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[Video | UN: threewings]

[A bright, blinding light fills the sky. After a moment, the outline of six big wings can be seen against the horizon before the owner of said wings...falls. She hits the ground, leaving an obvious dent in the pavement.]

Returned...? [Her voice is remarkably unfazed.] Setsuna...is dead? [That must be the case. Otherwise, why would she be...here?] The cycle has been broken. I am myself again.

[She sits up and looks at the sky, her expression conflicted. She touches her abdomen, closing her eyes.]

He is with me.

[Brushing off the rubble, she stands up and extends her wings to their full extent - and, then, as soon as they are fully visible, they begin to fade.]

Quarantine, I am the Organic Angel Alexiel and I require information. Tell me everything you know about the moon.

[Her gaze falls on the recording device and she picks it up, blowing the dust off of the screen.]

Do not fear me. I have no desire to harm you. [She cares deeply for humanity in actuality.] How can I help?

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[There is it again - that hint of familiarity. She makes a soft sound and plants herself right outside of the communal housing building. Her back is to the wall, her wings are hidden - only visible to those who can see auras - and her arms are crossed over her chest. Yet despite her relaxed pose, Alexiel feels her heart beating harder than usual. Even in battle, she cannot remember feeling this way.

Someone she should know is near. Someone she should remember.]

Who is it, Rosiel? [The question is posed to herself...and...not herself. But her brother has no answers for her and she sighs.] Just rest. We're safe.

[ It's because he knows she's safe--and that she can handle herself besides--that Lucifer takes his time before going down. Enough time, actually, to shower and change into some plain clothes gifted as a part of the "newcomers' welcoming package. His hair is still damp but at least toweled dry and combed out before he starts making the trek down.

It's hard to say how he feels in those moments as he moves down the stairs. With each step he sheds a little more of "Sakuya's" person, resettling into his own mentality. Nervous would be inaccurate, if only because it is too shard and clearly defined a word. But neither is he entirely settled: he did not lie, he does not fear her and never has, but she is a force that must be respected, and last they met she was intent on destroying him in spite of his many years of loyal service.

He arrives in time to hear her talking--to herself? No, to Rosiel, it would seem--about being safe and resting. ]

I would not say resting is advisable.

[ He descends the last few steps with a slow, purposeful grace, face an expressionless mask. ]

It seems they have every intention of putting us all to work here, so you had best prepare yourself for whatever they have in mind.

[She is dressed in familiar attire, but, for now, she is without a tangible weapon. Of course the Organic Angel doesn't need a weapon beyond her astral powers - and she is confident in her ability to out maneuver her opponent too.

Not that she is expecting a battle. But just in case...

The sound of his voice stills her and she holds her breath. Cocking her head, she confirms his identity, watching him descend towards her.]

It is for him. [Her hand hovers over her abdomen before falling back to her side.] Are you still determined to haunt my steps? I suppose it is a less dangerous hobby than it used to be.

[ How many times was he accused, albeit rightfully of stalking her? For once, though, it seems he has a legitimate excuse. ]

I was here for several days prior to your arrival. If anyone is dogging another, it would seem you have followed me here.

[He can accuse her of the same, really. She is the one who sought him when he was put in the sword. Thus, at his answer, she gives a small smirk.]

I am not above following you. [She leans her head against the brick wall, watching him.] Do you know how he died? Setsuna?

[ Setsuna. Dead.

There is a part of him that, while quiet with shock the first time it heard such a thing, despairs at the second utterance. But that is the natural way of all beings, most especially such short-lived creatures as humans: they live and die in but a blink of an eye for an angel or a demon. ]

No. I have no memory of such an event.

[ And although he does not know the cause, and though he would never admit it, a part of him that is still very much alive within him mourns. He continues like it pains him none, though. ]

The last I can recall was the bright light of the sword that once housed me cleaving me. And you?

[Oh. Then. Alexiel's expression is blank, hiding her true feelings on the matter. So time has no meaning either.]

