Improper Guardian
Chapter Thirty Nine
By: Brenli
"Michael-sama?"
The Fire Angel blew off whoever was trying to get his attention. Maybe he was crazy, but after being locked up in an Angel Crystal prison TWICE, the stereotypical iron-bars jail cell really wasn't all that bad. At least he could reach THROUGH the bars and smack whoever offended him.
He couldn't be bothered at this moment. He was too busy looking at the itty bitty hologram hovering at the top of his cell, watching the trial and wanting oh-so-badly to rip Cheriour into pieces for the things he had said.
"… Michael-sama." The voice tried again, more firmly. And this time he was rewarded with a slight twitch of the Michael's white wings and a middle finger promptly thrust in the air, stirring rude laughs from the surrounding prisoners.
This made Michael feel just a teeny bit better about his situation. Most of the people in this particular prison were just delinquents. They were in for silly things like mouthing off to high officials and being too wild for their comfort. … In other words, Michael fit right in. Already he was considered a favorite and possibly a leader. Of course, it probably helped that many of the men in here were of the Powers, anyway.
He listened as footsteps moved away from him and began a quiet and annoyed mumbling to someone at the end of the hall. After a pause, he heard a shove and a stumble. He laughed to himself. Whoever was at the end of the hall didn't seem to care what that Angel thought, either.
And then he heard cat calls. And a laugh he was very familiar with.
He rushed to the bars and immediately stuck his arms through, ready to greet her… and there she was, looking a little peeved already, but he really didn't blame her. "Nema, just kill him off already!" This was his version of a hello.
Nema took hold of his hands and shrugged. "I want to. Doesn't make it right."
"I'll do it, then."
"No, you won't!" Nema stuck her tongue out at him. "You WANT to get stuck in jail? What are we gonna have, a prison wedding?"
Michael just gave her a crooked sort of smile. That proposal… it really wasn't how he'd wanted it, at all. But it was done. And she hadn't said yes, LITERALLY. But it was obvious that she wanted it, and well… that was enough. "… Nah. The honeymoon would suck."
"Exactly." Nema laughed. Her eyes flickered up to the hologram she saw in the corner. "… So you've been watching it all, then."
"Everyone is."
"Then you know I'm gonna be reciting some kind of autobiography."
The Fire Angel nodded. "That's gutsy, you know. It's not REALLY any of their damn business."
Again, she shrugged. "Half of the room is full of idiots. There I am screaming my heart out, and they still think I have no emotions. I didn't know anger wasn't an emotion. Did you?"
Michael smirked. "No, must be a new thing." Then he nodded up to hologram.
Setsuna and Jibril stood side by side as they were being interviewed by a reporter. "We have the utmost faith that what's best for Heaven will be, and in our opinion our daughter is carrying the torch for a better era." Setsuna said with a smile.
"We didn't expect that to be her job, but she's done wonderfully, and we're definitely proud of her!" Jibril added.
"Is there anything else you'd like to say?"
"Yes," Setsuna stepped up to the microphones being shoved toward him. "We'd like to congratulate Michael! He's done good!"
"We look forward to having him for a son-in-law! My fellow Elemental!" Jibril laughed.
Nema's smile grew as she shook her head at the screen. "It's a good thing dad got over being so protective. Otherwise, I wonder what he would have said…!"
Michael nodded, but he changed the subject. "They're cuffed."
"Hmm?"
He pointed at the screen. "Why were they cuffed?"
And Nema sighed. "Oh. Well, they made me. You take it from there…" Nema watched him as he looked up at her with his blue eyes. "Raphael is also cuffed."
"Barbiel?"
"She's still in Hades. A lot of the White Wings on our side are actually turning themselves in, if they're involved with anyone else… If you ask me, they're being too faithful. I could still lose. I have to tell them my life story just to prove to them that we have FEELINGS. I didn't expect it to be that pathetic."
"… So everyone out there's cuffed but they're roaming around?"
"Yes."
"Then why the fuck am I in here?"
Nema reached into the cell to idly trace a pale finger down the line of his tattoo. "Because they think you'll be too rowdy. Or that you'll go on a killing spree."
"I promise I'll just kill Cheriour…!"
She laughed and poked his cheek. "No. Killing. Period."
He rolled his eyes. "What are they gonna do? Bring a camera in and ask me questions from here?"
"No, they'll let you in, once you're needed."
"Miss Mudou." A voice said from the end of the hall. "The recess is almost over."
