Hearts of Fire

She jolted awake, gasping for air and shaking like mad. She looked around, even though her fear of looking into the eyes of another monster still lingered in her mind. She wasn’t in that plain anymore. She was in a cell. It was a moist, moldy, smelly cell, but there wasn’t any monsters or fire. She sat herself up, heaving loudly as she struggled to her knees. Her lungs burned and her eyes were very watery. She coughed hoarsely and hugged herself, realizing she was all wet. She was cold, tired, and very thirsty. Her back hurt. Very badly. She placed a hand to her back to feel if something had cut her wing, but was only to find out that her wings were gone. She winced when she felt her own flesh against her fingers. The pain of the sudden contact made her want to cry. She rubbed her eyes and sniffed, trying to find an opening, or a door. She crawled over to the wall of bars behind her and pulled herself to her feet.

“Hello?” she called, her voice choked off and hoarse, hardly audible.

Not receiving an answer, she tried again. “Helloo~”

She didn’t get an answer, but was met by the sounds of heavy footsteps in the corridor outside. She held on tightly to the rusty bars and wiped her eyes again. She opened her eyes to see a tall, dark figure stand before her. His face wasn’t readable, nevertheless, it terrified Moonstone. He reached out, opening the cell with a loud, eerie creak, and stepped inside. Moonstone wanted to panic and hide, but she was exhausted. She couldn’t even stand up. She could only fall on her side and attempt to crawl into the corner. She collapsed not even a few seconds later and heaved, coughing sickly onto the floor.

“P-pl-please, don’t hurt m-me..” She muttered, tears welling in her eyes, their whiteness replaced by a burning brown color. The creature, most definitely a stallion, kneeled before her, gentle grasping her head.

“Shhhhhhhhh~” He whispered quietly to her. “I’m not here to hurt you…”

He lifted her head up and pulled a flask out of his dirty grey duster. He removed the cap and placed it to her mouth, giving the child a much needed drink. Moonstone nearly choked, but was still satisfied with this demon’s kindness. He put the flask back and lifted the child up, silently exiting the cell. Moonstone could only watch as he carried her off and out of the sullen prison where she was kept. She wanted to ask him what he was doing, but for fear he was just another demon, she remained quiet.

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Moonstone winced and flinched constantly as he stitched her back together. Somehow, he had known she was only semi-mortal compared with the rest of this realm. He must’ve taken her to what looked like a study, or a personal thinking place. His shelves were littered with books, scrolls, maps, and talismans. She couldn’t focus on them, however, she was distracted by pain. She hated this, what he was doing, sewing her wounds back together. It hurt her, but she knew it was to help her.

Once he was finished, he helped wipe all the blood off, and tie her dress back. She watched him, just moving things around, occasionally looking out his window, reading things and placing them apart, like he was doing some puzzle.

“Why did you do that for me?” She asked at last.

He sighed through his nostrils, his huge blue eyes took her in and stared dismissively. He didn’t answer, he just glared angrily at her.

“I mean, you don’t know me-“ Moony started.

“I know everything about you.” He interrupted.

Moony paused, swallowing her breath and watching him intently.

“…I’m doing this for my own reasons, nothing more.” He said.

His voice was quiet and stern, almost like a whisper. Moony could tell he had an accent, Scottish maybe. She didn’t reply. She just stared at him. He was a dark stallion, rich ebony coat with prominent blood-red stripes. He had large, piercing, icy-blue eyes, seeming to glow in the low light of his study. His mane was short, but seemed very well groomed. He wore jeans, a sleeveless denim jacket, a black t-shirt with combat boots.

Silence loomed over the two for what seemed like forever. When at last the stallion spoke, his voice was breathy, yet, tone was determined.

“My name is Vindictus Vulnere. I’m… one of your father’s business partners.” He stated, not really caring how he’d put it to the child. He didn’t need to, Moony already knew full-well what he meant.

“That doesn’t tell me why you saved me.” Moonstone reminded, rubbing her eyes.

