Crack.

A sound resounds in the brightly shining white space. Shaula hears this sound in confusion and looks up at Oromasdes. The space around them has dimmed slightly. It is still more intense than it was when Ajax and Shaula were merely talking to Oromasdes.

The light permeating Shaula starts to feel different... weaker... less comforting. Has the divine protection been granted?

Shaula notices that the iris of Oromasdes that had turned black in preparation for the bestowing of the divine protection has turned white again. Yet still, the wide area light is escaping Oromasdes’ pupil.

“Wh—”

“THIS... WAIT, NO--”

CRACK.

Shaula flinches at the sharper noise. She places her body over Ajax’s unconscious face to guard him against the source of the noise, whatever it might be.

It was sound like the breaking of concrete. A lot of concrete. Like a building falling.

Her eyes close in surprise but soon she opens them again and looks up at Ahura Mazda who is 8 feet in the air above the two of them. Has something happened to him?

But... he isn’t there.

“Huh?”

Shaula looks down in front of her. She sees, on the ground before her, many bright objects disturbing the uniformity of its white colour.

The objects are of varying pigments. It appears bright white on many of the jagged sides of the objects, shining gold on the smoother sides. These objects are only in front of her, not to her side or behind her.

It is pieces of something. She notices where the objects separate at some places, they can be reattached to form something else.

Pieces from... a human statue? That would seem to be the case. The bright white of the objects are the inside of the solid statue while the shining gold of the objects is the hair, nails and skin of the person who the statue represents.

On the inside of a normal statue, human or otherwise, is normally some kind of marble, earth or metal; the statue could also be hollow. But for this specific statue, the inside is a brilliant shining white. A material Shaula has never seen before.

It is beautiful.

Where did all of it come from? The statue is in pieces but she could see the remnants of a golden hand, a foot... golden feathers... But the statue is not to scale, it is much bigger than a normal human body.

Wait... feathers? Is this a human? An angel statue?

There are a lot of remnants in front of her, spread out. What could have turned this statue into pieces so thoroughly?

She sees pieces of the statues feet. The toes (some intact, some in pieces) are massive compared to the toes of a normal human male.

What is...

She sees the remnants of an eye some distance from her. It... sort of resembles Ahura Mazda’s eye but it doesn’t match the black, white and red colour, its completely gold.

Where is Ahura Mazda?

A spark.

One of the gold pieces of the statue catch fire. A bright blue flame consumes the piece and it disappears. Shaula again instinctually guards Ajax’s head and body. Shaula doesn’t smell smoke, she doesn’t feel heat; the piece that burned away left no remnants.

Shaula sees the other pieces catch fire one by one. Shaula quickly stands up in panic at the slowly starting blue blaze in front of her.

What the fuck is happening?

Something is especially unsettling about this situation, aside from the fact that they are in this pure white space, just her and Ajax. Shaula cannot hear the blaze. The crackle of fire cannot be heard at all.

“W-Where are you, Ahura Mazda? Ahura Mazda!”

This isn’t helping. He’s not coming out. Shaula has to get away from the blaze in front of her. She sees Ajax lying on the ground.

Shaula is physically a strong person. She is slightly stronger than Ajax in both upper body and leg strength. Ajax simply isn’t an athletic person while Shaula goes to a strength training gym four times a week.

She works out because she wants to like the way she looks and also because she doesn’t want to be overpowered by a man in a physical confrontation.

Her strength proves useful in this situation.

Ajax is lying on his back. He didn’t wake up from her shouting. He must be really knocked out. Shaula, in a panic, places her arms under Ajax’s shoulder, gripping his body firmly, and pulls him away from the blaze in front of them.

She pulls Ajax about 20 meters away from the area of the blue fires before stopping and sitting down beside him to check his condition. She double checks to make sure he isn’t hurt by her frantic actions.

Shaula didn't hit an invisible wall behind her as she pulled Ajax. The floor remains even and smooth but not slippery. There is still traction.

Shaula cannot see hers or Ajax’s shadows on the ground around them. What an odd place they were in; Shaula considers her abnormal environment, in between her terror. Right now, she is here with Ajax in this alien location, while Ahura Mazda, the god who professes to think about their wellbeing, is gone.

