Chapter 4

Innocence Ends

Disclaimer: --

"In the ancient days, God said 'Let there be light'. Light then took form. But those of the dark said 'Let light die.' And the world was engulfed by darkness…"

-Askara-

Light footsteps echoed coolly through the hall. The man walked with the former grace of his master up to the high throne. The throne held his master's magnificence—obsidian decorated in ruby making the throne, which was mounted high upon ember lava rock, narrow stairs chiseled and smooth, leading to the throne. From the throne tower they led down to a thin crossing over a dead pool of lava, poured from etched-in falls on either side of the great throne, the lava long since stilled.

A woman sat within it all. The woman so recently unburied from the mountain of demon corpses by the man who now beheld her grace. There was little left to her; she was flesh and bone, dead and grey. Her hair fell to her feet as colorless, lifeless strands. A gown adorned her frail body, the only colorful and lively bit about the woman. Her eyes were shut, sunken into her skull, her arms resting on the rests of the throne, as her head tilted to the right. Beyond all things, she seemed peaceful.

"My lady…I have little to give you…but enough for an awakening…" the man held out an orb, one of blue and grey energy. Saying an incantation, the energies dispersed and fled to the woman. There was mostly grey, and if merely that the woman would not awaken. However, thanks to the blue energy, she would have no trouble of it. It was an unexpected but welcome surprise.

The woman's features remained steady. With the gathering of the two energies the woman's body glowed a shimmering white, before it died an blackness devoured her. The blackness swirled around her…changing her…The man stood silent and waited for the change to be over.

The woman's form cleared. She was seated as she had been, but she looked…alive…her skin held a fairer light to it, some color, but it still held the dismal truth of death. Her hair was fairer, darker…she stirred. Her eyes slit open though she didn't move. Her mind flourished, roared awake as memories flooded back to her. Memories of betrayal, of promises broken…of murder…

Her eyes turned a blood red as the energy around her exploded with an inhuman scream of anger. The tower shook as parts crumbled. Finally, the scream died down to a fierce but quiet growl. The woman gritted her sharp fangs and clutched the edges of the arm rests with her demonic claws. Her head was down and her eyes shut.

"Where is he…" Came a low, hoarse voice. One that dripped venom and malice to hear it.

The man sweated. "Gone, I'm afraid." He answered reluctantly.

The woman let out another growl. "And my weapon?" She asked, moving her head slightly to the left, more centered to look down at the man.

Another hesitation. He knew it wasn't smart to do, but he couldn't help it. He feared what bad news would mean for him. "…That…has not been found either…" There was nervousness in his voice. He was lying somewhere. And she knew it.

"You want to die, is that it?" She hissed.

The man took a step back, halting a moment, before he dropped to his knees. "Forgive me, my Lady! We've found it, but it is out of our reach! Under the protection of an angel…"

The woman growled again. As she did the tower trembled slightly. The dead lava cracked thinly and exposed the hot glow of the substance so aching to be released once again. Then, finally all was settled.

"It's that damned Rafael again…" She looked at her hand. No wonder a bit of energy felt familiar…

"Find them." She ordered.

Setsuna panicked. He was feeling a strong and dangerous sensation swell within him. He sensed a great evil emerging and it frightened him. Not only frightened, but it stirred something inside. Setsuna knelt, coiled over his knees and roared as his back burned. There was a voice… "I'll have yours" it said. The voice was dark, tormenting. But calm.

"Yours"

Setsuna screamed before it happened. He lost control and his wings, the three of Alexiel, came out. Setsuna's mind went blank as Alexiel rose, her soul taking his body.

"Mine?" Came her voice. Setsuna's eyes blinked. Alexiel knew what the evil wanted, but would not surrender. She surrounded herself in her power.

"This wickedness, be gone!" To the evil, the voice, she ordered. A white light filled the room, cleansing from it from the stalker. Its form was black, and it hid in the shadows. Until now. Now it was a scream, a wail that would shatter souls and the bodies they lived in. Its form was exposed as a giant black monster on the wall nearest Setsuna. The creature attacked Setsuna; attacked Alexiel. It was strong, and showed resistance to Alexiel's light. In a rush, Alexiel called her sword and spun, the monster attacking from behind.

She stabbed it through the chest as its wailing bade even her cringe. Her light shone brighter as the monster was nailed to the wall, black smoke seeping from the creatures wound as his flesh, if any it had, burned on the light. The creature flailed until it was dead, remaining forever a burned stain on Setsuna's wall. The black smoke oozed and dropped to the floor, filling the room up to Setsuna's knees.

What touched the body hurt like acid. To one like Alexiel, it was almost nothing, but she was out of time, out of power. Setsuna would now have to deal with this blackness. The sword disappeared with Alexiel's presence and new screaming emitted. Setsuna awoke and collapsed within the fog, his flesh and muscles screaming at the black touch. He forced himself up and just as the door swung open, Kira appeared.

