Occult Redemption: Guardian Wings
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the author created characters and concepts. Thanks to Ranger Red 2.3, Mistycharming and SA June for their OC's used in this fic.
The ringing of the bell to mark the end of the day sounded through the halls of Numin high as students headed out into the city as the mid-Autumn sun began to set. Several days had passed since the events within the other city where Saya had left Joe to recover and return to his former self. Yet they had not heard from the ranger yet, prompting doubt that he would ever return. Each of the rangers and Ray were sat around the room, each in a slump due to the recent events regarding Joe. Saya had told them when she had returned of her exchange of words with him, and the state he had been in when she had intervened.
"So much for helping him out of his depression. I understand that he's hurting, but I didn't realise he'd lose himself. We should've done more, now it doesn't sound like he'll ever recover." Nyssa commented from her seat while Max shook his head across from her.
"We were too late because of the Axis, they got in the way and we got there after she died. The way I see it, we couldn't have done a thing. After that, he pushed us away, he didn't want us around." He explained from his point of view. "If he's really lost to us, then maybe we should just leave him like that. I'm grateful to Joe for everything he's done just like the rest of you, but we can't do anything if we keep waiting, we just have to move on. We'll have to carry on the fight without him."
Saya had been stood in front of the desk in the room, listening silently to the conversation. When Max had said his part however, she slammed her hands down on the table, keeping her head low. "We're not leaving him. I managed to get through to him back then. I'm sure he'll be back if we just wait and give him some time."
Ellie looked over to where Saya was stood, noting how serious her face was as she told them her intent. Glancing over to the red Occult ring that now rested on the desk, the Vampire gave a sigh. "If you're serious about that, why'd you leave him in the first place? I'm just saying your word isn't much good if you ditched him as soon as you took his ring. If you were serious about helping him, you'd stick by him. Guess there's nothing we can do now though." She yawned, stretching out on the couch as she did so.
"That's because… I couldn't stand seeing him like that, ready to kill at a moment's notice, denouncing his humanity. I don't want to see him like that. I wanted to do more, but I was afraid of losing him completely, so I left because I was scared I might make things worse for him." She explained diverting her eyes while Ray scratched his chin.
"Sounds like you care a lot for Joe. You got me surprised there Saya, didn't think you actually had feelings." Ray suggested to which the High demon almost immediately denied.
"Are you an idiot Ray? Why would you think that? I owe him a lot for what happened in the Underworld, that's all. I just want to return the favour as best I can, seeing him like that just got to me." She replied, careful not to say anything that would make the others jump to conclusions, as they were likely to.
Before the conversation could continue, knock came at the door to the clubroom. Each of the students turned their heads toward the door, surprised that they had any sort of visitor. Each of them were unsure if they should answer, fearing that whoever was stood at the door may bring unfortunate news. Unfortunately, there was no denying the person as the handle slowly turned and opened.
Each of the students' eyes widened with surprise as they saw who walked through the door. Now standing just past the door was none other than the red ranger himself. Joe appeared calm, he wore clean clothes and he seemed back to his composed self, even the dark circles around his eyes and the murderous look he had in them had disappeared, almost as if nothing had happened in these previous few weeks.
"Joe, you're back!" Ray cheered as he jumped up and hurried over to greet him, soon followed by the others. While they reunited with their leader, Saya hung back, holding a small content smile on her face as she observed.
'I'm glad you're looking better. I just hope you're actually back to your old self..' She thought as Ray wrapped an arm around Joe's neck and squeezed jokingly.
"So, you're back. Guess that means you've come to terms with it then. But mind telling us what happened while you were gone? We know everything Saya was there for, other than that, it's a mystery to us." Max greeted, pressing Joe for information on what had transpired over the past few days he had been left unaccounted for.
"I guess you know how I was up until then, so there's no real point hiding the rest from anyone. Sorry I worried you all like that, I was acting pretty stupid wasn't I?Anyway, you all might wanna sit down for this, it's a pretty long story." He said, the rangers and his human friend taking their seats. As he was about to take the seat at his desk, another figure strode in through the door.
