Chapter Text
Sera breathed deeply as she entered the room. It was dark. Heaven had seen its first rain in years, and things were looking bleak. Heaven was no stranger to the weather itself, but it was extremely uncommon. It was odd. It was scary. Citizens were concerned, but she assured them that there was absolutely nothing wrong.
When was the last time it rained… about ten thousand years ago?
She was sure it wasn’t important, but… she was still worried.
The darkness outside seemed like bright sunlight as opposed to this room. A meeting room that had not been used in quite a while. Dust particles flickered in the air as she opened the door. Sera did not see anyone as she walked in.
“Michael?”
“Sera?”
“It’s me,” She replied cautiously, looking around. She could not see him. “You told me to meet you here?”
She turned around and was met with his face. She could not bring herself to be immediately frightened or surprised. Michael often snuck up on people.
He looked pale. Well, paler than he usually was. His eyes looked grim. His blonde hair was messied. If Sera hadn’t known better, she would’ve thought he looked like his brother right before his exile.
She wondered what had happened. He looked like he’d be well placed in a funeral.
“I can’t talk for long, but I trust you,” Michael looked to and fro before meeting her eyes again. “You’re the only one I can trust with this.”
Sera spoke gently, but she was already sensing the gravity of the situation. “What is it?”
She had not looked anywhere but his face, and was surprised when he handed her a heap of darkly coloured blankets. It seemed to be covering something small.
Michael’s voice was shaky. “I have sinned, I know. I have done what I vowed I would never do. I have done what my brother has done. But… I don’t know what to do with it. I don’t think I belong in Heaven, Sera. I don’t think I deserve to raise this.”
Sera had a feeling she knew what was swaddled in the blankets.
“You have to take care of it. You have to make sure he grows into what I can’t be. An archangel that won’t sin or break God’s rule. Sera… please take it.”
Sera looked down at the blankets in her hands. It was small and unmoving except for the rise and fall of its chest. She slowly uncovered it until she could see its face. It surprised her. It was not human. It was awfully artificial. But it was… young and innocent. Its eyes were closed and its screen was freckled. She felt a tug at her heart.
“I would never turn it down,” She murmured, gently running her fingers across its smooth face. “But… Michael, you still have your place here.”
He shook his head. “I do not. I was foolish and this is what resulted from it. I cannot bear to look at it. I cannot be a father to it, if every time I met its eyes I would remember. You must parent it, Sera, as I can’t and it has no mother who can.”
Sera did not hesitate one bit. “I will.”
She paused.
“Where will you go?”
Michael shook his head somberly. “That, I do not know. But wherever I go, no one will find me. I will go where no other heavenborn or winner has ever gone. I will hide. I will no longer associate. My brothers will replace me as chief. I will let them. I do not deserve that position.”
Sera did not stop him as he pulled up the hood on his cloak. It shadowed his eyes, and it made look him more grim than before. He made his way to the door, but paused just before he left.
She could make out something shiny in his eyes from afar. “Take care of him for me.”
He left.
Sera stayed.
She looked down at the young infant in her arms again. It was starting to wake. When it opened its eyes, they were a bright yellow with blue irises, only one was coloured lightly and one was dark. He blinked up at her.
“Hello,” She whispered. “I think I’m your mother.”
He cooed with delight, and reached up to grab at something. She offered him her hand, and he took it graciously, biting gummily at her fingers.
He was so awfully cute. It was a shame Michael had to leave him.
She wondered who his mother was, to look nearly nothing like his father. Well, except for his halo, which was small and yellow and practically identical to Michael’s. A winner? That was the most likely candidate. She wondered how on Earth she had ever managed to conceive with someone like Michael, but she decided that wasn’t important right now.
What was important was this little life in her arms. This little life that she was now allowed to carve and shape. This little life that she would hold for as long as the universe would let her.
“Did Michael name you?” She murmured, sitting down temporarily in one of the chairs at the meeting table.
He babbled instead of giving an answer.
Sera hummed thoughtfully. “You seem like you would have a V name. Perhaps I will speak to Emily about it. I’m sure she’ll have plenty of ideas.”
