Wings and Tears: Part 18
She entered the room quickly, ignoring the affects of the time change. He heard Her footsteps and glared at Her. “What do you want?” He asked fiercely.
“Christ asks for your assistance.”
God sighed, “Very well.” He stood and walked up to Her. She held out a white robe that he wrapped himself in. She glared at Him as He left. Carefully, She walked to Luc. He recoiled, twisting his body into a tight ball. She produced a bundle of clothing for him, which he did not take it immediately.
“It’s ok,” She cooed, “I cannot hurt you.”
His dirty and swollen face looked up at Her. He moved a hand to push greasy hair from his eyes. “You’re beautiful,” his voice was soft and harsh with lack of use.
She smiled, “I thought you didn’t like females.”
“I…I don’t…but…not like that.”
“I know. We have to hurry. Please get dressed.” He hurried to follow her command. And stood, fully dressed in white slacks and a loose blue shirt. She smiled at him. “You don’t have to be afraid of me, Luc.” She said, and held out her hand. When they touched it was he who grasped Her hand.
She led him to a wall where a tapestry hung depicting the Garden of Eden. She pushed it aside to reveal a doorway. He followed Her through it.
“Where are we going? Where’s Michael?” he asked, staring at her back.
“Why do you always worry about him? Think about what’s been happening to you.” His eyes looked at the ground, She looked at him and sighed, “God has done nothing to him and his rage has amplified to entering Earth and murdering humans himself. He has them praying for you to return to him. All this in three days.”
Luc paused and finally stopped looking at Her to glance around himself. They were walking down a long, stone corridor lit with torches of blaring fire. “Three days?” he asked, “It felt like…like…” he stopped, couldn’t continue, tears came to him again. “What’s been going on? I’m not sure anymore.”
“Lucifer,” She said his name softly, lovingly, motherly, “I know.” She came to hold him and he didn’t pull away from Her. He buried his face in Her long, wavy hair. It was soft and smelled sweet. “We must continue. Michael rages and only you can stop him. Christ and I have created a plan, you can escape God’s vicious unforgiving hands. You have to stop Michael and save the human heroes.”
“I’m not a Savior, I’m a devil. Humans don’t want a demon to save them.”
“But you must, because only you can. Lucifer…Luc…this is important. You must give this to Michael. Don’t read it, just give it to him.” She held out a folded piece of paper, which he took.
She turned again, but he didn’t move. “Who are you?” he asked.
She looked at him, “I am everything good for everything God is bad. Where He is passion, war, anger, hate, wild creation, I am wisdom, love, kindness, order. I am the Goddess that hid when He made and ruled earth and angels. It is easier to have one God than a God and Goddess. We must go.” She started to move again and he followed her quickly.
“When…when I leave you I won’t feel this calm, will I?” he asked her.
“No, you will not. I’m sorry. I wish there was more I could do for you.”
Lucifer quieted but followed her. She led him to the end of the corridor and he saw a glassy white metallic type wall. She stopped. “You will walk through this to go to the place we need you to be.” She placed a hand on his cheek. He smiled sadly.
“I don’t want to go.”
“But you must.”
“But…” he hugged her. “Do you even have a name?”
She laughed softly, “You ask a lot of questions.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be,
and no, I do not have a name. However if you feel you must call me something…I
am fond of an old, old name given to a Queen of a long ago Kingdom…
~~
Quatre lay on the bed, his body tense and his eyes closed tightly. Solo entered the room with Hanna.
“Daddy?” Hanna asked.
Quatre’s eyes snapped open, “What is it honey?” Quatre asked weakly and Hanna came to hold his loose hand. So far she was the only one he would allow touch him. She smiled at him.
“Solo brought you some food. Rasid made it.” Quatre sat carefully up. He looked at the angel, his expression painful. Hanna passed him to bowl of casserole. He looked down at the food, disgusted.
“Solo?” Quatre asked.
Solo looked up at him, “Huh?”
