Velvet Redemption

Two days after our battle in Africa, I was up and walking, but that was about it. I was still hurting, and unfortunately, Tylenol doesn’t work on a spirit body. Every part of me ached, and I just had to deal with it as my body healed itself.

Even with accelerated healing rates, I still had at least five days to be out of commission, according to Lilandra. She wasn’t even letting me fly. . . not that I wanted to try.

We had gotten a room at an inn right on the beach where I had been resting with Daniel and occasionally Death. Lilandra was the least injured out of all of us, and I guess that made some sense. She had the best fighting skills, and she didn’t even come into contact with Famine.

Daniel, Death, and I faced Famine in combat and got our asses handed to us. If I hadn’t brought him down with that last move, I’d have been toast.

Lilandra was doing patrols to make sure demons or angels weren’t nearby spying on us or hunting us down.

We’d brought down three of the four horsemen now, and I was nearing my overall goal of weakening Lucifer’s total power. Lilandra said that Lucifer invested much of his power in the four horsemen, so, if he lost them all, it’d deal a great blow to him. Hopefully that would help even the tables for me to take him on.

Daniel and I were laying in the room not talking. He’d been pretty quiet since the fight was over. Death was out doing the reaper thing, and Lilandra was still patrolling, so, we were focussing on just recovering. He was in slightly better shape than I was, but he still grimaced when he sat up.

The room was ocean themed with seashells decorating most of everything. There were two queen beds. The walls were white and bare, but the floor was actually made of sand, which I thought was neat. There was a simple night stand between the beds with a small lamp on it.

Daniel’s breathing was relaxed. Even if he did get beaten to a bloody pulp, I could tell this was the first time he’d gotten to relax in. . . well if he’d spent most of his life chasing Lilandra. . . this may be the only time he ever got to relax.

Breaking the silence, I said, “Hey, I just wanted to thank you for your help in Africa. We couldn’t have done it without you.”

Daniel said nothing for a moment and then muttered, “As of now, we’re even. You saved my life, and I helped you fight.”

“Is that what you think we were doing?”

“What do you mean?”

I looked over at him and said, “Daniel, I didn’t expect you to pay me back for anything. I’m not saying we’re best buds now, but I’d definitely think you’d consider us allies.”

“So what are you saying?”

“Alies don’t keep score. They just help each other when they need it,” I said.

Daniel said nothing for a few more moments and muttered, “Fine.”

I could tell he was having trouble with this allies thing. He had been beaten by Michael a few too many times. I wasn’t asking him to open up to me, just to realize that I wasn’t keeping score. He’d proven himself, and I trusted him. Now I just needed him to realize that.

“So, I see you won the challenge to find Famine first,” I said.

Daniel rolled his head over and made eye contact with a scowl.

“You saw how that fight went,” he said.

“How long did you fight him inside that large hut?”

“A few minutes,” he said.

I didn’t say anything after that. Daniel seemed pretty bummed that he was beaten senseless.

“You know he kicked all of our asses, right?”

Daniel said nothing.

“I mean, I only got a few good hits because I was fighting with Death,” I continued.

An awkward silence filled the room, and Daniel closed his eyes and went back to resting.

I guess that’s as close to bonding as we’re going to get, I thought.

After another moment, Daniel said, “I broke his nose during our initial fight, you know.”

I smirked.

Then, before I could reply with a joke or any banter, something monstrous shook, but it wasn’t a physical shake. The island we were on wasn’t shaking. It was like I was feeling a large headache, but something was clearly quaking. It shook my very being, making me grab my head.

Instantly, Daniel and I were both on our feet. Everything hurt. . . really hurt. I wasn’t supposed to be up on my feet that quickly yet. My healing after the last battle wasn’t complete, and my body reminded me.

“What the Hell was that? What’s shaking if not the room?”

Daniel’s expression looked grim.

“It’s not the physical world shaking. It’s Heaven. There’s a battle going on there,” Daniel said.

I gasped.

Did the war already start? But how? I still have Velvet, I thought to myself.

