Two figures were walking away from the destroyed kingdom of the south. One was a dark-haired man in a black coat. A scarf of dark fur was on his shoulders. The other was a beautiful high elf with flowing hair as white as snow. She wore a cloak as blue as her eyes under a black fitted shirt and a cream-colored long skirt.
Their path was clear though the soil they walked on was dry and lifeless. The vintage sun was beginning to peek on the skyline, shedding light on the enormous machines scattered across the land. These abandoned giant steel contraptions were used to harvest the magical life force of the planet, and they had long served their purpose.
"I must say, you were pretty good at hiding," Nevigne remarked while they walked. "Though Eden is vast, five hundred years of searching is quite a long time."
A faint grin tugged at Fidelis's lips. "I'm surprised you were able to find me at all. You have no idea how long the line is for the people who want to use my status."
He walked slightly behind the elf, following her lead. They approached the strange forest up ahead that surrounded the land where the former kingdom lay.
Moments later, Nevigne spoke again.
"Many people have perished in helping me achieve my goals." She glanced over her shoulder to look at him before returning her gaze to her path. "You might end up being one of them, Fidelis. Are you sure you want to join me?"
Fidelis tucked his hands inside the pockets of his coat. "Yes, don't worry about me."
She took a deep breath. "Even if I need you to get your powers back? Only a real archangel can negotiate with the guardians."
Fidelis answered immediately.
"If I have to choose in which way I want to be used, I'll make this choice any day."
He sped up his pace and walked ahead of Nevigne. Then, he stopped and turned right in front of her, blocking her path.
"What are you doing?" Nevigne asked, confused.
"The real question is; Are you sure you want to do this?" he questioned.
The elf had no words and remained attempting to read his crimson eyes. She ultimately looked away before being able to speak.
"It's too late to save the world now, both of us know that," she answered. "The world has already accepted death. The few groups of people that thrive have also adapted to this way of living."
She moved her feet and continued walking past him.
"But I want to change that," she continued. "I want to change the world back to the way it was."
While she spoke, she heard that Fidelis had begun following behind her.
"If I can't bring back the real Eden, I can at least restore its former life. It's selfish, and probably pointless, but if Eden could start again, maybe I could finally tell myself that the world has forgiven me."
"It is pointless," Fidelis said. "There are countless, beautiful planets in this galaxy alone. Most of the powerful humans of Eden had already fled and carried on living on different planets. If all you want is to see thriving civilizations and a world full of life, you can simply leave Eden."
Nevigne sighed and shook her head. "No. It has to be this world, Fidelis." She then threw him a glance. "That's why you're still here, isn't it?"
Fidelis exhaled sharply. "That's not entirely wrong, but I simply have nowhere left to go. And I do not have the desire to start anew in another world."
"That makes the both of us," Nevigne responded. "You have also been waiting for your punishment, haven't you?"
Fidelis's usually relaxed face turned somewhat serious, almost resentful, for a brief moment. He then asked with his gaze fixed on the road: "What's your plan?"
They had arrived at the entrance of the strange forest. Before walking ahead, Nevigne glanced at the petrified trees quietly. Everything in this forest had been turned to stone.
She entered the stone forest as she spoke.
"I want you to regain your powers as the archangel of punishment. Only then will I be able to trade my existence to the guardians of life."
Fidelis laughed. "I know that," he replied. "What I'm asking is, how are you going to make your existence valuable enough to sell it for the world?"
Nevigne stopped and looked back at him with questioning eyes. He still hadn't stepped into the forest at all.
Standing before the first line of petrified trees, he continued.
"The thing that you pay with must be something that you value as much as the thing that you want to buy, Nevigne."
Her eyes slowly opened wide.
Fidelis spoke with an expression as cold as ice.
"Unless you forgive yourself, and accept your existence in such a way that you no longer want to give it up, your sacrifice means nothing for the guardians of life."
Cold wind blew against Nevigne's face, tousling her hair and swaying her cloak. Fidelis was still refusing to enter the stone forest.
He took out his hands from his pockets and spread his arms apart. "What now, Nevigne? Do you still think you can bring Eden back to life?"
She couldn't utter a word.
"Do you still think it's worth it? Can you overcome the paradox?"
The elf unconsciously stepped back. Suddenly, a thousand hateful gazes flashed in her mind.
Fidelis scowled at her.
"You will go through hell and back, over and over again for thousands of years more. You will clean your slate. You will learn to love the self you've come to hate only for you to lose it. And even then, your hard work, your pain, your hate and everything you've done would be pointless. You wouldn't even see the results of your meaningless sacrifice — and despite all that, do you still want to do this?"
Nevigne finally fell on her knees with a blank expression on her face.
Fidelis waited for a few minutes but she remained kneeling on the ground without any words.
"That's what I thought," he mumbled before turning his back on her.
The fallen archangel of punishment began walking away.
