Chapter 20a: Thrown to The Wolves
"We can't just stay here. We need to get the fuck out of this city. Sooner or later, they're going to realize that the mindflaying is taking longer and get suspicious." Sinclair said, pacing around the room. Her footsteps broke the otherwise completely silent atmosphere. Adrian realized that there the entire building was under a soundproofing spell.
"Naira and Jordan need rest. They took the heaviest beating during the church raid." Cassiel leaned up against a wall, examining the wyvern and her rider, sighing. "How the hell did they even find us…?"
"One of your followers must have ratted us out." It all made sense to Adrian. Aperia's mamono, and by extension Aerokon's mamono, were taught that Lescatie were the enemies. The spells Cassiel must have used were made to deter humans, not enemy mamono. Monsters fighting seriously against other monsters were almost unheard of up until the creation of Aperia.
"I can't believe it. All my recruits seemed so happy to be working against Aperia. Not even one of them seemed unhappy with their transformation. They must have been pretending." Cassiel buried her head in her hands. "I severely underestimated Aperia…"
"I have to give them credit," Adrian said, thinking back to how Raniel had disguised herself as a distressed elf looking for her husband to gain their trust, "They're good actors."
"We can theorize about them all we want once we get the fuck out of here!" Sinclair called out impatiently. The dark elf had been horribly on edge ever since she had been freed, a stark contrast to her cool and sarcastic self. She stared out the door-window leading out to the hallway every time she reached that part of the room, frantically checking to see if anyone was coming.
Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. Adrian was beginning to get irritated at the repetitive and constant noise of Sinclair's pacing. He stood up, getting in the way of Sinclair's path.
"What?"
"You need to calm down. I can barely hear myself think when you're stomping around like this."
"Calm down, huh? If only it were that easy." Sinclair tried to push past Adrian, only for Adrian to block her again. "Get out of my way!"
"No. You need to relax; you're making things harder for everyone." Sinclair didn't respond, instead forcefully pushing Adrian out of the way and continued pacing, only to stop, looking at Ava in the corner. The kunoichi looked up at Sinclair nervously.
"You. Why the fuck did you tell the valkyrie about why we were here? Do you know how much more difficult you made this job for us?" Sinclair tried to grab Ava by her head, only for Ava to slap her hand away and stand up. An uncharacteristic glare was painted on the kunoichi's face.
"Do you know what they would've done to me if I hadn't said anything?! Those restraints would've squeezed me until my bones broke! I did what I had to do! If you have a problem with me having a little self-preservation, you can go-"
"Both of you! That's enough!" Saralyn got off her seat and forcefully separated the bickering monsters. "We need to be at our best if we want to escape this city with our minds un-scrubbed." Ava and Sinclair seemed to mostly calm down. Ava went back to sitting in the corner, and Sinclair sat down at one of the tables, sulking.
A sigh came from Naira. The wyvern stood up and stretched her wings. Jordan stood up along with her. "I think the both of us are ready to get out of here."
"Can you walk?" Adrian inquired, staring at the couple's legs, still covered in sores from the restraints. "I don't want you tripping while we're running away."
"Both of us are fine." Jordan answered for Naira.
A knock came from the door. Everyone quickly got out of view from the window, staying completely quiet. The room was so silent a drop would have been deafening. The group stared at the door wide-eyed. Adrian heart dropped as he realized that Naira, Jordan, Sinclair, and Cassiel were completely unarmed. Naira could use her claws as a weapon, but ever since the incident at Monoghon she was incredibly wary of using lethal weaponry.
"Hello? Kayla? Jared? Are you done with the prisoners? Ophelia wants information on the remaining intruders." A faint voice came from outside of the room. Nobody dared say anything in response. "Anybody in there? Hello?!" The voice shouted. "Whatever. I'm coming in there." The doorknob began turning.
