Monsters in the End

After he’d found out that Zachary was with other fallen angels, his initial thought had been that he was with Maelle. So when he heard that his angels had found someone connected to her, he was beyond hopeful of this person being the last lead in his search. He teleported to Alexis Capri within seconds of Lailah’s call, conversing with her before he walked towards the room that they kept the hybrid in. He closed the door behind him before he moved his gaze to the woman. He was silent in a moment of surprise. He knew her. He had a vivid memory of seeing her after he’d murdered her mother. But he had no idea that she existed at the time. He’d only focused on punishing her mother for the crimes she’d committed. He remembered locking her up in a closet while he dealt with the body. He remembered trying to find her father with no luck. Ultimately, he ended up leaving her at an orphanage, telling her some lie of what would happen if she told anyone about him, hoping that it was enough to deter her. He watched her face carefully to see if there was a hint of recognition in her expression. But either way, she couldn’t possibly have heard good things about him or angels in general. He didn’t expect anything less from someone who'd lived most of her life with Maelle. He turned his eyes to the room as he walked further inside. He took off his suit jacket to let it rest on the top of a wooden desk before he leaned halfway up against it. “Hello Hecate,” he said. At least that was what her name had been back then. She'd probably already guessed that this was about Maelle or her motives, and although those were of great interest to him, there was something more important at hand. “Have you seen an angel by the name of Zachary?” he asked. “He's about yay high,” he added, gesturing with his hand of what was approximately 177 centimeters. “Brown hair, blue eyes… fallen,” he continued with a hint of bitterness to the last detail, but more so because it reminded him of the fact that he'd avoided his family after the incident.

A smirk appeared on his lips at her comment. He was convinced that it meant she’d seen him, which only made him more determined in his interrogation of her. “Oh, but you will tell me because you see… it’s your only way out of here,” he said, pushing himself away from the desk as he slowly walked closer to her. He would do whatever it took for her to talk, but he always gave people a chance of telling him the truth first. He glanced down to where her hands were tied as she asked him to untie her. But he had no intention of helping her. Not until she answered him. “You seem able to talk just fine,” he said, wondering if she honestly thought he was that stupid. But either way, there was no point in trying to escape. She'd either lose in a fight with him or be recaptured by the angels standing guard outside. He returned his eyes to her face, noticing the change in her expression. The instant fade of her smile. The recognition that he’d anticipated earlier. He exhaled slowly as he realized this jeopardized her willingness to talk. “Yes,” he confirmed. “I’m sorry about your mother… but you have to understand that I did what I had to,” he said but hesitated as he knew that whatever he said, it probably meant nothing to her. Even if it was the truth. Her mother had taken many innocent souls. She’d taken other children’s parents away from them. She was the monster in this. And for those reasons, she had to be stopped.

He inhaled at her sarcastic comment. She could curse him to hell and back for all he cared. It just wasn't going to end pretty for her. “Do you know him or not?” he asked, trying to steer her back to the main purpose of this. He raised a brow as she warned him against talking of her mother. She'd been evil. It was plain and simple. He was certain that her life wouldn't have been any less miserable if she was still alive. “I do think about that quite a lot… and as an angel, it’s my job to preserve and protect righteous souls of eternal life. Not to be consumed and destroyed by demons such as your mother,” he said, walking a step closer to her. As half-angel, she should be able to refrain from that temptation. Even if souls gave her more strength than human food. However, if a soul was damned to hell and not worthy of saving, that was when he didn’t interfere. “Is that so?” he asked, tilting his head slightly at her comment. Michael never gave up if it was in his determination to accomplish something. He chuckled as she said she’d scream if he got closer to her. Was that supposed to frighten him? Because if so, it didn’t work. Lailah had told him about her screaming ability as she’d used it on another angel prior to her capture. And if she kept up with her pointless stubbornness, she was going to scream regardless. “Look, I get it, you’re a tough girl... but I won’t stop until you’ve told me where he is,” he said, taking another step towards her. “You can scream all you want. It’s not going to help,” he added, letting her know that he wasn’t the least concerned about her threat. He then raised his hand, using his electricity manipulation to shock her, making her feel a painful burn throughout her body. He closed his fist as he let go of the shock, making her able to breathe again. “Where is he?” he asked, looking down at her with a stern expression.

