by Darcy Town
Belial flicked out her talons. “Now that we do not have the machine to worry about we can kill all of the humans right?” She grinned. “I want to go to the surface too!”
Dahlia cut the air with her hand. “That ends now. The animosity stops.” She looked past her Fallen to the Lilliam royalty. “No more killing, no more warring.”
Berith frowned. “But they are designed to kill Lilliam.”
Dahlia nodded. “I am well aware, but they are my body and blood and I am going to put a stop to that in my own fashion. This is not a vote. This is my decision and you will all obey it.”
One by one, they bowed their heads. Dahlia nodded. “We leave shortly.” She grabbed Andy and Belial and pulled them away from the group. She spoke quietly, “You two must watch over Paimon. Do not let him out of your sight for a second.”
Andy frowned. “You think he will try to kill himself?”
Dahlia nodded. “I know he will. If it were me in his place, I would do the same. Will you both promise me this?”
Belial nodded. “Yes.” She held back tears. “He is our family.”
Dahlia released them. “We should be back before the sun goes down above.”
Andy took a deep breath. “When do we…should we…have a service for Furcas today, soon?”
Dahlia stared at her hands searching for something there. “Midday tomorrow when the sun is at its zenith above this place. We shall hold it then.” She left them and walked back to the others.
Tracy and her husband Nodin joined the Lilliam on the Promenade. Tracy gaped at Dahlia. “I want to fly too! Why does Whitney get wings?”
Dahlia rolled her eyes. “Throw yourself off a cliff; I am sure you will fly long enough for someone to catch you before you hit the ground.”
Tracy rubbed her heavily pregnant abdomen. “I have not been lucky the last few hours.”
Nodin pointed at her knees and bare feet. “She has been stubbing her toes, and she tripped twice.”
Tracy pointed to her horns. “I got a chip!”
Dahlia put her hands to Tracy’s stomach. “I do not think that is unlucky, I think that is normal.”
“But I am not normal, I am lucky in everything,”
Dahlia smirked. “Your child is cancelling that out.”
Tracy leaned on her husband. “Our child is going to be bad luck?”
Dahlia shrugged. “Seems that way; perhaps anti-luck might be a better term.” She pointed. “I can change her.”
“Her? No.” Tracy rubbed her stomach. “Don’t change her. Anti-luck we can deal with.”
Whitney laughed. “Now you’ll have regular luck like the rest of us.”
Tracy glared and flipped her off. “Whatever, corpse.”
“Hey, I’m not undead anymore!”
Celeste jumped on Whitney’s back and pulled her to the ground. “When did you get these?”
Whitney gaped. “Ah! What’s on me?” She looked over her shoulder. “Oh, Celeste, you’ve become rather, uh, pushy since your change.”
Celeste shrugged. Tokala wrapped his arms around her waist and hauled her backwards. “Stop pawing your friends.”
Celeste punched him in the shoulder. “What do you know, fox-face?”
Tokala hoisted her up in the air. “What I know is that you are still suffering from blood loss and should I hold you upside down like so…” Celeste passed out. Tokala grinned. “You’ll pass out.”
A breeze swept the Promenade. Dahlia made room and Jacob appeared beside her. She swept him into a hug. “How are you doing? Marvelous work out there, by the way.”
“Thanks.” He smiled. “I am fine, I need to sleep for about a year, but I’m good.” Jacob leaned on Dahlia. “We did not lose a single person.”
“The angels lost many; your service was quite valuable.”
Whitney high-fived Jacob. “Way to be.”
Giggles and chirps announced the arrival of the rest of the sylphs. Dahlia looked past him as the girls materialized. The girls looked between Dahlia and Jacob, antsy. She let her friend go. “I think your ladies want you.”
Jacob sighed and looked over his shoulder. “I am tired. I just want to sleep. Don’t any of you sleep?”
Three girls reached out and pulled him into their midst. Jacob cast one look back at Dahlia. “They’re going to kill me!”
Tracy catcalled at him, “Let me know if your kids want to have play time with mine! How many are you expecting now?”
Five of the girls raised their hands. Jacob frowned. “What?” The girls blurred and hauled him into the air and out of sight.