Saralyn didn't let them inside the room. She quickly drew her revolvers and emptied all twelve shots into the door. A groan and a thump came from the other side of the door. Saralyn kicked the door open, revolvers at the ready. Four heavily armored angels and two valkyries were waiting on the other side.
The two groups stared each other in the eyes for two seconds with shock and surprise before one of them acted.
"Hostiles!" One of the angels shouted. The five of them backed away as far as they could and drew their weapons. Saralyn fired two shots at the whistleblower, only for them to fly out of the way at the last second. Mana shots came from the three angels, while the two other valkyries drew their longswords and attacked.
Naira got to her feet and began releasing fire from her mouth. Most wyverns weren't as powerful as dragons when it came to their fire-breathing abilities, but Naira was still able to create a decent amount of flame. All six of the celestial beings leapt to the side, the tips of their white armor getting singed. Naira charged towards the wall, smashing through it, and tackling one of the valkyries to the ground. The two of them wrestled for control on the ground, neither willing to back down.
Ava drew her katana and blocked an incoming mana shot from one of the angels. The angel snarled and kept firing off mana shots towards the kunoichi, flying around erratically. Ava expertly blocked every single one of them.
"Destroy their cover, now!" One of the valkyries shouted to her angel subordinates. The angel nodded and held her hands up, a bright light coming from her palm.
"Shit! Everyone get down!" Adrian grabbed Saralyn and leapt backwards as the wall was torn apart in a massive explosion, dust flying everywhere. Adrian temporarily went deaf from the sheer amount of noise, his ears ringing. Looking over, he saw Saralyn firing blindly into the now exposed hallway. Adrian saw one of the angel stumble and scramble for cover as a bullet clipped her thigh.
"Stop! Stop! We can talk this out! There is no need for violence!" Adrian heard Cassiel cry out from behind one of the flipped tables as he regained his hearing. "Ophelia-"
"You are in no position to negotiate with us! You betrayed your commander, and the entirety of Aperia!" One of the angels shouted back. "Raniel trusted you! Ophelia trusted you! And you turned your back on them. And for what?!"
The angel charged forward; sword drawn aiming for Cassiel's heart. Cassiel lunged to the side, letting the angel pass by. The dark angel then wrapped her arms around the light angel's neck in a headlock, trying to force the light angel to surrender or go unconscious. The two struggled haphazardly across the room, knocking over objects and bumping into walls.
Outside, Naira slashed at the valkyrie's armor, tearing five large gashes in the breastplate. The valkyrie screamed in shock and began hitting the wyvern in the stomach with her knee to get her off, but Naira refused to back down. The valkyrie began reaching for her sword desperately, only for Naira to knock it across the hallway with her wing, far out of anyone's reach.
The wyvern's body began feeling hot. She hadn't felt this way since Monoghon. She lashed out with her claws, tearing the valkyrie's armor to shreds. She kept swinging, and swinging, and swinging, and swinging…
…Until she had a moment of clarity. She looked at the valkyrie's body, covered in various lacerations, some superficial, some deep. She had nearly killed her. Naira pushed herself off the valkyrie's body, letting the valkyrie move. She stood up on shaky legs, staring at Naira with an expression of fear, anger, and pain.
"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." Naira choked out. "Just go. Get a healer." The valkyrie stared at Naira, confused.
"Just go! Fucking go!" The valkyrie finally took heed of the distressed wyvern's warning and began limping away. She disappeared around a corner, leaving a trail of blood behind. Naira buried her head in her claws.
Meanwhile, Sinclair and Adrian both found themselves back-to-back, facing off against the valkyrie and two of the three remaining angels. The odds were clearly stacked against them. Adrian knew he could hold his own, but Sinclair only had her fists to defend herself with. Despite facing almost certain defeat, the dark elf stared at the two angels with a furious expression on her face not dissimilar to a cornered animal, hands tightly balled into a fist.
