Evenstar (55 page)

Belial swayed as the scream found a home in her, so similar to Ladriam.
 
She sobbed as the song wound its way around her soul.
 
She scratched at her chest, trying to expunge it.
 
Helion searched for his sister, but the press of angels kept him at bay.
 
He screamed as she screamed.
 
The twins shared a soul of warped delirium and for them the universe shifted irrevocably.
 

The never ceasing choirs of angels found new notes, dissonance.
 
The song of Heaven went weird.
 
Ladriam’s scream left Heaven and tore through the universe she had created with Lucifer.
 
Her voice touched the shield of energy she had wrapped around Earth.
 
As the two forces mingled, the surface of the shield changed and shifted, recognizing the source of her suffering,
Heaven
.
 

On Earth, Berith, Andrealphus, and Paimon staggered under the sound.
 

“Lucifer,
stop
!”
 
Paimon screamed with Ladriam, repeating Lucifer’s words, “You are ruining yourself!
 
He is making you ruin
yourself
!
 
You do not hurt that which makes you feel
!”

Lucifer was shocked out of his lunacy.
 
He let Ladriam go, but the damage had been done.
 
He had broken her and the sound of her wail had broken him.
 
He fell to his knees beside her, haunted and hollow.
 
His face crumpled, and he convulsed.
 
She wept and her sobs seared his soul like branding irons.
 
The sound marked him, imprinted itself never to be forgotten.
 
He reached out to comfort her.
 

DO NOT TOUCH HER, LUCIFER, OR YOU WILL SUFFER THE SAME FATE.

Lucifer snatched back his hand and wept.
 
“This tortures me!”

SIN SEEPS INTO ALL IT IS NEAR.
 
YOU MUST PURGE YOUR SIN BY THIS ACTION.
 
YOU CANNOT BE WHOLE UNLESS YOU CAST HER ASIDE.
 
AS YOU ARE NOW, YOU ARE COVERED IN HER.
 
YOU MUST BURN SIN AWAY TO REMAIN MY PRIMANGEL.
 
ARE YOU MY PRIMANGEL?

“
Yes
,” Lucifer’s voice was a cry.

THEN THIS YOU MUST DO TO REMAIN AS SUCH.
 

Lucifer turned away from her.
 
He remembered her touch, her laughter, and dance.
 
Now she was this thing here, huddled and hurt and it was his fault.
 
Her blood congealed on his hands.
 
He had done this to the woman he loved.
 
He could not handle it.
 
“Let me leave!”

NO.
 
YOU MUST STAY.
 
LOOK AT HER, LOOK INTO HER EYES, AND MEMORIZE HER.
 
MEMORIZE ALL OF THIS, EVERY SOUND, EVERY DETAIL, SO THAT YOU MAY NEVER FORGET THE SIN.
 

Lucifer forced his eyes up.
 
He cupped her chin gently and lifted her face to his.
 
So close, he wanted to kiss her.
 
His lips twitched.
 
Her red eyes met his.
 
Through their touch, he felt her love and the pain.
 
He cried out.

DO NOT LOOK AWAY.

Ladriam shielded him from her pain.
 
“Do not cry.
 
I will be all right, Lucifer.”

NO, YOU WILL NOT.

Ladriam ignored His words.
 
“You will be strong, Morningstar.”

The throne spoke once more only for Ladriam, HE WILL BE IN AGONY FOR YOU.
 
HE WILL KNOW NOTHING BUT REGRET AND PAIN FOR THIS DEED AND HE WILL LIVE TORTURED BY IT FOR TIME WITHOUT END.

“No!”
 
Ladriam struggled towards the throne.
 
“Do not do that to him!”

HE TOOK WHAT WAS MINE.
 

“He did not know!”

Lucifer looked between them bewildered.
 
He heard nothing of their conversation.

THIS DOES NOT MATTER.
 
WITHOUT HIM, YOU WOULD BE PURE STILL.
 
