“Forgive me my children! Let us fall into the pit of madness together! ”

The God Merkabah started singing. The lyrics were spoken in an ancient but forgotten language. Was this the tongue of the Gods when the world was first created? Who knew?

Since ancient times, music has always been an important part of life. We celebrated our festivities with parades playing different instruments. The bards told their wonderful stories in the form of ballades. The chorus at the church during our mass and many others things.

Understand the lyrics were not necessary. Music overpassed the barrier of languages and conveyed the emotions of the musician to his audience. Then how would the audience react when the musician has fallen in madness? The man has seen things that cannot be unseen. The cruel reality he must face yet he could not share it with anyone.

“What are you doing? You….ARghhh!”

The song Merkabah sang echoed inside the mind of everyone around him. In an instant, his emotions invaded their bodies, overcame them with grief and despair. It turned them insane.

The crowd surrounding the God started screaming in terror. Those who were too far behind did not hear the song, remained horrified by what they were witnessing.

The celestials were killing each other. The guards who had their weapons were the first to impale people with their swords and spears. Those who did not have any weapon used their hands to gouge the eyes of the people next to them. Two best friends who were once inseparable now strangled each other to death. The father crushed the head of his child onto the ground. In an instant, the plaza was covered blood and corpses. The stench of death filled the air as more and more gave their final breath.

Those who were lucky enough started to run away. Some took flight to escape were shot down by archers. Avant-Heim has been taken by madness.

“STOP!” shouted Ikarus.

Along the heralds, Ikarus was one of the few who was still able to retain their sanity, but not for long. Using her last ounce of consciousness, she slowly walked up to Merkabah who has now stopped his song. But it was already too late. More than half the population of Avant-Heim was already lying on the ground.

“You….Why did you do this????” screamed Ikarus in tears. Despite what they did to her, Ikarus has never thought of revenge. She did not hate them, not even once. A part of her still saw herself as one of them. But now they were all dead. The death of all those people, her family, everyone, for what? No matter how she tried hard to think about it, she could not find any reason for him to kill them.

“I told you. I won’t let them defile your bodies and souls. You may find this cruel but I am doing this for all of you! Besides, isn’t it much more preferable to be killed by one of your own rather than the wretches out there?” Merkabah said.

“You are insane! I will kill you!” yelled the girl.

“Be calm my child! I still need you to deal with Alastor after this!” Merkabah lifted his arm toward Ikarus. However, something stopped him, making him jumping back.

“I don’t know what you want with the girl but even if you are our God, your actions here are intolerable!” it was Mikael. Together with the heralds, he stepped in front of Ikarus and stopped Merkabah from taking her.

Ikarus did not expect this. She thought Mikael resented her so much for letting Alastor escape. Then why would he protect her?

“You will raise your swords against your Father?” said the God of Celestials.

“You dare think yourself of our Father after what you have done? Tell me, why?” said the herald Uriel.

“Even if you know, you won’t be able to do a thing about it. So stay in your blessed ignorance!”

While Merkabah was busy with the other heralds, Mikael has crouched down and whispered to Ikarus.

“When I give you the signal, run as fast as you can!”

“What? Why would you do that for me?” asked Ikarus.

“Don’t think I am doing this for you. Between you and me, I have a better chance to stall him here. I want you to go to my chamber in the eastern tower. There is a hidden passage behind the shelf. You will find a person inside. Protect her with your life and get out of here!” explained Mikael.

“But…”

“There is no time to argue! Do it as my final request!” insisted the herald.

“…Alright! I promise I will protect this person!” vowed the girl.

Mikael nodded. Strengthening his resolution, he stood up and faced his God. He might has lost an arm but that did mean he would not put up a fight. He already knew his fate, what awaited him forward. But his life was not important, as long as that person could get out of here.

“Merkabah, in name of the council of heralds, I, herald Mikael, will carry out your judgment!” proclaimed Mikael.

The heralds, understanding their leader, stood in front of Ikarus and drew their weapons.

“Now go Ikarus!” Mikael shouted.

Realizing their intention, Merkabah immediately dashed toward the running Ikarus. However Mikael also knew that he was aiming for her and stopped him in his path.

“I don’t understand. Didn’t you exile her because you hated her? Why are you protecting her now?” asked the God.

“Someone like you will never understand!”

…..

…..

…..

