Daystar

by Darcy Town

  “Why?”

  She looked at her wrists. “I can still feel what they are doing to him. We are linked.” Her halos formed into solid objects. Her wings turned to metal, glass, and blood. Armor formed over her plain clothes. “I have made my children safe and now nothing else keeps me here.”

  Whitney stood up. “Dahlia, we want to help you!”

  “Then you will help me by being a distraction. In this place you are strong; you have the shield to retreat to if hard pressed or injured.” She flicked her wrist and three black blades formed on the table. “These counter their weapons. Whitney, Belial, and Apple, you have no need of them. You can make your own.”

  Apple shook her head. “This is fucking foolish on your part!”

  Dahlia nodded. “Foolish perhaps, but as my Archons you three may not disobey. You will stay and distract the Archangels.”

  Belial hissed. “Dahlia!”

  Andy, Berith, and Helion glared at her. Andy jumped up on the table across from her. “Lucifer would not agree to this, he would not want this! As the eldest among those that are left I make the decision in his stead. We the Archangels of Heaven go with you.”

  The air around Dahlia grew dark. She looked at him with pitch-black eyes. “You will obey, Andrealphus. You will remain.”

  Andy staggered and dropped to his knees. “We are not yours to command.”

  “In this place, this union of Heaven and Hell, we share Archangels. In his stead I am in charge.”

  Andy had to agree. The compulsion she placed on her Archangels was just as valid upon Lucifer’s. He bowed his head. “You have my assent under duress.”

  Helion looked between the pair. “Why do you just not order Michael this way?”

  The darkness around Dahlia faded. “Michael is tied to Him, not Lucifer.” Her face softened. “I am sorry for this. I do not wish to take your choices away, but I cannot afford for you to throw your lives away either. This fight is mine, it is Lucifer’s, it is not between you and Him.”

  Dahlia looked at her Lilliam children. “Bolster their strength. Some of you, but not all are allowed to engage. The choice is up to you. Except Gaea, you may not leave the planet. The living things here are tied to your well-being. If you were to be caught or killed...”

  Gaea nodded. “I understand.”

  Dahlia helped Andy stand upright. “Andy, know that you are correct. Lucifer would absolutely not agree to this. Your heart is in the right place as it always is. Please continue to speak to its truth.” She hugged him. “I cannot afford to think with my heart right now, but that does not mean that everyone else should stop.”

  Dahlia jumped down to the floor and hugged her children and the angels in turn. “Give me half a day after I go to begin your distraction. The more Archangels you can draw in, the better.”

  Berith frowned. “Why half a day, what will be occurring then?”

  Dahlia folded her arms. “I am entering Heaven by way of Hell and I have not traversed my own realm in eons. I do not yet know where the entrance to Heaven is through it. This may take time for me to find.”

  Belial eyed her. “Then you will wait if you find it early, you will know when we begin our distraction?”

  “Of course.” Dahlia nodded. “I will feel you.”

  No one looked happy, but they were not so clearly distressed. Dahlia nodded to them. “Good hunting.” She enfolded her body with her wings and disappeared.

  ***

  Dahlia appeared at the lip of the still gaping crater, the entrance to Hell on Greenland. She stared into the dark murk. She spread her wings and they vibrated. The surface substance thinned until it became like water, then gas.

  Dahlia dove in. She was engulfed in warm darkness as if she had jumped into a hot tub. She listened and heard not a sound. As she expected, her realm was free of His presence. Dahlia smiled. She lit up in the darkness, oriented herself, and hung in the substance. If things had been different she would design her realm, but she left it formless for now.

  Light poured into Hell from the entrance behind her. She closed the crater and took back the teleportation abilities she had granted the Archangels. No reason to tempt anyone to follow her. She faced the darkness. Dark matter swirled around her, moving back and forth in waves of red and black. It reacted to her presence. It knew and welcomed her.

  Dahlia frowned, guilty. The others were going to be terribly angry with her. She did not need to spend time finding her away around Hell. There was no space, no distance. She could enter into Heaven at any point, but none of them would know she had lied, at least, not for a while.

  Dahlia pushed at the warm, velvety substance. She made a hole and enlarged it. She stepped through into Heaven, into the light. The portal closed behind her.

