TRISTAN

Astraea POV

The sky of the High Sanctum was always the same blinding, endless gold. It never rained. Night never fell. There were no changing seasons or gentle tides—only the cold, unyielding perfection of celestial order.

And I hated it.

I sat on the edge of the polished marble balcony, my small hands gripping the balustrade as I tucked my four crystalline wings tightly behind my back. Beneath the heavy, golden embroidery of my gown, my skin felt like delicate glass waiting to shatter. Deep within my chest, my starlight arcana hummed—a wild, uncontrollable energy that burned hotter with every passing day. To keep me from accidentally incinerating myself, my father, Archangel Gabriel, had surrounded my quarters with suffocating, divine ice-seals. He kept me away from the rest of Heaven like a precious, fragile doll.

Or a prisoner.

"You are staring into the distance again, my Lady," a soft, familiar voice murmured behind me.

I turned my head to see Lyra, my head maid, walking onto the balcony with a silver tray of candied cloud-berries. She was a gentle mid-tier angel, and the only person my father permitted to enter my chambers.

"I’m tired of looking at gold, Lyra," I whispered, resting my chin in my hands. My wings gave a pathetic little twitch. "It’s always the same. Isn't there anything else out there? Father says the universe is vast, but all he ever lets me see is this balcony and these frozen seals."

Lyra set the tray down on the stone table, her eyes softening into a look of deep, quiet pity. "There is the Mortal Realm, Astraea. Earth."

At the mention of a place outside my room, my wings unfurled just a fraction, glowing with a faint, eager violet light. "Earth? What is it like? Is it golden too?"

"No," Lyra said softly, kneeling beside my chair. "It isn't like Heaven at all. Heaven is fixed, but Earth changes every single day. It has vast oceans that roar and shift into deep blues. It has forests filled with green leaves that turn red and gold before falling when the air cools. And when the sun disappears, the sky turns into a deep, velvet blanket filled with scattered starlight. It is the most vibrant, beautiful place in existence."

Velvet skies. Leaves that change. Oceans that roar.

Her words settled deep inside my heart, blooming into a desperate, aching curiosity. I was so tired of feeling stuck. I didn't care about my father's sacred prophecies or celestial politics, and I didn't want to spend the rest of my life locked away behind ice just because my power terrified Gabriel. I just wanted to see a sky that wasn't blinding white. I wanted to see Earth.

When the heavy, silent shift of the celestial night fell over the Sanctum, I made up my mind.

I crept toward the balcony doors, my heart beating frantically against my ribs. Gathering every drop of the forbidden starlight sleeping in my blood, I pressed my hands against the glowing ice-seals my father had set.

I just want to see it, I prayed to the quiet air. Just for a little while.

My power flared wildly. Searing, crystalline light burst from my palms, and a sharp, agonizing pain shot through my arms as golden hairline fractures bloomed across my skin. I gasped, tears springing to my eyes as the sheer heat of my arcana shattered Gabriel's ice-seals with a deafening crack. The force of my magic tore a shimmering tear in the veil between worlds.

Terrified of my father catching me, I didn't think twice. I closed my eyes, held my breath, and jumped into the light.

My landing was entirely ungraceful. I tumbled through the shimmering tear and crashed onto a hard, polished floor that smelled of strange flowers, sharp metallic perfume, and sweet drinks.

When I opened my eyes, my breath caught in my throat.

I was standing in a massive, dimly lit hall. Vibrant, colorful lights flashed across the high ceiling, and pounding music vibrated through the floorboards beneath my slippers. Hundreds of mortals were gathered together, laughing, moving, and swaying in a frantic, joyous dance.

My mouth fell open in pure, breathless wonder. My childish heart soared. It’s real, I thought, a bright, helpless smile breaking across my face. Lyra was right. Earth is amazing!

I stumbled forward, my long gown dragging slightly as I tried to absorb everything at once. I tucked my four translucent wings firmly against my back, hiding them under my dress so I wouldn't stand out. Everything was so bright, so loud, and so full of life! I felt like a child who had snuck into a grand, magical festival.

"Well, well. Look what floated down from the clouds," a slurred voice drawled behind me.

I turned around, my smile fading slightly as I looked up at a tall mortal man. His cheeks were flushed red, his eyes were glassy, and he smelled strongly of sour alcohol. Before I could step away, his thick fingers clamped down tightly around my wrist.

"Wh-what are you doing?" I squeaked, my voice small and uncertain.

"You look lost, sweetheart," he chuckled, his grip tightening as he began dragging me toward a dark hallway away from the crowd. "Why don't we find a quiet room where we can get acquainted?"

Panic spiked through my chest. "No—please, let go of me! You're hurting my arm!"

I pulled back with all my strength, but I had spent my entire life sheltered in a room by my father. I was fragile, weak, and had no idea how to fight. The man didn't even budge. My heart hammered against my ribs, and the starlight in my veins flared nervously, heat threatening to burst through my skin.

