“Everything that old weasel has told you, is twisted to make your kind feel righteous.” Alexis still felt menaced in his presence. Those wings stood darkly over the already tall demon; those eyes glinted with serenity but demonic slyness. His stance was prideful, and while he talked, he had a look that hinted his past rule. Like Philander, he had his own words to tell, much more bitter, yet clear. “I have brought death and destruction, I have ridden lands from every soul that roamed in them, my flight has been called an ominous eclipse, my trident has left many widows and orphans in its wake, and my eyes have seen a sea of blood bigger than an ocean. I did all these things, but not before your kind did. I did not want a war, not at first.”

Alexis frowned. Zelophehad’s expression had twisted, in a way that showed great grief. It was something he knew, sorrow. Something he empathized with, something that made the demon look human. Zelophehad eyed him as if he was struggling to see the monster he saw in every angel he had come across. So Alexis questioned, interjecting in his sad pause.

“Are you insinuating that it was us angels who began this conflict? I always heard that it was you demons who started killing.”

“It was demons who killed first, but we were not the ones to call for genocide.” Zelophehad took a deep breath and looked up, not having had a conversation in ages. “You see, death is something that’s engraved into this world. I was a peaceful man once; I would have never dreamt of shedding blood. However, my descendants did not share my ways. My lineage was new to this world; they wanted their own home, and so they spread. Without my rule in those early ages, they began to face humanity. Two races, so different, so lost. Conflict arose in time between them, and we were stronger. Many human lives were lost, but not by the hands of every descendant of mine. Demons settled in this world as a new race… where you angels roamed and reigned. You saw what a few of us could do, you felt disgusted by our foreign nature, and you deemed us unworthy of existing. Your rule was challenged; you were not the apex creatures anymore. You began to kill, not only the devils that threatened humans, but every single one of us. We did not appear in your scripture; for you, we were a curse. I saw so many of us fall… men and women, worthy of praise and honor, slain. I could not just watch and take it.”

“So you began to kill as well.” Alexis accused, wanting to know for sure. “You began a genocide on both races, humans and angels.”

Zelophehad looked down at Alexis. His wings unfolded a little more, his claws opened, and his pose rose. His voice echoed grimly, foreboding.

“And I will only let heaven judge me for it, angel.” Alexis relaxed, because the devil was not threatening him, just affirming. With a claw over his chest, he let Alexis feel his remorse, which tangled in the air like a deadly toxin. “I have come to acknowledge my sins. I know well what I did, and I repent daily, in a life that will never end with time. I am not a perfect creature, you aren’t either. What differentiates us is that I don’t try to destroy the evidence of my acts. Philander wants to destroy history, he wants to erase the facts and their mistakes; I want to let them be known. This ancient library contains the records the human servants wrote during the war, records which shed some light onto our real origin.”

Alexis asked, pushing away his wariness for the demon.

“I am interested in those records, but… maybe I don’t need them. Maybe, you could tell me everything.” Alexis sheathed his sword slowly, with a nervous glance at his claws. He offered and asked at the same time, praying he was not committing a grave mistake. “I have come here for a reason, Zelophehad. It is not to kill you, nor to destroy this place. I want to know where demons come from… where the first come from.”

Zelophehad had stared at him with wonder before, perplexed, but now much more.

“You have sheathed your sword.”

He said that like if he was warning Alexis, like if he was telling him of something he wasn’t aware of. His amber eyes looked down, and then, to those red eyes again. He nodded, confirming he was aware of his own move.

“I have.” He laughed really nervously, at reach of those claws and wings, which could tear him apart in a second. “I hope I will not regret it.”

Zelophehad eyed him down, laying a hand on his chin, pondering. In an awkward silence, the demon’s eyes pierced him, narrowed. The last words he expected came out of his mouth, past sharp fangs, with a hopeful interested tone.

“If you really are serious about this strange truce, angel, I promise you will suffer no harm from me. If it is alright for you, I would love to retrieve my trident.” Alexis doubted for a second, looking behind him. Zelophehad insisted, smiling with a smooth lean of head. “It has great sentimental value.”

It took Alexis a minute to decide, but he did in the end. With a reluctant step to the side, he let Zelophehad advance towards his weapon, against his instincts. Like a shadow, the demon moved towards it, smiling with satisfaction. When he retrieved it from the ground, he did solemnly. When he turned to look again at Alexis, he found him a few more steps away, in a blink.

