order of the seraphim
i live, i die, i live again
lux
she is born lux, daughter of ava and zenith, oldest child of an oldest child. this is auspicious: the oldest child will be conscripted to fight at a young age, and lux spends her childhood knowing that it is to be cut short, determined to make the most of her brief and brilliant youth. she will join the Legion when she comes of age, and attain honor and glory. until then, she will live.
lux the girl is a mischievous thing; lux the soldier knows how to have her fun within the rules. always bright, she is well known and well liked, her wry humor and work ethic endearing her to both fellow conscript and the higher ups. it is not long before she is selected for the prestigious Angelius Regimen; it is not longer before she is leading her own brigade.
seraph
the assignment of Angelius Regimen comes with new responsibilities. we see lux transform from friendly private to motivated officer as she juggles her meteoric rise through the ranks. soon she is given a nickname, seraph, given for her boldness, her cunning and strength in engagement after engagement. the generals admire her, the soldiers rally around her, and she makes friends - and enemies - and more - among her peers. she loves. she loses. battle after battle she leads and fights, and battle after battle she wins.
Until the day she does not.
apollyon
what happens in the battle is unclear: nobody but the seraph could truly say, and the woman who emerges, alone, from that blood-torn battlefield is not the seraph. nor is she lux. she is something different, something damaged far deeper than the wound on her leg and the blood that soaks her coat. she offers her commanders nothing but a curt resignation; she leaves her home the next day, limping and cold.
the name apollyon is spoken in whispers, reserved for those who have fallen so far as to be irredeemable, who have failed the Legion so thoroughly as to be forever cast out - and while nobody says it aloud, it echoes like a silent threat, following her as she wanders, chased and haunted by ghosts and nightmares only she can see.