by Darcy Town
Andy arrived with Apple and Belial in tow. Andy shook his head. “Apple and Belial are switching you spots. Paimon, Dahlia needs a new sun built here once Earth is swallowed by Hell.”
“Oh.” Paimon stuffed his hands in his pant pockets. “She knows I can’t do that by myself right? I am short a set of wings and I believe the title of Light Bringer is taken.”
Berith nodded. “She’s aware. We have two options. Either Lucifer comes back and does it for us, not likely right now, or we get Gabriel to help you.”
Paimon made a face. “Why would he help me?”
Andy shrugged. “We’re supposed to offer him whatever he needs or wants to get him on our side.”
Paimon’s lips twitched up in a smile. “That shit.” He looked at Furcas. “Devious bastard.”
Furcas smiled. “Not such a twat anymore?”
“No he still is, but…” Paimon shook his head. “Forcing us to need his help, that’s something I would have done.”
Andy smirked. “Wouldn’t he just switch sides if that was the case?”
Paimon laughed. “What fun would that be? He wants to be needed.” He sighed. “Needed by me of all people as well.”
Belial waved them off. “I think what you guys need is to get out of the way now, Dahlia is ready to close.”
Andy leaned over her sharp bits and kissed her on the lips. “Be safe.”
Berith crushed Apple to him. “Boy or girl, do you know?”
Apple kissed his cheek. “Boy and very healthy.”
Berith’s breath hitched. “Good and you?”
Apple grinned. “I am healthy of course. Go play with the boys and make bombs.” She kissed him on the lips. “We’ll be fine.” She pushed him away from her.
Furcas turned to the girls and saluted. “Good hunting. If you see a girl that looks like a mini Dahlia but with rows of razor teeth, cut her head off and save it for us. She’s a nasty piece of work, can teleport all over the place. We lost her somewhere.” He collected his gemmed angels and followed Berith and Andy.
Paimon bowed and trailed Furcas. “We’re serious about that head.”
Dahlia watched Paimon, Furcas, Berith, and Andy split apart from the planet and move far enough out of the way that they were no longer in her path. A few angels flew at her, but she simply wished them out of existence and they disappeared. Dahlia felt the growing heat and light from behind her. She could wait no longer.
Dahlia dove into the portal. The area between Hell and space shifted. She sank into the darkness and fused with her realm. The portal stretched, shaped like her wings. Dahlia glimpsed into her world and saw the decorations Raphael had put up. Selaphiel glowed, giving his energy to the realm of matter to keep it lit. He looked at her, recognizing Raphael in her eyes. Dahlia gave him a quick smile.
Dahlia faced Earth. She flapped her wings and enclosed them around the planet. She covered over the area entirely, throwing it into deep maroon gloom. She closed her eyes and the portal disappeared from space as she pulled herself, the planet, and everything in-between into Hell.
Berith, Furcas, Paimon, and Andy stared at the empty space where nothing remained. The heat from the supernova hit them. Berith, Andy, and Paimon lit up brilliantly bright. Furcas and his angels felt vaguely nauseous.
Paimon grinned and cracked his knuckles. “All right, bomb time!” He waved his hands around in the heat. “Come to me lovely raw materials!”
Berith let Azrael down gently. “We are playing again.”
Azrael grinned. “With whom, Berith!”
Andy smiled and pointed to the legions of angels that had not been caught between Dahlia and the Earth when the portal closed. The space around them glowed bright with their presence. “Them.”
Furcas grouped into a formation with his gemmed angels. He looked at Andy. “We’ll be the last line of defense around Paimon.”
Andy nodded and smirked at Berith. “Free for all?”
Berith looked at his swords and younger brother. “I suppose, we’ll leave something for you.”
***
Apple and Belial flew through the gloom. Between them and the planet, the space was transparent, but beyond that was a wall of fluid substance that curved around them in a dark shell.
Apple grouped her blood angels around her. She searched for the main light source and gaped. “Giant light bulb?”
Belial looked up and grinned. “Selaphiel is in it! Where did Dahlia go?”
