The Fallen and The Corrupted

The Fallen and The

Corrupted

"I know it's a lot to lay on someone, especially since this is my

first time meeting you, but if you say yes, I give you my word that I will

personally protect you from anyone and everything out there." His eyes

were on me, his whole demeanor had changed and was serious but there was a

small glimpse of hope in his eyes for me to say yes.

"No." I replied shocked at myself. As much as I would love to

spend more time with Crow and to finally escape New Haven, I couldn't just up

and run. What about the ones that looked over me? My responsibilities? There is

no way in hell that The Guardians would allow us to go missing. They would

swarm and find us by night fall.

As if reading my thoughts Crow spoke.

"I completely understand. But do know it is only a matter of time

before they come for you. Without proper training, you are as good as dead. I

would really hate to see that happen." There was a long silence between

the both of us for a while. A few clouds passed by the full moon, as fireflies

danced surrounding us with their silent and elegant glow against the warm fire

embers. Trees swayed in the night's breeze making the slightest whistling

sound, I caught a shiver. It would have been such an aesthetic scenery but

under different circumstances…I felt heavy, and I know he felt it more from the

sheer disappointment I just laid on him. I mean what am I to say? YES? I didn't

know what this path would lead me to, I didn't know Crow all that well, I mean

other than the small bits of information we shared with each other, I had no

idea who this man was or what all secrets he kept. What dangers that could come

out from around the corner…not going to lie, the idea excited me. Action! for

the first time ever, I thirst for it, crave it even, but I couldn't just run

away, I'm defenseless against a wild rabbit let alone a member of The Undivine.

"I mean the sound of adventure sounds amazing don't get me wrong,

but I can't just up and leave my responsibilities like that." I twirled my

thumbs together thinking of what I should do.

"Mel, the world is at stake. I'm sure saving ENIX would be a pretty

decent excuse to get out of chores." He chuckled softly.

 "Can I at-least take a few

days to think about it?" I didn't dare to look at him, if I did, I felt

like his eyes alone would make up my decision for me. Run away with a guy I

just met to save the world? As of a few hours ago my biggest problem was

getting back before morning count, not saving ENIX. He brushed my hair softly

around my ear, his eyes studying my facial expression deeply then out of nowhere,

he stood.

"Take your time, in the end it's your decision after all. I'll be

around when you have made your choice." He turned his back and expanded

his velvety black wings to their full length. They were HUGE!

"I'm sure this won't be the last time you'll see me. I must go now,

as you. Sunrise will be here before you know it. The pleasure is mine."

And with that he took one big flap of his giant wings and took off into the

night sky. the wind from his wings blowing my hair back off my shoulders as I

shield my eyes trying to pinpoint which direction he had gone but he was too

fast and had already vanished into thin air.

The journey home was longer due to the delay with the bridge situation.

It was low tide now and after hopping across at the river's thinnest point, I

traveled onwards. The stars on my back and the memory of tonight behind me. I

let out a sigh as I looked up at the night sky, gripping both straps of my

backpack. Where was he now? I thought to myself.

I had almost made it to the gate when I heard a low deep growling sound

from the bushes ahead of me.

Man! What is up with tonight?! I silently crept down low and quickly

pushed up against a tree, trying to blend into my surroundings in hopes of not

getting caught.

"Hissss! What is it?" A tall scaly snake demon stepped out of

the bushes, he was tall and lanky with long greasy olive-green hair. With him,

sniffing at the ground, was his five-foot charcoal grey dire wolf. The snake

demon scanned over the forest with his bright green eyes, looking for what had

caught his wolf's attention.

I slowly slid further out of site, praying to The Gods the monsters

wouldn't catch my scent. I quietly covered myself in dirt and grass to help

disguise myself better and hopefully throw them off my trail.

They crept closer and closer.

There was a sudden thud on the ground behind the demon lizard, catching them

both off guard and surprising me so much I jumped a bit. A triple winged

blindfolded figure arose up. A GUARDIAN! I'm saved! Wait? A GUARDIAN? Oh man!

