"This isn't good…" Etihw murmured from her desk, reading today's newspaper and taking a sip of espresso Wodahs poured for her and Kcalb while the Goddess and Devil began their day. "We've only just declared the truce between our people not too long ago, and already we're hitting a rough start." It was true, they had ended the war to establish peace after centuries of conflict in which they fought a meaningless war over nothing. Their fight was worthless, and it only made the affairs between angels and demons in their world worse because of the natural law citing they had to hate one another and be mortal enemies throughout all of existence. That one rule had been the guideline they followed, neither side adding meaning to it since it hardly made any difference even if one or both of them created justified motivations for wanting to fight each other for long ages.

"What'd you expect, Eti?" Kcalb asked from his own desk and took a sip of his drink. "We are still angels and demons respectively. Constructing peace after warring against one another is bound to be difficult at the beginning until we can really get things rolling. There will be anarchy, conflict against us for deciding to make a truce we hope can last forever. It is not impossible since we can do it, but these things must take time to settle in. At the very least, many of our people have come to accept our decision and welcome it wholeheartedly; although I thought the resentment in this world might've been more widespread, it isn't as bad as I originally believed before this."

"No argument there, Kcalb, but we must find out who the perpetrators are nonetheless due to our desire to preserve the peace," the Goddess remarked, making eye contact with him and then turning to address Wodahs and Grora to get their opinion of this matter. "Any ideas, you two?"

"Could be anyone, really," the female angel commented, leaning against the wall. A black, sleeveless vest she wore over a white sweater brushed against the fireplace mantle while she made sure to cross her legs, the fabric of her gray jeans also brushing up against itself. "Whether it's a group of angels or demons, or just one individual is difficult to tell when examining the bloodshed. Whoever's slaughtering our people is vicious and calculating. Perps don't want to get caught."

"Indeed," Wodahs concurred with her opinion, though he offered up another crucial detail to improve his coworker's statement. "However, I have been going over the reports and evidence we gathered from the crime scenes. Apparently clues point to angels as the culprits. As this casts doubt on angels since the culprits haven't been apprehended yet, I will take personal responsibility and endeavor to catch them before any more innocent lives are claimed by their hands again."

"I see, so allow Kcalb and I to offer our support too by bringing all perpetrators to justice for their crimes," Etihw offered him while the Devil nodded in agreement with her idea. "We shall not exile or kill them right away unless they fight back, in which case we would have to rout them all from the Gray Garden or slay them in combat. I do not approve of either option, hence why I'd like to put the culprits on trial instead once we catch them so a jury council can decide their fate."

"Very well, but let's take the death penalty off the table," Kcalb suggested. "We don't want our message to come across as advocation for resorting to murder to protect our world. If anything is to be decided, the criminals should be given a choice to mend their ways and take part in society, or they can go into voluntary exile. If either decision is rejected, we'll have to make it for them."

"Seems like that might allow them the opportunity to commit more crimes," Etihw said.

"True, choosing to make amends could be a front for that," Kcalb conceded the debate. "I still think they should be given a chance while under supervision to ensure they aren't dangerous."

Etihw shut her eyes and put a bent finger to her chin. "Yes, that could work," she murmured softly before opening them in determination. "Very well, it's decided. We shall take this course of action in the trial. Now that we've got a fair means of due process, we must now concentrate efforts on the locations where these horrible crimes took place. Wodahs, did the reports suggest common areas with spaces where the victims were found and what they all may possibly share in common?"

"As a matter of fact they have," Wodahs answered affirmatively and nodded. "All of them, the victims, were slain in and around Gray Village and Blancblack Castle, Lady Etihw."

The Goddess' face darkened because she didn't like the sound of that. It surprised her since this region of the Gray Garden was thought of as the heart of their world even though nobody said it was since they preferred for every place to be unique in its own way. "That close to home, huh?"

"Seems like we have our work cut out for us if the criminals are somewhere among people in this region. Any angel could be a potential suspect, whether it's civilians or authorities," Kcalb stated critically, wondering where they could look. "They would have to be somebody we may not suspect, someone close to us in both proximity and relationships. Anyone here could be a suspect."

