Chapter 22a: Uneasy Alliance
One month after the Peacekeeper's surrender
Aperia
Adrian laid in bed sleeplessly, another uneventful day of trying and failing to think of any way to escape and reunite with his allies gone by. Life had been strange for both Adrian and Saralyn ever since the Peacekeepers had surrendered. The moment he had revealed that he was the former prince of Aperia to Ophelia, she seemingly melted. The normally cold and calculating seraph tripped over herself trying to satisfy Adrian.
He was her son. He was the adopted son of one of the most dangerous beings in the world. At times, he questioned if what he had heard in that meeting room with Ophelia was even real. But it was. Ophelia made sure to remind him as much as she possibly could.
At times, it was annoying. But he was mostly grateful. Ophelia's severe weakness for him had saved the lives of his allies.
Meryl. Sinclair. Jordan. Naira. Ava. Cassiel. He had no idea where they had gone. Adrian was especially worried about Cassiel. The last time he had seen her, she was being dragged off, kicking and screaming the whole way. It didn't bode well for Cassiel's survival, even if Ophelia assured that her mind would be kept intact.
At least he had Saralyn. That was the one person he hadn't lost.
"Something on your mind?" The dhampir asked, facing him while laying on the pillow.
"Yes, of course there's things on my mind, Saralyn." Saralyn's eyes drooped, looking slightly hurt at Adrian's outburst. Adrian quickly spat out an apology. "Sorry. I'm trying to figure out how we're going to get out of here. Our allies. The fact that the person we're trying to stop this whole time is my foster mother." Adrian quickly looked around to confirm that he wasn't being watched; It was a definite possibility. He wasn't fully aware of what Ophelia was capable of doing.
Saralyn put a hand on his cheek. "If it's any consolation, I'm sure Ophelia won't do anything to them. With how friendly Ophelia is acting towards us, she definitely honored your wishes." Saralyn optimistically reasoned.
"What about Cassiel, though? Ophelia has more of a grudge towards her than anyone else. She betrayed her. I'm not even sure my authority can stop her."
The door swung open. Adrian immediately knew who it was without even looking up from the bed.
"Adrian. Do you or Saralyn need anything? Are you hungry? Thirsty?" Ophelia asked hopefully.
Adrian was getting real sick of Ophelia constantly hovering over them. You could just get a maid to do what you're doing right now but no, you need to be the one to see us. Adrian opened his mouth to tell the seraph to go away, but Saralyn answered her first. "No thank you. We just ate a few hours ago. Thanks for looking out for us, though."
Despite Ophelia's obvious expression of disappointment, she nodded and left them alone. Adrian turned towards Saralyn, one eyebrow raised.
"Saralyn. Don't tell me you're getting comfortable with her. Have you forgotten why we were here in the first place? She's the enemy! She sent an assassin after a high-ranking member of Lescatie, for fuck's sake!"
"Adrian, there's no use in getting mad at her and worsening our relationship with her. We're going to be stuck here for a while, so might as well make things easier on the three of us." Saralyn reasoned as she sighed and laid down again.
Adrian knew his wife was right. Angering Ophelia would make things worse for all of them. He had to remember that while Ophelia was trying her best to appeal to them, she still had the lives of their teammates in her hand. She could take them away as easily as she could protect them. Then he remembered something.
"Saralyn? Remember how Ophelia told us she would allow us to meet with one of our allies? I think it's time we use that."
"I was just thinking about that. Let's talk to Ophelia about it tomorrow. I'm sure she'll be willing to let us see her." Adrian put out the candles next to their bed, yawning. "Good night, Saralyn."
"Good night, Adrian."
Adrian entered Ophelia's spacious throne room. He had been expecting something more grand, more regal from the most powerful seraph in the world. Yet, the circular room was completely blank, the floor being white and the walls being azure blue. Ophelia had told him that the decorations would distract her, that the blank walls and floor helped her pay attention. Perhaps the only thing that stood out about the throne room was the several dozen glass shards littered around the throne. They apparently helped her observe Aperia without having to leave her castle.
