How'd That Happen?

Chapter 7

As soon as they are back at the base, Monica greets Lilith with one hard slap: "Are you fucking kidding me!? What the fuck is wrong with you? Where did you go? How the fuck did you get out?" Lilith puts her hand to the now-red spot on her face, trying to calm the burn.

Cedric, standing to the right of Monica, has his arms crossed in sheer anger and disappointment.

"Monica! Calm the fuck down!" Lilith retaliates. They all knew Monica wouldn't be happy once they got back. But only Lilith anticipated just how pissed she would be. The others stayed back in silence, unsure of what to do.

"Lilith, what you did was unacceptable! You could have put our entire plan and lives on the line, and not only that, you completely disobeyed policy. I am your captain; you fucking listen to me!" Monica was screaming so loudly that everyone was sure her throat was red.

"Isn't the whole point of this that everyone has freedom, so there doesn't have to be unnecessary order?"

"This is beyond different; for all we know, this bitch could be a spy, and you led her straight to our base!" Monica points at Maria. That's when Lani gets angry and steps in.

"Hold on a damn second! Maria would never do something like that! I have known her since forever, and I'm confident that would never happen."

"Yeah? Well, what you think doesn't matter right now! Lilith, you're being put on code red. Since I know damn well this was your idea, you get the punishment and will be put under heavy watch. Do I make myself clear?" Lilith glares, not giving Monica the yes she desires. "Do. I make. Myself. Crystal. Fucking. Clear." Lilith tries not to move but can't hold herself against Monica.

"Fine." She barks back. Monica knows that's all she's going to get out of Lilith. So she takes it.

"As for you two," she says, turning her attention to Maria and Nero. "You two have no right to be here, and you will go." Everyone looks shocked, and that's when Cedric finally steps in.

"Monica, I get you're angry, but that's against the code. Remember, a code Akita and I helped you write?" He steps forward and puts a hand on her shoulder. She pauses, grinding her teeth.

"Fine. But I'm not setting up another damn tent for these two. You guys have to share. And you," she points a finger back to Lilith, "if I've got to put another code red on you, you're exiled from this damn base."





"Alright, what's the sleeping arrangement?" Maria asks the general group while they are in the tent, hoping she can sleep with Lani.

"Lani and I can sleep in the same bed; you and Nero can have the same bed," Lilith points to the mattress on the left of them.

"If it's alright, I could sleep with Lani; it makes more sense since we've known each other for years." Lani immediately picked up on what Maria was trying to put down, although she wasn't sure if Lilith understood.

"Yeah, no." Lilith set it clear, making sure Maria knew exactly what was going on. There it was, Nero smiling in happiness for Lilith and Maria frowning from pain.

"Why not? she asks, frustrated. Lilith just gives her complete silence, but not before giving her a dirty look. They finish unpacking for Nero and Maria and walk out to the main area of the base.


Lunch that day was understandably, but still uncomfortably quiet. Monica did nothing to acknowledge anyone else; Cedric and Akita were signing to each other; and Maria did nothing to talk to Lilith or Lani. Monica was the first to leave the table after eating. She stormed off to the shooting range, probably to let off steam. "We'll sh*t; no wonder they call her the wrathful queen," Nero commented.

"The what?" Lani asked in confusion.

"Right, you haven't heard. Monica has fought in a ton of both street fights and battles. She's always out for the kill with her anger."

"That's why she became a fallen angel." Lilith chimed in.

"Wait, wouldn't that make Lani and I also fallen angels?" Maria questioned, mainly Nero.

"Not exactly; angels are fallen when they have committed one of the seven deadly sins; that's when their feathered wings turn black.

You guys, technically, aren't fallen angels because things like "escaping heaven" aren't one of the sins." That all made sense in Maria's mind. Lani had read about this in one of the books in Lilith's house, which is why later she didn't think much of it when Nero showed up with black feathered wings. However, to her, what didn't make sense was Nero's heterochromia—black and red eyes—since they were the only "fallen angel" that had them.

"Nero, would that also make you a fallen angel? Because when I first saw you in the auction house, I thought you were a demon. What sin did you commit to become a fallen angel?"

"Heh, my situation is a little different. I was born a fallen angel because my mom, an angel, hooked up with a demon. She was one of the first nine to escape heaven, and that's how they met. Of course, my bitch dad didn't stick around, but that's why I'm a fallen angel, and I can also trick beings into thinking I'm a full demon."