"A bunch of trouble if you ask me," Grora piped up again with a small smile and shrugged. "Whoever it is would obviously have gone to great lengths not to get caught while still ensuring a trail was developed in the killing spree. These murders definitely have that odd vibe to them."

"Yes, we just have to follow it and make sure no slipups cost us anything," Etihw remarked. "These culprits may be smart enough to utilize spies amongst us, hence why we must keep this all close to the chest in order to not divulge anything that can jeopardize this important mission."

"Want me to head down to the barracks and check in with the investigative team on findings they may have discovered?" Grora asked, addressing the Goddess and the Devil together. "We've probably hit some kind of jackpot in terms of evidence, however, minor or significant it could be."

Kcalb nodded to give his approval. "Sure, bring us anything of interest to this case."

"Right, be back in a flash," she uttered with a wave of her hand and headed out. Stepping into the hallway, Grora ambled over to an elevator and pressed a button for the floor the barracks were located on. It arrived and she stepped inside once the door opened to admit her in. No other employees bothered her, or even called it for that matter which was why she was alone during the whole ride down. With no one to interrupt her, Grora shut her eyes and began humming a peaceful tune while crossing her arms and leaning up against a wall in the elevator, waiting for the descent to stop. Eventually it did and the door opened so the angel could walk into the corridor and cross it right into the barracks where guards were busy with their work. They were preparing themselves for any emergencies that sprang up suddenly as ordinary investigators such as Siegfried prepared reports on the crimes being committed. Her business was not with them, however, since Grora was entering the forensics department in the barracks to speak with the scientists in there.

However, her specific contact was Desmond, an angel developing the case file on forensics.

"Yo, Desmond, have anything on the recent murders so far?" she asked, sauntering toward him and shaking his hand once he offered it as Grora looked him over. His attire was simple, like the way this world had become, wearing only a regular pair of blue jeans and a green long sleeve shirt with an eyeglass over his right eye and long blue hair flowing down to his shoulders. "There must be something amongst what we collected to point us towards the killers, right? Can't have a few rogues running around assassinating others just because they hate peace and like old ways."

"Right you are, Grora, punctual as ever on time and in your remarks!" he replied and took her over to a drawer by lab equipment set up on a table near a pair of demons and a fellow angel he worked with in here. "These killings really do cause nothing but trouble. A shame everyone has to ruin the harmony for others over not being able to handle it themselves." Opening it, Desmond removed a folder while the other three forensic scientists went to the other side of the room as they all began to work on one of the corpses recovered from the crime scene. Handing it to her, he gave the lady a smile and carefully glanced at his coworkers suspiciously while she looked it over.

Grora smiled too. "Everything looks A-Okay from here. I'll bring this up to Lady Etihw as well as Sir Devil now. Keep up the good work, Desmond, and good luck to you all," she commented and wished them well while exiting the office and crossing over to leave the barracks behind her.

"Thanks, we'll keep you all up to speed with our progress," he answered her and nodded.

"Sure, thanks!" Grora called back to him and turned around to wave goodbye, accidently bumping into a demon on the way out and apologizing to him for not looking where she was going. "Sorry about that, dude, I just need to pay better attention next time. You're not mad, right?"

"Nope, all good, everything's fine," he spoke up and went his own way, waving goodbye.

"Yep, see you around," she remarked and entered the elevator after pressing the button to open it. The door closed behind her when she pressed another button for the top floor. Once again Grora found herself alone in it with nobody on the other floors pressing the call buttons. Because it seemed like nobody needed to use it which gave her time to go over the documents more closely than when she was in the forensics lab, the angel opened the folder and examined them once more. "Perfect…" she said softly with a small smile, closing the folder when she was done. "This should do the trick just fine. Desmond certainly did his job well. All I have to do is deliver them and then go see Hastur. He should be waiting for me to show up soon and meet the new recruits."

