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My own design for him! This can also be found on my tumblr :))
There was a time in Heaven when paranoia for the demons below reached its height. Sera recalled the human year to be around 1933, and Hell was being absolutely flooded with new souls like never before. The spike had first begun much prior, when Sera heard talk around the winners of a “roaring twenties”- whatever that meant. She had to admit, she didn’t much understand mortal slang.
All she understood was that self proclaimed gangsters, dirty cops, and other dregs of vice were more popular in these times more than ever, something that didn’t just alarm her. Other heaven-born were noticing the pattern too, and confessing their concerns to her.
Fearing their demonic neighbors wasn’t new. There was always a healthy bit of fear for what could be, should the wickedness below decide to try and spread.
Sera equated the inflating population to that wickedness spreading, no matter how passive it was. If there were more demons, there would be more trouble. That was just a fact.
But how could she possibly fix this? Responsibility weighed heavily on her, yet again. Always Sera. She had to set a good example, but she wasn’t an idea factory.
It was a passing comment from the First Man, of all people, that set the ball in motion.
”We should just fuckin’ kill some of em, ya know, they’re making movies about that shit now where some pill with a machine gun just shoots the bastards givin him trouble-“
Admittedly, she tuned him out soon after. Adam wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and she often found the belligerent man annoying.
The idea intrigued her. Her heartstrings tugged at such a grisly end, but that oppressive, suffocating pressure to present a solution to her concerned subjects was more tempting than ever.
She had paced in her quarters for hours, arguing with her own morals.
Killing. Wrong in every context. She was a Seraphim. What example would she be setting?
But demons were abominations- was it really killing if she was just getting rid of sin?
Wouldn’t that be helping God’s creations?
These demons used to be humans. Humans just like her subjects up here.
What would Heaven say if this came to pass? If she authorized this and Angels judged her for it?
Sera bit her lip.
Unless they didn’t know.
Unless they didn’t know. A silent help, a silent campaign to keep her realm safe.
It wasn’t killing. It was solving a problem.
But then another roadblock halted her racing thoughts. Who could she even get to complete this task? There would be absolutely nobody past the Pearly gates who could even think of doing something so dangerous and vile. Being a glorified Exorcist.
No, she would need to outsource this, and none of her current connections served any use. Briefly, Adam popped into her head. That thought dissolved as quickly as it came.
He was too reckless, a loose cannon that couldn’t treat this matter with the delicacy needed.
For a week, it felt helpless. That half-baked plan lingered in the back of her head every waking moment, depressing her further. It felt like she was grasping at strings, and any chance of success was slipping away.
Nothing else came to her, nothing less questionable.
It was at the end of that week that she decided a distraction was in order. Perhaps freshening up her environment would coerce new ideas. If anything, getting her mind off of the borderline obsessive state it had been in would be healthy.
Attending a human’s judgement was something she hadn’t done in centuries. It was so base, so below her. It was usually done by the lowest ranking Heaven-borne.
However, it was most positively a different environment. Plus, it would demand her attention, if only for a few hours. It made her nostalgic, stepping into the pearly white courtroom. Simplistic times, back when she was still in training and unburdened by the world she would watch these with rapture. She glanced at the baffled Judge staring at her, and smiled softly.
He scrambled off his pedestal, and scurried over. “My Radiance, I wasn’t aware you would be attending-“
”It is of no worry, Brother Juste. I will just be observing today.”
The angel furrowed his brows, and Sera didn’t blame his confusion. He chose not to speak on it, for it was not his place.
”Of course, My Sera.” He dipped his head, and glanced up at her, before returning to his post. Sera appreciated his quick return to business as usual. She disliked when people lavished over her like some deity.
The courtroom was almost deserted, besides Juste and two winners who must’ve had nothing else to do. There was usually no Jury, unless the soul being judged was incredibly conflicting, and one Angel couldn’t decide where to put them.
Sera sat across from the Winners on the opposite side, settling and fluttering her wings behind her back.
She looked down at the stage of the room, gold inlaced into white marble floors.
A bright beam of light formed in the center, and a corporal form started to materialize into the spotlight.
And so, the first session began.
Sera, surprisingly, found herself taken by the souls brought to the courtroom. Each one was unique, whether in a good or bad way, and it was incredibly therapeutic to have only the present filling her stressed mind.
When 10 judgements had passed, Sera told herself she would depart after the 11th.