The pair sighed. "… Soon." Nema whispered to him, and her eyes widened when he reached out, grabbed her head, and planted a kiss on her.
"Soon." Michael repeated nonchalantly, basking in all the hoots and hollers from his jailmates.
"You damn jerk." Nema said as she blew a kiss and moved off.
"But I love you!" Michael grinned.
"Love you!"
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"She was born one month, one week early, and I ended up having her at home." Jibril recalled as she stood before the Judge. "An angry little girl from the moment she was born. We had to take her to the hospital because she was having breathing problems and she put up quite a fight getting all those tubes hooked up to her and putting her in the incubator. She was there for a week, and then we were allowed to take her home, but she didn't stop being so bratty for a few days. I think she was holding a grudge."
"An angry girl?" Uriel questioned, perhaps with the heavy tones of boredom.
"Very. She was notorious for not being very kind all through her younger years at school."
"And in the older years?"
"… We took a different approach to the behavioral complaints we received after she was in her fifth year. We rather stopped believing them."
"And why is that?"
"One time well into her fifth year, Nema came home crying. 'I have no Angel watching over me.' That's what she told us. I found out later that children from a church on the way to her school had thrown rocks at her and called her a sinner…" The Water Angel's mouth suddenly formed a firm line. "And when she defended herself, a NUN who knew about Setsuna and I decided to tell her she was DAMNED, and that she had NO say in the matter. That she had no Angel to protect her." When she looked up at Uriel, her blue eyes were blinking back frustrated tears. "And when we received a complaint from that same church, telling us that she had beaten up a boy we later identified as one of the children that threw stones at her, we didn't blame her. Not a bit."
"You believed that she was only seeking revenge?"
"Either that or it was self-defense that was misread. Each time we received a complaint we looked into it and found that our little girl was dealing with people that immediately wrote her off as a mishap. If they didn't know about Setsuna and I, then they felt that she was… cursed, somehow. Because of her albinism." Jibril's hands clenched together in their handcuffs. "My daughter was subject to discrimination that she can't prevent. She didn't choose to be my child, and she didn't choose to be so pale. And it's unfair to pick on her and threaten her because of something she can't change. That is a lesson we all learn at a young age… that golden rule. Do unto others as you would have done unto you. You wouldn't want someone to hurt you because your wings are such a dark brown, would you, Uriel?"
"… No, I would not."
"And so you would think twice about harming a girl who is also a little different. We all should."
Uriel paused, feeling awkward that Jibril had drawn him into the conversation as though they were talking personally. "… So Mudou Nemaelle is the subject of much bullying. And she did not take it well."
"No human being would."
The answer made him smile a little, but quickly wiped it off his face. "No, I suppose not. Now, there was something mentioned earlier… about a rape."
Jibril grew quiet for a long while. "… It was Easter. She was twelve. She had been enrolled into a Catholic school at the time and she said that she wanted to go to a party that was being held afterward. Setsuna and I let her go… we were just happy that she would be going to a party and hopefully, as it was a school function, she would be fine."
"And the party wasn't fine?"
"No, the party was fine. But it passed dinnertime and we still hadn't heard from her."
"Did you go searching for her?"
"Setsuna did. I stayed home, in case she came back on her own." Again, Jibril paused. Her shoulders began to shake. "He found her…" She choked on tears.
"… You may step down, Jibril." Uriel said softly, watching her move away. "May Setsuna please come to the stand." And when he took his oath and stood before him, he asked, "… On the evening of Easter, you found your daughter?"
Setsuna nodded. Already he looked distraught.
Uriel hated the next question but knew it should be asked. "… What condition was she in?"
Setsuna opened his mouth. He closed it. He sighed a little, looked up and tried to speak again. He couldn't maintain eye contact.
"I was bleeding." A voice spoke from the front of the room. Nema's white hair flowed over her face to hide a deep, humiliated blush. But her voice was loud and firm. "From many places. I don't think I need tell you just which areas, because that's not your business, anyway. I was tied up… Kind of… curled up. I couldn't feel my hands or my feet. My underwear was gone. A pair of rabbit ears was put on my head during the deed." She stood up and glared a little at Cheriour and said, "'For now and ever you are marked by the hand of God, little bunny girl.' That was what he kept telling me. And he left me there, in the alley two blocks away from that old school, surrounded by trashcans. He made sure to spit on me before he left, if that's of any importance to you." She ignored the murmurs around her as she looked up at the Earth Angel. "Anything else you want to know about my condition?"
