Aisella faded in and out of consciousness several times. Like a moon, orbitting a celestial body, every time she glimpsed the light of the sun it was harsh and blinding, and then inexorable darkness would return and take the light and also the sound and sensation.

Was she dead? Were those glimpses of light the final, dying effort of her brain to make sense of what happened; synapses misfiring, shooting blanks in the darkness? In truth, it didn't seem like a terrible thing at that point. Deep in her heart, Aisella was afraid of dying, but what did she have to look forward to in life?

Those flames...

A fragment of a memory lit up in her brain; a very recent one. When that shining star fell from the sky and exploded - obliterated the barriers the Court Demons put up - it took everything from Aisella. Never had she seen something like it. The sound was terrifying; It was like the roar of the Primordial Gods - it set the air on fire.

If that is all that awaits her in life, wouldn't it be infinitely better to just die here and now? If she were to be mistaken about those flashes of light, and if they were not merely mirages of a dying brain, then that would mean that she would meet that creature again.

Halas.

Why did the world create something like that? Why do Calamities exist? Why do Calamities enjoy slaughtering everyone? It all seemed terribly unfair. To be alive in this world... was a curse.

"Iris," a voice spoke to her. "You got yourself into some trouble."

The light returned and after the harsh brightness faded, Aisella realized that it was a shaft of light piercing through the ruined roof of a structure. The mossy brickstone walls, the ruined mosaic windows depicting a winged creature striking down a serpent with a lance - this was the chapel at the edge of the city. How did she get here?

"Wh- who is there?" she spoke, her voice hoarse and flat. She could barely speak. "I can't... I can't see..."

No reply came. Still, as her eyes adjusted to the light further, she saw a figure standing over her. The light fell on the figure's back, shrouding the figure's face in shadow.

"Father?" Aisella asked. The gears in her head turned, grinding through the fog of shellshock until they reached the core of the problem. Would her father call her Iris? "Who are you?"

"I am your savior," the figure replied coldly with a deep, otherworldly tone.

The figure moved slightly, and Aisella could finally see its face. Or rather, the mask he wore over his face. The figure was male - there was no doubt about that - but that is one of two things Aisella could tell. The other one was that this man was neither a demon or a human.

"Sasara iafarai," Aisella gasped.

Sasara iafarai - the mask of perdition. A black circle struck through by a jagged line in the upper half of the circle stood as a stark reminder of the figure's identity: the House of Order.

It is said that they were all children of men once, until they took up the masks. Such knowledge comes from the nursery rhymes prevalent in all Realms: Children of men and all things of Order, stars of the end, wheels of the sun, fate shall know their name no more.

It is also said that those who meet member of the House of Order will face a terrible tragedy. They are widely regarded as harbingers of ruin, as well as saviors of mankind. The simple truth was that no one knew anything about them, except that they were fighting a war far beyond the reaches of the mortal realms, on behalf of all mortals. As such they rarely intervened in the affairs of humans or demons, and when they did it was a side-effect of their primary goals. Therefore, with their appearance, ruin followed.

"Leave, please," Aisella said, scrambling away from the figure. "You cannot be here."

"I saved you, Iris," he said. "You owe me."

Why did he keep calling her Iris? Such questions were far back in the queue of other questions. Primarily, Aisella was terrified of the figure. She was more terrified of this man than she was of Halas.

She managed to prop herself up against the far wall of the chapel, her legs shaking before giving out and putting her in a half-seated, half-kneeling pose.

"What do you want?"

The light played strange tricks around the figure. The mark on the mask's forehead - that terrible circle - seemed to shimmer and change shape. Blue luminescence poured from the eye openings, leaving a tangible trail everytime the figure's head moved.

"I want you to go and find your sister," the figure said. "She is here in this world and she has the [Savior] edict."

"I don't have a sister," Aisella said.

The figure scoffed. "You do."

Aisella considered the figure. She could not disobey the House of Order. If they told her to jump off a cliff, she'd have no choice but to do it.

"If that were true, how would I even find her? What about the Calamity? Are you going to do anything about it?"

"Calamity?" the figure asked, tone curious. "Oh, is that what did this to your village?"

Village? This was one of the greatest cities in the demon-realm!

"Aisella, step away from that man," a voice came in from the direction of the entrance.

It was her father. A woman with black hair and red eyes stood at his side.

"Father! You are alive!"

"Aisella, come here, quickly," the duke commanded.

The figure stood up from his crouched perch and turned towards the Duke. The mask briefly turned towards the black haired woman and then back to the Duke again.

"If you keep stealing from us, Baran, there will be punishment," the figure spoke.

"It is my right as Duke to take whatever I want. Aya, force the issue," the Duke said.

"As you command," the black-haired woman replied, and her eyes flashed red.