Scourge of Angels: Chapter 3 – A Nagging Desire

Chapter 3 – A Nagging Desire

Thaddeus, Terah, and I sit in the same high-rise restaurant bar we were in before. Ever since we came to a mutual understanding with the Castigators, we took out a few more cultist hideouts, and somehow, I don’t feel like we’re done yet. Our guardian angels have told us not to go anywhere yet, and we still feel the lingering influence of demons, especially me. The demon that wears my face always catches up to me, and is either in my face or hiding at the edges of my vision before disappearing. Unlike before, the demon’s skin is slowly falling apart like a rotting corpse, with parts of its resemblance to me fading away, piece by piece, after every victory against it.

Right now, the demon floats behind me, staring dead at me with its rotten face. The times that I’m most nervous about it are not when it’s tempting me, but when it’s silent like it is now. I know it’s plotting something sinister, but my guardian angel won’t do anything until it acts.

“Don’t let it cause you to worry, Tanith. I’ll always be here, ready to help you before you ask for it,” my guardian angel says.

I know, and thank you. Trying my best to ignore the demon, I go to the back of the bar, think about grabbing myself a beer, and grab a soda instead. It’s then that I notice the multiple beer bottles around Thaddeus, who is watching the still-operating TVs.

“Should you really be drinking that much, Thaddeus?” I ask.

“I don’t see why not. It’s only a sin if you knowingly drink too much and get yourself sick. That’s what my guardian angel told me. Besides, you should remember who you’re talking to. I’m the man who got the furthest in the one-hundred-drinks-in-a-day challenge. My liver is made out of titanium.”

“I remember hearing you getting sick and having to go to the hospital the same day, and having to spend a week in it because of the challenge.”

“I still did the best out of every normal human who attempted the challenge. The superhumans who attempted it don’t compare since they’re part of a different ranking.”

“Whatever. Have you heard from your guardian angel yet for new instructions?”

“For the tenth time, no, and I’ll let you know when I hear something. Relax.”

“I’m just concerned that the Dominion will send more of their heroes after us.”

“We came to an understanding with the Castigators. What could be worse than facing them? It’s not like the big two heroes, John Elio, and L’Obscurité, will personally come after small fry like us.”

“You never know if they will or not. It’s why I’ve been in prayer so we can leave here as quickly as possible,” Terah says.

“You should relax, too, Terah. Look at the TVs. The Compassionate are heading here next, and they’re the most reasonable and merciful out of every subsidiary in the Dominion. They even have Raziel Emundato, who also gets his powers from his guardian angel.”

“Raziel also burned the entire city of Meridian in supernatural fire and went on a one-man crusade after his wife was raped,” I say.

“So? It’s just another thing we have in common. They should be here in a few hours. Thanks to the Castigators, we should be on friendly terms with them.”

“That’s assuming things go smoothly and the demons don’t get involved,” Terah says. “If they possessed you to fight Kane, then they could make us all fight one another.”

“Keep praying and hoping for the best, then, bishop.”

The three of us relax as best we can, waiting for the arrival of the Compassionate or new instructions from our guardian angels. Thaddeus is asleep at the counter of the bar, while Terah goes back and forth between praying and watching the news.

“It’s time to move, Tanith. Go wake up Thaddeus. His guardian angel is unable to get him up and doesn’t want to start a fire to do so,” my guardian angel says.

At this point, I’d laugh if his ass was burned to wake him up, but I do as my guardian angel says. I knock Thaddeus off the barstool to wake him up, and that’s when he finally hears the words of his guardian angel, and we fly away to our next destination. We go to an island between the two cities that comprise Detlef, which is its own miniature town with small houses and businesses. It’s a ghost town, with no one around, people disappearing behind corners, and doors closing. A group of four, familiar-looking people comes around the corner, the Compassionate. Of course, we’d be led directly to them, just like how we were led to the Castigators.

Leading the four is Polina Emundatio, a red-haired woman with red eyes wearing dark blue armor, armed with two shields on her arms, a pistol, and a sheathed sword. Next to her is her husband, Raziel Emundatio, who has blonde hair and red, orange, and yellow eyes, similar to Thaddeus’s. He’s dressed like a modern knight in crimson, orange, and golden armor. Behind them is Zahara, a woman with a sniper for a left arm, who has pink eyes, wears a pink and black bodysuit, and has hair like mine, except hers is pink and black. Next to Zahara is Penelope, who has one purple eye, a spiral for a left eye, blonde and purple hair, and wears a purple dress.

“Council of Punishment. We heard a lot about you from the news and our friends, the Castigators. Apparently, we’re all on the same side?” Polina asks.

