((A different version of Betrayed. Once again I had Kobaltic help me with this.))

The sounds of battle echoed across heaven as angel fought angel. Screams of agony were drowned out by the clashing of steel against steel. The ground upon which all that was holy stood was tainted with the golden blood of the angels. Leading the opposition was an angel in darkened armor, cutting down angels with a twisted greatsword. Opposing him was an archangel in shining armor, holding the line with his own longsword.
Hiding behind a barrel was the only nephilim in Heaven.

Alison, was watching as her older brother, Cain, fight the other angels. She silently cried, knowing that she would never see him again once the Rebellion is over. Her other brother, Zane told her to hide, but she didn’t want to. 

As blood was spilled across the land, a rebel sword came flying at her, landing in front of the barrel she watched the battle behind. She silently crept out from her hiding spot to the front of the barrel and picked up the sword. It was at that point another Fallen saw her and headed right for her with the intent of killing her, a wicked smile stretched across his face. 

"There you are, you little sh*t." He playfully taunted. "Oh, what's wrong, scared? GOOD." He started to raise his sword to strike her. Alison's eyes widened in fear.

"I'm going to enjoy getting rid of you, like we should have done all those years ago." He swung his sword at her head, without any other thought.

Alison picked up the sword and managed to block it. She caught the Fallen off guard and attacked, the blade slicing through his physical form, killing him. Alison's eyes widened a little but then immediately ran off and hid somewhere else. Keeping the sword with her.  After a while, she heard footsteps coming near her, she grew frightened and stayed absolutely quiet. 

“Alison..?”

She heard who it was, she slowly looked out from her hiding spot, ready to attack, but soon felt safe when she realized who it was: Zane. He was injured badly, and his armor was half broken. Alison hugged him tight, dropping the sword in the process. “Where did you get that sword?!” He asked her. 

Tears filled her eyes and she began to cry. She replied, “I found it. Someone came at me and tried to kill me-” She was soon cut off when she saw Cain standing right behind Zane.

In his silvery eyes was a glint of sadistic glee. In his hand was a bloodied blade. Zane struggled to his feet, raising his weapon against his brother. He put himself between the rebel and the nephilim, taking a defensive stance to protect his younger sister.

“It’s a shame you two didn’t see things my way,” Cain playfully lamented. “Then again, why would I let you two hold me back from my destiny?” He swung his sword at Zane, who blocked the attack, then the next, and the next after that.

“Cain, please-“

“Wrong,” Cain growled. “Cain was a fool who let his slavemaster dictate what he could be. I am the fatal strike to destroy this empire!” Cain launched a flurry of attacks, each one designed to wear down Zane’s defenses. Zane parried as best as he could, but he had lost his shield earlier and couldn’t block. Zane suffered laceration after laceration, spilling golden blood onto the ground. “Please, Cain. Let's not fight in front of our sister..”

“DON'T BRING HER INTO THIS, ZANE.”

“Both of you! STOP!” Alison cried. Cain looked at his sister with anger in his eyes. Her eyes turned completely white as light blue vines made of pure light came out of the ground and held both brothers in place, the grip was extremely tight, so it was very hard to get out of. “Will you two stop fighting?! Please! I can’t stand any more of this!” She cried out. She could feel a sharp pain in her chest. “I hate this… I hate ALL OF THIS.”

“Alison,” Zane advised while struggling to breathe, “you need to calm down.”

“Oh, save your breath, brother.” Cain’s last word had a venomous emphasis imbued within it. “You can’t help her. You can’t even help yourself.”

“SHUT. UP.” Alison said to Cain as the vines holding them in place grew tighter, making it harder for them for him to breathe. Tears were flowing down her face like a waterfall. “WE SHOULDN'T BE FIGHTING EACH OTHER. WE'RE FAMILY FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. THERE IS NO REASON FOR ANY OF THIS BLOODSHED TO BE HAPPENING!!”

“A-Alison…. Please….” Zane managed to get out. Alison loosened the grip of the vines on Zane. She stayed quiet and started to cry even more.

“Let him go, Alison,” Zane ordered as he coughed up golden blood. “He needs to pay for his crime, and he can’t pay for anything if he’s dead.” 

Alison was quiet for a second. Then the vines disappeared. She began to cry even more.

Cain stood to his feet, glaring at his brother. “Naive fool. Do you honestly think you will win?” He picked up his sword and began to walk towards Zane, looking like a man about to kill. Before he could raise his weapon and strike his brother, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Cain turned and saw what was keeping him from his target.

“You.”

He was dressed in golden armor, and his dark hair was trimmed short. In his other hand, he held a longsword. In his eyes was disappointment.

Alison saw who it was and became scared. It was Michael, the archangel. She slowly backed away from them.

“Cain,” the golden-armored angel lamented, “you’ve disappointed me. I thought you would be a great guardian and one day become my equal, but you’ve shown that you’re willing to kill for something that is not your destiny.”

“What would you know of destiny, Michael?” Cain spat. “All your life, you’ve known nothing but power over the rest of us.”

“Do you honestly think my position has any meaning or power? I am nothing more than what any other guardian is.” Michael sighed. “This rebellion is over. Lucifer has surrendered. Every rebel is being gathered in the center of the city. You and I both know where you’re going for this.”

Alison’s eyes grew wide, she knew what was about to happen. “No….” She started to bawl her eyes out. She muttered under her breath, “You can’t do this…. You… CAN’T.” The three of them could see the massive amount of anger in her eyes. Zane started to become frightened.

Both Michael and Cain looked concerned, but Michael didn’t falter. Cain offered no resistance to the two guardians who would bring him to the city’s center as he was led away from Alison and Zane. 

Alison fell to her knees and cried. She didn’t want Cain to leave, but she couldn’t stop them. After all, how could she? “This is all YOUR FAULT.” She said under her breath. Suddenly, she felt something enter her mind. Everything for her went pitch black.

Michael and Zane watched as Alison stood on her feet, a wicked smile now stretching across her face. She opened her eyes, revealing dark voids where her silvery eyes once existed. In her hands appeared two swords, darker than the night and made for tearing through opponents. When she spoke, the voice of Lucifer rang out as she announced, “I will not be denied!” With that, she lunged like a feral beast at Michael, who barely managed to parry her attacks.

Her attacks were relentless, pummeling Michael’s defenses over and over and over again. His fight wasn’t a fight to defeat an opponent, but a fight to survive. As Alison continued her rampage against the golden angel, Zane rose to his feet, feeling his wounds healing themselves. He picked up his sword off the ground, holding it as though it was the only thing in the universe that could end the conflict.

Alison was almost about to finish off Michael, who was getting exhausted, and nervous. Even if Alison is freed from Lucifer’s control, it will leave a permanent scar in her memory of what happened. She tried so hard to fight off his control, but to no avail. It just made his control over her stronger. In the distance, Cain saw this and realized what was going on as he was being dragged off to the center of the city.

Cain suddenly forced his way out of the guards’ grasp and flung himself at Alison, clenching his hands into fists and pummeling his sister with all the force of a great typhoon. Again and again, he beat the possessed nephilim. His rage could not be contained as his attacks carved a path through the holy land. As he got further and further from the center of the city, his relentless offense became more ruthless. 

As he found the outskirts of the city, he threw the nephilim into the city walls and began to mercilessly beat her. As he attacked, he could hear Lucifer’s screams of agony, and he was happy to know that his theory had been confirmed.

Minutes later, Cain stood over the body of his sister, the wrist and hand twitching, but the demon did not free his control over the nephilim. Instead, he began laughing.

"You really think all of that is going to make me free your sister?" He taunted. "Pathetic. She's my prisoner now. And there's nothing that you can do to free her."

"Screw you."

The demon acted shocked. "My, what such foul language! Perhaps you should watch that mouth of yours, it'll really get you into trouble." He taunted. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I best be on my way. There's so much to do now that your sister is my little pet. Who knows what she is capable of?" And with that, he disappeared.

Cain’s eyes burned, tears welling up in them. His hands tightly clenched into fists. He looked down at the crater where his enemy had just been. His vision turned red, and he looked to the heavens above, screaming with the darkest rage ever unleashed in that time. He fell to his knees and began to cry, accepting his defeat.

Zane came running over to his brother, but he felt confused and worried when he didn't see his sister. "Cain, where is she?" He asked.

Cain didn't say a word and instead continued crying. Anger began to take hold of Zane. He shouted, "WHERE IS ALISON?!" as he grabbed Cain by the shoulder and forced his brother to turn towards him. 

