Heaven is For Real Part 7
The trial continued.
"Let's discuss this other mortal," Zadkiel, the Archangel of Freedom, insisted. His fingers fiddled around the buttons on his chair. Another holographic image projected above the Council like before. This time the image shown for all to see was Carmen Gravely, Mike's sister-in-law and Lu's wife. "Carmen Gravely, I believe. Mother of two, employed as a talk show host for a local cable network of Brimstone, Minnesota."
"Not to mention," Jophiel, the Archangel of Wisdom added. "she is the wife of your brother Lucifer, the current demon king of the Inferno."
"And queen of our sworn enemies!" Raph growled.
"A position that she chooses not to uphold," Mike interjected at his brother. "Nor does she identify herself as."
"He's right," Gabi said. "She technically doesn't identify herself as a queen, and she doesn't wish to hold any title or ranking over the demons."
"Yet she's the wife of a traitor!" Raph shot back.
"She's the wife of our brother!" Mike stepped in.
"Enough!" Metatron's voice boomed, silencing their sibling squabble. "Tell us about her from your point of view, Michael."
"She treats everyone just the same, whether be angel or demon. Not to mention she was the one that changed my brother's personality. Have you noticed the fewer accounts of demonic possessions there are recently? Or how the demon society has become less hostile?"
"And you really believe this Carmen Gravely played a role in this?" Ariel, the Archangel of Peace, asked him.
"I do."
It was Jophiel's turn to ask. "And what does your brother Lucifer see in her?"
"Love." it was the only answer Michael could conclude.
The Archangel on trial watched as his fellow council members whispered among themselves. It was still unclear to him if the Council was starting to believe him or not. "It must be some kind of spell she's placed under," his brother Raph protested. "How can you be certain if what Lucifer is feeling is true?"
"Because I sensed it," Mike answered him. "I felt his love for this woman everytime I visited their home. And she feels the same for him. No spell, no enchantment, just true love. That's something you can't hide or fake."
Ariel of the Council turned her head over to where Gabi sat. "Can you confirm this, Gabriel."
"What he's saying is true," Gabi stated. "I may have interacted with my youngest sibling for a short time, but I too felt the love he has for his wife. And I'll admit that he has changed significantly. I mean sure he's still the same old Lu—scheming, cynical, and a compulsive liar—but I didn't sense as much darkness within him as before. I believe what Michael is saying is true. That woman changed him. I'm not sure how but whatever it is, it's working for the better."
The Council whispered to each other again. "She does intrigue me, I'll admit," Barachiel, the Archangel of Hope, commented. "Her will must be strong if she's able to endure so much of their world without her mind fracturing."
"She's so much more than that," the Archangel of Justice said. "I can assure you."
Raphael was not onboard with this. "Are we forgetting that regardless if she was mortal or not she is still on the side of our sworn enemy?"
"The only side she's on is her family's! That includes her husband and her children."
"Speaking of which," Metatron mentioned as he pressed a button in his seat. Replacing the image of Carmen above them was a new image featuring both her daughters, Rosemary and Regan. "Tell us something about these two."
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Rosemary and Regan found themselves wandering around another platform, which was set up like a gigantic park or garden. It was a wide, open space with endless fields of grass but no hills. All around the pair were the most beautiful of flowers. Some were the flowers from their world. Others were of species they have never seen or heard of. But it was no time for the Gravely sisters to stop and look at them all. They had a mission to find their uncle at the Council's citadel. While they trekked through the park their legs grew weerie from the constant walking.
"Can we rest for a minute?" Regan whined. "My feet are too tired to move anymore."
"Yeah it's probably best." her older sister agreed.
Both sisters plopped down on the comfortable grass, letting their sore legs get a moment's rest. MARI the A.I. unit even retreated back inside her core to recharge her power. The girls planned to rest for a moment and then continue on their journey. Yet they remained vigilante as they rested, scoping out the area for other angels. It wouldn't have been long before that scar-faced captain notified other security officers about their getaway, and they knew those angels will be looking for them. They did, however, spot on angel.
Across from them the pair noticed a lady sitting on a park bench, eating lunch out of a tin foil bowl. She wasn't dressed like one of the guards, with her white coat, dark lavender top and shirt. Her skin was flawless and golden. Her long hair was painted pinkish red like a cherry. Her eyes were closed so she didn't see the sisters at first. They finally opened and the woman saw the two mortals staring at her with her sweet pink eyes. She smiled and gave them both a friendly wave, to which the Gravely sisters mimicked her gesture. The sisters breathed a sigh of relief now that their suspicions were eased.
Regan took to some bushes nearby, noticing a new flower growing on them. Their petals shined were clear as icy crystals and its green stems twinkled like stars at midnight. “Ooo, look at those pretty flower.” she said, pointing at the lovely batch. “I want to take one home for mommy.”
The youngest Gravely stood up and walked over to the bush. She reached out for one of the flowers, grasping three of her fingers around its sparkling stem. Her fingers made contact until spark popped inside her grasp. Regan felt a sharp zap, worse than any static shock she felt before, forcing her to quickly let go of the stem. “OW!” she screamed, waving her hand wildly, trying to breathe fresh air into her injured fingers but they still felt worse. The tips of her fingers felt like she stuck them inside a hot oven. Tears poured out her eyes and ran down her cheeks. Rosie ran up and wrapped her arms around her little sister as she cried loudly. The eldest Gravely felt her heart race rapidly, unsure of how to her hurt sister. She was concerned about Regan's injury, but she also worried that her crying might attract the guards to their location.
