Return of the Angels
Azrael pushed the conference room doors open and stepped inside. This time he had no choice but to take up the desk where the leader was supposed to sit. For this operation of retrieving their leader, his daughter, he was the leader. He looked around at everyone. Apollyon sat to his right, then Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and the other important angels whose names he hadn't begun to learn. The last three on the list of angels at the table were Shade, Zariel and Sin. Sin was the angel who had spoke out a really good plan, but was unable to perform it.
On his left were the humans, where Raven took up the spot next to him. He could see the boy's discomfort. He was conversing with the angels amongst his enemies. Azrael could see the distrust and the hatred in some of the humans faces as they looked at Raven. But there was also confusion with why he was even included in this meeting. But then again, not all of his discomfort was because of his fellow species, it was because he was sitting next to the girl's father and with the experience of Azrael confronting him, it was most likely he was probably wishing he was back inside the cage of when Zariel possessed him.
"Why the hell is Raven involved in this?" Kristen demanded, in complete disagreement with the boy's presence.
"Because I demanded him to be here," Azrael replied, glancing darkly at the human.
"Azrael, he's our enemy and should not be involved in our fellow comrades…" he tried to argue but Azrael was hearing none of it.
"You're whining, human," he said disgustedly. "I demanded him to be here. That is all you need to know about the subject."
"Yes, sir," he said and looked down at the table.
"How is the location of that communication device coming along?" he asks Fiona.
"We've not pinpointed an exact location yet, Azrael, but I believe we're getting close." She replies, hope shining in her red eyes.
"I hope so too." He turns to the others. "What about the team to retrieve her, Van?"
"We're still training, preparing ourselves for when it happens."
"And you're fighting machines?"
"Our zoids are being equipped with better equipment and soon we'll be doing some test runs."
Azrael nodded, quite pleased with the progress report. "And what of the angels? What's being done?"
"We're training also, Azrael," Michael speaks up as he was the only one that dared to. Seeing Azrael's expression, he confirms what he was asking. "No, we're not interacting with the humans…"
"Why not? We need to cooperate together and not just for this particular mission, but for the ones afterwards as well." He looks at all the angels and then at all the humans. He scoffs when he realized why none of them were working together. "Get a grip, the lot of you!" he snaps. "You either work together or get fucking lost. My daughter does not need this bullshit from any of you, especially when she may need you!"
"This isn't all about Celine," an unidentified male spoke out and Azrael looked at him with a death glare.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Azrael states as he tried not to do anything too rashly.
"My name is Fred, sir, and I believe that the lot of you are going overboard with this Celine character. All I know is that she's made up since I've not even seen her…" Azrael suddenly had him by the throat.
"Well then, Fred, are you going to call me, Celine's father a liar? I watched as her mother gave birth to her. But since she was my daughter, she died giving birth to her," he squeezed the man's throat. "How'd you think that makes me feel where you say that she doesn't exist when I watched my daughter be born?"
"Azrael, please, don't kill another one of my men. They're hard to replace," Kristen says, stepping up just a little behind Azrael. He still didn't let up on choking the male. "Azrael…" but he knew that no human was able to calm this angel. He was willing to kill him dead from where he stood holding Fred up in the air.
"Azrael," Michael speaks slowly, getting up from his chair, ready to take action if he needed to. "Killing the humans was not part of the deal. We're supposed to be helping each other for them to stay alive on this planet."
"Yeah, well why isn't that happening?" Azrael demands as he turns his head towards the angel. "Why is all this shit placed on either me or my daughter? Why the fuck do these pathetic humans think that she doesn't exist since they haven't seen her around?"
"I know you're upset, Azrael, put seriously, calm down. What would your daughter think?"
"Don't you dare slap that crap at me now!" but he opened his hand and just let the human drop to the ground. He looked down at Fred, his deep sapphire blue eyes burning with hatred. "Get the fuck out of my sight before I really do rip your heart out." Fred clambered to his feet and raced out of the room. Fear vibrating off of him in waves. He turned to Michael, who was definitely not like everyone as he stood up to him, but not against him.
"Sit down, Michael," Azrael suddenly stated, turned around to walk back to his seat.
"Are you calm enough to continue running this meeting?" he asks, still standing in the same spot.
"Yes, yes, now sit down!" Michael hides his smile and returns to his seat. He watches Azrael, who clearly had calmed quickly, and he sat there as if waiting for any news that might be good news for him. "Is there anything else that needs to be reported to me?"
Silence cloaked the room and Michael was able to distinguish that there was something on the humans' minds, but they wouldn't say anything. Not with what they had just witnessed for when one guy pissed him off. Michael frowned at them but none of them saw his disapproval on his face, although it was clearly written there. How are they going to trust and fight alongside each other when they hold information back? They feared Azrael, that's understandable, especially after what they've just witnessed. But it doesn't stop them from working together with the other angels, does it?
"Since there's nothing, you're all dismissed," he spoke out, looking out of the window in front of him.
