Chapter 10
773 Words
Aurelia looked small from above.
Rain drifted endlessly across the sleeping city while thousands of lights glittered beneath storm clouds like dying stars.
Casiel stood alone atop the cathedral tower overlooking downtown Aurelia.
White wings spread behind him silently.
Massive. Radiant. Inhuman against the night sky.
Rain slid across silver feathers while cold wind tore violently through dark strands of hair.
Yet he barely noticed any of it.
Because his thoughts remained fixed on one human girl.
Selene Vale.
The name itself unsettled him now.
Casiel closed his eyes briefly.
He had met countless mortals before across centuries. Kings. Murderers. Saints. Monsters.
None of them lingered inside his mind like this.
But Selene-
something about her felt wrong.
Not evil.
Familiar.
And that disturbed him more than corruption ever could.
Casiel slowly opened his eyes again before pulling the golden book from beneath his coat.
The sacred pages glowed faintly beneath the storm.
Alive.
The Book of Judgment never lied.
Never failed.
It revealed truth exactly as Heaven intended.
Casiel rested one hand across the cover carefully.
"Show me Selene Vale."
The pages moved instantly.
Golden light spilled across the rooftop while ancient symbols shifted violently through the storm.
Then- the visions began.
Casiel saw her as a child first.
Small.
Terrified.
Curled silently beneath a bed while shouting echoed through a dark apartment.
The sight alone made something inside him tighten uncomfortably.
The vision shifted again.
A man entered the room.
Large. Drunk. Cruel eyes.
Selene couldn't have been older than nine.
Casiel immediately understood.
Horror spread coldly through him.
"No..."
The child backed away trembling while the man approached her slowly.
Her father.
Casiel's jaw tightened violently.
Then another figure appeared in the doorway.
A woman.
Her mother.
Watching.
Not stopping him.
Just watching.
The little girl cried silently while the woman turned her face away like none of it mattered.
The vision shattered instantly.
Casiel stood frozen beneath the storm.
His grip around the book tightened hard enough to crack golden light beneath his fingers.
Disgust curled violently through him.
Humans.
How could creatures capable of such cruelty still demand salvation from Heaven?
The pages turned again.
Years passed rapidly through visions.
Selene older now. Fifteen. Sixteen. Seventeen.
Smoking. Fighting. Drinking.
Sleeping beside strangers while emptiness hollowed out her eyes more and more each year.
Casiel watched quietly.
Pain changed humans in terrible ways.
Especially women like her.
She laughed loudly. Flirted easily. Pretended confidence endlessly.
But every vision showed the same thing afterward-
loneliness.
Always loneliness.
Casiel frowned faintly.
Then another question surfaced inside him.
Why prostitution?
Why willingly enter the very thing that once destroyed her?
The book answered immediately.
Because control felt safer than helplessness.
Casiel's expression darkened slowly.
Humans confused survival with freedom too often.
The pages shifted again suddenly.
Three men appeared.
The gunmen.
Casiel watched carefully.
Selene sat across from them inside a private hotel suite several weeks earlier.
One of the men reached for her.
Selene smiled sweetly-
then stole a briefcase full of money and escaped through the fire exit before any of them realized.
Casiel blinked once slowly.
The vision continued.
The men hunted her afterward. Threatened her. Demanded repayment.
When she refused-
they decided to kill her.
The golden pages finally stilled.
Silence returned to the rooftop.
Rain poured harder now.
Casiel stared down at the glowing book with unreadable eyes.
Sin after sin after sin.
Lust. Theft. Violence. Defiance.
Selene Vale carried darkness everywhere she went.
And yet-
the memory of her shielding the younger dancer inside Elysium returned suddenly.
The way she protected strangers without hesitation.
The way she laughed despite suffering.
The way sadness lived quietly behind her eyes.
Casiel exhaled slowly.
Complicated human.
The worst kind.
Because they made judgment difficult.
The Book of Judgment glowed once more beneath his hands.
A final line appeared slowly across the page.
SOUL STATUS: UNSTABLE
REDEMPTION POSSIBILITY: UNKNOWN
ELIMINATION POSSIBILITY: ACCEPTABLE
Casiel stared at those words for a very long time.
Then finally-
he looked down toward the city below.
Toward the mansion where Noctis had taken her.
His jaw tightened faintly.
How exactly was he supposed to save someone like Selene?
A woman shaped by trauma. Corrupted by survival. Drawn toward darkness naturally.
Maybe Heaven had made a mistake sending him.
Or perhaps-
Heaven already knew she could not be saved.
The thought settled coldly inside him.
Kill her.
The simplest solution.
The cleanest.
One death to prevent further corruption.
Casiel closed the golden book slowly.
Yet strangely-
the idea did not bring peace the way judgment usually did.
Instead-
for the first time in centuries-
he hesitated.
- Writer
