Wings

Ch. 20: A Miracle

All Efah could feel was pain. She felt Lucifiania twist the blade that was deep in her chest. "Bye bye, little angel." Lucifenia smirked, pulling the blade out of her. Efah fell to her knees. She felt arms wrap around her and looked up to see Castiel.

"Efah no," he said. She turned and watched Jasper running towards Lucifenia.

'Efah, I will rip her limb from limb.' Jasper said through their mind link.

"J-jasper." Efah whispered.

"Efah?" Castiel asked. Lucifenia laughed and slammed Jasper into a wall. She then stalked towards Elenora. "Now it's your turn, witch." she snarled. Elenora tried her hardest to fight back, but Lucifenia was stronger. She got on top of Elenora and held the blade up. Efah lifted her hand and said: "Sei mit dir Dämon gegangen."

Lucifenia screamed and was slung to the wall. Flames surrounded her and she kept screaming for help. Then there was nothing but ash where she used to be. Elenora looked at Efah who was slowly dying. Jasper and Jisoo ran over to the angels. "You came back." Jasper said, tears streaming down her face.

"I...I couldn't abandon my family." Efah whispered.

"Can't we heal her?" Jisoo asked.

"No, there is nothing we can do for her." Elenora said, coming over to the four tennagers, "No ones magic is strong enough to save Efah from an angel blade. It would take a miracle."

"N-no, she can't die. She can't!" Cas cried out.

"I-it's okay. At least I get to see Danny again."

Castiel hugged her weak body. "Please don't leave. We need you. I need you." he said. Efah placed her hand on his cheek and smiled.

"It'll be okay." She then turned to look at everyone, "I love you guys so much, I'm sorry it took my this long to realize I needed you all."

Jasper grabbed Efah's hand and gave it a tight squeeze. "I love you too Efah." Jasper replied.

Jisoo sniffed. "You were a good one, raven wings." Efah smiled and closed her eyes, her hand falling out of Jasper's. Castiel felt her body go limp. He looked at the girls and shook his head. Jisoo sobbed and hugged Jasper. Jasper hugged back and looked at the girl that was once her enemy.

The whole room hung with silence as everyone watched the scene, many of the community members never having known the dead girl who had saved their lives on this night. Even Elenora stood with a heavy head and paid her respect to the now dead warrior as she knelt beside Efah's body. "I'm sorry, dear child," Elenora whispered softly as she placed a hand on Efah's head.

Elenora then rose to her feet slowly and looked to the room full of people as their leader. "Tonight, the council has failed every one of you and that blame is for me to hold. While two of our heros tonight are council members, they are also our children and one of our children died tonight. Efah was a child of the community--regardless of being unannounced. Furthermore, Efah gave her life for everyone in this room, even after the trouble we gave her and the discussion of hanging her. While all of tonight's events will be reviewed and decisions of how to move forward will be made on this following Monday, I will say it here and now that all charges on Efah are dismissed."

Elenora glanced down to Efah's corpse at her feet. "The council will pay the proper respects to Efah and her family from this day forward. Until then," Elenora closed her eyes for a moment, "I ask that everyone present return home safely to rest after tonight's events. Please, Castiel, Jisoo, Jasper, and your respective families, stay to talk with me before you leave, but everyone else return home."

The room held a collective quiet with the only exception being the shuffling of feet as almost everyone left. Jasper stayed crouched on the floor with Jisoo and Castiel as her mother came up beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "We'll be outside," Adrian said softly. Jasper nodded and her family left the building. Within a couple of minutes, only four people remained in the building; Elenora, Jisoo, Jasper, and Castiel.

The teenagers rose to their feet as everybody stood quietly around Efah's dead body. Sniffles began to cease as everyone cleaned their faces and eventually looked to one another. Elenora gave a small smile in comfort, the most she could offer. "Thank you," Elenora said. Jasper nodded. "Part of me wishes that spawn of Satan was still alive, just so I could tear her apart and let her feel real pain," Jasper said through gritted teeth.

Jisoo grasped Jasper's hand and the witch turned to look at her fox. Jisoo shook her head at Jasper and Jasper sighed. After a moment, all the women's eyes landed on Castiel as they watched him. Castiel only burned holes in the floor with his gaze as he held clenched fists and a tight jaw. 'He's at the end of his rope. He's barely holding himself together,' Jasper thought to herself.

Jisoo moved closer to Castiel and gently put a hand on his shoulder. Castiel, now becoming aware of his surroundings, snapped his gaze to look Jisoo in the eyes, his body losing the previous tension. "Cas..." Jisoo lost her voice and in the end decided to not say any more. He only gave a small smile and sigh before turning to give her a hug.

Castiel and Jisoo stood there a while in the embrace before Jasper, and then Elenora, joined in the hug. 'Hopefully God has mercy on her soul,' Jasper thought as she clutched to her friends tighter.

Suddenly, the heavy weight of the room was disturbed with a loud bang as the doors of the room swung open and in walked a girl, heels leaving soft taps of sound as she walked toward Jasper and the others. Jasper and the others broke apart from their embrace to face the stranger, confused and offended by her entrance. The girl walked right up to Jasper and stopped with a smile.

Jasper's eyebrows knit together as she recognized this girl as Efah's friend, Allison. Allison's smile only widened after Jasper recognized her. "What are you doing here?" Jasper asked, voicing everyone's thoughts. "Jasper," Allison said before moving her gaze to everyone. "Children," she corrected herself as she addressed everyone.

"How lovely the group of you are," Allison said with a smile of pride. Jisoo took a step back, displaying her hesitance and looking to Jasper. Allison took a step back also as a display of respect while giving the group space. "As individuals, your potential is darkened by your stress and life drama, but as a group, you all are capable of anything. That does not include you, Elenora," Allison said.

Elenora's face twitched with insult. "Elenora, please step out," Allison requested.

"Excuse me?" Elenora asked, astonished. Allison snapped her fingers and Elenora fell limp, a thud following as her body hit the floor. Jisoo, Jasper, and Castiel all gasped as they took a collective step back before turning back to Allison, ready to defend themselves. Allison looked to the three of them and smirked. "She always was an annoying child; definitely not my favorite," Allison said.

Jasper's mind began racing, confusion overwhelming her. There was no trace of an energy display, yet she had just watched with her own eyes as Allison rendered Elenora useless with a literal snap of her finger. Allison was a human. Allison didn't display energy like a power, so it made no sense that she could use magic stronger than that of a headbloodline.

'Look at your wheels turning,' Allison's voice said from inside Jasper's head. Jasper's eyes widened. "How did you do that?! I didn't create a mind link with you! What are you?" Jasper asked aloud as she and the others stepped back. Allison smiled and began to slowly pace.

"What am I? Shouldn't a more important question be: why am I here?" Allison asked. The room stood still. Allison shrugged. "I should have given you all a larger intellectual capacity. I'm here, because you need me," Allison said. Jasper looked around the room, confused. "We need you?" Jisoo voiced. Allison smiled and nodded.

"Yes, child. You all need me. And I'm here to help. I know what all of you want and need. Castiel, you need grounding. You need someone to show you that life is more than a game. Jisoo, you need something to make you feel valued. You want and crave the feeling of importance. And, lastly, Jasper, you need friends. You need to stop trying to take on all of the world's problems by yourself." Allison said with a knowing smirk.

The group looked to one another, unsure of how to respond. "While I could give you exactly those things, so can Efah. Efah connects you all and provides you with what you need; each other. While I don't do this often, you saved my world, so I will grant you the one thing you all need most. I am God and I will give you my child, Efah."