He scowled for a moment, giving a grim sigh.

“You know what happens if you change, or if your father forces you to change?” He asked.

Moonstone shook her head.

“No sir. All I know is, that  if what he told me was all true, I’m supposed to kill everything…”

Those words stung. The very thought of ending the world, everything she loved, made her want to cry. She sniffed and wiped her burning eyes, attempting to disregard the unpleasant thoughts.

“Well, once that is done, all hell will break loose on earth and The Holy wars begin. Have you read revelations?”

“Mommy says that book is too scary for me.”

“I see. Well, when all hell raises, Lucifer and his army will be at the expense of Michael and the God Squad… I already know what happens to us… to Lucifer… to hell… and I want no part of it.” He explained.

Moonstone swallowed hard, thinking that he would try to hurt her as well.

“But he just saved me, he wouldn’t fix me then kill me… would he?” She thought.

Vindictus stood from his placed and walked over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders.

“You are more powerful than me, that’s why I couldn’t destroy you if I wanted to. You are more powerful than most of the angels I’ve encountered. You’re more powerful than Lucifer.”

That right there made Moony feel just a little better.

“I saved you because of who you are. You’re not all demon, are you?”

Moonstone shook her head “no.”

“You’re half mortal, correct?”

“Yes sir… at least I think so… my momma’s not a demon. So, I guess not.” She replied.

“Then you still have the ability to change your destiny. You know what’s right and wrong, your mother ensured that. That right there could save your world. All of your souls.” He said.

Moonstone stared at him. He was right. She didn’t want to rule over an army that wasn’t going win anyway; nor did she want to destroy a world she loved. She blinked a little, the cold feeling his huge, icy orbs gave her felt as if he was staring into her soul.

“But,” She whispered, unable to look away from him, “How will we get out of here?”

Vindictus sighed, removing his hands and staring out the lone window.

“You will be thrown out of those gates there.” He replied, pointing out to the fiery gates just across what looked like a demon-battleground.

Moonstone stood on her tip-toes and saw what he was talking about.

“What about you?” She asked.

He blinked. Directing his attention from the outskirts of hell, to the child beside him.

“Why can’t you leave too?”

He frowned, swallowing air, almost as if to reply in a mild- manner. Maybe lie to her. Something however, in his chest, forced him to speak the truth.

“I cannot leave…”

“Why not Vinny?!”

“What?” He snapped.

Moonstone flinched and gasped quietly. Her lower lip quivered slightly, her eyes widened, and her form shrunk. She stared up at him, and he saw the utter terror in her eyes. The ragged shade of brown showing the faintest sign of a pupil, reflected him and his form. He looked away from her and sighed. Clenching his fists, he returned to his seat. Moonstone could tell that question upset him. He was silent for a while, not moving a muscle. After a few moments, he buried his face in his hands and exhaled.

“I’m trapped here, Lucifer bound me to this realm…” He whispered.

His face was emotionless, but little Moony could feel the sadness and loneliness in his voice. She stepped toward him, gently taking his hands in hers.

“Look at me.” She said, her voice was soft and subtle.

She had no idea what she was doing, but she felt something in her gut telling her that what she was doing would help her out a lot the whole 9-yards.

“You say I’m more powerful than anything you’ve ever encountered, right? Well, if I can, I’ll try to get you out of here too.”

“What?” Vindictus scoffed.

“You’re doing this for me, so, why don’t I do something for you too? It’s only fair.” She replied.

Vindictus gave her a puzzled glare, the slight anger in his eyes not seeming to phase her. She smiled at him and softly kissed his knuckles.

“It’s the least I can do.”

He was silent. The expression on his features went completely slack jaw. He just stared at her.  Her eyes somehow developed thin, slit pupils. The deep brown color seemed caramel in the dim lit room. She smiled again, not releasing his hands from hers.

“Well, what’s the plan sir?” She asked eagerly, awaiting to help her new friend escape this literal hell-hole.