Part 2

There was this one time when I was four where my mother forgot me in the town Shopping Centre, and I ended up tottering around the toy store, looking for my mum. I don’t know how, but I ended up in the tiny arts and craft room they had to entertain the kids. The walls were white and there were clouds drawn on them. There were pictures of angels too, floating on the wall, and a bright sun.

When I was four, I thought that place was heaven, and I thought I’d died somehow. I was totally convinced that there was going to be an angel approaching me as I ran around the room. Then when my mother walked in, I cried, since it was obvious that she wasn’t an angel.

This time, when I opened my eyes, I was literally in heaven. This time I was 21, and I pretty sure knew that I wasn’t hallucinating –nor was I stuck in a random arts and craft room. Everywhere in my body had a tingling feeling, as if I should feel pain, but was getting the feeling only slightly muffled through thick cotton. It was silent all around –but strangely not the deafening kind of silence that would put immense pressure on your ears. If I strained hard enough I was pretty sure I could distant choirs singing.

I wandered around for quite some time. I suspect that I wandered for at least fifteen minutes, but without a watch or something to keep time, I couldn’t say for sure. Though I can say that I was thoroughly bored out of my wits when I was done.

I rounded back to square one in the midst of the endless white plain, just plopping down to sit on the cloud-floor with a loud sigh. I pretty much remember rolling down the slope, and I remember that my head had smashed pretty badly into the rock. And the fact that I’d been teleported to a white plain afterwards told me that I was dead. There was just no doubt about it. The only thing was: I had expected to meet Grandma and Grandpa or something.

Hey, I have family issues, okay? I cried my eyeballs out when my grandparents passed away within span of days with each other. They were my perfect love story. Grandpa passed away because of throat cancer, and Grandma passed away two days after that by cardiac arrest. We made sure to bury them side by side, because there was simply no way of separating them. Marielle even suggested letting them share the same coffin and make it larger, but we decided it was too disrespectful to them. My grandparents weren’t perfect, but they were still a better love story than Twilight.

“Leah Katherine Cartlier, you have been chosen.” Someone’s voice behind me shocked me in the plain of white, and I literally jumped up to my feet. I hadn’t heard him come. But then, I don’t expect to hear angel’s footsteps either.

He was pretty scary, now that I think back on him. He had big, full-body length wings hanging from his back. And the black feathers were pretty much the only taint in the whiteness that surrounded him. Well, that black and his tanned skin. He was wearing a full-length fluffy coat that looked pretty comfortable, and I wondered for a moment if I had woken him up from sleep or something. Though he had really dreamy brown eyes. I know I shouldn’t be falling head over heels for an angel, but give me a break. I was 21, still a virgin, and had my bad experience with men. Not that I’d met anyone as eye-catching as this one.

“I’ve been chosen?” I repeated stupidly. It would probably help me if he told me what I’d been chosen for. Chosen to die? I pretty much could guess that, considering I was wandering around here in heaven.

“Yes. You have been chosen by the Hand of God to take my path. A soul that longs to love has not loved. A soul that longs to live has not lived. I am who must make it right, but you are my tool.” He spoke in an ‘I am mighty, hear me roar’ tone, and I struggled not to laugh. Call me a liberal girl, but I expected angels to be more modern, you know? Since everyone else globalized along with us in the United States, then wouldn’t angels pick up modern life too?

“Um… okay. Is it wise to guess, in layman terms, that I’ve been chosen to die?” I asked, earning a curious look from ‘high and mighty man’ who looked down at me.

Why the hell am I so damn short? Oops. I probably shouldn’t have cursed.

“Why do you think you are chosen to die? Our Heavenly Lord has picked you for a mission. You should be honored, not looking for death.” He frowned, and I got the general sense that I must have pissed him off. I tried to remember some prayers I set aside in my head in the cabinet labeled under ‘church stuff’, but maybe tumbling down the slope made me lose it all.

“Um… I was rolling down the slope, and I hit my head against a rock. So didn’t I die or something?” I asked unsurely. There has to be a reason why I’m standing here in front of an angel, no? There is no questioning his wings.

“No.” He said, giving me a plain look. “You are chosen to conduct a mission. It coincides that you have ties in the parallel world of Limbo.”

The evidence that I’m a hardcore Devil May Cry fan broke through at this moment, because all I thought about Limbo was how Dante in the new rebooted Devil May Cry was constantly screwed up in that parallel world.

“No way! Limbo is always out to kill people! Didn’t that happen to Dante?” I exclaimed before I could help it, before I remembered that angels probably didn’t play video games. Wait, what the heck was he talking about? Was there really some parallel world called Limbo?

A perplexed –almost exasperated look –crossed the angel’s face, and I struggled not to laugh. I must be such an entertainment to let him hang such a look. Though I guess it would truly be a heavenly sin if he placed a frown on that darling face.

“That was only the reboot, Leah. It did not happen in the parallel Limbo. What Ninja Theory came up with was purely fictional.” The angel replied with a roll of his eyes, and when I should have been more curious about what he meant by parallel Limbo, I asked something else.

“You play video games?”

Thinking back, it’s pretty stupid to ask an angel that question. Even if they didn’t play it, obviously they knew about it. After all, they were supposed to be all-knowing creatures, right?

“We were the ones who pushed Capcom towards developing ‘Team Little Devil’ franchise. In other words, we were the ones who provided the back story of Devil May Cry.”

At this point, I was ready to believe anything the angel said. I don’t know how the conversation changed from my existence and how my being here in heaven to Devil May Cry, but I was pretty caught up in the fact that an angel had just admitted that they were the original creators of Devil May Cry.

