Sophia's Chronicles
Chapter 22: The Unholy Creation
"Nice to finally meet you," I extended my hand.
"Please, the pleasure is all mine, Your Highness," Pestilence shook my hand. A nauseating smile stretched across his face. "I am a big fan of your work on virology." Tracing my knuckles with his thumb, he pressed his lips to the back of my hand. I suppressed a cringe. "In fact, you'll find that much of what I do here is inspired by you."
I maintained a courteous expression, even feigning surprise. He masqueraded as a doctor in this facility which seemed to me at first like a nursery for the elderly – an oxymoronic concept. Then Zara made it clear that this was where the old people went when they became too much for their children to take care of. The perils of losing the ability to take care of yourself, I supposed. On the other hand, this was the perfect cover for Pestilence's experimental work on human diseases.
"The Croatoan virus is my magnum opus. Wouldn't have been possible without your extant literature," Pestilence went on. "Lucifer is very lucky to have you."
Try telling him that. I extended an empty grin. "Glad I could help," I simply said.
He held out his elbow. "Please, do let me show you around."
Doctors, nurses and patients greeted us as we sauntered down the hallways. The brown walls looked gloomy against the white marble floor. The bottom of the doors and walls were streaked with a dirty stain. We stopped by the various wards and he showed me how diseases were progressively introduced down the wards, the old people all but dead as the facility slowly drained the life out of them. He had a few demons posing as medical staff but mostly, it was just him and oblivious human doctors and nurses sustaining the corrupted institution.
A shrivelled old woman on a wheelchair bore a nearly toothless grin as a nurse wheeled her past us in a hallway. "Dr Green! How are you?" she warmly asked.
Pestilence bent to shake her hand. "I'm great, Agatha. How's the heart?"
"Just aching to meet Jesus. My time's a comin'," she half-joked. She looked sullen for a moment, but she soon regained her jovial composure. "And who's this young lady?"
"This is one of our kind benefactors. Let's just say none of this would be possible without support from her and her husband," he told her.
"Such nice folks they must be," the old lady remarked. "You have a good one, miss. You remind me of my young granddaughter, Lyla." Pestilence nodded at the nurse behind the wheelchair and she carried on moving the patient to her ward. "Can't imagine the young 'ins doing any good in the world…"
"Aren't they just the sweetest? They'll swallow anything we give them," he chuckled. He led me to the morgue in the basement. The air was very damp – ripe for festering viruses and pathogenic bacteria. Moss grew generously at the corners of the ceiling. "And here is where most of my work is done. Even in death, humans serve as fertile breeding grounds for diseases. But I'm sure you knew that already."
He was referring to my little open-air terrarium from over a month prior. I was flattered, but that was about all. Rows of corpses lined the sides of the elongated room, in various states of decay. I approached one man and saw that his abdomen was sliced open. Inside, maggots wiggled about in the pool of blood and pieces of shredded organs. "This is fascinating," I approved.
Pestilence picked up a pair of surgical scissors with curved blades and turned out the edge of the incision that opened his abdomen. "See, the hypodermis was torn before the incision was made," he pointed out. He was right; the innermost layer of skin had jagged edges, almost like it was chewed off. "Had he not died from blood loss, the little ones would have crawled right out of him," he chuckled.
"I am pleased," I said monotonously. Later, in his office, he gave me the details of his operations. Trucks full of Croatoan virus were to be distributed all across the country disguised as vaccine. "So I take it that the shipments are ready?"
"Most certainly. They leave on Wednesday," Pestilence confirmed. "And on Thursday, the champagne arrives."
"Thank you for your time," I nodded. "That will be all."
Back in Hell, I found Lucifer lost in thought on the sofa in the study. I told him of my visit to the Horseman. "Good," he shrugged noncommittally. He didn't even look up at me. The very hairs on his blonde head stood still too.
"But I do think you should step up security, at least until the shipments reach their destinations," I suggested. "I… have an appointment. With Raziel and the others."
I expected him to at least ask. Instead, he just nodded. "Okay. As you wish," he said.
It was my cue to leave, but I couldn't. Not when my other half was down and inert. It'd be like trying to walk with one side of my body immobilised. It had been a few weeks since we last spoke. I'd had the time to really reflect on things. Everything that happened still weighed on both of us considerably, but it wasn't like either of us could move on so easily. I felt like a desolate wasteland, wandering as I did without my lover—my best friend, my only family. Things couldn't just go back to normal. But how could we try? I still didn't know.
