by Alice Wilde
“Bind yourself,” Mastema says, interrupting Gaia’s thoughts and pointing to a piece of furniture that looks more like a medieval stockade than something you should find inside a house.
Gaia looks up at Mastema questioningly, but his cold expression doesn’t change as he crosses his arms in front of his chest, waiting for her to obey him. Gaia turns back to the contraption and gets down on her knees, lifting the top section of the constraint up just enough to slip her head and hands through the holes. As soon as she’s done this, Mastema steps forward and clamps a lock on the device to keep her from being able to escape.
He walks around to stand in front of her, but he’s so tall and her neck is restrained so much that Gaia can’t see his face no matter how hard she tries.
"Please," Gaia says, "I swear I won't do this again, I’ll do anything you want, I promise. Please, just tell me what you want me to do and I'll do it.”
"First, I want you to stop pleading. You've brought this on yourself, and it's unbecoming to act like you didn't. Second, I want you to deal with the Michael."
"Anything! You have to tell me how… How…How someone like me can go up against Michael."
"That's not my problem now, is it?"
"But Michael is an archangel, there's absolutely no way that I can defeat him or...or outwit him. Not without help."
Mastema says nothing, but instead walks to a table that’s just within view of Gaia’s line of sight. She watches as he looks over the items lain out on top of it for a long moment before he reaches out and selects one of them.
Gaia swallows hard as light glints of a long, thin dagger.
“What do you think,” Mastema says in a faraway voice. “Would a few scars be enough of a reminder for you not to keep secrets from me again?”
Gaia doesn’t answer, her mouth too dry and her heart beating too wildly in her chest for her to think clearly.
Mastema turns slowly toward her, arching his eyebrow as if to demand an answer from her.
“I…” Gaia licks her lips before continuing, “if it pleases you, Master.”
A hint of a smile lifts the corners of Mastema’s mouth.
“If it pleases me,” he repeats in a sickeningly sweet voice that it sends Gaia’s skin crawling.
Walking slowly back to her, Mastema circles behind her and Gaia flinches as she feels the tip of the blade begin to drag against the skin of her neck. Then she yelps.
Mastema has grabbed a handful of her hair and sliced roughly through it, tossing the dark locks to the floor in front of her.
“No!” Gaia cries out before biting her tongue to stay quiet, but it’s already too late.
“No?” Mastema asks fiercely. “No?!”
With that, he grabs another handful of hair and cuts it, and then another and another until he’s cut through the length of all her thick hair.
Sweating, Mastema straightens and pulls his shirt from his body, tossing it to the side. He walks back around and crouches so his face is level with Gaia’s.
“Tears?” He asks, wiping one from her face. “You’ve grown too soft.”
Gaia doesn’t answer.
Mastema stands and releases the bonds keeping Gaia in place. Before he has time to react, she’s stood and lunged over the device straight for him. He laughs, dodging her attack with ease.
“Do you really want to test me?” Mastema asks.
“Yes,” Gaia says through gritted teeth, running a hand through her short hair. “My hair wasn’t yours to take.”
“Everything is mine to take,” Mastema growls, reading himself for another attack.
Gaia lunges at him again, but this time he lets her crash into him. They roll to the floor, Gaia striking wildly at him as Mastema remains calm and collected, which only makes her angrier.
It’s only after they’ve rolled onto the bed at the center of the room that Gaia realizes what he’s doing. Before she can respond, Mastema has flipped her over onto her stomach and pressed her face into a pillow so she can hardly breathe, let alone speak. She struggles against his hold, but freezes as he leans down to whisper in her ear.
“And now, I’m going to take what’s mine once again.”
With that, Mastema tears apart her leather pants and enters her just as quickly. The moment last barely long enough for Gaia to find her own pleasure before Mastema releases her and rolls over onto his back.
“Now that you’ve been taken care of, don’t ever challenge what’s mine again. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Good, now we need to focus on this prophecy.”
“What do you want to do about it?” Gaia asks quietly.
Mastema scoffs at her question, and then removes himself from the bed. “If I knew, we wouldn’t be where we are right now. You know how long it took to piece things together before, and that was when I thought we’d already found all the information we needed. Now, it just feels like we’re back at the beginning.”
“It may feel that way,” Gaia says. “But I think we’re better off than we were before.”
“How so?”
“Think about it, before this second part of the prophecy was uncovered, we were practically going about things half-blind. Now that we have this new knowledge, we can continue our work while keeping this in mind.”
“Perhaps, but until we figure out what it means, it’s all just nonsense.”
“If that’s the case, then why worry so much about it? We will succeed. Prophecies are not fate, they’re simply there to warn of a possible outcome, you taught me that. Besides, would you be content with your victory if it was so easily won?”
Mastema chuckles humorlessly at this.
“Perhaps not, but there’s always more to these hindrances than meets the eye. I still feel like we’re missing something important…There’s someone I need to speak to.”
“What about the girl?”
“What girl?”
“The one who found the prophecy,” Gaia says.
“Oh yes, she’s the one causing so much trouble at the academy, isn’t she?”
“That’s what I’ve heard.”