Thaddeus steps forward in his normal form and says, “Yes. We’re all fighting against the demonic. I know your methods are merciful, but we can’t afford to be with most of these foes. Few will repent, and most are unrepentant, so we need you to be less restrained. I’m sure you understand since you’ve all faced similar cultists before.”

“Yes, we’ve faced the demonic before, but we’ve also managed to bring back souls from the brink of Hell. If you want to work together, you have to do as we say, preferring mercy first, and then using unrelenting justice if the need arises,” Polina says.

“Are you sure about that, Polina? These people are guided by their guardian angels,” Penelope says.

“If they’re being given the freedom to go all out on the demonic, then I don’t see why we shouldn’t,” Zahara says.

“Hey, when did you flip to their side? You’re supposed to be on mine.”

“They’re right, Polina,” Raziel says. “My guardian angel says we should follow their lead. Their powers work similarly to mine, in that they’ll spare those that deserve it and kill those that repent.”

Polina stares at each of us, and I feel a tether connecting her to me when she looks at me. I can feel her digging around in my head, bringing up my memories, those that I’m ashamed of, such as my descent into degeneracy and giving up my parents to human traffickers, and the few that I’m proud of, like my repentance and overcoming my demon and addiction.

“Tch. Fine,” Polina decides. Thaddeus looks up and appears to be thinking. “What? Did your guardian angel tell you something?”

“Yes, and you’re not going to like it.”

“Well, what is it?”

“Our targets are all around us, masquerading as normal, poor, and lower-class people. Most, if not everything, on this small island has to be leveled, even the churches, that they use as fronts for their forbidden rituals.”

Raziel turns his head upwards and says the same thing as Thaddeus. With her husband backing us up, Polina has no choice but to follow our lead on this, but to ensure that we’re being as merciful as possible, she splits us up into groups so that a member of the Compassionate is with one of us as we work. Terah is paired up with Zahara and Penelope, Thaddeus is with Raziel, and I’m with Polina. We spread out so that every inch of the island can be cleared and to ensure that none of the cultists escape. My guardian angel points the way to our targets, and we begin clearing out the seemingly normal houses and businesses.

Entering the building, we’re immediately attacked by people with axes, guns, and knives. With my right spear arm, I stab the cultists through the chest, head, or neck, and with my right arm, I burn and freeze them with my freezing blue flames. Behind me, Polina uses her sword, arm shields, and pistol to defend herself. She also uses her powers to stun people by entering their minds, and she even manages to make some of them fight against us.

When the fight is over, Polina says, “See? These people’s minds and hearts can be changed.”

“Don’t hope for it to happen with most of them,” I say.

“You were far gone before, weren’t you, Tanith? You’ve even worked with people like these.”

“I have, so I know the difference between those who choose to be too far gone and those who will take a second chance.”

Continuing and clearing other buildings, houses, and churches, Polina tries to save as many people as possible. Sometimes she saves a few. Sometimes none are saved at all. The cultists stop hiding after we clear a few places out, and they start exiting their hiding places, some escaping, and others swarming us. In the chaos, a few of the people Polina converted are killed, even as she tries to defend them. Seeing that she needs help, I pitch in to help. In the crowd of attackers, the demon with my face glides among them, getting closer and closer until it gets in my face. Before I or it can say anything, my guardian angel tackles it, and both of them disappear in the chaos.

I turn up my flames into overdrive, turning most of everything and everyone into ice. Polina and the few converts around me are fine and finally safe. A few of the frozen people start to crack and break into pieces on their own, until their bodies are all broken up.

“Are you okay?” I ask

Polina’s converts say they are. She says, “Yes. Thanks for your help.”

Leaning out from behind Polina, the demon with my face smiles as everything becomes black. Polina and I are the only ones in this void that feels like a furnace that makes my nerves tingle.

“You’re finally alone in a private place. Now’s the time to take advantage of her, while she’s unable to move,” the demon says.

“No…I won’t,” I say as I burn my arm with my blue flames.

This puts my mind back into reality where I was.

“Why are you burning yourself?” Polina asks.

“Don’t worry about it. Let’s just get this done as fast as possible.”

Walking over to a false church, I find myself back in the void; this time, I’m here with the converts.

“Pick your pleasure. Man, woman, adult, teenager,” the demon says.

“Stop it!” I say as I burn myself. Again, Polina asks me what’s wrong and starts digging into my head to understand me. “Get out of my head! It’s the demon with my face that’s been bothering me. When we’re on the right track, they do their best to make me give in to my old desires. We can only fix this by finishing up here.”

“Right. I’ll pray for you to have the strength to bear your burden.”

Walking into the church, we find it empty. Presumably, the cultists and the place of their rituals are downstairs, so we head down there, only for the void to consume us as we go down the bloodstained stairs. I’m back into my normal form, and Polina is the only one with me, frozen in place.

