She couldn't just let her go off and fight alone, but Arden knew she wouldn't be able to do it either. Getting attacked by four of them at once was too overwhelming; she needed Vienna's help for that. So, she ran back up to where most of the warriors were, noticing how the demons and monsters either fled or grew fewer in number as she ascended. None had managed to get past Vienna, who was cutting them down with every swing and every throw of her weapon.
Arden picked up her pace, stopping once she landed with the rest of her warriors, who had taken the moment of no demons to catch their breath. She could tell by the way they moved and how they hacked out their lungs that they were feeling the same thing she was.
The older warrior stopped beside Apollonia, and the other warrior let out a sigh of relief at the sight of her. "Arden!" She pulled her into a hug, which the blonde warrior returned with strong arms.
"Are you guys okay?" Arden turned to the others, and the warriors nodded meekly in response. "Good. We have to go farther down to help Vienna." She pulled away, calling for her wolf.
"Is she okay?" A small voice suddenly bellowed out, startling the warrior.
Arthur was there, Casey right by his side. Both of them looked extremely tired. Arden shook her head, "No, we need to go over and help her." She jumped on top of Juno, with Apollonia following right after. Becklewood walked up behind them to follow.
Arthur quickly jumped on top of Flint, with Casey following behind and Kingston in tow. Axel ended up showing up soon after, already sitting on his Heaven Wolf. "Vienna's here?"
"She's been the one killing all of them," Arden answered, moving to jump up when she stopped. Some of the warriors hadn't called their Heaven Wolf, staring up at her.
They looked around; Arthur was practically ready to take flight at any moment. Arden turned to Apollonia and let out a heavy sigh. "I won't force you to come, but you are the only ones who can fight these monsters and save Heaven. You have been trained for this." She paused and added, "However, if you don't wish to participate, I won't make you."
A few murmurs spread through the group, but Arden didn't stay for long. She jumped up with the others and quickly followed after her. More warriors joined in, calling for their wolves as they rallied behind their leader to the battle, where the fallen angel barely managed to keep herself alive.
The cupids up front watched as the Warrior Angels went further towards the pit of demons that were still coming. Some of them stepped further out to take better shots, lining up in a line where they made sure to aim at the demon and not the angels. Orwell and Bunny stood with them. The male watched as the warriors went further down.
"What are they doing..?" He whispered to himself, letting out a shot that struck a demon coming towards them. The angels were doing a good job of keeping most of them away, and the Cupids helped the best they could with their long-distance efforts.
Bunny appeared beside him, stepping even closer and walking past the blood all over the ground. All of the bodies were sent down to the Underworld, leaving only blood around. Orwell watched the small cupid go forward, moving her bow down as her eyes went wide.
"Bunny?" Orwell questioned, putting his own down to stand beside the smaller one and see where she was looking.
His eyes shot open, spotting a faint blur of purple, the familiar figure of a small angel that both of them knew. She was almost unrecognizable, completely covered in blood and missing one of her wings. Her body was cut open, wounds littering visible skin. The cupid felt sick to the stomach at the sight, not understanding what type of pain she must be feeling.
"Vienna..." Bunny let out a stern whisper, startling the male. "What.. how.. why?"
"She's battling the demons—defeating them!" Orwell observed, jumping up beside her. The two cupids quickly rushed forward, ensuring there were no monsters nearby as they stepped onto the battlefield. Bunny leaped into the air, using her wings to gain altitude as she readied her bow.
"We have to help." Bunny let out a shout, noticing how they were still too far away. She gritted her teeth, opening her wings and rushing forward.
Orwell watched, unable to stop himself from following after her. "Are you crazy!?"
"They need our help!" Bunny simply answered, forcing the other to fly after her until they saw the bodies.
Both of them felt sick, so they decided to stop there since they could reach the demons. A few cupids followed after them, but others stayed behind because the smell of blood and death became too much for them to handle. Orwell wanted to go back, but Bunny persisted, raising her bow and shooting arrows at the demons that tried jumping on the angels from behind.
Vienna quickly rotated her weapon, digging the end into a demon that clawed open her shoulders. She threw it down, almost falling over with it. Another demon came from the front, grabbing onto the blade where it sank into its claws. Vienna grunted, pushing her feet into the ground as the demon tried to overpower her and rip the weapon out of her grasp.
