Revolution
Chapter 8; The Last Red Angel
Lucy sat silently looking at the three devils chained to their crosses, awaiting purification, while waiting for her God to return.
"This was never a part of the plan Gray!" Natsu hissed in a whisper.
"I didn't expect it either. We couldn't tell Lucy we suspected her of being a spy or else it would have blown up everything." Gray whispered back. "We got Ran to tell her a false direction and intercept the message, and we confirmed that Lucy was being manipulated. But I didn't think that this was going to happen!"
"So what do we do now?" Juvia interrupted their conversation.
"We'll break out of here, take Lucy and get the guild back then finally take down these people!" Natsu suggested.
"Idiot!" Gray shot him down. "Only a miracle could make that plan work."
"Well we've already got an Angel, what else would it take for a miracle?" Natsu snapped back.
"Don't be stupid!" Gray snapped.
"Actually, it might not be." Juvia uttered. They both turned and stared at Juvia who looked over at their 'Angel' who stared right back at him. "Juvia has already heard the story of the Red Angels before. They have a horrible temper, and Juvia doesn't think the one possessing Lucy is any different."
"What makes you say it possesses her?" Gray countered. "Lucy's true nature might actually be an Angel."
"I hope you're not trying to make a joke about Lucy's temper here, Gray." Natsu growled.
"I'm not." He rebutted.
"You might be right, but Juvia doesn't think so. Just look at her, can you really tell Juvia that's Lucy?" Their eyes turned to the girl resting in the throne chair picking from a bowl of dark red grapes, and a glass grail in another. Dark onyx eyes fixed on the blonde's deep chocolate eyes. They were cold with a hidden layer of frost and resentment inside of them.
"That's not Lucy." Natsu growled. Lucy would never look like that.
"Juvia thinks the longer she stays like that, the longer Lucy's become the true Red Angel." Juvia thought.
"It's definitely got something to do with that necklace." Natsu added. "It's super creepy."
"You overheard them earlier; they said the rest of the wizards are being held in the council's dungeons. If we can escape and get there, Juvia's sure we might be able to get them back." Juvia continued.
"But how do we escape these cuffs are stopping us from using our magic?" Gray added.
"Juvia has an idea, but you'll have to play along." Juvia nodded. Gray had a bad feeling, but he had enough trust in Juvia to understand she knew what she was doing.
"Your God isn't really a God." Juvia called, catching Lucy's attention. Her dark brown eyes turned slowly towards her, pushing one last grape between her lips. Waving her hand, her people dispersed from around her. Graceful movements made her rise from her chair and carry her over to where the wizards where captured in a single movement.
"A devil cannot speak so, when their own God, so to speak, is the Satan of the underworld." Lucy whispered in a cool, unemotional voice but still laced with a bitter twist. Her brown eyes looked Juvia in the face with a small wisp of a smile.
"Your God is human." Juvia continued. "You are human too. You can never have your true form back, everything that's happening to you is just the work of the magic you hate so much." Her eyes fell onto the ruby red necklace hanging around the blonde's neck.
"The "Magic" as you so call it, is the devil's poison inside of you. In me, is a holy gift as I find my reincarnation again?" Lucy replied back calmly, rubbing a finger over the edge of the jewel cross.
Natsu stared in disbelief at the blonde haired girl. Although she looked like Lucy, Natsu couldn't see any trace of her inside. Whoever this person was, wasn't Lucy. He had no idea what had happened when they took her away, but he was definitely going to turn her back.
"It is magic." Juvia snapped harshly. "It's magic and it's inside of you. Inside of Lucy who you possess. You are no Angel just a mockery of what once was. You're no Angel, you're just like the rest of us; A Wiz-" Juvia's voice was cut off as Lucy's hand lurched forwards. It pinched around Juvia's face, with long red fingernails digging into her skin.
"Beware of the words you spout Demon. Remember your Lucy will be lost inside of me by midnight and this whole body will be mine. I have already been purged of the devil poison that tainted the bloodline of my vessel. You will be next." Lucy hissed, pulling her hand away like Juvia was diseased.
