Sins of an Angel

“Are you sure this is the man that you wish to chase after?” the police officer spoke uneasily. He sat across the desk in the small office room, watching the petite girl who stood before him in a fitted, blue and gray striped hoodie. She had dark gray skinny jeans and laced, leather boots on that cut off above her ankles.

“Why not? I’ve dealt with worse cases,” Emira shrugged. She was feeling confident, like it'd be a piece of cake. She knew that since he was young, he couldn't possibly be too hard to handle.

“He’s lustful. He sees women as an opening to take advantage of them and does everything in his power to win their trust. We’ve had women come in crying for what he’s done to them both physically and emotionally,” the officer pursed his lips. Whether he knew about what he was talking about or not, he seemed to be very concerned. As he continued printing out the files on Cyril Vale, he directed his eyes away from her, still awaiting her response.

Emira smirked lightly, though, as though this was something she wanted. She felt like this would be a challenge to see how faithful she was in a way. She crossed her arms, “That makes the case even more fun to look into. Besides, I’m religious. I plan to be a good girl with the bad boys.”

“Alright them but don’t say I didn’t warn you…” the officer sighed. He couldn't decline someone who wanted to help catch criminals. He had to trust that she'd do the right thing... especially since she was one of their only sweepers who was actually good, “Sweepers like you are hard to come by.”

As Emira headed toward the door, she got herself ready to leave. She then remembered something as she looked back at him, pointing to the clock, "Officer."

“Oh, right,” the officer looked down for a moment, “Hmm… I’ll give you two weeks to find and bring this boy to my office.”

Emira nodded, “I’ll be back soon.”

As Emira walked the streets of Farona, the capital of the Listrum Province, she could see the crowds of people growing. It was noon and everyone would be flooding the streets in no time. As Emira kept herself silent, she looked around to see what was going on. Her makeup was smoky, making her gray eyes look more pale. Her red hair was slightly wavy as it swayed in the wind.

“Girl,” someone called to her. Emira stopped, looking around for a moment, trying to find the direction the voice came from. she was on the sidewalks near the downtown area, where many people often hid in the alleyways. She narrowed her eyes as she watched around herself. She wasn't sure what she'd find... but it probably wasn't anything safe. Emira didn't have any friends because of her issue of trust. She dropped out of school halfway through her senior year because she couldn't stand it, and decided to keep her job as a sweeper.

“Over here,” the voice was coming from an alleyway.

Emira pursed her lips tightly, moving her hand to her belt, pulling a knife up and sticking it in her pocket. She had to make sure she had proper protection. She slowly began to walk in the direction of the mystery voice. Entering the alleyway, she saw a boy sitting on the side of the brick wall. He had wavy, brown hair and dark eyes. He smiled at her. Emira couldn't trust his smile though, and felt a nervousness in the pit of her stomach; she felt as though she was falling off a cliff. She felt like this every time a man approached her.

“Hello, beautiful,” he spoke, leaning against the wall. “What brings you to the city today?”

Emira's nervousness soon dispersed as she watched his smug smile. She tried to hold back a laugh; he seemed ridiculously confident.

“I’m simply taking care of some business. I live here,” she confirmed. She looked around to where they were. They were in the alleyways near the train station. She could hear the sound of the rumbling tracks that were underground. The alleyway was darkened by the buildings that blocked the sun, and it was a gravel floor with tan brick walls. These were the "Maze Alleyways" that people often got lost in because they seemed to go on forever.

“Ah…business,” the boy sneered, “My name’s Ezra, by the way."

“Aliah for me,” she lied casually.

“Aliah… what a pretty name,” Ezra got himself up, “So… how much?”

“Excuse me?” Emira couldn’t help but laugh in surprise.

“How much money does It take for my hands to run up your shirt?” he moved toward her. Emira moved back.

“You must not understand. I’m not a prostitute.”

“I didn’t ask if you were.”

Emira continued moving backward, suddenly feeling two hands against her shoulders. Turning back slowly, she saw a man with shaggy, blond hair holding her. She snarled, pulling the knife out and slamming it into his hand.

The man flinched as he jumped back as he saw the blood fly from his flailing arm. He then pulled it out quickly as she grabbed it back as he continued glaring. Emira smirked, but felt her knife being snatched away from her hands, being flown back behind her. Ezra was breathing on her neck.

“You probably look so good with your clothing on the floor. Me and my buddy over there, Rion will enjoy your company tonight.”

“Get off of me,” she glowered, pushing forward. She felt her heartbeat starting to quicken as her knees began shaking. She hadn't dealt with something like this in ages, and for the time being, she couldn't recollect herself to remember how to get him off of her. Her breathing pattern was increasing as she grew more nervous.

“Nah, let’s stay a while, sweetheart.”