Ikarus was flying as fast as she could. On her way she has seen many other celestials trying to escape by flying down from Avant-Heim. If they flew all the way down here, there could only one place for them to go to: Ragna. Coincidentally when Ikarus led Merkabah here, the island followed a rotational schedule and was right above Ragna at this time of the year. Now that she thought back then, if she didn’t bring him back here, could this be prevented? Was she to blame for the tragedy that just happened. No, he was a God. Sooner or later he would have found the way back to this place anyway.

She could have used this opportunity to escape from Avant-Heim and seek aid from Alastor. But she made a promise to Mikael. If he put his life on the life to make sure that she escaped, then she too must risk hers to uphold her promise.

Following Mikael’s instructions, Ikarus arrived at the tower where Mikael resided. It was her first time coming here. In fact, no one has been here for the last ten years. For an unknown reason, Mikael has forbid all entries to this tower without his permission. But it was rumored that he himself frequently visited the tower when no one was around.

He mentioned about someone being kept in this tower. Who could that person be? Could she be the reason why Mikael forbad anyone to enter this place? Because he put her there? Did it mean that she was living in this place, or rather imprisoned here for more than ten years?

Finally inside the chamber, Ikarus looked at the shelf to find out how to reveal the hidden passage. The shelf was filled with collections of books about Gods and their teachings. One of the book, volume II of the book of Revelation, was in the wrong position. It was upside down. Someone so meticulous and careful like Mikael would never so such a mistake. Just seeing how the others books were carefully placed were proof of that statement. So Ikarus decided to pull that book out.

That was the trigger of the mechanism. The shelf detached from the wall and revealed a passage forward. The hall leading inside was dark and lit only by candles. Mikael must have been here recently to lit them.

Another chamber was inside. The room was decoratively simple. A large bed, a table and a shelf. A pot of flowers was placed on the table, blooming under the sunlight that came in through a large window. A few books lied on the floor. They were….fairy tales books for children. Why would such a thing be here? This was a hidden area that lied on top of the tower.

Slowly walking inside, Ikarus saw a woman sitting on the bed staring at nothingness: a woman with long golden hair. Her appearance was someone in her thirties but that must not be her real age. She seemed to be a celestial as she had wing on her back, however one of them was missing. Observing her back Ikarus found that she was not born this way; one of her wing was forcefully cut off, much similar to Ikarus.

The strangest thing was even though Ikarus was right in front of her, the woman did not seem to notice her presence. Ikarus waved her hand right in front of her face but she did not see her. Her eye’s color was pale. Could it be that she was blind? And when Ikarus shouted as loud as she could, she did not even react. Only when touching her, she turned her head around, perhaps to look for the one that touched her.

“Who…is there? Mikael? Is that you?” the woman spoke softly. “Don’t leave me alone, please! Touch me!”

Ikarus did not know how to communicate with this person. She was apparently both deaf and blind. As the woman waved her hands around to look for someone and finally caught Ikarus’ arm. She held it tightly and put her face on it.

“It’s warm! Stay with me!” said the woman. Her behavior wasn’t normal. Just what kind of things happened to her?

But Ikarus did not have time for this. She must get her out of here. Pulling her hand, the two ran outside.

“Are you letting me go out, Mikael? But you say that outside is dangerous!” said the woman. She still did not realize that it was Ikarus. Her reactions were weird, sometimes talking to herself. Could it be she was crazy?

But it was lucky that she did not struggle. If she did, Ikarus would have a hard time to lead her out of this place. However, the moment they went outside the tower, something fell on the ground in front of them. A herald who was heavily injured, Mikael.

As he tried to stand up, he saw the two girls.

“What are you standing like that for? Run!”

But it was too late. Merkabah has already arrived.

“I found you!”

* * *

“What is going on?” shouted Maria in panic.

“That island is going to fall on Ragna at this rate. We have to stop it!” Alastor said.

“But how can we stop something that big?” Maria said.

Alastor had two options. He could risk everything and tried to destroy that island. Thanks to the bond he had, he could sense Ikarus’ presence on it. If he did that then Ikarus would die. However if he chose to go save her, he would not have enough time to destroy it. What could he do? He could not make that choice. But he would not have to.

“Leave that to us!”

The boy turned around, only to see Alice and Azureus standing at the entrance of the castle.

“You go find Ikarus! We can give you one hour to take her out of there!” said Lilith.

“Very well! I am counting on you!” with that Alastor flew toward Avant-Heim.

“Well I kind of said that but how do we stop it?” the slime spoke.

