Thank you so much to JoVersify for helping me edit this! And thank you guys for letting me know your fav scenes, it was so fun to read through :D Here's to hoping the alerts on Fanfiction are working again. Till next Friday!
Issa lowered herself into the hot spring. The soaking heat stole all the tension from her body as she floated. Despite herself, she sighed. This felt so good. Much better than flying. Flying. She'd helped her angel fly. The memory of him soaring made her heart squeeze and a glow caught the corner of her eye. She held up her fingers to see them glowing.
To summon the purest form of their glory, a seraph needs to feel intensely. It's a different emotion for every one of us.
She stared up at the indifferent blue skies.
Heaven's abandoned princess.
Was hers joy?
How ironic. Joy for her and rage for Edvardiel. It was as though Heaven deliberately designed their glory so that they couldn't use it.
Hello. Hellooooo.
Paul's perplexed face jerked her out of her sleepy trance. She sat up to find him crouching over the spring, carefully avoiding the boiling water.
"Finally," he said. "What are you doing in there? Didn't you hear about the attack?"
She frowned. "Isn't the attack over?"
"No idea. It's chaos out there. People running around, people screaming about demons, and I still can't find Jacob! Have you seen him?"
Issa rubbed her neck. She'd assumed the two had been living happily ever after in Eden. "No."
Paul exhaled. "Do you think that crazy woman did something to him? I haven't seen him since he went after her."
"Who are you calling crazy?" Rosalie appeared out of the trees, Alice close behind her.
Paul got to his feet. "What did you do to Jacob?"
"What did I do to Jacob?" Rosalie sounded offended. "You mean, what did he do to me?"
"I haven't seen him since he went after you!"
"He didn't come after me," Rosalie said.
"Yes, he did!" Paul glared.
"He did." Issa rose from the spring, steaming from the hot water. Her angel dress fluttered as though it were annoyed by the wetness and abruptly twisted itself dry. She looked down in surprise and the skirts twirled proudly. Fortunately, no one was paying attention to her overly enthusiastic dress.
Rosalie put a hand on her hip. "Well, I didn't see him." She looked at Alice. "Did you see that stinky man, Alice?"
"No, maman," she said. "I was busy watching my angel." She gave Issa an unexpectedly shy smile from behind Rosalie's legs.
"Then where on earth is he?" Paul looked ready to tear his hair out. "His stash is still in the truck. It's not like him to disappear like this!"
Rosalie pursed her lips. "Excuse me if I don't take that last part seriously." Then she turned to Issa. "Anyway, you'd better come with me. Alice says we need to get to the gates."
"What about Jacob?" Paul said indignantly.
Rosalie rolled her eyes. "For Eden's sake, calm your tits. The Garden's a big place. He's going to show up. Maybe he's busy robbing someone else."
"We need to go, maman." Alice tugged at Rosalie's pants.
"You should listen to Jumper," Jacob's voice came from behind them.
"There you are!" Paul said. "Where have you been?"
Jacob opened his mouth at the same time Rosalie's eyes narrowed but Alice spoke before they did. "We have to go!" She ran forward and took Issa's hand in both of her little ones, wide eyes imploring. "Angel. Come with me." The ribbon made of angel robe glowed in her hair.
"You heard the girl." Rosalie adjusted her weapons belt and turned in the direction of the gates. "Time to move."
"Chop, chop," Jacob said, following Rosalie.
Paul was the only one who remained where he was, arms crossed and expression incredulous.
Alice pulled at Issa's arm but she resisted. "Dove," Issa said, kneeling down so that they were at the same eye level. "I don't know if you should go near the gates. It's dangerous."
"But you need to go and I need to take you there," Alice said, tightening her hands around Issa's wrists. "Now, angel."
"Dove—"
"Don't worry about her," Rosalie said. "Alice can take care of herself. Worry about yourself and lover boy."
Issa opened her mouth to argue but Jacob cut in. "She's no ordinary kid," he said, shooting Alice a look. "She's a guardian angel. The most devious angels of all."
"The most compassionate," Rosalie said sharply. "The closest to humans."
Issa frowned while Paul peered at Alice's back. "I don't see any wings on her."
"She's a Jumper," Rosalie said impatiently. "A Nephilim with barely any angelblood but almost the full powers of an angel. For the love of all things good, didn't you notice that she led us to Eden?" Her gaze swept across Issa, Jacob and Paul. "All of us."
Issa stared at Alice and recalled all the times the girl had appeared. When she'd almost bled out. When she'd been backed into a corner with a half-frozen Edvardiel. When she'd been wallowing in Eden. It had always been at her time of greatest need.
She regarded the girl with newfound wonder. A guardian angel.
"A Jumper?" Paul asked, baffled.
"Jumper, as in jumping generations," Jacob said. "Angel powers don't always transfer the way people expect. Sometimes they skip generations. Sometimes, the power re-emerges after many generations."
"So you're saying this kid has glory?" Paul ogled Alice.
"No, glory is only for seraphs," Jacob said. "Guardian angels have other abilities."
"So you're—" Paul looked from Alice to Rosalie, his confusion growing.
"She found me." Rosalie sounded impatient as ever but Issa sensed something else broiling underneath the surface. "So no, I'm not really her mother. Can we go now?"
"You are my maman." Alice let go of Issa's hand to hug Rosalie, her smile as childlike as ever, and Rosalie's eyes softened ever so slightly as she straightened the ribbon in Alice's hair.
Then her no-nonsense manner snapped back like a rubber band. "You should hurry." She caught Issa's eye, and Issa understood at that moment that something was very wrong.
She broke into a run.
The others followed close behind.
"Maman." Alice struggled to keep up with her little legs, and Rosalie let Alice climb onto her back. "Quick, maman," Alice only said, her arms around Rosalie's neck.
Dread coiled in Issa's stomach as they sprinted towards the gates. What was happening? Had the gates disappeared again? Was Edvardiel all right?
She clenched her fists. Her Edenium blade lay forgotten somewhere near the dead Acolyte. She still didn't know how to channel her glory, if she had any glory at all. Worst of all, she wasn't sure she could kill anything. Not the Acolytes, and not the demons—not now that she knew they could be one of the Fallen.
Your Father unleashed Hell on Earth just to be rid of you.
What if her dream angel was right?