Daystar

by Darcy Town

  Furcas grimaced and looked over his shoulder. “Fucking great.”

  Paimon eyed Furcas. “You are forbidden from going at him alone. Hear me?”

  Furcas raised his sickles. “You need to get to Gabriel. If you stay here, what the fuck am I supposed to do up there besides confuse your brother? I can’t work that machine.”

  Paimon clenched his jaw. “You don’t need to work it. You just need to destroy it.”

  “I probably won’t know how to do that either.”

  “I am not leaving you alone with Barachiel. That’s final.”

  Furcas sighed. “I can take care of myself, Paimon.”

  Barachiel raised his mace and hovered above them, his guardian angels surrounded him. He sneered at the pair. “Furcas, your brothers are so happy you have come back to them. Are you ready to return?”

  Furcas stared at the empty eyes of the guardians. “Really? They appear to be slack-jawed and stoned. I expected a bit more enthusiasm. Not going to win me over. Sorry, it’s still a no.”

  Paimon grinned at Barachiel. “Was that a serious question? I mean really, come on. He has me.”

  Barachiel swung his mace. Paimon was ready for it. He turned off his jet pack and fell to avoid the arc of burning light. Furcas jumped above it. The pair flanked the Archangel. Barachiel flew backwards to keep them both in sight.

  Furcas pulled clouds in, keeping visibility to a minimum. He whipped up air and blasted the angels around them. A breeze accompanied the flight of sylphs; they ripped pendants from the emotionless guardian angels. The angels clutched their chests as they transitioned to the physical realm; they weakened and fell sick within seconds.

  Paimon turned his jetpack on and soared through the flagging angels. He pulled out his shotgun and blasted them into chunks. He sang and punctuated his notes with the percussion.

  Barachiel looked up to Furcas. “You love that?”

  Furcas watched Paimon explode the heads of angels. “Quite.”

  Barachiel stared at Furcas, slowly edging towards him. “You have changed.”

  Furcas shrugged and pelted Barachiel with hailstones the size of soccer balls. “You have not.” He whirled around and whipped his weighted chains towards the Archangel.

  Barachiel flew backwards. Furcas flicked his wrist and pulled the air behind Barachiel, sending the Archangel veering towards him. Furcas swung both sickles and locked the chains around Barachiel’s mace. He wrenched the weapon from Barachiel’s grip. Furcas twisted and threw the mace into the open air behind him.

  “No!” Barachiel dove for the mace.

  Furcas whipped his sickles towards Barachiel’s face, sending him back.

  Paimon caught Barachiel’s mace and grinned. “A present? Oh baby, you shouldn’t have.”

  Furcas shrugged. “Least I could do, honey.”

  Barachiel went red in the face. “I hate the both of you!” He flew up and sent his guardian angels to fly in-between him and the Fallen. They were countless in the sky glowing white and gold. Their wills locked to Barachiel’s; they had no thought of their personal safety, only his.

  Paimon swung the mace. Blinding light shot through the air and seared the angels, sending them reeling in the sky. They had no defense against the heavenly weapon. Paimon whooped. He slammed the mace into a guardian and smiled as the angel exploded into luminous bits.

  Furcas kept his eyes on Barachiel. He took the angels’ confusion as an opportunity. He opened a hole through the guardians with a whirlwind and blasted through the gap.

  “Hey! We said no separating!” Paimon shot after Furcas. Guardian angels swooped in to block him. He could barely see through them as they blanketed the air.

  Furcas did not spare him a glance. “Paimon, keep going up, you have a job to do!”

  “I can’t get up there if there are guardian angels everywhere!”

  “They’ll leave you alone shortly, I promise.”

  Paimon’s eyes widened as he realized what Furcas planned. “Furcas!” He frantically swung at the angels. He made holes, but more filled their place. “Furcas! I said no! You do not engage him alone! Furcas, stop!”

  Furcas ignored him, his eyes on Barachiel. He swung his weighted chains in circles at his side. The weights collected ice, increasing the size of the ball and chain with each rotation. Furcas smiled. “Barachiel.”

  Barachiel stared at him coldly. “Why do you do this?”