“Let her go, she said,” a voice echoed.

Emira, Ezra, and Rion looked up. The silhouette of a boy was on the other side of the alley. He slowly walked up as his face came into view. His dark hair covered his eyes. As Emira watched him, she couldn't help to wonder where he had came from; she would have seen him arrive since most of the alleyway was straight for a while. He was wearing a long, dark overcoat with black clothing underneath. His long hair was jet black and it did, indeed cover his eyes. It looked as though he had metal sticking out from under his lips, and then it occurred to her that he had snakebite lip piercings.

“Let her go. She’s my target,” he smirked. He slowly started to walk up, and Emira felt herself growing weak once more. The sneer across his face looked like one of a man slowly torturing his victim to death.

Ezra wasn't pleased by this boy's interrupting entrance, “Really now? And what if we don’t—“

The boy cocked his gun into the air, shooting up at the sky, startling everyone around him. The sound was deafening and Emira felt her ears pop. She didn't know what to do, so she stayed silent as she watched all of them converse.

Rion began to back away slowly as Ezra—who was holding Emira—loosened his grip. Emira knew this was her only chance to bring things back into her superiority. She then kicked her leg up, pushing Ezra back, pulling the handgun out from her boot quickly, turning around and pointing at Ezra’s head.

“Make one move toward me and you loose your head,” she glared.

Ezra backed away from her, holding his hands up. The mysterious boy who defended her then moved up behind her. She felt his breath down her neck and he seemed to be holding back some urge to do something... she could hear it in how uneasy his breathing was. The man kept his hands to his sides, but every so often twitched to try and hold onto her.

“Follow me, Angelic Demon… I won’t hurt you. You have my word,” he whispered against her ear and she nodded, still unsure how to react. She turned around to look at the man, but he was already walking away in a spacious distance. She wondered how he had moved so fast. She wasn't sure if she should trust to follow him, but at this point, it was probably safer than being on the streets alone. He saved her, after all.

As she continued to run along the alleyway with the stranger, he continued to turn corners, making sure they were not followed. Emira started to grow slightly impatient, for it had already been half an hour since she started to follow.

“Stop,” Emira then grew agitated, “We’ve traveled far enough. I’m probably lost by this point.”

The boy turned to her, smiling, “Very well then.”

Emira nodded, looking around for a moment. It was dark, narrow, and silent. They were completely surrounded by brick buildings. She felt closed in by the unwelcoming silence of the wind against the buildings. Everything seemed unnaturally gray. Looking back to the boy, Emira tilted her head, observing his appearance. He was cloaked in a button up jacket that went past his knees that she had made out earlier. He wore tight, black jeans with leather boots, and he wore an unfamiliar sign that she thought to be of a gang around his neck. His hair was long, covering his eyes, and his lips were pierced with snakebite studs. As she moved he hair out from his face, she noticed his piercing blue eyes staring straight at her. It held her aback as she kept herself distant afterward.

“So, you're Cyril Vale? What do you want from me?” Emira narrowed her eyes.

“Ah you're good with faces... but you haven’t figured it out yet, eh?” he snickered.

“How am I supposed to know?” she shrugged, feeling a slight disturbance by his cackle.

“Ah… you don’t sense a darkness around my aura?” he pursed his lips.

Emira shook her head. She didn't know what he was talking about, so she assumed he was on drugs.

“Interesting…” he sneered, “Emira Stronghold is unaware of her third eye…”

Emira's eyes widened as her breaths had disappeared. She felt her heart stop as she looked at him straight in the eyes. Her relaxed hands had tensed as she felt her stomach wrap into a ball and squeeze itself.

"How do you know my name?"

“I know the names of all the Angels.”

“Angels? I’m far from angelic.”

This time, the boy’s eyes widened.

“You still haven’t told me why you were following me,” Emira grew impatient.

“Your lord hasn’t told you of your plans?” he sounded uneasy.

“Nope. Sorry, I'm not psychotic. What do you fucking want?”

“My purpose is to find you and kill you before the war begins,” his eyes twinkled demonically.

Emira’s heart skipped a beat. Kill? She took another step back and shook her head, "Whoa, whoa, whoa... a war? And try not to act so clever with your words, because after enough of it, I'll just shoot you."

“I understand you’re after my bounty,” he grimaced shortly, “I found that because of this, it made it a lot easier for me to find you.”

Emira watched his expression continuously change. She took a deep breath before sighing, knowing that he was probably just trying to mess with her, “So you’re Cyril… hmm…”

“Call me Cyr.”

“Whatever. How do you know what my name is?”

“My lord told me.”

“Your lord?” Emira scoffed.

“Indeed. Sereptus, the prince of darkness. He is my father, lord, and savior,” Cyr nodded.