"They're gone.." He whispered to Zane. "They're not here.."

Zane grabbed Cain and lifted him up to his feet, completely fueled by anger. "What did you say?!"

Cain looked up at him, anger filled his eyes as he yelled, "SHE'S GONE!!" Cain's response echoed in Zane's mind like a cannon, tears falling down his face.

“No…” Zane let go of his brother, stepping back in shock and falling to his knees. “They can’t be gone…”

Cain stood up and looked down at his brother. "They're gone.. Lucifer has Alison. He took her."

Moments later, Michael came running over with a few other guardians. He looked worried when he saw that Alison and Lucifer weren't there. "What happened?" He asked.

Cain looked over at him. "They're gone.." he replied. "We don't know where they went."

“That’s… No…” Michael looked down, the weight of what happened hitting him. ”I can’t believe…” He took a breath, restraining himself. “She was a little sister to us all. We’ll do everything we can to find them.”

“Yes, we will,” Cain muttered as he turned away, his armor melting and reforming into a tuxedo. His sword turned into a pocket watch he slipped into his coat, and his wounds disappeared, leaving no trace.

“Where do you think you’re going?!” Zane shouted, noticing Cain was leaving. “You don’t get to walk away from this! You betrayed our Creator and everything you stood for!”

Cain paused, thinking about his actions. “I know,” he replied, “and I’m going to make things right… but not from inside the Pit.”

“If you run,” Michael warned, “we will find you.”

Cain turned to his former allies, his face a steadfast expression of determination and an anger as dry as firewood in a drought. “No,” he corrected as the fabric of reality began to bend around him. “You won’t.” With that, he disappeared.

<<•○•>>

Several millennia later…

The gates to Hell shattered as demon and angel entered. Both were armed to the teeth, marching forward with purpose, and both of them were determined to get their sister back.

Any demons that saw them backed up, and didn't dare get in their path. The few who were foolish enough to resist were turned to ash.

Another nephilim saw Cain and immediately hid from him, she obviously knew something about Alison and immediately recognized him. However, she was a split second too late to escape Zane’s notice, and he quickly grabbed the nephilim by the ankle and pulled her out of her hiding space. Cain saw the nephilim, then asked Zane, “Why did you just drag a nephilim out of hiding?”

“Call it a hunch,” Zane replied. 

The nephilim started panicking. She looked up at both of them. "P-Please.. I didn't do anything wrong.."

"And why should we believe you?" Zane questioned. "If you didn't do anything wrong, then why are you here?" 

"I didn't choose to live here.. my father did.. I never wanted this life.. And I never wanted to see another nephilim get used as a puppet."

Cain looked down at the nephilim. "You know Alison?"

"Who here doesn't know her?” the nephilim replied. “As soon Lucifer arrived here with his little 'pet', as he calls her, everyone immediately became afraid. But some have also felt sorry for her,  though they won't outright admit it."

"Where is our sister?" Cain asked.

"Possessed, like she has been for the past millennia. Location wise, probably overseeing everything that's going on here."

“We’re trying to free her,” Zane explained. “Can you help us? Maybe rally some of the demons sympathetic to Alison?”

"I highly doubt they'll listen to me,” the nephilim replied. “After all, she technically is my half sister since we both have the same father. But I could try."

Both angels stared at her with confusion for a moment, unsure what to make of her claim. “Okay,” Cain responded warily. “We’ll take what we can get.”

The nephilim stood up. "You might want to go find them. I highly doubt they'll be in one place for long." She told them. 

As she walked away, the angel and the demon looked at each other with confusion. They silently agreed never to speak of what they just heard again and moved on toward their target. That is, until an unusual being appeared on their path.

His armor gleamed in the light of the fire that burned around them. His skin was pale as bone, and faint markings decorated his face. His brown hair was combed away from his face, ensuring that both ethereal entities could see his violet eyes. In his hand, he held a sword-staff.

“Jovian Aurelius,” Cain announced. “One of the last Ourani on Earth. How predictable to see you here.”

“Of course it’s predictable,” Jovian retorted. “Did you really think I’d let you two take out the devil himself without me?”

“We sent you an invitation,” Zane clarified.

“You were supposed to RSVP,” Cain reminded.

Jovian shook his head. “You two don’t realize I RSVP by showing up. End of story.”

Zane sighed, crossing his arms. “Whatever. Did you bring help?”

Jovian smirked and pointed to an area directly behind him, where the fabric of reality had bent and broken. Stepping through the Rift was a green-eyed black-haired man with a large gun, a red-haired Ourani woman who looked much like Jovian and carried a knife and a medpack, a dark-skinned elf with a rifle in his hands, and three other Ourani who looked a lot more like Jovian than the other Ourani. Before the Rift closed, a dragon as dark as night stepped through, towering over the other fighters, then seemed to collapse into the form of a woman with an Amazonian build, black hair, and red skin. They all approached, looking to Zane and Cain for approval.

Zane looked at Cain, who simply nodded. “Alright,” he eventually decided, “you can come with us. Like I was saying before Jovian showed up, we need all the help we can get. Form up behind us and be ready for a fight.”

As a group, they continued on their path.

<<•○•>>

The group eventually reached their destination. They stood in awe for a moment at the throne of Hell. It was carved into a boulder 8 meters tall and 15 meters wide. Torches spewed dark flame on either side of the wicked throne, and the heads of the dark prince’s rivals were mounted on stakes under them. And there on the throne, fiddling around with a knife, was Alison, still possessed like the nephilim had said.

From the waist down, she wore a dark red dress, clasped at her waist by a silver belt and reached her ankles. Above her waist, she wore nothing but a wide piece of black fabric that covered her chest. It looked uncomfortable to wear, but it probably helped to seduce the gullible among mortals. Her golden hair was longer, reaching her lower back, and her once-silver eyes were as dark as the void.

The possessed nephilim looked up at the group. "Ah, uninvited guests." She mocked. "Now, how is this going to turn out, hm? You barge in to my home, attempt to kill me, and steal what belongs to me?"

“Hey,” Jovian interrupted, addressing Zane and Cain, “I just realized… could we do the thing? You, know, the ‘in the name of-‘“

“I know what you’re talking about,” Zane quickly replied. “And yes, we’ll try that first.” He stepped forward, and his next command echoed across Hell like a gong. “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, come out of that body!”

Nothing really seemed to happen as she began laughing. "You really think that is going to work on me? PATHETIC."

“Well, we tried,” Zane conceded. “We very much tried to tell you to leave.”

“But now we’re gonna make you regret saying ‘no,’” Cain threatened.

The possessed nephilim smirked. "And just what are you planning to do? Kill me? As long as I hold your sister, she dies with me. Then your little mission will be all for nothing. Besides, you're severely outnumbered, dearies. I have an entire army, and what do you have?"

((“The high ground.”))

“I know my sister,” Cain replied. “I know her better than you ever will. I know you put her through literal and figurative Hell. I know she’d rather die than spend another minute as your puppet. So if it comes down to killing her, I will.”

"Oh, if only you could hear her cries." She taunted. "She's begging to be free. Screaming and crying out for help. A bit of a crybaby, isn't she, Cain? She always cried about a lot of things. And whined when something wouldn't go her way. And to think, this little pest was to take my job from me"

“I’m sick of this,” Jovian muttered. He then reached for his gauntlet and pressed a hidden button. It was at this moment Zane realized one of Jovian’s Reflections was nowhere to be seen. “Take the shot,” Jovian ordered.

A sniper round sliced through the air, speeding directly towards Alison’s heart. In the instant before the round would’ve hit her, Alison’s body disappeared from the throne, reappearing behind the sniper as the bullet hit the back of the cursed seat of power.

“Nice try, Felix.” She threw the sniper towards the group, watching him roll down the side of the hill he was positioned on. “But not quite fast enough.”

“Omae wa mou shindeiru.”

Before Alison could turn, she was hit in the back with a blast of buckshot. She tumbled down the hill, screaming and crying in agony. Her arms and hands curled as every nerve in her body felt like it was on fire. 

She began to shake violently as a dark entity extended from her body, desperately trying to grasp at whatever was in reach. As it left, Zane rushed to his sister, desperately trying to heal her as the devil himself escaped the mortal body and looked at the source of the blast: another of Jovian’s Reflections, armed with a shotgun and wearing a smug grin on his face.

“I’ve forgotten how much ether-treated weapons hurt,” the dark prince admitted. “Thanks for reminding me what sort of pain I’ll have to bring to you and everyone you love.”

