Beep…..
Beep....
Beep.....
Silence was the answer but also the enemy in General Hell Hospital, hoards of fear and lack of movement inside the operating room as the monitor continued its relieving yet mocking sound of the heartbeat that was gone not thirty minutes ago.
The only other sound was the clanking of surgical instruments on the other side of the door.
Every available surgeon, every nurse, standing at attention in the hallway as the hospital was still in lockdown at the command of Carmilla with her eyes scrutinizing these professionals while her patrol of the hallway continued for the last nine hours in anticipation for results.
She paced back and forth in front of the door during her mass release of her resources to put the hospital at her command.
She did not eat, she refused to sit or even acknowledge the Hazbin gang that was still in the waiting room and wondering when someone would give an answer.
Waiting was only part of the terror though. Charlie refused to sit next to Vaggie or acknowledge her after the heartbreaking revelation that she was a former exterminator. Both sat on opposite ends of the room, one with need to talk while the other needed to be left alone.
But still they shared the same desperation— to hear that their Noctis would be okay.
"I can't believe it." Husk grumbled with anger in his eyes as he glared at the floor. "Fucking Adam is controlling the council."
Angel Dust had the same feeling while occupying himself with texting Cherri Bomb.
"No shit. And now Noctis is fighting for his life."
Charlie bristled at that reminder and wiped her eyes as Vaggie looked to her pitifully. Both were broken in too many ways to address or fix right now.
"He will be okay." Vaggie said with what reassurance she could express.
It wasn't enough to get Charlie to respond though. She continued this justified bitterness with remaining silent and holding Max to her chest as he whimpered in sensing the distress.
The only thing to keep the pup calm mostly was a shirt of his adopted father that permeated his scent.
Vaggie waited for anything, maybe just a glance from Charlie. However her heart pitted deeper when that didn't come. She sighed and hung her head as they waited in more silence.
"Quite the menacing revelation," Alastor said casually from his seat in the waiting room, pretending to check his nails as soke of the gang looked to him. "For Adam to cause such disruption since the death of Romna is most impressive in how conniving it is."
He smiled wickedly as the room darkened under his shadow. "Reminds me of myself."
"I thought Adam was just a bloodthirsty asshole." Angel Dust exclaimed to the radio demon, carrying the motive to pass the time.
"Clearly not if he has the heaven council in fear."
"Not just that," Charlie finally spoke, which was relief to everyone as she held Max closer to her chest. "He has Michael under his control."
Angel Dust perked up to that repeated fact when they were hauling Noctis to the hospital. Even his mind was well aware of the fact that Michael was not just the top Archangel but also the leader of heaven and god's favorite son.
So how could it happen?
"Seriously Charlie, how does someone like Michael get controlled?" Angel asked skeptically.
"It's an angelic spell." Vaggie answered for the spider demon, but doing so earned her a glare from Charlie for knowing.
Then again, it was obvious she would know now that everybody was aware of her heritage.
Nevetheless of the way her heart fell into her stomach when Charlie looked at her so coldly, Vaggie kept her bearings and explained to the gang.
"It was used on exterminators in training to keep them in line, to make them the perfect soldiers."
"Did you have one?" Nifty asked curiously.
Vaggie shook her and said somberly, "No, it was used on the more rebellious trainees."
"You were just the perfect soldier." Charlie scoffed and glared away once more.
Vaggie was hurt and angry that the woman she loved was full of so much disdain, but she bit her tongue from letting out anything that would fuel the fire and looked away to see Carmilla still pacing down the hall with said surgeons and nurses swapping with another team to do the surgery with Lucifer in there.
"Fuck this." Husk grumbled down at the single bottle of liquor he brought with him but remained indifferent with the hellish waiting for Noctis' surgery.
"Husk?" Angel looked over in surprise to find the bartender corking his bottle without taking a single drop and setting it aside. "You good?"
"Can't drink." He admitted, but that was all they would get from the cat before he crossed his arms and looked away.
The others thought it was a shocker that Husk would find any reason to drink no matter the occasion, an uncaring demon that spent most of his days staying tipsy and not caring about others.
