Daystar (73 page)

Michael nodded.
 
“He did not kill me either.
 
He sought Whitney to do the deed when I dropped out of favor.”

Lucifer frowned.
 
“He hurts us with ease, orders us with ease, but will not give the killing blow Himself.”

“Is it that He cannot?”

Lucifer shook his head.
 
“Surely not that, He has the power.”
 
He looked into the fire.
 
“More than enough power to do it.”

Michael stared into the flame.
 
“He lacks the will?”

Lucifer set his jaw.
 
“Yet in this action, He seeks to destroy and does not flag.
 
He knows this would kill me.
 
He sent me out to join with Dahlia, hoping I would die.
 
He pitches us against each other, hoping we will kill one another, always indirectly the order to kill.
 
He can do this because the action itself is not a direct way to my death.”

Michael nodded.
 
“You have never faced Him directly.”

Lucifer eyed him.
 
“I might have had my chance, but you stood in my way.”

Michael scratched his head.
 
“At His orders.”

Both brothers went silent, their faces reflecting thoughts tossed around for the first time.
 
Lucifer looked to Michael.
 
“What is His name?”

“I know it not.”

“Dahlia does.
 
She knew when she was Ladriam as well.”
 
Lucifer frowned.
 
“She has been holding something back I think, her theories which she will not give a voice too for fear of false hope.
 
Though a false hope I think perhaps is not false.”
 
Lucifer looked to Michael.
 
“He fears her and He fears me knowing His name.”

“Why?”

“I do not know.”
 
Lucifer’s brows knotted.
 
“Did you know that Hell is her realm and not His?”

Michael blinked.
 
“He is ruler over
all
.”

“But not ruler there.
 
What then does that make Him?”

“That makes Him no more than her.”
 
Michael’s eyes widened.
 
“That makes them equals.”

Lucifer stared at his little brother.
 
“But she and I are equals.
 
We both felt this to be true when we joined at the creation.”

Michael nodded.
 
“Then by that logic you and He are the same.”

“That cannot be.
 
I do not feel as powerful as Him.
 
I have stood in His light, it far surpasses mine.”
 
Lucifer bared his teeth at the fire.
 
“If we are equals then where is my strength?
 
Why am I blue and He gold?”
 
Lucifer surged with power and his wings expanded.
 
“Where is
my
light?”

Michael stared at his hands, the hands that glowed like Lucifer’s did.
 
He dropped to his knees, despairing.
 

The fire surged with renewed strength and Lucifer lost consciousness in the heat and light.
 
The sun took on mass.

***

Dahlia stared into the sun.
 
She felt Lucifer’s flagging strength in her heart.
 
She blocked tears, unable to think of that.
 
She was running out of time.
 
The sun grew brighter in the sky.
 
She shouted, “Raphael!”

Raphael appeared on the other end of the sunshade.
 
They nodded to one another.
 
Dahlia plunged her hands into the surface as Raphael did the same.
 
They concentrated together and the material shifted and changed.
 
They opened a massive portal into Hell.
 
Warmth spilled out in a red glow onto the planet below.
 
All the fighting between Earth and the portal ceased as allies and enemies stared into the gaping maw of Hell.

Dahlia ground her teeth and looked to Gaea.
 
“Go.
 
Do not dally here any longer; this area will not be stable soon.
 
Get to the planet, Gaea.”
 
She held her daughter’s gaze.
 
“If you happen to find Gabriel on the way, find out what the fuck he wants, promise it to him as my proxy, and get him to help Paimon build me a new sun.”

Gaea nodded, jumped off the surface, and soared to the planet.
 
Helion’s angels flocked around her, an escort back.
 
Dahlia watched her go.
 
She looked to Raphael.
 
“Are you ready?”

Raphael jumped and landed by her side.
 
“Yes.”

Dahlia turned her face to the planet.
 
“TRANSITION TO HELL IMMINENT, ENERGETIC SHIELD DROPPING SHORTLY.”

Dahlia blinked against the light as the sun began to supernova.
 
She held back tears.
 
“I am sorry.”

“Why?”
 
Raphael grinned and twisted her fingers.
 
“We’re one in the same.
 
Like this, BFFs.”

Dahlia managed to smirk.
 
“If we survive this you
will
be your own again.”

Raphael stuck her tongue out.
 
“Stop your justifications and eat me already.”

Dahlia hooked a finger at her.
 
“Come here.”

Raphael hugged Dahlia.
 
Dahlia kissed her lightly on the lips.
 
Raphael faded and surged into Dahlia.
 
Dahlia’s skin turned black, marbled with streaks of red and gold.
 
Dark flame and shadow wreathed her head as a halo.
 
Her body shifted at the edges, no longer solid.
 

Raphael’s gifts became hers again.
 
Dahlia surged with a energy unrivaled in this realm, but for the power that came through the sun.
 
She looked to the star.
 
She waited, unwilling to swallow the planet whole before she absolutely had to.

Gaea soared towards Earth.
 
Space changed behind her.
 