Alison, unable to feel anything, fell unconscious almost immediately as he left, completely drained of energy. Zane gently put a hand on her shoulder. "Rest for a little bit. You need to regain your strength." He muttered to her. "We'll get you home soon.."

As Zane comforted his adopted sister, all Hell broke loose behind him. Everyone who had arrived with him and carried a weapon was attacking Lucifer from almost every angle, forcing him to a purely defensive strategy.

Almost out of nowhere, the nephilim from earlier arrived with at least 27 other demons who were sympathetic towards Alison, and they were well-equipped with weapons and armor. 

Zane looked at the nephilim. "You finally made it." He said.

"I kept my word, didn't I? How's Alison doing?" She asked.

"She's slowly recovering. But she needs to be properly treated to once we get back home. So this is how many people that are willing to help?"

The nephilim approached the two. "They're the only ones who had the guts to come help. By my guess we could’ve had at least 39."

It was at that moment that Cain landed on his back next to Zane. He slowly got up, looked at the demons that had congregated, and roared, “WHY ARE YOU ALL STANDING THERE LIKE A BUNCH OF MORONS?! KILL THE DECEIVER!!!”

In the seconds that followed, chaos erupted as everyone present attacked the dark entity. Lucifer himself, the traitor to the Creator of Heaven and Earth, had curled up to protect himself from their brutal attacks, suffering painful lacerations and contusions all over his body. 

Alison began to wake up, aching all over. "Mm.." she groaned.

“Easy,” Zane calmly instructed, barely audible over the sound of the devil getting his ass kicked. “You’ve been freed from a life of ceaseless agony. You need to rest now.”

"Not until he pays for what he did to me. I need to have my part in kicking his ass."

“First off,” Zane responded, “language. Second off, you’re in no position to contribute to that near-Medieval execution. You need to rest. Regain your strength. If you can stand on your own two feet when they’re finished, I’ll let you spit on him, okay?”

"I'm most likely going to kill him."

“Ax-kick to the family jewels, then,” Zane offered, trying to negotiate with her so she would rest rather than exhaust herself trying to destroy her tormentor.

She simply glared at him a little bit then sighed. "It's not fair they get to do most of it."

“Well,” Zane admitted, “they got there first. Besides, revenge won’t make you feel better. Cain would tell you otherwise, but-“

“It doesn’t feel like I’m doing enough,” Cain admitted as he stepped away and visited his sister. “I’ve even launched a nuke at the guy and I still want to do more.”

“See?” Zane continued. “Wait… Who let you have a nuke?”

Cain smirked. “Friend of yours.”

Zane’s hand flew to his face, expressing disappointment in Jovian’s trigger-happy Reflection. “Of course.”

"I'm starting to not care about rest right now. Besides, I was here long before them." Alison stated. "All I want now is for him to suffer the same way I did."

“That depends,” Cain replied, glancing back at the crowd. “Do you think being slapped with fish and beaten with frying pans gets close to what you felt?”

"Far from it."

“Alright.” Cain turned back to the crowd. “FREESTYLE!” The crowd changed their tactics as Cain explained to Alison, “We’re doing themes to keep things interesting. You just missed the ‘Team Fortress 2 melee weapons’ theme. Nobody would survive even one round of this stuff, but this is the second-toughest piece of trash in the universe. He’ll take what’s coming to him.”

"So now I can beat the sh*t out of him?" She smirked. "Perfect." She struggled a little bit but managed to stand up. 

“What part of ‘you’re in no condition to participate’ do you not understand?!” Zane shrieked. “You just got shot in the back and you haven’t had any control of your own body in years!”

"The pain's starting to fade, and I can manage. I'll be okay." She stated as she started to approach the area the fight was taking place.

Zane grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "You aren't fighting. I FORBID IT."

Alison looked at him with a stern look on her face, her eyes turned a gold color. "I get my part in it whether you like it or not. I don't need you to constantly keep me away from fighting, I'm not a baby anymore. I won't get hurt."

Cain's eyes widened as he took a step back at what he had just witnessed.

"I'M NOT LOSING YOU AGAIN!" Zane yelled as tears fell down his face, not noticing the change of color in her eyes. "Alison, PLEASE. Rest and regain your strength. If you don't, you'll only make things worse for yourself!"

Tears began to form in her eyes as they reverted back to their natural color. "Please," she begged, “he’s done so much…”

Zane's anger melted, replaced by sadness. "I know you’re in pain. Rest for a moment. That’s all I’m asking for. Just a moment."

Cain approached his sister and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey. I can have everyone hold the <string of profanities> down while you stab him in the face.”

“Everyone holding down the guy that had the might and guts to challenge his maker?” Zane replied. “That may not be enough.”

"Have you seen how many people he's up against?" She pointed out. "That's a lot. But holding him down might not be easy. I don't know, I literally just woke up."

“You don’t have to hold him down,” Cain replied. He then pointed to her sword. “Just shove that into his face once we’ve got a good hold of him.”

"I didn't say I would hold him down. I was talking about everyone else."

“That’s what I was talking about,” Cain responded. “I was just under the impression that you were talking about you helping to hold him down. Thanks for clarifying.”

"Give me a minute to relax.." She sighed as she sat down. "I just need about a minute."

Zane put a hand on her shoulder. "Take your time." 

At the time Alison put a hand down on top of the handle of her sword, Cain noticed something intriguing on Alison's ring finger. He knelt down and picked up her hand and inspected it closer. It was a dark red garnet ring, the metal part itself almost resembled that of a wedding ring, but the gemstone looked.. corrupted somehow.

"Alison, where did you get this?" Cain asked as he showed them.

Alison finally noticed it and freaked out. "WHAT THE F-"

"Language." Zane interrupted.

“Wow,” Cain concluded. “She’s married.”

"What the actual f*ck?!" Alison was just in shock about this revelation. She tried taking the ring off but it was stuck on her finger. "Oh no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!"

“Why weren’t we invited to the wedding?” Cain asked accusingly.

"You really think I wanted this?! I never wanted it!"

“Then why did you say ‘I do-‘ Where’s Zane?” Cain asked.

It was then that they realized Hell had gotten significantly quieter. Almost too quiet. The sound of the beatings had been silenced, the screams muted. It was as if everything in the fiery pits had disappeared.

"What happened? Where is everyone?" 

"I don't know. They're all gone." Cain responded as the two of them stood up. "But where could they have gone?"

"I have a feeling we should go." Alison recommended as she looked around. "I don't think we should be here-" She stopped as she looked back at Cain, who had disappeared. She began panicking as she stepped back, trying to wrap her head around the reality that everyone is disappearing. 

"What's going on..?" She muttered to herself. "Where is everyone?" 

“Hello, Alison.”

Alison slowly turned to where the voice came from, she looked a little spooked due to not recognizing the voice. When she saw the source, her heart felt like it stopped.

Standing in front of her was a man and a woman. The man was covered in a hooded cloak and armor, casting his face into shadow. His irises glowed white in the shadow of his hood, illuminating his aged face. In his hands, he held an executioner’s sword.

The woman, on the other hand, was clothed in a torn and singed blood-red tunic. Her golden blond hair was poorly cut and reached her back, and her blue eyes conveyed longing and sadness.

Alison slightly waved at them. Still spooked and now thinking she was in trouble. But she had no idea who the female was.

“You may not remember us,” the man continued, “but we both know you quite well.” The sword disappeared from his hands as he bowed. “I am Thanatos. the angel of death.”

"Creepy.. but also a little cool.." Alison muttered to herself.

“And this is your mother,” Thanatos finished. The woman stepped forward, unsure of herself.

Alison's eyes widened. "Did I just hear you correctly? My mother?!"

"Mariposa..? Is that you..?"

Alison looked at the female, confused. The strong resemblance was indeed there. Same face, hair, skin, and almost the same eyes, though Alison had one silver eye and one light blue eye. 

The woman looked back at the man. "This can't be her. My daughter died when she was born. I buried her! There's no way she could be alive."

"There is an explanation for that, Nerys,” Thanatos replied. “It’s the same explanation for why you’re here. This is the afterlife. Where you have fallen short of the glory of our Creator, your daughter was sent to the realm of the Creator to live on among the angels.”

“Is that really true?” Nerys asked, as though she heard this for the first time and it truly captivated her imagination.

“Yes,” Thanatos replied with a hint of boredom. “I’ve explained this to you 12 times now.”

Alison felt a bit awkward but also terrified at what she just heard.

