Chasing the Light [Lucifrena POV]

Lucifrena landed in a cascade of feathers. Quills turned to light turned to lances, piercing the black hearts of the horrific, Lorylim-corrupted elemental that she had fought her way through. “I will pray for your peace,” she whispered, putting a hand on the disarranged face that sat between the six torn heart muscles.

One of the eyes was closed, the other stared at her. The emotion within was enigmatic. Did it hate her, did it not care or was it thankful? It mattered not, Lucifrena would pray for them all the same. Such was her duty and privilege as one who had faith in the order of the universe.

The Lorylim began to contract. The cavernous body shrunk, threatening to crush her within. Lucifrena’s touch lingered for as long as she could allow it, then she shrouded herself in an aegis of great gold and took flight once more.

She was strong. A strength that had grown over the cycles of her reincarnation, allowing her to grow more accustomed to it with each life. Although this one was young, she had already been pushed to the edge of her ability within it. Carving her way out of the body of a dying elemental host was a matter of ease compared to fighting the primordial kin.

Burning and cutting, Lucifrena rose. Her great wings unfolded in the spore-filled sky, bringing with them a wave of golden fire. The air was purged of the filth of Tiamat’s making. Where the first wave of radiant flame did not reach, Lucifrena sent the pieces of her overflowing soul. As feathers, they descended, growing into consecrating crosses of crystal that cleansed corruption.

Shouts of triumph echoed all around the monastery grounds. Lucifrena did not join their cheers. She descended into the heart of it all, flying across vast parks, training fields, ruined barracks and churches to land amidst a battle in its own conclusion.

The reinforcements sent by the Gamer eliminated those that had hindered them. Her fellow angel used her grey wing as a bladed limb, ramming spike-like feathers through the stomach of a black creature filled with hate. The void-touched unmade the fires of a second enemy, causing the corrupted flesh to crumble like coal burned to completion.

“Not like this! I refuse!” The last of the three, a woman melded with a writhing mass of plants, was brought to her end by a combined attack of the Warden and the first woman of the Gamer – Rave, as Lucifrena recalled. She did not know all of them by name, but she knew them well enough by description by now. She had absorbed much knowledge during her cycle.

Once the enemies all stopped moving, the Warden collapsed, heavily panting from exhaustion. “Lady… bless me with power,” she muttered. It was a regular prayer, not one of her small incantations.

“That bad?” Rave asked. The pink-haired woman looked to have spent a good amount of her stamina, but her breathing was still controlled. Same went for the two with her, although judging the exhaustion of a Metracana was an ever-difficult matter. Lucifrena understood that they did not really have stamina at all? She wasn’t too sure, it was not her area of expertise.

“I keep… failing…” the Warden growled, then **** herself back to her feet.

“The Lady does not create us all equally.” Lucifrena had said this timidly. She wanted it to sound assuring. Judging by the way the redhead beheld her in return, she had succeeded? It was difficult to say for certain. The Warden breathing heavily and being so stoic put a mask over emotions.

“Remember that their power derives from the Gamer,” the other Warden… Warden Lord? Lord Protector? Lucifrena did not remember all of the titles either. “Our power comes from the Lady herself.”

“Whatever floats your boat, old man,” Rave waved off. “Anyway, don’t beat yourself up over it, Moi-moi. It’s impressive ya got this strong without a Latebloomer to help ya up.”

“…Thank you,” Moira answered. There was something locked in her voice. A frustration difficult to grasp.

“We’ve got more fronts open,” the grey angel reminded them all. “Nia- is already gone, of course.” Lucifrena looked around, also now realizing that the blonde and her unnerving presence had been removed from the area. “Quietly moving creature… Should I follow her?”

“Follow her where?” Moira wanted to know.

“East. The Aztec place.” Rave made a vague gesture towards the west. Lucifrena wanted to point that out, but she was also quite comfortable just standing there and listening. “Answer is no, Ehtra. I think those two got it. I’d like ya protecting the teleporter.”

The Metracana gave that a stern nod and marched over to the teleporter pad. Like a statue, she remained next to it, unmoving in her dedication to the mission. Putting a golem with no need to sleep next to it was the correct call.

“Hey, Luci-Lu?”

‘Luci-Lu?’ Lucifrena thought.

“Luci-Lu?” Moira asked out loud.

“Yeah, can’t call her Lulu cause… ya know what, never mind.” Rave chuckled suspiciously, then moved on quickly. “Anyhowzels, what’s your next move? It’s kinda important to keep track of you, given that you’re, ya know, a walking super-mega weapon.”

“…I intend to make my way northwards and eradicate the corruption as I encounter it,” Lucifrena reported on her plan. She was more than open to alternative suggestions. Large-scale strategy was not her strength.

Rave did some more gestures. It looked like she was tapping something in the air. Then she was quite obviously reading a reply. “Alrighty, you do that,” she stated simply.

Lucifrena parted her golden lips slightly. Was it worth asking for more directions?

“I’ll leave Ehtra here. Nahoa and Nia will come back through here once they know how the Aztec situation worked out.” The feline Lightbearer’s tone was commanding now, casually so but commanding all the same. She checked a clock on her wrist and clicked her tongue. “Yeah… I could make it…”

“Make what?” William demanded to know.

“John’s coronation. Fusion’s about to become a monarchy.”

The news made both of the Order’s representatives stand a little straighter. “So, it has happened in the end,” Moira remarked with a hint of approval in her voice. “Is this not the kind of grand spectacle that you should return for?”