I went over to the back of the couch and placed my hands on his shoulders. My fingers dug into all the right spots—extensive experimentation had helped this. I kneaded the tension away. He didn't resist the massage. Not many could. "The final day is nearing," I realised. A heavy anchor seemed to sit inside my chest. "Are you ready to take on Michael?"
"Do you think I'm ready?" he asked in turn, reciprocating the energy.
My fingers paused, but soon resumed their circular motions. "You know how I feel about all of this," I reminded him. "It doesn't matter how ready you are. God has always been willing to pull the rug out from under our feet. I'm not yet convinced that this will be any different." Lucifer fidgeted in his seat and rubbed his chin. "But… if you're set on doing this, I can't let you do it alone."
"Sophia, no-"
"If you die, I want to die with you," I stated as matter-of-fact. My eyes stung so fiercely that I just had to pause. My vision grew blurry before I could gain a hold of myself. In that time, Lucifer somehow appeared behind me and wrapped his hands around my waist. I broke down and wept freely. "There's no life for me without you," I wailed.
I somehow ended up with my head pressed against his chest. He grasped me tightly. The constant, life-giving beat of his heart soothed me. I rued the day I wouldn't feel it any longer. I lost myself in his arms. I couldn't lose any more than that. I couldn't take it any longer. I wanted us to remain like this forever.
This soon evolved in to him holding my head in his palms. He wiped my tears away and caressed my cheeks. "I can't let you come with me, Sophie," he said, his voice no more than a whisper. It was so rare to see him so soft. It reminded me that the Lucifer I always loved was still here. "I won't be able to think if I know that you're in the line of fire."
"Does it have to be this way?" I implored. He didn't have to say anything. We both knew the answer. I reached into my pocket for a little item I'd been saving up for this occasion. I nestled it into his palm. He curiously inspected it. "I made this for you, in case you need assistance."
The vial was luminescent in his palm. "What is it? I feel… your essence," he guessed with a curious frown.
"God used you to fashion me into a being of Light. In a sense, He… gave me your rib," I elaborated with a warm smile amidst my tear-choked voice. "This charm contains a fragment of that rib for strength, the root of the first Irish birch for luck and a single droplet of blood from a powerfully twisted soul."
He rolled the vial with his thumb to get a better feel. Then recognition hit him. "Dagon? You found her?"
"It wasn't too hard. She was terrorising village folk in Thailand," I said dismissively. "Never you mind about that. This externalises our bond. You'll be able to call to me and draw from my power, no matter the distance. And you'd better, if it comes down to it."
He nodded solemnly, pocketing the item. "Actually there's…" he gulped. "There's something I wanted to show you too."
Our fingers intertwined naturally. He led me to Earth. Fresh corporeal air filtered through our wings. Eventually, we set foot in a mountainous area in Illinois. The natural landscape extended for miles and the ground was fertile. The life energy was practically springing to be released. Right before us, two mountains stood majestic in the distance. Where their slopes met, my eyes led me to a strange white building. A dirt road led from it to a bridge, beyond which a proper road extended to a highway. Other than that, though, shades of green and brown populated the area.
Still holding hands, we both approached the building. It was definitely sizeable for a mansion. It had a wooden front porch. When we took a step up the stairs leading to the porch, the doors opened by themselves in front of us.
"Where are we?" I asked.
"Home," he answered, nudging me on with a smirk. "Go on. Have a look."
"What?" I questioned him. He refused to answer. Instead, he only had that serene smile which expected me to accept whatever he said as truth.
Unbelievable. I was speechless. Every step I took was measured. A bell had been fixed on the first wall leading in. I rang it. A tranquil chime resonated through the house. This was an old angelic tradition of christening a place. Once the bell was rung, it was ours. The living room greeted us with a couch that enjoyed the primary view through the double doors that let us into the house. The mid-century couch was flanked with armchairs and preceded a coffee table. On the far right was a fully-filled bookshelf with what I assumed were my old books—ones that had been in storage for a very long time. The bookshelf was next to a wall of sliding glass doors that led to the side porch. A table and chairs stood in front the shelf.