“Don’t see her.” Apple shook her head as Raphael’s neon ice and resin angels came to her side. Their webbed oily wings were made up of the same hellish ooze that encapsulated this place.
Whitney’s stone angels joined Belial. Belial cartwheeled away. “I will take the other side of the planet. Whistle if you need help.” She flew off. Chains and boulders preceded her, smashing through wailers and fire breathers.
Apple rubbed her abdomen and put her back to the planet. There were countless shockers waiting for her with lightning in their wings. Apple grinned and clawed at the air with her hands. Hundreds of shockers turned on their own and lit up the sky.
***
Dahlia no longer had a form or body; she was Hell. Her force resided at her long empty throne, a twisting pillar of black flame. From it, she focused on keeping Hell from consuming the little planet and the beings around it.
She was vaguely aware of Selaphiel providing light to the whole area. She was conscious of the life forms here and the dead. The shield around the planet broke apart as human souls were unfettered. Her energy could no longer provide a shield in a place that was all made up of that energy.
Without the shield, Ouroboros struggled to keep air on the planet. Dahlia shifted her thoughts and adjusted gravity to keep the oxygen and other vital elements from separating and reverting to dark matter.
Hell ultimately wanted to be one thing, solid, one consciousness. Only her Archangels or those without a physical substance, creatures of Heaven or the souls of the dead, could remain themselves without her to aid them. They did not have components to melt into here. But the others were in constant threat from her realm.
Dahlia let go of her awareness of the battles Belial and Apple engaged in. She saw Gabriel and Gaea and she let that go too. She emptied herself of emotions that would ensnare her thoughts. She could not afford to think like that, she did not have the energy. Dahlia opened her consciousness and saw all and nothing in Hell. She was the fire and the fire was in everything.
***
THE SUN HAS BEEN BROKEN.
Whitney kept her face calm. Michael squeezed her hand. She looked down as his eyes returned to blue. She touched his forehead. “We have unpleasant company.”
Michael’s eyes flicked up. He kept his face blank. “I see.”
MICHAEL, YOUR BROTHER IS WEAKENED AND NEEDS TO BE FINISHED OFF. GO AND—
A black flame took residence next to the throne of white.
WHAT IS THAT? His fire moved away from them and stormed towards the throne.
Whitney looked to Michael. “Did you find what you needed?”
Michael sat up and tucked his knees to his chest. “I find I have made cause for more questions.”
WHAT ARE YOU?
The black light danced on a throne of its own. “Do you not recognize me?” Dahlia’s voice rang through the air.
Whitney grinned. “Dahlia!”
GET OUT OF MY REALM! YOU WERE BANISHED!
The black flame swirled into the air. “I am not in your realm, but I reside in my throne in Hell. I know now how you peeked in my realm without being invited there. An interesting device these thrones are. It is too bad their purpose was forgotten and then misused by you for deceit.”
GET OUT!
“You cannot send me out of here. Not from this one place our connection point.”
The golden fire threw itself at the black, but they were as oil and water, separate, unable to touch one another. Michael watched the duel with curiosity. “I believe my time is quite n
ear.” He looked to Whitney and squeezed her hand once. “So I wanted to thank you first.”
Whitney gaped. “But you said you only had more questions! You did not get what you seek?”
“No, I got what I sought.” He appeared calm. “I know my purpose now, which was all I needed, my reason, my truth.” He sighed. “All other truths are less important than the one you hold for yourself.”
Whitney nodded. “So now what?”
“I wait. Will you wait with me?”
“Of course.” She sat beside him and they stared at the two flames.
***
Bean dropped to the ground and held her sides. She still felt Jegudiel’s touch on her body. When she closed her eyes, she could see his face. A cry escaped her lips and pain spread across her skin. Bean wiped her eyes. Three-inch long opal spines pierced her flesh from the inside out and stood on end across her skin. Bean stared at the hair-thin needles. She felt better as if they had drawn the pain out of her. A breeze passed by and the quills bent along with it.
The sky above lost its light. Bean stared into the air as Hell enveloped the planet. She gaped at the giant light bulb in the sky; it cast the world in a blue glow. The replacement stars were five pointed, a cutout moon shared space with them. Raphael had even created a few paper comets. The moon had a smiley face drawn on it. Bean managed to smile.
