Daystar (65 page)

Lucifer was near transparent.
 
He let his body drift until he hung above Gabriel.
 
Lucifer stared down at him, intent on seeing what he was doing.
 

Gabriel twitched and touched his face, his hair.
 
“Green likes green.
 
Perhaps not, too similar, too the same, too the likeness of that place.
 
I am perhaps the same?”

Angels went past the pair, unable to see Lucifer and disinterested in Gabriel.

“I find this waiting a waste of time.”
 
Gabriel checked over his armor.
 
“Are you going to hang above my head all day, Lucifer?”

Lucifer smiled and threw himself at Gabriel, but the Archangel disappeared deeper into the sun.
 
Lucifer raced past angels, tearing them to shreds as he passed through the star.
 
He could feel that he was getting closer to the core, the center.
 
Gabriel flashed into view and disappeared, drawing Lucifer in.
 
Lucifer peered through the light; his eyes caught on differences in the elements and heat.
 

Gabriel hung in the air above him.
 
“Good, finally.”

Lucifer lunged at him.

Gabriel stepped to the side.

Lucifer leapt again and missed.
 
“Sit still so I may kill you.”

Gabriel moved away and pointed.
 
“There is a portal in the core.”

Lucifer stopped.
 
“A portal?”

“To Heaven.”

Lucifer frowned.
 
“Where the angels are coming through.”

Gabriel nodded.
 
“He will be lighting the sun through it, Lucifer.
 
Pouring His fire into the star until it simply explodes.”

Lucifer looked towards the heat that the angels were escaping from.
 
He looked back up to Gabriel.
 
“He is the energy source for your project.”

“A fraction of power and yet still quite energizing.”
 
Gabriel scratched his fingers across his metal armor.
 
“Quite impressive, engaging, quite the font to drink from.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

Gabriel twitched.
 
“Must I spell it out?”
 
He eyed Lucifer.
 
“Apparently I do.
 
He will be fueling this plan, this sun.
 
His attention is there, He expects the energy to be used.
 
All other aspects of battle He expects to be dealt with by those loyal.”
 
He touched his chest.
 
“Steps carried out on command, as directed, as I said.
 
He never bothers with the details, nor does He oversee them, always expecting thine will be done.”

Lucifer nodded.
 
“So He will not notice if the energy is being consumed by something else such as me?”

“Correct.”
 
Gabriel pulled away.
 
“Just do not seek to engage Him and He will not be aware.
 
That was said simply enough for you to understand I take it?
 
Stay and receive?
 
Stay and the sun remains whole for as long as
you
remain whole.
 
You are a plug and everyone benefits.”
 

“I see.”

Gabriel backed off.
 
“Try and give fair warning when you can no longer hold out.
 
You will reach that point, do not doubt.
 
Your strength is not His.
 
You will falter, just warn us before you do, give us time to finish what we need to.”
 
Gabriel turned to go.
 
“He starts soon.”

Lucifer reached for him.
 
“Wait?”

“Yes?”

“Where are
you
going?”

“I am to head towards the planet now.”

“Why?”
 
Lucifer frowned.

“I have things, important things, which need to be taken care of there.”
 
Gabriel stared.
 
“I cannot stay and chat.”

“Whose side are you on?”

Gabriel turned to Lucifer and his lips twitched.
 
Lucifer realized it was a smile.
 
Gabriel showed fangs and bolted.

Lucifer shook his head.
 
“Crazy.”

He slid into the core.
 
The light was blinding to any others, but not to him.
 
He saw the portal, the doorway back into Heaven.
 
He braced himself.
 
The heavenly flame rushed through the gap as Gabriel had predicted.

Lucifer unfurled his wings and caught it, drawing the energy into his body and not the star.
 
He gasped, staggered, and squeezed his eyes shut.
 
His halos spun, taking the pure energy of creation and mixing it into his body.
 
He was knocked nearly senseless; it had been a long time since he had felt this.

SOON.

Lucifer’s eyes shot open.
 
He felt His presence on the other side of the portal.
 
Lucifer stayed still and calm, blending in with the sun, grabbing all of the energy that came through.

HE WILL BE GONE.
 
MICHAEL WILL BE GONE AND I WILL BE FREE OF THEM BOTH.
 
I WILL BE FREE OF ALL THESE IDIOTIC RESTRICTIONS.

Lucifer frowned and struggled to maintain his consciousness and his individuality in the power and personality that engulfed him.