But alas the lack of care could only go so far before even a hardened soul such as himself was touched with feelings long thought drowned in alcohol. His mind swam with memories of the man and his idiotic moments that had everyone laughing.
Even someone like him.
Angel Dust could not hold himself back at this point as he clenched Noctis' bloody shirt and surrendered to the emotions burning in his heart. He leaned his head on Husk, who didnt even try to move away, and sniffled.
"You know….." the spider demon paused for a thought. "I always thought Noctis would be okay until all of this."
"Yeah, me too." Husk grumbled somberly as he stared to the hallway.
"Will Noctis be okay?" Nifty asked everyone, not even capable of hunting for cockroaches
Nobody had an answer.
As soon as the door was opened Carmilla stopped and looked inside from a distance to see the King of Hell still casting his golden power over Noctis' naked form and trying to seal the wound, struggling by the the expression she saw as the new nurse wiped his brow with a sponge.
To some surprise though she had her breath taken when the last little glimpse of Noctis showed he had new appendages chained to the ceiling to keep them put of the way for Lucifer.
Six feathery wings of a silver shimmer cast the light around from the scales that ran along the bone structure, tipped with a sheen of blue that was similar to Sera.
It occurred to Carmilla that he was changing more and more, but for it to be hapoening now was a conundrum.
"He's becoming The Leviathan more and more."
It was all she got to see before the door was shut again and the head surgeon of the first team took a breath.
He approached the overlord after catching his breath.
"Well?" Carmilla said sharply, maternal instinct blazing about her as she had no patience when it came to her child.
Said surgeon sighed and removed his mask before he told her in a somber tone.
"He's stable for now. The king was able to seal the various organ punctures but it took alot out of him. Regardless though, the boy lost alot of blood and has two ribs that were sliced apart from the chest cavity, and finally there is a complication."
Carmilla was a woman of many things and calmness was usually one of them. But hearing that there was a complication made her heart skip a beat while the others were leaning in to listen.
She clenched her fists tightly and processed with a shaky breath, fighting the urge to cry and stay both collected and strong.
"Tell me."
The surgeon nodded but hesitated for a minute with scratching the back of his head before he answered bluntly.
"He needs blood, but with no match of his blood type I can't administer a transfusion."
Everyone in the waiting room had heard that, staring worriedly from their seats. They didn't know what to do at this point. They were all here for Noctis yet so powerless in saving him. Even Carmilla was ready to burn her resources out for her child, but blood was something she could not give when the blood draw from weeks ago proved it was divine.
And nobody, not even the king himself, had divine blood.
They were all useless.
Somehow it was not just a strong wave of despair but a mockery to how little their efforts were in supporting the recovery of their friend who was still back there fighting for his life.
"No…." Charlie couldn't handle it and cried silently with her head turned away, curling up in her seat with max. "He can't die...he can't….."
"What can we do?" Carmilla asked though there was hint of desperation underneath her calm tone.
The surgeon noticed the shakiness in her fists and knew this was a delicate matter, but overlord or not he had an obligation to give the truth even to someone as frightening as Carmilla.
"Hope for the best." He answered and walked away to catch his breath.
Vaggie was in her own state of hopelessness at this point, hugging herself tightly with her head low as the tears came flowing.
Until she felt Charlie put a hand on her….
She flinched but looked up to her girlfriend. Charlie was distraught and angry for obvious reason, but the mix of sorrow drove her to take a seat and lean her head on the former angel and cry silently as the others were sharing their own tears or muttering in silence.
"I am so angry with you," Charlie kept her forehead on Vaggie's shoulder and used her free hand to hold. "But we can fight later. Just hold me."
Vaggie had so much to say and wanted to try and justify her secret, but now was not the time. Right now they needed eachother in hope that Noctis would pull through and wake up.
She lifted her arms and scooted to the princess before her arms held tightly with a whimpering Max in the middle. She looked down at the pup, his eyes filled with fear while sensing the tension in the entire room. Without hesitation she tightened around her sobbing princess and breathed her words carefully.
"It's okay Max. Daddy will be okay. Momma and mommy will make sure he is okay."
Meanwhile in Heaven…..
