Road to Eden | ONC 2022

1 - Azazel

"I must say that I am impressed. I never thought that a demon would be gusty enough to enter Arcadia unprotected."

Azazel reluctantly interrupted his contemplation of the translucent magnolia tree — the way the moonlight reflected and refracted through the flowers was riveting, and he had spent the last ten minutes trying to predict the path of the light — and turned toward the direction the voice had come from. The only source of light in this remote corner of the gardens of the imperial castle of Arcadia was the starry sky up above and the glistening magnolia tree behind him. 

Arcadia was a pretty average human planet, very reminiscent of Gaia and filled with modern cities and settlements. The gardens of the imperial castle of Arcadia in the capital of the same were special. Filled with unique plants, its meandering alley made each visit unique.

Thanks to his enhanced vision, he was able to discern the figure hidden in the shadows of the high bushes that surrounded them. The figure, cloaked and hooded in ink blue, stood a few feet away in the middle of the path.

"Between the two of us, you seem more out of place," he answered.

"You are not even going to refute it, then? Are you really a demon?" The stranger's voice was smooth and silvery, a little hollow, probably because of the mask they wore over their face.

"A demon? Me?" He pointed at his face. "With these angel-like features?"

"So, are you saying that you are an angel ?" The figure scoffed.

"I am saying that if angels were chosen based on looks, I could make it to the archangel rank."

The figure let out a half laughing, half scoffing sound.

"Even if you can fool the humans with this deceptively charming appearance, angels can see your true form."

He grinned.

"Oh, so you do find me charming" He stepped forward to bring his face closer to the stranger and get a whiff of their scent. He was still struggling to figure out their identity. The heartbeats were so low that he could barely pick them out amongst the low hum of the nocturnal lives. That ruled out humans. The stranger pretended to be an angel but lacked their uprightness and uptightness. That only left him with either a demon or an alien. The figure's shape was humanoid enough, so he settled on a demon.

One of my brothers got bored on Caidos and sent a lower-class demon to bother me. He guessed.

His birthday was coming up, and this probably counted as brotherly love in the demon realm. As long as they didn't discover that he had sneaked out to the human realm, he might be able to live through his next birthday.

A gust of wind flew in the gap between the two of them and made the cloak's hood fall. Azazel barely took a sniff before the stranger reacted by jumping back. Their long ebony curls, freed from the hood fabric, fluttered in the night breeze.

He was mesmerized for exactly one second before he took a step back and assumed a defensive form — arms both outstretched, palm facing the stranger, eyes locked on them.

That was definitely an angel.

The golden strands in the heap of curls — though surprisingly few for a seemingly young creature — were undeniable proof that he was facing an angel. He concentrated on his sense of hearing and smell to detect the presence of other angels. They liked to move in groups. He could hear the heartbeats of humans coming from different corners of the enormous garden but nothing else. He was relieved to realize that they were pretty far away from any living creature.

"So, are you going to tell me what you are doing here now?" The angel's eyes — the only part of her face he could see through the masquerade mask she was wearing — were fixed on Azazel. She appeared relaxed. Yet, he could feel that she was ready to react to any of his movements.

"I am pretty sure that I am allowed to be here. Again, you are more suspicious. What's up with the cheap mask? Also, why do you have so little golden hair, are you balding?" Azazel's voice grew firmer as he listed all his suspicions, maybe this was a demon in disguise after all. "What kind of angel walks alone and talks like a harpy? You can get into a lot of trouble for cosplaying an angel. And finally this" — Azazel pointed towards the electronic monocle that was attached to his left ear and whose transparent clear screen was hovering in front of his left eye — "it's against intergalactic rules to not wear a mindfilter on human territory. How will the human know if you are an angel or a demon?" He crossed his arms proudly before finishing. "So, Ms. Fake angel, you better disappear before I report you."

"Fake?" She said the word as if she didn't know what it meant. She smirked, Azazel guessed from the way the muscle in her neck moved. He did not like that reaction.

She swiftly removed her mask. Her features were pretty plain even for an angel: dark brown eyes, round freckles on her cheeks. He was glad that he couldn't recognize her, since the only angels he had been forced to memorize were pretty strong. He was about to speak up again when the change happened.

The dark pupils in her eyes turned white and grew bigger until it took up her whole iris. Her eyes shone like the full headlights of an aerocar.

He knew what was happening. The angel was using the All-seeing-eye, an annoying ability that allowed to collect a lot of information about the target. He had never seen it and had trained to counter it. It was simple to do, the angel was defenceless while using this ability. A single hit would suffice. Still, he was rooted to his spot, mesmerized. It was much more powerful than the knockoff version he had been shown and taught.

The light faded after a few moments. He mentally reassured himself. If she can only use it for a few seconds, she won't be able to collect a lot of information. The angel with the now light grey eyes stared at him. Her posture seemed more severe now, more rigid, and he knew instinctively that it would be very challenging to get out of this situation quietly.

"What are you doing in Arcadia, Azazel, son of Asmodeus?"

Authors Notes:

WC Chapter: 1080

WC Total: 1080

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