Right now, Adrian watched as Ophelia looked through them like pages of a book unaware of his presence, a bored expression on her face. Nothing had really happened ever since their capture. If Lescatie was trying to get them back, Ophelia was doing a great job of stopping them.
"Ophelia." Adrian tried to get her attention.
The seraph quickly snapped to attention, the glass pieces falling to the ground. "Adrian?! I didn't even notice you coming in. Please knock next time." She quickly responded, seemingly startled. Adrian raised an eyebrow; He had made a show of opening and closing the doors to the throne room as loud as he could.
"I'd like to see one of my allies." Adrian asked. "It's been a full month since I've seen them now. I want to talk to them and see if they're alright."
"Adrian, I've told you a hundred times. I wouldn't hurt them. You asked me not to, so I won't. What don't you understand about that?" Ophelia replied, sounding hurt.
"I don't trust you." Adrian gave his honest opinion.
Ophelia looked even more hurt. "Fine." She said after a good fifteen seconds of silence. One of the pieces of glass rose up in front of Ophelia. The seraph closed her eyes, and after a few seconds, opened them again as the glass fell to the ground.
"Who of your team do you want to meet with?" Adrian considered his choices carefully. He wanted to see all of them. But that wasn't a choice, and he didn't want to push his goodwill with Ophelia too far.
Sinclair had not been a fan of Meryl's plan to surrender Adrian over to Aperia for their safety. If he had to guess, the dark elf trusted Ophelia even less than he did. Naira and Jordan had both been terrified for his safety, and Adrian wanted nothing more than to show them that he was alright. He had already considered asking Naira to turn to her old age form to fly them out of Aperia but had ultimately decided against it, thinking it was too risky.
Ava no doubt harbored a massive amount of guilt for cracking under interrogation and worsening their situation one month ago. She probably wanted to apologize. Meryl probably wanted to apologize too, for being the reason the entire team was isolated.
An idea came to Adrian's mind. Although Cassiel wasn't part of the Peacekeepers, Ophelia didn't know that. He would be able to find out about what happened to Cassiel.
"I wish to see Cassiel, please." Adrian asked in the kindest tone he could muster. The seraph spent a few seconds contemplating, before she shook her head, causing Adrian's heart to drop.
"Cassiel has been locked up until we figure out what to do with her." Ophelia responded after a few seconds. "What she did would get any other angel excommunicated. She's lucky to still be living here."
I'd rather be banished than locked in some cell…
"Fine then. I'd like to see Meryl."
"The dullahan?"
"Yes. I want to see if they're alright." Ophelia sighed. She opened her mouth, likely to repeat what she had said earlier, before deciding against it. A singular piece of glass flew up in front of her.
"I have new orders for you. You are to watch over Adrian Walker and Saralyn Auburn while they are meeting with Meryl Tanner." Ophelia said. A few seconds passed before she spoke again, this time in a more aggressive tone, reminding Adrian of who she was before she met him.
"You have no right to question my decisions, especially after that stunt you pulled a month ago in Aerokon. Extremists or not, Adrian sees them as close friends and allies. You are to treat them as guests. Is that clear, Raniel?" The name felt familiar but Adrian couldn't quite recall where he had heard it.
"Good. You must work to regain my trust, Raniel. We might be friends but I've given you enough lenience in the past year. Do not disappoint me again." Ophelia finished talking to her, then another glass piece rising up from the floor. "
"Cassandra? It's me. Tell Meryl to make herself presentable and escort her to the meeting location." Ophelia turned her attention to Adrian. "Adrian. I will be accompanying you on your trip."
"Why can't you get someone else to-" Adrian began to say, but Ophelia silenced him with a single finger over her mouth and a Shhhhh.
