Shattered Innocence Ch. 22

Emily walks along Zestial down the street with the Overlord offering to carry the angel's suitcase and bags to lighten her load. Since reuniting with the Ancient Demon, the young seraphim's eyes never left her feet. Due to this not only did she not notice how others nearby cower at the sight of Zestial, she also didn't notice the direction they were heading in.

"Sir Zestial," Emily finally speaks. "How much does Carmilla, my Mom hate me right now?"

"Dear Child. I've seen your mother's hate firsthand. What she feels towards thou's disappearance was fear."

The disguised turns to him and blinks. "She was afraid for me?"

Zestial nods in confirmation. "That she was. Even though not by blood, Carmilla cares for thou as her own. The adoption should prove that. What mother would not worry for their child?" That brought a smile to Emily's face, but it soon dropped at what was said next. "However! I have never seen her in such a state. What your Mother will do with your return, I cannot say. Especially when taking off without a word."

"Would she have let me leave if I told her what I was doing?"

"No. She would not."

With that, the seraphim sighs. "I guess whatever happens, I deserve it."

"Here we are!"

Emily looks up and is confused by the sight of an unfamiliar building. "This… isn't our apartment."

At that, the Ancient Overlord smiles. "Much has changed since thou ran off."

.oOo.

Carmilla sits in her home office on the phone. "Sorry, Mr. Phobos. I have yet to sign the contract… Yes, I know that we're nearing the halfway mark for the next Extermination. But that does not mean I ran out of time…," her brow twitches. "I would wish for you to refrain from speaking of my daughters like that." There was a click from the other side. The woman then slams the phone down. "Pig!" The Arms Dealer leans back into her seat and sighs and tells herself. "This is for my daughters."

A familiar voice calls out. "I'm home!"

Carmilla throws herself out of the seat to run across the penthouse.

Right at the entrance is Emily being hugged by Clara and Odette with Zestial standing behind them. For a moment, Carmilla could have sworn she saw a pained expression on her the angel's face briefly, but it soon vanished as the sisters broke apart and the mother thought nothing more about it.

Emily then catches the sight of Carmilla approaching her. "I know that you're upset and I'm—" the words faltered as a stinging sensation runs across her face.

"Upset!?" the matriarch shouts. "Emily, that doesn't even begin to describe how I feel! What the Hell were you thinking!? And out of all the places you could have gone, you risked going into Alastor's territory. To that godforsaken hotel! Out of all the things you could have done this is by far the dumbest. Do you want to get back to Heaven that badly!?" the woman was not expecting the answer.

"Not really," the angel nurses the red mark. "I just wanted to make sure you guys were safe."

Carmilla finally starts calming down. "What do you mean?"

Emily looks down, "The Extermination scares me, and I thought maybe if redemption is possible then maybe Heaven could be convinced to put it on an indefinite hold," she looks at all the present demons. "Even if none of you wish to be redeemed at least no one will have to worry about Extermination anymore."

The matriarch looks upon her daughter with a sad smile. Then, Zestial speaks up.

"Child, as Overlords we have no worry about Extermination."

Clara agrees. "Yeah!"

Odette fiddles with her glasses. "Exorcists are more interested in how many demons they exterminate rather than who they exterminate. With our wealth, we as Overlords are capable of holding ourselves up until the end of the Extermination."

"Emily," Carmilla kneels before the seraphim. "It is kind of you to try and help us. But we've been down here for awhile and we can handle ourselves," she then reaches up to caress Emily right where she slapped the poor girl. "And even if redemption were possible I'd want nothing to do with Heaven because they rejected someone as precious as you. Sorry if I was too harsh on you."

"Don't be," Emily shakes her head. "I figured there would be some sort of consequence for running away."

The woman then hugs her tightly and hears a hiss of pain.

"Emily," Carmilla pulls away. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. It only hurts a little," the angel rolls her shoulders.

Zestial then speaks up. "When I came across her, the Young Miss was about to enter an altercation."

"Luckily," the girl turns to the Ancient Overlord and smiles at him. "Sir Zestial was there to save me. Again. Thank you."

"No thanks necessary," he bows. "And there is no need to be formal. Thou are a Carmine and any Carmine is a friend of mine."

"I'll keep that in mind," Emily curtsies. "Zestial."

During this interaction, Carmilla notes that not once had the seraphim's chest eye opened and she found herself smiling. Then she sees the new Carmine retrieving some bags from Zestial.

"I, uh, I got some apology gifts," Emily passes a bag to the puffy-haired Carmine who eagerly opens it.