Clad in the same robe she had been wearing, her hood still covering her face, was the young Angel that Michael had been planning to task to Joe only days prior, it was obvious of what she was due to the pure white wings sprouting from her back that radiated celestial energy. Both Nyssa and Saya jumped to their feet, acting defensively as the Angel neared Joe.
"Don't worry everyone. She is an Angel and I know you two are their natural enemies, just trust me though, it's alright. She's the one that helped me find what I was missing after all. Calm down and I'll tell you all about it, turns out for whatever reason, I have a Guardian Angel." He explained as the two sat down, willing to listen so as long as the Angel in question had no ill intent toward the group.
"Well, I'm not a full fledged Guardian yet, Lord Michael only managed to persuade the Highers to an extent. I am a trainee under a much more seasoned Angel if you will." She explained, her voice serene as she lowered her head.
'Haven't I heard that voice before? Can't be another Fallen, they can't reform. The only other place I can think of is in battle, but now I think more, I've never fought an actual Angel before. I can't place it, but her voice sounds a lot calmer than what I remember. But her aura's different too. It's pure, or is it? I can't tell, why's it look like there's something else there too? I can't get an exact read on her. Damn it, I don't like this at all.' Nyssa thought to herself as Joe spoke up.
"Alright, Here's what happened. Listen closely, I'm only gonna say this once." He began as he recounted the events that rehabilitated him and led up to his return.
[Occult Circle]
Several days ago…
An hour after Saya had left him to recover from his wound, the thugs he had wounded fled, leaving him to bleed out, at least that's what they thought would happen to him. As he had laid there for the past hour, thinking over and over again about what he had been told, his wound had began to close up. In the brisk cold of the pre-daylight hours of the day however, his recovery was far slower.
'I think I finally get it. I lost something, no, someone important to me and it left a hole in my heart. I just let it eat away at me from there. I lost it, nearly lost the thing that makes me who I am too. It's all still cloudy, but it's coming back to me. So is the pain of that loss…' He thought to himself as he felt the last of the wound finally close up, prompting him to rise to his feet.
"So… Where do I go from here?" he asked aloud, rhetorically.
Behind him he could hear footsteps. Light as if they bore no weight at all. Turning quickly to face the new arrival, he found himself staring at the Archangel Michael himself. Though he carried himself with calmness, Joe had feelings of resentment cross his mind when he gazed upon his supposed protector.
"It appears as if I've found you. In rather poor condition at that. You do understand the repercussions of all this correct? Not eating or sleeping. For anyone to function properly, these are essential. An immortal needs these too, otherwise they can't recover from wounds quickly and if they spend too long without such necessities, they go mad. Your case is much worse, since you were still full of dread from what happened." Michael explained as he approached the worn down immortal.
Joe didn't respond immediately, instead turning quickly away from Michael with a grunt. "What do you care? It's not like you did anything to stop any of this from happening."
Michael sighed and stepped toward the ranger. "For that I apologise. I should have watched and made sure that you didn't end up like this, but there were matters I had to attend to in the High Heavens that took priority."
Joe shrugged and began to walk away. "If all you're gonna say is 'I'm sorry but something more important came up so I couldn't stop you from nearly killing somebody' then don't bother. I don't care what your excuse is, you're useless as a protector if that's how it's gonna be."
Michael smirked and gave a nod. "You're right Joe. You see, as a protector I am useless. While I am the right hand of my Lord and the strongest among my kind, my attention is constantly needed elsewhere. The Angels have become entangled in the war with the Abyssal Cult. While many of us are dedicated to the cause of defeating the group, some of the Archangels see this as an opportunity to destroy the demons in the Underworld and then eliminate Lucifer himself. We have an internal conflict on how to act and frankly the debates we are having bore me. As an Arbiter between the two sides I can no longer keep watch on you. That's why I wasn't there for you. There is no amount of apologising I can do to make up for failing you, but hear me out, there's something else I need to tell you." The Archangel pleaded, placing a hand on the young Immortal's shoulder.
"Tell me then. If I don't like what I'm hearing, we're done." He replied, tensing up, uncertain of the intentions of the Archangel.