Kira rushed in and grabbed Setsuna by his aching arm and half-lifted, half-drug out of the room. Setsuna gasped at the merciless force but kept from screaming any further. He both ran along and was forced from his room before Kira threw him against the floor of the hall, and slammed the door shut behind them. Breathing hard, Setsuna steadied himself as he waited to see missing limbs and his body bloodied. His eyes were closed and he was panting heavily.

Setsuna was surprised he was alive and silently thanked Kira. Of course he would never say so aloud… when he felt better, he opened his eyes and turned around, leaning against the wall while sitting. He looked himself over. He was in tact, not a scratch. Still his back was rather sore.

"Are you alright?" Kira asked. His tone was unusual… it was more stern than usual.

"…Yeah…" Setsuna answered after a pause. He took a moment for a second glance at himself. Kira sighed.

"At least the window was open…" He said quietly.

"Why?" Setsuna asked.

"…no reason…the stench of your side of the apartment will just filter out. Maybe soon we'll be able to live in there without gagging…" Kira joked while maintaining a serious look.

Setsuna held suspicions about Kira. He'd felt Kira's presence faintly before he blacked out…before Alexiel took over. And then, he was there, to Setsuna's rescue….again… It was like Kira had known somehow that Setsuna was in danger—real danger—and showed up just in time.

As usual.

Setsuna looked at Kira. How did he know what to do? How was he so unharmed, so steady?

Unharmed?

Setsuna took a second glance at Kira. His left hand was black. Charred? No, there was no fire—at least none Setsuna remembered. Kira caught the stare and pocketed both of his hands.

"C'mon, I got a place for us to stay…provided she's even home…" Kira ordered. Setsuna, like an obedient dog, followed.

Before long, Kira and Setsuna found themselves at a rather large house not too far from the college. A young girl answered. Her bright green eyes startled Setsuna for any unknown reason. From the other side of the door, Rin's friend, Akiko smiled.

"What are you doing here?" Asked Akiko, curiously observing the two. It was growing later in the day, the sun was already getting ready to set. She blinked at Kira, recognizing him.

"Oh…okay…" Akiko opened the door to let them in. "Sorry, Rin's not here at the moment…she's out seeing her boyfriend.

Akiko was Rin's room mate, normally not home when Rin was unless both had the same days off of work and school.

Hikaru walked the long and wary street towards his new destination. Sighing, he wrestled with his thoughts while talking to himself about this and that, his mind busy with only one thing now.

"Why does she wanna see me now? Of all times…" Hikaru muttered under his breath. He wandered somewhat slowly through the city, his hands in his pockets and his head down. His body slumped a little as he walked, dreading one particular thing in his journey. That would, thankfully, come later. Unfortunately it would still come. His stomach churned at the thought of it.

Hikaru decided to relieve his mind of what was soon to come, and thought back to this morning… when he had received the message.

He had woken up in his old room at his parent's house, rather than in his dorm room. He couldn't remember exactly what had happened to make him pass out, but he knew it was bad…whatever it was…

His home was empty of people; parents either at work or shopping, his elder sister long-since moved out to pursue her own academic carrier. The only being left was his dog. And even he was too busy digging things up in the back yard to be of any company to Hikaru. With a sigh, he got out of bed.

But, he wasn't wearing his clothes…not the clothes he had been wearing when he was at school, anyway. Now he was in his pajamas for some reason. Now he was confused. But he would be ever more confused when he saw what was waiting for him on the fridge door.

"She had to pick there…of all places…" Hikaru whined. His steps were aided with who it was he was to meet. He hadn't even spoken to her in…forever, it seemed. A shadow loomed over him. It spelled his doom, for sure as he inched towards the closing of his journey.

Hikaru made his way into an ally and to a ladder that crawled up a tall, tall building. Gulping, he laid shaky hands on the rails and began his slow hike up the building. Oh how she loved torturing him like this. Why he didn't use the stairs, well…it was their secret why.

Rin sat atop the building, sitting with her knees a bit away from her chest, her arms lazily laying on them. She wore her black hoodie, zipped up and blue jeans, and bare feet. Her favorite pair of black leather boots were resting beside her, her socks inside them. She was sitting there, watching as the sun was setting and waited for Hikaru to join her. Soon enough, here he came.

Hikaru clung like a nervous child to the railing of the ladder, muttering about pain and not being a monkey as he ascended the last step. Now came the tricky task of turning over to climb down to the roof. Success! Hikaru blessed the roof as he waited for his heart to quit trying to jump out of his rib cage.

"Of all the…places in…this town…you gotta pick…this one…" Hikaru huffed as he glanced over in Rin's direction.

"You could've taken the stairs…" Rin glanced over at him.

