Ramon's POV
I seethed in anger as I listened to the angels deliberate on their failure. After Asmodeus told me about the wraith's sudden appearance, I decided to sit back and let the angels handle it. I called in a renowned witch demon who cast a whispering spell into Celestial.
The whispering spell enabled me listen in on discussions that went on in the throne room only. If not cast by an expert, a whispering spell could easily be detected by other magic users like mages.
"Stupid angels...they can never do anything right!." I gritted out in anger. My wings waved uncontrollably because of how upset I was.
"What do we do now, Ramon? They were unable to stop the wraith from carrying out its mission and now..."
"And now, my good for nothing father is going to be awakened because of their negligence. Why would their queen who claims to be all that, send novices to guard a place like the Halo?!"
Satan was my father but he was also a harbinger of doom. When he ruled beside my mother, Ovah, he was just a powerful demon but when he became greedy and wanted to rule the realms all by himself, he became something worse than a demon - he became evil itself and that evil went about causing chaos in all of the universe. His release meant badnews for all realms, including mine.
Ovah knew that she only could tame Satan's ambitions and his ruling Celestial meant he would automatically become the ruler of the universe, which is why she did what had to be done.
Asmodeus sighed, "This is why you never leave angels to handle anything. They always mess it up."
Seems like I would have to handle my father myself, after all.
Lilith's POV
"Silence!" Mother commanded and the court went silent. "The worse has happened and the least we can do is not pass blames to one another. The templars did their part and so did everyone assigned to the Halo. Now, what we should be thinking about is how we move forward from here."
I felt like the skies whould open up and swallow me whole. Although it was not known by anyone else except Michael and mother the real reason why I was assigned to the Halo, it still did not make it less shameful. The fact that Penelope had to be the one who saved me made it worse.
"The queen is right!" Azar stood from his seat, "We need to find a way forward before the real trouble comes."
The angels around the table murmured in panic.
"The orb of doom stolen by a wraith means one thing, Satan is about to be released from his prison soon enough." He continued admist the murmurs.
"What if we find the wraith before it breaks the orb open?" One sage asked.
"That is if we find it but we can try. Any other suggestions?"
"We do not know what way to fight Satan except what was recorded in the books of history. It is said that he is no ordinary demon..." Another sage spoke.
"Ovah left us writings. We will follow her wisdom...any other suggestions?"
An Elder stood up and this was the first time one had been moved to talk since the beginning of the meeting.
"It pains me to say this but we need an ally. Yes, Ovah defeated Satan but not without the entire army of demons and angels by her side. She could not have done it with just angels alone...Satan is too powerful for just one realm to handle." He pointed out and the court went silent again. Not a single voice raised to counter his words but I refused to believe it was true so, I looked to my mother for confirmation.
She wasn't looking at me but I could tell her thoughts from her wings - he spoke truth. The Elder's words disturbed me - was Satan that powerful? What exactly were we dealing with?
"We do not need to ask any other realm for help. We are Celestial, the most powerful realm in the entire universe. We can take care of Satan and his cohorts by ourselves!" Mother spat out with authority, her eyes pierced into the Elder's.
There were murmurs of agreement.
"Yes, my queen." He said and bowed to her before sitting.
"And moreover," she continued, "He has not even been released yet, we still have time to re-strategize."
I also nodded in agreement to my mother's decision - we did not need demons fighting alongside us, we could handle it on our own like we did the great war.
The war bell was rung and day after day, every templar and guard prepared themselves for any random attack. Some archangels had come back to Celestial as backup warriors, with Michael leading them.
I waited at the entrance of the ring as he spoke to the templars and guards. When he was done, he approached me.
"Princess..." He teased but I did not find it funny. "Is something wrong?"
"I failed, Michael." I whispered tiredly. "The one thing that mother entrusted to me and I messed it up..."
"Come with me." He employed. He gave a signal to one of the other templars before walking forward.
"You think you failed. Why?" He continued as we walk down.
"I did not detect the wraith early enough and was caught in its enchantment. I could not do anything and if it were not Penelope who swooped in to save me, I would be dust." I said while waving a servant who saluted me.
"You did your best, Lilith".
I looked at him in anger, "How could you say that?!"
"Wraiths are extremely dangerous creatures and for you to experience one and come out alive, means you did your best. Now, what you should be thinking about right now, is a way forward...what is done is done." He said with seriousness.
I sighed, "Mother will not speak to me. She has not spoken to me since it happened...I think she is disappointed..."
"Or she is just busy with kingdom matters. Satan has just played us all, you do not expect her to sit still..." His green eyes shone in amusement.
I looked at him in disbelief.
"Your mother loves you, Lilith. She wants you to become the next queen and the absolute best you can be...she is very proud of how far you have come, trust me."
I bent down my head and opened my mouth to say something else when suddenly, I am wrapped around Michael, his wings forming a shield around me.
The shriek that sounded not too far away, shattered all glasses around us, into tiny shards. Screams erupted and beside me, a servant disintegrated and turned into dust. Peace suddenly turned to chaos as angels flew hurriedly to safety.
I was shocked to my spot, my ears rang loudly. My eyes could not unsee the dust particles that remained where an angel used to be.
"Princess! You need to go now!" Michael pushed me forward, trying to get me to safety but my body froze.
"Princess! We are being attacked!" He screamed in my face and shook me vigorously. My senses returned and immediately, my legs were moving to the council hall.
Mother...