"We aren't too far now!" Azelf chuckled. Once again, he had resumed the position of leader at the front of the party.
Valentine was now in new clothes - another pair of jeans and a white hoodie - but didn't look too pleased about it.
"Valentine, you okay?" James called.
From the far side of the party, Valentine looked up.
"Yeah."
Heather inched closer to me.
"I don't think he's alright," she whispered.
"Hmmm-"
"Aha! There!" Azelf cried excitedly. "There!"
He pointed to a waterfall, not too far in the distance, with crystal clear, almost glowing blue waters. James watched, mesmerised, as the water from the top pool crashed down with a mighty roar.
"And not a moment too soon," Antheia sighed, looking down at her left hand. It was not only pale; it seemed to be literally wasting away.
Shocked, James looked down at his hands as well. They were in the same state - ghostly pale and wasting away into nothingness.
Azelf breathed in deeply.
"It is just as it was all those years ago. I can feel its' heavenly aura, even from here..."
"James."
Heather poked him, and pointed at Valentine. He seemed somewhat... distracted.
"Come on," Antheia called in her voice of silk. "Before we waste away into nothing."
With each step James felt the waterfall's presence. It was a soothing feel, as if he was being put at peace. almost scary.
When they finally arrived, they just stood by the water's edge, staring at the pristine, untouched waters with the magical healing powers.
"It is said," began Azelf, "that the rocks up there - " he pointed at the waterfall. "were placed under a spell by a very powerful Angel who was trying to save the forest from destruction."
"Who was the person committing this destruction?" Heather asked.
"The People of the Land of the Undead," Azelf replied. "It's a long name, to speak the truth, but if you ask me, it was mostly Hades, who wanted to turn this wonderful place into a place where he could torture people."
"And by 'wonderful', you mean, packed with wolves?" cut in Valentine.
"Well, yeah, although actually before Hades the wolves were really nice. And then Hades came along and cursed them all. No one has been able to lift curse ever since."
"The original purpose of the spell was to provide protection for all the small forest animals who couldn't protect themselves," continued Antheia. "But the Angel realised that there would be many casualties, so he created a healing waterfall to try and minimise the casualties as much as possible."
James flexed his fingers. They were now a normal colour again, and no longer wasting away.
"Ah, so beautiful..." Antheia whispered. "Oh, Arthur, if only you could see this now..."
"Arthur?" Heather and James said in unison.
"Oh, yes... I haven't told you about him yet?"
"Nope."
"Well, then..."
Antheia sat down on the ground, her long white dress flowing like water around her body.
"Before I became an Angel - before I died, I was engaged to a man named Arthur," she said.
James looked confused.
"...Died...?"
"Oh, yes," said Azelf. "Before humans can become Angels, they must die. You... knew that, didn't you?"
"Oh, yes. Except my father... he is not an Angel..."
"Ah, yes. Life works in mysterious ways. When humans die, they are reborn and become Angels. When Angels are born, they grow up to live a life just as humans would. They grow up, get married and have children. However, Angels live for longer because time in Heaven passes much slower than on earth.
"When one is reborn, their form changes dependent on the purity of their spirit. Now I don't quite understand myself why your father was not reborn as an Angel - or, if he was, where he might be now - for this is the question which has burdened me for a while now-"
He stopped abruptly.
"I believe I have been talking a bit too much!" he chuckled. "Antheia, please continue."
"Thank you, Azelf. Now, then," Antheia resumed. "Before I died, I was about to be married to a wonderful man called Arthur Jones. In my human form, I was blessed - blessed with beauty, with talent and with good fortune. My life was perfect - until my luck ran out.
"I died of food poisoning on my wedding day..."
She blushed.
"I, uh, collapsed on the walkway two paces away from my future husband and died..."
James stared at her.
"But I loved him. I still watch over him now, in the hopes that he''ll be as happy with his new wife as he might have been with me," she sniffed, tears now streaming down her face.
"Aw," Heather whispered, comforting her. "I'm sure he'll be even happier with his new wife. It's okay. After all, if you hadn't died, you wouldn't be here now!"
As Antheia whispered her thanks, James realised that they'd forgotten about Valentine again. He seemed even more distant than ever now, avoiding eye contact with everyone around him.
James wanted to go over to him and ask what was wrong, but was interrupted by a manical cackling from the sky.
"Demons," Azelf breathed, alarmed as more and more of them filled the sky. "Lots and lots of Demons."
ns3.145.68.176da2