He babbled again, louder.
She chuckled. “Oh, you have such a loud voice, little one.”
There was a knock at the meeting room door, and Sera did not look up immediately.
“Sera? I saw you come in here. What… “
Emily stopped to stare at Sera and the baby in her arms, flabbergasted, before she gasped in delight and ran up to them.
“Oh my gosh! He’s so cute, Sera. Where did you find him?”
She paused. She wasn’t sure if she could tell her sister without going against Michael’s wish.
“... Someone gave him to me. They said they couldn’t raise him anymore and they wanted me to.” She decided that would be vague but still gave Emily enough information.
Emily nodded slowly, peering down at the young infant. “Does he have a name?”
“Not yet. Does he look like he would have a name that starts with a V?”
He made a loud babble at that, trying to reach up and grab at Emily’s hair, but she pulled away before he could, giggling.
“He’s loud. Are babies usually this loud?”
Sera shook her head. “I can’t say. Besides you, I’ve never come into contact with a young child.”
“Hmmm… “ Emily tapped her chin. The baby cooed and grabbed for her forearm, and Emily let him take it. “... How about Vox? It means voice in Latin.”
“Vox… “ Sera repeated, looking down at him. He was smiling and giggling, clearly very happy that Emily was here to entertain him. “I think it fits.”
“Awww, you’re such a cute little baby, aren’t you, Vox?” Emily gushed, reaching over and playing with his antenna.
He let out an indignant squeak, batting her hand away. Emily laughed.
“Oh my gosh, I have to go tell Abel and Peter! They’ll be super excited to know. Stay here, okay?” Emily ran over to the door, her wings fluttering with excitement behind her. Sera said nothing and let her go.
Emily shut the door, and Sera looked down at Vox again.
Since Emily had left, he had nothing to stimulate him anymore. He let out a large yawn before letting his eyes shut. Sera chuckled softly.
A few minutes before this, she had not known why Michael had called her here.
Now, she was a new mother.
— ~ —
Vox turned around in his full-length mirror, looking at himself from different angles. Did he look cool enough? The suit was new and he thought it suited him quite well, but did it look cool? Appearance was important, Sera had said. He had to be cool. Maybe he should’ve tried this on before he impulsively bought it…
“Maybe if I pop up the collar… “ He muttered, struggling only briefly with his claws, but he eventually got it. He peered closer at himself.
It sure beat his robes or sweaters that Sera liked to give him. Did it suit him, though… ? He would have to ask Emily or Peter’s opinion. They knew fashion.
He had to go to an archangel meeting today. His first one, actually. He was excited, but nervous. Would the other archangels find him cool? Would they find him loser-ish? The only archangel he knew besides himself was Abel, and by extension his dad Adam, but he was dead. He wondered if they would be like Abel; warm and gentle and soft. He had a feeling they weren’t.
He took a shaky breath and flared out his wings. His outfit was dark with yellow bits that went with his eyes. It was dark enough to stand out, but light enough that it didn’t match his wings too much. He thought he looked pretty snazzy.
But did he look snazzy enough… ?
“Vox!”
He turned to find Emily standing in the doorway of his room.
“Yeah?”
“Are you ready to go?”
“I think so… “ He glanced back at himself through the mirror. “Do I look cool enough?”
“Ummm… “ She hesitated briefly. “I mean… yeah.”
His brows furrowed. “Why’d you hesitate?”
“Oh, nothing. You just look like you might be part of a gang.” She waved a dismissive hand.
“Is that good or bad?”
“I guess it depends on how you see it.”
He fiddled a bit with the metal star hanging from the fabric that went between the two top buttons keeping his jacket together. It shimmered in the light of his screen.
“Oh, well,” Vox sighed. “I guess I won’t fuss over it anymore. Let’s go.”
“Race you!” Her wings fluttered with excitement and she raced out the door. He rolled his eyes and followed her.
“Maybe you should stop hanging around in the dark,” Emily said once they slowed and began walking next to each other. “Sera says it’s bad for you.”
“Oh, what does she know?” He placed a hand on his hip as he walked, tucking his wings to rest against his back. “I don’t like the natural light. It dulls my screen.”
