Fallen from Grace

Chapter IX

Eleanora laughed at something Jennifer had told her as they both walked the short distance from the bus stop to Eleanora's apartment. Today, the two decided to hang out together at her apartment since Jennifer's sister told her not to bring any guest over since she needed the apartment clean.

"So," Eleanora inquired as she unlocked the front door of her apartment. "Are you hungry? Because I'm starved."

"I guess I could do with something to eat." Jennifer laughed as they both dropped their bags onto the floor, and made their way towards her kitchen.

Jennifer sat down at the table, while Eleanora crouched in front of the fridge, rummaging through the contents, stating the ingredients and what they could make with them. At some of the suggestion, Jennifer simply crinkled her nose and shook her head before suggesting something else. Eventually they both just settled on homemade burgers as Eleanora took out the ingredients while Jennifer cut the vegetables.

"Hi, Apollyon." Eleanora spoke up out of the blue as Jennifer looked at her in confusion as the white-haired girl hadn't looked up from frying the meat. "I was making you a burger."

"Yum." A masculine voice called from behind Jennifer, causing her to shriek and jump back in surprise. Turning around, she faced an extremely tall guy who was looking at her with a raised eyebrow. One look at the guy, and Jennifer's face grew pale as her mouth fell open, her heart sinking to her feet.

"Are you alright?" Eleanora inquired as she noticed the expression on Jennifer's face. Sudden tears pooled up in her eyes as she continued to look at Apollyon as if though she were seeing a ghost.

"Anthony?" Jennifer whispered hoarsely. "Anthony, is it really you?"

**

"Oh, my God." She sobbed before leaping forward and wrapping her arms around the 6'3 Devil that stood uncomfortably stiff. He looked towards Eleanora for assistance as she looked like a revelation had come to her.

Anthony Brown, is Apollyon's vessel. And her friend, Jennifer Brown. Both of them have the same surname, Jenny seemed to recognize 'Anthony', and this only meant that the vessel and Jennifer know each other.

"Look, here..." Apollyon trailed uncomfortably as he pulled away from her. "I am not 'Anthony'. My name is Apollyon Masters, and I'm from Sydney, Australia."

"Nonsense!" Jennifer exclaimed. "You're Anthony Brown! My elder brother who was in a comma for three years after an accident!"

"I don't know what you're talking about." He spoke slowly and cautiously as he made his way around her and stood next to Eleanora who was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that the Devil's 'supposed' dead vessel is her friend's brother.

"No! Anthony! Don't you remember? We have an elder sister, Sasha! When you were 14 you went for a drive with dad, and you guys got into an accident. You went into a coma and dad was fine, but mom and dad got a divorce soon after. You were in a coma for three years before they decided to take you off the life support, but when the doctors went inside to remove you from the life support you weren't there anymore."

"According to the video footage, you woke up and removed every machinery before some glitch caused us to miss what happened after, but you were gone!" Jennifer exclaimed. "You have been missing for about 3 months and the police is searching for you! Oh, how overjoyed mom and dad would be to know that you are aliv-"

"Jennifer!" Apollyon exclaimed, interjecting her sentence. "I get that you miss your brother and that the loss must hit you hard. But my name is Apollyon Masters, son to Christo Masters and Jane Fosters. I have an elder brother named Micheal and two younger brothers named Raphael and Gabriel. I never had any sisters and I was born and lived in Sydney, Australia most of my life. I. Am. Not. Anthony."

"No! You are Anthony David Brown!" Jennifer exclaimed stubbornly. "You are him! You must have suffered amnesia and some how gotten these false memories! You are my brother Anthony! Just wait, I'll make you remember again." She spoke joyously, hugging the baffled Devil before walking out the kitchen.

"I will make you remember that you are Anthony Brown, even if it's the last thing I do." Jennifer called after her before the shutting of the door followed her departure.

"What. The. Hell?" Eleanora emphasized every word. "You told me that you picked up this meat suit from the morgue! And didn't you think that it was necessary to bloody mention that Anthony has two sisters!?"

