Chapter 34: Azrael
I felt like a prisoner.
Actually, forget that. I didn't think that word could fully encompass the person that these people have made me into.
Locked in a room because of their suspicions, I was forced to stare at old paintings and fondle a quaint teapot. Everything around me was beautiful, yet for some reason at the same time they weren't. Things were made worse because I was hyper aware of how out of place I was being here in the first place.
The group of celestial beings and a few guards had ushered me here after the disaster that took place in their meeting.
I was worried about Genie. They never took her with me. She was carried somewhere elseâstill unconscious and vulnerable. Despite the fact that I had yelled and begged them to let her at least stay with me, all the woman named Larissa kept repeating was, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." My heart was torn between the sincerity of her words and the cruelty of her actions. I knew it wasn't all her fault. She was just following orders. For some reason though, being faced with that felt like amnesiac betrayal.
It was clear she had known meâthe old version of meâand we had been close. That much could be gathered by her emotional reaction to my sudden appearance. It was more evident with how she was the only one protective of me during the time Mikael and that vicious old man, Damon, were out to get me for whatever reasons.
If I had thought my world was flipped upside down from the moment I had met Angelo in that nightclub, I was wrong.
Everything got more complicated from here on out.
As I heard the lock to the door rattle open with keys, I came to the conclusion that this was only the beginning of a new chapter in my life. One that was filled with secrets which were darker and more insidious than I could have ever imagined.
I dropped my defensive stance the moment that I saw it was Azrael; the only angel in the room that seemed to be unbiased to my presence.
I watched him suspiciously as he came in with a tray of food and placed it on the nightstand.
He stared at me as I stayed at a distance. I bet I looked like a child that was scared to anger her parent. It wasn't too far-fetched with the scolding expression that overcame his face for a split second before it dissipated with a sigh.
"I'm not going to harm you. You can be at ease."
"I don't know you, so how can I be sure of that?" I asked carefully.
His golden brown eyes followed my every move as I took another step away.
He held up his hands in surrender. "You're right. I'm sorry. It's kind of hard to shake the feeling of you being scared of me. Usually you're screaming in my face whilst trying to pull my hair out."
"Me?"
"Elisabetta," he griped as my question seemed to snap him back to reality.
I'm not her.
Due to that fact, he had become reclusive again.
He cleared his throat, probably conscious of how harsh he sounded. "I didn't mean it like that."
"I don't take offense. You're right about what you said. She's the one that you know. Not me."
His lips pursed.
"So I wished you guys could apply that to the situation and let me and my friend go." I continued slyly.
His face scrunched up.
"You mean Genie? She's your servant, not your friend."
I winced at the blatant line he had drawn between her and me.
If I were being honest, I didn't like it one bit.
"She was Elisabetta's servant, not mine. In my world, Genie has been my friend for as long as I can remember. I don't need you or anyone else to tell me otherwise."
His mouth twitched; the only part that seemed to be reactive to my responses. "You still have that spunk in you. I see nothing much as changed."
"Except the hair color."
"This shade actually suits you much better."
"Really? Cupid begs to differ."
He bit his tongue very hard not to laugh. I could see it from where I stood as his eyes were glistening.
"You and him never really did have the best relationship. Like Tom and Jerry if you may compare it to such an earthly thing."
I wasn't even surprised that he knew Cupid if he was within this circle.
"Apparently, but I see it was never the same for us."
The smoothness of our chatter came to an abrupt halt.
His eyes settled into a puddle of sadness he couldn't mask anymore.
"I guess you could say so. Elisabetta was my most beloved friend."
Hearing him admit to it whilst making it clear again that it wasn't "us" had me feeling like such an outsider again. Everyone remembered thingsâfond memoriesâthat I couldn't and it made me feel like the laughingstock of their world.
Why was it that when I have to take the heat for her past actions they put a name tag onto me yet when it came to the good sentiments it got torn off like an undeserving badge?
"I can assume that you were very startled when you saw me then. You probably thought I was her, didn't you?"
He leant against the wall calmly, instantly realizing this was no short conversation.
Azrael faltered for a moment at the straightforward question. "I did for a split second. Then I saw the look in your eyes and knew you could never be her."
"The look in my eyes?"
"Untainted, unscathed..." His eyes took me in and appeared to run across every feature of my face.
It made me uncomfortable because of how upset he seemed by what he was seeing.
"If you went through even half of what she did, you wouldn't have that look in your eyesâthe clarity and pureness that you do. You see, Elisabetta's outlook on the world has been soiled a long time ago."
Somehow, I felt my heart break at that.
"What happened to her?"
It was like nobody could really explain what had made her become the bad person everyone painted her out to be. The version I met in the mirror was someone that gave me the chillsâliterally. She was cold and unforgiving. I hated the way she talked and the way she looked at me.
He was right about her eyes, I recalled as I had fitfully done since the day I saw her. They had been defiled.
"I take it Angelo hasn't told you about her," he started off pointedly. "That's odd. Everyone that is around him knows though. Then again, I understand his desperation. It's hard even for me to picture the two of you together after everything that has happened."
"Was he...at fault? Was Angelo the reason why Elisabetta changed so drastically?"
He nodded wistfully. "Though I wouldn't say drastically. She was always one to have it her way. I also wouldn't say he was the only catalyst. There were many things that led to Elisabetta's demise. If I were to list them all, we could go on for days."
"I have time." I gestured to the room thereafter. "It doesn't look like I'll be going anywhere anytime soon."
