How'd That Happen?

Chapter 6

Lani is curled up on the floor, just outside of a small tent. Helpless and scared. Her hands start sweating as she can still hear the screams of the sinners left behind in hell. The explosions fill her mind like a constant noise of dread and terror. She hyperventilates, unable to control her breath. Her body quivers uncontrollably, the adrenaline rushing through her veins unable to calm down. Lilith sits right next to her, knowing that telling her to calm down isn't going to do shit. She's been through this; she knows the pain—the amount of trauma and PTSD one can go through from experiencing the horrors of war. Her heart races and races, like she's been taken back to the scene all over again. How does this stop? How can she make it stop?! Her head pounds with sharp rings of pain until she feels like she's losing her sight; her vision almost goes black until she is able to recollect herself in a way. It's not quick. It's slow, like a sunrise, but she is eventually able to take some deep breaths as her heart slows down. After the horrors that she had witnessed in the span of just a few hours, she knew exactly what she wanted to do, and she knew the only way anything was going to get better was to fight and keep going for those who needed to be free, both in heaven and hell.


...........


"We have to go back," Lilith states as she and Lani are putting their stuff down in a tent. Monica, a fallen angel who has been a part of the war for quite some time, is in the tent with them, helping them get situated. Her black skin with white patches has a beautiful tint with the lamp next to the mattresses on the bed. Along with her afro-purple hair, part of it is put up in two buns while the rest falls loose.

"That's not the best idea right now, Lilith." Monica replies, "They could be anywhere; they may not even be."

"Don't. You. Fucking. Dare, finish that sentence." Monica has a look of guilt on her face. She moves her purple-curled hair out of her eyes. Feeling as though it's not her place to speak, Lani keeps her mouth shut in the conversation.

Monica sighs deeply. "I can talk it over with Cedric and Akita later." She walks out of the tent.

Lani moves closer to Lilith and puts her hand on her shoulder. "Lilith, I know you care about them, but can we really go back there?" Lani asks hesitantly, replaying the terrors and screams in her mind.

"Well, I can't sit here safely knowing they're out there, in pain or worse. I swear, if they are dead, I'll kill whoever finishes them off. I will get revenge." Lani shifts her eyes away. "What's with that look?" She stays silent. "Did you recognize who shot them?"

"Look... I'm not entirely sure, but I think it was Maria. I could be wrong, though. It looked like her, but it didn't seem like her. She looked so lifeless and apathetic. I couldn't tell.

"Fucking perfect. So first she emotionally hurts you, then physically hurts my best friend."

"Heh, well, I will say I'm not really important enough to be that upset over." Lani earns a hard glare from Lilith.

"You still shouldn't think like that." Neither of them speaks until Lani zips up her now-empty backpack.

"Either way, if we end up going back for Nero, we need to retrace our steps. Maybe we can find other clues too."

"Other clues for what else?"

"Well, maybe if we find Nero, we can find Maria and bring her back with us." Lilith doesn't speak immediately. She takes a seat on the mattress next to Lani. She has been having very mixed feelings about Maria; on the one hand, she's angry after everything Maria said and never went through with. But, on the other hand, they were still best friends from the beginning, always being kind to each other and treating each other as equals. As much as Lani tried, she couldn't leave all those memories behind, buried in the dirt.

"You really want her to come with us? After everything?" Lilith scrunches her face in disgust. "She hurt my best friend and you." She takes Lani's hand in hers.

"I don't know how to explain it, but she didn't look like herself. Maybe you were right, and they are drugging her and all the other angels!" We can't sit back and not try." Lilith lets out a low growl. Just then, Monica pops her head through the tent.

"Lunch is ready if y'all are hungry." Lani and Lilith look at each other and walk out of the tent simultaneously.

Monica leads them to many rows of long wooden tables. Around them, Lani sees lots of other tents, some with bedding and some with battle equipment. The trees surrounding them don't let her see over them. She thinks they are also in place, so people can't see them. Also known as enemies, they can't spot them with the trees covering them. As they are walking to the tables, Lani asks, "Lilith, how can there be trees in hell?"

"We aren't in hell anymore." She replies, turning her head towards the angel.

"So...are we on earth?"

She chuckles, "Not exactly; you could say we crossed a bridge that leads from hell into a sort of purgatory, but we haven't left the place. This is also why the sky isn't blood red but not blue either." This surprisingly made a lot of sense to Lani. Everything seemed to slowly fall into place the more she explored. They take a seat with the many other beings while Cedric brings out plates of food that contain mashed potatoes, green beans, and some form of meat that Lani can't quite make out. Cedric takes a seat next to Lilith, while Monica is next to Lani.

"So!" Monica starts, clapping her hands together. "Is there anything important we currently need to talk about?"

"Of course there is! Nero is still out there!" The chattering from the table becomes silent.

"Look, Lilith, I know we said we would talk about it, but we can't go out right now; you guys just got here."

"And what!" Lilith slams her fist against the table. "I don't care how far or how long we've been here; I'll be damned if I don't at least try to get them back!" Monica lets out a short breath.

"I will look over some plans tonight with Cedric and Akita. We can see if we can go back tomorrow, sounds good? Lilith didn't want to wait until tomorrow, but if this was the best she was going to get, then so be it.

