Degraded

"It's all right, I can close." Lioneh said to her tired work friend. The woman nodded and grabbed her bag, sighing and walking out of the small antique shop. Lioneh was slightly nervous as this was the first time she'd ever been alone in the shop, but she knew what to do so she was sure everything would be fine.

Just as Lioneh was flipping the sign on the door so that it said 'closed', she heard a sound in the back of the shop. Spinning around quickly, she held her breath and looked around the dark antique shop. She could feel her heart thumping in her chest and wondered if it was really as loud as it sounded to her.

"Hello?" Lioneh called softly, taking a small step towards where she had heard the sound.

"My.." Lioneh's eyes widened and she froze again, her heart beating faster as she listened to the yell of pain that followed that one word that had been spoken.

"Are you all right? Do you need help?" she asked. If this person was badly injured she should probably call an ambulance right away, but she was much too frightened to go close enough to even see them.

"My soul.." the person muttered. "Corrupted."

"Please, I need to know who you are and why you're here." Lioneh said, taking fearful steps forward.

"The sight of me would frighten you too much. Stop walking." Lioneh needed no further encouragement to freeze again. The person then lowered their voice to utter, "What has become of me?"

"Who are you?" Lioneh managed to ask again.

"A monster." Slowly, someone stood up from behind a row of antiques and Lioneh took one step back, trying not to let herself panic.

"I'm sorry but, this shop is supposed to be closed now. Could you please leave?" Lioneh asked, her voice wavering. The person turned their head towards her and she gasped, seeing the bright blue eyes peering out at her from behind streaks of white hair.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come." he said, walking from behind the antiques and heading for the door. It wasn't only his hair that was streaked white; it was his clothes as well. It looked as if all colour was draining from him.

"What happened?" Lioneh asked, not able to stop the question from escaping. He paused and looked down at the ground, slowly reaching a hand up to his face.

"My soul, corrupted by vengeance, hath endured torment, to find the end of the journey in my own salvation," he looked over at her and said one last thing, "And your eternal slumber."

"I.. I don't understand." Lioneh said.

"The goddess.." he whispered, eyes still on her.

"What are you talking about? None of it makes sense!" Lioneh sighed. He slowly began walking over towards her until he was right in front of her.

"Even if the morrow is barren of promises," he whispered, just loud enough for her to hear. He reached one hand up to touch the side of her face and sighed. "Nothing shall forestall my return."

A single black wing suddenly stretched out from the left side of his back and he smiled gently at her, dropping his hand down and walking out the door.

Lioneh walked over to the door as it closed and peered out through the glass at the dark night. Her eyes remained wide open as she looked up and saw the mysterious man she had been talking to flying up in the sky.

"Nothing shall forestall your return." she mumbled to herself, turning away from the door dreamily and returning to locking up the shop.