CHAPTER 4: BIG APPLE

Abe Sapien did not enjoy being in public places when he did not have a specific mission to pursue. It made him feel foolish, and he did not like that feeling. Since he left the B.P.R.D. he saw no further need to cloak his appearance from the world; he, Liz, and Hellboy had appeared on the cover of People magazine, after all. Nevertheless, the stares of the travelers who poured past him disturbed his quiet soul.

Well, perhaps Abe did have a mission. Red had called him some hours ago and asked him to meet them at the airport. As he waited for the plane to arrive, Abe fretted over their conversation:

"Abe, I've got a new buddy for you."

(Nervously) "Is that right?"

"Remember the Angel of Death in Bethmoora?"

(Shuddering) "That terrible creature that scared hell out of us and announced that you were going to trash the world?"

"Well, ol' Platterface got herself into a bit of a scrape and got made into a human by some goddess. Hela or somebody. Anyhow, we're stuck with her and we could use some help."

There was silence. Abe did not cherish his recollections of the Angel of Death. She gave him the shivers.

Hellboy picked up on his reticence immediately. "Heyyyyyyy buddy. Help us out with her? Meet us at JFK around 7:30? Pat her on the head? Buy her a Frappucino? Please?"

(Silence)

"Hey, remember when I helped you out with your little – issue?"

(Silence)

"Am I addressing the living?"

(Suspiciously) "Is she dangerous? She gave me the creeps."

"She's fun-sized now because Hela had to put her back together from toad spit and waxed paper. The demons tore her up. So, hard to tell. For all I know, she's still all dreamy-eyed over smiting Egypt with the ten plagues. Right now, she's wingless and Hello took the eyes off her wings and put them on her face, although she put them in a bit wonky. She has feelings for the first time and it's boo-hoo this and boo-hoo that. All I know that she's driving me nuts."

"So, your solution is to have her drive ME nuts?"

"You got it. Thanks a bunch!"

XXXXXX

Abe shuffled nervously. Passengers were beginning to make their way from the plane to the main concourse. He saw the threesome and waved.

"Abe! Can't live without ya! How are you?" Hellboy boomed.

"Abe, good to see you," Liz said, hugging him around the neck.

Abe looked suspiciously over her shoulder at the newcomer. Liz had taken Lucine shopping in Northern Ireland and the short paisley dress with flutter sleeves was not a good look for her. Its soft fluffiness clashed with her sharp features. Abe was more than a little shocked, moreover, when Lucine slowly raised her hand and pointed at him, not unlike the way she had pointed at Red and Liz when they encountered her for the first time.

"Oh, no – his heart is broken. Broken!" she cried.

Hellboy shifted his weight and rolled his eyes heavenward. "Oh great. Another empath," he muttered. "She's had feelings for exactly fifteen minutes and now she's a psychotherapist." While he was busy wisecracking, however, Red had missed the fact that Abe had instantly moved toward her and was now talking to her in a rapid and intense whisper.

"Yes, my heart is broken. I haven't hurt this badly in my life. There is no one who I can talk to. They laugh as if my life is a pitiful joke. They laugh at me - such a strange creature in love? How ridiculous of him to presume! Or they tell me I will find someone else. It does no good. I don't think this torment will ever leave me, and I am full of despair. How can you see all this?"

Lucine stared back at him. "Know that Nuala is safe, even though she has passed out of this sphere."

Abe grabbed her thin shoulders. "You know her name? You know what happened to her?"

"Everyone in Bethmoora belonged to me. You did not see me in the throne room of the late prince and his sister, but I was there. I was also there when he murdered his own father and killed his retainers. I gathered up souls right and left that day, let me tell you. Crazy little maniac with his nasty little swords."

"Is she happy, where she is?"

"She is. It mostly has to do with the fact that her brother is someplace else. It is not a very good place. Not that it signifies to me; the last time we met, Nuada decided to insult me. He touched me with a weapon. It was a mistake on his part. The fortunate thing is that he is no longer in a position to bother her, so she is at peace for the first time. She enjoys her eternity with her departed parents – both of whom I also escorted to their reward."

Abe felt a huge wash of emotion choke his throat. He could not speak.

Lucine smiled at him. "Although I can no longer communicate with the dead, I believe that she watches over you, and wishes you well, and thanks you for your final message."

"You know about that too?"

"I saw you deliver it. I have been on this realm long enough to know that love is a wonderful thing, although I myself have never experienced it."

Abe bent his head and nodded.

Lucine looked wistfully at the blue man. "Knowing that, perhaps you can begin to say your final farewells to her."

Before Abe could react, Hellboy slapped him on the back. "Let's grab the luggage," he crowed.

Lucine looked up at him with the fires of Gehenna burning in her crooked golden eyes. "You are an idiot," she said. She then turned and followed Liz to the baggage claim, the heels of her H&M shooties clacking angrily against the floor tiles.

Hellboy sighed. "Sheesh, what did I say? Abe, will you let the old man know we're coming?" He avoided contact with Dr. Thomas Manning ever since he quit the Bureau.

"No problem," Abe said, taking out his cellphone and working his digital magic.