Sinclair's eyes darted to one of the swords the heavily armored angels had on their belts. Both angels swung their blades at the dark elf as she ducked down, their blades cutting off a lock of her white hair. Sinclair lunged for the spare sword, arms reaching as far as she could, hands waving to gain more range. The angel jerked to the side and sent an armored boot directly into the dark elf's chest, sending her flying into an overturned table.
The dark elf refused to give up. She grasped one of the table legs and tore it off, brandishing her makeshift club. With a scream of rage, she charged forward. The angels both attacked simultaneously, but Sinclair bent backwards, the blades once again just barely passing her by. Sinclair stabbed one of the angels with the sharp, jagged end of the table leg in a small gap near her thigh. As the angel was stunned, the dark elf pushed her to the ground with all her might and grabbed her by the throat in a stranglehold.
Saralyn watched as the other angel charged at Sinclair with her blade held above her head, trying to save her partner. The dhampir aimed her revolvers at the angel and fired, only for the bullets to bounce off harmlessly. The only spot where they would do any damage would be where there wasn't any armor. She observed the angel's heavily armored back. There was nowhere she could possibly hit, but maybe Sinclair would have a better chance.
"Sinclair, catch!" Saralyn lobbed one of her revolvers to the dark elf. Sinclair temporarily let go of the angel she was strangling to catch the gun. In two fluid motions, she sent a realm silver bullet into the angel behind her, and into the one she was on top of. Both fell unconscious, as both the dark elf and the dhampir shared a sigh of relief.
On the other side of the room, Adrian and the remaining valkyrie's blades clashed against one another, causing sparks to fly out. Adrian would parry one hit and immediately try to retaliate, only for the valkyrie to block his hit too. They kept going and going. Adrian knew he was going to run out of energy before the valkyrie did.
Adrian backed into a wall. He instinctively ducked down as the valkyrie's sword scratched out the section of the wall he was just standing in front of. He dashed forward and attempted to tackle the valkyrie to the ground, only for the warrior angel to punch him in the stomach. He stumbled back, just barely twisting out of the way as the valkyrie attempted to capitalize on his momentary shock.
A loud bang rang out, one of the valkyrie's knees buckling. Adrian took the opportunity to kick the valkyrie in the chest, sending her to the ground. As the valkyrie got up, she felt something cold press up against her head. Another loud bang and the valkyrie was out cold.
Cassiel released the angel she had headlocked. She dropped to the ground, motionless. Cassiel put her fingers to the angel's chest to see if she was still alive. Feeling a faint but recognizable heartbeat, she backed off, sighing in relief.
"Everyone alright?" Saralyn asked.
"Yes." Adrian replied.
"I'm fine." Jordan called out.
"Yeah." Sinclair coughed, still on the floor.
"…I'm okay…" Naira responded, uncertain of what she had almost did.
"We gotta get out of here. They're going to send even more soldiers, even better trained and armored than the ones we just took down." Cassiel's eyes darted from left to right, full of anxiety. As if on cue, she heard footsteps coming down the hall again.
"No. No, no, no, no… We're not ready for this at all!" Cassiel screamed. Saralyn took cover behind what little of the wall was left, revolvers at the ready. Ava joined in, her signature focused look returning as opposed to the unnatural anger she had before.
"Hold your fire!" A familiar dullahan called out to Saralyn. Saralyn immediately lowered her guns and came out of cover, a smile breaking out on her face.
"Holy shit, Meryl… I can't believe you made it out alive." Saralyn looked at Meryl's body. Various scratches, scars, and bruises covered the dullahan's body. Her armor was missing massive chunks from it and was dented in several places.
"I know. I can't believe it either. You wouldn't believe what I've gone through to get here. I'm surprised my head stayed on my body the whole time." Meryl chuckled dryly. "Anyways… It's complete chaos out there. Some insane Order hero broke into the city and is causing chaos in the streets. He burnt down an armory and killed a couple people. I'm pretty sure it's the same guy we encountered outside of Aerokon. Kovalt Marshall."
"What the hell is wrong with that guy? Shouldn't his wife be trying to track him down right now?" Sinclair asked.
