The Bishop paced around for a moment, looking at the house unimpressed. Then, finally, she grabbed an ashtray from the counter and examined the object. It was dusty and unused, like this house’s other items–a mere facade for the hunters to hide in plain sight. As Kristensen put the ashtray back, she turned to Gabriel. “You know, back in the day, I opposed your training of Octavia; despite her lineage and potential, her history had been too convoluted. She had grown up in chaos and instability among those crude bikers, trailer parks and gutters. She had a violent father and a substance abuser for a mother. But you still convinced the rest of the Council to let you take her in. Perhaps now that she has gone rogue, you will see I was right all along.”
“All I did was explain to the Council that we need hunters in our team who are in contact with the worst in the world of mortals. They are formidable and passionate. The spark of divinity within them burns bright. They know what suffering is and never forget the cause they defend. Besides, Octavia hasn’t gone rogue; she is on an assignment looking for her lost Divinum arrows. We’ve lost contact like this before, and I am positive she will report soon.” Gabriel tried to assure his superior.
“Divinium arrows she misplaced herself in a reckless attack that could have killed a mother and a daughter.”
“She assessed that they were corrupted beyond redemption at the time and turned into vassals for the Camb….” Gabriel tried to answer, but he was shouted down by his superior.
“SILENCE! She couldn’t have possibly been certain of it unless meeting them face to face. I read the report details. No one’s Divine sight is that accurate from such a distance. Those excuses for your failure may work on others, but not me. I expect nothing but excellence from you, Gabriel! Because you have set those expectations over a century of flawless execution. I refuse to believe your best days are behind you. You will maintain those standards, even if it means Octavia has to be removed from the field or cut loose from this organization for good.”
Gabriel’s eyes opened wide as he stared in disbelief at Bishop Kristensen, “You don’t mean… Octavia has done nothing to earn such a response from The Rise. Unless there is something I am ignorant of, your eminence?”
The Bishop was silent. She watched as the two men emerged from the back corridor dragging a heavily pregnant Aisha, kicking and screaming. They walked out of the house and took her to the car; Kristensen continued, “It’s not what she has done. It is what she will do. Your history with her, Gabriel, has been foreseen by The Prophets. There is much you don’t know. Whispers in the higher halls of The Rise.”
Gabriel shook his head, trying to wrap his mind around the information, “So, a prophecy decides her fate, just like that? I do not mean to overstep my rank, your eminence. But when have we become so quick to turn on our own?”
“My allegiance is to the Celestial Rise, its preservation and continued efforts to protect humanity from the forces of darkness. No one’s life comes before that, not even mine. And certainly not Octavia’s!”
“With the utmost respect, your eminence, you are talking about ending a spark because of vague, ancient tales that may never come to pass. I find it… unfair” Gabriel exercised great moderation and patience, even under such circumstances.
“Then rectify this situation by finding her and bringing her before The Rise for debriefing. And with the Divinum. If you are right about her, there is nothing to be feared.”
Gabriel nodded and bowed slightly, reaching to grab the Bishop’s hand. She delicately placed her hand by his, watching as he kissed her ring again, “I shall not fail.”
The Bishop nodded, “I’ll judge that. May God be with you, Gabriel”. She walked out of the house, her guards following. Gabriel took a deep breath as he finally was able to relax. For a moment, he just paced around, recomposing himself in reflection.
He grabbed his old flip-phone, an ancient device by today’s standards. He began frantically writing a message on the button keyboard: “Come in. Bishop Kristensen is involved. We need you to report with the arrows NOW or face dire consequences!” After sending, he briefly looked at the history with half a dozen similar messages sent in the past two days, but no response from Octavia.
Gabriel sat back on the sofa, sighing in frustration, maybe it would help if he could get his head out of this problem for a moment. He turned on the TV, flipping through several channels until the view of a burning building held his attention. The narrator explained how this old building at the glades had caught on fire in the morning, and they were still controlling the flames. He then commented about how the fire could have been criminal, as witnesses saw a strange viral video of some “monster woman” leaving the scene.
