“The Holy Maiden of unwavering righteousness had delivered the first strike,” the Bishop screamed. Then his call echoed across the cathedral. “Divine deliverance.”

  Eh? Yeah, sure. It does feel divine to finally slap an ex-girlfriend.

  Hallie would have smirked if her facial muscles weren’t occupied with another expression. Even if their past relationship was ambivalently defined, it did feel like an acknowledgement when this weird alien Bishop screamed it.

  Then, more din and chaos followed as voices rose to join.

  “The Holy Maiden issued a challenge to the Archdemon!”

  “The Holy Maiden protects us!!”

  “Our time of Ascension is near!!”

  Lances and halberds were pointed, slowly converging on Phaedra. Soon, the congregation joined. Arms, claws, horns, pincers, and barbed tails — they were tails, probably — were raised against Phaedra.

  “Dame Commander Faeyth,” the Eraskine Bishop added from behind. “I sanction you to use the Holy Halberd of Horror. Carry the faith of Aermire. Assist the Holy Maiden in her crusade.”

  Hallie vaguely sensed the Dame Commander moving behind her, but she could not afford to avert her eyes from Phaedra.

  The situation became tense. Unnerving. And it remained that way. None moved. No one dared to make the first attack.

  Hallie found every stare, glare, and attention settled on her.

  One corner of her lips pulled, and the eye muscles on that side twitched in an approximate part-nervous smirk, part-awkward laugh and part-nameless expression which was appropriate when suddenly slapping the one who had ghosted her thrust her into leading a religious war.

  Eventually, someone added, “Lead us to victory, Holy Maiden!!!”

  “Holy Maiden, grant us courage.” More voices joined.

  Hallie had never led an army. She even avoided violent video games. That one hugely popular indie game where one mounts a horse and raises a blade while leading their army to fight -- Hallie didn’t even like that. Now she was marshalling people, real people, against Phaedra.

  “You are supposed to say something,” offered Dame Commander Taebitha Faeyth. “Even a war cry would help.”

  War cry, right. What did they scream in historical war enactments again?

  Like a corporate-owned device’s software update, her memory failed at the right time. Not that she could take inspiration from Viking culture-inspired shows. She was too distracted by buff, beefy Nordic women with undercut hairstyles. Roman-esque gladiator shows helped neither. Too many delicate women with perky nipples straining behind flimsy chitons.

  Sports, perhaps. Too obvious of a distraction. Hallie finally settled on men’s wrestling. That was a safe bet. She could probably salvage something from all those wrestling matches she has seen, as those were the ones the boys in the foster families insisted on watching. Redundantly, in fact.

  “Holy Maiden, show us your guidance!” Voices called to her.

  This might actually work. She was certain of it. Combine some words she could recall from wrestling shows, with 'holy' in a redundant measure like an anime-inspired protagonist. Dame Commander Faeyth’s weapon was called Holy Halberd of Horror, so these people would believe in anything.

  Hallie grabbed a candelabra. Holding it high, she turned to the crowd. “I shall demonstrate a courtly dance of my realm, the holy smackdown of holy candles of holy wrath,” and then smashed the candlestick against Phaedra.

  A second and one broken candelabra later, Hallie winced in pain, clutching her palms. She should not have forgotten how incredibly strong Phaedra was.

  Astra, the first official alien to crash-land on Earth, remarked that Phaedra was immensely powerful, that she would make planets disappear with a snap. And she didn’t even need to assemble a gauntlet with gemstones for it.

  In the intervening stillness, only Dame Commander Faeyth placed herself between them. Hallie found the protectiveness in the gesture very genuine and soothingly warming. Yet, instead of appreciation, she now only shivered with fear and anxiety. Against a determined Phaedra, the Dame Commander would fare no better than children holding twigs.

  The Menakari girl’s eyes, a platinum dull, now sparkled a languid silvery grey, were fixed on Hallie; but her voice, the command in it, arrested the Dame Commander.

  “I would advise against raising the weapon.” Phaedra’s tone was calm, and even her calmness was unnerving. “An attuned sonic enhancer, a fine piece of technology.”

  “An artefact of Caeletis. A divine gift from above. The blessing of the Seraphims be my guard.” Despite her audacious words, Hallie could see the Dame Commander’s sabaton-encased feet — legs that strode with a confidence on the battlefield — now trembling.

