Again, thanks for the reviews and follows. Believe it or not, we are coming up on the end of this thing. We have a handful of chapters left until then, but it's coming! Thanks for keeping with this, folks. :)
100k words now! Yay!
Impermanence. That was the problem with humans and Balthazar's entire... whatever that had been. Fling? No, he hated that word for what they had. He had begun to eagerly want to believe that whatever he felt for Catherine was, as she had put it, the humanity he was still trying to work out. At the same time, he knew better. He enjoyed the finer things in life and having so much power over the old mud monkeys, true, but there was a tenderness there that had gone ignored for too long and it seemed to come out best when she was there.
That should be just one more reason to keep her in the ground. Why not take his grace back and vanish? Go back to enjoying the night life, women, booze, drugs, and whatever else this damn place still had to offer before it all went up in smoke. The problem with that was the last part. He wouldn't just be living it up until the end. He would be waiting for it. Looking forward to it. An ending. A reprieve. Something to finally stop this cycle of suffering... He didn't want to die. He never had. He just wanted it to stop.
He would be wanting that ending more and more for every second she was gone and he knew it. A grief like this for a being like him was hard to handle. This wasn't about her. This was about survival now. Or so he liked to tell himself.
Balthazar winced, accidentally getting distracted in his thoughts and managing to cut a bit too deep that time. Perhaps he should have scraped up some money and just had this tattooed on instead, but he doubted he had that much cash when stupid things like food was a priority. Apparently, boarding was, too. After driving through the entire day and getting as far as he could from the bunker without falling asleep at the wheel, Balthazar decided to take a cheap motel room for the night rather than sleep in the damn car. He hated the look of it; the smell. He hated it.
He had left that motel to get even further away, though, but after a dreamless, restless sleep and some food he forced himself to eat, Bal had decided that this needed to get under way. A pen's marks were too temporary for the things he had in mind. The jacket was off, his sleeves rolled up, and he was sitting sideways in the passenger seat, feet firmly resting on the ground of some abandoned recreation center off the interstate that he probably wasn't even supposed to be on.
His bare arm glittered with red from the sigils carved from the bicep down to the top edge of his wrist. They had begun to sting like hell and he half wondered if his arm was now a liability in a fight, but he needed these anti-detection sigils. He refused to put them on his damn stomach like some half-crazed moron, so he just started on the next best option without putting any more thought into the matter. Still, he would have to wrap these later, but perhaps he should burn them to make sure they scared or something. How did human bodies even work again?
He winced another time, pulling the knife away before he accidentally cut himself open and ruined the whole damn thing. After a deep breath and some grumbled words, he continued on to finish the last few markings and finally took a relieved sigh. Due to his want for accuracy, he had been at this for a few hours. Now he just had to wait a couple of minutes to make sure it worked or not.
He rolled his shoulder and stretched his neck from having been sitting so stiff and tense for so long. After fiddling with the sleeve of his shirt and making sure it wasn't going to roll down on to his new wounds, he allowed himself a moment to breathe and look up to the clouds. The only good thing he had run across so far was the weather. It had been nice, not rainy or dreary at all, but the wind still sometimes felt like ice on his skin despite the fact that he knew things were beginning to warm up. He just couldn't seem to shake the cold anymore, no matter how many layers he put on. To think that he had believed that he was finally getting used to it. There were a few times when he didn't even register the temperature before, but he found that he had been thinking about it more and more. It was an easy thing to think about.
He shivered from a gust of wind, the hair rising on his arm and making the stinging pain worse for a moment. Balthazar stayed still, just watching his arm... before picking his head up again. His phone was vibrating with a buzz behind him.
Bal reached around to the driver's seat with his good arm to pick it up and didn't even bother to check the number before answering. "That took long enough. I could have been dying."
"You're obviously not," Gabriel replied on the other end, "Wanna fill me in on what you're doing over there, skippy?"
He rolled his eyes at the nickname. "Anti-detection sigils. I'm hunting an archangel. Remember?"
"Yeah, sure, but I highly doubt you found him in last thirty-six hours."
"Why am I explaining myself to you?" Balthazar asked himself more than his brother while reaching around for bandaging. He had found some spare medical equipment in the glove box which he was very thankful for. If there wasn't enough to cover the wounds on his arm, then he had resolved to tough it out and leave what was in her bag for emergencies only... Again, that's what he told himself. "If you must know," he continued, "and I'm only explaining so that you don't fly your Looney Tuned arse over here – Michael is bound to still have supporters somewhere in the wind. I thought I'd interrogate a few of them."
There was a silence on the other line for a moment until the voice spoke up again. "... I'm impressed."
Balthazar just focused on wrapping his arm with one hand. "Impressed that I actually have a plan?"
"No, no," Gabriel said, "Impressed that you know what the Looney Tunes are. You're not as dull as I thought." Bal had to stop what he was doing to roll his eyes again, but his brother continued. "Besides, I have a feeling that getting the jump on the bad guys is only half of your reasons."
He grumbled and continued on the wrappings, trying to bind it tight. "And what is that supposed to mean?"