He had anticipated her scream, so he created a shield of holy light around him, protecting him from the damaging sound waves. Still, the scream was excruciatingly painful to listen to, making it hard for him not to let go of it and cover his ears instead. He looked at the windows as they started to break, closing his eyes in reflex as the glass shattered. The shield protected him from the shards, resulting in them landing on the floor in a circle around him instead. He’d heard banshees scream many times, but he could tell that this was more powerful in comparison. He exhaled slowly when she finally stopped. His head aching from the intensity of her scream. He decided to believe that her scream was triggered by her pain rather than it being intended to harm him. It was the only way to prevent him from lashing out in anger right now. However, he felt himself losing patience with her next sentence. “Oh, please. You… Thor… You’re mere insects to me. I could squash you in a trice. I could end it all now. Or I could tear down that defiance of yours and force you to do my bidding for the rest of eternity… so I warn you, do not aim another attack at me again,” he said in an intimating tone. He knew that she probably only said it because she’d been commanded to protect him. And because Maelle had given her the impression that Michael would hurt him. But it couldn't be further from the truth. “I’m only here because I want to make sure that my son is safe… to ensure that nothing bad is happening to him,” he said, shifting between her eyes as he wondered why she thought that he’d have a motive of hurting him. Sure. He was disappointed in him and his actions, but he didn’t love him any less for that reason. And right now, all he cared about was seeing him alive and well again. “Maelle doesn't have to know about it... just send him out of your camp at a specific time. It's all I ask,” he said.

"He is safe. Why is that so hard to believe?" She lashed out and took a deep breath in to collect her rushed anger. "We have given him a place to sleep. Food to eat and people who understands him," she added and looked at Michael. "He is so scared that you will turn his back on him, but kidnapping the people who actually cares about him - not the best habit to build," Hecate took another sharp breath in. Her throat still itching and a slow burn made it slightly painful to talk. "Try to feel instead of think, use your heart instead of that big head of yours.. then you might realize that he doesn't want to be found," Hecate looked into the archangels eyes. "Look I get it. You don't like Maelle and she doesn't like you. But we are not some ants waiting to be stepped on in your war. And she doesn't control if we leave or not," she pointed out quickly. Hecate was tired of being born right in the middle of a race war. But standing toe to toe with an archangel and living with the first fallen - she had every right to fear both - she did. Her need to keep Zachary somehow came before all of that fear, and that scared her. Wendy frowned. She could feel Zachary was close, had Maelle told him to go find her? "Are you gonna untie me or fry me again?" Hecate asked and raised an eyebrow. If Zachary and his father should have at least any chance just a little, Michael needed to untie her before Zachary saw them in this situation.

There was nothing that could possibly convince Michael of the fact that anyone was safe with Maelle. She was only using him as a chess piece in her game. He'd honestly have preferred him to stay with Leta over her. “Because I need to see it for myself... because... Maelle has tormented my children and siblings for centuries, so based on simple statistics, I can't just take your word for it,” he replied. For all he knew, they could keep him trapped in hopes of getting any intel on Heaven, God's army, or Michael. And even if they didn't, he still wanted Zachary as far away from Maelle as possible. He didn’t want to have to kidnap anyone, but at this point, he'd become desperate in his mission. Every minute wasted could be another minute of them in pain or worse. Another reason was that his tracking spells had failed to directly localize him. Instead, he’d been able to obtain clues surrounding his location, leading him to Leta, and now, Hecate. He exhaled slowly at her next comment because he knew that it was true. If Zachary had wanted them to find him, he would have prayed to them as soon as he’d been released. But he didn’t have to fear anything. Michael only wanted to lead him back to God and at the very least, prevent Maelle from corrupting his mind. He scoffed as she said that Maelle didn’t control if they left or not, mostly because he knew that the angels were too lost to know any better. And if they wanted to stay because they'd fallen so far from God and his truth, then they were beyond redemption anyway. He hoped that one day he and Maelle would find a middle ground, but as of now, it was hard for him to imagine what that required. A miracle, surely. He started walking in a circle around her as she kept insisting that she wasn’t going to tell him anything. “How about I’ll burn you instead?” he asked menacingly as he picked up a piece of broken metal on the floor, sharpening the point with his ability before he used his thermal manipulation on it. The point now glowing a dark orange from the heated metal. “I’ve always wondered to what degree hybrids get affected by holy symbols,” he said as he neared her, glancing over her body as he considered where to carve the symbol. He placed the burning metal at the top of her upper arm, slowly carving a line downwards before he crossed it with a horizontal line, resembling a Christian cross. He didn’t flinch as he carved into her skin, concentrating on making the symbol with straight lines despite her pain. When he was done, he looked to her face to observe whether it affected her in any way it would a demon.