Sera walked the council room of their heavenly father, her eyes heavy and sunken with guilt of the transpiring evil she allowed to happen as the council watched from the orb in the center.
She circled it with hollow hope while the image showed Lucifer fighting tooth and nail with almost no energy left to close off Noctis' internal wounds with the surgery team doing all they could as extra hands.
She blinked another tear and choked on her breath while Emily walked with her in silence, holding her hand in support and hoping with her.
"We can't lose hope." The young seraph whispered, but even she was having little belief when Michael's blade did so much damage.
Sera didn't respond to that, not even a squeeze of the hand. She continued to watch the orb and see the fallen angel start panting and sweating while a nurse sponged his forehead and another was giving him a drink.
Her heart, it hurt in so many ways she never thought possible. To be denied a mother was one thing but to lose her child to one of their archangels under the control of the first man was shattering.
"Its so hard to have hope," Sera touched the orb with longing as she watched the machines and all those demon keep Noctis alive. "When I should be down there."
"Why isn't he healing?" Metatron, God's scribe, whispered to some of the angels that were just as confused.
"Because he is young." Jophiel answered them while their High Seraphim turned her gaze up to the ceiling with longing. "He doesn't know how to control his powers."
The silence went on with that answer as they turned to their leader that was now leaving with Emily.
"Sera where are you going?" Uriel looked back at the orb with his own concern, and then back at her. "We need to watch."
Sera did not answer, only disappeared down the halls to the one place she could find a shred of peace.
It was understandable when the last thing a mother wanted to see was their child on an operating table and fighting to live.
The walk was long and took her and Emily across the palace and into an altar of the heavenly father.
"Sera?" Emily looked up to her and wondered what the seraphim was thinking as she stared at the statue with need.
Sera still did not answer her in words, but something else as the council remained distant while following her. She looked up to the altar with want, no... with such need for a sign or an answer to the pain of her son hanging by a thread.
She started slow and somberly.
"~I hope that you can hear me~"
"~I pray that you can see~"
"~ Am I worthy of you to listen?~"
"~To a mother's prayer…."
She slowly walked to altar with Emily listening to her prayer, hearing the need of a broken mother.
"~Yes I am your follower~"
"~But today I am in need as a mother~"
"~I need to know if you can save~"
"~Will you answer my selfish prayer~"
She maintained her pace to the altar, each step another filler of hope that the heavenly father was listening to her.
When she reached said altar she buckled from her breaking heart and fell to her knees in surrender—not as a follower or an advocate but as a mother who needed divine help.
Emily did not have to guess or think why and kneeled as well, clasping her hands together and shutting her eyes in prayer as Sera raised her melody.
It was all the High Seraphim could do to at this point.
"~God help my son~"
"~Reborn from shards~"
"~Show him your grace~"
"~Don't let him be done~"
She took in a breath and collected her emotions, bottling the agony of her aching heart as the council moved silently into room and took their seats to listen and pray for her.
"~God save my child~"
"~Heal him from this evil~"
"~God protect my son~"
"~I hope that be your will~"
The council felt this desperation and knew Sera was at her wit's end when heaven was under her care for so long she had done everything by herself. But now she was cornered by the tyranny that passed and they understood her surrender.
Which is why they had her looking back at them in surprise when they joined her melody in a gentle choir.
"~We ask not for fame~"
"~We ask not for glory~"
"~We pray you reignite his flame~"
"~We pray in your name~"
"~To heal her son~"
"~To not let him be done~"
Sera couldn't believe the support of her colleagues and moved with a throbbing heart that she was not as alone in suffering as she thought.
She was in tears again at hearing their prayer as the altar filled more and more with her colleagues coming in and holding candles they each materialized in signifying Noctis.
Even the rest of the archangels came forward with candles and took a seat as they felt responsible for not seeing the darkness that Michael was put under by Adam.
To her biggest surprise though was how Emily stood up and stepped back to stand before her with a candle of her own and join the council in raising the prayer higher in tune.
"~We ask you give him light~"
"~We ask you give him love~"
"~We ask you shine him so bright~"
"~We ask you save from above~"
Emily then went on her own as the altar lit brighter.