"You're running away from your big brother and his band of whackjob misfits," the other explained, "Not sure how cutting your losses is gonna help, but, hey, more power to ya."
"I'm not running," Balthazar mumbled, trying to concentrate on what he was doing and not the conversation. "I'd just prefer to do this on my own without you watching my every move. I knew you would call, Gabriel... Why would I be running, anyway?"
"Oh, I don't know," the archangel began in a sarcastic tone, "Maybe because we're all rightfully worried about your mental state right now. Not to-"
"My mental state is fine," Balthazar growled, interrupting his brother, "Thank you."
"... Not to mention," Gabriel continued, "You ran off on your own with absolutely no backup and you want to make sure it stays that way. You don't want to help us, and you definitely don't want us helping you."
He tightened the bandages, happy that they only just managed to cover his whole arm, before sighing. "I'm sorry. When did you get your bloody psychiatric license? I am helping, just in a roundabout sort of way."
"Roundabout...," Gabriel mumbled to himself on the other end, and Bal could tell that his brother was slowly getting angry. "All right. You want psychology? Fine. You're going too damn far with this."
"Too far?" Balthazar squared his shoulders, but only fell back into the seat. "I thought God told us to protect souls. Not let prideful morons destroy them or hold them for collateral or whatever the hell is going on here. Excuse me if I actually try to go back to the old ways for once."
"But you're not!" the archangel yelled into the phone. "Yes, we protect souls. We don't go all commando for them with no back up while the whole damn world is about to end! Balthazar, just-!" Gabriel took a deep breath on the other end, and his brother opted to wait for him to continue this time. Surprisingly, Gabe's voice had gotten softer. "Look, just... Real talk. You love her. We get it. Rules be damned, you love her, but you can't do things like this. You can't forget what you are and what she is. She's human. That's it... We don't even know what Michael did to her. If you're like this with the possibility of her soul still being intact, then I'd hate to see you if we found out that she-"
Balthazar hung up and threw the phone in the back seat. With a sigh, he stood out of the car to stretch then started to put his jacket back on. Miraculously, the phone didn't ring again.
This was beneath him.
Malachi waited in a dark alley as if he were some street thug of a human. Apparently, he looked the part, but that didn't mean he liked the idea any better. Still, he just shifted in place and waited.
Serving Michael had been all well and good – so long as he proved to be clever and useful enough to not have his grace taken – until the archangel had all of his power stripped from him by some human woman. Not only did it leave all of his followers completely vulnerable to both Michael and Lucifer, but it was just shameful. Following the Michael as one of his closest advisers just for something that embarrassing to happen?
No. He did not want that on his record. Waiting in the dark for one of the few fallen still left alive was worth it, despite his brother's pathetic reasons.
Malachi had heard through the proverbial grape vine – perhaps the rumor was meant to be stirred through their numbers – that a fallen angel who wasn't Lucifer was looking for Michael's head. He had also heard – and this rumor was probably not supposed to be known at all – that the angel wanted revenge over the death of the same human who had weakened the archangel in the first place. Angels attaching themselves to humans was not only stupid but disgusting. He hated them as much as any other angel, but, unlike Satan, was smart enough to keep his mouth shut.
If anything could be proven at this point, it was that Michael certainly wasn't the end all be all, so to speak. He was fragile, far too weak, and underestimated their enemies way too much to lead any angel now. If Malachi was going to be in this war, then he was going to be on the winning side.
At the sound of footsteps behind him, the angel curiously turned around and tilted his head to the visitor. "I couldn't sense you," he said, almost surprised to the other had thought ahead, "Balthazar."
Bal tilted his head, too, with a little smirk that didn't reach his eyes. "Malachi," he greeted, "It's been a very long time. Still trying to reach pass the clouds, I see."
The other chuckled humorlessly. "Better than taking something valuable and jumping ship."
"I took everything that was valuable," Balthazar answered with a better smile that time. "You're just jealous, because you didn't think of it first."
"I want the power, brother," the other answered. "I want to lead. I'm made for it. Making a real mark on our legacy."
Bal laughed. "What's the point of power if you can't have a little fun?" he asked, "If you ask me, it's too much paperwork."
Malachi smiled as well. "You never change," he said, then slowly furrowed his brow and looked at his brother closely. "Or do you?" Balthazar kept the same smirk, so after a beat of silence, the other decided to get to the point. "Michael is weak, but he's taking the graces of others at his leisure. Those that followed him before are basically begging him to take theirs, so he's gaining strength even as we speak. Even those considered his most loyal are up for the picking at any moment, which includes me."
Bal could have laughed again. "What better reason to jump ship."
The other ignored him. "Including myself, only Tyrus, Thaddeus, and Bartholomew can get anywhere close to him, but considering all of their usefulness, I'd say Bart is the only one he won't bite. The guy is Raphael made over in the ass kissing department." He turned to look at the other end of the alley and pointed north. "Some of Tyrus' men are in Pocatello right now. They'll stay for a few days before moving on." He faced Balthazar again. "Right now, I can't tell you more, brother. Bartholomew tells me nothing and Thaddeus is usually out scouting for more graces across the globe. Mikael moves between our nests at his leisure and he won't go anywhere unless he wants to. Calling him out, even from me, doesn't work. He calls the meetings."