  ***

  Jegudiel covered his eyes with his arm. He pushed at Paimon with his right hand. “Turn it off now!”

  Paimon was in tears, laughing at Jegudiel’s plaintive voice. “This one not for you either? It has girls this time!”

  “That is not love!”

  Paimon cupped a hand to his ear and listened to the pants and cries of those onscreen. “Sounds like loving to me.”

  “Turn it off!” Jegudiel leapt for the remote and snatched it from Paimon. He turned off the TV and threw the remote across the room.

  Paimon grabbed Jegudiel’s ankles and sent him reeling into the wall. He rolled up to a sitting position. “I would think the lord of love would want to know about sex.”

  “That is an intimate thing between two people—”

  “Or three or four even. They might even have had five. I couldn’t tell, human voices tend to blend together.”

  Jegudiel glared. “Between two people that love each other very much. That.” He pointed to the dark TV. “Was not love. That was acting.”

  Paimon grinned triumphant. “Lesson two passed!”

  Jegudiel paused. “What?”

  Paimon held out a bottle of wine. “You can tell the difference, hell, you know that there should be a difference. Good boy. Sit. Stay.”

  Jegudiel took the jug of wine. He drained the bottle and grabbed another one. “I do not desire to watch any more of these…these dirty pictures.”

  Paimon shrugged. “Fine. They never did anything for me either.”

  Jegudiel stared at him. “Then why did you have them?”

  “I think they’re funny.”

  “They are disgusting!”

  Paimon opened a bottle of wine for himself. “Prude.”

  Jegudiel glared at Paimon. “You think stupid things are funny.”

  Paimon pointed straight in the air. “You need to drink more.”

  Jegudiel drained another bottle of wine and wiped his mouth. “What is the point?”

  “Why must there be a point to things? Can’t you just do things because they are there to do?”

  Jegudiel fell to his side. “Thing is…the thing is…” He stared at the ceiling. “What?”

  Paimon smirked. “I didn’t say anything.”

  “Yes. You said, uhm, you said.” Jegudiel rubbed his eyes. “Why are things getting blurry?”

  “You’re getting drunk.”

  “Oh.” Jegudiel drank more. “Okay.”

  Paimon crawled across the floor to find more alcohol. He threw the empties to the side. “Alcohol is a beautiful thing. It really brings people together.”

  “If they had this in Heaven people would not fight.” Jegudiel smiled. “No one would be able to see clearly.”

  “Exactly.” Paimon found a wine bottle.

  “Maybe I should bring it back!”

  “Exactly!”

  Jegudiel tried to sit up, failed, and fell back down. “I like it here.” He looked terrified, as if he were about to be struck by lightning. Nothing happened. He burst out laughing. “I want more of that dough.”

  “It is called bread, Jegudiel.”

  “I love bread.” Jegudiel ran to the table, smashed into it and fell on his ass. He smiled
happily as bread fell into his lap. He stuffed a breadstick in his mouth. “These things are huge!”

  Paimon snorted. “Yep.”

  Jegudiel looked at the door to the outside. “So, how do we know when I am free to go?”

  Paimon stood up. “I dunno.” He scratched his chin. “Let’s give it a go.”

  Jegudiel stood next to Paimon and stared at the door. “Give what a go?”

  Paimon grabbed Jegudiel’s hand. “Trust me?”

  “Absolutely not.”

  Paimon grinned. “Come on, let’s try it.”

  Jegudiel took a bite of bread. “Opening the door?”

  “Yeah, point me towards it.”

  “Okay.” The pair stared the door down. They ran together. They slammed into the door at the same time. Blue light threw them back into the opposite wall, knocking the wind out of them both. Plaster and dust fell on their heads.

  Paimon coughed and rubbed his head with both hands. “I don’t think it likes us.”

  Jegudiel nodded. “It did not have to throw us like that.”

  “A gentle push would have been okay by me.” Paimon rooted around until he found a bottle of gin. He drank and passed it to Jegudiel.

  Jegudiel smiled. “It did not have to hit us.”

  Paimon froze in shock, remembering. He burst into tears. “Fuck!”

  Jegudiel dropped the bottle. “What?”

  Paimon rubbed his blind eyes. “I hit Dahlia! How could I have done that? I’m a terrible person!” Paimon scratched at his scalp. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

  Jegudiel’s face was a mask of confusion. He patted Paimon’s back. “Uh, I do not know what to do right now. Tell me.”