“What is Michael doing?” The both could hear the cries.
“Something really bad. Something I’m not sure humans will get over. Something happened, something…I have no idea what been happening with him.” Solo bit his lip. “I wish I did.” Duo knocked softly on the door and looked at his blonde friend and smiled. Quatre returned the smile weakly, out of obligation and Hanna sat on the bed to help her Daddy eat his dinner. Duo remained at the door, not wanted to crowd Quatre.
“Solo? We need to talk.”
Solo nodded, stood, and left the room and walked with his father down the hallway a bit so their hushed voices couldn’t be heard by Quatre and Hanna.
“Solo, he’s woken up again.”
Solo sighed, “I thought you said the tranquillizer would last two more hours.”
“It should have…but I dunno…we all hit him pretty hard and he didn’t even bruise…maybe that…soul, affected him.”
Solo rubbed his eyes, “That’s possible, during cases of possession sometimes the hosts gain strange abilities…”
Duo sighed, “I hate feeling helpless. I’m sorry to ask this of you…but…you’re the only one that can.”
Solo nodded and smiled, “I know Dad. It’s just whatever has been happening in the cities is overwhelming and…” he couldn’t find words to finish.
“I know,” he reached out to hold his son. “I know.”
“Ok…” Solo broke the embrace, “Let’s go.” He smiled weakly and began down the stairs.
He went into the basement where he heard the mad laughter of an insane soul. Solo saw Heero first. “What been happening?” he asked.
Heero was starting coldly at the door that led to the basement’s other room, one that served also as an extra room. After Solo had caught Trowa’s falling Body, Trowa had a few more minutes of control and told Solo to tie his up so he couldn’t hurt Quatre or Hanna or anyone else. After that he passed out and when he came to he had insisted that the soul had left, but Solo could feel that the soul was the one that lied. After the first day the soul had given up trying to fool them and now just waited, crazily staring at the ceiling while the Maquancs watched over him. “He woke up and started laughing and laughing. He won’t answer any question, but won’t stop laughing.” Solo nodded and went onto the room.
Trowa’s body was tried to the bed. Sweat, lined his body and he shook with his crazed laughter. The Maquancs stared at him angrily and cautiously. Solo stepped to him and placed his hand on the distraught forehead. The soul continued laughing until Solo whispered, “Sleep.” The laughter died slowly and the green eyes closed. Solo looked at the sleeping body a moment, before his gaze went upward. His eyes narrowed.
“Solo?” Duo asked.
Solo quickly left the room, then went up from the basement. He looked around curiously, his eyes still narrow, as if he were searching fro something. Heero and Duo followed him.
“Solo?”
Solo went into the living room, seemed to think the better of it and went up stairs. He started running.
“Solo?!” Duo asked again.
Solo went up to the roof. When he was on top of the building he looked around him and saw what he was looking for.
“Lucifer?!”
Lucifer looked up when his name was called, and quickly stood, stepping back to get away from them. He looked at Solo for a moment, then stared at Heero and Duo.
“Dad, could you two please leave for a second,” Solo said, looking at Lucifer, who had turned, listening to the distant cries of the humans in their cities. Duo nodded and took Heero’s arm. Together they disappeared back into the house. Luc heard the door close, but didn’t turn around. Solo also never took a step closer to him. After a moment Luc turned to look at the small angel. He opened his mouth to say something, but couldn’t. Tears came to his green eyes and he turned to look back towards the mortal screaming.
“You’re on Earth. This house is far from the nearest human city.”
Luc nodded distantly and tried to say something again, still the only thing that escaped his lips was a pitiful squeaking sound. He started crying.
“I don’t know what Michael is doing, but I can hear it too.”
They were quiet for a while and Luc finally spoke, his voice was harsh and soft, “He’s killing them.” He looked at the sky, “God came to his house and took me away…and now Michael’s killing them.” His voice cracked with sobs. He turned to look at Solo, grime and tears streaked his face, but he had stopped crying. “He’s killing them all.”
