Chapter Nine: The Town in Question

As the midday sun pass’ed over the company, it stuck above the town in question, and the four in the sky soared straight into Ellenstein.

Michael and Delilah's pure white wings were elegantly spread wide open and flapping against the wind. Lucifer had a pouty face while crossing his arms as he was being carried by Jehovah, who held onto him by the armpits.

The company flew straight across the meager fortifications the town had. A typical town near the east end of heaven would have a layout that included at least a main keep and central stronghold, surrounded by another series of walls, towers, and other defensive structures. Here, there was none. Only the least imposing stone walls rose about twenty meters high. There was enough space on the uppermost flat part of the walls for a walkway that could fit a singular person at a time. The thin lineage transversely encapsulates the slightly less than municipal place, now shrunken back by quadratics and the multiplying snow covering its beauty below. Within the walls, it felt like a globe encompassed by heaps of precipitating snow.

You best believe the moats were frozen solid and the drawbridge to enter chains had snapped a while ago and remained shut, but the nine pins that locked the top in place stood seamlessly sturdy. Ellenstein's hawk's-eye view was just as everything else. A landfill of snow. Barren really, the town and streets are very much a duplicate. The streets were emptied out, windows slammed shut, shutters clattered closed, and doors were bolted. Walls to the windows and doors of homes were boarded up as well as used as support, but in all reality, it was a very lackadaisical contingent.

The town was shut down. It seized, and so did the people within it. As you can believe, these town folk were dreading something fierce.

The elders sent several urgent letters to the kingdom per aid, but there was no reply for days. It's been two weeks now, and that poor town is already plagued by doom. Nobody has actually died or been injured, but several women in town went missing the day the first letters were sent. They thought one such girl had died up in the mountains gathering medicinal herbs for her family. Her name was Ellie Penn; she is only six years old. Kathrine Deborah, a girl around the same age was discovered by her own mother, who was investigating her disappearance. She said she saw the devil up there in those mountains. That couldn’t be true; Kathrine would’ve been dead otherwise. There were two others missing: Heather Leeann Walle and Sarah Barbra Ruth. This came in a confidential file within the letters. The only two who have read it were Lucifer and Jehovah; the rest were blind to what they were going into.

They arrived at the front steps of the town hall, located in the middle of Ellenstein. Lucifer was dropped and ran forward without falling, sliding on the icy concrete. The others were behind them, but they did not struggle walking just fine once they landed. There was a large hut in front of them that looked like a paste, where the elders were surely counseling.

Lucifer regained his footing and, as he recomposed himself, fixed the straps to his backpack on his back and said: Jehovah and I will go inside. You two stay here for now. These older guys are a little...

He whistled, placing his index finger near his temple and making circular motions around it.

Delilah took off her scarf and said, What does that mean?

Crazy. He said, What? Lucifer shook his head, Delilah, no offense, but I hope you aren’t coming in at all.

Was that sarcasm? She said she was confused.

Delilah wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. Instead, she was a brash young woman who was loyal to a fault. Like Lucille, she was an orphan and was given the title of 'Jehovah’s Protector' at fourteen years old. Only the strongest in heaven were qualified for the job, but she had the position and was best at what she did. She wore black jeans, a black tee, and black leather boots under her cloak. Taking off her hoodie, she revealed she had long blond hair, light blue eyes, and a nose of perfect size. It harmonized with all of her face perfectly, along with her darker shade of thin eyebrows. During this period of time, her height was slightly shorter than Lucifer's by an inch or so, making her the shortest of the four. Delilah, a tomboy, tried to look and act like the opposite sex as best she could.

Michael followed suit, taking off his hood and then undoing the integrated scarf that was tucked into his clothes, causing it to bulk up around his neck. His dirty blond braids were tied up tight. Braids in which that were different from most with multiple smaller braids woven together into their makings. A larger braid ran in the opposite direction from the rest of his hair, reaching the top of his eyebrows. He, like Delilah and most angels in heaven, had blue eyes. He had such a well-defined jawline that when he bit into anything, the muscles in his jaw would tense, and the joints around them would get bigger as they flexed. He was funny, likable, and smart as well. People compared Michael to Jehovah for his perfect accolades, leadership skills, and overall personality, even at his ripe young age.

Just stay put, will you? Lucifer said.

Lucifer turned, assuming Jehovah was beside him. He returned his head to the two and then turned back, realizing he wasn’t there. He surveyed the surrounding area, seeing that he was already up the stairs and opened the entrance door. Lucifer rushed up the first step almost tripping a few times, but he managed to gather his feet under him. He ran to the middle of the case and looked down at Delilah from where he was, and then at Michael.

He said, You didn't see that.

He quickly went up to the hut and slammed the door shut. The slam echoed obnoxiously through the silent hut as angels, including Jehovah, were on their knees praying.

Sorry, he said, as several raised their heads, unfocused by the commotion.

