Title: Peace is Futile
Summary: There is nothing left of you.
Characters/Pairings: I am not sure just yet what pairings will be going on in this, but this is sort of an OC fic but not really? I was looking at a list of angels and fallen angels list. I found one name of Ariel. Ariel was listed as an angel on there.
Ariel - "lion of God;" angel of protection.
Warnings: This is a sort of graphic scene, so be prepared for that, it might not be pleasant to everyone's eyes. Oh, and hey, look it's Naomi, so there's that too.
A/N: This is the prologue of the story, it's set in the future of this fic, so I will be going back in time in the next chapter most likely. Just a heads up on those who read, and thanks for reading.
Disclaimer: I own none of this franchise
The pain ripped through Ariel's body fast, making even her toes curl. She could not feel her fingers anymore, maybe that was for the best. Her eyes tried to focus, but her vision blurred for a few seconds. It was hard to see, and what she could see did not interest her much. It was the same as it would be for any other, well, perhaps not any one…it was for traitors. It was for the ones to be reformed.
What a sight she must have been for them, a vessel's bleeding body and yet it was the same Ariel they'd known for centuries, for more than that. That vessel's body was bruised…battered with things that would have killed a human but not an angel. It was only flesh and bones, that could be replaced.
Her arms were out, and legs dangling as she continued to hang there in the air. That's what she was, hung in the air, chains around her wrists and blood trailing down her face in lines, some being streaks of blood, the lines continued down, staining her clothes that had been torn by the chains among many other things. Her feet were pressed in the blood, staining her toes with it, and she could feel how cold it really was.
Ariel kept blinking, trying to stay focused without her vision blurring again.
She tried desperately to lift her head, lips pressing firmly together. Her head eventually tilted back, and the light shined brightly into her eyes. She had to shut them, deep breaths that weren't needed. Her lips quivered at first then a smile spread over them. Those same lips were split, and horribly chapped, dry unlike her mouth which was currently stained with blood. It was on her tongue, the rusted taste of the blood.
The skin was cut at her legs again, chains wrapping around those legs, tightening like the ones around her wrists. The pain would have killed a human, but Ariel was an angel. Ariel could only swallow, the familiar taste in her throat. The blood was still there, even if most of it dripped onto the cold floor she hung over.
She would have spit onto the floor, at their feet, if the idea of being stabbed with that blade again actually appealed to her. No, thanks, being hung in the air with chains that were cursed was enough for her.
"Is this how you show your…compassion…Naomi." Ariel's words were cracked, as if she'd been screaming for hours.
She couldn't let her head fall forward, so it remained tilted back. Her face changed again, lips parting and eyes widening. She flexed her fingers without realizing, fingers curling even more. Her cry was louder than the last one had been, and the sounds of heels approaching filled her ears.
"It doesn't have to be like this, Ariel." Naomi spoke softly, like a mother would to her child. It could be mistaken for comfort but that was the farthest thing from Naomi's mind. The superior angel, that's what Naomi thought herself, wasn't it? That's why Ariel was the one chained up and Naomi was the one chatting her up like she was a pet.
The pain had increased through the hours, and at times Ariel would find herself praying to God, begging him to let her be, to come and save his child. She received only silence as her answer. Ariel had not prayed in days, not out loud, not in her mind, not at all. The pain was sharp and sudden at times, while it would creep slowly escalating into like a knife being driven into her side repeatedly without mercy. Naomi was not given her title without being merciless in her climb up the heavenly ladder.
Another crank, and she was lifted higher up in the air. Her feet were limp, not moving at all, just the same with her legs. Her toes touched the blood all the same, staining them and she could feel how cold it was.
Ariel blinked, her eyes shutting for a few seconds "I…I am good." She repeats it, a whisper, mostly for her own benefit than the others.
There's another noise, a crank being whined. The chains tightened around her wrists, the blood dripping down onto the floor. Ariel barely registered the fact that there was a pool of blood at her feet. Her toes nearly touching it, ghosting over the blood like that.
Naomi cocked her head to the side, staring up at the chained angel before her. The woman wore her best pearls and a self satisfied expression on her face. It was permanently etched onto her face, that's what most said. Naomi was not an angel to be trifled with, to disobey her was to disobey God. Those were the rules. Ariel hadn't gotten the memo on the new…construction going on in Heaven.
"You are broken." Naomi corrected, her fingers reached, brushing along Ariel's stomach "You chose a beautiful vessel, however flawed the human herself was. Why did you choose her again?"
Ariel remained silent, head limp as it was still tilted back. There was another cranking noise, and the chains tightened. Ariel cried out again, eyes shut tightly "Please!"
Already begging, and it had only been…well, on Earth, it would have been a year. No one would have noticed Ariel's absence there, no one at all. What was one angel compared to thousands that had sacrificed themselves in the line of duty, or had been sacrificed by others for that honor of protecting their heaven. Ariel was another on the list of many, and that's where she'd stay if she wasn't careful.
Her lips parted slowly, those split lips were blood stained and still dry. She could feel the dryness, how it hurt but it was very little compared to everything else she went through.
"I'm…I'm…I did-I didn't." She began to take longer blinks, and stared at the shining light from above. Ariel tried to look at Naomi. She really did but her head stayed tilted back.
"I have always…been faithful in ser—serving…serving Heaven as int—…inten—intended." Ariel began realizing how hard it was to inhale. That's when she started getting scared. She didn't need air, she wasn't human but the movement itself ached her body.
There was another long silence before the heels seemed to click against the ground, away from her. Ariel finally let her head fall forward, it a slow then sudden movement. Her head hanging there much like she hung in the air, her hair falling in her face.
"Naomi…You know—know…I would never betray my family."
"But you would betray us for that girl."
That girl had a nam—
She felt the chains tighten.
She cried out again.