Of Light And Shadows

Sleep brought no relief from Jia’s exhaustion. Instead of resting, she found her subconscious entirely focussed on the moon gates, flitting from one to the next and back again constantly.

When Jia was roused from her sleep she felt worse than ever, her mind still largely taken up by the moon gates even after spending all night running between them. Even the sight of Lucifer’s beautiful red eyes wasn’t enough to lift her mood as she dragged herself out of bed to face the day.

“Are you alright?” His brow furrowed in concern as he took in the dark circles under her eyes.

“I spent all night flitting between the gates instead of resting. I couldn’t stop myself from doing it.” She ran a hand through her tousled hair, no longer enamoured by the glow and instead wishing she could go back to being her normal self.

“Perhaps as time goes on you’ll find a way to compartmentalise your new job and still get some rest,” Lucifer suggested hopefully.

“If I don’t I’ll be worse than useless. I wonder if sleep deprivation would kill me like this,” she mused. “As a normal person it would.”

“That’s a morbid thought.”

“You’re right. Satan will probably kill me before sleep deprivation gets a look in.”

“And that’s a worse thought.”

“Sorry.” He folded his arms across his chest and cocked his head, red eyes studying her intently.

“You’re staying here today,” he decided. “I’ll tell the others to leave you be. Perhaps some more sleep might give you some reprieve from your constant worrying.” He moved away from the end of the bed to stand beside her, looking immaculate in his navy suit and crisp white shirt.

“You know the others will be mad if they’re denied answers for a second day.”

“I can handle them,” he snorted. “I can’t handle you being in danger because you haven’t been able to rest.” He took her hands in his. “The moon gates are alright, Jia. Try to get some sleep. Perhaps try sleeping without your true form and see if it helps.”

“I will,” she agreed, tipping her head back to meet him as he leaned down to kiss her. “Thank you.” She watched as he left, marvelling again at the fact that he was her soul mate. Even in the midst of exhaustion, that was one thing she would never regret.

Jia closed her eyes to try and rest, once again frustrated at the fact that her mind wouldn’t shut off even when her body gave in. She cycled through gates in a constant monotony until eventually she found herself reaching out to one centred in the human realm.

She wasn’t sure what had drawn her there, because the gate wasn’t in the midst of being corrupted. There was just a strange energy emanating from it that called out to her, coaxing her closer. When she reached it and her essence stepped through she tried to turn back, but it was too late.

Satan was waiting for her. He was the one calling to her, springing a perfectly laid trap. As the binding shackles snapped closed around her wrists her physical body joined the projection of her soul, her true form disintegrating like ash on the wind. All of her magic power was sapped, drawn into the shackles in an endless stream.

“Finally,” Satan beamed. “I’ve been waiting for you, Jia.”

“How did you know where I’d be?” she gasped, struggling to stay upright against the forceful drag of her power being ripped from her.

“Simple really,” Satan shrugged. “Jezebeth told me what happened. I figured if I tampered with one of the gates you’d be drawn to it and here you are. Like a moth to a flame.”

“Where did you get the binding shackles? How did you even know they existed?” Every word was an immense effort, grinding out from between her clenched teeth.

“Oh I’ve always known about them. Ever since the Uprising I’ve been searching for them. I used to be God’s right hand Angel, after all.” He knelt down in front of her to grab a strand of her blonde hair, sniffing delicately as he let it fall through his fingers.

“Get away from me.”

“Oh, my dear, that’s not happening,” he tutted. “You’re the prized piece in my collection now, and once Lucifer comes for you I’ll be able to add his head to the ensemble as well.”

“What makes you think you can kill him?” she spat, struggling to move under the weight of her chains. Satan’s answering smile was wicked.

“You.”

“Jia’s gone,” Lucifer announced as he slammed through the door to Mammon’s bedroom. The silver haired demon looked up from his book in alarm.

“Gone? Gone where?”

“I don’t know! I left her to sleep and when I returned to check on her she was gone. I can’t sense her through the mate bond or the pact mark.”

