is this my longest chapter ?? not having italics sucks --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- trigger warnings: grief, depression, n stuff --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FIRST PRIORITIES AND A GERMAN GIRL She sat in her bed, dressed all in nightclothes, sobbing. Grief wracked her body, forcing her to curl up, her stomach tightened to the point of pain. She couldn’t relax, she couldn’t, and everything was going sideways, her vision distorting with tears. There wasn’t any escape. She was all too material, the reality of her situation grinding her bones together, twisting her insides. There was nothing she could do. Except pray. Helia traced one smooth, white, pale hand over the scratched surface of a mural, hidden in the back rooms of the palace. Each of the Dwellings, though most were often not of use, had one of the tapestries, crawling across the walls. From just under the translucent skin of the wall came a pale, opalescent glow. “Miss you, mom,” she spoke softly, then giggled. “Of course, perhaps I’m just being selfish. With you here, I’d be back in Eden, no responsibility whatsoever. . .” Laughing, she brushed some of her curling white hair back over her shoulder, the black beads strung around her head tinkling quietly. Outside, she could hear faintly the battering drum of chocolate rain pouring from the skys, cotton candy clouds pregnant to the brim. Helia sighed and turned in one fluid motion, stalking out of the room. When Emilia awoke in the morning, she could faintly hear chattering from out in her living room. The day was a tad brighter from the day before - the warmth of the visitors somehow frightening away the fog. It was the sort of quiet chatter: the feeling you get in the morning as a child, waking up after a large family get-together and hearing your relatives talking softly and laughing outside. This had more sinister undertones, considering the circumstances surrounding it, but the calm feeling remained in the foggy state she was trapped in. The door creaked open, and Gabriel stepped in, smiling gently. The black-winged person leaned at their side, yawning. “Hi,” they whispered. “Thought I’d check in on you.” Their hand rubbed the other person’s shoulder absently, looking around the room. “Nice place you’ve got.” Emilia sniffled, still feeling cold and empty from the memories of the dream she’d had. It was a strange one - not quite a reminiscence, but an experience. And it had left her feeling terrible, the grief crawling through her like some awful parasite. “Th-thanks, you can - you can see a bit of how it used to be now.” She smiled and sniffed again, wiping her eyes. Concern crossed Gabriel’s face immediately, and they crossed the room, sitting at her side and leaving the black haired person to fall to the floor in a bunch, having lost their only support. “Uh -” Emilia started, pointing awkwardly towards them. Gabriel shook her off. “Beelzebub’ll be fine, but oh, honey, are you okay?” They put an arm around her back, somehow instantly warming her up. “It - it’s fine, just a dream,” she said, though she couldn’t stop the tears from spilling forward, the recollection of the utter depression she had felt flooding her again. “Oh dear,” Gabriel fussed, quickly covering her back with the thin, hole-filled comforter that laid on the bed, flicking their finger and turning it to a thick, pleasant blanket. “Those can be rather unpleasant, can’t they?” Now sobbing, Emilia leaned on their shoulder for support, clutching her knees to her chest. “I just - I just couldn’t -” “Hey, you’re gonna be okay, all right? It’s gonna be all over soon.” They looked over anxiously at Beelzebub, who made a face and mouthed really? Gabriel shushed them and turned back to Emilia, who was weeping at their side. “I -” they stopped to take a deep breath, “I promise.” They touched their forehead to Emilia’s, and suddenly the grief seemed to shrink back inside her, subdued as a warmth grew. Suddenly, something drew Gabriel’s attention, and they sat up quickly, looking over Emilia’s head and out the window. “Something’s wrong,” they said quickly, standing up as their hand slipped from her shoulder. “Love, set up a barrier around the tents.” (cont)
