If Only In Our Dreams

Chapter 7 - Judgement

For the following three weeks after his denial to return home, Eekainine found himself living among a group of angels on a demonic hunt down on Earth. Although the work of angelic forces was kept disguised and hidden from human knowledge, it was absolutely not uncommon for them to protect the spread of evil by tracking and hunting demons on the surface of Earth. As an Elder, Eekainine actually worked close and personally with a majority of the leaders of those missions. Being a warrior was seen as a high honor within their society, and the hybrid had always made a big deal about being part of their cause.

The mission groups typically scouted areas in small groups of ten to twelve warriors per group. Each angel sent out was, naturally, a fierce warrior and fighter that could defend themselves, but each group also contained angels with specialized talents or skills. Having at least a couple medics on hand was an absolute necessity. After all, not every fight with a demon had everyone walking away unscathed. Warriors with specialized magic knowledge were also in high demand for these mission groups since demons are naturally more diverse than angels, and being able to perform different magics and spells sometimes determined the outcome of a fight rather than using only strength to battle those demons. The more variety of specialized angels a mission had, the success rate was significantly higher than groups that were unable to fight darker magics.

These mission groups were sent out anywhere they were needed, regardless of location down on Earth. They were stationed everywhere and anywhere that a demon had been spotted, or an unusual amount of darkness and evil had been reported. And when Eekainine had found himself in that situation where he had nowhere to go, forced to survive on Earth on his own with no help or even an idea of where he had landed in the world, he happened to stumble upon one of those missions. Knowing exactly who the hybrid was and what his situation was, the leader of that group mercifully took Eekainine in with his group under the condition that the Earthbound Elder helped with the mission and worked with them for however long he was grounded to the realm of the humans.

Since he had conveniently found himself located on the outskirts of France with the group he had promised to assist, there was plenty of work to be done. Which meant that time flew by quicker than if the hybrid were to simply wander the world until word of his case got back to him. During the few weeks of Earthbound captivity, Eekainine helped exile 31 lower class demons and 4 middle class. The numbers they were dealing with were well enough to keep the hybrid's troubled mind off of not having spoken or seen his fiance since before Halloween. After all, he'd be useless in a fight to the death with a demon if he wasn't completely invested in the task at hand. There were a couple instances where a set of claws were placed at his throat due to a momentary lapse of zoning out and remembering what he had done and why he was in that current situation in the first place.

The only times Eekainine had a chance to truly reflect on his situation was during meal times at the end of the day, and when he would lay down under the starry night sky, tossing and turning within the bundled mess of blankets he was given to sleep with. He learned to dread the night time due to his restlessness. It became a ritual that he tried avoiding at all costs, but was inevitable in the end. Even his dreams soon began reminding him of the deeds he had done. Memories slowly seeped into his unconscious mind, night by night revealing what sort of reckless slaughters the darker half of his soul was capable of, what that darker half had done. Eekainine would awaken in a cold sweat, the screams and pleas of those victims still ringing in his ears. He was forced to greet the angels of the mission every morning after waking from those nightmares as if he wasn't still hearing those screams. He was forced to fight demons day by day, realizing how hypocritical it was to kill those demons that were committing the same exact acts that he had done not too long ago, yet he was still allowed to walk the face of the Earth.