The Peacekeepers

I stood still, in shock from what had just happened. I was shaking all over and my knees felt weak. Chaos and panic quickly ensued in the aftermath. Some Seraph screamed whilst others ran away, not wanting to be associated with the murders. Cyrus walked slowly towards the female Seraph that lay cold on the floor. He crouched over her body and touched her face.

"She feels so cold," he mumbled under his breath. He sounded tormented.

I decided that I wanted to support him in his pitiful state. So, casting away my fear, I descended from the rooftop and walked towards him. The closer I was to him, the more detailed his pained expression became. He had tears streaming down his cheeks and he was biting his bottom lip so hard that blue liquid ran down from his lip onto his chin, dripping onto the floor. I knelt by the Seraph's body and I picked up the white bag that she had defended with her life. Even though she had died, she still gripped the bag so strongly that I struggled to remove it from her. Inside it was half a loaf of bread. It seemed like the female Seraph had died defending her food from the figure.

"Who was she?" I asked Cyrus tentatively.

"My… mother," he responded. I quickly inhaled from shock. The reason for the extent of his anger began to make sense now. He turned to look at me and I noticed that his eyes seemed to be unfocused and clouded over. However his face now possessed no signs of anger; he wore a very vague and blank expression. His lips were slightly parted, the liquid still dripping down his chin. He seemed so distressed that my first instinct was to comfort him, but admittedly I restrained myself due to my newfound innate fear of him. Even though I could now understand his anger, I could not forget how easily and thoughtlessly he killed the figure in a suit.

A loud scream broke the silence and I quickly turned to face the direction it was coming from. A group of figures dressed in black suits were fast approaching us. A female Seraph was held by the throat by one of them. Its grasp seemed to be tightening around her throat, making her eyes seem to almost bulge out of her skull. She gasped for air while her body twitched around in unnatural movements. A sudden surge of anger filled me- how could both the Seraph and the figures be killing each other like their lives were meaningless? Both sides had families to go home to and futures that had been wasted by meaningless conflict. It infuriated me.

"Stop!!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. My body moved by itself as I got up onto my feet and clenched my fist. I knew that I was weak. I knew that trying to get involved would only put me in danger. But something had to be done. I refused to just let the Seraph die for no reason. Anger clouded my judgement as I ran towards the figure, preparing to punch it.

The figure turned towards me. Its grip on the Seraph's throat did not lessen. The suit's visor was tinted in a way that it was impossible to see the figures face. It was unidentifiable and looked exactly like all the other figures. Another figure appeared behind it from the shadows, its black suit had red detailing expertly placed throughout it in a swirling pattern. This figure seemed to have more authority than the other one because when it stretched out its arm, the figure holding the female Seraph dropped her immediately and backed away from us.

The figure in the black suit with red detailing barked, "I am Lieutenant-General Peacekeeper Markus. I will now exact divine punishment onto those as follows. To all those present at the time of the scene, you will be executed immediately." He then turned to face Cyrus, "You have committed an extremely sinful act. Killing another fellow Peacekeeper is a grave offence, punishable by being boiled alive. I will now take you to the Seventh Circle, where you will receive your punishment. We, the sixth division of the Peacekeeper army, will now commence your divine retribution."

With that, the Peacekeepers surged onto the Seraph, pinning them down then shooting them in the head. It was a battlefield; some of the Seraph fought back, others fled but most of them seemed to accept their fate. Tears began to fill my eyes as I watched the event unfold. I looked back to Cyrus for support but was met with nothing more than a blank stare.

Suddenly, my mask was firmly grabbed and ripped from my face. A hand gripped my face tightly and lifted me into the air as I thrashed around, attempting to hit the figure that had appeared behind me. I was thrown onto the floor and I hit it hard with a loud thud. Wincing in pain, I looked up to see the figure hovering over me. It was General Peacekeeper Markus. He reached for a sheath that was attached to his suit and pulled out something that looked like a long sword with a jet black hilt. It was covered in flames that seared my skin. The blade did not have a fixed form- it seemed to change shape and billow in the wind as if the whole blade was made from a single flame. He raised the sword. Terrified, I looked around for an escape but I could see none. My heart beat faster and faster; it was over. I was going to die right there and then.

Without thinking, I screamed, "Cyrus!!" in pure desperation. Tears filled my eyes as he raised his sword, moments away from bringing it down onto me. I closed my eyes as I prepared for my final moments. I did not want to die.

I heard a defeating crack. I opened my eyes and was relieved to see that I had not died. Cyrus was in front of me, defending me from the flaming blade. His arm had intercepted the blade's path and was pressed against it. He reeled in pain as a large cut had formed on his arm, blue liquid was oozing from the injury. Cyrus had just saved my life. I quickly put my mask back on and moved away from them.

The Peacekeeper turned his attention towards Cyrus and they began to fight. Their movements were so fast that I could barely keep up with them. The Peacekeeper repeatedly struck down onto Cyrus' body with his sword, burning into his protective suit. Cyrus mainly stayed defensive, continually attempting to dodge the oncoming attacks whilst landing a few violent attacks onto the Peacekeeper's body. Even though his attacks were still powerful, they did not seem as lethal as before. Peacekeeper Markus seemed very strong as well as he was able to keep up and withstand Cyrus' fast movements and attacks. Another Peacekeeper approached me from my right. I was far too terrified and overwhelmed by the whole situation to fight, so I began to inch away from it. Cyrus immediately noticed what was happening.

"Ivy!!" Cyrus called out, "We need to run right now."

Cyrus moved much quicker now, a sense of urgency in his eyes. He landed an extremely heavy punch to Peacekeeper Markus' stomach, which knocked him back a few metres. Whilst he was recuperating, Cyrus ran to me, picked me up and began to sprint at full speed away from the scene. The screams of agony quickly disappeared behind us as we left Cyrus' mother's body lifeless in the centre of the commotion. We solemnly continued our journey, without a single word spoken between us.