A Hell Hound jumped her from behind, its big body overshadowing the smaller angle. Her eyes grew wide, almost about to let go of her weapon to jump out of the way, when the Hell Hound suddenly fell to the ground. It tumbled over, lying a foot from her with an arrow sticking out of its head.
The angel looked to where the arrow came from, her body feeling less heavy at the sight of Orwell and Bunny there with their bows raised.
Bunny met her eyes, an unspeakable expression on her face. They couldn't read their expression because of how far they were from one another, but Vienna gave a nod of her head before ripping the blade that changed into a whip out of the demon's hand. She swung it around its neck, pulling hard and taking the head with her.
She moved out of the way when another demon came in front of her, swiping its claws at the angel, who quickly changed the whip into a blade to run it inside the demon.
She heard a soft whistle and the sound of new teeth gashing. She expected to see Casper; the pup was a bit farther out from her, fighting off the Hell Hounds with only a few managing to get past him. The sound wasn't from him-
A demon came at her, distracted, Vienna reared back as it cut open her chest. Ripping more of her clothing and throwing her body to the ground. She scrambled to pull the blade up, warding off the claws that wrapped around the base of the sword. The demon gashed its teeth at her, she pushed, but it weighed heavily on her-
It suddenly stopped, blood dripping down its mouth with the front of a sword driven into its chest. It fell forward, making the fallen angel hold back a grunt to throw it off her. She quickly got herself up, taking notice of how the Branchie was held tightly in the grasp of Arthur. The male helped her up, placing a hand under her back to keep the small angel from falling.
Vienna wanted to fall into his hold, give up the fight, and let the injuries take her away. But the image of Janus stopped her, pushing out of Arthur's grasp with a harsh gasp.
"Vienna-" Arthur came back, eyes growing wide before he jumped over the fallen angel. The latter staggered away when a wolf tried to jump at them. Arthur pulled the Branchie up to stop the teeth from ripping them in half.
He called for Flint, and the wolf came forward, jumping on the Hell Hound to ward it off from the angel. Another wolf joined in, then another that looked similar; it was Kingston and Casey.
Axel soon followed after them, jumping off his wolf to rush towards Vienna. He stopped short, noticing how Arthur extended his hands towards the angel, who was trembling hard. "It's okay, Vienna—we are here to help."
"I don't.." She gasped, eyes clenched closed in pain.
Axel passed Arthur, reaching for the angel when the sight of blood crawling from the gash over her stomach made him hesitate. Vienna hit him away, taking a step away. Axel wanted to say something, to question the other, who was refusing them.
She tensed, shaking her head before walking away from them, wielding her sword wide and ready. The other angels could only follow after her, their wolves leaping into the air to fly towards Casper, who was losing his battle against the Hell Hounds. Vienna rushed forward to help him, soon realizing that the other warriors had followed her into battle.
Arden, Apollonia, Arthur, Casey, Axel, and a few others helped her. Arrows went off, coming closer and closer, both Bunny and Orwell shooting at the demons who got too close.
Vienna couldn't say anything; the urge to stop was strong, but the fight she had for bloodlust was stronger.
Orwell let another arrow loose, feeling the strain in his arms. It was a new feeling, something he hadn't had before. Bunny must be feeling it too, since the cupid was raspy and quick with her breath. Orwell wanted to go back, but a part of him wanted to stay and protect the warriors.
It was difficult to keep firing shot after shot. There weren't many Cupids present to assist them, which made those closer to the front quick on their feet to dodge the splattering blood and a few demons that had slipped past the warriors.
The cupid was so focused on shooting that he didn't notice the fluttering of a few pairs of wings approaching from behind him. He assumed it was just other Cupids coming closer to join the fight. However, when a voice emerged from behind the pair of wings, the cupid stopped shooting.
"Bridget." The angel ran in front of him, stopping a foot away when she caught sight of Vienna.
Rory and Seth followed after her, stopping with horrified expressions on their faces. The blonde frantically turned to them, "What's going on!?"
"You shouldn't be here-" Bunny tried to say, but Rory rushed forward.