Nerys looked back at Alison and approached her. She hesitated a little bit as she put a hand on her daughter's cheek. "Look at how beautiful you've gotten.. you're perfect.."

Alison was still trying to wrap her head around the fact she was half human. Tears began to form in her eyes.

"Hija, don't cry. Don't cry.." Nerys whispered as she hugged her daughter. "Don't cry.."

Alison looked at Thanatos with a hint of anger in her eyes. "Why didn’t you guys tell me about this before?!"

“You were possessed,” Thanatos replied. “We couldn’t get through to you. However, I suspect you’re more concerned with where everyone else is and why there’s a ring on your finger.”

"...A little bit."

"Lucifer had you two married while you were possessed as a last attempt for him to keep you to himself. Secondly, I brought you in to another plane of existence so we could talk."

"So what next? We're supposed to spend eternity together and eventually have a family?" She sarcastically joked, but there was a lot of anger in her tone. "Oh, think of that! Me, having a family with the a$$hole that ruined HALF MY F*CKING LIFE!"

“And that’s what I brought you here to talk about,” Thanatos continued as the sword reappeared in his hand. “I’m going to help you get a divorce.”

<<•○•>>

The fight continued as Cain reappeared, and was immediately greeted to Zane in tears. 

"What happened to her?" Zane asked.

Cain sighed as he looked at his brother. "Someone's talking to her."

Zane rolled his eyes just as a shout announced a sudden shift in power. Lucifer had thrown off his attackers, shifting into a stone golem the size of a skyscraper. Unnatural red flames covered every inch of the rocky surface, and his voice boomed as he announced, “I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS FOOLISHNESS! YOU WILL ALL DIE FOR DEFYING MY WILL!”

The attackers backed away quickly to avoid the first attack, meant to crush whatever was underneath the golem’s massive form. Zane and Cain looked at each other with horror, realizing they had awoken the sleeping giant.

<<•○•>>

“You mean to tell me you can get this ring off?” Alison asked.

“Of course,” Thanatos replied. “What else do you think I meant?”

Alison shrugged. “Paperwork, to be honest. You know, figuring out who gets the house and who gets the dog and all that.”

Thanatos rolled his eyes. “You’ve been in Hell for several millennia now and you’re joking about human divorce. The disgustingly flawed and irreversibly damaging divorce. The-“

“Alright, I get it,” Alison growled. “Just get this thing off me.”

“Alright,” Thanatos replied. “By the power vested in me by my Creator and Master, I hereby divorce you from Lucifer.” With a quick slash, the ring was sliced in half while the finger remained untouched by the blade.

Alison stares at her hand for a moment before asking, “Was it really that simple?”

“Kind of,” Thanatos admitted. “That was the easy part. The hard part was trying to convince the higher-ups to let me do this. Which reminds me…”

"How much trouble am I in?"

"All depends on your Judgment when you return home."

Nerys put a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "You shouldn't worry about that, Mariposa."

"Why do you call me that?"

"It was the name I gave to you when you were born. Your.. adopted.. family gave you a different name." Nerys told her. "Why they changed your name, I don't know. But it doesn't matter, you're still my baby girl."

"And the others still need help." Thanatos pointed out.

"Wait.. What will happen afterwards..?" Nerys asked. "She'll go back to Heaven, but what will happen to me? Will I be able to see my daughter again?"

"You won't. You can't see her again, Nerys. Your actions have caused you to be separated from your daughter after death. And you won't be able to see her ever again." Thanatos told her.

"No.. No, no, no! You aren't taking her away from me again!" Nerys yelled as she kept Alison close to her. "SHE'S MY DAUGHTER! SHE'S THE ONLY THING I HAD, AND YOU TOOK HER FROM ME!"

Thanatos’ brow furrowed, and his grip on his weapon tightened. “I wasn’t the one who indulged in the pleasures of the flesh against the wishes of the one who created me! I wasn’t the one that scoffed when a man started building a craft to save what little holiness remained on Earth! YOU were! YOU brought this on yourself, and you have the AUDACITY to blame ME for DOING MY JOB!”

"YOU PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW TO NEVER SEPARATE A MOTHER FROM HER CHILD! NO MATTER THE MOTHER'S ACTIONS!"

Alison grabbed both of them by the ear and put them both on the ground. "I just woke up, and I do NOT want to hear you two bickering like mere children. Both of you need to CHILL OUT. Or the two of you are getting put in time-out!"

Both of them had their eyes wide.

"Right now, you two need to chill out." Alison looked at her mother. "You know better than to lash out like that, and I am so disappointed in you. Get your act together and stop yelling and blaming someone for doing his job. I know you're hurt, but that doesn't give you an excuse to yell and blame someone for doing his job."

Nerys looked down in shame. Tears formed in her eyes. "I'm sorry.." she muttered.

"Are you?" Thanatos glared at Nerys.

Alison took a step forward and bent down to look at Thanatos, arms crossed. "Did you say something?" Her eyes immediately turned into a gold color, but they looked.. somewhat menacing.

Thanatos looked intrigued. "Looks like your time in Hell has changed a part of you. You're no longer the little child who ran around looking for something to do. You've grown up."

Alison stood back up straight. Taking a moment to think about what he just said. 

"As a matter of fact, that's not the only thing. Just now you acted like you were an authority figure correcting a follower or a worker for misbehaving. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're acting lik-" he stopped. His eyes widened as he looked down.

All of a sudden, Alison began to fade out, going back to where everyone else was. 

"No.. no.. Mariposa!" Nerys cried out as she reached out to her daughter, but she just passed right through her. "MARIPOSA!!"

Alison began to reach out to her mother as she completely disappeared.

Nerys fell to her knees and began crying. "No…. Please… please… Mariposa…"

Thanatos looked over at Nerys, no longer filled with anger. "Nerys.. do you.. really care about her that much..?"

Nerys was silent for a moment. She then spoke, "Of course.. she's my baby girl.. the one last thing I had in life.. but like everything else, she was taken from me. When I found out I was going to have a kid, I thought that everything would be better. Turns out.. it didn't.. But I guess now that doesn't matter.. but she will forever be my precious little girl.."

"...I am so sorry.."

"I would do anything to be with my daughter.." she muttered.

<<•○•>>

Alison reappeared in the area, tears falling down her face. Once she realized what was going on and where she was, she became terrified. She was almost right underneath Lucifer's foot.

Lucifer looked down at Alison and smirked. "Well, well, look who finally decided to show up. Hello there, Alison~"

Alison looked up at him, completely paralyzed with fear. 

Zane looked over at Alison, his eyes widened in fear as he realized how close she was to him. "ALISON, GET AWAY FROM HIM!" He yelled.

"Look at you down there~ you're almost like a little bug for me to kill."

Cain looked at his sister in horror. "ALISON RUN!!"

Alison backed up away from him, still filled with horror. She then turned around and began to run towards her brothers, but the giant foot squished her as if she was a mere bug, but only her legs and the bottom part of her torso were crushed underneath the giant foot. 

As tears began to flow out of her eyes, she let out a deafening scream, a large crack spread up the stone golem and all around the area, the ground almost shattered from it. Everyone covered their ears in response to this.

"NO!!!" Cain yelled as his sister was being half crushed. "ALISON!!"

"Pathetic. And to think you were going to be my replacement. What little 'gift' you turned out to be." Lucifer muttered to himself as he lifted his foot a little bit to see the damage he had done. "So much raw power inside of you and you haven't mastered any of it yet."

Zane covered his mouth and began bawling. He fell to his knees. "No.. no.."

Alison's legs were completely crushed, blood poured out and stained the ground, the bones in her legs had completely shattered. She began crawling away, desperately trying to get to her brothers. 

"Time to get rid of this embarrassment." Lucifer muttered as he began to slowly crush Alison again, this time, he planned on crushing her completely.

Cain looked up at the demon, fiery rage in his eyes. In the blink of an eye, he dashed towards the golem and punched it with the force of twenty nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles. The scattered army surrounding the golem had but the briefest moment to shield themselves before the radiant force hit them, and the devil himself was flung back. Cain pressed the advance, continuing to strike his target again and again and again.

Zane ran over to his sister and knelt down next to her. Alison had passed out due to blood loss. And within a few seconds, the two of them had returned to the mortal realm. 

As Cain struck out at his foe, the others finally had room to breathe and collect themselves. Reloading their weapons and patching their wounds, demon and mortal alike prepared for the worst.

