Snow fell in soft spirals across the enchanted forest, each flake glowing faintly as it drifted down. Winter had wrapped the celestial cottage in peaceful silence…
until the sky began to darken.
Clouds thickened, swirling from warm gold into bruised black, as if the heavens themselves sensed what was about to enter the world.
Inside the cottage, the Golden Celestial Queen screamed in labor. Her skin glowed like dawn light trapped beneath crystal, but under that glow… something darker twisted.
A shadow curled and writhed within her womb.
She pressed a trembling hand to her belly.
"Jesus… something is wrong…"
Jesus knelt beside her, face radiant, eyes burning with both love and fear. His touch glowed warm against her skin.
"She's coming," He whispered.
"Hold on. She will be born."
But outside — the shadows were moving.
Long, slithering shapes crept between the trees… black forms with tails dragging trenches through the snow. Dozens. Then more. Drawn by the darkness inside the unborn child.
"As if the true darkness knows she's being born," the Queen breathed, tears of golden light sliding down her cheeks.
A blast of thunder split the sky.
Jesus rose instantly, light exploding from His body. The cottage shook under His power as He burned through the nearest shadows clawing at the door.
"GO!" He commanded, voice echoing like thunder.
"Run to the Portal Gate! Take the child and run!"
The Queen sobbed, clutching her newborn as the final contraction tore through her body. A burst of gold and shadow erupted from her — and with it came a tiny, wailing cry.
Jesus caught the infant, her body glowing with white-gold light, but edged with swirling black smoke. A child of creation and destruction. A child of Heaven and something far older.
"Your name…" the Queen whispered as she held the baby close,
"…is Zyla, named after my mother."
But there was no time.
The shadows were already breaking through the walls.
Jesus's radiance flared, burning three of them to ash.
"RUN!" He shouted again.
"I'll hold them back!"
The Queen ran into the storm, baby Zyla in her arms. Snow whipped against her golden gown, blood from her labor staining the ice beneath her feet. Her breath came in broken cries.
The Portal Gate stood ahead — an enormous arch of unbreakable ancient stone, covered in silver vines and celestial flowers. Its runes glowed softly, humming with power.
Almost there—
A huge Demon Shadow Form lunged from the darkness.
It slammed into her, its long tail cracking the ground. The Queen was thrown across the snow, hitting hard and sliding as Zyla rolled from her arms, landing in the center of the path.
Zyla cried — her tiny voice shaking the air.
"GET THE BABY!"
the demon snarled, its voice guttural and hungry.
More demons materialized around it, encircling the crying newborn.
"No—NO!" the Queen screamed, crawling through the snow. She threw herself over her child, shielding Zyla with her body despite her pain.
"You are the best gift the universe has ever given a mother like me…"
Her voice broke.
"Save us."
Something awakened inside baby Zyla.
Her body shimmered—then melted into a water-like orb, wrapping around herself and her mother, glowing blue-black. Demons struck the barrier with claws and tails, but it held.
Zyla's eyes opened.
Not gold.
Not white.
Red. Glowing. Ancient.
A burst of dark light exploded outward, obliterating the demons in a violent shockwave.
In the distance, Jesus continued to fight — burning through endless swarms, divine fire blazing from His hands, but he was being pushed back by the sheer number of them.
A streak of blue-gold flame shot through the sky.
Nina descended like a falling star, wings blazing with Judgment Flame. She landed beside the Queen, hand outstretched.
"I'm here! I've got—"
But she stopped.
The Queen's glow flickered wildly. Her golden veins twisted black. Her halo shattered into shards of dying light.
Her body convulsed.
Her skin darkened into molten obsidian.
Her eyes burned crimson.
Her gown transformed into flowing black silk of living shadow.
Spiraling horns tore through her head.
The Golden Celestial Queen became a demon.
"No… no no—NO!" she screamed, clenching her head. "This has never happened—Celestials don't change—we don't—"
Nina stepped back, horrified.
"Queen… what have they done to you?"
The mother trembled violently, tears of blood running down her cheeks.
"I… I don't want her to see me like this…"
With shaking hands, she lifted Zyla—her precious daughter—and placed her gently into Nina's arms.
"No. Don't," Nina whispered, tears filling her eyes. "Don't leave her—don't run—please—"
The mother staggered backward, horns gleaming, shadow swirling around her feet.
"I'm being punished…"
Her voice cracked into a sob.
"Please protect her… Promise me…"
Before Nina could reach for her again—
The Queen unleashed a scream.
A cry so powerful that trees across the entire planet ripped from their roots, thrown into the sky. The earth cracked. The snow melted in an instant.
Jesus turned mid-battle, horror on His face.
"My love—NO—"
But she vanished.
Gone in a burst of dark smoke and shattered light.
Nina stood trembling, clutching Zyla against her chest.
She had never seen a Celestial fall.
Never seen a mother break her own heart to save her child.
Never seen a transformation so violent it shook Heaven itself.
She swallowed hard.
"I'll protect you," she whispered to the crying baby.
"I swear it… Zyla."
Behind her, the Portal Gate pulsed.
Nina spread her wings — Judgment Flame burning in blue spirals around her — and launched into the air.
She flew through the portal toward Earth.
Toward the Temple of Heaven.
Toward destiny.
Behind her, Jesus fought alone.
Bleeding light.
Burning shadows.
And roaring in grief.
For the celestial world would never be the Josephe again.