Gregory approached the body sprawled out behind the speaking altar of the chapel. Too much traffic was drawing too much attention to the girl, and the young paladin keeping people away was hard-taxed to do just that. Moon-Elves were a curious bunch, and dozens of moon-elf scholars and magisters were interested in the specimen created before their eyes, though it would do the girl no good. The god had ordered a few of his magisters to lightly hover her into the chapel and placed on a large cushion behind the altar. Her wings stretched fully would touch either side of the small area, but it would have to do.

He kneeled beside the girl and ran his thin purple fingers through her matted hair, pulling the strands from her face. She was no longer sweating, yet she was layered in the sweat of earlier. She could not truly be cleaned for fear of her health, but once she awoke she would be gifted to a warm bath. Gregory sighed as her back tensed and her eyes squeezed shut for a moment, a pang of pain from these new attributes no less. Not being born with wings himself, Gregory knew the pain they brought as they slowly grew, and hers were fully grown so fast. It would be a while before she would be able to fully support the large limbs, but she was strong enough to pull it off. Gregory looked at the girl one last time and frowned before turning and heading to the pew nearest the girl. He reached into his pouch and pulled out a book, deciding that he would wait her healing out. He would no leaver her side, as he owed that much to her.

AD had been able to remember some of what he had been saying, but whenever she drew close to her body, it seemed to still be in pain. She had followed her body, as she didn’t want to risk loosing track of it. She saw people kept showing up. At one point she had even stood up and screamed at them to just go away. Of course, they couldn’t hear her… and that made her all the more frustrated. She started to pace, from the one wall her wingtip touched to the base of the alter where her other wing did. After a while, her frustration started to die out and she sat down on the floor and simply stared at her body. She looked awful. She wanted to just pick herself up and go home. The problem was, she was afraid she wouldn’t even be able to move.

Then someone else walked in and this time the young moon elf that had been trying so hard to keep everyone away didn’t move to stop who ever it was. Curious, she looked over and saw it was Gregory. She slowly stood up, but just like everyone else he seemed to take no notice of her this way. He did walk over to where her body lay. He didn’t say anything this time, but knelt down. She was reminded of Raven then and she felt sad. She wanted to fix it somehow, but how? She didn’t know why she even had the wings. Then he rose and moved over to a pew close by. After a moment, she came over and sat next to him. Was there a way for him to notice her? Some divine power or something? She reached out to try and touch his arm, but her fingers passed right through. She pulled her hand back quickly and waited a little while. He didn’t move, he wasn’t going anywhere…

Was it because she had wings now? Or was there more too it then that? The questions were piling up and she had no one to ask them, at least no one who could hear her. AD stood up abruptly and went over to where she was. She knew what she looked like and how she felt about this situation. What she didn’t know was if she could move and if she needed to worry about hunger. It was worth the risk though. It had to be. She went over to where her body lay and knelt down where her legs were. She felt a throbbing, but not the sharp blade of pain she remembered. Taking a deep breath, which actually did nothing, AD closed her eyes and re-entered her body.

The first thing she felt was very heavy. Then, there was the throb, a strange sensation that followed the beat of her heart. It was like someone had turned up the volume of her entire body. Then, she tried to move, tried to sit up, and pain shot across her back. It was still not a stabbing pain, but one that felt like millions of tiny daggers were having a jumping marathon across her back. She gasped and her hands gripped the cushion she was on. Her jaw clinched tight and she paused. The feeling slowly dissolved in the throbbing. She wondered if trying to open her eyes or to talk would give her the same result. She decided to try and move again. AD opened her eyes and blinked. Slowly she let her hands shift under her. Shifting her weight forward to get her legs under her. She moves painfully slow she curled her legs under her. Feeling tiered then, she stopped to rest.

