Lost Beneath the Stars

Prologue

Point of View of Iris - written by LosPegasus

"Mission accomplished, Iris, we've got her." Bellatrix held in her arms a limp body. "We were seen, though."

"So be it," a woman with silvery hair said, her face pained. "We cannot risk losing one of the seven. They are far too important."

"Aren't they all important, Iris?" Bellatrix asked, setting the body into a healing pod.

"Yes, but Scarlett is one of the seven on which the fate of my Corps depend. And she has a prophecy of her own..." Iris's voice trailed off as she brushed a few threads of crimson hair from Scarlett's face. "I just hoped we saved her in time."

Bellatrix closed the lid to the pod and watched as it began the process. "She'll be unconscious for two days, at least. What do you plan on doing once she wakes up?"

"Keeping her here for a while. Maybe training her myself."

Bella's blue eyes searched Iris for a moment before responding quietly. "You can't keep her here forever, Iris."

Iris seemed to flare up for a second before she settled down. "These are my own children, Bellatrix. I will protect them with my life."

"Yes, Iris," Bella whispered, slinking off. Iris loved the seven more than anything. She chose them herself. Indigo, Cyan, Violet, Sky, Magenta, Lilac... And Scarlett. They each have destinies I don't know about yet. Iris chooses her chess pieces. If they play the game, I think they'll become the most powerful beings to set foot on the earth.

She had slipped into one of the lounges and collapsed onto a couch. Two of her best friends were there already, Egil and Azhaire.

"Everything alright, Bella?" Azhaire asked, scooting a bit closer to her. "You seem upset."

Bella sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. "I was just speaking with Iris—"

"As her right hand woman, of course," Azhaire said playfully, a smile tugging at his lips. His thick, chocolatey voice was barely above a whisper.

"Mhmm, and she wants to keep Scarlett here. You know, Sergeant Scarlett," Bella said.

"She never shuts up about her pets, does she?" Azhaire mumbled, with a hint of amusement.

"You know how she is. Anyway, Scarlett was injured so Iris thought it'd be a good idea to keep her here, train her here and such. I didn't think so."

"Why's that, Trixie?"

"We... We have the stain of immortality those humans don't, and Iris wants to keep her injured bird caged away in her palace. What if Scarlett forgets why she's here in the first place? What if she forgets what she's fighting for? I'll never forget what I'm fighting for."

"Who you're fighting for," Azhaire said softly, gazing at her with round, dark eyes. "Four hundred years, Trixie, is a long time to fight..." He winced at remembering her stain of immortality, everyone's stain, something nobody would forget, could forget.

"And another four hundred I'll fight to see him again, Azhaire. The only bright side to living forever is that I don't have an expiration date."

"You could move on—" Azhaire whispered, barely audible.

"Never!" Bellatrix said, glaring at him. "I love him more than anything. He gave up his title for me, Azhaire. I messed up. And he paid for it. He's perfect, every bit of him is perfect, and I've waited four hundred years for him to wake up again. He sacrificed everything for me. He lost his memories for me. He lost the light for me. Because I was stupid and arrogant and stubborn and thought I could do it—" Her rambling had turned into tears.

Azhaire reached for her hands and took them in his. However hurt he was by her declaration of fidelity to someone who would never be hers, he was touched by the memories of his best friend, almost half a century earlier, who had left them after a tragic mistake. Four hundred years should have been enough time to heal, right?

Maybe for him, but for Bellatrix, she only relived the same nightmares over and over. She vividly recalled every last feather the archangels had laid down in his cryo chamber before they closed his eyes for four centuries. A feather for loyalty, protection, happiness, faith, strength, kindness, beauty, courage, determination, patience, and... Her feather... Love.

Did he still keep those feathers with him? Eleven black feathers, not to be mistaken for raven feathers.

They weren't raven feathers.

They were angel feathers.

He's forgotten everything for me.