Author's note: Decided to explore Melodie as a character a bit more, since she's only ever been mentioned in passing before and i wana establish her more as a reocuring character, the next few chapters will be allot of flashbacks.
Chapter 16:
Past revealed
Ashley's eyes were still on the nightclub's exit when she asked her friend, Pink, about her girlfriend "Say Pink…..did Melodie just blush…..gold?"
But once she returned her gaze to her friend, Pink was standing bolt upright, a wide eyed, shocked expression on her face.
Ashley raised an eyebrow "Pink….why do I get the feeling there's something you're not telling me…" she said slightly annoyed.
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Melodie had retreated into her and Pink's shared bedroom, door locked and huddled under the blankets.
"Shit!" she thought "She saw it, she totally saw it" as her breathing had become rapid and frantic and the room felt like it was spinning around her.
It wasn't long until her phone buzzed with a new text from her girlfriend "Babe? Can we come upstairs? I….i think it's time we talked about this…."
Melodie felt her heart beat out of her chest "Ashley is mad, isn't she…" she quickly texted back.
A response came through shortly after "Sweety….i think you should come clean to her…..she's our friend, she deserves to know"
Swallowing a lump in her throat, the poor girl gathered her courage as she responded "….ok….."
Not long after, the sound of the front door was heard, followed by Pink's voice "Honey? I brought Ashley…you ready to talk?"
Melodie slowly emerged from the bedroom, shaking nervously with her shoulders hiked up high " …..No…let's do this…."
Pink gently took her by the hand and let her partner and her best friend to the living room, where she sat Melodie down on the couch and Ashley on the chair across from them before sitting down next to her partner.
"Ash….." Pink began "Before we start, please….try to keep an open mind….ok?"
The shark-grinned sinner took a deep breath and nodded.
The pink skinned girl then returned her gaze to her partner, gently rubbing her thumb over the back of her hand as she looked at her lovingly "Whenever you're ready, sweetheart…."
Melodie didn't dare to look Ashley in the eye as she cleared her throat "Where…..where do I even begin…"
Ashley narrowed her eyes as she piped up "Well for starters, maybe you can explain what the fuck is up with the golden blushing"
The pale woman swallowed as she spoke " oh….o-okay….you see…..i….i'm not…..i'm not a sinner….i'm….i am…or rather…"was" …..an angel…an exorcist, to be precise….."
Ashley would slump back into her chair, leaning her elbows on the armrests and slotting her hands together "…Continue…"
Melodie took a deep breath "…ok….you see….."
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Heaven, 2 years ago, extermination day:
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"Alright bitches!" An angel with golden wings, wearing a horned mask with a yellow grin smirked "This is the fuckin shit you girls have trained for all year, we get to go down and show those demon LOSERS that we mean business and not to fuck with heaven!"
The man's speech was met with many cheerful, excited chanting as a group of winged women wearing grey uniforms and horned helmets were eagerly brandishing weapons as a large, golden portal opened.
The man with golden wings eagerly pointed towards the portal "IT'S SHOWTIME, BITCHES, RIP 'EM A NEW ONE, THE EXORCIST WHO MANAGES TO BEAT LUTE'S RECORD WILL GET A 500 HEAVENBUCKS"
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The streets of pentagram city were in complete chaos, sinners were running for their lives left and right as the exterminators were swooping overhead like hungry hawks.
One particular exorcist chased a small group of sinners into a dead end, having herded them to a more remote location so she could have them all for herself without the worry of her sisters stealing a kill.
She had just landed and unsheathed her 2 swords, ready to strike "I'm going to enjoy this. Next year, it is MY record they have to beat"
However, something stopped her dead in her tracks.
One of the sinners from the group had shoved the others aside and was now shielding them with her arms as she stared the angel down with determination on her face "If you want to kill MY friends, you'll have to go through ME first!"
The angel observed her stance, she saw allot in her eyes, determination, a strong will, distain, but not fear…..this sinner was fully prepared to die to protect these others.
The angel was completely frozen. "Well?! Aren't you gonna fucking do something, you MONSTER?!" the Pink skinned sinner before her bitterly spat out.
"Monster?" The angel thought "But I'm not the monster, THEY are the monsters…but then why is she protecting them? Weren't sinners selfish, greedy bastards?"
Everything this sinner was doing and saying was a contradiction to what she was always made to believe, there were a thousand thoughts swimming around in her head, to a point it was actually making her dizzy…she needed to think….air….she needed fresh air….
With a swift motion, she dropped one of her swords and pulled off her helmet, now staring down the sinner, a look of confusion on the angel's face.
The 2 women were in a standoff, looking not only into each other's eyes, but almost into each other's being "No…..no it's YOU who are the monsters….right?" She muttered under her breath.
She had lost track of just how long they were staring each other down as a loud horn could be heard, which caught the angel's attention, extermination day was over, she had to return.
Reluctantly, she lowered her sword, picked her other one off the ground and sheathed both blades, all the while having her gaze fixed on the pink sinner woman before her.
"Thank you" The sinner spoke "Glad to know you're one of the good ones" Which just confused the angel even more "Good ones? But I'm an angel, aren't all angels good? Angels didn't make mistakes…didn't they? But…..Vaggie did…..she made a mistake, she betrayed us…right? …did she really?"
The angel slowly retrieved her helmet from the ground, slowly distancing herself from the sinners as she turned around, ready to don her helmet again and fly back to the portal.
But just as she was about to do so, something grabbed her shoulder "WAIT!"
As she turned around, she saw the pink sinner looking at her with almost pleading eyes "What….w-what's your name?"
The angel stared at her for a few seconds, almost enamored by how pretty the sinner actually was "…..Melodie…..my name is Melodie….."
She then wordlessly donned her helmet, gave a nod and flew off.
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Melodie was laying in her bunk, in the barracks, staring at the ceiling.
It had been almost 2 weeks since extermination day and Melodie's strange encounter with the selfless, pink skinned sinner.
She was mulling it over in her head again and again as she was suddenly jabbed in the shoulder "Soldier, you've been behind on your training and slacking in your duties" A stern voice spat out.
As the confused exorcist turned her head, she was met with the cold, stern gaze of her lieutenant, Lute.
She quickly dropped herself off the top bunk and saluted "Apologies, lieutenant, my mind has not been in the game lately. Permission to head outside the training grounds to clear my head?"
Lute would roll her eyes in annoyance "You better make up for this in next morning's training…but very well, permission granted"
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"You seem really out of it lately. Something troubling you, Mel?" A young looking angel with 6 wings and periwinkle colored hair asked as she sat next to Melodie on a nearby cloud, overviewing heaven's promenade.
The other angel swallowed nervously, she knew she wasn't supposed to talk about the exterminations.
"It's just….i heard…..troubling news from the human world….and….i'm almost at a point where I just HAVE to see for myself, to confirm or disprove my suspicions" She internally winced, she didn't like lying, especially not to her one and only friend Emily, but it was for the best.
Emily observed her friend's face "…..this is…..important to you….isn't it?" To which Melodie met her gaze, and gave a nod, her face full of concern "I have to know, Emmy"
The young seraphim pondered for a moment "I can pull some strings…meet me at the outer edges of heaven, later tonight….."