"Hey! Get your hands off her!"

A sharp, commanding voice sliced through the thumping music.

Before the man could react, a gorgeous woman with striking blonde hair stepped into the corridor, accompanied by an extraordinarily beautiful woman with shimmering silver hair and a protective gaze.

The silver-haired woman moved with terrifying speed. She stepped in and struck the man’s arm with a swift, powerful motion, forcing him to let go of me with a loud yelp. He stumbled back, clutching his bruised wrist and cursing. Meanwhile, the blonde woman immediately placed herself between me and the man, her posture lethal and sharp.

"Are you alright?" the silver-haired woman asked gently, turning her attention to me. Her eyes scanned my face and hands, checking for injuries.

"I... I think so," I stammered, placing a trembling hand over my chest to steady my racing heart. "Thank you... he wouldn't let me go."

The blonde woman tilted her head, her sharp eyes narrowing as she studied me closely. The luminescence of my skin was impossible to hide, and the pure, holy aura radiating off me practically sang in the dark hallway.

"You aren't a mortal," the blonde woman said directly, her tone shifting from protective to deeply cautious. "Who are you? What is someone from Heaven doing down here?"

My green eyes widened in panic. "I—I just wanted to see the—"

I froze mid-sentence.

The air in the corridor suddenly shifted. A heavy, suffocating scent drifted into my senses—an aroma of old sulfur, heavy darkness, and raw demonic power lingering near the back of the venue.

Demons.

Gabriel’s cold, terrifying warnings instantly echoed in my head: Demons are monsters, Astraea. They feed on celestial light. If they catch you, they will tear you apart.

A small, terrified whimper escaped my throat. Overwhelmed by fear, confusion, and the sudden realization that the world outside my cage was dangerous, I didn't answer the two strange women. I panicked. Gathering a burst of my unstable arcana, I released a bright, blinding flash of light that dazzled the blonde and silver-haired women, and vanished into thin air.

I reappeared on hard, wet ground.

I fell to my knees with a soft cry, my hands hitting cold, damp stone. The warm, music-filled hall was gone. I was completely alone in the dark.

I looked around, hyperventilating as tears filled my eyes. High brick walls rose on either side of me, shutting out the open sky. Water dripped from rusted pipes above, and the air smelled of wet earth and rot. I had panicked and teleported blindly, landing in a narrow, pitch-black alleyway.

"Where... where am I?" I sobbed softly, pulling my knees to my chest and shivering.

I was lost. I was freezing. And because of my fear, the violent heat in my chest was growing out of control, making the skin on my arms sting as tiny golden cracks began to glow beneath my sleeves.

"Well, look at this... a little glowing bird," a rough voice sneered.

My heart dropped into my stomach.

A heavy, disheveled man stumbled into the mouth of the alley. He was filthy, reeking of cheap booze, and his eyes glinted with a disgusting, hungry look as he noticed me sitting helpless on the ground.

"Stay away from me!" I cried out, scrambling backward until my back slammed against the cold brick wall. There was nowhere to run.

"Don't be like that, sweetheart," the drunk man growled, stumbling toward me.

He lunged forward before I could scramble away, slamming his heavy hands onto the wall on either side of my head, trapping me completely. He grabbed my shoulder, his dirty, rough fingers digging painfully into my skin as he tried to drag me closer to him.

"No! Please! Let me go!" I shrieked, tears of pure, blinding starlight spilling down my cheeks. I pushed against his chest with my hands, but my arms were shaking too badly. The heat inside me was suffocating, burning my throat, choking my lungs. "Help me! Father! Lyra! Anyone, please!"

The man just chuckled, his sour breath washing over my face as he leaned in closer. "Nobody can hear you down here, little girl—"

He never got to finish his thought.

CRACK.

A sound like a snapping whip echoed through the narrow alley.

The drunk man’s eyes went wide with shock. Before he could make a single sound, an invisible, crushing force wrapped around his neck. He was violently ripped off me, lifted straight into the air, and thrown backward through the dark. He slammed face-first into the opposite brick wall with a sickening thud, sliding down onto the wet pavement, completely unconscious.

I gasped, sinking down against the wall and pressing both hands over my mouth to smother my panicked sobs. My small body trembled uncontrollably.

A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the alley.

Then, the shadows began to move.

The pitch-black darkness stretching across the wet stone detached itself from the floor, rising like thick, living velvet smoke. The temperature in the alley plummeted instantly, turning my terrified gasps into clouds of white frost.

Surprisingly, as the icy cold flooded the air, the agonizing, feverish heat burning beneath my skin suddenly calmed, soothing the painful golden cracks on my arms.

I held my breath, my tear-filled emerald eyes staring into the dark, watching wide-eyed as a shadowy silhouette began to take shape right in front of me.