"I did not know that they were here!" Apollyon exclaimed in exasperation. "I thought that they'd stay in Toronto, and I would never see them!"

"You said he was long off the life support when you took him." Eleanora narrowed her eyes as he sat down on the chair. "Apollyon, was he actually dead when you took over his body?"

"Not 'dead' per say."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'NOT DEAD'?!"

"He was still in a coma, and his soul was still intact and um...He was alive?"

"Are you serious right now?" Eleanora exclaimed in exasperation. "You can't just prance around in a living guy's body!"

"He is not alive!"

"You just said that-!"

"He died!" He exclaimed. "I might have...killed him."

"Apollyon." Eleanora exclaimed as she cupped his face into both of her hands. "What did you do to that poor boy?"

"I was over speeding on the Davidson, and I crashed into a car, and well the bike got stuck in that car while I flew off and hit the car that was a few feet away from the one I crashed into." He narrated slowly. "When an Angel inhabits a body with a living host, if the angel gets into a killing accident, then the person dies, but the vessel remains for the angel's use. And that is what happened. Anthony died in the crash, and now I am inhabiting a lifeless vessel."

"Apollyon." She groaned as she pulled away. "Oh God...Why?"

"Hey-" He started before his sentence was interjected.

"Well, you've become soft Luci."

Instantly Apollyon was at his feet as he pushed Eleanora behind him, standing in front of her protectively as he glared at the boy in front of him. The boy had black hair and blue eyes and couldn't be older than 15, with a lollipop stuck in his mouth.

"By now you would have killed her for using that tone on you." The boy stated nonchalantly as Eleanora watched with tension of who this mysterious intruder was and why Apollyon was taking up such a protective stance. "My, my, brother. You have become soft."

Brother? Eleanora mused, which one?

"What do you want?" Apollyon growled menacingly as his hand glowed faintly before a long, silver, triple edged dagger with a triangular cross-section materialized into his hand, glinting in the sunlight as Eleanora backed away slightly. He held up the blade, and directly beneath the intruder's chin as he merely flinched and remained to stand still. "Gabriel."

***

"Whoa, bro." Gabriel exclaimed as he held up his hands in surrender. "I just wanna talk."

"Yeah? After millenniums, you appear out of nowhere and 'just wanna talk'?"

"Please, Lucifer." Desperation visible on his face. "I just want to talk."

"Why?"

"Look, if I know where you are, then there is only a matter of time before the other's find you, too." Gabriel stated as Apollyon's gaze only hardened. "Micheal and Raphael are searching for you. You know you aren't supposed to walk on Earth, and everyone is freaking out upstairs."

Hesitantly Apollyon lowered the blade as he glared at his brother, keeping Eleanora behind him.

"What do you know?" Apollyon inquired to his brother with his arms crossed over his chest. "Tell me everything."

"All I know, is that Micheal has taken a group of lower ranked angels, looking for you in the northern hemisphere while Raphael is searching in the southern hemisphere." Gabriel informed. "Everyone is freaking out that you are trying to start the apocalypse, but I have been following you for a while, and you don't seem to have such plans. Neither Micheal nor Raphael have any idea that I know where you are."

"If you don't mind me asking." Gabriel spoke curiously. "What exactly are you doing here, and how the hell did you break out of your cage?"

"I'm holding my end of the bargain." Apollyon informed. "Eleanora here summoned me and sold her soul to become my friend for the remainder of her life. As to how I got out of my cage, I have no idea. Around the time Eleanora summoned me, my cage's field collapsed, weakening enough to let me out."

"Eleanora." The Archangel mused, a look of recognition crossing his face. "Lucifer. The other Archangels are having trouble finding you. Your trail in faint and all over the place. Only one being is strong enough to hide an Angel."

"Another Angel." Lucifer confirmed. "I know. But who? Whomever I have met has human souls, not a single Angel Grace in sight."

"Strange." Gabriel stated. "You have been on Earth how long now?"

"Two and a half months." Eleanora spoke up before Apollyon could, who gave her a cold glare. "It has been two and a half months since I summoned him. Is he in trouble?" Gabriel threw back his head and laughed at her question.