Daniel and I were both trying to look tough, but the truth was, our combined injuries would put down every UFC fighter in the world. It wasn’t fair of something so major to happen when we were still healing from the last battle.

“We need to get to Heaven. Can you take me?”

“You’re suicidal, Pierce. . . more than usual,” Daniel said.

“I know. . . our spiritual energies aren’t even back to half their normal capacity yet, but the war is here. I’ve got to stop it,” I said.

“We don’t know that yet. In fact, we don’t know anything. That’s why I am going to Heaven, and you’re staying here,” Daniel said.

“On your own? Now who is suicidal?”

“Listen to me, Pierce. We don’t know that the big war between Lucifer and Michael has started. You still hold the one piece on the board that can change the flow of everything. If you go up there and it’s a trap, we’re doomed.

“You are far too injured for me to allow you to go. Neither one of us is at our full strength or capacity,” I said.

Daniel thought for a moment and then said, “I can get us both back up to full strength, but it’s very dangerous.”

“Okay. What do we need to do?”

“Stand in front of me and grab my hands,” Daniel said.

“Look, Daniel. I know we’re starting to become friends, but I don’t really like you that way,” I said, raising my eyebrow.

“We don’t have time for homophobic jokes! You’re going to have to trust me. It’s our only chance,” Daniel said.

I grabbed my ribs and limped in front of Daniel. The pain was dizzying, but I knew we had to speed up our recovery at all costs. Daniel held up his arms, and I grabbed his hands.

They were surprisingly cold. The fire that burned inside of Lilandra was absent from Daniel. Where demons must be extremely warm underneath their flesh, angels apparently were cold.

“What now?”

“I’m going to shoot my spirit energy from my left arm into your right arm. You’ll move it into your body, add your own energy, speed it up, and then shoot it into your left arm and over into my right arm. I’ll add more energy and repeat the process, as will you,” Daniel explained.

“What will this do?”

“As our energy grows, it’ll surge through our bodies, speeding up our healing and returning us to a restored state,” Daniel said.

“Why is it risky?”

“It’s quite painful, and it could very well destroy us, as well as, the area around us,” Daniel said.

“There isn’t any other way?”

“No. We need to heal quickly, and this is the only way. Here I go,” Daniel said, scowling as he summoned what little energy he had.

He began to push it into my arm, and I accepted the energy. It felt strange taking it into my body, and I felt extremely cold on the inside. I growled as I tried to summon energy and add it to Daniel’s. I failed, and his energy faded away.

“Come on, Pierce! You’ve got to summon energy and do this, or we don’t have any chance of finding out what’s going on in Heaven,” Daniel said.

“Excuse me for not having been trained in dangerous accelerated healing rates,” I said.

Ignoring my quip, Daniel summoned energy again and pushed it into my arm. I had energy ready this time, and I added my energy to his. This reduced the chill a little. I moved our combined energy into my opposite arm. Daniel accelerated the energy, adding more.

I grunted. . . our combined energy moving into my arm burned and chilled at the same time, if that was possible.

Talk about fire and ice, I thought.

Faster and faster the energy swirled between us, and the burning sensation grew, as did the chilling sensation. Our energies clearly did not mix well, but that wasn’t the job of the energy. It wasn’t supposed to mix. It was supposed to rapidly heal us. Its other job, apparently, was to cause pain, because it did that pretty well.

The energy got harder to move the more it built up, but at the same time, I could see the visible effects it had. My strength was returning, and my wounds were healing. Somehow, I was healing while I was in agony.

This went on for a minute or two, and the electricity in the hotel went out. The energy we were causing was so disruptive and intense. The glass in the room cracked, and the sheets and blankets on the bed caught fire.

“Daniel! This is getting to be too much to contain!”

“I’m aware of that. We’re going to have to release it!”

“Are you insane? The energy will level everything and kill everyone else in the hotel!”

Daniel thought for a moment and then said, “Not if you put what we’ve built into a bolt of lightning and send it straight up into the sky. It’ll just dissipate as it shoots upward.”

I looked at him and nodded. I had more than enough of my strength back to do that. As the energy looped through Daniel’s arm, I readied my own aura.