"… That will suffice."
Nema sat back down, her hair slipping over her face again.
"… Mudou Setsuna." Uriel began, "After you found you daughter, what did you do?"
"… I carried her home." Setsuna's voice quivered from the recollection. "She was awake… but she couldn't walk, so I carried her. … I ran, and when we got home I called the police right away." He hung his head. "There was so much blood… I got sick."
"… Was the one responsible ever found?"
Setsuna shook his head.
"He is in this room."
Uriel looked over at Nema. "Is he?"
Nema nodded. "I already told you. Cheriour did it." Her hands clasped the edge of her seat. "I remember that hair… and that voice… that evil voice…"
Cheriour only smiled as the murmurs picked up.
"Setsuna, you may step down. Cheriour, approach the bench."
He did so.
"Is it true that you are guilty of this rape?"
"It was not rape." Cheriour said simply, "For she is nothing more than a walking sin. So if I wish to use her for nothing more than a carnal pleasure, then I may do so. I am purging myself of my lust by giving it to a wastebasket."
"FUCK YOU!" Nema suddenly screeched, coming to a stand.
"Furthermore, when you asked of her condition, she readily gave you a rather lengthy description, and she gave it rather calmly. Aside from the short outburst you have just heard, she hardly even seems to acknowledge the rape as traumatic."
"DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT TRAUMA!" Nema screamed. "It was EVIL! You RUINED me! I don't seem traumatized? Forgive me for having restraint! They TEACH you that in the therapy they put you into when someone fucking RIPS you apart inside like that!"
"So now that I accuse you, you're going to act like you've been in pain?" Cheriour retorted.
"I'M NOT ACTING!" Nema's voice was shaking. "I WANTED TO DIE BECAUSE OF YOU! I TRIED to die because of the… the THINGS you did and the things you said!"
And Cheriour's voice dropped into a husky lowness as he said, "For now and ever you are marked by the hand of God, little bunny girl."
"'LITTLE BUNNY' THIS…!" And Nema exploded into rage and tears and flew at him.
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The courtroom went into temporary pandemonium. "… Oh… well…" The nervous female reporter stuttered, "It seems there has been a rather violent outburst in the courtroom and we will get right back to the broadcast as soon as it's cleared up…" After a lengthy pause with the camera focused on her, she grinned stupidly. "Well, it certainly has been a wild trial! Definitely going to be a hot topic for many years to come, won't it?"
"Hey, why aren't you smiling your ass off?"
"Yeah, your girl just started beating the SHIT out of that fucking loser!"
"Why don't you shut the fuck up?" Michael snapped at the two Angels in the cell across from his.
They must've been too stupid. They weren't looking at the whole picture. Nema had been raped, that was horrible. She was beating Cheriour for it, and that was great. And Michael was happy for it, and he wanted to smile his ass off.
But that wasn't the whole picture. The whole picture was that Cheriour got AWAY with raping Nema because Michael hadn't been there to save her, and he should have been. Michael leaned against his iron bars and took a slow breath. It had been hard to listen to that… Nema painting the picture of what she looked like after the rape. Michael had wanted to cover his ears. He almost fell ill. He found himself adding on to the sentences. She was bleeding from many places because Michael hadn't saved her. She was tied up because Michael hadn't saved her. Her underwear was gone because Michael hadn't saved her. And she had been spit on afterwards… because he hadn't done a thing, not one tiny thing, to save her.
His fingers gripped the bars with white knuckles. He tried to remember what he'd been doing that day… what had been more important than her, at that time? Was it real work, keeping the barriers of Heaven safe? Was it something stupid, like hunting?
Was it something horrible, like sitting at home and being bored… because he'd forgotten all about her?
"Whoa! What the fuck are you doing?" Someone in the jail cell to the right asked.
Michael shivered as he felt the impact run through him. He'd slammed his head against one of the iron bars. "… Fuck!" He cursed under his breath. God, that had hurt. But he deserved it.
"YOU CAN'T COME IN HERE! MISS MUDOU!"
Michael shook his head to clear his vision as he watched Nema stomping her way down the hall. Her face was red with anger and wet with tears. Her hair was mussed. She was bleeding a little, from the corner of one lip. And she stopped in front of Michael's cell, raising her hands to her head, and she began to pace, muttering something to herself.
"MISS MUDOU!" The guard called again.
