Author’s notes: Well, here we go again… have fun!
A few days after the near demolition of Kevin’s village saw many of the town’s folk out in the streets, hauling timber and straw and mud to and from multiple construction sites. A few of the burnt houses had been resurrected from the ashes through the efforts of the people. Jayne stood, stretching her arms over her head and wiping sweat off her brow. Beside her, mats of woven straw lay plied atop one of the towns many roofs, waiting to be placed atop the mud and wood cottages. On the street below, Kevin waved up at her, another pile of matted straw at his feet. Jayne smiled and extended her wings, fluttering down to the ground.
“Another load?” she asked. Kevin nodded.
“This one goes over the first layer once you’ve gotten it set and caked with mud. It’ll help to keep the water and elements out better,” he told her. Jayne nodded obediently, lifting the stack into her arms and flying back to the rooftop. A soft chuckle caught her attention.
“Need some help?” a voice asked. Jayne looked up to see Myrandel standing on the rooftop beside her, crystal-feathered wings closed tightly against his back. She glared at him playfully.
“You should be in bed,” she warned, gesturing towards the various bandages the angel still sported. Myrandel frowned, a frustrated expression on his face.
“If I don’t do something soon, I’m going to go insane! How long do you expect me to sit in bed for?” he ranted.
“Until those damn burns of yours are healed, or you loose your mind. I think the latter is more likely at the moment!” Kevin shouted up at them. Myrandel glared at the young psychic.
“If you weren’t one of the only reason’s I’m still alive right now, you’d be either dead or severely injured yourself!” he muttered. Jayne laughed at his frustration, earning an annoyed glare from the ruffled angel. Kevin smirked.
“Lucky me huh?” he asked. Myrandel glared at the young psychic and muttered a few colorful obscenities under his breath. Jayne laughed again.
“And I was told angels were cultured creatures,” she jibed. Myrandel crossed his arms over his chest and began muttering again, this time about pesky females.
“Poor little angel, he has no idea what to do,” Kevin quipped.
“That’s it!” Myrandel dove off the roof at the chuckling mortal, unbalancing Jayne and knocking her off the roof with him. She yelped loudly enough for Myrandel to notice and maneuver to catch her, as she wouldn’t have had time to open her own wings. He settled to the ground, glaring at Kevin who was now rolling in the dirt in hysterics.
“Clever Myrandel, wonderfully clever,” he cried. Jayne blushed slightly while Myrandel growled at the psychic.
“Will you just shut up?!” he yelled. Kevin sat up, still attempting to control his laughter and brushing tears of mirth from his eyes.
“I’ll shut up when you let her go,” he stated. Myrandel blushed brightly, echoing Jayne’s brilliant blush and jumped back swiftly, hands in the air beside him. Jayne looked down, suddenly very interested in her feet.
“Um…” she murmured, her cheeks a deep crimson.
“Sorry,” Myrandel told her, a pale pink flush decorating his own cheeks. Kevin couldn’t help but smirk at their antics. Who would have guessed? Jayne gazed shyly at Myrandel, cheeks still tinged pink.
“Um… I should get back to work,” she said quietly. She spread her wings, lifting herself back to the rooftop while Myrandel watched her, a dazed look in his eyes. Kevin sat up, a smirk still on his face.
“Interested are you?” he asked. The ruffled angel glared at him.
“Shut up,” he muttered. Kevin sighed.
“Say what you like,” he told the angel, standing and brushing off his pants. He grinned and walked off back to his work. Myrandel glanced back up at Jayne, who was working diligently on her roof. He swayed slightly on his feet, head light. The somewhat dizzy angel made his way carefully back to Kevin’s hut to rest.
A pair or angry mismatched eyes gleamed in the darkness. Regent sat on his dark throne, tattered wings curled around him. Where is she? It can’t be that difficult to get rid of one foolish angel! he thought.
“Malin!” he barked. A copper skinned demon with dark red-gold hair and violet eyes scampered to his side.
“Yes Master?” he hissed. Regent smirked, gazing at the slim, wispy creature. Malin was, in fact, a crossbreed between a demon and a shadow wraith. A dangerous mix of blood, the creature could move in the shadows as silently as a wraith and attack with a demon’s ferocity, a deadly assassin in every respect.