“Wow… I can’t listen to this,” she rolled her eyes, turning away. She felt like she was in church again, only more demonic and ridiculous. She couldn't take a boy who acted as though he talked to God seriously. She remembered a quote she was so fond of growing up. 'When you talk to God, you're considered religious. When God talks to you, you're considered psychotic'.

“Did you know that you’re the daughter of God?” Cyr continued on.

“Isn’t everyone a child of his?” she spoke sarcastically.

“Not a human child, Emira. An angel,” he smiled deviously.

“Because I believe all the nonsense that criminals feed me on the streets. Totally.”

“I’m not joking, Angel.”

“I’m not either. I don’t know what you’ve been smoking, but you’re definitely under some spell.”

“You were born with the birth mark of a Halionese symbol on your shoulder, were you not?” he kept a small smile pressed against his lips.

Emira felt her teeth clench, “How did you know that I have a birth mark on my shoulder?”

“All angels have marks of Halionese symbols on their shoulders. It’s an ancient language. Yours is the symbol of love,” Cyr crossed his arms, “As for how I know where you live and other information, my lord gave me all direct information needed to find you.”

Emira shook her head, “You’re lying. You must have seen my shoulder in some point in time.”

Cyr averted his eyes from her own to her necklace, “What a beautiful crucifix… do you know what the cross is symbolic for?”

“It symbols the first war between God, his angels, Sereptus, and his sins,” Emira looked bored, “So what? I’m faithful.”

“Obviously not faithful enough…” he sighed.

“Excuse me?” Emira’s eyes narrowed.

“Where did you happen to get that necklace?”

“Why so many questions?”

“Just answer me.”

“A priest gave it to my family as a gift when I was purified.”

“Gave it to your family or to you?” he narrowed his eyes.

“Okay fine, me. I was a baby though.”

“The traveling priest, Liezah,” he nodded, “Liezah is blessed by God to see the souls of angels and demons.”

“Demons?” Emira blinked.

“Fallen angels that are less powerful than Sereptus. Followers of the darkness who are stripped from their wings for being so defiant against God. They lose their powers they once had as angels.. They still have the power to corrupt, see other spiritual beings, and meditate, though.”

“Okay then…”

“That is what I am. Because of how insignificant we are though, our power is obsolete. Sereptus took us with him when he was leaving the gates of heaven, whether we chose to or not. We can no longer fly, but we have speed. Upon leaving, Sereptus then chose his most favored demons as his Sins, which represent his seven different feelings chosen as abomination.”

Emira looked down for a moment, “I don’t believe that. All of that is true about the sins and angels, but you being a goddamn demon? Me being an angel? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. I’m not good enough to be worthy of such a title. I hurt people to gain money. I’m greedy, I’m violent—“

“Are you lustful?” he asked.

“Of course not. I don’t see men as toys. I wait for the right guy to come around.”

“So you’re a virgin?”

“Indeed, I am.”

Cyr smirked at her.

“Why does it matter!?” she was growing angry.

“It doesn’t matter what else you do, Emira. God gave you the most power and faith for love. Even now, you still hold your morals on sex and marriage, don’t you? That's because that is where your faith is reflected the most.”

Emira looked away for a moment, trying to take this in. She was confused; unsure if she should believe him or not. She often felt this way while at church, listening to the priest speak of the story of the first war, and how it started. She had remembered that it was because Sereptus had defied God and left with his followers, and that it was because he wanted more power. That's all she remembered though, and whenever she'd hear that story, she felt agitated, like she was supposed to remember something, but forgot it on the spot.

“Tell me, Emira, if you don’t believe me, who will you believe?”

“Someone who can confirm it in the eyes of God,” she crossed her arms.

“Go to Liezah then. Travel to him and ask him yourself.”

“And how am I supposed to find Liezah? He’s a traveling priest. He could be anywhere.”

“Liezah goes to a new province every new moon. The new moon begins tomorrow. He’s in the Orgon Province at the moment. This means that these next moon phases will be within the Endrox Province for him. He’ll most likely be in the Holy City, Halight of Endrox. Go there, and he will confirm what you need to know.”

Emira listened, believing what he was saying. She shook it off for a moment, Am I seriously believing this? He’s going to make me travel days away from home to find out of some stupid magical shit is true? It’s obviously lies, it has to be… but what if I really was… is God trying to tell me something? Are you, God? Please… tell me what I need to do… she breathed in.

“Go in the next week, Emira. Rest it over to see if you change your mind. I’ll be around when you find out the truth,” he smirked, backing away into a dark corner.

“Wait a minute, where do you think you’re going—“ she followed him quickly, but he seemed to have vanished. Her eyes stared blankly; there was no way he could have crawled up the wall so fast. She stood for a moment in silence, thinking of what she should do.