Chapter 2
Angels didn't sleep very often. But Ara was exhausted from her escape from Hell, and gratefully took Quatre's bed when Wufei translated the kind offer.
She knew it couldn't be true. She had hallucinated the entire escape, and she came to terms with her realization as the cat o' nine tails bit into her back over and over again. Ara gripped at her bonds, instinctively trying to pull away from her tormentors. "Stop," she gasped with pain, as the next lash cut deeper into soft flesh. "Please... stop."
Lucifer laughed as he watched Justice beg. "I gave you the chance to join my side, little one, and now you must pay the consequences." A mirror floated in front of her, and it showed her with evil that had spread over the world like a plague. "See what your absence from Earth has caused? Isn't it wonderful? More and more souls are coming to me everyday. And you ask me to stop?" The Prince of Evil laughed ruefully. "I think not. You're being here gives me a boost in business."
She screamed as the whip ripped through her wing, splaying white feathers all over the cold floor.
Four hours of sleep was a long time for her kind, and she sat up at six in the morning in a cold sweat. Ara heard pounding down the hallway, and assumed that it had awoken her.
The door slammed open, and Heero had his gun pointed directly at her. He looked around the room, and saw no threat, but the gun stayed in its position. "I heard a scream," he said.
Ara remembered her dream, and nodded. "Gomen..."
"You're very pale." He noticed the sweat on her face, and realized what had happened. He lowered the gun, and set it on Quatre's night stand. "I'm assuming that it was a very bad dream."
"Hai," she admitted, looking away from his piercing gaze.
"What was it about?"
"Hell."
He shook his head. "I don't know much about religion. That's Duo's area of expertise. But Wufei told me what you told him, and I don't believe your story."
Justice growled at him, and shrugged away her covers. She stood slowly, trying not to rip any of Quatre's neat little stitches in her wing. "Follow me."
* * * *
Heero decided to accommodate her request, and followed her outside, to where the sun was already beginning to peek over the horizon. "What are we out here for?"
"I'm going to cease your disbeliefs. Hopefully that long nap rejuvenated some of my powers." The sun continued its slow journey, and Ara wished that it would hurry up.
He shook his head. To him, the girl was crazy.
Sunlight began to creep over her features, and she grabbed hold of a small amount of power within herself. Duo's clothes fell to the ground as her image shimmered and became transparent.
The bright light of her glory engulfed him, and all at once, there wasn't a doubt in his mind who she was. When the holy light faded, he stared at her, speechless.
She was in normal clothing now, not her battle armor, but it would do. Dressed head to toe in the garment of angels, she certainly looked the part now. Ara stepped forward radiating a silver glow. She hadn't felt this exalted in... well, millennia.
Duo stepped outside, and just gaped at the beauty before him. "God damn..."
She glared at him.
"Oops. Sorry! It's just... wow. You're gorgeous," he grinned and blushed at the same time, looking at his feet. He wasn't being a pervert this time, he was being truthful.
"What did he say? I only understood the expletive and the apology."
"He said that you were beautiful." Heero nodded slowly in agreement with his comrade.
Ara shrugged. "You won't think so when you see my sister. Death is the most beautiful of all the angels."
"Death is beautiful. Yes, I would have to agree with you there. I'm sorry for doubting you." He turned and walked back inside.
Duo still stood there, mostly staring at the ground, although he intermittently stole glances at the Archangel. He wanted to ask her so many questions, and regretted not taking Nihongo in school.
Ara closed her eyes, and decided that it would be for the best if she used the last of her power. She would need this skill over most others while on Earth. Sensing Duo's wanting for something not material, she approached him.
She didn't know how to request her need in English, and raised his chin up with a slender finger, looking into his cobalt eyes. "English," she spoke.
"English?" His voice shook. The angel was touching him, and that was all he could think.
She nodded, and added the word, "please."
He shook his head a bit. "I don't understand."
Ara sighed, and did what she hoped she wouldn't have to do. It used too much power, and she would completely drained by the time he had fulfilled her wish.