Her smile widened since she was thankful Etihw and Kcalb didn't suspect her of anything. Grora knew Desmond had carefully forged the fabricated findings in the folder as instructed which would throw the Goddess and Devil off their trail and onto another path entirely. She would bring the false files up to them and neither would be none the wiser. Even the Head Angel didn't suspect she was in on the killings even if all of them weren't by her hands. In their eyes, she was in fact an accomplice—would be if she got caught. And even if she was discovered to be a traitor among the group, Grora had a solid testimony Hastur helped her form so those three could understand where she and the others involved with them were coming from. These murders were necessary according to Hastur because their victims were actually traitors themselves, people trying to overthrow their Goddess by working with demons under Kcalb's orders to get close and assassinate the angels.

Although their small organization—True Light, as they called it because Hastur named the group—had little evidence of their own to support that accusation, the members believed in him a lot nevertheless. Enough to take his word for it as a matter of fact, and Grora was no different due to putting her faith solely in him. She followed his every order straight to the letter and stood next to him as the second-in-command of True Light, the officer in charge of helping him govern, lead, and administer their organization's duties. It was a secretive society, one with few members since there were only around twenty individuals exactly—plus the three new recruits if possible because she and Hastur were masters of immediately spotting which recruits were spies or not. While they couldn't engage in open warfare against the traitors, they utilized every skill they knew to perform guerilla stealth missions as secret freedom fighters for their people, the angels. Every member was an angel committed to the cause, and they would succeed where Etihw had failed, taken in by those lies Kcalb and Wodahs fed her—even the Head Angel himself was a target, and Grora was the one assigned to get close to him and assassinate Wodahs when an opportune moment presented itself. That would pave the way for Hastur to eliminate Kcalb once he had the chance to lead True Light into the castle by way of stealth and cut down all of their opponents in secret with them unaware.

It was the perfect plan in their eyes, and everyone had faith in Hastur because not only did they all think he was going to succeed, they knew it wholeheartedly quite well since Hastur's skills in combat were simply amazing. He was superior in strength to the Devil despite being unable to wield magic, but it didn't matter as he could easily outmaneuver the Devil and his forces without breaking a sweat. In time, that would soon be a reality as they ushered in the return of the old era: a time of warfare between angels and demons as according to natural law. Hastur's work and his goals would soon be realized, and Grora smiled knowing that she was his right hand.

The elevator door opened on the top floor and she stepped out, recognizing the Head Angel standing outside in the hallway. "You're back with the findings?" he asked, entering the elevator.

"Yep, I'm bringing them in now before taking my lunch break unless there's nothing else," Grora replied, stepping out once he walked in to let him go wherever he'd been sent. She couldn't care less about his movements since the angelic woman knew he was still on point with the squads assigned to patrols. Wodahs was going to be heading one as a fellow True Light member informed her before. That angel promised to keep a close watch on him, and she wouldn't let the Head Angel out of her sights while he led the squad he manned. Grora had her assurance, so with him on some fool's errand she had freedom to move around freely than in his presence to prepare the stage for Kcalb's downfall. Wodahs learned that angels caused the deaths, but they'd outsmart him as usual.

"No, there is nothing else we'd need from you for now aside from leading a patrol through and along the western border of this region for suspects later," he replied. "You're certainly free to head out for lunch after turning the documents over, Grora. See you later, and be careful around other angels. You never know which of them might be the traitors among our people around here."

"Right, right, I know. I'll be careful," she promised him as the elevator door shut. Leaving him to his own devices, the angel began to walk towards the office Kcalb and Etihw shared. Grora figured Wodahs would say something like that, fully aware of his own treasonous designs against Lady Etihw. As if he had the authority to make that remark. "You be careful too…traitorous cur."

…

Her footsteps echoed throughout a tunnel in Daybreak Forest, the owner going to a secret underground mine from the old days when angels and demons were at war. The old signs were all damaged, desecrated by time since age had worn the wood and letters on them into corrosion. The place was once a silver mine where the angels acquired the valuable resource at times when Etihw was unable to produce more with her magic due to being involved in the war. A few buildings had been established here: consisting of the mining quarters for miners to reside in, a warehouse where the materials and tools were kept in addition to being used for offices of sorts, and a church where they could go to pray for success in their endeavors and an end to all the demons in their world.