  “You still don’t get it to do you?”

  Barachiel watched the chains swing closer. “I do not understand stupidity.”

  “You don’t understand bravery either. Or self sacrifice, or love. You would never put yourself in danger for another. You are a coward.”

  “A coward? I have power!”

  Furcas sneered. “Really? Subordinate to Michael, how much power can you have?”

  Barachiel scowled and flew backwards. “I have what I want. You have nothing but that pathetic, violent—”

  “Alcoholic, abusive, jerk.” Furcas finished and smiled. “He’s a foul-mouthed, scruffy pothead with a gambling streak. He’s insane, he’s sadistic, he’s far more intelligent than you can ever hope to be and he’s all that I want.”

  Barachiel shook. “No he is not! I know you desire more, I know! I have seen it! You cannot lie to me!”

  “Then take a good look! I’ll think it clearly for you.” He gazed straight into Barachiel’s eyes.

  Barachiel looked into Furcas’ thoughts. He paled; his mouth dropped open. “That is not possible.”

  “Apparently it is somehow.” Furcas sucked in cold, night air. “You live such a restricted life, Barachiel. All those rules. No fun at all.”

  “No.” Barachiel shook his head. “No, that is not possible. It is not! It is not!”

  Furcas leaned back and moonlight reflected across his body. “Hmm. Think it will be a girl or a boy? Can you tell that from your peeks?”

  Barachiel gagged. “No. No. No. Not you. Not you!”

  Furcas grinned. “You have nothing to offer me, Barachiel. You won’t get me to come back and join your brainless squad.”

  “You would not be like the rest of them!” Barachiel glared at him. “I had plans for you.”

  “Oh, I bet you did.” Furcas flew closer. “I don’t want, never wanted, and will never want to be a part of them.”

  Barachiel’s expression grew cold. “Then there is no reason for you to continue.” He dove at Furcas.

  Furcas shot into the air and flipped over Barachiel. He held on to the handles of the sickles as the chains shot forward. The metal wrapped around the base of Barachiel’s four wings. Furcas moved with a burst of speed and leapt on Barachiel’s back, using the sickles to hook onto the chains. Furcas grinned and wrenched a wing sending them into a dive. “Time to cut loose, Barachiel. Let’s go for a little ride.” Furcas summoned a current of air and blasted it into Barachiel’s wings. They rocketed downwards.

  Paimon watched them dive. The guardian angels around him flashed blindingly white and followed Barachiel, only understanding the command to protect their Archangel. They were not as fast as Furcas, they chased without catching them. Furcas stood on Barachiel’s back and controlled his wings, sending them into corkscrews, dives, steep climbs. All the while Barachiel cursed, unable to throw him off. Furcas flashed Paimon a smile before soaring into a cloudbank.

  Paimon grinned despite his fear for Furcas’ safety. “Brilliant, clever, bastard!” The sky around him emptied. The space opened between him, the weapon, and his brother. He shot into the sky at full speed.

  ***

  Belial raced between angels that had fallen to the ground. The snow around her was red and covered in corpses. She recovered the blade Uriel had taken from her. She leapt between ice elementals, taking the brunt of the attacks of fire and light that would have killed the Lilliam instantly. Her skin burnt, blistered, healed, and flaked away. Her armor came off in pieces. She grinned for more and searched out her next victim.

  Celeste
slogged through angels, finishing off the ones Belial brought down. She had lost much blood. Her movements were slowed, but she could not stop.

  Tokala shifted to a fox and landed on her back. “You are too weak!”

  Enraged, Celeste could not speak and barely recognized that he was an ally. Her all consuming need was the fight.

  Tokala barked and Varen came to his side. He pressed himself into Celeste. “She has lost too much blood. She needs to stop.”

  Celeste crawled towards the battle. Varen looked between the pair. He nodded at his brother and helped him grab her other arm. The princes ran towards the medics with her between them. She fought against them and screamed.

  Belial continued her fight. She looked up into the air. “I am bored! I want more!” She drew the attention of angels away from the wounded around her. They twisted their wings and sent fire racing towards her.

