Darned to Heck

Heaven

~Heaven~

"Sir!Sir!"

I sighed heavily and laid down my book. I had taken the young angel Iaoel under my wing less than three suns ago, and despite being an archangel of patience even I was finding it testing to guide this fluttering mess.

"Yes Iaoel, what is troubling you this time?"

"Sir!" He repeated again, stumbling in a most graceful manner into my office, clutching a mess of scrolls and papers to his chest. "I know you told me to stay with Tabris today and learn the scriptures but there is something really important I need to tell you!"

"Firstly, you need to calm yourself Iaoel, remember what we discussed."

I watched as he very visibly took two deep breaths, his brow furrowing with the effort of organising his fleeting thoughts. He managed to still his body, but the tips of the feathers on his wings still quivered with excitement.

"Very good, now, what is it that you need to tell me?"

"A demon sir!"

"What about a demon Iaoel?"

"IwasinthelibrarylikeyousaidandmeandTabriswerelearningthescripturesandthenIheardJoshuaandKerubieltalkingandthereisademonsir!"

"Breath Iaoel," I stressed, rubbing my temples as I worked to push away the annoyance that this young angel caused me. "I cannot understand a word you are saying."

"Sir," he paused with obvious effort "I heard Joshua say that there was a Saith in the underworld, he said...he said that they had come back to-"

"A what?" I cut him off sharply.

"A Saith and he said that-"

"Impossible, there are no Saiths, they were cleansed millennia ago."

"I know sir but..."

He fell quiet under my disapproving gaze and I stood from my desk to walk over to him. "Now tell me," I began "how it could be even remotely possible that a Saith, which we both agree are no longer in existence..." I paused, waiting for him to nod. His blue eyes swam with quiet uncertainty. "Could have reappeared in the underworld."

"I-I don't know sir... but it's not just Joshua it was seen, Remiel he saw it in the future."

"Remiel." I repeated, recalling the young angel whose powers of vision were quite remarkable already despite his age. I sighed slightly "I will go to see Remiel myself to put an end to these rumours, I don't want you to speak of this to anyone else, do you understand me? There is no need to perpetuate this childishness any further."

Iaoel nodded again, seeming satisfied that he had at least convinced me to look into this matter for myself. I made a mental note to work on his naivety among other things whilst he was under my apprenticeship and with a single beat of my white feathered wings was out of my office and on my way to question the young seer.

___________________________
~Hell~

"stupid stupid STUPID!" I yelled, catapulting a Doberman sized chunk of rock from one wall to the other. I stood in one of the many courtyards of the Royal Palace, continually smashing large pieces of rock into walls, doors, and anything else that looked like it would be satisfying to break. Maybe I wouldn't have been so bothered before, well before I became half rock. It's not like I had ever met my people, the war had been thousands of years before I was even born and I hadn't known anything about it until a few hours ago. But it wasn't just my own anger that filled me now, it was an ancient blood lust that filtered from my very bones. The rock had had its people ripped away from it, every single one of them apart from me, and it was burning for revenge. My conversation with Belphegor had reopened some very old wounds.