♱ •⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅• ♱ •⋅ Calisto ⋅• ♱
"Lucifer woke up" Zaniel spoke as soon as he entered my office and both Azrael and I stared at him at the same time.
"Did Lucifer really wake up?"
"Are you for real?"
We spoke almost in unison and the fallen with crimson hair nodded.
"A letter has just arrived from the palace of the black tower, Princess Lucifer has awakened."
I sighed, feeling relieved for the first time since I stepped foot in this damn territory.
"Finally..." Azrael said sinking on the couch "I hate all these flowers and there are flowers everywhere!"
I snitched.
Yes, Lucifer liked flowers. He likes it so much that all his territory was full of them and in all the houses he could see even on their roofs and in the streets.
Loren had loved it all, but looking at Azrael’s side - who was allergic to pollen -, it felt like real hell.
"We’re finally going home!" he said looking too happy, so happy that I almost felt guilty about destroying his happiness.
"We can’t go back... yet..." I said clearing my throat and looked away at the pile of papers on my desk.
"What? But she’s awakened!"
Azrael seemed frustrated, frustrated as a child begging for mercy after receiving an exaggerated punishment for what he had done wrong.
"By the nine circles..."
"I’m sorry, Az..."
"No..." the fallen grunted and covered his face with his forearm "I’ll die, I’ll really die if I have to stay here."
I tried not to laugh, even if it was comical - I tried not to laugh at his disgrace.
"Zaniel" I called the second fallen, the one who had white eyes without pupils or iris "how is Lucifer?"
"Sleepy as far as you noticed, but according to the priestess of Samael... the princess has awakened... well... calling for your majesty in a... not very friendly manner" he said as he measured words and sought a polite way of saying that Lucifer had cursed me from the moment he awoke until the present moment.
"She cursed you" Azrael said bluntly.
I allowed myself to let out a chuckle as I sat in the armchair of Lucifer’s office comfortably.
"Seriously new if she didn’t."
Coming from Lucifer I would not be surprised if in a few days a curse appeared to me or that I began to stumble everywhere -, but in the end, I deserved it.
I was so afraid that Asra would not recover that I forced Lucifer to heal her, even if the fall had told me and repeated that everything could go wrong if she did.
Asra was a phoenix after all and Lucifer - as much as she was heir to his powers -It did not possess the essence of one within itself and at best could end up becoming weak and debilitated for a few weeks and at worst... would be consumed by Asra and used as fuel to recover.
Still... I forced her.
"I agree, but who could judge her?" Azrael said and slid one of his hands through his hair "you were a fucking asshole when you asked for it."
"I know," I said bluntly, "but I wouldn’t let Asra die."
"And would you leave Lucifer?"
I blinked and opened my mouth to deny, but how could I? In the end, I had done just that - I had chosen Asra to Lucifer.
I cleared my throat and looked at Zaniel who was still standing in front of the door.
"Take the reports of the territory to Lucifer, let the princess know of everything and..." Azrael’s eyes were fixed on me, but I still sighed before speaking "and tell the Duchess Asra that I sent me the reports on the saint."
My words had barely come out of my mouth and a pile of papers appeared in front of me with a snap of Zaniel’s fingers.
"There they are, sir."
I blinked, absorbed and Azrael approached taking one of the leaves in hand and began to read aloud.
"Day 1, month 7 of the year 1750 B.C. 5:07 a.m. The saint had a nightmare and after screams and convulsions she blacked out. 7:57 in the morning, after not coming down for breakfast, the maids of the emerald palace took to the saint’s room a tray with toast, juices and fruit, but the saint refused to eat. 8:50 in the morning, the maids tried to help her bathe, the saint had marks on her back..."
"Enough" I said and took more of the leaves to look "Is this serious?"
"I believe so" Zaniel said staring at me with a serious expression on her face "the duchess ordered that every action of the saint be noted at her residence, both by the butler and the maids."
I blinked, not believing what I read.
Asra had written down everything from the time of the bath to the perfume that was worn by the girl.
"What is it?" Azrael seemed surprised and when I faced him looking for answers he read aloud "day 8, month 7, year 1750 B.C." his teeth were clenched "3:57 in the morning, the saint screamed in her room amid a nightmare, after the duchess calmed her both were sealed by the duchess’s powers in her room..."
"What?" My eyes widened in surprise "you must have read it wrong!"
"No..." Azrael hissed "look at the following papers."
My eyes went through the papers, but in all that followed there was the same.
"The Saint and the Duchess".
Asra was always close to the girl who took the title of saint and both ate together, slept together and even rode.
"We must return" growled.
If that thing was wandering freely around the palace, it also meant that it was free to hurt Asra if she turned off in the middle of that time together. I wouldn’t let it happen.
My hands trembled with the idea, with the memory of Asra’s body falling and the girl’s face smiling as the body of the phoenix turned pale as a corpse and the wound looked more like a black hole that sucked his entire existence.
That creature was everything - except an innocent child and Asra..., she was definitely in danger being so close to that thing.
"We can’t" Azrael grunted and stared at him perplexed, but he just pointed to the pile of papers "we still need to solve this..."
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