The energy came back to me like a deranged and speeding train barely clinging to its tracks, and I wrapped it in my own aura. It wasn’t easy to stop or slow, so, I drew Velvet and sent the energy up through the blade. I pointed Velvet toward the sky, and a lightning bolt that took up the entire room shot straight up and took the roof off the place.

After a few seconds, the long bolt of lightning left Velvet, and I sheathed the blade once more. It pulsed, clearly not happy about being used as a reverse lightning rod.

Sorry, no choice, I thought.

Lilandra came running up to the hotel, as did Death. Apparently they’d both sensed the massive energy spike. Daniel and I walked out of the flames breathing hard, weary from the energy transfer. That said, we’d restored most of our auras and healed up for the most part.

Angrily, Death grabbed me with both her arms around my shoulders asking, “What the Hell was that?”

“Had no choice. . . had to get back in shape. It was the only way,” I said in between breaths.

“That technique could have destroyed you both,” Lilandra said, seething with anger.

“But it didn’t,” Daniel said.

“Look, we can fight about this later. Right now, we need to get to Heaven and see what the commotion is about. Death, can you-”

“No,” Daniel said.

I looked at Daniel and asked, “Excuse me?”

“Did you not hear me back in there? You’ve got the one piece on the board that can still change the course of this potential war. If we all go and it’s a trap, we could lose the only chance we have to stop this war. Death and I will go. You two will stay on Earth,” Daniel said.

I did not like this plan at all. I’d just gotten back on my feet and the first thing Daniel wanted me to do was wait here? Absolutely not.

I asked, “You just expect us to stand here and do nothing?”

Daniel smiled for once, which was actually sort of creepy to see, and said, “No. Your job and Lilandra’s job will be to kill War while we’re gone.”

Lilandra slowly nodded. She approved of the plan.

I looked at Death to make sure she was okay with it. She scowled at Lilandra and then looked at me.

“I’ll go with Daniel to Heaven to see what we can learn. You two do as he says and go kill the last rider of the apocalypse,” Death said.

Making eye contact with Lilandra, I nodded.

Death walked over to me, put her hands on my face, and gave me the longest kiss we’d shared yet. She backed away slowly and said, “Finish this quickly. I’m about ready to get you alone so I can show you what a reaper is like in bed.”

“Yes ma’am,” I said, smirking.

With one hand on my chest, Death turned to Lilandra and said, “Don’t let anything happen to him.”

“Nothing will happen,” Lilandra said.

Daniel perked up and said, “Hey, the ladies finished a conversation without a single threat. I think that is some major progress.”

Death walked over to him, and they locked hands. A few seconds later, they faded from view.

“Okay, Lilandra. How do we go about finding War?”

“Assuming War isn’t in Heaven, he will likely be doing what he does best,” Lilandra said.

“And that is. . . starting wars? Well, that shouldn’t be too hard considering the way the planet is at the moment. Where will he strike?”

Lilandra thought for a moment and then flew up into the air. I flew after her, and we both went over to a small structure that appeared to be closed for the night. It looked like a little magazine stand, but it was big enough for a person or two to be inside, and there were bars down over the windows.

Lilandra slipped inside and then came back out holding a newspaper.

“What are you doing?”

“Making an educated guess as to War’s next target,” Lilandra said, reading.

“And that is?”

Lilandra held the front page up. What I saw on the New York Times front page was a headline about Israeli diplomats and Palestinian leaders coming together in New York City for peace talks.

“That seems fitting. Even I know that they are two seconds away from war. He won’t have to work hard. Specifically what will he try to do if they’re his targets?”

Lilandra threw the paper on the ground and said, “He’ll just kill them and make them each think the other is at fault. That will be enough to spark tensions into all-out war. Allies will likely get dragged in. It’ll involve multiple counties and cause thousands of deaths.”

“I guess that it’s time for this hero to step in and do something about it. I let unspeakable things happen in Egypt, but I won’t let any countries get dragged into a senseless war because of this last rider,” I said.