  But that was all on Phaedra. Nothing about her was mundane. Even her seemingly normal presence was disturbing. Hallie had heard it, experienced it first-hand. On Earth, with Aria and Astra; when she walked inside the club; at the renfair. And she wasn’t even tensed then. But now, the murderous aura that roiled from Phaedra would have made bodies spontaneously combust.

  That same cold yet warm silence washed across the cathedral, and despite all her supposed bravado, Hallie suddenly felt painfully tiny and defenceless. As though that move of Taebitha's to stand and protect Hallie, had flipped a switch in Phaedra. Had Activated the brutal killing machine that she was.

  “The weapon in your hand vibrates beyond the audible frequency, setting off psychological effects of fear.” Phaedra explained with unnatural stillness and disturbing apathy. “But a mere triviality should you choose to go against me. A dust mote to a sun.”

  Hallie wanted to clamp her ears shut, to stop that heavy pounding in her head. The tenacity in Phaedra’s voice stripped autonomy from the soul, leaving almost everyone except Hallie and Taebitha collapsed. Most fell from the poignancy of her tone.

  “For I am a Menkaran, an evolved one. The Guardian of the Menkarans. A Sentinel.” The inflection in Phaedra’s voice rose. The potency of it made warm blood ooze from the ears of the hapless. “The Prime.”

  Hallie knew better. More than anyone in the cathedral. Even on the planet.

  “Evolved, my ass. A walking death-dispensary with extra craploads of undiagnosed issues and untreated disorders is more apt,” Hallie scoffed. “Excuse me. Prime absolute yourself. You're a glorified bomb with superfluous uselessness, as if God, with delusions of grandeur, gave up and forgot to apply the final coat.”

  Phaedra tilted her head, staring. “Hallie, you will accompany me to Kyrnnos. A teleporter, or a spaceport, to Caeletis should be there. From there, I would procure the service of a worthy vessel to see you to safety on earth.”

  “Travel? With you? All the way back to Earth?” Hallie would not. She could not let Phaedra into her life again. Not trust those silvery eyes on the mineral-rich carnelian face ever. “Who do you think you are, Phaedra? Space Uber service that I ordered. Hello, here is your ride to Earth. Please leave a five-star. And if you are, you made one audacious entry with property damage.”

  “You are not taking this seriously, are you?” Phaedra retorted. A sigh of exasperation, very rare and unusual, filled her voice.

  “Seriously? Do you even know what that word means?” Hallie’s voice was saturated with admonishing mockery. “Seriousness is when we all needed you. Hoped when earth was threatened by an alien decimation that you would save lives. You had the power, Phaedra. Yet, instead of fighting, you chose to flee. You abandoned all. Abandoned my planet, my friends...You abandoned me.”

  The last three words were pronounced with potent anguish for Hallie to see Phaedra’s stoic and impervious face wither.

  Silence fell. It loomed like a never-ending night. Hallie saw it clearly. Whatever she uttered, her words... their effect... they struck a painful nerve. They consumed Phaedra.

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  The rising din, of chaos and riots, from outside leached in.

  “Those corrupted demon spawns seek to invade the cathedral. Defend!” Shouts and orders rose from outside.

  “They are emboldened by the Archdemon’s arrival. Show them the courage of the Children of the Sunken. The verdict of Caeletis be our armour. Defend!!”

  But words could not start the magic. Not when Phaedra was around.

  The line of defenders, all temple knights in their glistening armours fell behind, and the crowd invaded the cathedral.

  Hallie studied their faces. More beggars and destitute than a cult of conspirators. She took in the faces covered in grime, clad in rags and chains, broken bodies covered in unhealed scars. Probably they never will. Different body types. Varied racial features. Different species. Even their horns or hooved legs, or tails held sheer heterogenous variety. Still, the commonality stared at Hallie.

  Phaedra.

  They all shared some features with Phaedra. Be it their rich skin tone. Or skull structure. Or the shape of the legs. Almost as though Phaedra was their common ancestor.

  “Exalted Menkaran! Have the Potentate sent you to embrace us?” They shouted in devotion. “Have you come bearing news of a new home? Have the ancient Menkarans ancestors decided to welcome us with open arms? Exalted Menkaran, answer us.”

  Hallie thought she had known Phaedra in all her multiple facets. She had known the cold and unattached girl who had arrived before her. She had seen the troubled fighter shackled to the ghosts of her past regrets. She even considered herself privileged to know the Phaedra who, on occasions, would let her rigid and detached mask slip, revealing a different being behind.

