Surprise, Exorcise, Vanish Interlude 1

Hey, it's about time I come back to this. 1st of 2 posts today.

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“Michael, your thoughts?”

“This could be a problem, Lady Seraphim.”

Long after Sera had dismissed the others, long after Emily had dragged away the newest member of Heaven’s highest circle of angels toward the lower main floors of the Palace, the High Seraphim was still at work. She had returned to her private office to contemplate what Ontos had told her had transpired on Earth.

Or rather, what he had claimed had transpired.

As the sun that shone down of Heaven finally began to set, Sera called for Michael and Azrael, plus one of the latter’s subordinates who might’ve been familiar with Earth, its politics and customs to her office. While there were many Winners in Heaven that were familiar with Earth in one way or another, none were quite so intimately familiar as those amongst Azrael’s subordinates.

He had arrived shortly after, with one that claimed to be familiar with the nation Ontos had, in mortal life, apparently hailed from. The human turned Reaper had an eccentric appearance: his casual wear and spiky blond hair contrasted starkly with his leader’s more formal attire. It also contrasted with the formal opulence of her office, standing out where the others blended in.

Her office hadn’t always been so opulent. Once, it had been quite plain. But over the epochs the finery and the filigree had crept in, unblemished silver and gleaming gold creeping along the edges of the furniture. Even her own chair, desk and the seats across from it had fallen victim to it over the ages.

Only the computer terminal along one wall stood untouched by the gilding. Though, it was a much more recent addition compared to the rest. It had been a gift from Oscar, a way to allow her to monitor the affairs of Heaven’s growing bureaucracy from the comfort of her office. Given time, she had no doubt that the filigree would find the machine too.

Azrael sat in one of the two chairs across from her desk, his lieutenant sat on the other. The human-turned-Reaper looked out of place amongst the demigods in his company. Sera could sense his unease. Michael was there too, though he leaned against the wall by the door to the chamber apart from the others.

“So, you say that Earth hasn’t been attacked in any way?”'

“Well, that depends on the specifics a lot more than you’d expect, ma’am," the Reaper shrugged. “Lots of little skirmishes and the like going on all the time these days-”

“Zachariah,” Azrael spoke, the frustration evident in his tone.

“No,” the Reaper lieutenant quickly clarified. “Not by demons, or, well, anyone else from beyond for that matter.” He paused for a beat. “Although, well…”

“Although?”

“I’ve heard talk of Hellborn creeping in,” the Reaper explained. “From down below, in ones and twos here and there. A couple of small groups popping up around the States in particular, especially around Halloween. I’ve reports of trouble, but… well, nothing like an invading army.”

“I see,” she sighed. “How long has it been since you have visited this,” Sera checked the minutes from the transcript on her desk before her and squinted at the city name, “Lost Angel?”

“Los Angeles, ma’am,” He corrected her. “And about a month. Several of my own minions have that part of the world as their dioceses.”

Who would even name a city that? She wondered. “Perhaps you are, how would you say it, out of the loop then? Something could have happened in the interim.”

“I would have received a message from my own subordinates if something on that scale had happened,” The Reaper shrugged. “But anything is possible. We could use one of those Palantir things? It’d be faster than going to check in person.”

“The viewing orbs?” She asked.

“Sure, they’re called that too.”

Sera nodded. With a gesture, such an orb materialized on her desk from a haze of sparkling light. Zachariah stood up, taking a step toward the orb.

“May I?”

“Of course.”

The Reaper placed a hand on the orb’s surface and a city skyline materialized, a series of pallid skyscrapers and towers that paled in comparison to Heaven’s own. Around them, bland urban sprawl stretched to the horizons, save where it ended at a coastline on one side and a mountain range on the other.

“See? LA’s fine,” Zacharaiah said. “Not on fire, or being invaded. What did this Ontos guy say happened to it?”

“A nuclear bomb,” Michael said, looking at the cityscape in the orb.

The Reaper whistled. “If a nuke went off in LA? There wouldn’t be an LA anymore.” He paused for a moment, scratching the tuft of hair on his chin. “Wouldn’t be much of anything else down there, but that’s a whole other topic for discussion.”

“So it didn’t happen then?”

The Reaper gestured at the orb. “Not my place to say, ma’am. But whatever happened didn’t happen here.” A gesture, and the view in the orb panned across the skyline. “Library Tower’s there, the Triple Seven and the rest. Nothing’s changed since I last swung by.” Another gesture, the point of view panning toward the low hills. “Hollywood Sign’s still there too. But I’d wager that’s a universal constant.” He stepped away, returning to his seat.

“So, what should we do, Lady Seraphim?”

For a long moment, the eldest seraphim said nothing, her eyes closed in contemplation. But eventually she spoke. “What Ontos has suggested.”

Both Michael and Azrael looked surprised. “Even in the face of this… apparent deception?”

