Layers
Chapter Five
By: Brenli and Jael
"How many more times are we gonna have this talk, Nathaniel?"
"But she said stupid shit!"
"No! That's no excuse!"
The young boy was still red at the ears as he insisted, "But-!"
"No buts! We're guests here, and that was rude!"
"Shewas rude!"
"Nathan...!" Red eyes burned and clashed against red, a tight frown mirroring another one. "You let me handle it. Understood?"
The five-year-old kicked at the concrete that formed the top steps just outside the front door. "You weren't gonna say anything." He flopped down onto the steps and glared at the ground.
Nema sighed as she looked down at her peeved son. God, she couldn't have him acting like this every time his family was met with scrutiny... She dropped down right behind him, wrapping her pale arms around him and kissing the crown of his head. "I can defend myself, hon..."
Nathan didn't answer right away, one foot still kicking at the ground. "... I know." He looked up at his mother. "Do I gotta say sorry?"
"Yes." She laughed as her son moaned and pouted. "You can do it tomorrow." Nema kissed his cheek and held him tight. "My little soldier..."
"Is the fire out?"
Nema looked up to see Jinho standing behind her, leaning just slightly on his cane. "The fire's never out, in this family." Her son yawned, and she embraced him tighter, letting him lean back against her torso.
A soft chuckle left the lips of the Gehenna Vampire. All three people fell silent, Nathan drifting off to sleep against his mother, Nema lost in thoughts about an angry little girl who put blame on her. Jinho simply... waiting for the child to fall asleep before he spoke again. "... May I speak with you about your... civil matters?"
"You mean about the Uprising." Nema called it what it was, taking all of Jinho's sugarcoated words and tossing them aside.
"I'm... assuming that little outburst from Chiyo is of some relation to it?"
"Oppa, I honestly don't even know, anymore." Nema was suddenly very tired.
A small, oddly charming frown creased Jinho's smooth lips. "The Uprising has become that violent?"
"No." Nema was quick to correct him. "There have been... squabbles, here and there. Glorified bar fights, basically..." She didn't have the heart to admit to her childhood friend that the squabbles had been happening more and more often, as of late. "Not... not what she was referring to."
"... The Hunting, then."
Nema turned sad eyes up at him and said nothing.
"Why are you being blamed for the Hunting?"
She opened her mouth to speak, and some choked sound came out. She shrugged gently, hoping not to wake her son. "It's not... really... like that. I don't know what happened to that poor girl and her family... But... there's a lot that some Rabbits still want answers, for. And they're looking at me, because of it."
Jinho took a seat next to her as she brushed feather-soft kisses on the top of Nathan's sleeping head. "What do they want...?"
"I already said, oppa... I don't even know, anymore." Nema gently nuzzled her cheek against her son's head. "I used to think this was about faster progress... and, you know, I'm trying. I live in a near-constant state of lobbying, now. But I guess that's not enough...?" She sighed miserably. "This man Azrael is crying out left and right about justice, but... I worry about what he thinks 'justice' is..."
The Vampire wished he knew what to say... usually, he did. But he knew he could offer no solution, and any comfort would be all too brief for the Queen of Rabbits...
"... Sometimes I still have these... nightmares, I guess. About the Battle at the Fields. About Lilliel, just... beyond saving. Michael says that's normal. But... if Azrael is pushing where I think he's pushing..." She paused, biting her lip. "Oppa, I don't want to go down that road, again. Not if I have a say in any of this. I don't want more war, not when we have so many other ways to get what we want and notbe slaughtered in the process. I started the Revolution because we neededto. We weren't being given the chance to speak. We were against a wall; we had no choice... But it's different, now..."
Jinho sighed, reaching out to gently tap her mini-crown, cocked off to the left, like usual. "Heavy is the head that wears the crown..."
Nema reached out to bump her ivory fist against Jinho's shoulder. "If getting rid of it means the Uprising dies down, I think I'd actually stop wearing them." She spoke with teasing tones, her ruby eyes smiling at him.
The lights from first one taxi cab, and then another, shone on them as they drove up to the mansion and parked, letting out all of their passengers. The all-too-familiar whine had already started and grew even louder as Lilith scrambled out of the car. "Why couldn't we just take thesethe whole way? From now on, we are onlytaking these wherever we go! I am never-"
"Lilith! Just... shut! The fuck! Up!"
"And you wonder why your son's mouth is so dirty." Jinho teased Nema.
"I don't wonderanything!" She rolled her eyes and laughed, Nathan waking and blinking the sleep from his eyes.
The three of them stood as the little Evil stomped her way up the steps. She seemed... frazzled. Her cat-eye pupils had shrunken into thin slits, her champagne blonde hair was mussed. "We got rooms?"