"All that matters right now is that we escape while he's distracting Aerokon. There's a teleportation station not too far from here, we can finally get the hell out of this city." Meryl began sprinting down the hallway towards the exit. "Keep up! We're almost out of this place!" The group gathered themselves and quickly followed Meryl down the halls of the mindflaying center, taking several twists and turns to get to the exit. Fortunately for them, the sound-proofing spell of the building had completely masked any sounds their conflict had made. As they were walking, Adrian caught sight of people standing outside what few windows the building had. He motioned for the team to duck down to avoid being spotted.
Meryl finally reached the lobby. She took a quick peek around the corner, shaking her head. "They're covering the exit. We gotta find another way out of here that isn't being swarmed by Aerokon's military, fast. They're going to send in reinforcements if they realize we beat their team."
"The windows are all covered too. How the hell are we supposed to escape now?" Adrian asked, anxious.
"I'll…" Meryl began to say but cut herself off. "I'll think about it. We need to find a place in this building that they won't expect us to be in." The team doubled back, heading to a room far inside the building that Aerokon's military wouldn't be able to find easily.
They decided on an ordinary looking room with a white door leading to it. The group filed into the room, and Meryl locked the door behind them. She pushed a drawer and a small table in front of the door to block it. Any light that would've come from the outside were completely snuffed out, turning the room almost completely dark.
Saralyn was the first to speak. "So. Does anyone have any bright ideas?"
For once, Meryl looked completely stumped. Their leader had always had a plan B, a plan C, and a plan D on standby, but the look on her face betrayed her thoughts. She didn't know what to do.
"So?!" Sinclair snapped. "Are we just going to let them scrub our mind?" Nobody had the energy to tell her to stop shouting. And so, everyone stayed quiet trying to think of a way out of their situation. After what seemed like an eternity of silence, someone spoke.
"I have an idea. But… You two aren't going to like it." Meryl looked over at Adrian and Saralyn.
"Go on, tell us. It's better than just sitting here waiting for them to find us." Adrian remarked with a bitter chuckle.
"Alright. Look at this." Meryl pulled a piece of paper out of her armor and handed it to Adrian and Saralyn. Both squinted their eyes in the incredibly dim lighting of the room trying to read the document. But both could make out several portraits. Each with a caption stating who the portrait belonged to.
"Adrian Walker, Team Commander"
"Saralyn Auburn, Co-Commander/Assassin"
"Bella Flores, Strategist"
"Alex Hendricks, Assassin"
"Martin Simmons, Assassin"
"Jack Hayes, Assassin"
"What the hell…?" Adrian scratched his head in confusion. He handed the paper to Saralyn. "Do you recognize any of these people?" Saralyn shook her head, equally confused. Adrian looked at the top of the paper.
"Angelhound Elite Unit"
"You're more connected to this place than you think. In fact, you're more connected to the entirety of Aperia than you think. Look here." Meryl pointed at a line beneath all the portraits. Adrian read the sentence out loud, in complete disbelief.
"Adrian Walker, only son of Adeline and Logan Walker and p-prince of Aperia…" Adrian stopped talking to catch his breath. "Ophelia is incredibly attached to both Adrian and Saralyn… Believes them to be…" Adrian stopped reading. The rest of the sentence had been scratched out.
"What the fuck… What is-?" Adrian stuttered. He turned to Meryl. "Where did you find this?"
"I had to loop back to Zeraphine's lab while being chased by Aerokon's military. I knocked over a tray with some papers in it, and I recognized both you and Saralyn's faces. I took it with me."
"Did you find anything else on me or Saralyn?"
"Unfortunately, no." Meryl shook her head. She looked at the scratched-out portion of the paper. "Ophelia obviously wants something kept under wraps involving you and Saralyn. That might also be a reason why Aerokon's trying so hard to keep us out. This is how the rest of us are going to escape."