Balthazar glanced north and back Malachi. "I'm surprised he has a network like this at all."
The other snorted. "The true difference between Michael and Lucifer is that one stands for order and the other for chaos. Maybe he does have a network of supporters, but we're all just lambs for the slaughter in the end."
Bal nodded, understanding completely. It was the reason he gained contact from them in the first place. "You know I have to ask," he began, "Does anyone know that we were meeting tonight?"
"No," Malachi answered sincerely, "but I have my own faction of loyal angels at my call. Even those outside of my flock are questioning our position. Lucifer isn't the right choice, but it's beginning to be painfully clear that Michael isn't either... I can gain you more information and an army on the inside. I know that the archangel Gabriel is on your team and, despite his own misgivings, he is still powerful. We can destroy Heaven's champion."
Balthazar watched him for a moment in consideration, then nodded. "Smart," he said, "but many are very loyal."
"Like you were?" Malachi asked without hesitation and Bal smiled while he continued. "I don't care what your reasons are, brother. I just want this war to end with the proper ruler in place."
"Yeah," Balthazar sighed and shook his head, "I don't really care about that. Thank you for the information, though. Excuse me." Malachi frowned in confusion, but the other stepped closer and quickly stabbed the angel through with a blade before he knew what was happening. "You're a business man," Bal told him as his brother choked for breath, "You understand." With a twist of his wrist, Malachi screamed and burst into light that made his attacker have to look away. Finally, the light died and his vessel's body fell to the ground.
Balthazar glanced to him, then up and down the alley before walking back the way he came, hiding the still bloody blade back into his jacket.
He hadn't eaten since that morning and he really didn't care, but Balthazar had gotten some sort of thing that smelled good at the same store he picked up a map from. After trifling through the car, he found that the crazy woman must have just had a six sense for direction or something... or a map was in one of the many places that he didn't actually check, but it wasn't in the glove box or the console, so he gave up early on.
Also, as an aside, the entire concept of monetary transactions was annoying and proved just how sinful humanity was. Which lead him to often contemplate stealing what he needed, but that would just add an entirely new spin on his already headache of a life.
Balthazar unlocked the door and entered into his new, slightly used, motel room for the evening and threw his things into a chair without much of a second thought, quickly locking the door back. After turning the light on, he opened the paper bag and was about to pull out a map when his eyes landed on the food. The young man behind the counter had explained, in a very confused stare, that it was something called a corn dog before asking if they had those in Europe. Then they were both confused, and Bal just took it and left as quickly as possible. Whatever it was, it was edible in some sense of the word.
It wasn't really why he paused, though. Before, he never seemed to eat alone as something was usually distracting him from his new human needs. She always had to put something in front of him, glare, and snarl the word, "Eat," as if there were consequences if he didn't.
Blinking back into the present, Balthazar quickly took out the map and food, sticking the latter in his mouth as he unfolded a giant picture of Idaho. He was half way through the corn dog and had decided to sit down for this job before finally finding the fabled town of Pocatello. Just as Malachi had said, it was north. Now he just had to get there and find out if it was a trap or not.
Bal finished off his food and threw the map down, not even thinking about trying to fold that damn thing up again. He sighed and considered a quick shower before looking at the room. This time, unlike the night before, he had gotten a room with a single bed. Last night, he had been so angry with himself and his tired mind for requesting two beds, that he nearly went into a fit with no one around to hear. Instead he had just thrown his grace across the room and laid down in the bed closest, trying very hard to ignore that the other was there at all.
For some reason, he felt even more tired tonight despite not being awake for two days straight. Balthazar scrubbed at his face, before rising and turning the light off, opting to just go to bed and put his mind at rest before he thought of something else that was stupid. He kicked his boots off, reluctantly peeling away the jacket again to reveal his bandaged arm, and pulled out the angel blade and a hand gun he found in the car's trunk. The gun he placed on the bed side table, but he held on to the blade as he laid down, hiding it under his pillow.
After shifting to get more comfortable, something poked painfully into his chest, and Balthazar quickly leaned up to see what it was. Patting his shirt down revealed it to be his damn grace and he groaned. A moment passed of him just leaning up in bed, before he finally pulled the grace out from underneath his shirt and laid back down. He could see the mist swirling around inside of the crystal, but that was all he could see with his human eyes. The light, though, was bright enough to shine a soft glow across the room. He watched his grace drift lazily, sometimes casting a rainbow of lights or shadows against the wall, until he eventually fell asleep.
A little shorter than my more recent chapters. I honestly think the next few are going to be at about this length until the ending begins, unless I put two planned chapters together. We'll just have to see how things go, I suppose, but you guys did get this one sooner. More will happen in the next chapter.
Also, I hope you guys recognized Malachi and all those names he mentioned.
Please review with your comments and remember to follow/fave if you'd like. :) Thanks, readers!