Angels were falling from the sky like raindrops. Some with pure white wings, some with black ones, which glistened a rainbow of colors when light hit them in certain angles, like an oil slick. However, they all looked like birds shot out of the sky, wings tipped with blood. 

Alina was horrified. She wanted to look away, but when she tried to move, a sudden surge of pain ran through her, starting at her legs and blooming to her fingertips. She opened her mouth to scream, but though her mouth was moving, no sound came out. She bit down on the inside of her cheek and tasted copper in her mouth.

Suddenly, the scenery changed, and now Alina was lying down on grass. When she lifted her head, she  could see a large Yggdrasil tree. A woman was sitting on one of the tree's thick roots. She was wearing a white gown that pooled around her, and her face was shadowed by a purple hood. Her long dark hair is as silky as water. She was looking at Alina, smiling. When she spoke, her voice was new and... familiar, at the same time. Somewhat comforting and angelic. "Hello, Alina."

"Mom?" A wave of relief went through Alina. She could talk now.

Irene drew her hood back, and a pair of amber eyes stared back at Alina. "I know you haven't seen me in years, and I am so, so, so sorry for that."

"M-mom," Alina's voice cracked, but she willed herself not to cry, "I missed you."

"I missed you too," Irene pulled Alina into a hug, and as they hugged, Alina noticed that her mother's eyes were glassy too. "I missed you more than you could ever imagine."

"Why didn't you reach me earlier?"

Irene gently untangled Alina from her. "Because I couldn't." Suddenly, Irene looked tired, like her energy was wrung out.

Alina opened her mouth to ask more questions. "What's going on? Why are angels falling?" W̶h̶y̶ d̶i̶d̶ y̶o̶u̶ l̶e̶a̶v̶e̶ m̶e̶?̶

"The world is changing, and the magickal Current is becoming off-balance."

From a distance, Alina could hear a bell ringing. Irene looked surprised for a moment, and she smiled at her daughter, "It's time for me to go. I may be a goddess, but that doesn't mean I have infinite energy, and it's a lot of work to come to you in your dreams. I still have one more person to visit."

"What do you mean?" Alina asked.

"You'll understand soon enough."

ᏉᏉᏉᏉᏉᏉᏉᏉᏉᏉ

When Alina woke up, her head hurt, like someone was trying to hammer her head in half. Sunlight was already weaving its way through the curtains, which seemed much brighter than it usually is through her eyes. She slowly attempted to sit up, but the world seemed to spin right off its axis, sending her crashing down onto her bed, where she stayed for a few moments.

When the throbbing in her head got a little bit better, and she could finally muster the strength to sit up. She found a glass of water she left on her bedside table last night, and gulped the contents down gratefully. Afterwards, she stared at the wall and tried to steady her thoughts.

What was that d̶̶r̶̶e̶̶a̶̶m̶̶ nightmare? Angels, falling? Do angels exist in the first place? I must be going insane. 

Alina shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs in her mind. Then, her eyes caught something glittering on her bedside table. She looked again, and gasped when she realized what it was. There, on the table, was a beautifully cut amethyst, with a thin, golden chain attached so it could be worn as a necklace. The gem was slightly bigger than the nail on her thumb, but small enough that she couldn't have noticed it the moment she woke up.

She picked up the necklace. It was practically thrumming with magick, and she knew she should have felt suspicious, but it was oddly comforting. Like it was begging for Alina to put it on. So, out of temptation and curiousity, she did. However, nothing seemed to happen. She frowned. The pulsing of the jewel was gone too. 

Alina didn't have time to dwell on it before she heard her bedroom door slamming open. Quickly, she slipped the amethyst under the hem of her sleeping gown.

"ALINA! WAKE UP!" Alina's sister, Lilith, was leaning on the doorframe, hands crossed against her chest. 

"I'm already up, Lil" Alina said.

Lilith huffed. "Well, you were taking forever to come downstairs." 

Alina let out an annoyed "Hmph!"

"By the way, I made pancakes for breakfast, and if you don't come down soon, Trevor's gonna eat them all."

The mention of her best friend made Alina hesitate. "What is Trevor doing in Phoenix Drop?"

"Why don't you worry about that after the pancakes? Even if he doesn't eat all of them, it's going to get cold."

"Okay, fine, just let me get dressed first."

ᏉᏉᏉᏉᏉᏉᏉᏉᏉᏉ

Trevor, who happened to be Alina and Lilith's childhood friend, was sitting at the dining room table, stirring his cup of coffee. A plate of fantastic-looking pancakes was on the middle of the table, golden brown and drenched with honey.

"Alina! You're finally awake!" He exclaimed. "I left a few pancakes for you."

"Glad to see you haven't eaten them all yet." Alina replied, sliding into a chair directly across him, and taking some pancakes for herself. "Anyways, when did you arrive?"

"A few hours ago. We were planning to arrive earlier, but something came up."

Alina took a bite of her pancakes. They were delicious, just like anything Lilith cooked. "What are you doing here?"

"Mom's staying in Phoenix Drop for a bit, so I decided to come along." Trevor said, sipping his coffee. 

"Oh. Where's your mother, then?" Alina asked.

Lilith sat down on the chair next to her. "Katelyn left about half an hour ago. Didn't say where she was going, though." She looked at Alina's now-empty plate. "How did you manage to eat that fast?"

Alina grinned. "I'm always starving."

"By the way, where did you get that necklace?" Lilith motioned to Alina's neck. 

 "I don't know, it was just on my bedside table." Alina said, holding the gem in her hand, and closing her fist around it . It began to pulse again, but softly this time.

"What?!" Trevor snapped. "You shouldn't just take any magickal items! What if it was cursed?"

"It's magickal?" Lilith said.

"I don't think it's cursed." Alina wondered aloud, frowning. "It had an oddly familiar aura."

"But it clearly isn't a normal necklace." Trevor pointed out. "It's glowing."

A faint purple light was making its way through Alina's fingers, but when she opened her fist, the gem stopped glowing immediately. She closed her hand around it again, but nothing seemed to happen.

Lilith leaned in. "What do you think that is?" 

"I have no idea." Alina shrugged. "But I'm going to keep wearing it."

ᏉᏉᏉᏉᏉᏉᏉᏉᏉᏉ

Welcome to the first chapter of The Divine ! I'm kinda fading out of the Aphmau fandom, but I've always had this idea of writing a MCD next gen fanfic, so here it is! I hope you enjoyed the first bit of it! 

Have a great day!

~Emmy