Day 4 - Death of Hope
There can be no rebirth without a dark night of the soul, a total annihilation of all that you believed in and thought that you were.
"Zariah?" Naomi called into the darkness, searching for her daughter. Her voice echoing through the walls of the hidden cove's extensive maze. "Love, where are you?" Her heeled boots made little scruffy sounds as she walked.
She'd expected to find her curled up and scared. She'd expected to scope her up and take her home. To hold her close and wipe the tears away as a mother should. She didn't expect to find her like this…
Zariah's body was splayed out and twisted. Head tilted back unnaturally and mouth gaping open in a silent scream. Blood trickled from a blow to her head, staining her dark brown hair with slick black clotted blood.
"No." Naomi couldn't move. She couldn't think. She just stopped, sinking down next to the still body, and pulling it into her arms. It was stiff, locked in tortured place. She'd been dead for hours. Their beautiful little girl, whose giggle never stopped and whose bright mind was ever curious… Mycroft's daughter was dead. The childless mother doubled over with body-wracking sobs, clutching the lifeless corpse to her chest...
"A cry was heard in Ramah-weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead." - Matthew 2:18
Naomi jolted awake, breaking away from Mycroft's arms where she'd been mediating as he slept. Her breaths came rapidly and her blue eyes were wide in the darkness of their bedroom. She stifled a sob with her hand.
Naomi's last and painful encounter with Lucifer wasn't going to be an easy recovery. He'd tortured her, made her see things that she never wanted to see. She'd been hurt both physically and mentally. And while the former had been taken care of through a quick respawning, the latter left a lasting impression. Haunting her memories in even the quietest moments.
Mycroft woke to Naomi's quick breaths, and the barest shift in weight on the bed. He'd been tired enough after hours of going over safety measures that he'd been sleeping dreamlessly. Opening his eyes, he reached for her in the darkness and pulled her close to his chest.
"Naomi," he spoke, voice heavy with sleep. "Everything alright?"
"I'm fine," she whispered, lacking the confidence to make that statement believable. She gripped his shirt and double-checked that Zariah was still sleeping in her bedroom. She breathed out slowly, resting her forehead against his. "We're both fine. It was only a nightmare."
Mycroft smoothed a gentle hand down her back, brow knit with concern. He tried catching a peek of her face once his eyes adjusted. "What sort of nightmare? Lucifer?"
"Dark echoes of what he did, yes, I wasn't aware it would happen." Naomi relaxed with his touch, glancing up to meet his eyes. "It will pass."
"Of course," he said quietly, but the concern was still there, for Naomi's wellbeing and peace of mind. "In the meantime, I am here if you need me. Perhaps it would help if we talked about it."
"In the morning, we'll talk," Naomi assured him. She reached up to cup his cheek, fingers light over warm skin. "Go back to sleep, darling. I think I'm going to check on our daughter. For my own peace of mind."
Mycroft pressed the softest kiss to her lips. "Very well," he said quietly when he'd pulled away. "Wake me up if you need me."
"I always need you," Naomi didn't smile, but her voice was appreciative. She left the warmth of the bed and safety of his arms, and stood, pulling on a black silk dressing gown.
Naomi's wings whispered in the dark as she landed in Zariah's bedroom. The girl's eyes were pinched in fitful sleep, her covers thrown to the side. Naomi sat on the side of the bed, reaching to touch her daughter's head. The girl was lost in her own version of a nightmare. Events from the day muddled together in the young impressionable mind. Brow furrowed in concern, Naomi dispelled the nightmare quickly, banishing it into nothingness.
Zariah's expression relaxed but she stirred from her slumber. "Hmm, Mum?" She peeked up at her. "M'whatcha doing?"
"Just checking up on you," Naomi said softly. She ran her fingers through Zariah's messy hair, using the other hand to pull the covers back over her. "You were having a nightmare."
Zariah closed her eyes again, relaxing with her touch and the warmth of the blankets. "I know…I couldn't get out of it." She drew a shaky breath in. "I…saw you and Dad, and you were both…not moving. I…I think you were dead and not coming back. And there was blood everywhere….Dad, he was burned too…" Her voice hitched as the memories from the nightmare grew more vivid. "It was so real. Because it happened today, you were tortured and…and Dad felt so…"
"I know, love." Naomi's heart broke for her little girl. As it did frequently. "But it was just a nightmare and memories of what has been done. We're both okay. I'm still here. Takes more than an archangel to keep me away."
"Can you stay with me?" Zariah asked softly. She tugged on Naomi's sleeve. "I don't want to be alone."
"I will never leave you. I promise." Naomi pulled her hand away only to join her under the covers. She wrapped her little girl up in her arms, as she'd done when she was much younger. And as she'd done after retuning from the hell Lucifer put her under. Zariah snuggled close, breathing in deeply, lulled to peaceful sleep with the warmth of her mother's arms and the steady beat of her heart. Quiet and comforted, as if death couldn't touch her.
Naomi watched as Zariah's eyes closed again, and it was then she whispered. "I love you forever."
She watched over their daughter the rest of the night until the sun rose over a new day. Naomi would be Zariah's guardian angel now and forever, or until one of them ceased to exist.
Co-written with Angie (Red on Pointe).