Daystar (47 page)

She was the incarnation of life.
 
This rotation just above the shield was the closest she had come to being separate.
 
She reveled in the cold.
 
Chronos passed her by and the siblings touched hands briefly.

Gaea flipped over and flew facing Earth.
 
She closed her eyes and sank into the silence of space.
 
She smiled.
 
A presence joined hers, a shifting in the space around her.
 
Her eyes popped open.
 
She looked over her shoulder.

Gabriel soared overhead, watching her with singular focus.
 
He made no move to near.
 
He inclined his head to her.
 
“Greetings.”

She knew of him from her long conversations with Paimon.
 
She flipped onto her back to watch him as they flew.
 
“Greetings.”
 
Her gaze trailed across his figure.
 
He wore armor unlike the other Archangels; it was a green and copper hue, matching his hair and eyes.
 
He fidgeted with his hands.
 
Small ticks in his face interrupted his contemplative expression.

Gabriel blinked at the sight of her.
 
He felt in her the heat of the summer sun, the smell of soil and plants.
 
He shook his head and looked away.
 
“You are the life-force.”

“I am Gaea.”

“Lucifer and Dahlia’s eldest.”

“Yes.”
 
She frowned.
 

Gabriel fell silent; his eyes were drawn back to her.
 

Gaea drew a little closer.
 
“Why do you seek to harm us, Gabriel?
 
Can you tell me why?”

He pulled his gaze away.
 
“Why do you think I seek that?”

“You built the machine that brought war to the ice.
 
Many of my family were killed because of it.
 
Many life forms died.
 
I feel them all.”

Gabriel frowned.
 
“I built a machine, what it is used for is not my issue.”

“It is.
 
You create something and it is used to kill another, you are responsible for the deaths.”

“No.”
 
He shook his head.
 
“There was nothing down there then, before she touched me.”
 
He looked confused.
 
“But then I remembered grass, seeds, and roots.
 
I did not know of them before.
 
I did not know of the things that could die, of the life there.”
 
He flapped his wings and his green eyes drifted to her once more.
 
“You are these things.”

“And more.”

“If you were destroyed, life would cease on the planet.”

She gulped.
 
“Yes.”

He dove down and stopped mere inches from her.
 
“Then why do you not flee me?
 
Why are you acting as though you are not afraid?
 
I could end everything by running you through.”
 
He pulled out a copper-colored blade and rested the point against her stomach.

Gaea stared him down, though her voice shook as she spoke, “You are curious, Gabriel.
 
You have studied, I suspect, the dead planets, the elements and the stars, but you have not studied life.
 
The creatures below fascinate you despite yourself.”

He nodded.
 
“But I could take you and study you, cut into you, find out what life is through your form.”

Gaea shook her head.
 
“No you cannot and you know that.”
 
She struggled to keep her fright in check.
 
“You want to experience life for yourself.
 
You are tired of watching from afar, studying without experiencing.
 
You seek to know it.”

“To know life-force?”

“Yes.”

“Then I seek to know you?”
 
He grabbed her wrist.
 
Gaea swallowed but did fight him.
 
Gabriel looked at her slender green hand in his; he rubbed his thumb across her palm, finding the sensation curious.
 
He ground his teeth.
 
“Stay below the shield, Gaea.
 
Come out again and I will have to take you.”
 
He let her go and vanished.

Gaea quaked in the cold of space.

***

Lucifer finished going over Paimon and Furcas’ story; the pair stood before him on the grassy plain west of Eden.
 
The sun beat down overhead.
 
The others sat nearby in groups, speaking quietly.
 
Lucifer frowned.
 
“Why would Gabriel share with you what their plan is?”

Dahlia looked between them.
 
“Maybe he seeks to divert our attention there while they plan something else.”

Paimon shook his head.
 
“My brother is not that clever.”

Lucifer smiled.
 
“It is something you would do.”

“Yes, but I am a devious, brilliant scientist.
 
Gabriel’s a twat.”

Furcas nodded.
 
“It’s true, he is.”

Gaea landed beside them having heard part of their conversation.
 
“Gabriel, he was above.”

Paimon whipped around.
 
“Just now?”

She nodded.
 
“He’s gone again, vanished in an instant.”

Chronos touched down beside her.
 
“He was gone by the time I came around again.”
 
He made a face.
 
“I would have killed him for touching her if I had been there.”

Dahlia reached for her daughter.
 
“He touched you!”

Gaea glared at Chronos.
 
“He did not harm me.”

“We have different definitions of harm.
 
You were in tears, Gaea.”
 
Chronos looked to his parents.
 
“I sent Ifrit and Ra above.”

Dahlia hugged Gaea.
 
“You are sure that you are all right?”

Gaea nodded.
 
“He did not do anything to me.
 
He just warned me to stay below the shield is all.
 
I do not understand his intentions; he showed no emotion at all.”
 
She shivered.
 
“He has a cold, clinical stare.”

Lucifer frowned.
 
“I do not like this, his behavior is not usual.”
 
