Andrew keeps visiting Alzirr despite the possible danger of Pierce finding out. But he doesn’t care. Because Alzirr is his friend and he’s determined to help him get out.

“So, how much longer til you’re certain your plan’ll work?” Andrew asks, laying in the cold grass by the basement window.

Alzirr is pacing in the basement below, the chain making a rattling noise with his every movement. “Probably tomorrow or the next day. I don’t know what day specifically it is, but y’know it’s fine.”

“It’s January 5th,” Andrew says.

“Oh. I’ve been down here for months, then, huh?” Alzirr mumbles to himself.

“Yeah. Has she drained all your ichor yet?”

Alzirr shakes his head. “My blood still has traces of gold in it, though it’s more orange than it is gold anymore.”

Andrew sighs with relief. “That’s better than you being basically mortal.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to die before Saiph. I never want to do that to him.”

Andrew hears rustling from behind him “I’m gonna head out. I’ll come back tomorrow. Stay safe until then, ok?”

“No promises,” the celestial says as Andrew gets up. The left side of his body is covered in grass but he doesn’t care. He wipes it off and walks away, saying one last goodbye to Alzirr for the night. It pains him to leave his best friend down there, alone with no company aside from a cat but he has to. Because he can’t compromise Alzirr’s plan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rigel is a bitch. No, really, they are. That’s putting it lightly. Currently, they are standing guard before Universe’s palace, a blank stare on their face. They’re at fault for Alzirr getting cast out and overall no one really likes them. They just pretend to. Probably the only celestial that actually likes them is Delta. And Delta isn’t much better. He’s the other guard standing outside Universe’s palace where that self-absorbed divine being sits upon a throne in a form incapable of human comprehension. Whenever anyone comes to visit, They shift to an at least somewhat humanoid form so as to not strain anyone’s eyes. Or mind.

Neither Delta nor Rigel are much to look at. They’re conventionally attractive but that’s about all they have going for themselves.

Delta has royal blue hair and the constellation Eridanus is formed in dots that look like freckles on his bicep and an array of freckles all over his body. His skin is a light shade similar to elm wood. His eyes are cold and nearly pure inky pools of black. There’s so many stars named Delta it’s difficult to keep track. They all look different, but some have their marking on their stomach or thigh so it can be hard to tell what constellation they come from. But not Delta Eridani. Sometimes he is called Rana as a nickname. No one knows why, he just simply is.

Then there’s Rigel. They aren’t nearly as interesting in background information as Delta but they’re still worth talking about. They have dusty rose hair and emerald green eyes (cliche, we’re aware) and their skin is a rich oak colour, more on the shiny dark oak side. They have a wicked gleam in their eyes despite having such a blank stare. The constellation Orion covers their hand in white dots. Their face is also splattered in the same freckle like dots.

An angel approaches the palace. He is tall with dark brown hair and chestnut wood coloured skin. His brown eyes have speckles of yellow in them and he’s not all that intimidating as angels tend to be. He also rarely takes on his biblically accurate form as he personally finds it uncomfortable.

“State your business,” Delta says in his droning voice.

“I was called by Universe to meet with Them about the exiled celestial I’m watching over,” the angel responds. Delta and Rigel let him pass and he stands before Universe on Their large throne. They’re already in Their more humanoid form, galaxies flying across every inch of Their vessel.

“Hello, Gabriel,” Universe says. Their voice is like a distorted wave of terror in the way They speak. Gabriel has to do his best not to flinch or recoil. The mere sound of it would be enough to make a weak-minded mortal scream in terror.

The angel swallows his fear. “You called for me. About Izar.”

Universe nods sagely. “Izar was recently involved in combat. I do not know what kind, but I am aware that he used his celestial blade. I thought you took all celestial weapons away from him.”

Gabriel shudders. He knows he made a mistake but he can’t admit that openly. At least not to Universe. They’re going to have his head, he’s sure of it. “I guess I missed one.”

“How?”

“He’s a genius, your excellence. He certainly found a way to hide it from me. Keep in mind, he is able to hide items he wishes in a pocket dimension. That is probably what happened.” It wasn’t what happened. India wanted to give him every weapon as he didn’t want to risk Gabriel losing his wings over something as trivial as missing even one weapon. But Gabriel knows how much that sword means to him. So he let him keep it as well as the pendant that he was given by an old friend.

“One more mess up…” Universe says coldly, “or one more disobedience, and I will remove your wings and you will be cast out. Do you understand?”

Gabriel nods and with one last parting message, he is excused from the palace. When he is far away from it, he lets out a sigh of relief. He has one more chance and he won’t mess it up. He won’t. He’ll keep his wings. All he has to do is keep an eye on India. Visit him from time to time. Nothing could go wrong. Right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The forest is silent other than the soft sounds of bugs and footsteps. Nathan is wandering around, trying to be as quiet as possible. He spots an injured bunny. He knows he doesn’t want to do what he’s about to do, but he has to. He hasn’t had blood in a few days and it’s been affecting him negatively. He calmly approaches the wounded hare, the creature unable to move as its hind leg is badly cut.

“Hey, little guy…” Nathan soothes. The smell of the blood is making him go crazy. His head is pounding and he has to use all his self control to keep himself from just grabbing up the rabbit and draining it of all its blood right now. “I’m so sorry for what I’m about to do. But I’ll make it quick and you won’t be in pain anymore.”

He bites into the rabbits neck and drains it of all blood. He spits out any lingering blood on his teeth and shudders. He’s always hated this part. He can go months without blood but if he doesn’t get it when he needs it, it can go terribly wrong.

Nathan sits on a log nearby, collecting his thoughts. He hears footsteps coming near him. He considers hiding but before he can, the figure the noise belonged to is now standing before him.