S E R A P H
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Lament Over Widespread Corruption
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Fools say in their hearts
'There is no God'
Their deeds are loathsome
And corrupt
Not one does what it right
God looks down from heaven
Upon the human race
To see if even one is wise
If even one seeks God
All have gone astray
All alike are perverse
Not one does what is right
Not even one
Will these evildoers ever learn?
They devour my people as they devour bread
They do not call upon God
They have a good reason to fear
Though now they do not fear
For god will certainly scatter
The bones of the Godless
They will surely be pt to shame
For God has rejected them
Oh, that from Zion might come
The deliverance of Israel
That Jacob may rejoice
And Israel be glad
When God restores the people
---Psalm Fifty-three
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Darkness has risen steadily, the clouds helping the dusk obscure everything in weak patches of grey. Rain beat down steadily upon her, the water cleansing her deteriorating hopes. She'd been searching everywhere for him and he wouldn't appear for her. He was not even willing to allow her a glimpse of himself.
Raphael was due to arrive with Gabriel if she failed to find Lucifer within the light of the seventh day.
It was the sixth and she was failing in every attempt and every moment of seeming victory.
The path she was walking had a definitive end. She would not survive the coming of autumn and yet her mission, her last grace of life was unraveling before her because she could not find Zechs.
She continued walking, the ever darkening streets soaking in all color and light, the weight of her sorrows pressing upon her temple. She staggered abruptly, slumping against a wall.
A powerful aura had just brushed against her. An aura that had momentarily fused with hers, causing her scars to flare in pain.
'Zechs?'
She reached for her sword, sweeping back the hair from her eyes.
She could feel the surrounding air contract with an influx of constrained power and she flinched at the intensity of it. The Sins were nearby. Envy and Lust she could discern, but a third presence was undetectable by her and there was only one being in existence that could shield themselves from her.
Lucifer.
She pushed herself away from the wall and twisted her body around in a battle position. He was near. The second she spotted a flash of platinum she'd rush after him. She was breathing harshly, the air thick and barely breathable. He was not going to refuse her. He was not going to escape her now that she'd discovered him.
She diverted her attention to the end of the building and she saw him. Leaning elegantly against the corner, gloved hands clasped together. He turned to look at her and smiled. His long wisps of hair clung lovingly to his face, falling around his shoulders in solid, damp lines. He was exactly the same as he had always been...and Michael's reaction at seeing his face was sharp and immediate.
He wanted her gone. Wanted to spring forth and run into Zechs' arms. She collapsed on one knee, her scars reacting to his proximity. When she was in pain, she was vulnerable enough that Michael could force himself out of her. She would not willingly submit to being placed second.
She stood shakingly and ignored the pain.
She had to capture him somehow.
Approaching him hesistantly she caught a quick glimpse of his lips upturning and he was gone.
Lucifer no longer had his preternatural strength. What was happening?
She shifted around, vision swimming in red and the rain causing her to misjudge everything.
Where was he?
Behind her, to the right. He was standing there now, beckoning her forward and she ran towards him, sword unsheathed and in a defensive stance.
Again, he was gone just as she was about to reach him.
Her back was aching unbearably and Michael was screaming at her, demanding that she allow him to come forth. His wrath spilled over her and she was barely able to hold him in check. What was happening to her?
Zechs appeared almost directly beside her, extending a hand to her.
She swallowed a small moan of pain, hoping that perhaps this time he'd allow her a chance.
She placed her left hand in his and he pulled her towards him---
and she was on the pavement.
He was playing with her. The night was aiding him and the rain shielded him from her.
She was a desolate woman.
She was being made the fool. Being toyed with.
Lust and Envy envaded her, forcing bile to race up her throat and she coughed harshly in an attempt to keep herself from being ill.
Lucrezia Noin was no one's fool. But she was allowing her heart to be tugged on my invisible strings by two Sins intent on her destruction. Her emotions were heightened, her feelings tossed into a tumult of constantly shifting waves.
