CHAPTER 471: MUDEROUS ANGELS

Annie was a young girl, barely seven-years-old. One day she went to school, starting her first year as required by the Angelic Order’s law.

The young girl loved school. Such a sweet child was quick to make friends, and everybody, including the teachers and her parents, loved her.

In Rome every year near the school year’s end, the institution organizes a special dance, which’s held late at night. Annie’s school did the same.

One of her classmates, a young boy she known all her life, asked her on a previous day about going to the dance together. This was perfectly normal, since children liked to go in pairs or with larger groups of friends.

They went to the ball together, with parental supervision, of course. The event stretched until and beyond midnight, so one or two parents were required to attend. Both Annie’s mother and father came along with proud smiles.

Annie wore a beautiful white dress with golden adornments, symbolizing her love towards the Angelic Order.

Her family had been followers of the church since it began years ago, which meant Annie also adored it. In her bedroom, there was even a small statue of her Goddess, where she usually prayed before sleep.

Her ’date’ wore a child-sized suit, which made the young boy more masculine and fancy, but the adults just considered him cute.

The adults conversed with each other about life and school-related topics. Live music played, bringing life to the large ballroom. The children danced late into the night, with bright smiles and joyous laughter. Even a few parents and teachers tried themselves on the dance floor, which embarrassed many kids.

A smaller fraction of the attendees left the event early. Some kids ate different desserts and got stomachaches, or because they sat down after dancing for an hour and fell asleep... They were the lucky ones...

Annie walked with hurried steps to her father, who happened to be chatting with one of her favorite teachers. They each held a glass of some non-alcoholic drink when she saw the ripple. It shook the drinks within the glasses a bit violently, yet nobody seemed to care.

A bit disturbed and confused, Annie halted her steps. Her eyes continued gazing at the liquid, yet she saw nothing special.

Her father noticed Annie’s weird expression and opened his mouth to question its reason. However, before any words could’ve left her mouth, a stronger ripple shook the ballroom.

A few kids fell from the sudden shaking and began crying in pain, while the adults questioned each other. Everyone desperately looked for reasons, but a few sensible parents dragged their children out of the building and into the dark night.

They felt something awry, which prompted their radical response. The less responsible parents just chuckled at them, or went to help the fallen kids.

Annie’s father was sensible. He dragged Annie along towards the bathrooms, since that’s where her mother went before the ripple.

As they walked, another, more violent ripple shook reality, and this time even adults fell over, including Annie’s father. However, with strong arms, he pulled Annie close and kept her shielded from falling on the hard ground.

A few feminine screams went up inside the nearby lady’s bathroom as they fell over too. Moments later, the door burst open, and many mothers carrying their daughters ran out, with Annie’s own mother in their midst.

Her eyes looked scared, but before she could’ve asked any useless questions, Annie’s father grabbed her hand. He ran through the crowd, with little care for anyone’s wellbeing. His only priorities were his own wife and child, nobody else.

Through the shouts and screams of terror, Annie left the building with her parents. They didn’t arrive in their car, since their house was only a few blocks away.

However, after running for a few seconds, it became clear that home wasn’t their destination. It also became obvious how serious the situation actually was when people began leaving their houses to run towards the nearest bunker.

Another ripple and the sound of chains breaking echoed in the air. The ground shook so hard, nobody could stay standing.

Annie’s father wasn’t fast enough this time, and the young girl fell to the ground. She hit her head, but didn’t lose consciousness, and a moment later, she felt her father’s firm hand grab her waist.

Blood poured from her split-open forehead, coloring her vision red. Shaken up, she glanced around at the panicking people in confusion. She couldn’t understand their horror’s source.

She glanced back while her father carried her in one arm. Her eyes went wide as everyone’s screams echoed around her.

A hundred meters behind them, the city disappeared. Her school, which they had left only a few minutes ago, wasn’t there anymore... Only a deep burning hole remained, from which strange, terrifying creatures climbed out.

Their shrieks resounded all across Rome, but they mixed with something else. From above, the noise of violent screeching reached Annie’s ears.