“Okay, whatever you say… “
They carried on in silence as they walked. Heaven’s sun was shining brightly, so he had to half-shut his eyes so as to not hurt them. He didn’t mind the sun too much, no, it was just an inconvenience, mostly. The streets were crowded and only a few people spared him a glance. He supposed it was because he was one of the most darkly dressed in Heaven.
He fidgeted with his hands, claws clinking together. “Will Abel be there?”
Emily nodded. “He said he would! Why, are you nervous?”
He looked away, embarrassed. “No.”
“It’s okay if you’re nervous, V. I get it! Sera didn’t let me into meetings until I was bigger, too. I thought they were scary at first, but then I learned to like them. I’m sure it’ll be like that for you, too!” She encouraged, voice bright.
He sighed. “Maybe. I mean, I like talking to people. But like… multiple people? In the same room? With expectations for what I’ll be like and what I’ll say? I don’t know… “
“Hey,” She lightly punched his shoulder, and he let out a squeak. “I know you’ll do great.”
He cleared his throat, embarrassed by the sound he made despite the fact that Emily didn’t seem to care. “I guess… “
They came up to a tall building that he vaguely remembered being in before. Sera had brought him here sometimes when he was younger, just old enough to properly remember things, before she decided that having Emily, Abel, and Peter watch him would probably be better. The building was tall and sleek and kind of imposing.
“Okay, so we’ll just go up the elevator onto the top floor and we’ll be in the meeting room. I’ll leave after you get there.” Emily explained so he knew what they were doing. He vastly appreciated it.
“Okay, okay… “ He muttered as she took hold of his hand and guided him into the elevator, pressed a button, and stood idly with him.
He squeezed her hand back, trying to slow his breaths. He liked when she held his hand. It was comforting. It reminded him of when she would take him places when he was younger. She would hold his hand tight so he wouldn’t wander away. Emily was the only one besides Sera that he would let hold his hand. Admittedly, Emily was his favorite out of his three co-parents.
The elevator dinged and they exited into the meeting room. Emily let him walk in first, and he glanced over everyone to make sure he knew what he was dealing with.
Abel was there, and he waved a quiet hello to him. There were also three other men sitting at the table. One had longer, blonde hair. Another had long dark hair. The other had short blonde hair. Those were their most descriptive features, as, besides that, they all looked the same. Pale skin, circles on their cheeks, and varying tones of blue eyes.
He waved. “Hi… “
They all stared at him, and he cleared his throat awkwardly, making his way over to the seat next to Abel. Emily gave him a quick wave goodbye before she disappeared back into the elevator. He stared longingly at where she’d been, wishing she could’ve stayed with him.
“Vox, these are the other archangels,” Abel said gently. “That’s Gabriel,” He pointed to the one with long blonde hair. “That’s Raphael,” The one with long dark hair. “And that’s Uriel.” The last, with short blonde hair.
He nodded in acknowledgement.
Abel’s voice quieted slightly. “And you all might know Vox… “
“Of course we do.” Uriel spat. “How could we not? He was born on the day Michael departed.”
Abel bit his lip. “I’m sure those two events have nothing to do with each other— “
“How can you be?” Gabriel asked. His voice was significantly less hostile than Uriel’s, more questioning. “It rained that day, which it nearly never does. Michael disappeared, and Sera announced she had a son. Are all of those things coincidences?”
“Don’t accuse her of anything,” Vox spoke boldly, enraged that they would even insinuate that. “She never did any harm. Perhaps Michael was just sick of you and decided he was better off.”
They all gasped in unison. Abel kicked him hard under the table and Vox whined with pain.
“Don’t pay attention to him!” Abel’s voice rose with nervousness. “He doesn’t know the right times to speak.”
Vox frowned at him and Raphael spoke up.
“We should get on with the meeting. Gabriel, you said you had something important to say?”
“Right.” Gabriel stood up and cleared his throat. Vox felt a little more at ease due to the fact he was the one commanding attention and not Uriel. From what little he’d gotten so far, he liked Gabriel the most.
