-Amanda’s perspective-

  An angel appears to us at a time we least expected, bringing with her not only the promise that a dark future awaited our ignorance, but a childish mind of her own as well.

  When I first saw you, Yalda, I believed you were truly a fake. A convincing demi-human produced through illegal eugenics. How many had I, the queen of this country, sent to rehabilitation for that? All of them had wings and unique hair colours, but I never let that deceive me.

  I fully expected that by the end of our first meeting that you would have been the same, and the masses would have rejected you. The very same public who had been sanding away at my resolve since the death of my parents.

  For the sake of the Pope's wise council, I held my tongue from judgment, watching closely at your every move… You didn’t impress me at all.

  “Just as I expected.”

  But there was something different about you compared to the others I'd seen. All the fake angels presented to me over the years knew everything about their foretold coming. They were experts on scripture, so wise and elegant that I would have thought they were much older then they looked.

  To be rather blunt, you were an idiot. A buffoon compared to false predecessors who hadn't the foggiest idea of why she was there. You treated our meeting so casually, so disrespectfully… I actually smiled.

  I loved it. I loved watching you act so inexperienced. You didn't mince your words for the sake of bureaucracy. You simply spoke what was on your mind, and that was something I'd never seen another do in your position.

  Maybe it was how casual you were, but your actions forged some respect out of me. Very few in the world have ever received such a secret favour.

  Perhaps that respect for your nature was a double edged sword, because even I had to remind myself that you were no ordinary child. I saw the videos of you fighting threats that my mind could only interpret as people turned evil. Those demons you claimed to strike down looked more human than the reports or even your own testimony claimed. I had no choice but to believe it, or face outrage from those who suffered.

  Watching you strike down foes, yet not kill them, made me question what I was seeing. Half the room I was with claimed the same thing, a handful couldn't see anything at all. Only one proudly declared the demons were real, and it wasn’t me.

  Now I was at that point again, seeing you facing down human foes with a sharp spear that could easily kill. You had a murderous glare in your eyes, bathing the air in red mist with each feral attack.

  “Who is the real demon?”

  No matter how much my mind rationalized it, the sight in my heart was not strong enough to see what you could. To me, it looked like you were just killing people, not demons.

  “Let me show you reality,” you plainly stated.

  A star bloomed in your heavenly hand, breaking the mold of the dark crust around my vision. You showed me a hint of the tall abominations of shadow you faced down, and yet I still didn't believe my eyes.

  I was literally looking at demons for the first time ever. How was it possible that I questioned after that?

  Stolen novel; please report.

  The fire mage, Indena, the one who seemed close to you, was even more casual than I was, yet she followed your every order as if it were gospel.

  That mage came from a godless world and had more faith than me.

  But how could I have faith while watching our promised saviour hack and slash away body parts from ordinary working men? We were in some ancient quarry meant for farming holy steel. These men were minors, perhaps enlisted or enslaved for the will of a tyrant we were hunting. Their blood covered the white sheets of your dress… I'd heard the horrors of war, but witnessing it was a whole new terror.

  What sort of angel were you to murder these people? They stood against us, but weren't we promised one as merciful as a dove? I couldn't think of a creature less aligned with war.

  I believed in justice, and justice wasn't always kind. But it was necessary. What I saw here was not such a thing, and yet I was being told to accept it, and even become an accomplice?

  You said that the demons were manipulating my vision, how could I be certain of that? How could I be sure that you haven't been the one tricking me all this time? Things were fine before you showed up.

  “Who is the liar here?”

  You haven't shown much of that grace I expected from you. You were a child with gifted powers, and I was content to leave that my understanding… Until I saw this massacre.

  For all that, deep in my heart was a seed that began to lay down roots. It was telling me not to trust my eyes… Ignore those questions and doubts. To look with an inner part that had been provided through spiritual means.

  My mother, the previous queen, was a spiritual woman. She was a leader who trusted in things she couldn’t see, like peace across the world. It seemed so distant and invisible to me, but her dream was to defeat all those who hid prosperity and trust it would show its face in the end.

  She had many enemies because of that.

  Her enemies were so crafty that they turned everything my mother did into a scandal. And I was sure they took her life while she slept. But in the time she lived, she showed me what it was like to have faith. To fight for the unseen.

  You also showed me a glimpse of that fight with the darkness and I still struggled to believe. What would my mother say to that? I was shown the demons for a moment. How could I believe less than someone who saw less?

  You were a mirror, reflecting such spiritual glory to us all, and I was blinded by the shine.

  So maybe it was time to forgo my eyes…

  While on my knees, I took off my glasses and tossed them away. My vision blurred worse than the line between good and evil in a politician.

  “I might as well be blind…”

  No longer could I see the enemies, nor my allies, but I still stood with my scepter held high.

  “I believe in you!” I announced as loud as I could so everyone could hear.

  I was infuriated at the lies. Angry at the darkness that showed me what it wanted me to see. You were no murderer! These really were demons, not people at all! I pushed my budding rage into the crystal head of my ceremonial rod and sent it to you.

  “Light up the darkness, Hallowed Angel!” I shouted with pride, giving you both a boost in strength.

  “Oh yeah!” cheered the fire mage. “Perfect timing!”

  “Thank you, so much!” you announced, as you flooded the blurry scene with radiance. “Let there be light!”

  Your cheers of appreciation brought warmth to me that battled the doubt. But the spiritual warfare within had only just begun and twisted and turned my understanding even more in wild directions.

  The world was about to get very confused by these demons, but now I had first hand experience of that. I needed to see the suffering my people went through so I could help them escape it.

  If I saw your integrity so compromised, what other horrors would humanity blame you for? No matter what, you made a believer out of me today.

  “I’ll defend your image for the rest of my life.”

  Now it was clear who my mother was. A woman of faith and kindness who had no doubts in her ideals. I was going to be like her, and fight on the side of true justice. Her death was going to be avenged, and her dream of peace and prosperity was going to come true.

  It’s a shame I had to go blind to do it, because your battle sounded exciting to watch.

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