She watches as the blue flames reach their climax and, one by one, the pieces of the statue disappear without a trace.

She sees the last of the pieces disappear. The room is back to--

Suddenly, a light appears above her. Shaula recognizes this light. It is the same light of Ahura Mazda that appeared in her classroom.

Just like in the classroom, the light expands into a vertical line which proceeds to open, revealing the eye of Ahura Mazda.

Shaula feels slight comfort seeing him return to them. But why did he leave in the first place?

“A-Ahura--”

“...SHAULA, ARE YOU ALRIGHT? I WAS CAUGHT BY SURPRISE JUST NOW..."

Shaula feels more stable now that Ahura Mazda is back. She thinks back to what happened before. Ahura Mazda granted her the divine protection and then the pieces of a broken statue appeared. These fragments then caught fire and disappeared without a trace.

Are things like this common in the lives of divine beings? Probably...

“What just happened right now?”

“I ATTEMPTED TO GRANT YOU THE DIVINE PROTECTION, BUT... I... I WAS REJECTED..."

“Rejected?”

Shaula has a look of confusion. She knows nothing about the conditions by which a divine protection could be granted so she definitely needs more information. It doesn't bode well, obviously. This was supposed to be a gift for their protection, right?

“THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. ALL LIVING CREATURES ARE CAPABLE OF RECEIVING MY DIVINE PROTECTION. EVEN CREATURES WITHOUT SOULS. I HAVE GRANTED THIS PROTECTION NUMEROUS TIMES BEFORE, OVER MILLENNIA, TO MANY WORTHY HUMANS...”

Ahura Mazda sees uncertainty on Shaula's face... It seems she is wondering if she has a soul. Some humans might not believe in the existence of the soul, right? He clarifies after inferring the meaning of her expression.

“DON’T WORRY SHAULA, BOTH YOU AND AJAX DEFINITELY HAVE SOULS, I CAN GUARANTEE THAT... BUT, FOR SOME REASON, I CANNOT ATTACH MY PROTECTION TO EITHER OF YOUR SOULS... WELL... I SUPPOSE IT MUST BE FOR THAT REASON. IT IS THE TWO OF YOU AFTER ALL... I’M BEING EXPOSED TO A WHOLE SERIES OF FIRSTS...”

Shaula doesn’t understand. Are both Ajax and her so outside of the norm that they cannot receive something every single living creature can receive? But also... souls are real... she has a soul.

Shaula had gone through her life believing that she is little more than a highly complex biological automaton produced through billions of years of evolution. In a universe without a God, it would be more likely that her body, mind and consciousness worked according to a series of physical laws.

But this universe, at least this world, has a God. As a result, it makes perfect sense that she... has a soul. A real, tangible soul.

But she cannot ask about that now, knowledge about her soul is irrelevant now.

“W-wha... what is so... so different about the two of us?”

“I DON’T THINK IT WOULD BE SAFE FOR ME TO SPEAK OF IT. I HAD UNDERESTIMATED YOU TWO. WHAT JUST HAPPENED SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN A CONSEQUENCE OF MEDDLING WITH YOUR SOULS...”

“What just happened exactly?”

“...OH, YOU SAW THAT, I ALMOST FORGOT...”

Wait... God is capable of forgetting?

“I’M NOT OMNISCIENT, SHAULA, AND BEFORE YOU THINK IT, I’M NOT READING YOUR THOUGHTS, I SIMPLY HAVE A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN EXPRESSION.”

“So...so then what did happen?”

“WHAT YOU JUST SAW WAS... MY BODY IN PIECES. THIS EYE BEFORE YOU IS ONLY A PORTION OF MY TRUE FORM; BUT, I DON’T THINK IT WOULD HELP TO DISPLAY MY COMPLETE FORM BEFORE YOU. YOU TWO SIMPLY AREN’T STRONG ENOUGH TO LOOK UPON ME. IT IS LIKE THAT FABLE WHERE YAHWEH SAID TO MOSES THAT ANYONE WHO SEES HIS FACE WOULDN’T BE ALLOWED TO LIVE. BUT WHEN I GRANTED MY DIVINE PROTECTION, I... WAS REJECTED AND THE ‘RECOIL’ OF MY DIVINE PROTECTION BEING REJECTED CAUSED MY IMAGE TO MANIFEST AND... SHATTER AS A CONSEQUENCE. WHAT YOU SAW WAS LIKE A COPY OF MY TRUE FORM, LIKE THE CORPSE OF MY CLONE... IT MAY BE A BIT TOO COMPLICATED FOR HUMANS TO COMPREHEND BUT THAT WAS THE GIST OF WHAT YOU SAW... BUT I HAVE... NEVER SEEN IT MATERIALIZE BEFORE IN RESPONSE TO ANYTHING... WHAT MONSTERS YOU TWO ARE...”

