(Author's Note: I modified the previous posts slightly as I was reworking this story. Not much changed, just minor details and added imagery.)
A handsome man sits atop a throne adorned with beautiful black wings of an angel, he commands a presence in the room that demands respect and those who sit at the conference table know it. Aside from the angel at the head of the table, a young man and woman with identical appearances sit closest to him on his left, while a giant sits on his right. Beyond them is a tree and a dragon on either side both seemingly content to wait for as long as possible. Far in the back is an older gentleman, clearly irritated to no end. Recognizing the impatience of the gentlemen seated there, the fallen angel begins the meeting so as to quell his rage for the time being.
“Now, then.” He begins. “How far along are we in my plan?”
The giant who, even seated, is two heads taller than anyone present speaks first, “My liege, I assure you it is progressing smoothly.”
The young adult female seated across from him scoffs. “Not like keeping those pests alive will do you any good.”
The giant turns furious at her statement. “My job, fair maiden, is to create beasts that rival those of the angels. Something like that takes more resources than your petty hoard of treasure will ever amount to.”
“Well excuse me for being honest, I just believe that those maggots deserve to pay for the crimes they have committed.”
The man with the identical appearance to the woman butts in. “My dear sweet sister Inanna, while it might be true that humans have caused us nothing but suffering, surely you understand that we have need of them for our plans?”
Inanna backs off slightly at her brother's remark, “Fine, just know that I will deliver my wrath to humans one day. It’s not like I care for them or anything.”
The dragon chuckles at this banter. “You let your true feelings show far too easily. It might one day lead to your demise.” He speaks to both parties and takes a sip from the cup of tea prepared for him.
“Well aren’t you just a fount of wisdom. What have you and this mute tree done?”
“This tree, young lady, is my esteemed patron. We are beings cut from the same cloth, both united in death and living in harmony with those who hold it in high regard.” He turns to the fallen angel. “I do wish to inform you that I recently have had some… unfortunate visitors.”
The angel raises an eyebrow. “What do you mean by unfortunate?”
The dragon gestures to the tree, “It would seem that they ended up providing a snack for our mutual friend here. It might further its goal, but I fear that it might hasten the revival of Yggdrasil too soon.”
He dismisses the serpent with a wave of his hand. “No matter, it isn’t something I haven’t already accounted for.”
He nods, “I appreciate your understanding.”
The older man grunts, “Why must I be seated at a table with greedy gluttons and pompous inhuman creatures.”
The dragon roars, “How dare you! If I had half a mind, I would have already roasted you alive had our gracious leader not saved you from your perpetual stasis.”
The man sighed, “What’s the point of even meeting here? It’s clear what we need to do, we should strike first. For that matter, where is the other member that’s supposed to be here?!” His anger clear to all who heard that last word.
The angel raises his hand to calm the man, “Patience my friend, we must be overly cautious with this plan or we might fail long before we ever succeed. As for the last member, she’s on a mission of utmost importance. I apologize for her not being here, but please understand that it can’t be helped if she’s still in the middle of the task I assigned to her.” The man grunted his agreement and visibly relaxed as the angel went on. “Let us get back to the agenda at hand, shall we?”
Yumeko awoke with a start, the dream she just had still fresh on her mind. Innumerable unanswerable questions floated through her mind, all pertaining to the stunningly beautiful, black winged angel who was central to her dream. She wanted desperately to ask the spirit who had taken residence in her body, but she could tell that Maya was resting and wouldn’t be easily disturbed. Having nothing better to do, she opened the curtain of the window atop the bunk of the room she shared with her sister. The moon looked particularly pretty tonight with it’s full image beaming down on her, it almost made her worries go away. It wasn’t the first time she’d had a dream like that and with the world in the state it was currently in, Yumeko couldn’t help but wonder if the two were related.
A stirring beneath her caused Yumeko to shift her attention to her adorable little sister. Her beautiful red hair shimmered in the moonlight like a warm fire. Yumeko thought of it as a symbol of her sister’s love and fiery tendencies all wrapped into one. Kurenai had uncovered herself in her sleep, still soundly unaware of her sister’s affectionate gaze or the cold breeze that blew through the house. Yumeko’s eyes lingered on her sister, finding it amusing how disheveled she could be despite how proper she tried to be. She could finally start to feel the tension from the dream she had slowly fade away. However, before she could look fully relax, Yumeko noticed something out of the corner of her eye and it horrified her.
“Onee-chan, I can’t do that.” Kurenai mumbled in her sleep as she waved her arms around showing a clear distinction of an amulet on her wrist.
Yumeko nearly threw up on the spot in fear, she knew what that amulet meant and it terrified her. Yumeko tried to calm her breathing to prevent herself from breaking down, but it proved too hard for her to handle. With her whole body still shaking in fear, she climbed down the top bunk of the bed and shook Kurenai awake. She prayed that Maya might be able to help, though she knew that there was not much time if the tidbits of information she had heard were true. Her prayers and shakes grew more aggressive as neither of her cherished family responded to her. Tears started to pour down her face as she began to succumb to her fear.
A groan finally escaped Kurenai’s lips as her eyes fluttered open. “Onee-chan…?” Came the slow response to her sister’s tears. “Onee-chan, what’s wrong?!” She said as she finally woke up.
“They,hic, are going to, hic, take you away.” Was all Yumeko could get out in between breaths.
Kurenai still haven’t fully grasped the situation stared blankly at her sister at a loss for how to comfort her. Yumeko noticed her confusion and merely pointed at her wrist. That’s when Kurenai realized what was going on.
Sticking her chest out as proudly as she could, Kurenai exuded the confidence she believed she had. “Don’t worry onee-chan, I’ll be back before you know it. I promised Martin I’d protect you and I don’t plan on stopping now.” A realization dawned on her as she spoke of their older brother. “Oh, I know.” She pounded a fist into her palm. “I’ll go find our brother and bring him back home.”
Yumeko giggled at that comment, her tears drying up. “Are you going to fight him?”
“You know it.” Kurenai smiled. “I’ll beat him up and drag him back here.”
Her sister burst out laughing. “I don’t think you’ve ever bested him once.”
Kurenai blushed in embarrassment. “S-so? You never know if I can or not. I bet I’m even stronger than him now that I’ve been training more than he has.”
“How do you know he wasn’t training while he was traveling?”
“Uh…? Because I just do?”
Yumeko giggled briefly as her own face turned solemn. “But you still have to go right?”
Kurenai thought to herself for a moment. “You know what, I bet if I go to that stupid tower right now and punch it, it will remove the dumb amulet it placed on me. In fact, I think I should go do that right now.”
Yumeko couldn’t help but smile, she knew that her sister didn’t really believe that this would work, she just didn’t want to see her sibling cry. Seeing that resolve in her, Yumeko decided that she would be alright on her own and decided to see her off with a smile, knowing full well she’d bawl her eyes out tomorrow. Looking out at the moon one more time, Yumeko prayed to whatever god would hear her that everything would turn out alright. Content that something might come of it, she set about to help her sister leave before the local authorities could do anything to harm her cute little sister.