<<•○•>>

Zane was carrying what was left of his sister, who was unable to move, and was barely breathing, to the hospital where Jovian's cousin worked at. As he entered the hospital, the nurses in the waiting room were scared to death.

A nurse approached them, asking, "What happened?"

Zane looked at the nurse, sadness filled his eyes. "She was almost crushed completely. She needs help."

The nurse examined Alison's wounds. "We'll do everything we can. But with injuries like these, she's going to be staying here for a month or so.. if she survives."

Zane watched as Alison was carried and brought to a room, tears falling down his face.

_____

[7 hours later..]

Zane waited outside the room his sister was in, nervous. And now, he wasn't afraid to admit that he was truly scared.

A doctor left the room, looking down at a clipboard. He sighed, "I'm sorry.. your sister will never walk again. The bones in her legs were completely shattered."

Zane's eyes widened at the news. Tears began to form in his eyes as he covered his mouth.

"Now, we have to perform surgery on her to remove her legs. It'll take us about 8-10 hours to perform the operation. However your sister needs to rest some more before we do anything." The doctor informed him. "Now that that's out of the way.. would you like to come in and see her?"

“I know I would,” a voice behind Zane replied. Zane turned to see his brother, flanked by the survivors of the battle. Their armor beaten, their weapons broken, their bodies bruised and bleeding. Nurses quickly swarmed them to tend to the warriors’ wounds, and Cain approached his brother. The look in his eyes was that of a man weary of war. He lifted his hand, presenting Zane with the severed head of Lucifer, the prince of darkness.

Zane sighed. "We promised Alison that she would have the last blow. But considering her condition, she might understand why you finished him off without her."

The doctor held the door open for them as they walked into the room. Both their hearts began to break when they saw their sister in casts and hooked up to a machine. The two of them approached the bed, examining the stitches and bruises. 

"Why did this have to happen?" Zane muttered. "Why did Alison have to be involved in any of this? The Rebellion.. the battle. We should have sent her away as soon as she was freed."

Cain looked at Zane, worried. "Zane.. can I speak with you? Away from Alison?"

Zane looked at Cain, unsure. "What about? What's wrong?"

"Just.. please. There's something else you need to know.. about Alison."

Zane sighed as the two of them went over to the window. "What is it?"

Cain managed to relax a little bit. "When Alison was arguing you on joining the fight. Her eyes.. Zane, they weren't their natural color."

Zane looked concerned. "I didn't even notice. What color did they change to?"

Cain looked down, his hand shaking as he tried to steady himself. "Zane.. they were gold." 

Zane's eyes widened in realization. "… no…"

"You know what that means, Zane."

He shook his head. “Are you sure they were gold?”

"I'm positive." Cain confirmed. "They were. But you do know what that means.."

Zane looked at Alison. "She's…" he began to say, but immediately tried to hold back tears.

A nurse entered the room, not looking around to make sure no one was there. She pulled out a bottle of some type of golden liquid that seemed to glow a little bit as well as a syringe and took a sample from the bottle, then setting it down.

Cain cautiously watched the nurse. He had no knowledge of what substance was in the bottle.

The nurse gently stuck the syringe into Alison's arm and injected the liquid into her. "You will reawaken in 5 minutes." She muttered under her breath as she began to pick up the bottle. It was then she noticed she wasn't alone in the room. She naturally backed against the wall, panicking.

Both angels blocked the nurse’s exit. Cain tossed the head aside and drew his sword while Zane crossed his arms. “Care to explain what you just did to my sister?”

"I helped her. What did you think I was doing? Making her worse?"

“Considering that bottle has no label,” Cain explained, “and you backed yourself to the wall when you saw us, how are we supposed to believe what you did was the legitimate practice of medicine?”

"Why don't you check her health, if you don't believe me?"

Zane approached the bedside and looked at the screen. Alison's heartbeat got better as well as her breathing. Intrigued, he looked at his sister for any noticeable changes. And his eyes widened when he found that the majority of the bruises had faded, and the majority of wounds had healed. Zane put his hand where Alison’s legs were, but he found almost no change. “You missed a spot,” he noted.

"I don't know for certain if they'll heal. That's more complicated. You have to remember that both her legs are completely broken, it won't immediately heal like the other wounds and bruises. If they heal anyway." The nurse informed him.

"What did you inject in to her?"

The nurse looked at him. "You of all people should know."

Alison's arm began moving a little, signaling that she was waking up. She groaned a little bit as her eyes opened. Her vision was blurry and it took a moment for her vision to clear. "Mm..? Wha… where am I…?" She muttered. "What.. happened…?"

Zane looked down at his sister and gently held her hand. "Take it easy, Alison. Don't move too much."

Alison tried to get comfortable, but it only caused her more pain. She winced as one of the stitches in her arm stretched out.

Cain quickly moved into action, pushing her back into the position she was in before she moved. “Don’t move,” he calmly instructed. “You’re going to mess up your stitches.”

"I need to get comfortable." She told him. "The way I'm laying right now is very uncomfortable."

Both Cain and Zane then spend the next few minutes helping Alison to find a comfortable position without messing up her stitches. 

Alison finally relaxed and took a moment to gather what had happened.

"How are you feeling?" Cain asked her.

"It's not everyday you get crushed to near-death. But.. while I was possessed and out cold.. I saw something.."

Both Zane and Cain looked at each other with worry. "What did you see?" Zane asked her.

"I saw.. a person.. female.. she looked like me.. she wore a white blouse, blue skirt, and her hair was pulled back. but there was something… off about her. She kept phasing in and out. Her eyes.. there was something wrong with her eyes. She had blood coming out of her nose. Her voice was muffled but I could barely make out 'tear', 'reality', and 'The next'- something. I have no idea what any of that means."

Cain crosses his arms. “You get to dream about yourself? Lucky. All I’ve gotten is stuff like pink fluffy unicorns dancing on rainbows and Donald Trump in a bikini.”

A blue vine sprouted from the ground and slapped Cain across the face. "That wasn't funny."

Cain only looked more annoyed, replying, “I wasn’t trying to be funny.”

"I just woke up. Don't start this with me." Alison said as she glared at him. 

"Cain? Where did the nurse go?" Zane asked him. Cain looked around, but couldn't find her. They didn't even hear the door open and close.

"What nurse..?" Alison asked.

"She injected you with a golden liquid, and it seemed to heal you a little bit. Your bruises are gone for the most part, but your legs are still broken." Zane replied

"Golden liquid? Isn't that the same color as our blood?"

As soon as Zane realized what it was, his eyes widened in fear, now realizing what the nurse was doing. "Oh no.."

"But if it helped a little bit, you shouldn't really get mad at her."

"The most important question is this: How did she managed to get a hold of that?!"

"Beats me."

It was at that moment the doctor from before entered the room, he looked up from his clipboard and almost panicked when he saw that Alison was awake. "You weren't supposed to be awake for another 7 hours."

When Alison saw the doctor, she glared at him. "Look who finally decided to show up."

The doctor backed up against the door, trying to open the door with one hand. Alison had locked eyes with him, she looked furious. "How many lies have you told my family?"

"What are you talking about? I never told any lies!" He told her. "I told your brothers exactly what was on the clipboard."

"Oh did you now? Then I hope you won't mind if you give my brother your clipboard so he can read it for himself. Did you mention to them that the only ways I can walk again is through cybernetic legs or through a certain surgery? Or did you tell them that I'd be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of my days?"

The doctor was absolutely petrified. He glanced at all three of them simultaneously, his eyes wide with fear.

"One of us is going to win this game of Chess. And so far, doctor, you're running out of pieces to play."

“Jeez, Alison,” Cain reacted, “chill. The guy’s just trying to do his job.”

"As a matter of fact, he isn't." Alison pointed out. She then turned her attention to the doctor. "What was that you whispered to me when the others left the room? 'I will make sure you will not survive past the operation'?"

"T-There's no way you heard that. You were asleep!"

"To you, I was. But I heard everything that was going on around me." 

Cain aimed his weapon at the doctor’s throat, ready to take his head with the flick of a wrist. “You better start explaining yourself.”

"Alright, alright! Someone paid me to have her not survive the surgery. But apparently she recovered faster than anything I've ever seen."

"A nurse apparently came in and foiled that plan." Alison told him.

"What nurse? All of our nurses were treating the other patients! None of them could have come in. Besides, how could a nurse heal someone in a span of a few minutes?"

“More importantly,” Zane inquired, “who paid you?”

