“Let’s conceal your wings. They draw enough attention as is and we can’t have that right now, since we can’t alert my father. He’s been aggressive with security as of late, constantly sweeping the Realm for any suspicious movement,” Vaina suggested, placing a translucent veil over his wings, making them vanish in thin air. 

It made him look like an ordinary male, aside from his dark scar that marked his right eye and his marked pupils - not that anyone was going to notice them afar anyway. He appeared softer along his jawline, his angular eyes more rounded and tender despite his darkened under eyes. It was almost as if the innocent young boy she cherished so deeply emerged directly from her memories and returned to her, her heart fluttering slightly at the thought.

“Seems faerie made, only it's a bit rough on the edges,” he commented, inspecting the mesh-like material as he remained seated in a wooden chair. It felt rather cheap and flimsy to the touch as it harshly rustled in between his fingertips like sandpaper. “Not delicate enough for their frail hands.”

“It’s angel tech, actually,” she corrected him with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

“Oh? I thought you precious angels didn’t work in forges since you clearly don’t like getting any form of filth on you, princess,” Renatus chuckled, leaning into the seat’s backrest as he started swinging on it. 

A smithy was one of the few places that delicate beings such as angels would ever want to step foot in, with the thick fiery smoke cooking from the forge, the clashing of metals and general hands-on labour was enough to make them faint. He already missed the intense sparks from the forge fire that sprayed in the air like heavy rain, the satisfaction of crafting always easing his heavy mind. It was a true shame that he couldn’t simulate that gratification in Ylipeste, giving him another reason to wrap up the job faster.

“I mean, you’re not entirely wrong there, Renba. We design our products, and hire smith masters to craft them to life for us,” Vaina replied, filling up the kettle by the sink with tap water. 

Of course, he thought to himself. As expected from the angels - leaving everyone else to do their dirty work for them as their hands remained free from filth and yellowed calluses. The Gate was visible in the corner of his eye as he glanced at the glossy sheen of the nearby window, ominously looming in the distance.

“I’m surprised there’s not a single GateKeeper on duty. Was no one alerted at all when the Gate opened?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Considering his many years of attempting to pass through Kaufernis’ Gate, entering Ylipeste’s Gate with ease was almost an insult to his past efforts.

“Since I’m the daughter of His Worship, I have authority to open the Gate whenever I please. The Gate has been closed for a while, so a GateKeeper isn’t necessary since both angels and souls can’t escape without disintegrating immediately,” she explained, rustling a bag of tea leaves into a teacup decorated with intricate floral patterns and a golden handle from the cabinet above her.

“My father set the boundaries in place, so no disturbances were permitted across the Realms unless given permission by a GateKeeper to cross the Gate. Look above it, Renba.” 

He stared out the window, inching towards it to notice a small black crack near the top of the Gate, similar to that of a glass fracture. It crackled in the distance, bursts of violent lightning flashing within it, shrouded by the murky sky’s gloomy clouds. 

“A tear in the sky? How…” 

“It shouldn’t be possible,” she nodded, seating herself in the opposite chair. “A disturbance occurred despite having these restrictions in place, so there’s no doubt that it’s a resident Ylipesten who’s responsible for this mess. The space-time continuum is only continuing to affect Ylipeste due to The Middle Ground’s existence, and it’ll eventually swallow it whole if we don’t stop it.”

“Don’t see why we shouldn’t just let it do that,” Renatus chimed, sinking into his seat as he stared at the ceiling. The Realms would be better off without the annoyance of angels after all, not to mention their tyrant of a god.

“Well, it wouldn’t stop at Ylipeste. Any other Realm would be affected too,” Vaina emphasised, leaning forward on the table to observe him closely, her voice becoming sharp with each word that left her lips. “As well as those you hold dear.”

His dark hair gleamed beneath the gentle sunlight that passed through the window, softening its harshness. 

“That’s fair,” he replied vacantly. 

To lose his safe haven in Kaufernis and the only people that he could ever think to care about along with it would’ve been absolutely devastating. He couldn’t risk losing it all again. 

The whistle of the steaming kettle interrupted his chain of thought as Vaina stood up to prepare herself a cup of tea. The floral scent from her teacup filled the air with a light pink mist that dissipated in small swirls. 

“I can’t take you back to the palace for obvious reasons,” Vaina started, stirring the teacup. “You’re no longer a pure angel anyway, so you no longer hold the authority to enter, and I doubt the security can be easily bypassed.”

“Would’ve been funny to see your father’s reaction though,” Renatus grinned, picking up a lion ragdoll that wore a small crown on its head from a wooden bookshelf. He gave its neck a light squeeze, popping its head off to his disappointment. 

