S E R A P H

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Prayer For Divine Help

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Graciously rescue me god
Come quickly and help me lord
Confound and put to shame
Those who seek my life
Turn back in disgrace
Those who desire my ruin
Let those who say 'aha'
Turn back in their shame
But may all who seek you
Rejoice and be glad in you
May those who long for your help
Always say
'God be glorified'
Here I am
Afflicted and poor
God come quickly
You are my help and deliverer
Lord do not delay

---Psalm Seventy

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It was another bruise. A spattering of plum-colored markings on her right side. The markings were darker than before: black and the welts upraised and growing in number.

Once you were marked by God there was no denying the anguish of His removal. And now that He has died---the anguish had increased forty-fold. Now it was eternal.

The coughing fits had died down. She no longer needed Raphael's constant attention but the companionship was what she needed, not just the touch of his Healer's hands.

"You must not continue to search for him amid the grounds of Demons and Infidels. You are no longer immortal. If you perish we will have failed in searching for Lucifer."

She winced as Raphael placed his warm hands on her breast, massaging the area above her heart.

Raphael rarely reverted back to his original state, knowing that she preferred him as Sally Po, the woman who Lucrezia Noin was in love with. He knew that his presence as Raphael unerved her---but the wound had been severe and he needed Rapahael's full skills, not just Sally Po's expertise as a doctor. A direct pulse of power over her heart. A lower-ranking Demon had managed to attack her before she could react with a power shield.

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She surveyed the area, attempting to place a guilty mind upon the various demons that had assembled themselves in the area.

She made out a leader of a small group of Venial Sins and turned her attention towards Its deceptively sweet face. "Tell me Venial---have you seen Him?"

The other scoffed, sending a faint ripple of unheaded desire flowing across the enclosed area of the room. "You would ask this question of me?" Its voice had the rough texture of decadence, of rough sex and long nights.

She furrowed her brow in irritance. It was Immorality. The leader-demon was a younger brother of Lust. "I ask what must be asked. I expect you to comprehend the nature of the question. Where is He?"

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She managed a small smile. "Perhaps I continue to injure myself so as to make an excuse for you to touch me."

Raphael's blue-green eyes met hers in seriousness. "You do not need to hurt yourself to make me touch you." He moved his hand from her breast. The wound was gone. His eyes softened and he stroked her hair. "All that I need is to see you. The sound of your voice is enough to make me want to do so."

She sat up on the bed. "Sally---"

Raphael's form shifted and the familiar face of Sally Po replaced the startlingly beauty of the Archangel's.

"Yes, Noin?"

"I can't find him. There isn't much time and I have yet to find him."

"I have mentioned this to you before. You were the strongest among us, Michael. But you need him. Without Gabriel you will not be able to find Lucifer."

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Immorality laughed, Its thick sheet of blonde hair whisped along the masculine line of Its face. "You are brave for a mortal. But my elder brother would not think twice to eradicate those who would reveal the whereabouts of our Master."

"Lucifer is no longer anyone's master!" she barked. "You fool! Would you sentence him to an unresolved death?"

Too late she noticed that Its almost casual mannerisms of brushing aside Its hair were in actuality intricate commands to Its minions.

She noticed Its brief, almost escapeable attack signal seconds before she felt the focused blow aimed for her heart. As unconsciousness took her, she was left with the imprint of Its taunting face engraved into her memory. Her last thought was that Immorality had chosen to be male. Had chosen the gender, because It knew that masculine beauty would distract Michael in a much more profound manner than it would Noin. She'd been subterfuged.

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"Gabriel will not wish to help. He was God's Sword: the Wrath and the Vengeance. He will not help us in this. Our brother was close to Lucifer. He will not wish for us to displease him."

Sally kneeled at Noin's feet.

"It is because of this closesess that he will help us. You and Gabriel are lovers---"

"That was a millennia ago---"

"---But he yet holds you in the highest of esteem. He will help us because as the Third Eldest he will not allow the two of you to perish before he sees you."

Noin grasped Sally's hand in hers.

"I hope that this is the case, because although I love you..." she took Sally's face in her hands. "...Lucifer was first. My loyalty and my heart reside within you, but I must save what is left of him. He will not die without seeing me---without seeing his birthplace."

"I understand. You need not worry for my sentiments. I know I hold your favor as well as your heart. But Gabriel must be contacted. You must reveal yourself to him."