Divinity

Chapter 13

"She's just upset." Andrew reassured me, his arm locked tightly around me. He sat besides me on my bed, where we had been for the past hour since Jasmine had made her exit. Travis had left soon after, he wanted to go after her - he wouldn't be able to find her, of course. We all knew where Jasmine had gone, to the one place that none of us could follow her - Caelum. 

A part of me wanted to contact Noah, he was the only one who could reach her now. However if Noah was here, I was sure he would reveal to the others what he knew - that I was in possession of the sword.  Besides that, I wasn't sure that I could face him again. It was wrong of me to use the sword against him like I had done, I couldn't help but feel guilty. I knew that the next time I saw him I was going to have to apologise. 

"I know." I replied, my voice thick with the lump that clogged up my throat. Jasmine didn't mean what she had said - at least, I hoped not. She felt betrayed by Travis, by all of us. I wished that we had had a chance to explain to her... Travis didn't willingly change sides, he was forced because he loved Jasmine more than God. "I wish I could talk to her."

"She'll come to her senses." He assured me, "It's a lot to take in."

I guess he was right, Andrew himself was shocked by the news of Travis' changing side, and he was nowhere near as close to him as Jasmine was. I had already had a few days to process the news, though I guess I had been distracted by other things... like the sword that currently rested at the back of my wardrobe. 

"Noah went to see Acacius." Andrew told me, sounding hesitant. 

"How is he? Where is he?" I asked, the angels had told me very little about Acacius' current whereabouts. I didn't think they were going to tell me where he was, especially after my trip to Entilin. We were being kept apart for a reason - it was easier to find the two of us if we were together. Although now that the fallen, and possibly the angels too, knew where I was, Acacius was far safer apart from me. Though I wished I could see him, and even more so my mother, I knew it was in their best interest that I stay away. 

"He's good." Andrew ignored my second question, "He stays indoors all day, for his safety." 

I rolled my eyes, "He's an angel, it takes longer for him to get bored."

"So are you." He reminded me gently.

I shook my head. "Not really, not anymore." I did wonder if there was a part of my angel side leftover -  I guess there must have been a tiny bit, given I remained impervious to angel light. 

"You will be. We'll find a way." He promised me. For a moment I desperately wanted to tell him of my plan, even if it wasn't exactly a plan just yet... but what if he could help me? What if he knew something about the sword that I didn't, something that I could use to regain my powers? 

I sighed instead, and rolled over onto my stomach such that I was lying face down on my bed - I worried that Andrew would see something on my face that would give me away. The bed shifted slightly as Andrew got up, and began to slowly pace around my room. 

"Hey, what's this?" I heard him say, curiously. I could hear him moving something, and then the sound of his breath catching in his throat. 

I turned back over to see what he was looking at, when my heart seemed to stop beating. 

Suddenly sitting bolt upright, I stared at him, in complete shock. 

Andrew was holding the sword.

We both were frozen in place, waiting. Andrew's hand was not clasped around the hilt of the sword... no, his hand rested around the blade. He should be dead...

Quickly, I got up and grabbed the hilt from him, throwing the sword onto the bed and away from him. We continued to stare at each other, waiting for something to happen... there shouldn't be a delay, should there? 

I thought back to that fight in Caelum, seeing Lucifer swing the sword, whenever that blade touched an angel, they vanished instantly - no delay. 

"Why... why do you have that?" Andrew finally managed to say. "How do you have that?" 

"Um..." I was having difficulty getting my words out. "I... I found it." 

"Where?"

"In a, um, a cave." I said sheepishly, looking towards the sword so I didn't have to look him in the eye. 

"Has that... been here... this entire time?" 

"No!" I exclaimed, "Only like a week!"

"Wow... okay. Again... why?" He spluttered, trying to make sense of what I was saying. 

"It's been... calling to me." I explained, "I went to this cave and, well, I knew where it would be. I knew exactly where to go to find it, because it had told me in a dream." 

Andrew slowly walked over towards the sword, picking it up, he gently ran his hand over the dull blade. Again, nothing happened. "This is the real sword?" He asked, almost in disbelief. 

"I think so." I shrugged. "But then... why didn't it..." kill you, is what I was going to say. Somehow saying it aloud made it too real. Andrew could have died... why had I not hidden it somewhere that wouldn't be found? Why had I not told him to never go into the wardrobe... I could have made up some excuse about feminine stuff or something...

"It didn't kill you either." He frowned, looking down at the blade. "Something has changed."

I nodded. "I have to keep it." He looked up, surprised. "It sounds stupid, I know... but I also know that somehow... I can use it to get back my angel side. I know I can, why else would it be calling out to me? It wanted me to find it." 

Andrew looked quizzical, "Maybe the sword didn't kill your angel side, maybe it's storing it somehow. You said the sword was calling out to you, well maybe it wasn't the sword, maybe there's a piece of you inside of it."

"Is that possible?"

"I don't know... but after hitting you, it can't kill angels anymore. Whatever happened when you were hit... it changed the sword. We really don't know anything about this thing other than that it kills angels." He explained, running his fingertips down the blade. "I don't know what this means."

"I do." I hesitated, wondering if I was jumping to conclusions too soon. "It means theirs hope."

"Emilia, can I ask you something?" He put the sword down, turning to face me. "Noah... do you love him?"

I was surprised by his sudden question, it took me a few moments too long to answer him. "He hurt me."

"You can still love someone who hurt you." He pointed out, his tone gentle. 

"I... I don't know. I don't know how I feel, it's too confusing. There's too many other things I need to focus on right now." I tried to explain, I still cared for Noah, deeply. That didn't mean I wanted to see him get hurt, or to see him with someone else...

"I think you should try and figure that out." He suggested, quietly. "I could have died just now. And my last few months might have been chasing a girl who loves someone else."

"Andrew..." I reached out to him, he allowed me to hold his hand. "I don't..."

"It's alright." He smiled reassuringly at me, "I want you to be happy. You just need to figure out who's going to make you feel that way."

I wish it were easier, Andrew wasn't asking much... so why did it feel like such a difficult decision? Noah was no longer an option, so why was I finding it so hard to let him go? 

We were quickly interrupted by a sudden knock on the door, though pounding was perhaps a better way to describe it. I was glad of the interruption, and I quickly rushed to answer it, breathing a sigh of relief. 

Swinging the door open, I was surprised by who stood behind it.

"Liam?" I exclaimed, confused. 

"I'm sorry for dropping in like this I just... I found something."

______________

Vote if you liked this chapter!

Thanks!! :)