“Is she sweet or sour?”
Laliya was stunned.
Before she could respond, a scream tore through the sanctum bells like a blade.
A violent pounding followed immediately after.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The sacred gates of the grand veiled sanctum shook hard enough to rattle nearby lanterns.
Every attendant in the western halls froze as chaos erupted.
Wardens rushed toward the entrance corridors while novice maidens scrambled to move civilians away from the gate chambers.
Alarm bells began echoing across the sanctum grounds, deep and urgent.
It called for everyone’s attention.
Laliya was already moving before anyone called her name.
She hurried out of Anaqielle’s chambers and raced to see to the emergency.
Her white robes swept behind her as she hurried down the marble stairs with several elder luminars close behind.
Despite the sudden panic surrounding them, she remained composed, her expression calm in the way only years of sacred training could achieve, but her pulse quickened the closer they got.
Something felt wrong enough that even the sanctum wards had begun glowing faintly along the walls.
The gates shook again.
A woman’s scream echoed through the courtyard.
“Please!”
Another bang sounded followed by sounds of sobbing.
When the wardens finally pulled the gates open, the sight beyond them silenced everyone.
A young girl collapsed onto the sanctum steps.
She didn’t look older than sixteen, she was thin,barefoot and wearing old ragged clothes.
Her dark hair hung in wet tangled strands around her face while blood smeared across one sleeve from where her own nails had torn into her skin.
Her eyes, one remained brown while the other had turned entirely black.
Several attendants gasped.
It was a sign of hollow possession.
The girl convulsed violently on the steps before lifting her head with a horrifying crack of bone.
Then she smiled.
Everything about her smile felt wrong.
It was too wide and too sharp for comfort.
“Help me,” she whimpered in her own voice.
Then something deeper spoke beneath it.
“It hurts!” the voice was dark and masculine.
Several novice maidens immediately stepped back in fear.
They had never encountered a possessed person before and were too terrified to approach.
The air around the girl thickened unnaturally as dark veins spread slowly beneath her skin.
Shadows writhed faintly around her body like smoke trying to breathe out.
It was a sign that the hollow inside her was growing stronger.
One of the younger attendants began crying quietly.
Other attendants had to pull her away from the scene and comfort her.
A warden immediately drew her sacred blade.
“Stand back!”
The possessed girl screamed violently at the sight of the weapon, clawing desperately at the stone steps while black tears streamed down her face.
“No, no… no… no… please…”
Then the hollow voice surfaced again.
The sanctum wards flared brighter.
And the girl broke into loud screams again, the light hurt the demon inside her and the demon’s struggles ended up hurting her.
Laliya stepped forward immediately.
She was graceful, steady and unafraid.
She’d witnessed such a sight before and had seen the way the holy Lord had handled it before, so she wasn’t afraid.
“Lower your weapon,” she ordered the warden.
The warden present hesitated.
The possessed girl was dangerous and could cause harm not just to Laliya but others within the sanctum.
It was her duty to prevent that.
“Lady Laliya, the corruption is advanced…”
“She’s frightened,” Laliya explained.
“The hollow may lash out and hurt people.”
Laliya’s voice remained calm.
“Then let me calm her first.”
She spoke gently.
The possessed girl looked up trembling violently as Laliya approached her.
The holy maiden slowly lowered herself to her knees before her despite the frightened whispers surrounding them.
“It’s alright,” Laliya said softly.
“No one is going to hurt you. You’ll be safe here.”
The girl burst into tears immediately.
Laliya could immediately see that fragments of her still remained beneath the corruption of the demon possessing her.
Laliya carefully extended one hand.
“Come inside.”
The girl stared at her in disbelief.
“You’re… not afraid?”
Laliya smiled softly.
“No, I am not afraid.”
It was a little white lie.
She was afraid but not for herself.
She was afraid for the people around her and the damage the girl could do to them if the demon inside her took reigns of her body fully.