“Hmm, I’ll think of something. In the meantime, keep an eye on her. See if she can be swayed. Otherwise, you know what to do.”
“Of course, Master.”
Mastema pulls on his shirt and tucks in it, frowning at his reflection as he looks in a nearby mirror. Gaia watches him fiddle with his outfit for a few moments longer, but truth be told he could have been wearing a little yellow polka dot bikini and still looked like a god.
“Oh, and Gaia…”
“Yes?”
“Don’t ever disappoint me again, or it’ll be the last thing you do.”
Gaia watches him cross the room and unlock the door, disappearing from view as she wonders just how much longer she’ll manage to stay alive.
1
Eden
The sun has already started to rise, salty sweat stinging my open wounds, when I suddenly hear footsteps approaching.
"Please," I whimper weakly, "haven't you done enough?"
"Eden, I need you to listen to me. You're losing too much blood. I'd have you shadow walked to the clinic, but I don't think you'd survive," says Headmistress Parthenos. “You’re going to have to let go of your wings. Okay?”
I peer up through teary eyes to find myself surrounded by all five of the academic council. For the first time since I've met them, Malocchio actually looks pleased.
"Umbria, I need you to escort Eden to the clinic as quickly as possible. In the meantime, we'll figure out what to do with her wings and what in the seven levels of Hell we’re going to do once news of this gets out among the students.”
“It’s unlikely they don’t already know,” Kronos says dryly.
“Quickly, Umbria,” Parthenos urges. “Eden, I’ll come speak with you later.”
"Come with me," Umbria says in what I think is supposed to be a soothing voice as she plucks me off the ground, and I watch in
dismay as Malocchio tucks my beautiful wings under his arm.
"I guess this means we were right about her not fitting in," he snorts, his eyes flickering to meet mine one last time before Umbria kicks open a door and hurries me out of the arena.
She carries me across grounds with surprising ease, handing me over to Erinle as soon as we enter the clinic.
"What in Lucifer's name happened here?" He asks in shock as he cradles me in his arms and turns to walk down the hall.
"She had wings. They were torn off," Umbria states bluntly, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"Torn off? How…and since when has she had wings?"
"There’s no time for any of that right now," Umbria says. "Can you fix her or not?”
"Are you seriously asking me that?” Erinle says, placing me face down on a nearby gurney as gently as possible so that he can examine my open wounds more carefully. "I can stop the bleeding, where are her wings?"
“Why do you want her wings?” Umbria asks.
“I assumed she wanted to keep them,” the doctor says, barely concealing his frustration.
"You can reattach them?" I ask, my voice fading.
“Possibly, but I’d have to see them to be sure. Where are they?"
"Not here," Umbria answers.
"Then I’m afraid it's too late," Erinle says, shaking his head. "I need to patch up these wounds or she's not going to survive."
“Then what are you waiting for,” Umbria snaps.
I cry out in agony as Erinle bends over me and sets to work cleaning and sewing up the gaping holes in my back, but it’s hard to tell if the pain I’m feeling is from the tears in my skin or the brokenness of my heart.
"Is she going to be okay?" Umbria asks as the doctor straightens.
"She’ll live, if that’s what you mean,” Erinle says. “But I suppose only time will tell how she deals with the loss of her wings.”
"Fine, I'll report back to Parthenos. She’ll be back to check on her later. For now, keep Eden somewhere private. No visitors."
"Yes, dark mistress," Erinle says with disdain.
“Don’t mock me,” Umbria snaps and then vanishes from sight.
Erinle lifts me in his arms and carries me up to a small, private room on the third floor. There’s a large window overlooking the city beyond the wall. Placing me carefully down on the single bed, Erinle looks at me for a long moment before shaking his head. He turns and leaves the room, shutting and locking the door behind him.
The morning passes slowly, the quiet stillness of the hospital leaving me with nothing to distract myself from my tangled thoughts.
There’s so much I don’t understand. I know the council had warned me about letting others know that I was an angel, but why? If knowing that I was an angel enraged the Demigod Trifecta so much, why didn’t they killed me? Why tear off my wings?
I’m not unused to their cruel and over the top behavior, but this is a new low. By taking my wings, they’ve gone far beyond cruelty... They've quite literally stripped me of my identity.
And then there's Kate...
After she moved out of our dorm room, we've hardly spoken to each other. Not that I hadn't tried, but I thought I had more time. In Heaven it hadn't been unusual for Leah and I to go months, sometimes years, barely saying a word to one another. After all, what were a few months in the grand scheme of eternity?
I should have tried harder. Relationships are far more complex and important here on Earth than I'd ever imagined before today. If I'd taken the council's advice and put more effort into learning how to fit in with the others, maybe I wouldn't have failed Kate. Maybe I'd still have my wings...and perhaps Kate wouldn't have abandoned me.
This is all my fault, and I deserved to be punished.
But what am I going to do about Kate? I don't know why Nyx has taken such an interest in Kate, but it worries me. I know now that I should have done more to be a better friend to Kate, but I can't imagine that I was a worse friend to her than Nyx is sure to be...was I? Either way, one thing's for sure...I've never felt so alone or so unsure of my future as I do right now.
