The "MARK TIME HUT!" thing will turn into a plot point, FYI. ((smiles)) Clarissa is from my old story The Experimentalist. This time, she's really changed, though…I own Mango, Clarissa, Ellie, Lusia, and Polaris! Jojo will be by next chapter. Next chapter is also the end of Movement One! We'll have the Interlude, then begin Movement Two and the uncovering of some of the weirdest stuff known to man!
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Riprendere
Chapter Five: Ninety Degrees North
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"I'm not who you thought I was. In fact, I'm not a cyborg. I never was. There's something else I never was and never will become, and that's…" Mirllyne paused. "A human. I'm a fallen angel. My wings are real. The uniform I keep wearing is standard dress."
Her eyes were focused downward, partially because she couldn't face the group, and mostly due to the blackness of her right eye. She felt a hand on one of her shoulders and looked up to see who it was.
"Recently or long ago?" Lily asked. Her hands twisted the fabric of her sweater and she cast her gaze to Albert.
"Very long ago. Hundreds of years before the first of all these new angels even began to think about falling." Mirllyne answered.
Closer. It drew closer with every word she said and breath she took. Seconds passed. She could almost hear the sound of the little melody tinkling from the watch.
"I was the angel of fire. Excalibur did belong to my boyfriend, whose name was Arthur. But he didn't give it to me. Albireo, Tsukasa's older brother, murdered him. As you have seen, my replacement is Kummi." Mirllyne said.
"The question that remains is how you fell." Albert said. Mirllyne held her hands out and a large, bubble-like orb formed above them. In it was an image of a white-haired girl taking a cloak. This was evidently Mirllyne, expect as an angel. Her hair, if it were to be let down, would only reach to about her shoulders. It was tied back into a thin ponytail with a ribbon the color of fire. A bunch of hair stuck up in the front, almost like long bangs with gel. Her eyes remained the same. She wore a black shirt that came up her neck, and came to her wrists. It cut off at her stomach, exposing her angelic tattoos there. She had on khaki pants that were cuffed severely to fit her, and high black shoes. They looked rather like sneakers.
"Where are you heading, Mir?" Another angel asked. Mirllyne turned around.
"Oh, I'm going to see Arthur. He was calling." Mirllyne replied, pulling her cloak around her and pulling up the hood. "Why are you here, Arien?"
"ARIEN? YOU WERE FRIENDS?" Tirzah exploded. Mirllyne nodded.
"I dunno…" Arien replied. Her braid only fell to her waist. "Well, in any case, have fun, Mirllyne!"
"I will, Arien! See you in a while!" Mirllyne called, already riding away on flames. Her destination was a field with overgrown grass. She landed and ran across.
"Mirllyne! I was wondering when you'd come!" A boy with dark brown hair and icy blue eyes exclaimed. He looked about Mirllyne's age. "Come with me."
He dragged her by the hand and began to run. Mirllyne laughed as they reached a river and sat down on a large rock.
"So, how've things been?" She asked, taking off the cloak. "You didn't get into much trouble with your sword practice, did you, Arthur?" She ruffled her wings and a few feathers fell. Arthur picked one up and played with it in his fingers.
"It's been wonderful, Mirllyne…except I have one problem." Arthur said, now playing with another feather.
"What is it? Can I help?" Mirllyne demanded. Arthur laughed at her.
"Okay, are you sure?"
"I'M POSITIVE!"
"Positively positive?"
"Yes, you mindless goon. Of course I can help! I'm the angel of fire!"
"Will you marry me?"
Mirllyne gasped at him. He was holding a gold ring in his hand with a ruby on it. She flung her arms around him and hugged him.
"Yes, of course…I love you, Arthur…" Mirllyne said, kissing him. They kissed for quite a while. He slid the ring on her finger and they sat together.
"That's it?" Kim demanded. "I was hoping for…"
"Watch." Mirllyne commanded.
It was days later. Mirllyne was leaving again to go to the river. She got off her flames and ran to the river, expecting Arthur to be there. As she drew closer, she saw a thin trail of red. Her pace quickened to a run.
She reached the river. Written across the rock they'd been on were the words 'You have broken the highest taboo, and you have paid the price.'