Far behind the sofa was a high counter that separated the living room and kitchen. I could already imagine the potions I could cook up in there. On the far left, a large blank wall stood alone next to a corridor that led to more rooms. "I think you'd like the space to paint," Lucifer pointed with his eyes at the wall.
"I used to do that, didn't I?" I said, the idea being almost foreign to myself. It had been a long time.
Next to the kitchen was the stairway that led to higher floors. While most of the first floor had a ceiling, a small opening gave us a glimpse of the upper levels from the left half. Excluding the basement, the house had a total of four floors. The second floor had a laboratory, an armoury and an office containing several more bookshelves. This wasn't too different from the one I'd had in Heaven. The third floor contained personal rooms, all mostly empty except one—this one contained a bed, a closet and everything else I'd needed. It even had a balcony facing the same Eastward direction as the sliding glass doors on the first floor.
Finally, the topmost floor was the rooftop. Its perimeter was mostly garden and in the centre stood an exquisitely designed bird feeder with a constant fountain of water. Several finches and sparrows chirped excitedly in greeting as we entered. We neared the cement ledge while a breeze made itself known.
"No need to worry about the big fight. This house is right within a nexus of protective energies, as you'd say," he explained. "It'll be intact."
"This… this place is amazing," I exhaled from the bottom of my lungs.
"I take it you like it, then?" Lucifer placed a hand on my shoulder.
"When did you- when did you acquire this house?" I leaned my head against him.
"I built this with my own hands," he confessed. "Let's just say, a lot of this was decades in the making. Once I got here, it was just about assembling the pieces."
"You really did all of this?" I still couldn't believe it. I shook my head. "But why?"
A pensive air fell over him. "I know you don't say it, but Hell has only meant damnation for you. I tried to subvert it and make it ours but I saw it in your eyes even then – you only went through all of it for me. I thought I could treat you like a Queen. But being the Queen of Hell isn't exactly the same as being a Queen in our relationship. So if you wanted to get away from Hell for a while, be the Mother to this planet as you've always been, you have this place. I've seen how happy that makes you. And I want that for you," he reasoned, caressing me more firmly. "Maybe you'll never forgive me for Gabriel, but I hope everything else can be absolved."
His chest rose up and down steadily, like it always did when he was opening his heart. He didn't often do that, so I knew this was serious. "Of course," I accepted, running my hand gently along his torso. "But you have to know that it'll never be home without you. Any place with you is Heaven to me. Even Hell. It is no burden to me to serve your kingdom. I want you to know that."
As a final stop, Lucifer showed me the surrounding landmarks – a lake in the middle of a forest and an orchard of trees. In the orchard, a single headstone protruded from the ground. It was engraved with the sigil of Gabriel. While the sun passed overhead fifteen degrees, we remained entwined in each other's arms and shared memories of the dead archangel.
Andromeda revolved so peacefully around the Milky Way, both of them strong enough to dance around each other but never meet. They had been apart for so long, yet the laws of gravity halted their embrace until a final totality was reached. It was always all-or-nothing. They either won this crusade or lost horribly. It was with such musings I met the Nalkam.
"All of you work separately, yet seem to arrive at pretty much the same time," I wondered out loud.
Floating in space, they turned to me. Dinah was the first to answer. "It's called having a phone. Keeps our communication secret from the angels," she showed me her mobile device. "You should get one."
"Sounds convenient indeed," I agreed.
"Lead the way, Sophia," Raziel gestured. We sped past planets and gas giants, our path illuminated by nearby stars and nebulae. It was going to be a long trip. Raziel and I flew ahead, while the others trailed behind.
"I haven't flown this far since Morocco in 1968," I overheard Shemsiel complain.
"What happened in Morocco in '68?" Dinah asked.
"One very handsome dancer with hips that never lied," Shemsiel smirked. "No matter where I was, I'd fly any distance to see him again."
I could practically feel Dinah rolling her eyes. "Do you ever think about anything other than sodomy?"
"Leave him be, Dinah," Rahab interjected. "It was the only way for him to get to '69." Dead silence ensued. "Get it? Because the year after '68 is-"
"We got it," Dinah stopped him. A deep sigh was heard. "Male-presenting specimen…"
"See, I would've never made such a suboptimal joke," Shemsiel defended. To Rahab, he said, "How did you get on the team again?"
"I got skills and I'm sharp like a blade," Rahab made knife-cutting noises.