"Very well. In our realm, Angels each take a role. Such as the Battle Angels who are our Vanguard warriors and fight the forces who oppose us and protect our realm from unwanted corruption. One of these roles is the Guardian Angel. These beings are the Angels with innocent souls, that come to this world to help the living, protecting them both physically and mentally." Michael began, turning Joe around so that he can speak with him face to face, much to Joe's disapproval. "Unlike you and I, they have never experienced turmoil and are detached from those more dark traits other beings share, the perfect tools to guide humans out of their darkness, the perfect thing to guide and protect you Joe."
The red ranger looked away with a sigh, understanding where he was going. "You want to pin one of those Guardians on me and call it a job well done. Not gonna happen. I don't need some random Angel that can't even understand what I've been through. I'll get through this alone if I have to, thanks for the offer Michael, but I don't need it."
"You don't understand yet Joe, if you'd just meet her and speak with her, you might understand why I've come here. Just please consider my offer.
"We'll see." Joe finished as he took Michael's hand off of his shoulder and walked away, leaving the Archangel alone.
'He can be quite a handful. Perhaps the coming days will be more interesting that way, only time time will tell.' Michael thought as he prepared to teleport to the High Heavens once more to initiate the next phase of his plan to bring Joe back from the brink.
[Occult Circle]
Stood within the Archangel's sanctuary within the High Heavens was the Angel that Michael had spoken with before, her hood was still over her head, concealing her face. She waited for him to return from his, having been patient thus far, though the time he had taken began to make the Angel impatient.
In but a few moments, the Celestial aura sigils that Michael conjured to travel between realms emerged on the floor near her. Once the circle was completed, the Celestial light shone brightly over the room, almost blinding the Angel for a moment. Once the sigil has dissipated and the light returned to normal, the Archangel stood facing the Angel ready to speak with her about the most recent developments in his plan.
"It has been some time hasn't it? I found him and spoke to him about you. He said that he had no need of a Guardian, he didn't want anything to do with us. Because of this, I need you to change his mind. Find him and do as you must from there. I trust you were successful on your end?" He explained to the Angel who gave a simple nod before producing a scroll from her cloak.
"After you provided me with a document officially ordering my admittance into the Guardians, they accepted, under the condition that I be trained and watched over by an Angel above me." She explained calmly as Michael walked towards her and placed his hands upon her shoulders.
"Good, then everything's in place. All that is left is for us to venture into the mortal realm and for you to begin your new role."
[Occult Circle]
Within the city he had been roaming, the red ranger now stood on a large bridge over a river. He appeared to be stood on the edge, just a step away from falling into the river below. Though his madness may have gone because of Saya's actions, the despair that he had felt before had returned, though the reason for such an overwhelming emotion still eluded him.
'I feel all this pain, it's unbearable. It must be what I was feeling about what I wanted to forget right? I still can't remember why I'm feeling this way though? Did something so bad happen that I blocked it out to stop my suffering? I guess there's only one way for me to find out though. They say your whole life flashes before your eyes before you're about to die. I can't die, but it can't hurt to try, see if I can actually find out why I'm like this. I don't want to feel lost like this any more, maybe if I know what happened, I can find out how to come back from this.' He thought as he took a step off of the edge, falling quickly down from the edge to the waters below.
Even though his intentions had some logic behind them, it was a futile attempt. No images flashed as he neared the waters, instead all Joe could see was the water rippling only a few feet below him. The feeling of falling was gone and now he could only stare down in surprise at his sudden stop. Only after a few more moments did he realise that he was being held by the arms by another individual. Looking up, the Angel in the white robe floated above him, her wings flapping gently in the air as she carried him over to a nearby street.
Setting the Immortal down, the Angel tucked in her wings and stood to face him. "So you're the one I was sent to protect. Lord Michael was right, you lack hope if you're ready to kill yourself like that."
"Guess you're that Guardian that he wanted me to meet. I can't see why though. He didn't tell you much if you think I was trying end it. Like I keep telling him, I don't need someone like you, my body won't die and my mind isn't anyone else's concern."