"~I ask for nothing but to save my nephew~"
"~For I know he make can make heaven anew~"
"~Please save Noctis, not as The Leviathan~"
"~Please save him, as a son and a righteous man~"
"~Please deliver your grace unto him~"
"~Please protect him from Adam's Sin~"
Finally a smile crept Sera as she was overcome by their love and care for their reincarnated lord, and turned to join them in staring up to the altar and ending their prayer when Emily gave her a candle.
"Please save him....Go-o-o-o-o-d"
"Please….." Sera begged quietly and laid her candle at the first step, followed by Emily and then everyone taking their turn before they embraced her.
"We cannot give up hope!" Emily spoke up with rising hope as the council listened to her. "You all lived millenia after millenia in fear of Adam and what he can do, but Noctis stood his ground. He will pull through and Adam won't know what hit him!"
The council murmured in contemplation but slowly felt her words impact as Sera smiled in tears at her sister, listening to her continue empowering them.
"Noctis is The Leviathan, and I believe in him. I believe he can bring heaven back on track, stop Adam, and save Michael. We just need to have faith in him!"
"She's right!" Jophiel spoke up with a determination in her smile. "Before Noctis discovered what he is he spent so much time in hell and survived. Yes he had help but his strength comes from those he has in his heart."
The council nodded in agreement and murmured louder, their hope rising over the fear of Adam revealing their secrets to the public.
"He is strong!" Sera agreed, holding herself high again. "My son will not end like this, and stop Adam once and for all. We just need to have faith!"
The council started to agree in the matter, and for the first time in thousands of years there was something Sera never thought she would see in them.
Hope.
Back at the hospital
"Dad!" Charlie exclaimed and bolted out of Vaggie's arms to see the king coming out of the surgery room a sweating mess with his coat off and his shirt drenched.
Vaggie was quick to follow after handing Max off to Angel Dust and stand beside Charlie to find out the results. Their gazes lingered though on Carmilla behind Lucifer as she helped the staff wheel Noctis out and down the hall to a proper room.
Their relief wasn't as good as expected though when they saw their lover wired up and pumped with I.V's while a machine was steadying his breaths.
"He's healed." Lucifer took a deep breath and slumped against the wall as they watched Noctis disappear into another room. "But he's gonna be healing for a long time."
"But you said he was healed." Charlie pointed out and began to worry some more.
Lucifer nodded at that and did indeed bring forth his best in healing Noctis, but even he had his limits to how much damage he could heal. The rest of the gang came into the hall, seeing both girls wait with bated breath, their eyes locked on the tired king and anxious.
"Mostly healed, but what I did was basically bandaid the externals. The real damage is gonna take months."
Charlie was terrified now as she watched her father slump on the floor in defeat, exhausted as is and barely holding on while the impending doom of extermination day was getting closer with each day coming.
"Dad, we don't have months. We have one month and you're the only one who can train him!" Charlie said this fearfully.
Lucifer flinched as she this. If he had learned to heal better he could give them a fighting chance against Adam and the army, but his weakness to hating things that happen to him drove his fury in the past to harness his powers for destruction and dominance.
"Dad, please tell me there is another way to get Noctis healed quickly and get him more training."
Lucifer looked up to his daughter and narrowed his eyes suspiciously but lacked the energy to ball up fists and argue. He knew where Charlie was coming from with so much need to have Noctis ready to fight.
That didn't mean he liked it though, seeing her care so much about his power first.
"Is that all you care about?" He asked cautiously.
"No, I dont. I am scared beyond reason and I want to go in that room and just hold him." She answered and groaned with frustration to the point of yanking her own hair. "But right now I want the best chance we all have, and you know Noctis won't stand a chance against Michael and Adam."
Lucifer dragged a hand through his own hair to calm his nerves. His mind was focused again but it was also filled with fear of Adam wiping out everything he loved. He couldn't help but race his thoughts and think as he pulled back every remembering bit of logic he gained over the time of being king of hell.
He could only wonder while his daughter and her friends stared down at him if there was something or someone to...
His eyes widened.
"Dad?" Charlie knew that look and felt some hope return.