"So, you weren't allowed into heaven because of what your mother did?" Maria asked, bewildered. The table fell silent. This is just one of the many flaws in the system, and at this point, they all knew it.

"We all have a purpose to be here; we all have a reason to fight." Lilith puts a hand on Lani's shoulder; hopefully, after all this, we can prove we are just as worthy as everyone else of happiness." Lani gave Lilith a sad smile.




Lani was currently practicing bow-and-arrow shooting. Pointing the arrow at the target, she moves the bow to the corner of her mouth and lets go. It goes flying, hitting just the edge of the target. "Damnit," she whispers to herself. "I can't get anything right." She looks down at the bow with a helpless look. Just once, she wants to be able to do something useful. "I need to stop sitting around and actually pull my weight." As Lani was talking to herself, she heard large and quick chops in the background, repeating over and over. She looked to her left to see Monica in an armored bra, chopping wood, with an angry expression on her face. Right next to her, there was a large pile of lumber; you could tell she was probably at this for hours. "Monica," Lani calls out.

She drops the ax and wipes her forehead with the back of her hand.

"What?" she barks. Lani steps back a little.

"I just...wanted to see if you were alright," Monica glares.

"Gee I don't know," she replies, clearly sarcastic, "my crew is running away, disobeying orders; there might be a spy in this camp because of them; we're running low on supplies; and I can't keep shit together. What do you fucking think?"
Lani was honestly at a loss for words. Instead, she sits on the ground slowly and pats her hand next to her, where Monica can take a seat. "I don't think you can drag a bunch of information out of me or something. You're not my fucking therapist." She plops down next to Lani.

"I know, but sometimes we all need someone who will listen to us." Lani's head turns, her hair bouncing gracefully with her head movements, as if she were a cartoon character.

"There's just so much going on, and we're running low on supplies. I can't have my crew members step out of line.
Obviously, that's Lilith's whole deal, but she doesn't think sometimes."

"Heh, yeah, once she has a goal, she sticks to it."

"But she doesn't get how bad that can be! As much as I hate to say it, I don't know if we can win this, and on top of that, uh damnit. Now you've got me doing the one thing I told you I wouldn't be doing." Monica chuckles.

"Hey, I guess I'm good at that."

"Some people don't realize the amount of weight on my shoulders. I'm really trying, but no one makes it easy. Sometimes, the weight is just too much to carry, you know?"

"Yeah, I understand." Lani replied with constant reassurance. Of course, she knows that no one can ever really understand what another is feeling, but it's always important to try. Even if two people have gone through the same thing, it doesn't mean they will react or turn out the same way. That's one thing Lani has always known. Of course, this doesn't mean that anyone is alone. It just means that all feelings and aspects are valid in their own ways.

"Tch, thanks for listening. You really do know how to get someone to talk." Monica smiles gratefully.

Lani gives Monica a bright smile and says, "That's what I'm here for."

Monica stands up and says, "I've got something's to sort out with Akita and Cedric, so I'll see you around. Thanks again."

"No problem. Lani stands watching Monica walk further and further."

She stares for a moment before hearing an Australian voice behind her. "Tough nut to crack." Lani turns around to see an angel that she's not familiar with. She has still seen her around the base, but she hasn't made a point to talk to her. "Still, you managed to get her to open up. Lani, right?"

Lani turns to the other angel's gaze and says, "Yes, that's correct. My apologies, you are?"

"Amaya," she says, putting her hand out for Lani to shake.

"Amaya," Lani repeated, shaking her hand. One of her wings looked unusable, and she had a gashing scar across her face. Her gold hair was wrapped in a ponytail, and she had some bangs that covered her left eye.

"I can't believe you got Monica to tell you all that."

"I guess I'm just good at talking to people."

"Heh, guess."

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your eye?"

"Heh, I lost it in battle, along with the scar on my face and damaged wing."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"It was a while ago."

"So, how long have you been here?"

"Out of heaven? Almost a decade now." That made sense; she looked twice as old as Lani. "But at this base? A few months at most. I've been around battling, scouting, and helping. My position changes constantly. What about you?"

"I've been out of heaven for a little over a month; I got here like a week ago."