“Justin. . . I hope that one of these days you realize there is more out there to test a hero than combat,” Lilandra said before she took off flying.

What was that supposed to mean?

Shaking it off, I flew into the night sky with her. The peace talks were in two days, and we had half a world to fly across.

We arrived in New York out of breath and landing on top of a skyscraper. The sun hadn’t come up yet over New York, and the night cityscape was much larger than that of Denver’s.

Red blinking lights, people talking, cars running, it was such a large city.

“Focus Justin. We’re here to find War and kill him before he can assassinate any diplomats,” Lilandra said.

“Just give me a few minutes, okay? We did just fly across the entire world. Can you let me breathe for a few minutes?”

“I just meant to be on your guard. If they really are his targets, we’ve likely come into his nest now,” Lilandra warned.

After I caught my breath, I stood up and stretched.

“What now?”

“Now, we start our search,” Lilandra said.

“For what?”

“I’ll scan the area where they are scheduled to meet for any weapons or explosives. You give the area a quick fly over and see if you can sense his aura. Before you go, though, I’d suggest using that spell I taught you that makes it so humans can’t see you. We did just come to one of the biggest cities in the world,” Lilandra said.

“Sounds good,” I said.

I focussed my aura and muttered an Enochian incantation. I wasn’t a master of sorcery like Lilandra was, but she had taught me a little magic. If any humans were watching me atop this building, they’d soon see just an empty rooftop.

After my scan, we came to the top of the building the diplomats would meet in. Neither of us had seen or felt anything.

“Maybe this isn’t his target,” I said.

“It has to be. . . it’s too easy to not attack here,” Lilandra said, looking down over the ledge.

“Maybe he won’t go for the easy stuff,” I said.

“No. . . it has to be here. It’s just too perfect. We’ll watch over them all day and see what happens. We’ll just have to be very alert,” Lilandra said.

So, that’s what we did. Twelve men gathered, and every last one had dark hair. They wore typical middle eastern garb. . . at least that’s what I assumed was typical over there.

The Israelites were a mixture of dark brown and tan suits with matching pants. Most were wearing the traditional yamaka hats. Meanwhile, the Palestinian diplomats were mostly clean shaven and were wearing lighter colored suits.

Aside from a few raised voices and fists pounding on the long wooden table, the peace talks were fairly uneventful. War was nowhere to be found.

As the clock rolled past noon, I stretched. I wasn’t letting my guard down, but I began to seriously doubt War had selected these men as his targets. They were almost too boring to kill in my eyes.

The Israelites wanted more space for housing, and the Palestinians wanted their own country. It wasn’t something I ever paid too much attention to when I was alive. It was half a world away, and I was just a graphic designer in Denver. What did I care?

“I guess they weren’t his target after all,” I said.

“Don’t be so sure. Where are they all going?”

The men all began to leave the building in multiple vehicles.

“I guess we’ll just have to follow them,” I said.

We followed their black SUV limousines and came to Penn Station.

I would have loved to fly through the entire building, just to marvel at it. No wonder it was such a tourist attraction. The large arched roof and glass ceiling were truly beautiful.

We watched them all board a train for Washington D.C. and gather in a private car.

“They must have more events in the capital,” I said.

“Let’s keep following,” Lilandra said.

We landed on top of the train as it departed and moved south toward the capital.

As soon as we left the station, he showed himself. He climbed up from the back of the train and faced Lilandra and I.

War looked nothing like I’d expected. He had short blond hair and a trimmed beard the same color. He had on a short brown hat, a white shirt under a thick brown leather vest and brown pants with fringe down the side. His black cow-hide boots clacked on top of the train as he made his way to us.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. War looks like a reject from a John Wayne movie,” I said to Lilandra.

He even had a holster and revolver at his side.

“You’re. . . War?”

“That’s me. I guess you’re surprised by my garb, but you’ll have to understand, the last time I walked this planet, I’d just torn this country in two and started The Civil War,” he said in a gruff voice.

“You started The Civil War?”

“Yep. Those were good times. I turned brothers against brothers, fathers against sons, etc. Lots of blood was spilled in those years,” War said.

