When Tyrael saw Anaurael again, she was in a new gown of gold laced with silver. Imperius had placed his circlet back on her with her rings, and he was cradling her to his chest as though his very life depended on it. Izarius was able to tell him what Malthael did to preserve her body. At the description of what she was forced to do to the demons that caught her, Tyrael was in complete shock and beside himself. She was truly a force to be reckoned with. Her constant training had honed her body completely to be as lethal as possible. And Malthael knew this.
Imperius knew she was still very stressed out. Right after she dressed, she was brought here. He had no time to fully console her. If anything, she was clinging to him for dear life. Her mark was finally calmed, though. It was silently glowing in sync with his molten gold glow.
"We will see this through," he whispered in a rather soft tone in her ear. "I am not putting you down. After this traitor is brought to justice, we will retreat to my sanctum. Then you can see to Tyrael's wounds. He was hurt, you know."
"He was?" she frowned and shivered.
"Yes. He will live, but he will be in some pain."
"If he...bathed with me..."
"I will not mind. I know that heat does help with some wounds."
"Okay," she nodded. He ran a hand over her back, and she closed her eyes in comfort. Then she saw Malthael standing in front of her.
"I am sorry for what I put you through. It was the only way," he sighed.
"I know. I am just...very glad that I was not touched," she shivered.
"But, now...I face my own dilemma."
"What is that?"
"I wanted to be free of you. Now I don't," he admitted. "After this happened, I may be the only one able to help you escape. Yes, you had others looking for you, but they wouldn't have made it in time. Your body would have been fouled. If I was not with you..."
"But...you must be free," she frowned. "It is not fair for you to be so trapped here."
"I like being trapped here. With you," he said softly. She looked at him now with shock and swallowed. He moved behind her and hugged her to his lithe frame in a surprisingly gentle way. "It is true that I will give you knowledge. I will do all I can to train you. I can think of what happened as a training regime. If you wish to accept that as a fact, then we can work with it. You may not always have your weapon at your side. Or your armor. I will train you on what I did. What you know your body can do now. Monks from the secluded city of Ivgorod are known to train their bodies into weapons. It is much what happened with you, too. I will help you with your mental foci. As much as I can."
"So, you will ease up on being cruel to me?"
"I was never cruel. It is my nature to act as such. I have never been so...close...to another like this. It is alarming. And humbling. And, now I know that I am glad that I touched your mark that day. Anyways, we will talk more later. The Council is starting. We must pay attention," he said and gave her a gentle squeeze. She actually found herself leaning into him, and he was a touch surprised. Then he chuckled. She was going to take a chance to trust me now. She opened her eyes and cringed at the sight of Titharius. Imperius still had her in his arms.
"Imperius," she whispered. He tilted his head down to her and let her move his hand to her mark. On gleaning what happened, he seemed disgruntled at how Malthael was reacting to her. But, the conversation did show meaning. He was trying to regain trust. If he could teach her what he knew, then it was a step in the right direction. When Tyrael walked over to stand with Imperius, they both nodded to each other. He seemed to wince when he turned to look at the Angiris Council floor span in front of them. As much as Imperius wanted to stand where he had to stand on the proper ledge, he didn't want to leave Anaurael behind. Tyrael was much the same way.
"I was told what happened," Tyrael muttered lightly.
"Good. Malthael saved her life. So, I will grant him a reprieve. For now," Imperius muttered back. "He still has much to prove to me."
"Agreed," he nodded. "My bruise is extensive. It travels along my back and side. It hurts to turn so much. But, I will cope with it."
"I will let you bathe with her later. It will help. I am sure that she has some soreness, too."
"After what I was told on what the state of those bodies were in..."
"Yes. Nothing was left alive, and she was still ripping twitching pieces to shreds. With her bare hands. Even her hair was bloody and wet."
"Really?"
"Yes," Imperius sighed and squeezed her when she trembled. Auriel and Itherael were soon there. Even her parents were told to come for this. They moved to stand by Imperius and Tyrael. Izarius made himself ready to charge into the renegade lieutenant, if he had to.
"Titharius," Itherael said calmly. "you are charged with the crimes of stealing away the champion of Imperius and mocking Tyrael, our Aspect of Wisdom. How do you plead?"
"I was in the right!" he shouted from the binding chains that Auriel had left on him.
"You threatened to kill her in front of us! What right is that?" Auriel asked. "No angel has ever committed such an act of treason against the other. To flee to Sanctuary, yes. But, to outright kill her?"
"I was going to free the Light within her! Her death would have been justified!" Titharius scowled. "Imperius needs to be whole again!"
"Even though Imperius is bearing offspring with her?!" Lilaurael asked with disgust. "Despite what a fragile state she is already in? Despite the new life she is bearing? Have you no shame?"
"What about you?! You clipped your own wings to live in filth and decay!" he retorted.
"And, if we didn't, then Imperius would never have regained the part he was missing!" Ilerael snapped. "Yes, we removed our wings. But, it was not out of our hatred for Heaven!"
"You disobeyed a direct order from me," Imperius said to Titharius. "That, in itself, is enough for you to be charged with treason!"
"You are heavily corrupted," Tyrael sighed. "I'm surprised that I didn't see it."
"Such corruption is always easy to hide," Malthael said. "If you wish to reveal it, then this is what you do. Take him back to the Heavenly Arch. Let the Song of the Arc reveal the corruption. I wish to witness this. It is important."