Ambling into the clearing, Grora caught sight of a guard outside the church where they all gathered for meetings and waved to him. He returned the gesture and so did another guard waiting outside the warehouse to guard it and help arm his comrades. Everyone else was in the church as they waited for her to enter and begin the weekly meeting session all of them attended every Friday. The angelic woman crossed through the threshold, striding down the center aisle and glancing at her comrades around her. They were armed to the teeth, prepared to fight at a moment's notice if they were discovered here. This was a contrast to her own person being unarmed, yet Grora's own silver weapons and Mithril armor were displayed on a weapon rack and mannequin because she'd earned the privilege for being Hastur's right hand girl. Being of such high rank in True Light was a blessing, one she was very grateful for and lucky to have since she was by his side in his presence.

Noting his presence at the far wall where the cross rested, Grora smiled when she saw him leaning up against it like a forlorn hero abandoned by his people for another purpose with a cause. Decked out in Mithril armor like the set she used with a brown overcoat over it trailing down to his legs, Hastur clearly did have the appearance of an old relic in person from the past. Twin silver war axes remained at his sides on the belt with no sheaths for them, but the twin silver katanas on his back had sheaths. His short, ruffled black hair blew gently in a faint breeze coming through a broken window as he took a good, hard look at Grora when she approached his position. "You're here," he murmured aloud and nodded, shutting his hazel colored eyes and motioning for her to begin the meeting. "It is time for us to start; Desmond already destroyed the real evidence."

"Indeed, I have, and nobody at the castle suspects a thing," he remarked with a smile and basked in the glory of having outsmarted those fools in Blancblack Castle with them unaware of it because he was careful to ensure no trace of it was left behind when he disposed of the clues which would point the authorities to their position. "Our plan is going smoothly as a matter of fact, and I can already feel we're making great strides for our people. They might not believe us at first due to our guerilla techniques being dubbed as murders, but this is for the good of all angels. A shame we must resort to stealth instead of fighting for our meaningful cause like true martyrs, though."

"We act like assassins only because we have a greater chance to get our message across," Grora explained briefly to politely interject as she took her place at the pedestal and gazed at this small congregation of followers like a lector or pastor addressing his flock. "Even if we fail in our endeavors, at least our deaths would have a much more significant meaning. The martyrs of times in the past were successful in making their voices heard, but at the risk of not having made much of an impact on those in power who suppressed them. Authority figures seek to maintain their seats in power, hence why they'll do anything to hold onto it and steal it by force for their own sakes."

"Only a population of the entire populace would identify with the martyrs and fight by the sides of such heroes and heroines," Hastur went on to address their group. "They would see their message as true and just, hence why they support them. However, others who fear the regimes and don't risk to anger them are cowards who refuse to rise up. More still curry favor with governments that are corrupt and unclean. Ours is one such government; by making false peace with the Devil, Lady Etihw has been taken in by the lies he and the false Head Angel spewed to her. She's blinding herself to the fundamental truth we have all known: that angels and demons are meant to fight and never make truces with each other. This rule is supported by the truth that demons will always lie; they lie to get what they want: power over all that is good and just. Many have been blinded; we've got to open their eyes and show them the truth they have always known and closed their eyes to."

"You are quite right, sir," Grora concurred with his speech and smiled at him. "Yes, your words bear much validity to them. All of us present knew this truth is accurate," she went on while addressing everyone else. "We've seen the true light and know it is real, but others like Lady Etihw have deviated from the path they must follow—are meant to follow unconditionally. Our role is to open their eyes to the light and show them the false webs of lies they've become entangled in. Only then will we have succeeded in our mission to save our people from the demons and Fallen Angels who plague our world and seek to eliminate Lady Etihw and her fellow comrades to seize power."