"I'M FUCKING STAYING HERE AND THAT'S ALL THERE IS TO IT!" Nema screamed, and then she dropped to her knees in front of the Fire Angel's cell, her hands grabbing the bars.
"You're bleeding." Michael mumbled to her as he dropped down before her. He could hear what she was muttering, now. She was counting… backwards from ten, back up, and then down again. He wondered if she'd been taught that in therapy, too. It broke his heart.
Finally, Nema took a deep breath and licked away the blood from the corner of her mouth. "… It's nothing…" She breathed. "I bit my tongue."
He reached out to run his fingers through her hair, and it was knotted. "… Why are you here?"
"Another recess, already." Nema was still breathing deeply, but she was calming down now that she was by him. "Uriel made a big show of being stressed already, but I think he was trying to give me a break. Cheriour is a prick."
At the mention of his name, Michael's hand dropped down. "… Hey…"
Nema's red eyes had been closed for the moment, and now she opened them, again.
"… Sorry."
"Sorry?"
Michael nodded. He couldn't look at her. "Sorry."
And then he felt her hand reach into the cell to rest over his. "This is not your fault." She said quietly.
"I didn't…"
"I know. But you said you were sorry… And I forgive you."
The Fire Angel looked up at her with a sad sort of smile. "… Don't have a clue why you do."
This made Nema smile back in the same sad way. "Because I love you. Love means forgiveness. No one is perfect. You have to forgive those flaws and errors… if you don't, then love dies." She took a deep breath. "I was raped, and that is bad. But I am not the only girl who has been raped. There were 30 girls in the group sessions for my therapy… and that's just for one hour of the day, in one town." Her smile faltered a little. "I was the youngest one, but that's beside the point." She sighed and leaned her head against the bars that separated them, and smiled as she felt him kiss her forehead. "… I broke his nose, again."
The War Angel laughed. "I was gonna ask how bad the damage was."
"Not as bad as it could have been… but I did break his nose. That was the most satisfying thing ever."
"I keep telling you to kill him."
"… How about this. After the trial, we can kill him."
"Sounds like a plan. Cheriour Hunting."
Nema smiled and nodded.
"… Things have been put back into order in the courtroom, Miss Mudou. We shall continue." The guard cleared his throat. "Michael-sama's presence is also requested."
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Nema re-entered first. She expected the murmurs after all that wildness. She wasn't really sure if she should have expected the looks of pity that fell over the side of the room in favor of Cheriour. True, it was pity, and she hated it. But it was an acknowledgment that she had been hurt… and that was a good improvement. She sat down and snuck a peek at Cheriour through the stray strands of ivory hair. He was sitting in his spot, his nose poorly healed by Raphael. Some dried blood was noticeable under his nose, and he wore a sour little frown. She fought the urge to laugh.
And then she heard the stomping of Michael's boots as he entered, and he did NOT fight the urge to laugh. "OH! LOOK AT YOU!" Michael grinned, and she watched him point right at Cheriour, who seemed to not notice him. "SOMEONE SAY SOMETHING STUPID?" He laughed boldly.
Cheriour's frown twitched in derision.
"Michael, please be seated and try to keep from speaking out of turn…" Uriel sighed to the fellow Elemental.
"Yeah, yeah." Michael said as he sat next to Nema.
The Angel of Judgement held a hand to his forehead, clearly about to have a nervous breakdown. "May Michael please come to the stand."
Michael smiled as he said his oath and waited for Uriel to begin. "Name and rank."
"Michael. Powers."
"It was said that Cheriour was a possible candidate for Powers."
"Yeah?"
"You were unaware?"
"It's news to me."
"Then you would have chosen him for Powers if you had known?"
"If he had the balls, sure. The rank of Powers is a special, primarily military rank. Warriors fall into that rank, so I test them. If they don't pull through, they're out. Boot camp." Michael stated this all matter-of-factly. "But he doesn't have the balls. I saw the broadcast. He was afraid I'd start shit, feh! If he's afraid of that, then I don't want him."
"… I see. You were also given the rank of Guardian Angel at one point in time."
"That's not really a rank, is it?"
"… It is a subdivision among the rank of Angel. Which brings me to my next question. As Powers, you are of too high a rank to be given that title. So how is that you became a Guardian Angel?"
"Well I wasn't lying to you, if that's what you think. That was the first thing I said when I found out that I was going to be a Guardian Angel for a while. Not that anyone LISTENED to me." Michael rolled his blue-green eyes. "Go ahead and check the papers. I'm not lying to you. It's official."