Saralyn put her hand on her chest. "What do you mean, 'the rest of you'? You seriously aren't considering-"
"I told you that you wouldn't like it. I swear, we'll come back for you." Meryl sounded like she was going to break down crying. "Just know, I wouldn't do this if I had another choice. But negotiating with Aerokon is the only way any number of us are going to get out of here."
"But you said you stole documents detailing Aperia's magical defenses. They're not going to let you just leave."
Meryl gave Adrian a pained smile. She pulled out four blank pieces of paper. "Redaction spell. It should be enough to fool them. Once we have a better idea of what this place is like, we'll come back for you. I promise."
"But what about Cassiel?! What are they going to do to her?"
"She's… She'll come with you. Do me a favor, and make sure she doesn't get her mind wiped." Meryl pushed the objects blocking the door out of the way and opened the door. "I know I'm asking a lot from you. I promise, I will make it up to you." The dullahan turned to the rest of the group. "When they see us, drop your weapons on the ground and put your hands above your head."
"No way. No fucking way we're surrendering." Sinclair gasped.
"We aren't! We're negotiating with our enemies!" Meryl cried out, her voice breaking. "Do you have any better ideas, Sinclair?! No?" Sinclair kept quiet.
"I thought so. Let's just get this over with." The group reluctantly walked to the exit once more. Adrian, Saralyn, and Cassiel all felt like they were criminals on death row, waiting to be put down.
They finally reached the lobby. As instructed, everyone dropped their weapons and put their hands above their head. Sinclair was the last one to do so, shaking her head. Several heavily armored valkyries entered the lobby and confiscated the discarded weapons. They began forcefully escorting the team out of the lobby.
"Wait. My name is Adrian Walker. Ophelia knows me. Saralyn too." One of the valkyries stopped what they were doing and came over.
"Adrian? Saralyn? Is that you? Where the hell have you two been?" The valkyrie asked.
"Who the hell are you?"
"You don't remember me? I trained the entirety of the Angelhound unit. My name is Mikayla." The valkyrie introduced herself.
"Before I explain myself, I want to make sure the safety of the rest of my team is ensured. You can confiscate anything you want from them. They don't know anything." Mikayla stopped and barked a couple orders to her fellow valkyries. All of them nodded, some seeming more reluctant than others.
"I've done my part, Adrian. Explain yourself."
"I… I lost my memory. I don't know how. I just woke up in the forest one day, with the Order trying to kill me. They were talking about a scroll of some kind. Saralyn saved me, and the two of us have been married for two years now."
Mikayla let out a sigh of relief. "So that's where you've been. Ophelia will be very pleased…" The valkyrie gently took Adrian and Saralyn by the hand and was about to walk out of the building, but she stopped and looked back at Cassiel.
"You've been working with an angel of the Fallen God." Mikayla's voice took on an angry, disappointed tone like a teacher that caught their student cheating.
"She gets the same treatment as the rest of my team."
"…You're lucky you hold so much power." Mikayla acquiesced. She grabbed Cassiel's hand violently and led the three of them out of the building, and down the streets. Adrian looked back at his team one last time. Meryl was looking at him with an expression of extreme remorse. Sinclair was looking at him with an expression of confusion and anger. Naira and Jordan stared at him with an expression of fear. Ava simply kept her gaze focused on the ground.
Mikayla led the three of them to a wagon. She beckoned Adrian and Saralyn to get inside, while shoving Cassiel in it. She locked the doors of the wagon ang waved to the driver. "Take us to Ophelia." She ordered. The driver nodded, and the wagon took off.
Adrian felt a headache come on as he tried to decipher everything he had learned in the past thirty minutes. He was the prince of the very country he was fighting against. At the same time, he had been the commander of an elite team of assassins. On top of everything, he had connections to one of the most powerful angels in the world. It was almost too much for him to process.
He felt a calming hand on his shoulder. Looking over, Saralyn was trying to comfort him.
"No matter what happens with Ophelia… I'm with you until the end."
