Fallen

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

"Why won't you speak to me, Aliel?" She said, face looking so hurt I could barely look at her. Despite the dislike and irrational hatred surging through my veins at the moment, I couldn't help but feel guilty at her soft-spoken words. "I'm your mother. I tried to see you, but it simply wasn't allowed. When I heard you were going to go to Hell... Well, I made arrangements."

I hesitated, knowing that I would have to speak in order to get the information she was dangling in front of me like a carrot on a string. "Arrangements?"

Ronove nodded vaguely, stepping over to the nearby table and making swirling patterns in the thick layer dust with her long white finger. Apparently, cleanliness was not a major concern. "Yes, arrangements. I made sure no demons attacked you when you were opening the entrance. I can tell you, that took some big promises. Demons don't like to leave angels alone, even if they are half demon as well. They enjoy hurting them. And then I asked Bruno over there to bring you to me once he found you. Of course, I also had to bribe him not to rip you to pieces, but he didn't mind."

"Bruno?" I asked. That was a human name, not a demon name.

My mother smiled distantly. "Yes, Bruno. He didn't like the name he gave him. So he chose a human one instead. He likes it much better."

I stared at her, realizing that she was probably insane. "But why did you want to see me?" I asked in a frustrated tone. I was starting to get sick of her misty voice and vague answers. Every time she came close to revealing something, she drifted away from it like a boat drifts away from shore during a storm.

She widened her permanently squinting eyes as far as they could go. "Goodness, girl, I had heard you were smart! I'm your mother. I haven't been able to see you since you were born- was that one hundred years ago? two?- and I wanted to get to know you. I love you, you're my daughter. Don't be foolish and think that I'm a monster who didn't care for your father or you. I loved Ordiel, and I loved you to pieces. I had no choice but to give you up and pretend to be dead."

I frowned. I didn't believe her, and I especially didn't think that she was telling me everything, so I decided to try and solve another of the mysteries eating away at my mind and heart. "Okay... but why do you have my father's sword? He didn't give it to you, did he?"

Ronove grinned. It seemed an odd and unfitting smile for the words she was speaking. "Of course he gave it to me! The third or fourth time we met, he brought it to me, as 'a token of our friendship.' How we met, and all that. Naturally, I kept it. Of course, that doesn't matter anymore. That was hundreds of years ago. I just need to get you to reach the Demon Gate."

My head was spinning from all of this information. Her statement about Ordiel's sword had made me trust her more. Perhaps she really had loved my father and I? She loved us, and was forced to give us up? I felt myself force back a smile, one of my first in decades. I had been wanting someone to tell me they loved me ever since I was thrown. And now here I was with my mother, hearing that she loves me for the first time I could remember. Hopefully, she was telling the truth.

Then something clicked. The happiness I had allowed to fill me drained away to leave behind the older suspicion. "You know I need to get to the Demon Gate?"

Ronove snorted, once more looking a little distant. "Know? Child, I was the one that planted the information that let you learn about the Gate. I knew you were trying to get to Heaven, thanks to your little angel friend— what was his name? Karael?— and I knew you would need help." She stood up, and held out her hand. "So, Aliel, will you let me guide and protect you on your journey back to Heaven?"