by Darcy Town
On the ground, Andrealphus raised his head. “Belial!” The other Fallen rolled to their backs and watched her, unable to get up to help. Andrealphus crawled. Desperation fueled his movements.
Belial raced through the air until the air ran out. She soared to the shield and stared through it. The four Archangels waited beyond; they watched her unsure of what she planned. Uriel snatched at her. Michael threw him back. “You are vulnerable there.”
“So is she!”
Michael looked at Belial. “Come back with us and you may keep your wings. He has offered to take you back if you give up your memories and this new body. You will return to being angel and male.”
Belial reached over her shoulder. She got hold of one wing. She ripped and threw the wing through the shield. Her body trembled in pain; she fell a little in the sky. She raised her hands over her head and tore two more off, letting them drop. The Archangels edged back, frightened of the sight.
The wings landed near Andrealphus. Her blood rained down in a fine mist. He got to his feet. “Belial! Belial!”
Belial held on to her last wing. She ground her teeth and tore. A scream escaped her lips. The pain became too intense and she passed out. She plummeted.
Uriel grinned and threw Michael’s hands off him. He dove through the shield for her.
Andrealphus watched in horror. “No! Get away from her!” He stumbled, barely able to walk. “Get away!”
Chronos formed out of his shadow. The boy threw himself into Andrealphus, disappearing in his body. Andy stopped, his skin darkened. Chronos leapt out the other side of Andy, no longer a boy, but a man.
Andy clutched his chest as his color returned to normal. He gasped, free from pain. His back was healed. Only four scars remained of his injury. Andy looked up at Belial. He broke into a run, but he was not fast enough. He needed time. He needed speed.
Energy clicked inside his chest. His body turned to a blur. A sonic boom ripped through the air around him. Andrealphus leapt from the earth and soared.
Uriel caught Belial by her hair and grinned, triumphant.
Andy caught Uriel’s foot. “Drop her, Uriel!”
“She is mine!” Uriel flapped his wings. “I made her mine!”
“No!” Andrealphus pulled himself up Uriel and punched him in the face sending all three reeling in the sky. Uriel and Andrealphus’ eyes met and they realized one thing. Here on this planet, Andrealphus was stronger than the weakened Archangel was. He was not sick or pained. He felt as strong as the planet itself; he was imbued with Ladriam’s energy. Andy grinned. Uriel quailed.
Andy yanked Belial out of Uriel’s grip and kicked the Archangel into space. Uriel was flung out past the shield. He recovered and swung back around to dive. Michael grabbed his wings and pulled him out.
Andrealphus cradled Belial and fell towards the planet.
On the ground, the Lilliam children attended to the Fallen. Gaea joined with Paimon, Titan with Berith. Ouroboros and Leviathan dove into Furcas together. Nix caught up with Belial as she fell. Ra and Ifrit hovered over Lucifer, but he would let no one near.
Nix wrapped Belial in darkness and her back healed. Andy and Belial hit the ground at the same time. Her eyes shot open on impact. The darkness left Belial and Nix stepped away a woman. Belial looked at her hands; black nails of night extended from each fingertip, sharp as obsidian. She turned and gazed at Andy, thankful. He looked at her only with concern.
The emptiness in her features filled with anger and love. She threw her arms around him. “Thank you!” Andrealphus hugged her.
Her chest ached and her heart pulsed against her ribcage, scraping, seeking, needful, craving. She tore herself out of his arms, repulsed. She pushed him away, shaking her head. She ran towards Lucifer.
Furcas blasted into the air and hit the ground. The earth turned to mud. Electricity arced over his skin, and winds cut the air around him. Leviathan and Ouroboros watched him with concern. Ouroboros glared at Leviathan. “I was first, Levi!”
“I did not know!”
Paimon sat up. Gaea sat next to him, a green woman. She looked him over carefully, maternally. She appeared satisfied and left him to Furcas. She padded over to Lucifer.
Furcas stumbled to Paimon’s side and electrocuted him. He fell to his knees. “I am sorry!”
