Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone :) January sure flew by quickly! How is everyone? I am settling into the new hospital better and now trying to cut down on caffeine. I won't be starting any night shifts until March and it feels so unbelievably good. Tempted to look for an office job! Anyway, I am doing my best to update every two weeks. Am excited but also kind of sad to be so close to finishing this story. Enjoy the chapter :)
Issa could count on one hand the number of times she'd asked for help.
The memory of the last time still clung to her, raw and jagged. She hadn't just asked—she'd begged. Begged Michael for help while holding her dying angel in her arms. But begging her father wasn't just humiliating—it was fruitless. As a child, it often came with pain.
Asking for help meant she was weak.
Asking for help meant she'd failed.
Asking for help was a shame that cut deep into her very being.
Michael's white-gold hair, speckled with blood, fluttered around his face as he gripped her bleeding arm, his eyes both piercing and cold.
You must never bleed. This must never happen. Do you understand?
But then the memory replayed.
Nephilim bodies piled high across Eden's scorched Garden. Michael tore through the air, eyes locked on his daughter with deadly intent. Lightning crackled from Eden below, colliding with Lucifer's angelfire from above.
The combined burst hurled Michael back.
Golden blood rained down, splattering Issa's face and she stared up in horror as her father was cornered.
"Papa!" she screamed.
In a flash, she was up in the air, hurtling into the storm of fire, lightning, and the warring angels.
Eden jerked back her lightning and Lucifer stopped dead, narrowly redirecting what would've been a killing blow to child Issa.
In the present, Issa opened her eyes.
"You were bleeding yourself," she whispered. "And I saved you."
Her fists clenched, but she pushed the memory down—hating him wasn't useful now.
Her angel would never hurt her. He'd never shame her. The moment she called him, the weight in her chest lifted. It was unsettling how much she trusted it—how she knew he'd answer her call.
I need you.
Summoning her angel now was terrifying. She'd called him to Hell itself. If they failed, if Lilith took him, it would be her fault and hers alone.
Light flickered faintly from above, as though Edvardiel's glory were struggling to find her in the depths of Hell. As warmth brushed her skin, she couldn't tell if it was relief or terror that made her tremble.
The light intensified, her angel's glory cascading over her skin like a protective shield that cleansed the darkness from the air itself. Eden's form shifted before Issa's eyes—her blind eyes gleamed with glory, and the grotesque threads binding her limbs shrank away, revealing flesh made whole.
"Terra," Eden called, her face pinched with worry. She stood unharmed before the gaping entrance to Hell. Her figure shifted between youthful vibrancy and the gauntness of death, translucent as though she were nothing more than a spirit. "Can you hear me?"
Issa blinked in confusion. "Eden?"
"Well done," Eden breathed, her lips lifting in a faint smile. Her face flickered once more, cloudy eyes shifting into lively, fire-filled ones. "We're deep in the void, sweet girl. You don't have glory to shield your mind and I didn't know how to show you the truth." Her face softened. "But you made it here."
"I—" Issa tried to move, but her limbs wouldn't obey. Her heart skipped as she realized the truth—the hideous threads that had seemed to bind Eden were instead entwined around her own body like she was a marionette, pulsing with every beat of her heart. The blue cords quivered as her panic spiked. She looked Earth-ward, where Edvardiel's light shone fiercely. His radiance bathed her—but he was nowhere to be seen.
"Edvardiel?" she whispered.
Eden's expression turned grave. "He can't come here, Terra. But he's lending you his glory. That's what's helping you see past the illusions. Without it, Lilith's lies would have devoured your mind."
Issa's breaths came fast. "But these threads—what are they?"
Eden stepped closer, her ghostly hand brushing Issa's cheek with a gentleness that made Issa's chest tighten. "They're Lilith's control over you. Now that you're this close to Hell, you can see her puppet strings. But look closely." She gestured at the cords wrapped around Issa's limbs. "They're weakened by the Edenium in your blood."