"Then you have no idea why you were given that title?"
"None."
Uriel nodded. "… And who was assigned to be your Guarded?"
"It was Nema." Michael nodded toward her, and she regarded him with a smile.
Here's where it was gonna get a little touchy… Uriel paused for a while and began. "… We have had some discussion concerning the life of one Mudou Nemaelle from her birth until… an unfortunate event. It would appear that she has led a rather disappointing life. Why is this?"
Michael suddenly lost a great deal of his smug demeanor. "… What's that supposed to mean?" He asked, though he already knew.
"As a Guardian Angel you are assigned to protect your Guarded. But it would appear that there have been several instances that she could have used your aid."
Michael said nothing.
"… In her fifth year of schooling, children began throwing stones at her. This is more than teasing; it is crossing the line into abuse. Where were you for this event?"
"… I don't know." He said quietly.
"… At the age of twelve, she was raped. Where were you?"
"I DON'T KNOW!" Michael snapped.
"… Then why has your Guarded been neglected?
"I. Don't. Know."
"Did you believe that, as an I-Child, she was not important?"
"NO! DON'T YOU FUCKING WEAVE UP IDEAS, URIEL! YOUR JOB ISN'T TO INSTIGATE SHIT!" Michael exploded.
"Then give me a better answer than 'I don't know.'"
"BUT I DON'T KNOW!" His hands flew up in the air. "I don't KNOW where I was when this happened or when that happened! I DON'T! And I know that's horrible, so fucking shoot me, then!"
"Michael –"
"And I don't KNOW why I neglected her, okay? I don't know what I was thinking! I mean, LOOK at her!" Michael waved a hand over to her. "She is… She is WONDERFUL! I don't know what I was thinking… Okay, maybe I was thinking some fucking stupid shit. Like… I don't know, like 'I'm better than this' type of stupid BULLSHIT! It was fucking dumb! I mean, so what if I was too high a rank, right? Should've done my job, right? So I don't know what I was thinking! I would fucking punch my own lights out if I could go back in time to confront myself!"
"Michael."
"WHAT?"
"Calm down." The Fire Angel sneered at the Judge. "… So you acknowledge that you were too high a rank for the job, but you feel that you should have performed the duty, anyway. Is this correct?"
"Yeah. I mean, rank doesn't matter." Michael nodded to himself. "It was a job. And she is a good person. I love her."
"You made that abundantly clear when you proposed to her. So you regret neglecting Nemaelle?"
"You have no idea."
The words were said soberly, and the look on his face was sincere. Uriel could feel the changes that had taken place and wondered if this was even the same Michael he knew. He wondered if Michael himself was asking the same thing: What happened to him? "… And then there was a point in time when you were actually sent to Assiah for the sole purpose of protecting her."
"Yeah." Michael nodded. "It was when the Rabbit Hunting really started pickin' up. Cheriour was taking trips down to Assiah to kill off Rabbits in hiding."
"And you chose to start protecting her then. Why?"
"… Because I was told to?"
"And you could have neglected to do so, again. What made this situation different?"
That made Michael stop and think. "… I don't know. It was a direct order. I just… decided I would take it." After a pause he mumbled. "… She did see me earlier that day."
"… It is against the law to show yourself to your Guarded unless it is an urgent time or it was commanded by God."
"Yeah, see, I know, but I don't really care." Michael shrugged. "I was down in Assiah – and I know that's illegal, too, chill – and this asshole in this cheap excuse for some kind of store starts saying shit, like 'get out of here, foreigner!' and some crap like that. But I can feel the aura around him. That guy was a Grade-A Demon, and he was pickin' a fight. So I figured, okay, fine. Let's fight. So I deal his store a big ol' blow or three and I run off, 'cause I'm sick of dealing with him." A grin took over his lips. "And she got in my way."
"You got in MY way." Nema muttered quietly.
"And to be honest she pissed me off, pickin' on me because I'm… you know… a little smaller than most full grown Angels."
"WHAT?" Nema let her voice raise up and be heard. "Fuck you! You PLOWED into me! It's not like I'm camouflaged! You should've seen me!"
"Hey! Don't talk out of turn!" Michael teased her. "Anyway, so we got into a fight but then I went off. I didn't wanna deal with her. … Besides, she was cute. She should GRATEFUL that I didn't RUIN her face!"
Nema mumbled in her seat.
"… So you agreed to watching over her because you thought she was cute."
"I dunno. Maybe."