God names Shaula and Ajax as monsters; monsters... beyond even his understanding. Shaula hears a slight sternness in Ahura Mazda’s voice as he said his last sentence. She shrinks back at his seriousness while holding Ajax lying in front of her.

“Are... are you alright?”

“...I AM FINE, CHILD. I HAVE RECONSTITUTED MYSELF AND I THINK IT IS TIME TO MOVE TO MY ALTERNATE PLAN. ABOUT 10% OF MY TOTAL POWER HAS BEEN CONSUMED THROUGH THE REJECTION. THIS... THIS IS WHY I CAN’T KEEP UNKNOWNS LIKE YOU TWO ON THIS WORLD... I SHOULDN’T BE SO SURPRISED...”

“Wh--”

“I CANNOT GRANT YOU MY DIVINE PROTECTION. THIS IS AN UNPRECEDENTED TURN OF EVENTS. THIS MOST LIKELY MEANS THAT YOU CANNOT RECEIVE THE DIVINE PROTECTION OF THE HERO AS WELL. IF I SEND YOU NOW WITHOUT EITHER MY DIVINE PROTECTION OR THE DIVINE PROTECTION OF THE HERO GRANTED TO YOUR FELLOW CLASSMATES, YOU WILL BE AS STRONG AS THE AVERAGE HUMAN THERE.”

“Then... then just keep us here! We’re not going to cause any problems for you... We’re going to live quietly, we can do that!”

Shaula makes her plea for herself, but more importantly for the Ajax sleeping before her, who can’t make the plea.

“THAT IS NOT AN OPTION. AWAKEN, AJAX...”

Ajax bolts up from the ground at the words of Oromasdes. A command to awaken. He sits up and looks around him. He sees Shaula. He sees Oromasdes.

“Wh-where... oh no... I’m still here? Fuck... you put me to sleep... I... I couldn't... I can't... do anything...”

“Ajax!”

Shaula holds Ajax tightly. Joy grips her. Her affection swarms Ajax, held in her arms in slight confusion and deep despair.

“Ajax... we’re... we’re still being sent there. I’m so sorry, Ajax. I’m so sorry, Ajax...”

Tears fall from Shaula's eyes. She could do nothing to convince Oromasdes. She could do nothing to convince the deity before her. In such a situation, many people might forgive themselves but not those who are trying to protect those they love and fail.

Ajax wants to consider the consequences of Ahura Mazda's actions on his life. He wants to wallow in his cruel future. But... he's already been put to sleep once. He was in a state of stupor while he was unconscious. He had felt the affect of Ahura Mazda putting him to slumber; he knows it was Him.

Ajax couldn't think of anything in that drunken dream state. But he knows that he cannot fight back right now. For now, he has to accept his fate. What else can be done?

“I... I get it... fuck... I just--”

Ahura Mazda cuts him off. Their time is up. No more words are necessary.

“IT IS CLEARER TO ME THAN EVER. I CAN STILL GRANT YOU MY POWER... I JUST HAVE TO USE A CRUDER METHOD...”

The tone of Oromasdes’ voice grows more intense. The intensity in his eye increases as well. The red pupil of Ahura Mazda constricts to the smallest Ajax and Shaula have ever seen it.

Shaula feels fear. Ajax feels confusion mixed into his fear; his despair shakes off, replaced by trepidation. He doesn’t know what Oromasdes is about to attempt. Has Ahura Mazda been angered?

“S-slow do--”

The white light in the space Ajax and Shaula are in disappears. Ajax and Shaula are now in a space of pitch black. Yet, Shaula can still see Oromasdes in front of them clearly. She can still see Ajax sitting next to her as well.