***
Paimon slipped away from the gathering, letting his feet lead him along familiar streets. He did not need to see to find his way. He wrapped his iridescent jade-colored wings tight around his body like a blanket. He turned up a street and walked towards the house that he and Furcas had called home.
Belial followed behind him on the street. Andy trailed them across the rooftops.
Paimon stumbled and fell to his knees in the road. Belial wrapped her arms around him and helped him to his feet. “Going home?”
Paimon nodded.
Andy dropped down to his side. “We’ll get you there. Let’s go!”
Belial wrapped a metal wing around Paimon. “What are you going to do when you get there?”
Paimon struggled to speak, “I…I need to clean. Furcas wants it clean, everything was always clean.”
Andy nodded. “We can help you.”
Paimon stared at the air sightlessly. “I can do it alone.”
Belial pinched his arm. “Andy and I do not have anything else to do since Dahlia doesn’t need us. You have to let us help.”
Andy walked ahead of them. “And we can pick things out for the wake.”
Paimon stumbled. Belial snarled at Andy. Andy blushed and cupped his hand over his mouth. “I mean—”
“I know, Andy, and you’re right.” Paimon rubbed his eyes. “I need to find his best things.” He went limp.
Belial picked Paimon up and carried him the rest of the way. Andy held the front door open and the trio slipped inside Furcas’ house.
***
Dahlia gazed at her Archangels, she focused on not letting the loss of Furcas or Lucifer derail her. She clapped her hands. “Right. Berith and Helion, I would appreciate it if you would do as I say in this project, even if you do not agree. I do not wish to order you.”
Berith nodded.
Helion smiled. “Of course, Dahlia!”
“Good.” Dahlia grabbed Berith and Helion’s hands. “Those of Hell, I grant you access to teleport. Follow girls.” She vanished.
Apple and Whitney gaped. Whitney stared at the spot. “Grant access to teleport? Was that a teleport she just did? Are we supposed to know how to do that?”
Apple concentrated. “I don’t know! I guess so…”
Whitney closed her eyes. “Okay body, go where Dahlia went!” She disappeared.
Apple grinned. “Follow Whitney!” She winked out, leaving an awestruck crowd of Lilliam behind them.
Whitney and Apple appeared in the air thirty feet off the ground above the remnants of a human city. They hung for a moment before falling and crashing in an empty street. Shadows drifted over them. They looked up. Berith and Helion grinned down at them as they hovered in the air.
Apple pointed. “How come they can just float?”
Dahlia looked up from where she stood on a rooftop. “They are the Archangels of Energy. Physics do not apply to them.”
Apple brushed herself off. “Why?”
“They are forces of nature, not affected by the forces of nature. So gravity, among other things, has no hold. They can hover and do what they want, but we cannot, not in that arena at least. So if you want to fly, flap your wings and stop being lazy.”
Whitney sneezed, the dirt at her feet hardened into rock. She blinked. “Where are we?”
Apple rubbed a bruised elbow, the flesh beneath her fingertips healed
. “The old lands.” She stepped away from Whitney. Blood oozed up where she walked. Apple wrinkled her nose. “Gross. Dahlia?”
“What?”
“Why am I stepping in blood?”
Whitney added, “Dahlia, I am making things turn to stone!” She sneezed and the stone turned back to dirt. “Uh, scratch that.”
Dahlia looked down. “What did you think would happen when you became Archangels? You have power now.”
Apple looked at the guys. “They can throw fire and do stuff with sound waves and lightning. Can we do that?”
Dahlia grinned. “Are you an Archangel of light, sound, heat, or fire?”
Helion held up his hand. “I cannot do any of that.”
Dahlia ignored him. “Archangels are aspects of their Primangel, power granted to you and you alone. As Archangels of Hell you represent material realms of influence. Granting you the ability to manipulate, create, and destroy certain forms of matter.”
Whitney turned in a circle. “I can?”
“What are you creating at your feet?”
Whitney ducked down and looked. “Oh. I get things stoned.”
“Appleadris, you are flesh, bone, and blood.”
Apple wrinkled her nose. “What is Belial?”