The others filed out the room, spilling all around him like fleeing animals that had been caged against their liking. He noticed Michael through the corner of his eye. He remained seated; eyes closed in calm concentration, and waited until the door closed behind the last person before he turned his head to look at the cloaked angel. Azrael kept his attention focused forward, pretending that Michael was none of his concern, but there was something unsaid and Michael was not going to let it slide without at first confronting him.
"Do you realize that the humans are hiding something, Azrael?" Michael asks, remaining in his seat, two seats away.
"Yes, Michael, I've realized," he confirms.
"What are you going to do about it?"
"What else can I do? Torture it out of them?" he turns to look at Michael. "Celine would not appreciate me being stone cold towards the humans she wishes to protect above all others."
"It is because she's lived amongst them most of her life that she's like that isn't it?" Azrael nods. "Without a mother or father, or even a single one of her own people, to live alongside her to teach her who she is and what she's capable of… She thinks like a human, relying on those weapons and not their own strength."
"Our own strength is our weapons, Michael. We use swords as well, what difference lies between the angels and humans?" Michael remained silent. "Not many at all. Whereas we do not kill our own like these humans, we are still no different to them. Others may argue with me about them, but I'm the sorry fucker who has to clean up all the mess that's been left after every battle." Of course, the mess that Azrael was talking about were the souls. "Doesn't matter what world I've got to go to, I'm the only angel of death that is stuck with the fucking job."
"Don't you tire of it?"
"Occasionally, but I do love my work most of the time, even if I don't get paid for it. Wait, I get paid for it in souls." He lifts his feet up onto the table. The sun hit his foot and turned it into a skeletal one. He flexes his toes and Michael watches in disgust. "My aching feet take me everywhere; don't you think I need a holiday?"
"I could say you do," he turns his nose up in disgust at the way they smell. "But you'll need to disinfect them in bleach first."
"They do not smell," he says quite insulted. Michael looked at him, holding his nose. "Do they?" he nods honestly. Azrael picks up one of his feet and sniffs it, launching it away from his face and waving a hand in front of his face like a fan. "You're quite right, that is vile. Ha! I'm the angel of death and I worry about cleanliness."
"No wonder you wear the cloak, it seems to hide the smell quite well."
"I look like a fucking skeleton in any light, besides very dim candle lights, it's no wonder I wear the cloak. People would freak and fear me more. Ah, but I do love to give a good scare sometimes."
"Why doesn't Celine look like a skeleton?"
"She takes after her mother, she has powers like mine, it's just unlocking them." He whistles. "She'll be a badass angel of death. Remind me to teach her when all of this crap is over."
"I don't think I will." Azrael just looks at him. "We need a leader and she is our leader. I don't want her to become a skeleton on us and then going around wielding a scythe and decapitating people."
"Oh, I can really imagine that," he says smiling underneath his hood.
"So why can't you take holidays?" Azrael looked at him as if he were crazy.
"Hello? Did you not hear a single thing I just said? I'm the only sorry fucker who's got the job as I'm the only angel of death. I can't get a break because souls pile up every fucking day."
"Aren't souls piling up now?"
"I've left some fallen to deal with the souls until I come back, then I can sort them out and get back to fucking work."
"Why'd you stop?" Michael nearly slapped himself. "Of course, I should already know. Your daughter's in danger and you'll drop everything just to protect her."
Azrael claps. "One day, remind me to reward you."
"You're getting a little cocky, Azrael."
"Don't I deserve to after what's happening to the only member of my family?" he lowers his feet to the ground. "What I should really be doing is destroying this planet until I find her and then tear the ones responsible apart with my own hands. But I won't since Celine would be really pissed at me for destroying the humans' home. And I really don't want to be losing my daughter after I've only just got her back."
"You've had back for a few days."
"What's a few days compared to the many years I've spent waiting to bring her home?"
"Your home is probably in a dismal place."
"I was on about with the rest of you angels. Like hell I'd bring her to a place that would only make her the most miserable person I know. She deserves much better than that and the only place I can think of is with you blasted angels."
"Nice to know you think highly of us for the place we live in."
"If the Creator does anything to her, or orders anything to do with her, I'll be smashing his face through and you best not stop me, Michael." They locked eyes in serious combat. "She may be a Seraph like her mother was, but she is one that was born and not created. She is the only living angel that doesn't have to obey the Creator's orders. She decides people's fates and her own. She is not a puppet like the rest of you."
"We are not puppets that are used like weapons…"
"Oh, you are in my eyes." He narrows his eyes. "I was once used like it as well, but I chose this job because it got me away from all of it. My job has me too busy to deal with his orders."
Michael scrapes his chair back and stands. "I understand the hidden meaning, Azrael. When this is all over and we're back at home, you want me to protect her from the Creator." Azrael makes no reply. "I'll do all I can to make sure nothing happens to her. As she's our only leader in the angel ranks, I'm sure the Creator will do nothing to her." Azrael gives him a look of disbelief. "I will protect her if it happens to come to the case if he does try something. We, He, needs her much more than anyone is willing to admit.
"I hope you can keep to your word, Michael. Because if I find out that you've not done what you've just said you would," he turns to face him with the most deadly of looks. "I swear on my bones that I will hunt you down without rest or sleep until I have exterminated you."