Fallen Side Story: Azazel

Fallen Side Story: Azazel

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Commissioned by Chaosbrain

Wordcount: 1034

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“So, no begging?”

“No.”

“Good. Hearing that stuff makes me queasy.” The cell was pretty good. Isolated, in the middle of a military base, and with at least a few bigger, badder humans walking around. Not ordinary soldiers either. Woden’s Blood enhanced. Cruisers at least. More than enough to turn their prisoner into chunks with a glance. “I prefer to get what I ask for. Not a barrage of stupidity.”

Those Cruisers were knocked out. The electronic systems of the military base were compromised. I was alone with the Strategist in her locked, secure cell while no one was the wiser.

Or, rather, I was alone with the woman whose decisions led to my daughter be placed under a Geas.

I’ll apologize if I’m found out, but that was unlikely.

“I can do whatever I want with you in here and no one will be the wiser.” I take a seat, while the Strategist remains standing. She was a severe young woman. Proud, too. Not that Ares and whoever else inside her would care about that.  They took her for her mind and her talent. She was weak enough to let herself be taken, too. “There’s nothing stopping me from making sure you don’t have the chance to fail and put my daughter in danger again.”

There was no need for any display.

This girl was intelligent.

Intelligence is something to be valued in interrogations.

It meant they could do most of the work themselves.

“Tell me why I shouldn’t do that.” The situation in her eyes was simple. Azazel of the Grigori, or someone of incredible power who reached her unnoticed in the Cradle, was alone with her and there were no alarms. I’ve told her that she harmed my daughter, that I’m aware of her circumstances of no longer being controlled by her gods, and instead of letting her stay jailed and work for the good of humanity, I’ve come to ask her why I should let her live. If I didn’t underestimate her intelligence, that should be enough.  “One good, logical reason to keep you alive, without me having to do something like trust you out of good will. That’s all.”

I wasn’t surprised to find that her answer was instant.

“I will take my own life a thousand times over before allowing them to take me again.”

The words didn’t matter much.

A good liar can utter such things with ease.

However, I focused on her eyes.

Her pain.

I’d seen worse.

However, I was of the Fallen. There’s few faces of true anger and pain that can outdo that of an Angel cast down by Father. An Angel who has had their neck held by Creation, as the very realm splits below them to reveal the mortal world, and their wings turn to the color of ebony… those who Fell who felt anger and hatred set the uppermost boundaries of my understanding of hate. It was a mad, incoherent hatred that would see Angels hunting down that Fallen in mere weeks as they’re driven to complete and utter madness.

Still, that didn’t mean that the Strategist was going to die now.

This madness was more controlled and harnessed, like a trigger for a gun, it was ready to commit acts unspeakable and unattainable without hesitation once the correct situation arose. It was a controlled wrath, burning within a human being like a primed explosive, which I’ve seen make gods hesitate and reconsider in the past. An ordinary human, under the right circumstances, can defeat a god.

The Fallen have made such people before and they had eyes like this girl did now.

It was a good reason.

It wouldn’t be enough for me a few decades ago, especially with all the unknowns that surrounded the issue, but now?  It was good enough to keep her around, especially since she was already making humanity stronger. The years of relative peace were getting to me. Not having to fight either Heaven or Hell for a few decades, and then Ouroboros getting fucked over just a few weeks ago, were probably the reasons why I was willing to play along.

However, I didn’t get this far and this old by relying on circumstance and good intentions.

“Put this on.” It was just a bracelet. A simple, unbreakable bracelet with a very simple spell. Simple enough to hide even from Li Song’s silly, ludicrous abilities and the pain in the ass that is Odin’s Eye. I’d planned for it to be an offer she wouldn’t be able to refuse, but now it was a gift. She eyed it for a moment, before taking it and doing as she was told. “I want you able to keep your promise. So, if you think you’re going to let those gods play with you again, you tap that thing five times. You get it?”

Some humans would’ve needed more convincing, even with that primed wrath. But, I didn’t need to do any more convincing. She knew the stakes. Her life, her people, and everything she cared about was held hostage already. That was why she was being so helpful, spending nights sleepless in her cell to make sure some faceless soldier on Earth didn’t bite the dust. My threat-turned-gift was just par for the course… nothing more than she was already committed to doing.

“I understand.”

“Good.”

And, with that, all my risks for the night paid off. The only witness that I would’ve needed to silence was my own accomplice. The AI monitoring security are going to smell something fishy, but I can afford to give CORE a few favors when I’m caught. It was going to be a heavy price, interfering with human interests, but what was a father to do when someone who messed with his daughter was behind bars instead of dead?

Even if those bars were a little mad girl with a mind as sharp as a knife and a grudge that would tower over most mountains, I had to at least make sure that they were locked up tight.

Baraqiel would’ve definitely yelled at me for going this far for his sake… and that’s all the reason I needed to do it.