"I said, I will accompany you to the meeting location. Follow me." Ophelia stood up from her throne and walked to the double doors, holding them open for Adrian. The two of them walked down the corridors of the castle, its hallways being just as sparsely decorated as the throne room. Compared to Lescatie's bright reds, purples and pinks, Ophelia's castle felt horribly bleak.
The two of them stopped by Adrian's and Saralyn's room. Ophelia knocked on the door, waited a few seconds, then let herself inside.
"Who…?" Saralyn was looking at herself in the mirror. Standing up from the chair, she turned towards Ophelia. "What do you want?"
"Adrian has requested a meeting with Meryl. You have ten minutes to make yourself presentable." Ophelia ordered. Saralyn said nothing, taking a few minutes to dress out of her night clothes and put on her normal attire. She grabbed her hat off of the coat rack and followed them out of the castle.
It was late in the morning. The streets of Aperia were alive with both mamono and humans, with the skies above were filled with airborne mamono and the occasional angel/valkyrie. The angels, valkyries and humans waved towards Ophelia, with a few of the monsters winking at Adrian and Saralyn.
"You two look so cute together!" A bicorn called out to Adrian. "Space for one more, cutie?" A harsh glare from Saralyn combined with an even harsher glare from Ophelia shut the bicorn's intents down instantly.
"You would do well to not interfere with my guests, bicorn." Ophelia growled. The bicorn quickly nodded and trotted away. Adrian felt a slight pang of guilt for the poor centaur.
"Why don't you just tell her that I'm not interested in harems?" Adrian questioned. "You know me and Saralyn. We only have eyes for each other." Saralyn smiled, nuzzling Adrian's up against Adrian's back for a few seconds.
Ophelia shook her head. "They must learn their place."
They eventually reached a tall building with the words "Aperian Magical Defense Sabbath" written above the doors. It was the very organization that Druella had instructed them to kidnap the leaders of. It felt insultingly ironic for Adrian to be back here. The three of them entered the building, and into the quaint reception area. Pictures of Zeraphine, Hazel, and the rest of the sabbath, consisting of younger looking liches, dark mages, and other baphomets lined the walls. A single witch sat at the desk facing the entrance, fiddling with a small toy ball.
"Have a seat. I'm going to go get things ready." Ophelia told Adrian and Saralyn, leading them to a small sofa next to a window. The seraph walked over to the witch. The witch, seemingly already knowing what Ophelia was there for, got off her seat and took her down one of the hallways, vanishing from Adrian's sight.
"Adrian?" He heard Saralyn try to get his attention.
"Yes?"
"Are you happy here?"
Adrian took a moment to respond. "I…I don't know, Saralyn. On one hand, we're practically imprisoned within the city. We can't go anywhere without being accompanied by one of Ophelia's subordinates, and while we're stuck here, she's planning her next move against the Order that could potentially end the lives of thousands." Adrian paused. "But on the other hand, she seems to genuinely care about us. And I hate to admit it… But she's growing on me slightly. And her reasons for attacking the Order seem genuine, if not over the top."
"Wait, you agree with her?!" Saralyn asked, shocked.
"What I'm saying is, she has good intentions but the way she's going about her goal is terrible."
"Well-"
Ophelia returned, bringing their conversation to an abrupt end. "It is time. Both of you, follow me." Ophelia gestured for them to follow her. They entered a room with nothing in it but a teleportation circle. Ophelia pointed at the center of the circle. "In."
Both of them stepped inside and with a flash of light, they were in a completely different room. The only features of the room was a desk standing in front of a window looking inside, next to a door.. Sitting at that desk was a valkyrie. She looked up, and upon noticing the newcomers, she snarled.
"Oh. It's you two." Her voice leaked with suppressed emotions.
Adrian took a closer look at the valkyrie. Suddenly, he remembered who he was in front of him.
"I know you. From Monoghon. You're that valkyrie." Adrian whispered. "You're the one that tried to kill Azurith." Saralyn took his side, glaring defiantly at the valkyrie.