XXXXXX

It was a long taxi ride back to Trenton. Lucine had no place to live and no means to support herself, so B.P.R.D. headquarters was their destination for her. Of course, her three compatriots had terminated their employment, so they would not stay long tonight.

"Manning is beside himself with joy at the prospect of having an angel of death at the Bureau."

"He might not be too happy if she mistakes him for Pharaoh's army and smites the hell out of him."

"That is not funny," Lucine snapped. "I only carry out the will of Heaven."

"Hey," Red returned, looking at her. She was engrossed in examining the glitter manicure she had gotten in Belfast. "Don't do that stuff you did at the airport again. It's creepy, man."

"I cannot help it. It is my nature. Now leave me alone about it, Anung un Rama, before I smite you."

Abe saw the downward slide of their interaction and interjected himself. "Manning got Johann's footage from Bethmoora and is sitting in front of his computer replaying it. I told him that she doesn't look quite like that any more. He said he has a political meeting tonight but would check in with her first thing in the morning."

Liz then spoke, and about another topic altogether. "Lucine, will you tell us more about that prophecy? I mean – not now, of course, but soon?"

The former death angel shook her head. "I remember very little of it. All I recall is that it involves one of those flying tubes we just came out of."

"An airplane," Hellboy declared. "Well, as of this minute Liz, the kids, and I will stay the hell away from them. And then I won't turn rogue and go all apocalyptic. Problem solved!" He beamed and gave Liz a rib-cracking hug.

Abe shifted in his seat. "How did an angel of Elohim end up in Northern Ireland, anyway?"

Lucine shrugged. "I think they forgot about me," she replied. "The twelve tribes were long dispersed, and they had to put me somewhere. For a long time, I languished in the land of Macedonia. Then I chased an itinerant peddler in Anatolia for a long while; he professed to sell trinkets but instead stole souls. I did not kill him but I certainly ran him off."

"I think he ended up in New England," Abe muttered.

"I lived in the land of Rus during the Black Plague. I was quite busy indeed. I wandered Europe and Asia for a long time. Later, there was some trouble in Bethmoora, the world beneath the green island we just left. Goblins were putting together an army of figures that would destroy humankind – abominations!"

"I hated those damned things," Hellboy grumbled. "They kept recreating themselves, undoing all my work."

Lucine nodded. "I told the goblins and elves again and again that they were inflicting a great evil on the world, but they did not listen to me. As it happened, their very existence cursed the land and everyone within it. I was very busy carrying away the souls of the dead, and there were plenty because the army was sucking the life force from everyone in the surrounding area. The goblins hadn't anticipated that, and had no idea how to stop it."

"How horrible!" Liz groaned. "The mechanisms were killing the inhabitants? Couldn't you as an Angel of the Lord stop them?"

"Oh, I tried, my child," Lucine replied sadly. "I transported them first into what mortals call the Marianas Trench, the deepest part of the ocean, but they swam their way back up and marched back to Bethmoora, slaughtering all of the mystical creatures along the way who tried to stop them. I also cast them into the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull but all it did was cause it to erupt and spew ash all over Europe."

Abe spoke. "I remember that. Air traffic was canceled for a week."

"Although molten by the magma, members of the Army reconstituted themselves and marched back out. Of course, you humans could only see the eruption but those things returned right to their home below the green island. I was consumed with despair."

"If you were tossing his toys away, why did the goblin in the cart call you his friend?"

"Because I was. So long as his creations remained in the land of Bethmoora, more and more souls departed until everyone was gone, save him and me. He was loyal to me until the very end of his life because I knew the truth and tried to stop them."

Abe looked at Lucine the Messenger, and could feel the sadness radiating from her slight form.

"Not long after I was visited by Elizabeth Sherman and Anung Un Rama, I was swarmed by an army of demons. They no doubt knew I was alone, and was quite weakened and worn out by the passage of years and the intense loneliness from which I suffered. If I had been a thousand years younger, they would have been no problem for me. Unfortunately, they killed my goblin friend, who was trying to block their entrance into my domain. They snatched away his poor soul before I could carry it away to safety."

"Lucine, what were all those jars in your temple for?" asked Liz.

"They were the dwellings of the souls who languished alone," Lucine replied. "I have always taken believers to the places their religion dictated once they died. Those who had no beliefs or had nowhere to go when they passed over remained with me if they chose. Bethmoora once had an enormous populace, and many of my home guests were people I knew. They were safe and content in my domain, and they knew they could trust me to watch over them."

"I observed that they gave off their own illumination," Abe added.

"Yes, they did," she replied. "Their glow made my isolation less bearable. And to have them desecrated and destroyed – well, I cannot bear to speak of it now. I was mother and guardian to them all, and I failed in my duty." She pressed the palms of her hands against her eyes. "I am beside myself with exhaustion!"

"That's because you haven't slept yet. You need to learn how to do that. Just take a breath," Hellboy said. "We have plenty of time to discuss what happened later." Red grimaced. "Whoever did the dirty to you and yours needs to be punished. Maybe the boss will put somebody on it, who knows? Ah, here we are at Headquarters. Abe, pay the nice man for me."

Lucine made no comment. She had fallen asleep for the first time in her very long life.