Contracts

Let There Be Light

Chastity clenched her fist, a cool wind blew through the air. The atmosphere was different now, sour and uneasy.

Orin raised a brow at the angel as she opened her mouth. "Ca-" she began.

"Don't you dare call me by the name he gave me," Orin hissed, leaning forward in his seat. "I don't belong to him anymore." Chastity visibly drew back, her wings seemingly drooping with the shock. Orin glared daggers at the woman.

Chastity let out a curt sigh. "Orin," the demon allowed her to continue. "you have to understand that the situation was not in our favour."

Gerard straightened himself. "How so?" He asked. I gave his arm a slight slap for interrupting. Chastity glanced down at the floor.

"When a human has been infected with hate, spite, envy or any emotion tailored to fit on the Seven Deadly Sins, it becomes race of sorts between the Virtues, and the current demons of Hell to lay claim to the soul once its life on Earth has expired," she explained, fiddling with her fingers as she leaned back in her chair. "Pride was one of these souls."

"And what? Hell is stronger than you angels? Couldn't save a halo for me, could you?" Orin said, his teeth gnashed.

"It's so much more complicated then that," Chastity's voice was low, a hushed tone. She took a breath. "when you were born, the servants of both Heaven and Hell felt the world stand stock still, if only for a moment, we were time itself had come to a halt."

Orin relaxed slightly, and though he tried to suppress it, he couldn't hide the satisfied smirk quirking the corner of his mouth.

Chastity continued. "We watched you as you grew, from an impatient, joyful child, to a well-tailored, damaged young man. The Virtues and I saw something different in you, and, regrettably, the demons saw it too. They saw the fire burning in your eyes, the well-hidden thoughts of murder." Chastity paused, biting the inside of her lip. "But no one could have predicted that the Seven Sins themselves would take an interest in you."

"Wait, so there wasn't a Sin of Pride before Orin?" I asked.

"No, there was," Orin said, not making eye contact with me. "the Seven Deadly Sins are interchangeable. Over the years, we're replaced someone else who shows promise."

"And that's why they took him," Chastity said, solemnly peering up at me. "he was raised to be the best. Praise his life choices, and he would be putty in their hands."

Orin scoffed. "Oh please, it wasn't that easy." Chastity winced a bit. An awkward silence settled over the room. I jumped as my wrist intercom buzzed. A message lit up in blue on the glass screen. I grumbled as I read the note aloud.

'Dear Angie,

I know that you're on hiatus or whatever, but I'm home sick as hell with a stomach bug, and can't exactly perform my weekly rounds at the Academy's shield. Think you can do it for me?  Just this once?

Sincerely,

Shithead.'

"Who now?" Orin asked from the table.

"An old friend of mine, Julia Goldman, she's a Holy Hunter." I said.

"And the shield thing?"

"Our school's got a shield to keep it safe, just gotta go repair it."

"Angela, come here a moment," Chastity said, motioning to the table. She gently knelt by my cast. "how long have you had this on?"

"Three weeks, give or take." I shrugged.