"For your information, Azurith has a savior complex. Our spies in Lescatie watched her; She was planning on going after Aperia after she was done with Monoghon, to "solve" our problems. The one good thing the Order did was give her a hard dose of reality. She won't be leaving Lescatie, not after her fuckup in Monoghon." Raniel sneered, her voice laced with venom.
"Anyways, your fellow extremist is waiting for you. You don't want to hold her up." Raniel opened the door for them. "Oh, and two rules. Rule one. Don't plot any escapes. Rule two. You have thirty minutes to talk, and thirty minutes only. You got that?"
Both Adrian and Saralyn nodded their heads wordlessly, entering the room. Raniel quickly shut the door behind them. The two looked around the small room. The only furniture was a long table with a bowl of fruit on it and three chairs. One of them was already occupied by a familiar face, looking saddened and guilty.
"Meryl?"
The dullahan looked up. Her expression brightened somewhat at the sight of her two students, setting herself upright and putting on the straightest smile she could muster. "Adrian. Saralyn. How have you been? How is Aperia treating you?"
"Fine. Better than fine, actually. Ophelia seems adamant on catering to my every need. Life has been so comfortable that I'm actually worried." Adrian said, grabbing an apple from the bowl and biting into it.
"How has Aperia been treating you, Meryl? Not too bad I hope?" Saralyn asked. A shake of Meryl's head said it all.
"They haven't been treating me badly, but I've been extremely worried about the situation with Aperia as a whole. After they took us away from you, they had a mindflayer search our heads for information on Lescatie. I'm afraid we just made the situation for our friends back at Lescatie a hundred times harder." Meryl said, her gaze drooping and her eyes watering up slightly. She took a handkerchief out of her pocket and wiped away some of the tears, before taking a deep breath.
"Another thing, I've been alone this entire time in Aperia. I keep having dreams about my husband." Meryl's eyes began to water again.
"That's right… You never told us about your husband." Adrian looked at her finger. Sure enough, her ring was still there.
"You don't have to tell us what happened if you don't want to." Saralyn reassured the clearly distressed dullahan. Meryl shook her head, taking another deep breath.
"No, no, you deserve to know after all this time. I was human at one point, serving as a hero of the Order in Lescatie. I had grown close to my personal trainer. His name was Aaron. He was the most caring, kind person I had ever met at that time. He congratulated me when I succeeded, and gave me advice when I fell short." Meryl shook her head in sadness, struggling to get the next part out.
"At one point, the two of us had gone out for a drink together after training. Stupidly, I had suggested that we run away from Lescatie. Get a nice house in neutral territory. Leave the stupid conflict between the Order and the Mamono Lord behind, and live a peaceful life." The dullahan's voice began to crack as she continued her recollection.
"I-I guess someone overheard us… Because a few days later he never showed up to training. I went to his house. The front door was already open, and when I went inside, there was someone standing over his dead body. I drew my spear and tried to attack him, but he vanished into thin air. I never found his body, or the person who killed him, even after Lescatie became a mamono realm."
"I should've never offered to run away." Meryl continued, her voice rising in volume. "I should've known that the fucking Order wouldn't have let that shit slide!" Meryl slammed her fist into the table, knocking some of the fruit out of the bowl. Breathing heavily, she slouched back in her chair. She took off her ring, and held it up in front of Adrian and Saralyn. "I'm still single. But I made this ring with Aaron's name on it to show that I don't have any interest in any other man but him."
Adrian didn't know what to say. Meryl's story was a combination of horribly unlucky circumstances that had ruined her life. It made sense as to why she barely acted like a monster.
"Oh. I'm so sorry, Meryl. That sounds awful." Saralyn leaned back into her chair. "I shouldn't have asked. I'm really-"
"No. No. You two listen. You keep an eye out for each other, alright? Don't make the same mistake I did. You watch each other's backs well. Is that clear?" Meryl said to both of them, any hint of sadness gone from her voice, replaced by a tone of seriousness. Both Adrian and Saralyn nodded.