Mirllyne felt the words. They were cold, but wet. Pale and shaking, she looked into the river. Arthur's lifeless form was sunken under the water, pale and covered in blood. A sob tore through the air as Mirllyne got him out. Tears fell from her eyes as she held his lifeless form.
"Poor, poor, little angel…" A voice said behind her. It was a strange angel with black wings and a scythe. "I'm afraid he is dead."
Mirllyne continued to weep, and eventually went back to heaven. She took Arthur with her. She brought him to the highest person she could think of – Chaos's son, Albireo. He smiled at her when he saw.
"So, little angel Mirllyne has fallen in love. How touching." He said. "Well, Death has already met him. He's gone, and so are you."
"What do you mean?" Mirllyne's voice was frantic. She was in shock, and was now panicking. "What in Kami-sama's name do you mean?"
"You've fallen. You broke the angelic laws, Mirllyne. Your post as the angel of fire is gone. Have fun on Earth." Albireo said cruelly. Mirllyne continued to sob even as she was transported back to Earth with all her possessions. She laid Arthur down with them and went to the river. There lay his sword, the sword he had worked so hard with. She picked it up and held it in her hands.
"I'll have revenge for this, just watch." Mirllyne swore, holding the sword up. "Or I shall kill myself."
The orb shrunk to its normal size. Mirllyne sat silently in her seat.
"That wasn't even all of it. Shortly after, they thought D.S. was an accomplice to the Epidemic of Shadow and locked her soul away. Hell rose when Albireo was killed. Tsukasa was still too young to take over, so Chaos had to rule until she was a reasonable age. Even before that, when I was still young…there was an event that took place that changed our lives forever." Mirllyne finally whispered. Her voice gained emotion as she finished her sentences.
"Kage means 'shadow' in Japanese." Joe noted. "That must mean…"
"Joe, I hope you take this in the best way possible. Your mother was so very kind. She helped so many people, including myself, through everything. But her angelic power went to her head later on." Pandora said. Her nose was stuffed up, so she sounded quite funny. "Your mother, the angel Kage, was the angel of disease. She forced people to become sick, then refused to cure them because of her own fears. Those fears were for you. Shortly after beginning the epidemic, she had sex with a human. When she was discovered to be behind the illnesses, she was locked into ice for three hundred years, also freezing you with her. When she was let out, it was time for your birth. She sold one of the last things she had – a ruby star – to a priest and had you on the steps of the very same church. She died because she had been drained of power, and drained of energy. But Joe, she loved you. All Kage wanted was to save you."
Joe couldn't find his voice. Maybe it was because reality had just slapped him in the face. His parents hadn't hated him. Or at least his mother hadn't. She'd died to save him from certain death. It was a good reason to not have a voice.
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The next day, Joe seemed to have regained his voice and Pandora's magic was back at a low level. Both seemed minimally more happy for this reason. But the main reason for celebration was Mirllyne's newfound ecstasy. The previous night, Poseidon told her that he knew where Polaris was. Ninety degrees north, where the star Polaris was. But it wouldn't be easy getting her out. She'd been frozen beneath the ice.
"I don't care," Mirllyne finally snapped to Panthos. "I updated this damn piece of trash, so I can pilot it if I damn want to."
"Could you tell me something?" Panthos asked. His evil smiled appeared. "Do angels PMS?"
Mirllyne stuck up her middle finger. "Do guys PMS?"
Panthos scowled at her and repeated the motion.
"Oh, come on." Pandora muttered in passing. "Grow up, you two."
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Jessica Scarl was eleven years old, if you didn't count the years she'd spent in cryogenic suspended animation. In reality, she was eighteen, because those seven years were lost. She'd already had to watch the death of two of her sisters, her father, and her mother. Her left arm was completely robotic, ever since Project Meteor.
"Jessica! Wait up!" Arien called. Jessica turned around, seeing the angel hurry to catch up with the help of her wings. "Marco said your arm's been giving you trouble. If you'd let me, I can help. I'm good with…"
"No…I'll live. It only hurts as bad as when I got the last four piercings in the cartilage of my ears." Jessica said with the look that it really did hurt, and she was just too mule-headed to admit it. Arien turned her around and locked eyes.