Paimon eyed Furcas and managed a smile. He grew a rose and handed it to Furcas. Furcas let a smile touch his lips and electrocuted them both. “Sorry!”
Berith sat up from his molten metal cradle. He held his head. Titan sat at his feet, similarly dazed. The two rumbled at each other. Berith nodded his thanks and went to join Lucifer.
Lucifer stared up at the sky as pain ate at him. Ra and Ifrit put their hands on his chest, but he repulsed them. “No! NO!”
Belial reached for his hand. “Why will you not let them heal you?”
Lucifer’s eyes were unseeing. “I failed.”
Andrealphus landed at Belial’s side. “You need healing! They can heal us.”
“What is the point?” Lucifer snarled. “I have failed her.”
Furcas and Paimon sat by his feet. Furcas looked at the sky. “We can try again!”
Lucifer looked at his youngest Archangel. “We have no power, no hope to regain her.”
Furcas frowned. “There is always hope.”
Paimon stared at his green-tinged hands. “We have new gifts, so will you, and you are still Primangel.”
Belial nodded. “Michael is not six-winged, and you are not dead so he cannot have your power.”
“We still can do nothing. I cannot feel it, I cannot feel Heaven, we cannot return without wings. We are locked out forever!” Lucifer covered his face and howled. “I failed her! I failed you!”
Berith leaned over Lucifer. “We are alive and we will survive to fight again.”
“Yes!” Furcas stood up. “We can do it again. We know more now.”
“I should die.”
Paimon scowled. “That is not the right thing to do! Listen to us, Lucifer!”
Andy nodded. “We can do this, together, we are stronger. We are the originals!”
Berith helped Lucifer sit up. “You must be strong for us. We can be your hope, resolve, but you must be strong. Ladriam needs you to free her.”
Furcas held on to Paimon. “If you die now she has no chance of freedom. We are her sole hope.”
Lucifer shook his head. “Hope was locked with her, and we were left nothing but pain. This is our punishment for such a wrongdoing. Death is what we should accept.”
Paimon pointed at him. “Wrong! You have a promise to keep. You promised her to live and to protect this planet and your children.” He jumped on Lucifer. “Are you going to betray that too?”
The vision became fuzzy.
Dahlia tried to hold on to the images. What is going on, Furcas?
I think we’ve been healed.
We are waking up?
Looks that way.
What about the rest?
I can tell you when you wake, Dahl-Dahl.
***
Saturday
In the small room attached to the Sanctuary, Furcas and Dahlia opened their eyes. They exhaled and looked at each other, their magenta irises matched. They held hands. The wounds Dahlia and Furcas shared were healed and erased, but the damage he had received from the spear left him scarred. His eye and forearm were missing, but the holes and cuts no longer festered or burned.
Furcas rubbed his working eye. “So is it Ladriam now or Dahlia?”
“Dahlia. I—that other name, He liked it.” She yawned and smiled. “I like the name Dahlia.”
“I think Dahlia is a splendid name.” Furcas touched his face. He trailed his hand down his chest to his stomach. He felt the ridges of the healed skin. “I’m still scarred.”
“Yes.”
“Fuck.”
“At least you are alive.” Dahlia laughed. “Besides, they make you look badass.”
“Thanks, darling.” He g
lanced over at her. “Your eyes are red.”
“So is yours.”
He touched his face. “Really?”
She looked him over and touched his hair. “You have changed, Furcas. Your sweetness is masked in cynicism and vanity. What happened to the ever hopeful youth you were?”
Furcas smiled a little. “You remember everything then?”
“Yes, you sick, twisted, sexual deviant! There are some things I will never be able to forget and I want to!” Dahlia closed her eyes. Her memory spanned back far past her birth as a human. She analyzed herself, trying to find out if she was a different person now, but the memories integrated seamlessly. She thought back to the time she met them again at the bar. “What was that like for you?”
“I have long hair again?” Furcas measured his hair down to his armpits. “Sorry, what was that?”
Dahlia laughed and opened her eyes. “Oh yeah you are not in my head anymore. Seeing me again, what was that like?”
