Rafaela

With the end of the Golden Era, a monstrous Abyssal fissure had once more been rent within the Land of Dawn, and from its depths dark energies surged forth again.

The dark of night was to fall once more. The Abyss loomed menacingly.

To protect this world, the Lord of Light selected a number of pure maidens to fall pregnant with angels. The legends said that only females could be angels—as such, those chosen by the Lord of Light could only give birth to girls.

Argus and Rafaela are twin siblings born in the Moniyan Empire. The Monastery of Light Sacrists forced their mother to imbibe holy water, in the name of the Lord of Light. Hence she would birth an angel in his temple. Their mother was by all means an ordinary woman, both she and her lover loyally devoted to one another. Yet under the Sacrists' supervision and persuasion, she had little choice but to accept the 'honor' given to her by the Lord of Light.

The pregnancy of one who bears an angel is an unimaginably long and slow process. Over the three-year period her heart only grew heavier, tortured by the loneliness of such a lengthy ordeal. She longed for her lover, yearning to be with him once again. After two years had passed she could take it no more, and escaped the temple to reunite with him; together, they lived happily once more. Yet it was to be a short-lived happiness.

The Sacrists found her before long. Her lover was slain before her eyes for threatening to defile the Lord of Light's divine bloodline, and she was returned to the Monastery.

Another year passed, at the end of which she died during childbirth. To everyone's surprise, she gave birth to a set of twins: and one was a baby boy.

The infant's eyes bore a striking resemblance to those of his late mother's lover. The Cleric of Light quickly caught on to this, realizing that the boy was born of humankind—yet incredibly, he too possessed the power of the angels. The Sacrists tried to slay him but their efforts were thwarted, for each time they tried, a dazzling light would burst from Rafaela, protecting her brother from all harm.

This was considered a miracle. They hence abandoned all ideas of killing the boy. Instead, in silent unanimity, it was decided that the circumstances of his birth were to be kept a secret from everyone.

The Monastery of Light covered up the truth so masterfully that even the twins themselves knew nothing of it.

And so, Argus and Rafaela grew up together, undergoing the same teaching and training. What set them apart, however, was the fact that she was seen as a beautiful ray of light: a holy, immaculate being. In the eyes of the people, Rafaela was their one true angel. Argus was kept in the shadows, on the other hand, and forever barred from the glory so rightfully his.

Yet Rafaela loved her brother dearly, as he loved her. The two experienced entirely different treatments, and Argus was constantly warned that his only choice was to live in her shadow, yet the two were nonetheless an inseparable pair that cared deeply for one another. Both were kind-hearted to a fault, and as soon as they came of age, swore to uphold their common mission: to use their power to protect peace and spread the Light.

Praise and admiration arrived in waves, but alas, it fell only upon Rafaela. While Argus was every bit as outstanding as his sister, and like her had put tremendous effort into upholding the way of the Light, everyone's praise was directed solely at the gentle Rafaela instead. While he fought for the Light, it was in the darkness that Argus remained.

Rafaela bore witness to this, and many times wished to speak out for her brother; to change the attitude people held toward him. Not once was she successful, however. She couldn't understand: why was he treated like such an outcast? No matter how hard he tried, how great his sacrifices, they knew of it all yet still treated him the same...

Rafaela was always an attentive soul, and so she soon noticed when Argus' attitude toward humankind began to change. In his eyes, human nature was a malevolent and selfish thing. This being the case, why should he even bother trying to ingratiate himself with them? The twins had several arguments concerning this, for Rafaela conversely believed that the Abyss was the root of all Darkness in life. She believed that humanity was good and kind, yet such qualities were lost once tainted by the Abyss. Neither was willing to change their standpoint, no matter how hard they tried to persuade the other.

The two diverged in terms of their individual philosophies. In time, however, their tactics on the battlefield began to differ too.

In the midst of battle, Argus forged on tirelessly as he hungered for a swift victory, yet as a result fell into the demons' trap. Rafaela commanded that the troops retreat, but Argus disregarded her as he headed deep into the demons' nest.

Argus returned from the enemy camp with a demonic blade in hand, a weapon emanating a malicious aura. An ominous dark haze swirled around him. Though Rafaela toiled to purge him of this darkness, he broke away and slayed the troops all around her before escaping.

From then on, Rafaela would tirelessly search for each and every scrap concerning her brother's whereabouts. His behavior came as no surprise to the Monastery of Light Sacrists; on the contrary, they claimed that they'd long considered him a corrupted soul and that this day was inevitable. Their words shook Rafaela to her core, and for the first time her faith was shaken also. She punished them severely, and left the Monastery of Light to find her lost brother.

Several months passed. Finally, it was in the Barren Lands that she was reunited with Argus. What she hadn't accounted for, though, was that the Argus she knew was now long gone. The golden aura in which he was once bathed, his radiant wings, they were nowhere to be seen; and in their place was an oppressive aura of cruelty and pitch-black wings of darkness.

There was no going back now... Rafaela wanted to raise her staff and bring an end to this, as was her duty. Yet memories of the past floated into her mind, one after another, and she couldn't bring herself to do it. Argus gazed at her from afar, and silently turned to leave.

From then on he would only fall further into the darkness of the Abyss. Constantly wracked by pain and confusion, constantly sinking ever deeper. As time went on, Rafaela grew into the woman she is today: an angel admired by all, the savior of the apocalypse and embodiment of the Light. Despite this, she could never bear to face the one closest to her.

Time passes, never to return. No matter human or angel, none can turn back the hands of time.

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