Caliope was taking a walk in the garden as everyone else was in the living room discussing new courses of action. While she walked, she lifted her hands and stared at them wondering what kind of powers she could have, how she was never aware of any of it, and who her father was. He was someone she never met or heard about and now she found out he was someone of great importance for the dark Angels, who apparently hated her, feared her, and were confused by her sole existence.

'It was nothing personal, he felt during a fight that was very important for both sides'

She smiled and answered to him 'I thought you were in an important meeting...'

'I am becoming addicted to you... that is the honest truth.'

Caliope turned her head towards the house, blushing and with her heart pounding fast. Through the windows she could see them all sitting in the living room while Heptanius walked nervous from one side to the other. Amra was looking at them listening. 'Is everything ok there?'

'Come with me, you have nothing to be afraid of...'

She hesitated for a second but her feet were already heading towards the house. She was drawn to him in such way it was so simple for her to decide. Once she came in, Heptanius frowned slightly but then smiled politely. Howard offered her his chair that was next to Amra, and in return she smiled and whispered a 'thank you'.

"It is your choice Heptanius, Elaine has said she will support what you decide to do." Pronab was finishing.

"Either you or her are both of great influence but in the end we all depend on someone who is not playing by the same rules..."

"I guess you refer to me again." Amra said while pulling Caliope's chair closer.

Heptanius nodded nervously "I am not disrespecting you, please do not think that. I want you to understand what worries me the most is how your priorities are set quite differently than the ones of the rest of us."

"My priorities start with her and end with her."

Everyone in the room became tense and slightly disappointed. Caliope was feeling horrible and sad, guilty and honored at the same time.

"I don't think you all understand how I see things. She is alive, and keeping her alive is all I want. In order to keep her alive we have to make sure everything comes back to order. I will not rest until it does, no matter what it takes, we will recover the Archangel and make sure peace is settled."

They nodded, in silence. Amra had a way of seen things that might have not been conventional but ended in what they all wanted in the first place.

"I am satisfied with your explanation, and I can speak for my own people when I say we will all fight this together."

"Now that we got that solved, before we leave to our next destination, we need to make sure of what you are going to do."

"I will regroup with my soldiers and spread the news, we will keep things calm and report to you what happens, but if there is any new attack I will have to take measures. I do not want another 'Black Sun' arise."

"That is what we all want to avoid."

"When are you all leaving to your next destination?"

"We have a couple of days, there are rumors, not strong ones, about certain places that might have some of the fallen ones hiding... we want to take a look just to be sure, then we are parting. If we get suspicious about anything we will need your presence Heptanius."

Heptanius nodded "I will certainly be happy to help."

'...and this is why I like having Pronab around, he is a wonderful politician'

Caliope heard Amra speak in her mind, she turned her head towards him just to make sure as she replied 'I don't understand... what do you mean?' as he kept his gaze on them.

'Pronab is giving an excuse for us to stay longer, those places we are supposed to investigate are really the places we will visit and where we will rest... he is even making Heptanius believe he will be consulted in case of danger... we are all going to be researching for the cause...'

She nodded as she returned to look at them, smiling softly at Heptanius in return as his gaze crossed hers momentary.

As everyone was exchanging last comments, Caliope excused herself to her room, she said goodbye to all and finally closed the doors enjoying some privacy. She went to her bathroom and turned up the water, giving it time to warm up as she started to get undressed. She was thinking about the last events and tried to push them aside, working hard on relaxing now, as that part of their trip was over. She wrapped herself in a towel and went close to the shower to test the temperature of the water, finding it warm and welcoming, she was about to let the towel fall when a figure started to appear in between the soft vapor. Her heart jumped. It was Heptanius and he made her a silent gesture.

"I am sorry, my dear... I did not mean to scare you... I have said goodbye to you but I feel that we both have yet much to talk about... At some moment we stopped being friendly with each other, and I don't want you to leave with that bad impression of me..."

"...instead, you want me to leave with an impression of you showing up to me in my bathroom?"

Heptanius frowned "of course not. I want you to know... that I don't mind your origin. I want you to know that I think you will do great things for our people... I hope you can understand that whatever 'he' does, it will be because of what he was created for, he was made for war... he will want to fight when the moment comes..."

Caliope started to feel annoyed by his words; she felt he was trying to disguise his good intentions with some darker ones. In his words she saw something different, she started to see lies, and this scared her.

"You should leave before they notice your absence..."

Heptanius grinned "they won't... I am still there..."

She frowned, upset by his pedantry. And watching him proudly smile at his apparent winning move, she continued speaking at the same time she tried to open a mental door to Amra. It was not easy, but his earlier words reminded her that all she had to do was wish for him to hear her. And so she did.

"You might be fooling them with your illusion, but Amra is connected to me, he will notice something is wrong. If you try to harm me..."