It was quite literally my dream come true.

The angel raised his hands, as if to speak surrender. He must have seen the adoration in my eyes, or at least something showing, because desperation and exasperation flitted across his face.

“Stop. I know you’re going to freak out. Stop. I wasn’t the creator of Devil May Cry’s story. Sparda created his own story. We decided that it was worth a shot telling it to your world as a game.”

At this, my eyes widened indefinitely. “Sparda exists?”

It really should be a sin for someone as angelically beautiful as him to sigh and frown, but he did it anyway, as if he didn’t know what to do with me. Well, I didn’t know what to do with him either. I mean, I’m an all unknowing-spirit here. He would do better to be less cryptic.

“In parallel Limbo, yes. Unfortunately, he is still trapped and enslaved by Mundus in Hell. We angels cannot reach him, and he cannot reach us nor his sons.”

I put my hand on my mouth, inhaling a gasp.

“Oh my god. Is Eva around here in Heaven?” I asked, looking around as if I could see her somewhere. I don’t know why I’m taking things so easily, but that’s just the way it is. Just me, Leah Katherine Cartlier.

I’m always just rolling with the punches. I don’t fight back until I reach my breaking point. But you don’t want to see me fight back. It’s really dirty and it ruins your impression of me.

The angel closed his eyes for a brief second, as if mentally reminding himself why the heck he was here standing in front of me.

“Eva’s pure soul has been made one of our ranks. But it is not the point of why I am here, why you are here.” He said, forcefully bringing the conversation back to point. I get the feeling that our rampant conversation has reached a zone where he has revealed too much, and he’s trying to salvage the situation. Boy, someone was going to get pissed at him…

“Well, tell me.” I requested pleasantly, since I don’t want to be mistaken to be a demanding bitch.

“My name is Azazel. I’ve come to-”

“Oh my god, you’re a demon.” I interrupted before I meant to. I mean, I know that name as the name of a fallen angel, or a demon. Maybe it’s just mainstream media, but damn it, Azazel is a demon’s name!

“I am not a demon.” A crossed look flit across his face, and I took a step back. Hey, don’t blame me for realizing things too late. He didn’t really look like the type to introduce his name to anyone anywhere. “Sparda is a demon, I am an angel.”

“A fallen angel.” I argued. I feel like a preacher arguing with an atheist, but funny; I’m the one who’s arguing with an angel. Or at least someone with black wings.

“I have proven myself.” He gritted his teeth, and I get the idea that it is a bad idea to taunt him further. If he still has his wings, then I guess all is forgiven. I really shouldn’t doubt God.

“Okay. Don’t kill me. You can continue your agenda.” I made helpless hand motions, and while another exasperated look flew past his face, he seemed a little less agitated than before.

“Like I said, you were chosen. I am an angel tasked to make things right, and occasionally, I am tasked to get the people to make things right. I put people together, and let fate decide its course. If after my intervention, the right thing still does not occur, then it means that it was not fate and that it would be wrong for the right to occur.” Azazel explained, and I tried my best to not get lost.

I am a university student. Damn it, but why was it so easy to get lost in Azazel’s explanation?

“You mean you put people together in the hopes to make things right, and if they don’t make things as you deem is ‘right’, then your ‘right’ is wrong?” I clarified, and an inkling of a smile tugged his lips.

“That is correct. I was tasked to bring you into parallel Limbo, and you must be the person to decide what is ‘right’. To go back home, you must understand what is ‘right’ for you. If your ‘right’ is wrong, then you might never return home.” He was sporting on a slight smile now, and I get the feeling that I shouldn’t like him when he’s smiling. It looks like he has something scary he’s hiding from me.

“Wait, isn’t this blackmail? How am I supposed to know if my ‘right’ is right? What if I get it wrong? You can’t just whip me away from my life!”

He smiled outright now, and I decided that I don’t want him to smile. If it was a sin for him to frown, then it is a great big sin for him to smile.

“We angels will inch you towards the right path. But you must decide if your chosen path is the right one. You were tumbling down a slope in your world, Leah. It could take authorities months in your world to discover your body. You could be declared dead. You are technically already dead.”

I gasped suddenly at a realization, jumping and scrambling away from him.

“Oh my god. Were you the one who made me roll down the slope?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I might have given the branch a nudge or two.”

“How could you?!? Aren’t angels supposed to protect us puny humans?”

“You, Leah Katherine Cartlier, are more than a puny human. You are worth more than that, so mind yourself never to forget.” He declared, and if he were a human, still in the human world, I would instantly melt for him and declare him the man I would marry in future.

Yes, that is how sad my love life has been thus far.

“I don’t understand what you mean. And I don’t know what you expect me to do!” I exclaimed, throwing my hands up in defeat.

He strode towards me; covering the distance I’d opened up between us within a few strong, solid steps.

“Trust you heart and soul. You have the instincts of a devil and a human. You have the blessings of the angels. What more could you ask for, Leah Katherine Cartlier?”

I opened my mouth to ask him what he meant, but he put both hands on my shoulders. And he gave me a rough push that took me by surprise.

I didn’t even have time to react as I fell backwards. I didn’t know what had happened, but a hole opened up in the white cloud-floor, and I fell through it. I screamed, knowing that I was just falling and falling. I could see that bastard Azazel’s amused face growing smaller and smaller, until he was just a tiny speck above me.

Quick as I was falling, my back hit something.

Like a switch had been turned off, everything went black.