The Last Order | Requiem 2

Hatcher's Final Vision, the Fall of God, and Lilith

Hatcher spun out of the way, avoiding Jade's sword. The blue flamed, jagged edged weapon was ethereal, pure energy, and it missed Hatcher's face by a few inches.

"You impress more every day." Jade said. She glanced at the nuns watching silently from the pews. "You impress my sisters as well, even though they never show it."

Jade relinquished her sword and it turned to smoke, then she began hurling blue, energy filled orbs in Hatcher's direction that exploded into sparking blue dust on impact.

Hatcher summoned a sigil and stepped on it like it was a platform. Then she summoned another and another, using the sigils as stepping stones to evade Jade's bombs as she jumped from one sigil to the next, high above.

Hatcher jumped off and summoned her own ethereal sword with a wide blade and sharp teeth around the edges. She sliced through the oncoming flaming orbs in midair then landed behind Jade. She relinquished her sword then wrapped her arms around Jade's body.

"Got you." Hatcher laughed.

"You have come a long way, Marie. But you forget one thing. Always remain aware of your surroundings."

Jade turned to blue smoke, then the point of the real Jade's sword pressed into the side of her neck.

"How did you do that?" Hatcher said.

"That is mine to know, sigil weaver." Jade smiled. "As for your use of sigils as platforms to move about in the air—very creative. Not only have you mastered the three basic sigils, but you're making this power your own. You are quite exceptional, Marie Hatcher.

"Thanks. It means a lot, coming from you."

"Now to this. You have watched me summon Gabriel. Today, you will do it."

"You want me to summon Gabriel the Archangel?" Hatcher cleared her throat. "Deus est fortitudo mea." The Horn of Gabriel slowly materialized in Hatcher's hands, then she placed the mouthpiece to her lips and blew.

The Sanctum Sanctorum trembled until a white crack in the air appeared. Gabriel's hands emerged first as he spread the two sides of the portal open.

"The sigil weaver summons me." Gabriel said.

"I did." Hatcher smiled.

"Good on you. If you are summoning me, this means your training is nearing its ending and I am to deliver your last vision. Are you ready?"

"As always."

Gabriel touched Hatcher's forehead and everything went black.

* * * *

Hatcher stood in a white room, but as her vision focused, it was clear the area she was in was more of a void. There were no walls, no ceiling, just white that carried on forever.

"Sigil weaver." Gabriel said.

"Where are we?"

"I needed a place to speak to you in private. Time is against us, so you must listen. I won't be delivering your final vision. I'm not going to do that because the vision I would show you is a lie. A lie that I have been complicit in concerning every sigil weaver before you, to keep them from knowing the truth. I should have done this long ago, but I was too much of a coward. The universe is bleeding, and if we are to save him, we must act."

"Save who, Gabriel?"

"God. I have lived with this truth, in fear of sharing it, for so long. My silence has been the death knell for so many before you. I will never forgive myself."

Hatcher placed a loving hand on Gabriel's chest, feeling his heartbeat, his sorrow, and a tear rolled from her eye.

"No." Gabriel said. "I can't show you. It's too painful."