Heat and warmth flooded out of Hell and brushed everything in its path.
 
Gaea understood then, what Dahlia proposed.
 
A haven for Earth in Hell.
 

Gaea focused her thoughts on the planet like her mother had asked.
 
Hell’s heat touched the creatures on Earth.
 
Ifrit and Ra were relieved of some of their burden.
 
Winter dropped away as the temperature climbed.
 
Gaea frowned.
 
She wondered what the price was for Dahlia to do such a thing.
 
There must be a reason for her to stall before going through with it.

Gaea streaked green through the hellish sky.
 
Paimon and Furcas flew on the far side of the planet, staving off waves of angels.
 
They had heard Dahlia’s message and positioned themselves and their angels close to the shield, waiting for the transition to Hell.

Breathers dove for Gaea, their wings and chests brightening as they prepared to spit and shoot fire.
 
Gaea could not afford them any attention.
 
Helion’s angels rose to meet them, erasing each with their silent touch.
 
Still more came.
 
They flooded the area between her the planet, obscuring it from her vision.

Gabriel flew to Gaea’s side and matched her speed.
 
“You came above again.”

She eyed him.
 
“Yes, I had to.”

He frowned.
 
“But I told you not to.
 
I warned you of the consequences.”

“I had no choice.”

He searched her expression.
 
“Do you return now?
 
Will you defend yourself against those that will come for you?”

“I am heading that way, but I cannot fight anyone.
 
I must concentrate of life there.
 
I must not waver.
 
If the others fail, I am all that they have left to keep them alive.”

Gabriel tensed.
 
“Then you give me no choice, Gaea.”
 
He unsheathed a sword.

She gulped.
 
“You always have a choice, Gabriel.”

He shook his head.
 
“No, I do not.”

She had no energy to spare battling him.
 
“I cannot fight you, Gabriel.
 
I give you a fight and my energy wanes, things will weaken and die.”

Gabriel stared at his blade.
 
“I know you cannot fight me, Gaea.”
 
He looked to her, his green eyes luminous.
 
“That is why I have no choice.”

Gaea pleaded, “I know you may have your orders from Him, but please do not harm me, Gabriel.
 
I ask not for my sake, but for all those innocents below.
 
Please.”

He dove in and grabbed her.
 
He wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her tightly against him.
 
Gaea trembled, but he made no move to do anything but carry her.
 
Gabriel looked into her red eyes.
 
“Take off my armor, Gaea.”

Gaea blinked.
 
“What?”

“Un-strap it, take it off, and put it on.”

Gaea frowned.
 
“Why do you ask me to do such a thing?”

Gabriel waved his blade at the angels that fought around them.
 
“You do not fight and your focus is elsewhere.
 
You make yourself vulnerable to all.
 
What else am I supposed to do?”
 
His brows furrowed.
 
“Do you know what I have been ordered to do?”

Gaea trembled against him.
 
“You are the contingency plan I must assume.”

Gabriel nodded.
 
“I am to kill you if the supernova fails.”
 
He pointed to the wailers and breathers.
 
“They believe that I hold you even now so that I will follow through on that plan, as I must because of Dahlia’s move to place Earth in Hell.
 
It is why they stay their power.
 
Your death is mine to dole out.”

Gaea shook her head.
 
“Gabriel, please—”

“Gaea, my armor is made specifically to repel attacks from my own kind.
 
Please take it off of me and put it on while we still have time.
 
Shortly they will realize I have no such intention and if I have to fight my own kind, your own kind,
and
defend you with my body, I think it only logical that I will fail on one or all of those fronts.
 
So, take my armor off and put it on, it will resize to fit you.
 
I designed it for this purpose.”

She gaped.
 
“Why?”

His lips twitched up into a smile.
 
“Though I have no doubt you despise me, which I accept, I remembered when we first met.
 
You had a song, though you had not a consciousness then, and because of hearing it, I have been captivated with you for some time.
 
I just forgot.”
 
In speaking, he found it easier as he went.
 
“Regardless of your ire towards me, I know I will be able to admire your planet from afar for some time if you continue to exist.
 
Therefore, for the duration of this battle, I wish you safe.”
 
He looked back into her eyes.
 
“Understand?”

Gaea shook her head.
 
“But I thought you must obey His orders?”

“Must I?”
 
Gabriel frowned.
 
“Lucifer freed me from that compulsion a very long time ago, as he did with all the others.”

“But this is
your
plan that is ruining us!”

Gabriel grinned.
 
“Indeed.
 
Do you think Paimon will be proud of me?”

Gaea was confused, but she took his breastplate off.
 
“I have no idea.
 
I do not understand the logic of this plan.
 
Whose side are you on?
 
What do you want?”

“A side?
 
Life I suppose.”
 
He corkscrewed through the air.
 
“My own side as well, I want life to continue for selfish reasons.”

Gaea took his greaves and slipped one on.
 
“I must admit, I still do not understand.
 
Your plan is threatening extinction of all life below and yet here you are working counter to your own plan.”