Irael seems to snap out of it then, suddenly focusing all of their divine wrath on Aphelion.

  They raise a hand, a celestial aura enveloping them. The same energy that nearly erased reality only minutes ago.

  But Aphelion just laughs.

  "You think you can unmake me?" he grins.

  "Again?"

  Irael growls.

  "I should have destroyed you the first time."

  Aphelion shrugs, spinning his key like a baton.

  "Probably. But you didn’t."

  Irael is still seething. The light of their halo pulsing with every heartbeat.

  "The Eighth Door was sealed for a reason, deviant. You were never meant to open it."

  Aphelion actually scoffs at that. "And why's that, o' angel lord? Because you ordered it so?"

  Irael’s voice drops—cold, final.

  "Because what waits beyond doesn’t dream of salvation. It dreams of undoing."

  A beat.

  Then Bonnibel, still bruised but never quiet for long, spits blood to the side and smirks up at Irael.

  "Yeah? Well... so do we."

  Before Irael can react…Bonnibel lunges—not at them—but past them, grabbing Aphelion’s outstretched key mid-spin and jamming it into the air behind Irael like a prison lockpick.

  “Catch ya later, holiness!” she yells—then turns it hard clockwise—

  —and suddenly reality rips open in reverse, not outward like before… but inward, collapsing space around Irael in a vortex of screaming light and twisted time.

  They barely have time to cry out before they’re sucked into their own sealed dimension, trapped behind a door that wasn’t supposed to exist anymore. However, Irael unleashed a reversal skill on Aphelion and utilized psychokinesis to pull in the closest individuals to them, which were Alice, Aphelion, and Bonnibel. They were pulled towards the portal, but Bonnibel, quick on her feet, quickly opened up another portal and pulled Alice and Aphelion into that one instead.

  The rifts seal shut with two thunderclaps that knocked everyone off their feet.

  Silence returns… heavy. Unnatural.

  A beat passes before Hikaru speaks up with a dry tone:

  "So we accidentally split an archangel in half?"

  Liana gasps dramatically: “NYAAAAH! WE’RE DOOMED!!”

  Zofie facepalms so hard her ice choker cracks slightly.

  Meanwhile, Antiquus flaps his wings once, kicking up dust, and mutters to Adeyemi:

  "These people are chaos incarnate.”

  She smirks beneath her helmet, sword still glowing faintly with void-touched steel:

  "Good thing we are too."

  Suddenly, Iritscen snaps his fingers under everyone's noise making him be heard despite being quiet himself

  “I’ve got bad news,” he says calmly while adjusting cracked goggles, "the key Aphelion used? It wasn't just any divine artifact."

  He pauses for effect, the scientist loving this just a little too much...

  "It was a heartlock; one half belonging to two halves of Aphelion.”

  Everyone freezes.

  He then showed a hologram of Aphelion’s cracked key and how the ooze formed tiny words in Enochian along the ground:

  "One cannot live while both remain broken..."

  Silence again, but deeper this time.

  Then Zalgo whispers what everyone's thinking:

  "...So if Aph doesn't fix it..."

  Adeyemi finishes grimly:

  "...Both halves die trying to exist without each other."

  ★

  A gust of wind.

  Two figures tumble out of thin air like discarded marionettes: Alice and Aphelion, coughing and tangled in each other’s limbs mid-dust cloud.

  Bonnibel lands last—graceful as a falling blade—rolling onto one knee before rising with a wince and a smirk.

  "Told you I had an exit strategy."

  Alice pushes herself up, dazed but alive. "You... ripped open space-time like it was duct tape!"

  Bonnibel shrugs. "Works better than you'd think."

  Alice turned to Aphelion, except the angel looked rather different now. Aphelion became a SHE, and Alice could get a good look at her now that she's up close. Her skin—deep as midnight—was kissed by stars. Swathes of paleness bloomed across her body, like moonlight had settled there permanently. Not broken. Not flawed. Marked by heaven itself. After all, they call her the Spotted Angel—the divine with skin like a living canvas, where darkness and light danced in sacred balance.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Alice stares—just for a second—caught in the quiet awe of Aphelion’s transformed form. Not just different… but revealed. Like she’d been wrapped in shadow before and now stood bare under starlight.

  And then, because Alice is Alice, she blurts:

  "Wait—you’re nonbinary and shapeshift?!"

  Aphelion(?) blinks. Then bursts into laughter—soft, rich, like wind chimes caught in a summer storm.

  "You could say that," she says, brushing a hand through her spiral-patterned hair—now longer, but the silver was now gold, flowing like liquid night and golden sunbeams. Her eyes and the silver half of her halo? Same thing: they're gold too now. "My name is Perihelion, and this is my original form." She taps her chest lightly. "I was always this. Aphelion is my male counterpart."

  Alice nodded as she listened along, still looking the angel up and down. "So...you're Trans...?”

  Perihelion gave a light chuckle.

  "More like 'bigender'," she clarified. "I identify as both genders, just...different halves of the same whole. It's always been like that. My body...it's just catching up with who I am."

  Alice nodded again, not wanting to seem ignorant. But her curiousity piqued in a way that made her speak without thinking.

  "So...you can switch between the two forms at will?"

  Perihelion shrugged casually, as if shape-shifting was everyday work.

  "For the most part," she said. "Sometimes I slip between them involuntarily too, depending on my emotional state. Like earlier. I was angry, so my body defaulted to Aphelion. Since Irael used reverse magic on me, however, I reverted to...you know.."

  Alice nodded again, still thinking over her next question. "Is it...hard?" she asked, choosing her words carefully. "Being two forms. Two genders. I can't imagine how that would feel.”

  Perihelion regarded Alice thoughtfully, sizing her up. Most people didn't bother asking such things—let alone asking politely. But this kid seemed genuine. Interested in understanding.

