The Collection- Bucky Barnes

All Good Men- i

Humans are naturally drawn to beings greater than them. It's part of the reason so many turn to religion. They need a God or gods to believe in. Something all-knowing and all-powerful to rest their hopes and wishes and worries on. There's no comprehending that the world just spins and life just happens and time just goes, that everything is left to chance and a roll of the dice.

They need something to grasp, to hold on to for dear life. Something to put their stakes on. For, there must be some god who created everything and will make it nothing. Something out there that determines who lives and who dies and the rate at which peaches grow, ripen, and rot.

There is a Heaven. There is a Hell. And then there is Earth. When you look out at the wide expanse of the sea. The eternal stretch of water and the never-ending space of sky. One is Heaven. One is Hell. The very thin line where they meet is Earth.

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"This is a goddamn mess." The toe of her boot kicks against a limp foot. Feathers tinged in blood crunch under her foot. "An absolute goddamn mess."

She stills. Trains her eyes on the carnage before her. Dead angels. Dead fucking angels. A whole slew of them. Halos discarded. Golden ichor trailing from their mouths and still flowing from their fatal wounds. And the wings. The damn wings.

Ripped, cut, torn from their shoulder blades. White feathers drenched in gold angel's blood on the ground.

"Dear fuckin' Lucifer." Nora sighs. She turns to face the handful of demons who are responsible for this destruction. "What the fuck were you thinking?"

None of them speak. She hasn't yet decided if that's in their best interest or not. The reason for the carnage is probably so ridiculous, she'll kill them. But not speaking is worse. It means they're scared.

And they should be.

"Just because we're at war doesn't mean you can go around slaughtering the Seraphim. They fight back now."

"Asmodeus said-."

Nora grabs the one speaking (honestly, she doesn't bother learning names anymore) by the throat. Applying just enough pressure, the demon's neck column collapses and when she lets go, the body disintegrates.

"Now," Nora wipes her hands together, "who's bright idea was it to speak to Asmodeus before speaking to me?"

All the demons turn their eyes to the pile of ash at her feet. Oh, well, good. Less mess for her to deal with. Asmodeus is the problem. He always has been for her. She and the Prince have never gotten along; they barely make it cordial when they're around one another. He hates Heaven and all its denizens. Always has.

So, she finds it no surprise that he's the one giving instructions to kill the angels.

Heaven and Hell have been at war since Lucifer 'fell' from Heaven. It wasn't exactly a fall. He didn't stumble and fall over the edge. He leapt. He dove face-first to Earth and hurtled straight into Hell. The conflict between Lucifer and his brother, Michael, only worsened after that. Lucifer wasn't safe alone in Hell. He had no force, not like the army of angels Michael had backing him. Other angels defected from the force of Heaven to side with Lucifer. And from them, demons were created.

"And what exactly did he say to you?" She demands. It's probably nothing short of kill them all.

"I simply told them to kill any angel they came into contact with. They more of them we kill, they less of us they can kill."

Her eyes almost close in annoyance. Of course, he'd arrive once she said his name. He has a bad habit of thinking anyone speaking his name is summoning him. As if she'd ever do that.