Of Light And Shadows

“I’m an Angel?” Jia whispered, eyes wide.

“You are not,” God replied.

“Then she’s a demon?” Lucifer asked.

“She is not.”

“An Archangel?” Michael pressed.

“She is not.”

“Then what am I?” she pleaded.

“You are new. My touch has burned away any impurities in your soul and what is left behind is something I have never seen before. I did not believe you could withstand the Inner Light, yet here you stand.” God took her hands in theirs. “I am sorry for the things I said to you, child, and for what I said of your mother. Lauviah was my cherished Seraph and her loss pained me.” She didn’t see their features change, but she felt the sad smile in her bones. “Even I am capable of experiencing pain and the irrational thoughts and impulses that come with it.”

“So you don’t want to destroy me anymore?”

“Destroy you? No. You are a wonder, child. You are something unprecedented, but most importantly you are something pure. You have a higher power and a higher purpose.” God squeezed her fingers and Jia felt their measured gaze studying her. “Long ago I sought the separation of the realms, believing that was best to keep everyone in them happy and at peace. I see now that I was wrong.”

“So what do we do, Holy One?” Lucifer asked quietly, though he continued to gaze in awe at his mate. “How do we fix what Satan has done?”

“Whatever you must. Lucifer Morningstar, you are the true Demon King. Claim your throne however you see fit. When you do, I will see you again.”

“I can’t do it,” Jia groaned, trying and failing for the hundredth time to pull her new wings back inside her. After their message to Lucifer, God had disappeared in a swathe of light so blinding it had made Jia’s eyes water. They were still in the study, though without the presence of their deity it seemed somewhat...smaller.

“You can,” Michael insisted calmly. “Your wings are an extension of yourself and they listen only to you. They have no free will. Imagine them folding around you and sinking into your skin.”

“Perhaps we’re going about this the wrong way,” Lucifer murmured, circling her slowly. As he moved his red eyes smouldered, fixed unwaveringly on her teal hues. “God said you’re new. Perhaps hiding your true form is different to how we do it. It may not be something you can do.”

“I can’t walk around like this,” Jia protested.

“Lucifer might be right. You may not have a choice,” Michael agreed.

“When you imagine yourself hiding your true form, what do you think of?” Lucifer asked.

“I remember how you do it,” she shrugged. Her wings shifted at the motion, almost making her stumble as their new weight pulled against her shoulders. “When that doesn’t work I try it how Michael showed me.”

“Maybe you need to find your own way,” Michael mused.

“That’s what I was thinking,” Lucifer agreed. “Our ways may not be working because you aren’t the same as us.” He cocked his head, his gaze finally moving away from her eyes to pass over the feathered limbs.

When God had left, the large mirror at the far side of the study had revealed Jia’s full reflection for the first time. Her eyes glowed brightly with silver light, drowning out any hint of her teal irises while her true form was revealed. Her pale hair shone like starlight and her wings were silvery white, fading to a deep gold at the tips. Her mate bond lit up gold against her fair skin, along with other swirling patterns and runes that covered every bit of exposed skin she could see, even her face. It was beautiful to look at despite her shock.

A hand between her shoulder blades drew her attention away from her reflection as she recognised the electricity of Lucifers’ touch.

“Close your eyes.” She did as he asked. “Concentrate only on the movement of my hand. Think of nothing else.” It wasn’t difficult to let the feel of his warm palm tracing circles over her skin push all other thoughts out of her mind. After a moment the circles became random patterns with his fingertips, his touch feather light as she realised he was tracing her golden runes where they shone through her tattered shirt.

A sense of calm began to settle in her stomach, spreading slowly outwards until it reached her toes, her fingertips, the top of her head, and the tips of her wings. All at once she was fully aware of every interconnecting muscle and something in her mind clicked into place. They were hers. They weren’t a costume or magic, they were real, filled with delicate bone structures, muscle, sinew, nerves, everything the rest of her body was made of.

She didn’t need to learn how to use something that belonged to her anymore than she needed to learn how to breathe. All she needed to do was accept, to realise that all those things people had believed her to be, what she’d believed herself to be, were wrong. She was no Angel, nor was she a demon, or Lotura or anything else. She was unique. She could choose her own way to do things.

A long, peaceful breath gusted out of her and with it went her wings, blowing away in a shower of feathers that disappeared into the ether like snow melting in her palm. Her silver eyes faded to teal, the starlight hair dulling back down to its usual blonde. Her chest felt full all of a sudden, like she was wearing a corset for the first time and needed to adjust to it, but she was looking at her own familiar self in the mirror again.

“I did it,” she beamed. Lucifers’ smile was warm as he wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed the top of her head.

“You did. I don’t think I’ve ever been more in love with anyone in my life.” Her cheeks reddened as Michael cleared his throat in the corner of the room, but Lucifer seemed oblivious.

“So now what do we do?” Jia asked before the demon could get carried away.

“I was about to ask you the same question,” the Archangel replied. “God has put their faith in you and so shall I. We need to stop Satan and we need to reverse the Vampire problem if we can.”

“Which is more pressing?” Lucifer asked.

“The Vampire issue, right?” Jia mused. “It puts the human realm in danger and gives Jezebeth the chance to corrupt more of the ley lines while the Witches are distracted. If God doesn’t know when she’s poisoning them there’s no way to predict which moon gate she’ll attack next, and we don’t know what Satan is planning either. It makes sense to focus on what we can fix for now until we know more.”

“My concern is that while we focus on the Vampires we leave God vulnerable,” Michael commented. “Their link to the celestial realm is the strongest and overshadows the links they have with the other realms. The ley lines don’t alert God when they’re being tampered with because the realms themselves pull their energy directly from the deity. They won’t notice minor changes with so much else to focus on until it’s too late.”

“Is there a moon gate near here?” Lucifer frowned at Jia’s question.

“There is but we don’t use it. It’s in the bowels of the academy.”

“If I can link myself to it somehow then I can keep an eye out for Jezebeth corrupting the gates. Even if I can’t stop her right away I can at least keep track of what she’s doing.” She spoke confidently but inside she was nervous. Michael was looking at her like he was studying a painting and couldn’t decide if he liked it or not.

“If you can do that, I can focus on the Vampire problem more completely. Perhaps I can find someone willing to help us now we know Evander won’t,” he agreed, nodding at last.

“Speak to Sellik. I’m fairly certain she can find you a willing volunteer without much trouble,” Lucifer suggested. “Jia and I will go to the gate and see if we can come up with a way to establish a permanent link to it.”

“Alright. I’ll find you in a few days if I don’t hear from you.” Michael smiled faintly and left the room. When his footsteps faded Jia let out a heavy breath.

“Do you have any idea how to link yourself to the moon gate here?” Lucifer asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Not a clue,” she grinned. “But I know someone who might.”