Circles and Wings

Chapter 46

*Wrath*

She didn't eat again, at dinner. She only pushed food around her plate, her knees to her chest, a tired look in her eyes. Michael sat across from her again. Raph and Gabriel gave him glares, they didn't speak to him. No one really spoke tonight. Even the pleasant conversation that normally flowed between God and Aurelia was absent.

We ate in guarded silence until God spoke. "My dear," he sighed, "I wish you'd eat. Is there something else you'd like?"

She looked at him, then to the salmon on her plate. "I don't eat fish." She said softly, "But I'm not hungry anyways."

"You haven't eaten in three days, my dear. The servants tell me you don't touch breakfast, and you're never in your room for lunch."

Shit, had it been that long since she ate anything? I had been so distracted with Jasper and making sure she didn't hate me, that I hadn't noticed she was withering away. Her cheeks were a little more hallowed than before. Her eyes were empty, searching for reasons to live on. She looked like she did after Emily died.

"Uncle," she began. "I'll admit I'm finding it hard here."

"What can I do?" God asked.

She shrugged, petting Hunt who sit beside her, "I don't know."

"Scar," I started, "This feels like—"

Her gaze shot to mine, "I know."

"What can we do?" Lust asked.

"I don't know." She responded, "If she is—"

"But she can't be." I cut her off. Emily wasn't alive. I knew Scarlett blamed herself for her mother's death.

"If she was, which she can't be—" Lust began, "— Then why hasn't she found you?"

"Trouble?" Scarlett offered.

Gabriel seemed to grasp what we were talking about. "If her..." he trailed off looking around. "Were preserved, then perhaps she's hiding." He offered.

"Who's hiding?" Aurelia asked, confusion painting her face.

Scarlett ignored her, looking to Raph, "Where would she hide?"

Jasper said nothing, he only took my hand under the table as I spoke. "Why would she hide from you?"

"Not from me." She said, her gaze flicking to Michael for a second before finding mine again. "I know what I saw."

"You weren't in your mind." Lust argued.

"But her blood," she sighed.

"We have to check..." Gabriel trailed off again, his gaze finding God's.

"What is going on?" God demanded.

"It's a game." Scarlett lied. "Of hide and seek with the girls in the village." She smiled sweetly, "I've been enjoying time with them as of late. It's a little pleasure."

"Is that where you were this morning?" Michael asked with a serpentine smile. "Is that how you ended up in the sickbay?"

"Why were you in the sick bay?" God asked with a measure of alarm.

Scarlett looked to God, ignoring Michael. "If you must know, uncle, I woke Jenkins up. He's conscious." She turned her hard gaze to Michael, "And he showed me the most interesting visions."

"And what were those visions?" Aurelia asked.

"They were of Michael and my Mom." Scarlett didn't move her gaze from Michaels. "The night you snuck into her room and—"

"That's enough." Michael snapped, slamming his fist on the table and standing.

Scarlett only sat back in her chair, petting Hunt, "Is the truth too much for you, Michael? Can you not accept what you did?" She was too calm. Lethal. The kind of calm that came from playing with one of her victims. She wouldn't tell God about what Michael did yet. She'd let fear grow in his heart first.

"What did he do?" God asked.

Scarlett smiled wickedly, "The truth will come out in time, Michael. By your confession or my game."

"You're playing a dangerous game." Michael warned.

"There's no other kind." She replied. She turned her gaze to God, "Did you know that he injected me with blessed marble yesterday, and goodness and obedience mixed with his blood?"

God looked at her and nodded solemnly. Her gaze narrowed. "I had Incense and Mirth remove it last night." She nodded and he continued. "I guessed after you obeyed him rather than stick a knife in him for his ordering you around."

Michael looked at God, "She was running rampant through the camp."

Scarlett laughed and rolled her eyes, "I challenged his authority he means."

"Why were you in the camp?" Aurelia asked.

"I was detained by Michael and taken there." She said. "But I'm over it now." She stood and walked around the table, pushing Michael's shoulder, forcing him to sit down. "Don't worry Michael," she said lowly in his ear, "I won't air all of your dirty laundry right now. That would ruin my fun later." Then she walked back to her seat and folded back into the ball.

"Well..." Gabriel said taking a drink of his wine. "That was interesting."

"Back up." God said, "You woke Jenkins?" She nodded, "How?"

"I went into his mind." She said plainly, once again pushing the food around her plate. "It's not the first time."

"But this time she went in without an anchor." Raph bragged, "It was awesome."

Fury entered the eyes of God. "WITHOUT AN ANCHOR!" He yelled. "Of all the stupid things you could have done!" She looked at him, "You could have been stuck in his mind. The last time Emily went into someone's mind without an anchor she took two years to get out and another three to recover!"

"Well, it took me nearly 12 hours." She shrugged, "Mom taught me well."

"That was very dangerous." God said, moving from his seat to kneel before her and taking her hands in his. Her gaze was fixed on his, "Please, wake me up, ask for help. Don't go in again without help."

"I wasn't really thinking correctly, Uncle, or I would have gotten Wrath or Lust up." She admitted, "I was unfortunately delirious from my brush with Michael's special brand of poison."

God sighed, "My dear, you look tired." He gave her a hug, "I want you straight to bed, and ready to train in the morning. Alright?"

She nodded. "I'll accompany her." I volunteered. God nodded and watched us leave the room. When the doors closed she wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me close to her. "Scar." I said softly.

She hummed in acknowledgement as I wrapped my arms around her waist. "I missed you, Wrath."

"I've been right here." I said.

"You've been at a secure distance to protect me for a while now. And now you're back. You're my friend."

I lifted her and began walking back to her room. "I'm right here, Scar."

"Wrath..." she mused sleepily.

"Yes, Scar."

"I want to free the children in the camps. I want to destroy the camps." She said softly as we entered our sitting room. Hunt had followed us, and went straight to his bed. Odd, the hound usually wants to walk at night. I wondered what could have made him so tired...