Hecate was supposed to be back by now, so it hadn’t taken Maelle long to send him and another fallen angel to look for her. They’d been told to check the abandoned motel in Southside first, but as soon as he sensed the angelic energies surrounding the area, they both seemed reluctant to continue. The last thing Zachary wanted was to go near pure angels in any way, afraid of the consequences of them discovering him, but at the same time, he wanted to make sure that they didn’t have Hecate. He pushed himself to walk towards the parking lot, raising his hand to blast two of the guards backward whilst he made sure they passed out. However, another angel appeared from the sky to blast his companion into the ground with a bright light before he turned to Zachary. It was clear to tell by his expression that he recognized him. “Zachary! Praise God. We’ve looked everywhere for you,” he said as he landed on the ground, reaching his hand out to him. However, Zachary quickly turned his attention towards the motel as he heard Hecate, and the moment he looked towards the room, he realized who was with her. He’d never mistake that aura. He rushed to open the door with a defiance and confidence that he’d never had in his father’s presence. But as soon as his eyes met Hecate and his father in a completely shattered room, it seemed to decrease vastly. He’d feared this moment ever since his fall because he knew that he was beyond a failure in his eyes. It was what he saw himself to be as well. However, as he noticed the burn on Hecate's arm, he couldn't think about anything other than helping her.

Michael watched as her skin turned pale, making her look sick from the symbol, although it clearly didn’t weaken her as much as it would a demon. “Hm,” he said in a low voice. It was a shame that it wasn't enough to tell him anything. She was far more loyal than he’d originally thought. He disposed of the metal when someone opened the door, and as he saw Zachary, alive and well, a bright smile showed on his face. “Thank God,” he said in relief. He was on his way to embrace him but stopped halfway as he saw the horror in his eyes. He followed his gaze to Hecate and the mark. “I know how this looks… but she wouldn’t tell me where you were, and I was worried that Maelle had you locked up and tortured,” he explained, not wanting this to be the way they reunited. “I’m so sorry for what you have endured,” he continued as he stepped towards him. It had first come to his knowledge that he’d been tortured and banished after he’d met Leta, but at this moment, he was simply grateful for the fact that he was alive.

Zachary moved his gaze to his father as he talked to him. He wanted to believe him, but there was nothing right about this. He walked past him towards Hecate, looking into her eyes with a pained expression before he moved his palm above her arm, healing the burned wound. He then kneeled to untie the rope around her wrists. Michael clicked his tongue as he saw this. “Ah, ah,” he said, making Zachary stop to look at his father. “She hasn’t done anything to me. In fact, they have all been nothing but kind to me,” he said. He wanted to defy his father and proceed, but he couldn’t. “Why didn’t you reach out to us?” Michael asked, but as he looked into his son’s eyes, the answer became clear. He was terrified of him. Michael sighed as he realized this. “It’s okay… I’m not mad at you,” he said. And this was true. Despite his disappointment in him, he believed that he had the potential to return to a righteous path. Zachary took a deep breath as he collected the courage to reply to him. “I didn’t want you to find me… I didn’t want to feel like a failure more than I already did, and I wanted to find people who were like me, who understood what I was going through,” he explained, avoiding to look in his eyes before he slowly continued to untie the ropes. “You don’t think I’ve had to atone for a plethora of sins? That I’ve killed people on God’s command because they were impure in his image? But as soon as they’re deemed to be pure, then all you get it as an adíos… a goodbye to Heaven forever... Now, I do not condone of what you did… but I can sense that you haven’t sinned since those murders… that you still want to do good… Maelle is only going to make you fall further from that good, so I beg you… come home,” he said with a rare vulnerability in his voice. Zachary felt the toll on his heart get heavier by hearing this. He had no clue what the right decision was, but why couldn’t he have both? Why couldn’t he keep the love of his biological family and this newfound fallen family? “I have a home,” he replied, untying Hecate’s ropes completely before he stood up again, looking directly at his father’s eyes. “You’ve done nothing but boss me around my whole life, but down here, I feel like I can finally make my own decisions, and I try to make them accordingly to you and Heaven. I just… need time,” he tried explaining, although he became incredibly insecure in his words after he’d said them. Afraid that he’d disown him for talking that way to him.“Just please understand that, please forgive me,” he continued. It was all he asked of him. Michael’s expression stayed stoic as he said this to him, not understanding where this doubt came from. The old Zachary would have followed him home in an instant. “I can’t let you do that,” he said in a firm voice. If Zachary remembered what he’d told him about Maelle, he’d know why. He’d remember the hurt she’d caused their side of the family. “Is Maelle staying at this place you’re talking about?” he asked, turning his gaze to Hecate. He knew that the chances of her being willing to tell him anything was slim. But now that he knew that Zachary was alive, and that Maelle might have mind-controlled him, he had to know more about the place and why she’d given him shelter to begin with.

