"I didn't want to, Az. I- I didn't-" The dark-haired boy hiccuped, his voice choked with anguish, as he curled even tighter into the vulnerable position. His slender frame shook with each sob, arms wrapping around his knees, his face obscured by a curtain of long, tousled hair.
"Shh, it's okay... Don't cry, Riri..." The white-haired girl's voice was a gentle murmur, filled with a mixture of concern and helplessness. She reached out to wipe tears from his cheeks, trying to comfort the boy who had been by her side for so long, but it did little to staunch the flow of tears. "...You know we're not allowed to cry." She whispered, wrapping her arms around his trembling form, offering what solace she could.
"There- there was so much blood and- It was everywhere, Az." The boy picked up his face, all six of his eyes welling with golden tears. His nose was red and the golden liquid trickled down his cheeks, dripping onto his arms and curled legs. "I can't do it. N-not again-"
"Oh, Riri..." She stroked his hair softly, trying to give him some type of comfort in the painful moment. Auriel had been burdened with a task far beyond his years, one that weighed heavily on his soul and Azrael knew it. The little white-haired angel's heart had dropped when she saw Auriel re-enter the Seventh Ring, covered in blood and his halo dim. His shoulders stooped under the weight of what he had been forced to do.
He had just had to stand there while God praised him for the killings, telling him that She was proud for ridding the world of such evil. She hadn't realized the toll that Her task had on him. He ha been silent as long as She was watching but once She left, he had wasted no time in retreating to the miniature realm that housed his bedroom and breaking down into tears.
Azrael felt her heart wrench as she looked at the boy's tears. The girl was designed for her role, finding a sort of satisfaction in carrying out divine justice, not caring about blood on her hands or seeing the dead. But Auriel was different—he was meant to be the embodiment of karma, a balancer of sorts, not a harbinger of death. But as the world got worse, so did his duties.
Breaking the heavy silence, the faint sound of footsteps drew nearer to the room where Azrael held Auriel close. Azrael felt her heart begin to race as she started to think. Not just any angel could go in and out of Auriel's room, so it either had to be 'Lulu', the blonde-haired angel who completed their trio, or God Herself.
Auriel, sensing the approach, huddled deeper into his cocoon of despair. Panic gripped Azrael. If God were to see Auriel like this—weeping, broken—it would spell catastrophe. Angels weren't allowed to cry. They couldn't be sad, or hurt, or angry. They had to embody unwavering happiness all the time. To break that very sacred mandate would only receive the most dire of consequences.
"̴̴̙̝͚̼̒̒́̓͘͜͝𝔸̴̸͔͚̘̙̝͍͋͊́͒̚𝕦̴̴͇͚͚̫̻͕͛̓͐͝𝕣̴̸͕̦̞̠͍͕̒̒͌͌͒͒𝕚̸̵̠͎͖̙͚͇͋̒́̔̈́͘𝕖̵̴̡͉̒̓̈́͘͜͜͜͠͠𝕝̸̸̡̫̞̘̟̺̈́̒͛͒̓͘.̸̵̼̝̻̟̠͓̽͊͆̀̕.̴̵̺͓͓͎͓̾͒̈́͠͝.̸̸̫̝̝͙̞̠̀̈́̿̕̚͠?̵̵̢̡͙̟͇͓̈́̔̽́̿̕❞
"Riri-" Azrael rushed to wipe the tears off the dark-haired boy's face, getting the gold liquid on herself in the process. The ichor-like tears stained her hands as she desperately tried to hide the weeping. Auriel himself also scrubbed at his face with his sleeves, trying to remove any trace. "Riri, we have to hurry-"
Her plea hung in the air, desperate and futile, as the soft thud of the door opening broke the fragile bubble of solace around them. Azrael's heart skipped a beat, dread settling heavy in her chest. He had wiped away his tears but the agony in the room was still clear. Even more so to the divine being in front of them
Auriel trembled in her arms. In the presence of God, time seemed to stand still, the air thick with unspoken truths and unfulfilled hopes. Azrael held her breath, praying silently for a reprieve, for a glimpse of compassion in the infinite eyes that regarded them with inscrutable wisdom.
