Extinguish (23 page)

The two smacked the ground hard, the earth giving way beneath them. Angels and demons alike, caught in the midst of battle, plummeted into a canyon created from the force of the blow. Water from the Red Sea rushed forth, filling it, the red filth coating them. The flames of the sword extinguished momentarily, reigniting as
Michael pulled away from Luce and held it up, a lightning bolt striking it from the sky.

"Give up," Michael spat. "Go to Hell."

A slow smile spread across Luce’s lips. "I’m still there. I just brought it to you."

Michael lunged for him, the two of them plunging underwater, strug
gling for control again. Luce pulled out his gold knife and thrust it at Michael, slicing at his clothes, but he couldn’t break his skin. Round and round they went, engulfed in a test of will and strength. As soon as one would get the upper hand—the chance to plunge their blade into the other’s chest, to annihilate the life force inside of them—the other would get a burst of strength and overpower them.

Equally matched in skill, equally driven by motivation.

A battle that lasted mere hours the first time—a battle between two brothers, two Archangels: one dark, one light—continued nonstop for days. There was no end in sight, no sign of either letting up, as the bigger battle continued to wage around them. Countless humans were slaughtered, some by demons, others by the angels themselves as they purged the evil spirits from bodies by physical force. Through it all, Luce’s power thrived, every innocent casualty sparking something inside of him, the monster rising up and taking control.

Michael shoved away from Luce
eventually, throwing him yards away and into another angel. The angel tried to get his hands on Luce, but he thrust his gold knife into him before he could. A vast explosion went off as Grace erupted from his chest, briefly swaddling Luce like a blanket.

He closed his eyes, savoring the sensation
. Oh, how he loved that feeling. . .

"I exorcise thee, O Creature of Water, by Him Who hath created
thee. . ."

Luce
’s eyes shot open, seeking out Michael instantly. "Holy Water? Really?"

".
. .and gathered thee together into one place so that the dry land appeared, that thou uncover all the deceits of the Enemy, and that thou cast out from thee all the impurities. . ."

"
It’s not going to work," Luce spat. "In case you haven’t noticed, Prince, your sea is poisoned with blood. It’s water no more."

Michael stopped his blessing. He held his free hand on the surface of the water, a glow emanating from him and spreading through the sea around him. The
murky red faded, clearing to a crystal blue.

A b
itter laughter tore from Luce’s chest. He narrowed his eyes, anger rushing from him. The sea around him stirred and started bubbling, thickening and boiling as steam rose into the sky. As soon as Michael purified a portion, Luce turned it right back to contaminated sludge.

"You took it all from me," Luc
e seethed. "So now, I take it all from you. Your land, your sea, your humans . . . your
lover
."

For the first time in his existence, Michael’s eyes clouded
with rage, darkening like dripping ink. Luce stood tall, raising his eyebrows in challenge as he smirked tauntingly.

Game on
, motherfucker.

He waited for his brother to attack again, to be overcome with wrath and succumb to the vengeful, overpowering sin, but his eyes lightened again almost immediately.

Before he could say another thing, Michael vanished from sight.

Startled, Luce
stared at the empty water in front of him, straining to feel Michael in the atmosphere. It was faint, but he could sense his brother far away, still Earthbound.

Luce
immediately followed. As soon as he materialized in front of Michael, Michael vanished again in a crack of electricity. Luce continued to follow, stalking him from place to place, barely getting a view of him before he zapped someplace else. Confusion ran through Luce as he tried to make sense of his brother’s seemingly cowardly act—running from the enemy, avoiding confrontation—when he popped up somewhere that answered it all.

Chorizon
.

Serah headed outside into the chilly air, strolling quietly away from the abandoned community center. The dark sky swirled, the red clouds thicker than before, more imposing. It was getting worse, she knew. The world was dying around her, and she could do nothing to stop it.

She stepped into the street, heading for the playground, when a crack of electricity rocked the air behind her.

"Luce—" She turned, cutting off mid-name when her eyes fell upon the glowing sword of fire. "Michael."

He towered above her, his expression hard as he swung the sword in her direction. She instantly backed up a few steps, her heart stalling for a few beats as she stared at the scorching blade.

"I, uh. . ."

"Do not speak," he commanded, moving toward her as she retreated more. "Nothing you say will absolve you of responsibility. You shamed yourself. You shamed the world. You shamed
me
. And for that, you must be held accountable."

Another crack echoed down the street. Serah’s eyes darted that direction, her gaze falling upon Lucifer. Before she could look back at Michael, panicked, she was overpowered, viciously thrown to the hard asphalt. Michael's foot slammed into her chest, knocking the air from her lungs. She gasped, tears springing to her eyes, as the blade of the sword pressed against the dip in the throat. She swallowed thickly, feeling it almost pierce the skin.

"Have you come to watch, Satan?" Michael’s gaze remained on Serah as he addressed his brother. "Come to bask in the glow of her Grace one last time?"

"And they say
I’m
the cruel one," Lucifer said. "You’re supposed to be merciful when you take their wings."