Issa zeroed in on the threads and realised Eden was right—the once-glowing blue threads were dull and frayed at the edges. Yet even as hope flickered, a deep weariness pulled at her. The poison sapped her strength as much as it weakened the bonds.
"I-I don't understand," Issa said. "What am I supposed to do?" Turn back? Stay?
Eden's gaze was steady. "Terra, only you know whether or not you can close the gates." As she spoke, her youthful face grew creased and her posture became hunched once more. "But I can tell you one thing. You crossed the void without glory—that's proof of your strength."
Issa exhaled.
She needed to know if what she'd heard had been real. "You said the trouble isn't Earth's door. It's Heaven's, isn't it?"
"Yes," Eden confirmed, glancing back at the entrance to Hell.
It loomed open behind her—a massive arch wrapped in verdant ivy, the dark stone nearly obscured by thick, twisting vines. Flowers bloomed along the creeping tendrils, pale and ghostly in the dim light. The ivy was lush but fragile, shimmering faintly as though sustained by Eden's fading will.
"You're holding it," Issa repeated. That part of their conversation had been real. "But… how?"
Eden's face was a mask of resolve. "You left enough butterflies in the Garden for me to channel their strength. But I am dead, Terra. And soon, I will run out of butterflies." Her voice softened. "My time here is limited."
Issa's throat tightened. "Were you waiting for me all this time?"
"My sweet girl, I chose to accept Earth's key from Eve." Eden's translucent hand rested briefly over Issa's heart. "I would've held this door for my son. For all those who reside in my Garden. I will gladly hold it for you because I love you like my own child." She smiled, her ancient face growing young again. "Whenever you are ready, sweetheart."
A lump rose in Issa's throat.
She wavered, torn between doubt and desperate resolve. The threads still clung to her, but their grip was faltering. Lilith's control was slipping, melting in the sheer heat of Edvardiel's glory.
Eve's voice echoed in her ears. Neither Heaven nor Earth can contain Lilith's power on their own. I hold one half of Hell's gates. Michael holds the other. But you can hold both.
Issa swallowed. She had no glory.
The threads binding her tightened briefly, but she clenched her teeth against the rising fear. It was Eden's words she clung to in the end. You crossed the void without glory—that's proof of your strength.
Maybe she wouldn't be able to close Hell's gates, but she could at least relieve Eden of her burden.
"I can do it," she said. The threads around her finally melted and dripped to the ground. "I came here because I'm ready." No matter what her fears or the ghosts of her past told her, she knew the truth. She would never feel completely ready but she had to try.
Eden's smile widened. "Very well." A faint green glow blossomed from her chest—a shimmering key made of light.
Issa held out her hands. The key hovered above her palm, warm and vibrant.
Eden gazed at the glory shining on Issa and peace shone in her eyes. "I'm glad to see you accepting help, Terra. My greatest regret was trying to do everything alone. I wish you luck, sweet girl."
Her spirit dissolved into a fiery dove, vibrant in the dark, colourless backdrop of Hell. It circled Issa once, brushing tenderly against her cheek. Warmth bloomed at the touch as if Eden's hand had lingered on her heart. The dove let out a plaintive cry before shooting up through the ash-filled skies in a flash of brilliant lightning.
Even as silence returned, Issa could still feel the lingering warmth against her cheek.
"Thank you, Eden," she whispered.
The green key gleamed in her palm, heavy with the weight of Earth's door, but her power of Life rose to meet it easily. Still, Hell's entrance gaped open where Heaven's door was missing. Thousands of puppet strings stretched from the opening, throbbing with the heartbeats of Lilith's unwilling Nephilim soldiers.
Issa gazed at the threads and then back up at her angel's glory.
She was free of her bindings. She'd helped Eden. She'd done everything in her current power. It was time to go back… or was it?
She closed her eyes.
"Edvardiel, are you all right? Can I borrow your glory a little longer?"
Take whatever you need.
Her angel's voice sounded faint through the depths of Hell but she felt his resolve.
Wasting no time, Issa knelt, sending up a cloud of choking ash, and began the gruelling task of extending Earth's door.