The Twelve Apocalypses: A Damned Soul's Path to the Abyss

"We need to take serious steps towards establishing proper communication in our ranks."

That was Glaustro's growled reply when I asked him if he was okay on our way back to Methialia's home.

Really, he couldn't blame me for worrying about him, but I could also understand his frustration. The double-punch revelation of Methialia's ailment and shocking Divinity-sensing abilities had just highlighted one of the legion's most glaring systemic problems.

Other than orders and strategies, nothing got communicated.

Ever.

None of us were questioned about our abilities, or expected to update superiors on our training. There wasn't even a process for vetting officers. Glaustro just had to register us as sergeants, and that was it. Getting captains registered under us was even simpler because of the lower rank.

Was it really a shocker that officers didn't know much about the people working under them?

I had expected Glaustro to focus on the amazing potential of Methialia's Divinity sense. I'd thought he would be happy, if not ecstatic. Instead, he had gotten this nearly constipated look on his face that refused to leave.

"We'll work on it," I said cheerfully. "I mean, there's nowhere to go but up, right?"

My only answer was an unamused glower.

Sighing, I tried a different approach. "It's not anyone's fault. She didn't know the rest of us couldn't sense Divinity like that, okay?"

"It is most certainly fucking not —!" Glaustro took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and actually paused mid-step. "Listen, I'm not angry at you or the good captain. I'm frustrated with myself. I always wanted to be better, to rise in rank. Now that I have, I'm messing it all up. I even had to leave Bronwynn to do my paperwork while I deal with this crisis, so —"

"Glaustro, you can't expect to be perfect from the start," I broke in. "They stopped you from being an officer for so long. Then you suddenly got promoted way higher than a demon should be able to reach in such a short period of time. Of course we're going to make mistakes. Of course things are a mess. We'll get better."

It was distinctly odd to be the one doing the reassuring, but from the way Glaustro had hunched in on himself, my friend and mentor needed it. Besides, it was nice to see him smile slightly at my words.

Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the smile faltered and vanished.

"I understand that, but… there's so much I missed. I should have reminded you to get tents for everyone. I should have insisted we all practice together. And I should have asked some deeper questions about our troops. Abilities and vulnerabilities. I had no idea about Methialia. I knew she was Abyss-born, and I knew about her fire affinity, but she never mentioned more."

"That's, again, not on you," I argued. "I'm guessing she decided to withhold that info for the same reason she didn't want to talk to Mia and me earlier. I think she feels ashamed of it. And yes, missing that is probably bad from a superior officer's perspective, but… she's still an accomplished demoness who's done a lot for our troops. Would you have turned her away if you'd known she was vulnerable to cold?"

It took Glaustro a second to respond, but when he did, I detected a hint of a smile in his voice. "No. She is too valuable to give up on."

"Exactly. She taught me how to fly. She's an excellent scout. I noticed she likes to keep an eye on less experienced soldiers and help them out, when she's not completely exhausted. She was a great pick. I don't think we made a mistake."

"I still think we have a lot of work to do if we want to make this army a success," the major insisted.

I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes. "Obviously. Even I could tell you that, and I've been a demon for a very short amount of time. But, hey! At least you're doing better than Wilhelmina."

Glaustro scoffed. "Anyone can do better than her. She only had her lineage going for her."

"But we're doing much better. We just need to… keep doing it," I concluded weakly, finally drawing a proper laugh out of the man who had helped me so much already.

By the time we made it to Methialia's residence, both of us were in a much more stable mood. As a result, the conversation that followed was more relaxed than I had feared. Methialia wasn't amused to discover how far off the mark she really was when gauging the strength of her sensory abilities, but she was rather enthusiastic about using them to their full potential.

There was some talk about how that could best be done, but we decided to leave it there for the afternoon. Glaustro went back to his duties with a promise that we'd all talk more the following day. Mia and I excused ourselves shortly thereafter as well, leaving Methialia to enjoy the warmth of her hearth.

Mia was unusually quiet on our walk home. Her eyes stared off into the distance, refusing to meet mine. My few attempts to drag her out of her mood failed.

Worse still, I had no idea whether I should be worried or not.

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Her Emotion was draped over her like a blanket, concealing whatever was going on in her heart. If she was anyone else, I might have hoped to catch some hint based on her facial expressions. That was virtually impossible with Mia.

I had gotten to know her, though. Even with her poker face on, she couldn't stop her tail bristling and occasionally slashing through the air. That was clue enough for me that something was bothering her.

I just had no idea what, or how to find out.

My anxiety deepened when we finally got home. Instead of using me like a particularly fluffy pillow, as she normally preferred, she chose to curl up on one of the windowsill beds across the room.

Still, I didn't push her. I stuck to the same odd, silent agreement we'd had for so long, even if I felt increasingly tempted to infringe upon it the longer Mia remained a closed-off book to me.

Some small wisps of my Emotion stirred, but I clamped down on them. I knew I had some issues. The whole dependency thing between me and the cat was definitely on the list.

I just couldn't bring myself to care. I was a demon. Since when did my kind pride themselves on healthy relationships? We were practically listed under the word 'dysfunctional' in any dictionary you were likely to find out there in the multiverse.

