Garden of Enchantment 10: Who is Cecilia? (Patreon)

“You intend to remove her instead of killing her?” Accord’s right hand woman, Citrine, asked him through the phone. 

“Yes,” Talrith replied, glancing down at the unconscious form of the blonde angel. “She won’t be bothering you ever again. I’ll make sure of that.”

“Words hold no weight, Mr. Talrith. This was not what Accord had in mind.” What went unsaid was that the Ambassadors expected him to kill Cecilia in greed after the reward on her head. Well, hah! He wasn’t so easily used. He accepted the job because he wanted to claim this woman, less so for the reward. 

“But it would be holding up word for word to the contract.”

“But not its spirit.”

“Accord only stated that he wanted her gone. He made no gesture nor did he imply what he truly wanted without saying so.” If she wanted to pressure him into finishing the job, then she was out of luck and out of experience; he had been in politics for over a thousand years at the least - a few words wouldn’t make him change his mind. 

“... You realize that this will negatively impact Faultline and her crew’s ability to gain work from us in the future?” 

Ah, a threat. How nice. 

“Then I shall convey to her that Accord is being picky and wanted to fight over the spirit of the contract rather than the word of the contract. I expected better from someone whose entire shtick is being murderously professional.” 

Silence.

… Huh? Did he push too far? 

“Very well. The Ambassador shall pay you to the letter of the contract, but it shall be noted with us that Faultline and her crew won’t be taking jobs with us in the immediate future.”

“Until you need us again, then,” he replied and Citrine cut the call off. He chuckled. He wasn’t worried about how the Ambassadors - specifically Accord - would treat his lover’s crew. Despite being one of the bigger players in Boston, Boston was too big for even a well-disciplined, trained, and professional team of parahumans to handle. Sooner or later, they would call on Faultline and her crew. 

He turned back to still unconscious Cecilia.

‘And now, it’s time for me to make her into a productive member of my crew…’ Talrith thought gleefully. He leaned towards her from his seat in this temporary housing in this motel and placed his hands on her forehead and temple. ‘Show me her life. Show me her strengths and weaknesses.’

He was his magic, and his magic was he. He couldn’t be himself without magic, and his magic wouldn’t exist without him. His will was his magic’s direction. His magic’s power was his will.

And thus, his magic, as old and experienced as he, moved with his direction without needing a complex and layered spell or spellwork like most magicians who would have needed to do what he just did.

‘Experience has its perks,’ Talrith thought fondly one last time before he dove into Cecilia’s mind. 

-VB-

Cecilia stood before the congregation of her peers. Though she was not chained as she should have, she knew that she was guilty even before this meeting took place.

She stood at the center of their Third Amphitheater, lower than the rest of her peers from where they sat. As the last of her peers entered the amphitheater, she saw the magic of its foundation lazily awake from its slumber. The presence of a thousand angels exuding their existence powered the building, and its internal mechanisms slowly opened the windows and ceiling roof. 

As light poured in, she laid her eyes upon the brightly shining tiles of white and purple and the red, blue, white, and black seats of her fellow angels. 

She looked up and saw the judge, another of her peer who would declare her guilty but would do so with genuine pain. She would thank him for it. 

Cecilia smiled, no different from her peers in her angelic beauty. 

“Judge Anania,” she spoke to her childhood friend. “It’s time.”

The goateed angelic judge nodded solemnly. “I, the current Judge of the Third Amphitheater, hereby declare the court in session.” A moment of silence. “Today, one of our fellow peers stand trial for the sins she committed against the Immutable Laws of Heaven.” Another pause. “Today, Angel Cecilia stands trial, accused of the following sins: consorting with the forces of Hell, betrayal against the forces of Hell…”

The words became incoherent as Cecilia lowered her head, remembering the things she’s done in the name of helping the mortals. Behinds the backs of her peers she trusted with her life but not those of mortals.

“... and the destruction of the three worlds.”

They didn’t care that those worlds belonged to the demons - demons that she betrayed - but the fact that one of their own was a “World Crusher.”

“How do you plead?”

“Guilty.”

But despite the fact that she was right in doing so, being right didn’t make it justice. Mortals called revenge “right” but is it? No. 

There was no need for the congregation before her to discuss whether or not she was guilty or not. She herself knew that she was, and by extension, so did they because she did. 

“... the Father of Creation weep for you, sister.”

She looked back up and smiled but didn’t say anything.

“We cannot make exceptions, you know this to be true.”

“Yes.”

“Satan was cast down for less reasons than yours.”

“His Left Hand was,” she agreed.

“Then you know the judgement.”

“To be stripped of the minor divinity bestowed upon me, rendering me mortal.”

“You will not flee?”

She laughed wetly. “We all know what happens to angels that defy Father and flee with stolen divinity.”

The somber mood of the Third Amphitheater fell even further.

“The … Third Congregation would like to hear from you - not your last words, not yet - the reason why you committed sin after sin for the sake of the mortals when the Mandate of the Father is clear upon the matter.”

“... Father wishes them to be free. Had the forces of Hell descended as it would have without my intervention, then their very souls would have been extinguished, unable to be free as they could be. I’ve watched over them with all of you, and I could not bear the thought and the scenes of massacres that had happened to so many worlds happening to our jewel. Was I wrong to go against the Mandate? Yes, yes I was. As the mortals say, one death does not equal another and our Creator’s words are Law. I have disobeyed the Law. I deserve punishment.”

Judge Anania sighed. “Then this is your judgement. You shall be stripped of your angelic divinity bestowed upon you by Father. You shall be delivered to the world you’ve saved, to live out your life to its end, and the congregation shall continue the protection of this world.”

Her eyes widened, and she looked around. The congregation smiled down at her. Many did so sadly and some did so proudly.

Anania continued. “You committed the sin of betrayal, sin of murder, sin of lies and deceit, sin of destruction, and so much more, but in doing so, you have saved the current billions and future trillions. What has been done has been done. The responsibility now unable to be carried by the one who brought the burden shall now be carried by the Greater Congregation under Father and the Mandate.”

She wept. 

Anania smiled. “Go. Live the rest of your life in peace.”

-VB-

Talrith let out a breath from exertion as he broke the connection. A fallen angel, eh? A bit like Morgana except for the fact that Cecilia willingly gave up hers because that was what she viewed as right. She had the natural abilities that came with being an angel but...

Talrith grinned maliciously.

‘No protection from my corruption.’ Just how many times could he claim that he corrupted a truly divine being? 

Now, his hands reached down.

And his magic responded with glee.