The girl’s trembling fingers slowly reached toward hers.
The moment skin touched, black shadows hissed violently around the girl’s arm.
Several wardens tensed instantly but Laliya did not pull away.
Her silver Lumen glowed gently beneath her skin instead, soft light spreading warmly around both their hands.
The shadows recoiled away, hurt by the light of Laliya’s lumen.
The girl sobbed harder.
“It hurts…”
“I know it does but it’s alright. The pain will ease.”
Laliya helped her carefully to her feet while attendants hurried to prepare the purification hall.
The possessed girl leaned heavily against her, shaking uncontrollably.
Laliya held her gently.
She gave the girl compassion the rest of the world denied her after knowing that she was possessed.
The girl felt touched.
Across the courtyard, Anaqielle watched from beneath one of the sanctum archways.
She remained unmoving and undisturbed the whole time.
Isa stood beside her looking disturbed.
“That’s bad.”
“Mm.”
“You’re not helping?”
“No. It’s not my fight.”
Isa frowned.
“That kid’s suffering.”
“So are most people.”
“You could stabilize the hollow long enough for the exorcism or even command it to leave the girl and return to hell.”
“I could.”
But she made no move to step forward.
Anaqielle folded her arms instead, golden eyes fixed entirely elsewhere, on Laliya.
The holy maiden moved through the chaos with impossible grace even now that it surprised her.
She comforted frightened attendants, reassured crying novices, and supported the possessed girl without once letting fear show on her face.
The sight was beautiful, radiant and infuriating for Anaqielle.
Even while surrounded by darkness, she looked untouched by it.
That show of courage and selflessness redeemed the sins that had slipped into her Lumen and slowly the cracks started healing.
Heaven had forgiven her sins and pushed Anaqielle back to the starting line.
Anaqielle felt the old itch beneath her skin again.
A strong desire to ruin something pure and stain it clawed at her insides.
She wanted to see what expression Laliya would make if corruption finally touched her too.
Too much for purification to be used on her, to be ruined to the point that even hell would feel unworthy to have her.
The fallen angel watched as the purification chamber doors opened.
Laliya guided the girl inside carefully while elder luminars prepared the exorcism rites.
Sacred candles were lit, prayer circles were immediately activated and silver scripture glowed across the floor.
“Arghhh!” The possessed girl screamed the moment they laid her inside the circle.
Black veins spread further up her throat.
The hollow’s voice roared now.
“YOU CANNOT SAVE HER.”
Several novice maidens flinched in fright.
Laliya remained kneeling beside the girl anyway.
She showed calmness towards the threat and compassion to the girl.
“Tsk,” Anaqielle clicked her tongue softly.
“How can she be compassionate at a time like this. Most humans would’ve fled by now.”
Isa crossed her arms.
“You really feel nothing watching this?”
Anaqielle’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“That hollow should not exist inside sanctum territory.”
Isa looked toward her carefully.
That answer meant something but she couldn’t quiet figure out the hidden meaning behind it.
The fallen angel continued watching the purification hall in silence and for the first time since arriving at the sanctum, her amusement began fading into something colder.
Because hollow possessions near the grand veiled sanctum were almost unheard of which meant something had already begun moving beneath the surface of the city and it was coming for the sanctum.
She averted her gaze to leave but stopped when she noticed the hidden light in Laliya’s heart.
She narrowed her eyes and upon close inspection, she saw it.
“What in the actual hell?” the sight of heaven’s light mending Laliya’s lumen, repairing the cracks made from her efforts to influence Laliya to a sinful path made her heart clench.
She realized that all the effort she put in had been undone solely by Laliya’s courage and firm stance in being kind and compassionate to others.
“You have to be kidding me. Fuck!” She cursed.
“Hey, language!” Isa scolded, clasping a hand over Anaqielle’s mouth and looking around to make sure no one heard her.
Anaqielle removed her hand looking unrepentant for cursing on sacred ground.
“I need a drink.”