"Your thirty minutes are up." Raniel's muffled voice came from outside. The door opened, and the valkyrie beckoned for them to leave.
"I don't think I need to say this, but… Stay safe." Meryl said to both of them as the door closed. She took a deep sigh and waited for her own valkyrie to come pick her up.
Outside, Adrian and Saralyn walked over to the teleportation circle, getting ready to leave. Raniel stopped them before they could.
"What?" Adrian asked. "What do you want?"
"I just want to say, I heard everything back there. What happened to your friend was terrible. That kind of stuff is what motivated your parents to rebel against the Order. This is what Aperia fights against. If we can reform the Order, this kind of stuff wouldn't happen anymore." Raniel said in an abnormally sympathetic tone.
"So why'd you try to kill Azurith? What if she had a husband? You'd be no better than the person that killed Meryl's future husband."
Raniel groaned. "Did you not hear a single word of what… Oh, forget it. Just get out of here." The valkyrie pushed them into the teleportation circle. The two disappeared with a flash, leaving Raniel alone.
Chapter 22b: Isolation
Aerokon
The past month had not been kind to Kovalt Marshall. The insanely persistent apsara and houri made it their mission to make sure that he was making progress with his reconciliation with Catalina. The hero was thankful for the houri's insistence on making sure that he consented to being Catalina's husband, because it was the only reason he hadn't been chained to a bed and ridden for a week straight.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Does everything we teach you just go through one ear and fall out the other?" Kane screamed, the houri's irritation boiling over. They had been in the church basement for four hours now. "Maybe Natya is right. Maybe we should just stab you with a lead arrow and be done with it."
"That's not true. I've progressed a little." Kovalt muttered. It wasn't a lie. He had made some progress in the past month, mostly to buy time for himself.
That being said, he wasn't sure how much time he had left. Kane was getting gradually more and more impatient as the days passed. He needed to formulate an escape plan, and fast. But nothing came to mind.
Maybe I should just give up. Maybe letting Catalina just fuck me wouldn't be so bad.
…
No. That's not an option. Kovalt thought back to the Aperian patrol he had slaughtered on his way to Aerokon. It was too late for him to back down now.
"Fuck it, you're dismissed. Go back to your room." Kane hissed, exasperation and fatigue evident in her voice. She quickly got off her chair and left the basement of the church. Kovalt cracked a small smile, knowing he had yet again managed to make the angel give up. After a few seconds of basking in self satisfaction, he got up and left the church basement.
Natya was sitting down on one of the church pews, reading a book with a pink cover. Upon hearing Kovalt, the apsara set the book down. "Congratulations, hero. You wasted my friend's time once again. I'm getting closer and closer to just stabbing you with a lead arrow and locking you and Catalina in a room together."
"Why don't you, then? Is there someone holding you back?" Kovalt teased with a smirk on his face. He knew that Kane was insistent on getting him and Catalina back together consensually, and had forbidden Natya from doing things her way. The apsara growled in anger.
"I don't think you understand just how much stress you've caused Kane. She's become obsessed with you. She's had a perfect record of getting men who have trouble accepting their wives together." Natya ranted.
"So, what I want in this situation is irrelevant?" Kovalt remarked, shrugging. "Maybe I should've let Raniel just kill me."
"If she gives up on you, that means her perfect record is ruined. She is deeply competitive with the other angels of Eros, and they will let her know about her failure."
"So what I want in this situation is irrelevant to her? I'm just another statistic?" Kovalt shot back. It felt insulting that while he was dealing with his life being turned upside down and his home corrupted, some stuck up angel was playing savior with him.
"She is trying to help you, for fuck's sake! She's trying to free you of all the crap that the Order put in your head! If you would just cooperate you would be so much happier!" Natya screamed.
"Becoming a sex slave to an imposter of what my wife once was doesn't sound like being happy. It sounds like being brainwashed. And if everything the Order was telling me was false, then why do so many people believe it to this day? Surely they're onto something." Kovalt responded, a tone of smugness creeping into his voice. It felt good to know that he would at least go out being a pain in the ass for his tormentors.