The demon annoying flies around us and says, “Take her for yourself. She’s your type. Innocent, sweet, and just like your other crush, Thaddeus, she truly cares for you. She’s also been the victim of abuse, like you were. Oh, that distinct taste of a fiery, broken soul is delicious to taste. Don’t you miss it? I know you do.”

Shut up…I pray on my knees for help and look away from Polina, but the demon forces me to look at her, and makes me imagine her with her clothes off and what happened to her. It reminds me of memories I’ve wanted to forget about ritualistic sex that tied demons to people and corrupted the souls of the innocent, some of which I took part in as both the victim and the abuser. The feeling in my veins, the sensation of which feels like mini-arms reaching to Polina, becomes too hard to resist. My mind feels as if it’s being squeezed in a vice, until it feels as if it pops and I lose control. I take off my clothes and pounce on Polina, who finally starts moving. That’s good. I like it when they resist.

“What’s wrong with you, Tanith?! What are you doing?!” she asks as I try licking and kissing her face.

“I’m letting loose! I’m done keeping the love that I have for everyone in! When I’m done with you, I’m going to have my way with your converts, Thaddeus, Terah, and your other friends as well,” I say with drool coming out of my mouth.

“This isn’t you! You have to fight it!”

“Is it? You don’t know me!”

I feel Polina’s mental connection enter my mind and search through my memories. Something else within it tries to prevent her from doing anything, but she manages to find whatever she’s looking for.

“Your parents raised you to be better and knew you were born for bigger things. Remember that they loved you even when you failed and the horrible things you put them through!”

“Shut up! This is who I chose to be because life was too difficult, and I didn’t want to suffer through it! All I wanted was to live happily and in never-ending pleasure! Here I am falling into old habits. It proves that I haven’t changed one bit!”

“You have changed! I know you’ve been resisting the demon with your face ever since you started fighting back, and that it hasn’t been easy ever since, but you’ve overcome it before. You can do it again!”

“Don’t ignore my main concern! All I want to do is feel good and be happy! The connection between us goes both ways, you know? I know that as mayor of Meridian and a mother, you constantly feel stressed out and desperately want a break to feel good and at peace for once. It’s why you gave in when you were kidnapped and raped. I can make you feel that way all over again, if you just give in.”

“The goal of life isn’t to feel good or be happy, and you know that! It’s given you nothing but misery and the endless desire for more! Take back control of your life. Come on! I know you can do it, Tanith!”

My left arm transforms to have the blue flame coming out of it, its icy touch, bringing me back to my senses and presenting me with two paths. On one road, I see the demon with my face, and on the other, I see my guardian angel. Uncontrollably, I walk towards the roads, both of which are pulling me towards them. The force of their pulling feels as if I’ll be split in two if I don’t choose either one. With what little strength I have, I chose my guardian angel.

“You did it, like I knew you would,” my guardian angel says.

Let’s finish this then. Together with my guardian angel, we use our blue flames to blow up the area around us. With the veil of darkness lifted, I see that Polina and I are in the basement of the church with the repents behind us, unaware of what just happened. The basement of the church is both frozen with ice and burning with blue flames. Around us are the dead and dying naked cultists, who were in the middle of a perverted ritual involving sex and using statues of Jesus, Mary, and the saints as sex objects. The scene fills me with rage that I know not to indulge. It’s already over, and these people are getting what they deserve, so I leave them to both freeze and burn.

“I’m glad you came back to your senses, Tanith. You’re stronger than you think. Hey, you have your clothes back on,” Polina says.

“That’s a perk of my powers, and thank you for helping me come back to my right state of mind. I’m sorry for what I tried to do,” I say.

“I forgive you.”

The repentants are confused by what we’re talking about. Polina and I tell them not to worry about it as we leave the church. With our end of the island done, we head outside of the church and find that it’s snowing outside. The effects of my powers have apparently spread throughout the rest of the island, as parts of it have large ice spears coming out of and the snowflakes cause areas to burn in pillars of blue flames. Regrouping with everyone else, they tell us that the island is secure, and every cultist has been brought to justice, with few repenting as expected, but the task was unexpectedly made easier thanks to me.

“It’s thanks to my guardian angel and Polina. I didn’t do much,” I say.

“It takes real strength and courage to repent under pressure as you did,” Polina says.

Everyone compliments me, and all I can do is look down, blush in embarrassment, and thank them for their kind words. I guess everyone knows I could have overcome my temptations better than I did. Fearing failure is why I fell into sin and the chains of pleasure, so I won’t think about it anymore. Instead, I’ll think about victory, relying on the strength I already have, and always seeking the help of my friends, especially my guardian angel, and that failure is never the end.