Michael scoffed as Hecate replied to his question. He knew that she wouldn’t disclose her exact location. But nobody could be nowhere and everywhere at the same time. He could only assume that this meant she spent quite the time at that place, which was all he was interested in. “So what you're saying is that she's hiding from me?” he asked, but as she said that she'd keep Zachary safe, he let out a chuckle. “And why in the world would you do that?” he asked, not understanding what incentives she had for doing so. After all, she barely knew him.

His father wasn’t going to let him go back there. And although he, to some degree, understood why. Everything about these past months had managed to turn his view of the world upside down. His so-called home hadn’t been there for him. His emotions grew stronger at these thoughts, making most of the shattered pieces in the room levitate. He felt betrayed. He felt angry. He felt devastated. And now, after everything, fate had decided to reunite him with his father? It made no sense. Nothing did. “You don’t get it… I have done nothing but obeyed every single rule and command you’ve ever given me. I was a good angel. And the moment I was sent to Earth, those cruel demons captured me and nobody, not a single soul, did anything to help me. I was begging you. Begging you to help me. Just please help me! But you know what happened? Nothing. You. Heaven. God. You all did nothing!” he exclaimed, the pieces starting to move around in uneven patterns around Michael. “Zachary… the moment they told me that you disappeared, I did everything I could to find you,” he said, moving his hand to the left to destroy an object that was about to hit him. “I am so sorry,” he continued, looking at his son with a pained expression as he’d never wanted any of this to fall upon him. “Please. Let’s just talk about this,” he said, looking around at the pieces flying around him.

Again, Zachary wanted to believe him. That his father had tried everything he could to find him. After all, that was why he was here with Hecate. But it all seemed wrong and unfair. “I didn’t deserve what He put on me… I never meant to kill those people, I… I had just escaped and I couldn’t go back and I lost control… and despite my attempts to save the humans, He banished me… He turned me into this,” he said, feeling a few tears escape down his cheeks, and in the same moment, all the floating pieces dropped to the ground. “It’s okay,” Michael said, knowing how overwhelming this all had to be for him. For someone who’d just come out of Heaven a few months ago. And whether he believed it or not, he had felt those same emotions. He’d been left alone in many situations without salvation. He’d been tortured in Hell, waiting many years before an angel had come to his rescue. And although he hadn’t fallen, he still understood what that abandonment felt like. “We’ll figure it out,” he said as he stepped closer to him. “But I can’t let you go back to Maelle,” he said, looking into his eyes as he said this. In fact, he wasn’t going to let either of them go back. Not yet. “Do you know of her agenda?” he asked, looking between them both. Hoping they had any useful intel on her. “Tell me everything you know about Maelle, and I'll let you both go,” he assured them, however much it pained him to let Zachary go. But he supposed he had to in order to regain his trust.

Michael sighed at her persistence. But stating that he was out of their league made him raise a brow. It couldn’t be further from the truth, but he knew that he needed to reconsider his strategy. Considering that Zachary had lost faith in Heaven. He stepped in front of them as they walked towards the exit, but it wasn’t because of his interest in Maelle. It was because he wanted Zachary to come with him. He wanted him to do what was right and come home to his family. But the moment he opened his mouth to talk, he inhaled a toxic breath of air and coughed violently.