"Right," Dinah said. "Pahaliah," she shifted her attention. "How's things at the elementary school?"
"It's great. I've been accepted as a teacher," her silvery voice was pleasant to hear. "It's such a good way to study how humans learn things from up close. And the little ones are such bundles of joy."
"Suits you, Pahaliah," Rahab's tone became softer. "You were always good with little angels."
Pahaliah tittered shyly. While they continued this light-hearted chatter, Raziel had a veiled expression. I said softly to him, "What's wrong, Raziel? Your whole team seems to be happy but… you're not?"
"It's not that I'm not happy. I'm just… worried," he responded tautly, keeping his eyes ahead. "We crawl closer to the final day, yet we're forced to act as if things will carry on as usual. The things we all grew to love… to move on from everyone we've lost—it'll all be gone. There'll be more dead than alive. Seeing them happy just makes me wonder whether they truly realise all of this."
Always the protector, I thought. "It sounds to me like you're carrying their burdens on your own shoulders. You need to trust that they can take care of themselves, Raziel."
"I know, but still…" He rubbed his neck with a hand. "I can't help but worry. I'm their leader."
"If only we could all stay someplace like this—a place timeless and boundless," I looked around at the cosmos. "We'd stop worrying but we'd lose everything that holds meaning." He seemed to understand what I was trying to say. I could see it in his eyes. "They're not cheery without reason. They're trying to cherish everything that matters one last time. You should do the same. They need their leader to be strong for them."
He nodded. "I guess you're right."
Soon enough, I spotted a silhouette of a planet that was too bright to be produced by a nearby star. "There," I pointed, and we approached it. Once we turned around the planet, a whole row of fragments emerged. It was like they had become concentrated in certain regions and then extremely sparse in others.
Shemsiel brought out the detector. It puffed out celestial dust to the vast space before us. If our calculations were right, the detector would sense the unique energy signature of the Fragments and illuminate their locations.
"Woah," Rahab gasped. Judging by their looks and sounds of surprise, it had worked. They could see the Fragments. "They're like fireflies."
I reached out to touch the first Fragment. Its familiar explosion enveloped me and soon dissipated, returning its knowledge to me.
"What happens if we touch it?" Raziel asked.
I shrugged. "I don't know. Let's find out," I suggested. Like I'd predicted, it didn't matter who touched the Fragment; they all returned to me. At least that would prevent the wrong hands from reaching them. "One of these contains the answers to our visions."
"So…" Dinah trailed off, her eyes suspicious. "We're just supposed to collect all of them in the hopes that one gives us what we need?"
"A little tedious, I understand," I answered. "The last time this worked, I was seeking an answer for a question that bothered me. So I presume that intention works to speed this process up."
"We should focus, then," Raziel nodded at the others.
The team, being the child-like angels they were, started competing to see who could collect the most. It seemed so alien to me how they could be so jovial with each other. I hadn't realised until then how much happiness had been sucked from my own life. Before I could sulk too much on this, a rather unusual sight came before us.
I noticed it before the others. A ringing noise that grew louder as we drew nearer. I didn't think much of it at first. The team seemed to be oblivious to the noise too. I scanned the fabric of space around it. The Fragments weren't very bright here. I tuned out the sounds of the other angels, focusing on the low-frequency ringing in the space. As I looked on, the Fragments became clearer – they weren't white like the others. These were a deep red.
The angels turned on the detector. As it did with me, the bizarre colour was enough to alarm them. "Is this normal?" Shemsiel asked.
"I've never seen anything like it," I frowned. The angels took this as a cue to await further instructions and congregated around me. "Something's off."
That's when I noticed that there were only four angels around me. A scream cut through the vacuum. "Pahaliah!" Rahab yelled.
My wings fluttered in a rapid instinct. Wisps of the red Fragment had wrapped around her in a tight bundle. It almost seemed like the Fragment wanted to consume her like some carnivorous beast. It dug into her skin with such intensity that her angelic grace flickered about furiously, a pattern I'd only seen when angels reached the brink of death. I grabbed her by the waist and tugged hard against the wisps. With some resistance, the wisps gave way and released her so suddenly that she slipped from my grasp. Luckily, Rahab caught her in his arms. She dug her head in his neck while he comforted her. The others rushed to make sure she was fine.
