It was strange. Using his powers after so long. He had completely closed off that part of himself. It hurt too much to remember how he was and his powers were like his old life slapping him in the face. They forced him to remember. Remember those beautiful wings that were now grotesquely mangled nubs of flesh. The tranquility of life that had gone so terribly wrong. All his friends and family who he hadn't seen in years. He hadn't even gotten to say goodbye to most of them. And all the bad things that had transpired since, and during his fall. He felt them all too strongly when using his powers.

But he had to save Allen. Life without that boy would be far worse than reliving all of those memories for eternity. For the first time in years Cephi was glad he still possessed the powers of an angel. And he intended to use them to find Theo and put an end to this madness once and for all.

With enough practice, all angels could sense other angels, and demons, actually. Each angel had a unique energy about them that produced an aura. The aura could be followed like a bread trail. The stronger the angel, the brighter the aura, making them easier to find. The reason Theophilus had such a hard time finding Cephi all these years was because Cephi was a sliver of his former strength. Without his wings and by denying what was left of himself before coming down to earth, Cephirial was virtually aura-less.

Untraceable.

Which had saved his life on many occasions. It was easy to get lost in a crowd when even the best bloodhounds couldn't track you.

He felt the strong auras and then saw them. One, a bright white-blue. Cephirial knew this one well. He had seen it many times in heaven and had even sought it out on occasions to ask advice from Theo. The other, he had never seen before and had never seen anything like it being produced by an angel. Maybe a demon. It was an electric red and gold. And not that fake yellow-gold, it was metallic looking. The two separate colors flowed together, swirling and twirling around each other but never actually mixing. He knew it had to be Allen.

Maybe it was because he was only half. Cephi had never seen the aura of a halfling. But it was strange that it was so bright. He had heard that nephilim weren't that strong. But, that stuff wasn't important right now. Cephi pushed it to the back of his mind. He could figure that stuff out later. For now, he had to get Allen back.

Cephirial started to follow the auras. He bounded out of the building at a run, ignoring the disgruntled man that was still in the hallway and raced out onto the streets. He followed the lights out of town to a small forested area. And finally he stood in front of a cave.

There he wasted no time in summoning his weapon. He hadn't seen it in years. All angels had a heavenly weapon they used in battle. Cephi's was a long sword he named Orun. Theo's was a dagger.

He cautiously made his way into the cave not wanting to get caught unaware by any of Theo's tricks. Cephi stepped into a fairly large cavern and saw Theo standing there holding a Allen tightly to his chest.

Firelight cast deep shadows on the pair. Theo leaned down and stage whispered to Allen, "See, I told you he'd come to rescue you."

Allen glared in response jamming his body back into Theo's as hard as he could. There was tape over his mouth and his hands and ankles were bound making it hard to do anything else. "Ooh, feisty," Theo purred.

"Theo, let him go," Cephi bellowed angrily.

"I don't think I want to," the angel yawned.

Cephirial growled and raised his sword planning to force the other to let Allen go. He started to charge.

Theo calmly pulled his dagger out of thin air and positioned it over Allen's chest. Over Allen's heart.

"One more step and he dies," Theo promised.

Cephi heard Allen whimper as the heavenly blade bit into his flesh and stopped in his tracks. He held his sword at the ready, waiting for Theo to make his next move. Unfortunately, Cephi couldn't do anything with that blade so close to Allen's flesh. Heavenly weapons like that dagger produced wounds that could kill angels.

Theo smirked, "That's better," he leaned his head down into the crook of Allen's neck, while still managing to keep the dagger in place, and rubbed against Allen's cheek similar to the way a car would mark its master. "Now doesn't this look familiar?" the insane man mused aloud. "This is just how your friend died, isn't it?" Theo asked as if just realizing the similarities of the situation.

"Theo," Cephirial began. He was trying to do anything in his power to get the man to listen to reason. To get that knife away from Allen. "Put the knife down. It's me you're really after."

Theo seemed to consider his words for a little, tilting his head to the side, "Hmm, yes, you're right, I was only after you, you nephilim sympathizer. But," he pushed the knife further into Allen's flesh causing the boy to scream through his gag, "if I can take a nephilim out and get rid of you, all the better."

Then, faster than Cephirial could even process, Theo plunged the dagger into Allen's chest.

Theo laughed as he wrenched the knife from Allen's chest twisting the handle on the way out. Dark blood began to bubble out of the boy's chest. It was delightful, really, but Theo wasn't satisfied that just that would kill the boy. So he brought his dagger to the boy's throat and made a deep slice from one side to the other. He heard Allen let out a delicious gasp of absolute agony and then he dropped the boy, who fell to the ground like a sack of bloody potatoes.

Cephirial dropped his sword and raced to Allen's side, untieing him quickly and pulled him into his arms. God, this wasn't good. There was blood everywhere. He gently pulled the tape off of the boy's face.

"Ce-Cephi," Allen all but whispered. "I...I," he coughed and blood pooled out of his mouth.

"Shh, don't speak," he knew it was selfish but he wanted the boy to hold on as long as possible.

He pulled off his shirt and pressed it to the wound on Allen's neck. Soon the shirt was soaked.

Cephi looked up to see Allen's eyes were closed. His heart skipped a beat and he quickly looked to make sure the boy was still alive. It was faint, but he was breathing.

"Allen, Allen you have to open your eyes. Allen, don't go to sleep." Cephi saw him struggle to open his eyes back up. He turned his face in the direction of the heavens, "God, please, if you have one ounce of sympathy for this innocent creature, let me save him," Cephi begged. For the first time since he was cast out of heaven, he wept.

He held the boy close.

"She won't help you," Theo laughed from somewhere behind him. "She didn't help the first time this happened. She won't help now."

Allen's eyes fluttered closed again. "Allen, please, I need you to stay awake!"

Allen looked him straight in the eyes. Briefly his gaze became intensely focused and he gave Cephi a look of pure love. And Cephi knew then Allen didn't blame him for this happening and somehow that made the situation that much worse. The boy reached up and lightly caressed Cephi's face. Then his hand fell away and his gaze became unfocused. "Sorry," Allen whispered before his eyes closed.

This time they didn't open back up.