Gregory shifted to lean back on his pew, throwing his arm over the back and flipping the page. He read for a moment, but paused momentarily as he felt a slight cold feeling over his arm. He grinned slightly and resumed his place in his book. Spirits were not exactly rare in this temple of light. There were a few moon-elves who had befallen hard times on the road to the temple, and there were many who were older than Gregory's own grandfather was who fought to remain alive to see the moon-elves returned to their glory. Those ones more often than not simply smiled at the god from their death bed and confirmed that they thought the moon-elf's glory was soon to return in full. Gregory would then calmly fill them with purity and blessing as they passed on peacefully to the next life.

He flipped his page again, still wondering just what kind of spirit chose to wander these halls. He would not force them to go to their after-life, but the option was always available, yet still some stuck around, perhaps to watch over their kin, or their writings. Gregory snickered as he thought he solved the case. It was simply the author of the book, making sure the god was kind to its old pages. He was just prepared to flip the page yet again when a slight motion caught his eye. Aether was shifting her hands to curl her feet and assume a more comfortable position. It was amazing that she could even move right now, as the healing should have drained her enough to put her out for at least a few more hours, and the pain of her back must still be terrible. He lightly closed the book and placed it on the pew as he stood, rolling his sleeves up and walking towards the girl.

Gregory kneeled beside the girl and lightly placed his hand on her stomach. She was breathing hard, but very much conscious, taking a rest before moving again. " Lady Draka, to move now would only bring unnecessary pain and exhaustion. I would advise your resume a comfortable position and stay in it. Although I healed the worst of it, your muscles still need to heal on their own, I healed you as far as I could without moving you." Gregory allowed his divine aura to outline his body thinly, not to enforce his words so much as convince her to trust him. "Perhaps if you seek any answers you may ask them now, if you so wish to avoid rest."

Aether Draka mentally cringed at being called Lady Draka. She didn't tell people she was noble born and it wasn't as if it really mattered... but she didn't want to be called Lady Draka. Not ever! She had to catch her breath first and she felt something else, something much more dangerous to not only herself but also those around her. It was creeping slowly up on her, but she still headed it’s warning.

"I'm not Lady Draka." She said, her voice sounding distant to her own ears. It seemed strange, like it wasn't quite right. She didn't know how tired she sounded. "AD or Aether Draka... not Lady Draka..." She paused, taking a few breaths before talking again. "I can't stay here, I have to go." She tried to make herself sit up and failed miserably, her muscles practically ignoring her. "I'm hungry... I can't stay..." There was almost a sob in her voice. If her hunger took over it would do what it wanted and it had no problem killing for fresh meat, be it human, elven or whatever. It bothered AD though, quite a lot actually. She felt it pushing against her thoughts hungry…

Her voice had fallen to a whisper then. “I shouldn’t have come back to my body, I shouldn’t have, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come at all. Raven is right… I just cause trouble. I’m sorry…” She felt then like the worst person in the world. Why shouldn’t Gregory, who had been powerful enough to summon Raven and who was willing to face Lynthaer even if she had not wanted him to… but she had been like that before she had known there was demonic blood in her veins. She had persecuted demons just because they were demons. Buy she couldn’t do that now, she had to believe that there was some good in even demons or she would have to be damned herself. And there was good in demons, there were quite a few that were her friends, the first of which was Lynthaer. That was the real problem then. He was still fighting the War between the Angels and Demons while she was trying not to. That was why she and Gregory clashed, it had to be… She didn't want to be thought of as evil but she walked such a fine line.

Gregory unconsciously brightened his aura and frowned at the girl. His once comforting hand on her stomach became a restraint as he pinned her back down. This was all turning into madness. "Aether Draka. Listen to me and listen well. You will not be going anywhere until I am sure you're healthy and safe. Your mind is not working properly right now, and I will not let you leave. If you are hungry, we will bring you food." His obsidian hand tingled with a pleasingly warm sensation as it seemingly detected another taint similar to its own.

