Darkness and Light

Unlike the forest description she had been given of Éclair's heart, or the town that had been ingrained in her father's heart, Angelique only saw an empty void of blue light swirling around her. She did not know the exact reason, but assumed because she had no longings. Éclair's want of freedom from the crushing burdens of royalty caused her to envision a beautiful forest. Croix had been wishing for the past that had been stolen from him; and the life that had been swept away because of a cruel murder.

"I only wanted to meet my daddy and be able to stand by my mommy," Angelique stated, "Now that he's home and since I haven't yet been denied a chance to fight, I have nothing I truly want. But that means I can't look for a landmark like Mommy did; it will be more challenging to find either of my sides."

"Hey! You! What are you doing in my territory? Did that other little brat hire you to come and beat me up for her? I am not going to let her win! This is my body…you hear me!" a tiny voice shrieked from behind. Angelique spun around to see what appeared to be her own self. However, the girl's eyes were red and her hair contained black streaks running through it. Her ears were slightly pointed and a pair of horns came out of her head. On her back was a pair of wings; just like the ones she summoned when she cast Horus's Wings. For clothes, she wore a black dress in the same style as Angie's with a black bow tied around her waist, black boots, and a black headband with a black rose over the left ear.

Angelique looked to the girl and inquired, "Are you my Dark half? I was told to seek out the essences of my power in order to become stronger. Please…you don't want the Demons to take over our soul. You can never trust them; they're going to hurt Mommy and Uncle and cause Daddy more pain!"

The girl snubbed up her nose. "And why should I care? When was Daddy ever here for us? He left for his own selfish reasons and never returned to tell Mommy in person that he was alive. And you know what else? Mommy sees us as only a burden. All we do is cause trouble; Demons following us around and making more problems for La Pucelle. If we'd never been born, she could have gone off and followed Daddy like she wanted; she's not so pure hearted, her entire life has been a selfish one and all."

"Diable!" another voice called out, "How can you say such things about Mommy? She has given up her entire existence for us. True, she could have followed Daddy. But she stayed to care for us. In the beginning, she let him go alone because it was his own will and she didn't want to leave her brother in his despair over losing Alouette. However, she wanted to go and find him once Uncle Culotte had gotten over his pain. She might have gone and gotten herself hurt in empty rage if we hadn't been born. For she would have no idea where to go next and what if Daddy had come back while she was gone? That was the real reason she didn't go out. We prevented her from losing her head in her longing because we were a final present left by him. And Daddy wasn't selfish; he left so Mommy didn't suffer for his sins."

A second little girl ran up to them. Like Diable, she was a replica of Angelique. However, her eyes were crystal blue and her hair had white streaks running through it. On her back was the exact set of angelic wings that appeared when Angie summoned Divine Retribution. Her dress was white with a white bow tied around her waist, white boots, and a white headband with a white rose over her left ear.

"You're such a goody-goody Ange! Everyone is so saintly to you. What about our father's past? Was that saintly? And what kind of a wuss has to get himself captured and have his girlfriend rescue him? Especially someone who is supposed to be an all powerful evil force? He's just a failure," Diable yelled.

Ange retorted, "Darkness consumes humans when their souls have been weakened by tragedy. Daddy wasn't the first and he won't be the last. But he was lucky to be rescued from that deep pit. I'm surprised you don't look up to him more because he had Darkness in his heart. You are our Dark half."

Diable turned away. "Maybe if he wasn't such a weakling. But anyway…you stay out of my business! I can destroy the Demons all by myself. They are not going to control me! I know that you and our little neutral self are too weak to handle it. I feel uneasy every time she calls on you to fight for her."

"And I feel uneasy every time she calls on you," remarked Ange, "You have never shown any concern for anyone else; not Mommy, not Daddy, not Uncle, not Francoise, not Jacques. What if one day you ignore their predicament and instead consider your own plight; even to the point of running away and abandoning them? How could Angelique and I live with ourselves if you caused us to leave them to die?"

"I would never! Besides…how could any of them ever love me? I'm a being of Darkness. No one could love someone who has no Light within them," Diable lamented. She turned away from them as if she was going to leave. However, Angelique clearly could see that she was crying and trying to hide it.

Angelique told her Dark half, "You're wrong. Mommy loved Daddy even throughout all he had done; even though the Darkness was eating away at him. She wouldn't have killed the Darkness if it had left them in peace. We humans are not complete without Darkness. If I don't have you, I'm just a shell."

Diable looked towards her Light half. She saw Ange nodding in agreement. "It is true. We are all one part of the same being. You are the essence of her Dark powers. I am the essence of her Light powers. If one of us were to disappear, she could not control those skills anymore and be in more danger. The Demons can fight the powers of Light because they are accustomed to it. They can fight the powers of Darkness because they themselves possess it. But together, those two powers can defeat even the most stubborn of Demons. That's just what I've been trying to tell you for the past three months Diable."

"Working together…? Mommy will still love me…?" Diable questioned. She no longer sounded like the foul mouthed brat only looking out for herself, but a scared child who only wanted to be loved. In response to this, both Angelique and Ange walked over to her and the three entered a large group hug.

"How touching," remarked a shady voice, "But it ends here. I will rid this heart of all that is pure and come to posses that Darkness for Lady Sang! Come…Child of the Dark Prince! Your father may have lost his will to kill, but as his heir you will rise to help us destroy the humans and rule the world!"

The trio turned to see a large Demon in the shape of a Lion. His mane was golden yellow and his fur the softer shade of tan. The eyes were blood red and horns stuck out of his head. Like Loup, he wore a black suit of armor. However, this one carried a large battle ax in his hands; ready to strike the girls.

"We have to work together! If even one of us is disjoined, then it could spell disaster. If not, the Demons will win and we will no longer be ourselves. There will be no Mommy to love any of us!" Angie exclaimed. She saw both sides of herself nod in agreement. Diable and Ange joined hands and began to concentrate. Suddenly, bright lights of white and black rose up from them and merged with Angelique.

Teefa's Last Words...

You all have to wait for next time to see how Angelique gets through this one. Now that her heart has come together as one, can she muster the strength to defeat this Demon? The names Diable and Ange mean Devil and Angel. Had to make it sound cool enough.

These two are the reason for Angelique's small stints of intelligence. Because they are entities, they are naturally more intelligent than humans. However, their maturity level is usually around that of a three year old because they are still a part of Angelique.

Dang, I've got to stop listening to my kid sister's arguments. She just gave me a killer idea for a short sidestory taking place about three years after this fic...