  She leaned on her key, the weight of it comforting in her palm.

  "Sometimes," she admitted, her voice a little lower now. "Especially in a place like heaven, where everyone's expected to...pick a side. Be one thing. Not both, or neither. Just...one. It can be..."

  She trailed off, searching for the right word.

  "Isolating.”

  Alice seemed to absorb each word, the quiet empathy in her dark eyes more intense. "It sounds...lonely. Confusing too. But..."

  Her gaze flickered back up to Perihelion's face, studying the angel's features. The patches of pale and umber skin, the curve of a smile, a gold eye catching moonlight.

  Alice knew what it was like to feel like an outsider.

  "It's also beautiful," she whispered. Your skin especially. Different from how many other angels look and are depicted. Unique. Special.”

  Perihelion smiled gently at that. Not just because of the comment about her skin—which she had, in fact, been insecure about her entire life. But because Alice's words felt like...validation. Understanding. In a way few others ever offered.

  "You'd be the first one to say that," she said, a bit of humor in her tone. "Most other celestial beings think I'm...an abomination.”

  Alice looked offended on Perihelion's behalf. "Abomination?!" she nearly shouted. "What are they even talking about? You're beautiful. Unique! One of a kind!"

  She stepped forward, hands waving with passionate disbelief. "If anything, they're the ones who need to change their views. Not you."

  Perihelion blinked, then let out a soft laugh, this one lighter than before.

  "...You’re something else, Alice." She shook her head, smiling like sunlight breaking through storm clouds. "Thanks.”

  Alice's own grin widened at that, feeling an unexpected sense of connection. It was almost like she could feel Perihelion's gratitude, even if she hadn't spoken it.

  Maybe because they were both outsiders in different ways. Alice, a human with dark skin and textured hair, surrounded by magic and power. Peri, an angel with both sides, neither completely accepted.

  Alice glanced down, suddenly realizing something. The battle scars and injuries they both still sported.

  "Uh...can I ask...another question?”

  Perihelion waved a hand like it was no big deal. "Fire away, stargazer.”

  Alice took the unspoken 'permission' and went with it. "How... How were you able to stand up to Irael? He's this powerful, celestial lord. And you..."

  She paused. She didn't want to seem insulting.

  "...You're not."

  She expected anger. Instead, Perihelion just hummed like the question was familiar.

  "Because strength isn't just about power. It's about the heart.”

  Alice tilted her head, a little confused. "Heart?"

  Perihelion leaned against her key again, crossing her arms. "Yes. Irael's powers might be vast, but they're cold—calculating. Mine…"

  She paused, thinking on her words carefully.

  "...Mine come from a place of faith. Hope. Feelings."

  Alice thought it over, absorbing this new knowledge. "Faith and feelings," she said thoughtfully. "So...it's not about what you can do...it's more about who you are. On the inside.”

  A hint of surprise flickered across Perihelion's face. Few others understood that.

  "Exactly," she said emphatically. "It's about what drives you. Why you do what you do. For me, it's my belief in hope and life. In change."

  She glanced down at the ground, thoughtful.

  "Most angels only care about power. About what they can gain from something. But—"

  She glanced up, meeting Alice's eyes.

  "I care about what I can give.”

  Alice looked at Perihelion with new eyes.

  It wasn't just about strength. Or magic. Or power levels.

  It was…purpose.

  And maybe—just maybe—that was the real difference between a true hero... and someone who only pretended to be one.

  "...You're pretty cool, you know that?" Alice said, smiling.

  Perihelion grinned in return, feeling that same connection from earlier. This kid...she listened to what you said. And not just to respond, but to understand.

  There were few others she'd let call her anything near "cool."

  "And you're not so bad yourself," she quipped back. "For a troublemaking human."

  With a smirk, Bonnibel leaned forward. "Just kiss already, you two. We've Heaven to save, after all.”

  Alice flushed, immediately stepping back with an indignant squawk. "What?! I— No, we—"

  But just as she was stammering to protest, she looked back at Perihelion...and saw that the angel was also bright red in the face, eyes wide and flustered.

  Bonnibel was cackling now.

  "Oh no way. You two are way too easy—”

  "Sh-shut up!" Perihelion and Alice both protested at the same time, which only made the entire thing worse.

  Bonnibel was clutching her sides, nearly howling with laughter now.

  "You should see your faces!" she wheezed between breaths. "Oh stars, this is priceless—”

  Just then, without warning, the sky cracked.

  Not metaphorically.

  A jagged rip tore across the heavens, bleeding violet-black light. From within it poured a sound—a single note, deep and resonant, like a heartbeat made of forgotten memories.

  Then three eyes opened in the void. Not human. Not angelic. Older than time’s first breath.

  And they were looking right at Perihelion.

  She froze, wings locking mid-twitch, breath caught in her throat.

  Bonnibel stopped laughing instantly, sensing the shift in air pressure alone. Alice stumbled back a step, hand flying to her chest as if something heavy had landed on it.

  For a heartbeat, no one moved.

  No one breathed.

  Then: "I see you, Perigee."

  The voice sounded like a distant echo, echoing in the mind instead of the air. It had an edge to it, a coldness that seemed to reach into Perihelion's very soul.

  She found herself unable to speak. Even blinking felt like an impossible task, like the sound had glued her in place.

  Bonnibel took a slow step forward, one hand up—an unspoken plea to slow down.

  "Peri," she whispered. "Who the hell is that?"

  Perihelion swallowed and forced her gaze from the eyes still watching them. She was trembling, hard.

  "That...that is..."

  She drew a deep, shaky breath, trying to find something resembling courage.

  "An old enemy," she said finally, her voice surprisingly strong.