Third Heaven

I closed my eyes while taking in a large breath. My mind was in chaos so I frowned.

'Try to clear your mind,' The soothing voice said from somewhere near me.

'How?' I questioned.

'Focus on your breathing and nothing more.'

I tried to do that, breathing in and out silently. It worked for a few seconds but my thoughts kept popping up randomly.

I frowned as I focused hard on clearing my mind. It took a few minutes, I wasn't how long. But I finally managed to clear my mind.

As soon as I did, white clouded my vision. All the noise around me faded away, like an echo from far away.

I didn't know where I was. There was nothing but fog clouding my vision.

Then, somewhere in the distance, I saw a black figure. My feet immediately started running towards it.

I tried to stop, but my feet had a mind of their own. It slowed down only when I could slightly make out the figure's features.

It wasn't any help because the person was standing with their back to me.

'Hey,' I think I said, but I could barely hear anything. Everything felt like a dream.

'Hey!' My voice sounded so far away as I repeated as if I was speaking from the end of a tunnel.

The figure finally turned around. I wish they hadn't.

I had to swallow a scream as the disfigured, bloody face came into my view.

It was so horribly scarred that all I could make was the big, round eye covering half of his face.

The figure didn't even look like a person as it stood with its ribcage protruding out of its clothes.

You could almost see bones where they had cracked at the elbows and knees. I would've thought it was a zombie if it weren't for his blackened skin.

'You don't recognize me, Náli?' The screeching voice said in a slow voice. It made me wince from the loud noise.

I looked him up and down, noticing how the clouds covered his feet. As I glanced below, I found that we were standing in something light and airy. The floor sort of resembled clouds.

I wished that the clouds would cover the rest of his body too. I could barely look at him without cringing.

'Who..' I shook my head to rid my thoughts, 'Who are you?'

The figure looked at me with large, red eye. It creeped me out but I held his gaze, I couldn't look away.

But as he took a step toward me, I had to force myself to stay rooted to the spot. My mind was screaming at me to turn around and run away.

'I'm Samael,' The strange creature said all of a sudden.

It was still analyzing me in that strange way but I ignored it, choosing to focus on what he had said.

For a moment, I simply blinked at him in surprise. Then, I glanced at his form once again, as if to silently make a point.

I think he understood my silent question because he said, 'This was before I transformed into a demon. When I fell from heaven.'

I raised my eyebrows in surprise at his bloody form. I always knew god was cruel but this was a whole other level.

I said as much to the creature- or, rather, Samael, 'This is so.. not angelic.'

The eye simply blinked at me. It reminded me of the demon master, who would've simply said 'duh.' So this really was Samael.

'What,' I started, glancing around, '-is this place?'

'The third heaven.' Samael said in a calm voice.

'Wait, what?' I almost screamed out loud. No demons could get anywhere near the seven heavens. There was a barrier surrounding the heavens all the time, so any demon who dared to cross was electrocuted to death.

'What we now call hell,' Samael said, and I looked at him wide-eyed. I felt both confused and amazed at the same time.

'What do you mean by that?' I questioned in awe. I still couldn't believe I was actually in heaven. Even though it wasn't heaven per se, because heaven was on the seventh level.

'This is just my memory, we're not actually in the third heaven.'

'Oh,' my shoulders fell in disappointment.

Samael turned away from, saying, 'I brought you here for a reason today. To fulfil a promise I made years ago.'

'A promise?' I questioned as my eyes narrowed in suspicion. Samael never made promises, everyone knew that.

Even if he did, why would he tell me? I was his arch nemesis's daughter.

'Honestly, I never wanted you to find out. But Azrael made me promise to tell you this when she died.'

'At the time, I agreed. Azrael was immortal and one of the most powerful demons to ever exist. The chances of her dying were next to impossible.'

Samael whooshed around in a swirl of colours. His one eye was white as red ones appeared in it. This time, I did take a step back.

I had no idea what was going on, or why he was angry at me in the first place.

'But you managed to do the impossible. I should've known you were trouble the day you were born. Hell trembled from your power but Azrael convinced me it was nothing.'

He looked away from me, 'I should've never trusted her.'

I blinked in surprise at what he had just told me. Hell trembled from my power? I had no idea what that was supposed to mean.

'To Azrael, you meant everything. You were her pride and success.'

I opened my mouth to interrupt, about to tell him that he might've mistaken my mom for someone else. But he went on as if I didn't even exist.

'But to me, you were a mistake,' He spits at me in anger but I simply raised my eyebrows, 'You'll always be a mistake that I should've killed the moment that premonition appeared in the sky.'

I rolled my eyes at Samael's theatrics, saying, 'Okay, so you're my dad. Can I go now?'

His large eye widened, 'How did you know?'

I sighed loudly in annoyance and exasperation, 'All parents do is tell their kids how much of a disappointment they are. Azrael did the same throughout my life, now you're here to take her old spot.'

I almost groaned out loud at the last thought. The only reason I had trapped Azrael in Limbo was so she wouldn't interfere in my life anymore.

Even killing her had been a hassle. It had taken me years, centuries even, to come up with a good plan. How am I supposed to kill a fallen angel?