"In doing so, we will return our filthy world back to the way it once was: clean and holy," Hastur continued, stepping away from the cross to head into the center aisle. "Even if we were to perish along the way, at the very least we must have left behind a firm impact that will make others see the truth and consider it before deciding to join us. And join us they will, for we shall not abide cowards and traitors, both of whom we shall slay without hesitation since they don't deserve mercy at all." With that said, he averted his attention back to Grora to give a command to her. "Let these new recruits of ours in so we may analyze them, Grora." When she nodded and saluted him before going over to a door in the back of the church, Hastur turned back to the crowd and spoke up once more. "Our numbers are small and so is our growth, but we are progressing in our plans."

"And here we have another generation of angels who shall follow us," Grora added to the conversation, purposely interjecting since it was a privilege awarded only to the right hand—her. "These three fellows here have expressed yearning to join our cause, and we shall put them to the test and see if they are truly worthy of fighting alongside us as comrades." After having presented them all to True Light, she turned towards the three angels. Motioning for them to stand in a line, she and Hastur walked around it to observe the angels before finally stopping on either side of the line they formed with her on the left end, him on the right. "This concludes this first trial," Grora declared and turned to the new initiates who seemed confused as to why it was that easy at first.

"And of our three initiates, only two have passed," Hastur added before Grora went on.

"And the third…" she said with a medium length pause so she could unsheathe a blade on a display rack over on the left wall which she walked over to for the weapon. Holding it so the tip of the sword was touching the wooden floor beneath them, Grora kept her eyes closed as the three recruits wondered what she planned to do with it. Granted, they were already aware of what would happen to the unlucky third, though none of them were aware of who it was until Grora's eyes shot wide open as she quickly drove the blade into one of them. She had pierced the heart of the recruit next to Hastur and swung the weapon up to make a large, vertical gash in the body. Blood pooled out from the wound and spilled on them while the angelic woman bent down to remove a parchment of paper from his pocket and open it up to read it before showing it to everyone. "You see here a note from the false Head Angel himself, authorizing this angel to spy on us! Know this, this is what happens to moles and traitors who seek to bring down True Light! They will fail, whereas we will ultimately succeed in our mission to reopen our people's eyes to the light! We shall prevail!"

Everyone there cheered, glad to have been part of a cause worth fighting for. As they were celebrating the entry of two new recruits by welcoming them into their fold, Hastur stepped toward Grora and smiled at her since he was once again pleased with her efforts and contributions to the organization. "Well done as always, Grora. You've yet again proven your commitment to light."

"Don't I always?" she asked with a smile of her own. "But thank you, nonetheless, sir. I'm honored to stand by your side and fight alongside you in the quest to bring light back to our people. However, I am concerned for our organization because Wodahs already knows angels are killing the civilians. That must be why this spy has entered our organization: to ascertain our identities."

Hastur merely waved her concern aside. "It doesn't matter, for we can paint Fallen Angels as the culprits to divert attention off of us. They'll believe another faction is among them and also against them, leading to conflict between the two parties. That'll conceal our presence, and they'll be unwary of us until it is too late for them. Let us use this to our group's advantage, Grora."

Grora smiled and saluted him. "Yes, sir!"

…

Meanwhile, back to the present day, Grora's lone eye flittered open slowly at first before a yawn escaped her mouth. Sitting up in bed, attired in brown pajamas, the angelic woman stretched her arms in the air and then quietly swung her legs over the bedside to stand up. Ambling into her bathroom, Grora looked in the mirror and frowned at the sight of herself. She had no regrets about herself now, but back then she was led to believe Hastur really was a savior the angels of this world needed. It was the one thing she ever regretted in life because he lied to her, and she felt better due to his absence. With him gone, there was a chance for her to make amends for everything she had done while serving as his second-in-command. Grora took it, and now everyone's trust in her was already restored. After staring at her reflection for several minutes, she sighed and began the day.

…

"I had a dream last night."