“Renba, take this seriously,” she whined. “After all, he does indeed still believe that you’re dead, as I had for the longest time.”

“I was only aware of you being alive just the other day,” he added, attempting to hide his crime as the beheaded lion doll now slouched slightly on the shelf, its velvet crown slipping off its head.

Vaina’s eyes widened slightly as she paused to take a sip. “How did you come to know of my wellbeing?”

“Our GateKeeper mentioned that Malachi had informed him, only after being pressured so I would take the job,” Renatus responded, tidying up the stuffing that stained the floor. 

Never in a thousand years did he ever think that he'd ever accept a job from the Higher Authority, but the opportunity of entering Ylipeste without the hassle was too good to pass up in his long quest for vengeance - especially after years of intense training with Hiram leading up to the moment, he wasn't going to waste a second of it.

“Interesting. After all, he’s involved with all this mess,” she replied, leaning her elbow against the table. “I heard that he spread information about my father, stating that he hid the fact that he created The Middle Ground out of greed, that my father wanted to rule over all the Realms with ease in his vision of ‘true perfectionism’. There are now rumours spreading that ‘perfect’ souls are being chosen to be protected from everyone else in The Middle Ground as hell breaks loose in Ylipeste, turning the place into ruins so a new Realm can take its place and be rebuilt in the image of perfection. You know, neither of them were that corrupt until the blight emerged, so their souls are likely tainted too. The disappearance of the Death Dealer has made this situation worse since the evil within can’t be removed from my father…” 

Renatus leaned against the wall, the wooden floorboard beneath him creaking as he shifted his weight. “You do know that the Death Dealer is just an urban legend, right?” 

Death Dealer this, Death Dealer that. The way the angels repeatedly pushed their problems onto another was starting to irk him, and reminded him of why he needed to wrap up the job even faster. 

“They do exist, I absolutely know it - they just chose not to resurface for whatever selfish reason when the Realms needed them most. After the first Death Dealer took their own life to fulfil the cycle of life and death, the birth of another should’ve occurred to continue it,” she fumed, sulking as she finished the last of her tea. “I’ve been looking for them up until now. They supposedly have white irises, which is incredibly rare as it is - and their body should be covered with the marks of death. Considering how much they should stand out, they’ve been doing a great job at hiding within the Realms.”

“It’s on you for being silly in believing a kid’s fairy-tale,” Renatus sighed in exhaustion. “I don't see what's with you angels and your obsession with the Death Dealer. It's like you expect them to solve all your issues for you.”

“At least I don’t believe the baby-napping one,” she snapped. “The angels here genuinely believe that the Underworld kidnap and eat angel babies for lunch and dinner.”

Renatus silently stared at her, watching her disbelief grow. Her wings began to quiver as he held his serious expression despite her shivering.

“...You’re not serious are you, Renba? That must be false.” 

The corners of his lip cracked into a wide smile, his chest huffing rapidly as he struggled to hold in his cackle. “Oh, you’re so gullible, princess.”

She sighed in exhaustion, shaking her head in response as he continued his contained laughter. 

“I may need your help in extracting some people out of Ylipeste for me, since they’re part of the issue. I’ve already started losing hope without the Death Dealer, since they’ll never show up at this rate,” Vaina started, silencing him with her index finger. “That aside, my father will become an unstoppable force with his power hunger and his authority over the lesser souls. The impure soul amongst us must’ve turned him against everyone close to him, including me... We need to stop those aiding him in his bid for destruction and power over the Realms, and only then can we truly stop him. I know I can’t get my father back, so the least I can do is put an end to him.”

“Of course. I’d be honoured,” he cooed.

“As I mentioned earlier, the impure soul is after me too, for escaping and learning about the existence of The Middle Ground. Had it not been for my personal knights, I would’ve been murdered immediately,” she continued. “They must be someone of higher power, if such information is meant to be regarded with tight secrecy. I’m thinking of Malachi, since he found out that I had escaped from the castle whilst out on his usual travel route. I’m sure he’s going to rat me out to my father, and have me tortured for eternity…” 

“Is there a usual route he takes?” Renatus inquired. On the rare occasion that he'd spot the blur of the man, it had always been in the same locations, just at different points of the day. 

She briefly thought about it, tapping her foot on the ground. “There is, but the timing isn’t guaranteed as to when he’ll use it.”

“Is there anything we could use to lure him out?”
“I mean, he is one of the few people looking for me. So I guess, myself,” Vaina answered. “He’s looking to have me severely punished for leaving castle grounds due to the risk of the blight.”

His eyes sharply lit up with a fiery glow, his grin becoming unsettlingly wide as the corner of his lips grew from cheek to cheek. “Show me the route. I have the perfect idea.”