“When Paimon and I found you we were in shock and in love.” Furcas smiled. “You were so cute! You made all of these adorable little squishy human sounds!”
“Why did you keep my presence from Lucifer?”
Furcas made a face. “We did not want that psychopath near a baby. You saw him go nuts in my memories. That habit didn’t go away. If anything it got worse the longer you were parted.” He smiled. “Besides, Paimon and I are selfish. We wanted to have you all to ourselves.”
Dahlia laughed. “How old was I when you found me? It is strange, the gap, the blurriness, the human brain does not record in a stable fashion at that age.”
“You were a one-year-old.” He smiled. “Paimon and I were there when you learned to walk and talk. We were there for your first word.”
“My parents said it was ‘Momma.’”
Furcas snorted. “No. It was Furcas, but it sounded like Fuck-ass. I think that was Paimon’s doing, though he never admitted it. Your parents just about died when you kept saying it around them, they couldn’t figure out why you said it.”
“Parents, I love that concept.” She smiled. “They were very good to me, loving unconditionally, supporting, and protective. That is what He should have been.” Dahlia shook her head. “A wasted opportunity. They were far better than He was, yet so devoted in worship to Him. I miss them.”
Furcas rolled up on his arm and hugged her tight. “We love you so much. I wish I could have shown you more of my memories of after the Fall, but what remains behind will have to suffice. We have paintings of you that fill up entire parts of this palace and sheets of music for you. Berith forged you armor for the battle that we used to hope would come. Paimon built flower gardens all over the planet for you. Andy wrote poetry.”
“Andrealphus wrote poetry?”
“Some of it is good too.”
Dahlia wrapped her arms around Furcas and hugged him. “I am glad you are all okay. I did not want you dragged into that fight. I had hoped that I would be able to break out, that none of that would be necessary, but I could not think in there. I could not be anything else but pain for such a long time.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I am sorry.”
“You’re sorry?”
“You were all hurt so much because of what I did.”
“That was not your fault. I heard what He said, the secret conversation between you two. We did the right thing by fighting. Besides the pain wasn’t that bad.” He took in her expression. “Okay, yes, it was that bad, but your prison makes our suffering look paltry. When Lucifer realized what it was like for you, he would have had his wings torn endlessly if he had thought it would have gotten you out.”
“Lucifer.” Dahlia trembled. She covered her face with her hands. “I do not know what to do.”
“What do you mean?”
“I saw what he went through, what he was, and how he was made, but I hurt too.” Her hands curled into fists. “He did not try to save me when he had the chance. I doubt now that he would have succeeded, but…” she pressed against Furcas. “It is not fair, but I am angry.” She opened her blood red eyes. “You have gotten to live here, this place with family, while I was alone.” Her eyes darkened to deep purple. “I was so alone for so long, Furcas.”
Furcas pushed her chin up until they looked eye to eye. “I cannot tell you how to feel, so I won’t. I can tell you that we all regretted our inaction since that day and none of us goes long without agonizing over it, replaying the scene, and thinking of what we could have done. No one does this more than he does. He has gone centuries without moving, just remembering. His prison is nothing like yours, but it is a prison nonetheless.”
Furcas took a deep breath. “You released yourself. You were able to escape the torture placed upon you.”
Dahlia nodded.
Furcas kissed her forehead. “He cannot. Lucifer cannot escape it, Dahlia, because he cannot forgive himself for what he did. This was as He said. Lucifer would live tortured by it, in agony without end. He knew Lucifer well.”
Dahlia shuddered. “Two prisons forged together in one action.”
“By ruining you, He made Lucifer ruin himself.” Furcas broke into a sardonic grin. “Sorry to tell you this, Dahl-face, but not only did you have to plan and execute your own escape, but you have to get his ass out of jail too.”
Dahlia laughed. “When did you become such a mouthy brat?”
“You would be one too if you had to deal with Paimon and Lucifer for eternity.” He smiled as her irises faded from purple to red. “Feeling better?”
