They chained me in the palace of the Heavenly Court. Pinioned my wings and shackled my limbs. The darkness of the prison cell tortured me as much as the binding fetters. Angels weren't meant to be chained and caged in darkness. I feared this was my eternal punishment for rebelling against them.
The only light was the soul of my son.
He'd visit me whenever he could, a beacon among the shadows. I'd get as close to the prison bars as the chains let me, reaching my fettered hand through the bars to touch him. Hold his hand, caress his cheek. My darling boy. A child should never see their parent like this. Was he ashamed of me?
He told me he wasn't, that he was proud of me and I did the right thing. Every time he visited me, he whispered I didn't deserve this. I wiped the tears from his face, holding him until the guards came and took him away, curling up miserably and rattling my bounds. He was the only solace in all of this. If they stopped letting him visit, then I would truly give into despair. Hell itself would be a relief.
I feared it came to fruition when a soul entered the prison, and it wasn't my son. "Don't be afraid, I want to help you." It was a human woman, she stood at the bars, a bright light. I growled startled, hissing as my chains rattled from shuffling towards the bars on all fours. No mortal should see an angel like this. The guards propped their spears at ready.
When I looked at her soul, I recognized her. "You remember me don't you?" The soul said with a motherly warmth. "You saved me during that blizzard. My husband said it was you, but I never believed him. Not until now. In life I was a doctor, I wanted to heal people, but they didn't understand me. Humans fear what they don't understand." I heard the awe in her voice. "You're beautiful." I hissed when she reached a hand toward me, but lowered myself and reached for her. Her hand was like a child's in my large clawed one.
"They were wrong for locking you up and caging you like a beast. What you did wasn't a crime. I've spoken with them, and with your son. I think I've convinced them to lighten your punishment. It's a miracle they were willing to hear me out."
I cocked my head and chittered like a bird.
"I needed to, it's really my fault you were imprisoned at all. If they hadn't burned me..." She cut herself short. "Don't give up hope. We'll figure this out, Valerius and I. He's safe, Uriel and Azrael are working with him. Those two think fondly of you, and the fact you have some of the great Archangels on your side is a good sign. Whatever may happen, it's going to be all right. Don't give up hope while it still remains."
She was right. When I stood among the hierarchy, she vouched for me. They listened. I was still punished, however. I was to walk among Earth in human flesh and protect her living son. Guard him and learn from him, like a Guardian would. Easy enough, little below my social status, maybe, but doable, and way better than languishing chained in that cell.
However, there was a catch.
In this task not only would I be locked in human form, but bereft of my memory. I wouldn't remember anything, not the things I've done nor the people I've loved.
I nearly wept, but my son embraced me, saying it was okay. Even if I forgot him, he would never forget me, and he would always love me. I made sure he was the last thing I saw when Gabriel burned my wings and cast me from the heavens for good.
The last words I heard in my old memory were 'I love you.' and 'watch over my dear boy for me.'
....
I opened my eyes to a warm light, nurturing as the sunlight after a cold rainy day.
I feel so much better. A good rest does miracles.
I stand, feeling more rejuvenated than ever. "Alucard, I'm well rested now and I'm ready to reenter the fray. Belmont can't have all the fun." I scratched my head, gazing confused around an empty room. "Alucard, where are you?" My voice rang clearly as the only sound, I entered the cellar to find it completely empty, not a person, not even a vampire or demon in sight.
"Hello!? Alucard? Trevor? Sypha! Greta!? Is anyone here!?"
An unknown voice called my name. "Hello? Is someone there?" I turned and followed it out of the cellar. The castle was eerily deserted. No vampires, no night creatures, no humans fighting for their lives. Just empty halls and my shadow among them.
"What the hell is this?" I whispered, my voice and footsteps the only sounds. "Hello!" I called a distant voice, now growing louder. "I'm here! I'll get to you, just stay where you are!"
As I hurried on I heard the sounds of battle, distant and faint as if happening miles away. Weapons clashed, people screamed, vampires hissed and snarled. It all sounded near but at the same time very far the more I became aware of it. "I need to find my friends quickly! Where is my staff, did Trevor take it while I was resting? If he did, I'll clout him in the head with it when I get it back!"
"Is that the way to treat your last living relative?" Chuckled a familiar voice. "My my, the Belmont fire burns strongly from its source. It's no wonder they've survived this long, but I fear I'll have to snuff out the last flame if you don't act soon." The Angel of Death appeared out of a shadowed corner.
"You don't have much time." Morae ushered . "If you want to finish the fight and see it to the end, follow me." I walked beside her in a brisk pace. "What the hell is going on? Where is everyone?"