".̵̙͇̦̿͆̕.̸͚̟̟̐͛.̵͇͉͍̈́̽̕𝕐̸̢͚̝́̈́͆𝕠̵͕̪͋̽͝𝕦̸̟͔͒̚͜͝❜𝕣̵̻̻̞̾̓̒𝕖̵͔͎͓͛̾̚ 𝕔̴̫͇͎̓̒́𝕣̵̝̺̪͒̓͘𝕪̴̠͎̔͑̚͜𝕚̸͉̺̝̾̽̾𝕟̸̘̘͚̈́̀͊𝕘̴͚͎͎̾͝͝,̵̺̪͊̿̔ 𝔸̸͕͍̝̿̈́𝕦̴̼͙̻͐͒͝𝕣̸͇̟̓͝𝕚̵͍̞͎̽͌̈́𝕖̸͕̝̝̔̈́𝕝̵̪͕̓̚.̴̡̝̪̾́̚ 𝔻̵͚͔͍͆͐͘𝕠̴͕̘͚̓̚͝𝕟̵̺̼͉̔̔̔❜𝕥̴̝̘̽́̕͜ 𝕥̴͔͎̦̐͝͠𝕣̵͎͍͓̔̔̀𝕪̴̟̟͓̚͝ 𝕥̴̡͇̻͛̐̚𝕠̸̙͉͇̒͌̿ 𝕙̴͔̝̞̾͘͝𝕚̵͚̼͐̕̕͜𝕕̵̪͙̿͆͜͝𝕖̸̝̟͓͋̈́͝ 𝕚̸̡͖͛̾̚𝕥̸̢̫̝͋͐̿.̴̠̺̟͆̾͘.̴̺̺̠̈́̓͆.̴̢̢͎͆͒̒ 𝕀̸̪͙̟͑̀͝ 𝕒̵̡͔̙̒́̚𝕞̴͉̦͉͋̐ 𝕠̴͙̫̟̔͌̾𝕞̴̢̟̟̀̚𝕟̴̝͉͉̽͐𝕚̸̡͔̠͛̓͋𝕤̸̢̠́̐̀͜𝕔̴̞̫̒̈́͝𝕚̸̟̟́͋͆͜𝕖̴̺͖́͋͐𝕟̵͉̻͇̈́͒̿𝕥̴̝͙̈́͝͠,̴͍̝͕́̿̽ 𝕒̵͉͖͇̓͊̚𝕗̵̟̺̠̔͑𝕥̸͕̝͉̓̓͘𝕖̴̞͇̔̐͊͜𝕣̵͔̠̼͒̈́͝ 𝕒̵̼͓̫̒͋̈́𝕝̵̪̘̒͝𝕝̵͚͍͐́̓.̴̠̺̟͆̾͘.̴̺̺̠̈́̓͆.̴̢̢͎͆͒̒ .̵̻͍̒͌͜͠❞
Finally, She spoke, Her voice a chilling reminder of divine omnipotence, both intriguing and unfathomable, a presence that could never be fully comprehended or recalled. The sound made a shiver run through Azrael. It was sweet like honey, a comforting noise that could practically lull her to sleep if it weren't for the deep-set panic in her mind.
❞𝕃̸͓̻̠̾̚𝕖̵͖̪̠̀͆𝕒̵͙͓͛͘͝𝕧̵͚̪͋̚͜𝕖̴̦͎̺̿͠ 𝕦̵̦̘̙͐͊͝𝕤̸̢͖̫̀͋͝,̴̡̙̪͐͆͆ 𝔸̵̘͓͓̽́͘𝕫̸̻͍̺͛́̀𝕣̸̺̙̞̔̿͌𝕒̵̪̞̪̈́͊̚𝕖̴̘̞̼̓͆͝𝕝̵͚̝̦̐̿͠.̴̙͚̀̐͘͜ 𝕐̵̞̘͎̔̀̚𝕠̸̘̟͙͒͌̕𝕦̴͙͕͎͋͊̽𝕣̴͙̦͛͌̀ 𝕡̵̻̻͍́́͝𝕣̸͖͉͇͋͘̚𝕖̵͕̺͇͑͐̚𝕤̸̪̙͓͊̚𝕖̵͎̦͍͑̕͠𝕟̴͇͚͎͛̚͝𝕔̴͚͉̼̓͊̈́𝕖̴̢͉̦͑̕ 𝕚̵͕̙̓̾͋𝕤̴̡̠̫͛͒ 𝕟̸͔͓̙͑́͝𝕠̸͕̻̫̀̐̚ 𝕝̸̡̞͉͌̀͝𝕠̵̠͕̝͒̕͝𝕟̵͚͎̺͋͐̾𝕘̸̠͖͙̀̿̚𝕖̵͔̞̫͆͋͐𝕣̴̡̘̈́͑̚͜ 𝕣̴͔̼̙̐̈́̾𝕖̵͍̫̼̚͘͝𝕢̴̘̠͉̾̕̕𝕦̵̻̫̼̈́̿͛𝕚̵̝̟͇́̒̒𝕣̵̡̦̠͑̒͑𝕖̵͔͔̼̿̒𝕕̴̘̙̽̚͘.̴͍̞̺͋̒͒❞
"Mother God, please, let me at least call Luc-" Azrael began, slowly letting go of Auriel and getting to her feet.
❞𝑮̵̴̸̴̸̴̢̘͖͓͕̫̼̞̞͓͚͉̘̼̺͉͋͋͊̔̽̈́̿͑̾̈́͌̒͘͜͠͠͠͝𝑶̸̸̸̸̴̵̢̢̢͚̙͇̙̘͕̟͇͍̘͎̺̞͕͎͐͑̒̔͌̐̐̓͌̓̓͌̚͘͝͝͠.̵̵̸̴̵̸̡̢͕͚̻̙̺̝̘̙͙̝̙̦͚̞͖̈́͒̿̓̀̾͒̓͌͒̕͘͝͠͝͝
Azrael hesitated for a moment, torn between her duty to obey and her concern for Auriel. She glanced down at him, his expression a mix of fear and resignation, before turning her gaze back to the divine presence before her.
"...Yes, Mother God."
YOU ARE READING
The Debt Collector
Fanfiction❞𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕❜𝒔 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒏 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆.❞