Mammon tossed his book aside, disturbed by the sight of his usually composed older brother looking so dishevelled and afraid. His tie was loose, shirt sleeves rolled hastily up away from hands that ran repeatedly through his dark hair. Hellfire burned in his eyes as he struggled to hold back his true form, the air behind him shimmering and distorting with the effort it took to keep his wings hidden.

“First things first, you need to calm down. I know it’s hard, but you don’t think clearly when you’re worked up. If anybody can find her, you can.”

“Lucifer! Where are you?” The voice was Evander, calling frantically. The tone of his voice made both demons share a worried glance.

“In here, vamp,” Mammon called, poking his head out the door. “Fuck!” Lucifer joined him and echoed the curse as they caught sight of Sellik, bloodied and broken, hanging limply in Evander’s arms.

“I went down to the Infirmary and found her like this,” he half sobbed. “Somebody did this to her and went to enough effort to hide her. You need to help her.”

“I’ve got this,” Mammon replied, gently nudging his brother out of the way to let Evander and Sellik pass. “Put her on my bed. I can’t heal her, but I can give her some of my energy.”

“You don’t know how much it’ll take to keep her alive,” Lucifer answered sharply.

“That doesn’t matter. You’re the one we need at full power, Louie. This won’t kill me.” Lucifer looked ready to argue, but he nodded and stepped back as Mammon rolled up one of Sellik’s bloody sleeves.

They watched in grave silence as Mammon pursed his lips and began carving a pact mark in his upper arm with his nail.

“I can get the tool for that,” his brother murmured, his eyes fixed on the unconscious demon and the pallor of her usually vibrant green skin.

“No time,” Mammon replied, watching as the same mark etched itself onto her upper arm painlessly. As soon as it was finished he rested her limp hand over his mark, not bothering to heal the bleeding as he mimicked the gesture and sent as much energy as he could manage through his fingers and into her wounded flesh.

Evan gasped as her cuts began to heal slowly, her ragged breathing become more even. By the time Mammon was finished he was sweating and nauseous.

“That’s all I can do for now. I’m not a healer like her so my energy won’t be a permanent fix. I’m holding her back from the brink but without help she’s not going to make it.” Mammon sighed and slumped to the ground, leaning his back against the side of his bed and looking up at his brother. “We need Jia.”

“She’s not a healer.”

“Neither is anyone else in this place. She’s the only shot we have, Louie. You know how rare healers are. Her energy is like nothing I’ve ever seen, nothing anyone has ever seen. We have to try it or we lose Sellik.”

“Can’t the Witches help?” Evan asked desperately. His silver eyes strayed back to Sellik’s closed lids.

“No. They can heal smaller injuries but not absolute trauma. I’m sorry, Ev. Healing Sellik is going to take nothing short of a miracle.”

Jia was in a cell of some sort, her power hanging just out of reach. The ground was dull grey stone, reminding her of a dungeon in a medieval movie she’d watched with Evan once. Somewhere in the shadows water dripped steadily from the ceiling and the whole space was permeated with damp and mildew.

The binding shackles were tight, leaving her skin raw and bleeding. She’d tried wiggling out of them but they seemed to tighten with every attempt, almost to the point of cutting off her circulation. It took several minutes of absolute stillness before they retracted enough to ease the pins and needles in her hands.

Being cut off from her power was an awful, empty feeling. There was no way to scry anyone, no way to contact Lucifer or even God. She was trapped and alone, waiting for the moment Satan would decide to dangle her as bait for his firstborn son.

She agonised over her own stupidity, replaying the decision over and over in her mind. She’d failed in her task to monitor the gates and now Jezebeth was probably out corrupting them one at a time with nobody to stop her.

And worse still, the only person who knew where the binding shackles were kept was Sellik. What had Satan done to her in order to get them? Had he tortured her? Killed her? The possibility of the bright eyed attendant lying dead somewhere made Jia’s throat close up.

She tried again and failed again to reach out to someone, anyone, just to tell them where she was and not to come for her. If Lucifer came after her that would be it. Satan would spring his trap and her mate would die.

And with Satan as Demon King with no opposition, the other realms wouldn’t be far behind.