“Here you are goddess,” he said completely calmly, and she immediately lifted her head towards him while grabbing her sword rapidly. He didn't get any closer as it was the first time he had seen her truly terrified.

“It.... it's you” she didn't calm down at all, just tightened her fingers on her weapon tighter. Her hands were small and her wrists were frail and skinny, so childlike that if he didn't know her he might think she really was as vulnerable as she looked. “What are you doing here!?”

He raised his open hands upwards so she could see them clearly.

“I'm not going to do anything to you, that's not why I came. They knocked you off your throne, I know, but I made sure Lucifer didn't know,” he assured her immediately, so she lowered her arms slowly.

“Why did you come here?” she asked quietly and not entirely confidently.

“We're the same now, aren't we?” he muttered, before finally sitting down beside her on this bare ground. It seemed to him for a moment that she would move away, but she stayed.

“You earned it, I didn't. Anyway, it doesn't mean anything now” she burbled in a tone completely unlike the one a moment ago, so he turned his head to meet her gaze. He looked into her eyes for a moment: calmly, as he would always like to look into them.

“You are the Lady of Heaven, remember?” He asked slowly.

“Of course. Until they accuse me of being a deserter or force me to sign my resignation, which is very soon. Have you come to prey? What do you want for keeping this a secret? I have nothing to offer you.”

She spoke firmly, but a tad too quickly for her liking, so he didn't reply for a long while still not taking his eyes off her until she finally calmed down.

“I have not come to prey on anyone. You are the Lady of the Heavens no matter what verdict is passed at the seat of the priestesses,” he said seeing her completely disbelieve him.

“How do you imagine that? I am not telling you that you are still the ruler, we both failed. Tell me, did you come here looking for the Lady of Paradise? Because if so, she is not here, the administration just hasn't managed to complete the relevant forms yet. What's left is the daughter of that coward Yahweh and that's how they will treat me here,” she snorted.

“I wasn't born in a palace, but you most certainly were, and I've never seen you bow your head to anyone. The Almighty himself had to step down, yes? So you will keep your title.”

“Jerk.”

“Reciprocally, given that there are two of us sitting here. I know you've been left alone, but it's time to pull yourself together. I know who you are and that since the Almighty Andrielach himself had to step back, this bunch of hysterics won't do anything either.”

“He... has already shown me how it all falls apart. I knew this was how it was going to end, he was offering it or death and I think it was easier to choose the latter though...” He saw her turn her head and run away with a look of shame at her own words. It was worse with her than he thought.

“Believe me it wasn't,” he hissed placing a hand on her shoulder.

“What do you want? Why did you come here?!” she shouted, and he didn't take his hand back, so he could feel her trembling.

The last time he saw her she was nothing like the one here. She was confident, poised and deadly. She wore her crown like a shield and laughed all those dangers right in his face. Until now, her confidence had rubbed dangerously close to madness.... but not now. Now, hidden behind her tangled hair, she wandered her eyes over her own dirty hands and only her straight neck and the hardness outlined on her now clenched lips betrayed who she might have been.