"Thank you, Saralyn. I don't know what I would do without you." The two of them leaned against each other.
Cassiel simply stared out the window of the wagon with a blank expression on her face. "It's been nice knowing you." The dark angel mumbled. Not saying anything further, she buried her head in her hands, sobbing.
"You're not going to get your mind scrubbed, Cassiel. Not if I have anything to do with it." Cassiel didn't respond to Adrian's attempt to calm her, instead continuing to stare out the window. Eventually, the wagon came to a halt. Looking out his own window, Adrian saw that they were at the very tree that he had stumbled across after he had escaped the mines. A regally dressed angel with six pairs of wings was sitting at a small table under the tree. Instinctively, Adrian knew exactly who she was.
Mikayla yelled for the driver to stop. She opened the backdoors of the wagon, gesturing for Adrian and Saralyn to get out. She didn't wait for Cassiel, instead snatching her wing and forcefully pulling her out of the wagon. She walked the three of them to Ophelia.
"Mikayla." Ophelia greeted her subordinate tersely.
"Matriarch."
"Thank you for finding these two for me. I genuinely mean it."
"Thank you, Matriarch. Further orders?" The valkyrie asked.
"None. You are dismissed. You are to be rewarded as soon as possible." With a smile and a nod, the valkyrie got into the wagon and drove off, leaving Adrian, Saralyn, Cassiel, and Ophelia alone. Ophelia turned to Adrian and Saralyn.
"Get yourself comfortable. We have a lot to discuss."
Chapter 20b: Outmatched
Several hours earlier
Kovalt felt his hand throbbing. He drew his sword and pointed it at Raniel threateningly. Raniel seemed completely unfazed, looking the sword up and down.
"Hm. Custom made. How much did it cost you? Did you even pay for it? Or did you steal from the lower class to buy it, like so many Order nobles like doing?" Raniel grinned.
"Shut up. The Order isn't like that. They are good people!"
"I thought they were good people too. Until the hero that the Chief God assigned me to let one too many victories get to his head and became a complete scumbag. That experience really opened my eyes to the amount of rot that exists in the Order."
"Like you're any better!"
"Do you know what I did to him, Kovalt? I pushed him off a cliff. I broke free of my chains. You could've broken free from your chains too if you just realized how terrible the people you serve are."
"Shut up. Just shut the fuck up…" Kovalt shook his head.
"You know I'm right." Raniel taunted.
"Enough!" Kovalt lashed out with his sword at the smug looking valkyrie. His swing had less power than if he was wielding it with two arms, but it was still powerful enough to do a considerable amount of damage if he landed the hit.
Raniel parried the attack, an unimpressed look on her face. She slowly returned her blade to her original position when she could've easily continued the offensive. Chuckling, she put one hand behind her back, mocking Kovalt's disadvantage. Kovalt leapt backwards to catch his breath. He knew his odds of winning were slim to none, unless he could use both of his hands. He looked up. Raniel appeared to be studying him, circling him. Keeping his eyes on the rogue valkyrie, he began uttering a spell to heal his hands.
"Oh, Chief God-"
In the blink of an eye Raniel had closed the gap between them. A fist slammed into his head, sending him to the ground. He got up as quickly as his body allowed him to, his vision unfocused and shaky. A blur of white and yellow appeared in his peripherals. Blindly swinging at the bright colors, he found that they had reappeared to his left. When he tried to attack again, they were once again to his right.
"You're one of those freaks that the Order keeps pumping out nowadays, aren't you? A gray incubus, or whatever they're called. Fat lot of good that power is doing you right now. And Ophelia thinks you were one of the Order's best?" Raniel laughed. "If you're the
'best', I wonder just how incompetent were your allies?"