“My sister has been strangely delayed in a mission. Find her and report her whereabouts to me, but do not make yourself known,” Regent ordered. Malin nodded, strange, shadow-violet eyes flashing.
“As you wish Master,” he said, and faded into the darkness.
Myrandel sat on his cot, back against the wall, cobalt eyes glazed. His thoughts drifted to his vision, the fall of heaven and the young demoness who had wandered into his life. He had never thought that perhaps demons had more to them then an unending lust for blood death and destruction, but now… maybe demons were just like any other living being at birth, just raised to harm.
Jayne was so innocent, so special among her people. She still cared for life. But her situation was not easy. As the sister of the Demon Lord controlling heaven, hell and earth, she was bound to a fate of inner war. She had trusted her brother, believed he cared as she did, but now… now she knew the truth. Regent would try to find her, try to take her back, but Myrandel knew he would do all in his power to protect her.
The angel sighed, glancing out of the small, wood supported window of Kevin’s tiny cottage. The repairs were going well. He smiled as he noted Jayne, who was helping a pair of young women lift buckets of the reddish, clay-like mud to the roof-tops of the huts. Kevin himself was helping another group of villagers to resurrect an almost demolished house near the center of town. Myrandel sighed and stood. He couldn’t take sitting still any longer.
Jayne chuckled brightly, listening to the gossip of the other two women she was working with. The two young women had been a little unnerved when the young demoness had asked to help them, but had soon become accustomed to her, accepting the fact that she was sorry for what she had done and acknowledging her need to help rebuild some of what she had destroyed.
“Jayne?” one of the women asked her. The demoness looked up, her scarlet eyes meeting the other’s green ones.
“Yes?” she answered.
“Why don’t you take a break,” the woman suggested. “You’ve been working non-stop since yesterday.” Jayne shook her head.
“No, I’m fine,” she answered. The woman laughed quietly when Jayne stumbled on her feet, opening her wings to catch her balance.
“I’m sure even demons need to rest,” the woman told her, a twinkle in her eye. “Just take a short break, alright. You can come back when you’ve rested.” Jayne nodded, taking the woman’s advice, and began walking back towards Kevin’s hut. She was nearly to the door when a hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the shadows behind the cottage. She yelped, struggling, only to find a pair of fingers pressed to her lips and a two twinkling violet-blue eyes gazing down at her.
“Myrandel,” she gasped, her eyes wide. “I thought you were inside.” The angel chuckled.
“I got bored,” he answered. Jayne smiled and started to pull away. “Wait,” Myrandel asked her. She froze, scarlet eyes blinking in confusion. Myrandel pulled her back into the shadows. “I’m sorry about earlier,” he murmured. “I should have been more careful.” Jayne shook her head.
“It was nothing Myrandel. Why are you apologizing for something so small?” she asked. Myrandel shrugged, and Jayne could easily see the slight blush that was creeping across his features.
“I thought I should. I don’t want you to think I’m some kind of insensitive idiot or something,” he answered, ruffling his wings. He was nervous, she could tell easily.
“Why would I think that Myrandel? You’re the one that showed me what my idiot brother is doing. If anyone can be considered and insensitive fool, it’s him,” Jayne answered, her eyes smiling. Myrandel sighed and shrugged.
“I guess, it’s just…”
“What?” Jayne asked him. Myrandel’s blush brightened. He fidgeted with one of the feathers of his wings.
“This,” he whispered, and leaned forward. Jayne’s eyes widened to impossible proportions when his lips brushed against hers in a feather-light kiss. He pulled back; obviously afraid he had done something wrong. Jayne smiled and wrapped an arm around his neck, pulling him to her in a more passionate kiss, one that Myrandel deepened without a second thought. They broke away, gasping for air and staring into each other’s passion clouded eyes.
“That was…” Jayne couldn’t put it into words. It had felt incredible, something she had never wanted to end. She brushed her own fingertips against her lips, reveling in the lingering feeling there. She gazed up at the angel before her, her eyes deepened to a blood-like crimson. What was this feeling, this passion… and for an angel? “What? How did this…”
“I’m as clueless as you are,” Myrandel whispered, lifting her chin. “Two days ago I thought your kind were murderous heathens, and now… now I find myself falling in love with what should be my greatest enemy.” Jayne gasped at his words. Love? Was that what it was called? This feeling… she pushed away, leaning against the wall of the cottage. Her eyes were wide. What if her brother found out? What if…. She gazed up into Myrandel’s confused eyes.
