devil's advocate | (g)idle

a little favor

Flashes of red and black consumed her, like clothes rippling in the wind. She stood up, her dizziness getting the best of her. She grabbed onto the large black obsidian railing beside her, and huffed until she regained her energy.

Looking up, she saw something she couldn't have ever imagined. A castle stood nice and tall, with gorgeously painted red sides, and white (with specks of blood red) roman poles, that stretched all the way up throughout the tall building.

Minnie, regaining her balance, followed the red path that carved itself into the ground with her every step, ultimately leading her to the front door of the castle.

A booming presence made its way behind her, nails scratching the side of her jaw every so carefully. From behind her it whispered, "Welcome Home."

"Minnie."

"Minnie!"

"Minnie! Wake up!" Yuqi shook her, and Minnie opened her eyes, coughing a little.

"What--where---huh?" Minnie asked clearly confused. As she adjusted to the light, she realized that this wasn't her room, and that Yuqi was sitting at the side of her bed, with a glass of water in her hands.

"Relax. Your body is getting weaker due to the timer. You're in our house, you fell asleep at the table last night and I had to carry you up here." Yuqi explained, laughing a little, while Minnie blushed of embarassment.

Speaking of the timer, Minnie checked her wrist.

7:00:00

"7 hours? What the fuck?" Minnie thought, cursing internally. She had already sinned, now she could do whatever she pleased.

"You were out for a long time. Shu and I tried to wake you, but to no avail. We figured that your body would try to automatically adapt for the fall." Yuqi informed, and Minnie raised her eyebrow.

"Adapt?" Minnie asked, and Yuqi laughed again.

"Ah, right. I forgot you were planning on studying to be an archangel, my apologies. Anyways, normally, an angel's body adapts to the timer, based off of how much time they have left. Right now, your body is probably preparing to save all of its energy for the fall, so that you can outlive it.

Chances are, if what we found out last night is true, you have a 95% chance of surviving the fall. Barely any research is done on mixed angels, (angels who have ancestry from both Heaven and Hell) but Shu and I found one report of an angel who managed to survive the fall, who's also mixed. It says that her last name is Jeon, but that's all that we could find." Yuqi answered, and Minnie hummed.

"Is there any way of knowing that I'm mixed?" Minnie asks again, she's always asked Yuqi too many questions anyway.

"Not really. Mixed angels are super rare, since the purity of Heaven normally cannot survive in Hell, as well as sin is washed out with holy water here. I'm honestly not sure where that report came from, but I should really check on that tomorrow." Yuqi smiled quite small.

She wouldn't admit it for Minnie's sake, but she was really worried about whether Minnie would survive, and if she would ever see her again.

"Good morning, Min. They sent me a letter about your court case; it starts in 3 hours, so you have about 2 hours and 30 minutes before I'll pick you up." Shuhua explained, and Minnie nodded. There was one last person that she still needed to see.

Minnie walked through town, while some people gave her dirty looks; her timer stood out like a red rose in a bouquet of 20 yellow flowers.

"Just a little longer." Minnie hummed to herself as she walked along the cobblestone path, and into the department building, which was called "stadium caeli", otherwise known as the study of heaven.

Minnie walked up the front desk, ignoring the glare of the woman in front of her.

"I'm looking for Lalisa Manoban. It's an emergency." Minnie glared back at the lady who plugged a couple of numbers into her computer.

"The room is the last one on the right." The lady answered, autonomously.

Minnie rolled her eyes, and just kept walking forward, until she was met with a familiar face.

"Minnie? What are you doing here? It's been over a year, come in!" Lisa welcomed Minnie, who followed her in her office, sitting down at the nearest seat, visibly distressed.

"So what's up? The lady upfront told me it was an emergency, and it's fine if it's not but I can't help but be a little curious----" Lisa rambled on and on, until Minnie cut her off with a sigh.

"I'm dying, Lisa. I accidentally sinned, and now I'll be kicked out of Heaven in about---6 hours." Minnie explained to Lisa, while checking her wrist for reference.

"What? Are-are you serious? Oh my god, Jennie is gonna be crushed." Lisa sighed, while Minnie gave her a sad smile.

"Unfortunately, yes, I am. Anyways, I came here for a favor." Minnie introduced, and Lisa put her notepad down, giving Minnie her full attention.

"I'm aware that this is strictly against the rules, but perhaps they can be bent. Is there any way you could look up our family records?" Minnie asked hesitantly.

Lisa wasn't one to break any rules, similar to Minnie earlier on.

"I really shouldn't, but since we're family, I suppose I could let something slide." Lisa agreed, and Minnie smiled.

"Thank you!" Minnie praised, and Lisa smiled.

"Anything for my favorite cousin. Tell me why I'm doing this as I do it?" Lisa suggested, and Minnie nodded, ready to sum it all up, while Lisa started typing things into her computer.

"Long story short, I was rummaging in my father's--your uncle's--office, when I accidentally cut myself and my blood opened a lock, which revealed a bracelet. Later on, I accidentally kissed my best friend, indicating that I had sinned, and therefore my timer started.

My friends who specialize in Hell studies had help me come to a hypothesis. The bracelet itself had to be from Hell, and my blood is able to open it, therefore I'm either a mixed angel, or somehow I'm connected to a presence in Hell. I came to you since perhaps they would have a record of that?" Minnie finished, and Lisa's eyebrow quirked.

"That's straight out of a music video or something!" Lisa laughed, and Minnie snickered.

"Anyways, I may have found something here. Looking at our side of the family, there aren't any records of Hell at all. Everyone is completely pure. However, your father's marriage line has a slash in it, which means that your mother has passed away.

When I click on your mother's historical records, it just blanks out. All for one name, Jeon Soyeon, who was a mixed angel, the only one that we know of officially. It says that she died here, but no angel knows what it's like to survive the fall, so she could very much be alive." Lisa concluded, and Minnie gasped.

"This is what Yuqi and Shuhua told me! I'm certainly connected to Hell, then." Minnie thought, while Lisa closed her computer screen.

"Whatever happens, it was a pleasure to be your cousin, Min." Lisa stood up, engulfing the younger girl into a hug.

"Thank you for everything, Lisa. Tell Jennie that I love her, will you?" Minnie asked with another sad smile.

"Of course, now get out of here while you still can." Lisa choked up, smiling at Minnie for the last time before Minnie walked out of her office.

"I don't know what to think anymore. Clearly I have some unfinished business in Hell to tend to." Minnie shrugged, exiting the building and walking back to Shuhua's house, before her trail awaits her.