“Wh-what are you--”

Ajax looks around his surroundings, terrified at the tartarus they find themselves in.

There isn’t any source of light either. No sun. No lamp. No fire. Even though all of the light disappeared from their surroundings, the two of them are still here, visible to each other.

How can they remain visible? It's... it's not possible.

Ajax and Shaula are visible to each other.

Visible to Oromasdes.

“FOR YOU CHILDREN, I WILL GRANT YOU THE SALVATION OF MY BLOOD. THIS IS NOT AN OPTION I HAD WANTED TO TRY BECAUSE IT HAS COMPLICATIONS FOR MYSELF AS WELL AS THE TWO OF YOU. HOWEVER, SHOULD MY HOLY BLOOD WORK... YOU TWO WILL BE ABLE TO REACH AN APEX OF POWER ON OMICRON NOT RESERVED FOR MORTALS.”

Tears fall from the eye of the supreme Oromasdes. Tears of blood. The tears don’t disappear into darkness. Shaula can see the tears land on the ground and pool. It shines red.

Ajax and Shaula feel their hearts being held in the grasp of this being. Fear grips them. The deepest terror they have ever felt strikes their minds. The blood is... too much... they... they can't handle--

The eye moves over Ajax still being held in Shaula’s grasp.

W-wait... Shaula!

Ajax pushes Shaula with all of his might away from him to his left. He feels his instincts screaming for them to avoid the tears. He doesn’t know if he can trust his instincts right now but they have never been clearer. It would bring solace to him if at least Shaula avoids them.

Shaula is pushed away a substantial distance. Ajax had responded with strength powered by a rush of adrenaline. Just like how a mother will lift a car to free her child in a situation of panic, Ajax responded with tremendous strength.

Shaula feels her shoulder dislocate as she lands away from the two of them, the crying Oromasdes and her beloved Ajax. She had instinctively grabbed her head to make sure it wasn't hurt by Ajax's frantic push. She grips her arm is pain and looks over at Ajax. She sees the effects of the blood of the supreme God.

The tears of blood, falling from Ahura Mazda’s eye, lands on Ajax... Ajax doesn’t yell. He can only accept the sensation on his body. It feels like... like corrosion without pain... as if parts of his body are becoming numb. The parts that meet the blood of Oromasdes can no longer be felt to him.

“Ajax! Ajax, are you ok? Ajax!!”

Ajax cannot answer Shaula. Shaula cannot move closer. Fear is still gripping her mind. An unnatural terror is clawing at her soul. She is not meant to witness God bleed.

If she touches his sacred ichor, she fears what may happen. Is this the fear that humans naturally feel when made to confront the fruits of the almighty?

Ajax feels his body melt away. He looks at his body being covered in the tears of this divine creature.

His left hand melts away.

What is left of it lands on the darkened ground. The flesh is stripped from the bones of his hand and dissolves into Ahura Mazda’s sacred blood. The bones dissolve into nothing in the same way.

His left arm and his shirt sleeve completely fall apart and lands on the ground in the pool of blood; the pool grows larger. The muscle is exposed to the air for just a moment before falling into the blood. His left arm disappears as the skin melts, the muscles disintegrate, the tendons snap and the bones vanish.

His shoulder cross-section is visible; the white of skeletal matter, the red of marrow exposed to the air along with bare blood vessels and muscle tissue. Ajax looks at his shoulder for just a second, as the horror at losing his arm starts to remove the colour from his face. He cannot bring voice to his surroundings. He might be in shock.

Shaula looks in horror, her eyes growing wide as a nightmare unfolds before her.

She screams in terror.

“Sh...au—”

“What...What the fuck did you do? What the fuck did--”

“AJAX, SHAULA, WE ARE NOT IN THE REAL WORLD RIGHT NOW. YOU CAN THINK OF THIS AS A SPIRITUAL PLANE WHERE I HAVE BROUGHT YOUR MINDS. NONE OF THIS IS REAL. YOU’VE FELT PAIN HERE BECAUSE YOU EXPECT TO FEEL PAIN BUT I, WHO HAVE COMMAND OF THIS REALM, CAN REMOVE THE PAIN FROM MY INTERACTIONS WITH YOU. MY BLOOD HOWEVER IS SPIRITUAL AND REAL AND YOU ARE BEING EXPOSED TO IT RIGHT NOW. IT WILL RECONFIGURE YOUR BODY TO USE MY POWER WITH MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY. A LOT OF MY POWER IS GOING INTO THIS RIGHT NOW FOR YOUR SURVIVAL...”

