Maiden of Midnight

Zeella

Four months before the events of Maiden of Midnight…

The graveyard reeked of decay. The various tombstones cast long, horrific shadows across the ground which was damp from the summer rains and my boots sank into the mud with every step, more and more flies taking their place on my skin, which was now old and wrinkled, my hair greying. My eyes, full of cataracts and nearly too old to see, moved across the oldest of stones, all of them beginning to crumble into nothing but dust, and paused on a raven-black stone, silver letters curving across the dust covered surface. No flowers had been placed atop the dirt, which no life grew from, and there were several small scuffs in the dirt, which looked as though somebody had tried to crawl from the grave. I hobbled towards it, my bones creaking like an old house with every step, the locket at my throat bouncing against my collarbone, making an ominous ticking sound. I lowered myself slowly beside the grave, running my fingers across its stone, its etched words, and mouthing them to myself. Such an important name to the Maladur generation. Important enough that her death could not be allowed to pass, no matter how many times it occurred.

Desterium Rosalia Maladur-Delance…

Removing the locket from my throat, its metal as cold as Korath’s early morning mist, I held it just above the dirt, the last few threads of my power running along the chain and reaching for the earth to fuel, to feed.

“Rise my daughter, the eternal darkness to this world, rise and remember,” my voice was hoarse as I muttered the ancient words, words that should not be spoken, that were forbidden to be uttered.

The ground shuddered in horror, the dirt bulging upwards slightly, before my power spread across it like a net, pulling the dirt away from the young, mortal body that now laid there, black eyes blinking up at the light, her skin pale from a century underground. I extended my hand to her, my fragile fingers gripping her own with enough strength that she rose, shaking on her legs, and gave me a sinister smile. She could not have been older than seventeen this time, or younger than fourteen, but her eyes… they were still immortal eyes, even if her body was mortal once again. I would need to remedy that, would remedy it, once we got back to the Caliem Manor.

“Hello, father,” her voice echoed as though she were still in the Void, and as she stepped out of the grave onto solid ground it cleared, leaving her sounding as mortal as she looked. Her body bared to the world thanks to the Void’s odd way of collecting souls but not bodies. I peeled my jacket off, tossing it at her as I turned away and she laughed, pulling it around her body which was still scarred from the last century.

“Glad to see the world is still Sinning,” she purred, glancing around at the trees waving far above our heads, their leaves nearly touching the sky, it seemed. I only smiled, leading her back towards the car that I had purchased only two days ago where her Guardians were already waiting and Lilith was seated impatiently in the passenger seat, her body shaking with age. Bal’gag, Nym and Lydiav, her Guardians, leapt to their feet when they saw her, giving her a quick bow, which she unnervingly returned. I slapped the back of her spine, hissing “Don’t bow. You’re Royalty. Act like it.”

She lifted an eyebrow at me, sighing, “Although I’m not so glad to see that the world has treated you with the same respect it used to treat me, LORD Zeella. Oh, if only death claimed you faster than you could raise me.”

She snarled at the second slap I gave her, which left her cheek red and her Guardians bared their teeth in warning at me. Another offence, and they would not hesitate to kill me, it seemed. Or at least try to, since even in age I was better than all of them. But killing them would mean waiting another century, and without draining a small part of my daughter’s soul, I wouldn’t live that long.

She stepped into the car with the immortal grace of a Voider, her hair oily from a century in the ground, and she took a deep breath as the aircon came to life, Lydiav immediately moving until she was seated behind Desterium, pulling a hairbrush from the care bag she had brought, and carefully pulling it through the tangles in her hair, which made a gut-wrenching sound, as if she were running a brush across the surface of a cactus, and Desterium took the brush from her, murmuring under her breath to Lydiav, who smiled and nodded.

“So, my daughter, what do you plan to do with my latest gift to you?” I motioned to the dashboard of the car, and a smile spread across her face. Power had always been the thing my daughter craved. Whether it be in the form of electricity, or actual power, it didn’t matter and I had immediately thought of her when I’d seen this car. The latest and greatest creation from the city of Pangorama.

“I suppose it depends on where you are sending us, Zeella,” the Septem Peccatis sighed, and as if he hated to see her so filthy, her hair straightened out longer than ever before, her skin seemed to wash itself, a healthy olive colour taking over and a dress wrapped itself around her, my jacket falling onto her lap. She handed it to me, her nails neatly manicured again, power sparking from her fingers, which she ran lovingly over the dashboard of the car as though it were a horse.

“Hm… I should break it in, shouldn’t I? But first… Tell me, where AM I being sent?”

“We’ll discuss that tonight, my dear, along with your own wonderful plan to avoid the eyes of the Archangels, I’m sure.” I gave her a warning look as she smiled again, lacing her boots up and examining the bag Nym handed her, no doubt full of weapons.

“I shall require a few days to accustom to this century, if you require me to remain here.”

“You’ll be elsewhere, but by all means, take a few days,” I offered. She only tilted her head in confirmation, before turning to Lilith, who was staring outside the window.

“Has your mission to find Eve been successful as of late?”

“It has not, but I’m sure you’ll spare some time from your schedule to lend your aid once again?”

Desterium only smiled, looking over to me as I turned into the border of Caliem, snow beginning to whip against the windows and the aircon promptly switched to a heater, warming all of us. She leaned against the car door, glancing out at the ice-covered rivers that ran through the territory and frowned.

“Is it not to your liking?”

“No, it’s perfectly fine. I just remember this place before it was frozen, when rainforests thrived with creatures dwelling…”

I remained silent, and my daughter slowly peeled her eyes from the wastelands outside towards Bal’gag, who shook his head in disbelief, as though he couldn’t quite believe how much time had passed, and I pulled into the large garage, where two young servants were waiting. They froze when they saw Desterium, who gave them a grin made to stop a heart, and she stepped from the car, a cloak forming over her head and back, until it brushed the ground. Nym, Lydiav and Bal’gag stepped out, falling to flank her, and she tossed her hair over her shoulder, a Demon-and-Archangel gem diadem forming atop her forehead, strings of gems falling down her hair, which braided them into a long, thin braid.

The door swung open, revealing the Demon Courtroom, and I offered my elbow, which she graciously took, and I led her towards my throne, the one that would take a small piece of her soul, and regrant us immortality.

Before she sat, the hall still echoing with her footsteps, I said “Do you, Desterium Maladur, offer a sliver of your immortality, to the Seven Sins and Lilith the cursed?”

“I do.”

“Then take your seat on this throne, and reset time for us.”

As she sat down, the ground once again shook, Korath melting away as darkness overtook us and our age was reset…