Orwell flew in front of the angels that tried to rush past him. He held his hand out, which made the smallest angel run into him. She tried to fight her way out, running past him to where the fight was happening. "You guys need to go back. This is too dangerous for you-"
"Vienna is in trouble!" Bridget fought back, wiggling herself free.
Orwell caught onto her, pulling her back. "You can't do anything, please go back."
"Let her go," Rory said, pushing the cupid away and opening their wings to make space.
Orwell didn't even look at them. Bunny is behind him, trying to convince the angels to go back with a smooth voice. The three of them dismissed it, their bodies itching to run straight into battle. Orwell panicked, fear setting in as the angels would get themselves hurt, or worse-
"Please, Bridget," he pleaded, trembling as he reached out to her. Rory had their wings extended, with Seth standing behind her, holding onto both of them. Orwell continued to plead, with Bunny providing support from behind him. "I don't want you to get hurt. I don't want any of you to get hurt, so please…"
"We can't just leave Vienna," Bridget said, her voice strong but face falling. She turned away, "not this time. We have to help her."
"You guys don't have any weapons." Bunny tried to put in.
"Bridget, you can't-"
"Do you love me?" The angel suddenly let out, causing Orwell to jump. His wings faltered, eyes wide at the sudden question.
"Yes. I do." He answered, taking a step forward.
Bridget walked past the redhead's wing, which was opened for her. She wrapped her hands around his neck and kissed his lips softly. The cupid returned the kiss, soaking in her warmth before it was pulled away. He tried to chase after her, but the angel held him back with a gentle look in her eyes. "Then watch over us." She turned to Bunny, ensuring the smaller cupid understood she was speaking to both of them. "Keep them away from us so we can get to Vienna. We're going to bring her back."
"Promise?" Bunny suddenly said, eyes filled with tears.
All three of them nodded, Rory practically jumping on their toes. "She will be back with us."
"She's coming home." Seth finished.
They took off, leaping into the air and flying toward the battle. Orwell wiped his face, raised his bow, and aimed at the demons that were pursuing the angels. Bunny followed suit with her own arrows, shouting to the cupids to follow their lead. The cupids didn't hesitate, shooting at the demons that flew too close to the angels engaged in battle.
Vienna dodged out of the way, feeling the sting of a near miss as some of her bangs were cut away. She refused to let it hinder her. Instead, she ducked down and swung the Kult at the demon trying to leap over her. Transforming it into a whip, she sent the demon flying around like a rag doll. It crashed into other demons that dared to approach her, forcing her to skid on her knees in the dirt to evade them.
It hurt, everything hurt.
She could hear their voices; familiarity made it even harder to keep going. She would rather none of the warriors be here, or even Bunny or Orwell. She wished to be alone; then that would make it easier for her to kill. They had to watch, they had to see her like this, which made it so much worse, so much harder to shut off the world and just do.
A wing thrashed into her body, sending the fallen angel to the ground. She thrusted the Kult into the monster's throat, using its kneeling body to pull herself up before rushing further down.
The light was fading so quickly as she rushed towards the darkness. The shadows began to space out, and the yells from the Warrior Angels were fainter the more she ran into the darkness. It could grab her, rip off the last of her wings, and pull her down back into Hell, where she belongs.
Mindless thoughts, mindless killing.
Nothing mattered, no faces could be made, no features could be spotted. All she could see was their blood; that was the only thing they were made out of.
That's what she was made out of, nothing more than a bloodbath of rage.
She went further before having to stop when three monsters came at her at once. Clawed fingers dug into her side, pulling at her ribs and forcing her knees to the ground. A tail wrapped around her neck, and another claw came to cut her face open. She focused on the one digging its nails inside her side.
Turning the Kult around, it changed to the shooting blade that she flung inside its face. It fell, releasing its hold, and the fallen angel could flip herself around and untangle her body from the tail. She didn't have time to hack away at her lungs, rolling under the demon, she moved the shooting blade into the whip and thrust it up onto the monster's wings.
Her face open, the other demon slashed up over her eye, blinding the angel for a second. Blood pooled down, entering her working eye and blinding her surroundings.
She grunted hard, landing on the ground, where she pulled at the end of the whip hard. She heard a snap, releasing the hold on the now dead demon from the last one who tried to straddle her. Teeth gashed, getting into her neck and ripping open the skin. A muffled scream before Vienna found the last of her strength to raise the Kult over the demon's head that was over her neck. She thrusted it down, hearing a loud thunk as it went straight through the monster's brain.