“We can’t do this,” she murmured sadly, her voice tinged with regret. “If my brother finds you…”
“He won’t,” Myrandel told her, stepping closer and lifting a hand to her cheek, caressing the soft skin there. “Even if he does… that can’t stop what I feel. I’m willing to risk it.” Jayne looked up, her eyes sparkling with worry, hope and fear.
“Myrandel…” He leaned down, kissing her again, the feel of his lips lingering on hers.
“He doesn’t have to know Jayne, no one does. We can just leave here. I’ve completed my mission. Kevin can carry the prophecy from here.” Jayne’s eyes shot wide.
“Prophecy?” she asked. “What prophecy?” Myrandel sighed and explained his vision, what he had seen, and the tale of the nine coming guardians. “We can hide out until they appear,” he told her. “We can make it.” Jayne smiled, staring up at him, her eyes betraying a myriad of emotions.
“Maybe,” she murmured. “Maybe you’re right.” The two embraced, reveling in the feel of the other’s body against their own. Neither noticed the pair of smoke-violet eyes watching them closely from the darkness. The shadowed being faded into nothing, leaving the two newfound lovers to each other, and without any knowledge of what was to come…
”WHAT!” Regent shrieked. If anything could set off his tightly controlled temper, it was this. Malin knelt before his master, eyes focused on the floor.
“That is what I saw,” he answered shortly, praying he would survive his master’s wrath. Regent’s eyes were narrowed to deadly slits.
“Jayne, you’re betrayal will cost you everything. Sister or not, I do not allow those who spite me to live.” The demon lord focused his eyes on the being before him. “Get your squad ready for battle. We’re going to raze that village to the ground. That prophecy will not move beyond its borders. But make sure to keep the angel and my fool sister alive. I’ll deal with them myself. As for the others, kill them.” Malin bowed.
“Yes master.”
When Kevin returned to his cottage, well past sundown, he found precisely the LAST thing he had ever though he would see in his life. Myrandel and Jayne were asleep, on the same cot, lacking any type of clothing what so ever and cuddled closer then sardines in a can. Kevin shook his head, then blinked and rubbed his eyes, but the vision still wouldn’t go away.
“I’m hallucinating, I’m going insane, gods WHY do I have this stupid gift!” Sadly the psychic’s outburst woke one of the beings on the cot in front of him. Myrandel smirked, glancing slyly up at the confused human and wrapping his arm tighter around the demon woman at his side.
“I hate to break it to you Kevin, but you’re not hallucinating,” he stated. Kevin stared at him, then shook his head.
“You guys really didn’t….”
“What does it look like?”
“Oh god you did!” Kevin’s shoulder’s slumped in defeat. He threw his hands up in the air. “Why oh why did I have to see this coming?” he wondered aloud.
“It’s a gift,” Myrandel answered him. In his arms, Jayne moaned and cuddled closer to the source of heat. Kevin sighed, calming himself from the shock.
“This could be a problem you know,” he said. Myrandel gave him a quizzical glance.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Her brother,” Kevin stated, pointing to Jayne. Myrandel’s face dropped, his eyes taking on a hardened expression.
“I know. We’ll find a way, some how. We have to,” he murmured. Somewhere in his mind, Kevin knew the angel could tell that would never happen. It was in his eyes. There was sadness, an acceptance that this couldn’t last. But he knew from looking into those cobalt eyes that Myrandel would try his damnedest to make this work.
A sharp pain in his forehead startled Kevin and sent him staggering. Myrandel’s eyes widened.
“Kevin…” The psychic slumped against the earthen wall, his head reeling. The angel detangled himself from the sheets, hurrying over to Kevin and kneeling beside him. “What do you see?” he whispered. On the bed behind them, Myrandel could sense Jayne awakening. Kevin gasped, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as he slumped in a dead faint.
“Myrandel, what happened? What is it? Is he alright?” Jayne’s voice was shaking with panic. Myrandel sighed in response.
“A vision. I’m sure of it. Though I don’t remember any such thing hitting me this hard,” he answered. Jayne smiled softly and stood, pulling the thin blanket around her.
“You’re not human, love,” she murmured, wrapping her arms around his waist from the back. Myrandel nodded and leaned down, picking the psychic up in his arms and carrying him to the rumpled cot he and Jayne had slept in. Jayne looked on with an unreadable expression on her face.
