by Ember Rain
“Absolutely, I will get dressed and meet you all downstairs.” I call back.
Silence… “Thank you” the soft voice calls as an afterthought before hearing the sets of footsteps retreating down the hall and stairs at the end.
I have to say that a part of me is excited to get to see a demon go through an ascension and be able to compare one experience to the other.
I am also happy that the demon among us for some odd reason isn’t evil. I can sense such a thing and I haven’t sensed anything but hope and insecurity from the demon princess. She is harmless to angels, that part I am sure about. How she will be when she is more powerful than any of us besides me and Logan together still is unknown. I have faith she will stay with our side and fight on our side as well. I think as I run around my room gathering my outfit and some helpful things for transition like a pair of magical cuffs that are designed to regulate your power for it to have time to settle inside of you instead of going in all at once. Hopefully, we won’t have to use them but if she becomes distressed at least we have them. I shove them into a bag and shove my feet into my boots on the way out of my room. I follow the voices down the hall and down to the Livingroom where the team awaits with Amariana sipping chamomile tea in front of Brantley playing the piano. She is so opposite of everyone on the team and yet fits in like a glove. I would love to do some training with her and see what her skill set is but thought it better to wait until the transition is over with, so she can practice any new power she has and ones she already has. War will be coming between the demons and angels over us taking their princess into our world but with her help it should be a war easily won and then a new evil will rise to take the place of Diablo and Lilith. If we can get Amariana to remain light then we may hold the key to protecting the entire human race, I ponder mentally.
“Storm?” A woman’s voice cuts into my thoughts. I blink my eyes twice and zero in on Leah standing a few feet in front of me.
“I’m fine, just thinking.” I explain briefly. She doesn’t buy it but chooses to keep her opinions to herself for once.
“I asked Kennedy to do some research on Amariana and any other demons born of two demon parents. Most ended up more powerful and eviler than their parents were. For some, the demonic natures never attached to the children leaving their soul innocent and prone to love instead of hate.” Leah begins explaining.
“The research showed that one is born for every ten thousand demon children. Most are put to death once they are discovered and the remaining live among humans in hiding. I am going to guess that Amariana is one in ten thousand, isn’t that wild?” Leah asks energetically.
I absorb the information and all the pieces click into place in my head. “Did the research say if any of these anomalies that have been born ever turned dark after their ascensions?” I ask curiously.
Leah smiles wide while shaking her head back and forth.
“Nope, not a one and that is why the demons started killing their own kind once it was discovered the offspring’s born this way stayed as loving and kind as the day they were born.
Oh, and the last part is even better.” She says. “She also is not technically a demon because of the lack of dark magic inside of her. Sure, she’ll have fire power instead of our white light power balls, but she is not a demon.” She finishes.
“If not a demon, what the hell is she then?” I ask stunned by the revelations.
“She is by definition a Divine angel.” She says with confidence.
“An angel?” I ask skeptically. “An angel and with black wings?” I question. It all seems like such a stretch for me.
“Yes Storm, she’s an angel and will be a powerful one at that because she comes from Diablo’s line and is part of the very first original angels in the world. Her survival is vital for our world and we must make sure she stays safe. She will be named Queen in the underworld as soon as we succeed in eliminating Diablo, but a Divine angel would not be suited to rule the underworld.” She says vaguely.
“Why wouldn’t she be able to rule there?” the curiosity growing increasingly. “Not that she wants to rule the disgusting place, but she might, I’m not sure.” I fire back, my temper rising due to her confusing explanations.
“You are dense, she doesn’t want to rule the underworld, or she wouldn’t have risked everything to escape it.” She counters with a huff while blowing a strand of blonde hair away from her eye in annoyance. “A Divine can rule in heaven and is as an equal to our council and even your parents. You see, she can exist in the light as no demon should be able to and she will also be extraordinarily powerful. A Divine is considered one rank below Deus. Her kind is extremely rare and valuable to us. I am hoping that the council will allow her to decide where she will stay permanently, though. She might have to serve in the light and not here in the human world.” Leah says, sadness clear in her tone.
“That is a discussion for another time, wouldn’t you agree?” I ask as the gravity of everything I just learned starts to settle. “Oh, and Leah?” I ask looking her in the eyes.
“Yeah?” she asks noticing my serious demeanor.
“Inform Kennedy that none of us are to tell Amariana anything about what you’ve learned just yet. We need to fully discuss it with the council first. I am going to ask that she be assigned here with us, you all do seem to like her; Right?” I ask hoping she’ll agree.
“She is beautiful and kind, of course we all like her, but...” her words fall short.
I narrow my gaze in on her, “but what?” I ask.
Her cheeks redden, “it’s nothing, don’t worry.” She lies.
“I call bullshit Leah; I know when you’re lying and yet you still try it out now and then; Why is that?” I ask.
“You’re right, I am lying. I notice her stealing glances your way and vice versa. The connection you two share I can feel all the damn time I am in the same room as both and sometimes even just one of you.” She admits angrily. “She’s been here less than a few hours and I already can’t stand the intense feelings radiating from both of you.” She adds.