I'm so screwed!

"You are in Guardian territory." The Guardian said sternly as

he took out his celestial sword and pointed it down towards the ground.

The snake demon let out an angry "HISSSS" baring his fangs to

their full lengths, right before The Guardian picked up his weapon, ready to

slash down on the demon.

"Any last words?" The Guardian said nonchalantly, like the

acts he was about to perform on this monster didn't matter to him at all.

The Snake Demon said something in ancient tongue and the Dire Wolf let

out a long howl, right before running back into the forest, passing right by where

I was hiding in a flash of dark grey fur. The Guardian frowned and with one

swift motion brought down his sword, slashing the demon clean in half. The

snake demon then evaporated, leaving behind nothing but hot steam. The guardian

took out a piece of cloth and cleaned his sword off before holstering back up

his weapon.

"You can come out now, Mel." He called out to me, his black

hair blowing gracefully in the wind.

I didn't move, I swallowed hard instead,

trying to keep down my uneven breaths. I had just seen this Guardian kill

someone. No chance I would step out from behind this tree …

"It's ok Mel, it's me, Alexander." He called out again.

My eyes widened. Alexander?! I haven't seen him in years! We grew up

together in the orphanage, he was two years older than me, but we always did

everything together. Well, that was before he left to join The Academy and

became a warrior of the church at the age of seventeen, but that was two years

ago, and I haven't heard from him since.

I peeped from around the tree to get a better look of him. Wow! He's

grown quite a bit. His broad shoulders held up his white robes. Gold emblems

that decorated parts of his outfit glistened in the moonlight. A triple pair of

angelic wings, now tucked at his side. His face was interrupted with that

blindfold of theirs, so seeing his eyes was definitely out of the question.

When we were growing up, they used to be deep forest green color, and the most

beautiful pair of eyes I'd ever seen. Well, that was before I met Crow. See,

his eyes were softer and more delicate than Alexander's, like a hot cup of

coffee on a cold winter's day. Alexanders were more mysterious and wilder, like

a burning fire.

I took a step from behind the tree. He locked

onto my energy field and smiled in my direction. Since they couldn't see they

used aura fields to detect where a person was standing.

"Thank The Gods you're alright." He took a step closer to me

as I took a step back, his smile dropped. With a blink of an eye, he dashed

like a flicker of lightning, now standing in front of me. He took my hand in

his.

"It's ok, I'm here now." he said calmly. I blushed, as his

warm hand took mine, bringing it up towards his mouth, stopping just short of

his lips as something caught his attention. Could he have smelt Crow on me?

He brought my hand back down, leaving it lonely at my side. He stiffened

and stood seriously.

"Come, let's get you back home." He almost sounded

disappointed.

Turning his back to me, he looked over his shoulder. "Whomever you

were with, better not have hurt you." And with that we both started again

down the trail leading us back home.

The whole walk was awkwardly silent. I haven't heard nor seen from

Alexander in two whole years and boy have he changed. I had so many questions

as I'm sure he did too, but we didn't talk. I was too afraid of what the

academy had done to him, much less what he would do to ME finding me outside

the walls at this hour.

He led us to a secret passage way that The Guardians use to get in and

out of the gate without going through the main entrance. It was narrow, dark,

and freezing in the tunnel, but we pressed on in a single file line.

"We use this way when we don't want to be seen, I'm only taking you

this way to avoid confrontation with the other Guardians." he said

sternly. A heavy weight felt like it had been on my shoulders ever since he

recused me from those demons, and I knew he was going against his code of honor

helping me back inside the walls.

"I don't want to you go outside the gates anymore. Next time you

might not be so lucky. These walls are here to help protect you from all those

MONSTERS out there." He said that with so much hatred in his voice from

those creatures that I picked up on it instantly. I stayed quiet, I was in no

way in a position to protest against him.

He was doing me a solid for not ratting me out to the others. I just

hung my head low and kept my thoughts to myself making sure I didn't trip on

some of the cracks that were in this narrow passage way.