"Oh, I have no intention of taking her wings," Michael said.

Lucifer’s brow furrowed. "No?"

Michael shook his head. "No."

Hope washed through Serah, energizing her, but it faded quickly as Michael’s sword trailed along her skin, away from her throat. He pressed it against her chest, over her racing heart, the burning blade ever so slightly slicing the skin.

"Don’t do it!" Lucifer howled, his livid voice vibrating the structures surrounding them. "Stop!"

A scream tore from Serah, and she arched her back as the flames intensified, burning away at her flesh. Searing pain ran through her body, scorching lava pooling deep inside of her where blood should be. Her skin bubbled and blistered bright red as the black char mark formed, the ritualistic symbol carved into her chest.

She writhed on the ground, the ferocious sting building and building inside of her, overtaking all of her senses. Her vision blurred, tears streaming down her cheeks and splattering the cold asphalt. Her chest felt like it would explode, light collecting in the area of the wound and streaming out through her skin, the mark pulsating with the beat of her heart.

Lucifer was upon her in the blink of an eye, crouching beside her on the ground. He pulled her into his arms, cradling her. His thumbs brushed along her cheeks, wiping away her tears. When he pulled his hands away, she saw they were covered in red.

She was crying blood.

"Am I dying?" she asked, the words barely audible. She stared up in the sky as a ruddy cloud was swallowed by sheer blackness.

A reaper, she realized.

"Fix this!" Lucifer demanded. "Fix it
now
!"

"It’s time you learn a lesson in humility," Michael said. "You can’t command me. You have no hold on me. You are nothing to me.
Nothing
."

"That may be true, Prince, but it’s not for me. Do it for
her
."

"Why?"

"Because she’s not
nothing
to you! You love her!"

"Not anymore."

"You can lie to yourself, and everyone else, but you can’t lie to me, Michael," Lucifer sneered. "We’re connected—always have been, and always will be. And I know you love her, brother, because I can
feel
it. I feel it in every beat of my fucked-up heart. I feel it every time I look at her, or smell her, or am within twenty feet of her."

"You’re wrong," Michael insisted.

"Stop this!" Lucifer yelled. "Don’t punish her for what I’ve done!"

"Why?"

"Because. . ." A growl ripped from Lucifer’s chest. "Because maybe
I
fucking love her, okay?"

"Impossible," Michael said. "You're incapable of love."

"And you're fucking blind," Lucifer spat. "How easily you flip a switch. I can accept you turning your back on me, but her? She's done nothing but show compassion for everyone!"

"She succumbed to your evil!"

"No, she looked past it!" he spat. "She found something in me, something no one else could see. She cared, when no one else gave a damn. She tried, when everyone else said it was pointless. And you discard her! You damn her to an eternity in Hell for it!"

"You wanted her, Satan? You can have her." Not a speck of emotion could be found in Michael’s voice. "Let her forever exist in the lake of fire, trapped between the living and the dead like you."

Michael took a step back, giving her a lingering glance before slowly closing his eyes and turning away. He vanished in a crack of thunder.

"Michael!" Lucifer howled, his voice cracking as emotion poured from his chest. "Come back here!"

"I
am
dying," Serah whispered as more blackness overtook the sky. "The reapers have come."

Lucifer groaned, before screaming again. "I know you can hear me! Don’t ignore me!"

"It’s okay," Serah said, turning her head slightly to look at Lucifer. His face was turned to the sky, blocked from her view. "Look at me, Luce. It’s okay."

Lucifer glanced down. Shock ran through Serah in waves when she saw his eyes were glossed over. His expression contradicted the sadness in his eyes, his lip curling as he bared his teeth. "It’s not okay!" His attention darted upward again, and Serah’s gaze followed his. The reapers had quadrupled in a matter of seconds. "Michael! Fucking show yourself!"

Through the haze of her vision, she could see a few fluffy, white flakes drifting from the sky, like tiny balls of cotton. Snow.

You have until the snow falls on you to establish the truce.

"It’s too late," Serah whispered. The wind stirred, blowing viciously. Screeching ripped through the air as the blackness swirled wildly, menacing and unyielding. Thousands of reapers had now taken to the sky above. They circled, moving closer and closer, a descending cyclone of death. Serah stared at them, her body trembling as her teeth chattered. "It’s over."

"It’s not," Lucifer ground out. "Not yet."

"I’m dying."

"You’re not," he said, pausing before adding, "but you will."

Lucifer grabbed his gold knife and grasped it tightly, his face contorted with agony. Serah’s gaze turned to him, but she didn’t have time to make sense of anything. He closed his eyes, muttering under his breath, "So help me God," before fiercely plunging the blade in her chest.

Suddenly, the pain erupted inside of Serah, a vibrant ball of light bursting from her chest. All around her, everything exploded into flames. Every speck of color swirled together, morphing and mixing, turning to dull gray. It faded to scorching white pain before being overrun by blackness as numbness swallowed Serah whole.

The last thing she heard, as she slipped into the darkness, was the telltale crack of thunder ripping across the sky, notifying the world:

Another angel had fallen today.