"The people of the Order believe it because that's what they've been told from birth! They have no other choice but to believe them!"
"Or maybe… The Order is right about something and you just don't want to admit it."
Natya put her head in her arms. "For Eros's sake, just shut up! Shut up! Stop talking! I don't want to hear you spout your bullshit anymore! Go away!" She pointed to Kovalt's room. "Leave! Leave me the fuck alone!"
"Gladly. Don't let my remarks get to you." Kovalt smiled as he strutted over to his room. He shut the door as Natya groaned in frustration. Walking over to the bed, he took off his shoes and laid down, staring at the ceiling. The catharsis of what he had just done slowly faded, giving way for another feeling. Regret. Not for Kane or Natya, but for himself.
Fuck… They're not going to be happy with me tomorrow morning. Getting out of here is going to be much harder now.
Suddenly, an idea popped into Kovalt's head. He quickly built off of that idea, formulating a plan. The marker he had placed on Adrian still remained, and he still wanted revenge. But he'd need to put that aside. At least, temporarily. He took a stress ball from his nightstand, tossing it up and down in the air as he fleshed out the details in his head.
Kovalt awoke the next day, determined and ready. After dressing himself, he went to the church's kitchen where Kane and Natya were eating breakfast, both of them talking to each other to pass the time. Why celestial beings needed to eat was beyond him.
They both stopped their conversation when Kovalt sat down with them. Natya pushed a plate with a piece of toast in front of him. "Good morning, hero. Sleep well?" The apsara spoke with a hint of venom in her voice.
Kovalt nodded. "Kane. Natya. About what happened yesterday." He said in his best sincere voice. The apsara and the houri both looked at him, curious to see what he was going to say.
"I'm sorry. I was not in my right mind yesterday. I said a lot of things that I regret now." Kane looked like she had just gotten splashed by a bucket of cold water, while Natya looked on with a cautious but optimistic expression on her face.
"I've done some reflecting, and I believe I would be more comfortable in Aperia. Aerokon has some very, very painful memories for me. Every time I walk by that street I get painful visions of… Well, you know what I'm talking about." Kovalt wasn't lying about that last part. Having his ribs and skull broken and his hand crushed by Raniel was something that was going to stay with him forever. He looked at the angel and the elemental, awaiting their response anxiously.
Kane was the first to speak. "We have a few churches of Eros in Aperia. Plus, it's not too far from here." She leaned back in her chair, taking a sip of her tea. "As long as you're keeping your word, Kovalt. If you don't, well…" Kane's voice trailed off. Letting Catalina just go after him wasn't an option, not unless she wanted to tarnish her oh-so-perfect record.
Natya finally spoke. "Catalina and Kari will be coming with you. You're not getting away from them, if that's what you're trying to do. You're not slick. And I highly doubt that you just made up your mind about being a stubborn dick to us overnight. You wouldn't be trying to escape, would you?"
"No, no! Of course not! Why would I be moving to a city with more security if I wanted to escape?" One of the very first things Kovalt had done was prepare a response for this type of question. His answer seemed to satisfy the apsara for the time being, although she still looked at him with an expression of suspicion.
"Relax yourself, Natya. If he says moving to Aperia will help him, we should give it a shot. It's not like we're not welcome in Aperia." Kane said, waving off Natya's concerns. "Kovalt, you get to skip one lesson so you can pack your stuff. You're welcome."
"Thank you, Kane. I promise I won't let you down." Kovalt bit down on his toast.
"Glad to see you've changed. Just know that I will be holding you to that promise. I will not tolerate any more of your apathy towards my lessons once we get to Aperia, is that clear?"
"Yes, of course."
Kane turned towards Natya. "Good. Natya, do you mind reminding Catalina and Kari that we'll be moving to Aperia tomorrow?" The apsara nodded slowly, before getting up and leaving the church. Kovalt went back to his room to begin packing his belongings.
