It was like every ounce of Tiam's remaining life was spent in that final cry of joy. They crumpled onto Leo seconds before the numbness reached his heart. The afterlife was dark, quiet and more like he expected it should be back on Earth. He watched Tiam through dim eyes, paying no mind to anything else around him. People were yelling, arguing and crying, but that all sounded like white noise to Leo.
Minutes passed before a thought breached his conscience, and the world only grew darker. Who did this? Leo knew it wasn't his demented dragon form–he still caught glimpses during that fight. Harvey. It had to be Harvey. Leo wanted to tear through these ruins and find him. He needed to turn that man's world into a waking nightmare. With his one true human friend down, Leo had no reason to not rip this place apart.
What if he gave it all just to find Harvey? It would be worth the trade-off. Leo was ready to give every inch of his being to save his loved ones. After all, the point of this whole damned thing was to come out happier and the people around him were what gave him that happiness. Harvey hadn't just started a feud–this was turning to war. Leo was prepared to turn Heaven and Hell into ash rain to take this scum down.
Then, his heart sank. What was the point of it all? Why do all of that if his friend was already dead? No, Tiam would come back. It might take time, but Tiam was bound to return eventually. Was his fight and rage pointless if his friend would come back? Should he just wait to see Tiam again? This was such a mess. Everything was so wrong. What could Leo possibly do that would stop a guy with connections like Harvey?
Leo noticed a figure over Tiam in his vision. Raphael? He was weeping. Why would he cry over Tiam? He was an angel. No. Wait. Was Tiam gone? Was it because he didn't die in the colosseum? No. No.
'What?' Leo blubbered through the tears he only now realised he was crying.
'I'm sorry.' Raphael rocked Tiam in his arms. 'I'm so, so sorry.' His once beautiful and clean face was marred with red teary eyes and a mouth so crooked, Leo struggled to recognise him. 'I let Tiam go.'
'Huh?' Leo wanted to sit up, to get into Raphael's face and ask question after question, but his body still burned with some of the pain from the twisted experiment. He was exhausted.
'They visited Archangel Michael, against my better jud–and I let them…' Raphael bit his lip with a shuddering whimper. 'They didn't say what happened, but the blow is clearly from Michael's sword. They must have taken the Holy Water by force to save you.'
Leo was in awe and a new pain. An archangel did this? They're good beings. They should have wanted this to stop.
Wrong.
Foul.
Evil.
'Shit.' Leo wanted to cover his eyes as more tears streamed over his cheeks, but couldn't lift even a hand. First, demons and Harvey making all this messed up experiments, now angels were killing people? That begged the question that Leo didn't want to ask, but he needed to.
'Will Tiam come back?'
Raphael stared at Leo like it was the worst thing he could say. Leo almost thought sensed terror in those eyes like someone who was just betrayed by a loved one.
'Crap.' Leo strained, as the simple words he spoke felt more and more like they were splitting his jaw into shards at the corners. He finally began taking in the carnage around him–the decimation. People rose from the debris in places–Jun of the Massacre sat nearby with a hand on the hilt of his blade embedded in the stone. Most importantly, Leo noticed the angelic woman crouched close to Raphael with a look of sympathy on her face.
Maybe it was the powers he possessed, or something about the way she held herself, but Leo assumed who she was. 'Archangel,' he said, spluttering black bile like some corrupt water fountain. 'You let this happen, too?'
'Oh.' She looked at Leo like he was a beast walking without a head. 'I didn't have much choice.'
Leo wanted to yell–to scream at these two beings. Both were more than powerful enough to deal with that situation, right? Thoughts mixed through his head. Anger, then quiet, then anger again. Them aside, what was he going to do? If they couldn't handle the situation, who could besides God? Unless.
'What's your name?' He stared into the archangel with the intent to deliver a thousand daggers. If not even the holy could do things right, then he would show them how to do what they were supposed to.
'Selaphiel,' she said with a tilted head like a curious puppy.
'I'm Leo, and I'd like to request that you become my sponsor. And may I emphasise that I would strongly recommend you say yes.'
'Leo!' Raphael cried.
'If two archangels can't deal with this absolute hell that's happening right now, then I'll do it myself. Selaphiel, grant me your power so I can destroy the man who tortured me and the archangel who needs to feel how wrong he was to kill my best friend.'