The Empty World | The Empty World Sequence [complete | rewriting]

Thirteen

They gave their home a name: Nede. Mazaret named it, Eden spelled backward...and it sounded very much like saying they were in need. More so than most humans, Halfangels were always entertained by games of language. And there were many Halfangels in Nede.

The complex of tunnels was very much like something ants had built. There were different hollows for different things. There were rooms where the Weakeners could sleep together, rooms for all sorts, so that they wouldn't bother each other without purpose. They were not happy, but they were surviving. No one ever left and told others to come find them, they just got found. If they thought humans were getting too close, they left them alone, and then went and killed humans who lived far away.

A unicorn had come, and some of the Halfangels took her in. A dragon came, relatively small and having black scales that looked almost purple in certain light, and he was given his own room. A whole brood of Vampyres came over from Europe and Mazaret threatened to make them leave if they did not do as Joy said. These were Vampyres related to the Nephillim Salamiel, not to Azyur Ka as Joy was, and they knew on sight Joy was related to Shade's brood. Their leader, Sarah, did not like Shade.

But Sarah and her brood stayed, they dug a hole for themselves, the others even helped them, and everything was fine. Well, as fine as it could be.

Years and years had passed since the first conflicts in New York. Information moved even faster than before. They had microblogging, drones, apps, and Google Maps. News was crowd-sourced and viral. There were things that couldn't well be hidden, like the existence of Halfangels, or shapeshifting wolves, or Vampyres.

Even reputable news agencies were reporting the search and destroy missions conducted by both government and private institutions. New generations of Humans were growing up taking the existence of things like Faeries for granted; some were taught to show them kindness, some were taught to hate.

New Orleans was not a big enough city to support all those in Nede without going unnoticed. Joy and Mazaret managed to stay in charge. Crystal was always loyal to them, and as it turned out Crystal was a young but important Weakener, a sort of tribal leader, so the Weakeners were always loyal, though many were still hungry.

There were many Halfangels, and unlike the ancient Halfangel tribes such as the Lilim, who all shared matrilineal decent, Halfangels, in general, were dissimilar. Long ago, it had been true for all, but those who had reproduced among their own kind, marrying only those most like them, had originated the tribes of Naphaim, Gibborim, and Enim: the Weakeners, Giants, and Terrifiers. But those not affiliated with one of the tribes were near as different from other Halfanges as from Humans. Yet, they often shared a common fate: having one parent who was an Angel, another who was a Human, often abandoned by one or both. Their particular weaknesses as varied as their gifts.

They didn't threaten to disrupt the small peace in Nede, and one word from Spider or Opium or Morpheus and they were willing to do what they needed to, what they were asked to do.

It was most often Sarah's brood who caused trouble, sneaking out to kill too often, while at home others starved and gnawed on bones.

Joy, herself pale and gaunt, and starved like a good mother who feeds the children first, would go to them and make threats. They had no way of knowing if she could carry them out, and so she threatened to summon up Lucifer for them, and caused a wind to whistle through the tunnels. And for a while, they would do as they were told.

Joy was feeding less over time. She would look out at the others and she would not take anything. She would not move, and she seemed asleep where she sat. But, when there was a problem, she immediately got up and went to see what she could do. "Her heart is beating slow," Morpheus said when he realized it.