The footage cut to a shaking cell phone video made by a spectator at the front door of the building, smoking from the middle to the top. A naked, apparently pregnant, woman ran out through the smoke by the lobby. She exited through the front door, running to the next alley. The camera followed her as the voice behind the recording laughed, then commented on how she could have put on some clothes before evacuating.
The screen suddenly shook as it briefly turned back to the building entrance. It caught a glimpse of a tall, pale, tattooed woman with an impossibly voluptuous body. Something big, yet blurred in the footage, hung between her legs. She approached with a swaying gait, stunning the person behind the phone. The footage ended in the face of a beautiful woman with glowing yellow eyes and dark, short hair as she grabbed the cell phone and crushed it. She also seemed to have a pair of black, curved horns protruding from her head.
The news anchor commented on her elaborate “costume” and how she destroyed the phone, unaware that the video was uploaded to the cloud. The video paused on that image of the woman’s face behind the news anchor; Gabriel was sure it was a succubus. But that wasn’t Kristanna. “A new player in town”, he whispered to himself.
He quickly got up from the sofa, gathering his gear as he attentively listened to the news report, getting the building address and all details he could about the incident. Two demons in such a small town would certainly know of each other. It was time to get some results.
———————————————–
Across town, Octavia looked down at her glowing phone. She read another of Gabriel’s messages, this one with a more threatening tone than all others before.”Come in. Bishop Kristensen is involved. We need you to report with the arrows NOW or face dire consequences!”
Rolling her eyes at the mention of Bishop Kristensen, Octavia closed her flip-phone, as much of a relic as Gabriel’s, and put it on the nightstand. Her head turned to the other side, seeing Gweneth lying in bed naked, still asleep, partially covered by sheets. Affection and love flooded Octavia’s heart. But those feelings were quickly replaced by regret, guilt and sadness. Finally, she felt anger, not at Gwen, but at herself, for being a coward and going away, for being ashamed of her feelings and falling for the “tales of glory” told by Gabriel and The Rise.
Octavia realized that life as a demon hunter had caused her to build such high walls around her true feelings that she could barely recognize love anymore. She observed the lines on Gwen’s face carefully, revealing her age, something foreign to Octavia. She saw the dark circles under her eyes, bearing her stress, exhaustion, the hallmarks of her mortality and a life of struggle.
It crushed Octavia’s soul to have missed the life she could have had with Gwen. She was back now, but the thought that it may already be too late kept haunting her mind. She gave up their best years, and for what? To kill some demons who were just going about their business? To cause little to no impact in the world as a whole and see the church, faith, and everything she fought for fall apart despite her efforts? The realization weighed heavily. She had dedicated a lifetime to pleasing some fancy-dressed Bishops and priests she saw once every five years. Those thoughts consumed her, rolling in her head without interval until Gwen opened her eyes.
“Watching me sleep? Creepy, even for a demon hunter.” She said with a mocking tone.
Octavia chuckled, raising her arm and placing it around Gwen’s shoulder, bringing her close. Gwen rested her cheek on Octavia’s bare chest, feeling the softness of her breasts and the perfume on her skin. Nostalgic feelings from decades ago came rushing forward. No matter how many times Octavia had explained about her divine spark, it was still incredible how she was the same even after all those years.
“Now that you know the truth, are you still angry at me, Gwen?” Octavia asked, almost unable to believe that they were together again.
Gwen looked up at Octavia, whispering in her sleepy voice, “Of course I am. I’ve been angry at you for two decades at least.” The direct answer surprised Octavia, especially when said in such a casual tone. Gwen cleared her eyes with her hands and continued, “But at the same time, I stopped my life after you left. The bar, you must have noticed, hasn’t been doing well. It’s no longer the hot spot it was; I should have closed ten years ago, filed for bankruptcy, or done something else. But I took loans, and I sucked the right cocks, everything I had to do to keep this place running.”
Octavia couldn’t even breathe as she heard the story told so casually by Gwen’s soft voice, “I couldn’t leave because deep down I was waiting for you to come back. Leaving this place, and moving on would’ve meant leaving you behind, and I could never bring myself to do it.”
Gwen turned her head up and looked Octavia in the eyes, “So yes, I was angry at you and still am. But simultaneously, I’ve wished for you to come through that door for over two decades. It’s kind of pathetic when I think about it, but it’s the truth.”
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