A blue-eyed child was bent over his chair, barely able to breathe. His face was flushed, and his eyes rimmed with tears.
"Hey, duckling, you okay?"
The duckling in question wiped away the tears from his eyes and beamed at his father, his blue eyes glimmering under the broken light.
"How could I not be. What an amusing story you just told me, Father. "
Recalling what his father had just told him, Zafiro started laughing again without restraint. His voice boomed through their crappy apartment.
"Oh dear, stop laughing. I swear that’s what happened."
Aron looked at his wife—sitting on the other side of the table—for support, but she just shrugged.
"Don’t look at me, dear; I wasn’t there."
Zafiro barked a laugh, squirming in his chair from laughing too much.
"Even your wife abandoned you. What a lmao moment. HAHA."
Aron just sighed in defeat, hiding his face behind his hands. No matter what he told them, his family just didn’t seem to believe him.
In the end, Aron smiled and leaned over the table, ruffling his son’s hair.
"Ah, goddammit, stop, Dad."
Under the pale rays of the moon, the Sarifo family enjoyed dinner bought from someone else’s grace.
*
Gasp
Helix woke up with a startled huff, his eyes moving wildly, hands gripping nothing.
A headache split through his mind, like an axe cutting through wood, immediate and highly unwelcome. Waves of dizziness hit him, each less catastrophic than the last.
A few moments passed before the light returned to his abyssal eyes, and as he gazed around him, Helix came to remember his last moments.
Right. After Ezekiel kicked me out with that ridiculous excuse, I met that bastard Abaddon.
The Angel of Destruction had completely dismissed him without a single word. Hell, the pretentious bastard had gazed at him as if he were nothing more than baggage, and, admittedly, it had gotten on his nerves.
Masking the bitterness with a smile, he stood up. His eyes had slowly adjusted to the surroundings, and it was marvelous to say the least.
A wide expanse made for the main floor, bright emerald in color and furiously polished, glowing with an ethereal sheen.
Obsidian pillars lined the outer edges of the emerald platform, tall and wide, swirling patterns carved into them.
Helix moved forward, and in his daze, he completely missed the burn mark on the floor.
The scorch mark resembled an angel engulfed in flames, falling from the heavens.
It glowed with a ghostly crimson light, just bright enough that Helix noticed it. He turned around but...
"Nothing...?"
There was nothing.
Shrugging, Helix inched ahead, his steps echoing through the empty temple.
Then the feeling arrived.
It threaded through his bones like thin ribbons of blood, until it clenched around his heart.
The more he moved, the tighter it became, until it felt like he could no longer breathe...that if he moved even a tiny bit, his heart would be sliced into pieces.
As if death was staring at him. As if destruction was gazing into his soul and music was playing in his heart.
As if he had stepped into a divine courtroom, and was being judged by three judges.
Cold sweat dripped down his cheeks, falling with a soft splat. The door was right there, just a few steps away, but the feeling had grown impossibly large.
It loomed over him like a shadow, ready to devour him at a moment’s notice.
What...do I do?
He had just woken up and was faced with an impossible situation instantly. Should he go forward and risk annihilation, or wait for someone to arrive?
Alexander and Willow were nowhere to be found, which meant that they had probably already left. On top of that, his parents and siblings had received their blessings in this very church.
They had also faced something similar to what he was in...but what if it was something unique to him?
Ahh, so confusing. Goddamn this world.
Helix felt like pulling his hair and stuffing it in his ears. Maybe that would drown out his thoughts.
"Alright, this is fine. Think Helix; you’re smart...ok maybe not, but think."
If he thought about the gazes like they were judges, and he was the defendant, what would his lawyer do to get him out of the situation?
I need to please the judge... please the Angels.
Falling to his knees, Helix clasped his hands together and closed his eyes.
"Magnificent Angels, whose beauty humbles the moon and whose wisdom shames the ages... even trying to describe your greatness feels disrespectful, for words are too small to contain your glory. If perfection has a face, surely it is yours."
The gaze on him softened, but it was still there. Helix inched forward on his knees, continuing to praise the angels.
"Blessed are the Angels, whose will is law and whose grace sustains creation.
May your light never fade, your judgment never falter, and your name forever be sung by those fortunate enough to witness your majesty.
Should my heart hold even a fragment of sincerity, let it be known that it kneels willingly before the heavens"
His voice was loud and melodious, ringing back in his ears. By the time Helix reached the door, he was out of breath and panting like a fish out of water.
Finally. But what the hell was that? Why did it happen all of a sudden?
He had no idea, but at least now he was safe. Helix made his way out through the hall, twisting and turning as the arrows on the ground dictated.
Some turns later, he was out. The sun blazed high above him, indifferent to his thoughts. The endlessly cold winds of Kor—capital city of the Abaddon family—brought comfort to his tired bones.
Morgan and his mother were right there in front of him, beckoning him to come forward.
*
Darkness sat inside the Angel’s Abode, shadows stretching from a single light source. The chamber was quiet, save for a kneeling man.
He sat in the same spot where Helix had prayed not long ago. The man’s features were barely visible in the dark room, save for his shimmering silver hair.
Words spurted out of his mouth with furious intent, but it was no praise for the Seraphim, but rather a poem.
"A fallen angel is not a failure of heaven.
It is heaven’s most loyal, lost to a lie they loved.
Lucifer did not fall from grace; she leapt, laughing, certain the light would follow.
And the lie they loved longest,The one that still lingers in their blood and in ours,is that falling felt like freedom.
For just a little while."