It was easy to sacrifice something that one didn't value. And from a failed hero like Nevigne, Fidelis didn't bother expecting a meaningful sacrifice.
'You don't understand the meaning of it at all,' he thought to himself while shaking his head. 'Guess I'll start a new tavern somewhere.'
The fallen archangel chuckled, wondering why mankind was like this. But then again, perhaps he and she were not so different.
He was getting far when he heard a voice.
Nevigne weakly called out his name.
He looked back and saw her standing at the entrance of the forest, using a stone tree to support her balance. Her expression was unreadable but he saw traces of exhaustion, guilt and self-disgust.
"I will do it," she bluntly declared. "I'll learn to accept myself again if that's what it takes."
He stared at her in disbelief.
'She doesn't get it at all,' he thought.
"It will take a while, but I'll eventually be able to... to forgive myself. I'll value myself enough so that it is worth exchanging for the world."
With a deep sigh, Fidelis walked back towards her. 'This journey will indeed be a long one.'
***
They were taking the petrified path in this stone forest. Strangely enough, for a place that had been frozen by a spell, the stone forest looked the most preserved and showed more of the past state of the world than any other place did.
Some statues of animals that used to exist on Eden could still be seen beside the fenced road. Occasionally, some shattered statues of birds that had been petrified mid-air could be seen on the ground.
The stone forest surrounded the whole kingdom like a natural wall. Because dangerous beasts couldn't thrive in a stone forest, it was also safe for merchants to pass through. There was a point in time when the southern kingdom was considered to be the safest place in Eden because of this.
Nevigne and Fidelis walked the road to reach the end of the stone forest. The sun was directly above them, casting gentle pillars of light through the petrified canopy.
"Did that revelation alter your plans?" Fidelis asked out of the blue. It was the first time one of them had spoken since entering the forest.
Nevigne, who was deep in thought, took a while to respond.
"The plan was to help you recover your lost power as an archangel, but now, I honestly don't know where to start."
Fidelis massaged the back of his neck. "Well, neither of the two goals are easy by any means. We would have to somehow trick God Itself to get my powers back. And as we all know, It's against us now."
He noticed a sour expression crossing Nevigne's face after he said that. He continued regardless.
"Then you need to learn to forgive yourself... in such a way that you no longer want to sacrifice yourself. A bit paradoxical, isn't it?"
Nevigne's shoulders dropped. "Please don't remind me what I am getting myself into."
Fidelis laughed. "At this rate, it'll take us an eternity to succeed."
Nevigne glared at him, disappointed at his bitter humor. "I am not that depressed," she retorted.
Their conversation was cut short by the loud hum of an engine overhead. The sound of alien sky-farers above the petrified forest vibrated the statues of the trees.
Nevigne and Fidelis were instantly alerted.
The elf grabbed the fallen archangel's hand and pulled him outside of the path and into the shade of the trees.
"These trees are laced with magic," she stated. "They won't detect us under the canopy."
"You said you don't know where to start? Maybe consider getting us out of this continent," Fidelis remarked. He was watching the green lights attached to the mother ships while following Nevigne's lead. "They must have found out about what happened to the Muratians in the tavern," he said.
"They communicate fast," she replied.
"Can't you just blow them up like you did earlier?" Fidelis asked.
Without turning her head to look at him, she answered. "I can't."
Fidelis gulped. "Why?" he asked, chuckling nervously.
After a moment, Nevigne spoke. "I'm out of mana."
Fidelis felt as though his whole world was about to shatter. "You what?!" he shouted, causing Nevigne to gesture to him to be quiet.
"What do you think I am?! I consume mana to stay alive when I have nothing to eat. And guess what? There's almost no food on this planet!" she whisper-shouted. Indeed, she had been consuming her own mana for the last five hundred years to stay alive without eating or drinking for long periods of time. On top of that, she was always using high-level spells.
When they heard the engine in the sky growing louder and closer, they instinctively picked up their pace. The sun was slowly rising and casting the giant shadows of the alien ships above their heads.
In this petrified forest, only the road was a safe place to walk on. The stone grass and bushes were like rock thorns, even the leaves of low branches on the smaller trees were like sharp blades.
Eventually, Nevigne's leg was sliced by one of the petrified grasses. She let out a sharp scream before quickly covering her own mouth.
Fidelis watched in horror as she dropped to her knees and stopped leading the way. At this rate they were going to get caught!
Filled with fear, he picked up Nevigne and carried her in his arms.
"Next time don't mess with an entire race of aliens if you can't handle a wounded leg!" he cried in desperation while running.
Nevigne forced a laugh. "Sorry about that."
Behind them, they could hear the bug soldiers landing on their feet. Some were flying with their wings right above the canopy. Driven by fear, Fidelis slung Nevigne over his shoulder and ran even faster.
And with that, the adventures of an elf and a fallen archangel began.