I finally heaved a sigh of relief. Raziel looked my way to beckon me over. His eyes widened in surprise. I should've taken the cue. A strong vice wrapped around my waist, choking me from my abdomen. The tendrils had gotten to me. I heard my name being yelled, but the sound was cut short. I was heaved back before I could register anything. The fragment swallowed me up like a black hole. Everything was dark. This place had an unfamiliar aura to it. I wasn't in the universe anymore.
"Hello again, Sophia," the disembodied gravelly voice shook me to the core. It seemed to be coming from a single source yet all around me at once.
"Who are you?" I yelled out into the stark black distance. My own voice echoed back at me. "Where are you?"
The nothingness stared back at me. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I felt eyes on my skin, raising every hair. "We've had this conversation before. Several times, actually, but perhaps only one remains in your memory," it said, its voice a deep rumble. "You remember Us, don't you?"
The nameless being was not familiar, not even from its voice. But its use of first person plural did ring a bell. That was a long time ago. I remembered. The black hole that had a strange sentience about it. "I remember," I said. "You never told me your name."
"You already know one of Our many names," the voice said. "It was written on your Vault."
"The Warden of Chaos," I recalled. "You are the one?"
"The Many," it corrected. Every word reverberated through me, making me shudder. "The titles matter not. What is important is that you are ready to give Us what is owed."
Whoever this being was, I felt an absolution around me like I'd never felt before. With God, there was an enveloping light full of potential and with Amara, there was a gnawing opposite which destroyed to create. But this? This was an absence of anything. It was completely foreign to me. "And what exactly is that?" I dared ask.
"The impossible choice. You will be called upon one day. You will know then," it answered. "Make the choice and you are free forever. Decline—well, there is no declining. For We made you possible and We can unmake you."
"What does that mean? You made me possible? I have a creator and She is Amara," I responded, puzzled. It was speaking in such riddles. Whatever this place was, I knew for a fact that I didn't like it. It was stark nothing and isolating, like… the Vault. I fought every urge to take off in any direction.
"It was Her hand that forged you," it confirmed. "But what you are is what you experience. We make tribulation possible. We are Khaos."
I gulped. I was clearly out of my depth here. I didn't know where I was or who I was dealing with. Still, the notion that this was the being with the answers I sought gave me some strength. I pulled my shoulders back. "Why do you require this sacrifice of me?" I demanded to know. "What am I to you?"
I swore I heard a condescending huff. "You know nothing about yourself. We can educate, but you must make the choice," it firmly stated. More rumbling faded into hearing, as if large structures were grinding. "If ever the thought of straying crosses your mind…" Lines came into view, forming a face out of the formless fabric of this place. One large face dominated my vision, with several smaller ones surrounding it and extending outwards everywhere. "…your world will face Our wrath!"
The large face twisted into a dastardly expression. Its eyes vehemently set into a frown and teeth sharp like saws, I had little respite when it released a loud, menacing growl that violently shook me about. The face was to me as the Sun was to the Earth. All its other faces grimaced and scowled at me too, yelling words in languages I could not understand. There was no way for me to block out any of these sights or sounds.
"Now go. Go back to where you were!" The giant amalgam unravelled and the faces began rushing towards me in torrents of groans and wails. Before I could flap my wings to get the hell out of there, a strong gust of wind shoved me out of the Fragment. The dark void was squished like a blanket as I was hurled through the wormhole. Then, total silence. The familiar ambience of space returned to sensation. I was back.
The suddenness of perception held me in a daze. The sound of my name being called snapped me out of it. "Huh?" I stared back at them. They were all holding their angel blades in their hands and poised to fight. Upon seeing me, they eased up and held quizzical expressions.
"Sophia," Pahaliah muttered softly. Her long, straight hair cascaded down the sides of her face with a calming smoothness. Her eyes though, held a concern. She held my hand to soothe my tremble. "What was that?"
"Answers," I said briefly. "We got what we came for."
A confused pause fell over them. "So…" Shemsiel began. "Are you going to tell us?"
I thought over the span of a single breath. "No, I don't think so," I replied.
"Okay, that wasn't really a question," he retorted. "Tell us what happened."
"Look, I… I need time to process things," I explained. "I'm not even really sure. But until I figure it out, none of you are to even go near these red Fragments. Maybe drop this whole mission. Forget what you saw. It's too dangerous."