***

Whitney held Michael’s hand and hummed as Heaven emptied of angels.
 
Even as angels left, more came into being through the creation song.
 
They were pushed out as fodder, but they were not near her, so she tried to ignore them.
 
Far off a pillar of fire roamed through Heaven no longer at the throne.
 
Bursts of flame came randomly, momentarily blinding her.
 
Whitney covered her eyes and gazed down at Michael.

Michael stared into space.
 
His eyes were no longer blue, but yellow and white.
 
His body quaked and the grip on her hand was unbreakable.
 
Whitney leaned over him as another flash filled the space around her, much closer.
 
Heat brushed across her skin, intense and close.

Whitney lifted her gaze.
 
Her heart stopped.
 
She thumped her chest to get it going again.

The fire hovered just outside the clear wall; it gazed at her.
 
She could feel it staring, though it had no form, no eyes.
 
Whitney bared her teeth.
 
“Anyone got a fire extinguisher?
 
Anyone?”

INSOLENT.

Whitney flipped the flame off with her free hand.
 
“All you are is hot gas.”

The fire roared.
 
Shifting colors burned in its midst.
 
I HAVE DECIDED

“Yeah me too, I think I’m going to dye my hair black.”

YOU AMUSE, YOU ANNOY.
 
I SHALL KEEP YOU AS A PET FOR MY PLEASURE.

“Fuck you!”
 
Whitney squeezed Michael’s hand.

The fire stepped through the invisible barrier and heat licked at her face.
 
She leaned back.
 
“Don’t touch me.”

I CANNOT YET, A PITY, BUT WHEN HELION IS DEAD OR IN MY SERVICE WITH THE REST I WILL TOUCH YOU AS MUCH AS I WISH.
 

“I don’t know if you even
have
a dick, but I will bite it off if you waggle it anywhere near me.”
 
Whitney gulped.
 
“But it’s probably too small to see anyways, you pricks are all the same.
 
I bet you’re really short too.”

The fire shrank and laughed.
 
Whitney trembled.

ALL BOW THEIR HEADS IN FEAR.
 
YOU WILL LEARN, I CAN FEEL YOUR FEAR ALREADY.

Whitney chewed on her lower lip.
 
“I don’t believe in you.
 
I don’t believe in you.
 
I believe in Santa!”

The fire loomed over Michael.
 
Whitney opened her wings and climbed onto his chest, covering him.
 
“Get away.”

WHY DO YOU SHELTER HIM?

“I don’t know.
 
Why do you fuck with him?”
 
She raised her voice, “What is the fucking point of everything you’ve ever done!
 
Has anyone ever asked you why you are such a fucking asshole?”

BECAUSE I CAN BE.

“What kind of answer is that?!
 
You are a shit-eating sadist!”
 
The fire laughed and Whitney’s bones jerked from the force.
 
She felt weak and wobbly.
 
She leaned over Michael.
 
“This jerk would make a better God than you.”

AN INTERESTING THOUGHT CONCEPT.

Whitney glared.
 
“Don’t you have some grand plan to be completing?
 
Something other than sitting here harassing me?”

THAT REQUIRES ALMOST NONE OF MY ATTENTION AND FRANKLY, IT IS A BORING PLAN.
 
GABRIEL…HE IS VERY BRIGHT, BUT METHODICAL, PLANNED THROUGH TO THE POINT OF NO EFFORT.
 
IT REQUIRES NO SUPERVISION.
 
HE HAS NO EMOTIONS, NO THOUGHTS.
 
HE IN MANY WAYS IS SUPERIOR TO THE OTHERS.
 
INTELLIGENT AND COLD.

“You.”

ARCHANGELS ARE PARTS OF THE PRIMANGEL, PARTS OF THE BIGGER WHOLE.
 
YES, THEN, LIKE ME, BUT WITHOUT THE PASSION OF LUCIFER.
 
MICHAEL IS TOO MUCH LIKE HIS BROTHER, PASSIONATE IN WHAT HE BELIEVES IN TO A FAULT AND STUBBORN.

“So what now?
 
You have your little plan and—”

I WAIT WITH YOU TO SEE IT THROUGH, THOUGH SINCE I CANNOT PLAY WITH YOU PERHAPS I WILL PLAY WITH MICHAEL.

Whitney snarled.
 
“You will not.”
 
She crouched over him like a cat.

YOUR ANGER IS AS AMUSING AS LADRIAM’S.