  Yet, she had never seen this saviour, Phaedra. A being who others looked up to for salvation. A presence who would bring warmth to millions. A lone girl whose arrival heralded unbridled hope in others.

  Hallie could no longer draw the snarky veil of sardonicism to ignore the truth before her.

  A sin. A grave crime, should she ignore the plight of those downtrodden people before her. Nor could she disregard the zeal of the congregation, of the knights of the Order of Hallowed Deliverance, the commitment with which they stood to protect her life.

  This extended beyond the two of them. Beyond her sentiments of what she had and the girl who ghosted her. Not even a conflict between a Holy Maiden and fated-enemy of an Archdemon. This was a clash between two cultures or ethnic groups, or varied religious beliefs. No morality. No rights or wrongs. Only people caught in a web of convoluted principles and their sufferings.

  “So you are like a leader to these people.” Hallie waved her hand in a rather vividly animated move, pointing at those who kowtowed to Phaedra. “I am like this prophetess girl for another group. And they are both in conflict.”

  Hallie then slipped into the role of, well, Hallie herself. Or whatever she thought she actually was. It was very redundantly off-beat meta. She was no fresh high school kid thrust into an unknown world. Nor was she any run-of-the-mill office worker. Or any of the other usual lame protagonist who got thrown into increasing dangerous and new situations. Hallie was a special breed. She is a middle-level executive. A position that required a special brand of ingenuity and extreme laziness.

  “Bishop,” Hallie called.

  “Holy Maiden.” The Eraskine Bishop fell forward and flopped.

  Hallie took Phaedra’s wrist and tugged her forward. She was surprised how easy it was.

  “You are a bishop, right? Okay. I got this.” She tapped Phaedra’s arm as if consoling. “Marry us.”

  “What?” The halberd slipped from Dame Commander Faeyth’s grip.

  “What?” The Bishop flopped again.

  “Not too difficult,” Hallie ploughed on.

  She was no stranger to making announcements on short notice. Every quarter there was some major release, or company announcement or launch of product online, with half-baked and erroneous facts. So, she had years of practice, of continuing the dialogue with nonsensical dribble even when the situation was falling apart.

  “So yeah, just say it. ‘If any of you can show just cause why they may not lawfully be married, speak now; or else forever hold your peace.’ Then pronounce us married.”

  “Just for the record,” Phaedra spoke. “I would like to raise my objection to this matrimony.”

  Hallie gave a nervously confident laugh. “Please ignore her.” She waved her other free hand, signalling the Bishop. “It is normal for the bride to get cold feet before the big day.”

  “Hallie, I demolished half the city.”

  “Precisely. Heightens the romantic appeal. Isn’t it?” Hallie turned to the Bishop and coaxed. “So continue, please. Make it fast.”

  Phaedra extricated her hands to grab Hallie. They were surprisingly tender and warm. “Hallie, look at me. I think you are affected by the post-explosion trauma. How about I leave and return another day?”

  From the corner of her eyes, Hallie saw Taebitha and the Bishop exchange looks that were pretty obvious to read. They would rather that Phaedra not return at all.

  “Not working, Phaedra. Your excuses are not working.” Hallie grabbed Phaedra’s hips, fingers found purchase on the nice curves. “I am in perfect control of my senses. The way I see it. These people revere me, and those people venerate you. And surprise. They don’t get along. So we marry. Both conflicting groups are now united. There, you have it. Harmony for everyone and Ascension.”

  Despite her claims, Hallie was certain no one know how this Ascension worked. That is the best part. Because, then, she gets to define it, set reachable goals and call it Ascension. So much easier. Because that is how intelligent she is. If Hallie could, she would pin a medal on herself.

  “A noble goal, but you are not solving any conflict here.” Phaedra’s denial and distanced view of everything was admirable. “For I am taking you to Kyrnnos.”

  Hallie almost clapped her hands and cheered. “For honeymoon, right? That can wait.” The smirk across her lips grew wide and sly.

  Genuine irritation strained against the cracks in the stoic mask of Phaedra. “Do you really mean to take marriage with me seriously?”

  “No, but we could continue this marriage for the benefit of tax declaration forms.” Hallie used her best bridal simper and maintained it even when Phaedra’s resilience tried to wipe off her sass.

