Chapter 9: Life was Once so Simple...
Malice flew- that's all, she flew. Malice had neither a plan on what to do next, nor did she have any idea where she was going; south-westward... maybe- Malice's sense of direction was kind of... clouded from recent events.
When Malice started to descend from the sky, her surroundings were very... blank. Just dry, barren prarie as far as the eye could see; no trees, no hills, just plain, flat land.
Malice set down in the long stretch of empty prarie, by this point she was far away enough from Lacrima castle where normal sun-and-moon shifts occur; it was midday at this point, the sun high in the sky with not a single cloud in the sky to break the sun's oven-like grip on the area, baking the prarie that was completely devoid of any sort of shade to a scorching temperature- not that Malice noticed or care.
Malice glided to the ground at incredible speed, not nearly slowing down as the ground came up on her, she landed on the ground running, but she had neither the energy nor the willpower to continue, and her legs seemed to get left behind as Malice crashed face-first into the flimsy brown grass that crunched under her weight; Malice immediately flopped herself onto her back, facing the shining bright sun, hoping it would offer some clear light into her storming mind.
What... what do I do? Malice thought frantically, covering her eyes from the sun with her hands, they immediately became wet with tears- she had been crying this whole time, t'was the only water in the prarie.
I've been tasked to destroy Riviera... but... how can I bring myself to fight my son, who would stand with those... harlots! Those... sprites! Malice's mind thought largely around this conflict for several minutes. Eventually the heat broke Malice's mental storm, focusing her attention away from Ein and Riviera- probably for the best, but she was still equally frustrated.
After a solid 5 minutes of feeling the heat, Malice wiped her tears from her face and quickly sat up, then she jumped right to her feet; she already was sweating profusely, and with no shade in sight, she grew frustrated.
"UGH! This damn heat... I need to find shade, or else make it myself..." Malice cracked her neck and readied Skadi, and with one mighty swing, she displaced a huge amount of grass and dirt, forming a massive and fairly deep hole in the otherwise blank and empty grassland- there was still little shade, but the dirt at the bottom was at least cooler than the crunchy brown grass that faced the sun all day. Malice jumped down into the hole, made a makeshift bed-area by flattening the bottom of the hole close to the edge of the hole, with a steep wall forming a shield against the heat- not now at high noon, but later when the sun was setting, there would be shade, for now the cool dirt would have to suffice.
Not one to care much about her clothes getting a little dirty, Malice sat down in her flattened bed-area and flared her wings widely, forming an umbrella-like effect over herself to shield herself from the sun, and she continued planning her next course of action, the heat was... lessened, but still it was on her mind, and a light drizzle of sweat on her head, which she tried to ignore.
Right... so... about Ein... Malice took a deep breath and focused herself, she soon forgot all about the heat.
What to do, what to do... My only son is against me, standing against the will of the gods and council of magi to protect humans- while an admirable cause, it means demons will grow in strength; on the other side, a magus, superior to myself, has invoked his god-given right to conscript me to his service- which I accepted, albeit with... resistance- and thus I must obey his command... The gods both forbid disobeying the direct command of a superior angel, and also of slaying one's own family, much less turning against them... Ein may have turned against the angels, but he is still my son, and I... cannot kill him, and neither could I simply turn a blind eye as I let another do the same... So what can I do? Either way, I'm wrong...
Malice sighed, there seemed no clear answer to her, and she couldn't necessarily just do nothing, either, that was the same as killing Ein just the same- there was no way he'd be able to stand up to Ledah, much less Hector.
"I need... help... I need... guidance..." Malice finally decided, decision on her own seemed impossible.
But who do I go for help? I can hardly go to either Ein, Ledah, or Hector, since none of them are unbiased and could tell me something other than 'you should side with us', but they're the only ones who could understand my situation! I can't necessarily just ask a sprite... especially after Lacrima Castle, someone might recognize me... But who else is there? I can't go back to Asgard, either, so what else is there to do? I guess I'm back to square one...
Malice sighed again, this time longer and more frustrated than the last- her options were, officially, zero.
Maybe... maybe some sleep will do me some good, maybe I'm just tired... Malice thought hopefully, and after a quick departure of her hole to get some grass to use as a makeshift pillow, Malice returned to her hole and fell asleep in the dirt.
As if she stepped back in time, Malice looked upon a landscape most familiar- Asgard, home of the angels. The landscape beyond the main city still took up most of the heavenly island, so this was quite some time ago, Malice guessed only a hundred years or so after Ragnarok, enough time for the scars of war to be healed, but not long enough for the angels to flourish from the absence of demons.
"What... is this..? Am I... dreaming?" Malice wondered aloud as she slowly descended to the ground- it was a grassland, much like the one she was just in, though certainly this one saw much more rainfall, the grass was green, the trees were sparse, but tall and leafy, and the surroundings were lightly dotted with small hills. Shortly after touching down, Malice spotted a young couple not 20 feet away and approaching fast, running as if they were late for work, they went right past Malice. As they passed, Malice recognized them both- one was none other than herself, albeit a few hun- um... only a few years younger, andthe other was... him... Ein's Father, though still the weathering of time had clouded his face, even in her dreams.
