And while you’re at it, give me an opening so I can get inside your son and tear him apart.
***
A week after Persephone had unveiled her plan Lucifer looked down on the body of his daughter. The other Lords in the dimly lit chamber kept their distance, unsure of what their Master would make of the scene. The sheets around Persephone were drenched in her golden blood and the runes and symbols used in the rites were still glowing on her flesh.
‘And you say she didn’t scream?’ Lucifer asked Uphir.
The skeletal Demon physician finished drying his hands and removed his mask.
‘Not once, Master; she didn’t make a sound. You would have been proud.’
The Light Bearer and Son of Morning brushed a stray strand of hair from his daughter’s face.
‘How long will she be out for?’
‘An hour or two,’ Uphir replied, washing his tools. ‘No more. Recovery will take a few days though.’
‘And you’re sure these runes will work against Laylah?’
Asmoday the Deceiver stepped forward. A serpent in human form, his fangs dripped with venom and his tongue flickered as he spoke.
‘Persephone’s memories will match her story, Master,’ he said. ‘If the Hated One’s seer goes looking she will find nothing but what we want her to. The sigils will keep the rest hidden from her powers; pushing down anything we want to hide.’
Mastema managed to suppress a snigger. Asmoday’s lisp was a constant source of amusement to the Cursed Accuser.
‘Will Laylah be able to tell that the girl’s mind has been tampered with?’ asked Lucifer.
‘Some of the larger lies will be…fuzzy when she views them, Master. That is unavoidable.’
‘It was a tremendous undertaking,’ added Uphir. ‘Keeping the “old” Persephone but building entirely new memories in case she is examined in depth; nothing like this has been attempted before. There was a very real chance she could have died in the process.’
‘Then count yourselves lucky that wasn’t the case,’ replied Lucifer. ‘Clear this mess up and get my daughter back to her chambers. We begin as soon as she is ready to travel.’
Chapter Four: All work and no play
Gabriel, God’s Champion and the Bane of Demons, grimaced as he struggled with the portal. He was a giant etched from white granite and the work was better suited to smaller, more delicate hands. His eyes, balls of golden fire, flared briefly in frustration as the portal shimmered and closed for a fourth time. Most Angels would have been able to perform the weave on their first attempt but he had honed himself for battle rather than such mundane tasks.
The sound of young Angels laughing and fooling around drifted in as the door opened behind Gabriel.
‘How is it going?’ asked Kaarl, dropping his bag on the coffee table.
‘I’ve moved my stuff in,’ replied Gabriel, ‘not that there was much to move. Now there is just this to sort out.’
Gabriel pointed at the blank space in front of the sofas.
The student accommodations were plain but comfortable enough. Like the campus they were carved from sandstone and they had a magnificent view of the ocean. Normally the students were mixed; taken from their old social groups and housed with strangers so new bonds could be formed and new experiences had. The trio had been kept together, again because of their unique past. The last bed in their apartment had remained empty for almost week.
Verin and Vetis had hoped it would stay that way. They had assumed the Hall was waiting until another social outcast popped up to round out their quartet. Kaarl had taken offence at being put in that category; unlike the girls he was actually making a few friends. When the trio found it would be Gabriel taking the bed the twins relaxed. Not only did they know him but it would make things easier. He was their assigned observer in the Mortal realm so it saved time. Having to hunt him down whenever they needed to get to work would have been added hassle.
‘What’s it like being back here?’ asked Kaarl.
‘Strange,’ replied Gabriel. ‘It’s been centuries but the place hasn’t changed. It also makes me feel old, being around all these kids.’
Gabriel tried the weave again and again it shimmered and closed.
‘Is that a viewing portal?’ asked Kaarl. ‘We’ve just started learning about those.’
‘Supposed to be, it’s been so long since I’ve made one.’
Kaarl watched in silence as the massive Angel went through the motions. On the next attempt the portal held; a perfect rectangle. The image on the other side of it began to come into focus.
‘Hey, that’s our penthouse.’
Gabriel said nothing in reply. He flicked his hand to the left and the image panned. When he had it positioned just right, the Angel made a fist and the portal zoomed in.
‘That’s great,’ said Kaarl. ‘Now we can watch TV from here. Can you put the news on?’
‘Later,’ replied Gabriel. ‘I didn’t spend an hour on this thing so you could watch the news. This is more important.’
Gabriel vanished and reappeared in front of the TV in the Mortal realm.
‘I’ll have to do that each time we want to change the channel,’ he said when he returned, ‘but it’s better than nothing.’
‘The Arnold Schwarzenegger Marathon,’ said Kaarl as he read the screen.
God’s Champion dropped onto the sofa.
‘Like I said, important.’
The twins walked in and slammed the door behind them. Verin dumped her bag on the floor and Vetis made her way into the kitchen.
‘We found out what the hugging statues are for,’ said Verin. ‘It’s sensitivity training, as if we needed that. Worse still, Sasha is in that class. She’s in almost all of our classes.’
‘Hey, sweet,’ said Vetis as she walked back into the room. ‘We have TV.’
‘It’s our TV in the penthouse,’ Kaarl told them. ‘Gabriel set it up.’
‘He did set it up,’ the Angel said from the sofa. ‘He set it up so he could watch his action movies in peace. Your girly whinging is ruining said peace.’
‘Well why don’t you just go there and watch it?’ snapped Verin. ‘You’re not stuck here.’
‘That’s a good idea,’ Gabriel replied. ‘I’ll see you three when you’re ready for work.’
‘Seriously, Sasha is everywhere,’ Verin said once Gabriel had left. ‘Every time we turn around her and her little gang of sycophants are there.’
‘It’s annoying more than anything,’ added Vetis. ‘She makes some snide comment, which isn’t really that hurtful, then her stupid friends snigger and we just have to take it. It’s not like we can just punch them.’
‘No you can’t,’ replied Kaarl, ‘at least not without conforming to the “Demon” stereotype. You probably aren’t doing yourselves any favours though by coming across as hostile and not making friends.’
‘We are making friends.’ said Verin. ‘But they’re all guys so it just makes things worse. Sasha keeps spreading rumours that we steal people’s boyfriends so when we’re seen talking to them it’s like proof or something.’
‘You