DEAREST

PART 6: SECRET HEART, Ch. 1

1

Luciana

For a moment, I can't process the images in front of me.

The last thing I see from Odette is that she's struggling to come back, kicking and beating my father in order to free herself from his grasp, but she doesn't make it.

You can't even hear her scream as she falls, or the sound of her body ripping the wind apart. Only the sound of endless waves, raging in the distance.

But, I can't contain that much.

The image has agitated my stomach, and I can feel this armor and this weapon too heavy for me. I can't even hear the sound of her body hitting the water surface.

«You won't follow me here» that's something she could have said.

I tremble with rage at the thought of these words.

What does she know? I want to go there. I'll go there. My anger is a button that has just been pressed.

"Why... why do you hate me so much?!" I shout to my father, standing on the edge of the crystal precipice.

I ask this again and again. Sometimes the voice does not come out, it's a simple sharp gasp, but I think the idea has been made.

He just laughs in response. His laugh is grotesque and self-satisfied. That is exactly what he wants. To see me like that. Desperate and miserable.

My eyes go from my father, enjoying his moment, to this other demon on the pedestal, the Astrologer. I've dealt with this bastard before. His eyes manage to look innocent, despite of his horrific crow-like appearance, with his dark wings folded, his long yellow nails and stupid face. His eyes even shine while looking at me with deep adoration from their low angle.

This is when I get a curious explosion of inspiration. It hits me like a fresh air pump, and I can barely control myself. He'll think I'm becoming hysterical if I don't act cautiously.

If I throw the Lightning Scepter away, there's little chance I can recover it. So I kneel next to it, and I look at the glass ceiling. I can see the languid angels flying over the castle, looking almost like a holographic image from this distance. Their faces are pale, and their features are unusually childish. Straight white hair, grayish skin, elongated eyes, turned up with an empty expression on them, small swollen lips and practically a nose of a button.

The way they move, must be because of everything that has been happening in this dimension, becoming obsolete little by little, like a star about to explode and turn into nothing.

"I suppose... you've proven your loyalty enough."

I look down at the astrologer, who gives me an expression of anticipation, eyes wide open, staring at me. To make myself more believable, I smile at him with the greatest kindness I can muster, but I feel my heavy lips and my sad and tired smile.

"Angel...?"

Odette has told me everything she knows and remembers about what she has read about the dimension. Like her predecessor's diary, Juna, for example.

"It could've been... a manipulation," I say to the Astrologer, referring to what I think is this demon's deception, that Odette somehow manipulated me so that I'd stay with her, because, apparently, I'm the strongest angel in the legion. "And I suppose you must have gone through a lot in order to find me, isn't that right? I'm glad we can meet. You never stopped thinking that I was her, Rosier."

Her lips spread in a big benevolent smile. And I feel like I'm showing a candy to a child.

Suddenly, I begin to feel a burning in the back, at the height of the shoulder blades.

"Huh?"

I turn my face towards my back. From the back of my armor, I can see a pair of white wings grow through the steel, a little larger than the wings of the angels that fly over the castle. As soon as they stop growing and are complete, the burning disappears, and the wings are spread wide open.

When I turn to the Astrologer, I can see that he has his palm with the symbol raised towards me. Is this his doing?

When the wings finish growing, the Astrologer, trembling slightly, lowers his hand, and then his head. He reveals with a low tone, full of remorse:

"I have made a terrible mistake. I have caused your death. I didn't know... I didn't know that my machinations would affect you, my angel. But they did it. I learned in the worst way, how everything in the universe is connected. I kept silent about the invasion of the Dark Force, when I saw it clearly in the stars. If I had revealed it, you wouldn't have died. I hope... I hope this can help calm your pain."

Is he trying to say that the previous war could have been avoided? I can vaguely distinguish that this revelation is something that would call Odette's attention. But she isn't here.

"You don't have to kill that woman, you know?" I answer. "I was... using her to get to this place."

As soon as I say this, my father turns to me, and now he seems interested. He looks at me intently.

I'm answering two simple questions: how did I get there, to the castle, and why did I do it? They can understand my reasoning in this way.

I stand up again, looking for a way to get my wings moving, but it takes me a few seconds to catch up. I try moving my back in circular movements, then I stretch my arms back, but I can't get them to move until I come up with the most practical instruction: to think about flying.

First of all, they flutter awkwardly, but I quickly understand how they work. I'm on the glass floor in a very short time, trying to buy time to distract my father and the Astrologer.

"Astrologer," I announce with firm voice. "I want to forgive you. But I have a condition." When I hear myself say this, I see that his eyes shine with great illusion. "There is a form of terror that I would like to see. But I like to hunt my prey myself. Somehow, that attachment amuses me."

For a moment, the Astrologer is so aware of my new wings that he doesn't seem to process my words.

"What...? Oh! I see!"

The Astrologer, who seemed to fear not being able to understand me, now lets out a relieved and clumsy laugh.

"You want to punish her yourself! Very well! I see, a millennium has passed and your particular tastes haven't changed, my angel... although I'm afraid... you may have made some mistakes... but, now you're here, and I'll guide you. I will not make any mistakes from now on. The Astrologer will make all your dreams come true! We will turn this into the most horrible torture chamber the universe has ever known!"

"For now," I say, as I fly to the edge of the dimension and point a finger at my father, "keep him occupied, for me. I would like to torture him too."

I barely have time to look at my father, and the Astrologer materializes a tall, narrow cage that falls on my father, keeping him locked up.

For some reason, I stop at the image of my imprisoned father. Our eyes meet, and his are filled with terror. He seems to be asking for help, but at the same time I know it would be horrible for him to ask for help from someone he hates so much. Even though he doesn't look anything like my father, there is a sense of anguish inside me when I look at him. But I don't want to give him the wrong impression. He, locked in that cage, is a very familiar image. But, even so, I don't think I'm ready to kill him.