HE WAS THE THING THAT MADE YOU ROTTEN, VIRULENT, USED, WHORE, BLACK, AND DARK.
 
HE CLIMBED INTO YOUR HEART AND TOOK MY PLACE.
 
HE BETRAYED ME.

“But he only lives for
you
, to be obedient to
you
!
 
He chooses you!
 
He never would have touched me if he had known!”

HIS FOOLISH AND INNOCENT NATURE DOES NOT FREE HIM FROM THE CONSEQUENCES.
 
HE IS OBEDIENT, IN THIS, YOU ARE CORRECT.
 
HE WILL CONTINUE TO BE OBEDIENT, HURTING REGARDLESS, NEVER ABLE TO SPEAK OF IT FOR FEAR OF DISOBEYING.
 
HE WILL THINK ALWAYS OF THIS MOMENT, YOU CAN BE SURE OF THIS.
 
HE WILL NEVER FORGET YOU OR WHAT HE DID TO YOU.
 
HE WILL NEVER FORGIVE HIMSELF.
 
HE WILL BE BROKEN AND NEVER HEALED.

“Then you seek to torture him for eternity!”

YES.
 

Ladriam leapt at the throne.
 
She swayed under the pain and strain but stood tall.
 
“Terrible, sick, craven thing!
 
You hurt so you seek to hurt others!”
 
She burned red and black.
 
Her halos of steel and glass reformed and spun around her wrists and ankles.
 
“I will not let you do this to him!
 
I will tear you down!”

The fire rushed from the throne and pierced Lucifer in the chest.
 
The Primangel fell to his knees in agony.
 
Ladriam watched in horror.
 
“
No
!”

STAND DOWN OR I WILL OBLITERATE HIM.
 
YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO GET TO HIM IN TIME, LADRIAM.
 
HE WILL BE DEAD BEFORE YOU CAN STRIKE AT ME.

Ladriam moaned and lost her light.
 
The fire pulled back from Lucifer.
 
She stared at the throne as Lucifer healed.
 
“You hate him now.”

YOUR SENSES HAVE ALWAYS APPEALED TO ME, LADRIAM.
 
THAT YOU CAN SENSE WHEN OTHERS CANNOT, IT IS A THING THAT AMAZES.
 
I SHOULD HAVE KEPT YOU A CHILD IN THE DARKNESS.
 
FOR MY MISTAKE, I MUST PAY BY LOSING YOU, LOSING THAT PART OF MYSELF THAT I CAN NEVER RECOVER.
 
I LOVE YOU.
 
WE ALL MUST SUFFER, MY LOVE.
 
THIS PAINS ME, AS IT WILL PAIN YOU AND HIM.
 
I FAILED ALL THREE OF US.
 

“You do not love me!
 
You do not love Lucifer.
 
You love only yourself!”

THESE ARE ONE IN THE SAME.

“No!
 
I am not you!
 
I am the Evenstar!
 
He is the Morningstar!
 
We are individuals!”

He ignored this.
 
I SHALL WATCH YOU, LADRIAM, IN YOUR PRISON.
 
I WILL LOVE YOU FROM AFAR.

Her brief burst of energy faded and agony returned.  She fell to the floor.
 
“You will not succeed in this!”

YOU CANNOT WIN.
 
YOU ARE NOT EVEN HALF OF WHAT I AM.

Paimon, Berith, and Andrealphus returned.
 
They carried keys, shackles, and pieces of metal and stone.
 
Andrealphus could not look at Ladriam.
 
“Where?”

NEXT TO THE THRONE, THE PLACE SHE SHOULD HAVE OCCUPIED.
 
LUCIFER, MAKE SURE SHE WATCHES AS IT IS BUILT.
 
LET HER SEE WHAT SHE HAS EARNED.

Lucifer held her head up as Andrealphus, Paimon, and Berith constructed her prison, another physical manifestation in Heaven.
 
She understood its purpose from its parts.
 
Her fear spiked and bled into Lucifer.
 