"Tell me of this Raven. You're not going anywhere anytime soon, so I have time for a story. Raven is the angel I summoned for you before I got these wings, no? He seems to have such a profound effect on his life. Tell me about him." The tingling of his black hand grew stronger, as did his countering pushing momentum. Apparently, this hunger was an urge bred of evil, and he wanted to help Aether fend it off. "just push aside this hunger and explain raven to me. Tell me where you met him and how, describe him. Do whatever it takes, just don't think of this hunger."

His mind flicked over his list of spells, and he decided that humble would serve best should the situation get out of hand. Looking up to his young paladin he signalled for his to help Gregory hold the girl's shoulders down. He figured that the way her evil was bubbling it wouldn't be long until the kettle boiled over and she would have to be held by the arms and legs. The mark on the boy's throat indicated his being mute, a trait that a surprising percentage of Faust's are born with, so luckily he would not exactly be capable of describing the situation in any great detail. The god cursed himself for worrying over such a thing from a paladin, apprentice or not, but it was still a comforting thought.

"This would be a good time to vent any rage you've been feeling. Getting it out will make this task less painful for you."

Aether Draka’s breathing quickened for a moment and she closed her eyes. Raven, she could talk about Raven… She waited a moment or so as her breath became less rapid. “Raven was who found me… after I left the temple I had lived in.” Her eyes stayed closed as she spoke, focusing on what she remembered. “The village had found me sneaking away from the priests trying to so call cure me. I didn’t know what they were trying to do, just that is didn’t work. They were mad at me for it not working, so I decided to go away so that they didn’t have to be mad. The village started yelling that I was possessed, so I ran. Raven found me after that. He spoke with me, first trying to get me to return. After talking with me though, he decided I could go with him.” By then her breathing had evened out. Her eyes remained closed as she focused on what she knew of Raven.

“He was a black winged angel and he said his wings were black because he hunted demons. He taught me to help him, how to distract them and draw them out in the open where he could use his wings to his advantage. Raven taught me a little magic, but I was never really that good with it. He said I had time though, that I would learn more later. He also taught me how to use my blade to make it hard for the demons with wings to fly. It’s surprisingly easy actually and I think it would work with other creatures, though it would be harder with feathered wings. It’s dangerous though, they have to not know you are there. Then you get behind them and sneak up. The blade has to hit one of two places, either deep by the shoulder blade, which will make it so the wing can’t be drawn back, or better is to get the blade right by the joint and twist. This not only makes it hard to use the muscles, but has a good chance of popping the wing right out of the joint. Only one wing has to be damaged to render something flightless, but he always had be try for both wings if I could.” She felt the hunger clawing at her concentration, but she shoved it away and kept going, taking a deep breath before she continued.

“Raven flew with me, made sure I had food and was safe. He said I wasn’t possessed but it was hard some times to remember it with how some people treated me. I think that is why we didn’t visit too many cities. There was one church that I was supposed to meet him at once, but when I got there, the pastor was speaking with the guards. When I told them I was supposed to meet Raven there, they laughed at me. It was true though, and I insisted, then they stopped thinking it was funny and the guards tried to arrest me. Raven showed up then and made them let me go. He spoke with the clergy for a while then. I waited in the pews for him. When he was done, he drew me aside and told me that when I come to a new city, I should go to the church and not say I’m meeting someone, but request sanctuary. Then, and only then, should I say whom I was there to meet. Then, he explained, I wouldn’t have to worry about the guards and would still be at the church for him to meet me there.