“Yes.” She sat up and the world spun. She fell backwards. Hands held her shoulders up. Dahlia turned around and looked into the matching crimson eyes of Gaea. Dahlia burst into tears and hugged her daughter. Gaea swooned as her pain evaporated. A smile appeared on her face. Dahlia looked into her daughter’s eyes. “Why did you not say you were here?”
Gaea shrugged, sleepy. “You two had things to talk about.”
Dahlia touched her daughter’s face. “Did they all make it? Are you all alive?”
“They are, but my siblings sleep and have for some time.”
Dahlia clasped Gaea to her. “I want to know everything!”
Furcas and Gaea set in on filling her in on the past millennia.
***
In the Sanctuary, the door in the wall opened with a burst of green light. It shut just as quickly as it opened. Furcas leaned against the door, breathless. He had on a skirt made out of leaves; his long brown hair was woven through with flowers. He wore a green, leathery eye-patch to go with the foliage in his hair. He smiled to himself.
Furcas looked up. His eye glowed red in the dim room. The Fallen gasped.
Lucifer looked from Furcas to the closed door behind him. He recognized the red in Furcas’ eye. His heart pounded. He grabbed for Furcas’ arm. “Please tell me—”
Furcas punched Lucifer across the face, sending him back. He stared at his fist. His skin glowed red and faded.
Lucifer pushed his broken jaw back in place. “Why?”
“She needs a minute, okay?”
Lucifer stormed over, his insides on fire. “I want to see her now!” He grabbed Furcas’ shoulders and pressed him into the wall. “Now!”
Furcas blocked the entrance. “She remembers, Lucifer! So give her a minute!”
Lucifer stopped dead in his tracks. Icy fear ripped through him and his fire faltered. “Remembers?”
“Everything. More than everything, we shared memories. She saw the war, the Fall. Gaea and I filled her in on pretty much everything that has happened since. Well the short version at least.”
Lucifer dropped to the ground. He wrung his hands. Anxiety warred with hope. He had to know. “What is her reaction?”
Furcas shrugged. “She’s still in shock, so leave her the fuck alone. She will come out when she is ready.” He waited for Lucifer’s response, unwilling to move before he had it.
Lucifer stared at the floor. He could not imagine what she would be feeling. H
e closed his eyes. He had to assume the worst, anger, hatred. To let himself hope would be too much to bear if she dashed it. He nodded to Furcas and stayed on the ground.
Furcas looked from Lucifer to the rest of the Fallen. Paimon stood in front of the others with Dahlia’s teddy bear and his pink blanket. Furcas blushed scarlet. “Oh, you found my—”
Paimon crushed him to the wall in a hug and kiss. He touched the flowers in Furcas’ hair and smiled in recollection.
Furcas smiled in return and nipped on his ear. “Guess what I got to re-experience?”
Paimon raised his head from kissing Furcas’ neck. “What?”
“You, beating the holy living shit out of my wings.”
Paimon cringed and put his head against Furcas’ chest. “As if I didn’t feel terrible enough already. Why tell me that?”
Furcas grinned. “I have to make someone feel like shit. I had to experience Dahlia’s prison again. Fuck that a thousand times over.” He ran a finger across Paimon’s bare chest and frowned. “What is inside you?”
Paimon touched his sternum. “Lucifer stuck his death song in me.” He glared at Lucifer. “Fucking pervert.”
Furcas shrugged out of his embrace and gave Paimon’s silver lock of hair a tug. “Almost gives you a dignified air, almost.”
Lucifer looked up from his hands. He remembered the sheer agony he had experienced when he had joined with Dahlia’s consciousness in the prison. He struggled to breathe. “She remembers it in detail, the pain? All of it?”
Furcas gazed at him mercilessly. “Every single itty bitty nuance of torture.”
“Is she…mad?”
“Furious or insane?”
Lucifer’s voice cracked, “Either.”
Furcas shrugged. “I know I want to beat the shit out of you now, but that’s just me.” He sighed. “She was used to it, the nightmares, you know. I think she’s more upset about the other things.”
Lucifer frowned. “What other things?”
“The trial, the conversations we didn’t get to hear, the parts that are blanks in our memories.”