"You know very well what's going on." Morae said.
"No, I do not!" I snapped. "My friends and foes are nowhere to be found, and I hear the chaos of battle but I don't see it. Something's not right and I don't like it! Are the refugees who escaped through the tunnel at least safe?
"Don't fear for them." Morae assured. "All who you stood to defend are safe, and not a single life lost." She gave me a curious side glance. "Except for yours."
"WHAT!?" My heart would've leapt out of my chest if I felt it. " Are you telling me I'm dead!?"
"Why else would I be here?" Morae shrugged her shoulders.
"Fuck!!" I screamed. "I can't die now! They need me!" I remembered the last thing I saw before closing my eyes. Alucard pleaded for me to stay awake while cradling me in his arms. I felt more exhausted than I'd ever been. " Oh my God...Adrian....I'm sorry.." I cried. "I'm so sorry..."
Morae put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "There is a way you can still help him. Come along."
"Where are you taking me?" I sniffled.
"You'll see. Now stay close to me! I'm the only thing keeping your soul from being siphoned into the Corridor. If he gets a hold of you it's game over. He won't need a feeble meal of a million innocents to become completely unstoppable."
"He?" I asked, before shuddering. "Oh no. It's him isn't it? He's returned."
"Yes." She confirmed my deepest dread. "The creature humans call Death, a primordial spirit from the beginning of time feeding off the essence of souls." She clutched a fist to her heart. "A creature of my own being and creation."
"You made him?" I shook my head befuddled."But he isn't really Death.You are."
"I am." Morae lowered her chin closing her eyes. " It is my role in taking the departed souls, be it man, beast, or vampire, to their designated place. All living things know me in the end, but it's because of him they fear me, and I'm the one to blame."
The voice called my name, closer up ahead. I nearly ran to it, but Morae halted me. "It'll be revealed to you soon, but you have to stay with me." Her dress fluttered at her bare feet. "As more breathing things came into existence, more things died . Especially since humans entered the picture with their wars and famine. No other being can substitute me, or take my place. It is my job alone."
"That's a hell of a huge job." I sighed, walking with her inside the desolate castle. The sounds of battle a faraway echo.
"It is. I was overwhelmed, as crazy as it sounds. I created the Grim as my shade to carry out my work collecting souls and returning them to me. Like a bee carrying pollen to its hive. At first he was only an extension of me, a far flung hand reaching out, so the Powers allowed it. Unfortunately, as time passed he developed into his own independent being and cultivated a taste for the souls meant to be sowed. Instead of bringing them to me, he feasted on the dead to fulfill his insatiable hunger."
"When he grew too strong they set the Watchers to destroy him as a redemption for their crimes." Morae turned to me. "You know the story, you and your human mate defeated him."
"But we didn't destroy him." I sighed hopelessly. " We only subdued him to the point he was made merely a lingering spirit. Now he's returned to his former power and working through the alchemist. I know it! Once he resurrects Dracula and Lisa by opening the Corridor....that's it. That's the end of the world. Adrian, my friends, everyone I loved....they don't stand a chance. It's my fault...... I've failed them." I wasn't ashamed of my tears.
"None of this is your fault." Morae replied firmly. "I am solely to blame. I'm sorry for everything, Zaharial. I created this monster out of wanting a job done quicker and it cost you everything you've held dear, but my regret will not help you, or save everything you love."
She lifted my chin and her eyes were limpid blue, the reflection of my soul shimmering in her gaze. " Do not give up hope when it still remains."
The voice called my name again, I recognized it now and shuddered. "It can't be."
"It is." Morae smiled . "He knew you were coming, and didn't want to miss it for anything. It's alright, you're safe now. Go say hello."
I ran out the hall into the open sky, feet skimming across a great plateau surrounded by cloud piercing mountains. The figure came running to me and we collided, our souls intertwining in sheer joy and love.
"Mother. I wish we were reunited under happier circumstances."
He appeared as I remembered him. A tall man with dark olive skin and curly brown hair. The spitting image of his father, but with unnaturally silver eyes and angelic glyphs etched across his body. He smiled the way he always did, with the sharp dimples he retained throughout his life from the moment after his birth to an elderly centenarian when I came with Morae to bring him home.
"My boy. My beautiful boy." I held his cheek and kissed him. "I've missed you so much."
"I've missed you too, dear Mother." Valerius hugged and we embraced."I've watched over you since you were cast down. You didn't see me or notice me, but I was there, in moments you doubted yourself or triumphed against the odds."
The kiss on my cheeks felt like a child's. "You've done such an incredible job, and you've thrived given the circumstances of your punishment. I am so proud of you.So proud to be your son."