  “I thought you knew about love!”

  Jegudiel blushed. “I was lying. I do not know a damn thing about anything.”

  Paimon pulled Jegudiel into a hug. “You are supposed to do this.” He sniffled. “I have to train my own comfort. This is so fucking sad.” Paimon lashed out and kicked at bottles near his feet. “I hate this!”

  Jegudiel breathed out. “Am I supposed to respond—”

  “No!” Paimon curled his legs up to his chest. “Sometimes people just need to be hugged.”

  Jegudiel hugged him tight. “I can do this.”

  Paimon’s eyes blurred with tears. “Furcas gave the best hugs. Did you know that?”

  Jegudiel shook his head and kept his mouth shut.

  “Before I fucked everything up with us he loved to just stay locked up arms and legs for hours. Usually it ended up turning into something else, but the hugging part was still genuine.” Paimon laughed through his tears. “He was such a big baby.”

  Paimon’s expression wavered between a frown and a smile as he struggled to keep from weeping. “I miss him.” The ache in his chest grew worse. “I miss him.” Paimon squeezed Jegudiel until the Archangel thought something would to break. He hugged Paimon back with the same intensity.

  Paimon swallowed back tears. He wiped his eyes and regained control. He pulled back and Jegudiel let him go. Paimon sniffled and punched Jegudiel in the shoulder. “Thanks.”

  Jegudiel punched him back. “You are welcome.”

  Paimon shook his hands out. “You’re learning.”

  “A bit.” Jegudiel smiled. “It is not so hard.”

  Paimon stared into space as his eyes dried. “Jegudiel, I was thinking.”

  “What?”

  “I hate to say this.” Paimon sighed.

  “Say what?”

  “I hate your fucking name; it sounds like someone spoke mid-vomit. Like it was going to be something cool like Jegulenal or something like that, but someone coughed and your name came out as-is: Jegudiel.” Paimon mimicked vomiting.

  Jegudiel frowned. “Uh, thanks.”

  Paimon smiled. “Can I rename you?”

  “What?”

  Paimon shoved Jegudiel to the floor and sat on him. “Let me rename you!”

  Jegudiel squirmed. “Uhm, I do not know how comfortable I am with that idea. I like my name.”

  “We’ll make a bet.”

  “A bet? On what?”

  Paimon scratched his head. “That I can do something better than you despite being blind.”

  Jegudiel frowned. “That could be anything. I am sure you could do any number of things better than me.”

  “I’ll give you an advantage, something so easy that you would have to be retarded not to get it right.” He nodded to himself.

  Jegudiel looked at him guardedly. “Okay. But I want to see the task before I officially say yes to this.”

  Paimon crawled in the direction of the TV. He clawed through books, tapes and contraptions, throwing some back at Jegudiel.

  Jegudiel picked up a book on Tantric sex and threw it away as soon as he saw the pictures. “Why do you have these dirty things?”

  “For my amusement.”

  “How is that book of—of sex positions amusing?”

  Paimon stopped in his search and shrugged. “Making up sex acts to see how many people try and do them is funny.”

  Jegudiel wrinkled his nose. “You’re sick.”

  “Every day of my life.” Paimon grinned and held up a gray box. “Found it!”

  Jegudiel scooted over. “What is it?”

  “Super Nintendo!” Paimon threw a handful of cartridges at Jegudiel. “Find the one with the cartoon cars on it.”

  “Cartoon? Cars?”

  Paimon frowned. “Oh, yeah, you’re a dumbass, right, forgot.” He scratched his head. “I guess I’ll put them in one at a time and listen for the music. I’m a genius.” He found the controllers by touch. Paimon reached up to the TV to turn it on. “Shortly your world is going to change, my innocent friend. Do you want to play and bet your name?”

  Jegudiel smiled. “You just called me friend.”

  “Is that a yes?”

  “Okay, yes!”

  Paimon rolled his eyes. “Sit down and prepare to lose.”

  Jegudiel watched the screen light up. “What are we doing?”

  “Racing go-karts.” Paimon found the right cartridge. He grinned. “I call Toad. In your face, bitch!”

  Jegudiel looked at the shinier, newer consoles that were next to the SNES. “Why aren’t we playing with those?”

