Lovely: Angel's Cry
Chapter 12: The Story of My People
Bella takes out a sketch book and a mechanical pencil that she had inserted in the middle of the notebook. She makes a series of quick sketches, before writing captions on them:
"In a galaxy far away from yours was a planet named Seneria. Like Dibbala, it had two moons."
"We, who you may know as angels,"
"Lived in harmony with humans, Chiron (who are like your Unliving,) Konfi (who are a lot like Louis L'Amour,) and lys (who resemble elves.)"
"However, we never made our true presence manifest to them, for it would have devastating consequences for mortals to see our true forms."
"One day, an entity known as Ghysar destroyed our world."
"Ghysar was once one of us, until he was corrupted by his desire to exert dominance over mortals, in defiance of the order that we must treat them as equals."
"My sister, Agape, tried to save the core of our planet by assimilating herself with it. I tried to stop her from doing so, but she was adamant and incorrigible."
"A new planet was thus born: Nucrea. With the creation of the new planet, we were only able to save a fraction of the mortal population."
"We thought the planet would be stable enough to last millions of years, but in only fifteen years, Agape, still inside the core, started to weaken drastically. She was the only thing making Nucrea hospitable for life."
"We decided to save all living mortals and transport them to other habitable planets. Some of them live among you, and I am certain that some groups will be hostile to them once they are revealed to be 'alien' to your planet."
"By the time we evacuated Nucrea, the planet was close to its annihilation. Three of us, along with other mortals, ended up here in Subeta."
"Virtus, embodiment of courage and virtue, who you know as Wilhelm. My parents were high-ranking members of the Court, and they set out to stop Ghysar from corrupting other angels. That's why they entrusted Virtus with taking care of me."
"I, Storge, the guardian of younger angels, embodiment of affectionate and filial love. "My upbringing deprived me of the ability to relate with my peers, but I am grateful to Virtus that he did not allow me to be corrupted by the ways of the mortals."
"Orama, the Seer among the angels, who you know as Grace. He who Ghysar sought to corrupt and turn into one of his pawns. The one I hold dearest…"
Bella then continued the rest in writing.
"Due to the reckless act of an angel who pursued a romantic liaison with a mortal, and its fruition, romance was forbidden for us angels."
"An irony when you consider my nature. "
"We paid the consequences. Virtus -- for being an accomplice -- is cowardly as Wilhelm. Orama -- for going against his duty to report the possibilities leading to the greater good, just to ensure my safety -- is blind as Grace. And I -- for pursuing a romance against my nature with another one of my kind -- am stripped of my voice."
"My only regret is that Orama had to suffer out of my selfishness."
Just as Bella continues to sketch, you hear faint knocking. Bella abruptly closes the sketchbook and hands it over to you. She runs to the door and peeks through a hole. She then steps back and slowly opens the door, revealing Wilhelm. She helps him carry some of the tote bags he brought home, which you presume to contain food.
"Oh, good to see you again!" Wilhelm smiles as he diverts his attention to you. "I hope you don't mind that all Bella could serve you was some tea. I have enough food to last us a week in these! He seems to glance at something in your lap, momentarily. "I see you've found a way to talk to Bella, too."
Suddenly, you feel your phone momentarily vibrate.
"Due to the reckless act of an angel who pursued a romantic liaison with a mortal, and its fruition, romance was forbidden for us angels."
"An irony when you consider my nature. "
"We paid the consequences. Virtus -- for being an accomplice -- is cowardly as Wilhelm. Orama -- for going against his duty to report the possibilities leading to the greater good, just to ensure my safety -- is blind as Grace. And I -- for pursuing a romance against my nature with another one of my kind -- am stripped of my voice."
"My only regret is that Orama had to suffer out of my selfishness."
Just as Bella continues to sketch, you hear faint knocking. Bella abruptly closes the sketchbook and hands it over to you. She runs to the door and peeks through a hole. She then steps back and slowly opens the door, revealing Wilhelm. She helps him carry some of the tote bags he brought home, which you presume to contain food.
"Oh, good to see you again!" Wilhelm smiles as he diverts his attention to you. "I hope you don't mind that all Bella could serve you was some tea. I have enough food to last us a week in these! He seems to glance at something in your lap, momentarily. "I see you've found a way to talk to Bella, too."
Suddenly, you feel your phone momentarily vibrate.