"Do the visions make sense now?" Dinah further questioned.
I shrugged and shook my head. "Yes, but… no," I could only say. "It's best for me to just mull over this myself for now."
My mind heavy with doubts, I returned home. The clear night sky was beautiful, the stars an ever-present reminder of the vastness of space. Perhaps a little too vast, considering what I'd just seen. That was a lot to take in. I didn't know what to think of it, or whether to think of it at all. I didn't even know who to talk to about it. None of it made any sense. I was just about ready to sit down with my head in my hands for a good amount of time.
I entered the bedroom and the lights on the walls turned on dimly upon sensing my presence. I traced my fingers along the walls, feeling life flowing through it. The house was alive, and it welcomed me. Another great feature of this place. It surprised me to think about how much thought Lucifer had put into building this house. I took off my shoes and walked barefoot on the wooden floor, stepping out onto the cold semi-circular balcony. I wondered how many days had passed since I left.
"You're back. Just in time," a husky voice greeted me. Lucifer awaited me inside.
I gasped pleasantly. "New wardrobe?" I wondered at the new sight. Somehow, Lucifer made Sam seem taller by just wearing him. Or maybe it was just me putting him on a pedestal. We were both tethered to Earth in our prime forms. Eternity had finally converged on this perfect moment. But that also meant the final battle was due to take place soon – a less comforting thought. My heart sunk almost as soon as it had awakened.
"Fits me like a glove," Lucifer smirked as he raised his arms to the side. He turned around slowly so I could get the full three-sixty view. A view it was, indeed. "So how was your trip?"
I sighed, my shoulders dropping. "I don't want to talk about this now," I shrugged. "I want to be at home."
"Luckily, that's exactly where you are," he pulled me into his arms. I savoured the feel of him.
"Shouldn't you be preparing for battle?" I asked while half buried in his chest.
"I am. Boosting morale is just as important as everything else," he reasoned. "I want to share one more night with you before I go. Will you let me have this dance?"
Ancient music from times long gone played at the snap of his fingers. We joined hands and engaged in tango. We said nothing. We just danced. His hand brushed up my torso—sneakily at first, but not even bothering to hide it soon. Likewise, I had a good feel for his hard chest. Intentions were made clear but kept secret. We were both close as ever, our lips in attacking distance.
"You know what we should do?" I hushed.
"Yeah?" he moaned. The lightest stretch of his lips warmed my tundra heart.
"Landscaping," I answered. He froze mid-tango. "The garden isn't going to organise itself, you know."
"Of course," Lucifer looked displeased. "Why relax, when you can work?"
That frown soon turned upside down when I had him helping me clear the weeds and planting bushes. It was a calming activity for sure—something one wouldn't realise was enjoyable until one got down to it. I knew it would relax him. He'd prepare the ground. Life would flow forth from me. The damp earth received what I provided and sprouted plants which matured right before our eyes.
As we stood on the front porch, he had his hands on his hips, beaming at the vivid scene before us. "And just like that, we could make God jealous," he proclaimed.
"Now, isn't this more fun than burning things?" I rubbed his upper arm.
"I'll not be converted so easily," he teased. "But it's definitely a close competitor."
The potpourri of aromas wafted towards us. This place was a blissful realm of its own. Vegetation forever reaching into the distance, it was a hotbed of life—a perfection that could never be disturbed. I never wanted to leave. As we admired our handiwork, the sun peeked out from under its blanket. The sky was painted an azure hue and morning dew appeared on the plants. Newly resident birds and insects began chirping somewhere in the forest. All was calm and well. I wanted us to be here forever, without a soul to bother us and only the plants demanding our attention.
The cool dawn wind blew, sweeping in its wake my hair and the tender fabric of the pale blue maxi dress I'd worn. As the minutes inched along, I found myself at a loss. It was like I was trying to hold two worlds apart with just my arms and it was becoming too much for me.
"I will get us justice," he promised, fully aware of what was to come. "No matter what happens, know that I would only ever want you to be happy."
Emotions welled up in me again. I squeezed his arm. "You were right, you know?" I gulped away tears. "You can't make up for Gabriel. He's gone forever." Confused, he turned to look at me. I stood one step above him so we could look each other in the eye. "But a life gone, leaves space for another life to come."