"I couldn't see his face. But he seemed to have a very bad history with her. Though he wouldn't say how. As for the nurse, what did she look like? How did she heal your sister?"

"Blond hair, pale skin, blue eyes, though one of them was glossy. She wore a mask over the bottom half of her face."

The doctor thought for a moment. "That doesn't sound like any of our nurses."

Zane crossed his arms, pondering who the nurse could’ve been. Cain, on the other hand, grabbed the doctor by the shirt and threw him into a chair. “You’re going to tell us everything you know.”

<<•○•>>

The operating theater was mostly silent, save for the soft beep of a nearby heart monitor. The blinding light above illuminated Alison’s unconscious face as the doctor finished his preparations. Her eyes were closed, and her battered and broken legs were exposed on the cold operating table. The doctor sighed, empathetic to his patient.

“Scalpel.”

A nurse handed him the small knife, being careful not to cut herself as she held the blade. The doctor began to reach for the legs when he heard something unusual. He turned away to see what it was, bringing his hands up and away from the patient.

“Doctor?”

The doctor was still for a moment, looking at the corridor beyond. He shook his head, returning to his work. “I… just thought I heard something.” As he turned back to his work, he heard the sound again. “Nurse, please see what’s causing that sound.”

Just as he finished speaking, the doors to the theater opened. The nurses and doctor stepped away in shock, unsure of what was going on. The doctor kept his hands up and away, observing what had entered.

Standing in the doorway was something humanoid, but wrapped head to toe in bloodied bandages like a mummy. Over that, the being wore a hooded cloak that covered its head and shoulders. It seemed to float an inch off the floor, and it seemed to glow under the bandages.

“You need to leave this theater!” the doctor scolded. “We’re in the middle of an operation! No unauthorized-“

The entity turned its head to the doctor, and faint whispers filled the air. The doctor was silenced, stricken with awe.

“Doctor?”

The doctor turned to his nurse. “He’s okay to be here,” he said with a shaky voice. “We just need to keep our distance.”

As the hospital staff backed away, the entity floated forward. It turned its head to the unconscious body on the table, as if looking it over. It put its left hand on Alison’s legs and bent towards her head.

“Walk.”

Alison’s eyes shot open, gasping for air. As she quickly sat up, she saw the doctors shaking, but saw no one else in the room. “What happened?” she asked. “Did I wake up at a bad time?”

“You.. You're not supposed to be awake.." the doctor told her. 

"Then how am I awake?”

“Where did that thing go?” a nurse whispered.

“What did it do to her?” another muttered in a panic.

As Alison turned and pushed herself off the table, she remembered her legs were totally inoperable. She was surprised when the fall was shorter than expected and she was at a greater height than she should have achieved.

She looked down and began to cry as she realized what had happened. Her legs held up her body, completely healthy and showing no signs of having been crushed mere hours ago.

It was then she noticed that everyone else in the room was terrified. "What happened? Why are you all scared?"

"Miss, are you OK?" A nurse asked as she approached a little bit.

"I feel better. But how did my legs heal?" She asked as she looked down. It was then she noticed her hair dropped in front of her, but it was much longer than before. It easily would have been past her feet by about 48 inches. "Well, that's new." She sighed. "Now I got to cut it."

"Your hair is the least of our worries, miss. Do you feel anything different than before?"

"I feel fine." Alison responded as she walked towards the doors, feeling the eyes of everyone in there watching her.

As she walked out of the operating theater, leaving the shocked hospital staff in her wake, she wondered who healed her and why. She couldn’t remember anyone who was capable of such a feat, and now her curiosity consumed her. Time to do some detective work, she thought.

"Where to start..?" She muttered to herself as she accidentally bumped into Zane. She stumbled backwards but was soon caught by Cain from behind.

"Alison?! What happened? You should be having your surgery- wait.. how did you get healed?" Zane asked.

"I don't know. One moment I was unconscious on the table, the next, I woke up, completely healed. The doctor and the nurses were scared. Something came into the room and healed me."

"Did you see what healed you?" Cain asked.

"I didn't. The others did, but they didn’t tell me what they saw."

"Right now, I'm just happy that you're back."

It was then Cain noticed how long his sister's hair was. "What in the world happened to your hair?"

Alison shrugged. "It was like that when I woke up." She told them. "Now I got to drag all this hair around."

"Or I could do this.” Drawing his sword, Cain made a quick slice at Alison’s hair, cutting it off in the middle of her back. 

Alison looked down at the pile of hair, her eyes wide. "Did you have to do that here?"

"..Probably should have waited until we got home."

"I think it's about time we head home." Alison told them. "I've been homesick since I woke up."

<<•○•>>

As soon as they returned home, Alison felt at peace from being back home. But something was different, she wanted to be with her mother again. Her hand began to shake as she tried to hold back a couple tears. 

Zane put a hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong?" He asked.

Alison looked up at him. "...I miss my mother." She told him as a tear fell down her cheek.

Zane took his hand off her shoulder. "Alison, what are you talking about? You don't have a mother."

"Don't you dare lie to me. Don't try to keep it a secret. I already know the truth, and you can't keep lying to me."

Zane soon became disappointed. "We were hoping you wouldn't find out. We didn't know how to tell you that you were adopted."

"You should have told me a long time ago." Alison snarled. "I had to find out the hard way."

"That's enough." Cain told both of them. "No fighting right now. I know it's been a long day, but it's not an excuse for you two to fight."

Alison scoffed a little bit and turned her head away slightly. "Fine."

Cain passed a teapot to the table, it’s contents still hot. “By the way, the tea’s ready, in case you couldn’t tell from our tea kettle that sounds like LittleAnnaSmith laughing.”

“Who?”

“Never mind,” Cain muttered.

Zane poured himself a cup of tea, then took a sip. He felt refreshed as the warm leaf water traveled through the mortal body he conjured for interacting with Alison. “So, Cain,” he asked, “now that the traitor’s dead, who‘s in charge of the fiery pits?”

“Oh, I am,” Cain casually answered.

“Oh.” Zane took another sip, totally disregarding the fact that he was sharing tea with the new prince of darkness. “I was afraid it would be Alison.”

“You do have a valid point,” Cain replied. “That’s the worst case scenario by far. Nonetheless…” He turned to Alison, making sure he had her attention. “You can visit whenever you want.”

"I'm not going back down there." Alison told them. "I'm done with that place."

“Even to visit your mother?”

"I was told that I wouldn't see her again."

“By who?” Zane asked, setting down his cup.

"Thanatos. He told the both of us that we wouldn't see each other again."

“I did no such thing,” the angel of death objected, leaning against a wall and announcing his presence. Cain stood, hand on his weapon. Thanatos held up his hands, standing upright. “I don’t mean any harm,” he clarified. “I’m just here to talk about visitation.”

“Visitation?”

“Well, that and the potential for your mother to be given a second chance.” Thanatos took a seat on the recliner next to the couch where Zane and Alison sat. “Her case is being re-examined, and we may give her a second chance, but there’s a lot of paperwork and a lot of restrictions that are gonna come out of that, but we can discuss that later.”

"And this is happening now? It's been, how many years since she died? And this is just now happening? What about the others like me? You didn't even give them a chance, and instead you sent them to the Pit. My sister was brought there to live with my father. And you never even gave her a chance, just because she was half human."

All three of them had their eyes wide open in shock at what they just heard. "Alison," Zane said as he put a hand on her shoulder. "That's enough. What's done is done."

Alison immediately looked at her brother. "I won't stay silent any more. And I am not going to stop."

Zane immediately let go of his sister's shoulder, completely shocked at this response.

"They all deserve to have a chance. But the real question is: Are you willing to give it to them?"

"Alison," Thanatos stated. "You're talking about serious changes to a system that works."

"To a system that accepts good people, but sees a certain group of individuals as bad just because of what they are."

"...You are right about one thing," Cain admitted. "It's not their fault they're half human. And maybe.. maybe we shouldn't be so harsh on them. They do deserve a chance."

Thanatos glared at Alison, indignant. “Fine. You want to see how ‘good’ they are? Go down there and talk to them yourself.” With that, he disappeared.

"Not like you've ever talked to them." Alison muttered under her breath. "You probably don't know any of their names."

Out of nowhere, Zane heard faint whimpering from somewhere nearby. It almost sounded like a scared child. He looked around but found nothing. 

"What is it?" Alison asked him. "What are you looking for?" It was then she finally heard it. She looked back behind the couch to find a smol version of herself, curled up in a ball. Her eyes lit up as she gently picked up the miniature being and set it down on her lap. 

