They used chains not made of metal, but of star-forged vows.
Sacred bindings no mortal hand could ever craft, threads of oaths, stolen light, and power older than time.
The kind of chains only Gods knew how to wield.
And they used them on me.
They dragged me into the Celestial Ring, bound at the wrists, ankles, and throat, like a beast.
Like something they feared.
I hung suspended in the sky midair, mid-divine, my feet never touching the clouds below.
My head tilted forward, heavy with blood and betrayal.
My hair matted to my back.
My lips split.
My bones cracked with each breath.
But worse than the pain, was what they did to my wings.
They forced them open.
Wrenched them wide until every joint screamed.
They used their magic to stretch them unnaturally, to make a spectacle of me.
White.
That's what color they were now.
White, the color of peace, of stillness.
The color they all loved most.
The color i wore when i created life. When i healed cities. When i soothed storms.
But not now.
Now, they forced that peace upon me like a curse.
As if to humiliate me.
As if to say look how calm she pretends to be, even as she bleeds.
My wings were once a blessing.
They were alive.
They changed with me.
Gold—when i was joyful. When the sun touched my skin and the world was in harmony. When i danced between day and night and brought warmth to the dying.
Black—when i was furious. When i roared like a storm and demanded justice for the forgotten.
Red—when fury turned to wrath. When the balance shattered. When empires burned and mercy died.
But today, they sealed me in white.
They silenced me with peace i did not feel.
The Gods stood in a circle below me.
Unmoving. Unforgiving. Untouched.
"You gave your heart to a human," one spat, his robe woven from flame and pride. "You, of all of us, defiled your throne."
"You betrayed your blood," said another, voice like breaking ice. "Your wings do not belong to them."
"And now," boomed the First Light, her face veiled in silver fire, "we burn the sin out of you."
I looked at them.
All of them.
These were the ones i once called my kin.
My equals.
My family.
We forged galaxies together.
We sang stars into existence.
Now, they looked at me like i was ruin.
Power rose from their hands.
Not one by one, but all at once.
Flame surged, frost struck, thunder cracked, light screamed.
They threw their judgment into me like blades meant to kill what they once worshipped.
My body convulsed.
My spine bent backward.
My mouth opened and a sound like a dying star escaped.
They wanted me to scream.
To break.
To weep.
I did none of it.
I bled. Quietly.
Gold at first.
Then black.
Then red.
And still white wings.
Forced.
Mocked.
Bound.
I raised my head with what strength i had left.
My skin blistered.
My vision blurred.
But my voice, my voice remained mine.
And i said the words with the last of my breath.
"I will return."
They stilled.
"I will come back to this sky and when i do…"
I stared at each of them.
I wanted them to see.
I wanted their souls to remember this moment for all eternity.
"…you will kneel. Again.
And this time, you will beg.
And you will scream.
And you will mourn like mortals do
wailing, broken, drowning in blood that you once thought divine."
A tear slid from my eye.
Not for them.
Not even for him.
But for the wings i could no longer feel.