His brows crinkled ever so lightly, until realisation dawned on him. "Are you really…" he hesitated. "…asking for this?"
"It's only fair, Lucifer," I sniffled. "After everything that's happened. You owe me."
His breaths were shallow, like he couldn't believe it. He pulled a hand down his chin in a moment of thought. "I- I would be honoured to oblige," he smiled through the melancholy.
He swooped me up in his arms and carried me to the bedroom on the third floor. "Do it like it's the last time you ever will," I urged him. He laid me gingerly on the bed.
Our lips merged first. Then we hungrily stripped each other's clothes off. A bite here, a grope there—it all got lost in the passion. The fire between us burnt hotter than ever, releasing itself in our moans and gasps of pleasure. He sucked and kissed and licked me like I was his property. He put me on the precipice between pain and arousal, never letting me teeter into either territory. Our bare bodies wrestled and rubbed together as the first rays of the sun streamed in through the balcony.
Although their warmth was barely noticeable compared to the heat between us, the light cast a soft glow on his face, dissipating all the little shadows hiding in the hollows of his cheeks. He looked genuinely happy. I had longed to see this expression on him for eons. I held onto the sides of his face, hoping that time would crystallise to preserve this gossamer image. Lucifer sensed my yearning and before I could reach up to kiss him again, he brushed my hair from my face and thrusted into me. His lips caught mine mid-gasp and we began a steady rhythm.
Unlike our normal love-making, creation was a targeted process. The formation of the human vessel was only the first step; forming the union of our essences was the second and far more pleasurable step. Wings baring and entwining, we simultaneously released a part of our essences to mix. It was like carving out a piece of ourselves to merge—definitely not something that could be done without due trust. For a moment we were as one, any feeling of physical barriers or definitions dissolving.
The coldness and fiery power of his essence permeated through me while my warm, and nature-embracing essence flowed through him, the archangelic primordial energy being produced in the process. From our union, a new essence emerged, tethering itself to the newly-formed zygote. Light exploded from us and snuck into every corner of the room. A lot of ambiguity emerged. I realised we hadn't actually talked about what we wanted in a child. The consensus, amidst the kisses and the moans, was that we didn't care. We would love whatever came forth. It was a promise.
Nearing the end, we both remained tangled within each other, my legs wrapped around his waist and his head dug into my neck. Releasing a final breath of effort, we both reluctantly parted, lying next to each other and panting. I was speechless. I was still feeling the first thrust and then everything that came after sequentially. No doubt a lot of celestial energy was pulled.
But it was done. I felt the seed planted in my womb. Lucifer let out a joyous laugh in between his deep breaths. "So?" he exhaled. "Do you feel any different?"
I shut my eyes to introspect. The seed was but a speck of concentrated potential. So many possibilities lay ahead. Its life force was sure and comforting. I promised to guard it with my womb and my heart. I gave him my best smile. "I can feel it waiting to sprout," I told him.
I placed his palm over my womb so he could feel it too. "It's a fierce one, I can tell," he added. Caressing my tummy, he reached over to kiss me deeply. When he looked at me again, I saw the yearning behind his eyes. "I love you."
I ran my hand along his arm and the side of his neck. "I love you too," I confessed, my heart busted wide open.
I could cut myself open completely and trust that Lucifer would put me back. If he left, I would be less than whole. Kissing my forehead, he got up and put on his clothes, the remnants of his touch still fresh on my skin.
"Where are you meant to meet him?" I asked reluctantly.
"Stull Cemetery. Near Lawrence, Kansas." He knelt before me to bid farewell. He clasped both my hands with his. "It's time for me to go."
"Do you have to?" I pleaded. A sudden desperation came over me and I grasped his hands tightly like a cuff. "You don't have to go. Stay here with me, please. We can even go somewhere else. Somewhere nobody will ever find us."
"Sophia, please," he implored, eyes twisting. "Don't make this harder than it needs to be."
Hard breaths were cycled between us. He pried my hands off his wrists and rubbed his eyes. "I'd better see you again, Morningstar," I threatened.
He nodded. "I have a lot to live for now," he said. His disinclination to leave was soon replaced with a fiery determination. "I will come back for you. The both of you."
He stepped onto the balcony. I whispered prayers of good luck. His wings spread wide and he took off, leaving me alone with a bed that grew colder with every second.
