Hey folks, not sure if anyone will see this, but I'm getting hit by something pretty hard. I think it's just the flu (feels like it). Hoping to write, but it's kinda bad at the moment and the chapters I have done really need some cleanup. Please bookmark/alert the story if you'd like to get the update when it happens :) Thanks for reading!
Samael stood in the meadow of his birth as the grasses and trees sang their crystalline song around him, and the Hosts' voices blended with the music of the sky.
He stared down at the red stone, his eyes dark.
A drop of dark blood, small and hard to see, stained the stone at one spot.
Where his heart might be, if he laid there again.
Her voice rose in his mind, beautifully soft.
Did they heal you?
Lifting his hand, he pressed the spot that she had briefly held with such warmth and love.
Right over his heart.
He frowned, his hand lowering, as voices sparred in his memory.
You KILLED him!
You are not the Lucifer she speaks of
He... made you, Samael, to replace what had been lost
Tell me he's okay, you're just hurting us, and he's okay...
The 'us' you speak of no longer exists
The woman's cries echoed within his mind again. Her utter despair swelling at losing someone she had loved so dearly.
It hurt.
The press of her lips came to him, and he lifted his hand to touch where they had been.
What did they do to you?
Why don't you remember who you are?
The frown deepened. He turned from the stone to look down the slight slope to the tree line. The spot tugged at him.
He did not know why.
A breeze stirred the grasses and crystalline leaves there, weaving music once more.
Someone had been running there... had they not?
He... made you, Samael, to replace what had been lost
The dark hand about his heart clenched tight. With eyes blazing, Samael turned back and struck the stone platform with a shout that jarred against the music of the sky. The stone cracked with the sound of lightning and folded inward, and the shock of the blow shattered every crystalline blade of grass and flower about him in a wave.
What did they do to you?
How could you forget who you are? Forget us?!
Samael?
Remiel's arrival stirred the trees into song.
He did not turn to look at her.
Samael. My brother. Please hear me
"I hear you fine, sister," he said, with no interest in celestial speech.
I am sorry
He finally turned to face his sister, his eyes dark again.
"For what?" he said sharply.
She frowned.
For causing the death of the one before you, of course
"Hmm," he said softly. "From what you described, my predecessor was unruly. Defiant. He fought against Heaven, correct?"
"Yes, brother. Why do you use this speech? It is too base for our kind."
"I desire to. This 'Lucifer' was of his own mind, was he not?"
She gave a forced breath. "That was the problem. He gave no thought to responsibility or duty. He questioned Father at every turn."
Samael turned from her, to stare down at the broken stone. "And you killed him for this reason."
"No. I caused his death because he killed our brother. My closest sibling. He killed Uriel over a human woman. He put the life of an evolved ape over that of a seraphim."
"An evolved ape," Samael repeated, his voice low.
Yes, brother, Remiel answered, switching to celestial, surely you can see the wrong in that?
At his silence, she moved to his side and grasped his arm. You have been reborn, brother. Your sins have been washed away. Do not sully yourself with thoughts of them. We have a task set by our Father, now. We must focus on that. Come
The Hosts' song washed over him, tugging at his being with voices raised in rapturous joy. He had felt their song at his birth and had wished for nothing more but to join their number and sing with them for eternity.
He did not feel that way now.
Fire rippled out over his body and over his sister's hand. Remiel snatched it away with a gasp.
Samael, what are you doing?
"I wish to have words with Father. Leave me."
Remiel moved to his side, her eyes wide with anger.
I am not your vassal to command! I am the eldest here! Father gave you a command and you must obey! Come!
Eyes alight with golden flame, Samael turned and stared her down.
Remiel looked away.
She stepped back, spreading her wings wide.
I should have known, she said, her anger darkening her speech. You are of the same tainted stock. I will find the child and kill him myself
She flew, and he stared where she had been as the fires flickered over his body.
At the edge of the meadow where someone had been running.
"You made a mess," came a young voice behind him.
Samael turned once more, his brows raising in surprise.
A young girl atop one half of the broken stone, her legs swinging, her hair in pigtails.
Her mouth held a sad smile.
Her dark eyes held the universe.
"Father?"
She nodded. "You wanted to speak to me?"
Frowning, he gestured to her with an arm still wreathed in flame.
"Why are you wearing this form?"
With a generous shrug, she smiled. "I'm not quite ready to let Trixie go." Pointing to him in return, she smirked. "Why are you on fire?"