"Serissa briefly mentioned during the ride here that the majority of the rooms are vacant with the doors left open." Jinho offered quietly, his face bewildered just from looking at her.
"Good!" As quickly and noisily as she had appeared, she disappeared, rushing into the mansion.
"Dare I ask...?" Jinho asked the War Angel as he moved up the steps and handed a very tired Isobelle to Nema.
"I guess the brat doesn't like metal cans. I think we should keepher in one!" A wide, mean grin pulled on Michael's lips.
"Metal cans?" Nema's snowy brows pinched together in confusion.
The Fire Angel only shrugged and ruffled his son's hair. "That's what she kept calling 'em...!"
xXxXxXx
"... These aren't tubes." They'd calledthis 'the Tube,' but... those were nottubes!
"Of coursethey're not fucking tubes!" Michael snapped. "Which one are we catching?"
"This one, hurry!" Setsuna was already taking long strides to the nearest train with Jibril at his heels.
"Shit..." The Fire Angel cursed and ran, Isobelle giggling as she bounced in her father's arms.
"Hang on...!" Raphael looked down at Lilith. "Come on, we need to get in."
"I'm not going on that."
The Wind Angel blinked. "... Why not?"
"Everyone in there looks like fucking fish in a metal can. I'm not going on that."
A series of sighs came from the rest of the group as Setsuna held the doors open with his hand. "Come on, Lilith. There's nothing wrong with taking the Tube!"
"These are not tubes!" Lilith screeched, her eyes widening as she saw another train go speeding by.
"Are you claustrophobic?" Raphael asked, a golden brow arching high.
The Dragonmaster gave him a sharp, hot glare. "No, I just don't wanna go rocketing around in a metal can!"
"Oh for fuck's sake." Michael handed Isobelle to the Water Angel, stomped over and grabbed Lilith by her little waist.
"Put me down! Put me down, you fucking asshole!" Lilith flailed and screeched.
"You're getting on this damn metal can or we're all going home, Princess!" He snarled as he carried her on, tossing her into an open seat.
"Sorry, don't worry..." Raphael tried, weakly, to cover for the madness as he stepped onto the train and gestured helplessly to confused and nervous passengers. "She's not from around here..."
xXxXxXx
"Did a number on Setsuna when the train got going." Michael snickered and motioned at the Messiah with a jerk of his head.
Setsuna rolled his eyes, a series of thin scratches turning red and slightly welted across his cheek. "Ridiculous. She was like a cat tossed into a bathtub..." He paused when Raphael stepped up and briefly laid his hand on his cheek, the scratches disappearing under his touch. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it. So where's Uriel?" The Wind Angel asked.
"He seems to have stayed inside with Serissa..." Jinho answered with a slight smile. "The rest of us stepped outside for a moment."
Nema reached down with her free arm to teasingly prod the back of her son's head as she spoke to Michael. "Our son is in trouble, again."
"I still say she was being dumb." Nathan insisted in a low, pouting grumble.
Michael's eyes blinked and traveled from son to wife to son, again. "... Did she deserve it?"
"Michael." Nema gave him a sharp little glare. "The girl in question is a child. She didn't deserve anything."
"But she was saying stupid shit, Dad!" Nathan reasoned with his father, "Saying it's Ma's fault her parents were burned-"
"Nathan. Enough. I won't tell you again."
Her son buttoned his pale lip, but he'd already said enough to catch everyone else's attention. "... Burned?" Jibril's voice was smooth and soothing even as she questioned her daughter.
Nema nodded, a moody frown curling her lips.
"... Uprising?" Jibril knew that was doubtful, but asked anyway.
"No."
"... The Hunting."
"Okay, Mom? Can we just get settled inside?" Nema snapped and glared at her mother.
The Water Angel sighed and gave her an understanding smile, and Nema felt herself melt.
"We can talk after..."
Jibril nodded. "Just not now."
"Not now..."
She gave the Rabbit Queen a kiss on her pale cheek and motioned for everyone to follow her in with a gentle nod of her head.
xXxXxXx
Celestiel swirled the wine in her glass before taking a small sip. The ticking of the clock on the wall seemed deafening in the silence of Azrael's quarters, but she found that she didn't mind the sound. It soothed the raging storm of thoughts in her mind.
"I had expected to see you sooner, Celestiel-sama." Azrael murmured softly, shrugging off his coat and dropping it onto his bed.
"I've been busy. A bit of a problem has come to my attention... I've been working to neutralize it."
"What's happened?"
"It seems that the Dragonmaster of Gehenna caught wind of something. She has gathered the Elemental Angels to Assiah."
"Assiah? Why Assiah?"
Celestiel turned her dark eyes to arch a brow at Azrael, and she didn't need to say another word.