I asked, “So. . . World War One and Two?”

“Sadly, I can’t claim credit for those masterpieces. I do admire your former species and its ability to kill in the name of God, justice, territory, or whatever it wants,” War said, smiling.

Cutting right to the chase, Lilandra said, “Enough talk, War. What’s your plan here?”

“Well, I’m afraid today isn’t about me. It’s about Justin, and everything that happens now is his call. I’m just here to teach the young pup a lesson,” War said.

“And that lesson is?”

“That being a hero isn’t always easy. I’m here to remind you of just how miserable a path you’ve set yourself on. I’m going to give you a difficult decision, and you’re going to make it. Then, you’re going to live with the consequences of your choice,” War said.

I looked at Lilandra. This wasn’t what we were expecting.

“What is this choice I have to make?”

“Glad you asked. Under this train is a very powerful bomb. I hold the detonator. Defeat me, and you disable the bomb and stop these diplomats from dying. Killing me will also stop any impending war between the Palestinians and Israelites.”

“So the difficult decision I have to make is to kill your or not? Gee. That’s such a hard choice to make. What will I do?”

Lilandra muttered, “Justin. . . be careful.”

“Sure, you can fight me. You won’t win, but you can fight me. Of course, then Joshua dies,” War said, showing a wicked grin.

I stopped upon hearing his words and snarled at War, “And what is that supposed to mean?”

“I did some digging up on your identity while you fought Pestilence and Famine. I found your old life and saw you only had one friend left alive. So, I took that friend, tied him to a chair in his own home, and set a bomb to go off at his feet. It should have about two hours and fifteen minutes left on it,” War said.

“You’re bluffing,” Lilandra said.

“Sure. I’m lying. That’s easy enough for you to believe because you have nothing left to lose. Justin, on the other hand, only has one last thing to lose.”

My heart burned with rage at the very thought of War killing Joshua. I’d kill him if I had time. Still, these diplomats dying would lead to thousands more dying in a senseless war. Was one life worth more than thousands?

“Justin, listen to me. I know it’s going to be difficult, but we can take him now. We have to take him to save these diplomats and stop a war. It’s tough to swallow that pill, but you’re going to have to,” Lilandra said, summoning her usual wooden sword.

I had yet to draw Velvet from its sheath, and the blade was just itching to kill this bastard. I was too, but all I could picture was that last card game between Joshua, Benjamin, and I. I’d lost the love of my life and one of my two best friends in the world. Could I really bear the burden of losing my last living friend?

“Suddenly, being a hero isn’t quite as easy, is it? It’s easy to pick up your sword and fight evil, but how easy is it to make a terrible decision and then pick up your sword to fight evil?”

“Shut up! Justin, hurry up and draw your sword. We need to kill him quickly. Even if you wanted to, you couldn’t save Joshua. You’d have to fly at the speed of sound just to reach him in time,” Lilandra said.

“I’d say you’re down to two hours and twelve minutes now,” War said.

“Justin! Draw Velvet and fight,” Lilandra yelled.

And in that moment, I knew what my decision was. War accomplished his goal.

“If you really mean to stop the war between Heaven and Hell, then you’d have to be a true hero, and a true hero would stop this war first,” War said, chuckling.

“I guess I’m not a true hero then,” I said and bolted from the train.

Lilandra screamed after me, but it didn’t matter. I wouldn’t lose my last living friend. I’d sacrifice thousands to keep him safe, and that’s what made me unworthy. Velvet was pissed at my decision, but it didn’t stop me.

It took everything I had, but with Joshua’s life on the line, I pushed myself past the limit. My body glowed blue as I summoned all my aura to my wings, and a sonic boom was heard as I flew faster than I’d ever flown before.

“Hang on, Joshua!”

The ground below me a blur, I raced west. I couldn’t think about the impending war. I couldn’t think about how War won that last standoff. I just thought of Joshua tied to that chair with a bomb at his feet. As predicted, my wings started to scream in pain, but I couldn’t stop. I would not lose Joshua like I did Benjamin!

