Angel Monarch

Sera's mind was barely functioning by the time her water broke, but in that moment, everything became sharp and painful. Her eyes glanced around the large room frantically, not recognizing anything.

The beeping of machinery echoed around her, but she could barely hear it. Someone nearby screamed so loudly it drowned out any other noise.

It took Sera an awfully long time to realize she was hearing her own screams of pure agony and despair.

Her giant stomach felt like it wanted to explode. She saw something moving inside, seemingly trying to crawl out.

She couldn't hold in her scream, while terror took control of her heart. The machine beeping got more frequent as her heart rate and breathing skyrocketed.

"Vicky! Put the oxygen mask on her, she'll pass out otherwise!… Faith! Put the blue vial of drugs into the IV! That should calm her somewhat!… These are still only the first contractions! She's not nearly wide enough!"

Amayeta kept her cool, even while her friend continued screaming in agony. Luckily, as Vicky put on the oxygen mask, the Angel's breathing calmed, and her loud screams turned into small, pain-filled moans.

The painkillers Faith pumped into her also helped a lot. It was an extremely concentrated dosage, able to overdose a thousand regular human with a single drop. It barely elevated Sera's pain, but every bit counted.

The doctor constantly checked on Sera's opening, since unlike regular humans, Evolved birth was much faster. Barely ten minutes after the first few contractions, the opening became wide enough, and so the birth began.

"Okay Sera, can you hear me? Are you ready?" Asked Amayeta, her voice even and serious, demanding attention but also calming.

"Y-yes!… Fuck!… Let's get!… This over with!…"

She could barely talk through the pain. Her hands gripped the bed's side with so much strength even the Angelic Metal bent with ease.

"You're alright Sera, take deep long breaths and try to stay calm. When you prepared yourself, try to push, but not too strongly. We don't know exactly how strong your abdomen muscles are, and it could hurt the baby!"

With a pained expression, Sera nodded. She took a few deep breaths, like Amayeta said, and began pushing. A small scream escaped her lips as her face turned red and sweaty.

"Great! That's it! You're doing amazing! Try pushing some more!"

As she continued pushing, her small scream got exponentially louder, until she couldn't hold back anymore. She screamed in agony while pushing, but eventually she had to stop.

"Come on Sera, I can nearly see its head! I know it's hard, but I need you to push some more! It'll be over soon!"

Sera took a few more deep breaths, then she clenched her teeth as nearly her entire body trembled in pure anguish. After a few seconds, cracks echoed in the room, as Sera's teeth broke from the pressure.

Blood began pouring from her mouth, and she quickly spat out her broken teeth, causing more screams to escape her mouth.

She continued pushing, even through the pain, and soon Amayeta's voice reached her ear.

"Yes! That's it! I can see its head!… Wait!… Sera! STOP PUSHING!"

Through the suffering, Amayeta's urgent voice felt like cold water being poured on her. She immediately stopped pushing and instead laid back to catch her breath.

Faith and Vicky slowly walked next to Amayeta and checked on Sera's opening. Like a river, blood continuously poured from the opening. A bit deeper, they saw the baby's head, but since the blood flow didn't stop, something must've gone wrong.

"Dammit! Why don't these machines work on Evolved, useless pieces of metal! We don't even know how large the baby actually is!"

While Vicky began freaking out, Faith just continued staring at the flowing blood curiously. She then glanced at the pristine white wings behind Sera, and the shadowy dark wings on her own back.

"That's not the problem…" Said Faith with a whisper, drawing both Amayeta's and Vicky's attention.

"Yes, the baby is definitely larger than a regular human, but there's something else we missed… Sera's not human. She's an angel!… Her baby is probably an angel too!"

She didn't need to continue, since judging by the mortified expression on both women, they fully understood.

"So the baby has wings?… Then birthing it the regular way is basically impossible!… Fuck… We'll need to try C-section. Normal birth is too dangerous!"

Both Vicky and Faith nodded at the doctor's words, and they immediately brought the necessary equipment over.

Vicky pushed a large tray full of scalpels, pincers, syringes, and many other objects she couldn't even name.

Faith lifted the cloth off of Sera's belly, then she quickly wiped the area off with alcohol. While a Transcended's wound would never get infected, there was some anesthetic mixed into it, which helped in elevating Sera's pain.