"So you're new." Amaya breaks eye contact with Lani, looking up at the sky.

"Yeah,"

"Brace yourself, mate; it's not fun out there."

"Heh, I learned that the hard way. But it gets easier; it has to."

"That's what we are all praying for." A comfortable silence fell until it was broken by screaming. It kept getting louder and louder. Screams of pain broke through. Lani and Amaya rushed to the sounds along with everyone else in the base. There was a female demon carrying a male fallen angel.

"Quick please! Help him! He's been shot in the chest!" Amaya, along with some others, take him from the angel's arms and rush him to the tent. Lani runs over to Lilith.

"Who is that?" Lani asks Lilith, distraught.

"I'm not sure, but from the looks of it, he's got a bullet wound, probably from a battle."

"Can we help?"

"We can try." Lani and Lilith rush to the tent, where the man is already lying down.

"Lani, grab some bandages!" Monica shouts. Lani reaches over to some bandages to the right of her and hands them to Monica, where she keeps them in her hand, on standby when ready.

"Fuck! Monica, we're out of numbing cream." Amaya says she is worried. The man groans in pain as the female is crying. Tears are seeping down her cheeks as fast as the blood from his chest leaks out. Amaya takes a scalpel out of a bag and starts carefully but quickly cutting his chest open.

"Someone hold him open while I get the bullet out." Lilith holds open the opening for Amaya to put some gloves on and reach in to find the bullet. "How long has it been since he was shot?"

"Hours! This was the closest base we could locate."

"Fuck!" Monica shouts. "The wound is probably already infected," she comments, noticing the green and yellow pus draining with the blood. Lani tries looking for antibiotics but fails to do so.

"There's no medicine left!" Lani shouts. She can see Monica's eyes full of frustration and dispair. Amaya has her gloved fingers in the wound, trying to find the bullet. Hesitantly, she pokes around the heart a bit and feels a small piece of metal.

"I found it!" Amaya exclaims, and for a moment, a bit of relief is released in the room. Quickly pulling it out, Lilith trades places with her, trying to stitch up the internal wounds. For a moment, there is hope. As soon as Lilith is done, everyone pitches in, trying to put pressure on the wound while keeping the blood in while Lilith finishes the final stitches to the skin. Once the last thread is in place, Monica wraps the bandages around his chest, making sure to end all the bleeding.

Just as everyone is ready to take a breath, Lani puts two fingers over the temple of his wrist and says, "There's no pulse." She says she is shocked and panicked. There is a moment of silence. Just when everyone thought they could save him, those last words left more to disappear for everyone.

"Chest compressions now!" Monica shouts, and Lilith follows as ordered, putting both hands right over his heart and where the stitches are. 1,2,1,2,1,2,1,2 Lilith pumps two beats per second, repeating the process over and over again. His hands run cold. The circulation stops. He's completely unconscious. Moments feel like minutes, and seconds feel like hours. Then Lilith takes her hands off. His face turns as pale as an angel's wing. He's dead; he lost too much blood, and the infection spread too quickly. He's gone. Resting with the energy in the atmosphere. His body starts turning to ashes and fades as his aura becomes one with the air around them.

Tears form in Lani's eyes, along with the fallen angel. "Please, you can't leave. Not yet. We've been through so much together that you can't leave now! DAMNIT COZMO! The fallen angel screams and cries for her friend to come back. "He ment everything to me." She sobs in pain.

"I'm sorry, we couldn't save him," Amaya says with empathy in her voice.

Everyone else is silent. The only voice they can hear are the screams and cries of the fallen angel. Cedric and Akita step into the tent, all working together to pick up the corpse. They gently hoist them onto their shoulders. "Where are they taking him?" Lani turns to ask Lilith with pain in her throat.

"My guess is they have a mourning center." Sure enough, when everyone goes to follow them, a little past some bushes, there is a small field where hundreds of patches of dirt have clearly been disturbed. The fallen angel is still crying, "Please, no, no! I can't lose him too!"

Amaya puts a hand on her shoulder. "We are terribly sorry. We tried." The fallen angel cups her hands over her face. Monica, Cedric, and Akita gently put down the body. "For now, leave him here. We can have someone start digging a grave later." Monica says this as she walks towards the fallen angel. "We can leave you here to mourn." She says sorry-full as everyone slowly walks back to the main grounds of the base.