"Move him to the Arch!" Imperius commanded. "Izarius, hold her. I need to lead properly."
"Yes, Imperius," he nodded and took her up. "Easy, sister."
"No..." she whispered. She didn't want to leave Imperius's arms.
"It is fine, Imperius," Auriel said. "We all understand. Carry her."
"It is for the sake of her mental health," Itherael agreed. Even Tyrael nodded at this.
"Very well," Imperius said and took her back. He found himself clinging to her. He wanted to return to his inner sanctum with her. They needed to console each other. They simply couldn't do it yet. "Be at ease, my ward. Let us discover what this traitor truly consists of. Then I will Sing with you."
"You should...Sing now..." she whispered. As a response, he only squeezed her and carried her to the Heavenly Arch. "Please, Imperius! I fear that I am not whole! And neither are you!"
That made him stop and look at her with complete shock. At how she was trembling badly, he thought hard. Then he pulled her up to rest on his massive shoulder and whispered, "Focus on your mark. Feel my Song through it. It may not be all around you like it is in my sanctum, but you can hear it, if you focus. It is there. You need to try and hear it."
"I just..." she sighed. He hushed her and had her try to focus. She nodded and took in a deep breath. Then she heard it. He may not be Singing, but it was fully a part of her now. After another moment, she was completely calmed and soothed.
"That's it. Rest where you are," he nodded. He even took several deep breaths while he walked with her to calm her even further. As long as she heard his Song, then she would be calmed. He was able to carry her the rest of the way to the Heavenly Arch. When Gurzick appeared, Izarius quickly moved to get him out of the way to hide.
"No! Not now!" Izarius warned. "Watch from afar! You will be killed!"
"Okay!" Gurzick nodded at the warning and vanished to reappear on a high ledge on the Arch. Now he saw why the warning was so dire. Almost all of the Heavenly Host was there. I would have been killed without a second thought! At how Izarius now moved by a shadowed pillar, Gurzick cautiously teleported behind him. "Happen? What?"
"Listen carefully," Izarius muttered. He trusted this Greed Goblin, only because of how he respected Anaurael and protected her room from Lyndon. Now that he was being informed, Greed was in complete shock. At the reports from what his other goblins found from the cave in Pandemonium, he was in even further shock. New safety measures would be taken to ensure that it never happened again.
Once Imperius stood before the Crystal Arch, he noticed Anaurael was leaning upright in his embrace to gaze in sheer wonder at the ancient, holy relic that was underneath them. Malthael was now telling her who Anu was and his whole purpose. When Titharius appeared and was forced to stand right over the center of the Crystal Arch, everyone seemed to gasp. A red mist seethed from his form.
"There is your corruption," Malthael said calmly for them all to hear.
"No! I cannot be..." Titharius seemed to whimper.
"Do we cull him? Do we end his suffering?" an angelic warrior asked.
"Brother..." Itherael said to the corrupted angel before him. "May you be reborn in a new Light that is untainted beyond all others."
"Wait! There has to be another way!" Titharius pleaded.
"Can you see the mark of Imperius on Anaurael? Can you see how it pulses with Imperius in perfect sync? If you cannot, then there is no other way," Auriel said sadly.
"I...no. I cannot..." he said and looked away. "I see it glow, but I cannot see how it communes with his Light. I cannot see it."
"Wait," Anaurael finally said. "I wish to try something first."
"Hmm?" Imperius looked down at her in his arms. Izarius was quick to walk over now. Even Tyrael and her parents were curious.
"Put me down?" she smiled. Imperius nodded and set her on her feet. She carefully walked up to the massive, chained angel and rested her hand on his large arm gently. That surprised him. "I forgive you. You truly are not at fault. You were working with what you thought was your best intentions. No matter what happens now, I do forgive you. But...can you forgive yourself?"
"I..." he paused. Then he found himself trembling with a form of joy. At her warm, innocent smile, to her radiantly glowing mark, he found himself filled with a sense of hope. Then he saw her mark pulse. And it shimmered. Then he screamed, as the corruption suddenly ripped from him. The whole while, she stayed with him and hugged him.
"Bear the pain with me, brother," she whispered. Her molten gold hair seemed to shield him from the corruption when it tried to resettle on him. When it formed into a demon, Imperius knew what he had to do. He called for Solarion and was quick to kill it. After several minutes of silence, Titharius stopped trembling. When he looked at her again, he finally saw what he could not see. The perfect synchronized pulsing of her mark and Imperius's glowing form.
"I can see it now..." he whispered. He looked at her with a form of intense relief. His chains were removed, and he hugged her to him with a form of gratitude. "Sister. I vow this. I shall never falter in my gaze on you ever again. You are a true warrior of Heaven! The champion of Imperius! I shall always fight at your side from this day forward!"
"Good. Now go back to the training chamber in my Halls, and start training the recruits," Imperius ordered. "It is good to have you back, brother."
"It is good to be whole again," his lieutenant nodded and vanished away.
"The power she holds..." Auriel whispered.
"The Scroll foretold all," Itherael nodded.
"Do not look for me. I will be with her. Tyrael. Ilerael. Lilaurael. Remain if you need to," Imperius nodded and pulled Anaurael into his arms. Then he teleported with her to his inner sanctum to finally Sing to her as he needed to.