"Juvia will not take back her words. Just like she said, you're a wizard, heart and soul. Lucy will-" Once again, Juvia's words fell quiet as the snap of Lucy's hand against her skin echoed in the room. A bright red hand mark stung the side of Juvia's cheek. Lucy stood above her, holding her arm cast to the side with her lips pulled back over her teeth in a snarl.
"I said stop spouting your nonsense in my presence I will not stand for it. You who slaughtered my brothers and sisters when we gave you something so precious; our lives; have no right to tell me what I am and are not." The Angel growled viciously. It was almost possible to see the blood boiling in her eyes, staring down like a hungry dog above her, ready to snap at any second.
"Juvia won't take back what she said." Juvia scoffed bitterly, spitting a mouthful of blood at her feet.
"Then die with your words." Lucy calmed. Her hands struck outwards, tearing the wooden shackles open. Another hand took and handful of hair and dragged her across the tower's marble floors. Juvia squirmed and wriggled but couldn't break free. Lucy had the supernatural strength of an Angel through her and Juvia couldn't match it.
"Juvia!" Natsu and Gray both exclaimed with delayed shock as the blonde girl dangled the girl by the neck over the edge of one of the arcs. Juvia looked down to where her feet wriggled. Waves crashed up against the edge of the marble stone walls dropping into the deep blue oceans and jagged rocks. Ocean winds whistled deridingly through her ears, and she couldn't help feel her heart begin to thud heavily in her chest.
"So mortal woman, are you prepared to die for those words you so love to sing?" Lucy smiled. The anger controlled in her eyes was even scarier than when she was slapping Juvia across the cheek. And yet, in the seconds when Juvia was silent, she noticed something else in her brown eyes. For a sad second, her eyes looked hurt. And then her hands let go, leaving Juvia to fall to her death.
Lucy watched with satisfaction, and listened with joy as the screams cut off with a sharp blow, when her body broke against the rocks. "Sweet bird, why do you sing such a sad song? Don't you hear the hunters coming along?" She sang, turning on her feet. "Why not stop singing the tragic tune? The hunter's coming, he'll be here soon. But alas, you were still happy to sing, and now only the gunshot rings."
Gray and Natsu watched in utter silence as the girl danced gracefully in happiness across the marble floors, singing her cheery song. Their onyx eyes watched the empty archway as Lucy came running up to them. "Be happy little devils, soon you will be cleansed too."
"That's not cleansing! That's murder!" Gray snapped back. Lucy's smiled dropped, her eyes turning sharp on him.
"Murder, you say? Back when I freely had my wings, they said that the slaughtering of your kind was called 'cleansing'." Lucy retorted, and Gray fell silent. The anger and almost unbearable rage was pure on his face, but he bit his lip to keep himself calm. Lucy sighed, as if disappointed that she couldn't throw him to his death as well, and sat down on the small podium at the bottom of the shackled stands beneath the golden spear.
"You don't know what it's like to be the last of your kind." Lucy sighed softly, gently stroking her hands over the red fabric. The red cross began to glow again, and just like before, long red wings unfurled from her back stretching out wide behind her. "I know my God is human, but to me she is still the God that will return to me this world, and I will have my vengeance."
"Vengeance?" Gray repeated. "I thought this world was to be 'purged' of magic?"
"As my God so tells me. Unfortunately, she does not go far enough to cleanse this world of evil. But once she has done her work and seen it for herself, I will be ready to finish the job." Lucy sighed reluctantly. Her wings curled in and around her like a soft blanket as she grazed her hand over her ruby feathers.
"You want to wipe out the human race?" Natsu inferred.
"You humans are greedy, evil creatures. The divine life our true lord gave you was tainted by your hunger to manipulate the things around you. Therefore, you made a contract with the devil and it gave you destructive powers you should never have had." Lucy continued, admiring her wings toyingly. "These wings, stained by the blood of my brothers and sisters are already tainted, I cannot return to heaven, and I will not fall to hell. Therefore, I will do the thing I should have done a long time ago, by destroying all the evil in this world, so a kind like mine won't witness such pain again."
Suddenly the tower's only door creaked open and the blonde woman stood in the doorway. All the exorcists and handmaid followers quickly bowed to the floor in her presence, as Lucy rose to stand. The red jewel dimmed and the feathers drew inwards and dissolved into nothing.
