[Asher]
“The crown prince is here!”
A celestial guard’s voice rang across the Virgo army, silencing the murmurs as a masked figure strode forward.
The emblem of the Solvaris pack was engraved into his golden chest armor, adorned with the complete nine stars of the Swan constellation. The celestials were notoriously selective about who could bear the full constellation.
Undoubtedly, this was him – Caelum’s son.
Usually, nature announced the arrival of the immortals by adjusting itself to accommodate our auras. So, even though the mouse prince chose stealth – suppressing his aura, minimizing his presence – he couldn’t stop the shift in the elements of nature around him.
I had already registered how his presence softened the disturbance my aura had created in nature. His determination to conceal his identity was commendable, but in his attempt to do so, he had exposed his power potential.
Even for high-ranking celestials, hiding their presence so effortlessly wasn’t easy because their souls constantly resonated at a higher vibration, often in harmony with nature.
Manipulating one’s aura in a way that could even deceive nature was something even high-ranking celestials failed to master.
Growing up in the Infernal realm must have wired the mouse prince differently from the other celestials. Even though Cadence pulled him out of the Forced Activation before things worsened, he’d spent months within those walls – surviving, just like Ezra and the others.
Naturally, I expected the unexpected from him, but something that badgered me the most about him was, I sensed no danger from him. Either he wasn’t a threat… or he was dangerous beyond the scope of my danger sense.
All heads turned to him in unison. The mortal soldiers bowed their heads, while the celestial guards dropped to one knee in a knight’s bow, their armors clicking as they hit the ground.
His black hooded cloak billowed behind him as he strode towards the shadow barrier, revealing a physique that instantly reminded me of Ezra.
Though the hood concealed most of his golden and black masquerade mask, his glowing hazel eyes stood out as they peered at my shadows.
It seemed as if he was trying to see past my shadows to confirm Xanthea’s presence.
“Do you see her?” Nikolai asked, standing beside him. “My sister?”
“I hear her,” the mouse prince said in a resonating, morphed voice. “It’s faint… but she’s here.”
I frowned, narrowing my eyes.
Hear her?
What does that mean?
I glanced at Xanthea, still resting silently in my embrace.
Even if she were screaming at the top of her voice, no one would hear her through my barrier. So what exactly was he hearing?
The mouse prince’s eyes widened, glowing bright golden before they darkened into the shadows.
“This is bad,” he said grimly.
“What’s wrong?” Nikolai asked, his voice hinted with subtle panic as he skimmed his eyes from the barrier to the mouse prince.
“He is here,” he said, clenching his fists. “Alpha Asher is here with her.”
I cocked a brow.
So he can hear me as well, and I am not even uttering a word.
“I’ve heard Alpha Ezra was the worst of the triplets,” the guards discussed among themselves.
“Yeah. Alpha Raven has got a sharp tongue, but he isn’t as unhinged as Alpha Ezra.”
“As for Alpha Asher… aside from attending meetings and handling political negotiations, he never does anything. So this shouldn’t be bad, right?”
“So… why does the crown prince look so wary of him?”
“Like your guards said, Asher being here can’t be as bad of news as Ezra, right?” Nikolai asked the mouse prince.
“Alpha Asher himself is bad news,” the mouse prince said. “And the worst thing about him is that he does nothing. Which means I don’t have enough information on him or what he’s truly capable of.”
We were both wary of each other, and I wouldn’t be foolish enough to underestimate him just because he looked afraid right now.
“Whatever. He’s just a demon,” Nikolai scoffed as he continued in an obnoxious tone. “With you and all these celestials here, he’s clearly outnumbered. He might be a lord in his own realm, but here?”
He chuckled, glaring at the barrier with a sneer.
“Here, he’s just another demon. And demons don’t stand a chance against celestials. You and your people can easily slay him and bring the great demon lord to his knees – to his fucking doom,” Nikolai said.
I tilted my head.
The arrogant superiority that had inflated the mortal soldiers’ chest at Nikolai’s words was knocked right off their faces as soon as the tendrils of my shadows slithered a few inches forward.
Panic zapped across the crowd and the celestial guards, Nikolai, and the mortal army retreated from the barrier.
The celestial guards threw themselves between the mouse prince and the barrier, drawing their swords.
They had collectively stopped breathing, their heartbeats thundering as they stared at the barrier, bracing themselves for an attack. Some celestials shifted in their divine wolf forms, while the mortal army had over a hundred guns pointed at the barrier.
“Celestials might have won all the celestial-infernal wars,” the mouse prince said, gesturing for his guards to lower their weapons. “But history proves… infernals have destroyed more celestials than the cold pages of any book could ever record.”
