An Unholy Alliance

Chapter 37

Naomi sat in the corner of the sofa, staring at the bowl of cherries and grapes. Should she tell Edriel? She felt like she had to.
“Samiel knows you’re here.”
“What?” Ed looked up from his book and looked over at her with wide eyes.
“He pulled me out of my first lesson, he had worked out you were here,” she said honestly. “He also thinks that I should try being civil with Michael but… yeah, he knows you’re here.”

Ed set his book down. After a few moments, he nodded. “I can live with him knowing, I guess.”
“I would have denied it but he’d already figured it out, it was kind of hard to deny. Even if I did, he’d probably know I was lying,” she said.
“No, no, it’s fine,” he said as he shook his head. “Someone would have found out eventually.”

It was quiet for a moment as Ed put down his book. “What else did you talk about?”
“I mentioned I didn’t actually know if you were a fallen angel with the wings and I asked Samiel if he was.” Naomi still didn’t know but neither did Samiel.
“What was his response?” asked Edriel, he seemed curious.
“He said he didn’t know because he hasn’t looked at his wings in ages,” said Naomi. She shifted so she was a little more comfortable and not so squished in the corner of the sofa. “So… he could be a fallen angel and no one would know.”
“And no one’s questioned it,” muttered Ed.

Naomi nodded and pushed her hair out of her face. “Are you a fallen angel?”
“Almost certainly,” said Ed with a smile. Naomi furrowed her brow and Ed noticed as he smirked. “I can’t see my wings, I don’t have any anymore. Well, I have the remains of them, I have scars. It’s how I fell.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, shuffling closer to Ed on the sofa. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“No, why not tell you?” said Edriel with a shrug. He stood and walked over so he could sit beside her. “When I went to Earth some angels ran into me. I don’t know what their powers were but somehow they had a celestial blade and they were older than me and they held me down and cut off my wings.”
Naomi’s eyes widened. “How… that’s horrible.”
“I know but those angels said that they would never return to Earth unless Father commanded them to,” said Ed. He sighed and stared off into the distance as he recounted his memories. “So I stayed on Earth, I hid and I travelled, I could still teleport and I had my powers still which was brilliant.

“A few months later I ran into one of Raphael’s students. I asked them to heal my wings and they refused. They claimed that they couldn’t do it because they hadn’t had orders from Raphael or God. It took everything to walk away but I managed it. I never asked for them to be healed every again.

“At some point, I met Ozzo. I can’t really remember now, they might though. At first it was sort of awkward, an angel and a demon on Earth?” Ed laughed and Naomi smiled a little despite how sad the story was. “Yeah, it was sort of awkward. But then we kept running into each other and Ozzo still won’t say if they did it on purpose but eventually I told them what had happened. And, eventually, as I talked with them, I realised how hateful Father was. And at some point, living in Hell instead of wandering Earth came up and I haven’t left much since. I wouldn’t want to, I do my work, I have somewhere to stay. And I have Ozzo. I’m happy here.”

Naomi just watched him for a moment and pulled him into a hug. He hugged back and smiled. Naomi was thankful she didn’t have any visions as she hugged him.
“I’m glad you’re happy and you and Ozzo do seem really happy together,” she said as she pulled away from him to sit up. Ed’s eyes looked watery. “I wished that hadn’t of happened to you.”
“We can’t change it,” said Ed with a shrug. He did look like he was on the verge of crying.
“But still, it shouldn’t have ever happened,” she said.

It was horrible to think that people, that angels could do that. She knew humans could be cruel and she had been told fallen angels had a tendency to be more destructive and cruel than angels but so far, she had seen the opposite.

Ed stood up and turned away from her. Naomi watched with a furrowed brow as the stumps of his wings sprouted from his back. It looked painful and they hadn’t been cut gently. The scars on them were jagged and very prominent. She frowned.
“It looks painful.”
“It’s not anymore,” he said quietly. “Not very often, at least.” They vanished as he turned around and Naomi looked down.
“I can’t believe angels did that to you,” she said.

Ed softly smiled and Naomi stood up. She felt it was only fair and her wings unfolded from her back. He stared at them with curiosity.
“I can see why Lucifer thinks your special,” he said quietly. “Are you ashamed of them?”
Naomi went to answer and opened her mouth but shut it again as she wasn’t sure on what to say. “I don’t know. Are you?”
“Not anymore,” he said. “But I was for a long time.”

Naomi hummed. She hadn’t really thought about it, she forgot about her wings most of the time now even though she could remember a time when having wings was all she ever wanted.
“I don’t know, I don’t really think about it,” she said honestly. “Maybe I am, a little. Maybe that’s why I ignore them.”
“Perhaps,” he said with a small shrug. Naomi watched as he wiped his eyes and cheeks with his sleeve.

“But you shouldn’t be ashamed,” said Ed as he smile. You are a wonderful person and the state of your wings has nothing to do with it. Personally, I think they’re amazing, no one else has those wings and they look so… interesting and cool.” Somehow, Naomi wasn’t surprised that he found them interesting and cool.
“Are you saying that because they look gothic or…?” she asked with a small smile.
Ed laughed. “Maybe, does it matter?”
Naomi stared at him and shook her head. “No. It doesn’t matter.” Her wings folded back in and vanished. She smiled. “Thank you.” He just smiled back.