Whether it was Him guiding her decision, or some other unforeseen force, the future was changed irrevocably with that simple choice. Unbeknownst to her, or anyone else in that moment, she would meet the soul that reminded her of the fears at hand.
To say he would fix them or make it worse would not be for her, or anyone else to speculate. However, he would upturn the order of things, that was for certain.
To Sera then, it was just another human soul forming on the floor.
When the divine glow wore off, Sera winced at the splattered blood over his prim suit. Crusted red dripped down his cheeks, and he must’ve been shot in the forehead, based on the pattern.
Sera wrinkled her nose slightly. How unpleasant.
”Ah, Hello!” He chirped, and wide brown eyes swiveled around the chamber rapidly. His smile was deranged, absolutely splitting his tawny face open.
He seemed to be on the calmer side of people who were suddenly thrust into a foreign place. Sera speculated, based on appearances, he might be a little broken in the head.
Juste looked at him, and back down to the thick tome on his desk.
He paled slightly, and his throat bobbed with a nervous swallow. “Alastor Pierre-Dieudonné Broussard,”
”That’s the name, my friend! Don’t wear it out!” He barked a laugh, swinging his arm with the declaration. “Might I inquire to my whereabouts? I fear you know me, but I do not know you!”
Angel Juste ignored him, and proceeded to read out the summary of his life and times- per custom.
“Born to Evangeline Dieudonné LeRoux and Pierre Eloi Broussard in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Aged 49 at the time of death.”
”Correct!” Sera couldn’t help but snort silently. The mortal was mildly amusing.
”You were raised with an abusive father, who you then murdered at 13. Succeeding a troubled childhood, you refrained from further sin and became a Radio Host. Despite all the challenges you faced, popularity and fame quickly found you.” Angel Juste read out with a monotonous, careful tongue, keeping his bright silver eyes on the book.
”After your mother perished from a white mob at 21, you descended into madness. You began to murder as an avenue to expel your constant fury at the world and battle feelings of isolation. You continued your radio show, and led a double face as the-“ He paused, blinking.
“-Darling of New Orleans, and Bayou Butcher. When the Great Depression ruined the United States, you fell further into cardinal sin when you decided to feast on those you preyed. You were never caught in your crimes against humanity, but your demise came with a hunter’s mistake after you disposed of evidence in the nearby swamp.”
Juste finished with a loud exhale, and ran a hand through his golden locks with lingering distress on his face. He glanced up from the text, and flinched at the stare from Alastor.
The human had grown concernly quiet, his smile shrinking to a modest smirk.
”Ah. I believe I know where I am now.” He commented softly, and adjusted his cracked glasses.
Sera couldn’t believe it. This person in front of her, so unsuspecting to commit such atrocity.
And he never got caught. 49 years, with his first murder at 13. She focused on him with an intensity of puzzle pieces clicking behind her pale eyes.
And that half-baked plan came back with full force, looking not-so-incomplete anymore. Someone capable of such violence with the facade of an innocent man.
An Angel could never fulfill the task of controlling the hellish infestation. Until this very moment, she had never known where to go with that glaring indiscrepency.
Not only could this particular soul have no trouble with that, but from his life, he proved that it could be done with discretion. She would be hitting two birds with one stone; solving her problem, and ensuring that its controversial nature could be hidden from the masses.
They didn’t need to know how it was done, only that Heaven was safe. She would protect them.
“-Well. Do you have anything you’d like to say, Mr. Broussard?” Juste inquired meekly, still a little jarred by the creature in front of him.
A mass of tight brown curls flopped over the man’s forehead as he looked to the ground.
His shoulders twitched. “No, but I have a question.”
“Alright, I’ll try my best to answer.”
There was a terse pause. His smile seemed more strained than ever before. “Is my mother in a better place?”
Juste’s shock flitted across his face, bold as brass. The thought that someone like this could ever think of anyone but himself was surprising, and it clearly caught the Judge off-guard.
”-Erm, Yes. Evangeline Dieudonné LeRoux ascended some time ago.”
His posture relaxed, and his grin had a gentler edge to it as he processed the information.
“Then by all means, drag me down to hell! By golly, I think I’ve proved myself, no?” He cackled, throwing his face up and putting his hands on his hips to face divine judgement head-on.
Juste nodded, and held up his hands. A swirling pool of red started to grow under the man’s wingtips, and as hellish influence flooded his bloodstream, he began to twitch and convulse.
