T W E N T Y - F O U R
Ida
TWO DISTINCT VOICES echoed along the area as I peeked through the little crack, eager to peer into the conversation. A blanket of stars decorated the night sky behind the two men, each casting a dark shadow over their even darker features as they spoke in hurried whispers. Although the conversation had begun in a smooth and friendly base, it soon escalated in regards to content and voice level, with Fabian's face burning red with what seemed like fury.
"Stop breaking things between Addison and me, brother. You do not know what you are messing with!" Dimitri warned, taking a step towards Fabian though the latter stood his ground.
"You have forgotten, brother, that it was you that had ruined my chances. I was the one meant to be the high king, and you snatched it away due to your jealousy many centuries ago."
"What had happened to Ida was not my doing, Fabian. We both know that it had been Lucius from the start, and it will be Lucius again that ruins a chance in any of us ever rising to power. I implore you to see reason. Hell will fall without a proper leader."
My attention heightened at that, causing me to lean in a little further in curiosity. However, when the door had allowed a traitorous creak to break through the otherwise silent night, I allowed myself cursed under my breath just once.
Both Dimitri and Fabian immediately turned their heads over in my direction. Pressing my back against the wall right by the door, I held my breath as best as I could, hoping that maybe, just maybe, they would not come investigate.
"Go back to Addison, Dimitri. Don't forget that Lucius might strike tonight. Take care of her, just like how I should've taken care of Ida." With that, the large doors swung open, nearly hitting me in the nose due to the force and movement. It covered me from plain sight, and yet I could make out a pair of footsteps, presumably Dimitri's, slowly leading away from the balcony and back into the ballroom.
It was only when the resounding footsteps had disappeared had I finally dared to step out of hiding.
"I was wondering when you were going to come out," a voice said, a little too close to my ear as I jumped in fright with a yelp. From behind me, Fabian stood there with his usual blank expression, hands folded across his chest as if examining me. "Did your parents never teach you that it is rude to eavesdrop."
My mouth opened and closed a few times, gaping like a fish out of the water before finally deciding to end my embarrassment. Dipping my head low, I shied away from Fabian's line of sight with remorse coursing through my veins. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."
"You are excused, mortal. I would've been curious as well if my date had left me so swiftly."
For what seemed like the first in my lifetime, Fabian had cracked a joke as a reply. I stared with wide eyes at the now smirking man before he coughed once, the smile slipping from his features.
"I suppose that you have questions?" He asked instead, gesturing to the balcony with a nod of his head.
Silently complying, I followed Fabian into the cold of the night, wrapping my hands around myself as best as I could as I peered into the world below us. A small waterfall ran clear, the roaring of its waters sounding like an orchestra that was born to play music. The wonders of nature were ever present even in a realm meant for eternal torture.
"First of all," I began, breathing out slightly in an attempt to warm myself. "Why are you offering to tell me all of this?"
Without looking at me directly in the eye once, Fabian shrugged off his suit jacket before laying it over my shoulders. Immediately, I could feel warmth enveloping me in a calming embrace. "To live with ignorance is both a blessing and a curse. I thought that you should at least know your enemy before heading to battle."
"My enemy?"
"Hard to believe, but I do too had a girl by my side once, many centuries ago."
Slouching his arms across the balcony railings, Fabian's eyes were staring off into the distance, the picture perfect image of someone drifting off into a far off memory.
"The universe once decreed after Lucifer fell from both Heaven and his throne in Hell that the latter location needed a true king to rule above them all in order for peace and harmony to be maintained in the afterlife. In the prophecy, it was mentioned that the person would either be me or Dimitri. It is decided by whoever marries first out of love and nothing more, for it was only with something as old and cheesy as 'true love's kiss' that could bind a mortal into an immortal lifespan. But, we can only fall in love with one soul. That one soul that could activate this immortality gift. It's not a rule we have to follow, but rather a way that pulled us to the soul. Something like what you mortals know as soulmates. Ida was a rich merchant's daughter as well. She was showered with all the luxuries in the world and had riches beyond any mere man's belief. And yet, she grew up kind and loving, never once allowing herself to over indulge in the gifts in which life had offered her. Every Sunday past noon, she would make her way down to the village's square to offer the poorer farmers and families food that could last them till the next time they meet. As she was fighting famine, it had been my duty to investigate the cause of this miraculous rebound. That was the first time I've met her."
"She sounds lovely," I said softly, inching closer towards Fabian though he hardly even looked my way.
"She was," he agreed. "Ida was the most beautiful maiden for miles, both in regards to her looks and her heart. I disguised myself as a mortal at first, in an attempt to stop her from altering the course of the poor's lives. And yet in due time, I found myself inevitably falling in love with her."
He paused, jaw clenched in a look of hurt and pain that I had found myself familiarized with through the time I've been alive. Releasing a shaky breath, I swallowed down the bile in my throat and dared myself to ask.
"What happened? If it was a match made in the heavens, written by the stars, why aren't you with her right now?"
"That is because she died." For the first time since the conversation had started, Fabian turned to face me, his look of hurt and pain morphing to add in a new emotion: anger. "She was murdered by your friend, your guardian angel Lucius. The angel had always been a friend, you see? We were all once angels, just like Lucifer had been. And thus we were tutored by the archangels themselves. We few were all under Lucifer. He was the one that taught us the way Heaven was maintained and cared for. And so when he fell, he dragged us all down with him, but one."
"Lucius. He stayed."
Fabian nodded once, dark wisps of his neatly gelled hair fell over his eyes. "He escaped Lucifer's hold on all of us and fled before he could be brought down and altered. He remained a guardian angel and cared for one soul throughout his or her reincarnations."
"Me," I stated more than questioned. "And Ida."
"Lucius never protected Ida. In fact, all the mortals in which he had to look after, he had abandoned. He went as far as to kill Ida once he found out that we were to be wed and save all of the afterlife. Lucius hated Hell more than anything in the world and until this day, he still schemes for the fall of this realm. Mortals were just an extra tidbit that he never really cared for. Collateral damage. Until you. You were the first mortal that brought Lucius to attention. He protected you instead of killing you just like your past lives, just like he had slaughtered Ida when Dimitri so foolishly welcomed him into our home. At first, we thought that it was because Dimitri had taken a liking to you and Lucius saw you as potential bait, but then we saw the smallest things that he would do to gather your attention."
"Wait wait wait... So you're saying that I'm Ida? That she is me? Is that why you hate me?"
"I don't hate you, Miss Pilediah." Fabian wrinkled his nose as if silently debating if he was truly replying with honesty. "I just simply strongly dislike the fact that you have the rest of my brothers wrapped around your finger. And also because that you have the exact same face as Ida did."
"Why are you telling me this? To know the enemy? I already know my enemy!" I exclaimed with incredulity. "Lucius is the enemy. He kidnapped Minnie and he is plotting to destroy the realm of Hell and cease the existence of afterlives."
"I am telling you this because Ida had died due to the fact that she did not have the luxury to own the knowledge of knowing Lucius well." Slowly retreating towards the large doors, Fabian hardly turned back even when he had left his parting words hanging in the tension-filled air. "I am telling you this because maybe I don't want to see another familiar face dying in the hands of the same man. And also because if I cannot be the high king, at least my brother could be. At least my brother could find happiness."
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