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The spear raised slowly above the angel’s head. It looked a little worse for wear, but it hadn’t succumbed to it’s injuries just yet.
Despite their best efforts, Charlie and Alastor could only injure the heavenly being. It had bested them both and now they lay on the rooftop of the Happy Hotel, battered and bruised, defeated by a single angel.
The angel made its way over to Charlie first, limping slightly. It didn’t seem too concerned with its injuries nor did it make any noise that hinted it felt any serious pain.
Once it made it to its destination, the bloodied being stood above Charlie, who could barely move an inch.
She couldn’t give up now. She had to move, she still needed to save the hotel and Alastor. Everyone was depending on her to keep them safe, and Charlie couldn’t bear the thought of losing her friends.
With a groan, she lifted herself up from her prone position slightly, coughing weakly. Despite the slow pace the angel limped at, It was far too late for her to get away. When she looked up, she found that the angel was already there and ready to strike her down. She needed to get up. Even if she didn’t make it out of this extermination, she could at least slow the angel down until the bell tolled.
But then she collapsed before she could push herself up all the way. The angel loomed, holding the spear at the ready while watching its prey helplessly exert itself on the ground.
It was truly a pitiful sight that was too much to bear, even for the angel. It was time to put the demon out of her misery and bring her salvation.
The spear fell quickly and Charlie couldn’t do a single thing to get out of the way. Tears pricked her eyes as she shut her eyes and waited for the blow to come.
‘Alastor I’m so sorry...’
But it never came.
A spray of blood mixed with a low grunt caught her attention. When her eyes shot open, a new surge of adrenaline rushed through her, giving her enough strength to twist her expression into anguish. With an audibly panicked gasp, Charlie found Alastor knelt before her with a long thin spear sticking straight out of his back.
He was still smiling at her even as the angel removed the weapon with a sickeningly slick sound. Once he looked up to her when he found her unharmed, his smile weakened. “Charlie, go.” He breathed as he fell forward.
Charlie shrieked. “A-Alastor!” Using the rest of her strength, she reached forward and caught the love of her life in her arms. Though she faltered, she quickly recovered when adjusting to his weight.
The angel couldn’t move seeing the demoness uncontrollably sob over the fallen mortal soul. Tears flowed freely as her desperate hands clung to him. “No! No no no no, Alastor, please!”
But no response came.
The angel stood above them, spear in hand but not at the ready. Instead the heavenly being stared down at them, confused and curious all at once. The damned mortal soul risked his life for another. His selfless reaction was a clear act of love for the bawling demoness that held him. What was most surprising was the fact that she’d seemingly forgotten about the angel that loomed over them, its job still unfinished. Even with the threat still present, she still paid the angel no mind. She could easily be struck down with the demon in her hands, but it didn’t seem to matter to her.
‘This is ridiculous...’ He thought with a shake of his head. He raised his spear, ready to finish the job. But once he took a good look at the female demon’s face, he froze once more.
“You are not my brother! Not anymore!”
With a cough, the defeated angel before Michael laughed with a pained wheeze. “You sound like father,” he coughed once more and closed his eyes, accepting his fate. “I know I’m a fool Michael. And I know you’ll never understand why I did what I did, but it doesn’t matter anymore,” Lucifer opened his eyes and looked to the side, keeping his gaze fixed on something. Michael didn’t have to look to see what exactly he was staring at, he knew the first woman was watching from afar.
“Get on with it then, Michael. Just don’t hurt her. This was my doing,” He smiled, even when he knew he was going to die. “Promise me you’ll let her live. It’s the last thing I’ll ever ask of you.” Michael watched his blood brother in horror, completely baffled how even when he laid battered and beaten, he could still smile at the reason he was in this mess. How could he worry about the first woman when he was about to die by his own brother’s hand?
As a being of love and goodness, Michael instantly recognized the unconditional love his brother had for Lilith. It was the purest love one could feel, something he’d never seen in Hell. That is, until today. Somehow, in the cesspool that is Hell, he’d found it.
And he found it in a demon that looked so much like his brother.
‘No. It couldn’t-‘
The booming toll of a bell caught the angel’s attention. He needed to get back before the portal closed and stranded him in the pit of suffering.
With one last look at the pair, Michael flew away feeling too many things all at once. He had never enjoyed these cleanses, but he had never once felt remorse for participating in them either. He was an angel of mercy and he was so sure that he was granting these sinners mercy by putting them out of their misery. It was just his job as an archangel: to bring mercy to the wicked.
But never had he seen anything as beautiful or pure like love in Hell. Not like this.