Her comment garnered attention from her friends as they all sat on parts of an ancient stone formation that used to be part of a fortress that once stood here overlooking the Sea of Tears which had been formerly known as the Coast of Purity. This place had once been a fortified means of the angels' defense during the war, but now it was an attraction for villagers and tourists to come and take walks along the shoreline and search for buried relics and other small treasures. Mitchell came here with Rorin frequently with a couple metal detectors for that purpose, and Othros always liked to sit by the old fort and reminisce on the old days. All of them reflected on the war and how bad it was, preferring the peace of today over the conflict of their dark past. Grora agreed with all of them, recognizing that peace between angels and demons was a better alternative to war.

"What of?" Rorin inquired into it as they ate a lunch they prepared for this little picnic. "It must've been a morbid one at considering how zoned out you are today, Grora. Surely you haven't been thinking about hurting Ater and Arbus again, right?" The angelic woman grimaced, frowning since the thought of Ater paled in comparison to what she was actually thinking of sharing.

"That would be a good dream in my opinion, something to make me feel better," she could not help but admit it before displaying a small smile to try and take her mind of the past with some imaginary harm against the cat demons. "Sorry if my brooding was upsetting you guys, but I wasn't pondering about them for once. Last night I was dreaming about my involvement with True Light."

"Ah, the organization of freedom fighters you used to be a part of?" Othros murmured with a nod of acknowledgement. He took a bite of a pear which he'd been finishing and tossed the core in a paper bag he'd brought with them, taking a sip of his grape juice. "Angels who found it difficult to believe in the truce Lady Etihw and Lord Kcalb made with each other. Such opposition was not altogether uncommon since there were small pockets of suspicion and anarchy here and there back then. If I recall the history correctly, they were responsible for the murders of innocent angels and demons under the leadership of an angel named Hastur, one of the cruelest angels from the war."

"Quite right," Grora nodded to confirm the brief explanation from him. "He really was one of our worst, a man who would kill anyone—even his own comrades—to make a point stick." She bit down on the last bit of her tuna sandwich before throwing the plastic she held it in inside a bag of her own. "His skills were good enough to make him a candidate for being the Commander-in-Chief of the angels' whole military, but his cruelty and tyranny prevented him from achieving the post. A shame he continued to utilize such skills against innocent people; a greater shame that I helped him with the crimes and took my own share of lives under his authority and supervision." She sighed, imaginary blood spilling all over her hands and gave a literal meaning to being caught red-handed. "Thank god I made the decision to turn myself in, otherwise I risked becoming more of a monster like that foul cur who stained the true meaning of martyrdom and lied to everyone."

"Evaluating one's actions at a critical moment in a position like that can do that to anyone," Mitchell concurred with the confession from Grora even though they knew about it already. "I've experienced the same revelations back in my old guild, ultimately deciding to sheathe my weapon for good instead of wielding it for an evil I was never comfortable supporting. The money I earned as my cut of the pay put food on the table, but I was never satisfied with taking a life to live mine."

"None of us were like that in the past, but now we've found new meaning in our lives since the way our world is now has provided us with a purpose and cause worth fighting for," Rorin said in agreement, thinking back on the previous year's incidents. "When we were invaded and attacked by foes who sought to destroy the peace we've worked hard to build, I chose to take up my weapon once again to protect those I cared about and the way of life all of us have come to appreciate."

"We all had our part in those incidents, volunteering to defend values, friends, and families with our lives because they are all worth making the sacrifice for," Othros commented with a smile and looked at them while continuing to advance their shared speech. "The Gray Garden is a much better place than when angels and demons fought each other. Our world's unique in that regard whereas others choose to keep fighting, with a close exception being the world governed by Fumus and Satanick as their bond is okay despite being a shaky relationship between the two. Now that I think about it, I recall reading a text about another good example being the Flower World under Rosaliya Phantomrose due to the incident in which the God of her world, Liliya, was denounced and arrested as a war criminal by other deities. However, angels no longer inhabit that world."