It was somewhat unfortunate to see humans corrupted by their own sins, but the process purposely started up above so that it could be completed when the newborn demon would inevitably fall to one of the infernal rings.
”Alastor Pierre-Dieudonné Broussard, for your considerable debauchery in the sin of Pride, you are damned to that ring for eternity to suffer.” Angel Juste proclaimed, the finality of it ringing across the radiant room.
Sera stood in a flurry of robes and feathers, her mind made up.
“Stop.” She ordered firmly, not taking her focus off the demon below her, currently on his knees and panting from the indescribable agony of his transformation. Whispy crimson smoke from the portal licked at his haunches, just waiting to activate on Juste’s command.
Juste froze, his fingers almost bent in a snap. “-My Radiance-?”
She ignored the bewildered look from him, and glanced at the Winners surveying the entire fiasco.
”Everyone, leave me with the demon.” Sera’s tone was firm, and brokered no room for argument. Not that anyone would dare.
Juste stuttered something of an agreement, and he was quickly followed by the mortal souls as they fled the chambers. A direct command from a Seraphim was meant to be obeyed immediately, and held a quiet influence on winners and other low-rank angels.
It came in handy, especially for times like this, when her actions were extremely contentious. She wasn’t even entirely sure about what would come of this, she couldn’t afford questions from onlookers.
She floated down to pose herself in front of the pitiful creature, and when she was sure that there would be no audience, cleared her throat.
”Alastor.” She kept herself aloof and lofty, asserting the clear authority between them.
He grunted in an answer, a pair of new ears flattening against bright scarlet hair. His fetal pose made it hard to make eye contact, so Sera settled for the top of his curled bangs.
“You are quite a deplorable person. Of that, there is no doubt.” She began, and folded her hands in front of her.
Glancing at his newer, distinctly hellish form, “You belong where Angel Juste declared.”
“Yes, I am aware. Curious how I am not down there yet.” The comment was warbling with ghosts of pain, and a small ripping gasp came from him at a strange new filter on his voice.
Sera, with some amusement, realized he now ironically sounded like he was talking out of a human radio.
”However,”
”I believe there is another role you could fulfill, with your-“ She rolled her tongue in her mouth. “-History.”
Sera started to drift in circles around him, keeping her nose high. “You see, the place where you were damned to has a problem.”
”-And I’m sure you’re here to tell me what that is,” Was muttered, making Sera pause.
“You are correct. Hell has an overpopulation problem. It’s more recent, and Heaven is beginning to fear for its safety. It is my task to find a way to remedy this.”
”I fail to see,” Alastor started tartly, and pushed himself into an upright sitting position when he could finally bear the ache. Malicious ruby eyes followed the Seraphim with an unreadable glint. “-how this involves me, sugar.”
She swallowed the disgust at such a familiar address. “In life, you were able to deceive and plead innocence as you committed extermination of your own species.”
She stopped moving, and only spared the creature a glance from her periphery. “A similar solution I have decided is necessary here.”
More silence reigned after as Sera gathered the courage needed to protect and lead her people. This was the answer. It had to be. It was all she had.
“With your skillset, I believe you would be fit for the task of controlling Hell’s population, and in turn, protecting Heaven from it’s wretchedness.” The heavy implication was left pregnant between the two.
Alastor’s yellowed grin curled impossibly large and tore into his ashy cheeks. She could feel his gaze burn the back of her head.
“Oh, well isn’t this absolutely delicious.” He purred, and couldn’t restrain a few cruel chuckles that escaped his leering fangs. “Aren’t you supposed to be lovely goody-two-shoes? Why in heaven’s name would you ask something so sinful of me?”
“-I suppose I’m no stranger to it, ha!” He added quickly, and Sera wondered if he was able to take anything seriously.
“It’s not sinful. It is necessary.” She bit back, her wings puffing up with a sense of inner conflict she tried so desperately to hide.
Alastor saw a gap in that divine armour, and it was instinct at this point to drive a dagger right through that crack and twist.
There was a deal to be made here, and he wouldn’t hesitate to take her clear desperation and mold it to his favor, as he had done so many times. It was partly how he, as the Judge put it, rose above his challenges.
”Yes, necessary. Of course.” He cooed, and narrowed his eyes. “What would I gain from this arrangement?”
Oh, the audacity. Sera had to stop herself from smiting the mortal right there. She was so used to people hanging off every word she dispelled, someone questioning or trying to extort her was something completely new. “You would no longer be forced to carry out your deserved fate in the pride ring. Be grateful I have saved you from such a terrible outcome.”