(cont) Looking back out the window in turn, Emilia saw, outside, a stretching field of seemingly never-ending canvas tents, going on in an unnatural manner around the layout of the town. There seemed to be a glitch of some sort, floating in the air, her head now being clear enough to have the sense to rub her eyes. Some figure appeared to be stumbling through the sky, falling messily to the ground. Gabriel and Beelzebub ran out hand-in-hand, rushing over to the crumpled young woman. Emilia stood up after them and hurried across. The young blonde sat up, her hair curling in messy braids around her pale face. She looked around wildly, beginning to hyperventilate rapidly. “I’m not supposed to be here - this isn’t - this isn’t where I’m supposed to be -” She staggered to her feet, Gabriel immediately forcing her back down. “You’re right, love, you’ve stumbled into a time thing, but we can get you out of here. Just calm down, dear, it’s gonna be okay.” She clutched at their hand desperately, her eyes hopeless, searching. Emilia felt a pang of familiarity, and suddenly the pain was opening up again. She turned quickly to Beelzebub for help, and they backed away. “Can’t help with that,” they said shortly. “Leave it alone and it’ll be fine.” The young woman tore up, stumbling over her own feet. She tried to run from the three of them, but couldn’t, Gabriel quickly restraining her. “You [redacted]!” she shouted at seemingly no one. “Let me go home!” “Honey, we’re gonna get you home, okay,” Gabriel reassured her, putting their arms around her shoulders, keeping her from fighting. “But you have to calm down. You’re right, you’re not supposed to be here - you’d have to have gone a couple years earlier. This isn’t your place, we’ll get you home. Okay?” “O-okay,” she said, her entire body shaking with a shudder. “I can’t - I can’t go home -” “It’s okay, it’s okay,” Gabriel said, holding her tighter. Emilia looked on anxiously, terror and grief creeping hand-in-hand through her veins. “I know. But you can’t stay here. You’ll be okay. It’ll be okay.” Now Emilia turned away, unable to bear watching any longer. She heard Gabriel giving Beelzebub instructions, the girl’s broken sobs punctuating it. Shaking and clutching herself, she tried to stop herself from crying by putting her face in her hands, pressing against it. “I just want this to be over. . .” “It’ll be soon enough,” a voice said, and she felt a warm hand against her back. She looked up to see Catherine looking past her shoulder, her reassuring words diminished by the anxious look on her face. Raphael stood just behind her, dragging the whiny one by the hand. “Sh, Michael, this is important,” Raphael hissed, eyes fixed upon whatever was happening just over Emilia’s shoulder. Michael’s face softened at the sight of Emilia’s terrified expression, but hardened again as she felt a sudden warmth from behind her, burning at the base of her shoulder-blades and elbows. Wincing, she turned back to see Gabriel appearing to hold a door open, a rift in the air. Beyond the opening was somewhere burning a white-hot brightness. Beelzebub was shielding their eyes from the brightness with one hand, the other tight around Gabriel’s shoulder, preventing the Angel from being blown back by the force of the door. Emilia turned back again, hiding from the heat. She could hear the girl begging, pleading over and over, “Will you make it okay? Am I going to be okay?” “I can’t promise anything, love,” she heard Gabriel say, a soft break in their voice as they shouted over the wind. “But it’ll be over soon. I can promise that. Just go back to your time, okay?” Tears welled up in Emilia’s eyes yet again, and she practically collapsed into Catherine’s arms, shaking while the wind whipped her hair against her face. “What’s going on?” Catherine half-shouted at Gabriel, pulling Emilia against her protectively. Not knowing what to do, Emilia clutched at the back of Catherine’s shirt, the feathers of her wings encapsulating her. “Someone stumbled in,” Gabriel called back, one arm now around Beelzebub’s waist as they worked to sew the gash shut. The black flower ruffled in their hair, and they looked up in that direction anxiously, both hands too busy to steady it. Beelzebub reached up instead, sliding it back into place, and Gabriel gave them a soft smile before returning to the task at hand. Still trembling hard enough she could barely stand, Emilia looked up at Catherine, still clutching at the Angel’s dress. Suddenly and all at once, a bright light burst out, and everything in turn went black.