Neither do I. I assumed it must have happened.

[She pushes away from the wall and approaches him, stretching out a hand to almost - but not quite - touch his chest.]

Are you angry?

[ The question catches him off guard, and for a moment he looks both surprised and uncharacteristically open. ]

Angry? About what?

How it turned out. You allied yourself with Rosiel for a chance to reach god, I realize. [So maybe he accepted it wouldn't end well.]

[ BOY THIS IS GOING TO MAKE HIM POPULAR WITH HER. He's not going to lie to her, though. ]

I was never Rosiel's ally. I let him as well as the Savior and his allies believe that in order to suit my own goals which only happened to coincide with Rosiel's to a certain point. You may love your brother above all others, but for me he was a pawn, easily discarded once he had served his purpose.

[ Lucifer is beyond accepting that things won't end well for him: it's arguable that was ever even a goal. ]

[Her eyes widen minutely, but the expression fades as quickly as it appears.]

He was suffering. Your betrayal would have meant nothing to him. [Not after Katan's death.] I was the one he needed; not you and not Setsuna.

[And now he has her and she has him.]

God is dead and - [She brings out her wings again - all six of them.] Adam Kadamon is dead too.

[ Tbh he's not buying that excuse, and he's not shy to say so. ]

We all suffered terribly at the hands of our Creator, some more conscious of it than others. Rosiel wanted to carve you up and re-purpose your body for himself.

[ THERE, finally, is a hint of the deep anger and disdain he feels for Rosiel. Mad or not, his fault or not, Rosiel did not want his sister to save her, he wanted to butcher her to save himself. He ripped Kira apart and rebuilt him from little more than a skeleton, a process so painful, so horrific, he can't even fathom speaking about it. And he tried to kill Setsuna. Neither Lucifer nor Kira can find it in himself to pity or forgive him for that, not that either mattered or was sought. ]

Whether or not my betrayal would hurt him was inconsequential to achieving those goals. With YHWH and Adam Kadamon gone, the cycle can finally end.

[ Her many brutal deaths. The endless inhumane experiments. Baby angels born into sin. Creatures everywhere created to suffer. ]

Do you think my body wasn't used for that already? He was following the plan that he knew best; any empathy he may have had for me was devoured by his desperation and madness.

[She looks down at her hands, touching her face in memory of all the parts that had been cut from her.]

An eye, my skin, my hair... All were used to make him whole. [Because of her nature, she is like Adam Kadamon - a well that can continue to give if given enough time to regrow what has been lost.]

...yes. [She smiles, turning back to him.] I no longer need to kill you. You found another way. I knew you would.

I was aware.

[ Rosiel told him as much. He still finds it craven.

Is that meant to be reassuring, Alexiel? ]

If you believed that there was ever a need to kill me, then you have never understood the first thing about me.

[ And he wonders if she ever will. ]

Did I kill you? [She stands before him, intense and determined. She does not know any other way to be.] I threatened you; I told you why I thought it must be done, but did I follow through?

[Deep down, she feels her heart beginning to ache.]

I came for you.

Not for a lack of trying.

[ There's no real resentment there, he simply says it as it is. Twice she tried to kill him, once before she finally gave him back his name, and again at the end. Moreover-- ]

Or for accidents. If not for Rosiel's blood, my soul would have been lost when my blade shattered. Tell me, what was it that convinced you I was such a threat to Setsuna?

[ It's ironic to him that Setsuna's faith in him should be so unshakeable, but he never seems to have had it from her. ]

I was willing to do what was necessary to see Setsuna triumphant. He is not like any of my other incarnations. He was meant to succeed from the beginning, but -

I feared that he might falter if you were involved. I feared his [her] emotions [their emotions] would get the better of him [them]. Sara too might have proven a hindrance.

I singled you out because he loves you.

Lies do not become you, Alexiel.

[ He takes a step back himself now. ]

The one that Setsuna loved was only ever Sara.

Love comes in many forms.

[She holds out her hands, palms up.]