I am rendered speechless for several seconds before finally opening my mouth, “wh-what? I don’t know what you are talking about Leah and really hope we don’t have to go over the fact that you and I, we are teammates and no longer attached romantically to one another. Besides, she and I hardly know each other to be connected like you are claiming.” I reply with a roll of my eyes.
“It doesn’t matter, I can feel all of your emotions lately for some reason. You usually block me out, but since she arrived, I have been feeling it all and not just from you, it’s been coming in the same wave lengths from her as well.” She looks at the floor to avoid me seeing the tears I know are shining in her eyes.
“I’m sorry, you’re right and your love life is completely your own business now. I do really like Amariana and you are not mine to fight over, that has been made clear to me. I will be fine, please allow me some time to adjust to everything is all I’m asking.” She begs.
Pain sears my heart seeing her hurting because of me. She’s right, we only broke up recently but, in my defense, it has been coming for much longer than we have been split up. I will have to block her out better from now on. I do not want to hurt her, but she’s right about all of it. I have been having feelings for Amariana that I can’t explain. However, for the good of my team and Leah’s feelings I will make a solid effort to avoid putting her through any unnecessary hurt. She does need to get used to the idea that I don’t plan to be alone for my entire immortal existence, though. This conversation has been informative, but I feel a change in subject is in order at this point.
“Now that we know a little bit more about why she is the way she is our next big tasks are to make sure her ascension goes okay. From there, we bring the fight to the underworld; It’s the last thing they will be expecting.
Plans are in motion as the entire team busies themselves in the setup of a safety space for Amariana to ascension inside
of. I made the call to the spare team and have them flying over to guard the property while the transformation takes place. We don’t need any interruptions even if I believe our wards to be perfectly efficient, our enemies are always seeking a way in.
Amariana helps with the setup of the safe room where she will be inside to keep her all right during the process. Me and Brantley will be inside with her, and the girls are on standby for any intervention if we need one.
“Eleven fifty-five p.m.,” I say aloud looking down at my wristwatch and back to Amariana who stands beside the door to the make-shift safe room. Her eyes look terrified and her hands tremble ever so slightly. She’s nervous and rightfully so. Logan and I had to go through the same with our twin connection and royal blood lines. Receiving the enhanced powers wasn’t easy and took immense strength to allow in. The process took less than twenty minutes, but some can last much longer to complete
Once the room is ready, we walk inside and take our places, Brantley and I sit at the table in the two chairs and Amariana takes up residency on the bed.
“Best of luck to us.” Brantley quips winking at Kennedy before reaching over and shutting the door to the room from his chair.
The room is as good as we could make it for her, having only the small table, chairs, and bed in it after taking anything that could be dangerous out of it.
It is like a jail cell of sorts; I think looking around as the nervous energy increases inside of me.
My eyes wander to the girl on the bed sitting so quietly wringing her hands together nervously. I move out of the chair and take a seat on the bed. She jumps a little, startled by my sudden appearance next to her.
“Storm, don’t scare me like that.” She scolds creasing her brow in distaste. I think her reaction is cute and can’t help but to stare at her. A divine angel, who would’ve thought?
I put my hands up in surrender, “sorry, I just saw you over here looking nervous and wanted to make sure you’re doing okay so far.” I prompt hoping to take her mind off it a little.
I was freaking out minutes before mine happened and don’t doubt she feels any differently than I had.
She blushes creating an adorable look on her already perfect face. Everything about her is perfectly proportioned to her five-foot seven height down to her hourglass frame. She’s hot, that’s for sure. I can’t think of one thing I don’t like about the girl. I move closer to her and wrap an arm around her shoulder to steady her trembling frame. She doesn’t pull away from me but focuses on her breathing quietly.
Several minutes pass before she taps my arm that she is okay. I pull away from her and steady my gaze to hers not wanting to look away.
“I am here, when it begins, I want you to focus on one thing, and that is that I’m right here with you. I won’t let you harm anyone or yourself, or let your power take over your body. You can trust me.” I make the promise to her gently.
She nods in agreement and straightens her back. “It’s starting, I can feel it.” She says more calmly than I was expecting.
“That’s good, how does it feel?” I ask moving to stand beside her.
“Feels like magic swirling through my veins and making circles on my insides; It sort of tickles.” She explains grinning.
Seeing her smile makes my insides warm.
What the hell? I got to get myself together. This girl is having too much of an effect on me far too fast. Unless, that shit about love at first sight is real like the humans believe it to be. By the way she makes my insides turn to mush when I look at her, they just may be onto something with that sentiment.
“Um..., I’m here too. You know if you need me for anything as well.” Brantley says to remind me he’s watching everything.
“Uh, yeah Brantley and me will be right over there.” I say awkwardly getting up from the bed and moving back to the table.
When I look over to Brantley it’s obvious our little exchange had not been lost on him. He has both his eyebrows raised in wonder as his eyes drill holes into mine.
“Mind your own.” I warn under my breath.