Then he turned his glare to Nikolai, allowing a fraction of his searing aura to press down; just enough to humble him.
“For mortals, death is the worst that can happen. But for us… everything except our lives is at stake. So, I suggest you shut your mouth and stay out of this. I don’t want a war – and neither does Alpha Asher. Because if he did… do you think any of us would still be standing here, in one piece?”
Nikolai winced at his words, but he gritted back his teeth and stepped back.
The mouse prince and his guards took the frontline. He peered at the barrier and commanded, without wasting another second.
“Begin!”
At once, over fifteen members of the Celestial Suppression Squad (CSS) materialized around the graveyard, walking out of thin air, holding golden sun staffs in their hands. All of them were high rank, with over six stars in the shoulder insignias of their uniforms.
They raised their staffs toward the sky. The suns atop their staffs flared to life, radiating with a yellow glow.
My shadows recoiled before absorbing all the mana radiating from the light. However, their actual goal wasn’t to break through my barrier, but something else.
“Shift!” the mouse prince commanded.
The guards obeyed, transforming into divine wolves. Those with wings soared into the sky, their staffs clutched in their jaws, circling around the graveyard in a synchronized formation.
This time, the staffs glowed brighter, illuminating the graveyard from both above and below. Their combined mana condensed to form a halo of faint rainbow clouds, sparkling over the graveyard.
This was the celestials’ usual cleansing ritual to suppress demons. They weakened demons with a shower of holy rain, and once they lost powers temporarily, the CSS annihilated them by any means necessary.
The fact that the mouse prince chose to use the CSS against me only proved he knew me far less than I had expected.
‘I hate this!’ Icifer grumbled in my head, clearly annoyed.
The holy rain mostly irritated Icifer, but one at this scale could inflict actual damage. So, I tried to secure him deep within me, but he resisted, snarling in defiance as he refused to be suppressed.
‘Do you think I fear a fucking holy rain? I don’t care what the rain does to me,’ Icifer took over my eyes, glaring at the clouds. ‘But it will certainly disturb Xanthea’s rest, and that’s unacceptable.’
‘True. But this rain’s good for Xanthea,’ I said. ‘It will rejuvenate her soul.’
‘That’s the only reason I haven’t already swatted these annoying houseflies hovering in the sky like they own it,’ Icifer scoffed.
‘Practically speaking, the holy rain will do torrential damage to your soul-‘
‘I don’t care how badly it hurts,’ Icifer grunted. ‘I’m not leaving my mate. Especially with those celestials,’
‘But-‘
‘If you think you can suppress me with your reasoning, forget it. This isn’t the first time, anyway. I’ve endured celestial banes far worse than this, and I’d suffer them a thousand times over for my mate’s safety. You have no idea what I’m willing to do for her.’
I knew. That was exactly why I wanted to suppress him. But arguing would be pointless.
Icifer wouldn’t back down, and if I pushed too hard, he might not let Xanthea meet the celestials at all.
I shut my eyes.
I’ll just have to deal with it.
But before that…
My hands glided up Xanthea’s thighs. My shadows weaved through the fabric of her nightgown. Slowly, the soft white dress transformed, shifting and reforming against her skin into a high-collared black coat and fitted black pants.
Sensing the change in her clothes, Xanthea parted from me.
Platinum chains cascaded over her shoulders, chest and back, making a sweet metallic chime as they brushed against the onyx gemstones embedded into the intricate embroidery of black gold and filigree.
Her gaze lowered to the coattails, edged with ornate metallic details. Her breath hitched when she realized that this was the signature royal attire of the Infernal lunas, but customised to the way she liked to dress.
My hand settled over the corset belt at her waist, encrusted with black jewels and chains, but before I could relish the way it hugged her figure, a raindrop slithered down my face.
Icifer suppressed his groans, not allowing his hold to weaken on the shadow barrier.
My jaws clamped up as one after another, countless raindrops scorched my skin like acid, sizzling on contact before they melted deep into my bones.
But all the pain faded into the background when I saw how the rain plumped Xanthea’s parched lips, how it soothed the swelling on her ring finger where I had carved my name, how it restored the soft glow to her beautiful skin.
Her brows tensed, her weary eyes lighting up with a divine radiance, but as soon as she took me in, the serenity in her eyes was replaced with terror and panic. Her eyes widened as she stared at my face, tarnished by the searing scars left behind by the holy rain.
“A-Asher?”
I covered my face with my hand.
“Apologies for how unsightly I look-”
My head thudded against her chest as she wrapped her arms around my head, getting up to her knees.