"Regardless, he told me everything about your case. He said that you had a friend once that meant the world to you, how a monster of a person ended her life and left you alone. You lost all sense of hope without her, regarded humanity as nothing but something that needed to die. As an Angel, one of my many talents is to see into people's hearts. Yours tells me that isn't how you really feel. You know that there are good people in your life, you just need to go to them, be with those who care for you and-" the Angel was about to continue, however her stomach gave a large rumble to which she lowered her head to hide her embarrassment that such a thing had happened while trying to persuade him.
Instead of shrugging it off, which one would expect from someone in his condition, Joe instead let out a light chuckle before bursting out into laughter. "Wow that timing didn't go well for you did it? Guess even Angels get hungry then. Listen, I'll buy us some food if you listen to what I've gotta say. I still think all this is a little pointless, but it might be something to do while I figure this out." He told her, now sounding more lively than he had been prior.
Stopping quickly at a bakery, the Angel keeping close to Joe. He ordered a large box of donuts, much to the amusement of the cashier. "Just for you? You don't look like much but if you want that much I guess I can't judge."
"Huh? Just for me? There's a girl right next to me." He pointed out, though the cashier regarded him with a sceptical look.
"Suree there is. Enjoy your donuts." the cashier said with a forced smile as Joe and the Angel now watching over him left.
"What a jerk, can't he see you standing next to me? Honestly some people." Joe grumbled as they took their seats.
"Unfortunately he wasn't wrong. One of my more unique abilities is to bend light around my body for a time. It's a magic similar to Celestial magic that Lord Michael gifted me with recently. I'm using it right now to bend light around me so that others can't see me. The reason you can is because I applied another spell to you, one that allows you to see through illusions such as that." she explained as she began to munch away quickly on the donuts with small bites.
"Won't someone be suspicious if they see donuts start to be eaten in mid air?" The Angel ceased eating for a moment and shrugged. "Anyway. You said you know what happened to me. I guess what you said helped me remember some of it. My oldest friend, we kept getting separated and every time we'd find each other and break free, only to get caught again. Then, the last time it happened, we put a stop to it. Only for them to kill her. That's all I know about it right now, but I think it might start coming back to me if I go back to where it all happened."
"If that's how you want to rehabilitate yourself then I'll help you. I'll stay with you for as long as I'm needed, you're not having a choice here. I'll devote myself to helping you recover for as long as it takes." The Angel promised him while finishing off the box of donuts before her.
"I guess I can't argue. There's one last thing I want to ask you though. Michael stuck me with you specifically, he wanted me to meet you. Do you know why?" Joe asked.
"I have no clue. Lord Michael said that you were important and that I was your best chance of bringing you out of your despair, but I didn't question it. One strange thing he did tell me though was to keep my face concealed by this hood, even from other Angels and myself and to never reveal it or my name to anyone until he told me to. It's strange, I feel like I've never even seen my own face before." She explained to him, making Joe curious as to who she was, but also worried as to what the Archangel's agenda was in keeping her identity a secret.
"I don't suppose you've taken a look at all have you?" Joe asked, the Angel promptly shaking her head.
"I wouldn't ever disobey Lord Michael's orders. I know as an Angel I'm only a recent addition to their ranks and it might seem strange, but I must trust in him and his goal."
"You're a little too good for your own good you know that? If you don't start questioning things, it'll just make you angrier if all the truth comes out at once." Joe explained to her, reminding himself of how his emotions sometimes get the better of him and how this is how he ended up in this city and in the condition Saya had found him in. In the next few moments of silence, Joe took a deep breath in. 'I've gotta be better next time. I'm still new to a lot of feelings after everything that's happened to me, but I think it's all coming back to me now, everything I forgot. Even stuff I couldn't remember before all of this. Including… Her name. That's right, my friend's name, it was Sera and I loved her like a sister. It tore me apart when I lost her, but I think it's time, time I moved on with my life. So that I can do right by her, even if she isn't with me anymore. Alright Sera. That's what I'm going to do, I'll make you proud.' He thought with a smile as he began to rise from his seat. "Alright. I guess it's time to go. There's people back home I need to see and apologise to.
