Chapter Text
The floating screen hummed gently before Sera as she stared at it without absorbing a word, the pale blue light illuminating the dark bags under her eyes. She bowed her head away from the light, lengthening the shadows on her face, as she glanced down at her phone.
Flicking through her missed notifications, a small smile graced Sera’s lips as she clicked on the pastel yellow and pink thumbnail. It was from a few minutes ago. It was a selfie of Emily in a dessert parlor. She often had to explain to new winners about how people weren’t lactose intolerant in Heaven, and that they could have all the ice-cream they wanted.
For this brief moment, Sera forgot what was happening today. She could forget what she had ordered Adam to commit. She could just focus only on her Emily and the winners of Heaven. That which she needed to protect.
This didn’t last long.
A careless glance at the clock in the top of the screen brought it back. There were only seven more minutes until Adam and his army returned having fulfilled their divine duty of preventing Hell from rising against Heaven. This preemptive strike was a justified necessity.
This move was justified, Sera thought.
This move must be justified, Sera insisted.
Please let this move be justified, Sera prayed.
Placing her phone face down with one hand and turning off the screen with the other, Sera let the quiet hang in the air. The gentle shadows cast by the setting sun behind her were promptly banished by the golden portal that suddenly appeared in her office.
Snapping out of her rumination, Sera watched as Adam and his lieutenant marched into her office carrying with them the stench of blood, smoke and brimstone. Sera’s eyes widened at the third figure dragged behind them.
A bleeding exorcist, wings shorn, halo missing and gaping eye-socket.
The golden blood that poured from her stained the floor.
Sera could hear her heart pounding in her ears as she rushed towards the trio. As the portal to Hell closed, she knelt down beside the fallen exorcist staring in disbelief at the wounds.
The faint buzz of a phone in the background was completely ignored.
“What happened?” She exclaimed as her hands hovered above the wounds, hesitant to touch the bloody mess. “Tell me. Have the Sinners gained the ability to hurt us? Was this the Morningstar? How many others have we lost?”
As she looked up to Adam, she just barely caught the way he rolled his eyes before giving a little wave.
“Woah, slow down Sera. Take a chill pill. I know you’re busy, and sorry-not sorry to drop in like this, but this bitch,” said Adam as he pointed at his fallen comrade.
“Thought she could break the rules!” He leaned down right up to her ear “Didn’t yah!”
At the sharp noise Sera winced before she slowly rose to her feet, towering over Adam.
“Adam! Keep your language clean and your voice low,” she admonished before her brow furrowed, “answer me. Why is she injured?”
With a clack of heels, Adam’s lieutenant snapped to attention. “That would be my actions, mam! I exercised quick justice and thorough discipline, mam!”
Sera could feel her wings unconsciously rise and her jaw tense as she stared at the far shorter angel. She felt a chill run through her feet as the rivulets of golden blood that had begun to pool and soak into her dress.
The faint squeak of a door was drowned by the sharp crack of Lute’s kick that struck the ribs of the injured angel.
“Exorcist Vaggie was caught aiding and abetting a Sinner in the escape from their judgement. I summarily dealt corporal punishment, by removing her wings, halo and eye,” Lute delivered with a sickening pride and glee.
Adam nodded as he was looking down and flicking through something on his phone, “Yeah. She let one of them go, so that makes her a traitor. I thought, ‘hey maybe I should leave her down there’ but then I thought, ‘wait, she’s like one of my top gals, I need to make an example out of her’. I know genius. Right?”
Sera watched as Lute dug the heel of her boot into the wrecked stumps that were once Vaggie’s wings. A whimper followed, and Sera’s heart lurched. Good, she’s alive. She released a breath that she hadn’t known she was holding.
“Indeed Sir. We need to show to the other troops what happens when you show mercy to those filthy Sinners. I suggest that we tie her to a post and have each member of the legion deliver a single cut to her, each time proclaiming their loyalty to Heaven and to call Vaggie a traitorous cunt!” Lute said with a rapturous joy.
Sera could feel her stomach churn as she stared in growing horror at the angel before her. Within, she could feel the strength of her divine power begin to heed her unconscious calls.
In her periphery, she saw Adam whip his head around, “Woah Lute, just-fuckin’ like take it down a notch. Fuck.” He turned back towards Sera, ignorant of the burning that was consuming her heart, “We don’t have to do that. I was thinking like one of those trial things? We put on a little show. You as the judge. Me and Lute as the prosecution. The girls as the jury. Then we-“
“BE SILENT!” Sera commanded.