“We’ll know what he saw when he wakes,” Myrandel murmured, covering Kevin with another blanket and reaching to the foot of the cot for his own pants. “We’ll have to wait until then. Jayne nodded. “I hope something doesn’t happen before then.”
Screams woke Kevin from his vision-induced slumber, pained shouts and frightened cries.
“Kevin! Kevin!” He could make out Myrandel’s voice and could smell something burning. He coughed.
“Myra-“
“Thank god.” A dark figure appeared at his side and he could feel strong arms lift him from the cot.
“What…”
“The village is burning. I have to get you out of here,” the angel told him.
“Grandfather…”
“I’m sorry…” He could feel Myrandel running, darting and weaving back and forth. He could feel the scalding heat around him.
“Jayne…” A pained hiss answered him.
“The prophecy’s what’s important now. Regent doesn’t know about you. You have to carry it on. You’re still weak from your vision.”
Vision? Kevin’s eyes shot wide. He jerked, staring up into the sweat-streaked, panicked face of his angelic friend. Visions darted across his vision as he remembered what he had seen. The flames around him were dying. They were flying now, soaring above the village.
They landed soon after, as Kevin still shook from his memories of that incredibly powerful premonition. Myrandel settled him among the dying foliage of some large plant. The angel turned, preparing to launch himself into the sky. A hand around his arm stopped him. Myrandel looked back, violet-blue eyes wide with shock.
“Kevin…”
“Don’t go back,” the psychic told him, his voice firm.
“I have to find Jayne. I won’t leave her,” the angel hissed.
“You’ll die. Regent knows of you Myrandel. You’ll die,” was Kevin’s response. Myrandel smiled sadly, glancing at the burning village in the distance.
“It doesn’t matter now,” he murmured, turning to the green-eyed human. Kevin’s eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen. “The prophecy has been passed on,” the angel continued. “It’s your turn now. I have to finish what I started.” And with that, the angel launched himself into the air, born by two pair of shimmering crystal wings as he flew towards the burning pyre in the distance.
A tear escaped Kevin’s eye. He knew, that moment, right then, even without his terrifyingly vivid vision. He would never see Myrandel again. The angel would die that very night.
“Regent stop it! Stop! Brother!” Jayne’s screams went unnoticed as the black-skinned demon watched on impassively. The village that had harbored his sister and that damned angel was no more, burned to the foundation. No human could have survived the inferno, no chance that the prophecy his underling had mentioned would move beyond this village. There would be no hope for human kind, no wish for freedom. Earth was his, and no one, no children of the now dead race of angels would unseat him.
Mismatched eyes glittering, Regent moved towards his sister, who was being held back by a rather large, lightly tanned demon with glittering golden eyes. Beside the large creature, watching calmly, Malin’s smoky-violet eyes were entranced by the burning village.
“You made a mistake when you crossed me, sister,” the demon lord hissed. Scarlet eyes glared back at him angrily.
“You lied to me. You said we would make this a better place, that you could lead these people to happiness. Is this your idea of joy?” Jayne growled in response. Regent’s eyes softened for a moment.
“I would have protected you from the truth, had you let me sister. I could have built you a world of dreams.”
“It would have been nothing but lies,” the scarlet-eyed woman spat. Regent’s eyes grew cold once more.
“So be it.” A great flash of ice-blue light suddenly lashed out at the small party. Regent leapt back, as did the demon holding Jayne. Malin was frozen as the beam of energy hit him.
“Master!” was his only cry as the power burned him to nothing. Regent frowned, his eye twitching.
“Is that how you treat those under you then?” a voice snarled behind him.
“So you did survive.” Regent turned, facing his angelic adversary at last. Myrandel’s face was strewn with sweat and soot, and his eyes glittered with angry fire.
“Myrandel!” Jayne yelped and snarled when the demon holding her squeezed her arm tightly. A smirk lit Regent’s face, his mismatched eyes twinkling with anticipation.
“Let Jayne go!” Myrandel shouted, causing the demon to chuckle.
