Greetings, Asylum Seekers.
Yes, sadly Coyopa is still with us. A lot of red tape there (a mortal-ism), but his case is never forgotten and I will let you know if the Authority has any success in granting the poor boy absolution.
Absolution. Clemency. Mercy. Pardon... Forgiveness. Different terms for such a powerful action. Forgiveness is meant to be the cornerstone of the Authority’s doctrine. One simply has to ask. However, the Malifecium doesn’t have that word in its vocabulary. Thus the tiresome battle waged within these walls.
Then again, I believe there is something to be said for “forgiveness earned.” Believe me, I know firsthand...
I spoke briefly on an angel’s birthing into the Dominion class. It is a rare honor for a small flock of angels. Dominions are born to be strong, resilient. We have the patience and resolve of the Seraphim. We have the glamour of the Archangels but lack their panache. And we have just enough of the affinity that the Guides possess for the mortal world.
We aren’t born as infants like you mortals. What you see before you is how I have always been since the Source beckoned my energy into existence. We are quickly imparted the militaristic wisdom of a Dominion who has served before us. My Dominion elder’s name was Joma, and he was a master of the blue flame. He could manipulate the celestial energy, pulled directly from the Source herself, and form it into any weapon; or an eye to see into the near future or deep past; or the sweetest of concertos out of thin air; or allow the flame to consume him completely, rendering himself invincible.
I quickly excelled past poor Joma and attained complete mastery of the blue flame. I was named, by virtue of the Source, the True Sword. and given control over the army of the Authority. The honor hadn’t come soon enough because, at that time, the Malifecium had declared all out war with The Light. The bold Horde had looked to usurp our mother from power due to her insistence that we care for and nurture her newest project – mortal man and woman.
I personally think you were her finest creation. But, keep that between us.
On the eve of the great battle, I was summoned to the Source. My mother spoke to me in a dream (yes, we do that too). She told me that, upon awakening, I was to meet the leader of the Malifecium Horde’s forces, on the remnants of a dead dwarf star – the exact location of where the Asylum has now sat for over six million years.
Reticent, but a dutiful servant to the Authority, I met with said demon.
JUDE
He was born High-Horde, of powerful lineage and Duke status within the Pit. He was charismatic and civil and spoke with soft tones. There was power radiating from behind the crystal waters of his demon eyes, yet his smile was disarming.
I fell in love with him at first sight.
It was an emotion saved for Guides: angels who held no seat of power, who could be easily swayed by a demon’s allure. It wasn’t emotion meant for the True Sword. But I fell for him. And, I believed, he for me.
Our union caused quite a commotion. The Light and The Dark, preparing to tear each side limb from limb, and here we were cavorting on a lifeless star.
In retrospect, however, it forced an impasse. As I said, Jude was royalty within the Malifecium, a progeny of a very powerful former Seraphim that had fallen from grace. Rather than have Jude, one of their darkest warriors, snuffed from existence, which was what would have happened to me, the Maleficium agreed to terms on the formation of the Asylum. Working together over the course of a mortal century, agents of the Authority and the Malifecium negotiated terms that would decide on the fate of a mortal soul through restrained bureaucracy.
Now, after Jude and I spent that century imprisoned in the first two cells created for the Asylum as punishment for our tryst, whom do you think was tasked with running the whole affair?
Why, the angel and her demon love, of course.
Love... HAH. Let me tell you, that didn’t last long. Demons don’t possess that capacity. However, they are sensual beings (meaning horny), and Jude couldn’t resist. So – and I’ll ask you don’t repeat this if ever you cross paths with that demon – I spent a century in a cell pining over a demon, and he just considered me an easy conquest he’d quickly forgotten. There are strict penalties for open combat between an angel and a demon within the Asylum, but I would have gladly spent another century in that cell to be afforded the opportunity to craft my blue flame into the True Sword and cut that demon in half.
Forgive the walls shaking. On the rarest of occasions, I have quite a temper.
I believe I have earned my clemency, my pardon, my absolution, my forgiveness, because of how absolutely amazing it has been for me to spend the last six million years fighting for that same forgiveness for each and every soul that has passed through our celestial doors. Your kind has become my passion, my love, and I will continue to fight, as I was worn born to do, for your mortal souls to reach The Light.
Here’s to another six million years...
- MAGGIE