Next, she pumped some more painkiller into the IV, while Amayeta gently drew a line along Sera's protruding belly. The mark where she'll make the incision.

At that point, Sera was barely holding onto consciousness. The blood continued flowing from her widened opening, and she looked paler with each passing moment.

The pain and suffering seemed like a distant memory for her current, light-headed self.

"Sera! Hey, Sera! Don't fall asleep! Faith, keep her talking, so she stays awake!"

Amayeta rolled to Sera's side. They lowered the bed so she could easily reach everything, even from her seat. Vicky stood on the opposite side, ready to assist, while Faith walked up to Sera's head.

She used a cold, wet cloth and began gently wiping the sweat and blood off of her Goddess's face.

"Don't fall asleep My Lady! Not yet, at least."

The Angel moaned gently, as Amayeta began making the incision across her belly.

"When… When can I sleep… It feels like I haven't slept in years… When will this be over…"

Gently, Faith cleaned everything while listening to Sera's words. With a fake smile and calm voice, she whispered into her Goddess's ear.

"Soon. When your baby is finally out, you will sleep however long you want! Then, when you eventually wake up, you can eat all the food in the world!"

A small smile appeared on Sera's deathly pale face, while her eyes kept trying to close.

"That's good… I'm so hungry… When was the last time I ate?… Weeks ago?…"

Sera winced in pain again, as Amayeta used clippers to prevent the fresh incision from healing.

"Okay, Vicky, I'm taking the baby out. Prepare the blanket!"

Faith cradled her Goddess's head, continuing to wipe away with the wet cloth. On the machines, her heart rate began falling, and her breaths became more and more shallow.

"I wish… I wish they would've… Been here… Either of them… I don't want to be alone… I wish Bran or Bea would be here…"

Sera's eyes gradually closed as she fell into unconsciousness. Silent tears crawled down her cheeks as all the pain and suffering finally ended.

Amayeta reached into Sera's belly with both hands and pulled out an enormous baby with a pair of feathered wings. She could barely hold the boy, he was so heavy. Luckily, Vicky quickly grabbed and wrapped him in the blanket.

"Uh… Why isn't he crying?… Amayeta!"

Vicky began spiraling with panic when the doctor's strict, firm voice reached her.

"Cut the umbilical cord and begin tickling his feet! His lungs are still hadn't kicked in!… Faith, how is…"

As the doctor turned towards Faith, she finally recognized the strange monotone beep the machines made. Sera's heart rate, breathing, everything was at zero… The Angel passed away…

To mark this world's cruelty, when Amayeta noticed her friend died, the newborn baby's wailing began echoing around the room.

Not ready to give up, Amayeta rolled to Sera's corpse and prepared to do CPR. However, before she could've reached out, Faith pulled her away.

"Hey! What the fuck are you doing! I can save her, or at least try! What's wrong with you! Aren't you supposed to protect her?! Isn't she your Goddess or something!"

While the doctor screamed at Faith for keeping her away, the Shadow felt the temperature in the room rise. Vicky still hadn't noticed, since she was preoccupied with her new brother.

"VICTORIA! Teleport her corpse away now or she'll destroy this entire Village!"

Suddenly, Vicky glanced up at everything. She saw her mother, lying pale and motionless, the machines clearly showing her lack of vitals, and Amayeta, desperately trying to move towards Sera's corpse.

A gentle glow appeared around Sera's body, while the air continued turning warmer. However, before anything could've caught on fire, Vicky opened a portal, teleporting her mother away.

"Wait! What?! Why did you teleport her away! I could've saved her!"

Tears flowed down Amayeta's face as she sobbed, fully believing her friend died. However, she soon realized that something was wrong. Neither Faith nor Vicky seemed sad, instead they both looked worried.

"Sorry to Amayeta! We should've told you earlier, but things happened fast and we forgot… During the years, my mother collected many titles like Angel Monarch, Last Angel, and Deathless Phoenix… Don't worry about her, from the ashed she'll rise!"

Just as Vicky finished her sentence, a bright light appeared on the northern horizon. The light came from several dozen kilometers away, yet it felt brighter than anything Amayeta had ever witnessed.

A small earthquake shook the Village as the sound of a gigantic explosion reached their ears. The great trees bent from the typhoon-like winds, and small branches rained on the houses as they broke off.

On February 14th, Nicholas Bran was born, while his mother died and resurrected for the first time in nine months!