Silence hung in the air between the two angels. Even as Lady Barachiel and three of Abigail’s fellow trainees bustled into the room after her. All had questions on their lips, but answers would be hard to find. As the silence stretched into the minutes the Archangel saw the look in Rakul’s eyes and ushered the others out before closing the door, leaving the two cousins to speak in private. She already knew the situation they would discuss, despite the young woman’s attempts at being discreet her dealings and dalliances have been the talk of her personal reports to Heaven. They were even mentioned in a few entries of her comrades.
Though the biggest leads came from the Cherub guards themselves. While they do not speak, they still keep track of things and send them to where they are needed. The Demon’s boldness wore on even their deep patience so they made a note of keeping their eyes out for him even if he didn’t see them. The Archangels spoke to the Father for guidance, but all He said was let them be. So they did, they knew to trust in Him so they would simply watch and wait, though doing so hurt both the Leader of the Guardian Angels and Rakul watching young Abigail run headfirst down the quickest path towards becoming a Fallen. All to help some soul stealing Demon become Uplifted. Something no one on either side could say would be a good thing.
The Politics of Balance alone could throw everything into chaos. Then comes the questions of the finality of the sides themselves. The Morningstar and his minions were examples of what happens when you put yourself before The Plan. If it became common knowledge that Demons and Angels could easily interact and change their sides the whole Balance of the Cosmos will fall apart. Still the Father’s word is law and he never let those down who believed in him.
Once the Archangel left, most of the tension left with her. Though not all, the pair shared a smile before Rakul motioned for his cousin to join him on the sofa. Realizing the time had come for reality to catch up with her fantasy she sat down her hands quivering a little, but also a wave of relief washed through her. She had gotten better at her deceits and she has embraced the gray waves of the human plane in as many ways as she could, but deep down she was still an Angel...a being of pure light and truth. She was born into Grace and couldn’t easily walk away from it, no matter how much fun it has been. It had been laying heavily on her this whole time, and now she could confess.
But while she was steeling her mind to answer all the questions he was bound to ask, but much to her surprise. He spoke first, and what he spoke surprised her even more. “So dear cousin...you’ve fallen in love with a Demon too huh?”
Abigail’s mouth hung open with her half asked question, but soon she managed to stutter out a simple. “W-what?”
The Justice chuckled lightly standing up from the leather couch and moved towards a decanter rack pushed up against the wall by the door and poured out two glasses of crystal clear water bringing them both back to the couch. “Unfortunately not even Angels are free from the wants of the heart.” He chuckled handing one of the glasses to the girl before he sat back down besides her cradling his own. “Maybe we’re even more susceptible to them because our hearts are born pure and stay pure so we have less...natural defenses against them like the Humans.” With a sad smile he sipped his water.
Sipping her water Abigail could see all her questions and words just falling to pieces all around her. She thought her case was unique, and part of her felt...robbed cone she found out it wasn’t. But another part of her was glad it wasn’t...and looking at Rakul and where he is, where he has been, what he’s accomplished. It proved that there was hope after all this, it also put his long time away from Heaven into a new perspective. Were those long missions some kind of exile for punishment?
The woman sighed lightly looking down into her glass. “Yes...I have fallen in love with a Demon. The Crossroad’s Demon, Liminal...that I met at Lord Dravenmonth’s party this past March. It started out simple enough, that foolhardy human lord conned us both into dancing together. It felt wrong...but very right at the same time.”
Rakul’s smile turned sad, but he nodded his head in understanding. “So right you couldn’t even imagine it being wrong in the first place?” The girl nodded silently, taking another small sip of water. “So...who was your Demon?” She then asked quietly the words coming out small and almost afraid sounding.
The Justice hmmed leaning forward in thought. “Now there’s a name I haven’t thought of in a few millennia. She was Naamah, a Seducer of all things. I met her while I was patrolling the holy lands around Nazareth.”
Feeling more at ease Abigail relaxed leaning back a little into the couch mulling over his words following the only line of questioning she could come up with. “So how did you two meet? I don’t picture many grand balls with dancing around Nazareth a few millennia ago.”