While Lilith stays quiet through the rest of the meals, Lani talks and gets to know some others. "I would like to say that I don't see many people with your skin condition, but I think it looks beautiful and unique. I don't know much about it; if you would be willing to tell me more,

"Thank you. Vitiligo is what it's called. When I was alive, my immune system attacked my skin cells, which caused them to die, so parts of my skin went from dark black to a light tan. It ran in my family."

"I see. Thank you for the information. I appreciate you telling me about it," Lani says as she takes another bite of her mashed potatoes. "Where did Cedric go? I don't see her." Lani checks next to Lilith to see if Cedric is still there.

"He might have gotten overstimulated," Lilith jumps in, "so he probably went into the forest to wind down." Lani makes a mental note of the pronouns Lilith used for him.

Lani and Lilith are both back in their tents as night falls upon them. "Geez, after the days we've been going through, I'm exhausted," Lani dramatically flops onto her mattress. She looks over to Lilith, who has a very disturbed look on her face. "Are you still thinking about Nero?"

"Tch, of course I am. I hate to say this, but I'm worried about them. Monica and the others won't let me go out and find them." Lani thinks for a moment, then gets the perfect idea.

"Why don't we take a walk? That might cheer you up." While she doesn't think it will, she chuckles at the fact that Lani is trying.

"Sure, angel, why not?" The fact that Lani is trying to cheer her up makes her heart flutter, even if she believes it won't work. She holds out her hand for Lilith to take, and together they walk out under the deep blue sky and into the beautiful green forest.

.......



"The sky here is so beautiful at night," Lani says, matching her steps with Lilith.

"Heh, yeah, it is, although I never did understand the sky or color pattern from day to night here." Lilith chuckles. Deeper into the woods, they come across a beautiful, glassy-looking lake that reflects the moon and stars above. Lani grunts as she flops down on the prickly grass.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Lilith plops down beside her.

"Yeah," she said, having the biggest smile on her face—a smile she hadn't had in a long time, a smile she had almost forgotten about until that moment. "You see those?" Lilith points to the stars: "Those are the consolations; they tell stories of all the fierce warriors before us. Of course, they also mean other things like symbols and proficiency." Lani is in awe. "That's Sagittarius, a brave horseman with his bow and arrow. That one over there is a libra, a symbol of balance."

"Balance for what?" Lani asks, curious to learn more.

"For anything you want! These were created for everyone to have their own interpretation of the universe. The stars here are replicas of the stars on earth, so humans can study them and learn the tales."

"That's amazing! What about that one?" Lani asks, pointing up to the sky.

"That's Taurus, the consolation, and the zodiac, for everything grounding." Lilith reaches for Lani's hand and intertwines their fingers. "Some say the stars tell stories from the future; others say they tell the history of the past. They can tell when you were born and when you die."

"That's so magical, it almost sounds unreal." Lani's bright blue eyes glare in the dark. Lilith can't help but admire them. Pools of infinite skies lie in her eyes. Like a universe from many lifetimes or stories from many pasts. Lilith's hand shifts, only to stumble upon a rock. Her hands land on an uncovered crystal: rose quartz.

"Take a look at this," she says, sitting up and pulling Lani into her lap. A small giggle comes from Lani as she shifts herself to face Lilith. "It's a-,"

"Rose quartz!" Lani interrupts with a smile: "It symbolizes love, communication, and self-discovery!"

"Lilith smiles. "That's right, and there is probably more lying around the lake." There it is. That one very familiar, long silence—not an uncomfortable one though. A contempt of silence, a comfortable one.

They look deep into each other's eyes; the snake-like gaze that Lani once saw as intimidating is now gentle and kind. She pulls out Lilith's ponytail, running her fingers through her long, black, and purple hair. They both know what the other one wants, but both are too afraid to ask. Too afraid to move forward, even though both know that's the only way they can go from here on. Lani parts her lips, ready to say the words—the words she's been thinking about for weeks now, the words that have slowly developed in her mind. She wasn't sure when she started feeling it, but she knows now that she can't stop. Their foreheads come close together, their noses just past each other, and their lips are almost touching. That's when she closes them. She thinks once, then twice, and then nothing. No words come out, and no contact is made. Just the two, staring at each other, waiting for the other one to say something.

"Lani....can I.....kiss you?" Lani blinks twice with a shocked look that soon turns into a smile.

"Yes....please." Their lips touch, then lock. Passion flows through both of them, trying to get closer and closer, not wanting to let go. No matter how much they kiss, they want more—a drug that they can't get enough of from each other. Lilith grasps onto Lani's waist as Lani clutches Lilith's hair tighter. A redundant delight, breath, kiss, breath, kiss. It feels like it could last a thousand lifetimes, and they still wouldn't be able to stop. Neither of them thought this would ever happen. How the hell could it be? An angel and a demon are in love. Yet there they were. Making out passionately. Every taste on the lips and tongue was more intoxicating than the last. Reluctantly, Lilith is the first to pull away and smile.

"So, does this mean we're...together now?"

"Heh, what do you think?" Lilith replies with a question, and one final kiss that Lani gives is all the confirmation she needs.