After a couple hours, I finally saw his house in the distance. Roaring down, I knew I had precious seconds left. I drew Velvet, cut my way straight through the brick siding of his home, and continued to race into the living room. The display on the bomb had two seconds left.

Joshua looked panicked to say the least. With one second left on the timer, I had Joshua’s chair in my left arm. When the bomb detonated, I had just smashed through his large living room windows and leapt up into the sky.

The explosion blew me back down to the street, and I collapsed in the neighbor’s yard across the road, tearing up most of his or her grass. Joshua, still strapped to the chair, hit the grass on the chair’s side and came to rest a few feet away from me.

After I’d collected myself, I got up and freed Joshua. As he stood, I saw that War had beaten on him a little. He had a black eye and there was dried blood below his nose. His bottom lip was also busted.

Joshua walked over and hugged me.

“I can’t thank you enough, man,” Joshua said.

I went to hug him back, but now that he was safe, my mind slowly turned to what I’d just done.

As the adrenaline faded, my brain realized I’d sacrificed the lives 12 diplomats and many thousands more in the land of Israel. The weight started to hit my shoulders, and I nearly collapsed. I felt like I was about to puke. What had I done?

Joshua was no doubt happy to be alive, but the decision I’d just made was perhaps one of the most costly in history.

“Justin? What’s wrong, man? You saved me. I’m fine,” Joshua said.

I collapsed into the grass and said not a word.

“I’m glad you’re okay, Joshua, but the price I paid. . .,” I said, my voice dying out.

“What price did you pay?”

“Thousands of lives,” I said.

“What does that mean?”

“Twelve diplomats met in the U.S. today. A. . . demon rigged an explosive on their train and said I had to choose between them and you. If they died, their county would become entangled in civil war. If you died, I would lose the last living friend I had,” I explained.

Joshua didn’t quite know what to make of the price for his life. He joined me in the grass, and we didn’t speak for another minute or two.

He finally broke the silence and said, “I’d have done the same for you.”

I looked over at him, just wondering if he was trying to make me feel better.

“You’d have let thousands die in a trade for my life if our roles were reversed?”

“Absolutely. I’m no hero, and I know it. You’re the best friend I have alive. I have to choose between thousands of people I’ve never met and you? That choice is simple. Your life means something to me. Theirs does not,” Joshua said.

There it was. That slightly darker side of Joshua was coming out, but it was a brutal honesty. He was good at that. He always knew how to tell it like it was. The guy couldn’t sugar coat something if he had thirty candy factories. It just wasn’t in him.

Now that I was thinking about it, I had no problems believing that he’d sacrifice that many people for myself or Ben. I’d have done the same for Ben, but that kind of thinking led to me fighting Death and cutting her arm off.

Thinking of that old fight reminded me of something I’d forgotten about. . . Lilandra! I’d left her behind! Did she fight War? No. . . she couldn’t attack him without him making the first move. Would he fight her?

There were just too many questions for me to have without answers.

[I’m fine, you bastard. I’ll be there in an hour,] Lilandra’s voice said in my head.

[Lilandra?]

[Long story short. As long as your mind is somewhat clear, I can reach your thoughts with mine since I hold your soul. You were so frantic until now, I hadn’t been able to get through. I’m fine, just wait in Denver for me, and we’ll regroup,] Lilandra said in my head.

[Lilandra. . . I’m so sor-,] I started, but she cut me off.

[Don’t. We’ll talk when I get there,] she said, sternly.

I looked over at Joshua.

“Well, I have an hour to kill. . . will you come with me to get a drink?”

Joshua looked over at his burning home. His car had been damaged in the explosion.

“Are you going to carry me like Superman carries Lois when he takes her flying?”

I didn’t even have the energy to retort. I’d started a war when I was trying to prevent one. I didn’t want to be a hero now. I wanted to be drunk.

I took Velvet’s scabbard off and held it in my hands. Tired of this entire conflict and my latest round of stupidity, I hurled Velvet into the fire of Joshua’s house. I was done. I wasn’t worthy to be a hero. I didn’t want to pretend to be one anymore.

