Chapter 24: Home

Upon B's interruption, I gaped at him. "What do you mean she's in hell?" I asked hurriedly. B wasted no time responding, "Lucifer overheard her telling Lilith about your training. Lucifer doesn't know Lamia was supposed to take your place in your vessel. He tasked her with sticking close to him and now she can't leave hell.". We both looked at Mika'il for answers but he put his hands up saying, "The workings of Hell are way out of my area. We can't go there unless commanded.". I let my shoulders slump, feeling defeated, I sat down. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looking up, B comforted me, "She's been there for thousands of years. She'll be ok but she won't be able to help you now.". I began thinking about my dream replaying it over and over when suddenly my eyes went wide. Standing up I scolded, "I guess we'll just have to go get her then.". Both men looked at me as if I had grown a third eye. "Do you know how dangerous that is?" B called and Mika'il echoed "I can't go with you, he can't fly. You'll be captured.". They continued to overlap each other as I stood and walked back towards the town. B began again, "Mia, you can't possibly," "Stop" I interrupted. "Lamia is a part of me. She is my friend. I won't allow her to sit and possibly die while all of this is going on." I continued. Mika'il audibly huffed and rolled his eyes. I put my finger in his face stating, "You can either help or go away. No one knows about my wings so I can keep them hidden.". "Mia, I just don't think it's the smartest thing to do." Mika'il responded defeated. I told him about my dream last night and how Lamia is a key in all of this. His face became angry for some unknown reason but he quickly calmed upon the end of my dream. A look of confusion coated his features as he glanced between me and B, "We have to go get her. Mia, you've commanded me before, so you'll have to do it again but a few questions first." Mika'il huffed out. "Shoot em", I replied. "What did your grandmother look like?" Mika'il prodded. I described his features and his face paled. He looked like he wanted to say something but the words wouldn't come out. After an eternity of me and B staring at him he finally spoke, "Are M names common in your family?". I thought for a second before responding, "Kind of yea. I mean I don't know. I know my Mom's name was Martha, my Grandma's name was Margaret, and my great grandma's name was Madeline. I could say yea but before them, I'm not sure.". Mika'il started glowing white with a smile plastered on his face. B started backing up to stay out of his way when Mika'il called out, "I think you're of Mary. All of this makes more sense if you're of Mary.". "Okay either way, we have to go get Lamia. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with my wings." I said walking away again. I was stopped by Mika'il grabbing my shoulder and halting me in my tracks. A look of annoyance coated my face as I turned to look at him. "Mia, the hell portal is this way." Mika'il said, pointing in the opposite direction, continuing to speak, "I need you to command me so I can pass and I'm not carrying the demon. You are." he ended pointing at B. B looked offended side-eyeing Mika'il and said, "I don't bite." a small smile playing on his lips. "Yea you stab." Mika'il retorted quickly. B rolled his eyes, "Not hard though.". I ignored their banter and started walking towards the hell portal leaving both of them. As they noticed I was leaving without them, they continued to banter back and forth as we made our way across the "fields". I would never understand why they called these fields. After a brief walk Mika'il started slowing down. It looked like he was getting weaker by the second. He caught my eyes on him saying, "I told you I need you to command me. I can't go very much farther.". "Okay Mika'il. I command you to go to Hell with me." I stated matter of factly. He mouthed thank you and you could see his energy starting to come back. In the far distance I could see a tall monolith reaching for the sky. I could only assume that that was where we were going. After a little more time, B finally broke the silence, "Mia, Mika'il," he said looking between us with a serious look on his face, "Don't freak out when we go in there.". Seeing me and Mika'il lose some color, he continued "You'll hear screaming. You'll be smothered with pain in the air. You have to know that the humans making those sounds are not innocent and they are atoning for what they did with their freewill. Do not help them under any circumstances.". Me and Mika'il nodded, understanding what B was saying was serious. "Each layer we cross through, the screaming gets worse. The pain in the air gets worse. If we get separated, look for the door. It will lead you to the offices and Lucifer." B said. "How do we get out?" I asked. "Fly as fast as you can Mia." B said, looking down at the ground. Finally, the monolith towered over us. "So how do we get in?" I queried. Mika'il pointed up saying, "To go down, we first must go up.". "So how did B get in without wings?" I questioned. "Mia, I have to take different portals. I would have been back in no time flat if I had wings." B puffed out. Mika'il interrupted again, "And I am not carrying him. You are.". I rolled my eyes and motioned for B to climb on my back. "Not like that. You'll never be able to fly like that. You have to carry him like a sleeping toddler." Mika'il bolstered out with chuckles breaking forward. "Seriously?" B called back. Mika'il just nodded trying to stifle his laughter. I held my arms out and B hopped up into them, embarrassment written all over his face. Mika'il started to flap his wings both keeping in time with one another, he easily started elevating up. I followed suit cradling B close to my chest where he took advantage, setting his cheek on my cleavage. I chuckled quietly and flapped harder. One of my wings off by a hair of the other making it harder for me to take off. Mika'il was already a small dot above me and he had to lead the way in. The added weight of B also didn't help. I tipped sideways right around 20 feet off the ground and he glued his arms around my neck. I rolled my eyes, flapping even harder and gaining altitude. Before I reached Mika'il, he pointed to the monolith with his hand and dove. He tucked both wings in and gained speed on the way down. As soon as he touched the top of the monolith, he was gone. "Shit" I muttered out loud. My wings beating over my voice. I climbed even higher than Mika'il had been. "B" I screamed. He looked at me as I continued. "I need you to drop your legs and make your body vertical with mine. Hold me around my neck.". B made the awkward transition and as soon as he wrapped his legs around my hips, I dove. A scream muffled by the wind broke out from B and I tucked my wings as close to my body as was possible. It took a lot of core strength to keep us straight and on target of the monolith. I closed my eyes right before we hit it, but instead of being hit with rock, screams pelted me. Pain seared my skin. Opening my eyes, B had already started standing up motioning for me to do the same. Mika'il had his form completely hidden and B's form was completely out. I stayed crouched on the ground as a foreign feeling took hold of me. My marks had come through as soon as we hit. Like little flicks in the face, they all had come forward. My wings were the biggest issue. Something was happening but I couldn't see. My ears rang and my vision blurred. B's mouth moved like he was speaking to me but I couldn't make out what he was saying. He reached for my hand and pulled me up but I stayed in place. The burning in my wings became unbearable. Something was happening with them. B looked up towards them, his eyes going wide, and I saw the reflection of fire in his eyes. Mika'il ran over at that point inspecting them. The burning started to dull when I looked back at them. They were encapsulated in fire still but my feathers remained intact. I reached out and touched them, and the fire didn't burn me. I looked at Mika'il who bore uneasiness on his face. The ringing slowly retracted and I could hear the screams. The pain subsided and I stood up. Mika'il solemnly told me to put them away. "I can't," I replied. "What do you mean you can't? Everyone we pass will be able to tell you're not normal with that color and FLAMES on your wings!" he said, throwing his hands at the ceiling. He started pacing as B was staring in awe "Cool Sh** Mia. Those are bada**" was all he said before standing and walking down the path. I followed B while Mika'il was visibly worried. Making our way through the different rings, the flames danced over my wings and reacted to the levels growing larger and larger. We hit the 9th circle and they encapsulated my entire back. The flames danced off my skin, never burning me. Walking got easier the farther we got in and I got more and more comfortable the longer we were there. It felt safe like home but I shook the feeling away as quickly as it had come for a door appeared in the 9th circle. "This is where it'll get fun if we're caught." B said and opened the door, motioning for me and Mika to follow him.