Lucifer raised an eyebrow, confused, shrugging his shoulders at Jehovah, who raised his head before reposing back. Inside, towards the east end, a fire was being produced by an unusually small chimney, where the ventilation system from a glass box also acted as a lightbulb, and instead of having a crown on the roof expelling smoke at the top, there were slits in the wall it was attached to where oxygen could also be recycled and fed to the fire. It was a compact heater, one of Lucifer’s inventions he made as a kid. There was a deeper pit under which the wood, or whatever type of burner they were using to cast the flames. The other touches along the wall weren't lit. Lucifer deduced that the reason they weren’t using the actual chimney was because there was too much snow packed into the roof. The crown to the chimney that releases the smoke from the room would need constant maintenance, so it was a better idea to use the A/C unit he invented. Although it provided little heat and its light was timid, its intended purpose was for his sisters in the winter—a little apartment and not a town hall.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Jehovah was blessing the oldest elder, whose prayer breads were entangled in his hands. His head touched the ground, and his large wings were pressed into his back but still bulged out. All the angels here had wings, and all wore himation's, but Jehovah and now Lucifer. He offered to put his head down, but after some time, he opened his eyes and didn’t bother to shut them. He waited till they were done, and an elder, Montgomery, saw that a black-haired young man was looking in their direction.

Lucille? He said trying hard to see squinting till his eyes were little peas.

Lucifer walked over with his arms out offering a hug.

He said referring to the heating unit, I'm glad to see my ideas are still being put to good use.

We’ve expanded on your original idea. Montgomery said, I’ve crafted something called a rectangular heating box, better known as a Roblox.

Lucifer was a foot away about to lean in for a hug, before he said to Montgomery, What did you say?

Montgomery in a well-mannered tone said, A Roblox, it’s basically this device where-

Lucifer interjects— I know what it is. That’s not what it's called. Its name is an A/C light seal, or rather, just a heater.

Montgomery looked at Lucifer and grabbed him by the shoulders. Same ole Lucille, he said. Anyway, how are you?

Jehovah was done with his blessing, meeting the two from their sides. How are we? Jehovah said, How are you?

I suppose you’re right, Montgomery said. He nodded to the other elders, and they took their seats on a raised platform facing Jehovah and Lucifer. They were starting an official board meeting, now that they were here.

Back outside Michael sat on the stairs and spoke with Delilah.

So, he said, You've all been here before, right?

She nodded her head, put her hands into her coat, and explained, Only for a week or two, about five years ago. This is Lucifer’s hometown.

I thought demons lived in hell. Isn't he a demon?

Yes, he is. Delilah said, answering before he could finish. She said, All I know is that he’s from here. He was born in Gehenna.

Huh? I see why he's tense sometimes.

He’s only like that with us. Once you get to know the guy a little more, he's not really like this around other people. He’s a good guy. A little bit.

Himself.

Yeah, sure. He’s himself…

She glanced over the town square. The roads were all piled on, and seeing down the street, well, there wasn't much to see. Most facilities, buildings, and roads became a homogeneity of white snow. It was brutally bright, as light from the frosted sun pressed down.

Delilah said, It never used to be like this. I mean all the snow. It was so bright and vibrant. What happened to this place? Looks dead.

In the town hall, an older woman sat down in the chair of one of the high raisers.

She said, The greatest troublemaker this town has ever seen is back.

Lucifer pointed at himself and said, Me? Yeah, I’m back. Because of these.

Lucifer threw his backpack off and to his front side, pulling a red wax-sealed letter. He held out the stamps of Ellenstein, the official symbol of a sparrow with a tree branch going up into the sky.

Then we can skip the semantics. The older woman said, Ellenstein is being systematically attacked!

Her voice echoed throughout the town hall. Jehovah and Lucifer looked at each other. Jehovah took a step forward.

We aren't doubting you, but there's no evidence of any real danger.

Montgomery spoke to the young prince: Several girls have gone missing.

Jehovah said, And that's why we're here for the girl. To check on you, Lucille and I talked about this earlier, and it's impossible for a devil to be here.

They glanced at each other again. Lucifer rolled his eyes. He was a demon that arrived at Ellenstein randomly one day, but it was an impossibility to do it again. Herald, the Diarch angel, told him this, and he knew best.

Another councilman said Katherine Deborah was one of the missing girls. She said she saw one.

She's six years old, sir.

He appeared bothered by this remark, and the council women said naggingly, How many are there besides you two anyway? We may be dealing with more than we bargained for. A lot more.

Montgomery added, I'm sure the kingdom has spared an army for catching a devil out here.

Oh, right! Jehovah said, opening the door and going to grab the two from outside. He came walking in with the other teens.

Montgomery said, Where's the army? Are they all out there? Maybe I should go out there and check on them. It's cold, and there isn't much help. I can help them in.

Jehovah rubbed the back of his before announcing, It's just us.