Shaula hears Oromasdes speak. Not his deep voice, but only his voice in her head.

“This... this isn't--”

Shaula realizes. Of course, they’re not in the real world. It should have been obvious earlier but for all she knew, Ahura Mazda had taken her to a heavenly realm with different physical laws. She had definitely been behaving as if her physical actions had physical consequences.

What God is saying matches with what both of them have observed so far. The way this place behaves is too unnatural. When the space was white, their bodies left no shadow at all. There is no horizon, no sky, no ceiling, no separation between the white floor and the air around them. When there is no light, like right now, they can still see each other. The fact that they didn't smell smoke when Oromasdes' body was on fire. The way this place has no smell at all.

This isn't reality.

But Ajax’s nose was bleeding in this realm. Even now when Ajax pushed her out of the way, Shaula had felt the pain of her shoulder dislocate. That was... not real. Phantom pain? Pain from imagining their bodies are really here when they aren't...

Tears continue to fall from Oromasdes' deific eye. Sanguine fluid lands on Ajax.

Ajax’s right arm follows his left, descending into nothingness in the pool of blood below him. The skin and muscle fall off of his right breast, leaving the exposed bones of his rib cage.

Soon, his ribs fall apart as well. His heart and lungs are exposed to the air of this space. His lungs still expand and contract. Is there actual air here or is that just his body's way of processing the space? His heart still beats.

The arteries connecting to his heart fall apart like torn pieces of wet paper. Ajax's heart shines for a moment before disappearing.

Shaula can do nothing now. She cannot help him. She is at the complete mercy of this being before her. She has to watch as Ajax is broken down, as his body is turned into meat before her eyes. To acknowledge that this is what she is actually seeing is a hell beyond her deepest imagination.

But she cannot confront almighty God... she cannot confront almighty God... she cannot confront Him... It is instinctual. A deep fear. Ahura Mazda had said that seeing His true form would mean death. Seeing His blood might be as close to His true form as she could handle without dying. Right now, it is filling her with unending horror.

But... she doesn't... she doesn't wish to see Ajax... in this state of pain... Not him... not him...

Insanity fills her heart.

She has to save him. She has to save him. She has to save him.

Her soul burns brightly.

She has to save him. She has to save him. She has to save him.

She has to save him. She has to save him. She has to save him.

She has to save him. She has to save him. She cannot save him.

The terror gripping her heart shatters like cheap glass. Shaula runs towards Ajax's remains. She runs to his body. She has to prevent his destruction... It is too late for that but she cannot let Ahura Mazda continue to mutilate his body. She has to stop it. She has to stop it.

"STAY STILL."

Shaula freezes in place, in midair. She is facing Ajax, continuing to witness the horror, but unable to do anything. Her madness softens. God has placed His leash over her.

"Let-- Let go of me!! Let go of me!!! Ajax! AJAX!!"

Why does God wish for their survival? Could it be love for them? Or something... something more sinister... Shaula considers the possibility for the first time.

She ignores what's in front of her eyes. She closes them. She wanted to save him. But she can't.

She considers Ajax. She considers the world the two of them will be arriving at soon. He continues to melt. Ajax's left eye is open and looking at Shaula in midair, tears flowing from it.

On Omicron, no matter what there is in store for the two of them, she will never let him suffer like this. She will protect him. She will save him this time. Never will he suffer.

Never letting him suffer; she fails to consider the unreachable goal she is setting for herself. But it doesn't matter now. Her madness will make it a reality. She will never let him suffer.

“Ajax! I-I’m going to protect you, Ajax!! J-just you wait!! I’m never going to leave you alone... I love you, Ajax!”

“I love y--”

Ajax loses consciousness.

Ajax’s head falls to the ground, dissolving into the pool of his and Oromasdes’ blood, collecting on the ground. His belly falls away like dross and his stomach and intestines fall into the puddle of blood. Soon the skin and muscle on his hips falls away and his legs corrode and collapse.

