[BaalsBaby]

The voice sent a pinpoint of light shattering all throughout the Seraph's body. "You're voice... it sounds as if... Sa'ouna?" the stony figure finally blinked and moved himself forward again to steady the weakened female. "This cannot be..." he told himself. She had died long ago in the Heavens he too used to call home. His focus drew back to her. "Are you alright?" The voice no longer held it's stern tone, and it galloped throughout the caverns and sent shivers into the quivering walls.

[Kodai]

"Ah... ah... I... it hurts..." she whimpered feebly, allowing herself to be supported. Slowly, with effort, the girl pulled off her hooded sweatshirt and pulled down her tee-shirt slightly. There, right above her heart, was a thin mark... an exit wound. "What...?" was all the stunned female could say, running her fingers lightly over the mark and wincing as she did so. "Ah...! ...Nyssldriel of Purity and Dreams... please... tell me... what has happened to me? ...It is I... Sa'ouna, Light of Lore..." She shivered, though whether it was due to cold or fear was uncertain. "I... don't understand..."

[BaalsBaby]

The wingless Seraph shook his head. How could she know? It had all happened so fast. A demon with the sharpest and most potent of weapons had slain the demigod as she stood. Everyone in the Heavenly Vaults had heard, but could not trace the demon back to it's source nor why it has so boldly raided the most sacred of places...

Nyssldriel lowered his head and sighed some. "You were slain, dear Light of Lore..." he spoke, and now he knew why it was that he could speak to her apparition. Perhaps it had taken a host as it fell, perhaps this human was born on the very day of Sa'ouna's death... "Perhaps there is a way I can draw you out... If this human is indeed a host, it would seem you will be bound to her for all time until one of the two are gone... But that should not make it impossible for you to have separate forms..."

[Kodai]

"Slain...? Ah... I see..." The felled demigod stared down at her shod feet for a moment, then smiled slightly and shook her head. "I see... It was to be expected... And so... I have been slumbering... within this human's body... and now you have awoken me..." Lightly she touched his arm in a symbol of thanks. "Ah... you would do that... for me? ...Do not trouble yourself... You seem to have become... weaker... somehow... What has happened... to you?" Her voice trembled with compassion, and she left her hand on his arm. "How long... have I lain in slumber? Please... you must tell me..." She was desperate for answers; it shone plainly on her fair countenance. "Nyssldriel... Seraph of Purity..." Her other arm rose, and gently she traced her fingers over his jawline.

[BaalsBaby]

Nyssldriel's face softened at the touch, his eyes closing momentarily, though he did not quite know why. "You have slumbered for almost two centuries... That was when your soul was finally able to retreat into this human shell. The demons... held you in limbo for torture before... they let you go..." It pained him to say... "And in that time, I, too, was banished from the Heavenly Realm..." The Seraph lifted his gaze at met her's, a shamed look shining within his eyes. "I am one of the Fallen, now..."

Slowly, Nyssldriel pulled back some, allowing a small gap between them, as if it were an unholy thing for her to linger near him long. He shook his head slightly. "But no matter... I shall aid you in becoming two separate entities..." he breathed in his chilling voice. There was a low, dull humming in the room now, as if the walls were speaking, a severe concentration etched upon the angel's face. The spell was now being performed...

[Kodai]

"The... Fallen..." There was no hatred in her voice, no disgust at what the once pure being had become. Only pity and compassion reverberated in her words... "I'm... sorry..." The hand that she had left lingering on Nyssldriel's arm slowly fell as he backed away, almost as if in shame. Closing the hand into a fist, she pressed it to her chest and concentrated on breathing as the spell began... It was bound to hurt, if only a little... the drawing out of one soul from another was a difficult process on both spirits involved. Being a demigod, Sa'ouna could handle it easily, but... could the human's spirit withstand it?

[BaalsBaby]

Nyssldriel's face contorted with the effort, concentrating on bringing the two spirits apart from within. The walls began to shimmer from the effort, and beads of sweat dotted the angel's cold forehead. If only they could withstand this as well... "Hang in there..." he thought to himself as the spell drew the thin lines between the souls of the human and the deity. There was a spark, from nowhere, from the human, it was as a flash of lightning as the spell quickly pulled the two apart... a rush of mad wind as the cavern filled with energy... and the presence of another....

[Kodai]

Sa'ouna, now forced to stand on her own two feet, stumbled a bit to the side, but managed to catch herself and stop herself from falling. She coughed with haggard breaths, but was otherwise fine... Kodai, however... she had collapsed to the stone floor, her breathing fast and shallow. Obviously, the separation had taken a lot out of her... The downed goddess, compassionate being that she was, wasted no time in returning to the girl's side and helping her into a sitting position. "Are you... all right? Just... breathe deeply..." Slowly, Kodai recovered herself, and Sa'ouna now turned to the exhausted Nyssldriel. "And you... Nyssldriel... are you all right?" She stepped forward, as if about to look him over, then paused, as if she felt that he would not want her to come closer... somehow, she seemed almost saddened at this thought...

