Amelia & Tuzo - 4 - Super Nova

[Shadowess]

Disturbing news of ADIEU's existence had spread throughout Heaven's ranks of Arch Angels. Although he couldn't be certain, Raguel even suspected that the imprisonment of one of their own as punishment for Blasphemy could very well have been the catalyst for the growth of this insidious organisation. So severely had they underestimated the mortals' abilities to combine science with malice, that they had entrusted an Angellic prisoner to them. Expecting that they would do nothing more than make the Angel's life a bit difficult for a few centuries. Not this.

If that weren't bad enough, it would seem that some of these mortals had also managed to get their hands on Demonic spell books. Normally this wouldn't be alarming but a millenia of Angels and Demons courting humans had made more than enough mixed breeds to allow humans, even with the most diluted bloodlines, the ability to cast such spells. As such, every laboratory, outpost and meeting place that this organisation used was masterfully concealed. Making it almost impossible for even the most skilled Arch Angel to locate or track the organisation's activities.

Raguel had a crisis on his hands and every day he was inundated with questions that he couldn't answer. Particularly from Heaven's news distributor, always wanting to know if this should be something the souls residing in paradise should be aware of. "After all" one of the reporters had reasoned. "The souls here may still have families or descendants on Earth and they deserve to know whether something like this will affect them." The reporter had also pointed out that if mortals had access to after-life spells, technology and the like then what's to stop them from inevitably invading Heaven one day?

Raguel had already considered this which was why he had his Arch Angels working around the clock to track down this ADIEU organisation. Of course, he couldn't give these reporters any information yet. Doing so could cause unneeded panic among souls who shouldn't need to worry about such things. So Raguel did what he thought was best. He pretended to laugh the questions off and told this reporter that such rumours were simply preposterous. Not even Lucifer himself has ever managed to breach Heaven's gates, much less a mortal. He shooed the reporter before returning his attention to the task at hand. The Devil Duo had been having more luck than his Angels at finding and destroying the various organisation locations. Raguel needed to know how they were getting their information, especially as he needed to find the specific location of the prisoner Angel before they did. But there was a new problem. His chosen informant hadn't reported back yet and he was overdue.

Stepping around his desk, Raguel took a breath before summoning a group of four Arch Angels. He looked at each of them with a serious expression before his eyes rested on the leader of the little group. A tall, lean male with very short, black hair. "Any word?"
"No, sir. He's been late before but not for this long. We've tried to contact him but he's not responding either."
"What of the girl?"
"She doesn't seem any the wiser. Before we lost track of him he'd made plans to meet her for a secret date at a restaurant."
"Has her brother shown any signs of catching on?"
"No, sir."
Raguel nodded. Although he wasn't pleased that something nefarious may have happened to Tuzo, he knew he now only had a small window in which to act and ending the war took a much higher priority than ensuring the safety of one Angel. "Use the date to enact Plan B," he ordered. The angels bowed their heads in unison and the leader of the group could barely contain a sinister smirk before they all vanished.

---

September 14th 2001.

Damien had been so relentless in his pursuit of finding Lucifer that Amelia feared she might miss the date she had arranged with Tuzo. Together with her new friend Sebastian, Amelia had managed to convince Damien to finally take a night off from hunting down ADIEU locations and just in time for her date! Of course, she hadn't told him where she was going or that she was even dating anyone. If he ever found out, Amelia dread to think how furious he'd be. She was certain that he'd destroy them both. Either that or destroy Tuzo and punish Amelia severely afterwards. But she didn't care. In fact, she sort of got a thrill from all the sneaking around.

She had bought her outfit and squirrelled it away, out of sight until tonight. Excitedly, she'd put the knee-length red dress on with some heels and made her way to the restaurant Tuzo had picked out. She sat at a table and waited... and waited... He was ten minutes later. She glanced at the clock then her eyes darted towards the door as it opened. Her heart skipped a beat as she thought for a moment that it was him, only for her heart to drop as she watched a stranger walk in instead. She ordered a glass of wine to sip while she waited. Maybe something came up and he got delayed? She looked at her phone. No messages but then there wouldn't be. They didn't exchange numbers in case they'd get found out. She was checking the time again. 30 minutes... 40 minutes... she drummed her nails against the table impatiently. He didn't forget, did he? 50 minutes... a waiter walked over to her with a piece of paper. "Excuse me, miss? Is your name Amelia Magpie?"
"Yes?" Amelia looked the waiter over suspiciously. But she also somehow knew that he was about to deliver some bad news.
"A gentleman called and asked me to give you a message."
"Did he say who he was?"
"He just said that he's 'someone who cares' and then he ended the call."
"What was the message?"
The waiter gave her an apologetic look before timidly handing her the piece of paper. Amelia looked at the words and at first they didn't register so she read them again. Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach.
'It cannot continue. I'm so sorry.'
That was it then? Just like that? Sure, she knew it would have to end eventually. They both did. It couldn't possibly work between them. Not with this fucking war. So they'd agreed that whatever they had would be nothing but fun. Nothing more. So why did this hurt so much? Why did it feel like someone was crushing her heart? Distraught and struggling to hide it, Amelia stood from the table and stormed out of the restaurant. She strode around to an alley to hide in the shadows. There she wiped away a few tears that had escaped as she tried to calm herself down.