“Then, when we were up in the mountains above a little kingdom I later learned was called Aceron… Raven said he had to go, and that I needed to make my way down to the town. I did go right to the church and I did just as he said, but he never showed up. Then a demon started attacking the town with undead, people who used to be the townspeople… but Raven never came, he had vanished… that’s why I wanted to speak to him, wanted you…” She opened her eyes and looked at Gregory, “That’s why I asked if you could summon him. I wanted to know why he had left me alone in the middle of all of that. Why, after that, I ended up caught in a place ruled by demons and half-fiends. So when I came here to Imythess, and knew I wasn’t what I thought I had been, that I needed to talk to him. I still don’t have my answer though… I still don’t know why… why was I left behind?” She closed her eyes again, trying not to cry again. That wouldn’t help. Nothing seemed to help… She felt the hunger again, it was drawing on her magic now, and it was drawing power from the ring around her neck too. Surprised, AD started to wondered how long it had been doing that…

((OOC: YES! This post finally beat my writers block to a pulp! It felt like a dam holding my writing has just been busted. >:P))

Gregory paused for a while. This Raven angel seemed odd to the god of light. He had met many angels in his life, and many whom were charged with the task of combating demons, and rarely did it affect the wing color. Black wings were a rare trait among the angels, and one doomed to see rough times. In the early celestial years black winged angels had been banished to hell and had their wings removed, yet as the millennia moved onwards black winged angels were understood as unique, surely, but not evil. Racism still existed among the older angels, and this would often cause the angels to prefer the company of mortals to their own kind.

The evil within her pulsed and grew, his hand feeding off of the companionship while still keeping her pinned. He leaned in closer to her and strengthened his holy aura. It was apparently a hard battle, but this conversation of her past helped the fight ease, if only while it was happening. The girl told of the angel using her to hunt demons, as bait to draw them out. This recklessness was a trait of those with black wings. The more AD explained Raven, the more Gregory wanted to meet him and have a talk. Such recklessness with a young mortal girl's life is no healthy thing among angels. As she talked she visibly relaxed, her face becoming placid and serene once more. His hand lightened its hold on her stomach.

Her eyes flicked open as she explained the last part of the story, the part in which he was involved. So badly she had wanted to talk to her guardian, her parent as far as she was concerned, that she had asked the first celestial summoned she found. The day had been momentous for both Gregory and AD. Gregory had gotten his wings and three years worth of schooling in celestial lore. He had become starter, stronger and faster. Three years of his life on the human world had been sacrificed for three years in the dream-like abyss of celestia, but in the end it was worth it for the good of Imythess. Her talking ended and the evil began to build up again, taking strength in her release of emotion.

Gregory decided that now was the time. With her tangled emotions flooded he would act before they resumed their tangle. "Aether Draka. Look at me!" the God put his other leg over her, tossing his cloak and kneeling down lightly over her stomach, his arms knees pinning her arms. He ran his obsidian hand through his long dark hair, pushing it back and out of his face. He flicked a knowing glance at the young paladin and signalled, connecting his two middle fingers and his thumb. The paladin immediately began a low, flowing elven chant as Gregory grabbed the girls shoulders and lifted her torso slightly, moving down to come face-to-face with her.

"Aether Draka. Look into my eyes, feel my weight on your body. This weight is real to you, palpable, can you feel it? Focus on it and look into my eyes. I am the god of light, Aether. Feel the raw power that flows through my weight. See the light in my eyes, Draka, and focus on It." The evil bubbled in protest, but lost a trace amount of its strength. "See the light in my eyes? Feel that light. Reach out and feel it with your mind. Touch it, mould it, watch it transform into a statue of yourself." The holy aura now burned to a point in which a crowd gathered at the door, students and scholars alike watching in confusion.

"Can you see the statue of light, can you feel it? Lady Draka, this statue is you. You are a being of the light, AD. You are as pure a form of light as me and anyone else in this chapel. This darkness is nothing but an infection, a hollow bubble deep within the statue. You must not let this bubble crack you, Lady Draka." Gregory pulled closer to her, the darkness in her body bubbling and twitching. "Would so strong a woman fear the bubble or let it crack her? You are too strong for this evil. Aether, you have a stronger will than I have seen ever before. All you have to do is find it within yourself."

