The Angel and the Mermaid
Flashback:
As my feathers cooled, I remained alert, feeling a soft gaze wash over me, as delicate and ethereal as a cold leaf skimming across the surface of a pond. My eyes fluttered open, adjusting to the crystalline figure before me.
As the realization set in, I stared at the graceful figure before me, confusion and surprise swimming through my thoughts. "Who are you?" I asked, my voice catching slightly.
"I'm Selena," she said, her smile bright and warm. "I'm a mermaid."
I nodded, my mind still spinning from the unexpected encounter. "Yes, I can see that."
I paused, my gaze falling on the glittering scales that adorned her body. "I'm Michael, an archangel."
She smiled. "You've got questions, don't you?" she said, gesturing at the water around us.
I nodded, struggling to find my bearings.
"I'm talking to a mermaid underwater. What's going on?"
She laughed, a sound like the tinkling of tiny bells. "You fell from your battle with Lucifer. I found you and healed you," she explained.
I blinked, processing her words.
"Healed me?" I repeated, my eyes darting between my now-intact wings and the enchanting mermaid before me.
"I...I don't understand." I paused, gathering my wits about me. "And how did you know I fell?" I asked, my tone insistent. "Who are you, really?"
Selena's smile remained enigmatic. "I am more than a mere mermaid," she replied, her voice melodic yet firm.
"I can peep into the past, and also examine the future of a broken soul," she explained. "I saw you fall, Michael. I saw the battle that raged around you, and I knew that you did not deserve to perish. So, I found you, and I healed you."
I considered her words, a sense of understanding beginning to wash over me. "So, you were drawn to me for a purpose?" I asked, my gaze fixed on her.
"Yes, Michael," She smiled, her eyes fixed on me.
"Yes, Michael," Selena replied, her eyes trained on me with an enigmatic glint.
I furrowed my brow, perplexed by her lack of fear. "Aren't you afraid?" I asked, searching her face for answers. "I am, after all, an archangel."
"Fear," she said, her smile widening slightly. "Fear is a concept that is alien to me. A concept that's never real"
I flapped my wings and flew out of the water in an outworldly speed.
" I've done my best in not killing you."" I'll pay my debt. What do you want? "
" Give me a second me. " she looked at me cooly." Get me pregnant. "
A surge of anger coursed through me.
How dare this creature, a mere mermaid, believe that she could tell me what to do?
With a furious flap of my wings, I shot into the air, the wind whipping past me as I disappeared into the sky.
When I finally slowed, my heart still pounding, I turned and gazed down at the tiny speck of a mermaid below.
"I have spared your life," I yelled. "I owe you no debt! What could you possibly want from me?"
Selena smiled up at me, her eyes twinkling like the stars above. "I already told you," she said, her voice calm despite my fury. "I want you to get me pregnant."
I laughed, a bitter sound that echoed through the air. "Are you mad?" I shouted, incredulous at her suggestion. "What do you take me for? I am an archangel, and you are a lowly creature, born from the devil's loins."
"But that lowly creature saved you and healed you."
"It is true that you saved me," I admitted, the words tasting bitter on my tongue. "But you're still a lowly creature, a mere mermaid. And angels do not copulate with other creatures, it is forbidden."
"Rules can be changed when the situation requires it," she said, her voice low and persuasive. "Think of the power our child could wield. The heavens and the sea united at last, a force strong enough to stand against the darkness that threatens us all."
"You're just like your father, Lucifer," I sneered, my anger rising. "Deceitful, manipulative."
Selena's eyes flashed with rage. "You have no right to judge me!" she snapped. "I was banished from his ranks for wanting to do good, for wanting to be more than just a servant of the devil. Does that make sense to you?
A shadow flickered across the horizon, and the air grew colder. In the distance, the faint sound of laughter could be heard, laughter that sent a shiver down their spines.
"Lucifer's followers are watching," Selena whispered, her eyes fixed on the darkening sky. "We must act quickly."
End of flashback:
The cold stone floor pressed against my back, the weight of my captors' judgment heavy upon my shoulders.
"We must sacrifice the angel to appease the gods," one of them growled.
"He's not useful to the heavenly again."
"Kill him," another spat, his voice dripping with venom.
"He brought the wrath," a third said, his eyes burning with hatred.
"Michael," she whispered, her voice soft and desperate. "I brought you into this danger. I would rather die with you, and rise again like a phoenix from the ashes, than live with the knowledge that I brought about your destruction."
I pulled her close, holding her tightly as the guards closed in. "I would die a thousand deaths to protect you," I said, my voice barely more than a murmur.
"Our child will take up the cross," Selena whispered, her voice quavering with both fear and determination.
"I have left a part of our soul with him. One day, he will avenge us and restore balance to the world. He will awaken us again, a thousand years from now, and together we will bring down Lucifer and his demon hordes."
As the guards raised their swords, the blade gleaming with an almost cruel beauty, my lips brushed against Selena's ear.
"My love, my life, my heart," I whispered. "I would give it all for you, if it meant I could save you. But in this moment, I can only hope that our souls will meet again."
~mickeymoore