"Don't cry." A voice said and at first, Amelia felt humiliated as her Hellian upbringing had ingrained the idea into her that tears were a sign of weakness. It was the reason she'd hidden herself in shadow in the first place. But then it occurred to her how odd it was that this voice had come from the dark alley to her left, rather than the well-lit street to her right. Narrowing her eyes, she turned her head to try and get a look at the stranger. Her eyes widened fearfully at the sight of large white, feathery wings. Instinctively she'd been about to teleport away when the Angel gripped her arm roughly and started trying to pull her further into the alley.

Keeping her balance in the heels she'd worn with the dress was difficult but she strained to ground herself. This wasn't the first time she'd been attacked by an Angel and she was fully prepared to defend herself... until three more appeared around her. One of them had grabbed her other arm, twisting it behind her back. She tried to grow crystalised spikes under their hands to repel them but the sound of clicking behind her told her that a handcuff had been placed onto one of her wrists. Within seconds, the short crystal spikes she'd managed to conjure slipped off her skin as sand. She began thrashing and kicking at them but this only prompted the remaining two Angels to grab each of her legs to further restrain her. She let out a frustrated cry as she continued to struggle.

One thing is consistent among Angels, Demons and Devils. They are born (or created) with standard abilities that all of their kin share, as well as their own individual abilities. For instance, all Demons, Devils and Angels have the inherited ability to teleport. Some are better at it than others. Just like Telepathy. Some Devils are so strong with this ability that they can also pick up the emotions of others...whereas some, as is the case with both Amelia and Damien, can barely pick up a single thought from others most days. On this particular day however, knowing that she was overwhelmed and wouldn't stand a chance on her own against four Arch Angels, Amelia let out a terrified scream that was not only audibly loud but that Damien had managed to hear in his mind from another country entirely. "DAMIEN!!!!"

Then all five of them were gone. Not a moment later, Damien appeared in the same alley. He looked around frantically. Marching up and down the alley. "Amelia? Amelia?!" He tried to teleport after her but couldn't sense her. His heart was beating hard. Memories of Jessica, the sister that he had failed, flashed through his mind. He couldn't fail Amelia, he just couldn't. "AMELIA?!"

---

Amelia had been locked in a room in an unknown location for a week. There were no windows here. Only the metal door, the constant humming noise and a horrid smell always lingering in the air. She was handcuffed to a small bed. She needn't fear the Angel's doing anything sexual to her though. She learned very quickly that this particular group of Angels were quite racist and she didn't doubt that the idea of lying with a Devil would be 'dirty' to them. The Angelic cuff prevented her from using her powers or escaping while the bed was a small effort on their part to make her 'comfortable.' Over the course of a few days, the Angels would take turns visiting her.

Caleb, the one with ginger curls, would spend an hour a day reading parts of the bible to her. Mainly the parts that emphasise God's love. He would also spend several minutes correcting the mortals' version of events that were written in the book by informing her of 'what really happened.' Once or twice, Amelia had taken this opportunity to get a quick nap in. This Angel loved the sound of his own voice so much that he barely noticed as he got wrapped up in the stories he was telling.

Esther kept trying to 'bond' with Amelia by pretending to be her friend. She'd 'sneak in' a slice of cake or small bars of chocolate while commenting 'Don't tell the boys. Us girls have to stick together.' Amelia strongly doubted that the other Angels were unaware of these 'treats'. Then she would go into a long speil about how Amelia can really trust them. That they just wanted to be a family and end the war but Damien was evil because he just wanted to keep the fight going, and kill people and yada yada yada... Amelia stopped listening after the first attempt but this woman was persistent. At least the chocolate was something to look forward to.

Amelia feared a visit from Elijah the most. He was the Angel with short, black hair. Unlike the other three, he never made any attempt to try to win her over. He made it clear, right from the start, that he was only interested in information. Specifically, how she and Damien were figuring out where to find the ADIEU sites, how certain were they that Lucifer was held captive by them, what were Damien's war plans, etc. Each time he'd start by sitting across the room from her and asking his questions coldly. She'd stare back at him defiantly and not say a word. He'd repeat himself irritably. Then he'd get up and yell it in her face. Then he'd briefly leave the room and that's when Amelia knew she was in for it.

