[Video | UN: threewings]

[heavenfell]

[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?

Comments

[heavenfell]

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.

[neverbeentogeorgia]

Lies do not become you, Alexiel.

[ He takes a step back himself now. ]

The one that Setsuna loved was only ever Sara.

[heavenfell]

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.]

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[ "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. ]

[heavenfell]

[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.

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[ 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.

[heavenfell]

[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.

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[ 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.

[heavenfell]

[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.

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[ That is a difficult question in and of itself. "Kira" knew a great many women, none of them important enough or around long enough to even be remembered by name. Their bodies were a way to pass the time, to rise above the emptiness of a protracted human existence wherein the awareness of loneliness and its effects became increasingly hard to ignore. Almost assuredly they must have had their points of attractiveness--independence, stubbornness, vivacity, wit--but still, they held no place in his heart. There was simply no room. ] The only woman I "like" is you. [ His hands slip to her waist and the back of her head, and he leans down to press his lips to hers. ]

[heavenfell]

[Her various human forms had loved and been loved, but the emotion rarely touched her. The times she would awaken to experience even a hint of it, the love had always been tainted with pain or hatred. Then she had fallen asleep again, drowning in the darkness, barely holding onto her desire to save Rosiel and to see...him...again.

He had been a curiosity - a wonder in her self-imposed prison - and then she hadn't wanted to be without him. She brushes her thumb over the side of his neck, giving a faint smile of understanding.]

Then we're even. [She meets the kiss with tender enthusiasm, using what she has learned to translate her feelings into action. This isn't a battle. She doesn't want to hurt him. She can be soft...for him.]

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[ He would take her any way she gave herself, gentle or rough. He accepts all of her, contradictions and flaws, too. But that she wants to be gentle is--something of a miracle, considering where they started from and have been, and he does not take that for granted. He runs his fingers through the roots of her thick hair as the kiss extends. At length, he breaks it finally, letting his lips res next to hers so that as he speaks their lips brush. ]

As much as I am loathe to end this so soon, there are other matters we must discuss.

[heavenfell]

[She is composed of broken glass and razor-blades. He has cut himself before, yet it amazes her that he remains steadfastly loyal. Maybe love is a type of insanity? She feels lighter than the clouds as she kisses him and she has no real desire to stop.

Except...

They must. Life interferes and she runs a finger over his lips after he has spoken.]

We are on the moon. Is that where you want to begin?

[neverbeentogeorgia]

'A' moon.

[ he can't help but correct her. ]

This is not the earth's moon--our earth's moon.

[heavenfell]

Does it matter? We cannot reach Earth either way. [Can angels fly in space? She would be up for trying if the circumstances call for it.]

They are obviously trying to preserve humanity.

[neverbeentogeorgia]

It matters in the sense that the events that occurred and the people who lived here, the fables and mythologies that they've told themselves, may all be different.

[heavenfell]

Am I going to lose you to the libraries? [There is a flash of amusement; then it retreats.] I would rather speak to those who have been here the longest. I can begin with the guards.

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[ he's still a giant bookworm, yeah ]

Books are more reliable than the word-of-mouth of other newcomers like ourselves. But suit yourself, I suppose.

[heavenfell]

Are they? What if they were written by newcomers like ourselves? [Then she, at least, is getting a first-hand account.] We'll find each other soon. It seems I need to have a new sword made.

[neverbeentogeorgia]

I should think it would be hard for a whole library to be filled with books written by newcomers. I intend to look for the oldest ones I can find.

[ he considers her second goal ]

If it's a sword you're wanting, you'll probably want to ask about what laws of the land there are for obtaining one. Not a bad plan, though.

[heavenfell]

I will rescue you - later - from the dust if you ask nicely.

[Her lips quirk and she gives a cocky toss of her head.]

I'm apart of the guard. I prefer using a sword. They can't expect me to go out there weaponless!

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[ the mention of rescuing him from the dust evokes a small huff of laughter. ] They may expect you to use a gun. What then?

[heavenfell]

[Well that's a nice sound.]

Guns require ammo. I don't mind using them, but I'll need backup.

[neverbeentogeorgia]

Is that a request?

[heavenfell]

Can you fulfill it if it is a request?