"Is there a reason we're running? I hardly think where we're going is going to just get up and leave without us." Malice asked, being pulled along behind, she struggled to keep up, not being as fit as him- she wasn't a grim angel yet, just a young girl with her entire life ahead of her.
"It's going to start soon, we have to hurry or we'll miss it!"
"Alright, alright, but why can't we just fly there? Wouldn't that make this so much faster?"
"No, I don't want you to see it until juuuust the right moment- no flying, we're almost there anyways, it's just up this hill!"
Heh... he always said the cheesiest things 'juuuuust the right moment'... hilarious, in retrospect... Older Malice laughed, following the couple with amusement.
"Whatever you say, you're the boss here!" Young Malice giggled, running right behind him, almost losing her balance after missing a step, but after her legs frantically stomped forward she regained her balance, he never even noticed.
Ugh... so glad I didn't fall then... that would've been just-
"Ah!" Young Malice slid right to the ground, it only seemed like she regained her balance from her previous slip-up, but it was only temporary, since Ein's Father never slowed down, she fell just the same, just a bit later.
Oh yeah... I did... I guess I just don't remember because of what happened after... Older Malice averted her gaze out of sheer embarassment.
"Oh I'm sorry, sweetie, but you picked a good time to fall, we're here!" Ein's Father gave his cheesy remark- if he had said that to Malice now, she would've punched him in his nose, but back then... she was much less aggressive, and she only laughed awkwardly as he helped her sit up, and he sat squatted down next to her.
And there it is again... I just want to... kick his teeth in now... ah well, not much I can do now... Older Malice chuckled lightly, positioning herself next to her younger self, facing the same direction, figuring it would probably be best to largely repeat herself as she did back then, to make the experience almost as incredible as it was back then- of course it couldn't be AS impressive as back then, since she knew what was coming.
They were on top of a hill some distance into the field- there wasn't much ahead, just a small stretch of the plain ahead and then the straight fall downward- nothing any angel over 3 years old would be impressed by, and it was getting late, the sun was only just barely peeking over the horizon- on the other side of the island.
"So... what? We stare at the edge of this island? How... romantic..." Young Malice remarked sarcastically.
"No, we stare at that." Ein's father motioned towards where they came from, making a light hop and turning himself around since he was still on his feet; Young Malice, on the other hand, was sitting down, so she shifted herself and turned back to where they came from, Older Malice did likewise.
The sight was... incredible. The setting sun shined over the glistening city of angels, making it shine like a star had landed on the island, even in the distance, they could still see a few dispersed angels break the bright light as they streaked across the sky on their respective businesses; this sight's great radiance and brightness was difficult to look at for Young Malice, at first, but soon her eyes got used to the brightness and could take in the sight full-scope like Ein's Father and Older Malice could.
I remember it... I used to come here all the time after he... Older Malice thought painfully, already turning away from this incredible sight, for the pain of the memory.
"I used to come here all the time as a kid... after a hard day of training, I'd come here to rest and just... take in the sights..." Ein's Father said, taking in the sight with the same simple light smile on his face as he had every time he saw it; Young Malice, on the other hand, was in complete shock, she hadn't come out of the city but for a few chosen times before this, and she never really had time to appreciate the few sunsets she saw in the middle of the city, and they weren't that impressive, usually just a ray of sunlight that managed to peek through the many tall buildings- that's all.
Young Malice was speechless, and after his first comment, so was Ein's Father, right up until the sun disappeared behind the cityscape- it took about 3 minutes, since they arrived late, but to Young Malice, that may as well have been 3 hours.
Even after the sun was blocked by the city and the spectacle over, Young Malice still stared blankly at the landscape, unsure of how to react or what to say. After another two minutes or so of staring blankly- Ein's Father as well, if only to let Malice take in the sight at her own pace- Young malice turned back to Ein's Father, and he followed in suit.
"So? How'd you like it?" Ein's Father asked smoothly.
Oh gee, I wonder what happens next?... Older Malice smirked, knowing full well what happened next, still staying faced away from the couple.
Young Malice jumped on top of Ein's Father, knocking him to the ground in surprise, then she crawled so her face was at his face-level, compensating for the height difference, and she kissed him... long, about 20 seconds or so, before she broke contact- the look on Ein's Father's face was almost an exact mirror of Malice's when she saw the sunset.
"Wow... uhh..." Ein's Father was at a loss of words- a rare event, he always had something to say.
Here comes my favorite part!
"So... what happens next..?" Ein's father asked, still on the ground with Young Malice on top of him.
"Nothing." Young Malice said with a tight smirk on her face. "That's all you get for one sunset- I'm only returning the favor."
Smartasses, both of you... Older Malice couldn't help but laugh.
Almost as if the sun and all light was suddenly put out, the surrounding landscape was suddenly swallowed up in a wave of darkness, taking everything inside it- the sky, the city in the distance, the surrounding landscape, and even the young couple and the very ground beneath her feet, leaving Malice all alone in darkness.
A.N.- I know it's been a while... like, more than half a year or so, I know, but somehow... now seemed the right time to post a chapter... and to get rid of all those terribly-written poor excuse for continuation of what used to be a decent story... I got some good ideas for later, but I have no idea how far I'm going to get before I stop posting new chapters, on account of my stupidly long weekly work schedule; so no promises on continuation, but here you go, if anyone's still reading.