He loved you as family; as a brother.

[Her feelings are far more complex and she misses the purity of Setsuna's love.]

[ "You love him, right? As a brother." Her words echo Sakuya's spirit so closely he can't help but almost hear them again. What did that eight year old child know of love, though? He died an only sibling, before he was of an age to taste any form than what he had for his parents. With the fulness of his memories back, if he were to speak honestly, Lucifer could claim to know the difference between the love of a friend, a brother, and a lover.

He could also claim to know which one it is that he seeks. ]

I have a brother already. I hardly have a need for a second. Or a sister.

[ If he knew her thoughts, her wishes to go back--he might actually be hurt. And it might also serve as a driving force to finally press her with the only actual real question that he's ever wanted an answer to. Instead he turns away. ]

If that is what you seek here, though, perhaps you will find it.

[ With someone else.

He starts to move toward the exit; the desire to move, to be alone is almost overwhelming. ]

[Instinct is to blame for her reaching out and grasping his arm in an iron grip. She has hidden herself - her true self - for so long that it is difficult to remember how to speak the truth; how to be open. He deserves no less from her and she swallows her fear.]

I do not seek a sibling out of you, Lucifer. I have a brother too and he will always be with me.

Setsuna's feelings are his own - independent from mine. I think well of Sara, but I do not love her as he does.

[She steps up to him, gazing at his back. His strength and perseverance amaze her, but she is understanding that the latter trait - where she is involved - has only brought him misery.]

I've already been in love with someone else - long before Jibril was even involved. I couldn't -

I dared not reveal it. But - Now I can...if you will listen.

[ Her hand on him is a better stay on him than an actual iron bar. He looks over his shoulder, face mild but perhaps slightly surprised. It has been a long, long time since Alexiel has confided in him anything so personal so directly after all. Not since he was a nameless sword bound to her side. ]

...Go ahead, if it pleases you.

[Nameless... He was never nameless to her. She can feel the warm strength under her hand and, for the first time, she is allowing herself to pull him closer instead of pushing him away.]

I never met a man like you. I'm not a soft woman; I don't know how to be, but there was never a time I didn't want you to find me. I needed to see you so badly that I was fine putting off my search for Rosiel. I was a coward and I used you to forget the one who needed me most.

[She seeks no forgiveness for her selfish actions. There is none to be had.

Alexiel pauses and runs her free hand down his back, closing her eyes.]

I am twice damned for loving Rosiel and for loving you.

[ He is silent and still for several long seconds, neither affirming nor rejecting her words and actions. At last, he lifts the hand of the arm in her grasp and and cups her cheek. ]

How silly. Heaven and hell are one in the same, YHWH is gone, and yet you still call yourself damned? By whom?

[ His chiding is surprisingly gentle, soft in tone and touch as his thumb caresses the soft swell of skin underneath it. ]

And who should do that punishing? I have renounced that title, if I ever truly wore the mantle. Unless you see my love as a punishment, your days of "damnation" are over.

[She hasn't really known joy or happy endings. The ending she forged with Setsuna had been bittersweet and that is truly the best she can envision for herself. In that way, perhaps she does think she is damned. Cursed. The blood she has shed, the lives she has taken surely cry out for judgement. Alexiel does not forgive herself of her crimes - she shoulders them and does not pretend to be pure.

Yet her heart is far more warm and innocent than the rest of her, in truth. It had ached for Rosiel, but for this one - Mister Four Wings - it soars. She has been afraid to show how much he means to her; it could have interfered in everything.

But god is dead, heaven has been dismantled, hell has endured a similar fate and here they are, alive to see it.]

Myself.

[He must know she does not shrug off the blows she has dealt him. They had not pleased her. She freezes - he is so good at catching her off-guard - and the skin under his thumb will warm.]

A gift cannot be a punishment. [In one fluid motion Alexiel steps forward, rising onto the tips of her toes to embrace him.] You like your women difficult, don't you.

Edited 2018-02-22 05:22 (UTC)

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