✔ || Save Me [[SEQUEL to DISTRACT ME]]

Chapter 18

{A/N: I asked and the people answered, so here's your double update!}

Camael groaned, rubbing his forehead, "What was it you said, Zadkiel? This entire situation is an exception?"

Zadkiel nodded slowly. The room fell silent again. Jeongguk couldn't stand it - he'd just ripped off every bandaid he'd ever had in front of these complete strangers. The least they could do was say something. Squirming, he demanded, "Well?"

The row of archangels stared down at him. For a moment, Jeongguk feared that it really had been for naught. That they were going to send Taehyung to hell anyway just because they wanted to.

But then Gabriel sighed, "Jophiel?"

"Stalking, harassment, and abuse, hmm?" Jophiel pressed his lips to his steepled fingers. "What the human has shown us most certainly fits those labels."

"But you saw that Taehyung still broke the rules," Raphael snarled. Was it just Jeongguk's imagination, or was there the slightest bit of fear in his voice?

"Yes," Zadkiel said softly. "But given the circumstances, I'd say that he should be forgiven for that. What say you, Jophiel?"

Jophiel studied Jeongguk, his eyes clouded. The maknae stared right back, afraid that his next move would determine Taehyung's future. Finally, the archangel said in his breathy voice, "The Fallen is forgiven. He shall remain on Earth until he dies naturally, as all humans do."

The weight that flew off of Jeongguk's shoulders almost knocked him over. "Thank you, sir."

Jophiel glanced at Raphael out of the corner of his eye. The other archangels watched carefully, waiting for his verdict. Jeongguk remembered what Taehyung had told him, so long ago at this point that it felt like years in the past. Archangels don't fall. Jophiel's next words could change everything for them.

"Archangels are perfect, Raphael," Jophiel said carefully.

"We are," the man growled.

"Did that display look perfect to you?" Camael suddenly snapped. "You're a disgrace."

Jophiel held up a papery hand, silencing his chittering brothers. He looked at Zadkiel, "What have you to say on this matter, brother?"

Zadkiel turned to look down at Jeongguk, and then his eyes moved to Taehyung. His soft voice could have destroy mountains as he murmured, "All of the mercy I have to grant has been given to the Fallen."

In a slow-motion blur, Raphael jumped to his feet, lifting his wings in a frenzied attempt to escape what was about to happen. Jeongguk watched, horrified, as Camael and Michael rose to their feet and each grappled for one of his arms. The other archangels looked on, almost bored now that the verdict had been given.

Suddenly, there was a hand on his shoulder. Jeongguk turned to find Eden, her eyes soft and manically gleeful at the same time. She said gently, "Step back, Jeongguk. You won't want to see this."

The maknae obeyed, letting her pull him to stand between her and Taehyung. Jeongguk glanced at the boy, but he was too busy watching the horror unfurling before them. Camael and Michael each had a death-grip on Raphael's arms and were wrestling him to the floor where Jeongguk had stood only a moment prior, their faces set in deadly resolve. Subconsciously, Jeongguk reached for Taehyung's hand, but the elder pulled away the second they brushed together. The maknae looked at him but then decided that he must be struggling with his conflicting emotions. After all, a part of Taehyung still cared for the archangel. He couldn't help it, not when the majority of his life was spent in his arms. Patiently, Jeongguk crossed his arms and turned back to watch as Camael and Michael forced Raphael to his knees.

"This is madness!" The condemned man shrieked. "I am an archangel! Eternal! One of the most powerful of all of you!"

"And now," Jophiel said, exhaustion permeating his voice, "you are a Fallen." Lifting his chin to the two archangels beside the man, he said, "Do it."

Each man grabbed one of Raphael's glowing wings. Before Jeongguk could properly react, they began to pull, and the maknae winced at the wet sound of straining limbs. It was louder than it had been in Taehyung's memory of the time it happened to him. It echoed in Jeongguk's ears, and when Raphael started screaming, he couldn't help but cower away. Eden rested a reassuring hand on the small of his back, but Taehyung still hadn't even looked at him.

"Uriel," Camael grunted, his arm muscles bulging. "Come help."

The archangel in question stood, stretched his arms high above his head, and nonchalantly hopped down beside his struggling brothers.

It wasn't until he reached to grasp the hilt of the flaming sword strapped to his back that Jeongguk realized he should probably look away.

But the sound was just as bad as watching.

An animalistic wail ripped out of Raphael's throat, long and ear-piercing, as Uriel brought the sword down on his wing. The smell of burning flesh permeated the air and Jeongguk gagged, trying to breathe through his mouth. It took a few good hacks for the first wing to sever off completely.

One.

Two.

Three. Jeongguk couldn't help counting them in his head, each one marked by a scream.

When the first one was finished, Jeongguk dared to glance at Taehyung. The boy was standing with his fists clenched at his sides, watching the show unblinkingly. Jeongguk shuddered at the bemused look in his eyes.

Eden leaned over to murmur, "His wings are stronger than regular angel wings, which is why they can't just pull them out. They have to cut them off."

Jeongguk couldn't even nod as a reply.

Camael dropped the wing unceremoniously and it fell with a wet thud. He then moved to grip Raphael's shoulder, stopping him from moving as Uriel went to the second wing. Michael's face was filled with storms as Uriel raised the sword above his head, and Jeongguk squeezed his eyes shut as the archangel brought the blade down with a sickening squelch.

This wing took four hacks.

Michael wrinkled his nose at the severed appendage in his hands and disgustedly threw it on the ground, wiping his hands on his bloodied pants. Camael released Raphael too, and without the assistance of his brothers, the archangel keeled forward with a sob.

Eden gripped Jeongguk's shoulder so hard that it almost hurt when the two archangels roughly grabbed Raphael's arms and jerked him to his feet. Camael stood and waved an arm over the ground, and with the sound of metal scraping on stone, a trapdoor spiraled open to reveal a dark abyss. Jeongguk wavered as the ground shook under the might of the magic, but Eden helped him stay standing. It worried Jeongguk that Taehyung hadn't touched or even looked at him yet, but then his attention was stolen by Camael and Michael forcing Raphael to the edge of the chasm.

Gabriel spoke, his voice hollow, "May your fall be long."

The other archangels echoed him, and Raphael screamed, "Wait!"

The rest of his words were cut off by Camael and Michael shoving him into the gaping hole.

Jeongguk swallowed, and the sound seemed to echo in the silent room. The archangels stared into the abyss, each of them a statue, until Uriel waved his hand and the chasm closed. Gabriel said quietly, "Take the human and the Fallen back to their home on Earth."