[BaalsBaby]

The seraph fell to the ground, knees drawn up, hair plastered before his face, one hand raised to cover an eye and part of his head. He was breathing harshly, for it was much harder for a Fallen to perform spells that aided instead of maimed. His chest rose and fell in an erratic pace, and his lips parted slightly to intake the sweet, cold air... though it all seemed to be an old habit, for breathing was no onger required in this dank sanctuary...

"I am... already dead..." the thought brought a semi-crazed smile across his face for a second before it faded away. "No need to worry about me..."

[Kodai]

...Whether he would want it or not, Sa'ouna crossed the rest of the way to him and knelt before him, watching his chest rise and fall with the sort of worry on her face that a mother would display before her deathly ill child. It was odd... she seemed close to tears... but why? "Nyssldriel..." Her own breath caught sporadically in her throat as she watched him try to breathe... "We are... both dead..." she replied gently, attempting a small smile. "Yet... we are not... for we are here... Our essence... is what creates us... keeps us alive... A body without a spirit... it cannot exist... however... a spirit can exist... without a body... Granted, it may not be within the realm of the living, but... you are not truly dead... not yet... Nyssldriel." Softly, she placed a hand under his chin and raised it so that they were eye to eye. "You say... that you have Fallen... I've often wondered what exactly that meant... Yes, you are torn of your powers... you are cast out of the Vaults... but... you are still your essence... right?" The tears trapped in her pale eyes began to fall freely. "I... I could never tell you... before... It would have been... forbidden... and I did not have the strength of mind... but... ... ...Please, accept this gift..." And with a fluid motion, her lips met his, a good portion of her energy flowing into him... through this kiss...

[BaalsBaby]

The slight show of emotion, the kiss, took him by surprise... What... was this? It was so different, it brought warmth to his bones, an explosion of color to this dark and dank cavern. His eyes closed as he drew in the warmth of this union, though he did not quite understand these feelings racing within himself and what had brought Sa'ouna to act as she did.

As the flame died for a moment, and they two parted, Nyssldriel lay silent, his breath evening out. "This feeling... what is it?" Was all the angel could say as his eyes fluttered open. "I have never experienced such a thing before..."

[Kodai]

"That is because... to have done so before... was forbidden to you," replied Sa'ouna, a tinge of red spreading across her face. "The Seraphim... are barred from experiencing emotion... especially one so powerful as that..." She could bring herself to say no more, and looked down at her now barren feet. Golden cuffs were wrapped tightly around her ankles (as well as her wrists), and short chains of gold spheres trailed from these cuffs. Remnants of her past torture, perhaps?
Kodai, noticing the silence between the two, tentatively rose to her feet, still panting for air but otherwise doing all right. "You... love him, don't you..." she said quietly, unsure if the minor deity would want her to say it in her stead. "No wonder... you would hide it... for so long..."
Sa'ouna nodded slowly, tears forming in her eyes again. "I... I couldn't admit it... to anyone... not even myself, at first... I couldn't risk... for you to become a Fallen... and... I knew you wouldn't be able to understand... how I felt..." The tears began to fall freely now. "Nyssldriel... can you... ever forgive me...?"

[BaalsBaby]

The Fallen angel took at glance at the human as she spoke before resting his gaze back on the demigod before him, literally almost resting on top of him. "Love? This is... love?" The distress and anguish Sa'ouna seemed to be going through was great and powerful, all because of this such feeling. "Forgive you? Of... what?" he asked, unable to make a connection between forgiveness and this... love... "What is there to forgive?" His eyes and heart softened even more, though they had grown hard and cold with the passing of the ages. But this sweet-voiced creature of the Heavens, an ally he had often seen from the corner of his eye in his former life... she was... changing him... slowly... but surely...

[Kodai]

"Forgive me... for being too weak... for not having the strength to reveal how I felt..." It seemed even now she could not bear to look him in the eye... she was too ashamed...
"...Sa'ouna? That is your name, right?" Kodai walked over to the distraught goddess, her steps gaining confidence as she moved forward. "Sa'ouna... it's not your fault... You knew that there would be consequences for your actions, and you didn't want to bear it... It was... it was like letting the person you love go marry whoever they love... because all you want is for them to be happy... right?" The human girl gave a sheepish laugh and scratched at the back of her head. "Er... I guess I'm not really the one who should be talking about this subject... I mean, I don't have any personal experience with this sort of thing... but I'll say this. Love is a powerful emotion, for sure, and a lot of people don't take it seriously anymore... That's probably why true, pure love is so hard to find in the hearts of humans..." She trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

[BaalsBaby]

"She... speaks the truth..." Nyssldriel inclined his head and moved to sit up more. "Had I been a seraph still, the emotion... this emotion... would not have been there...", the Fallen said, suddenly feeling warmth within his cheeks. Had he said that? Did he... love this Sa'ouna back? It was then he realized that the human did not accidentally come here, she had led somehow led here... And she did belong here, the human was neither dead nor dying... He moved to a standing position, moving to hold the demigod close, it was an awkward action, for did not quite know what he was doing, then flicked his glance back at the human. "Sa'ouna... I must return this human to her place in the living realm... I... do not know what would happen to you..." A sad look filled his eyes and he downcasted his head. "I... would not like to be alone again..."