We exited out of the tunnel on the East side of the wall. Where I lived

was towards the South, so I still had a walk ahead of me before returning to

the compounds of my bed. New Haven was so quiet in the early mornings of the

day. Most people normally got up a little later and count wouldn't be conducted

for another few hours.

Alexander had walked me all the way back to the orphanage, where we had

both grown up in, he only got out due to his training. Standing in front of the

door, he turned his head from the direction of where I was standing to where

the house was.

"They all still ask about you, you know. Do you miss them?" I

asked Alexander calmly.

"Every second of every minute of every day." He replied

without hesitation and hung his head low.

"I do this for them. All of this is for them." He turned back

to face me, and I reached up towards him, pausing, I wanted to see his eyes one

more time, but I knew it was best to keep things how they were. The kind

hearted kid I grew up with now bound by oath to serve and protect his people,

doing so meant he could never have any sort of personal life, always on guard….

always on guard.

I snuck silently back into the group home and passed by the bedrooms

occupied by the other kids. There were nine more of us at the orphanage, there were

currently six girls and four boys, all ranging from age thirteen to sixteen. Me

and Cassandra were the oldest girls there now. Our seventeenth birthdays were

coming up in a month and that meant that we would have to give up our room to

another and leave the orphanage to find work and a new place of residence,

which was the rule of staying there. To be honest I'm not looking forward of

staying in New Haven much longer. Crow's words began to replay in my head over

and over again.

"You have the stars in your eyes."

What power did my eyes hold? I shook off the thought and went to climb

into bed to get a few hours of sleep before the day for us officially started.

As the sun rose so did everyone in New Haven, I got up and got dressed,

ready for the day ahead of me. Count was conducted with no errors, and everyone

went about their normal day. My chores consisted of tending to the smaller

children, mending the gardens, feeding the animals, and cooking meals for

everyone, while the Head of the home ran errands with the church.

After my afternoon chores I sat outside in the garden by myself for a

while, contemplating on my decision at hand. The sun was warm on my face, I

closed my eyes and soaked up the rays. Cassandra walked up behind me. I called

her Casper due to her long all white hair and pure white eyes. With all those

features on a mocha skin tone, she was as Goddess like the demigods in the

stories Head Lady used to tell us when we were little. She looked like someone

who would wear nothing, but the finest clothes and that people would worship

the ground she walked on, but she's the complete opposite of that, Casper was

one of the humblest people you'd ever meet, she was really hard on herself

discipline but did enjoy a good chuckle ever now and then. She was an excellent

secret keeper, you could tell her anything and she'd try her hardest to help

you out, she was truly an amazing person.

"You were out later than usual." She came and sat beside me.

Casper was the only one I trusted in New Haven. She knew about my late

night adventures and would led me a hand whenever I was slacking on my chores.

I make it even by baking her homemade chocolate

chip cookies. She was as close to me as a sister could get even if we weren't

blood, we've always had each other's back. If I left tomorrow, she'd be the one

thing I'd take with me.

"Iiii…. met someone." I procrastinated.

"You What?!" She gasped.

"Shhhh! Keep it down! You're going to tell the whole neighborhood!"

I jumped up, placing my index finger on my lips waving her down with my other

hand.

"Ugh! That's so exciting! Tell me all about it!" She flopped

down in her all yellow dress right beside me placing both her hands in her lap.

Her smile radiating more than the sun ever could.

We spent the next few minutes getting her caught up to speed about the

recent events and my decision I would have to make with Crow, and how I got

caught by Alexander of all people on my way back home.

"Oh wow! Have you decided if you're going to go yet?" she

asked "it seems like it's very important to ENIX, but of course it's your

decision. If I were you, I'd run at the first opportunity to get away and to

see the world!" Her eyes lit up.

"But what about my responsibilities here? I can't just up and

leave." I addressed my concerns with her.

"Come, let's go to talk to the head lady. She'll know what to

do." She stood grabbing my hand and walking back to the house.

The head lady was our caretaker, she mostly sat in her office doing

paperwork if she wasn't at the church meetings. We walked up to her office door

and knocked three times.