Shaula sees Ajax’s body continue to melt into a pool of blood, unable to understand how she should deal with seeing Ajax being destroyed in front of her.

This is her worst nightmare. She cannot even take solace in the fact that it is a nightmare shown to her in this fake dreamscape, not reality.

Why did she have to see him like this?

In a violent process of destruction, Ajax is reduced to his head floating on the surface of the blood. It starts to dissolve as well.

It all collapses away. Nothing remains but Ajax’s dissolving skull and a pool of the tears of God. Shaula witnesses it, the last remains of her beloved Ajax.

“I love you, Ajax... I’m never going to leave you... I’m going to protect you... I’m going to save you... I’m going to be with you... I’m going to make sure you return to them... I’m going to make sure they get to see the wonderful person you become... I promise... I... promise...”

All that remains is a pool of blood.

The pool of blood starts to grow smaller and smaller. Soon, it is little more than a small puddle. Soon, it is the diameter of a pancake.

There is something shining within...

A crystal. A crystal of light. It has as many facets as a well-made engagement diamond. It shines with unique brilliance.

All of the blood disappears and all that can be seen is this brilliant gem.

“SHAULA, THIS IS AJAX'S PURE MIND; THE CORE OF HIS MIND REMAINS INTACT. I WILL USE MY BLOOD TO REWRITE THE CONNECTION BETWEEN HIS MIND, BODY AND THE PHYSICAL WORLD. THE SAME WILL HAPPEN TO YOU. WHEN YOU AWAKE, YOU WILL BE OVER THERE IN OMICRON. THIS IS THE LAST TIME WE WILL SPEAK FOR A LONG TIME.”

Oromasdes looks at Shaula who is before him without Ajax. She can speak freely to him. But she is crying. She is crying at seeing the desolation of her most beloved. She feels anger towards the one who made her witness his gruesome disintegration. He feels no remorse at forcing her to see it. No pain or regret.

What really does Oromasdes see Ajax and Shaula as? Mere animals too stupid to ignore their emotions? How else can this being trample over their dignity so easily?

Oromasdes says one more thing.

“SHAULA, I'VE BEEN WATCHING YOU FOR A WHILE NOW. I'VE SEEN YOUR ACTIONS SINCE YOU WERE YOUNG.”

“Huh? What the fuck do you--”

Shaula freezes. Her tears stop flowing. Something can be felt clawing at the back of her head. Something she wishes to keep hidden from herself.

It whispers to her about the past and tries to surface. It will escape its prison by any means necessary. It will scratch out her sanity as it does so. Another thing to scratch at her sanity.

As it surfaces, Shaula feels pleasure. Unholy pleasure.

She remembers. She gasps in shock and awe. She remembers what she has done. Actions for which she feels no guilt. Actions for which she believes she was and is in the right. Actions not in sin but in virtue.

However, actions that could be viewed as heinous.

Shaula feels fire snake her right leg and arm.

Happiness. Joy. Ecstasy.

She remembers those she hates.

She shakes off such thoughts and looks over to Ahura Mazda. Her face is filled with trepidation and... jubilation. She cannot control how she feels right now. She never thought her hidden feelings would resurface here. That she would be forced to recollect her proudest, happiest transgression...

Was Oromasdes lying to Ajax? Will she face punishment for her actions? Will she never meet with Ajax as retribution for her sins?

Even now she feels pleasure at what she has done, that momentous part of her past. Even in this situation, having seen Ajax destroyed before her eyes, she feels euphoria thinking about her achievements.

“YOU WILL FEEL NO CONSOLATION FROM WHAT I AM ABOUT TO SAY: I FORGIVE YOU.”

“...what?”

“I FORGIVE YOU. RATHER, THERE IS NO NEED FOR FORGIVENESS; FOR YOU, SHAULA SEIKENNITH ACTED RIGHTEOUSLY.”

“...You c-can forgive...”

“SHAULA, I’M THE SUPREME GOD OF THIS WORLD, OROMASDES. I AM THE PINNACLE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND I BELIEVE YOU HAVE PASSED FOR NOW. LET ME GIVE YOU SOME ADVICE FOR YOUR TIME IN OMICRON. I TRUST THAT WHEN THE TIME COMES... THAT YOU CAN DO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE... WHATEVER THAT MAY BE...”

