EMOTIONAL DISTRUPTION
Ariel stands in the clearing, eyes closed, focused on her breathing. Her mind feels conflicted and clouded, not just from the situation she's finding herself in, but where she stands now. Where her blood has soaked into the dirt. Where her lips first touched Carlisle's. A storm of so many memories from the opposite sides of the spectrum. She still isn't sure how she's supposed to feel about this space. When she looks around, she can still see Father Briar. She can still feel a knife digging into her skin, but she can also feel Carlisle's fingertips. His lips.
She wants to be with Yana. She would have no qualms in being with Lucifer and Mazikeen right now. Enacting well-deserved revenge. Watching that bitch suffer. She would make sure that the demon saw exactly why you don't pick a fight with someone like her. She could channel her fury into something productive, take it on the person who deserves it. Yana deserves to suffer. Not just for what the demon did to herself, but for what it led to.
But then Carlisle's arms wrap tightly around her, his face burying in the back of her neck. Feeling his tight grip reminds her that where she wants to be is different than where she should be. Mazikeen and Lucifer can handle the demon. But Carlisle - Carlisle is the one who actually needs her right now.
She wraps her hands over his waist for a moment, but when Carlisle flinches hard, eyes squeezed tight as he goes to his knees, Ariel joins him. On the forest floor, she holds him close to her chest as he covers his ears. The fact that Yana's screams are leaving him so affected leaves a bitter taste in her mouth. It just serves to remind her just how human - how mortal - the Cullens still are. How untainted they are, despite being vampires.
All the Cullens seem to be affected. When Mazikeen appeared, reeking of the same rotting flesh and oozing the same fury, she wasted no time in getting work as she made it clear that she's been getting bored anyway. As soon as the first knife had dug into the demon's skin, the Cullens visibly flinched as it became apparent that they were going to have difficulty stomaching it. It was enough to distract Ariel from her own fury and focus on her new family.
Edward was the first to leave, immediately citing that he would join Alice and Jasper and warn them to wait before returning. He left visibly distrubed by the commotion of the thoughts in the room. Emmett followed soon after, Rosalie with him. Despite Rosalie not being as disturbed as her siblings nor her mate, she joined him with the hopes of comforting his unease; Ariel chooses not to think of just how Rosalie will comfort him.
Carlisle tried to withstand it, but Ariel could see the conflict in his eyes, the uneasiness in his face. Each time Yana cried, it made him flinch, his knuckles going white from how tight he pressed his fingers into his palm. Ariel just couldn't force him to stand there and take it. Seeing the one who loved so visibly distressed, she had to get him away.
As soon as Carlisle's guard dropped, when he finally admitted just how much this bothered him, the screams had gotten worse. Even with their distance now, Carlisle can hear the screams of pure pain and torture. He doesn't remember a time in his life that he's heard things like this before and a darker part of him makes him wonder if this what Hell truly is; the echoing, neverending pained screams. The only thing that comes close is when he heard Ariel cry out when Father Briar had cut into her. But even the priest didn't make noises like this when he had finally put the human to his end.
It goes against everything he stands for as a doctor. He was - is, always - willing to break that code when it comes to his mate, her safety, his family. But this is just - something he never prepared for, never imagined.
"She's a demon, love," Ariel tries to reason, "I know how bad it can sound. But demons are soulless hell pits. Creatures without boundaries, without empathy. In a twisted way, I am sure Yana herself is finding enjoyment in this process, but it's the only chance we have to figure out the answers we need."
"-And Mazikeen," Carlisle carefully questions. "She is a demon too, isn't she? Does your brother - does he have her perform like this?"
Ariel almost snorts, but seeing the conflict in Carlisle's eyes as he looks up at her makes her swallow it down.
"Lucifer never really forces Mazikeen to do anything, I doubt he even could. Everything she does is of her own will. But - despite being a demon, she is… she is different."
Ariel hesitates, biting at her bottom lip as her fingers comb through Carlisle's hair. They've situated themselves together on the ground floor, with Carlisle between her legs, his head on her chest.
"Mazikeen is the only demon with an actual soul. She's still ruthless and definitely mean, but she at least has an understanding of empathy. Of love. Unlike the demons, being so cruel is not her only characteristic. It's not all she knows."
There's a pause in the screaming, allowing a brief moment of peace to breathe as they talk. Ariel doubts that they're done as she hasn't received any messages.
"Mazikeen came to Earth with Lucifer," Ariel explains carefully. "Demons - in hell, they don't receive any of that. As cruel as it may seem, all demons know is torture and pain. They are made specifically for that, a necessary evil to punish the evil of the world. They're not supposed to be here. She's the only demon to actually be here for an extended amount of time and in that time, she experienced emotions that the demons are never supposed to. She knew the love of friends. Of family. Of a partner. She grew her own soul in that process."
Carlisle shifts, leaning the back of his head against her. He stares up at her and she can see the curiosity sparking in their depths. His deep curiosity for the unknown, for other species, for the world, is spinning in his irises as he thinks over what she says carefully. She gives him a soft smile, seeing that the very least, the conversation seems to distract him.
"Growing a soul," he muses, "I never would have imagined such a thing possible."
"Neither did we. Souls in particular, are such odd things. All I know is that a soul makes the difference on whether or not we actually regret our actions. Whether or not we better ourselves." Ariel's voice seeps with sincere honesty.
Carlisle ponders the meaning of the words as Ariel looks at him almost knowingly. It doesn't take him long to know how much those words are directly specifically at him. Hearing the confirmation that his family is not damned at least brings him some comfort as Ariel continues.
"Our father works in mysterious ways. Much too mysterious ways. He rarely ever gives us a direct answer or tells us everything. As insane as it may be, we're as old as the earth and are still figuring out new things. Amenadiel is the one who figured out that our subconscious and how we internally view ourselves can actually change us physically."
Ariel's smile becomes more fond, "And none of that are things we actually expected. Just like no one expected the devil to fall in love with a human. For Amenadiel to marry Linda and for a Nephilim to be born."
She looks down at Carlisle, her eyes meeting his fondly as her hand goes to his cheek, "-Or for an angel to fall in love with a vampire. I suppose in many ways, we will both face a lot of the unexpected and find out things we never thought possible. In a way, I suppose it makes us closer to mortals - to humans."
Ariel presses a kiss to the top of his forehead, before letting out a tired sigh, "But I am sorry that you had to experience this, Carlisle. You should have never been faced with a decision like this or to hear the results of that decision."
Carlisle leans into her, "We all face hard decisions, my dove. But I've told you, when it comes to your safety, it is a very easy one to make. I will always prioritize you and the coven."
There's no sense of regret in his voice or hatred aimed at her for the situation. A heavy weight lifts off of her as she wraps her arms around him, resting her head on the top of his. Looking in the clearing, she's met with the peaceful scene of the forest around them and nothing but the scent of pine.