That wasn't a very great answer, but by this point, Uriel just didn't care. "And during this time you spent a hefty amount of time protecting her."
"Yeah, I guess. I mean, it wasn't really hard or anything."
"And according to some reports here… there is something about Harajuku nighttime brawls. Explain these."
"Oh, those!" Michael grinned. "Those aren't a big deal, either. See, Nema likes to do this thing on Sundays, where she goes to Harajuku and parades around in all her petticoats and mini-crowns. But now that the Rabbit Hunting was getting really intense, I couldn't really let her go off and do that, so I decided that maybe we could get away with it by adding my own twist. So we'd go at night, instead, and beat the shit out of the Rabbit Hunters that went after us. And you know what? There's nothing cooler than watching a lolita beat the crap out of someone… Seriously, the irony is fucking awesome."
"So you were on friendly terms with Nemaelle."
"Well why not?" Michael scoffed. "Well, we had our issues, but I considered her a friend."
"This is quite a drastic change compared to your previous treatment of your Guarded."
"… Yeah. Yeah, I know."
"And you can spot no clear reason for why this happened?"
Michael paused. "… No. Yeah. Maybe."
"An answer like that won't do –"
"I know it won't!" The Fire Angel snapped. "… Maybe there are lots of reasons, you know? I don't know WHY I decided to go down there at first. I mean, she was cute, but I couldn't stand her! I really couldn't! Sometimes I wanted to strangle her; that's how much I hated being there! But, you know… it was really fucking stupid of me. I ruined her life." He ignored the mumbles coming from the room. "That's the truth. I let it fall apart, because I am a fucking idiot…! But… I wanted to make that up to her. You can't spend all that time in a big empty house with a girl and NOT get to know her, and… she deserves better. It's not like she is a horrible girl. She's not. She's beautiful, and I mean that in every way. And I guess… after a while, that was what it was about."
"You wanted to make it up to her."
"Yes."
"… And the relationship with your Guarded was platonic. There were no feelings of intimacy, other than the protectiveness a Guardian Angel awards the Guarded?"
Michael said nothing again.
"… Answer the question, Michael."
"… There were some." Even though the room had been witness to Michael's proposal, they began to murmur like gossiping old women.
"You did harbor some lustful feelings for her?"
"Not lust." He said firmly. "Not just lust. There was more to it than that."
"Did you pursue her?"
"She pursued me first." Michael sneered at the sudden increase in murmurs. "She didn't throw herself on me, if that's what you fucking idiots are thinking! Let me fucking finish!"
After it got a little quiet, Uriel said, "Finish, then."
"… I think… she got a little starry-eyed. I mean, Nema does that a lot. Her mind gets carried away, and that's why she has these huge ambitions. And that's good! I wouldn't want her to lose that."
"Do not branch away from the subject at hand, Michael."
"Why don't you let me finish before you say shit like that?" Michael quipped and continued, "… Think of it this way. She's always alone, right? And then… someone falls into her life, and they're always there, and they're always protecting her. It's easy to admire that someone… if that's something you've never had before. That makes sense, doesn't it? So it wasn't like she got a little needy and picked me. She… felt cared about. That's not something you want to let go."
"Oh, a damsel in distress for this shining knight, here." Cheriour muttered from his corner.
"Damn right." Michael shot back at him.
Uriel ignored this. "So you did not reciprocate?"
"… Not at first. Not really."
"Explain."
"I mean, I didn't play along with anything. I'm not a complete idiot…! She didn't know about me being her Guardian Angel, and on top of that, if I DID do anything, we could get caught and then that's more Hell than I wanted to deal with!"
"But did you have an attraction to her, in spite of this?"
"… Yeah. Yeah, I did."
"And then one night, this changed. You performed…" Uriel cleared his throat. "… A rather hefty sin with her."
Again, Michael was silent.
"… Cheriour provided us with some particularly… revealing footage on it."
The Earth Angel watched Michael's eyes become a very bright green. "You watched it?"
Uriel nodded, and Michael went pale. "… I need an answer for the transcripts. If not I will have to play the footage –"
"I had sex with Nema." Michael rushed on. "So what? So I had sex with her…! You're not playing that fucking tape! It's not anyone's business!"
"Why did you commit such an act?"