Dahlia surveyed the ruined city. “Metal.”
“Why does she get to be metal?” Appleadris looked at her body. “What can I do with blood and muscle?”
Dahlia held her hand out. Red liquid curled out from her wrist and hovered over her palm. It elongated into a thin blade. She raised her hand and threw it at Apple.
Apple jumped back. The point pierced the earth. She picked up the blade. In her hands it changed to a sword. The blood morphed into a pick, a shield, throwing stars all sharp as razors. Apple grinned. “Nice.”
Dahlia smiled. “Think how nice it is when you can control it in others.”
Apple hooked a finger at Berith. He lost control of his body and sailed over. Apple grinned.
Berith grimaced. “I sense that this will be an unfair advantage in our relationship.”
Apple looked him over. “I doubt it will be to your detriment, not when I can get all of you to do as I wish anytime I want.” She pressed up against him and grabbed his crotch. “I think I quite like this.”
Berith wrapped his freed arms around her. “I never have had a problem in that regard before.”
Dahlia smiled. “Whitney, your gift is similar…” She eyed what Apple did. “Though not the same. You can manipulate glass, coral, clay, and stone. You can fossilize living matter in an instant or create objects from stone or glass, whatever you can imagine.”
Whitney stared at her hand. Armored plates appeared up to her elbow. “Weird.”
Helion swooped in the air. “Dahlia, a bunch of people are coming.”
“Let them, we are leaving anyways.”
Berith eyed the humans. “What exactly are we doing here, Dahlia?”
Dahlia spread her wings. “Surveying. Come on.” She jumped up into the air and soared high into the atmosphere. The others followed close behind. Dahlia headed north. She scanned the ground and dove towards what once had been Budapest. The Danube had jumped its banks and wound a new course through the city streets. Forests had sprouted through much of the city. The electricity had gone out, though some buildings glowed. Dahlia squinted. They were on fire. People roamed the streets confused and injured.
Dahlia looked at Berith. “This happened when Lucifer and I had sex?”
“Yes.”
“All over?”
“Most likely. Apple and I did not see.”
Apple grinned. “We were busy.”
Dahlia flew over Prague, Stuttgart, and made her way to Paris. Across the landscape, the scene was much the same. Forests, fields, and wetlands had reclaimed the land. Farms had gone feral, roads were cut in half or non-existent. Power lines and windmills no longer dotted the countryside. Blackouts were widespread in the places where the power was still on. Dahlia saw buildings sheared in two, cities reclaimed by meadows. People still populated the planet below, but Dahlia could only imagine there had been losses. She looked over at Apple. “World pop, go.”
Apple did a double take. “What?”
“Human population, give me a tally.”
“Uh, how do I do that?”
Dahlia soared towards London. “Concentrate, you are linked to them all now.”
Apple closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. “Oh.”
“Oh?”
“Three billion.”
Dahlia fell out of the sky. She landed in a haystack. “What?”
Apple landed beside her. “Three billion.”
“Holy shit!” Dahlia tore out of the material. She concentrated and double-checked Apple’s numbers. “Bad!”
Whitney dropped down beside her. “Wasn’t there like over six or seven billion recently?”
Dahlia was pale. “Yes.”
Apple stared at the horizon. “The count is dropping fast.”
“Shit.” Dahlia sighed. “Things are breaking; hospitals are no longer operational, reactor meltdowns, probably riots too. I can only imagine. Emergency measures time. Helion, go to the City. Get my kids and return here. Berith, stop the fires.”
He looked around. “What fires?”
“The ones all throughout China and the US. I can feel them, put them out now.”
Berith nodded and took off with Helion. Whitney and Apple stared at Dahlia. Apple looked around. “What are we doing?”
Dahlia frowned. “Apple, I need all the humans unconscious. They cannot harm each other if they are sleeping. Please do this.”
Apple rubbed her arms. “What if I screw up? Can’t you do that better than I can?”
Dahlia smiled slightly. “Creating an Archangel grants them narrowly focused powers and traits. In that specialized area, you are better equipped than I am and your focus is refined. So…”
“Got it.” Apple stared at her hands. “So how do I do—”
“Figure it out.”