"They know about the Spear." A worried look flashed over Azrael's pale features. "This is bad."
"It's not as bad as you think it is, silly Azrael." Celestiel said with a small chuckle. "As long as the Spear calls me it's Master, they cannot take it from me. But it seems the Shinryu pointed them all in a very... useful direction."
"We have to kill the Dragonmaster. Who knows what else the Shinryu have told her? Or what they couldtell her...!"
"No need to point out the obvious. This is a problem I've already taken care of." Celestiel plucked a vial of liquid from her pocket and rolled it across the table. "I've already discovered their hiding place on Assiah. They are staying with the Vampire, Serissa."
"You're kidding me."
"No. A minor setback, but nothing we can't handle. Where are we with the Rebellion?"
"Many of my followers are reluctant to do much of anything. Because of Nemaelle."
"And her annoying ability to make things explode, at will."
"More or less."
Celestiel leaned back in her chair and thoughtfully stroked a long, pale finger over her bottom lip. "You seem to have a bunch of cowards under your command, Azrael. Do they really think they can go after Nemaelle and not endure casualties?"
"They're nothing more than a frenzied mob, Celestiel." Azrael said with a deepening frown. "She's so strong. And her reputation is enough to make anyone fear her."
"Have they not seen what I can do? Nemaelle is no more of a threat to me than the world's strongest mayfly."
"That may be true. But it takes a rare person to willingly give up their lives in the pursuit of a greater good. And I don't have many men like that with us. They are starving, scared, worried for their families. They can do no good when they are dead, and they have every right to be afraid of death."
"So what exactly are you suggesting here, Azrael?"
"Kill Nemaelle."
Celestiel arched a brow and peered at Azrael, her eyes hiding an unreadable emotion. "And why should I do that?"
"Nemaelle is only a small part of all of this. You and I both know that. But our followers don't... Kill her, and it will be enough to inspire them. You are the only one who can harm her. The only one immune to her powers."
"I don't relish the thought of simply killing her for the sake of inspiring a mob, Azrael." Celestiel said harshly. "As you said, Nemaelle is nothing compared to what's at stake."
"Ah, but think what it would do to the Fire Angel," Azrael said with a soft smirk. "If our goals require a bit of chaos... what better way to unleash it than by killing his one true love?"
Celestiel sat in silence for a long and tense moment, before a wicked smile spread over her features. "Azrael, you truly are a genius, aren't you?"
"I have very few admirable qualities, Celestiel-sama."
Celestiel rose from her chair and stepped closer to Azrael. "I am sorry you think so poorly of yourself." She traced a finger over Azrael's pale chin. "You're the only friend I have in this world."
With a small and trembling smile, Azrael lowered his head. "And you are mine as well, Celestiel-sama." Ghosts played in the tears welling in Azrael's garnet colored eyes.
"You miss them... don't you?" Celestiel murmured.
"Always. With every breath I take, I miss them. My wife and child..." Azrael forced himself to look back into Celestiel's cold and empty eyes. Eyes that he had always wanted to see something reflected inside. Something... anything. Hatred. Love. Longing.
But he never say anything in those eyes. Only nothingness. Only the same emptiness he always felt.
"And I'm never going to see them again."
"No, you won't." Celestiel said, continuing to run her finger over his chin. "Once I kill Nema, we will be one step closer to our goals. It's all within our grasp, Azrael. All of it. Soon the rivers of blood will dry up." She let out a small and quiet breath. "Now kiss me."
Azrael felt his insides churn as he leaned down and captured her cold lips with his own.
Celestiel rarely gave her body to Azrael, but when she did Azrael closed his eyes and pretended she was his wife. The woman he missed so badly it made him feel sick. Somehow, he knew that Celestiel wasn't thinking of him either, in the rare moments their bodies were entwined. It was strange how the thought never bothered him.
They were the two most broken people alive. And even together, they never felt whole.
xXxXxXx
Author's Note from Jael: I know that Bren and I have mentioned that this chapter was supposed to super long and incredibly eventful. I'm sorry to say that due to some complications we had to cut this chapter a bit short. The GOOD news is, the next chapter is already very near completion.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I'm happy I finally got a chance to bring Celestiel back in.
Author's Note from Brenli: The above is in reference to several posts on our respective personal Tumblrs and the Chronicles of the Fallen Tumblr, by the way. I really can't be sure how much of the readership is actually keeping up with us on those three Tumblr accounts, but as a heads up, it is quite handy...! I've been apologetic about cutting this chapter shorter than intended since yesterday, but the regret still remains. All that said, the length of this chapter is pretty uniform with the others... I would bet money that if you didn't know about our original plans for this chapter, you wouldn't have suspected a thing. But, I think it's good to be honest. Please consider this a buildup to the next chapter... there is a lot of madness to come!