Michael's eyelids were forcefully opened by a sudden bright golden light. He felt burns across his cheeks, like the sun had grown hands and came to him, exploring his face with every touch.
What he saw, at the bottom of the hole he fell in, was someone he never expected he would see again.
"You look like you saw a ghost. Chill out, Michael, I'm not here to scare you" , said the Queen of Angels. His Queen.
He was too shocked to speak.
"I had to stop you from touching that necklace. This was the only way." Lailah grabbed his hand, spread her wings and flew him to the surface, fully knowing he could have done so himself.
"Wh–What are you—" , he stuttered, as he fell to his knees before her.
"I am here to get you, of course. You've been gone for more than a week."
Michael's neck jerked up, he looked at Lailah, his eyes getting wider.
"What? I've been here for less than a day!"
Lailah only shook her head, her face devoid of surprise. "You have let the forest consume you. Time flows differently here once you let it."
"Are you telling me I have been thinking about...thinking about Death for a whole week before I snapped myself out of it?"
Lailah nodded, then fell silent, giving him time to ponder over the realization.
No. That's impossible.
I was sent here by the Oracles. They told me I was too strong to be influenced by the demon lurking here. They said I should take the necklace as soon as I find it. When I finally did, my Queen came...
She came...she found me here.
How? Why?
"I came to get you, just in time before the War."
"But—" , he began. The angel ruffled his hair in confusion, not knowing what was happening. Not wanting to believe that the Oracles—
"They lied." , Lailah said. "The Oracles lied to all of us. They told you to come here to retrieve the necklace for their own sake, not yours. That's what they have been doing for millenia. Sending a stray soul to start the end of the World. If I hadn't stopped you, you would have killed all of us. Even the immortal ones."
"How do you know all this?" , he asked. "Who told you?"
"I did" , a voice spoke from behind a tree.
Michael couldn't believe it.
An ocean haired girl appeared from the shadows of the forest. Her hair was longer now, reaching her shoulders and resting on them, slightly curling at their end. Her eyes gleamed with a golden color, brighter than the sun itself. White wings emerged from her back as she did not bother to hide them. She wore a long sleeveless opal dress that reached her knees, and she was barefoot. The harshness of the grass underneath didn't bother her the least.
The girl he had tried to kill stood before his eyes, not as a mundane weak human, but as a radiant angel. She had the same power as the Oracles themselves.
Michael resisted the urge to bow before her.
"Hitori" , he gasped, out of breath. "You're here— which means that—"
He kept pointing at Hitori, then at Lailah, then back at Hitori, trying to formulate words that wouldn't come to him.
"Cassiel told me everything" , the Queen said. Her voice was calm, her expression indecipherable.
"My Queen–" , he began, preparing a speech he wasn't up for.
That's when Lailah sat on her knees before him. She leaned in and pressed her lips against his, shutting him up in an instant.
"That was a reset button" , she said, winking. "I am giving you another chance. We were all manipulated in one way or the other by the Oracles. Today, I choose to forgive myself, and I choose to forgive you. Who else would fight against me and lose in our spare time? Who else will stand beside me and support me, no matter the irrational decisions I choose to make?"
"I thought..." Michael started, tears already clouding his vision. Despite his broken voice, he continued, wishing to convey his feelings to his beloved.
"I thought that as long as Noah was alive, you would never love me enough. I was unfair to you. I wanted you to hate him so I got all the attention. I...I stole your son from you...I broke your heart then pretended to heal it, I–"
"You did heal it, but you could have healed it even more by keeping Noah by my side. There are many kinds of love, Michael. All of them can fit into one heart. They don't have to eliminate each other to stay alive."
"Lailah, I– I love you so much. That's why I did what I did–"
He sobbed, unable to speak one more word. He covered his eyes with his fists, all the anxiety of the past reaching his heart and surfacing, getting out in the form of one last, massive cry.
All those years, Michael lived in fear.
He was terrified of disappointing Lailah. He was so obsessed with pleasing her he didn't have anything else on his mind. When she got married, he knew it was by the Oracles' orders, so he didn't care who the husband was. He continued to flirt with her, trying to steal her heart.
Things took a drastic turn when Noah was born. He hated her baby. Because it distracted her from him. He wanted him dead, or long lost.
He didn't know. He didn't know that Lailah would come looking for him, even after knowing his crimes.
She was here because she had forgiven him, after everything he did.
She still loved him, after he disappointed her.
As if to respond to his thoughts, she rested her hand on the back of his neck, then pressed her forehead against his.
"We do everything for love", she whispered. "Then we blame ourselves for becoming bad people. We often forget that what drove those sins were beautiful feelings. From now on, let's prevent each other from hurting others, okay?"
"Okay"
Michael knew, from the bottom of his heart, that Lailah didn't forgive him only because she loved him. No, that wasn't the whole reason.
Lailah chose to forgive Michael so that she, too, could forgive herself.
For abandoning her child when she could have looked for him. For abandoning her people down on Earth in the previous war, ridding them of their powers, making them forget their families and their homes. For using her son and his girlfriend for the sake of the Oracles' own selfish goals.
In the end, they were all bad people, but lessons needed to be learned, and things needed to be done to atone for their sins.
"Are you guys done being lovey-dovey?" , Hitori retorted. "We have to join Noah and the others."
"The others?" Michael asked.
"We will explain on the way" , Lailah said, standing up.
"Once Noah is done, the demons will be on our side"
YOU ARE READING
The Voodoo Doll
Fantasy[COMPLETED] Noah is a boy who was raised by demons all his life. He has the ability to commit perfect crimes by using voodoo dolls and killing with them. He was taught ever since he was young to show no mercy to his enemies. Yet, because of his unu...
