The Above || Completed

52 Irony

Maddison's POV

Too quickly had I gotten used to the sight -no, the thought- of my grandfather in a white coat, as a figure of help. But here he was, an old man in a black blazer and an empty glass by his side, a figure of power. I had once thought that he had a kind look in his ocean-coloured eyes but now, I knew, it was only voracious bravado. Strange how circumstance can change your perspective.
"Maddison, welcome." There was a small smile on his face. "Everyone, meet my granddaughter."
I chuckled with an ironic hysteria as the crowd of angels reacted behind me. He was trying to make me look like the bad guy. Sure, I was. I mean, I'd just killed a council member with my bare hands. But in this case, I couldn't have been as evil as he was.
I gave him a look filled with quaint derision. "Why'd you even bother helping me?"
"Oh, please, I hardly believed you'd follow in your father's footsteps -greetings to you, Luziel. Besides it was the least I could do for family."

It was funny. As children, we respond to betrayal with pain and surprise. But later, there is only irony. That is, if we've experienced enough betrayal. My dad made his way forward to stand beside me. He had a look of pure fury on his face. Perhaps it's not only irony, but rage.
"You call that family?" he demanded, his voice low but deadly. "You had your own daughter killed."
"I was doing my job," Bruno argued pathetically. And with a repugnant curl of his lips, he added, "Besides, she'd already been contaminated by the likes of you."
Zachariah pushed me back so he could hold Luziel down. My father was fighting his grip, overwhelmed by his festering grief for my mother. He wasn't the only one that felt outraged.
"Dad, please," I warned, glancing worriedly over my shoulder at the restless angels behind me.
Zachariah spoke, "Don't be ignorant. It seems you've forgotten my warning."

My grandfather's eyes roamed over all of our faces. And then he turned and gazed out of the window behind him. "You're glorified by every citizen of the Above. Oh, the injustice of it all."
"Your council has to have some real courage to even praise an angel's name while condemning him to slavery behind closed doors," Luziel responded, rage making his voice quake.
"Strange, I think Quin said something like that to you once," Bruno said, his voice as calm as the city outside seemed.
Zachariah had to strengthen his hold on my father significantly.

"Why?" I blurted, the word tearing through my vocal chords. "Why do you hate us?"
Bruno turned to face us again. His eyes fell on my face first. I gritted my teeth and met his empty gaze head on.
"How do you defeat a superior force, Maddison?" He asked me softly.
I could already tell his answer was feeble. A sorry excuse for enslaving an entire race.
I didn't have to wait long for his answer. "You find a way to make them inferior."
"You're fools!" I spat. "Even if you found a way to do it, it would always be temporary! The council is nothing. Your inferiority does not end where ours begins."
He snickered quietly. "We knew that from the beginning."
Then I paused. Something wasn't right.

"We all know how rare fire is, am I correct?" He paused. "There has only been one occasion during which it has been used. I'm sure Luziel remembers it well."
Dad lurched forward before Zachariah forced him back again. My insides churned with anxiety. Every angel in the room was watching Bruno very closely.
"Have any of you wondered why I am the only council member in this room?" Bruno asked.
I grew increasingly uneasy. What was the council planning? Clearly, we were never going to get a chance to negotiate.
A psychotic grin had emerged on my grandfather's face. "We knew the minute you escaped it would be the end. So, if we couldn't hold you down forever, we'd all go up in flames!"

And then I heard a sound I had never heard in the Above before. It was an explosion.

^^^