“Whoa, hold on there, tiger. Don’t you need that to save the world?”

“Fuck it,” I said and started walking.

Joshua looked wide-eyed, but he wasn’t exactly running into his flaming home to get Velvet.

“But. . . your wings,” Joshua said.

“Which one of your neighbors has the most alcohol and isn’t home?”

“I suppose that would be Mr. Cliff down the road. He has some very good Scotch whisky, but he’s a very weird man,” Joshua said.

“Where is he?”

“In Utah. . . at a My Little Pony convention,” Joshua said.

I raised my eyebrow and turned to scowl at Joshua.

“Like I said. . .he’s a weird man,” Joshua muttered.

I didn’t care. I needed a drink, and this man had booze. I was going to break into his home and take what I wanted. What did I care? I wasn’t a hero anymore.

Joshua led the way, and within a few minutes, we were at Mr. Cliff’s patio door.

“How exactly are we going to-”

I kicked the door off its hinges and let us in.

“Okay then,” Joshua said.

I walked over to a bar Mr. Cliff had in his living room and poured two glasses of Laphroaig single malt whisky. I put an ice cube in Joshua’s.

“You remembered,” he said, quietly, taking his glass.

“Course I did,” I said, downing my drink.

I poured another glass.

“You think I’d sacrifice the lives of thousands for someone that I didn’t know how to fix a drink for?”

I saw down on Mr. Cliff’s black leather couch. The material felt weird against my wings, but I didn’t care enough to really take much notice.

The room was very modern with a modest flat-screen television on a dark wooden entertainment unit. The shades were white, the floor was hard wood, and all the furniture in the room was made of black leather. Mr. Cliff clearly had a taste for contemporary living setups.

“Justin. . . listen to me. You can’t blame yourself for what happened to those diplomats. You know, in the movies, when the bad guy takes a hostage, everyone usually makes it out okay. This isn’t a movie, though. It’s real life, and you made a real choice. You chose not to let your friend die,” Joshua said.

“Joshua, I’d probably make the same choice again, but that doesn’t change the fact that thousands are going to die in this war because of my decision, and I have to carry that. Nobody else carries it but me,” I said, finishing off a second drink.

This alcohol was having no effect on me whatsoever.

Stupid spirit body, I thought.

Nonetheless, I poured myself another drink.

Joshua continued to try and make me feel better, but he failed more and more with each sentence.

Eventually, we both came to sit and drink in silence.

A glutton for punishment, I turned on the television.

Mr. Cliff had been watching Al Jazeera English before he left because that was what the television turned on to. The news channel was covering a conflict in Israel. Their reporter was live from Jerusalem, and gunfire could be heard in the background.

It didn’t take long for that explosion to have ripples. People were already dying because of my decision.

We watched for a few minutes as they rattled off some statistics and played video of the train exploding. More than 20 people were confirmed dead from fighting in Jerusalem alone.

Joshua walked over and turned the television off.

“Don’t do that to yourself,” he said.

After more silence and images of the dead replaying in my mind over and over, I stood up screaming and threw the bottle of scotch into Mr. Cliff’s all-glass bar.

“Goddammit! How did it come to this?”

“It came to this because War got the better of you,” Lilandra said, walking in through the hole where the door used to be.

Joshua looked over at her. Clearly, she wanted to be visible to him.

“Justin, who is this?”

“A demon that holds my soul and started me down this whole path,” I muttered.

Joshua looked her over and clicked his tongue.

“Damn. Justin sure knows how to pick them,” Joshua said.

She turned to him and said, “Justin has no interest in me. He’s seeing Death at the moment.”

Joshua raised an eyebrow and turned to look at me.

“It’s . . . complicated,” I said.

Lilandra looked at the shattered bar and then walked over and took Joshua’s remaining drink, downing it.

“Hey I-”

Lilandra didn’t give Joshua a moment to protest. She picked him up by the throat, rather easily, too.

“I believe I’ve had a much worse day than you, human. I believe I needed that booze more than you did, and if you want to fight about it, I’ll gladly oblige and send you to where Benjamin is,” Lilandra said, coldly.

