Episode 11: Silent Night

    The Angels stood behind Decree, cautious, unsure of what to do. Tierra came to her side, eyes darting around, looking for anything that would indicate what their next move was.
    "What are we supposed to be looking for?" Many piped up.
    Suddenly, a wisp of red smoke rose from the ground, and swirled around them, taking shape.
    Satan had quickly appeared, answering briskly. "Girls, you face a very important task. This is the fabled 'Battle of Silent Night' charted in the Blood Stars. All of the mortals are indoors, asleep, while you work. But only until dawn."
    The clock tower read 3 AM. That gave them only 2 1/2 hours.
    "What are the Blood Stars?" Tierra had inquired.
    "There's no time to explain now!" Satan hissed frantically. "You need every second given in order to complete your mission."
    "But what is it?" and impatient decree interrupted.
    Look," he huffed back, "you may have tricked that boy into pledging allegiance to you, but that doesn't seal the deal. Those angels still have 30 days to break the curse. You have to prevent that from happening. Go up to Heaven and seal off their gates, but don't get caught, otherwise all of your hard work will be useless. Got it?"
    The Angels nodded an, without another word, Satan disappeared, leaving them to their own devices.
    Decree's face looked tired and aged in the harsh, lonely street light. Stress and worry were layered thick. "Alright," she eventually muttered, "we need to split up. Mandy, since you're our mage, you have to put the strongest seal on the most important gate, into hell. So you and Reia do that, and thoroughly - if this is as important as it sounds, we can't risk overlooking these things. The rest of us will keep a look out and try the other two. Everybody clear?"
    The group nodded and direly dispersed.

    Unknown to them, however, Queen Shell had been hiding behind a cluster of trees nearby eavesdropping.
    "Hm," she thought aloud to herself, "I could make some serious money off this..."
    She scampered away into the darkness, eager to sell her secrets.

    Eternity sat alone in the common room, her back turned to her Sky Gazer; had it not been, she would've seen the trouble brewing on Earth below. Instead she sighed as her mind wandered. The other angels were peacefully asleep, but she could not.
    "it's my fault," she recited to the emptiness once more. "My fault that the Almighty Key has been snatched right from our grasp." She let out a bitter laugh. "God will be so disappointed in me... he instilled His trust and will in me, and I can't even take the first step..." A silver tear slipped down her cheek.
    Illuminating the darkness, a bright flash erupted in front of the sulky angel. She looked up to see Queen Shell frantic with excitement. "Um, hi, Shell," she muttered.
    "No time for pleasantries," Shell hissed, "you girls are in extreme danger!"
    Eternity's blue eyes widened. Knowing the drill, she pulled a small velvet satchel full of diamonds from her skirt folds and held it out.
    Shell scoffed. "This message is worth more than that. Your entire Angelship is at stake!"
    The poor angel gasped, tears flowing more freely. She hastily delivered several more jewel-filled pouches and gave an overly eager glare in the Queen's direction.
    "Hell's Angels are invading Heaven tonight to seal off your gates," Shell spat.
    "WHAT?! Why?!"
    "Since you still have 30 days to break the curse they put on Evan, they're trying to seal you inside your own domain to prevent you from getting to him. This is all shown in the Blood Stars, haven't you been aware???"
    "The what? Nevermind that, all we have to do is stop them from sealing the gates and instead seal theirs," Eternity resolved.
    "Unfortunately, not that easy," Shell corrected. "You don't have much time to stop them now, and you don't know what else they're possibly gonna do here! Plus, Evan can't get out of Hell, and you can't seal yourself in, but anyway, that's not the point! You have to hurry now and save yourselves. Good luck!" And with that, Shell disappeared as fast as she could speak, and Eternity was left stunned and helpless.
    Lindsay padded silently into the room moments later, unaware of what had just taken place. "Hey, Eternity," she muttered, sleep edging her voice. "What are you still doing up?"
    Eternity met her eyes with serious intent. "Wake the others," she commanded. "We have to guard out gates."
    Lindsay looked puzzled, then alarmed. "What's wrong?"
    "We're being invaded," she warned. "We need to stop Satan's Angels from entering. Please, go, hurry, get the others to the gates. Just bring Eve to me. I'm going out to try and head them off."
    Lindsay nodded and scampered away. she flew through the twisting golden halls of God's palace, wishing she had the greatest of speed to travel with.
    She reached Dream's room first, banging on the door with all the courage she could muster at that moment. "Dream, wake up!"
    Dream opened the door in mid-pound, cowering under her thin robe. "W-what's wrong?" she squeaked.
    "I need you to get Cheery and protect the gates to Earth and Limbo. There's no time to explain, but be on your guard." With that, she sped away once more, not wasting precious moments to wait for a response.
    Eve's door was already opening as Lindsay approached, full speed. Her head poked out alarmingly. "What's up?" she asked.
    "We're being invaded," Lindsay informed. "You have to go to Eternity right away."
    "Invaded?!" Eve echoed.
    "Lesson one in being an angel, babe, she replied. "Just go, now."
    As soon as the A.I.T. was out of sight, Lindsay rushed toward the gate into hell. She was going to risk everything for her honor, and the honor of her God.

