The four of us went down from the balcony a little slower than when we were earlier. The adrenaline’s gone from out bodies. We’re just exhausted. Just when we thought this is all over, we heard a slow clap from behind us. As we turned around to look at who it was, we were taken aback. The four of us looked at each other.
“That,” he started after he clapped, “that was amazing! I mean, Mia just got her wings. Azriel showed how much of a warrior he truly is. Merikh used his demonic connections to help finish this whole, whatever thing, that happened here. And then there’s Collin. Sweet ol’ vampire. I was surprised, really, that you let them kill your father. But none of you ever questioned why the monsters were here? All you did was fight them and when Roth died, you’ll just leave?”
He looked at us as if expecting an answer, “oh come on! Let Uncle Lucy get in on the fun, huh?!”
“What are you doing here?” Azriel demanded, “I thought Gabriel –“
“Yeah, well, I guess I was too strong for them that, hmmm, I don’t know. Turned them into fairy dust.”
“You didn’t,” Merikh wanted, well, wished he was joking.
“Oh, yes. Yes, I did. I’m not doing this as a tantrum, no. I mean, I get it. Our Nephilim here got some bright and shiny wings. I actually hoped it’s something much darker than that. Anyway, I did what I did ‘cause it’s, uh, it’s fun,” he smiled smugly, “and also I thought God, my dear old daddy, would reconsider. Maybe, you know, give me a little something from up there since I didn’t kill his granddaughter.”
I scoffed, “didn’t kill me?! You fucking barbequed me on an iron pole!” I reminded him of that fateful day when I was stuck on a wrought iron….on a fence.
“That…that was an accident,” he tried to explain. But we all know that the Devil himself knows how to manipulate people. He knows damn well that his powers lie in betrayal. We were quiet while Lucifer just went on and on about his life in Hell. How bored he is that the only ones passing through are the monsters, moving on to Purgatory. We were about to walk away while he was busy with his monologue, “ah, ah, ah. Where do you think you’re going?” he pointed his index finger at us and our feet suddenly were planted on the ground, “you guys are really rude, you know that? I am here, being all nice but you, you are testing my patience!”
“Why are the monsters here?” Collin suddenly asked just to ease this child of a Devil’s temper.
“Glad you asked. Well, I diverted them here. I created a little hole in the wall. Cracked the ‘enchantedness’ of this town. If you are wondering, yeah, a few of them just ran along and hunted some meal. If you weren’t too busy here, you would’ve heard them screaming. Oh,” he puts his hand behind his ear, “can you hear that? Those are the sound of dying people.”
Then he looked at me, “that’s proof that you really can’t save everyone. You can’t even save your own fa–“
“Are you done?” I interrupted, “’cause seriously, you, you’re really starting to get on my nerves.”
“Well, aren’t you a little feisty,” he muttered, “you are your mother’s daughter. Too bad she isn’t here to –“ we cut him off by walking away. He was surprised that we were able to when he did something to our feet to stay where we are. “Hey! Where are you going?! We’re not yet done here!” he was shouting at us. I turned around to face him, “oh I think we are done here.”
I felt an energy coming off of Lucifer, I turned around to face him again, and he was about to lift his hand up. My eyes glowed, “you’ve done enough damage, Lucifer,” I said as I lifted my own hand. He started gagging, as I choke the life out of him from afar. “Hoc malum inferant angeli in tenebras, ubi est,”” I started, “in nomine patris et filii et spiritus sancti.”
Lucifer started gagging violently as I repeated the chant a few more times. Black ooze started spilling out of his mouth then his eyes. He let out a demonic scream that sent chills up and down my spine. His eyes burned, then he fell to the ground. His lifeless body slowly turned into dust. A Nephilims are naturally strong beings, but when one is a descendant of an Archangel, he or she is stronger than any celestial being. Except God. He, uhm, he's still stronger than any of us.
I turned to face the boys, who looked amazed and horrified at the same time. “What?” I asked. Azriel babbled, Collin and Merikh looked at each other as I led the way back inside the house. “Remind me to never piss her off,” I heard Collin say.
“Yeah. Do the same for me,” Merikh replied.
As we were walking past the living room, a bright bluish light caught my eye. I stopped and looked at the crystal ornament on the side table near the big window. I walked over to it and then bent down to look at it closer. Among all the white crystals, it’s the only one that has a bluish tint. I carefully took it from the ornament and stood up straighter, “Mer. I think I just found your grace,” I said as I lifted it up. Merikh was wide eyed as I walked closer to him. I can see his eyes welling up. “Fun fact,” Azriel said as I handed the crystal to his brother, “Angel Graces turns a darker shade of blue when the owner is near. It turns clear or invisible when they’re far away.”
The crystal did, in fact, turn into a darker shade of blue as soon as I place it on Merikh’s hand. “Don’t you wanna get your grace out of the crystal?” I asked. He was looking at it on his hand, “uhm, no. I mean, not yet. Not here. It might blow us all up,” he replied. We carefully wrapped it with a cloth and he placed it inside his pocket.
When we got to the truck, I looked at them and smiled. I am happy that no matter what happens, I’ll always have these three bickering frat boys with me. “Hey,” I said loud enough for them to stop getting on each other’s hairs, “let’s go back home to Rory?”
“Oh yes. Definitely.”
“Yes, please. I already miss my window.”
“Fuck yeah. I think I need some shut-eye.”
We got inside the truck, and I started the engine. “Oh!” Azriel suddenly exclaimed then laughed, I looked at him in the rear-view mirror. “Mia, Merikh said something earlier,” he beamed.
“Oh come on!” Merikh yelled, “it was just a joke!”
Both Collin and Azriel laughed. “Did I miss something while I was up in that helicopter fighting for my own life?” I questioned them. “Well, Merikh here did say something when you fell off and then your wings appeared,” Collin teased.
“What did he say?” I got curious about it now.
“Don’t! I mean it, Collin,” Merikh warned, “I will have my hounds rip your head off if you say it!”
“He said,” Azriel laughed, catching his breath, “he said, ‘that’s my girl’ when your wings appeared!”
Merikh hits Azriel on his arms to stop him from laughing but he laughed even harder.