“It is no deception,” Sera said. She had heard Ontos speak, had felt the conviction and pain in his very soul as he spoke of the circumstances of his death. The truth had been written there, plain for her to see. Whatever had happened had truly happened to him, the record carved into his soul. Though, seemingly despite evidence to the contrary.

“The earthly city he claims to have been destroyed is intact,” Michael rebutted.

“And yet he is here,” Azrael said.

Sera nodded. It was confusing, confounding. “He had his reasons. Who are we to question?”

A long beat passed in silence at that.

“You know, it’d be weird of me to speculate but…” The fourth person in the room trailed off.

“Reaper?”

“And it might be a bit impudent. But well, it sounds like this guy isn’t from around here?”

“He was a human before assuming the mantle of a seraphim, yes.”

“No, that’s not…” Azrael’s lieutenant trailed off, rubbed his eyes. “This is the sci-fi aficionado talking, but it almost sounds like he’s from, I don’t know, a parallel universe?”

A beat passed in silence. “A… what? Explain.”

“Another world, an alternate reality,” the Reaper shrugged, counting off fingers. The others in the room stared at him. “What? I read a lot in my off time.”

“This isn’t fantasy,” Azrael scolded him.

The Reaper shrugged. “I died, went to Heaven, and got bored so I went to work for you. My nine-to-five is sending crazy ghosts either up here or, well, down there,” he gestured to the floor. “That sounds pretty fantastical to me.”

“You know, he’s got a point,” Michael sighed. Azrael said nothing in reply.

Zachariah shrugged. “It’s just I’ve heard a few Winners debate from time to time, when they reminisce. Sometimes they disagree about things. Minor things, like which team won the Cup or the Bowl in a given year or the like, or how the author’s name of children’s books was spelled. Small discrepancies.”

“That sounds like something Gabriel once mentioned,” Azrael said. “Come to think of it, so did-” He cut himself off, glancing at his subordinate. “Are you suggesting Ontos might be from, what, another Earth?”

Zachariah smiled and nodded. “I kinda want to talk to him now. Sounds like things really went to sh- To crap if they blew up LA.”

“I suspect you may get the chance,” Michael said. “Lady Sera?”

Sera said nothing for a moment. Before her on the desk, the image of the city skyline persisted. “Azrael, Zacharaiah, thank you for your input and assistance, you are both dismissed. Michael, please stay for a moment longer.”

They stood up and shuffled out of her office, and after a moment it was just the two of them. There had been many times like this,where she had sought one seraphim or the other’s counsel. The circumstances for this meeting though were novel to say the least. For a moment neither said anything, the Lady Seraphim sitting at her desk and the former Archangel remaining by the door.

Eventually though, she spoke.

“Do you miss it?”

“Do I miss what?”

"Your time as a human, down on Earth.”

Michael grimaced. “I don’t think fondly of the experience, no. The manner in which I… passed was far from pleasant either.” Michael said nothing for a moment as he rubbed his wrists. “Sometimes, I can still feel the ropes, the wounds. Leo says he can see the scars on my soul. I believe him.”

“I would like for you to get close to Ontos,” Sera asked. “Of all the seraphim, you alone lived as he once did. You alone understand mortality and the frailty of humanity.”

Michael nodded. “I likely would have drawn towards him anyway.”

“Oh?”

“He has a martial background, a martial mindset. He understands soldiering. He’s tactically minded as well. In many ways he reminds me of…” Michael trailed off, remembering the absent Metatron. “He’s practical, intensely so. He was here a few hours and already decided on how to go about things. How long did it take Emily to get the hang of merely being? Months? Years?”

Sera nodded. “I suspect in time, he may figure out who you were.”

“Would you want me to tell him?”

“You may not have to,” Sera smiled.

“You believe he’ll figure it out.”

“Ontos is… keenly intelligent. I could see that immediately when I met him for the first time. Given time, He will deduce who and what you once were.”

“And what then? None of the others know, not even Azrael and Leo. They believe I was in a self-imposed exile for those years I was absent.”

“I leave you to decide how to proceed when the time comes.”

Michael looked surprised for a moment, before smiling. “You are wise, Lady Seraphim.” He nodded and turned to leave, following after the other two. No more words were exchanged, parting goodbyes were seldom needed amongst the Gathering, especially between the High Seraphim and her fellows. After another moment, Sera was again alone in her office.

Her mind drifted. Eyes fell on the mortal city, still in focus on the orb. She tried to envision what the city would have looked like as Ontos described it: in ruins, what wasn’t ruined, set alight, and all of it swarmed with Hellborn. She failed. Michael could have imagined it.

Ontos had bore witness to it.

Sera rose from her chair, turning to look out the expansive window of her office toward the sun setting in the distance. The sunset was beautiful, the visible arcs of the twin rings in Heaven’s sky adding to the beauty of the scene.

Sera sighed. Many things were changing in a very short period of time. She prayed she had the strength to face them.