"You can come in." An elderly voice spoke from behind the big

heavy wooden door, Casper creaked it open.

"Good afternoon, Head Lady!" We stood side by side to each

other and both bowed at the same time in the direction of our caretaker.

"What is it I can do for you two?" A small framed woman in her

seventies sat at her desk looking up from her reading glasses.

I cleared my throat.

"Head lady, I um." I started but choked from nervousness.

"We're requesting a leave to adventure outside the gates of New

Haven to help save ENIX." Casper spoke up for me.

The head lady raised an eyebrow and placed her pen down slowly on her

desk, we had her full attention now.

"I see, and what exactly are your plans for when you leave the safe

compounds of the walls?" She interlocked her fingers together and leaned

forward a bit. It was hard to read her expressions as she always had the same

one for everything.

"I…um…I'm not sure." I replied honestly.

She stood up from her desk and walked over to another room in her office

we have never seen opened, while trying to find the right key, she nodded.

"I see, well you are almost of age, and I can't stop you for going,

but if you do go." She stepped into the room and came back out. "Take

these."

In one of her hands was a golden long bow in another a silver spear. I

grabbed hold of the bow and Casper took the spear, wind rushed all round us

from the weapons. It was weird, I felt like I knew this bow. Like I've seen it

in a dream or something...it just felt like it was meant for me, the feeling

was hard to explain, but somehow, I just knew this bow was mines.

"What are these weapons, head lady?" I asked confused.

"They were your parents." Head lady replied.

Both of our eyes widened at her words, we looked at each other.

"What do you mean head lady?" I asked and the short elderly

woman let out a small sad sigh.

"These weapons were your parents. Melody, Cassandra. They both died

in battle against The Undivine Goddesses when you were both very young. We

brought you here for protection until you both were old enough to finish what

the Dark Goddesses started. We have done our best of keeping you both safe, but

now you both have heard your call to awakening, and it is up to you both to go

on this journey. Cassandra had her call a few days ago, I wanted to wait till

you both heard your call to have this talk with you both." I caught a

glimpse of Casper, her all white eyes were fully

focused on the head lady, analyzing everything she was saying.

Head lady took out a large rolled up paper from the shelf in the closet,

walked right past me and handed it to Casper.

"This is a map of ENIX, highlighted is the route I have drawn out

for you for your journey, you must make it to The Collective in OWaR before the

witches' sabbath on October 31st before both of you turn the age of

eighteen. This is when you both are most powerful as well as The Collective,

once The Undivine catch word you are no longer in protection but out in the

wild who knows what will happen. OWaR is a long journey away, so pack only the

essentials. You both have been a great help around here but don't worry about

us, I just ask for the both of you to not follow down the path of The Fallen

and The Corrupted." She told us.

"The Fallen and Corrupted? Who are they?" Casper asked.

"The Fallen are the ones that were once righteous and have turned

possessed due to the curses of the Dark Goddesses. Unless freed The Goddesses

will keep their cursed corpses until they fall into complete decay and Corrupted

and end up lost forever into Undivine's evil void. Souls forever tortured. You

will have each other to keep the other one from slipping into this curse. It

won't be an easy quest, and I wish to The Gods I could be there for you girls

but there isn't much help a little old lady like me could provide for you

girls. For that I am deeply sorry, but once you gather all of The Collective

before the witches' sabbath things will become much clearer."

Me and Casper looked at each other once more, both feeling heavy, before

Head lady spoke again.

 "Before you go to head out spend

some quality time in the armory, get a few rounds in with those weapons so you

know how to use them. I've watched the both of you grow into such beautiful

ladies, now it's time for me to send y'all on your way, take care of each

other, little ones." With that the head lady guided us both out into the

hallway, closing the door behind us, and being careful of us to not see the

tears that were in her eyes. As she shut the door, she said a silent prayer

over us as silent tears ran down her wrinkled cheeks.

"Please God, please watch over them. Protect them still. Show them

mercy, my lord please…. please."