Blackened Feathers

Fire and Water

Chaos erupted in the surrounding room. Seren tried to ground herself and find that inner place of calm that Omega so loved. She needed to get the demon out of her mind and fast before he did any more damage. Her heart was breaking at the loss of Omega, but she had to focus on getting free. She tried not to think about her mother and what had happened to her because when she did, she could feel herself panicking and she needed to keep a clear head.

Again, the room melted away and she found herself face to face with Inigo. He was roaring with laughter.

“Oh, I haven’t had this much fun in years,” he said between snorts. “You are so easy to rile up, Seren. You make it too obvious which buttons to press. I wonder if your daddy is watching? Although it looks like he has been an absent father so far, so I wouldn’t bank on it.”

Seren could feel an intense anger trying to work its way through her, but she quelled it. She met his eyes and he looked momentarily surprised at whatever he saw there. She called upon the power that dwelled in her soul, and Inigo's eyes widened.

He wasn’t laughing anymore.

Between one breath and the next, Seren was in that quiet place again, floating in the cool water of the still lake. It was dark this time and the sky had clouded over. The only glow came from the Fire demon who stood on the shore of the lake. He’d fixed his volcanic stare on her and he was looking extremely pissed off.

She raised her hands from underneath the water and beckoned him, just as she had done with Omega, but she added power to it. He took small, reluctant steps towards her. His feet entered the water and sizzled, steam rising as his hot skin touched the cold water. He screamed in frustration and fought her hold, but she pulled him further in. This was her place, and she held the advantage now. Inigo cursed in what she presumed was Infernal and he roared in frustration. She gave one last heave and used all of her strength to pull him into the water. He stumbled forwards and landed face first. The water bubbled and spat around him before he vanished.

Seren came awake on the floor of the little chapel, gasping for air, eyes widened in panic. Someone was cradling her head in their lap and when she focused, she was looking up at the concerned face of Omega. She bit back a sob and sat up, grabbing onto him. Her eyes searched his face in confusion.

“Omega? You’re alive!" she cried as she frantically stroked his face with her fingers, touching him to make sure he was real.

“We thought we’d lost you! Anya tried to bring you out of it, but you weren’t there. Quinn called and told me I needed to get to you, so we rushed up here. Are you okay?”

She broke down. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been so shaken. Even when they’d thought Omega was dying, she hadn’t let herself feel like this because she had to focus on healing him, but now she let it all out. Her confusion made it impossible to hold it back.

“He broke your neck! He used me to do it! I saw you die!”

She heard Secondo curse and Omega held her tighter.

“I’m fine. It’s all good. He was messing with you. He feeds off chaos and he tried to cause as much as he could for you.”

She sobbed into his chest, breathing in the smell of his shirt. It smelled like fresh ocean air, a scent she always associated with him.

“He gave no clue that any of this was happening. He was cooperating with us and answering our questions. We should have had Omega here to check on you. He was the one who saw you panicking through your emotions. There was no outward sign anything was wrong, and we missed it,” Secondo said.

She gasped a laugh, composing herself and sitting up. She looked at Omega and smiled sadly.

“I took him to the lake.” Omega raised his brows in surprise. “I dragged him in and he disappeared. That’s what broke the hold and I came back.”

Everyone except Omega looked confused. They wouldn’t have any idea which lake she meant. Omega was stroking his big palms up and down her back to soothe her. She looked over to Terzo, who was quietly taking everything in.

“He realised who my real father is and he clearly isn’t a fan. He must have put a vision into my head to hurt me.”

Secondo raised an eyebrow.

“Your father? I thought he was a Cardinal at the Abbey in England?”

“That’s what I was always told, but not according to Inigo. He said my father is Raziel.”

The room fell deathly silent as everyone stared at her.

“Raziel. The angel Raziel?” Terzo said, clearly sceptical.

She nodded and he frowned.

Omega spoke up.

“Actually, that makes perfect sense to me. From what I’ve experienced of Seren, there’s more going on than just witchcraft. I didn’t think too much about it because I was just so relieved to have found her.”

She gripped onto him, and he picked her up, standing up and cradling her in his arms. It never ceased to amaze her how strong he was. She wasn’t a small girl by any means, but he made her feel dainty when he did things like that.

“Do you need her for anything else?” Omega asked Papa.

“We will need to discuss this, and also the things we learned from Inigo. We will have a meeting in the morning when everyone has rested up. It has been a stressful evening for everyone, it seems, si?”

Omega nodded and strode out of the room, still cradling her to his chest. She snuggled in and let him. She felt exhausted from the stress and from the drain on her powers.

“Do you want me to take you back to your rooms?” Omega asked her, and she nodded.

“Please. But will you stay with me tonight? I need to know you’re okay. I can’t get that image of you laying broken on the floor out of my head.”

She shivered when the memory resurfaced.

“Sure, I can do that. Fucking Fire demons, they’re worse than fire ghouls.”

She sighed as she heard the smile in his voice.

He carried her all the way back. She handed him her key, and he let them into her small apartment. It was in the older part of the Abbey and she loved it. It had an open plan room with a fireplace, a nice kitchen, a dining area and a living area, and then a large bedroom with an en-suite bathroom. Everything was wood and stone and it oozed character. She hadn’t put her own stamp on it completely yet. She’d been too busy since she arrived a few weeks ago, but she was working on it.

Omega took her through to her bedroom and set her on her feet.

“Do you want me to get you some food or anything?” he said as he walked towards the door.

She shook her head and eyed her bed.

“I think I just want to go to sleep. Come here.”

She beckoned him to her and pulled him into a hug, revelling in the hard planes of his body and the tingly warmth that came from him. She led him over to the bed and sat him down before kissing the top of his head and heading to the bathroom to clean up and get ready for bed.

Omega was already curled up under the covers when she came out again, and she climbed in next to him. She wrapped her arms around him and draped one leg over his hip. He nuzzled into her neck and she drifted off into a troubled sleep.