Forsaken Pt. 04: The Fallen

*****

Alana strode out into the park, her eyes reflecting the moonlight. On her right stood Yoshi, his face set and his sword brandished. On her left came Eric, light spilling from his eyes to expose the rippling of the flesh along his arms. Behind them was Michelle, her eyes wide and filled with fear.

"Lucrecia..." Came a soft, musical voice, one you wanted to trust, "We are glad you came...and I see you brought some friends..." This was met with soft laughter from somewhere ahead.

"I came to put an end to this..." She replied grimly.

"Oh?" Came another voice, equally as beautiful as the first, "Tsk, tsk, Lucrecia...to talk to your parents in such a manner?" Again the laughter.

"I grow tired of this...show yourselves!" Alana yelled.

A deep, rumbling laugh chilled her, then a voice so like the others, yet infinitely darker and just as beautiful answered her, "Fine...fine...I can see you are like us...you prefer action to words..."

This was quickly followed by a bright flash that caused the ground to erupt and the air to blaze with heat. Dirt, rocks and grass rained down around Alana's group, forcing them to cover their faces.

"I just love a show of force...it's so much easier than having fools fight me...fighting is so...tedious." The voice said, laughing.

"You'll have to show me more than that..." Alana said, a low growl mangling the words.

The creature stepped into view, the bright moonlight bringing it's face into stark relief. Alana gasped and clenched her fists. The creature was tall, with long, pale hair, a pale complexion and a seemingly warm smile. It was the most beautiful face Alana had ever seen, and she had seen it before, some three thousand years before.

"It's you..." She whispered.

"Yes...you truly don't know who we are, do you?" The creature laughed again. "Leviathan knew...he was highly intelligent...even had designs towards our demise." The creature's eyes sparkled with humor, "Can you imagine that?" His fellows laughed.

"I don't care what you are..." Alana said, defiance burning in her eyes.

"Did you hear that, my friends?" The creature said, "She doesn't care." The creature made a noise of disgust, "Is it not said that to know your enemy is to control your enemy?"

"I do not know that quote." Yoshi replied.

The creature gave him a look, then shook his head, "You are old, Dragon...but not as old as I...many things of wisdom have been uttered only to be lost to time."

Yoshi cocked his head, "You know what I am..."

"Oh, yes...your story is not through...the most important part has yet to unfold...or so it has been told...yes, it has been told..."

"How do you know this?" Yoshi asked him.

"From this: 'The Dragon gave unto him his power, his throne and his authority.' Do you now understand?" The creature replied.

"No..." Yoshi said, confused.

"Ahh...you are not a believer...no wonder it comes to pass."

"I...I think I understand..." This came from Michelle, who was inching forward.

"Yes, child..I do believe you do." The creature said.

"Mother...I...know...I somehow know what these creatures are." She whispered, horror keeping her from using her voice.

"What are they?" Eric asked.

"They are...The Fallen..."

"What?" Alana asked. She could see the creature nodding it's head, a broad smile on it's face.

"He quoted from Revelations...the Dragon giving his power, throne and authority to the Beast."

She replied, "These are some, if not all, of the Fallen Angels..."

"Oh, so very good!" The creature actually clapped, "I must say, you are a remarkable girl! To think you came from these two flawed creatures." He motioned to Alana and Eric.

"My mother is only flawed because you made her that way...you can't create life...only god can and so even your attempts to alter life turned out wrong..." She said, angry, "All of us are flawed...even you!"

"We?" The creature asked, surprised, "Hmmm...perhaps we are, but our master is not..."

"Don't fool yourselves...your master may be even more flawed than you...that's why he lost the last war in heaven...and why he'll lose the next."

"Oh, silly girl...you think you know so much, don't you?" The creature's false smile was gone, replaced by something like a grimace, "The time has come...the experiment is over...time to clean up our mess..."

"I won't let you hurt my parents, nor my friend!" Michelle yelled.

"None of us will hurt the Dragon, he is revered, for he will soon be over come with the privilege and sacrifice of making room for Lucifer, only then will we rise and smote the Earth...and you, my pretty little girl, are going to help him become the vassal..."

"Now." Eric whispered to Alana. She stood straight and laid a hand on her daughter's shoulder. Michelle's body gave a sharp jerk and a loud thrumming noise picked up. The girl cried out as her body was wracked for the first time with her full powers and her mind shrank to a point. Thin tendrils of blue/white lightning crackled and spat around her, digging up long divots of ground and giving the air a sharp, coppery taste.

"What?" The creature gasped, stumbling back. One of his arms was struck by a tendril and he screamed in pain, all but a stump left of his arm. Michelle's eyes bored into him, her mouth hanging open. His eyes widened as she yelled something, then a beam, of such startling power that all stumbled back from the girl, shot from her open hand to engulf him. Within mere seconds there was nothing whatsoever of the creature to say that he was ever there.

The other creatures, who had remained in the shadows, promptly surged forward. So fast that it was hard to say when it happened, Yoshi changed into a dragon, rose above the others and shot liquid fire from his mouth, which struck several of the creatures, the force flinging them back, even as they smoked and burned. Eric's fingers seemed to sink into the flesh of one like he was reaching into water and he savagely ripped it in half. Alana had become a wolf and was just ripping out the throat of one as a giant flare shot off into the sky, a frenzied, nearly insane screech trailing behind it.

"No!" She yelled, "Michelle..."

*****

"I'm your mother, Michelle...I care about yaou..."

"Yet you lied to me for years, and for what? So I wouldn't turn into a monster like you?"

"That's not fair!"

"Fair? Life doesn't have much to do with fair, Mother..." Michelle's voice softened, "Do you think it's fair for you to hide who I really am? Do you think it's fair that I may have an important role in destroying our world?"

"He was lying..."

"I do not doubt that he was a skilled liar, but I sense that he told the truth about that."

"Do you believe Yoshi capable of siding with the devil?" Alana asked, her own anger flaring.

"Like he'll have a choice...just like me...in fact, I'm the one who helps in that..."

"Michelle..." Alana sobbed, "Are you...?"

"What? Say it Mother." Michelle said, a nasty smile on her face, "Am I feeding on humans?"

All Alana could do was nod.

"Oh, yes Mother...I am...but not in the way you think...I do not have the blood lust...but I have other things that burn in me...things that may be even more powerful."

"Please, don't."

"Oh, come now Mother...do not tell me you don't feel the stirring of your blood at moments like a rush of water, pounding in your temples, till you can no longer handle it...I must have inherited that from you..then again...Father has always been a virile man, keeping up with his demon seed and his demon lover..."

Alana slapped her, but Michelle only smiled bitterly, "That's the only one you get for free Mother..."

"What is happening to you?" Alana sobbed.

"I'm free...can't you see that, Mother?" Michelle shook her head, "No...of course not...please leave."

"Michelle..."

"Now!" Michelle screamed

Alana's shoulders fell and she left. Michelle sat back, looking out the window of her apartment. A single, blinding tear slid down her cheek as she saw her Mother disappear from view. She shook her head and sighed.

"I'll be all right, Mother...you'll see..." She whispered.