As the woman entered the room, she looked to Lucy and then to the two red crosses. Her eyes narrowed on the broken cross and flickered back to her beloved Angel. Lucy quickly dropped to one knee with her head bowed low to the floor. "My Lord, I beg your forgiveness. One had been too far taken by the Devil and I took it upon myself to return it to where it belongs."
"It's dead?" She asked in return.
"Yes." Lucy replied confidently.
"I see." She sighed, her hand cupping Lucy's cheek. Brown eyes looked up and slowly stood as the woman brought the blonde's face closer to her own. "Thank you, Angel. But beware that these are only the devil's dolls, and these dolls can be used for good as God's favorite creation."
"I think you see too much in these humans, my Lord." Lucy defied. "They are such brittle things, yet so easily corrupted. They do not deserve the forgiveness you wish to bestow on them. Let them infest this world, and they will be the end of it, I assure it."
"Little red Angel, your eyes have only seen the darkness in your heart." The woman's sighed softly, caressing the smooth surface of the 'Angel's heart' jewel with adoration. "These creatures are not in the wrong, but the puppeteer that controls them. I will show you the world we can create."
"This world will not be as you except, I just want to warn you." Lucy stepped back with a gentle voice. The woman inclined her head, and Lucy returned to her chair.
Hours passed as the sun sunk across the sky. The sounds of people below began to grow as time went on. The sun was about twenty minutes away from setting and the loud roar of the crowd below them was echoing like a resounding drum. The woman had returned back into her tower again and Lucy perched on her chair, forbidden to move too close to the edge of the arch, as she might be seen. She was destined to make her appearance, just not yet. At the moment of purging the Angel was to be revealed and the revolution finally begins its last phase of cleansing the darkness of the world.
Lucy's brown eyes drew along each arch, her fingers dancing across the golden arms of her throne chair. Her face looked bored and the pout on her lips made it obvious. Eventually, she heaved a large sigh, picking herself up from the seat. Her people backed away with their heads casted down, trying not to 'sin' by looking at the Angel's face before it was time.
Her bare feet patted over the marble floor towards the two boys again, keeping out of sight from the crowd. She sat down on the floor, folding her two legs beneath her. "What was this Lucy like?" She asked, dropping her chin into her palm, looking at them with bored eyes that expected them to entertain her. Gray stayed quiet, but Natsu seemed to feel relieved to talk.
"She had a short temper, was very violent, liked to read boring books and write her own. She was cranky when she was tired and cared too much about what she looked like." Natsu spilled, his eyes wandered endlessly around the Angel's face that was exactly the same as Lucy's.
"This girl," The Angel spoke softly, staring at the dragon slayer with a hint of bafflement. "Even though you say bad things, you still care about her?"
"That's because she's also kind, and caring. She's funny and a lot of fun to tease. She would never forget her friends and would sacrifice herself but she let one of us get hurt." Natsu's voice fell into a soft whisper of memory as a small wisp of a smile pulled his lips. Big brown eyes looked at him curiously, with an alienated stare that told him she couldn't comprehend what he was saying or why. But inside, she felt a small pip of heat flush her skin into a soft pink. A flashes of memories fluttered over her eyes; It was the pink haired boy he was smiling, and then fighting, and then sleeping. The memories fluttered through like an old motion picture as she saw each and every fragment of him from her memories. But it wasn't actually her memory, it was Lucy's. Deep inside, she was showing her what humans like Natsu really do, that not all of them were bad.
The Angel looked on at the images which a longing ache in her heart, as her own memories started to overlap. Fire burnt in ravenous flames engulfing the city with heat. Men tore down the doors of homes, dragging out the innocent woman and men from their houses. They were all brought down from their houses and ripped down the street. But that was what they allowed, they had the strength to fight back, but chose rather to stay passive and not hurt the humans they loved so much. Her heart echoed with the same feelings dragging her down from the betray of the humans. But the cries from the soft little demi-human in her arms brought her back. Her small wisps of blonde hair curled on top of her chubby little face. Big brown eyes stared up with a world full of innocence that melted into her chocolate irises. Soft wails cried from her mouth as the sounds disturbed her hair. She shushed her, rocking her gently back in forth in front of her eyes. The heart wrenching dread in her heart knew that they would come for her next. If they found out about her baby, she couldn't garuntee her safety. It was against the Angel law to have an offspring with a human, and yet, how could she, who had the most human heart of all, be able to hold back from love of her man. A pale white finger brushed against the baby's soft cheek as she fell into a sleep slumber. "I will keep you safe, my child. I promise, I will keep you safe." She whispered, bringing the baby close to her neck. A hand laced around the back of her delicate head, nuzzling her face into the nape of her neck, feeling her soft, warm skin against hers.