"It does hurt, Jessica. I can see it in your eyes. Being over a thousand years old helps, too." Arien said. "Here, let me see it."
Unwillingly, Jessica held her arm out to the angel. Arien laid a hand onto the cold metal and a blue light sparkled over it.
"Is it really that hard for humans to ask for help?" Arien asked.
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"MARK TIME HUT!" The TV screamed. There were four clicks, then a song began to play. Sadie sat with her feet tucked under her, watching it. This taped thing had been her last football game to play at as a high school student. As soon as Epona entered the room, she flicked it off.
"Mirllyne any better?" Sadie asked, craning her neck to look at Epona. Epona nodded.
"Much. She's picked up some new words, like fuck, shit, damn, and crap. Any ideas on what she's using them for?" Epona answered. "Pandora, in case you're going to ask, just managed to re-wipe out her magic. Oh yeah, she's planning on explaining Yami and Hikari. Did Mirllyne tell you about those two?"
Sadie stood up and twirled her earrings in their holes. "Yeah, I remember those two. They were like Prometheus and Pandora, but the angels' version of it. They spawned the black and white angels, correct?"
"That's about it. What were you watching?" Epona asked.
"Oh…just something. In any case, did Mirllyne finally convince you to go to the North Pole?" Sadie replied as they began to walk.
"That's where we're going," Epona muttered in a detached sort of way. "I don't want to go there. Polaris is there. But they didn't bury her without a good reason…"
"What was that reason?" Sadie asked, her curiosity probed wide open.
"She and her sister D.S. are the only two children of Yami and Hikari." Epona explained.
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"Tell me what you did to me." Pandora ordered. She lay back in her own bed. Poseidon sat next to her, laughing. Pandora would have screamed and kicked him, but her magic was gone again and she was feeling no better. However, her hair had grown at an alarming rate since a few days ago. As a matter of fact, it had grown a whole two and a half feet.
"I didn't do anything, I swear," Poseidon said. Mirllyne entered the room.
"Whoa, what the hell happened to your hair?" Mirllyne asked, agape at the length of the braid that dangled from the bed.
"I think I can explain," Omega said, poking her head out from behind Mirllyne. "We've all begun to change back to God and Goddess forms. I mean, look…" She tore off her sweatshirt, "At this."
Mirllyne, who had never before seen Omega without her sweatshirt, watched intently. In fact, it highlighted her much better. Underneath was a black shirt, held up by two golden rings on either side, and on her left arm, an omega symbol drawn in black and silver ink.
"…Awesome! Where'd you get it?" Mirllyne said. Omega frowned.
"I hate it." She said. "But I'm forced to wear it until this entire ordeal is over. And never, and I mean ever, will you see me with the jeans off and the other part of this damned thing."
"I so love seeing you without pants, Omega, you have no idea," Poseidon said, his smile widening. Omega narrowed her eyes and turned. She left the room, swinging her sweatshirt from her middle finger. "She's right."
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"They're coming." Xiaka said. "You know, I hate those shitheads now more than I ever had before. Especially Mirllyne."
"Most of us do," Kummi agreed. She drew a circle around herself on the ice and held up her arms. Symbols flashed all over the circle and swirled around the angel. Her flames were now fully charged once more. "Nirine, you still alive over there?"
"I wish I wasn't, but I am." Nirine answered. "I have Clarissa with me, in case we happen to need her."
Clarissa looked to be about fifteen years old with inky black hair and bright green eyes. She had bright blue streaks in various places in the black mess of hair, and was dressed for this arctic outing. What was she was there for? Clarissa had been enslaved because she lived in Lunapolis, and now had her magic freely raided by angels whenever they had need. If she didn't give it to them, she was beaten. Tears fell from her eyes, and stung her bruised cheeks as they turned to ice.
"We will." Enala said. "Hey Arien, do you know if Pierre's coming or not? He said he was, but I need to be certain."
"Yes, he should be here shortly. Clarissa, start setting up the hexagram. I do not want any delays when it comes time, even if I am not part of it." Arien snapped. Clarissa stood up, but her legs gave way and she fell back onto the ice.
