task of judging, moving, and even the fateful extermination - if punishment was the daunting outcome. It was within six seconds that Maxwell had been enlightened of the answer.

"Mercy! It is understandable, my divine one! The cultists are good at heart, only they are unfortunate to be corrupted by evil." Maxwell reasoned.

"What now?" Isaac asked expectedly.

"Shhh, Isaac! He is having his moment!" Axel fearfully nudged his mentor.

What was to come now? A single swing, as before mentioned, of Nere could carry the attack of a thousand soldiers. This was immediately proven, as the sin cultists of Sloth had silently fallen to the ground - not in death, but with a minor haze of sleep overcoming them. So fine, so divine a doing though had announced a sleep for Maxwell. He had tired out, floating gracefully towards the ground like a leaf naturally falling from a tree. Once he safely touched the cool fields, his wings had enwrapped his body in warmth, as the chilling cries of the cultists tried to break through his cocoon but saw no success.

The rustling of crisp leaves that soon gathered both Isaac’s and Axel’s ears, had not been that of their saviour. Instead, it was the rushing steps of the little heroine the whole valiant effort had been for. She welcomed the concealed Maxwell with a hug of gratitude that made her weep with regret. She had believed the poisonous words of Envy, on the matter that it was he, Maxwell McClane, that killed her father. It was heartfelt to see at first, but soon questions rose between Isaac and Axel.

"How could she witness these events if she cannot see?" Axel pondered.

"And how did she so perfectly reach for his embrace?" Isaac thought too.

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"How did she avoid Maxwell's powers?" Added Axel. "She was missed out?" He wondered.

Reassuringly their answers soon came hurrying after the girl.

"An angel, I say! Have I been blessed?" Chuckled the wholesome heart of Grove Cornelius, for he had returned to his home, the Greenhouse. "But perhaps you are the ones who are blessed, no? I have convinced the young girl that you are all innocent. She is deceived, or was, I should say." He muttered.

"Deceived?" Isaac wondered.

"My, she accused you of murdering her poor father! Fear not though, it was clear Envy had tainted her mind." Said Grove.

"You know of him then. His intent to murder you." Bluntly informed Isaac.

"Yes." Grove had said dismally, his sights had been on following the conversation into his household. "Now, if you shall. I will lend my healing to you two." He said, committing to his words.

"Thank you. Can you do the favour towards our friend too?" Axel shyly asked with a concerned look to Maxwell.

"I wish I could. I simply must repay him somehow but healing him would kill me! Perhaps my daughter would have done the job." Grove replied.

"If your daughter can heal, then we know of her. I know her particularly fondly." Said Axel.

"Oh. I see. Do follow me inside." Grove said as he entered his home. "You will know I am Grove Cornelius then, though she goes by her mother's surname. Who may you two be?" He asked.

"I am the general of Bournington, Isaac Rose of House Rose. This is my second in command, Vice General Axel Astrix." Authoritatively, Isaac proclaimed.

"House Astrix. I suppose?" Intrigued, Grove pondered.

"Yes, if you even deem me belonging to a house." Childishly, Axel chuckled.

"Oh no...the name seems ever so familiar. That is all." Grove said, his face white as ice. "Now, please. Follow me inside, with your friend. The least I can offer is my hospitality." He said.

They obliged, with Axel carefully carrying Maxwell, and Isaac hesitantly holding the soft hand of Elsa. Grove had opened the door to his home, only to find the chilling crack in the floorboards, a hole in each floor of the household. He had looked on in stone-cold shock. When asked about the matter, the reply from Isaac seemed to calm him down enough. In fact, the brief mention of Envy being captive seemed to frustrate the master of the home even more than the very damage that bled within.

"We will take him to Bournington shortly." Isaac finally said, with enough loudness for the inhabitants of the room they had just entered, to hear.

"I think we should kill him!" Axel rather roughly spat out.

"Ahem. I am sorry, you are in Greenwich. I will have to take him in as a prisoner." Grove turned around and said, slightly offended by their plans.

"Bournington is far better equipped to handle a sin, and I am sure Princess Rosemary will not mind us taking him back." Isaac painfully smiled.

"Princess? General, she is the Queen of Greenwich." Correcting Isaac's instigating error, Grove said.

"I may call her anything. We are on special terms together." It was that word. Together. That particularly infuriated Grove.

"And how, how are you so close with her?" Pressed Grove.

"Enough, let them take their prisoner." Lux had interjected.

"Lux! Still here, of course. I suppose you encouraged the manner of battle here?" Grove had taken a deeper look at the hole in the ground, a truly despicable face clinging to him.

"Not my doing. Though, I did warn you he was coming." Said Lux.

"And you are?" Grove changed the topic.

"Victoria Magika. You must be Grove. Grove from the letter." She replied.

"Ah. Yes. The letter. I am the one. The one from the letter." Grove calmly motioned a look of unwelcome anger towards Lux.

"What brings you back so soon?" Asked Lux.

"This is my home. It seems like an inn at the moment." Grove replied, his eyes on the injured.

"Yes well, if somebody listened to me, these injuries would not have happened." Said Lux.

"What could I have done even if I was here?" Irritated, Grove asked.

"I don't know. Perhaps you could have helped us fight." Suggested Lux.

"Did you? Did you fight yourself?" Quickly retorted Grove.

Interrupting the two, Victoria coughed loudly.

"General, you may want to reconsider your plans with Envy. I may find a way to take him down for good." She said.

"Ms Magika, I'm sorry. He must be taken to Bournington, to be judged fairly." Said Isaac.

"A rather stupid idea! We know what he has done! He's an evil, evil sin!" Axel expelled.

"Stupid indeed. Over here we would just kill him or torture him." Grove smirked.

"That doesn't help your case, at all." Muttered Lux.

"A sin cannot be killed. I feel it would be reckless to hand him over to you, an unknowledgeable person." Isaac too, smirked.

"I will ignore such a remark, only out of respect." Remarked Grove, grossly looking at him. "You took him down on Greenwich soil though. He is to be 'judged' here then." He claimed.

"How can you choose Greenwich over our beloved Bournington?" Lux laughed.

"I am doing my job, Lux. I must report this matter to my queen." Dutifully said Grove.

"Very well..." Isaac said, receiving a gentle gasp from Axel and Victoria. "We will see the Queen in person. He will remain in our hands until I am done speaking with her." He said.

"Hmm? It is reasonable what you ask for, I suppose. But she will not oblige to speak with you." Spitefully said Grove.

"I can make her agree." Claimed Isaac.

"General Rose, is that a threat to my queen?" Stood before Isaac, Grove asked him.

"Enough general. Are you entirely certain of this approach of action?" Concerned, Victoria asked.

"Ms Magika, please. Everything will be absolutely fine." Isaac's reply had a sly wink attached to it, which only she could notice.

"Are you pleased?" Grove asked her.

"I suppose so." Victoria said, her puzzled eyes fixed on the general.

"Very well. We will head to the palace tomorrow. For now, you are my guests." Grove concluded with a certain smile of victory.