Can't get cocky. That was the easy part. I've still got a long, long way to go before I can get out of here.
Catalina laid down on their large bed contemplating everything while listening to the sounds of Kari sleeping peacefully next to her. The young werewolf had piled several blankets and pillows on top of her body, saying that it kept her warm. Catalina smiled. It was something she found weirdly cute when she was human, and seeing her do it now as a monster was even cuter.
The young werewolf had expressed sadness at having to leave her friend in Monoghon, but Catalina had promised that nobody would take him as long as she placed a marker on him. Knowing that he was off limits for everyone but her helped her when she was moving. She'd promised Catalina that they would only be gone for a month or two while Kane and Natya helped Kovalt adjust to having a monster as his wife but judging by Kane's progress reports, it would be a long while before he adjusted.
A knock came from the front door. Catalina slowly got up from the bed, making sure not to wake Kari. The werewolf sniffled a little, then went back to snoring. Catalina tiptoed out of the bedroom and to the front door, opening it to see Natya.
"May I come inside?" The apsara asked.
Catalina stepped out of the way. "Of course. Can I get you anything, Natya?" The werewolf asked, heading over to one of her kitchen cabinets. The apsara shook her head no.
"Thank you for asking, but I'm here to talk. Kovalt has requested that we move to Aperia before we continue his therapy. He says that he's uncomfortable with Aerokon."
Catalina could fully understand. In one of their meetings together, Kovalt had described his encounter with a sadistic valkyrie that had brutalized and nearly killed him a month ago. His breath had gotten shaky and he had gotten sweaty the moment he started talking about it. Catalina had offered to comfort him, but Kovalt quickly shot the offer down. It hurt Catalina. As his wife, she deserved to be able to help him overcome his trauma.
I do not know who you are, valkyrie, but if you dare terrorize my husband again, you will pay dearly. Even if I am sorely outmatched.
Natya snapped her fingers. "Catalina? You're spacing out."
Catalina snapped back to the present. "Ah. I'm sorry. I fully understand why Kovalt wants to move. He likely wants to get away from the terrible valkyrie that nearly killed him. I'll get Kari ready and we'll be ready to move by tomorrow."
"See, I'm suspicious about that last part. Raniel, the valkyrie that had nearly killed him, is in Aperia right now. Why would he want to follow the valkyrie around? It makes no sense, unless he has ulterior motives of some sort."
"He's been opening up to me slowly. He was comfortable enough to share his trauma with me. That's gotta mean something. He clearly cares about reconciling, even if his Order conditioning is slowing things down." Catalina reasoned.
"Oh you naive, naive woman…" Natya said quietly under her breath.
Catalina's eyes narrowed. "Don't think I can't hear you, Natya. My hearing has only improved since I became a werewolf. Naive, you say? I'm naive for trying to understand my husband's feelings?" Catalina growled.
The apsara shook her head in annoyance. "You're way, way too kind to him. Anyways, we'll see if moving to Aperia helps or not. If it doesn't, well, I might just feed you an entire box full of raging mushrooms and lock you in a room with Kovalt. I'll just tell Kane's rivals that things worked out in the end."
Catalina had originally sympathized with Kane about wanting to reconcile with Kovalt consensually, declining Natya's half-serious suggestions about drugging her food with raging mushrooms. But that scenario was becoming more and more appealing to her with every day that went by without Kovalt agreeing to be with her.
Yet, something inside her told her to persevere. It would be more satisfying, she told herself.
Aperia
The Vault
The obnoxiously loud sound of a bell ringing signaled the beginning of Cassiel's day, followed by a bright electric light bulb created by a gremlin suddenly turning on and nearly blinding the dark angel. Cassiel whined and covered her eyes with her hands, throwing the thin blanket that the guards had provided her over her body. She wanted nothing more than to just stay in bed forever.