Her smile faltered as the red light shield around the planet dissolved. Heaven’s angels swarmed the skies, able to invade without being vaporized. Bean whipped her head around to gaze at Eden. Seven of the Lilliam firstborn dove for it as they concentrated their powers there. Ra and Ifrit came last. The earth rumbled. Titan shifted metal and encased the city in a shell, black and opaque, impervious to attacks. The city sank into the ground and Leviathan moved water over the surface. Bean felt moderately better, then remembered she was on the outside alone. She made a face. “Well that’s just great.”
The only light she had now came from Selaphiel in his light bulb. The air thinned, but nearly instantly stabilized. Luminous splashes of color reflected on the ground around her. Bean gazed into the sky. Apple battled with Hell’s angels by her side, fighting just outside the atmosphere. They covered the air as far as she could see.
Pockets of Heaven’s angels slipped through and raced for the planet. A green streak dropped straight down ahead of them. Bean recognized Gaea and Gabriel. A spiral of Heaven and Hell’s angels followed them. She frowned. They were not just followed; they were being attacked by both sides. Bean’s wings blurred. She took to the air.
***
Gabriel burned with green flames and slashed at angels that came near. He flew nearly naked. Lightning shot him in the foot, fire brushed his wings. Stone angels threw spears. Metal angels lashed at him with barbed wire. Ice and oil angels lobbed sticky tar nets and exploding snowballs.
Gabriel kept his expression neutral, trying to shut out the pain. He wrapped his arms around Gaea as he raced to outpace those that followed. He searched the ground, but there was no safe haven for them. He dove towards the west.
Gaea clutched at him. “Gabriel.”
Gabriel looked into her red eyes. “Yes, Gaea?”
“I cannot lose my form here. I have tried, but I cannot disappear into life-force to hide from the angels.”
Gabriel took a slash across the back. He closed his eyes. “I believed that might happen to you here. It is a side effect of being in Hell. It is why I stay with you now instead of leaving you to hide.”
“How long must we do this for?”
Gabriel shook his head. “However long it takes to keep you safe.”
A sound wave hit him in the small of the back, cracking his spine and breaking one of his wings. Gabriel veered and dipped, engaging in maneuvers to shake his followers off. A few did break off to battle each other, but the majority trailed them.
A wailer hit them at their right side. The reverberation brushed across Gaea with no ill results. Gabriel’s ribs broke, his right shoulder dislocated under the strain. Gabriel turned his head away from the noise. Blood ran out of his ear. Gaea threw off a gauntlet and touched his skin, lending him strength.
Gabriel’s eyes shot open. “Do not. You endanger yourself and the living things when you waste your energy.”
A maelstrom of fire and lightning chased them through the sky. Gabriel plunged into icy clouds to staunch the flames. He dove to the left. Breathers grabbed on to his legs and feet. Gabriel kicked, but could shake the angels off. He burst out of the cloudbank wincing as his skin burned.
Quills shot up from below. Angels jerked and dropped back. Bean flew past Gabriel and Gaea in a blur of purple. She flicked her wrists and opalescent needles blanketed the sky, piercing the wailers and breathers. They exploded with pink flames. Bean dove away and dropped to Gabriel’s side.
Gabriel spared her a glance. “Paimon and Furcas’ conglomerate creature, we appreciate the help.”
Gaea scowled. “That is not a nice thing to call her, Gabriel.”
Gabriel blinked. “But it is accurate is it not?”
Bean shook her head. “He does not know better. Hello, Uncle Gabe.”
Gabriel nodded. “Niece Bean.”
Bean flipped over on her back and kicked her legs towards the sky, sending more of her crystalline spines at their followers. She stared at her limbs and quills reformed on the surface of her skin, growing out of her as crystals would.
Gaea looked her over. “Perhaps porcupine might be a better name now.”
Bean shook her head. “Porcupine’s cannot shoot their quills, Gaea.”
Gabriel nodded. “They also do not create quills that explode like time bombs.”
Gaea looked between the two. “I am aware, never mind.”