"You heard her, get busy." Kummi snarled, slapping Clarissa across her face. If Clarissa had any will of her own left; she would have slapped Kummi right back. Instead, she stood despite the pain and began to draw the intricate circles and patterns.
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"…So Yami and Hikari are the angels' version of Prometheus and Pandora?" Enx asked, after listening to Pandora (in her hoarse voice) explain the oldest of the angel's folktales.
"Right." Epona said. "And this whole reversion thing is starting to bug the crap out of me. Omega, I could not agree with you more."
As much as she had tried, Epona's hair stubbornly stayed out of its braid and had gotten the tendency to have little flowerbuds in it, and they changed every four hours or so. In this, she also wore a far too big shirt (well, the sleeves came four inches past her fingers) the color of a sunrise.
"You mean about Clarissa and Mango?" Omega asked. "And about…"
"No, no. About these damn clothes." Epona said. "Pandora, do you feel well enough to go out?"
"Let me go out, please. Get me out of here. I'm going insane." Pandora begged. At that exact moment, Poseidon entered the living room to see her pleading with Epona. He hadn't escaped the wave of change. His glasses were gone.
"You still have a fairly high fever," Omega said. "Poseidon, is her…holy crap, you without glasses…is her magic still low?"
Poseidon shrugged. "Yeah, I miss them. I like my glasses. But Pan's magic is still very low. Whatever this bug is, it seems to really hate her. But sure, let's bring her out with us in any case. Who knows, she could prove useful."
"Are you serious?" Pandora asked, looking Poseidon straight in his deep blue eyes. She was almost scared to, since he didn't have his classic glasses on. He smiled widely at her.
"Yeah, come on. What's the worst that could happen?" Poseidon answered.
"Apparently, I'm not in this dialogue any more," Enx said, standing up. The others simply stayed to watch the mildly amusing scene between the four members of Generation Zero.
"Uhh…I could dream up a few." Omega said, rolling her eyes. "But I won't name them. Besides, what the hell are you without your glasses? Fucking psychotic?"
"That sounds abut right." Poseidon said, stacking a Cheshire Cat-like grin on top of it all. "It's ice, Omega. Ice melts to make water. We have the angel of fire and the God of the ocean. Let's think hard on this matter!"
"Yes, let's." Epona remarked sharply. "Pandora has a cold, and it could be something worse. We're headed to the North Pole. In case you haven't noticed, sir genius, it's FREEZING there! And what are we about to do? Bring her out into it, and let her get hypothermia or pneumonia or WORSE!"
"I hate to say it, Poseidon, but Omega and Epona are correct. We don't know what's wrong with Pandora, and even if we did, it wouldn't be safe to take her into the arctic in her condition." Fate said. "Besides, how long as it been since this has hit her?"
Poseidon scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe a day, give or take an hour. Why?"
"Just wondering," Fate murmured. "I guess I'm wrong. Nothing wrong."
"After we rescue Polaris, I need to go to Lunapolis and Heliopolis," Epona mentioned. "I have one angel I need to see, as does Omega."
"Oh, you mean Death, don't you?" Mirllyne said in a sour tone. Something told Lily that Death was the angel who'd told Mirllyne Arthur was dead.
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It swung back and forth, back and forth…
Then stopped.
Stopped.
The girl with the hazel eyes and black hair dropped the watch. She stood up.
"Polaris…where have you gone?"
The watch twinkled in the bright sun as it plunged into the ocean far, far below.
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"Joe?" D.S. was on Joe's shoulder. He nearly jumped out of his skin at the sight of the tiny girl. "Very soon now…I'm going to have to go back to normal. They'll all be able to see me…my wings…my…"
"Are you an angel or something?" Joe demanded. D.S. evacuated the warm spot on his shoulder and floated in front of him.
"A time comes for everything." D.S. snapped. She vanished in a blur of black. Joe was even more confused now. First she was French, then she was American, what next? German? Maybe then he could pawn her off on Albert. But he somehow knew he couldn't. She had chosen him. Then a horrid thought arose.
"OY, JOE!" Sadie's voice rang like a bell around his head. "We're outta here! Mirllyne's gone psychotic, Omega and Epona are seeing who can kill the angels first, and…well, you don't want to know."