“Fuck you! I-I’m not like that... I’m not evil...”

“NO, YOU’RE NOT, SHAULA... YOU’RE A RIGHTEOUS CHILD. I HOPE YOU REMAIN RIGHTEOUS. YOUR LIFE OF JOY WILL COME ONCE AGAIN WHEN YOU RETURN. I PROMISE YOU IT WILL.”

Shaula smiles softly. Has a weight been lifted from her heart? Has she gained forgiveness for her actions? Can you forgive herself?

No. There is nothing to forgive.

But she disregards her past. She will return to Ajax soon. All else is irrelevant. She will be with Ajax again. He is still alive. He will never die.

“Anywhere I’m with Ajax is where I will be happy. Anywhere with Ajax is a life of joy... Don't think... don't think you can get away with this...”

Shaula reaches to the eye above her face with a feeling of resentment. She will pay him back for making her see Ajax like that. She will gain the power to punish him...

As blood resumes flowing from Ahura Mazda’s holy eye. She feels the blood drip onto her face and her consciousness--.

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Prologue Coda

Shaula sees herself in a white sun dress. The dress is a deep v-neck A-line dress with spaghetti straps. The dress accentuates her large breasts and the skirt of the dress extends to the middle of her luscious thighs. The dress drapes her body ethereally and the light coming from above makes her look like a descended angel.

She can see the sun above her face, hanging in a cloudless, blue sky. She feels grass under her feet; she isn’t wearing any shoes.

Her long chestnut hair is shimmering and smooth, without being tied up in her usual pony tail. She is wearing her red wolf earring on her left ear and her musical note earring on her right ear.

Standing before her is Ajax. His black hair is combed neatly to the sides of his head and parted in the middle. He is wearing a white vest over a white collared shirt; white dress pants clothe his legs. A shining silver tie is on his collar.

He is wearing his black crucifix around his neck over his tie and his watch is on his right wrist, nearly covered by his shirt cuff.

As soon as Shaula sees Ajax, she smiles affectionately. Ajax sees her and smiles brightly. Neither of them know why they are standing there in such resplendent clothing, barefoot, or what significance any of it has on them.

They were just with Ahura Mazda. But now... weren’t they supposed to be going somewhere? Weren’t they supposed to leave everyone?

There is silence. Then... the start of a quiet sound... a song... a song that Ajax recognizes. The sound of a famous song: Tchaikovsky’s Waltz of the Flowers.

Ajax doesn’t wonder about why he hears the song coming from everywhere around them. The two of them are standing in the middle of a forest so they shouldn’t be hearing anything.

This is a song that Ajax has played before on his cello while he was still taking lessons. He even memorized it. For this reason, it is not surprising to him why it is playing right here, right now. Even though it should be.

They are standing in a forest clearing. Trees are around them in all directions as far as the eye can see. Birds fly in the air. Squirrels can be seen on tree branches.

None of those sounds can be heard.

No leaves rustling. No birds chirping or flapping their wings. No movement of any living creature, no wind, nothing. Only the music.

The clearing is perfectly circular and the diameter of a ballroom. They have plenty of space to dance. Only short grass is under their feet. No rocks are in the clearing, no logs, no branches, no twigs, no animals.

But neither of them care. They have each other right now.

Shaula curtsies to Ajax. She does so extremely elegantly without concern for circumstance. Shaula normally isn’t so formal. She isn’t someone who engages in such solemn conventions.

But that isn’t important now. She has to respond to the music in the air.

Ajax reciprocates her curtsy with a bow of his head, a bright smile still displayed on his face.

They move towards each other and position themselves in preparation for a dance. For music like this, of course, a waltz must be performed. Ajax will lead and Shaula will allow him to lead.

They start dancing. They sway back and forth in the traditional box step. Shaula twirls. They hold each other smiling as they look at each other's faces. Pure joy is expressed.

They laugh to each other. They forget everything about their lives. They forget the world outside of each other. Only they are important now. Only the dance is important now.

As they waltz together, something changes.

They can see their breaths now. Snow starts to fall on the grass around them. Slowly, the trees start to cover with snow.

