Pleiades Saints

Chapter Six: Monster Without a Name

Chapter Six: Monster Without a Name

Lilith's angelic white wings unfurled like sails as she soared across the skies overlooking the California wilderness. A carpet of trees blanketed the landscape, only dotted every so often by small towns and cities. Her slender, delicate fingers briefly traced over the sore red marks Tabris left on her throat. Lilith could not fail. This time, she needed a different plan of attack.

No time for playing around, negotiating, or reasoning. She needed to pinpoint the Seraphim's location, cause as much destruction and upheaval in the area as possible to prevent a counterattack,

and incapacitate and capture the Seraphim as quickly as possible. No more, no less.

Last time, Lilith was caught off-guard because Sachiel prioritized his appetite over his mission, but that wasn't getting in her way today. Not again. She would prove to Master Tabris that she was loyal and worthy of his love...and to help create his new world for the sake of all Nephilim...

The sharp scent of the Seraphim hit her nose. She swallowed hard and unleashed her red-hot chain, preparing for descent. "It's time."

Slowly, I was drawn out of the clutches of sleep. I opened my eyes and gazed up at an unfamiliar ceiling. I breathed in and out, sucking in the noxious fumes of ammonia and bleach. The cot I was sprawled on squeaked loudly as I sat up. I was dressed in a white hospital gown. Mamika rested at my feet. "Good morning, Shizuka. You're finally awake. You've been asleep for a couple days. I was really worried, I thought you'd never wake up."

I groaned, wincing at my throbbing headache, and rubbed sleep from my drowsy eyes. "Mmm...where are we?"

"It's an airport, I think," Mamika replied. "After we crashed, a bunch of army guys came out and took us away to this place."

The door creaked open as Emilia stepped in with a tray of what looked like some kind of prepackaged emergency food. "Morning, sleepy head. How are you feeling?"

"Like hell," I grumbled. "Why are we even here?"

"Well, it looks like they've turned McClellan Airport into a refugee camp," Emilia answered. She set down the tray and handed each of us a dry, rock-hard biscuit. It tasted like eating crumpled paper. "The military captured Ramiel and locked him up in a little area outside of the main building. They took the rest of us here, made sure we weren't injured or contaminated, and we've been hanging around here ever since. Kamiya and I tried to talk to the officials to get us into contact with someone, but they won't tell us anything. As it stands, the military's completely taken over the government. They had to...since things aren't quite the same anymore."

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

She looked hesitant to answer. "The President and Vice President are dead. The Capital was leveled within a few hours of first contact, when the invasion started. There's nothing. It's all gone."

My face fell. My stomach turned sour. I didn't feel like eating anymore. "I...I see. So...the military's calling the shots, then. That explains what happened to Los Angeles." The memory was surreal. I still couldn't believe it had actually happened. Every time I closed my eyes, all I could see was the flash of that pyroclastic cloud, burning itself into my brain. What did the city look like now? Was anyone still there when it happened? "So, we haven't gotten radiation poisoning, have we?"

Emilia shook her head. "No. They tested us and cleaned us up. Right now, we have nothing to worry about."

That wasn't enough to calm my fears. "Kanato and Kamiya...where are they?"