As soon as his vision focused, Kovalt felt a hard kick to the gut, staggering him and nearly sending him to the ground again. He coughed, sending specks of red onto the ground. Another kick to one of his legs sent him to the ground once more. His sword slipped out of his hands at slid across the ground a few feet away. Kovalt crawled on his stomach to retrieve his weapon, only for Raniel to walk past him. She stopped behind his weapon, smiling down at the man struggling to re-arm himself.
"Come on. Go get it, lapdog. It's right here."
As Kovalt was about to grab the sword, he felt a boot come down hard on his good hand. An unpleasant crunch came from his hand. Kovalt bit his tongue to stop himself from screaming out. He tried to turn his head upwards to look at his tormentor only for another fist to collide with his face. Something warm began running down his nose.
Raniel bent down. "You're not worth getting my sword dirty over. I'm just going to beat you to death." Laughing once again, she pummeled his head with another fist. And another. And another. And another. Kovalt felt his consciousness fading as the blows began to numb his body.
Well. This is it then. Beaten to death by a being that's supposed to be working for the Chief God, not against her. What an ironic way for a hero to die… Kovalt thought to himself as his vision went dark.
See you on the other side Catalina, and Kari… Whenever you're ready to join me…
Raniel stared at the man, half-disappointed and half-satisfied. She had expected more from someone who was supposedly the greatest the Order had to offer. Shaking her head, she pulled out her knife. "One less hero for Aperia to deal with, I suppose." She prepared to bring it down on Kovalt Marshall and finish him off once and for all.
"Stop." A stern, female voice came from behind her.
Raniel looked over and saw two people looking at her with disturbed and saddened expressions on their faces. The first one was an apsara; a scantily dressed elemental with silvery-blue hair and tan skin. Clouds of strange white liquid surrounded her body, swirling around her like a hurricane. The second one was an houri, clad in pink, revealing clothing characteristic of an angel of Eros. Staring past Raniel, the houri shook her head and sighed, upset at the sight of the man bloody and beaten on the ground.
"What do you think you're doing?" The apsara asked Raniel.
"Carrying out an intruder's punishment. Why do you care, huh?" Raniel spat back at her fellow angels. "This man is a threat to Aerokon."
"Your Matriarch states that threats are meant to be dealt with quickly and efficiently. Toying with an enemy's life and beating him to near death with your bare fists is hardly quick or efficient." The houri repudiated. "Aren't valkyries supposed to be valorous and noble of spirit? What has happened to you for you to act like this?"
"I have many, many grievances towards the Order and the idiots who follow them." Raniel explained impatiently. She waved her knife towards Kovalt. "This man murdered two of our own and committed arson. Surely, Eros wouldn't forgive him. Right?!"
"As violent and uncontrollable as Valerie described him… Poor cupid." The apsara whispered.
"Let us deal with him." The houri fearlessly ordered Raniel, despite being almost half the valkyrie's height and being unarmed. "We shall give him a second chance. His wife described him as being very, very troubled. I don't sense any malice in his soul… Just turmoil and anger."
"Yes. It's not too late for him." The apsara added on to the houri's argument.
Raniel shook her head. She didn't feel like fighting with angels of Eros. Just like the Order, Aperia had forbidden any acts of violence towards servants of Eros. And besides, it was a win for Aperia even if Kovalt was taken by angels of Eros because it likely meant he would never be working for the Order ever again.
"Fine. I just want to let you know that man doesn't deserve a second chance. He deserves to be put six feet under if you ask me." Raniel tried to change the merciful angels' minds.
"Noted." The apsara offhandedly remarked. She floated past Raniel and picked up Kovalt's body. Putting a hand to his heart, she let out a sigh of relief. "He's still alive. I was worried that it was too late for him." Both turned around and began walking away, leaving Raniel to glare at their backs. The apsara turned around and glared right back.
"Kane. I don't understand why we're going through this complicated process for him," The apsara pointed at the unconscious hero. "Why can't we just have a cupid shoot him with their bow? It would surely save us a lot of time."
"Love doesn't always have to come from being shot with a magic arrow. It's more satisfying when you get two people to come together naturally." The houri rebutted. "I understand he's rejected his wife's advances multiple times, but I believe this process is what's best for him."
