17. The Unchosen Choice

A soldier strode quickly down the halls of the Government Tower, coming to the Adonai's office and stopping.

"A message has come!" the soldier said to the guards outside of the door, who merely nodded and stepped aside.

Inside, the Adonai stood at the window, gazing down at Talvory City below.

"What brings you to me, soldier?" the Adonai said as soon as the messenger entered the room.

"Wolfe has fallen," the soldier said, standing at attention. "And the Black Roses have passed through the Emerald Gate."

"So," the Adonai said under his breath, "you're coming for me, are you, Gilliam?" He smiled and looked at Astrid, chained in the corner, adding, "Well, you'll be too late. For I now have power beyond yours."

"That's not all!" the soldier said. "There's also another group of revolutionaries! Four young men led by an Angel are coming this way!"

"An Angel?" The Adonai raised an eyebrow. "And this Angel is working with humans?"

"It appears as such, Your Honor, as odd as it may seem."

The Adonai rubbed his thick goatee and narrowed his eyes.

"You are dismissed, soldier."

The soldier saluted and turned his eyes to Astrid. There she was, sitting and quiet, captive like a bird, chained to the corner of the vast, lavish office.

The Adonai turned to the window once more. "This was unforeseeable," he said as if speaking rhetorically to a crowd. "That Heaven would send a spy..."

Philos and the boys followed Gilliam through a small thicket until they came to a clearing. It was a vast space where the dirt looked well-trodden despite the fact that it was off of the main road. As Philos stepped through the brambles, he could see three figures on a black automobile parked in the middle of the clearing: a girl with horns and golden hair, a plain-looking young man, and....suddenly, his heart leapt.

"Vylet!" he exclaimed.

It was true! There, in the car, Vylet sat, her lavender-colored hair loosely tied up.

"Philos!" she called back as she rushed over and embraced him tightly.

Uri joined the hug. "Vylet!" 

"I thought I'd never see ya again, Vy!" Alphonso laughed.

"Same here!" Joseph said. "I was starting to miss you lecturing me."

"Vylet," Philos began, "what happened?"

Vylet's face became somber. "Well," she said, "they took us to a giant tower. They locked me up...but, well, they took Astrid somewhere else..."

"Astrid..." her name was a whisper as it left Philos' mouth.

"I don't know where she is or what they want with her, I..."

"I do." Gilliam said.

Everyone turned. Gilliam sat on the hood of the car, the black metal frosted over where he touched it. "My brother, the Adonai, is about to do something that will alter the fate of the Nameless World forever. What he plans on doing will bring about the destruction of the human race."

"Look," Philos cut in, his eyes drifting from Sir Smith to Gilliam. "I don't care about your politics. I don't care about conspiracies of world destruction." He clenched his fist, turning his eyes to his friends.

He looked at Uri, who stared back at him with expectant green eyes. He looked at Joseph, always loyal, and nodded. He looked at Alphonso, the guardian. Then, he looked at Vylet, her eyes ablaze.

"We're just here to save our friend," Philos said finally.

There was a moment of silence. Philos stared into Gilliam's eyes. They were an icy blue, piercing and desolate.

"But that's where you're wrong, Philos," he said, a wry smile curving his lips. "What you are doing—whether you desire it or not—is going to change the course of history."

"Is Astrid really that important?" Uri asked.

"Yeah," Alphonso added, "what's so special about her?"

Gilliam frowned. "The girl you call 'Astrid' is not human. What she actually is, however, I cannot say for certain."

"Well, I don't care what she is." Vylet spoke up.

"She's one of us," Joseph said.

"Right!" Philos finished. "Human or not, she's my friend."

"Be it as it may," Gilliam chuckled. "What you are about to do will have the consequences I desire."

"Then we're all happy?" Krista blurted out, then rushed over to Vylet. "Happy, Empress?" she turned to Philos. "I'm Krista! You must be..."

The voices of everyone meeting each other all faded into the background as Gilliam approached Sir Smith.

"Tell me, Sir Smith." Gilliam's voice was cold. "What is it that you want out of all this...?"

"Decisions, decisions..." the Starbreather cackled to himself. "The pieces are lining up!"

The Starbreather's red eyes lifted from the forest where Philos was and he looked onward to the city of Talvory not too far away. There, at the far side of the city, upon the seaside cliffs, the magnificent white stone edifice of the Government Tower ascended into the sky.

"Astrid, eh?" The Starbreather flipped around in the air. "Tell me, what are you really?"

He twisted around in the sky, almost gleefully, the galaxies laid upon his ethereal skin exploding into small supernovas. He stopped and threw his hands into the air.

"Well!" he exclaimed in a voice that none could hear. "I can't wait for it all to play out!"

The Starbreather looked down at Philos once more.

"Ya know, Child of Vespira," he mused, smiling. "I wonder what happens next?"

Astrid sat in the corner, the shackle around her ankle attached to a long chain that was bolted to the wall. She had tried several times when she first arrived to wiggle herself free, but it was useless.

The Adonai was gone, probably to some meeting or another; she didn't care.

All she wondered was who she was and what he wanted from her.

Her strange eyes scanned the room. Empty. It was just her in the room...

Her eyes wandered to the desk.

I wonder, she thought. Maybe her chains would reach; maybe she could...

Astrid stood and walked the extent of her shackles. She looked at the desk.

If I could just...

Surely the Adonai would have some information in his desk—maybe something that would give her insight into what he was doing, or going to do.

She moved carefully, the chains extending just out of reach of the desk.

Drat, she griped in her mind. Maybe if I...

Astrid knelt, situating her hands on the bottom leg of the desk.

Pull! With all her might, she heaved, when suddenly, a loud bang caused her to jump. Astrid felt a shiver of thrill spread through her entire body.

What is this?!

There, before her, lay a small black box. She paused for a moment, then took it into her hands. It was definitely small, and flat, made of a thin tin material.

No lock? She smirked. Bit overconfident? She thumbed the sides for an opening. A side button!

There was a click, and suddenly, a file fell out, several pages scattering upon the floor. What is this?

Astrid picked up one of the sheets and studied it. She paused. It was written in an odd language, one she'd never seen.

Why then, she thought. Why can I understand this language? Astrid narrowed her eyes. This is definitely code. Her eyes moved down the page, several words popped out.

Angelic Euthanization...

 New Kingdom of Heaven...

 Attack Plans...

She came to the bottom and stopped. It was odd, but the words at the bottom were in human script: Counteract Project Starfall.

"Troublesome wench," the voice of the Adonai boomed.

Astrid whipped around as the man caught her by the throat.

"Those were not meant for your eyes," he growled as he lifted her off of the ground.

"Y-you..." Astrid choked. "You're planning to attack the Morning Star Kingdom?!"

He dropped her to the ground.

"Not so simple," he began. "I won't just attack them." He held his chest.

Astrid remembered the tattoo of the number 4.

'The mark of my bondage,' she recalled the Adonai's words.

"You..." she said.

The Adonai's visage was grim and his voice grave. "I'm going to kill them all."