Luckily Regan's cries attracted someone else. “Is everything alright?” It was the same lady they saw before, running as fast as she could toward the two sisters. The lady knelt down to their view when she got near them.
“That flower hurt me.” Regan sobbed.
“Let me have a look at that,” the lady suggested, reaching out her hand to the youngest sibling. The two sisters remained perfectly still. The angel sensed their fear of her. “It’s alright, I’m a medical doctor. My name’s Cassiel Odinseye. Who might you two be?”
Rosie answered for them. “I’m Rosemary, and this is my sister Regan.”
“Rosemary and Regan," Cassiel repeated. "What a pair of lovely names for two lovely, little girls." she looked down at the tearful Regan, presenting her with a very kind smile. "May I?" she politely asked again. Regan held her hand to Cassiel, who examined the tips of her fingers carefully. The prints of her thumb, index, and middle fingers were badly singed, covered in severe second degree electrical burns that were become black and red. "Ooh, that looks like it hurts pretty bad."
She pulled out a small spray bottle from her pocket. Regan wanted to pull her hand away but Cassiel gave a light giggle. "Don't worry, this won't hurt. I promise."
Cassiel aimed the tiny nosile at her burnt fingers and sprayed. The burns were coated in a pasty stream of some kind of magical liquid. Regan's tears stopped flowing. Just as the angel doctor said, it didn't hurt at all. The painful, burning feeling on her finger tips eased smoothly. No more than five seconds the pain stopped.
Cassiel graced her hands around Regan's fingers and then concentrated. A small light shined under her gentle grasp. Regan gasped of what the angel was doing, but her older sister immediately recognized the technique. It was Healing Touch, an angelic magic to heal wounds. When the light stopped shining Cassiel pulled her hands away. A wide smile grew on Regan's face when she saw the nasty burns were gone, perfectly healed as if she never touched the flower.
"There. Good as new." Cassiel commented.
"Thank you, lady," Regan politely said.
"It was no trouble," the angel doctor assured. "You two must not be from around here.”
“What makes you say that?!” Rosie nervously asked. She must be working for the guards, she thought.
“Just a hunch. Many around Paradise wouldn’t touch those flowers while spark ants are pollunating. See?" Cassiel pointed at the flower stems. The sisters squinted their eyes and saw that those twinkling lights were moving. Tiny ants with glowing exoskeletons crawled all over each of the flowers. Small droplets of nectar were hauled on their backs as they scurried down the stems.
"What district are you from?” Cassiel then asked.
Anxiety grew more inside the eldest sister. She knew she had to come up with a lie quick. The problem was since Mike kept his home secret either of the sisters knew much about any of the nine districts that made up the heavens. Rosie tried to think back to her ancient history class with Mr. Carney. Perhaps one of those afterlifes hinted at one of the districts. “Um, we’re from… Valhalla?”
Cassiel's eyes widened and her smile grew more. “Really? You don’t say?" It seemed that she bought the lie. "I was originally from Valhalla myself, but I moved to Paradise to be closer to my girlfriend."
"Oh, well that's cool." Rosie knew they were in a hurry, so she had to speed things up. "Hey, were trying to find the Archangel Citadel. Do you know the quickest way there?"
The angel doctor tapped on her chin as she thought about Rosie's question. "Hmm, I'd say the best path would be to would to take a transport near Platform 934, just northeast of here. It'll be a tall, cyllinder-shaped temple. You can't miss it. May I ask what's so important that you need to visit the citadel?"
"It's super important-" Regan began. She was then silenced when Rosemary placed her hand over Regan's mouth.
"Eh we..." Rosemary nervously tried to think of another lie. "just want to get an autograph from the archangels."
"I doubt they'll likely see you at the moment," Cassiel couldn't help but giggle at the thought. "They're very busy running all of Heaven and they don't like to be bothered. But I think they might make a few acceptions for a pair of little, eagered girls such as yourselves. I think my girlfriend would be more than happy to give a couple out."
"Well we better get going," Rosie took her sister's hand and they walked off. "Thanks for your help."
"Bye, bye Cassiel," Regan waved. "It was nice meeting you."
"Bye, bye," Cassiel said and waved back. "It was nice meeting you too. And good luck!"
The kind doctor watched as the Gravely sisters traveled northeast in the direction she pointed in. What lovely young girls, she thought with a smile, Little odd too. Wonder what they were hiding.
She shrugged off her thoughts and walked back to the bench she was at before. "Excuse me, ma'am!" a muffled voice caught her by surprise. She turned around and saw a pair of armored security officers, much like the ones that arrested Mike, approaching her. The pair stopped and showed the doctor a holographic image. "Have you seen these two girls wandering around here?" one of them asked.
Cassiel leaned in on the hologram and studied it. The image was that of the same two girls she met earlier. The same hair, same clothes, same faces. It was definitely them. Oddly enough the image looked as though it was taken from Earth, the mortal realm. However Cassiel shook her head. "Nope. Never seen them." she lied of course. "But they do look awfully cute. Best of luck, officers."
The officers thanked Cassiel for her time and hurried off in another direction—one that was opposite to where Rosemary and Regan headed. Cassiel was now left alone. She knew that once her girlfriend was done with whatever business she had to attend to for the Council she was going to have a lot of explaining to do.
#sinsofthefather #fiction #fantasy #comedy #horror #angels #heaven