Zelophehad laughed, shaking his head at him.

“No need for you to be so zealous. I won’t harm you.”

“We both know that this is weird, so I prefer to keep a distance. I bet you think I could change my mind. Angels never act like this.”

“I think otherwise.” Zelophehad stood and moved through the corridor, ignoring his confused glance for those words. He pointed with a claw into the dark, giving him his back while looking back. “I will gladly guide you through my temple, and I will lead you to the main chambers, where the records are. I will answer your wonder and your question, if you follow me.”

He waited patiently for Alexis to choose. His amber eyes looked closely at the demon, noting his broken wings better. Zelophehad folded his upper big wings over them, but he still saw them for a second. Torn and twisted, that second pair of wings had grown malformed and shorter. With many holes and ripped parts, the bone sometimes peeked. They were ashen, but painted with a faint red tone.

He got out of his thoughts when Zelophehad spoke, wanting an answer.

“I am a man of word, angel; I trust you are too. I like your wonder and rarity; you can be sure that I won’t-”

“Alexis.” Zelophehad shut up, interrupted by a casual word, said with dismissal for the most worrisome of thoughts. “I am sure you won’t attack me; I have a close bond with another demon, I know you are capable of honesty.”

Zelophehad’s eyes glinted with curiosity. Moving his trident like a walking staff, he began to advance through, whispering to himself.

“Interesting… and strange.”

“I know.” Much more strange that he knew not one, but three. And if his plans worked, one more. “I don’t know how to explain it.”

“Everything should be explained from the beginning, don’t you think?” He moved one of his claws sideways. Runes blazed in front of them in the dark; a wall descended, revealing a set of stairs, upwards. Walking up without looking back, the voice of Zelophehad echoed, the only hint of his presence. His wings moved behind him like a dark long cape, feathers glinting with the light of the runes. “Was it your demon who spared you or it was you who spared him? I find your quirkiness amusing and telling.”

“Quirkiness?” Alexis snarled, chasing his fast steps with a glare. “I’m not that weird… Am I?”

They moved up in the depths of the fortress. Zelophehad questioned the details of his bond, and the ones of his lost wings. Alexis humoured the devil with some answers of his own, hoping he would return the favour later.

————————

 

Slowly, he neared. He looked into the dark tunnels, grasping his chest with great concern. While he tried to be sure, Ayako crouched by some snow. Her hand brushed some of it away, revealing some footsteps.

“He’s been here.”

Uriel clenched his teeth and lamented, letting his tail drop onto the snow.

“Don’t tell me he has gone in…”

Ayako went to his side and eyed the huge statues at the feet of the mountain. Uriel’s heartbeat had led them here, past the huge hills and plains. It had not been easy to get out of those woods, but they did. Only a few demons had lunged onto them, less than what had been chasing them when Alexis was present. It was enough to make them struggle for a long while, and it forced them to rest by a hill; but it was not enough to stop them.

Alexis did not seem to have wasted time.

“Come on, we don’t know if any of those beasts have nested in this place.”

With her advancing, Uriel reacted. Feeling another wave of dread, he followed into the tunnels, calling to her.

“Then you shouldn’t march into it so hastily!”

“Tell that to Alexis, not me! If you’re so worried, move ahead!”

Like him, she felt dread. They had reached what they had looked for, but only fate knew what was inside it.

——————

 

“You not only have spared your demon, but you have decided to live with the human who cut your wings.” Alexis shied under those eyes, which were looking him all over. “You truly are as lenient as angels claim to be. Your life truly puzzles me, it is a grim tale.”

“She does not even have a clue. And that’s not even the most fucked up part.”

“What could be more twisted and dark than living with two who wounded you?”

“Sharing more with them than a home. Something that really chains us.”

Zelophehad had carried a torch while they walked through the chambers. It had lighted their surroundings, the vast towering architecture that loomed over them. They walked in wide stony rooms that held thousands of bookshelves, filled to the brim with books. Nearby, at the side of each chamber, rested a huge circular cavity, which every floor connected to; it was a chasm that had no end, rising and falling through the mountain. Every room had a balcony, an edge to that cavity. They could not count how many doors and stairs they had moved through, far too many to recall.

The tall devil halted and turned to face Alexis. He pointed his trident at a very thick door, and then smiled kindly.