"Then I will follow." The Angel said with a small smile of her own as she joined him. 'I can feel it in his heart now. A newfound sense of hope, a will to keep going on even after all he had been through. Maybe he doesn't need me after all. Though Lord Michael has tasked me with more than just his protection.' She thought as they set out on their way back to Numin City.
[Occult Circle]
Present Day…
Inside the clubroom, the others had sat and listened, Saya had a content look on her face now that he had returned with new motivation, happy that she had done at least something to help kickstart his recovery.
"That's roughly what happened to me before I came back here. Look, after what happened, I just wanted to be alone and let my despair take me. You tried to get me to open up but I pushed everyone away, even walked to another city to get away. Even after everything that happened and what I nearly became, you still didn't really give up on me. Especially you Saya. So thank you, and I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused you all these past few weeks. If there's anything I can do to make up for all I've put you through.
"Anything?" Saya repeated as she thought over the offer with a smirk that unsettled the others around her.
Unfortunately, the array of possibilities were far too great for Saya to quickly decide upon and her hopes were soon dashed by Max. "Steak, buy us Steak, man I could kill for some Steak right now." Max said, before holding up his hands and laughing. "Kidding about the killing part. Sometimes I forget I'm a Werewolf and that's what some of us do."
"You didn't forget that part when you decided on Steak though." Ray jokingly teased the Lycan beside him.
As Saya gave a defeated sigh, Nyssa looked over to her. "I can remind you to hit Max with a newspaper later if you want. I know what you were thinking about after all. Even a demon like you can't hide what she's really feeling."
"I-I don't know what you're talking about." Saya denied, her cheeks becoming flushed with the suggestion the black ranger hinted at. "But do remind me to buy a newspaper and hit Max with it later, I think it would be a good way for me to relieve some stress."
Over in the corner, the Angel now stood, watching the group of friends reconnect after the ordeal they had, she had a soft smile on her face as she watched them. 'What an interesting group of friends. I wonder why Lord Michael insisted I watch him, perhaps it's to do with the second task he gave me. Though it seems for now, I shouldn't concern myself with that, only time will tell where this new journey leads me.'
|Occult Circle|
Angels - Ranks and Roles - Battle Angels - In their former lives, many of these warrior caste Angels have been righteous soldiers fighting and dying for just causes. Being revived as Angels they serve the High Heavens as it's elite warriors. Forming an impenetrable shield if the realm is in need of defence and working as the elite front line of the Angel forces when fighting offensively. Because of their deadly efficiency when fighting in groups, it is a common misconception that Battle Angels are weak when fought one on one. Whether it's a single Battle Angel or a squadron of them, one should always be weary of them and fight smart, though it is rare one walks away from a fight with the Heavens' elite warriors.
That's it for chapter 17. Now nothing really much happened other than Joe got better and arrived back to explain his story and how he met the new Angel. I was originally planning on revealing the Angel's identity this chapter, where it would've been pretty dramatic, but then I had another idea spring into mind with what looks to be even better of a reveal than how it would've gone here. Of course this also ties in with what's gonna be the final part of the sorta double arc going on for the reveal of the new ranger. You'll probably have a good idea on who that'll be with the title of the next one though.
Now onto the boring stuff about scheduling. I've been pretty inconsistent with updating for a while now, that's pretty much because I've been bogged down with coursework I can't seem to finish fast enough. Anyway, this is gonna be my last update for anything until I can get it all done and out of the way. Probably should've been doing it today, but I was already halfway through this chapter before I had a weekend break down in London, happy to be back up north though, everything is cheap and the food actually tastes nice among other things that I'd rather not mention. Either way, thanks for reading and hopefully it'll not be that long till I can get back to writing, I'd estimate it at a few weeks, maybe more maybe less.
Next Chapter: Occult Redemption: Celestial Breakout
Synopsis: While Joe finally comes to terms with Sera's death and starts to move on with his life, there are also a few unexpected changes to it that have happened while he was away. Alongside this, the Abyssal Cult prepares to strike Numin City once more, with a being that none of the rangers are prepared to face. What form will their aid take in their time of need? Find out next time on Power Rangers: Occult Circle.
