Heart Of Stone

Chapter Ten

EMILY'S POV
It has been a couple weeks since I found out about Sir Pentious. As much as I love my job, being around Sera every day has been pretty dang awkward. I'm still so angry with her. Lute has also been acting strange. I haven't seen her around in a few days. Was something going on with her?  No... that just makes me sound crazy.  Maybe all the stress is catching up with me.
I spot my girlfriend walking in my direction. She's wearing her Exorcist uniform, which means she has just finished working with them. I wave to her feeling a smile cross my face for the first time in days.
"Lute!"
"Oh... greetings Seraphim."
What's with the formalities again? I wonder this to myself as I approach her. She hasn't really been this formal with me since we started dating.
"Are you alright, Lute?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
"Okay... it's um... been a few days, huh?"
"Yes. My appologies. I have been caught up with my army as of late. Some of my girls are falling behind on their training." Her eyes narrow as I see a hint of coldness go through them. Now this was getting weird.
"It's okay. I just missed you."
She nods at me silently.
"Are you sure you're alright? You just seem... off."
"Yes, Seraphim. I'm fine." Her tone hardens and I try not to flinch.
"Okay... fine. Sorry."
She shrugs. "I really must be going."
"Alright... see you later then?" I try to take her hand but she jerks it away.
"Maybe."
"Okay, now I know something's wrong. You're acting weird. You're being unusually formal with me, which hello, you've not done since we started our relationship. I haven't seen you in days. And you won't even talk to me. You didn't even acknowledge that it's our one month anniversary. What the Heavens is up with you?"
I didn't mean to be so harsh, I knew I was yelling. But I couldn't help it. I really needed answers. This was starting to scare me.


"You want to know what's up? Well, I'll tell you! There is a redeemed hellspawn amidst our population."
"What's wrong with that?"
"A lot actually. Hellspawn belong in Hell, Emily. They have earned their damnation, and some of them are lucky my army nor myself have slaughtered their sorry asses yet! They all deserve to burn. They don't deserve to rise and be with us. We're up here for virtues, they are down there for vices. That's how the order works, and that is how the order shall stay."
"God Lute, you sound like Sera."
I did not regret the comparison. She's talking down to me like Sera always does.
"Good! Maybe you'll learn to listen. The people in Hell can not be trusted."
"But what gives you the right to kill those poor souls? They are already suffering enough!"
"Those poor souls? God child, do you even hear yourself? Those, poor souls, as you call them are evil. They are filthy creatures who shouldn't even be allowed the free will Lucifer has permitted  them."
Did she just call me a child? Heavens... does she think I'm stupid?
"Lute... those people do not deserve to be killed. We need to tell Charlie that redemption is possible."
"No! We do not!" Her voice was icy.
"They are souls just like our own in Heaven."
"You really believe that don't you?"
"Yes! I do! So what? Why can't you just understand?"
"Sera told me to  go to any measures necessary to make you follow our order. Being with you was a mistake. Being with a woman when I am a woman myself is sinful. And anyways, it is a distraction. I've let myself soften because of you. I've started slacking off with Adam's mission. And if you truly believe that that horrid, unholy filth in Lucifer's realm is worth salvation, then maybe  you need to be amongst them. Perhaps you will learn just how salvageable  they are."
"What?" I felt my stomach drop as she moves closer to me.  She draws her angelic sword from her side.
"Lute... please."
I'm sorry Emily, but it has to be this way."
"No! Please, Lute... It really doesn't."
Before I have the chance to try and op her, she raises her sword behind my back and flicks her wrist down. I'm overcome with blinding pain. I think I scream but my mind is too fuzzy to really tell. And all of a sudden, I'm falling. Down...
VAGGIE'S POV
I was walking through the streets of Hell, the place that has become just as familiar to me as Heaven was, when I saw her. She was sitting in the very alley that Charlie had found me in. She was crying, I could tell this by the  movement of her shoulders. I recognized  her from all my time in Heaven, and the court hearing where my true identity was exposed. 
"Emily?"
She visibly jumps and turns to face me.
"Vaggie? Oh Heavens I'm so glad to see you."
"What happened, sweetie?" I bend down beside her and start examining the wounds on her body. I could tell what she  had been through even before she answered.
"Lute... she cast me out. She cut off my wings." She begins crying again.
"Okay... well, we need to get you patched up and somewhere safe. The streets down here are not very safe if you don't know what you're doing. Will you let me take you back to the hotel?"
"Yes, please."
I gently pick up the Seraphim and start heading back towards home.
I open the main door and enter the building. It's pretty quiet. I look around but can't immediately spot anyone.
"Charlie?" My voice is much harsher than I mean for it to be.
My partner comes quickly into the room.
"Vags what's the-" She trails off when she sees the state that Emily is in.
"Don't answer that question. I got her." She takes Emily from me and lays her on her side on a couch.
"Can you get the bandages for me my love?"
"Yes, princesa" I dash into Charlie and I's bathroom and grab some bandages from under the sink. I go back to Charlie's side and hand her the supplies.
I watch as Charlie skillfully begins to bandage Emily's wounds. I'm trying to fight back memories of when she was doing the exact same to me three years ago.
"Better?" She asks the Angel after a few minutes.
"Yes, thank you Charlie," she looks to me with a grateful smile, "Thank you for bringing me here."
"It's the least I could do. I know how it feels... to be cast out by people you thought you could trust."
"It's not a nice feeling."
"No, indeed it isn't. If you don't mind me asking Em, what caused this?"
"Can I explain in the morning? It's a story I need to tell when I'm fully awake. And plus, it hurts too much right now."
"Of course sweetie... take all the time you need. I know it's not an easy thing to talk about."
Charlie wraps a blanket around Emily and makes sure she's comfortable before taking my hand and leading me from the room.
"I can't believe Lute would do this shit again!" Charlie was saying as she shut the door to our bedroom.
"I can. It's Lute, she's a cold hearted bitch."
"Fair... anyways, are you okay?" 
"Yeah... I'm... um... fine." God I'm a bad liar. But I hate talking about my emotions sometimes.
"No, you're not. But I'm not gonna force you to talk about it. Because the last thing I want to do is force you to do something."
"I appreciate that... but I might as well tell you. Seeing her like that Charlie... it reminded me of myself. Hurt... scared... but worst of all, alone. I don't know the full story just yet, but I know that Lute would not let her go without a reason. It may be a pathetic reason, like sparing a sinner child... but it would still be a reason."
"Yeah, we'll figure it all out tomorrow. For now, I guess we need to try and get some sleep. Something tells me that there is in fact much more to this story that we will need to discover."