Hi!

Kyubak and Mystiquefan, thanks for your reviews :) I'm very glad to know you're reading and enjoying my stories. You've both made me smile :)

This was a rather short story, and here is the end. Please, I'm waiting for reviews :)

Chapter III. The Judgement

"What events?" Liria asked Arkaine.

The angel did not answer, which was an habit she was beginning to find annoying. He guided her in silence, and after crossing immeasurable distance, she found herself hovering over Hell. It was a terrible sight, this River of Fire and the tortured souls, but she had seen hell in the bowels of the cathedral, and she was somewhat prepared.

"Come with me now, child," Arkaine said. She was a little bothered at being called child, but he was an angel, so she did not protest too much. She did as commanded and followed him.

Then she saw Shurvi's ghost, prostrate over his own body, unmoving. She gasped. What had happened? How had he been killed, how had he been freed of Diablo's hold over his soul?

"Burnt head!", she exclaimed.

He turned, looked at her and Arkaine, and she saw his familiar features cloud with bewilderment. "Liria?", he wondered, forgetting to call her by her nickname in his confusion. "What… the hell?"

In a flash in her mind she remembered Arkaine telling her that she had control over the material world. She did not stop to think twice of it and bolted towards Shurvi. She crashed into him with a stunning sense of materiality. She felt his weight when he staggered back, his heat, and the coarseness of his unshaven face when their cheeks touched. She hugged him with all her incorporeal strength, and he held her back just as fiercely.

"Check your language, young man," Arkaine warned kindly. "You find yourself in Hell after all, and if you do not prove worthy of forgiveness, you will stay."

"So he's a young man and I'm a child?", Liria snapped at Arkaine, letting go of Shurvi. She had had enough of that.

Arkaine smiled. Her fire was quite refreshing, reminding him of his long gone mortal years. "I thought it more fitting for a young lady," he answered evenly.

"Hey! I'm here!", Shurvi suddenly bellowed. "Could someone please explain to me what is happening?" He had quite clearly forgotten his prostrate body.

"Yes, that is a legitimate request. My name is Arkaine, and I have been appointed as your guardian angel just recently."

"What a job you've done," Shurvi snorted. Liria elbowed him painfully in the ribs.

The angel's eyes flashed with wrath, but he went on in a civil enough manner. "There is only so much I can do for you, mortal. You have your own part to play in your own destiny."

Shurvi stole a guilty sidelong glance at Liria before he nodded his agreement. "I suppose I haven't made such a good job of it myself."

That clearly appeased Arkaine. "You have nevertheless accomplished great things in your life. You have defeated powerful demons and have chosen freely to risk your life so you could defend others. You have acted out of loyalty for your king, not out of greed for power or desire for conquest. Nevertheless, you have committed grave sins, Shurvi. You have murdered an innocent; this innocent was a friend of yours, she was a hero of as much valour as you, and she should have been worth your trust. You have succumbed to the evil, and your weakness has caused great pain. Another Hero arose, and took upon herself to chase the Three brothers your actions had freed, to great cost to herself. Your soul therefore requires judgement, to determine if you are worthy of Paradise or should pay in Hell for your sins."

Shurvi bowed before the angel, and Liria was rather surprised to see him do that. "I accept those charges, Arkaine. I have failed, I have fallen to the influence of the Soulstone, and I have let it win over my trust of the Red head. But I did trust her. I just… lost that trust when I… when I touched the stone, I think. I ask forgiveness. For all of it. I have no excuses. I thought I was a coward if I did not, but in fact I was arrogant to think that I was the saviour, that I had the answer to Diablo's Soulstone. Liria was right, and Diablo must have played on my arrogance to get me to ignore her." There was a long silence, Arkaine looking dispassionately at Shurvi on his knees before him. The warrior swallowed and bowed his head. "I could have been manipulated by Diablo," he added, "or it could have been just plainly my own arrogance's doing."

The angel gave no intention of in what direction he might be inclined regarding the fate of Shurvi's soul. The warrior took a breath and turned to Liria.

"I guess that if I'm given the chance, then I should at least do my apologies properly. If Heaven will not forgive me, then at least you. I would like to beg you, but that would be unworthy of you. I can only hope that you will be fair to me, when I gave you no reason to be. Forgive me my foolishness. Forgive me… for not trusting you. Forgive me… for killing you like the bastard I am. Forgive me." He abruptly paused. "I think… I think I might have loved you too, if there hadn't been the labyrinth's darkness. If those are the last words you hear me speak, please just remember them."

She looked at him, down on his knees in front of her, the brash warrior always jumping into the fray with savage yells of triumph. He was looking up at her, pleading in his eyes, and guilt in his features. She knew him well enough to read his emotions in his face like in a book.

There was a long silence.

"I forgive you, Shurvi," she finally said. "I will not hold it against you to be human and have a weakness."

He felt a great calm and acceptance wash over him. Her opinion mattered, more than even Arkaine's. Because his heart had really been touched as she had said she loved him, and it was in her eyes that he wished to be redeemed. The guilt and torment calmed within his soul, and he was more at peace in this instant than he had been in years.

He opened his eyes after a while, and he turned to Arkaine. "I am ready for your judgement."

The angel was smiling gently. "I am not here to judge you," Arkaine said gently. "Paradise does not judge souls for entrance in Paradise; the souls decide for themselves with their actions and their worth. I was only here so you had the possibility to make your choice. You have already paid much for your sins, and have tried to do much for the Light, and so you are forgiven, but you are not judged."

Shurvi bowed his head.

"It's time to thank someone, Burnt head!", Liria reminded.

"Thank you, Arkaine," Shurvi said, trying to conceal the smile on his lips.

"Don't even try!", Liria accused, laughing.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot… thank you, Red head!"

She smiled at him, a radiant smile that would have carried him up to Heaven even without Arkaine's guidance.

THE END