Rakul laughed lightly. “We were trapped in a cave. A sandstorm had rushed down upon us. One even I couldn’t fly through. And all Demon can do is become smoke to travel fast, but she’d be wholly at the mercy of the sandstorm if she did that and might’ve wound up in the heart of a Mosque or the like. And holy ground no matter the denomination is a bad place for Demons to wind up. The first day or so things were quite...tense, she expected me to smite her. Me expecting her to try and seduce me and steal my soul.”
Abigail smiled lightly easily picturing such a situation. “What stayed your hand? I always thought Justices were quick at judgement and punishment?”
The tall man shrugged. “I hadn’t caught her in the act of anything sinful. Even back then St. Raguel frowned upon wholesale slaughter without just cause. And simply being a Demoness isn’t a just cause. But when the storm passed we couldn’t stop thinking about each other it was as if that storm moved from the outside to inside of us. We kept ourselves apart for as long as we could...but Fate and the Father moves in very mysterious ways. We crossed paths a few times after that, we didn’t have to run around and hide like you and Liminal. But the times did dictate a certain level of secrecy, the old fruit from the forbidden tree though made every second we spent together like no other.” Taking another sip of water he allowed the faintest smile to cross his lips as he thought back on thoughts he had locked far away.
Reflecting his smile Abigail nodded. “That is how I feel with Liminal, like we’re the only ones in the whole world...just us….”
“And your love.” Rakul finished looking at her, still smiling.
The cousins shared a look then drinked their glasses of water in silence, each rolling their own thoughts around their heads. Abigail’s heart felt many times lighter for finally saying it out in the open what she’d kept bottled up inside, even her secret journals hadn’t given her such relief. But one question burned inside her mind. “Did you find out anything about Uplifted Demons?”
The Justice nodded slowly, blowing a hard breath out from between his lips. “Yes, but you aren’t going to like it. At least I didn’t when I had to learn it for the first time.”
Shock once again crossed Abigail’s face. “Naamah wanted to be Uplifted?”
Rakul nodded slowly. “Yes, our love had reached that point as well. At least I thought it had.”
Quirking her eyebrow, the girl’s curiosity and shock both grew. “You thought?”
Sadness returned to his eyes.
“Yes, the price to become Uplifted was too high for her. And we parted ways a couple of years later.”
Shock took over her curiosity, her hand coming up to her mouth to try and keep her lipe from quavering. “And what….what was that price dear cousin?”
He sighed deeply, finishing his cup of water before responding. “To be Uplifted...a Demon must be burned clean by the flames of Heaven to see everything in a new light. He must be slain...by the flames of Heaven. An Angel...must kill the Demon with a sword of Heaven. But not just any Angel though, one that loves that Demon. So...you must kill Liminal, and after that...he won’t know you or what either of you had. He’ll be Human, but an edge of Darkness will always be around him so you will be able to recognize him.”
Once more silence hung heavy in the library that night. But this one showed no sign of abating, and soon Abigail excused herself vanishing quickly upstairs to her quarters. Rakul understood her departure and told the anxiously waiting Archangel exactly what was discussed. Barachiel knew most of it already, but hearing the confirmation was the last piece she needed. She was due a report to Heaven itself as well as her elder brothers Raguel and Micheal. Whether she did what she needed to do or not, both the Justices and Warriors would need to be ready to deal with the fallout. If she failed Micheal would need to deal with a rogue demon with no ties or way back to Hell since Dravenmonth was beyond closing an open ended deal.
If she did do it, Raguel would need to deal with an Angel that has killed someone in cold blood. Demon or not, to save him or not, it wouldn’t matter until she was sat down before The Judges and the Father to be sentenced. No one thought she would suffer greatly for her actions. She genuinely wanted to save the Demon Liminal’s soul, blinded by love or not her motives were genuine and indirectly condoned by the Father’s own words. All this would be taken into consideration...but that would be a problem for another night. And as Lady Barachiel came to check on the girl herself the sounds of choked sobbing answered any question she could wish to ask. A tear trickled down her cheek and her heart cried along with the girl, her most promising student also turned out to be her most problematic. But an old saying comes to mind, the most beautiful flowers grow in the greatest adversity.
Abigail was her beautiful flower, and this...this was the greatest adversity the Archangel could imagine any Angel to go through.
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