He leans back and folds his arms over his chest, a wide grin on his lips, not even trying to hide his amusement.
“I thought I had the complicated love life.” He quips smirking.
“Shut up!” I urge him under my breath. I am so fixed on shutting Brantley up that I didn’t hear Amariana move from the bed to right behind me. I lean back towards the chair to sit down and fall straight onto my ass on the floor, startled. Black spots float in the air in front of me a moment as I regain my focus.
When my vision clears, I realize Amariana had swiped my chair and is twisting the legs of it using only her hands effortlessly. Worry mixed with fascination prompt me to pull the golden cuffs out of my pocket, keeping them in my hands in case I need to use them.
She seems to be using heat from her hands to manipulate the metal creating what ends up looking like a chair pretzel. A smile forms on her lips before she whips her head sharply towards me, her eyes lock with mine. She looks down at the chair and back over to me sitting on the floor and giggles a little. I notice her pupils are dilated to the size of nickels and worry sets in. Should I use the cuffs? I wonder briefly. I haven’t even had a chance to get up from the floor yet.
“Whoops,” she says tossing the chair aside.
As fast as it had happened, she visibly comes back to herself, her dilated pupils retract down to normal size. Her eyes stayed their normal emerald color with a soft glow emanating from them for a minute before the light fades and they return to their normal state. She blinks once before looking down at the mangled chair on the floor from where she’s crouched still.
“What was that? Why did I do that?” She asks covering her mouth in horror, her eyes pinned to the chair.
Scrambling to my feet I close the distance between us, placing a hand on each of her shoulders to steady her. “Look me in my eyes.” I direct but she doesn’t seem to be able to follow the command.
She looks around the room wildly and unsettled. I reach for her hand and intertwine my fingers with hers. She squeezes my fingers for a minute so tightly I fear she’s going to shatter all the bones in my hand. Finally, she lets go and falls backwards. I reach out and hold her up at the waist.
“Brantley, help me get her bac to the bed; Come on, hurry.” I demand fearing she will go into another trance before we can get it under control.
We lie her on the bed and her head falls to one side with her eyes closed. I check that she is still okay by setting my hand on her stomach to feel the breaths she’s taking in and out. She’s alive, but her breathing is shallow.
“She’s okay.” Brantley says looking relieved. Before either of us can move away from the bed her eyes fly back open and her body raises a foot off the bed before slamming with a thundering crash back down cracking the bed frame in half.
Ouch, I wince at the sight. I follow her down to the floor and continue to kneel over her and hold her hand again as tightly as I can. Her body begins to convulse, and I put my free hand under her head to protect it from injury.
“Nooo!” She screams shutting her eyes tightly.
“It’s only us Amariana. It’s me Storm and Brantley here with you. Amariana, can you hear my voice?” I ask running my hand over her forehead and through her dark hair.
No response, I watch as her body begins to tremble from her toes to her head.
“Have you seen anyone’s coming of age go anything like this before?” Brantley asks me with obvious concern.
“No, but everyone is different than the next. We just have to ride out this adjusting a bit longer.” I assure.
“It-h-hurts S-Storm.” Amariana mutters through chattering teeth.
I grab the blanket from the end of the bed, letting go of her hand momentarily and cover her with it. I move next to her head and whisper softly in her ear, “it will be fine, I promise. It won’t be much longer, hold on to yourself beautiful girl.”
Her eyes fly
open when I say the last part. I notice the light is back in her pupils and the normal sparkling green is again much lighter in color and glowing. The color stays if she stares at me and when she turns her head to the side the light in her eyes disappears. She looks back at me and then away again. She must feel the change somehow; I think to myself.
“What do you feel?” I ask curiously.
“When I look at you, I see your memories and I can’t make it stop.” She explains sounding pained. She stares down at her hands in her lap to avoid looking at me.
I stay next to her and put my hand over hers to stop her from fidgeting with them. When my hand touches hers, I notice her body stiffens, and her eyes flutter closed. Her body starts to float upwards again and hovers in the air a few more moments before going limp. Brantley and I shove our arms under her body just in time to catch her weight. Together we lower her gently onto the broken bed pulling the comforter up over her again. Her eyes are shut as her ascension is complete now and the tension in the air dissipates. She’ll need a little time to re-charge from the experience and since the bed is still mostly intact aside from the frame, I decide letting her rest here for the time being would be best.
I put a finger to my lips signaling for Brantley to be quiet as we exit the room to allow her to rest while her magic settles inside of her body.
“Is that it?” Brantley asks looking from her and then back to me amazed. He looks down to his watch. “Fifteen minutes, not bad at all.” He comments walking out of the room in front of me.
I look back at the sleeping girl. It is hard to look away from her. She has a peaceful look on her face now, and this was the easy part.
The hard part is still on the horizon, but with her by our side I am confident in our ability to take her father from power and figure something out for the underworld and who will rule over it.
I am sure by now the demons are preparing to come for the princess and if that happens, we need to be prepared. Can you check if Kennedy or the others have heard anything in the angel chats online?” I ask Brantley as soon as we are out of earshot of the room.