That seemed to amuse him.
Azrael rolled his eyes without any heavy meaning to it.
"It's clear that you've been uneducated about your past and you're using me as a stepping stone. I would hate to overstep my boundaries but I think it's rather unfair of you to be involved with them and not know about the reason behind your reincarnation. That's the only reason why I answered your questions to begin with."
"You're not overstepping," I insisted. "I feel the same wayâhave felt the same way since I met Angelo and Cupid. And what the actual heck did you just say? I was reincarnated?"
"In theory, yes." He rubbed a hand across his borderline perfect face before expounding on the topic. "After Elisabetta died in the war, her corpse was stolen. It was no secret that God had the power to raise the dead if He wanted to. That's one of the reasons why He is the being He is to begin with. They knew that Angelo was his most cherished child so if he pleaded enough to bring back his loved one it would have been a possible outcome. However, he was never given the chance with her body missing."
"That sounds...awfully gory. Was the war grand enough that even Elisabetta got involved? And who was it that stole her body?"
"All these questions..." he chuckled humorlessly. "You really have been left in the dark, haven't you?"
"Literally and figuratively. Angelo claims there is a veil on my memories and I'm starting to wonder if that's true or not. Because if I am a different person as you say, how will I be able to even lift the veil?"
"He's not lying," he said seriously, eyes narrowing. "There is something covering your past memories, but that's only natural since you're only a reincarnation of yourself. You should not remember your past life. It's something that is forbidden to help you start afresh. Most humans don't, except for rare cases, but even then they rule it out as their imagination."
"Is it also true that we have to...'consummate our relationship' for me to remember?"
His eyebrows raised then lowered easily. "That part I'm not sure of."
Whatâ
Does that make Angelo some kind of sick pervert?
"However, I'm sure there are things that Angelo knows that I don't. Despite being older than he is, he's just as wise, maybe even more. He's not God's favorite for no reason."
"If he were his favorite, why would he have struck him with lightning bolts?" I mumbled, but he heard it.
His lips parted for a split second. "I see you're not as in the dark as you're claiming to be."
"Cupid has a big mouth." I shrugged.
"And so do you for tattling on him just now."
I almost gasped.
My face sobered up at his explanation.
"It didn't make God feel good doing something like that. It never does. He loves each and everyone of his children, however rules are still rules. Without them, society would be in chaos. It's the same here in the heavens as it is on Earth."
"So you're saying he had to make an example out of him? Is that how you show your love for someone?" I couldn't help but feel angered by his wording; how soft and understanding he was about something so ruthless.
"You would never understand." He said simply.
"I don't think I want to." I scoffed. "I just want to know the entire ordeal of Elisabetta being a traitor. I already know that everyone was against them being together. I also know that Mikael played a part in her eventual distrust in what her and Angelo had going on."
"Who told you that? Cupid as well?" He derided.
"She did," I revealed. "Elisabetta herself."
He didn't say anything, but awaited an explanation because there had to be one.
"In Angelo's house at Aegina. She told me that through the mirrors. I don't know howâ"
"You saw Elisabetta through the Mirrors of Judgment?"
"Is that what you call it?"
"Do you even know how dangerous that was for you as a human? That version of her could have killed you if she wanted to! The mirrors manipulate your darkest fears and turn them against you. There is such a deep-rooted level of distrust that it judges you for it and makes you hear the truth or lies of a topic that you fear."
Did that mean what she told me was a lie...or was it the truth? I'm more confused than ever.
As if he could read the thoughts on my face, he asked. "What exactly did she say? She said that Angelo drove her to run into the arms of Mikael?"
"Did he?" I prodded sharply.
His gaze burned me from across the room. "I don't know. Nobody knows what happened between the two of them except for them."
I blinked in confusion. "How's that even possible? It happened when you guys were all here together."
"It is when there's no solid proof of anything and just assumptions. I can't tell you what you want to hear to dispel your lack of trust in Angelo."
I felt like I was shot in the chest.
He read me like a book and I felt utterly exposed.
"I don't want to not trust him. I have all these intense feelings for him and while some of them are great and confusing; the others are heavy and dark. I can't fully understand why that is. He has attempted to make me remember things with Cupid's powers but I think that was all a ruse to make me feel like there's been progress."
From his facial expression I knew my assumption wasn't too far from the truth.
"Sadly, Cupid isn't powerful enough for something like that. He can try but it won't be a successful effort. It's like trying to lift the lid off of a jar with an injured arm. It may budge it but not enough to see all the contents inside. I'm also certain that he's felt like brunt of trying to do that as well."
"He got hurt?"
"Mildly, I'm certain. But I'm surprise you care. I thought you two hated each other."
"I don't...hate him per-say." I was wincing while even admitting that out loud.
Azrael tried to repress a smile that was blooming from his cheeks.
In the meantime I was struggling to find the right words to describe Cupid.
"He's just annoying. Like a sibling would be. But I wouldn't wish anything bad for him. I know that much."
Azrael smirked, shifting from one leg onto the other. "That's good to know. He was actually the most heartbroken after you passed. Apart from Angelo, of course."
My eyes widened in shock. "He was?!"
***
I'm gonna stop promising updates at specific times but the continuation of this chapter should be up by this weekend. It's already written so yay!
What do you guys think about all the tea Azrael just spilled?
It's quite refreshing to see some questions finally being answered!!! All hail the sacred lips of Azrael ðð¾ââï¸
Don't forget to vote and comment your thoughts on anything else. Stay safe!! ð¤