“Fuck off and die.”

SADLY FOR YOU, I CANNOT DIE.

“Everything alive can die.”

I AM NOT ALIVE, I SIMPLY AM.

“Then someone will
am not
you.”

I DOUBT THAT.

“Really?
 
Because bullies always end up without friends!
 
Only their mothers love them, but you don’t even have one of those.
 
No one likes you, no one loves you, and if you have no one you
are
a no one.
 
You’re nothing!”

LADRIAM LOVED ME ONCE, BEFORE HE STOLE HER.
 
I THINK ONCE I KILL HER I WILL REMAKE HER, WITHOUT A BRAIN THIS TIME.

Whitney forced bravado into her voice.
 
“She played you for info, she told me so.
 
She loves Lucifer because he is everything you are except he can love things.
 
Dahlia couldn’t help but love him over you.
 
He is better than you in every way!”

The fire roared, blasting her with flame.

HE IS NOTHING!
 
HE IS WEAK AND IGNORANT!
 
HE DESERVES NOTHING!
 
THOSE WHO CANNOT PROTECT WHAT IS THEIRS DO NOT DESERVE TO HAVE IT!

The fire calmed.

IT IS OF NO CONSEQUENCE WHAT YOU THINK.
 
THERE IS THE TRUTH AND IT IS SELF-EVIDENT, I BELIEVE YOU CALL IT SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST.
 
HE HAS NO CHANCE.

“I say let the best man win.”

I WILL.

***

Bean climbed a solitary spire in the city.
 
She looked towards the darkening horizon.
 
The glowing trailers cast by Hell’s new angels painted the encroaching night sky.
 
It would have been a beautiful sight if not for what they meant.
 

She looked back down to the city.
 
Every window and door was shut and locked tight.
 
She should stay inside, but she was worried about her parents and Jegudiel.
 

She no longer cried, but she stayed streaked in black, her hair short and uneven, and her clothing rent.
 
Her wounds had clotted, but they stayed on her skin as reminders.
 
She looked at them between her surveys of the city.
 
She rubbed her arms.
 
“He’s fine.”

She wrapped her legs around a stone steeple and peered across the city.
 
She saw no other glowing fliers on the horizon, only the watch fires that had been lit up to ward off the darkness.

The air blurred and night changed to day as Dahlia shifted Earth in relation to the sun.
 
Bean threw up her arm to shield her eyes as they adjusted.
 
She stared through her watering eyes, confused at the transition.
 
Some Lilliam opened their windows to take in the sight.
 
Bean shook her head.
 
“Weird.”

Faint conversation reached her ears.
 
Bean frowned and looked up.
 

Chronos, Ouroboros, Titan, and Leviathan descended in a spiral, they saw her and waved.
 
Ouroboros broke off and swirled around her, creating clouds amid the rooftops.
 
“Bean, you are to stay indoors.”

Bean shook her head.
 
“I will if things get bad, but not now.
 
I have to see if they’re okay.”

Leviathan grinned.
 
“Paimon and Furcas will be fine!
 
There are no angels up with them at the moment except their own.”

Bean pouted.
 
“I am not going anywhere.
 
I just want to watch.”

“We’re not going to force you, nothing is happening, yet.”
 
Ouroboros changed to a dragon and turned an eye to her.
 
“But if things get bad, you get down into the city.”

Bean nodded.
 
“I will, I promise, Uncle Boros.”

Leviathan eyed her.
 
“What happened to you?”

Bean smiled.
 
“My first bomb try-outs in the house.
 
I’m grounded looking like an explosion victim until they get back.”

Leviathan shook her head.
 
“Like father like daughter.”

They left her and Bean dropped her smile and looked to the skies.
 
She watched where the four went, but they turned invisible, taking total control over their elements.
 
Bean nodded, they were distracted by whatever they were maintaining.
 
She took to the air and glided on the breeze.
 
She scanned the ground for Jegudiel.

Helion dropped to her side.
 
“Bean.”

Bean sighed.
 
“I know, I know, I’m supposed to be in the city, but I don’t want to be!”

Helion shrugged.
 
“I don’t even know where I am supposed to be.
 
Do you mind if I fly with you for a time?”

Bean nodded.
 
“All right.
 
Can you help me?”

Helion perked up.
 
“You need my help for something?”

“I am searching for Jegudiel.”

“Is he not at the house?”

Bright light filled the air.
 
They looked up.
 