"I am not trying to harm you child! Of course not! I am just telling you that you have a hard road to walk through and I empathize with you... You will be..."

The image of him got quiet, and suddenly banished. She started to breath relieved, yet grew worried about what she might have caused. Quickly she rushed to turn the water off and get clothes back on, running out to the living room. A hand covered her mouth preventing her from screaming.

"What is stopping me to vanish you right now is only her presence. I don't want her to be clouded watching you die..."

Pronab was holding her gently, as she watched with horror Amra glowing and his hand lifted Heptanius from his neck; all his people trying in vain to reach to them, as an invisible wall kept them at distance. Her heart pounded fast, she started to cry, and tried to set herself free from Pronab's arms. She cried, and then closed her eyes. In her mind she screamed at him 'No! Stop!'. Amra turned his head and looked at Caliope fight the impossible locked in Pronab's arms, and he closed his eyes, angry and confused. Her eyes opened again, and she could see him having second thoughts. That was the time, now or never, she rushed to continue her only way of communicating with him 'Let him go... please... don't hurt him more... he did something stupid, but nothing to deserve this... let him go... Amra please!... I... I need you... I need you to hold me... I can't stand this... please... come and hold me...' she pleaded at last. He opened his eyes and walked towards her, letting Heptanius fall to the floor where his men rushed to help him.

"Let her go..."

He spoke to Pronab and he opened his arms letting Caliope run to him. As Amra wrapped his arms around her, she squeezed him tight sobbing and kissing him. She could feel him tense, filled with anger.

"What kind of treason is this?! Our own savior tries to kill one of his Generals?! This is unimaginable!" Heraclius screamed as he kneeled next to his brother.

Howard's words reflected the same surprise "What the hell is going on here Pronab?!"

Pronab was serious "is he ok? Can he breathe?"

"Barely! He almost killed him!"

"He will be ok, first things first, Howard call our medic."

He nodded and pulled out his cell phone to quickly dial a number. After a few words he put the phone down and looked back at Amra and Caliope, then at Pronab.

"The Doctor will be here shortly, but you still have things to clear here... what is going on?"

"When was the last time you saw Heptanius use his powers?" Pronab asked directly and Howard.

"What do you mean? What powers? Hmmm... I don't understand..."

"One of his powers is astral projection... I don't know why, you might ask him that later, but he projected himself to Caliope in her room.. In her bathroom to be more specific... while she was about to take a shower, Amra saw it and, you are aware of what happened."

"My brother wouldn't do such thing! He has always respected everyone!"

"It is true... he did..." Caliope said almost as a whisper.

"I think we all are a bit altered right now so let's avoid giving any kind of bad names or insults ok?"

"I think you are right brother... both of our leaders need some time and space... I am sorry Miss Caliope, this was wrong in so many ways..."

Caliope nodded as she held Amra who kept his eyes closed and slowly started to calm down. In her mind she tried to reach to him again 'Are you ok?' she whispered and he did not replied. She held him tighter and continued 'I love you...' and he opened his eyes searching for her face.

"I love you..."

Caliope smiled "I love you... thank you..."

Amra did not looked at anyone but her "When the medic comes, and makes sure he is ok, I hope you all leave with him. I have had it with these kinds of incidents."

He was not expecting any reply from them as he walked towards his room and closed the door behind him. Caliope turned her head towards them and lowered her gaze.

"I am sorry, please forgive him... and above all, forgive me for causing this..."

"You have nothing to be sorry for..." Pronab shook his head as he spoke.

Howard agreed "Miss, I am sorry, I don't understand why he did that, but I know he shouldn't have."

"Thank you both, I am very sorry for your brother to get hurt Heraclius... please all be well..."

She walked slowly back to her room but as she passed in front of Amra's room, the door opened and he pulled her in. While in the living room the men continued.

"This is crazy..." Heraclius was still cursing in a lower voice.

"It was her who saved his life, be thankful..."

"What?"

"She pleaded to him in his mind, to not kill him... he was about to..."

As soon as the door closed, Amra pressed her against the door and locked his lips on hers. The kiss was passionate and filled with anger and lust. She gasped trying to catch her breath, but he did not stop as a hand quickly locked both of her wrists behind her back and the other started to take off her clothes violently, making her skin burn with his touch. 'What... how...' she tried to reach to him but the intensity of the moment was overwhelming for her. He replied to her 'I need you...' as his hand moved down between her thighs. She arched and moaned quietly into his mouth, as his tongue tangled with hers. In just seconds she was naked, floating, possessed by him in so many ways. While she gasped for more air, her eyes half opened and she found herself in mid air. Her heart pounded even faster as she found Amra with eyes closed holding her tight to him. It was a sight she would burn deep in her mind. His body naked, his mystic glow, and now, there was something more. A thin magical fabric that floated on his back as if being blown by some imaginary wind. His wings. They would not resemble anything she could have thought, not even after watching millions of angel's pictures; not even after being in a room filled of the real ones. Without a definitive shape or form, the wings were ethereal, just as her experience.