Ajax and Shaula don't stop dancing however. They don’t feel the cold, the snow under their feet. Nothing is felt but each other.

The trees around them are covered in frost. They start... freezing. The water within the trees freezes solid and cracks form in the structure of the tree. Right to the core of the tree trunk, the trees freeze. Within a matter of minutes, they die.

Trees so tall, they must have lived for centuries, extinguished.

The grass and snow are replaced by a floor of ice. An ice that isn’t slippery, an ice colder than anything.

Ajax and Shaula continue dancing. They feel their bare feet step on a smooth floor; however, they feel no coldness.

They only continue dancing.

The trees around them form visible cracks. They start shattering like statues of glass. For what reason did evolution spend so much time on the trees around Ajax and Shaula for the trees to fall apart like bottles of beer hitting the ground?

This occurrence is visible to Ajax and Shaula but they pay it no mind.

Such an occurrence is perfectly normal. Nothing is wrong.

They continue dancing as, one by one, the trees surrounding the forest clearing shatter into shards of tree trunk, bark, branches and leaves.

Ajax and Shaula’s breath is no longer opaque. They aren't breathing air. Rather, there is no air. The air has fallen to the ground as snow. It has gotten colder and colder. Droplets of helium form on the icy ground around Ajax and Shaula, unable to freeze solid regardless of temperature.

Suddenly, Ajax and Shaula see a change of colour in their view.

The frozen ice they stand on catches fire. At their feet, a white flame rises up their bodies. Red and orange fire expand from their feet, quickly moving outwards towards the frozen remains of the trees.

The area around them bursts into flames. There is no smoke. Only the inextinguishable blaze. The sky remains blue. The sun still hangs above them.

All of the snow fallen to the ground evaporates in an instant. The pieces of trees on the ground rapidly burn away.

Ajax and Shaula continue dancing. Shaula, who is normally deathly afraid of fire, doesn’t even react. The fire is nothing to her now. It cannot hurt her. Nothing can hurt her. For she is with her Ajax.

The white fire at their feet moves up their bodies. They don't feel it. The burning of their clothing cannot be felt.

The white flame incinerates the clothes on their bodies into ash. The sound of their clothes consumed by inferno cannot be heard. Only the music can be heard.

They stand before each other unclad and unguarded.

In front of Shaula is Ajax, a man with average weight, some definition to his muscles on his torso and arms but not a lot. His pelvis is visible to her but she doesn’t pay attention.

In front of Ajax is Shaula, a woman of exquisite beauty and immaculate light tan skin. A magnificent woman with thin, well-defined arms, milky-white voluptuous breasts with small circular areolas and flat nipples and a toned abdomen. Her legs are long, shapely and athletic. Her pelvis is visible to him but he doesn’t pay attention.

Neither of them pay attention.

Ajax's watch disintegrates into dust. The watch his father gave him. He won’t see him again for a while. He may never see him again.

But he ignores it.

The crucifix on his neck falls to ashes. His mother gave him that. Will she mourn for him? What will God tell her? She may never see him again.

But he ignores it.

Shaula's earrings leave her ears falling away into fine dust. She had gotten the red wolf earring for herself. The other earring was given to her by Ajax. Her beloved Ajax. Her Ajax, made to lose everything. Her Ajax, repeatedly made to feel despair at his powerlessness. She wished for revenge; dark feelings had clouded her heart.

But she forgets it.

A prominent burn on her right arm and another one on her right upper thigh are visible. Burns that normally she would never let anyone see. Even he is not allowed to see it. No one can see it. No one can see the marks of her righteousness. No one can see her price for glory. No one can see her sins.

But neither pay it any mind.

Ajax and Shaula continue dancing surrounded by fire, unharmed. Shaula starts smiling deeper. Ajax does so as well.

For they are with each other. Nothing can harm them.

Tears fall from their eyes. Tears of joy. Tears of blood.

Ajax cries blood while continuing to dance with Shaula. Shaula cries blood while continuing to dance with Ajax.

They continue dancing in blood and fire.

For they will wake up there soon.

Until they awaken there, they will dance in blood and fire for as long as they wish.

--End of Prologue--

NEXT WILL BE ARC 1