  Belial danced through the flame, unheeding the pain it caused. The angels focused their heat on her, not paying attention to anything else. Banshees flew up behind them and wailed inches from their heads. The angels passed out and fell towards the snow and Belial’s waiting blades. Belial grinned and cut them into bloody pieces. “Thanks!”

  Helion dropped to his twin sister’s side. “Belial, you are hurt.”

  Belial cleaned her blades off on the snow. “No Helion, my magpie, I am fine.”

  “You are limping.”

  “I will be fine, Helion, go!” She backed away from him and raised her blades, scanning the skies.

  Helion shook his head, but Whitney grabbed his hand. “She can make her own decisions. We have wounded to tend to.”

  Helion nodded reluctantly and kicked off the ground, his black and blue wings blended into the night sky.

  Belial watched her brother go and smiled. She might never say it, but she was proud of him.

  The flapping of wings filled the air behind her. She whirled and sliced through an angel, as another scored her chest with a blade. She summoned forth energy from her reserves and wailed, killing angels around her for dozens of yards. She sucked in air and regained her footing. Belial slashed the air. “More!”

  ***

  Andy’s assault forced Uriel to the snow-covered coast. The pair fought across icy rocks and seaweed. They hit the ocean and exchanged blows through frigid saltwater waves. The sounds of their weapons and curses bounced off sea cliffs and out over the water.

  Andy ran across the surface of the waves. He knocked Uriel into a rock wall, shattering the stone on impact.

  Uriel shrugged off the blow and falling rocks. He laughed. “Andrealphus, you cannot stand it! Your anger is a vibrant thing!”

  Andy grimaced and hit him, sending him up into sand and rocks.

  Uriel flipped to his feet unscathed. “Besides an amusement, what will this do, this fighting? You cannot save Belial.”

  “Save her? She is safe!” Andy trudged through the surf.

  Uriel wiped seawater from his face and slicked back his blonde hair. “Safe? She is already gone, Andrealphus. She never came back to you in Heaven. You lost her before the Fall.”

  “You lie! Helion would know!”

  “He does know, Andrealphus. Ask him. He has been keeping things from you. They both have.”

  “Shut up!”

  Uriel grinned in the darkness. “What is back there walking around in her skin is a cancer. Open her up and all you will find is me. She is my twin now, not Helion’s. She is my lover; she will not be yours despite how you might wish it to be so.”

  “Liar!”

  “She is ruined, Andrealphus! Face the truth!”

  Andy raised the morning star over his head. “If that were true you would no longer pursue her!”

  “I treasure garbage.” Uriel shrugged. “Her whole shape amuses me. And…even if a copy, she still whimpers just the same.”

  Andy slammed the morning star across Uriel’s face, launching him into the surf. He raced across the water and hit Uriel before he touched the sea. “You disgusting, vile, creature! She was innocence itself! How could you do that to her?”

  Uriel flipped end over end. “If you had given her up to me in the first place none of this would have happened!”

  “This is not my doing! Do not blame me for your foul nature!”

  “Really?” Uriel dodged, but Andy landed a blow to his stomach. He hit jagged rocks and grimaced as he picked himself up. “If you had let me be with her in the first place everything would have been fine! But you and Helion would not let me be with her. I wanted to touch her, to make her happy, but neither of you would let me! I had to intervene; it was not against her that I acted, but you. She loved me! Me, Andrealphus! But the both of you caused this to happen to her. You forced my hand! You forced me to change her!”

  “Fucking shut up!” The rock around Andrealphus crumbled into dust.

  Uriel backed away slowly. “If you had not staked your claim, if Helion had just separated from her, she would have come to me. Me! But you had to be there, you both had to interfere! How could I compete with an Archangel or her twin for her attention?” He snarled and opened his wings. “I had to do what I did. I had to! We were meant for each other!”

  “I said shut up!” Andy’s voice blasted Uriel into deeper water.

  Uriel lowered his hands. “Belial is better this way, Andrealphus. She can only be with me now, as it should have been from the beginning. She will only be happy with me. Deep down, she knows this, Andrealphus. She has not accepted it yet, but she knows.”

  “You are fucked up! She is happy with us!”