Joe finished his way down the hall and the door to the control room slid open. It was quite an interesting scene outside. Mirllyne had Excalibur out and was stabbing it into the ice wherever she could. Then Arien saw her. Arien kicked a girl sitting next to her, and the girl stood up and blasted Mirllyne with her own magic.
He decided upon going out and not missing the party. Out right before him were Fate and Albert.
"Oh, Joe…if only I could tell you what was about to happen." Fate sighed. She flung herself out of the Dolphin and into the ice and snow. "I will not tell you exactly, but be prepared for something entirely unexpected."
"But it won't be unexpected," Joe said, "You've already warned me."
"No…I've hardly done such. You must remember, I was a child when Lunapolis still existed. I li…" Fate stopped short. "THOSE BITCHES! I'LL MURDER EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM!"
She sprang off the Dolphin and hit the ground running. Fate raised an arm and threw it outward once again with an emerald glow around it. She was impervious to everything that was happening around her. She had one goal: the girl casting her spell on Mirllyne, the one being beaten up by the group of angels.
"It's only Fate," Kummi sneered, melting a great mass of ice and leaving the rest up to Xiaka. Xiaka sent it flying at Fate, who deftly blocked it with a shield. Fate continued her sprint until she was face-to-face with Arien.
"You're dead," Fate barked. Mirllyne gave Arien a knockout blow, but no permanent damage would be caused. The girl next to her, the girl with the blue streaks in her hair, sank back down to the ice in tears.
"Clarissa, you're fine." Fate said, kneeling next to the girl as Mirllyne darted off.
"You don't understand, Fate," Clarissa sobbed. "The angels at Lunapolis are looking to kill me. They think I betrayed them. I have no more magic. These angels stole it all from me."
"Come with me. We'll take you somewhere safe."
"Nowhere isn't safe."
"Where's Mango, Ellie, and Lusia?"
"Mango's working on linking Yggdrasil to the mainframe with Ellie's help, and Lusia is also a magic slave."
Fate looked up. "Well, we came to get Polaris, but I guess we can take you and find you somewhere to stay until it's safe."
Like Clarissa had said, nowhere wasn't safe. Nowhere was exactly where Tsukasa wanted them.
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"Kage's little kid," Xiaka laughed. "I heard they told you. Well, does it make you happy that your mother was the most feared angel ever?"
Joe hated Xiaka. She giggled and sent only more water flying. He threw himself into acceleration mode. Joe could see the water as it crashed against the Dolphin and as Poseidon slowed it down further. Seconds later, he left acceleration mode to find himself right next to a sword-slinging Mirllyne.
"YOU DID IT, YOU BITCH!" Mirllyne screamed, launching an attack on Kummi. Kummi was barely able to defend herself with the blue flames.
"I DIDN'T! YOU DID IT YOURSELF!" Kummi roared back. The ice beneath their feet began to melt. Something was shining brilliantly. Joe could read Kummi's face. She knew what was about to happen.
"So long, I hate your fucking guts." Mirllyne said, grabbing Kummi and slamming her through the ice. "Joe, you wanna finish her for good?"
"No…but what the hell is that?" Joe said. The shining thing was rising from its prison. Xiaka jumped in front of them and cackled.
"Not with me around," Enx hissed, directing her arms through the freezing waters to slap Xiaka silly. Once she recalled her arms, Joe snapped one of Xiaka's wrists back on itself, just out of pure spite.
"You forgot one," Nirine whispered. Joe dug his fingers into his head. A deep sleep was threatening him to fall into the shining thing. But just as it was about to, a girl materialized in front of him. She wore a long black skirt, black boots with rounded toes, a tight navy blue shirt that covered her entire upper half. The hair tied into a high ponytail was blacker than midnight.
"YOU WON'T TOUCH HIM!" Joe knew that voice.
This was D.S.. She ran across the ice and threw both arms up and intertwined them. "TWELVE MIDNIGHT!"
Nirine fell deeply asleep. D.S. turned around. She looked the same as always…except bigger.
"Hey Joe, who's that?" Kim demanded. As she said it, a set of wings errupted from D.S.'s back. The right was snowy white, but the left was as black as her hair was. The shining thing behind her had now risen from the ice. The light pulled itself inward, then burst out to reveal another girl.