"Oooh!" Clara pulls out a set of high heeled boots. "I love this. Not only is it my color, but they also match my outfit. Someone's picking up on what's in style."

"I learned from the best," next the spectacled Carmine was passed a box.

"Whatever article clothing you got me, I will happily…" Odette pauses as she takes out a book and hums. "This is the latest journal in scientific theories. I could use some light reading. Thank you."

"Yeah, you mentioned fashion wasn't your thing. So, I figured this was the next best thing," finally, Emily walks over to her mother and takes out a small box to hand to her.

Carmilla accepts the gift and opens the box to find a beautiful set of earrings and the Arms Dealer's keen eyes can tell that they were far from cheap.

"Sorry I don't have anything for you," Emily turns to Zestial. "I didn't know that you'd be here."

"No gifts are necessary, Child. The only thing thy needs is thou's safety."

"Emily…" Carmilla calls out to the seraphim. "These gifts are costly, and I have yet to give you a card for your allowance. How did you manage to afford them?"

At the question, Emily refuses to meet anyone in the eye. "I m-managed to earn money while I was away."

"How?" instead of waiting for an answer, Carmilla sets the earrings down before walking up to her daughter and lightly pats her down the back. "You…" she backs away and looks upon the girl in disbelief. "Tell me you didn't, Emily. Please tell me you didn't."

"I-I can't do that."

"You sold your wings!? Why!?"

"It seemed like the best idea," Emily looks up at her mother. "I needed some money and between getting exposed because of my wings and the panic attacks, I thought I was better off without them. And Rosie was happy to—"

"Rosie!?" the matriarch shouts. "Oh, that vile b(bleep)" and takes out her phone. "She crossed the line. I'll make sure the others know that she broke the…"

Emily reaches her hand out and lowers her mother's hand to prevent her from calling. "Please don't blame Rosie. She actually tried talking me out of it several times, but I insisted. This was all on me and nobody else. So, what if I harm myself in the end? I'm fine. So, please don't worry about me—"

Carmilla then grabs the angel by her shoulders to shout. "It's not just you I worry about anymore, Emily!"

This confused the seraphim as well as everyone else. "What does that mean?"

The woman is hesitant to say anything and looks towards her other daughters who are just as worried as their sister.

"Are, are you keeping something from me?" Emily finally voices. "Sera kept something from me, and it ruined my life."

The Arms Dealer straightens up and leads the angel into the living room. "You should take a seat."

Once Emily sat down, her sisters sat on a couch on the opposite end of a coffee table while Zestial stood off to the side.

Carmilla had briefly left the room and came back carrying a packet and took a seat next to the young seraphim. "I never meant to keep anything from you, Emily. I full intention to inform you once I found out myself. But by that time, you had already taken off," she passes the packet over to her. "This is life changing. I have seen this break many young women in your position."

Emily eyes the packet before opening it and takes out some papers and at what they contained her eyes widen and her jaw dropped slightly. "I'm, I'm…" she subconsciously places her hand on the small bulge of her stomach and for the first time notices that it feels firmer than what she would have expected. "I'm pregnant?"

At this news, Clara and Odette glanced at one another before staring at the young seraphim. It was at that moment it finally dawned on them exactly what their sister had been through

Emily has no idea how to take this news. She is then hugged by her mother.

"It's early enough," Carmilla tells her. "You could terminate it if you want."

"Terminate!?" the seraphim jumped out of her seat. "You mean kill them!? I already hate the idea killing souls after they already died. There's no way I can do that to a soul that hasn't lived yet!"

"I'm sorry," the matriarch stands to walk up to her. "It's just that many girls that have been through what you did want to forget it ever happened in the first and choose to get rid of any reminder," she then embraces the new Carmine. "No matter what your decision is, Emily, I will support you. No matter what."

Emily accepts the embrace and soon finds two more sets of arms joining them.

"Well do what we can to, Em," Clara tells her, and Odette merely nods.

Zestial smiled at the happy moment and decided it must be time for him to depart.

"Zestial," Emily calls out quietly. "Will you be there?"

The Ancient Overlord blinks and then looks up at Carmilla who smiles and offers a hand to her fellow Overlord.

"Child," Zestial walks over to join the group hug. "Though thy may not be a Carmine thyself, I feel that thou are all family."

NOTE: About to head out on Vacation with family next week and may not have much time to write so I can't promise many updates for that week. I do have a few chapters written in advance for this and A Little Hazbin 3 though. But there may be a brief period without anything for a time.