About a year earlier...
Belial sat in front of the bed where his angel slept. He had taken his right hand in his and pressed it to his mouth. The wounds were devastating. Half of Aleks' right wing was missing and there was about a two-fist size hole in his hip, so that the hip bone could be seen. Even if the wounds weren't bleeding and bandaged, they would take a long time to heal. It took months to regenerate a limb, if they did at all.
An angel who can't fly. This thought hit Belial hard, because he didn't know if Aleks would be able to handle it. But Belial didn't care, he just wanted his lover to wake up. He had to hear his soft voice, see his laughter, those eyes filled with love. He just needed Aleks, but he was asleep. His ghost was far away.
It's all my fault, I couldn't protect him. Belial was a powerful S-rank demon, a potential contender for the throne, and yet he had not been able to protect his heart. What had he fought for, worked for all his life? But these accusations only made it worse.
So that's how Lucan felt when Zack came back injured. No one who wasn't in the same situation could understand this pain. Only Lucan could understand him, could understand his pain.
Astaroth entered with Sai in his arms, sat down on the other side of the bed. "This is your mother, Sai. He's sleeping a little, but he'll wake up soon," he said softly to the baby, waving his hands in the direction of Aleks. Astaroth knew what Sai wanted and carefully placed him on Aleks' left wing next to his head.
Sai squeaked and snuggled into the soft feathers.
A brief smile appeared on Belial's face, but immediately gave way to the impenetrable expression to hide the pain.
Sai turned a little and put his hand on Aleks' face. The baby's laughter turned into a quiet cry. Sai patted his mother's face several times and then the tears flowed.
Astaroth understood why. Sai couldn't connect with Aleks and that scared him. Carefully, he lifted the little one back up and put his hand on his own cheek. He sent the baby positive emotions and thoughts. Slowly, he calmed down again.
"Thank you for being there for Sai. I am a horrible mate and father," Belial said softly, without taking his eyes off Aleks.
"No, you're not. Nobody can cope with something like this so easily. You can always count on me and the others," the Hellprince said.
"I'm scared. What if he doesn't wake up? What if his heart just stops beating? I'm afraid to leave his side for even a second, but I have to take care of Sai. He needs a father who is strong and there for him."
The despair in Belial's voice touched Astaroth. He had never seen him in such a miserable situation. "He's not going to die, he's too stubborn for that. Take the time you need."
Belial was silent, not letting go of Alek's hand.
It took weeks for Belial to be able to be separated from Aleks for a few hours. Sai became his constant, keeping him in the here and now.
Two weeks after the start of Aleks' sleep...
"We have no choice," Astaroth said. Lucan and Belial nodded.
Two weeks ago, Aleks had spoken the last prophecy and everyone had heard it. Chaos had broken out, for the carriers and keys had now been found. They couldn't hide it anymore.
"Well, it's about time," Belial said, standing up. His face was emotionless, a mask that had formed on it.
The prince of Hell nodded and created a portal. Lucan returned home to Zack, who was now in the last trimester of his pregnancy and going through a critical period. The news of Aleks had weighed heavily on him, especially psychologically, and Lucan was seriously worried.
Belial and Astaroth, with Sai in their arms, stepped out of the portal and sat down at the large round table where Mammon and Asmodai had already taken their seats with their deputies. Both gave Astaroth surprised looks, but said nothing. Gradually, the other princes of Hell arrived. Sereph and Hope with Jaden were the last to arrive, with Jaden standing behind Hope out of respect and offering him his seat.
Everyone looked at Belial, who had come alone, and waited for him to speak. But Belial couldn't speak, he was silent and looked at the table with a scowl on his face. He clenched his fist. For Aleks. "Thank you for coming here," he began. "I think everyone heard the prophecy two weeks ago. It's time to put our cards on the table."
"If you mean that Aleksander is a carrier, we already know that," Mammon said.
This didn't surprise Belial.
Then Sereph began to speak. "I think you'll know about my mate Hope, too. Hope is the carrier of knowledge," he said.
No surprised faces.
"The resemblance to Aleksander is quite clear, which confirmed the suspicion," Belphegor said in a surprisingly neutral tone.
Hope was silent, looking at the table.
"You're right. The carriers are all from Aleksander's bloodline," Belial said.
"Then is Zackory, Aleksander's brother, the third carrier?" Asmodai asked.
Belial shook his head. "No, it's my son Sai."
He could see the surprise on the faces of everyone present. They hadn't expected that. Everyone looked at Astaroth, who was holding the baby in his arms.
"Belial, you have a child?" Behemoth asked in astonishment.
"Yes, he was born half a year ago. He is the carrier of empathy," Belial replied.
"Me and Lyric are his guardians," Astaroth said, and his tone made it clear that he would kill anyone who got even too close to Sai.
The princes looked at him. It was smart to choose a Hellprince as a guardian, because attacking the little one would be tantamount to declaring war on Astaroth.
Lucifer pursed his lips. "What the hell? How could you hide it for so long?" he asked. But everyone knew the answer, they had enough to do with Telos to take care of Aleks, and they had Astaroth's support.
