The Riches of Power

Cut short

POV Eric

It was the Arch Angels, falling beautifully to meet us from the sky. Their arrival held our attention, there must have been a few dozen, but that is all we would need. These angels were much bigger than we were, just in general. They were twice our size, and so was their weapons and shields. As they rose, they towered over most of the demons, with their broad stature. But I could only be held still so for so long when Vinidon and his brother were so close. I snatched Kaitlyn's hand into mine and quickly pulled along behind me, the fighting had started again. The silence that had swept over the battlefield was growing back into the chaotic scrawls of bloodshed and slaughter. Then I saw Taryn, she bounced lightly,carefully, and strategically on the heads and tips of weapons that scattered the battle field. She was approached landing on her feet in front of us. Her eyes were wild as she was calculating where she would have to move next. " You have to go!" she screamed over the madness. "Now. There is a portal ready for you in the middle of the sanctuary!" She finished quickly avoiding a hit from a nearby enemy, before hopping nimbly above the mess, over to what looked like might be Raven. There was a moment where I had pulled Karen along, swiping away at any demons that came near, but I realized that my girl was very capable of fighting alongside me. We cleared ourselves a path to the large gates that had been pushed open. The giant silver masses now swung on one of their hinges, and looked like it might fall on its own soon. Not many demons had continued their onslaught of the sanctuary and had turned their focus to our newest heavenly companions. Tara had said go to the center of the sanctuary which was the fountain if I was remembering correctly. The entrance of the sanctuary had always had a bend in the cobblestone streets that went around three small hovels before you could get a clear view of the square. As we passed the corner we got our first glance at what this portal looks like. I had expected a portal to hell to have some kind of fire, maybe magma. In my mind the colors were themed your typical pitch black, and blood red, with maybe hints of burning orange and ocher yellow, but that is not what I saw as I looked into the square. The fountain was no longer in sight, just a gaping hole in replace of the angelic silver, but there was still the sound of trickling water. We had slowed down to a curious walk as we approached the pit. I now expected to see perhaps a bottomless pitch black, that we would have to muster the courage to jump down into, but again I was wrong. As we looked down into the hole we could see the silver fountain, except it was inverted. It still had its tiers but they grew smaller as they went into the ground. I guess you could imagine taking the fountain flipping it upside down and then sticking it back into the ground. Now there was no earth underneath the fountain only what seemed to us like unpredictable emptiness. When you watched you could also see the familiar trickling of water defying gravity as it fell upward from the highest tear up to the largest as it had always down when right side up. However you could most definitely tell that this was indeed a portal, by stereotyped descriptions i've heard at least. There was a dark haunting blue liquid, no plasma, that filled this pit. The plasma was living as it moved in a direction, swirled in another. It was like watching water in a kids pool if you were sloshing it gently. In the plasma the fountain looked more like a greyish blackish silhouette. In the darkness of the night lit only by the moon, you could tell there was only a faint luminosity produced by the portal and its color was the same dark blue. Soon more and more of our friends filed in, bloody and battleworn. Paige and Carter were the last to abandon their posts by the angels, and were coming down the path as we spoke. Asmodel along with Elaina, and Taryn had also met up by this portal.

Something was off, I could see it in their faces. They were nervous and fidgeted anxiously, sure that could have been caused by the battle, but it didn't seem like it. I watched them warily as Paige and Carter finally joined our group. All eight of us stood huddled together facing the two demons and the angel. "I know that you know your mission. Destroy Lucifer, so that when he respawns it will take him many millenniums to grow back to what he has now. You have been given the tools you need for this mission, I know, but has anyone ever told you the price." She said this solemnly with a mourningful staleness. She was telling us this because it was simply our right to know, even when it brought her sadness. As we stood there in a tense silence, I searched my mind. I only ever knew that we were to go defeat the devil and come home and live happily ever after. The End. So what could she possibly have to tell us now.