She had only been in the Vault, the biggest high security prison in Aperia for a month now. The best way to describe it was Raniel's words to her when she had first arrived.
This is the place where you'll be festering until we figure out what to do with you. Consider your indefinite sentence a showcase of our Matriarch's infinite generosity. Cassiel couldn't figure out if Raniel was being ironic or not when she had said that, and she didn't know to this day.
Eventually, she worked up the energy to get up. She stretched out her arms, only for her hands to touch the featureless walls of her cell. Shaking her head, she waited next to the barred door, waiting for a guard to come free her from her cell. A few minutes later, a familiar looking valkyrie came by.
"Good morning, Cassiel." The valkyrie greeted her in a brusque tone as she slid the barred door open.
"Hello to you too, Mikayla."
"Just a reminder, your weekly time in the yard is tomorrow." Mikayla pointed towards a window leading into a small courtyard with fake grass.
"Tomorrow? Already? I thought I had my time three days ago."
"It's been six days since then, Cassiel. Now get out, and go to the cafeteria." Mikayla didn't even wait for Cassiel to come voluntarily, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her out the cell. The two of them walked down a catwalk to a ramp that led to the bottom floor of the cell block.
A normal prison would've been decently populated. And the Vault was populated, just not the area she was in right now, the one that was supposed to contain mamono prisoners. Mamono were comparatively well behaved compared to humans. Cassiel remembered reading a paper written by a hakutaku on crime rates in Aperia during her time under Raniel's command. She thought the author was being biased. Now that she had seen the truth, she owed the author an apology, if she could get out of here.
The few mamono convicts that were there ate breakfast by themselves. A few amazons sat in the corner, while a danuki and an ocelomeh argued with a valkyrie guard about how they should get access to the man's section of the prison, to no avail. Strangely enough, there were no dark priests or any corrupted angels like her.
Cassiel walked past a few of the tables, the mamono convicts giving her strange looks. The amazons turned their heads towards her, quickly looking away when she made eye contact. Great. Not even the monsters are happy with me here. I didn't know that Aperia's hatred of the Fallen God spread to the monsters as well.
She got her food from the kikimora chef, a warm bowl of oatmeal with tea and an apple. If there was a silver lining to the situation, it was that the Vault wasn't cutting corners with their food. She took her tray to one of the tables, the arachne and the manticore that were sitting there immediately scooting away from the dark angel.
"A dark angel? Here?"
"Now that you mention it, we haven't seen a single dark angel, valkyrie or priest since we got here. Government says that they all get relocated to the nearest mamono realm."
"Weird. She must have fucked up real bad for Aperia to decide that they're gonna keep her in the Vault."
"I can hear both of you." Cassiel interrupted their conversation. The two surprised monsters looked at Cassiel, then back at each other.
"Well… We were just saying how you're the first dark angel we've seen since we got locked up." The manticore said, her tail swishing back and forth.
"I noticed. I feel like a fish out of water." Cassiel scanned the cafeteria one more time to see if there were any acolytes of the Fallen God anywhere. Not a single one.
"Just a heads up. Both the monsters and the humans here aren't exactly too receptive towards angels of the Fallen God. They're taught from birth that the Fallen God is evil." The arachne pointed towards the ocelomeh and the danuki, who were glaring at Cassiel from across the cafeteria. "See? They're not even trying to hide it."
"So why are you two being so nice?" Cassiel asked as she kept her gaze down on her food.
"The two of us never really believed in that stuff." The manticore whispered. "When we met the Fallen God's followers outside of Aperia they were very friendly towards us. I guess the Matriarch is just super uptight about her angels going dark."
Their conversation was interrupted by a dullahan guard walking over to Cassiel. "There's someone that wants to see you."
"Let me guess. Raniel?"
"No. Someone else. Get up and follow me." The dullahan guard began to point in the direction of the exit. Cassiel sighed, knowing she had no choice. As she walked off, the manticore gave her a wave.
"Best of luck, Cassiel."