She silently awed as she took a soft cloth and wrapped the smol up in it, keeping her warm. Tears began to form in her eyes as she saw the miniature version of herself look up at her. "So small.." she muttered.

She didn’t notice her brother leaving as she held the minuscule humanoid. Zane didn’t try to stop him. He knew why the new prince of darkness left, and neither brother nor sister would have been able to help.

<<•○•>>

Cain approached the dark throne, his footsteps echoing in the unusual quiet of Hell. He knew he was being followed, but he had no fear of the other demons. However, they feared him now, more than ever.

He turned to the masses that had congregated, made from the fallen angels and the tortured souls that inhabited the dark realm. Looking over the crowd, he put his hands behind his back and began to speak.

“Inhabitants of the Lake of Fire, Tartarus, home, whatever you desire to call this place, heed me. Today, your old master is dead, slain by my hand. Today, I take the throne!”

As he sat on the throne, he felt a surge power flowing through him. As he took control of the power inherent to the prince of darkness, the masses knelt to their new master. Cain smirked, as the power was sweet and attractive.

“Before we go any further,” he announced, “I’d like to take care of some administrative tasks.” Hearing the crowd groan with disappointment as he produced a scroll from his pocket, he reasoned, “I know, I know, you freaks want to go back to tormenting each other. Well, this is Hell, and we get stuff done before we have fun, okay? Now…”

As he read through the scroll, he noticed a bunch of issues Lucifer had left unsolved. "No wonder everyone hated him." he thought to himself. Addressing the first on the list, he cleared his throat.

“Those of you born to a human parent and an angel parent but perished soon after, please report to Administration.There was a mix-up in your paperwork and you need to get that sorted out.” A sizable number of tortured souls left the crowd as Cain moved on.

“Those of you who are a parent of those individuals, you’ll have to go with them. Next issue, those of you born to a human parent and an angel parent and didn’t die so quickly, you’re all being assigned to our ranks since there’s nothing on this scroll indicating otherwise. Again, parents, go with them. You’re meeting at the armory.”

Eloise, standing with her mother and father, made her way to the armory. She was extremely nervous on what was about to happen to them. She could feel her mother's gaze of disappointment, and she hated it. 

"Eloise, I am very disappointed in you." Her mother muttered to her. "Not only did you disobey my orders, but you helped Alison get away. She was supposed to stay here where she belongs."

Eloise simply looked down, not making eye contact with her mother, which only made her more furious.

"Eloise, look at me when I'm talking to you." Her mother ordered. But Eloise refused to look at her mother. In response to this, her mother grabbed Eloise by the arm and forced her to look make eye contact with her mother.

"Listen here, you stupid girl, when I'm talking to you, you look at me. I'm getting sick of your disobedience."

What Eloise witnessed next didn’t really surprise her, but it certainly seemed to come out of nowhere. An amethyst colored fist slammed into her mother’s face, releasing her grip on Eloise and throwing her back. Both of them turned to see a fallen angel, his eyes like furious white flames and his form one of strength. “Keep your filthy hands off my daughter,” he roared.

Eloise's mother looked at the man with anger in her eyes. "OUR daughter,” she argued.

“You lost that privilege long ago,” he growled.

"Whatever.." she muttered.

When they arrived, they got in a line leading to a fallen angel behind a counter reading off a list. Travis sighed. “This is who I’m sending weapons and armor to,” he muttered. “Fantastic.”

Eloise kept her head down, not making any eye contact with her parents, and not saying a word to them. As they slowly approached the counter, some nephilim walked away with pride while others ran away crying. When it was their turn, the demon looked up from the list, asking, “Eloise, daughter of Travis?”

“She’s my daughter too, you know,” Eloise’s mother complained.

The demon refocused his gaze on her, his brow furrowing. “Who let you out of the Pit?” he demanded. “Security!”

Eloise didn’t move, not even to look at her own mother as she was dragged away by two demons, kicking and screaming. The demon continued, “There’s a special request here from Cain under your name. Something about a personal assignment.”

"A personal assignment..?"

“Yeah,” the demon clarified. “You’re gonna have to talk to Cain after his speech.”

"Alright.." She muttered.

A few hours later, Eloise and Travis stood before the new Prince. Cain now wore a gunmetal band around his head, engraved with symbols from an ancient text and bearing gems representative of the most heinous sins. He slowly paced in front of the throne, hands clasped behind his back and focus locked on the two visitors. “Eloise and Travis… It’s good to finally meet you two. I have something very special for you to do.”

"Does it involve killing someone innocent? If that's the case, I'm out." Eloise stated. "I'm not killing anyone that did anything wrong."

“None of that, I can assure you,” Cain replied. “Just some information gathering with more perks for you than for me.”

"What exactly do you want me to do?"

“I know my sister will soon be assigned a duty that will hinder my progress. Find out what she’s doing and report back to me.”

"How exactly will I be able to leave?"

Cain just looked at her like she just told him that grasshoppers tastes like champagne. “The same way everyone else can leave. Did… did no one tell you that?”

"I was told that there was no way to leave."

“Then whoever told you that is either an idiot or trying to deceive you,” Cain growled. “Demons have been able to leave Hell since Day 1. That’s how we get more people to come here, after all: interacting with them on a daily basis, tempting them to stray from the path that gets them into Heaven. You’re no exception to this ability, despite your… mortal handicap.”

Eloise glared at the new Prince of Darkness, crossing her arms. “And just what is that supposed to mean?" 

“It means you cling to flesh, something that holds you back in this business. You’re so fond of your corporeal form you’re willing to deny yourself the full power granted to us in order to keep it. Unless you cut away that part of yourself like the cancer it is, you will never become powerful enough to destroy your enemies.”

Eloise scoffed. "Go ahead and try saying that to Alison. See what happens to you. You'd be lucky if your head would still be connected to your torso." 

“If she was that powerful, she would’ve surpassed Lucifer and I a very long time ago.” Cain took a seat on the throne, looking down at Eloise. “My offer has been made. You can either go with your family and see her, or you can stay here and burn for the rest of eternity. Your choice.”

"Fine." She scoffed. "I'll go."

“Good,” Cain replied. “Travis, go with her and take my sister’s mother with you. I hope the four of you enjoy the time you have together.”

<<•○•>>

As Alison watched the miniature version of herself fall asleep, her smile faded away, remembering something.

Zane looked at his sister. "Alison, what's wrong? Is something on your mind?"

She sighed. "A lot of things are on my mind. What's going to happen to me now that I'm back?"

Zane looked away, trying to figure out how he should respond. He sighed, "Your Judgement will be happening soon. With any luck, you'll stay here."

"And if I do stay here, will I finally be able to get a job?"

"At this point, I don't know. Maybe you will."

Alison looked at him with anger and frustration in her eyes. "Do you know how long I have waited? I've sat under a tree ever since jobs were assigned. I've sat there, waiting, for NOTHING. Nothing came, no one ever came to me asking me if I could help with anything. And I'm tired of being filled with false hope, waiting for something that's never going to come!"

Tears flowed down Zane's face, he was heartbroken at what he was told. "Alison.. I… I'm sorry.."

"Give me a straight answer. Yes or no, will I ever get a job?"

Zane looked down, thinking about this answer. He truly didn't know. "Alison I… I'm sorry… but I don't know.."

It was then Alison stood up and ran out, crying. Zane hung his head, trying not to break out in tears. 

Alison ran past everyone else in a flash, feeling like a freak among all of them, nothing but a joke. She ran out far away from everyone else, to a far tree near the walls. She leaned up against it and began bawling as she slid down the trunk of the tree.

Tears flowed down her face as she clutched her head, nearly screaming out in anger and pain as she continued to cry.

“Alison?”

Alison looked up at the person, and felt a little relieved that it was her childhood friend, Marco. His dark hair hung over his right eye, blocking any view of it. His silver-colored eyes conveyed sadness and worry. He was a mere servant, but he was also Alison's close friend.

"Marco.. it's you.. what.. what are you doing here?" She asked.

Marco sat down next to her. "I was about to ask you that. What's wrong?"

Alison looked down and sighed. "I.. I don't want to talk about it."

Marco nodded with understanding. “I’m sorry you were put through so much…”

"There's just so much that is going on, and I can't stand it. It's just too much."

Marco hugged her tightly, whispering to her, "I will always be here for you, Alison. No matter what. I will always be here if you need me."

