They say that you never imagine something bad could happen to you until it does. Whether that be a natural disaster, a terminal illness diagnosis, or a violent crime. I had been proven wrong that day, as many others in the past have, but nothing could prepare me for the purpose behind it all. Magical Girls had been long known to exist, of course. Watching one fight a giant monster on the news is one thing. Being there to witness it is another. But to not only be there, not only watch it unfold both in real time and on the nightly news, seeing your own face on the cameras... But to be the mother of one of them. To know that for the past month, she had been running around risking her life under an assumed alter ego...

Her Guardian Angel, her patron, Lasciencia, stood before me and spoke, "Yes. She is one of the Divine Children. The only one. Surely you noticed?"

I did. "Divine Children". What a joke. They were disappearing, some being found dead all over the world. Some are still missing. I replied, "Yes." as flatly as I could manage with my rage still soaring higher than Icarus.

"Then you understand." she had the gall to insist.

At that point, I stood up, no longer capable of holding back, "Understand!? You could have chosen anyone, but you chose a girl just entering adulthood, with a loving family and everything to lose, to go die in a ditch without telling anybody!? Without even asking!? How can you call yourself an angel!?"

But she had the patience of a saint to wait me out before answering as if nothing was wrong, "We do not recruit them to die. Before now, many would live long and fulfilling lives. Our powers are more than enough to protect them."

"Then why are they all dead!?" I spat back, intent on cornering her.

She quietly sipped from her porcelain teacup before answering, "The situation has changed."

At that point, I couldn't imagine a circumstance that could lead to such a drastic turn of events, "How!? You could have chosen any adult if you were truly so desperate! A soldier, an officer, an athlete, and yet... Why a child!? Do you---"

Though she did not yell, she firmly interrupted me; uncharacteristic of her usual propriety, "Do you really believe we would have chosen a child had we the option otherwise?"

In my anger, she had me. I couldn't formulate a proper response then, so she continued with an ominous phrase, "I am the last guardian angel alive."

I sat down, not only from the shock of such an unbelievable statement, but to imagine how such a thing could possibly be true. I could only mutter, "How?"

She took no pity on my state, and only stated the facts of the matter, "I am the last of the earthly guardian angels. Our kind were methodically wiped out in a matter of years. I only managed to escape extermination by a miracle, and in my helpless state, I could only receive your daughter's help."

She got up, hovered over to the open window, and stared at something in the middle distance, "She believe I was a shooting star. An object of fate, crashed into earth from the heavens. In a sense, she was not wrong. At the time, the only chance I had to survive was to be in her care. To give her the halo and trust her with the power to heal. She saved my life."

She turned back around. Outside the window, I reminisced about the meteor shower that was predicted just weeks before. I had wondered why she didn't come home that night, and why she acted strange the day after. But I suppose it all made sense. I could at least visualize the event. It would certainly be just like her to want to help a fallen angel.

That angel came to my side once again and continued her monologue in my silence, disregarding if I could handle any more of it, "It is not I who chose your daughter."

At that, I was at least slightly offended. But I was beginning to understand, those thoughts clicking into place like puzzle pieces upon her next words: "No, she chose herself. What qualifies a divine child above all else is the strength of their conviction. Not their physical ability or wit, but the resolve. Their Love, their Joy, their Hope, and their Determination. She had all of those in spades. I was powerless in her wake, as I still am."

It is at that point I realized, and it seems that she noticed, "I take it you know what you must do, now?"

I nodded painfully, "Is there nothing I can do?"

"Unless you can turn the hands of fate itself and bend her will to your own, no. And given what I see of your potential..." she began to uncomfortably probe my mind with her unnaturally shaped eyes "...you do not possess a superior emotional strength."

A feeling of helplessness washed over me. Not unlike that which I assume the angel felt when they crashed into earth. How could I possibly convince a 17 year old girl to give up unspeakable magical powers fueled by their hormone-addled emotions? No mind, no matter how logical or tactical, could hope to do that. And even then...

"Is this really a bad thing?" I asked, entering the acceptance stage of grief.

"That is a question only you can answer." she replied.

Poignant, is all I could think of at that moment. Even now, I do not know the answer to that question. But what I do know, is that the next answer she would give me would chill me to my core.

A time had passed before I finally asked, "Why did they all disappear? Why are you the last one? Why her?" all at once, as if I had not already asked, or perhaps as if I could not believe what I knew.

The angel looked troubled. "Do you recall the demons?" she asked, seemingly unrelated to my question.

Of course I knew. They had attacked cities before. They were now.

"The demons were thought to have been eradicated completely." she said.

I could only stare at her for a moment. "...But they're here! I saw one---"

She interrupted me again, "That was not a demon. It was the memory of one. A shadow. A resurrected zombie. The coalesced rage of their ancestors. No..."

I had more questions posed than answered. She stood up again and turned away, unable to make eye contact as she continued, "But there is one."

"One?" I asked, not sure if I even wanted to know at this point.

"Yes. There exists one demon left. One demon... and one key to the gates of the divine realm."

It is then that I finally realized what the stakes were. At the very least, I wanted to know... "Who?"

She did not turn to me. She did not move or speak for a solid minute. Then, a deafening explosion shook both of our hearts from outside, when she finally answered.

"The Godslayer."