  Paimon shrugged. “You’ll see, this game rocks. It’s the only one I have memorized.”

  “You have it memorized?”

  Paimon grinned. “I could play this blindfolded. I think I shall call you Princess Peach!”

  ***

  Lucifer’s pain was excruciating, never-ending, cyclical. He was pulled between agony and memory, though even there, it was a bittersweet experience. He hoped that he would never see Dahlia again, that she would never make the mistake of coming here.

  Light fractured his prison.

  Warmth replaced freezing cold and scorching fire. His hands were unbound, his feet freed. The faceplate lifted away, his dried blood peeled off with it. Lucifer gasped and blinked against the brightness. Involuntary tears blurred his vision.

  Cool hands touched his face as the plates of metal came away from his back. Something hard was placed around his neck, a collar. Lucifer’s vision resolved itself. Raphael and Gabriel leaned over him. Michael stood behind them, a frown carved into his face.

  Gabriel’s face was emotionless as he fixed the collar around Lucifer’s neck. Raphael ran his hands across Lucifer’s skin healing and soothing. Lucifer looked past them. “Is she here?”

  Raphael nodded once. “She has come.”

  Lucifer sucked in air to scream, to warn her. The collar sensed his intent and strangled the words out of him. He scratched at the metal but it would not come away. The collar reacted to his physical interaction and sucked the strength from his limbs until he was deadweight on the floor, unable to lift even a finger. The collar glowed with his energy.

  Gabriel nodded at the result. “It works.” His eyes barely met Lucifer’s. “It—it works.” He backed away, keeping his
eyes on the ground.

  Raphael leaned forward and touched Lucifer’s back, healing more wounds. His lips brushed Lucifer’s ear. “Lucifer—”

  “Get away from me!”

  Raphael pushed him to the floor. “Lucifer, listen—”

  “I said get away!” The words came out in a garble as the collar choked him.

  Raphael shut his mouth. He hooked an arm around Lucifer’s waist and pulled him upright.

  Lucifer was too feeble to do anything about it. His eyes darted about, getting used to the light. He noticed the sound was gone, the singing stopped. Lucifer blinked and she appeared. His Dahlia four-winged and haloed, not whole, but more than he had glimpsed in some time. She wept were she stood. Dread settled over his limbs.

  Dahlia turned to him. “Lucifer.”

  Lucifer reached out to her, unable to say anything. She looked at him once more, sadly, and then turned away. “Your word that he is to remain healed and released.”

  YOU HAVE IT. HE WILL BE RESTORED AND FREE FROM THE PRISON.

  “You will not strike my children or my planet.”

  YOU ASK MUCH WHEN YOU ARE IN MY REALM, AT MY MERCY.

  Dahlia dropped to one knee. “I am begging you to exercise that mercy. You have us both now. You have won.”

  The fire roiled and laughed.

  I DO. FINE, THIS THING I ALSO PROMISE. AS LONG AS YOU REMAIN MINE, YOUR PITIFUL PLANET REMAINS UNMOLESTED AND LUCIFER WILL REMAIN FREE.

  She bowed her head. “Thank you.”

  NOW, GIVE YOURSELF OVER.

  Lucifer clawed at the air, his entire being straining to reach her, to break free. The fire saw this and laughed. SPEAK, LUCIFER.

  The collar’s compulsion was broken. “Dahlia! This is a trick! He seeks to take your memories in trade!”

  Dahlia looked at him sadly. “I know what He wishes, Lucifer.”

  Lucifer ran towards her. He was cut short by the restraining hands of Raphael and Selaphiel, both were rigid, tense. He was pushed to his knees. “Do not do this. Flee!”

  Dahlia shook her head. Tears poured down her cheeks. “I can do nothing else but this.”

  I TOLD YOU, LUCIFER. HER WEAKNESS IS YOU. SHE CANNOT STAND TO SEE YOU HURT AND WILL TRADE HERSELF JUST FOR YOU TO BE OUT OF PAIN. I WILL STAND BY MY WORD. YOU WILL NO LONGER BE IMPRISONED AND YOU WILL NO LONGER BE WRACKED WITH AGONY. I ALLOW YOU BOTH MUCH WHEN I SHOULD ALLOW YOU NOTHING.