"HAH!! You'd like that, wouldn't you…" Hikaru said back to her. There was a hint of a smile in both of their faces. Hikaru made his way to Rin's side and a little further, looking over the edge of the roof. With a shiver, he stepped back and sat next to his…friend? Nah, Rin had established a while ago they weren't friends anymore…and yet…she wanted to see him, and actually smiled. Hikaru was so confused.

"So what's this all about?" Hikaru asked after a short silence.

It took only to the sun's setting for Rin to explain everything she could to the poor, confused boy. She had to admit, she had missed their little talks. It had seemed like old times, way back before she moved…before she changed…

She had been the one to bring Hikaru over to his parents' house, and left the note to his fridge. She let his mother undress him and place him in his night time attire. There were just some things friends…or in this case 'tarnished' friends shouldn't do for one another…

"I see…" Hikaru let out a sigh, something of one with gratitude in it as well as despair. He had been told what had happened before he passed out. Rin had forgotten something in the bathroom, and upon retrieving the article, she saw Hikaru's light shining all around him. Great bursts of wind and a foreign voice came forth from his form. He had told some one to go away… But who? And why? It was one of those 'one question answered, a million more questions raised' situations. How he hated those situations, especially when they had to do with him, and he was the one doing all the asking.

"Well then, I suppose I ought to thank you." Hikaru said as he stood up, dusting his pants off. He walked over to the ledge of the building now and just stared off. He didn't seem too afraid then. Perhaps of falling, but that wasn't going to happen.

Rin stood with him. She put on her shoes and socks before walking over to Hikaru's smiling, and so innocent face. She looked him over. His double-colored hair swayed softly in the breeze, hair Rin had always poked fun at. Ever untamable it was! She would listen to him say. But that was long ago. Nothing existed now.

"Hika…" Rin began slowly. She hated herself…but for so many reasons. "I…" What was it? What was she supposed to say? Her eyes expressed sorrow now. She looked as if she would break at any moment, but she held herself together.

"What…?" Hikaru asked curiously. Now he was worried. Since when did Rin let anything upsetting get through to anyone? He was surprised, and even more so when Rin came up and gave him a tight hug. She squeezed him, with her arms wrapped around his, making it rather difficult for him to hug her back. Not that he could at the moment, anyway. He was too much in shock at the moment being placed in front of him.

"I only hope…you can forgive me…" Rin said. Hikaru felt a drop hit his nape. A tear? Hah, impossible…right? Then came another drop. Maybe it was raining. Yeah, that had to be it. Rin never cried, at least not in front of anyone else. But then, what were these sobs? Held back and diminished, ture, but they were faintly there.

"F…forgive you? For…what?" Hikaru asked? He made a laugh. Rin was starting to scare him, ever so slightly. "Come on, let's go—" Hikaru gasped his sentence off. A nagging, pushing sensation filled him as he felt it…

Rin's sadness came through as Rin, herself, grew further apart.

And Hikaru fell…he fell off of the ledge of the building, and Rin…she had pushed him. His friend for so many years had just shoved him off of the tallest flat-topped building in the entire city.

It all seemed like slow motion now. As Hikaru slipped from Rin's safe embrace he saw the sorrow in her eyes, and his own showed surprise and betrayal. His hand reached out for Rin's as if thinking it was his own slip-up and begged her to grab him…to save him…

But she didn't.

Now it was too late. Yes, she did it. She regretted it before she agreed to it, but what other choice had she? And so, she watched him fall to his inevitable death.

Rosiel gripped the back of his white couch, now glittering with red droplets which fell from the inorganic angel's back. He was in pain, oh so much pain. The white locks were tainted with blood and fell gruesomely over Rosiel's face. One hand was attatched to it as the formerly august figure crumbled and shook in his new crippling agony.

"Sih….Sister…" Came the low word. Almost whispering from his clenched lips. Rosiel's back was the classification of torment; a gaping and bloody, deep hole resided where his center wing once had. Feathers marked in red scattered everywhere, the main staining on Rosiel's own bed. A trail lead to him at the couch where he now, so disheartedly, cried in pain.

And anger.

Someone had stolen his wing! Not merely chopped it off, no. The hole was so grievous and the pain so immense…it looked as though the wing had been dug out like a root from Rosiel's back. And indeed, that was precisely what had happened.

"Sister!! Do you feel my pain?! Have you taken back your wing?! SISTER!!"

-- To Be Continued

-I hope you all enjoyed this chapter of my Angel Sanctuary fanfic. Please review, since you've already read it. Well Hell, it was so good you might as well read it again, right? .

Chibi Sephiroth: clings to Mak's arm Maaaaaaaaakkk, Cloud stole my bwownie!!! T.T!!

Chibi Cloud: sticks out tongue you stole my orange juice first!!!

Mak: -flour bag-

Gir: I like the little tacos…I like them gooooooooood…