Solo stared at him, shocked, “What…what can we do?”
Luc looked at the paper in his hand, his face was sad, but his eyes were dull. He looked back at the boy. “We stop him.” They stood in silence for a while. Tears started to track down his face again. “Is there…a shower I can use?”
He spent the rest of the day in that shower, until the hot water ran out, and then freezing water pounded on his body. His skin was red from the scrubbing, but he still felt so dirty. For three hours he just sat in the bath as the shower beat onto him, his tears wouldn’t stop; he couldn’t make them. What finally made his turn off the water was a distant, hysterical laughter.
The Possessor wouldn’t stop, he laughed and laughed and laughed. Trowa’s body shook with it. Quatre could hear it all the way in his room; he kept his hands tightly over his pale ears. Hanna lay next to him, but he took no comfort from her. Lucifer slowly walked to the doorway and looked at them both. Hanna was crying quietly. From their minds Luc picked up the trail of events of the last three days. He saw, in small fragmented images, Trowa’s body possessed by a soul of his own disturbing past. He felt from Quatre the rape and he braced himself on the doorway, hit with memories of his own. He ran a hand through his hair and left them, without them even knowing he was there. He slowly walked down the stairs, and went to the basement door, opening it slowly.
He heard laughter was stronger and found the Maquancs, Heero, Duo and Solo in the room with the laughing body. Solo was using Heero as a crutch. The boy was exhausted from trying to make the soul calm down. They looked up at Luc when he entered the room. None of them moved to touch him. He stared at the hysterical body and whispered one word they all heard, “Leave.”
He stepped to the bed as they hurried out, confident that he would handle this far better than they could. When they were gone, the soul stopped laughing. “Um…Lucifer…” it said, forcing an evil smile on Trowa’s face. “Seems you’ve been having a funner time than I have.”
Luc’s face was set, and apathetic. He sighed, but said nothing.
“Did you see that blonde cutie I did? Isn’t he so…sweet…” the soul said, evilly. “Reminded me of you. So tell me, how big is God?”
Luc still said nothing and his jaw tightened.
“I mean, wow, most people can only hope to be raped by people like me…you, however…you been the toy of God, that’s some accomplishment,” he laughed.
“Keep on talking,” Lucifer said, his voice was cold, angry. He melted away his boyish face, revealed the Devil under the guise, his voice was deep. “You’ll make this easier.” Trowa’s face showed a quiver of fear, and the soul stopped talking. The Devil continued, “I’m angry at you. I intend for you to realize that. You were sent to Hell for your crimes and you have not learned from them.” This sentence was very much like the ones God told him, over and over, in that room in Heaven. Trowa’s face showed total fear now. “Leave,” the Devil ordered harshly. Trowa’s body convulsed and then went slack, eyes closed. “Materialize, now!” Luc’s devilish form insisted. The soul became solid, showing the man he had been before he died. Luc looked at him with his big, evil eyes. In his hand he formed a small, white glossy ball.
“No! Lucifer please!” the soul pleaded, but Luc showed no interest in his words, instead, with one swift movement he threw this ball to the soul, it entered him. The soul started screaming.
“QUIET!” Luc screamed, “GO!” The soul stopped screaming then disappeared. Luc sighed back into his angelic body and collapsed back into the wall, curling his legs up to his chest, he started sobbing. Solo rushed into the room to find him like that. He rushed to Luc, who yelled out, “Don’t touch me!” Luc recoiled quickly from the boy. Solo looked at the Fallen Angel a second before his father rushed in behind him. Trowa moved on the bed, moaning.
“Trowa?!” Duo asked, rushing to his friend.
Trowa blinked and looked at Duo, “Duo?” he asked, “What…what happened? Is…is he gone?”
“Yes,” answered Luc through tears. “The soul is gone.”
“How?” Trowa asked. Luc couldn’t answer, he just continued crying.