  “Do we have to endure this?” the Dame Commander whined from behind. Then she looked at the Bishop and a very knowing gaze exchanged between them. Hallie could see a plot while it brewed.

  “Maiden of Grace and Benevolence, your humble servants pleads.” She considered the almost translucent skin with furrowed ridges of the kneeling Bishop. “You are a higher being. It is not in the ability of your humble servant to anoint your wedding. You would need someone higher, the Pontifex and the Immanence of Seraphims, the guidance of Caeletis, for your wedding. Only their combined blessing can sanction a wedding as radiant as the Holy Maiden’s.”

  “You are telling me that you don’t have the authority?”

  “Yes.”

  “Alright, where is this Pontifex?”

  “In Kyrnnos,” answered Dame Commander Faeyth. Hallie could swear, if she were to turn, she would see a carefully hidden smirk somewhere on the face of Taebitha.

  “There won’t be any marriage.” Phaedra’s response was prompt and strong as the sudden conviction in her expression. “Because I am dragging her to the spaceport in Kyrnnos.”

  Hallie gave a laugh, equal parts mocking and defiance. Nothing else would help against Phaedra. She hated the damsel in distress. More than that, she hated being rescued by Phaedra. She had almost given her heart to her once. No longer will she place anything of hers in those strong palms. That feeling of being ignored, weak and vulnerable, she would never endure it again.

  “You are not kidnapping me anywhere.” Hallie’s hands moved in vivid and animated circles, as though fending off the very breath of Phaedra. “Because I am kidnapping you... to Krynnos.”

  “That is what I offered.”

  “No. No. Not now. Never.” Hallie’s laughter tethered dangerously close to a hysterical domain. “You don’t define the nature of our relationship anymore. Once, I gave you the choice, and you tossed it away. Now I decide the manner of our relationship. So I am the kidnapper, and you are my victim.”

  “I refuse.”

  “So you don’t want me to go to Kyrnnos.”

  “Well, I do.”

  “Then be my willing kidnapped victim.”

  “Kidnapping Hallie. Kid-nap-ping.” Phaedra spelt every single syllable with frustration. “That’s not how it works. If you go to Kyrnnos on your own accord, I go to Kyrnnos of my own will, and we travel together, then it is not kidnapping.”

  The Dame Commander and the Eraskine Bishop both exchanged troubled looks. Clearly, on the list of their concerns for the possible threat to Ascension, they were unprepared for the Holy Maiden eloping with the Archdemon. An unwilling Archdemon, at that.

  Eventually, the Dame Commander stepped in. “I see emotions are running high. How about we all take things calmly, perhaps, meet over a table with soothing tea and nice pastries and discuss, like civilised people, over the logistics of who is kidnapping who to Kyrnnos.”

  “I, too, in my role as the Bishop of Aermire and heralding the support of all the faithful of Aermire would like to extend our offer in providing all the necessary items for your journey to Kyrnnos.” Seeing the hard squint Hallie, the Bishop corrected. “I mean, the kidnapping to Kyrnnos.”

  The Dame Commander nudged between them. “I mean, you don’t even have to be like a hundred per cent full-time kidnapper. Like the two of you can mix and match. One day, you are the kidnapper and the next, she is.”

  “Are you suggesting that we take turns being the kidnapper?” Hallie now knew why she felt an immediate friendship vibe from Dame Commander Taebitha Faeyth. The female knight had the same knack for coming up with unorthodox solutions. “You make it sound like two BDSM switches in a relationship.”

  “Maiden of Holiness, I don’t know what this Bee Dee Yes M relationship is.” The Eraskine Bishop commented. “But it seems really healthy, and you have my full blessing.”

  “Alright then.” The Dame Commander clapped her gauntleted palms together. “Now that the issue is settled, how about we meet in five days? That would give us the time to arrange everything.”

  Hallie watched Phaedra’s head tilt down in her direction, eyes seeking hers and eventually those wide and unrelenting shoulders slumped.

  “Fine.” Phaedra uttered the word with the effort of someone with marbles shoved in their mouth.

  “Five days’ time, Phaedra. Remember. Be punctual.” Hallie called out to the Menkaran’s receding back. “Can’t really start your kidnapping without your cooperation.”

  “For the last time, Hallie.” Phaedra said without turning back. “We are not kidnapping each other.”

  “It’s alright. Denial is the first stage.”

  Hallie watched with utter amusement as Phaedra shook her head in dismissal. The Menkaran facepalmed before leaving.