This girl had long (it could be waist-length) black hair with numerous silver streaks in it. Her attire was much like D.S.'s, a black skirt, black boots, but her shirt was loose and the sleeves were too long, plus it was splashed with diamonds. Her wings were the reverse of D.S.'s. The left was white, the right was black. As she opened her eyes, the group could see that the left was sapphire blue and the right ruby red.
"I DIDN'T DO IT! I SWEAR, I'M INNOCENT!" She shrieked. Then she caught sight of D.S. "D.S….how many years has it been?"
"You've been in there for three hundred years." D.S. replied. The girl shook her head and gently jumped from the air, ruffling her wings in the process. "Joe, I'd like you to meet my older sister, Polaris."
Joe froze. "Wait…Mirllyne…Polaris…what the hell is going on here?"
"I think I'll be able to clear a few things up." This new girl, Polaris, said. "I gave Mirllyne my watch to look after. Within it is D.S.'s soul, which the angelic court locked away three hundred years ago. You see, I am the angel of the stars, but my sister is the angel of time. As you know, you are Kage's son. I was accused of helping your mother, so I was locked down here and D.S.'s soul was removed. The only reasons we were judged upon were the facts that we were a rare case of twin angels, and the only two children of Yami and Hikari."
"So…Xiaka was…" Joe stammered.
"Yes. Your mother, overnight, became the most feared thing under the and above the heavens. She's right up there next to my own parents." Polaris answered, taking a few steps closer to him. "Yes, Yami and Hikari were the greatest feared angels next to Kage."
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Tsukasa was only to be disturbed if something major happened. But when she was, the guards outside had been warned by Zaffiel personally. They wouldn't like what they saw, or what happened to them. So when news reached the base on Madagascar that the angels had all been defeated, Tsukasa sprinted down the hall to find Pierre.
"What the hell," Tsukasa hissed, "Were you thinking? You knew Polaris was down there! You knew about D.S.! I could kill you right here and now, bastard, but I won't. Get me Ellie and Mango, now."
Pierre made a face, covered it up quickly, and turned to get the two girls. Tsukasa sat down to wait for him. Five minutes later, two girls emerged, followed by Pierre.
"Mango and Ellie," Tsukasa said in her sweetest voice. "Have you finished her yet? We don't have forever."
Mango had red-orange-blond hair. Her light brown eyes spoke clearly of too little sleep, too little food, too much work, and too much harassment. However, she nodded. "The electric angel is complete, Miss Tsukasa."
"Have you decided upon a name for it yet?" Tsukasa asked.
"As a matter of fact…we've decided upon the name for her. It's Etoile." Ellie said. "You understand why, correct?"
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Fate was talking with Clarissa when the rest of the crew returned. Clarissa was sobbing as she told something to Fate.
"But…real angels aren't enough!" Clarissa whined. "We were building an electric one…Tsukasa was mad at us for not working fast enough…"
"An electric angel?" Polaris asked. "What…Tsukasa grown…time has changed. I guess we have you to thank for that, D.S.."
"No. I haven't been able to move until very recently." D.S. replied. "I've been locked in that damn watch."
"What would Tsukasa want with an electric angel?" Fate asked Clarissa.
"She wants…she wants…oh, it's terrible. She wants to bring back her brother." Clarissa whispered. To about a third of the people in the room, it sounded like she said, 'She wants to raise hell and give it to someone else'.
"What's so special about her brother?" Tirzah asked, confused.
"Albireo was the most powerful of Chaos' family. He killed tens of thousands of angels in his time, but he remained unbound by laws. He could snap his fingers, if he wanted, and make the sky crush us all to pieces. When he was killed by Etoile, Polaris' predecessor, black and white angels alike rejoiced." Epsilon said. He hadn't spoken in a long time, and it was a surprise to hear him do it now. "But when Chaos discovered this, he instantly brought Tsukasa in to begin her rule. Her first order of business was to eliminate Etoile. She did."
"They're naming her Etoile…" Clarissa sighed, then fainted. Fate looked at her with a very sorry attitude.
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SO SORRY! AP classes stink…especially chemistry.