Alison then hugged him back and continued to cry into his shoulder, letting out all of the pain that was built up inside of her. Marco kept holding on, knowing she had so much sorrow and anger pent up inside of her. This was her chance to let go, and he was one of the only people that could help her.

She continued to bawl into his shoulder, eventually she began screaming out in pain and anger, a wave of dark energy could be felt for miles, but Marco seemed unfazed by it. "Let it out, Alison.." he thought. "Just let it all out."

At this point, a small group of angels had approached the area to see what was going on, and all of them felt pity on Alison.

Alison eventually let go of Marco, feeling weak and pathetic. Marco let go of his friend, hoping that she felt a little better about herself. 

A guardian stepped out of the small crowd and approached them. "Alison, it's time. We need to get you back."

Alison nodded a little bit as her and Marco stood up. "Alright…" she sighed as the guardian gently grabbed her arm and led her back to the city.

_____

As soon as they reached the city, Alison could feel everyone's eyes on her, watching her, and waiting for anything to happen. As she looked around, she saw more and more of the redeemed spirits that inhabited Heaven, singing praises and living the life they were meant to live.

She felt terrified at what was going to happen to her, she was not really prepared for the worst, and she was afraid of what her fate was going to be. But what terrified her the most, was that she was going to be punished for something that wasn't her fault.

As soon as they reached their destination, Alison's heart sank, almost having a panic attack. She was so terrified at that moment in time, and now, it'll take a long time before she's calm.

When she entered the throne room, she looked around, observing every golden-accented pillar and wall, and noticing there was no floor. She was hesitant to step further into the room, but the angels didn’t give her time to reconsider. As they stepped closer to the blinding light in the center of the room, Alison felt like she was still walking on solid ground despite hovering over a bottomless pit casting light rather than a shadow as it deepened. Truly, physics was not in command there.

Floating in the center of the room was a source of light; chaotic yet with order, constantly shifting yet always the same, completely understandable yet beyond the realm of reason. Blocking the nephilim from seeing the source directly were angels clad in gold and bearing six wings. The angels that escorted Alison left the room, leaving Alison alone with her maker.

In a fraction of a second, the source of light condensed itself, taking the form of a being wrapped from head to toe in bloodied bandages and a cloak covering its head. The seraphim left, and the mysterious entity approached Alison.

A large streak of blush went across her face in a fraction of a second. Not only was she even more scared, but she also felt embarrassed.

“Welcome home,” the entity greeted as it reached for the bandages covering its head. Starting to unwrap the head, Alison caught a glimpse of what was underneath, though what she saw confused her. Golden hair like her own, silver eyes, that award-winning smile, all features Alison possessed.

"...Hi…" She said as the blush on her face got even more intense.

“Get your mind out of the gutter,” the entity scolded as it finished removing the bandages around its head, revealing Alison’s own face. “You’re speaking to an immortal being beyond your comprehension, not your crush.”

The blush immediately disappeared as she hung her head. "S-Sorry… I'm just… feeling a little embarrassed… It's been a long day for me."

The entity nodded with understanding. Alison sighed a little and kept her head hung down, feeling extremely embarrassed.

“Listen,” the entity instructed, “you need to take some time to rest. More than a few days, but no more than three months. I’ve got a job for you to do, after all.”

Alison soon became intrigued at what was said. "Wait.. a job?" She questioned, not feeling as embarrassed as she was before.

“Yes,” the entity confirmed. “I’ll tell you about the job when you’re ready to begin. Just know that you will need your rest for it.”

"I understand.." she responded, feeling a little happier now that she knows that she finally has something to do.

“There’s one last thing,” the entity continued as it held out its hand. “Your weapon. May I see it?”

"M-My weapon…? You mean the sword I found during the rebellion?" She questioned. "I lost that a long time ago. I lost it when…" she paused, feeling uncomfortable about what she was going to say. "When.. I got possessed…"

“Are you certain you don’t have one?” The entity reached behind Alison, past her ear and shoulder, and grabbed something directly behind her. Pulling its arm back, the entity revealed it was now holding a sword, its ethereal blade shimmering in the light.

Alison's eyes widened in shock as she stared at the blade. "How in the-?! What?!"

“Is it not obvious?” the entity inquired. “Nonetheless, it’s yours. Be sure you learn how to use it.”

"Thank you.."

“You’re welcome. Now, go. Your future awaits you.” As the entity returned to its place, Alison turned and ran back to her home, where Zane was waiting.

“What happened?” Zane inquired.

“I'm getting a job soon. But I'm going to need rest for it."

“Alright,” Zane replied. “Then we shall rest.”

<<•○•>>

104 East Boulevard. This was the place. Alison took a deep breath in the cold air, holding her bags close. It had been several millennia since she had been in the mortal world, and so much had changed. Where there were green fields and blue skies, now there was grey. Where furry creatures and giant lizards roamed the earth among skin-clothed humans, now only humans walked among the occasional stray cat.

When she approached the door, she rang the doorbell and waited. After a few seconds, a man answered the door. He looked like he had just gotten up, having not shaved and wearing a dirty shirt and underwear barely covered by a bathrobe. “Que quieres perra,” he grumbled.

“Ten cuidado con lo que dices,” Alison replied, her free hand clenching into a fist. “No tienes idea de con quién estás tratando.”

“HEY!” Someone shouted from the inside of the house. Suddenly, a pillar of flames, azure and indigo and teal, pushed the man through the doorway and into the street. Taking the man’s place in the doorway was a young woman, lithe in form with black and cyan hair and obsidian-black eyes. She glared at the man in the street as he stood up and stormed off. After a deep breath, she turned to Alison with an apathetic face. “Who are you?”

“My name is Alison,” she replied. “I’m here to help you.”

The woman looked at Alison, studying every inch of her body. “You don’t look like a Jehovah's Witness, and you’re certainly no doc… You supposed to be a guardian angel or something?”

"Ehh… yes and no…"

The woman rolled her eyes. “Sure. Come on in. At least I’ll get help moving ol’ imbécil’s stuff out to the dumpster.”

As they entered, Alison was taken aback at the chaotic sight. The living room she walked into was a mess. Adult magazines were piled on the coffee table, boxes labeled “life savings” were stacked in the corner, plates and old food were thrown about, but the worst part was the smell. It smelled like a piece of mold died and was hosed down with Axe to mask the smell.

She hated it so much and felt like she might throw up. But she managed to keep a little bit of her composure. “Is this-“

“All the idiot’s,” the woman grumbled. “It’ll take me a day or so to clean up if I do this alone.” She turned to Alison and held out her hand. “Kris Loveall.”

Alison took her hand, feeling a little uncomfortable. "I'm Alison."

“Alison,” Kris echoed, shaking her hand then letting go. “Alright. I’ll be cleaning up here. Make yourself at home.” With that, she turned to the mess, made a gesture with her hands, and dramatically stomped on the ground.

Every item in the room sprang up and froze in the air, floating in scattered formation. As Kris picked through the chaos, things she tossed aside dissolved and disappeared while the things she decided to keep slowly fell into place. Alison looked on in awe, having never seen a mortal with such power.

"How did you do that?"

Kris shrugged. “I don’t really know. I’ve always had this kind of power, and I just experimented with it over the years.”

"Wow.."

After a few minutes, the living room was clean and Kris sat on the couch. “Again, make yourself at home,” she invited.

"Thank you.." Alison watched as Kris continued through the house, using her strange abilities to erase and reorganize the contents of the house. It was strangely beautiful to watch, like seeing the northern lights for the first time. As she lowered herself onto the couch, she felt something furry and heard a little squeak.

She looked around on the couch so she could see what was the source of the squeak. Her eyes widened as she noticed a white kitten sitting right under where she wanted to sit. With a quiet “Aww,” Alison picked up the kitten and sat down on the couch. She gently petted the kitten as it began purring in her lap. "Smol.."

After a few minutes, Kris returned with a teapot and a couple of mugs. The teapot was steaming and the mugs read “Magic is staying in bed all day.”

Alison looked down at the kitten and realized it had fallen asleep on her lap. "Kris, a little help?"

“I see you met my second-newest addition,” Kris commented, setting down the teapot and mugs. “I found the poor thing yesterday. Of course, he wanted to give it to someone else. Part of why I kicked him out.”

"Kris, I can't get up." Alison chuckled. "I don't want to disturb him."

“So don’t,” Kris suggested as she sat down, she reached for the kitten and petted it.

Alison's attention was soon fixated on something else. "...Is something burning?"

“Maybe,” Kris answered, “maybe not. Doesn’t matter.”