After many knocks on the door, perhaps even for hours, the constant sound of wood being hit again and again started to make her recover some consciousness. She started to rub her eyes and the sound became louder and more constant. She lifted her head and found herself in the bed covered. Amra was not near her and she sat trying to understand what was happening. The continuous knock on the door made her stand up and as soon as she did, her legs felt numb and she stumbled to the floor.

"...how...?"

She mumbled barely as she stared at her legs marked by scattered bruises. She gasped and tried to rub her legs with her hands and then she noticed her arms had bruises as well. Panic started to take over her as she lifted her head and could not find Amra around. The door kept being knocked and her desperation grew in intensity.

"Who is there?!"

"Caliope... are you ok?" Pronab's word sounded with concern.

"No... I am not... where is Amra?"

"I don't know... he left in a rush and I couldn't stop him... I have been knocking on your door for over an hour, I was worried... I could have come in but I promised..."

She shook her head and tried to recover her breath but the truth was she was scared and now knowing Amra left made her panic even more.

"Caliope!"

"Come in... but you won't like what you will see..."

Pronab opened the door and stood still looking at her in the floor filled with bruises, he did not move. She would have thought a different reaction from him but he was static. Some itches started to distract her as her skin was a mix of pain and discomfort. She knew she should not scratch yet she was very soon going to change her mind.

"I... don't understand..."

He did not reply, he was in a state of shock. She sighed but instantly sobbed. Looking up at him absolutely scared.

"...it hurts..."

Finally he broke his statuesque pose and walked quickly to her, kneeling next to her and pulling out his jacket to cover her. She blinked in surprise; she was naked. That was probably why Pronab stood there unsure of what to do.

"How did this happen?"

"I don't know... that is the honest truth... I... I can't walk... I tried to reach to the door... but I fell... where is he?!"

There was panic in her voice and he held her tight, confused. He stood up and helped her stand, where she tried again to move in vain. Her legs were numb still and her bruises started to sting more. She started to let more and more tears fall from her eyes as a thought crossed her mind.

"He saw me like this and ran away... that must have been... he couldn't stand it..."

"Did he harm you?!"

"No...! He would never hurt me like that Pronab...! we made love... and it was magical!"

He helped her sit on the bed and pulled the blankets to cover the rest of her body.

"I can't heal you... I am not a healer, but Elaine is on her way, if you can hold until she is here."

"She is coming? now?"

Pronab nodded "after what happened at the castle she decided she had to come, leaving Magna in charge. That was yesterday, she should arrive tonight..."

Caliope started crying and in her head a million questions arose. The main one was where did Amra go, and why. She felt her physical pain was a breeze in comparison to her emotional pain. It was as if a part of her was missing, a constant pain in her chest crushing her more and more.

"I need Amra... why would he leave me?"

"I don't know, I am sorry, I really don't know..."

He tried to comfort her but he was unable to do so. She was broken in so many ways it was impossible for him to know where or how to start helping her. He stood and watched her slowly crumbling down. This was the reason why no other Angel, dark or enlightened, would ever dare to break two loved ones apart; the pain was too intense, too strong to witness. Pronab started to become restless.

An intense dense atmosphere took over the room in a blink of an eye, Caliope knew it was a sign of Amra's presence, and even though this time it felt like no other, with an intensity so strong it could almost cut her breath, she pushed herself up from the bed, sitting and looking desperately around for him.

Amra's glow made its appearance in front of the door. The glow quickly started to vanish as he watched without belief what was happening. Caliope stood and gave a step towards him but fell down. He rushed to hold her with the tender care.

"You left me..."

Amra looked at her in shock, then looked up at Pronab who was still in his own state of surprise. He rubbed her arms slowly and kissed the top of her head.

"My Asteria, why would you say such thing?!"

"You left me... without a word... you left me all alone... I do not know what you did to me but I can't breathe without you... I can't stand this pain..."

Amra held her tighter and shook his head.

"I had to go, but I was going to return to you my love... please... do not say such things... I can't live without you!"

She cried and squeezed him with all the strength she had left. Amra looked at her bruises and felt the pain on himself.

"I can't... it hurts..."

Her last words were barely a whisper before she fainted in Amra's arms. Pronab kneeled next to her and checked her signs.

"We will wonder later what happened, but right now you need to heal her..."

Amra nodded as he lifted a hand which started to glow softly, moving it over her with delicacy. Pronab started to breath more relaxed once he watched the bruises disappear. After carefully erasing each bruise in her body, Amra rested her in the bed, gently covering her with a blanket.

"I think you need to explain a few things, you can't leave like that without at least letting me know, so I could handle things... where did you go?"

"To meet our Father."