    decree and Tierra walked resolutely up the path toward Heaven, the others had dispersed - Reia and Mandy had gone to seal the gate into hell, and Lark went in the opposite direction to hold off the enemy.
    Tierra had fallen uncharacteristically silent. Her face seemed deep in thought, but her eyes looked ready to shed the pieces of a shattered secret.
    Decree hesitated a bit, not daring the break the noiseless universe, but finally spoke. "So...this is going to be dangerous, especially by yourself."
    "i can handle it," Tierra replied coldly. "I know you think I'm just some know-it-all, power-hungry bitch on a ride, but I'm a lot more than what you give me credit for."
    "I know," decree sighed. The road started to fork. "But please, for our dark lord's sake...be careful."
    The two separate paths continued on, unseen by the other. Decree's last words rang in Tierra's ears. Was it genuine concern she was showing? It seemed so. And then and there, Tierra resolved that she would turn around and help Decree.
    But Limbo's gate loomed up first, and Tierra's mind also told her that she had a job to do.
    Dream was standing guard at the gate. She looked a lot tougher now, determined and alert.
    "I don't have time for this," Tierra muttered. She glared hard at her rival. With a flash, like lightning, she struck a hard blow to the other's head, and dream was knocked unconscious. Metallic blue blood seeped from her temple. Tierra reached out and caught a drop on her finger, a mark of triumph. Muttering a few hasty words, a spell sealed the pathway out of Heaven. Then, as quickly as she had come, Tierra fled down the path, eager to help Decree.

    Lark crept up toward Heaven's gate. Glee ribboned through her bones - she could taste the victory. As soon as we get back to Hell, she thought to herself, laughing in her mind, Satan will be so pleased that he'll take me right then and there! She let out a high-pitched laugh. yes, this would seal the deal she had been waiting for for 3,000 years.
    The gate was right in front of her, but unfortunately, so were two angels.
    "Well well," Lark tutted at them. "I've come face to face with Head of Losers and her sissy sidekick."
    Eve's eyes flickered.
    Lark scoffed. "What are you gonna do, Eve? Shoot sparks at me?" She snorted.
    Eternity silenced her with a sharp blow to the shoulder. Lark huffed and looked down. Silvery magenta blood blossomed on her right shoulder.
    "Don't you dare insult any one of my angels," Eternity warned, "full-fledged or not. Eve is stronger and more competent than any scum Satan can scrape up."
    Eve, in emphasis, shot a green bolt into Lark's left knee. Another river of blood started to trickle down.
    Lark's expression had turned entirely bitter.
    Suddenly, black sparks started to shoot from Eve's back. The angel fell forward, seemingly dead. Her image was replaced by the sight of Decree, only a few feet behind.
    Eternity froze, not daring to turn around. The only being she feared other than God was Decree - her power, richly laden with evil, was more menacing than the fiery depths of Hell itself.
    "You shouldn't have done that," Decree scolded the unconscious form at her feet.
    Eternity, making a split-second decision, spun and knocked Decree to her knees, then shot another bolt into Lark's other leg, bringing the second-in-command to her knees.
    "Decree!" a voice cried in the distance. Tierra was racing up to their aid, sparatically firing distant shots at Eternity; one actually hit the blonde's side, bleeding heavier by the second.
    Eternity flinched, barely able to breathe through the pain.
    Decree stood, rubbing the bruise on her chest. How foolish of you," she spat at a cringing Eternity. "You're outnumbered. Your given grace won't protect you from Hell's most powerful Angels." A vicious, malign laugh rang out, and Eternity was plunged into a hot blackness.
    Lark stood shakily.
    "You were brave," Decree informed her. Lark bowed with thanks. "And you," she said, spinning to face Tierra.
    Tierra rushed, "I sealed the gate..."
    But Decree cut her off with a shake of the head. "Thank you."