Gabriel took a breath. “Sera intended on delivering this message, but she was extremely busy today, so she relayed it to me… “
“... Hell is beginning to uprise.”
Everyone in the room gasped, but Vox just blinked dumbly at him.
He didn’t know much about Hell. He knew that it was a place for bad people to go, but not much more than that. He remembered Sera had kept him inside when Hell’s princess was visiting, and that when a sinner had gotten redeemed, she kept him away from those affairs, too. He never minded too much, he didn’t care about Hell, but he felt a little left out.
“What does that mean?” He piped up
Uriel scoffed. “What do you think it means?”
“Uriel.” Gabriel scolded, sending him a look, before fixing Vox with gentler eyes. “Well, the queen of Hell and Lucifer’s wife, Lilith, is attempting an uprising. She does not support Heaven or anything that we do to meddle with Hell. She wants to empower the sinners, but we can’t let her do that.”
“Well, what do we do to meddle with Hell?” He asked.
They all stared at him awkwardly.
Raphael was quick to change the subject. “And what are we going to do about it?”
“That’s why the meeting was called. Abel, you are the leader of the army, what do we do?” Gabriel turned to the golden-winged winner.
Army?
“Ummmm… “ Abel fidgeted with his hands. “I don’t know… we should probably do something peaceful, right? I mean, we don’t want to get too violent about it… “
“Really?” Uriel rolled his eyes. “Abel, I mean, I don’t like your dad that much, but I’d at least agree with any propositions of violence he might try. He’d probably suggest we kill them or something in this situation.”
Abel’s brows furrowed in desperation. He leaned across the table and lowered his voice, but Vox could still hear. “But isn’t that what’s causing the problem in the first place? That might just make it worse.”
“Wait, what do you mean?” Vox asked, a pit beginning to form in his stomach.
“Ugh, why did Sera let him come to this?” Uriel complained, and Vox sent him a hurt look. “If she knew what we were gonna be discussing… “
“It’s fine, Uri,” Gabriel waved a dismissive hand. “He doesn’t need to know.”
“Know what?” Vox’s voice rose. He was starting to get sick of being ignored.
“Gabriel, I say we should be peaceful about it.” Raphael interrupted. “It might show Hell that we’re on their side. We can fly down there and let them know we aren’t continuing with our ministrations.”
“Who will come?” Gabriel asked.
“Vox, for sure.” Abel asserted. “He’s good with this sort of thing.”
He smiled a little. I am?
“Sera once she’s free, Emily, too, myself, and Gabriel.”
“Why not us?” Uriel and Raphael both asked in unison.
“I think Gabriel would be a better fit. No offense.” Abel added quickly, holding up his hands.
“That’s alright,” Raphael conceded. “I will be happy to look after Heaven for the time being.”
“Fine… “ Uriel sank down in his seat and crossed his arms.
“Meeting is over!” Abel announced abruptly, standing up and clapping his hands. “I will text Emily and Sera about it. Gabriel, meet you later?”
“Of course, Abel.” Gabriel nodded.
“Come with me, Vox,” Abel said kindly, grabbing his hand and leading him out of the door instead of the elevator. He didn’t mind. Walking down the stairs might give him some needed exercise, anyway.
“That was stressful.” He said once no one was listening.
“I think you did good!” Abel chirped. “Sorry for kicking you, by the way.”
“Oh, it’s fine.” He shrugged, but he was still a little mad about that. “So… I’m going down to talk to Hell with you guys?”
“As long as Sera says it’s okay, then yeah!” Abel then shuddered. “Man, this is gonna be really nervewracking… I hope it goes well… “
Vox shared his nerves, but he was mostly excited. He was really going to get to do all of these things in one day?
Something was still nagging at him, though… What was Heaven doing to Hell that they couldn’t tell him? Why were Abel and Sera keeping it a secret from him? He already had a feeling, but he wasn’t completely sure.
Well, he was sure he’d learn soon enough.
~
“No.”
“What? Sera, please!” Vox whined, wings fluttering in indignation. “I want to go!”
“I think he should be able to come, Sera,” Abel murmured. “It would be good for him.”