Gregory inched ever closer, his light beaming ever brighter now, rending the lookers-on blind to what was happening. The young paladin squinted his eyes hard shut but continued his job of praying and forming symbols in the air with his knife. "Aether Draka, you have a strength that even gods lack. You must never forget that this godly power within you can fight this evil better than I." Gregory pulled the Aether close and locked her in a kiss, setting his holy aura into a burst of light and silent noise, rending all people within area of the castle momentarily deafened and stunned. As the light faded, hearing returned, leaving the residue of the paladin's soft praying.

Gregory kneeled over the girl, breathing deep as he look at the girl. The evil as far as he could tell was gone for now, and surely she would be tired. He had been unsure what compelled him to his actions, but they had worked. He looked up at the paladin and wiped a trace of sweat from his brow. The paladin uttered the last line and tapped the base of his knife against a small tome of light they all carried with them. The mute had done well, keeping calm and focussed in a time when Gregory doubted even he could do such a thing. "Young warrior... Go now to rest. Tomorrow find me in the library." The paladin nodded and stumbled off, shell-shocked at how events had escalated. Gregory remained kneeling by the girl, and brushed a thread of hair from her eye.

"Find her a comfortable bed and keep some priestesses around for her..." Some scholars bustled in and inspected the girl, sending off some pages to fetch the priestesses. Aether Draka, if only you had been born to different circumstances... Gregory smiled and stood, grunting the pain from his locked knees. This was the last straw for him. Evil had been growing too strong in his lands. Today was the last stand... I hope you don't have any intentions of leaving too soon, Aether

AD was confused, but his words rang trough her being and she found she could not look away from his gaze. She didn’t feel what he said she would feel, didn’t understand him at all. Her entire body felt like it was on fire, all except her very center and her wings… her wings… They were overcome with power, thriving on it while the rest of her felt like it was alight. She couldn’t move, couldn’t think, but this, this she would remember. It was burning itself into her mind. Then… then she felt her soul being pulled apart, strained to the breaking point, and it became more painful still, more painful then the wings, more painful then even when the priest tried to purge her of evil… was that what he was trying to do? Was that what was happening? A protest rose within her then, even from the light part soul who was thriving on the energy here, the power of the God of Light. Then she felt his kiss, and her soul moved away, rejecting what was happening with all that it was, dark and light and mortal… Time paused, hung in eternity with that kiss, then it fell slowly back to reality and she found herself once more outside of her body, her soul standing unseen at the head of her body as he lay her back down and spoke to the other one there. She stood, waiting. They left, they walked out…

She felt the anger building within her once more. He had just tried to rip her soul apart! He had just tried to kill her, again! What sort torture was this? She is what she is, not good, not evil. She needed to be balanced and apparently, she also needed to be hidden. But here, she looked around. The walls were light, no shadows, no darkness… The power gained by her light side was then twisted around, and turned to a darker power, one that removed her hunger. He had given her power, power she could use. Now she simply had to wait…

Time passed with no marker, but a priestess came, then another came to take her place. That was when AD returned to her body and moaned. They both came over. “Help me, help me up, please…” AD said in barely a whisper. Both came to her, obedient little things that they were. AD though, AD didn’t take orders like that. Let the God of Light see what happens when you try and force something upon someone who had been willing to be a friend, who had given him more then just one chance. They each took one arm and pulled AD to her feet. She stumbled and they held on, perfect…

When it seemed she had her balance, but she had more then that, AD drew her blades from the small bag still at her side, and slit both of their throats. Not a sound escaped and it seemed the place was asleep. She smiled and bent over, dipping her hands in the blood. She then took that dark red liquid and smeared it on the wall, again and again, then on the back of the statue. The light was covered then, dimmed. AD grinned, she had brought Shadows into the Light… She turned to the doorway as the shadows gathered around her, surrounding her with an almost joyful swiftness as she called on them. They wrapped around her, swallowing her, and just before she left she called out. “I’m gone Gregory Faust!” Then, she shadow jumped, leaving behind her the bodies of the two priestesses and the space of shadows made by covering the shining walls and floor with their blood.