A key turns in the lock.
I shake the thoughts from my head, and painfully pull myself into a sitting position as best I can.
"Hello, Eden," Headmistress Parthenos says, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her. "How are you feeling?"
I'm not sure how to answer this question and look away from her in an effort to think of an honest reply.
"Never mind," Parthenos says hastily. "That was insensitive of me. I'm here to discuss some things with you, do you feel up to the task?"
"Yes, I think so."
"Very well," she says, taking a seat by my bed. "I need you to tell me what happened in the arena. How did you lose your wings?"
My heartbeat quickens as memories of the horrifying experience flash through my mind.
"I was pushed from the top of the obelisk," I say, my voice dry and tight. "There was nothing I could do to stop my wings from unfurling to save my fall."
"Who pushed you?"
"Nyx," I say, after a moment of hesitation.
Headmistress Parthenos frowns at this and then motions for me to continue.
"Then...I landed and..."
My voice wavers and I choke back tears as the scene replays in my mind.
"Take your time," she says reaching out to squeeze my hand gently. "What was done to you is abhorrent, and I intend to do everything in my power to fix this. But I must know the details."
"It was the Demigod Trifecta," I finally manage to whisper.
"The Demigod Trifecta?"
"Yes," I say, clenching a fistful of bedding in an effort to ground my nerves. "Thorne, Fenn, and Rhys. They tore off my wings."
A small gasp escapes Headmistress Parthenos' lips, but she quickly regains her composure.
"Thank you, Eden. I know this was hard for you to talk about, but it was necessary," she says, getting up from her chair and turning to walk to the door.
"What's going to happen to them?"
She comes to a standstill and then gradually turns to look back at me, "I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"Rules get a bit...complicated when it comes to those boys. I wish I had time to explain things to you, but I need to speak with the council. I'll send Umbria back here tomorrow, in the meantime, get some rest."
Before I can say another word, Parthenos disappears through the door. Leaving me alone, and with an even greater number of questions than before. Exhaustion gradually overtakes me, and I drift off into a fitful slumber.
I wake to the uncomfortable sensation of someone watching me, and bolt upright in bed the sudden movement sending waves of pain through my body. Umbria is sitting in the chair next to me, her fingertips pressed together and covering the lower half of her face as she stares intently over them at me.
"Finally," Umbria sighs in relief, leaning back in her seat. "I've been trying to get you to wake up for what feels like an eternity."
"By staring at me?"
"Usually works," she says with a shrug, tipping her chair backwards so it’s balancing on only two legs. "It's not my fault you have trust issues."
"I don't have trust issues," I say.
"Um, yes, you do. Who else would let me stare at them for over an hour while they continued to sleep?"
I look at her in confusion for a long moment before I realize what she means.
"You think I'm too trusting?" I ask hesitantly.
"Exactly. You've got to remember you're not in Heaven anymore. Trust is a dangerous thing to give away down here."
“I thought trust was a good thing.”
Umbria exhales deeply and shifts forward in her seat so the chair slams back down on all fours.
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you,” she says. “Trust is a good thing, and that’s the problem. If you’re ever going to survive the academy, or the world for that matter, you’re going to have to chang
e the way you look at things. You’ve got to become more like everyone else.”
“But I don’t want to be more like them,” I say, shaking my head. “There has to be another way to live alongside them, I just have to find out why they’re treating me this way.”
“And I’m trying to tell you why,” Umbria groans. “Eden, purity doesn’t work here. As long as you exist, someone’s always going to be out to get you.”
“But why…why is it such a bad thing that I'm angel? What have I done to deserve the way the others are treating me?”
Umbria closes her eyes, pressing her fingertips into the space between her brows and sighs deeply.
“You’ve done nothing wrong... and that’s why you shouldn’t even be here. All you are is a reminder of a life none of us can never hope to attain. Having someone like you around is like shining a spotlight on all of our shortcomings as Fallen creatures.”
I don’t know what to say in response to this. I’d never meant to make the others feel disgraced, but I still can’t understand why they would feel that way about me. It’s not as if I’m the only one who tries to do the right thing…and besides, wasn't I technically one of the Fallen now, too?
I grimace in pain as I shift in place, my back rubbing against the pillow propping me up in bed.
“You’re still in pain?”
“Yes.” As soon as the words leave my mouth, I realize weight of their meaning. At this point, even if the injuries haven’t fully healed, I shouldn’t be in pain anymore. “What’s happening to me?”
“I could be wrong, but it's possible your healing powers are diminishing further now that you've been stripped of your wings,” Umbria says. “Look, Eden. I’m not saying you have to become the Queen of Hell, but at least try to be… I don’t know, a little less heavenly? If only for the sake of staying alive.”
"I'll try," I say after a long pause.
"Try harder this time, will you? I'd rather not have to go through the paperwork for a dead angel...and I quite like you," Umbria finishes giving me a small grin. "At least you'll have a while to practice soon.”
“Why?”
“It’s only about two weeks until Good Friday. All of the students will be leaving the grounds between now and then to head home for end of year break.”