"I will have to explain some things to you now, please be patient. The whole prophecy is not what it seems. It all started thousands of years ago with three gods..." Belial told the story about the Deva, the Gods, the attack and the rewriting of history. The demons listened to him intently until he finished.
"The power was passed down from generation to generation, the carriers didn't know about it. But in this generation, time, empathy and knowledge have awakened, albeit not completely. Zackory and Lyric found the first two keys," Belial said.
"But how did you do it? We searched for it as well, but we had no trace, nothing," Mammon asks the demon.
"You couldn't find her," Hope said.
They all looked at him.
"Only members of the Deva people or those of the damned Gods could find and create them. Zackory also has Deva blood in him, and Lyric belonged to Tori's people."
That made sense.
"Be that as it may, the third key was still missing. Shortly after we found out that Aleks was pregnant, Nix came to us. We had to go on a journey to explore Aleks' roots. We also met Hope and Sereph, but that wasn't the only thing. We received a hint that the last key was in heaven. We tried everything to find a way to get there, but were unsuccessful. Then it happened, on the day Sai had formed his bond with his guardians. Sai released Aleks' seal and with it the protection that hid him from the angels."
"Why was he hidden? Above all, from whom was he hidden?" Asmodai asked.
"He was hidden from me," a deep voice rang out.
Instantly, everyone was standing and had taken on a fighting stance.
"Raphael," Lucifer grumbled, ready to attack.
Belial growled at the archangel. "What are you doing here?"
The archangel remained calm. "I'm not here to start a war, I'm here to prevent one. Please sit down," Raphael said.
Everyone knew he was telling the truth.
Behemoth sat down first, only Lucifer looked at him with narrowed eyes until he too reluctantly sat down.
"The short version is, I took Aleksander with me to heaven, where he created the third key. Unfortunately, he was seriously injured by Michael," he said with pain in his voice.
"What do you mean hurt?" Mammon asked suspiciously.
"Aleks was injured so badly that he narrowly escaped death and fell into a deep sleep. We don't know when he'll wake up, or—" but Belial broke off. The pain and anger inside him almost ate him up.
An oppressive silence ensued. Now they knew why Aleks wasn't here.
"We have decided that we will also take action against Telos and protect Aleksander and the other two carriers," Raphael calmly told them.
"Who is we?" Lucifer asked in a venomous voice. Raphael looked at him with a cold look.
"The entire squad of archangels," Michael's voice rang out.
Gradually, several portals shone and all seven archangels appeared. No one spoke a word. The fourteen most powerful beings of Heaven and Hell were now united in this room.
"We want to form an alliance with you until we have destroyed the enemy and averted the prophecy," said the head of the archangels.
No one could believe it. Raphael looked at Astaroth, his feelings clearly visible.
"I have a grandson?" he asked with a painful expression.
"Grandson?" Mammon asked angrily. "Are you...?"
Raphael interrupted. "Aleksander is my son," he said calmly, his eyes still fixed on Sai.
That was the next message that the princes of Hell now had to digest. Attacking Aleks was no longer just a declaration of war against Astaroth, but now also against the Archangel Cadre. The same was true for Sai and Hope, because they were related to Aleks. So they were almost safe from the princes of Hell, no one would dare to touch them.
Now there was only one opponent left, who wasn't interested in a truce - Telos.
"And how exactly do we prevent the end of the world?" asked Belphegor angrily.
"We will kill the Lord of Telos and dissolve the organization. As long as Aleksander doesn't awaken, Telos cannot harvest his soul, because from a sleeping person the soul cannot go," Astaroth said.
This was a law of nature that not even a divine artifact could change. This meant that as long as Aleks slept, Telos couldn't carry out their plan.
"We will support you and protect the carriers," Michael said. "Are you willing to enter into this alliance?" the archangel asked.
Behemoth was the first to stand up and nodded. Mammon, Asmodai, Sereph and Astaroth followed. Reluctantly, Belphegor also rose, but Lucifer remained seated, staring at the angels, especially Michael, with deep hatred.
"It's decided," Mammon said.
At that moment, the strongest alliance ever had been formed and it had all started with Aleks. They sat down together and drew up plans, distributed tasks. After hours, the conference broke up and everyone got ready for the finale. They would proclaim their alliance to the world.
"Magic canvases" were created all over Hell, in front of which all the demons gathered. Everyone knew that they only appeared when the seven princes of Hell had something important to say. Everyone waited anxiously. The last time they had publicly declared war on Telos.
An image appeared and the seven princes of Hell stood side by side, Mammon in the middle, speaking for everyone.
"Dwellers of Hell, we have important news to announce to you today. As you know, the three keys have been found and the prophecy has been advanced, but we will prevent that. Today we have taken another step in the right direction. Telos, listen to us carefully. From today you will not only have us as your enemy, from today, all Hell and Heaven will hunt you down. Starting today, you will be hunted by seven princes of Hell and seven archangels. We will find you and destroy you."
At these words, the picture grew larger and everyone could see the seven archangels next to the seven princes of hell. No one said a word.