"Why are you making it sound so fucking EVIL?" Michael snapped. "It's not! Cheriour… fuckin'… RAPING Nema, now that's evil! PURE FUCKING EVIL! But that's not at all like… what I did. It's not!" Michael turned to face the room and waved a hand toward Nema, who was blushing like mad. "I LOVE HER! And you go ahead and gasp and giggle behind your fucking hands, I don't fucking care! It's some kind of fucked up system we live in… so I love her. So what? What do you want me to do about it? Swallow it and keep on beating some Rabbit Hunters every Sunday night, and just ignore the fact that the girl I want wants me back? Am I supposed to just let that kind of bullshit build up and let her go on thinking stupid things like, 'What's wrong with me?' and 'I'm too ugly.' … Fucking horrible things that aren't true! 'Cause if I do that, I'm a fucking asshole and I'm not doing my job and making her happy! … You know what? Fuck that. It's not even really about being a Guardian Angel. If I let her go on thinking things like that… then I'm a dick for not being a good person, and I'm not the right guy for her, then. … And maybe I got tired of not being the right guy! And I got tired of lying to her and to me for some fucking ideal I don't even really believe in… especially when an old friend of hers pops up like a bat out of Hell and tries to take her away! I got sick of it!"
He finally paused. Uriel cleared his throat again, and Michael turned around to face him.
"… So I gave in. I told her I loved her in the deepest way anyone can, and I don't regret it. I made love to her. So sue me." And the Fire Angel looked up, and his eyes had become a brilliant blue that burned into Uriel's soul with the following words. "I didn't want to wait too long."
It took a while for Uriel to react, because the words really did bite into him, whether Michael had meant for it to be that way or not. Suddenly, Uriel wanted to take another recess all over again, but he fought against that urge. "… You may step down, Michael. … May Nemaelle please rise and come to the stand." The Earth Angel allowed Michael to brush his hand down hers as they passed. "… Do you confirm all that Michael has said?"
Nema was still blushing, but she tried to ignore the heat all over her face. "Yes."
"It is true, then, that you were attracted to him and pursued him first?"
"… As long as it's clear that I wasn't seducing him, ever. Then yes, I'd say that's true."
"Then there was no refusal on your part the night the sin took place?"
"It wasn't a sin." Nema said firmly. "And there was no refusal… I did want it." She ignored the hum of the murmuring in the room.
"Now… what happened the day after the s- the event."
This made the blush instantly drop from Nema's face. "… The morning after?"
"Yes."
"… Cheriour and his men… they took Michael away. He was gone for a week… And I remember being… very heartbroken. I felt used. I felt sick. On the seventh day… I decided that I would commit suicide."
"And this was how you wound up in Hades?"
"Yes and no. I… was going to commit suicide, but Michael broke out of prison with Raphael's help and stopped me just in time. It was at that moment that I found out that Raphael and Michael were Angels… but they had to leave, and then I was attacked by Rabbit Hunters… and I fell. It was an accident, but originally it was going to be a suicide."
"… I see."
"And I remember that Raphael had stolen my body and brought it to you… and he revived me in Hades. And I stayed with you for a while."
This brought a wave of confused words that mingled into an incoherent mass. Uriel tapped his new gavel on the desk to silence it. "Yes, I remember giving you refuge for a time. But this was temporary. Please state what changed this."
With a lop-sided smile, Nema went on. "I found some books on the I-Children and got angry."
"And why were you angry?"
"Why shouldn't I have been angry?" Nema quickly retorted. "Anyone with a heart would be offended to find out their kind has been oppressed and murdered. You didn't expect me to just sit there and shrug it off, did you?"
Uriel tried to hide the wry smile on his face. "No, that wouldn't be quite like yourself."
"Exactly." Nema replied. "You remember what happened after that. I confronted you about it."
"You demanded war."
"It seemed like that would be the very best solution. We were being killing left and right. The quickest way to at least slow down the death rate was to fight back."
"But I advised against it."
"And I ran away."
"Because you are much too stubborn." Uriel gave up and let the smile show on his face.
Nema smiled back. "No, I'm stubborn ENOUGH. There's a difference."
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"… Is there some way to record all of this?" Doll wondered aloud.
"Definitely something we'd want to save!" Barbiel smiled, and Abel agreed with a loud laugh.
"Fucking NUTS." Katou said behind a mouthful of cookie. "A proposal, a shitload of loud arguments, and Nema broke that Cheriour guy's nose. This is the most fucked up trial I've ever heard of!"
"I'm sure Uriel would agree."
"… He is smiling." Doll said with a smile of her own.