"Whatever you say… I say we're wasting our precious time."
The two monsters reached a small church, adorned with the colors of Eros. They entered, waving to the few churchgoers that were visiting at that hour. They carried Kovalt to a small room with a bed in it and layed him down. The houri clasped her hands together and began praying for Eros to heal the man's injuries. Slowly but surely, the man's injuries began to heal, his bruises from the violent beating disappearing. Eventually, he was completely healed. Kovalt still remained unconscious. His breathing was irregular and disturbed, and his eyes twitched behind their sockets. The apsara sat down beside him, putting a hand on his forehead.
"Let's see if this process of yours works."
Kovalt awoke to a blindingly bright light. He instinctively shielded his eyes with hands, wincing. Looking at his arms and the rest of his body and realized he had been completely healed. Sighing in relief, he got up and realized he was back in his bedroom. In Monoghon. Was everything that happened recently just a horrible, realistic nightmare? He thought to himself. It was a stupid theory, but it was the only explanation he could think of for what was going on. He got out of bed and left his bedroom.
"Kari? Catalina? Are you here?" The house remained silent. In fact, Monoghon was completely silent. He usually woke up to the sounds of people going to work. He walked over to a window and opened the curtains. Monoghon's streets were entirely empty. Turning away, Kovalt searched the rest of the house. Not a single soul. Walking down to the basement, he shuddered as he saw the panic room. The last time he had been with Kari.
He headed back upstairs and to the kitchen, only to see two people sitting at his dinner table. An houri and an apsara. Instinctively, he reached for his sword only to realize that he was unarmed.
"Who are you? Why are you at my house? What is going on?!" He yelled at the intruders. He pointed outside. "Is this your doing?"
"Eros has sent us to help your poor, troubled soul." The apsara spoke with a forced tone of kindness and hospitality.
"Yes. You might've rejected our help before but soon you'll come to understand that we just want the best for you." The houri reassured him. "And yes, I guess you could say this was our doing. This is a-"
"I don't want your help. I'm done with Catalina. You hear me? It's over between me and her. Didn't your cupid tell you this? Don't you listen to what your friends say?!" Kovalt ranted.
"-a re-imagining of your home. We thought a more familiar environment would make you more comfortable." The houri continued, unfazed by the man's outburst.
"You're as tenacious and irritable as Valerie described you." The apsara remarked with a groan. The houri shot her a disapproving look to shut her up and continued talking.
"You can consider this a therapy session of sorts. Yes, you're dreaming. Yes, you're alive. We saved you before that valkyrie could beat you to death, but as payment you're going to have to cooperate with us. Your wife and child miss you dearly, and you've denied their advances multiple times already."
"They're monsters. They were turned into monsters, just because some werewolves needed to amuse themselves!"
"So just because they are monsters, they do not deserve to be loved? Yes, they didn't exactly want what happened to them, but they are still human, in a way. Your wife even resisted the urge to just pounce on you and claim you like any other freshly monsterized woman would. We have even talked to your daughter; She misses you dearly and wants you to come home. So, tell me, do they deserve love?" The houri asked.
"…Yes." Kovalt answered after considering the question for a second.
"So why have you not sought her out? You are her husband. She loves you, and you should be returning that love, not running farther and farther away." The houri asked, confused at his response.
"Because I can't love Catalina anymore. She should find someone else that does."
"That isn't how monsters work. You've had sex with her while she was a human. You two have a daughter. She isn't going to find anyone else. She wants you, and nobody else. You can't change that." The houri explained. "Anyways. Let us introduce ourselves. My name is Kane, and this is Natya." Both Kane and Natya gave Kovalt a friendly wave. The man did not return the act of kindness.
"We're going to be helping you adjust to having a mamono as your wife." Both spoke with complete confidence. "And the way you act right now? You've shown us that you've got a long way to go."