I was up immediately.

“Put him down, now,” I growled.

“Or what? You’ll cut me to pieces? You don’t even have Velvet! Firemen are battling a blaze that currently contains the sword you threw away to join this shithole of a pity party,” Lilandra yelled.

“Put him down. That’s the last warning I’m going to give you,” I said.

Lilandra did nothing, so I summoned a sword of lighting and charged her.

In one fluid motion, she dropped Joshua, summoned her wooden sword, disarmed me, and then held me up with one hand.

“I trained you better than that,” she said.

I grimaced. Her grip on my neck was strong.

“You expected me to come here and kick your ass for leaving me back there with War? Well I have news for you. I didn’t come here to kick your ass for that,” Lilandra said.

I managed to choke out, “Then. . . why. . . are. . . you here?”

“I’m here to pull your ass out of this pity party, to put a sword back in your hand, and to take you back so we can kill War,” Lilandra growled.

“You’d need a. . . hero for that,” I muttered.

“Oh? You think that because you chose to save your friend you’re not a hero anymore?”

Lilandra choke slammed me into the ground, and the whole house shook.

“There isn’t a hero in history that didn’t have blood on their hands at one point or another. You haven’t been utterly defeated, Justin. You just got a taste of what it’s like to lose. Welcome to my world for the thousands of years before I found Velvet,” Lilandra said.

“People will die because of that choice,” I said.

“They will. . . but you know who won’t be one of them? Joshua. He’s alive because of your choice,” Lilandra said.

I looked over at Joshua struggling to regain his breath.

“Making a bad decision doesn’t make you a villain, Justin. Giving up tonight would make you a villain. Allow me to remind you of two things that remain unchanged because of your choice today. First, Lucifer and Michael are still waiting to use Earth as a battleground and destroy each other. Second, you still have Velvet. People die every day. Someday, this new war will end, but it won’t matter if Michael and Lucifer get to have their war,” Lilandra said.

I looked away from her. I knew she was right. Even if I drank all the booze in Denver, there was still only one person that could stop Michael and Lucifer. And unfortunately, that person was me.

“Get your ass up, go get Velvet, and let’s go,” Lilandra said.

Slowly, I got up. I knew she was right, but damn did she know how to hurt me.

Finally regaining his breath, Joshua asked, “Where are you going?”

“To try once more to save the world,” I said, and got up.

Joshua looked at Lilandra and said, “You’d better take good care of him.”

“Don’t worry. He’s only got a couple more people to kill before this is all over,” she said.

We walked out of the room, and I turned to look back at Joshua.

“I’d get out of town. I’m going to kill the bastard that put you in that chair, but there’s a small chance he told other demons about you,” I warned.

“Got it,” Joshua said.

Before I left he said, “Thanks for saving my life again.”

“You’re my last living friend, the one treasure left over from my previous life. I’d make the same decision again,” I said.

“I miss this,” Joshua said.

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow and said, “I don’t think we’ve ever done this before!”

Joshua smiled and said, “You didn’t miss a beat.”

“Yeah well, I forgot that Lisa wasn’t the only one who liked that show. You watched the same crap too,” I said.

“So. . . I guess you could say that choosing between me and the diplomats was a Kobayashi Maru,” Joshua said, searching for me to finish one more reference with him.

“I’m leaving now. Don’t make me rescue you again. You’re too damn ugly to be a damsel in distress,” I said, disappearing.

I was moving too fast for the eye detect as I flew back to his home.

The fire was out, and firemen were walking over the ashes of the home burnt completely to the ground.

I spotted Velvet and appeared over the blade, picking it up.

It burned my hands slightly, but it wasn’t hot from the fire. It was practically undamaged. The burning was the sword’s way of saying, “Don’t you ever do that again, or I’ll kill you.”

“I understand,” I said, putting the sword on my back again and flying up into the night sky before any firemen saw me.

“Okay Lilandra, where do we find War?”

“Follow me,” she said, and we flew off.

I wasn’t going to let that bastard pull anything this time. He’d die like his other two brothers before him.