“” Lilith chanted her spell.

As soon as she finished her incantation, a magic circle in the shape of a clock englobed the entire floating island. As if time itself has frozen, Avant-Heim stopped moving and now stayed hanging on the sky like a time bomb waiting to explode.

“This…This is more tiring than I thought… *heavy breathing*” Lilith gasped for breath.

“Aie aie starting to feel old already?” Azureus joked.

“Shut up!”

* * *

Alastor’s POV

“So this was Avant-Heim, home of Ikarus. But what happened here?” I spoke out loud as I walked through the streets of Avant-Heim.

There were bodies everywhere. And these wounds, the positions they were in…did they kill each other? Why? Just what was going on? Ikarus, please be safe!

I stumbled across a tower on my way. There was signs of a great battle, and just recently. A bloody body laid his back against the wall. I recognized that person: Mikael.

I slowly approached the body. So you too died, you bastard? You took Morgan from me you piece of shit. I didn’t know what happened here but perhaps you deserved this.

But I was wrong. He was still alive, although I did not know for how much longer. He started to haltingly raise his head and looked at me. It seemed he did remember me judging from his bloody face.

“Demon….why…are you here? *cough* ?” he coughed blood, a lot. I didn’t think he had much time left. “Do you want to avenge your so called mother Morgan? Is that why you are here? Even when she killed your real parents?”

“Why do you insist that it was Morgan who killed them? For all we know it could be Ingrid, one of your celestials.” I explained.

Among those who were present in the tragedy that happened at the demon lord’s castle more than ten years ago, only Morgan and Ingrid survived. Why did he think it was Morgan and not Ingrid? I have thought about the possibility that Morgan killed them but it just did not make any sense. She was nowhere powerful enough to injure a hero, not to mention a demon lord and a hero together with anyone at the castle at that time.

“No…it’s not her…When I found Ingrid on Ragna, I saw a woman carrying a baby running away. It was Morgan…and you I suppose. But I was too preoccupied with Ingrid at that time…so I let them go. Ingrid…can’t be the killer…..She is…a victim. Morgan is the only one who could have done that.”

“Victim? What do you mean?” I asked.

“Ingrid….I am sorry…If only your brother was a better man you would not be chosen as hero….I am sorry, Ingrid! Forgive me!”

No he was starting to lose it. “Stay with me, damn it! I am not finished yet!”

“Protect her….please…in my place!”

He..was gone. I swiped my hands to close his eyes. I used to hate him, to despise him for what he did to Morgan. But now I felt only pity for the man.

I needed to find Ikarus, Whoever did this was able to wipe out all the celestials. I could not underestimate this person.

I finally arrive at some kind of plaza. This place was filled with bodies, much worst comparing to the rest of the city. Could it be that everything started from here? Then I heard the sound of comic coming from the center of the plaza. A harp I presumed, judging from the tone.

From here I could spot a celestial sitting in the middle of these piles of bodies. He was playing a golden harp, as if nothing around mattered to him. Could he be the one responsible for this?

Suddenly the music stopped and the celestial stood up and turned back to me.

“Welcome demon lord, to my humble home!”

“Who are you?” I asked.

“I am Merkabah, God of Celestials!” he presented himself.

“God of Celestials? Did you do this to your own people? Why?”

“This is my way of showing my love to them. The world is ending, Alastor! But I will not sit around and let it kill my children. I will do it myself. That way I can protect their dignity!” Merkabah proclaimed.

“Are you insane? What kind of logic is that?” I shouted.

“I do not expect you to understand me, Alastor! Now we both know what you are here for!”

Two balls of light appeared. Each of them contained one celestial. And I recognized one of them.

“IKARUS!”

She was still fine. However she was trapped inside that ball. She tried to hit it from the inside but it didn’t budge at all.

“The girl loves you so much she didn’t hesitate to endanger herself, even opposing me so she could lead me away. But what about you? Like every father I worry about my own daughter. I wouldn’t like to have her heart broken. So let’s make this deal: if you win against me, I will let both of them go. Consider the second one a bonus!” Merkabah said.

“Why do I have to listen to you?”

Without caring about what he said, I rushed to Ikarus. But no matter what I did, these balls were indestructible. I even tried to use thinking it would absorb the magic but that too didn’t work.

“You can’t destroy them, Alastor, as long as I am alive!”

“That makes thing easier. I wanted to kill you anyway!” I shouted.

“Very well! Let the concert begin!”