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Item Story: My Dearly Damned
x Many believe angels and demons are antitheses, enemies destined to conflict for all eternity. But what they don't know is that they are the same ilk, and it is only a long and violent history of deceit and prejudice that separates them. They were once brothers and sisters, families, lovers. And sometimes, this fact reasserts itself...
In a dark age, but long after the darkest ages, an angel came to the ground to search for a demon. He was meant to hate and avoid them, as he had been taught his whole youth, but he could not contain a burgeoning fascination that set him apart from his celestial brethren. So one day, he stole an ancient book, hid on the mortal plane, and attempted to summon one.
. . . . .
The demon, a lower servant of hell, had never taken pleasure in torture and suffering like his kin, and spent his days avoiding them in the underworld. Perhaps this isolation was why he was the easiest to rip out onto the mortal plane. Startled, then furious, he whirled to find the one who summoned him... and froze. A string of ancient satanic expletives ran through his head, just as the angel uttered a quiet holy word. Both vocalizations roughly translate in modern language to the equivalent of, "Oh no. He's hot."
. . . . .
They agreed to meet again, the angel eagerly, the demon reluctantly but unable to resist, and one meeting turned to two, then four, then countless times. They spoke about their worlds, strictly intellectually at first, until eventually they smiled and laughed and talked about anything and nothing at all. They would argue about it later, because Serotina was stubborn and embarrassed, but he was definitely the one who kissed Roseus first, not the other way around.
In this time, as their love for each other grew, so did their fear that they would be discovered. They had nothing to lose initially, when they were merely curious about each other, but now, it was everything. One night, the demon overheard one of his brothers talking with another about how the angels were preparing to send one of their executioners, the Wheel, after a rogue who was thought to be consorting with demons; he fled home to Roseus and they embraced, and swore a vow to one another. "Even if we are apart..." Roseus murmured. "We shall never be parted." Serotina finished. Then, just as the Wheel was upon them, they opened the book and banished themselves to the void between worlds. The spell was vicious, and pulled them away from each other.
. . . . .
The nature of the void is not fixed, simultaneously as small as a room and as large as a universe. One could wander for eternity and not find something right beside them, or they could be light years apart and suddenly turn and see each other. If they exited, they could be in any universe, any dimension, out of infinite possibilities, and knew they should only do so together. Parted, they had no hope and every hope of finding one another again. They were at the mercy of the void. This in mind, they held out what hope they could, and searched for each other for many years. Unfortunately, the Wheel was also drawn into the void through the portal they made... It had been so long, and not long at all, when Roseus turned one day and saw it.
. . . . .
Serotina heard the cry across the light years and dimensions, his name howled into the void, lancing him like a harpoon and reeling him across the impossible space to its source. He threw out his wings and flew as fast as he could, for what felt like ages, and no time at all.
When he found his husband, the Wheel was already gone. Roseus had slipped into a pocket of the void, a not quite real secret place, a lovely golden field and warm sky. He lay among the grasses, pink and white and red. Serotina found him, and collapsed, wailed. According to the laws of his people, Roseus had been executed. Serotina wept. He wept until he had no tears left, until he wept blood, until his very essence streamed from him, and his body collapsed, and he became the soil that covered the grave of his lover. They would be together forever.
. . . . .
"And then they say that flowers grew there. Maroon and dark red blossoms. And pink butterflies and small birds came to land on them." The child closed the homemade book emphatically. "The end."
Father's mouth gaped and Papa's face was pale. "That's a really sad ending, Filaree," Father said. Fil sniffed indignantly. "It's sad on purpose! It makes you think about all the happy things in your life and appreciate them." The parents shared a look. This wasn't the first time the child had shocked them; their offspring would naturally always fall between light and dark, saintly and impish, loving and a little bit wicked. But they had each always been a bit of both anyway, and were all quite content living there together. Aside from the kid's hobby of writing really tragic RPF. That was pretty weird.
As they tucked the child into bed with a goodnight kiss, Papa seemed distracted. Later, as they closed the door to their room, in their little dark house on the golden field, Serotina suddenly whirled and drew Roseus into a fierce embrace. "It could have been true," Serotina murmured in the dark. "Fil's story. If I hadn't found you in time and helped you defeat the Wheel... If I hadn't..." "...Impossible." Roseus whispered, holding his husband tighter. "I could never have left you with such an unhappy ending." 
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