"I remember hearing of that event through old colleagues of his once," Mitchell recollected on one of the contracts he'd taken with the guild. "My guild mates and I fought against some angels from his world after they'd abandoned him. One of the fellows we caught explained what happened before our leader executed him out of amusement." He sighed, crossing his arms and frowning due to remembering a terrible moment from his days in the guild. "Killing others as a fun sport…can't imagine how others can see the fun in that when lives truly are at stake. I was considered to be one of the weakest individuals they ever accepted just because I didn't want to use my skills to murder others in combat or out of it. Quite frankly, I didn't care about their jeers and I never wanted to do the deed myself—to slay another life for whatever reason when there was no real purpose to it."

"To be fair, Mitchell," Rorin raised a minor counterpoint, "killing anyone regardless of the motive is worthless depending on who you ask. Take Ivlis' invasion last year for example; he had wanted to destroy our world simply because we made peace while seeking to steal Kcalb's powers for himself. Although we managed to rout him and he survived, others from his forces weren't that lucky since we slew them. From their perspective, it could be considered murder; from ours, we've been doing whatever we can to uphold the peace and defend it and those we all cherish. While the invaders would think their cause is just, we believe our own is; it may not matter who is right, who is wrong, or who goes down the middle, but the common conception is that the one whose purpose is pure and benevolent will always remain the victor because of something worth fighting for."

"Yeah, pretty much anybody could secure victory for whatever cause, though purity and a strong sense of benevolence motivating that cause are a main idea in stories and the like at times," Grora remarked to continue the discussion as they all stood up and began to walk down to the sand after throwing their finished lunches in a wastebasket set up to collect trash. "It isn't like reality to be honest, but it can be made into a reality. I mean, look at us and our people; we've done it several times by now and have proven it is possible." She smiled and shut her eye, taking in a whiff of air from the coast as a gentle gust of wind blew by them. "We've faced down plenty of evil foes who attempted to destroy us and all we worked hard to maintain and build, and we can do it once again together." Her words rang true to her friends as they all concurred with her, agreeing it was better to stand together and work alongside each other united in a group rather than in an isolated party.

Having turned on their metal detectors which they took with them, the monkey demon and male angel started checking the beach for treasures as they walked and eventually Rorin found one item of interest buried in the sand. "Well, well, what do we have here," he uttered, stooping to dig it out with one hand while the others stopped to look at his find. "A badge of sorts…" he analyzed it, looking over the object and trying to make out the words on it. They were covered in grime and rust since the badge was made of metal copper, but eventually he could make out a name. "It says here the name of who this belongs to was a man named Desmond," he remarked curiously.

"There was an angel named Desmond in True Light," Grora piped up, offering that angel's name up as a suggestion even though there could have been other people with the name. "If there's a mark that looks like it could be in the appearance of a beacon with lines emanating from it, you'll see that is was the symbol of my old organization. That was Hastur's idea since he thought of each and every meaningful thing True Light used to advocate its cause—even the group's name as well. The Desmond in our group was a forensics scientist who disposed of evidence pointing to us."

"A viable means of throwing the authorities off your trail back then," Othros remarked and took the item to examine it too before nodding affirmatively. "Yes, there are indeed etchings of an image matching your description of the symbol, Grora. This clearly does seem to be his." Handing it to her, he offered the angel a suggestion as she considered what to do with it. "I'd say you could turn it into the anthropology department so they can analyze it and decide whether to display it, or hand it over to the guards in the barracks to dispose of it." Those were two ideas, but not one Grora accepted even though she smiled to show she appreciated the suggestions Othros provided.

"I could," she remarked, turning back in the direction of the wastebasket and taking several steps towards it before reeling her right side back and prepared to chuck the badge. "Or I could do this instead." Saying so, she hurled the badge as far as she could, shutting her eye and grinning out of satisfaction because she was successful. That old badge hit a pole the wastebasket was attached to, and the sound of it hitting the metal handle before they saw it fall in demonstrated how precise a bit of good accuracy from somebody with only one eye could be. Grora laughed, forming a fist as she brought her forearm up. "You see, guys, that's how you dispose of evidence by throwing it in the trash! Talk about dumping it where nobody—even yourself—will find it! A better option, if I do say so myself!" she exclaimed while laughing with them as they continued walking onwards.