Her eyes moved away from the giant Gate, which swallowed millions, and instead she stared above. Bright light streamed down, illuminating the night. Through the light, giant eagles flew down towards Rome.

The eagles attacked the imps, raining each other’s blood over the panicked crowd. Annie’s vision was already red from her own, so other creatures’ made little difference.

Cars crashed and hit people, as their drivers couldn’t control the vehicles. A few large buildings also got destroyed by the falling corpses, which further restricted the movement of vehicles.

Annie’s father climbed through the rubble still carrying his daughter with one hand while towing and helping his wife with the other. They were a kilometer away from the bunker when the main forces arrived.

The roar of demons reached Annie’s ears, while the sound of trumpets echoed from above as angels came flying towards the ground.

The young girl sobbed as terror gripped her heart. Her small hands held onto her father’s so strongly her knuckles went white. Annie’s mother also cried, but her streams were silent as they curved down her cheeks and dropped to the ground from her jaw.

Her father kept a stoic expression, pulling both his loved ones closer to safety.

The clash of angels and demons began sounding louder. A few buildings exploded nearby, including the one right beside them. Rubble, large fragments of concrete and metal, rained down right atop the running civilians.

A dust cloud rose up, blinding Annie momentarily. Many screams and shouts turned silent, but somehow, through the destruction, Annie stood up. Scrapes covered her body, yet no serious injury hindered her movements.

She stumbled around blind, trying to find her parents just by touch. When she tried calling out for them, she swallowed a mouthful of dust, which made her cough violently.

Her small hands touched every piece of rubble around her until she felt something wet between her fingers. The dust gently settled around her, revealing a horrific sight.

Annie knelt on the ground, staring at the red liquid covering her hands. Through the settling dust, she glimpsed a pair of eyes staring right at her... Her mother’s unmoving eyes...

The red liquid came from the large wound at the back of her head, which gave Annie a clear sight of her mother’s fractured skull and caved-in brain.

The young girl began hyperventilating. She glanced around the rubble and saw dozens, hundreds of corpses lying still with eyes open. It felt like they all stared at her, the only survivor of the destruction.

She tried pulling her legs up, hiding from the accusatory glances. However, her once beautiful white dress was now tinged with dust, soot and her own mother’s blood and brain matter.

Her mind nearly broke, but amidst the destruction, she heard a sweet voice. It wasn’t loud at all. The sound of battle should’ve overwhelmed it with ease, yet the voice reached Annie’s ears all the same.

"Run... Please... Annie... Run..."

The voice came from nearby, and Annie’s eyes regained life once she recognized its owner. She rushed and crawled towards the sound and found her father lying under a few tons of rubble.

His father was still alive, but no matter how hard Annie tried, the debris covering him was immovable. However, she kept on trying, losing fingernails and getting cuts on her hand as she grabbed the concrete and metal bits.

"Give up... Annie... Leave me... Save yourself..."

Tears streamed down Annie’s face upon hearing her father’s words. She didn’t listen to him, and instead continued lifting off the multiple ton debris.

She tried speaking to her father, saying how much she loved him and would never leave him behind, but through his sobs only incomprehensible words came out.

Eventually, another explosion resounded nearby as a giant demon corpse fell onto the pile of rubble. Another dust cloud flew up, but as an angel moved towards the ground, she dispersed the flying particles.

The angel made Annie feel at peace. Her light blue armor glinted in the bright light, as her white feathered wings stayed close to her back. She carried a long lance, and as her light blue eyes scanned the surroundings, it caused a tranquil feeling to appear in Annie’s heart.

"A-are you G-goddess Seraphine?... Could... could you help m-my father?" Asked Annie, with a shy, near-silent voice.

The angelic being rolled her eyes, and Annie could hear the smile in her serene voice.

"There’s no need to help him. He’s perfectly at peace with his fate, and I’m sure you’re too... I made sure!"

The light blue glint in the angel’s eye brightened, yet Annie felt terrified. All the worry in her heart about her father’s wellbeing disappeared, leaving her numb and broken. Her father also closed his eyes and stopped calling out for Annie to run.

With Peace, came acceptance. And with acceptance, came apathy. And that apathy will lead to death.