Fortunately for the princess her father was having an idea he recalled from the nobility lineage around hell and thought of one demon who had the capability to heal Noctis.
"We need dark magic." It dawned to the king like a hammer over his head, the power that can heal any wound depending on the user and their skill.
And there was one.
"Charlie—" he paused with a thrust of his hand. "Give me your phone."
Charlie flinched at that order but complied with a hesitant hand, dropping the device in his palm when she knew he was up to something.
Lucifer started making a call but looked to his daughter and spoke with no room for argument.
"You and Vaggie go tend to him. I will handle this."
"But dad—"
"Now Charlie." Lucifer pushed himself to his feet and paused as making the call, scolding her lightly. "If it were me I would be at his side loving and tending to him. Stop focusing on extermination day and focus on Noctis. I will handle it."
Charlie felt herself get irritated at the way her father was suddenly so serious and had to bite her tongue to stop herself from arguing. An audible growl came from the princess before she went to the hospital room with Vaggie and Max while the rest of their friends gathered to the king making his mysterious call.
"Got someone in mind?" Angel Dust asked as the phone rang.
Lucifer remained ever so silent with a dark outlook in his gaze as he waited for the person to answer.
"Must be a bad motherfucker if he has king shrimp quiet." Husk commented to the spider demon.
"Hello?"
Lucifer was relieved they answered and spoke with authority to the demon on the phone.
"Stolas Goetia. I am summoning you."
"WHEN THE FUCK DID HE GET WINGS!?" Vaggie shouted from the room while Charlie fell back and fainted.
Little did they know of a familiar hellhound looming in the darkness and waiting to strike.
Meanwhile in Another Domain…..
Noctis laid asleep with his head in the lap of an angel, resting on picnic blanket in a field of lush grass on a small island centered around a golden lake of various fish that were fed recently, the warmth of the light kissing his skin whilst the gentle gusts of wind blew threw his hair.
He remained still and motionless with some movement under his eyelids as a hand both gentle and loving brushed his cheek while the other was pouring tea.
A voice of the purest kindness and wisdom hummed with golden lake as he twitched to her touch, graced with her elegance and beauty that shined as she beamed warmth at his peaceful face.
"Wake up Noctis." She cooed before her beak touched his forehead with soft nuzzling. "You have so much to do for us."
Noctis opened his eyes and slowly sat up straight. He was calmer than he liked to be when the last memory he had was being stabbed by Michael in the heavenly council. He looked around to the paradise-like realm and saw the golden lake surrounding the small island.
He found himself oddly warm on his left side, as if he rested on someone, and continued to gaze before meeting the eyes of his caretaker that was in his face.
"GAAAAAHHH!!!"
He quickly stood up and shot back, or at least tried to when his balance was strangely thrown off by a strange pull in his back. He stumbled and tried to shift his weight but ultimately landed on his face as the angel giggled at his clumsiness.
"You have to be careful now that they have returned."
Noctis looked up from the picnic blanket to the beautifully statuesque angel of phoenix-like appearance with white and gold plummage. Her long lashes fluttered with her six wings behind her as she sat there enjoying his confusion, layered in her dress that flowed with the wind.
"Returned?" He asked with a raised eyebrow as she stiflled a giggle and pointed at himself.
He noticed nothing until his gaze fell to his shadow that donned six wing silhouettes, and realized to his embarrassment that something was very wrong with him besides the claws and fangs he was accustomed to by now.
He looked back on his hands and knees and saw to his shock there was six large wings firmly attached to his back, reflection a from the light with the mix of scales and feathers that twitched to his emotions. He reached back and touched one to find this was no joke or illusion.
They were real and they were his.
"Your wings have returned." She pointed out in an obvious and playful tone, watching the man remain still and processing. "It was only a matter of time after I helped Natasha fix you."
Noctis frowned at those words and snapped his gaze to to the angel.
"You fixed me?" He asked suspiciously.
Said angel nodded with that smile still beaming as she pat her lap.
"Come. We have much to discuss."
His frown deepened at her suggestion, but for now he figured that defying would be a dumb move.
Especially when he had no idea where he was.