"'Trouble' is an understatement, sweetheart." He chuckled. "What he is going to be up against is much worse than just trouble."

His smile suddenly drooped as a serious face overcame him, the air around them holding a somber quality to it. "Lucifer, they don't plan to let you live. They are going to kill you. You and whoever summoned you here, who, in this case is Eleanora."

Apollyon instantly tensed as Eleanora's eyes widened and her mouth fell open at the revelation. There were Angels after them, and they planned on killing them.

"They can't do that." Apollyon gritted out. "They can't go about killing humans. God wouldn't allow it."

"I don't know anymore." Gabriel shook his head. "Micheal and Raphael are following orders. You know how they are, obedient little soldiers."

"Gabriel..." Apollyon gritted as his fingers were itching to chop of a head. "What else is going to happen?"

"I don't know if they plan on killing Eleanora, but if they don't kill her, they are going to torture her for information as to how she managed to weaken that godforsaken force field around your cage, through which even you couldn't break through!" Gabriel hissed. "Lucifer, you're my brother, and I understand that you are holding your end of the bargain, but...they want to kill you. Please, just...run."

"Where to?!" Lucifer bellowed. "They will find me! I don't care if they kill me, but they can't hurt Eleanora."

Eleanora looked at his back in surprise as she noticed his brother cower back in slight fear, the sheer power radiating off him in waves. Why was he defending her? What good did she have to him alive? So many questions swam through her head as she couldn't begin to answer anyone of them.

"How long do you think we have?" Eleanora asked before realizing what she had said. Upon her vocalization, Apollyon tensed, clearly having wanted her to remain quiet.

"At the pace they're going, I'd say about a month, maybe two at max."

"Alright." Eleanora nodded as she sidestepped Apollyon's figure, making her way forward before he grabbed hold of her wrist.

"Where do you think you're going?" He gritted out through clenched teeth.

"To get my laptop." She informed gently, standing directly in front of him, ensuring that the hand that she had placed on his chest was out of Gabriel's sight. "This is the 21st century, everything is on the internet."

Hesitantly, he let her go as she walked away from the two angels in her kitchen and into her room. She returned after a moment with her laptop in hand as she sat down at her dinning table, starting up the computer.

"Would you like a cup of tea, Gabriel?" Eleanora inquired politely. "I'm sure you must be tired from your journey. I could even make you something to eat, if you'd like?"

"I'd..." He trailed, clearly having been taken off guard with her cordial behavior. "I'd like that."

Smiling at him, she urged him to settle down at she started to make something, Gabriel looking at his elder brother in clear disbelief at what a peculiar creature she was. After some time Eleanora had placed a steaming plate of pasta in front of him and a cup of tea. Both her and Apollyon settled down at the dinning table beside him as she started to work on her laptop.

"Which on is stronger?" Eleanora inquired suddenly. "Micheal, Lucifer, or Raphael?"

"Micheal and Lucifer are at par, while Raphael is weaker." Gabriel informed once he swallowed his bite.

"They have no idea that you are a double agent?"

"A double what?"

"A double agent is a spy that works for an enemy, but gives information to the other organization simultaneously." Eleanora answered nonchalantly. "If you don't mind me proposing a plan, may I?"

"Go ahead." Gabriel smiled as he liked her, looking at his brother with a grin as Apollyon simply gave him a death glare, the smile never faultering from the younger Archangel's face.

"Okay, don't let the others find out that we know what is going on." Eleanora stated. "Apollyon and I will go about everything like we usually did, and you don't let the angels know that you are collaborating with us, and you give us every new information we can use against them."

"You're saying that only an Angel is strong enough to defeat and Angel, which means that I am of no use in a fight, beside a strategy. I think it would be wise to wait for them to come to us, and somehow weaken them."

"I think that we fight them head on, without killing anyone of your brethren." Eleanora stated as both the men looked at her with amusement at her plan, which could potentially work out in their favor. "No one is going to die. Not on my watch."