“You know,” Regent said smoothly. “If you hadn’t interfered…” He stepped closer, the angel taking a nervous step back. “This village died because of you, angel.” He spat the name like a curse. “My sister could have been happily oblivious if not for you…”
“Don’t listen to him!” Myrandel’s eyes were uncertain and wild. He was obviously tired already, in Regent’s eyes from battling his way out of the flames, but Jayne knew it was from rescuing Kevin. Some how, the demon lord made it close enough to caress the angel’s cheek before Myrandel snapped, jumping back and unleashing his powers at Regent. Regent cackled madly as the power only bounced off of his shadow-shield.
“You destroyed heaven. Don’t think I’ll fall for your tricks,” the angel hissed.
“You won’t have a choice.” Power surged forward. Myrandel heard two voices cry out, one Jayne, and the other… he realized as darkness took him… was him.
When Myrandel came to, he found himself in a dark chamber, chains encircling his writs and ankles. He smiled wryly, knowing very well he wouldn’t be getting out. It all seemed funny really. A few days ago he had been comfortable in heaven living life for himself, then suddenly he was whisked away to earth, to an adventure he neither wanted nor hoped for. A chuckle escaped his lips.
He had met a young man whom he could consider a better friend than any he had ever had, he had given hope to humanity and ensured it would be carried on. And he had found the love of his life in his enemy’s demon sister. Wry, maniacal laughter broke from his chapped lips. It was funny, oh so funny.
“If I were you, I wouldn’t be laughing so much,” a pair of mismatched eyes burned into him from across the room. Myrandel just grinned, his eyes accepting his fate.
“If you were in my place, you’d find it funny as well.” The angel gave a sharp cry as dagger-sharp claws pierced his skin. Regent smirked back at him, eyes glittering with sadistic delight.
“I’m sure I would,” he answered. Myrandel winced, the pain creating a numbing fire in his brain, driving coherent thought out of his mind.
“Where’s Jayne?” he hissed between gasps.
“Alive,” Regent answered him, tracing the angel’s jaw with a dark clawed finger before cutting a shallow line down his cheek. Myrandel winced.
“I wouldn’t think a demon would show mercy, even to his own sister,” Myrandel gasped accusingly. Regent chuckled, burying his claws in the angel’s stomach. Myrandel gave a silent cry, his breath caught in his throat as the life slowly drained from him.
“Even among demons, kin-slaying is one of the greatest of crimes,” the demon lord told him, idly inspecting his claws as the angel gasped for breath. He could feel his body weakening as the blood tricked from the various cuts. He couldn’t help but breath a sigh of relief at Regent’s words. The demon chuckled once more.
“Don’t breath a sigh of relief just yet, angel,” he said with a smirk. “There are things far worse than death.”
“Don’t you dare harm her…” Regent barked a laugh at the angel’s desperate plea.
“I wouldn’t worry for her right now, with your own life hanging by such a delicate thread.”
“Bastard…” Myrandel’s voice was getting weaker.
“Don’t worry, angel. By the time I’m through with you, your screams will be beyond begging for death.” A sharp cry filled the air… and continued…
Far above that darkened room, Jayne shook, her body trembling with fear and pain and anger.
“Myrandel,” A tear fell from her scarlet eyes. She would die here. She knew that. Her brother would never let her live. No… she smiled sadly… he would never lift a hand to harm her himself… but there were so many ways… Her olive-colored hand spread over her smooth belly, scarlet-clawed hands stroking the skin lightly. Her eyes glazed over, the life dying out of them.
“I won’t let him kill me… not just yet. There’s still something to live for. But then…”
Crimson blood stained the two, demon and angel as clouded violet-blue eyes stared into mismatched blue and scarlet. A dark-clawed hand caressed the angel’s bloody cheek.
“They’ll still come, Regent…” Blood trailed from Myrandel’s lips as he gasped out those words. “You can’t stop them now. They’ll defeat you…” A cough… blood splattering on the already stained floor. Regent smirked, his eyes cold and unfeeling.
“They’ll die before they come close,” he hissed. “No child of angelic decent will survive to their tenth year.” Myrandel’s eyes creased. Could they really succeed… the nine prophesized to save them from this monster? His vision was clouding… shadows were creeping in.
“You’ll… never… win…” Regent’s gaze was unwavering as the angel took his final breath.
“You’ll see, child of heaven. No one will keep me from what is mine.”
Above them, far above, only a single tear was shed. One tear… for the passing of that angel.
A bell tolled…
Author’s note: Just the epilogue now… I killed Myrandel… I’m going to go cry now…