Lucian's Kryptonite

III-XIV

It must have been days, lazing around the lake being unkept, not tending to my kingly duties.
"Slow down," Yuhan cautioned. "If it gets to going down like water, you're already fucked," he warned from the bubbling spring as he floated by.

"Go have kids so you can boss them around," I waved him off.
"I would have a long time ago," he started seriously.
"Alright, alright," I said before he began. "I'm sorry."
"You knew I liked her," Yuhan stated.
I blew a breath. "I didn't." If I recalled correctly, she came onto me like an uncouth vixen.
"It wouldn't have mattered," Lilith swooped down from the sky just in time to join the discussion. "All the girls have eyes for the king, not for his lapdog."

Yuhan discontinued floating and started standing to face Lilith. "Look who's talking, but I guess you know from experience, don't you? Only difference is he went for her and not for you," Yuhan finished.

"Whoa. Boo-hoo-hoo," Lilith feigned a cry, wiping her imaginary tears, "not my fault he fucked your whore. Don't take it out on me! And next time, if you want someone, don't bring them around your best friend." She rolled her eyes. "Did you forget? I had that already." She looked to me.

"It was only to have children," I said blankly.
"And those children were cast down just like us," Lilith's dripped in remorse. "If only they were normal."
"Normal?" Yuhan laughed.
"Yes, normal. Normal like Bella," their attention was now on me.

Oh, how I loved her name but I loathed hearing it right now. "Just why?" Why was all I could think. Why was she here? Why didn't she keep her promise?

"Maybe they would have like the garden of Eden," Lilith continued in a mumble.

A blinding white light suddenly invaded the sky, "Maybe you all would of have liked it if you gave your hearts over to God," a voice who could only belong to my brother spoke to us. Gabriel descended in his flimsy, pure white shroud. "Father has summoned you so it's best if you scrounged for something to cover up," he tossed the clothes in the sand to me, "and get a move on. You know he doesn't like when people are late."

Lilith scoffed, "Now he sends an angel? An archangel? Where were you people when she needed saving? When he was alone? Always talking about Father," she mimicked Gabriel's voice. "Father this, Father that. Tell Father fuck off. Matter of fact, tell him," before she finished cursing, the ground of the kingdom rumbled. The hot spring began bubbling furiously.

"I wouldn't anger Father. He was already lenient in your punishment, letting Azrael return you here. To rise from that forsaken lake no one should lay eyes on. You should be thankful," Gabriel began to flap his wings. "Let's go," he ascended without waiting for me.

"If he's actually summoned me, it's important," I dusted off my shirt. I tried to give them my best reassuring face.
"I doubt that's all there is to it, but be careful," Lilith said before I left.
**

Entering the pristine white palace with a push of the golden gate from Gabriel, I was amazed at how much things had changed in Heaven.

"Follow me," my sister dressed in sunny yellow guided me down one of the palace's hallway. The flooring was green but everything else was still white. "Here," Jophiel stopped at the open door. "Here is where I leave you, my brother. It was good to see you," she caressed my jaw and shoulder before returning to her post. I inhaled, knowing I was about to face yet another sibling before I even saw Father.

"It's just me," his nasal voice called to me. He was inviting me further into the room. "Come." Raphael beckoned me. I stopped in my tracks; He was hovered over an unconsciously nude, nonbreathing Bella, spreading liquid from his mortar onto her forehead and lips then her chest and eventually her knees and toes.

"Before you ask, I am making sure her body is okay before she goes to Father," Raphael answered the question I was thinking. "I would never harm her, brother." He vowed. I nodded, knowing he was serious.

From a corner, I heard a prideful mumble. My brother Michael couldn't stand the sight of me. "I still don't want you here. Near all of Father's goodness. You don't deserve his mercy and grace," he added before he dramatically straightened his blue shawl and fled the room.

"Forget you heard that," I said to Raphael. "He's always grumpy, isn't he?"

"I wish I could forget a lot of things," Raphael half-joked.
"I know what you mean," I said plainly.
"Auzzy," Raphael announced, "how nice of you to come back so soon."

Archangel Azrael, the collector of souls for Father— God's helper, appeared onto us. "This could have been precluded." He lifted his red shroud, letting soul particles escape into Raphael's mortar. He then gave Raphael his palm to incise, quickly and painlessly letting his blood drop into the mortar. "I won't do this again," he stated. "No matter how much Father loves us. There has to be some order, brother."

Azrael was never the type to have a long conversation with me, or any of us for that fact, so it surprised us when he decided he'd join us.

"I need more Auzzy," Raphael pleaded. Azrael huffed before making himself scarce.
"I need more particles," Raph answered me. "I know it's annoying but it's written on your face," he chuckled. "She won't be the same without her soul, you understand? That's why I need them."

"I hate to interrupt, but Father is ready," our red-headed sister Ariel told us. She guided me to the path— only one I could walk. "You must go to him, for he is your savior and only he can grant your desires with his almighty love and strength."

With a solemn voice and a stoic face, I thanked her.