"Val." My sight blurry from tears. "My darling Val, I love you so much." My heart shattered opening the floodgates. "I'm sorry." I cried unabashedly. "I'm so sorry! I never should have gone against them and gotten expelled. I messed up so badly! I didn't think that in saving the lives of strangers I'd risk losing you forever. I put human lives over the one I loved dearly and I paid for it. I lost you and I've forgotten you!"
"No." Valerius soothed me, rubbing my back and holding me tight. "Never apologize for that, Mother. You did the right thing and what was true to your heart. You saved thousands of innocent lives , mothers and children, and kept their souls from being siphoned into the Door. Never be ashamed of preventing a great tragedy that would have cost the world's end. You've done a great deed, and once again you saved a number of innocent souls from a gristly fate."
"It doesn't matter now." I shuddered weeping. "The ritual's being done again and I failed to stop it. I did the same stupid thing of putting strangers above those I loved."
"My people are not strangers to you. Nor are you to them." Gaius stepped forward, eyes clear as the essence of his soul. "You've become family to us, Zaharial, and you gave your life to save it. They are away from danger because of your sacrifice."
"Stop beating yourself up about it. You prevented a great tragedy,and a good number of defenseless refugees won't be vampire fodder because of you." Teresa appeared, now reunited with her husband.
Another man appeared in the group of the fallen. Marius, now whole and rejuvenated in his youth. "My suffering was not in vain. I did not die believing myself a failure because you answered our cry. I cannot thank you enough for protecting our people." He smiled with twinkling eyes. "And for keeping Mira company."
I saw the old couple who first found me. "We knew you were something special, never guessed anything like this." The old woman smiled with her husband. "You've stuck to your purpose all this time. Never regret that." The old man grinned.
I held Val's hand, no longer crying from hopeless sorrow. Leon Belmont stepped forward in the visage of a valiant knight. "Guide and protect them as you have done for me, oh Angel of the Light. The last of our bloodline fights our mortal enemies. He needs your strength."
" I can't help him. " I said despondent. " I'm dead now. I lost him! I've lost Trevor and Sypha, everyone I loved on Earth!"
"Not yet." Valerius held me in his gaze. "There's something you've always told me during my lifetime that I've kept as my creed; It ain't over till it's over, and it's not over. You still have the chance to save them. Take that chance."
"But how am I going to do that? What chance?"
"The chance to rise again and return as you once were." Morae approached. "In the death of your mortal body you're no longer bound by its limitations. Angels can be physically killed, their essences may even be consumed by a primal entity, but they cannot be destroyed. Go back to them, Zaharial, and put an end to this senseless suffering once and for all."
The departed souls vanished, save for my son, and Morae stood with me on the heavenly plateau. "It is time." The sky rippled in shimmering light as the angelic hierarchy materialized among the clouds. The Ophanim, whose wings beat so rapidly it looked as if they were surrounded by spinning wheels. The valiant Erelim. The electrical Hashmallim shrouded in great clouds and flashing fire. Two burning Seraphim concealed by their many wings. The Malakhim who spread the messages across the Celestial Realm. Even the Bigwigs of the Bigwigs are here! I gazed utterly astonished and extremely nervous.
Of course, they were here too. The Bigwigs. The ones in charge of everything dealing with the mortal realms and its living things. They were the rank above me, the Elohim. The humans knew them as Archangels and for an angel like me who went against the grain, they were the biggest pain in the butt in my whole eternal existence. Their immense forms covered skies, their rippling wings stirring the clouds. I shrunk back fearing a greater punishment, but Valerius took my hand with a reassuring smile.
"It's all right, they're not here to harm you. You've done your job. You've completed your task and proved you're indeed worthy to reclaim what was taken from you." Morae stepped forward, glyphs glowing with her dark eyes, and I remembered in that moment who she really was. Not only the Angel of Death, but one of the few Bigwigs who liked me. Her real name was Azrael.
"I may not have been the one who burned your wings, but I shall be the one who grants them again. Kneel now, Egrigori."
My tears became those of joy and I kneeled before the archangel, lowering my head.
"Go get 'em Mom." Valerius let go of my hand, grinning . "Kick his ass! If you choose to remain among them, know I will always watch over you, and that I love you."
"I love you too, Valerius." I looked for him among the shining hierarchy. " Wait! Why isn't your father here ? I thought he would be with you."
Valerius chuckled mirthfully with a twinkle in his eyes. "He's been on Earth with you the whole time as the one you love. Return to him now as who you were meant to be." I didn't have time to ask him more. Azrael drew forth a great sword and touched the blade between my shoulders. My glyphs shone brighter than the sun, and my vision was blinded by a white light.