"Well,"She started and I thought I saw her eyes water. I looked over to see Elaina was indeed crying silently as she watched us through her tears. Kaitlyn's hand squeezed tighter around mine. " When you go you will have to use your crystals at the different corners of hell at the same time." She was saying what she already knew. "But when you go, and when all stones are properly placed, they will be activated. They will use all the energy that lives in the stones..." she paused again almost, looking down at the ground. The pause was long, I actually didn't expect her to finish her sentence. But it was Tara that finished her sentence.

"It is your souls that now live in the stones." She said evenly, most would have said her face was indifferent, but you could see that the corners of her lips were ever so slightly turned down and twitching, fighting for composure. Her eyes were a little more glassy than they normally are, she was holding back her tears.

'Our souls?' I think. They want to use our souls, its energy, to destroy the devil. "We won't survive that will we?" Paige had said, softly, barely audible. It was Elaina who shook her head violently, and ran over to us. She barrelled into Tara and Raven who were now patting her on the back gently, their gaze distant. There was nothing left to be said. Kaitlyn had tears silently falling down her cheeks as she stood perfectly still looking down at her shoes, before her gaze slowly shifted up to me. I slipped my fingers between hers and squeezed her hand tight. I couldn't quite grasp exactly what this meant. We would die, but the concept of death never seemed to resonate with me. I've never had anyone close die, I've never mourned the loss of someone. I don't entirely understand how someone can cease to exist. How a body can give up on the mind and soul and say "I can go no more". However this wasn't even our case, it was our souls that would abandon our bodies. No, they are asking us to sacrifice our souls to the cause. To give up our essence to the cause of the world. How could you ask somebody that. No, the real horror is how they hid it from us till now. When we lacked a choice... We were now slaves to the cause here, weren't we... As if we could say no and turn back and go to our homes. I was holding even tighter to Kaitlyn's hand. Maybe if it was just me, I could sacrifice myself. But Kaitlyn? Not only her, but I looked into Axel's eyes, my brother. Slowly I was looking at our circle meeting the downcast eyes of my life long friends, all of them would go. Would our souls even go to heaven, would they rot in hell? Perhaps our souls will truly be gone, and we won't get a chance to experience an afterlife. Many have given up their lives to causes, but how many would be willing to give up their eternity for one...

POV Tara

I couldn't see anything through the water flowing silently through my eyes. I viciously wiped at them, but they continued on regardlessly. Axel was across the circle. I could feel his gaze on me, but I dared not look up. If I were to look up I would find that I would try to fight everyone to escape this fate. I would try to take down demon and angel alike. I just can't accept such a fate as this. I feel as though I could watch the world burn for setting us up like this. Brought onto a journey designed for us, only to be betrayed at the end and led to our own chosen destruction. None of them told us. Not sweet Elaina, or cold honest Taryn, let alone the sure, composed Asmodel. I could help it no longer, and my eyes were cast up to his beautiful blue eyes. Axel was still watching me with careful sorrowful eyes. But all anger vanished from within me, i was left with another sentiment. The waves of sorrow extinguished any lingering flames. Because I could only think of all the dreams I've had of our future. Going to college together, getting an apartment, how weird our first grocery shopping trip might have been, with our love for candy and sweets. I always imagined him proposing, somewhere where there were flowers or perhaps after a dinner. Then having to decide which one of my dear friend would be my maid of honor, coordinating the wedding, how nervous I would be. Then walking down that aisle and saying I do. Visions of children I had imagined over the years with blonde hair and blue eyes and chubby cheeks, with laughing screams echoing through the house we would have had. All of that was no longer a possibility. All of that would only linger as dreams, never to happen. Perhaps now, they were nightmares. Dreams that could never be reached, regardless of what was done. Weren't those the real tragedies, when one had once believed something to be possible, even a bit rational end up being turned into the un-achievable and unattainable. Those who would know our story would probably call us heroes, who sacrificed nobly and that it was right and just. Not that it was a tragedy to have all of our lives lost all of our futures cut short our dreams crushed and soon forgotten. I let out an uncontrolled sob at my next thought. Some couples fantasized about their lives together and always promised 'till death do we part'. Others pairs were sure on forever, a love that would last beyond the grave and would resonate in their souls wherever they might end up. But, Axel and I would never get our eternity would we...