Unable to take it any longer, Sera let her true form shine forth, multitude of eyes opened and radiated light that overwhelmed all within the room. She watched as Adam scrambled back, and tripped over his former comrade landing on his rear. Dozens of her eyes now stared at the defensive quivering form of Lute, who had pitifully placed herself between Sera and Adam.
Undeterred Sera advanced.
“THE PURPOSE OF THESE EXTERMINATIONS IS TO PROTECT AND DEFEND THE CITIZENS OF HEAVEN! ALL OF THE CITIZENS OF HEAVEN! I PERMITTED THIS SO THAT THE BLOOD OF ANGELS MAY NEVER BE SPILLED IN WAR! YET YOU HAVE HURT ONE OF OUR OWN! YOU HAVE TAKEN JUDGEMENT INTO YOUR OWN HANDS! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?!-“
“How could you do this?”
The small broken voice echoed across the office from the doorway.
Sera’s eyes met Emily’s. The twin pots of pastel yellow ice-cream were slowly melting into the carpet by the younger seraph’s feet, pooling and staining her dress.
Sera didn’t notice when her true form retreated, the burning blaze within her chest was instantly quenched, leaving only a hollow chill in its place.
Emily was never supposed to know.
Sera could feel the cold knot in her stomach coil up through her and tighten around her chest and neck. Her breaths were shallow and not enough. Sera could feel the slow drip of blood from her hands that she knew wasn’t real. The drumming of her heart mixed with the peels of distant bells that deafened her ears.
With a stuttered movement, Sera lowered her head to see Emily had knelt down beside Vaggie, her hands pressed into the wound as blue bubbly magic desperately tried to knit the injured exorcist’s wounds back together.
Sera could see Emily’s mouth moving, yet no sound emerged. She silently pleaded with her. What was she saying?
She felt cold air flit back and forth over the tips of her wings … but that wasn’t right, she was inside her office … glancing over, she saw that her wings were quivering and shaking.
A sudden movement caught Sera’s eye.
Adam was towering over the knelt form of Emily, the sharp teeth of his mask were gnashing in anger. The muted sounds of his anger grew louder and louder. Lute encircled around Emily and began to reach towards her with blood stained claws.
“-ra?”
The sound of her name brought her back to the moment.
“Lute. Stop.” Sera commanded, the sound of her voice blocking the movement of the exorcist.
Adam turned, and looked up towards her thunderous face, “Sera! What the fuck? She’s healing a fallen angel.”
“She’s hurt!” The smaller seraph countered, hands still pressed against the wound.
Sera watched as Adam rounded on the smaller angel, “You dumb bitch, her wings have been ripped off. We took her fucking halo. She’s unholy, fallen angel, case closed.”
Patience may be a virtue, but Sera wasn’t a Virtue. With a burst of light her voice boomed within the confines of this room, “YOU WILL NOT ADDRESS A SERAPHIM IN SUCH A MANNER! ADAM, YOU, YOUR LIEUTENANT, AND YOUR ENTIRE ARMY ARE CONFINED TO QUARTERS UNTIL I ORDER OTHERWISE.”
She leveled a glare at the archangel, and snapped her fingers to summon a portal behind them. “Do you understand?” she said in a ringing cold tone.
Adam looked like he was going to say something, but he seemingly shrunk under her withering gaze. Without another word he grabbed Lute by the arm and pulled them both into the portal. Sera closed it behind them instantly.
Sera could feel the flame within her banishing the numbness that had ensnared her body.
“-ra?”
Sera turned her attention back to her sister, who was wearing a stoic focused expression as she cradled the fallen exorcist against her chest.
Sera had never seen this expression on Emily.
“I can’t heal these wounds. She … she needs bed rest … someone to care for her,” Emily said as Vaggie’s eye flickered open and stared listlessly at Emily’s face, lips moving without words. Teardrops landed on the injured exorcists face as Emily couldn’t hold back her tears,
“I-I know that there’s no hospitals … but maybe we could take her to our home, and bring some winner’s there who healed people when they were alive?”
Sera knelt beside her sister and rested her hand on Emily’s shoulder, praying that she didn’t feel her tremors. “I’ll take us there right now, we can save her. I-I will explain everything … later.”
In a blinding flash of light Sera magically ushered the group away from the scene. The office fell into darkness once again.