“I hope it is something that makes it all worth it, because you truly could be considered the most blasphemous of angels. This room was holy for your kind, and they would pray for god to smite you if you set foot in it.”

Alexis laughed, bitterly.

“Let’s test my deity’s omnipotence…”

He walked past Zelophehad, knowing this had to be the room where the records were kept. Pushing the door open, he was met with a chamber that was smaller, but much grander. He looked into it, he stared at it all. A big circular table sat in the middle of the windowless room, made entirely of gold. The room was round, and the walls were bookshelves themselves. It all reached the ceiling; there were thirty rows of shelves, one after the other, only stopping near the centre of the room. A big shrine stood at the northern side of the chamber, small but covered in runes. All around, many papers were scattered, ancient and delicate. It was all handwritten, with an ink that only the most dedicated of scribes would use.

While he looked around, Zelophehad entered behind him, solemn.

“This is the room Philander most wishes to burn down.” Alexis was about to nudge a skull that rested on the table, until Zelophehad said the next words. “The room where the scribes were killed.”

“They what?!” He retrieved his hand, paling. “Is that one of the scribes?! Why do you keep this skull here?!”

Zelophehad shrugged, pointing a nail at it.

“It is not one of them. In fact, it is an angel skull.” Alexis squirmed and moved away from it, not knowing if that fact made it any better. “Before I settled in the temple, a few angels gathered here. They called all the human servants and killed them, in order to erase everything, not only the writing. I arrived too late to save the scribes, but I got here early enough to stop them from burning the place down. Philander was one of the angels who executed the servants.”

Alexis frowned deeply. He could not imagine the angel killing a human, nor doing those things. He had seemed so… friendly, so familiar.

“He had part in that?”

“He commanded it.” Zelophehad tapped two nails repeatedly, curling his wings around his waist, displeased by the memory. “He felt righteous; he always does. He preferred this place to be destroyed than at hands of devils. At that point, the war was stale; they knew demons would never be erased. Imagine his anger when I stole him from that, when I hid here to mock him.”

“He hides his anger well…”

“He’s all smiles and posing. I bet he has tried to groom you into sharing his grief.”

“Well… he did manage to make me feel sorry. I am an angel like him, like them.” He laid a hand on his head, conflicted. “I can’t understand why they would go through so much trouble for this temple. It is just an idea; they value their pride too much. What would they want to be forgotten like this?”

“That takes us back to what you asked me before…” Zelophehad did not need these books to explain, even though some scribes had written their findings through time. “Where do I come from? It is something that haunts any angel that has been born before me. Only a few know in this age, your own kind is fooling itself. You see, I-”

He stopped. Alexis had seen Zelophehad’s most casual of stances, but now he saw his feral side again. His wings shook and extended, while his pose straightened more. His eyes narrowed and glared, out the door. His second pair of wings shivered, like they did when he fought him. He had heard something moving in the outer chambers. His whisper was hissed while he lifted his long sharp trident.

“Someone’s here.”

Before Alexis could say a thing, Zelophehad had already moved. He did so like a shadow, he did not seem to walk as he slid through the door, trident in hand. Outside, he vanished after his wings moved in a fast dash. Only a few black feathers remained by the time Alexis called.

“Wait, Zel-!” The angel frowned, beginning to move as well. “They could be here…”

It could be them.

And it was them. Below, two figures had reached the huge amalgamation of floors and chambers and had begun to creep through them with great wariness.

Uriel’s eyes had sharpened, both from recognizing the trail of his angel, and the scent of another demon. He was the one leading, while Ayako eyed every corner behind them. She peeked over the huge balcony and whistled silently at the huge fall.

Something moved near them, something that made both of them step closer to each other. She took out her crossbow, while Uriel twirled his claw. A shadow flew in the voids of the chambers, too swift for them to see. Like a huge eagle, it soared where they did not see it land.

Uriel shielded Ayako behind him when the figure stepped closer from the shadows. His violet eyes filled with surprise and anger when the other demon spoke, wielding a huge trident.

“What are you doing in my temple?”

Uriel growled deeply, disliking greatly the grandness this demon invoked on himself. What made him feel rage, however, was that he could distinguish Alexis’ scent on him, on that trident.

“Your temple?!” Seeing that he did not answer and that the trident had leaned, Uriel lunged, sure that his intentions were malicious. Zelophehad saw him coming from miles away, even if he was fast. Uriel moved like a lion, claw first. He blinked when Zelophehad dodged with a single step. “Where is he?!”