Elijah had a particularly nasty tool that he liked to 'punish' her with. It was a short, leather rod with Angelic feathers sewn around it. He'd come back into the room and shove her so that she'd be face down on the bed and proceed to whip her back. With each crack, he'd ask his questions again. If she didn't answer or swore at him in response, he'd whip her again. This would continue until she'd eventually pass out.

After being left for a few hours to recover, the last Angel known as Anna would slowly enter the room so as not to startle her. She'd sit on the bed next to her and stroke her hair in an effort to comfort her. Then she'd tell Amelia, in a fake caring tone, that she'd brought the pain upon herself by not cooperating with Elijah. All this pain could still end if she'd just told them what they needed to know. That, if she thought about it, Elijah was doing her a favour by punishing her for her sins now so that she could start anew with them. She even promised that Amelia would be welcomed into Heaven as one of them if she just vowed to devote herself to God and denounce Damien's rule of Hell.

But Amelia wasn't nearly as naive as the Angels had first assumed. She knew immediately what they were doing and that she would likely be destroyed as soon as they got all the information that they could possibly get from her. Either that or they hoped to completely mentally break her in order to brainwash her. She'd hoped that Damien would find her quickly but after a few days, the realisation that she might be alone in this began to dawn on her. As the days progressed she also found herself speculating Tuzo's involvement in this. Had the Arch Angels discovered their affair and he sold her out to save himself? Is that how they'd ambushed her while she was alone? Or had he been playing her the whole time? Either way, it would explain how the Arch Angels knew so much about her and Damien's activities. As if being stood up and dumped at a fancy restaurant hadn't been bad enough...

---

"Where do you get your information on ADIEU's whereabouts?" Elijah asked again, barely containing his anger as he sat across from Amelia. She stared back at him, defiant as always. By now her back was a mess of red, blistered sores. If her dress hadn't already been red, it would have dyed red from her blood by now. This time, Elijah had brought his rod into the room with him in anticipation of her defiance. Amelia was certain now that he enjoyed striking her.

He gripped the rod with both hands and tensed so that the whip creaked in his grasp. Amelia shivered but maintained her stare. "I will ask just one more time. Where. do you get. your information. on ADIEU's whereabouts?" he asked again through gritted teeth. The whip creaked a little more as his grip tightened.

Amelia shook but then she took a breath and opened her mouth. Elijah leaned forward eagerly, expecting her to finally break. "Up your ass. On the second shelf," she answered with a snide smile. Then she laughed despite her fearful tears blinding her vision as she saw Elijah's face turn crimson with rage. But, for a moment, she didn't care. All she could think of was how proud Damien would be when she got out of there and told him what she'd said.

Crack! Amelia's face snapped to one side as pain exploded across the side of her face. She spat a spray of blood at the wall as she fell off the bed, dizzy. The only thing keeping her off the floor was the handcuff. Crack! Pain across her shoulder. Crack! Now across her already sensitive back. Crack! Crack! Crack! There were no questions in between this time. No steady rhythm. Just violence and pain.

"Elijah stop!" Caleb's voice came from the door. The other Angels had to wrestle Elijah away from her. "That's enough!"
"No! I've had enough! She's just like the rest of the Hellions! Stubborn and foul! She'll never change! She'll never talk! and if we allow it she'll just become another Lucifer!" Elijah raged. "Well, I say the best way to end this war is to just eradicate them now while they're weak!"
"We need her, Eli!" she heard Anna implore. "She might be the key to finding him then we can really put an end to it all!"
"You're right..." Elijah huffed reluctantly after a moment. "Y-you're right. In my anger, I lost sight of why we were doing this... What's that?"

Footsteps as Elijah approaches her. Amelia felt a tugging around her neck- her Angelic Crystal- and she weakly tried to push his hand away. "Where the hell did you get this?!" Elijah asked angrily as he broke the thin chain of her necklace and stood up. "Did you steal it, you little thief?!"
"N-no!" Amelia gasped breathlessly as she tried to look up at him desperately. "Please-!" she reached up for it but he turned away while giving her a disgusted look. He then lifted the crystal for the others to see. "A trophy she kept from killing one of our own, I suspect!"
"No! That's not-!"
"Oh, don't bother with your lies!" Elijah sneered as he turned to look at her again. "You Hellions are all the same." he handed the crystal to Esther. "But if I can't kill you and you won't turn on your brother willingly, then I suppose we'll have to do this the old-fashioned way. I'm going to make every waking moment of your life agony. In the end, you'll be so desperate to be destroyed that you'll tell us everything we wish the know. But before I do destroy you, I'm going to make you watch as your betrayal causes the destruction of your brother."