He looked up.
 
“Selaphiel, Raphael, and Jegudiel come.”

The first two made it there quickly.
 
Jegudiel scuffled with Bean.
 
“Let go of me!”

“No!”
 
Bean bit into his hand and would not part with him.
 
Jegudiel dragged her to their side and bowed his head to both Primangels.
 
He glared at Paimon and Furcas.
 
The pair snickered.
 
Bean grinned and bit harder.

Lucifer looked at the three.
 
“You are the most recent to leave Heaven.
 
Why would Gabriel warn us of coming plans?
 
Has he changed?”

Selaphiel frowned.
 
“He would not warn us.
 
It is not his way, unless he was ordered to as part of a larger plan.
 
Gabriel has only ever been straightforward with us.”

Raphael shrugged.
 
“Maybe he
has
changed since he got his memories back.
 
Maybe he’s more like his brother now.”

Jegudiel inhaled to speak.
 
He smelled the air, and he broke out in goose bumps.
 
He leaned into Gaea and smiled.
 
Jegudiel closed his eyes and hummed.
 
“Sugary.”

Paimon pushed him back.
 
“What the fuck are you doing, you tweaky freak?
 
Don’t act that way in public!”

Jegudiel blushed.
 
“Sorry!”
 
He turned away.
 
“I don’t have anything to add.”
 
He shook his hand trying to release Bean’s teeth.

Lucifer waved him away.
 
“Then you can go.”

Bean stomped on Jegudiel’s foot and ran.
 
He lurched after her, pulled by the child harness Paimon had attached to her and tied to his waist.
 
Jegudiel pulled back on the leash.
 
“Why are you so strong?”

Bean laughed and launched into the air.
 
She lifted him off his feet.
 
“Yoshi, fly!”

Furcas smirked.
 
“We’re evil bastards.”

Paimon nodded.
 
“Yes.”

Dahlia shook her head.
 
“Look, we need someone stationed out by the sun in case he is telling us the truth in regards to his plan.”

Lucifer wrapped an arm around her.
 
“Andy can go.
 
He can get back to us the fastest; we will have the most warning if he is there.”

Dahlia looked at Belial running between Andy and Nix.
 
“Belial will seek to go with him.”

“Then let her.”
 
Lucifer spoke before she could respond, “It is better to keep them together.
 
You wanted to go with me when you could not fight; you still stood by my side.”

Dahlia frowned.
 
“I know.”

“Then let them be together.
 
Maybe she will relearn skills by spending time with him.
 
I have noticed that he has been trying to teach her a few things other than jumping in the air.”
 
He smiled.
 
“They will be fine.
 
He will let no one hurt her.”

Dahlia was not entirely convinced.
 
“Someone else should go with them.”

Apple and Berith raised their hands.
 
“We will.”

Berith looked to the sky.
 
“If anyone shows up at the sun, Andy and Belial can get to you while we hold back the attack.”

Apple nodded.
 
“I have been practicing my skills, I am pretty sure I can control more than one angel now.
 
We could hold an attack off long enough for help to arrive.”

Lucifer took Dahlia’s hand.
 
“I think it sounds like a good idea.”

Dahlia nodded.
 
“Okay, but no more patrols by anyone here.”
 
She looked out to everyone present.
 
“Lucifer and I will stay above Earth.
 
If you see a signal light it is all hands on deck, red alert got it?”
 
They nodded.
 
She pointed to Jegudiel and Bean.
 
“Except you two, neither of you are going into space, understood?”

Bean nodded; she had no desire to go back up there.
 
Jegudiel nodded as well and hauled back on the leash.
 
“Get down, you little horror!”
 
Bean closed her wings and dropped on his head like a rock.
 
The blow knocked him unconscious.

Furcas looked to Dahlia and Lucifer.
 
“May we collect the children and go home?”

Lucifer held back a smile.
 
“You may.”

Paimon saluted.
 
“Right-o.”
 
He looked at his arm with the formulas scrawled on it.
 
“He’s not bullshitting by the way.
 
If that sun goes boom this planet is fucked with a capital eff.”

Dahlia sighed.
 
“We know, Paimon.”

Raphael took his spot as soon as they left.
 
“Should I finish my Hell prep?”

Dahlia nodded.
 
“Yes, now more than ever.”

Raphael grabbed Selaphiel’s arm and the two vanished.
 
Dahlia turned to Lucifer and leaned her head on his chest.
 
“Why can we not go back to carefree?
 
I liked carefree.”

Lucifer kissed her cheek.
 
“You were right about His goals.”

“That does not make me pleased, I would rather be wrong.”

Lucifer frowned.
 
“So that we would wait infinitely for an attack?
 
I would rather this was ended soon, now preferably.
 
I do not seek to draw this out any longer.
 
He deserves to be torn into pieces, Heaven taken down.”

Dahlia kissed him as they leapt into the air.
 
She let him carry her.
 
“What if Heaven cannot be taken down?
 
What if He cannot cease to exist?”