They were of the same height, if not for those tall wings. Roaring, Uriel swung his arm down for a punch. However, he found himself stopped dead on his tracks. He huffed, because Zelophehad had moved a claw up and closed it around his fist, effortlessly. Zelophehad’s other hand was behind his wings, arm folded calmly, clasped around the trident, which leaned aside.

Ayako scowled and raised her crossbow, because Zelophehad moved. Uriel groaned and snarled as the winged demon twisted his arm downwards, in an angle that rendered him weak. He had a knowing calculative air to him; Ayako shivered when she loaded one bolt, because those eyes moved to glare at her instead, without needing to move his head a single inch. That trident twitched subtly, ready to swing and deflect any bolts that she fired.

“I recommend you lower that crossbow, woman.” She frowned, because he looked at Uriel next, with a scolding tone. “And I suggest you stop struggling against my grip, young one.”

Uriel huffed, having to lower onto one knee. He kept resisting against his twist, showing his fangs in a deeply angered scowl. He only stopped struggling when steps echoed, fast-paced, down from some nearby steps.

“Don’t fight him!”

Uriel blinked and looked there, only to see Alexis run down the stairs, completely unharmed. Ayako lowered her crossbow, even though the demon still had Uriel grabbed strongly. Zelophehad commented with an inquiring amused tone, still standing with a prideful air to him.

“Are these the two you told me of?”

Alexis nodded, brushing his hair awkwardly. Zelophehad pushed Uriel’s fist sideways, letting him go. The younger demon stood up and backed away, holding his wrist with his free hand, glaring. Uriel questioned Alexis, eyeing them both up and down, completely baffled.

“Who’s this demon? Why are you…?” He was going to say alive, but thought better. Looking at those wings and claws, he warned, wary. “I don’t know why you did not attack him, but I have my eye on you. I swear, if you-”

Ayako shut him up, nearing.

“Uriel, if he wanted to do harm, he would have already.” Uriel stared at her, trying to find words. She ignored his zealousness, in favour of facing Zelophehad. With a curious rise of eyebrow, she crossed her arms at him, crossbow put away. “So, are you an angel, or a demon? Those are some nice wings, which I’ve never seen on a devil.”

Uriel scoffed, while Zelophehad grinned at her smugly, flattered by her curiosity.

“He’s one hundred per cent demon, Ayako. Those wings might look the part, but there’s no mistaking those claws and fangs!”

“He’s right. I am a demon, even though I could pose as a beautiful angel.” Zelophehad leaned a little and circled Uriel suggestively, batting his wings subtly. “Maybe my charming looks make you jealous, boy.”

He then stepped near Ayako, who rolled her eyes when he smiled at her. Alexis stood there, watching with a blank expression the absurd display. Zelophehad was taunting, in a way that was making Uriel rage inside.

“Afraid I might enchant her away?” He leaned closer to Ayako, asking her with a playful tone. “Who do you think looks best? Him and his pointy horns and tail, or my dashing wings and face?”

“As if!” Zelophehad still kept grinning, even though Uriel pushed him and tapped a nail on his chest. “You look like something that the cat spit out!”

Uriel was taken aback, because the demon began to laugh loudly, only stopping to wink at him.

“Oh, if that’s the case, then you do too!”

Uriel stood there, deadpanned. Alexis facepalmed and went to his side when his demon commented in befuddled awe.

“What is this devil talking about?”

The horror on Uriel’s face was evident when Alexis spoke, with a tired matter of fact tone.

“Well… Uriel, have you ever wondered what your grand, grand, grand, grand, grand, grand… grandfather might look like?”

Uriel looked at the demon again, slowly, very slowly. The colour left his tan face gradually, but much more when Zelophehad wiggled his eyebrows at him, with a couple of flaps of wings. His voice was nostalgic.

“You do look a little like me when I was younger. Sans horns and tail, of course!” Ayako smiled awkwardly, because as intimidating and serious as he had seemed, now he was a joking smug mess. “I am so glad to see that my linage still shares my charming looks! No wonder you enchanted this pretty human here! Ages of evolvement, and we still succeed! Oh, how I feared that you all became horrid while locked in here!”

While looking at this strange demon, Uriel would have fainted… if he did not have a thousand questions scattered through his alarmed brain.