Cautiously he crawled on all four and adjusted in the angel's lap when he found a comfortable spot without the hindrance of his new wings.
She acts as though she knows me. Then again I shouldn't be surprised after what happened in heaven.
"Here, have one." The angel held up a plate of various sandwiches while her aura levitated a cup of tea. "You must be hungry, and it will be good for your soul."
Noctis saw no meaning behind this hospitality while feeling the claws of her other hand drag though his hair, not when she revealed being his savior. But knowing he would not get anywhere with arguing he carefully took a turkey sandwich off the plate and sipped the tea with a bitter scrunch of his nose.
"Oh, is tea not to your liking?" The angel asked curiously before snapping her claws to shift his cup into a bottle of soda. "Perhaps something of your time on earth."
Noctis was not so surprised by angelic powers when he had seen so much frok both heaven and hell. However, months without a sugary substance made his taste buds kick into overdrive and he was eagerly opening the dark colored substance that was somehow cold in his hand.
The first sip was like a relief from so much withdrawal, that perfectly cold liquid that had a slightly frosty texture to it, as if it were chilled to perfect temperature.
He gasped for air after gulping half of it and watched as the bottle filled itself back up.
"Woah."
The angel giggled as he looked up to her beautiful face with so much curiosity, unfazed by the hand that now caressed him.
"Who are you?" He asked, eager to find out the truth from earlier. "And where are we?"
Her smile became strangely warm underneath her beak as she continued to swim with memories of her past with Romna, knowing he was gone but still here thanks to her efforts.
"I am The Speaker of God, and we are in my domain, my dear." She gestured to the entire world around them as it bustled with happy the life of animals roaming freely but watching them as well. "A place where we can speak in peace and help you recover spiritually."
His eyes widened at that revelation as she took the uneaten sandwich and started to feed him without room for argument.
Noctis felt the calmness of her touch wash over and he became strangely docile amongst the stress. It didn't make sense how his remembrance of the incident in heaven was pushed away with so much warmth radiating inside him as the angel continued to speak.
"And I am the one who pulled the pieces of your soul from oblivion and put them back together with Natasha."
"You did?" He asked curiously with a mouthful, subconsciously eating like a tamed animal. "Why?"
He looked up at that moment to meet her beak nuzzling the top of his head and gulped as he saw how tall she was leaning over just to give this affection.
"Yes," she replied in a motherly tone and . "Because your time with us was shortened and you are needed by all of us. "
Noctis didn't try to understand what that meant and sat there in her lap.
Suddenly an idea came to his mind and he went to ask, but was shushed by her finger pressed to his lips before he could even ask.
"You are here because I willed it." The speaker answered, surprising him with how she already knew. "You are recovering in a hospital in hell after Michael stabbed you."
"But what about Charlie and Vaggie!?" He blurted out, his calmness replaced with worry.
The speaker giggled and understood why he would be this way about his lovers. She only continued to smile before a snap of her claws materialized a projection of his physical body in a hospital bed.
Noctis stares at the image and saw he had these new wings there as well, along with a breathing machine on his face and wires all over his body while Charlie and Vaggie were on opposite ends. They were going against the doctors wishes and snuggling up to him with Max on his stomach and sleeping after a long whimpering session. It was as if they were trying to warm him up like the first time he was out cold.
Only this time it was sorrow and need as they laid there as opposing forces still from Vaggie's secret.
"Charlie I said I—"
"Don't talk to me."
"No." Noctis gasped, feeling his heart drop when Vaggie tried to touch her but was rejected with a small slap of the hand.
"Charlie no. It's not her fault!" He tried to get up and reach the image but was met with fear when The Speaker sent it away with a wave of her hand.
"Why'd you do that!?" He asked angrily, still reaching from her lap to the now nonexistent image. "They need me!"
He was silenced again by her finger to his lips and he was stopped short of his frantic thinking by the angel still acting so caring, surprise etched on his face.
"We all need you." She spoke gingerly and removed her finger.
"What?" He replied, unsure what exactly she meant.
The speaker took no other emotion with her smile and remained seated on the blanket as she fixed him in her lap.