Fire blasted the trio. Gabriel grabbed Bean and placed her under him. He spread his greenish wings and covered them both.
The smell of melting feathers filled the air. Bean pulled her hands out of Gabriel’s grip. “I am here to defend you, not the other way around.” She pushed him away and flicked her hands, shooting more spines as they flew through a cloud.
A hand wrapped around Bean’s wrist. Ariel pulled her into a hug and purred. “Hello, purple thing.”
Gabriel recognized her voice and banked towards them. “Let her go, Ariel!”
Ariel snapped her teeth at him. “Why?”
Bean punched Ariel in the chest and tumbled through the air. She clawed at her face. “I’m not afraid of you anymore.”
“I will fix that.” Ariel smiled at her, showing rows of teeth. She teleported away.
Bean spun in a circle, launching spines in nearly every direction. “Where did she go?”
Gabriel ducked. “She is near. Do not drop your guard.”
They emerged out of the cloud together and flew headlong into a flock of waiting wailers. The angels blasted them with a wall of sound. Bean’s eardrums burst. She covered her eyes and curled into a ball. The sound ripped across her and bent her wings backwards, breaking them instantly. Pain and a concussion knocked her out. Her world went dark and she plunged towards the earth.
Gabriel dove for Bean.
Ariel swooped in and slashed at Gabriel sending him back. She screeched. “Traitor!”
Gabriel dove away from her on two broken wings. Gaea blasted Ariel with green fire.
Ariel snarled and grabbed at Bean’s body, laughing at Gabriel as she did. Gabriel rounded on her. Ariel grinned and teleported away with Bean in her arms.
The wailers let loose another blast of sound, knocking Gabriel unconscious. Gaea struggled to open her own wings to stall their fall, but Gabriel’s arms were still locked around her. Gaea screamed in frustration as they plummeted.
Helion caught her ankle. “Hold on to him, Gaea!”
Gaea wrapped her arms around Gabriel.
Jegudiel rocketed past them. He shot golden light at the wailers. They were engulfed and vaporized. He flipped backwards and circled the trio. “We need to get you to ground, Gae
a.”
Gabriel blinked and opened his eyes, conscious again. He kicked his feet out of Helion’s grip. “I am fine.”
Helion let him go. “What are you doing with her?” The two eyed one another.
Gabriel’s eyes flicked up. “We do not have time for this.” Angels dove for them.
Helion rounded on the breathers. “You cannot see us anymore.” The angels broke formation, confused. He looked to Gabriel. “This gives us some time. Now what are you doing with her?”
Gabriel hugged Gaea to him. “Keeping her alive.”
Jegudiel sniffed them and smiled, glowing even brighter in their presence. “They’re fine, Helion. He won’t hurt her. He loves her.”
Gabriel jolted and his copper hair stood on end. He did not meet Gaea’s eyes, but his grip on her tightened. Gaea blushed forest green.
Helion eyed Jegudiel. “Fine. Head towards the city.”
Gabriel frowned. “How does that help?”
Jegudiel pointed in the direction it would be. “Titan has shielded the structure and his siblings to keep it safe. No angel can get in, but they will let their sister in.”
Gaea peeked past Gabriel’s arms. “But what are you doing out here?”
Jegudiel frowned. “Looking for Bean. Titan said she did not make it to Eden.”
Gabriel shook his head. “Ariel took her.”
Helion swore. “Where?”
Gaea frowned. “We do not know.”
Jegudiel paled. “Heaven as she did with Whitney?”
Gabriel did not look sure. “She could have.”
Jegudiel clutched at his arms. “They’ll kill her there or worse! I’ll go. I can still get there.”
“No! You will not be safe.” Helion pointed to Gabriel. “I cannot break the compulsion myself. You know what I need.”
Gabriel nodded. “Yes.”
Helion sighed. “Then the next thing you say cannot be a lie.”
Gabriel smiled as the air around him shimmered. “Heaven is not locked to you, you are under no compulsion to stay, and He cannot force your hand, Helion.”
Helion smiled as he pulsed once with light. “I will go get Bean and Whitney. Jegudiel, escort them to Eden.” He touched his forehead and disappeared.