“Not a big triumphant moment that all of us need to be present for… more of a **** acknowledgement we have to do it.” She sighed and sent a wistful glance at the teleporter. “I’d still like to head back… but I got a job to do. I’ll catch up with Nahoa and Nia. Tiger is in good hands with all of the other girls around.”

“Any word on greater reinforcements coming?” William asked. “We need more boots on the ground to scout out the locations quickly. Our seers are all failing to get a proper grasp on the future.”

“Right, on that – ya should tell them to stop. Our enemy has a Romulus-tier telepath on their side.” The revelation turned William white as a sheet. Lucifrena herself found the implication terrifying. “No, we have no idea what his limits are. Doesn’t seem like he can just whisper to ya uninvited. Point is that them scrying just gives him more intel.”

“They will be directed to stop,” William stated harshly. “Which means we will only need those reinforcements more. The Order is ready and willing to bleed for the good of humanity, but we must know where to strike.”

“I’m here to provide immediate relief and make sure Nahoa gets to check on her people. I got nothing beyond that,” Rave said. “And on that, imma head out. You’ll hear from John soon enough.”

Lucifrena still was not sure if she should have asked about any battleplan for her. ‘I will just stick with the Order for now?’ she thought to herself. She wasn’t terribly familiar with the New World, but if she got her hand on one of those new communication devices everyone had it shouldn’t be too difficult… right?

“Lady Lucifrena,” the Warden turned to her, “may I ask that you aid me in cleansing the inner structures?”

“I can do that,” she answered with a nod. There was no saying if all of the enemy had been cleansed properly. Although there was urgency in helping all people across the continent, one had to know what was behind them to advance with confidence.

The golden glow of her angelic form dimmed. Six wings folded into four, into two, into none. White hair shortened, obeyed the laws of gravity once more, and turned to a bright blonde before coming to a rest around her face. Clothes manifested to cover her dark skin – most of it anyway. They were still the same set that had been given to her by the Gamer. A shirt, leather pants and a biker jacket, clothes that she found comfortable and aesthetic. They had been conveniently kept in a small dimensional pocket.

She had learned that trick lives ago. It had been… shameful to be caught revealing herself after every fight. She was not ashamed of nudity itself, she had been created in the Lady’s image, but of the breaking of the social norm. Everyone looked at her when she was the only one around without clothes…

“It is easier to move around this way,” she explained to the inquisitive gazes of the Warden and her father. “Shall we commence?”

“I will see to the morale of the troops,” William excused himself. “You two are better suited to dealing with any elites left.”

‘I would probably be best suited on my own.’ Saying that out loud would have been rude, so she did not. The Warden was powerful, extremely powerful for an Abyssal that young, but Lucifrena had spent two-thousand years cycling through lives.

She did not sense anything of worrying power left, so being a little less efficient right now was forgivable. To learn more about her new allies was time that was well spent.

If only she could start the conversation.

Lucifrena followed Moira, who led in silence. They marched through buildings that had been partly ruined or suspiciously spared by the attack of the Lorylim. The Order’s headquarters made for an interesting Protected Space. The real city had been, for the most part, flattened. Modern architecture was removed and covered with green pastures and small forests, which then, in turn, were covered in a sprawling network of catholic architecture. Monastery, chapels, churches, and between them militaristic training fields, barracks and cantinas. Here and there, a manor rose up, surrounded by private gardens, islands of luxury between the often beautiful but simple stone buildings.

All of it had a solemn beauty. A beauty ruined by the fungal stalks growing through shattered, stained glass windows. Mycelial roots pried open gaps in the stone. Entire columns lay toppled, hit by the stray attacks of superhumans.

There were corpses. Mercifully few of them were corrupted. The Lorylim had attacked with a **** of humans that had already fallen to their influence and reinforced them by means that Lucifrena did not quite understand. In previous ages, the Lorylim had needed to rely on corruption to grow, but in this one they appeared to be able to grow from nothing? Something had changed. Obviously, it was related to Izha, but in what capacity she did not know.

As they walked, they finished off whatever pieces of the Lorylim still looked alive. They took no chances with it, basking even limp mycelium in radiant light. They were inside one of the greater chapels when Moira finally spoke up.

“You are an angel of the Lady, I understand?” the Warden asked.

“I am a servant in her employ,” Lucifrena answered confidently. This was a conversation she had many times before with those that worshipped Gaia as the true deity. “I am not of her make. I am blessed by her in a manner dissimilar from you. She provides me aid between lives and in return I act in her interest when she deigns it acceptable to break her oath of neutrality.”

“You… are not one of her faithful?” Moira sounded surprised.

“Not in the fashion that you are.” Lucifrena raised a hand to her chest, clutching the damaged cross settled beneath the cover of the shirt. “I believe in the Lady as part of God. My faith will be of little sense to you…”

“I wish to hear about it anyhow,” Moira encouraged her.

Lucifrena just hoped she wouldn’t get zealous about this… zealots were difficult to deal with… they never knew when to drop it. “I have seen the miracles of my Lord and Saviour first hand,” she began. “I have walked in the shadow of the Son and he spoke of the Father with reverence. The Lord is above all, for Christ is king and the Holy Spirit guides us to salvation. In this, the Lady is… to me, Gaia is akin to an arch angel. Which… I get is a little ironic…?”

She tried to end it on a jest, but she caught her own uncertainty. Two-thousand years of lives, on and off, and she still couldn’t completely fix that social interaction was just so difficult.

“That is an interesting view,” Moira spoke harshly. The way she said ‘interesting’ expressed disapproval without actually saying it. A statement such as that was usually a diplomatic end to a topic. Such was the case here.

Lucifrena appreciated it. She had no need to proselytize nor wished to explain herself.

Her faith was her own.