"Spoke too soon," Barbiel pointed to the hologram before them, and the image of Uriel quickly shaking off the smile that had formed on his face.
Katou swallowed his cookie and absorbed the silence that filled the room. "… You'd think he'd at least be trying to get over this, by now…!"
"KATOU!" The two female voices quickly reprimanded him.
"What?" Katou held his hands up. "He told me HIMSELF that he doesn't love you, Doll! If that's the case, there isn't much reason for him to be moping around ON CAMERA like this!"
"… But it is still heartbreak." Doll reasoned quietly. "And Uriel was always particularly sensitive."
"… Doll, we should try to find Uriel a nice girl." Barbiel suggested as Abel played with her fingers.
"You're gonna find a girl who's fine with living in Hades forever, with a big brooding guy." Katou snorted. "I think Uriel needs to reevaluate himself and change his outlook on life before he'd even really get anywhere…"
"Not big and brooding, you're looking at it wrong!" Barbiel waved off Katou's honesty with her hand. "It wouldn't be so hard, after all… he's the tall, dark, handsome type. Women everywhere kill for that kind of man."
"What's this about the tall, dark, handsome type?"
The trio turned to see that Jinho had appeared for a visit, though they only knew of him through some minor association with Raphael.
He took off his trademark top hat and bowed. "How is this fine bunch today? I've been hearing rumors that Nemaelle's little trial idea materialized as of today…!"
"Then you heard right. Cookie?" Katou held up a tray.
Jinho laughed in his smooth, gentlemanly way and took one cookie to be polite. "Then I should report this to Lucifer-sama at once…"
"Here. Take this with you, then!" Katou tossed what looked like little more than a tabloid at the dandy goth Demon.
Jinho looked over the image on the cover, and his ink-black eyes widened in mild surprise and happiness. "Oh, won't this be pleasant news…!"
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One of the things that made Jinho one of Lucifer's favorite Demons was that he was very prompt and knew exactly what was asked of him. True, he was not a Satan (though Jinho did wish that he could take on the title of Lust; however, Asmodeus was more than perfect for that role), but he managed to keep a level head… which was really saying something down in the depths of Hell. Jinho laughed and waved to a merrily traveling Mad Hatter, who tipped her top hat along with him and winked an eye covered with black makeup in the shape of a diamond. She must have succeeded in kissing Lucifer or something…
"Sometimes I would rather like to kill the girl… man… thing."
A female laugh echoed in response. "But I like her presence."
"She wants to fuck me. You realize this."
"That's only because she knows you won't let her."
Jinho swallowed the laugh building up in this throat and began to press on through the wall. He heard the annoyed grumble from his Dark King turn into a sigh of relief when he realize that it was Jinho, and not the Mad Hatter. "Ah, Jinho. Very prompt." Lucifer greeted, pretending to not care that Alexiel was wiping a black kiss mark off his cheek.
"I come with wonderful news." Jinho said after bowing.
"The trial is real?"
"Very real. It is being broadcast throughout Heaven, and for some reason Hades, as I speak."
Lucifer nodded, an icy but happy little smile making his features just a little more amiable, for once. "… Good. I know she had been really craving that dream."
"But there is more…!" Jinho held up a finger to halt any further words, and held forth the paper in his hands. He watched as Lucifer and his Dark Queen leaned forth to observe the image and read the caption on the bottom, and he positively grinned as Alexiel grinned and clapped her hands twice.
"A sister-in-law…! Now I will have one…!" Alexiel said with a happy sigh. "And such a good girl, too. I truly am fond of her!"
Lucifer, in his usual fashion, kept a small, barely-there smile on his face. "… Well, then. My little brother is right, now. Nemaelle is not my niece. Not anymore."
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AUTHORESS NOTE: It had been a while since I'd written anything with Jinho, Lucifer, or Alexiel, so I thought that was a good way to end this chapter.
… That and I'm creeping up on 21 pages. Seriously, I don't think that's healthy. But at least it's a nice, meaty update for you!
It was also nice to write a little more of Doll and Katou. Oh yes, and I actually mentioned the Mad Hatter, finally! XD I know I haven't really done anything with her. Of course, Impy doesn't really focus much on Hell, anyway, and she seems to want to spend a lot of time down there… well, that IS where Lucifer is, and all.
Also, this is chapter 39! If I don't finish this by 42 chapters, I WILL be scared of myself! So this is it…! So very near the end, now! It's been a very long road, hasn't it? Yes… Yes it certainly has…! XD