Ra and Ifrit roped in the sky as feathered dragons.
 
They circled creating a sphere of daylight to hold in their claws.
 
The pair practiced for the time when they would need to take over to stave off absolute darkness.

Bean looked at Helion.
 
“Jegudiel went for a flight before the alarms.
 
He has not returned.
 
I worry that he is hurt or perhaps unaware of the current state of things.
 
He was distracted, my fault.
 
I…we had a talk, you see, a bad talk.
 
I told him how I feel, and, well, but…he…he went away.”

Helion frowned.
 
“He does become addle minded easily where emotions are involved.”
 
He looked her over.
 
“He flew away right after he spoke with you?”

“Yes.”

“Did you look like that when he left?”

“No, I, uh, did this afterwards.”

“In direct relation to what he said?”

Bean blushed under the grime.
 
“Perhaps.”

“Did he have provocation for any words he might have said or were they spoken out of turn?”

Bean dropped her eyes.
 
“I believe to say that he had provocation would be a truthful statement.
 
I acted real fucking unseemly earlier.”

Helion frowned.
 
“Regardless of what you might have done was he of a right mind when he left?
 
Are we seeking him out believing he may not be thinking clearly?
 
This is important, Bean.”

Bean looked confused.
 
“What do you mean?”

Helion took her hand.
 
“You hurt yourself, Bean.
 
I cannot believe Jegudiel would ever have said anything to hurt you if he were clear headed at the time the words were spoken.”

“He had felt love of a kind for me, but after what I did to him he said he was clear of my confusions.”
 
Bean touched her cheeks.
 
“I am not sure.”

“Love on a wrong course ails him, not just in weakness of the flesh, but in weakness of the spirit and heart as well.
 
He may become deranged and in that state a great many wrong things might seem clear and right to him.”
 
Helion took in Bean’s expression as she remembered what he had done.
 
“We seek him addled then.
 
Which direction did he fly?”

“Towards the forest was the direction he went, but he could be anywhere.”

Helion banked towards the forest.
 
“Then we start there.”
 
Shadows shifted as Ra and Ifrit moved in the sky.
 
“We will need to heal him as well, or he will more than likely seek to hurt you again and worse this time.
 
I ask that you do not near if we find him.
 
I will approach him first.
 
Understand?”

Bean gaped at Helion.
 
“He only spoke the truth, Helion.
 
Jegudiel would not seek to hurt me.”

“Yes, but it was the truth to him with a twisted soul.
 
I can only imagine it got worse when he left you to do this to yourself.
 
You will remain apart from him until I can gauge his state.”

She shuddered.
 
“What if he hurts you?”

He smiled.
 
“I can defend myself.
 
Do not fret, Bean.
 
Neither one of us will take permanent damage from a talk.”

She looked away.
 
“Paimon and Furcas want to kill him if they find him.”

He went pale.
 
“All the more reason for us to find him first.
 
He will only provoke them if they reach him before we do.
 
He will not even think of his personal safety.”

“But don’t they know about his problem as you do?”

“I hardly think they would care, Bean.”
 
Helion peered at the beginnings of the forest.
 
“You are their daughter.
 
They do not care what the reasons are for your hurt, they only seek to end it immediately, finally, and permanently.”

She dipped lower.
 
“Then we have to find him now!
 
They said they would seek him out and kill him upon their return!”

Helion nodded.
 
“We need to split.
 
I go west and you go east.
 
Whistle if you see him.”
 
He took her hand.
 
“I was not kidding before.
 
You must not near him until he is better.
 
He is very dangerous in this state and no one is in more danger from him than you.”
 
Helion frowned.
 
“He loves you, but what that has become is something else now, so you must take this seriously.”

Bean nodded once.
 
“Got it.”
 
She smiled.
 
“Thank you for helping me, Helion.”

He nodded.
 
“I’m glad I can help someone.”

The pair split and Bean flew low over the forest, her eyes darting back and forth.
 
She moved in large sweeping arcs, trying to cover as much ground as she could.
 
She rubbed her arms as she flew; blood and soot flaked off her.

A shadow passed over Jegudiel.
 
His eyes shot open.
 
He scrambled to his feet and watched the air.
 
A form flew by overhead, heading away.
 
Jegudiel cocked his head.
 
His eyes turned black as he recognized the wings.
 
A flake of blood drifted down.
 
His tongue darted out and caught it.
 
He smiled with fangs out and raced along the ground.