‘Lucifer and the first woman... And now his own offspring with a sinner... and that sinner sacrificed himself for her...’ It was mind boggling. No, it was damn near maddening. This challenged everything he believed in.
He crossed the barrier and his wounds instantly healed, causing him to sigh in relief. His foes this year were far stronger than he anticipated.
“Michael? What’s wrong?” A familiar voice broke Michael out of his thoughts. It was his sister and underling Azrael, and she was covered in blood. It was a normal sight for the returning angels to be covered in blood, but it looked as if Azrael bathed in blood of the cleansed.
Michael removed his bloodied mask. “Oh nothing! Just... thinking.”
“Oh? What about?”
“About... Do you think these creatures are capable of love?”
His angelic companion burst into hysterics at the suggestion. “The damned souls? Love? Oh don’t be silly brother,” she sighed, attempting to calm herself a bit. “If they were then we wouldn’t be putting them out of their misery now would be? Father told us that, ‘ if they truly knew love, they wouldn’t suffer.’ We’re just helping them move on from their horrid lives.” She explained as she admired the bloodied tip of her angelic spear with a smirk. It was clear that their job was just a game to her. Michael would have scolded her for her being so callous, but he couldn't help his distracting thoughts from taking over. Then a thought hit him.
If that sinner hadn’t surprise him so suddenly, Michael would have fully impaled him. He wondered if he was still alive. Part of him hoped that he was strangely enough.
And the girl- the girl who looked too much like his fallen brother. She mourned for the sinner, she held him close and shed tears for him. She was too alike Lucifer to be a coincidence. Just like his brother, she cared too much about others to consider her own safety. Had he not hesitated, she would have perished alongside the mortal she seemed to care about. She was certainly Lucifer’s child: a dramatic, hopeless romantic.
For the first time in his existence, Michael quietly prayed for a sinner’s recovery.
Alastor was not yet dead, but he was losing blood so fast that it was almost inevitable.
The extermination may have been over, but all the hope that remained in Charlie’s heart flowed out of her like the blood of her lover. Alastor’s warm blood oozed out of his back in full force and stained her hand. Guilt, anguish and helplessness hit her harder than the angel ever had. Her tears flowed freely, dripping from her cheek and onto her love’s face. Yet, he wasn’t reacting to it in the slightest.
Again, she was a failure. She couldn’t protect Alastor and instead had to be protected and put him in immediate danger. Now he lay in her arms, beaten and broken. “I’m so sorry Al,” she sobbed, bringing his body as close as she possibly could. “I couldn’t protect you.”
A non-bloodied hand suddenly rested on Charlie’s tear-streaked cheek and began wiping the tears away. “Shhh stop crying my love. Crying doesn’t suit you in the slightest.” It was Alastor’s voice, but his voice was warped, making his words came out like static, yet he still sounded so sure in his tone- as if he was sure he wasn’t going anywhere.
“A-Alastor?” She whispered with a sniff. Her eyes widened down at him, her expression unreadable aside from the shock.
He chuckled and nodded slightly. “Yes, I’m still here,” he said calm and cooly. “You can’t get rid of me that easily I’m afraid.” The static died down a bit, clearing his tone ever so slightly.
Charlie’s tears burst from the floodgates with renewed strength. Her heart pounded in her chest, feeling everything from euphoria to relief. “I-I-I th-thought you were dead! I d-didn’t think you were gonna make it!” Charlie hiccuped, wiping the flooding tears from her cheeks before they overwhelmed Alastor. She wanted to look at him with unobstructed sight, but the relieved tears continued to replace her anguished ones.
“I was very close to it, don’t mistake me. But-“ he gingerly lifted himself out of Charlie’s arms, but immediately collapsed again. Charlie promptly caught him, pressing a hand on his chest to make sure he stayed.
In the moment he got up, Charlie saw it. From the exposed flesh on his back, she saw the inky tentacles that remained gathered right over where his heart would be. It seemed the majority of the flowing blood had come from Alastor’s projections, rather than his own person. They’d taken the brunt of the blow, but Charlie hadn't seen exactly how far the spear went into him. Thankfully though it didn’t seem to be an emergency just yet.
“No, stay here a little longer and relax.” She said sternly before snaking her hand up to his cheek. “You scared the shit out of me. You idiot.” an airy laugh escaped her lips as she brought her forehead to rest on his.
Alastor chuckled in response, suddenly feeling stronger by the second. In this life Alastor hadn’t sustained many injuries, but he knew that this was not normal, not in the slightest. Something must be healing him, but he couldn’t figure out what or how.
But for now it didn’t matter. Everything that did was still here. “I know I’m a fool, darling. But please forgive me, this fool had too much to lose.”