Zachary looked at his father differently after Hecate said that he’d killed her mother. He wanted to confront him with this. He wanted to ask him a lot of things. But the next moment Hecate grabbed his arm, he opted to follow her. His thoughts swirled around in his head as they escaped the smoke. His gaze dropping to the fallen angel on the ground. He stopped as he heard his father cough, then darting his eyes to Hecate. “What have you done to him?” he asked, not seeing why she deemed that necessary, but perhaps she’d simply had enough of their conversation. Perhaps she knew it wouldn’t have ended with a resolution. An angel rushed to the room when he saw the smoke, starting to cough as he reached the toxic air which made him pass out whereas Michael had managed to teleport away from the place. Zachary watched as the angel fell before he turned his gaze to Hecate, talking of her place in Grounds of Lily. He felt conflicted about leaving the angel there, but he knew that it was only a matter of time before more angels would arrive and force him away. “Yeah,” he agreed as he looked at her, walking away from the motel. He needed some time to think through this, so it would be nice to spend that time away from everyone. “Is it true… that he killed your mother?” he asked, glancing at her shortly before he focused his gaze on the road ahead. He knew that his father murdered people that he deemed beyond salvation. It was his attempt to help more people than those who got hurt. But he still wanted to know her story, and what had happened to her afterward. If Maelle had taken her in shortly after that. Because if she had, it only proved to him that she wasn’t all evil. That she still had a chance to do good in the world. And despite his bias, perhaps he could convince them both that a war wasn’t necessary. That the fallen and pure angels could live in harmony.

Not anything lethal could be many things. It could be unbearably painful. But he had to try to avoid thinking like that. He felt bad enough knowing that he’d almost hurt his father himself with the glass shards - even if he couldn’t help but lose control of his abilities. He’d anticipated meeting his father for so long. And now the moment was gone. He still had a lot of unresolved issues to confront him with. So many things that he wanted to say. But for now, he supposed it had to wait. He looked at her as she replied his question about her mother. He could only imagine what that must have felt like, and that even if his father had done it in good faith, he’d still robbed her from a life with her mother. He stopped at the bus stop, looking curiously at the screens telling them the different bus routes. It would be the first time he’d rode a bus. “Maelle and Samael adopted you from an orphanage?” he asked her as if he was unsure that he’d heard her correctly. It seemed so unlike the things he’d heard about them. That they were the work of the Devil causing nothing but destruction and corruption upon Earth. However, it only proved that he needed to take some time to get to know Maelle more and put the stories from Heaven on hold. “You did… You’ve been nothing but good to me,” he admitted, sending her a gentle smile as he looked at her. “Do you know who your father was?” he then asked her. She might not care, but still, he’d understand if she was at least curious to know who he was and whether he was alive.

It did sound unreal, although Zachary had never actually seen a movie, so he assumed that it compared to a fictional storyline. “What is Samael like?” he asked, having heard just as much bad about the antichrist as he had about Maelle. And he knew very well that they had plenty of incentive to hurt him. He had many times thought that Samael had commanded those demons to capture him. But he couldn’t be sure. The demons hadn’t told him anything about who they worked for, and if he asked them any questions, they got extremely violent. He nodded to her next saying, still unsure of whether this was true for himself. He had done very bad things to others, so he couldn’t help but think that this meant that he was bad. And there wasn’t any way to get out of his fall. No matter how much good he did from now on. He was never going to get back his old life. “Do you believe that even if nobody is stamped as good or bad, that there are still some people who naturally have more darkness in them than others?” he asked her. If so, perhaps that was the case for him. He nodded slowly as she explained that her father had left before she was born. He smiled faintly as she said that perhaps she had her own guardian angel, and Zachary hoped that she did. But he also knew that there weren’t that many guardian angels in the world. He followed her inside the bus and looked around with a curious gaze. He’d never been in a vehicle this large before. He sat down next to her, nodding to her question. “I’ve had a lot of firsts lately, but I suppose that is to be expected when I've lived in Heaven my whole life,” he said, looking at her before he looked ahead of him again. It was hard not to think of the fact that he’d just met his father and he was afraid that he’d made everything worse. That he had pushed himself further away from his family. He inhaled deeply as he tried to think about something else, trying to find comfort in the fact that he was here with Hecate, and not all alone as he had been in the past.