Apple backed away and sat on a log. She squeezed her eyes shut and focused.
Dahlia looked at Whitney. “Fuck.”
Whitney plopped down on the ground next to her. The two friends stared at one another. Whitney blew out the breath she’d been holding in her chest. She wrung her hands.
Dahlia waved her hand. “Spit it out.”
Whitney looked at her feet. “Well, two things I guess. I am glad that I came to your birthday party. Otherwise, well…yeah I would probably not even be a stain on the earth. I know you would feel totally bad by the way, but with all that’s happened, I wouldn’t be surprised if—”
“Whitney?”
“Sorry.”
“What is number two?”
“I don’t know about you, but that would totally put me off of sex for awhile.”
Dahlia put her head in her hands. “At least we did not destroy a planet this time.”
“This time?”
Dahlia’s lips quirked up at the corners. “Lucifer and I have a history with bringing bad ends to the heavenly bodies. It is a long story.”
Whitney raised an eyebrow. “We have some time, spill it.”
***
Belial and Andy waited on the spiraling staircase in Furcas and Paimon’s house. They stood on either side of an open door. Their eyes met. Andy smiled at her. She looked away; a blush crept up her cheeks.
A crash rocked the room and dust blew out in a plume.
Belial dove in. “What happened?”
Paimon lay on his back in the ocean-themed suite. “I’m not really sure.”
Belial looked around. Chests lay on their sides, burst open. Clothes and trinkets dotted the floor. She cleared a spot and sat down next to him. She took his hand. “What are you looking for?”
Paimon sat up. “This coat.” He lifted his hand up and showed her a burgundy pirate coat. He brought it to his nose and inhaled. He coughed. “Fucking dust! There’s dust eve
rywhere!” He sniffled. “It’s so dirty! Everything is so dirty!” He threw the coat. “Everywhere!”
Belial grabbed his hand. “You like dirt.”
“He doesn’t. Furcas hates messes!” Paimon’s chin trembled. “I’m making more messes, it’s all I do.” Tears poured down his cheeks. “Fuck!”
“Why don’t you let us clean.”
“No!” Paimon jumped to his feet. “This is my job.” He stormed towards the door and tripped on an overturned chair. He kicked it into the wall. “Motherfucker!” He wiped his eyes.
Andy stepped into the room and grabbed hold of Paimon’s elbow. He led him towards the door. “Where to next?”
“Downstairs, I have to check out the bedroom. Let go, Andy! I can go by myself! I am not an invalid!” Paimon jumped down the winding staircase and pushed open the door to the master bedroom. He sniffed the air. Furcas’ soap and cologne lingered in the dark and quiet. Paimon forced himself to walk into the room.
Andy followed behind, trying to keep silent. He waited at the doorway and leaned his head on the doorframe. His eyes caught on a photograph of the pair at a beach. He tore his eyes away and kept them on Paimon.
Paimon scrunched his toes into the carpet. When he couldn’t stall anymore, his feet took him towards the dresser and closet. He opened the drawers and stared blindly at the clothes Furcas had neatly put away. He snatched up random shirts. He balled them up and sank to the floor with them. They smelled like Furcas.
Paimon pushed himself backwards until he reached the bed. He pulled pillows off the mattress. He wrapped the clothes around the pillows and hugged them to his face and chest. He inhaled and wept.
Paimon fell to his side and rested his head on the floor. His hand snaked out and he found one of his bottles under the bed. He bit the top off and chugged it as tears ran into the bottle.
Andy watched Paimon from the doorway; he said nothing. He looked up to Belial but she was not on the staircase. He frowned.
***
Belial crawled into the bathroom of the ocean room. Pain lanced through her chest. She closed the door quietly behind her and locked it. She climbed up the sink until she could make out her reflection. She allowed the pain to escape in a quiet cry.
She tore her shirt off and pushed herself up to standing. The skin over her ribcage was bruised and black; it looked like a tattoo of a spider between her breasts. Belial poked at the skin. The dark spot rippled under her touch and the spider moved away from her fingertip. She backed away from the mirror, her face a mask of horror.