Sera looked conflicted. “I don’t know… “
“He’s never been anywhere besides our realm, Sera!” Emily joined in on his support. “It would be really good for him to see Hell!”
Everyone turned their heads towards Peter to see his opinion. He spluttered, surprised.
“U— Uhm— Whatever you wish to do, Sera.”
“Oh come on, Peter!” Emily groaned.
“Would he be safe down there?” Sera asked, though it seemed she was mostly talking to herself. “I wouldn’t be able to see him hurt.”
“We’ll all keep him safe.” Abel promised.
“... Okay. I— I trust you.” She nodded, and Vox pumped his fists up in the air.
“Yesss!”
They all laughed softly before the flapping of wings caught their attention. They turned to find Gabriel swooping down and landing beside them.
“Hello,” He nodded minutely. “Are we departing?”
“Yep!” Peter came over to open the gates for them to leave. “Portals are more easily formed out here, right, Emily?”
“I can make a pretty big one for us all to fit through, yeah!”
Vox watched as Peter struggled to open the large gates for a moment before turning to Sera.
“Thank you, mom,” he murmured. “I promise I’ll be good down there.”
She smiled softly, but there was still a distant worried look in her eyes. “And you won’t get hurt?”
He shook his head. “I won’t get hurt. I can look after myself.”
Her smile grew. “Okay. I believe you.”
Something in his chest swelled happily, but there was still that lingering feeling of dread there. He couldn’t shake the feeling that this wasn’t going to go as well as he wanted.
Abel had to come over and help Peter open the gates, which Peter thanked him graciously for. Emily strained only a little making the portal just big enough for them all to fit through, but she succeeded. Vox sent her a concerned glance, but she smiled widely at him.
Vox was not prepared whatsoever for them to come out into open air, and nearly fell before his wings saved him. Sera stared at him with a frightful look, so he reassured her with a grin.
He was also not prepared for a large crowd of demons to be yelling and screaming at him.
Hell was hot. It was significantly hotter than Heaven. It was also very red and polluted. He felt as though he could choke on the air. All of the sinners were bright and colourful, but not in the way winners were. They were frightening. Some had horns, some were awfully tall, some had red eyes, most were scary creatures and shapes.
He curled into himself at the sight of all those sinners. He hid behind Gabriel. Not because he was scared, or anything. Just for… safety.
“Sinners!” Sera announced. “We have come to deliver a message.”
“The Exterminators!” Some shouted. “They’re coming to kill us!” Others yelled.
Vox’s eyes were blown wide. What were we doing to them?
Sera ignored their cries. “We will not hurt you! What your queen is telling you, that is valuable and correct, but I have come to say that we will no longer exterminate demonkind. Those days are over. I regret all I’ve done to kill you, and I hope to do better.”
Kill?
He couldn’t ever imagine Sera doing that. He couldn’t picture it in the slightest.
Vox turned to look at her, but Sera was not looking at him, only down at the crowd.
He did not consider himself a crier, but his eyes welled up with tears anyway.
A sense of betrayal stabbed his stomach like a blade.
The crowd stopped yelling, and instead began whispering to each other. That continued for a moment until one sinner yelled again.
“They’re probably lying!”
That sent the crowd into a flurry again. Some threw objects. One aimed for Gabriel, which he dodged, but that meant it hit Vox instead. It was something metal that hit his wing and drew blood. He immediately plummeted downwards with only one wing to hold him up.
He hit the ground and laid there for a moment, trying to summon the strength to get up, but it was practically no use. He figured that someone would come to get him. Sera, Abel, Emily, Gabriel… but no one did.
He heard the sound of another portal being summoned, and he strained himself to peer up. They were going back to Heaven. They hadn’t even noticed he’d fallen.
“Wait!” He tried to yell for them, but it came out quiet and raspy.
The portal closed.
“Come back… “
He curled into himself.
“Please… “
No angel noticed him. Not even one single sinner, as he had fallen to the right of the crowd instead of in the midst of it. Tears flowed down his screen. Blood leaked from his wing. Sorrow radiated from every pore in his body.
The heat of Hell seemed to almost swallow him up.