Why was he doing this to her?
"Noin! Noin!"
Someone was calling her. She was unwilling to turn towards the voice, but the urgency, the almost gentle insistence had her curving towards the sound.
It was him again. Zechs.
The same gloved hands. The same breathtaking face and gold-threaded hair.
But it was a lie.
She was willing to die in her pursuit of him, but not willing to be humilated. She would wait for Gabriel and Raphael.
But Michael was not willing to wait.
Her body collapsed completely against the ground and the wetness of the ground claimed her skin, enveloping her with its cold. She felt the veil of herself being ragedly being pulled away before she slipped into a darkened subconsciousness.
The hair was longer.
Vermilion red and covering the head like a halo of freshly spilt blood.
The body moved, hands unsteadily raising up and supporting the upper body. The face had shifted into an unrecognizable sweep of perfection. The full lips, straight aquiline nose, high angular cheekbones and skin pale and luminous like magnolia blossoms.
The eyes were the same.
That heavy shade of crushed amethysts swimming in black. Mercilessly beautiful and surrounded by lashes the color of the nearly black rubies.
Michael lifted himself off the ground. He gathered up Noin's sword and resheathed it.
He stared across the distance seperating him from Zechs and he stood before his lover, unmasked and utterly exposed.
"If Zechs' wishes to play games. Let him find another to delude. I am Michael and I no longer have a master to submit to."
He kept his face stern and he walked away.
- - -
Lust and Envy had blended themselves into the shadows, watching in interest as Noin feel for every illusion and phantom Insanity was decieving her with.
'How love makes one forget to see through the veils.'
Envy glanced at his elder brother. 'Lucifer was Michael's first lover as Zechs was Noin's. It is clear as to why Insanity can so easily create the illusions and masquerades he uses to play with her.'
Lust sighed and refrained from replying. He quirked up an eyebrow and he sensed Solo and Zechs' approaching them.
Their master was not looking well.
Lust glared at Solo, questioning him in anger. "What have you allowed him to suffer while I was gone? Did you not shield him as I ordained?"
"Avarice was blocking us from him..."
Zechs pushed past Solo, stumbled and collapsed against Duo. 'What are you doing to her?'
Lust's angry scowl was replaced by an amused smile. "We are protecting you from her by confusing her with thoughts of you. I asure you that no harm will come to her."
Envy broke his momentary silence. "Not physical pain, brother." He turned emerald eyes to him. "But do not lie by omission and declare that her mentality will remain unaltered."
Zechs coughed, throat still healing and unable to speak. 'I demand...demand that you release her from him.'
When Lust only continued smiling, he pulled on the rosary hanging from his neck. 'This instant...'
Lust wrapped his arms around Zechs and brought his lips to Zechs'. "As my master wishes."
Two things happened at once.
Insanity shattered the layer of illusion he'd placed upon Noin and Envy reached out to touch Zechs' shoulder, immediately ridding him of his pain and healing the wounds he'd gained from Avarice's visit.
Noin collapsed against the ground and Zechs broke away from the Sins, revealing himself to her and telepathically ordering them to depart.
Solo went first, followed by Envy and Lust, who lingering a bit and then disappeared.
He called out to her, hoping that she had not been hurt. "Noin! Noin!"
He began to apprach her slumped over body when he stopped, unable to continue forward.
Michael had appeared.
Michael was the one sprawled on the ground. Hurt and immobile.
He was being stared at by eyes that were unflinching and startlingly focused.
"If Zechs' wishes to play games. Let him find another to delude. I am Michael and I no longer have a master to submit to."
Zechs could not utter a single word.
Michael did not believe that he was real.
He thought that he was another illusion.
Standing before him, completely unprotected and empty.
And Michael could not tell it was him.
He watched as his lover walked away from his again.
Watched as the night engulfed his crimson hair and left only the glint of his sword flashing in his mind.
Michael would not recognize him.
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And Michael arises.