"Indeed," Othros remarked in agreement and put his arm around her while she returned the gesture. "It certainly is a viable choice, especially when wanting to bury something you didn't like about your past. Though I'd much rather keep it as a reminder of the bad things so I won't ever be the way I was back then, it is understandable to put stuff like that behind oneself for moving on."

Grora shut her eye and smiled. "Damn straight, Othros, I sure as hell want to forget the fact I was even involved in that business to begin with. I know the castle's been holding onto things of True Light as a reminder of how not to handle affairs following a truce, but I don't bother heading by the area that stuff's in. Those hold nothing but bad memories, and while I do agree they're kind of necessary in that regard, such items are nothing more than useless trash in my opinion."

"Useless, yes," Mitchell agreed, "though not without a meaning to them. Remember, those old things are representations of a group that sought to protect old ideals to preserve tradition, like that one mage who built the animatronics in that museum—Germain, I believe his name is."

Although she scoffed at the remark, the angelic woman still smiled to show she recognized that was a true statement. "I get that, but Hastur's sense of traditional justice was clearly distorted."

"Maybe so, but the traditional way of things is a still a light," Rorin uttered to continue this discussion. "Not a very bright light when comparing it to our world's values now, but a light which holds some truth to it when considering the natural law of angels versing demons. I'm sure glad it doesn't apply to the Gray Garden anymore because the light of friendship between our people is a much brighter light than the darkened light of conflict will ever be. You could say it might be a bit too blinding, but not when you open your eyes to truly experience it firsthand; quite frankly, I think the light of the natural law is too blinding because one's eyes are open to only one perspective and closed to another. It's like keeping only one eye open; you've got to open both to see everything."

"Yeah," Grora agreed, chuckling before being snarky. "You'd better not be mocking me."

"Oh, heaven forbid my philosophical remarks offend the Cyclops in our group!" Rorin also laughed, lightheartedly joking about that to make the other angel punch him lightly in the arm.

"I think you might want to retract that statement, Rorin," Othros suggested with a chuckle. "Looks like you probably enraged her already. Better give a peace offering to appease her wrath."

"Okay, sorry about the comment, Grora. I can get you an ice cream or something later."

"Nah, it's all good, I get what you meant," Grora laughed with them as they continued their peaceful stroll, glad to have such great friends like these guys. They were certainly a lot better than Hastur, and although that guy fled the Gray Garden after she turned herself in and gave over plenty of information to the authorities on True Light's activities, she hoped to never see him ever again. She might've been taken in by his lies once, but not again would she follow him after his betrayal. If he returned, Grora would be sure to slaughter him on first sight without mercy to be rid of a man she had once considered to be her hero and role model, a perfect representation of the natural law. Like Desmond's old badge, Grora wanted to discard his life too for good to fully repent for herself.

…

And so we've finally seen Hastur and what the guy is like. As seen in this chapter, this will be how Grora is connected to him in one way; however, there will be more to it than just being the right hand of True Light. Everything will fall in place eventually as this progresses.

Also, just to clarify something, I'm not in any way mocking the idea of martyrdom as I merely want to portray a moral which has been discussed in this chapter. That moral is the concept of opening one's eyes to the truth and light, something that means a lot to Grora and will be a difficult notion for her to handle. The reason why I'm utilizing this moral is because she could still be considered blind in some aspects as symbolized by the fact she only has one eye which could affect her depth perception. That may not only be a physical characteristic, but a symbolic one as well since Grora is not seeing the whole picture in the sense that she is refusing to consider how Ater (and Arbus, I might add) feels about the accident in which she lost her eye. The same could be said about her time in True Light under Hastur since Grora was blinded by him in terms of what was right and wrong. She didn't see the truth and what was felt by others in their world because of him. Martyrdom may not fit in with this moral, but the way Hastur is misusing it can be considered a means of blinding others to serve him. I mean no disrespect and offense to martyrs, but I apologize if they are offended by this.