Alastor clicked his tongue. “If you know as much about me as your other feathered friend, then you would know I’d hardly be out of place down there. Why, quite the contrary, I think I would fit right in!” He shrugged, and Sera recognized that glint in his eyes as predatory.
”No, darling. I’m afraid you’ll have to do better than that. You are obviously in desperate need of someone to answer your little dilemma. I am in no such need for your grace.”
Sera hated the ring of truth in that, and couldn’t believe she was arguing with someone so below her. Someone so despicable.
She knew what motivated these creatures of vice, and unfortunately came to the conclusion she would need an incentive to get Alastor to agree.
”Power, then.” Sera countered, and turned back to him, allowing a small portion of her divine radiance to illuminate the room. “You are a simple mortal, Alastor. I am sure unrestricted power against all the residents of hell would be enticing.”
Alastor’s expression brightened, and Sera had to smirk bitterly. Just as she suspected. “Yes. Along with whatever demonic traits you have already gathered, I will give you a small loan of my own strength. You could not comprehend its true value, but I assure you it will go far.”
Alastor’s narrow brow furrowed as he thought the bargain over. He was perceptive, she would at least give him that. Looking at all angles of such a situation showcased how cunning he could be. Perfect for the job she needed filled.
”What can I say, you’ve got quite a talent for deals!” Alastor exclaimed after another minute of pondering. Oh, he had hit quite the jackpot. His afterlife was shaping up to be even better than his previous run on earth; Lording his never ending bloodlust on helpless tortured souls sounded like his own Heaven- and with zero consequences!
He couldn’t quite stand just yet, and he had a sneaking suspicion his legs had changed somehow, but he did his best to reach a clawed hand out to her. “Shake on it, will you? What better way to commemorate the beginning of a lovely friendship?”
She scowled.
Hesitantly, she pinched his index finger and with the least amount of contact possible, shook the digit once. Alastor cackled loudly, and an invisible audience started clapping. The source was unclear.
Alastor withdrew his hand, smile practically splitting his visage when a thread of green snaked around his palm and dissolved into black skin.
Sera shuddered, certain she would never do that again.
Vaguely, she felt a miniscule amount of her essence leeched out of her, and watched as a golden aura settled around the creature. It was a striking contrast, something as indisputably holy as a part of her being absorbed by something so unholy.
At first, the rush was absolutely euphoric. Every orifice of Alastor’s body felt like it was absolutely bursting with unrefined energy, jumping to be used. His veins were on fire.
His hellish palette became more muted, less bright and obvious- which Sera was grateful for. His eyes could still give him away, but she had no doubt he’d cajole his way out of any suspicion past the pearly gates.
Black antlers pushed out of his softly curling hair, and crackled into a rough halo shape around his crown. He would never have a real one, as those were only achieved through a deserving soul reaching paradise. He was the furthest from deserving she could imagine, which made him a strange amalgamation of angel and demon.
It was a jarring, unnatural sight from Sera, and she couldn’t help the disgust at viewing it with her own eyes.
The last, irreversible reminder of what she had done came when snowy white wings ripped out of his back, tipped with red feathers and too heavenly on something like him. A raw screech, soaked in static, bounced off the marble walls. Sera assumed this was worse than his half-finished demonic metamorphosis, because these angelic accents went against his innate nature as a sinner.
She waited for the wracking, gasping gulps of air to quiet as Alastor was again reduced to his hands and knees, the new feathery appendages hanging limply from him and spread across the tile.
“You can test your abilities down in Hell. Whenever you feel well enough equipped to make the venture, demons will be waiting for you.” Sera murmured, not able to bear looking at the clash of both worlds any longer. She could no longer afford doubt. She had made this thing, and now she would stick to her plan.
“Make haste, however. Preferably once you are done writhing on the floor.” Sera added, “And report to me before and after you leave. You will be completely alone in this endeavor, but I’m sure you can make up for that.”
Sera swanned over to the large, arched doors of the courtroom. “Oh, and I believe this went without mentioning, but nobody is to know about this. If you reveal your true purpose in heaven to anyone, or the nature of your being, I will not hesitate to wipe you from existence.”
And with that, Sera departed from the room where she had possibly committed the worst sin, or the greatest triumph.
Her heart clawed at her throat, and insisted it wasn’t the latter.