Angel Sanctuary Fan Fiction ❯ Imperfect Sky ❯ Spinning ( Chapter 10 )

 

Soft, moist lips against his own... arms 'round his neck pulling him into a warm embrace... something hard transferred from one mouth to the other, sugary coating touching the tip of his tongue - taste like betrayal...

 

Katan, hidden in the shadow of an old tree, shuddered involuntarily. He mustn't dwell on such things, he chided himself. He must think... must make plans...

 

Not that there was really much to plan. The less thought put in to it, the better, just as long as he got it over with quick. He already felt as if he was in mourning for him - that carefree, reckless youth who life had been turned upside down through no fault of his own... nothing so terrible as to deserve this much punishment, anyway... Perhaps he recognized him as one of his own, a fellow angel, even in that impure mortal shell?

 

But none of that mattered, he thought firmly - for the good of the whole, Mudo Setsuna would have to die. He would wait in this place near his school until an opportunity presented itself, and would surprise him... if Mudo had no chance to react, then surely he would be safe from Alexiel...

 

He wondered grimly what Rosiel would do. He really couldn't understand what the great angel was planning at all. Obviously the ultimate objective was to destroy Alexiel - why allow her to awaken first? Doing it this way was so easy, so safe...

 

“That's right. Follow your father's orders... Because if you don't, I'll pluck your wings one feather at a time until you're dead.”

 

His mouth turned down in a grave frown. No, there was no doubt about it - Rosiel would not approve of this. He would probably be furious. He didn't quite know what the man wanted, except for him to stay out of sight and mind until he needed him again... Surely he would eventually realize how logical this was? With Alexiel gone, they could return to Heaven together at last...

 

Unless Rosiel didn't want Alexiel gone?

 

He approached this unsettling thought with caution. The relationship between those two was as mysterious to him as Rosiel's present state of mind - it existed in the murky time before his birth - but he'd always had the impression that Rosiel cared deeply for his sister, even after she had rebelled. Obviously being attacked by her had disturbed him greatly - enough to warp those feelings of love into feelings of hate? They said those were two sides of the same coin - or did he linger somewhere in between, uncertain even of what he himself wanted...?

 

All such thoughts were abruptly washed away in a wave of shock, as Katan felt a familiar aura - as familiar as his own skin - gathering power. And it was coming from just around the corner of the building - his heart sank, weighted down with dread - he abandoned his hiding spot to ascend to the roof in a split-second flurry of feathers and dashed to the edge, where he was fairly confident that he could observe without being observed.

 

It took a long moment for his stunned mind to make sense of the scene before him. He focused on Rosiel first, grinning terribly and still radiant with residual energy. Mudo was there too - and between them... red flashing sunburst... no... Mudo sunk to his knees beside his fallen best friend with a choked cry. Katan could only sigh - really, Rosiel, how much more carnage-?

 

Whum. The sound, he could swear, of molecules being ripped apart. There had not even been a second of warning...

 

The boy had three wings. In the midst of the following blast of light and sound and raw rage that made the spirits around him dance and die, Katan could see them clearly. Beautiful, just like his master's, so pure white that one who dared to look directly at them would be blinded. It really was her, Katan thought through a fuzzy sort of terror. The look of perverse joy on his lord's face did not escape him.

 

“Rosiel!” Alexiel greeted. “Didn't I tell you...? As long as you desire me, your reverse reflection, you can never have salvation. You will never be able to defeat me...”

 

As the war goddess lunged forward - as the holy sword delved deep into his master's chest - Katan couldn't help but smile, just a little. He was on the very verge of understanding... Rosiel took one step back - for a moment, the eye thought it was seeing double...

 

The inorganic angel laughed in a somewhat crazed fashion over his latest - late - puppet's dying moans. “Ha - you fell for it, big sister. Your present body has been stained with blood! You've become a murderer in this life, too! A fugitive from both Heaven and the world of the humans - at last you will feel the humiliation I endured when you sealed me in the earth for so very long...!”

 

Alexiel bared her teeth at him, but he was already gone. Was he really frightened of her, Katan wondered vaguely, or was it all for how annoyed he knew she'd be that he had escaped...?

 

And then everything was quiet. His master had gotten his wish - Alexiel was truly awakened at last - there was no turning back now...

 

Katan watched impassively as his master's twin, so fierce a moment ago, knelt beside the writhing boy and began the miraculous process of healing his soul, since it was clear that there would be no healing his body - and what on earth for? Out of the kindness of her heart? Because Setsuna's soul inside her demanded it? Ah... perhaps there was some light mixed in with her darkness, too... He turned away, suddenly tired, because it all made sense now.

 

His master didn't love her. He didn't hate her, either - he did both at once, the same way that, when you spun a coin fast enough, both sides became one. He would kiss her and kill her in the same moment - Katan had to laugh - because Rosiel was so good at that... And, he realized, no one must kill her but Rosiel himself, or the great angel would probably take the world down with him in his rage.

 

He should really return to him now - he was sure to have some kind of orders for him now, the cherub felt instinctively - but he had to take a moment to take it all in, laughing out loud at the bleeding irony. What was he to do, then? Rosiel would have his way after all. Was he just to stumble blindly after him, even when his mad obsession was causing the deaths of innocents...?

 

He sighed softly, and the sound was carried away on the copper-scented breeze. Ah... what a pointless question.

 

TBC