How Valerian became the Devil (part three)

"When the angels heard this, they laughed," he says, lowering his voice to a sullen whisper, a gruffness to his voice that I have yet to experience, that honeyed coo quickly replaced with a spine tingling anger. To drunk to be nervous, I tighten my hand on his, worry swimming in my gut.

To think that the angels- a race esteemed for their purity, their power, and so called 'fairness' would laugh at such a tragedy? It is revolting. If that was me trying to make my way to Alastor, or even Alicia- if I got laughed at, belittled for simply wanting to be united... Smoke coils around my fingers as anger proceeds to bubble at my gut like a lava pool. I would be enraged.

Under the touch of my hand, I feel his body stiffen, his fingers clench tighter against the stool. Or perhaps that is merely the reaction to the heat that boils at my fingertips, threatening to turn the glass in my hand to a sticky pile of mush.

"How could they," I hiss, fingers clenching ever further around my glass, until Valerian- being the smarter of the two of us, plucks it from my hand and places it gently on the table out of harms way. I barely even notice.

"They said she was cowardly to kill herself, and that heaven had no place for people like her," Valerian continues, his expression hardening, voice rough with emotion.

"And when she cried, when she begged to be placed with her brother in Elysium, they became cold, and told her not to insult them with such demands. They sent her to the Downside of course- and the last thing she told to them- I remember it so clearly- she cursed them all, saying that one day their kingdom would go up in flames, and that it would be her that would create their undoing. Of course, they laughed at that too. That was the minute I knew that all this greatness, fairness that the angels boasted, was nothing more than a lie."

Shuffling forwards on the couch, I lean myself closer to him, simultaneously entrapped in the story and equally repelled with disgust, revolted, horrified at the knowledge that the angels that are so revered in the Upper Realm are no less cruel than they make the Devil out to be.

"It sounds like she had the right idea. If they did that to me, I would want to bring them to ruination too."

Upon hearing this, Valerian suddenly goes silent. Then after a long, convoluted pause and a sharp intake of breath, he merely mutters:

"Indeed." And nothing more.

"But," I start again, raising my gaze as I reach back over to my cup of water, gulping down the last few sips of a water that has since turned warm with heat.

"That doesn't explain how you got cast out of hell- or why you have animal-like features," I frown, taking another sip of water, before realising with a delayed response I have once again finished my glass. Smiling, Valerian plucks the glass from out of my hands, pouring out the pitcher of water as he fills me another glass. Handing it to me, he adds:

"No it doesn't, you are right."

Taking another sip, I scoff.

"You must have done something pretty drastic to get yourself thrown out of Elysium."

Valerian chuckles to himself at my remark, a thoughtful expression tugging at the corners of his lips,

"Indeed I did. You want to know what?"

Eagerly I nod. Holding back a smug smile, Valerian leans forward on his haunches, chin resting upon his hands as he whispers in a chillingly soft murmur, a devilish tone lacing the edges of his voice:

"You see, the next day, I went to the Downside to save her."

I almost spit out my water.

"You what?"

He gives me an odd look, as though not quite expecting such a dramatic response. Nevertheless, he continues.

"After seeing how the angels treated her- how much she hurt, how desperate she was to see her brother again, I could not leave her in the Downside to rot as a mindless spirit. I stayed up all night planning a way to get her out, to reunite her with her brother. So when morning came, I packed my things and left. Back then there was only one entrance to the Downside- guarded by the angels at the highest peak of Elysium. It was notoriously difficult to get to, but with a bit of luck I managed."

Breathlessly, I lean forward, my fingers clenching around my glass so eagerly that my knuckles turn white. There is something about the story that resonates within me- something familiar in the tale, the hopelessness, feeling like you don't belong, the thrill, the adventure that draws me in like a moth to a very bright flame. I can barely keep myself contained as I whisper:

"Did you find her?"

To this Valerian smiles, ruffling the hair on the top of my head with a gentle motion before reclining back on his seat, that darkened expression vanishing. But there is something odd about the tone of his voice as he whispers:

"I did, yes."

"And?" I urge, bouncing up and down lightly on the spot, eager to hear more. Valerian's eyes twinkle, seemingly as eager as I am to recall the tale. His fingers patter on the seat beside him, lulling me into an eased submission.

"By the time I got down there- she had been transformed. Grief and sorrow had nibbled away at her heart, and the magic of the Downside- the Ether, had taken her for its host- she had become the very first demon the world had ever seen- and she was beautiful," he whispers, hand curling out into the air beside him, as though desiring to reach out and touch that vision, the girl and her beauty, and clasp it close to him. Such is the affection that drips from his words that I ponder for a moment whether he loved this woman, whether the Devil- in all his supposed heartlessness, found himself falling headfirst into love.

But before I have the time to linger any more on the matter, Valerian continues, plucking my spilling glass out of my hand once again to grab my attention. Inwardly I wonder if it is merely to get my mind off the subject of speculating his potential love.

"The Ether must have seen something in her- some potential, some power that no one else did. But I saw it too- she was radiant." He pauses to take a breath.

There it is again, I think to myself, that wonder that... infatuation. I have never seen anything quite like it, at least not in a mortal. Whoever this girl is, she must be very precious to him. I don't bother to look into why my heart sinks as I think that- probably the effects of the alcohol, it usually is.

"Undoubtedly, she was confused to see me at first, and angry too. Angry at what she had become, and grieving over her brother. She thought me to be like them- that I was like all the other angels, ruthless and cruel and mocking of her grievances." He pauses once more, laughing over a memory than I am not yet privy to.

"It took me three days to gain her trust, to prove to her that I wasn't like them. And in those short three days, the Ether had latched onto me too. My hair went from white to black, and my wings too. I had become a creature- a predator, I had a tail, my teeth were sharp, my immortal angel blood had been transformed into something greater, something monstrous, but most importantly, I had power. More power than I hoped to believe. I could do things, things that no angel could ever. I think it was at that time the woman realised I wasn't like them. No normal angel could ever be transformed by the Ether. I was something… " He pauses to mull over his words. "...special."