Better Angels

Chapter Five

Leo Valdez stood at the helm of Argo II guiding it from Rome to Athens. He had to keep going. Leo knew that if he stopped for even one moment he would break down. Over that past few weeks he'd grown close the Percy and Annabeth. They were his friends and now they were gone. But they weren't dead. It would be too easy. No, instead they fell into Tartarus; which for them is a fate much worse than death. They would face every monster they'd ever defeated there, and they had made plenty of enemies. He could not believe that Percy and Annabeth were gone. Two of the seven gone. This was not supposed to happen. Not yet. How could the seven have lost their strongest already. Leo would've followed them to the bitter end. Don't get him wrong he would do anything for Jason, but he thought Percy and Annabeth were better leaders. They were a great team and they loved each other.

Leo was jerked from his grief by Festus giving a loud roar and the sudden rush of sinister energy that rushed through him. A dark laugh rang through his ears. He knew that laugh, Gaea. On the screen Leo watched in horror as all the lights in the cities below him went out. Argo II was slowly losing power and began to nosedive towards the Greek coast. Leo tried to bring her level, but there was no power left. Nico, Frank, Hazel, Jason, Piper, and Coach Hedge came running from the cabin area.

"We need to abandon ship!" Leo yelled. "Get to the Pegasus!" The ship already had a steep incline as they climbed their way as quickly as possible to the stables. There was no time to grab their things from their cabins. Everything would go down with the ship, including Festus. The demigods and Coach Hedge quickly freed the Pegasi and mounted them. Everything went by so quickly. Leo paid no heed to his friends or the shouted orders of Coach Hedge, all he could focus on was the laughing inside his head and the sickening feeling that spread through his gut. Gaea was free, but how? The only way she could have been released was if Percy and Annabeth had died. But they couldn't be. The Pegasi soared above the burning cities of Greece. The demigods faces were ashen even the satyr had given up shouting at Leo. The world was burning just as Gaea had wanted it to. She was awake. The battle had begun.

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The messenger angel arrived just as Magnus was coming around. He was the last wake. Everyone looked shocked even Brother Zachariah. The angel had felt the burst of darkness when Gaea was in possession of Victoria. It was so overwhelming that he’d dropped to Earth as he was leaving Heaven. He could not believe the devastation that surrounded him when he did. Buildings ruined and fires raging. At first he’d mistaken it for the rising of Lucifer, but he would have known if the 66 seals were being broken. This was something different, and maybe something much worse. There were screams everywhere and he could see the Reapers out in the thousands taking those whose time had come to an end. What could have caused such mass destruction besides Lucifer? There had been no signs of his rising. None at all. What madness was this.

The angel’s host was a little battered up, but soon the wounds began to heal, and he went on his way to the New York Institute. He could sense that was where the destruction has started and spread. It sent a shockwave across the whole world from what he could tell. Affecting everyone and everything leaving nothing untouched, and the angel had never heard of such a thing happening. The door of the Institute hung off its hinges and the halls were scorched black; not from a fire. This was in no means smoke damage. Rocks did not burn. The angelic blood that ran in Nephilim’s blood has all but been destroyed. The bricks of the Institute were made with the blood and bones of the Nephilim. They provided protection against all sorts of evil, but apparently it was not enough to keep this evil out. Or in. The angel put one foot on the mantle and was repulsed by the feeling of darkness that shivered all the way down to his core. It was a feeling that he’d never felt before. Not even when he was being tortured by demons. Samandriel could hardly bear it. It felt slimy and wrong. This was not natural, and he would never get used to such a feeling. Samandriel knew that he must press on.

There was a cat that met him when he reached and intersection. Samandriel knew that this was no ordinary cat. The cat would lead him wherever he wished to go. The gray, fluffy cat walked him to the Infirmary. Samandriel felt silly following a cat, but God had created cats and they were one of the most intelligent creatures on Earth. The Infirmary a disaster zone. This was where the destruction had started. When the Nephilim and Immortals saw him they could not help but bring the weapons out and make threats at him. Samandriel understood. They’d just been invaded, they were not keen on trusting strangers.

Samandriel raised his hands and saw that his hands had begun to blister. This vessel would not hold him for much longer. “I come in peace,” he said. The teenagers were taken aback by how calm and serene his voice sounded. “This is the home of Victoria Carstairs, Jace Herondale, and the Lightwoods? Is it not.”

“Yes,” a boy of nineteen stood up from on of the beds holding a bandage over one of his bright blue eyes. “My name is Alec Lightwood, keeper of the Institute until my mother returns. What business do you have here?” Samandriel could see that they boy was shaking and weak. “Please sit down, you are weak. If you wish I can heal you.” Alec shook his head and straightened himself before falling on the bed again. Samandriel tried to go to him, but his sister stood in his way.

“Tell me who you are or I will shove this seraph blade into your sternum.” This girl’s words dripped with venom, but he could tell that she would not follow through. Her hands shook as did the blade that she threatened to plunge into his chest. Her brown eyes were full of fear. He pitied the Nephilim, but he would comply with her request. He had no desire to be stabbed. Samandriel slowly pushed to blade from his chest. He met her brown eyed gaze in full composure. He would not show his fear to these poor creatures.

“My name is Samandriel, Angel of the Lord. I coming bearing a message though I fear that it has come too late.” He gazed around the room and his eyes fell on the gaping hole in the wall. “If I may,” Samandriel quickly snatched Isabelle’s hand and began to heal it. Before their eyes Isabelle’s spine straightened and it seemed as if there was a weight lifted off of her shoulders. Samandriel could feel that darkness had routed inside of each and everyone of them. It was not natural or God-like. He shuddered and his eyes opened to reveal a blinding blue light. The darkness was feeding at their angelic blood and killing them. It took every ounce of his strength to heal this one girl. Samandriel dropped her hand and slumped forward. His face was burning with pain and he could tell he did not have much time. These Nephilim needed healed and their was nothing he could do to help anymore of them.

Isabelle looked at him in awe. “I saw in your mind. You really are and angel, but your weak now. We are all dying and if we aren’t healed we’ll be dead in days.” Her voice trailed off as the fear returned to her eyes.

Samandriel raised his head again, and the other’s gasped. The skin on his face was horribly blistered and peeling. This vessel would not hold him much longer. “I don’t have much time. This vessel will burn if I remain in him for much longer. You must go to your Silent Brothers. The darkness sent out fragments of itself in the explosion. The whole world was affected, but they will recover. You will not. The only thing keeping you alive is what little angel blood you have is your system, but the evil is eating away at that and thus killing you. Get to your Silent Brothers. Nicholas?” The man looked up at him. He was holding his wife’s hand. Perenelle was her name if Samandriel remembered correctly. “You and your fellow Immortals will be just fine. I can see that you are already healing, but it will take time. You will be weak for and extended period and I must advise you to use your aura as little as possible.” Samandriel’s vessel convulsed. Not much longer, he thought.

“I’m sorry I cannot be of more help. The question I had has been answered. I can see now that you will need all of your strength in the coming battle. You must be vigilant and willing to sacrifice everything so that this world can live on.” Before the Nephilim could respond he blasted himself out of the teenage boy so he would cause no more damage.