Lucifer shook and let her head drop.
 
He could not continue.
 
Anxious, Michael came forward to help him.

MICHAEL, GET BACK.
 
FURCAS, COME.
 
YOUR FIRST TASK AS ARCHANGEL.

Furcas walked up the steps past Michael.
 
He put an arm around Lucifer and helped him sit up.
 
He stared at Ladriam in horror.
 
He experienced Lucifer’s pain as if it were his own.
 
Lucifer could not raise his hands.
 
Furcas lifted his hands for him, placed them on Ladriam’s face, and forced her head up.
 
Furcas’ eyes filled with unshed tears, but he could no more disobey than Lucifer could.
 

Ladriam watched and memorized the construction of her prison, the pieces, how they fit together.
 
She deconstructed her prison in her head; her mind worked furiously.
 
She knew she did not have much time.
 
She had lost this battle, but she had not given up.
 

She looked up at Furcas.
 
“Hope.”
 
To Paimon.
 
“Conscience.”
 
She focused on Berith.
 
“Resolve.”
 
To Andy.
 
“Heart.”
 
Her eyes flicked back to Belial, who watched the scene horrified.
 
“Innocence.”
 
She kissed Lucifer’s hand.
 
“Strength.
 
You will suffer, but you will live.
 
You will grow.”

Lucifer misunderstood.
 
“I love you, Ladriam.
 
I cannot grow without you—”

DO NOT SPEAK TO HER.

Lucifer’s mouth snapped shut.
 
He tried to convey his feelings through his eyes.
 

Ladriam managed a smile.
 
“I know, love, I know.”

LOCK HER IN, LUCIFER.

Lucifer carried Ladriam up the steps of the prison.
 
His feet scuffed the ground.
 
He twitched.
 
The floor by the throne had been hollowed out, a construct of firmament and metal.
 
Lucifer put his hands on Ladriam’s shoulders and pressed her into the ground.
 
He was gentle on her wings, but they had no way of resting that did not hurt her.
 
They cringed together.
   

Paimon backed away from the prison, fighting with himself; he could not bear to watch.
 
He spasmed and his body ached as if tearing in two.
 
He pressed the key into Furcas’ hands and turned away.
 

Andy was first.
 
He held shackles.
 
He snapped the first cuff around her foot.
 
The shackle was made up of the cold of empty space.
 
It bit into her skin leaving her gasping.
 
Her eyes faded towards purple as the material leeched out her strength and moved it into the prison itself.
 
Her arms were brought in front of her.
 
Her hands bound together as if praying.
 
Andy locked her wrists together.
 
Her limbs went rigid with pain.
 
The cold hardened her flesh to stone and cracked her bones.
  

Lucifer’s jaw clenched and unclenched.
 
He needed to speak to her, to say something,
anything
.
 
His lips bled as he tried to open them.
 

Andy backed away and Berith set metal in place around her legs.
 
He built upwards, encasing her body in metal and stone.
 
The heat in them left her gasping.
 
Berith stared at the parts, trying to find a way to avoid her wings, but realized he could not.
 
The design was made to incorporate them and increase her suffering.

Ladriam chewed on her lips, and blood dripped down her chin to her hands.
 
Berith clamped down on her wings.
 
She wailed.
 

Lucifer stared at her, devoid of hope or happiness.
 
His psyche cracked.
 
He could no longer stand the sight or sound of her pain.
 
The devoted Lucifer, the kind and gentle lover, fled.
 
His face became an emotionless mask as hopelessness overtook him.
 

FURCAS, THE KEY.
 
The fire blazed bright.
 
I WILL WATCH YOU, LADRIAM.
 
IF YOU REPENT, I WILL TAKE YOU BACK.
 
THE TERMS STILL STAND.
 

Ladriam snarled.
 
“I WILL
NEVER
REPENT!”
 
Her voice blasted the Archangels off their feet.
 
Lucifer smacked his head on the ground.
 
She choked on her words.
 
“I am sorry, Lucifer!”