Duo felt a shock to his brain, and his eyes widened. "Whoa..." Her words came out loud and clear to him in his mind, but not really in the form of words. He couldn't explain it to himself. It was more like she had given her request to him in the form of feelings and images, and not words. The pilot nodded, not sure what to expect.
She smiled gratefully, one of the most delicious sights he had ever witnessed, and felt another shock. This one was more powerful, and lasted longer than the previous one. It didn't hurt, it actually could have been compared to rapture.
When she backed away from him, she wasn't sure if he was alright. But he blinked, and the color came back into his face from where he had gone sheet white. "What the hell was that?" He wondered aloud.
Ara formed the words on her mouth with ease. "Thank you," she spoke in English.
Duo gaped as she continued, like the angel had been born with a dictionary in her head.
"I now understand your language, and the new culture that I find myself in. What I did was a sort of mind meld. According to your memories, I think a decent comparison would be referred to as 'downloading.' It was certainly a rush."
"You can say that again..." He shook off the lingering feeling of her "download," and looked at her.
"You... wanted something. I could sense it. Pray tell, what was it?" She waited for an answer.
"Earlier, right when I first saw you... I was wondering... is there a God?"
Ara nodded. "Of course there is."
"I've... done some bad things. Am I going to Hell?"
She shook her head. "I don't know. Only my Mother has the power to answer that." She cut off his next question, knowing what it would be. "Yes, God is a woman. My sister and I are two of her children, that is why I call her Mother."
"You speak English now?"
Ara whipped her gaze to the doorway to see Quatre. "Yes. My sister shall arrive shortly, and being knowledgeable about the time that I am now in will please her."
"But... how?" He was thoroughly perplexed now.
"Nevermind that, Quatre. Now she can give us a good explanation as to why she's here, and where she got those wings," Zechs announced from behind the Sandrock pilot.
Ara rolled her eyes in disbelief. She didn't have enough power left to prove herself again. "You humans are sooooo untrusting."
"With good reason, I assure you," Zechs replied.
She followed him into the house.
* * * *
Wufei could hear a conversation in the living room, and grabbed the plate that held his breakfast on the way to find out what was going on. He couldn't believe his ears and eyes as Ara sat on the couch, dressed in pretty, white flowing robes.
And speaking English.
"Alright, now that I've heard your story, I'll tell you mine," Ara began. "Azriel and I were born thousands of years ago. We are twins, and she tends to be the dominant one."
"Well, I see someone learns quickly," Wufei commented as he sat down on the couch next to her. He munched on a Poptart, and offered her one.
"What is it?"
"Sugar," Duo told her. "Breakfast of champions."
Ara gracefully removed one from Wufei's hand, and bit into it. "It's... good..." She chewed meditatively, and continued on with her story. "Anyway, I'm sure Az will tell you the story of how she tried to strangle me with my umbilical cord when we were born. That's why Mother made her the Archangel of Death. And Justice always being in companionship with Death, she graced me with the fiery sword. Ok," she added, taking another bite. "I want to finish eating before I continue. Duo, Heero mentioned that you knew religion very well. Would you please explain the Heavenly War for me?"
Duo nodded with a grin. Heero never complimented him. "The Heavenly War is the neverending battle between Heaven and Hell. It began when the Morning Star, Lucifer, rebelled against God, and the Archangels fought amongst one another. Lucifer lost, and was cast into fire with his followers. But he didn't give up, and will continue his siege until the Judgment Day."
Ara gulped down the last of the Poptart and nodded. "Thank you, Duo, that is sufficient. I was fighting one of the Morning Star's commanders, and was broad sided over the head with a demon claymore. I don't remember what happened afterwards, but I woke up chained to a wall..." She cast her eyes down, remembering the sheer pain. "I... I..."
Zechs shook his head. "Don't bother lying anymore."
Ara glared at him, and her eyes flashed with ethereal light, the green brightening so that her pupils almost disappeared.
The Epyon pilot gasped as Heero entered and spoke up. "She's not lying. Ara did... something this morning that I can't explain. Duo, I know you saw it too."
Duo nodded. "I caught the end of it, but it was like she was engulfed in holiness... I can't explain it, either."
Ara snorted. "You humans are fickle. I am going to the roof to await the arrival of my sister."