"Do you want to know about me?"

The question was so sudden and quiet that I almost dropped my book. Instead, I set it down with far too much care, then slowly raised my eyes to meet Mia's golden orbs.

"Yes."

I saw no reason to lie, even if I could. Maybe if she wasn't actively looking? Though I might be able to control my soul enough to conceal a lie from other demons who didn't know me, I doubted it would work with Mia.

Regardless, she didn't run away, so I went on.

"But you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I can wait until you do. Or you don't have to tell me at all. I just…" I licked my suddenly dry lips. "I just enjoy spending time with you. I don't want anything to get in the way of that."

We stared at each other without blinking, long enough that it would've been profoundly uncomfortable if we were still mortals. Then, the cat slowly stretched out and slinked over to me.

An expectant look made me spread out my wing for her. This time, I shifted onto my back so she could curl up on the soft, downy inner wing feathers. It really crimped my other wing to lay on it like that, but I didn't care.

Once she was cuddled up to my side, Mia spoke.

"I wasn't born on a conquered world. The demons were still in the middle of their invasion when I was a kid. My parents were… nobles? Not that, but this language doesn't have the right word for it. They were important."

She was talking softly, but I could still sense her discomfort, both with the subject and to be talking so much in the first place. I grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, intertwining our fingers.

"I was really small. I can barely remember stuff from back then, but I do remember my parents trying to train me to survive without them. It was mostly useless. I could only remember the one technique, and I couldn't even do it. It was dangerous to use my mana that young, and I almost got hurt. I think they thought I could hide or run even if the demons did take our world. They were wrong. There was no running or hiding when the demons finally claimed the Will. We were all rounded up."

I winced, wondering what that might have been like. She never specified her age, but she must have been older than I was when my world went through the same thing. I couldn't even remember the faces of my parents, let alone mana techniques. To be old enough to understand what was happening…

"When they won, the demons created camps. For training, they said. Everyone young enough was sent there. But they didn't treat us all the same. They tested us for mana use potential, and then separated us into trainees and… and the wastes. I was a trainee. We at least got food, a nice place to sleep, training, and safety. The wastes were forced to fight each other. The demons said that if they didn't have talent, at least they'd have ferocity."

She fell silent. I ran my thumb gently over her hand, and she jumped, as if snapping back into awareness.

"They made us watch. It was… fine, when we were younger. They'd just kill each other and that was it. It got worse later. The winners could do whatever they wanted with the losers, and the demons wanted them vicious and desperate. They encouraged all sorts of things. It worked. None of us wanted to fail the tests and be demoted to wastes. The wastes who got promoted to trainees this way were… unpleasant.

"I could remember, though. Everything that came before the camps. My family. What my world used to be. That was the worst part. I could remember, and I wanted revenge. Everything that happened in the camp only made me want it more. So, when I finally joined the legion, I decided I'd do whatever I had to. Even if I hated the demons, I'd become one. I would find Vallinach, and I'd kill him for what he did to my world. I would make him suffer. But then…"

She fell silent again, and I saw her libs wobble.

After only a moment of hesitation, I scooped her up so she was lying on top of me. Then I closed my wings around her, bundling her up and hiding her from the world.

"See? That?" She let out a scratchy laugh, and I froze. "I met you, and you were… nice? You were okay, at least. And then I met Glaustro, and Bronwynn, and they recruited and helped us, even though they were demons. And we're demons, now. I should hate demons, but I don't hate you."

She said the words like an accusation, while simultaneously winding her arms around me in a crushing return hug. All I could do was chuckle bitterly and tighten my own grip.

"Should I feel guilty?" she went on, even more quietly. "Am I supposed to? I don't even know what my parents would have wanted me to do."

I was sure she could feel the emotions writhing in my chest, but I didn't even try and suppress them.

"I don't know, Mia. I just don't know. But, I'd like to think they would want you to be safe and happy, whatever that takes. Are you? Happy, I mean. Does… staying with me, make you happy? Because…"

My heart was beating so loudly and quickly now that I knew those crazy senses of hers could hear it. "You make me happy. I love having you here. You are the reason I don't feel lonely or miserable. Glaustro and Bronwynn are great, but it's not like I can go bothering them every five minutes, or even that I'd want to. So, that's all you."

After a lengthy pause, her arms tightened around me further. She would have crushed me if I hadn't ascended already.

Still, her response sent all my insecurities melting into a puddle of relief.

"Yes, you make me happy. I want to stay with you. I can relax when you're around. That's nice."

I smiled, fully and freely. I hadn't exactly gotten everything I wanted to say out there, but this was a very nice start.

There was one more thing I could say, though.

"You know that I'll help you do whatever you want, right? We'll get Vallinach. Even if it takes a while, we'll get there. It's not like he can run or hide. He's old and powerful, but he's also a demon. That means he's prideful and kind of stupid about his personal safety. We can catch up, and we can get him."

She pulled herself up for a moment, hovering above me with eyes that were drinking in my features. The smile she sent me could have rivaled the sun.

"Yes. We'll get him. Together."

I nodded, my smile widening to match her radiant grin.

"Together."