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Reaper: Angelsea's Fall

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Prelude: Cry No More

"Beauty is synonymous with preservation. When we find something beautiful, our most common reaction is either to immediately possess that object of our admiration or to preserve it for future generations. When we take these reactions to the extreme we start to border upon the lands of insanity. Even worse when we combine both reactions into the one."

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Dr. Azalea Winters

Criminal Minds: Motives and Cause

Delicate, white petals streamed down from the high arches that littered Angelsea's streets, each one carried by a mournful sea breeze only to land on the still canals of the city's arterials. Rows upon rows of black-clad citizens clung to one another as they watched a sombre precession gently passing them by.

No one spoke.

Even the world itself seemed to have come to a halt at the passing of Lady Penelope Seasinger, the Elemental Lord of Water. MODD officials had even swarmed in from countless cities to express their sorrow. Their presence brought a chilling, artificial tone to the proceedings. Too many suits and not enough people crying. Even the presence of ANVIL soldiers giving Penelope a gun salute didn't uplift the sensation that the only reason the entire affair was so lavished was because Penelope was an Elemental Lord.

Well... All except perhaps for Balthazar Palmers.

The young, jet-black jackal who sat right beside Sierra had his head bowed in respect, his soft, black eyes closed and his paws clasped together. Sierra smiled at his compassion, knowing full well the reason for his tears.

She gently placed her paw on his shoulder, curling her long, bushy tail around his waist. The black-clad squirrel held Balthazar tightly to herself, lifting her short muzzle towards his large, triangular ears.

"She's in a better place now," she whispered softly.

"I know," Balthazar answered quietly, nodding and his voice breaking from the strain. The young official from ExIT straightened and wiped a tear from his cheeks, offering Sierra a shaky smile. "Doesn't change the fact that I already miss her."

"She was my mother and a great Elemental Lord," Sierra answered with a nod. "I will strive to be an even better one."

"If the curse doesn't get to you," Balthazar offered meekly.

Sierra rolled her eyes, turning her gaze towards the precession. Ahead of them in a black-clad gondola was the decorated, crystal coffin of her mother, Penelope. The beautiful, ivory ship was decorated with black lace and cloth as well as the markings of her seal, the Seal of Eternity's Ocean. White rose petals began raining down from the multiple crossing bridges of Angelsea, flowing down from the strangely still winds in the ocean-bound city.

One particular petal caught her eye and she lifted her paw to let it gently land on her paw. She closed her fingers around it, feeling the smooth, velvety texture against the leathery pads on her palm. Her breath was ragged and it became harder to breathe as the tears forced themselves past her control.

Balthazar's paw patted her shoulder comfortingly.

"Let it out, Sierra. Let it out. Your mother just died. It's alright to let the emotions out."

She wiped the tear from her eyes and released the petal, letting it join its many brothers and sisters and layered over the canals of Angelsea. "She died because of her old age. Not because of some 'curse'."

The jackal pursed his lips. "Sierra... You can't deny that the long line of Water Lords have all died under suspicious circumstances. All of them have died well before their time. The ages of each of the Lords when they died has also been decreasing. Your mother was barely thirty-seven and she looks like -"

Sierra shot Balthazar a withering look, making the young jackal freeze in his tracks. "You may be one of ExIT's greatest scientific minds but so help me, should you continue along this path, Balthazar, I will kill you."

The jackal adjusted his tie and swallowed loudly. "Duly noted..."

Sierra straightened and locked her gaze back towards gondola in front of them. The canals of the floating city would all end at the single largest structure in all of Angelsea and her home for the past sixteen years. The towering edifice with its golden roofs, ivory towers and glistening stained glass windows had been home for so long and gave her a sense of warmth that no other place could offer. But now that she was burying her mother's body under the massive structure... She just wasn't sure the place held much appeal to her anymore.

"Triton is almost complete," Balthazar offered meekly. His idle chatter was dripping with apology and Sierra loved him for it. With his ears folded back, he almost looked like a puppy. It was hard to stay mad at him. "I wish you'd tell me what you need it for, though."

"Perhaps you would extend me the same favour and tell me why MODD needs a large space station that spans the circumference of Mortaelis?"

The jackal smiled. "That's easy. Central is becoming redundant. We need a reliable transport hub that isn't bound down by the geosynchronous orbit of an artificial planetoid. You have any idea how hard it is to travel from Rillotia to Hox these days?"

Seirra's interest was piqued and she offered her friend a broad smile. "Hox you say? You have taken a very great interest in the Graveyard of Seals of late."

Balthazar just beamed brightly. "Of course! Didn't I tell you? My partner and I are looking into the origins of Seals and the Seal War! Isaac and I are really making breakthroughs and we think we're close to opening one of the doors in the Circle!"

She was more than impressed. "My, my, just barely in your twenties and already on the cusp of a global breakthrough."

"Just sixteen and already an Elemental Lord of Water," Balthazar returned.

"Touché." She rested her paw on his shoulder, squeezing tightly and giving him a firm nod. "I hope you and Isaac Reaper continue your research, Bal. Maybe you can find some way to alleviate the cost of these Seals."

Balthazar inclined his head to the side in typical canine fashion. "Cost? You mean how much money it takes to make a Seal?"

Her lips twitched slightly with sadness. "Yes, Bal. That." The subject was starting to get sensitive so she quickly switched the subject. "I heard that Isaac has a son, right?"

"Yes," Balthazar answered. "Jacob. He's been taking the little tyke to work every day. I think he wants to make the little pup the next great scientific mind!" The jackal laughed then, remembering where he was, fell silent. "He's cute. You should see him sometime. Maybe I'll get Isaac to bring his family here." His voice grew distant as his eyes lifted to the sun that shone so brightly above their heads. "Angelsea really is very beautiful."

"That it is," Sierra answered. "That it is. But... Even beauty is fleeting." Her eyes watched the gondola ahead of them once more. His paw wrapped around hers tightly, filling her with comfort.

"I'm going to make sure this city is more than just beautiful," she said resolutely.

Balthazar slowly let go of her paw. "What do you mean?"

Her eyes watched several children dressed in ragged clothing scurrying along the bridges that crisscrossed the city. Many of them, their faces dirty and barely clothes, peeked through the legs of more well dressed adults to see the procession. One little girl asked for some petals to throw down but she was treated like the orphan she was and ignored entirely.

Then, with resolution, Seirra said, "I'm going to open an orphanage."