"So...that's it?" Lani asks, walking hand in hand with Lilith. "There's nothing more to do?"

"I'm sorry to say this, but there really isn't anything else we can do. It's always sad to watch a loved one die, but it happens." Lilith says, turning her face away so as not to show her tears.
Lani catches Maria and Nero in the corner of her eye. "We heard about what happened; we're sorry we weren't there to help." Maria says

"Don't be; it was a horrific sight. In the end, they tried all they could."


Lani was sitting in the tent, reading, waiting for Lilith to get back from scouting. Finally, Lilith opens the tent curtain and steps inside, saying, "Well, it doesn't seem like any enemy's followed them, so we're good to go for a while." Lani looks up hesitantly. Lilith notices this and sits down on the edge of the bed with her. "You still shaken up about earlier?"

Lani doesn't respond; instead, she leans on Lilith and cries. The sobs come out like water falls. Lilith wraps her arms around Lani and pulls her into a comforting position. "I didn't even know him... so why... sobs... why do I feel such an immense amount of pain?"

"Fighting in a war, no matter if you know them or not, creates a bond that can't be broken. You and your comrades have seen sights, fought by each other's sides, and will have horrific experiences that no one else could even fathom. That's why, when one of us is hurt, the rest of us are hurt by their side." Lilith gently rubs Lani's head, and she sobs into her arms. Even Lilith, let's shed just a few tears.

"I can't imagine something like this happening to you; I don't think I can handle it." Lani squeezes Lilith's torso, not wanting to let go. She feels as if she has let go. Lilith might just vanish out of existence. "Please promise me we will always stay by each other's sides."

"I promise, angel," Lilith responds, placing a kiss, light as a feather, on Lani's lips. "Hey, I guess no one ever really asked you, do you even want to fight in this war?"

Lani looks up at Lilith and says, "Yeah, I'm sure of it. After everything I've seen, I want to be able to protect people, give everyone an equal chance, and free the people who are trapped in their own ignorance. Not only do I want to fight, but I know I have to now." Lani replies, and Lilith smiles.

When the two walk out of the tent, Lani catches Maria in the main area. "Lani!" Maria calls out, "I'm really sorry I wasn't there to help with the demon."

"It's...alright Maria."

"No, it wasn't. I promise to be more useful next time. Can I make it up to you?" As sincere as Maria looked, Lani couldn't bring herself to believe it. She wasn't even mad about the fact that Maria wasn't there to help; it was the fact that Lani knew Maria would make a promise that she wasn't going to keep. As much as Lani cared for Maria, the trust that they had might never be the same.



A bell rang—a loud one at that. Everyone rushed over to the center of the base. "Attention everyone," I have an important announcement." Monica spoke loudly, distraught in her voice. "As we all know, this war has been going on for almost five years. While we thought things were looking up, with recent events happening, I say with a heavy heart that we must stand down." mumbling rises above the crowed, Lani becomes distraught, Maria seems in pain, and Lilith and Nero look straight up angry.

"What the fuck do you mean, stand down!?" Lilith screams. All of a sudden, the chatter died.

"Lilith, you know exactly what I mean," Monica replied. "I've been in touch with other bases; we are running out of resources. There's not enough food or weapons. Too many war crimes have been occurring, and we are running out of soldiers."

"What about all of them?" Lani speaks up, pointing her arm to the sky. She had never spoken up for herself. She had always sat down and done what she was told, no questions asked. No, not this time. Not anymore. She wanted to fight; she wanted to save angels. Give them the chance of freedom that she never got. And she was willing to put her life on the line for it. "What about the other angels!? Don't they deserve a chance? Tell me!"

Monica had nothing to say. It was true; she wanted to help the other angels escape, and of course she wanted the demons of hell to get a fair chance. Obviously, not all of them deserved to be there, and the ones who were supposed to be there shouldn't have the same level of punishment for different types of crimes. "We have to do whatever the fuck we can to save everyone. Everyone here, and in heaven!"

Maria turned to Lani. "Holy sh*t," she mumbled.

Monica sighed. "If people want to move to a new base, that's fine. But lots of them are shutting down and retreating. At this rate, heaven will win the war, and we will have to surrender." That's when Lani got an idea.

"Monica! There may be a way we can keep going!" Monica stares Lani deep in her eyes.