My mind went blank for a few seconds. Icifer was just as confused as me. I blinked, trying to comprehend her actions. And when I finally realized, my heart twisted with the most unnatural ache.
Is she using her body to shield me from the holy rain?
Is she trying to… protect me?
Suddenly, the divine burns felt like the most beautiful pain heaven could bestow upon a demon. If it hurt this good in her embrace, I never wanted the pain to end.
‘Uh. Well… t-this is…’ Icifer awkwardly shifted within me, embarrassed.
We weren’t used to being protected, but for once, it didn’t feel half-bad.
I shut my eyes, leaning into her.
But it wasn’t the same for Xanthea. Even though the holy rain healed her fatigue, soothed her tattered soul – she was hurting. I felt it in her restless heart pounding wildly in her chest, in the panicked grip of her fingers clutching my clothes, in her breaking breath as she desperately chanted my name, as if she feared I’d dissolve into the rain and disappear, slip right through her fingers like water.
The warmth of her tears merged with the rain as they bled on my skin.
“Xanthea. I’m ok,” I whispered.
“You are burning!” Xanthea choked out a trembling whimper. “It’s weakening you. This rain. It’s burning you. I-is this… the holy rain?”
Through her mother’s memories, Xanthea hadn’t just inherited her knowledge, but her experience and skills as well. No wonder she figured it out so quickly.
“Yes,” I whispered against her chest as it heaved faster.
She gritted her teeth, panting as she hugged me closer, trying to cover me from every raindrop.
“It means… celestials… are here?” she panted, her breath hitching as she spoke through the rain.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“For you.”
Her body tensed, but she remained silent for a moment and then spoke again in a calmer voice.
“Since you haven’t taken us back to the Infernal realm already, it means…” she hesitated.
“I want you to meet them,” I said.
“Why?” I felt her fingers tremble. “Is it because of… my… m-mother?”
She might have gotten out of her guilt, but that didn’t change a thing about her feelings towards her mother.
Her mother was a stain on her identity, one no realization could wash away. Meeting her celestial family meant confronting the bitter reality she longed to escape… living with the scar she wished to erase, perhaps even being celebrated for it.
“Starsouls are one of the most ancient bloodlines of paradise and you are a Starsoul, Xanthea,” I said gently. “You can’t run away from your truth.”
I heard her grit her teeth.
“Nothing good will come out by facing it either,” she said, her voice quivering. “Karma. Fate. Destiny. I don’t understand them, but I fear them. What if there is a fate that takes me away from you, from Ezra, from Raven? What if there is a destiny that isn’t linked to you? What if I become someone I hate?”
Xanthea’s reluctance was more than fear. It was the deep-seated dread of what this meeting could reveal about her past, her blood, and, worst of all, herself.
Xanthea feared how they might influence her. What they might turn her into, and that was a healthy fear. But running away from her blood would harm her more than the good.
“You can be Xanthea Xipher and still be mine. You can be Xanthea Plath and still be mine. You can be Xanthea Starsoul and still… you’ll be mine. Xanthea – in every emotion, in every identity – is mine. And it’s my fate and honor to be yours.”
Her fingers dug into my coat as they curled into weak fists. Stifling a sob, she hugged me tighter.
“And therefore, if you ever walk the path Cadence did… if you so much as glance in that direction… it will be my duty to kill you with my own hands before you can hurt an innocent soul.”
I said, and her body stiffened, her grip loosening on my clothes.
I hugged her back, the holy rain burning my hands.
“If that day comes-” she whispered, taking a deep breath.
“That day will never come,” I interrupted her. “I have faith in you, Xanthea. Baseless, mindless, mad faith. So, it’s ok for you to fear the knowledge you have, but do not fear yourself.”
The rain poured down harder on us. My grip tightened around her – I couldn’t tell if it was to cope with the pain scarring and searing every inch of my body or to keep her from falling apart.
“I just want you to meet them and when you do, pretend that you know nothing about Cadence Starsoul.” I spoke through my clenched jaws. “And never share your knowledge with anyone, be it a celestial or an infernal…”
I explained what I hoped to uncover from this meeting and the precarious situation we were in, surrounded by a mortal army, a celestial troop, and the mouse prince.
She listened carefully, her jittery aura gradually settling into a composed stillness.
“One last thing, what happens here, stays here. Don’t tell my brothers anything about this meeting… or yourself. Especially Ezra.”
Taking a quick gulp, she hesitated.
“W-why? They deserve to know-”
“They don’t have to know. Because if they do, they’ll hate you,” I said.
She lowered her gaze, overtaken by all the conflicting emotions ravaging her soul.
“And hating you… will hurt them.”