"Heaven and hell both need you, but you are not ready to face the evils that will come, especially adam."
"Adam….." Noctis breathed that name venemously and swelled with anger at the memory of what he made Michael do.
The pain still lingered in his gut as he clenched his fist in disgust and hate, hearing the screams of Jophiel in heaven once more in his head and Charlie going hysterical before he blacked out back in the hotel.
The Speaker sensed his tension and offered a comforting hug that came with her beak rubbing against the back of his head as she felt his powers rising to the surface by his emotions.
She knew the torment he was feeling and how it would be difficult to overcome these obstacles for him to awaken more of himself should there be a chance to stop extermination day.
But at the same time this was needed...
"Why are you so angry?" She asked softly.
Noctis snapped his gaze from the calmness she offered when that question exploded every transgression he encountered in heaven and was flooded with the poisonous truth of his life.
He shot out of The Speaker's lap and turned to show the tears he had whilst trying to control his breathing through clenched teeth.
Yet she remained so calm it was almost intoxicating, especially that smile.
"Tell me your anger my child." She beckoned after standing up to face his emotions head on. "Why do you burn yourself with so much?"
"Why?" He asked before laughing bitterly. "I'll tell you why!"
The speaker waited patiently, and watched as the months of torrenting conflict about his powers coalesced into a single focus of power.
Only Charlie and Vaggie were not around to stop and calm the man down as his features sharpened.
That is exactly what The Speaker wanted though, when the fate of extermination day was now hanging between continuance or stopped.
She wanted to see Noctis for who he was as his aura radiated, and unlike everyone else she wanted to see him lash out and pour his emotions into his power.
"I thought Sera was my enemy. I thought I hated her for what she did to me but then I find out that sick fuck used her and still does, doing god knows what to her behind closed doors."
He huffed each breath of his growing anger in puffs of fire as he saw how infuriatingly calm she was.
If he knew better he would see that she wanted him to get angry. He would realize that his powers were showing again with how his hair was igniting to the pain and rage of knowing everyone he cared about was suffering because of adam.
"Sera, Charlie, Vaggie, all of heaven and hell, ITS ALL BECAUSE OF HIM!"
The speaker nodded solemnly.
"But I'm fucking powerless to stop him when he has control over Michael. I can't win!"
He spun away from the angel, his mind grasping at straws of solace to his endeavor as his emotions exploded.
"EVERYONE IS GOING TO SUFFER OR DIE BECAUSE I CAN'T FIGHT BACK!"
"And why can't you?" The Speaker asked as she approached his shaking form racked with sobs. "Who says you cannot?"
Noctis only shook his head as the anger melted into sorrowful crying. He couldn't even find the strength to answer The Speaker as she rounded to face his pitiful appearance of self-loathing. The domain illuminated with her power all of a sudden as she leaned down.
"I can't because I tried with Charlie at the meeting ..." He looked up to her gentle face as she cupped his in her hands. "And look where it got me."
She could see everything in his bloodshot eyes and felt the pain of his failure, but she wasn't going to let him drown like this.
Not when she worked too hard to help bring him back.
Tighter her hands gripped before she started, and made him see into her.
"~You think you are bested~"
"~Because your efforts were so jested~"
She suddenly flew up and illuminated the reality of heaven, showing Sera and the council in an altar and praying for him.
"~Yet you took a sta-a-a-nd~"
"~You gave hope against one ma-a-a-an~"
Noctis was both warm and moved to see the council so together as she sang, finding some bit of hope in himself as she circled him him in the air.
"~You saw there can be light ~"
"~You showed them freedom can be in sight~"
"~Now you know there is more to cost~"
"~You must keep fighting or we will have lost~"
As true as those words were, Noctis wasn't convinced of the change when he thought back to his physical form in a hospital bed. Guilt, unrelenting guilt of failing everyone, it ate him away while trying that motivation he had before whilst The Speaker cast the illusion to show the evils of extermination day for thousands of years.
She gave him image of the carnage that is Adam, and he watched with wide eyes.