  “She is only happy when she causes pain, when she feeds it.” Uriel’s eyes burned blue in the darkness. “Andrealphus, she is sick with me. Accept this and let her go.”

  Andy shook his head. “She will get better.”

  “No.” Uriel looked at him sadly. “She is dying. Only I can cure her.” He touched his chest where her heart beat inside him. “You cannot save her. You must give her to me, Andrealphus.”

  “Fuck you!” Andy kicked him in the face. “I will never give her to you!”

  Uriel swung around. “Then she will die!”

  “You lie! I will not listen to this!”

  Uriel grinned. “You might not accept it now, Andrealphus, but my words will have their time. When she dies, know that it is on you, only you. You will be the one to blame for her death.”

  “Belial won’t die!” Andy’s voice carried across the water and cut the waves.

  “She will!” Uriel gestured at Andrealphus. “Ask her! Belial wants to, begged me to do it while I—”

  Andy kicked and punched in a blur. He launched Uriel for miles. He couldn’t listen to any more of these words. He whirled around and dashed back to the battle, tears blurring his sight.

  Uriel struck the ocean and hit a chunk of ice. He laughed into the night, his face as gleeful as a child’s.

  ***

  Paimon flew through the shield and entered into space. His flesh took on a greenish-blue glow. He exhaled against the cold and difference in pressure, nothing like what he remembered. He found it odd after so many eons as a physical creature. He shook himself out. He adjusted his jet pack and gave himself one burst to send him towards the machine. Gabriel was nowhere in sight.

  Paimon reached out and grabbed on to a jutting piece of firmament. He pulled himself up. He traced his eyes over the machine, figuring out how it worked by taking in its appearance. He nodded and touched the surface. “Interesting.”

  He ran over the top and skidded to a stop. Gabriel looked up from his controls and frowned. Neither brother moved.

  Paimon clapped his hands together. “So.”

  Gabriel looked right through him down to Earth. He scratched his fingers through his red hair and went back to work.

  Paimon gaped. “Hello, fuck-face. Long time no see! No hello for big brother?”

  Gabriel sighed. “What are they using against me?”

  Paimon chucked Barachiel’s mace
at Gabriel’s head. Gabriel saw the weapon, ducked, and watched it pass into space. He frowned and went back to looking at his machine.

  Paimon stomped over to Gabriel, grabbed him by the throat, and lifted him to eye height. “Hello!”

  Gabriel’s eyes focused on Paimon’s face. He blinked. “Who are you?”

  Paimon dropped Gabriel. “Who am I?”

  Gabriel lost sight of him as they stopped touching. He rubbed his neck. “Odd.”

  Paimon kicked his brother in the ribs. “You shit!” Gabriel rolled end over end and stared around him, trying to find the source of the noise and the pain. Paimon tackled him and got his hands around his neck. “You brat!”

  Gabriel grabbed at his hands. “Who are you?”

  “I am your brother! You know the one you kicked out of Heaven!”

  Gabriel frowned. “I do not have a brother.”

  Paimon’s face went red with barely controlled anger. He slammed Gabriel’s head into the machine. “Who did you attack then during the war? You tore my throat out!”

  Gabriel searched his memory. He shivered. “I—no.” He shook his head. “That does not make sense. I cannot remember.”

  Paimon hissed as the realization came over him. He punched Gabriel in the head. “You erased your fucking memories of me! You fucker! I taught you everything you know! You ungrateful shit!”

  Gabriel held up his hands to fend off his blows. “Why would I do that?”

  “Fuck if I know!” Paimon kicked him in the ribs. “Get out of my way.”

  Gabriel rolled to a stop and stared at Paimon confused. “You are not my brother.”

  Paimon ignored him and sat down at the controls. “Tell me how you work, baby.”

  Gabriel sat up. “What are you doing?”

  “What do you care? I’m not even a memory, pretend I don’t exist some more!”

  Gabriel frowned and walked over. “This is mine.”

  Paimon threw one of Gabriel’s tools at him. “Go away; I do not want to see you right now.”

  Gabriel sat down by him. “I cannot get through to the ground below. Are you here to fix that?”

  Paimon sighed. “Yeah kid, I’m here to fix that. You’re blocking my light.”