It fell over top of her, quickly pulling out and away. The sound of the demons screaming faded; her feet could barely pick her back up to continue.
It felt nice to lie down, to rest and let the wounds burn in the darkness.
But she didn't deserve anything nice; she was a monster, and she must die like one.
Standing back up was harsh, but the feeling of air rushing to her was harder. She jumped out of the way, tripping over her feet before the hand came out to claw at her neck. It's so hot there, it pulsed under their brash movements until her throat was clogged with blood.
The Kult landed its hit, throwing the monster down and under her, where she could drive the rest of the Kult's blade down its mouth and open its throat open.
Silence was after that.
Silent except for her own ragged breaths, her own shaking body ready to collapse along with the demon. She couldn't, at least she thought she couldn't.
She thought she could keep going, to keep running and cutting away at the monsters. But there were no more monsters. A few ran past her, but none of them tried to strike the fallen angel, none of them bothered to throw a claw at the unready, mangled thing.
Those voices were so distant, clouding up in the back of her mind, no matter how close they got or how similar they sounded.
Her knees hit the ground, darkness closing the rest of her vision with the feeling of blood pooling over her heart. The pain finally took hold of her, rendering the fallen angel over where she landed with a painful thud.
Bridget watched Vienna fall, but she didn't expect to see the blood red smoke come out from the cracks of the ground and wrapped around her body. The ground gave way, and a large hole formed under the fallen angel, who was defenseless against it.
The goddesses had shown up, but none of them saw Vienna at first. Only her, Seth, and Rory.
Casper appeared beside them, his coat covered in blood, and he had transformed into his normal size. His snout in the air, his head turned to Vienna. Bridget was already running before the others could spot the bloody angel.
She screamed, hoping that Vienna could hear her, that the fallen angel could move and show a sign that she was still there.
The smoke thickened, enveloping Vienna and dragging her down until the angels could no longer see her. Casper let out a yowl, prompting Seth to speed up, with Rory close behind him. Without thinking, Bridget jumped, her hand reaching out in an attempt to catch Vienna.
She managed to catch her, grabbing onto her hand before the fallen angel could be sucked away into the dark abyss. But the pull was too strong. Seth saw the pull try and take both Bridget and Vienna down. He came to help her, grabbing onto Vienna's bloody wrist just as Rory followed soon after. Casper flew down to pull with his teeth at Vienna's bloody tunic.
Everyone had to summon all their strength to stop the smoke and prevent the evil from dragging Vienna back down. The strain was intense and painful, relentless in its harsh pull.
But none of the angels gave up.
Then, more pairs of hands joined them. Arthur and Axel were there to help. Casey and Bunny followed soon after, as they all worked together to pull her out.
They felt a snap, followed by the tumbling sound of wind, before a final hand appeared to help pull the fallen angel up. The smoke finally cleared, untangling Vienna as she was placed on the ground, no longer dangling from the hole. Arden had been the last to arrive; she quickly examined Vienna, trying to be as gentle as possible.
Bridget was crying, sobbing as Seth tried to comfort her with his shocked expression. Rory wept, and Casper whined, his head nudging into the angel.
She didn't move.
She wasn't breathing.
Arden tightly closed her eyes, stopping the tears from spilling. But they did, they fell hard. She held the angel close to her armor, soaking the metal in her blood.
"Vienna..!" Bridget tried to call out, Seth holding onto her hand.
Arden tried to say something, but the weight of Apollonia sitting beside her was the breaking point, and she cried. She did cry, head hung over the angel who lay limp in her arms.
"I'm sorry.. I'm so sorry," she tried to say through sobs, her mind reeling with regret.
"Please, Vienna," Rory sobbed, clutching her head close to her chest. Casper pawed at her, laying his head in her lap. "Please..."
Axel had to look away, head in his hands, while Arthur openly cried into Casey's chest.
"I'm sorry we couldn't help.." Seth let out a mournful voice, eyes shadowed by it. "I'm sorry we couldn't.. couldn't..."
A powerful presence hovered behind the group; none of them moved to greet the Mother Goddess, who was focused on the fallen angel.