"~Can you honestly back away from devastation?~"
"~When you can give us all salvation.~"
The tempo rose to a mix of horror and grief as Noctis walked through the illusion, seeing so many already dead sinners beg for mercy in a past not forgotten.
And gave his side by pouring his disbelief as she hummed behind.
"~How can anybody expect me to take a stand?~"
"~I tried already and was beaten by one man~"
"~You all expect me to bring him down."
"~When all he does is make me a clown!~"
He stopped at the sight of Adam watching a demon child be split in half by a blade, and continued moving.
"~How can I bring everyone to salvation?~"
"~When this one man has caused so much suffering and desecration!~"
He looked up to the speaker still shining above him and screamed his disbelief.
"~WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE ME!?~"
"~WHAT IS IT, WHAT DO YOU AND THE ONES I LOVE CLEARLY SEE!?~"
She brightened the domain with her rising tone of voice and power, staring down at him maternally as the music rose.
"~Because he fears the power you wield, so you must be OUR SWORD AND SHIELD!~"
"~I am no divine beast~" He responded against her with his self-pity, shaking his head vigourously as she flew down to carry him through the illusion. "~What can I do when I can't defend myself at least~"
In her embrace he was carried over the illusion and given new sight of the happiness before Adam, showing there was a heaven of joy and peace and even a hell that wasn't just a place of chaos but also repentance.
"~You must first learn to accept who you are!~"
"~Only then will you go so fa-a-a-r-r-r!~"
"~But how can I do that!?" He screamed while seeing what heaven and hell could be, future of Charlie's vision
He was spun and met face to face with her and the declaration with intensity, not knowing they rose above the clouds.
"~Think not what you were and open yourself to who you are!~"
"~Break your shell and only then can you save heaven and hell!~"
"~Open your soul to what you can be.~"
"~And deliver the justice that we can see!~"
When it finally died down, Noctis was still uncertain of himself about being what everyone needed. He opened his eyes and blinked the tears away a few times as The Speaker kept them in the air but sent away the illusion.
"You are so much more powerful then you know," she said confidently and caressed his face. "And I will get you there, if you will let me try."
Noctis knew what this meant and thought about it in silence. He looked down and wanted to say no on the spot. God how he wanted to say no and run away from it all after letting everyone down even when it wasn't his fault.
But he could not say that one word that was on the tip of tongue when the first thing to came to mind was everyone at the hotel. His friends, his lovers, his son, they all depended and needed him to step up.
Most of all, Sera needed him.
Everyone is depending on me.
He looked back up to The Speaker and showed what she was looking for beneath the fear and uncertainty.
His fire.
"When do we start?"
Meanwhile at a certain building….
"Yes I understand." A regal demon spoke over the phone in haste after having his visit ruined by the caller, still bent over and behind closed doors with his artifact in sight. "I will be there immediately, your highness."
Said demon hung up and looked back to his red skinned lover wiping his forehead and grinning confidently while the candles illuminated the room in a romantic ambience that was desired.
"Blitz I need to go."
"Go?" The imp lost his smile and scowled in confusion as their mood was ruined. "The fuck, Stolas. We just got started."
The ever so horny but royal goetia prince could not agree more that their fun was being ruined after making a random visit, but he stood up and was firm in the matter as Blitz watched him get dressed.
"I am sorry Blitzy but the king just summoned me for a private matter."
"The king!?" Blitz snapped, watching with a newfound perspective of their interrupted debauchery.
Stolas knew he was not going to get out of this now and sighed while throwing on his clothes. As much as he loved that Imp there was one inescapable factor about him nobody, not even the king, could hide from.
His nosiness.
"Yes darling, Lucifer had summoned me to a hospital location in need of healing an individual so I must take my grimoire with me."
Blitz was now taking this serious. Serious enough that he was willingly handing over the book and following Stolas out the door in just his underwear.
He even ignored his daughter snapping at him for being so naked.
Still he was skeptical of someone being so important and crossed his arms at the prince.
"What bitch could be so important that the kingly douchebag called you specifically?"
Stolas only looked back from the doorway with a seriousness so few had ever seen before.
"His daughter's consort."
Those three words alone made Blitz gawk while his daughter dropped her phone and perked up her ears.