The warning from the angel had been false. There were demons coming to heaven but they didn't attack, they just waited. Doing nothing.

***

"If you are going to part take in this war, then you need to know how to fight," Chastity stated.

"And you are going to train me?" I asked.

"Yes I am," she beckoned and brought me into a huge door that was bolted shut. She ripped off all the wood that closed the door with her own hands. The door lead to a dusty room, covered on cobwebs and padded floors. Along the walls were cracks and holes. From the ceiling, punching bags hung and along the north wall, targets for archery were placed. I coughed and ran a hand over the wall, revealing a small family of spiders.

"Okay," I said, "why are we here?"

"This was our old training hall that we closed because we had a strict 'no violence' rule, but I asked if we could reopen it because of this whole war thing and they said yes! It could use a little cleaning, and then it would be perfect to train in, don't you think?"

"Yeah sure," I replied, unsure.

"Great! Let me call the virtues to help. You've got a lot to learn, golden blood." Chastity informed and ran off to call her sisters.

***

After about a few hours, Charity came into to call me to the hall. I walked the short distance and pushed the door open to reveal a completely renovated training hall. The cobwebs and dust were all gone and the equipment were in the best condition they could ever be.

"Stop gawking at the amazing job we did and get over here to start training," Chastity instructed.

"okay okay, there is no need to be pushy," I ran over.

Chastity handed me a bow and a quiver of arrows, "lets work on your aim. Stand tall, shoulders back. Take a deep breath in and bring the bow up to eye level," she explained, as she brought the bow higher, "elbows out."

I closed one eye and tired to aim at the target that is about twenty meters away from me. I look a deep breath in and let go of the arrow, watching it intensely as it flew and hit the black outer part.

"Hey, that was great!" Kindness exclaimed from the doorway. She held two glasses of water in her hand, which she placed on the table and ran off.

"Try again," Chastity commanded.

I listened and brought the bow to eye level and let go. It flew and hit the blue part. A huge smile creeped its way on my face as I looked over at Chastity with a smug look on my face.

"Did you see that, Chas?" I asked, cockily.

"Two things. One, that wasn't impressive and two, don't call me Chas." she retorted.

"That was impressive!" I grumbled.

Chastity rolled her eyes and snatched the bow from me. She placed two arrows on the string. She aimed and within seconds, she let both arrows go. Both of them hit the bullseye, which made my jaw drop.

"Yeah but I have never even used a bow before so that was impressive," I mumbled.

She let out a breathy laugh, "it was an okay shot. Now try again."

I nodded and tried again, and again, and again. I hit everything except the bullseye. I groaned in frustration as I sat down against the wall, draining the glass of water Kindness brought for us.

"Listen, I'll tell you my little secret on how I aim so perfectly. Confidence. Confidence is my secret," Chastity said.

"That sounds like something a motivational speaker would say."

"No seriously. Okay, if you want to do something, what makes your body do it?" She asked.

"My brain," I replied.

"So if you tell your brain that you are going to get a bullseye, won't your brain make your body get the bullseye?"

"I-" I stopped. She had a point. I stood up and walked over to the target, getting all my arrows off and going back to position. I stood at the mark and fixed my stance.

I can do this. I AM going to get that bullseye.

I took a deep breath in and let the arrow fly across the hall. It landed right in the center, wedging a hole into it. Bullseye. I turned around and smirked at Chastity. She scoffed and rolled her eyes, "after about fifteen attempts, you got it! Congrats."

"You need to be faster. You take time to concentrate and breathe in, however; in the war, you won't have time to focus. You got to be fast, swift and precise," she lectured, as she circled me, "during the war, distractions are all around you. People screaming, people dying and weapons being fired at you. You need to be fast and focused."

"Well how am I supposed to do all that! If I am a 'secret weapon' like you said, and I have powers, why do I have to learn how to use weapons?" I whined.

Chastity glared at me, "I don't have to explain anything to you. Just do what I say, golden blood."

"Chastity!" someone yelled. Both of us turned around to see my mother standing at the door. I looked over at the virtue, who looked down at her feet.

"Sorry," Chastity grumbled.

"We need to talk in the meeting room. Now," my mother commanded.

***

The virtues sat around the table, with other angels in armor. Joshua and I sat towards the back, just listening.

"According to our sources, Lucifer is training the demons using the Malum, making them stronger and more powerful. If my calculations are accurate, then they would attack within the next week or two because it takes time for the affects of the Malum to take over the devils. We need ideas on how to make our troops equally strong to go against Hell's forces," Valerie explained.

The small group remained silent, not having anything to contribute. I wracked my mind to think of something that could help. My mouth worked against my will, as I said, "isn't Heaven and Hell exact opposites?"

All the heads turned to me as I waited for an answer. My mother was the first to answer, "yes."

"Then if Hell has the Malum, shouldn't Heaven have a chalice too?" I asked.

All the heads turned to my mother, waiting for her answer. I could feel something tense in the room as if I touched a forbidden topic.

"We...umm...we don't have a chalice," my mother replied.

I knew something was off about her and I was going to find out what.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

Author's note:

Right so this chapter took me ages to write. I wasn't feeling this chap at all but I finally finished it.

Questions: Do you think Heaven has a Chalice? Why do you think Maia's mum, Valerie, lie to Maia?

Lxrxib.