---

September 21st 2001.

After Elijah's threat, Amelia had been locked in her cell with no company, no food or water for almost a full day. Finally, just as Amelia was beginning to wonder if she'd be left like this for days on end, the door opened. All four Angels stepped into the room. One had a key in their hand. Amelia recognised this tiny key to be for her handcuffs. They were going to attempt to move her. This could be her only chance of escape.

"Don't try anything," Elijah warned her. He had his whip with him again.
"Where are you taking me?" Amelia asked but none of them answered. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. It couldn't be anywhere good for her.
Caleb and Anna took each of her arms and held her tightly while Esther started unlocking the handcuff that was locked around the bed frame. The second it was loose, Amelia headbutted Anna then knee Caleb between the legs. They both went down. Then she whirled around to face Esther who only had time to widen her eyes at her in surprise before Amelia rammed her body into hers, smacking her against the wall behind her. She heard the pin-drop sound of the key hitting the floor but before she could look down to find it, she felt the rod strike her shoulder again. She fell to her hands and knees. By some crazy luck, she felt something small and metallic under one of her hands. She looked at the others. They were scrambling to find the key before she could. She then looked up at Elijah, he'd lifted his rod again threateningly. "Find that damn key!" he barked at the others. "And you! Get up! Or do you want me to beat you bloody again?!"
"You can still stop," Amelia told him shakily. "Just let me go. Please. Don't make me hurt you."
Elijah laughed. "Is that a joke? You're not in any position to be making any threats! Now GET UP!"
"You know..." Amelia stood slowly. As she did, she drew both her hands into fists. Subtly picking up the key as she moved. "For people who hate Devils, I have to say... You're really no better than the monsters you make us out to be."
"You bitch-!" Elijah lifted the rod again and Amelia braced herself. Just as the rod struck the side of her face again, the handcuffs clattered to the ground. While he'd been distracted by her, she'd taken the opportunity to free herself. As soon as the Angels realised what had happened, it was much too late for them.

Without her crystal to keep the Devil's Rage at bay, Elijah's strike had awoken the sleeping fury. As she turned her head to look at him, her eyes had turned jet black while her irises shone crimson. Amelia was by no means used to the Devil's Rage taking over her, but something about this felt different this time. She felt hot. Unbearably hot. And, although she no longer had control over herself, she was still conscious and present. Like being stuck in sleep paralysis but the paralysis demon is using your body to enact revenge.

Within seconds, her eyes changed from red and black to pure gold. Her hair lit up as if it were irradiated. Her dress caught fire and melted off of her. Sensing the impending danger, the Angels had attempted to flee but with a flick of her wrist, Amelia had slammed the door closed. Trapping them all in the room with her. Her expression was emotionless but inside she was screaming as she was forced to watch the four Angels desperately clawing at the metal door. As much as Amelia tried to reverse what was happening she couldn't. It was too late. She was at the point of no return. No longer in control. Tears evaporated from her heat just as quickly as they welled in her eyes, making little whisps of steam in the corners of her eyes. The Angels' screams were deafening then there was a blinding, white flash. The heat was so intense that Amelia was sure she would even end up destroying herself in the process. All she could hear was the roaring of flames all around her. She couldn't even hear the screams anymore through the noise. She couldn't see anything. Just white upon white upon white. Then black and silence.

---

"Amelia! Amelia!" The shouts sounded far away at first. Then very close. "Amelia! Holy fuc- what the fuck? How the fuck-? Amelia?!"
"Dam-Damie-?" Amelia tried.
"It's ok! It's ok, I've got you. I'm here. But we need to get out of here... I don't know what happened but there are Angels coming and they are PISSED. Fuck, that's hot! Shit! Ow! Ok... hold on..."
She felt Damien lifting her into his arms and heard what sounded like him jogging over gravel. "Fuck! fuck! fuck! hot! hot! hot!" he hissed under his breath the entire way until she finally felt the relief of a cool breeze gliding over her skin. She sobbed openly. Unable to contain it. She still couldn't see. A temporary side effect of whatever the fuck just happened to her.
"Damien!"
"Shhh, it's ok. Let's get out of here first and then you can tell me what happened, ok?"
"How-? how did you find me? Where were you?!"
"I've been looking for you for a week, sis. I had all my best spies on the case. As for how I found you..." Damien sighed. He turned to look at the enormous crater where there once stood a large chemical factory. Now just a smoking, smouldering pile of tiny pebbles "After what you just did... you were kind of hard to miss..."
"What did I do? What happened?"
"I uh... I'll tell you about it later. C'mon, let's go home..."