With one last look out of the window at the terror, she escaped. Sprinting as fast as she could through the streets, keeping her wings hidden and her face shadowed, she ran and ran, dodging scouts and hunters that wanted to tear her heart out. Other Angels who felt her presence watched and stared in disbelief at the child in her arms. But they said nothing, only giving a sympathetic smile as they were hauled away by force.
It wasn't long until she made it to the edge of the city, but just as she stepped over the line, a shout echoed behind her. "There's another one over here!" The voice cried out, shooting straight through her. The baby could not be revealed, she had to protect the baby, she couldn't let it die. Wings exploded from out beside her as in her last desperate attempt, took off into the skies. Immediately, arrows, spears and other weapons shot through the air, in an attempt to drag her down, but she was evasive of them all. She got as far as she could, but she knew there were persuers, but she ran and ran as fast as she could. At last, her energy collapsed into nothing, and she dropped against the grass floor. The silence of the baby resounded through the quiet forest, covered on all sides by sea. Her heart rapidly spread up in her chest, as noticed the cold skin against hers. Her pale hands felt warm and moist, with a thick liquid between her fingers.
Slowly, the horror set in, as she drew the baby away from her chest. A broken arrow peirced through the heart of the child's chest. It was so thin and tiny that she hadn't even seen it. Or had it been cloaked. Either way, her baby had been murdered. The wrenching tears of the mother broke down her heart like glass into tiny peices. Wailing breathe burst through the air like a siren that all the land could hear. It was the cry of a grieving Angel. The sound echoed far and wide across the Earth, reaching to every Angel and every human, letting them know what they had done. All the pain in her chest couldn't fill the world, but the anger inside of her, could certainly crush it. The heart that could still beat inside her chest, flooded blood into her brain, as she decided what to do.
The woman slowly sat up, uncoiling her white wings, folding underneath the child. It's ruby red blood leaked over her wings, staining them a deep red. A pale hand rested on her chest over her heart, feeling it's hard beat beneath the tips of her fingers. She took in a deep soothing breath, and then another, and another. Until finally, she closed her brown eyes, with a gentle smile. Her nails peirced through her skin, breaking straight through the rib cage. Blood spilled down her chest, staining the white wings cradeled next to her even more red. Red fingers wrapped around the muscel pounding furiously in her chest. Another hand reached down, cupping the baby's face with a smile. A small chain hung around the baby's neck -a gift from her father. The Angel tore the chain free from around her still neck. And with a final breath, she tore out her heart. For the last few seconds before she died, she looked down at the heart and watched it crystalise as every Angel heart did outside of her warm chest. The chain broke through the surface before it set, turning into a jewel necklace. She wrapped it around the child's neck with her shaking white hands.
In her last seconds, she collapsed against the ground, still desperately cradelling the baby between her wings. As she watched desperately, with the vision darkening around the edges of her sight, she saw the blood stop and the wound heal. Only a moment later, her chest rose and fell, with soft breaths coming out of her mouth. Her wails were like music to her ears as the baby cried out in sadness, fear, and confusion. But her mother could only do one more little thing to save her. She could sense the humans coming, and if she left her there, either they would get her, or she would die of hunger. She reached up, plucking free one of her numb wings, and laid it on the baby's chest. "Find freedom and love, my baby girl." And the feather dissolved into sparkling white light that exploded and cocooned around her body. The child's pale skin and brown eyes turned towards her mother for the last time, baked in a world of illumination. And lastly, she offered her fist smile, and disappeared. Her anger and her love buried deep her heart was with her child. At the last second, she wished for her child not to discover her anger deep within.
Next Monday; Hidden Truths
Lucy and the Angel discover the hidden memories that could change the Angel's darkened heart, but what change will it have? For better or for worse?
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-A-ccentric