He looked down at himself.
The flames slowly died away.
"You're angry," she stated.
Samael looked back at her. "I am, Father."
"At me?"
He nodded. "At you. At Remiel." He sighed. "At... the one before me."
"You're angry at me less than one human day after your making," the girl said, hopping off the stone. She stood before him, with the same sad smile. "I'm impressed."
"Why did you do this to me?"
She frowned. "Do what?"
He scowled at her. "You can read my thoughts, Father. Why do you prompt so?"
She crossed her arms. "Because it's polite."
He turned towards the edge of the meadow, where the feeling still tugged at him.
running
"I see there's some bleed here," she said softly. "I didn't expect that."
"Why did you make me a copy of someone else?" he asked. An ache came with the words, deep in his chest.
She matched his frown and reached for him.
"So many hard feelings for someone so new."
"Do NOT treat me like a child, Father!" he snapped, the fire returning to his eyes. "Why did you DO this?!"
Pulling her hand back, she lowered her gaze. "Because I'd lost someone important. I couldn't fix it. I couldn't fix him. I did the only thing I could do - reclaimed him and made you."
"Reclaimed?" Samael echoed, his voice sharp. "You mean you destroyed him."
Her big brown eyes grew darker. "His body was lost to me, his soul was never meant-"
Samael could not hold his anger back. "Was it because he disobeyed you? Or because you could not control him?! Did you hate him so?!"
"NO!" she cried, her voice breaking with tears. "I loved him, as I love you! Why are you saying these things?!"
The flames enrobed him again as his heart leapt in rage. You have given me the face and form of one despised by all, Father! It is his spawn that threatens this Earth - his spawn that calls me Father! How DARE you!
YOU WILL STOP, the child before him shouted. At her voice the ground shook, the sky grew dark and the song of the Host was silenced.
I WILL NOT, Samael roared back, rising before her aflame. His wings beat the air into a storm of fire, as his heart thundered in his chest.
What was he doing?! Where would this lead? To his own destruction? Fear caused his heart to thunder, but his rage made it impossible to stop.
The fires swirled about the girl and wilted the grasses at her feet, but nothing touched her. She looked up at him in a rage darker than his own.
Then her features slowly softened.
The skies lightened overhead.
Her gaze fell. "I am sorry."
The words extinguished his flames in an instant.
"I am so terribly sorry," she said again.
He landed softly before her, his anger numbed.
"I am not going to repeat the mistakes of my past," she murmured, finally lifting her eyes to meet his. "I'm sorry for the pain you're feeling. I'm sorry for unmaking the one before you, though I felt there was no other way. I'm sorry I made him the warden of my enemy. This is all my fault."
She gazed about the meadow, and everything was restored. The grasses chimed with a soft breeze.
"I can't meet him, Samael," she said softly, her gaze still held by the meadow. "I can't go to Earth to stop him. If we were to touch, everything I've built would be destroyed. I can't even interfere - he'll trace it back to this place."
"He is killing many," Samael said bluntly, not ready to let the wound go.
She nodded. "Yes. He seeks to hurt me in that way and make me reveal myself. Thank you for healing those you could. The rest are safe here... for now. Thankfully he doesn't know how to get here, and Azrael is being very careful not to lead him. I don't know how long that will last."
Samael sighed, the fight gone from him. "I do not know where he is now, Father. I do not know how to stop him. I saved the mother, as you asked... and she..." Something stirred in his chest, and he reached for the spot she had held. "She thought I was he... and when she found out I was not... she..."
The girl's face crumpled. "Yes. I'm sorry for that too. I never meant for this to happen."
The anger leached away from him, leaving him more lost than he had been before.
"Tell me what to do, Father."
The girl stared at him with sad brown eyes. "Be the lightbringer, Samael. You have a power and will beyond any of my creations - wield both to defeat him." She closed her eyes tightly. "He has done a terrible thing just now, but I have mitigated it as best I could - go to him. Stop him. I will tell you where."
When she opened her eyes again, they were dark with rage.
"Show him terror, Samael."
Hello! I'm hoping to get a lot of writing done this weekend so I can keep up with regular-ish posting. :) Nothing worse than big gaps when you're trying to read a story. You should still expect a couple of days between posts though as I finish this and clean it up.
Thanks everyone, for the reviews and comments on the last chapter. :) Awesome to hear your thoughts! Thanks for reading, and I hope you all stay safe and well.
