Okay but guys imagine, Auriel being all happy and hopeful on the outside but really she's about to break down into tears at any given moment. And the Black Soulstone is making it worse so she's REALLY about to cry.

Walking through the Gardens of Hope was usually a relaxing activity for Auriel and the other angels of the realm. Today however it was the complete opposite. She was humming to herself and walking through the more tree-clustered lanes when she spotted a hint of grey, at the very tips of some leaves. She ceased her humming and moved closer, slowly cupping her palm underneath the leaves.

As she did so, a burning chill swept up her body, her wings stood on end for a second before Auriel withdrew her hand, looking down with wide eyes at the area of her palm that was now stinging with a drop of essence growing.

Sitting herself down, Auriel felt the wetness of a tear roll down her cheek. In puzzlement she stood up, turning to the mirror that was packed away in a corner of the chamber she noticed that more tears threatened to spill out.

"Heh." she chuckled to herself, reaching up to brush the tears away. What irony this was, she herself, Archangel of Hope was about to crack to despair. Letting out another chuckle she knelt down to the ground, wrapping her arms around herself and feeling more tears spill out. How did this even happen? She wondered to herself.

She was so tired from it all, the stress of trying to win a war that was destined for them to lose, and now a bitter feeling of despair had begun to creep in on her. Maybe she should just give up altogether, let the despair and hopelessness of the High Heaven's situation consume her whole. By now she couldn't even feel the tears continue to fall, she couldn't either, feel how cold the room had become.

Auriel's wings enveloped around her as sobs continued to rack throughout her being, like a protective wall shielding her from prying eyes. No one should see her like this, neither angels nor demons should know what was behind her hopeful exterior.

She didn't even hear someone enter her chamber through a portal. Her tears continued to spill out at a relentless rate, and she let out a choked sob. A shiver went through her spine as someone attempted to move her wings away, in response they closed around her body even tighter.

"Auriel." a soft voice came from the intruder, another cold chill down her spine travelled upwards as they tried to brush away a few tendrils.

"Leave me be." she choked out coldly, stopping to look up at the angel on the other side of her self-made wall.

Silence echoed through the room for a few seconds before another attempt at her wings was made, Auriel was too tired to stop and she looked in shame at Itherael. She doesn't have the strength to stop her tears or make up an excuse, only stuttering out "I don't know what's happening to us."

Fate stays silent, feeling his heart break as more tears drip down her cheek. Hesitantly, he reaches up to her, slowly cupping one hand underneath her chin and using his thumb to brush away half of the tears. Auriel's hand reaches up to meet his, he expects her to brush it away but instead she holds it tightly, looking down at the puddle of tears near her lap.

Auriel gets caught by surprise when she feels two arms wrap around her tightly, followed closely by the warmth of a pair of wings. She is barely a centimetre away from Itherael's chest and when she finally looks up, he's staring down at her. Loosening his arm to flick away the final tears and only saying 4 words.

"It's okay to cry."

And by some miracle, she stops trying to hide her fear and despair for once. Gripping onto Itherael she lets a few tears drop onto his shoulder guard, moving her hand up to brush them away. "Thank you." Hope whispers, Fate's response is to only hold her tighter.

*grabs tissue box* well, *coughs* that was *dabs at eye* angsty.