    Lindsay paced nervously. Nobody had shown up yet, on either side; but what if one of Heaven's had gotten hurt? What if she were doomed to face all five of Hell's warriors by herself?
    But luckily, a small blonde head popped up at her side.
    "Hello," Cherry muttered.
    Lindsay sighed with relief. "I'm so glad you're here, safe."
    But Cherry didn't seem glad to be aiding her friend; she seemed afraid. The child's face frowned.
    Lindsay couldn't help but feel crestfallen once more. What if Cherry provided no help? She was, after all, just a child. What powers could she possibly wield in her tiny, frail body?
    Cherry gripped Lindsay's hand suddenly and her head snapped up, gaze aiming into the distance.
    Sure enough, two forms appeared; two girls, in different variations of black dresses, black wings spread ominously from their backs. One angel had long blonde hair, while the other had shiny silver locks, down to the floor, and evil glowing reddish-pink eyes.
    They were now close enough to reach out and touch...
    Mandy wordlessly charged at Lindsay, knocking her over in a flash and landing on top of her, pinning her to the ground.
    Lindsay was faced with the maddest, most psychotic eyes she had ever been pierced with. She gasped in terror when Mandy let out a high, purely evil laugh.
    "I've known all along," Lindsay whispered, as if revealing a deep, dark, unspeakable secret. "You act innocent, but you're not. You're not innocent - you're absolutely mad!"
    Mandy's eyes burned brighter, more evil. She wrapped her hands around Lindsay's throat and pressed with inhuman strength, Lindsay could feel her throat collapsing inside - the pain seared, black creeping into the edges of her vision.
    Cherry stood, horrified, as her companion was strangled into a type of death.
    Reia had ben next to her all along, but took no notice of her; she was too enraptured by the sight of the angel's "death".
    Cherry had to seize the opportunity and do something. Taking the first action that popped into her head, she let out a childish scream and plunged a heavy spell right through Reia and into the other demon's chest.
    Both clutched at their fronts in agony.
    "You little..." Mandy muttered. She slapped the child's cheek with the same strength she had exerted on Lindsay. Reia continued to tame the child as Mandy sealed the gate tightly, and the two disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.

    All entrances were shut. All five of Heaven's Angels had lost the battle. They were trapped.
    Blue started to tinge the sky lighter as the other angels gathered in the park.
    All were streaked with silvery purplish blood - a mixture of their own and the enemy's. Each had the expression of resolution and triumph on her face. yet, keeping that expression the entire way back to Hell, they journeyed wordlessly back into the main room of their domain.
    Ang was sitting on the couch, nursing a visibly weak Evan, when the five came into sight. "Oh my g-d, what happened?" she cried.
    But still, no reply. Silence, like a sound-proof bubble, enveloped them as they continued further on, into Satan's throne room.
    They knelt with the utmost respect as Decree murmured, "It is done."
 

    ~Owari~