Amelia could no longer scream. The terror of what she had witnessed was too much. Seeing the giant for the first time was bad enough, but after nearly dying three times, and now knowing had she not spoken to the odd woman at the bank, had she taken too long to get ready, had she decided to get coffee at that nice cafe, she would be dead. It was overwhelming. Being pinned tightly against the angel’s collarbone was the only thing stopping her from having a stoke, she figured. Amelia didn’t know if it was natural or caused by some divine magic, but being held by the massive woman was… nice. Had she not just seen a city be annihilated she might even say she felt safe in her palm. But as it stood, the comfort of the divine only served to keep Amelia from dry heaving.
After some time of the angel crouching in place, she stood, dropping the shield that enveloped them. She held out her hand, letting Amelia stand in place on her palm. “T-thank you,” Amelia stammered, still having trouble breathing, “you didn’t need to save me, Sophia.”
Sophia wore a smile with a kind of sadness underneath it, “That’s my purpose here, little mortal. I protect you. If only I could have saved more of you! If I were just stronger…”
Amelia couldn’t really find the words to comfort her. After all, how would I know how to build a divine’s confidence? She simply said, “Well, there may be some survivors. Maybe we should help them?”
Sophia looked back towards the ruined city, “Yes. I feel some of you lived. Maybe twenty-thousand or so.” Amelia’s heart sank. Two million dead. Angels preserve us. The angel was less devastated by this realization, her excitement to help building, “I’ll summon as many as I can here. Can you help set up first aid, like you did at your… what do you call that place? Your money house?”
“Bank.”
“Yes. Like you did at the bank!”
Amelia nodded. Sophia’s face erupted in a smile as she gingerly set the human down. Spreading her wings, she flew into the air, zipping though the city at inhuman speeds. Every few minutes, she would drop ten or so humans, all hurt or paralyzed by trauma. Amelia and the able-bodied survivors helped organize the rest, getting the few doctors together to start treating the wounded. Eventually, the angel landed with the last humans. “That makes 500. Sophia, can you get any more?” Amelia didn’t have supplies for any more wounded, but it didn’t feel right to abandon the rest. Sophia’s face was no longer a smile; rather, she had a disconcerted look. “Amelia, before I get any more, will you tell me something?”
Her tone was one of confusion. Amelia got a bad feeling, “Of course. What do you want to know?”
“You mortals. Are you… good?”
Amelia raised an eyebrow, “Um. That depends on the person, I guess.”
“I can feel your thoughts. If I touch one of you, I can read every single thought and memory they have. And the survivors here, many have done great sins!”
“Well, we all sin. But most try to be good people. I guess with the demon maybe some were influenced to do worse things, but--”
“No.” Sophia’s tone got stern. “Jessamine has been influencing your dreams, not your actions. Many of you experienced no nightmares but still did things. Awful things.”
“Maybe we should focus on helping the wounded? Sort out moral worthiness later?”
Sophia glared at the woman, nearly causing Amelia’s heart to stop, “NO. I suspected things were off when I was harvesting the inhabitants’ emotions before. The survivors’ memories here just confirm it, there is sickness among you. If this is how you beings live, this life of evil and debauchery, then you are unworthy of help.”
Her sudden change in disposition was beginning to terrify Amelia, “Miss, aren’t you all omniscient? Why are you just now knowing that people can do bad things?”
“I am a Seraphim. I sit on the council and guard the heavens. My archangels observe the affairs of mortals. It seems they’ve been misleading me about how well you keep our commandments. You humans, you are… unclean.”
Amelia’s blood ran cold, “W-what are you--”
Sophia took a step forward, “I will check all of you. If I find you are without sin, then I will help you. Otherwise, you are on your own.”
She didn’t wait for a response as she walked to the first aid station, the mortals all getting out of the way while she touched each with her finger, observing their past and their attitudes. Sometimes, she’d point at a human and they’d suddenly find themselves healed. But most of the time, she merely walked past them, finding them unworthy of the gifts of heaven. Soon, she stomped back to Amelia. “Three. Three mortals are worthy. The rest of you are dirty, disgusting animals. For how long have you lived this way?”
The angel towered over Amelia, the poor woman now completely pale. “Humans have been capable of evil since Gaia made us.”
“YOU DO NOT SPEAK HER NAME” Sophia’s wings opened and she floated up, righteous fury burned in her pale grey eyes as she glared at the insolent woman. It was a grave sin to speak the name of the goddess who made the universe. Amelia finally broke, the trust she had now totally gone, “I’m sorry, angel! I mean no disrespect! Please, forgive me!”
Sophia just floated there for a minute, the other survivors cowering in the rubble, fearful of another rampage. Slowly she descended, her expression still stern but less angry, “You have more than proven yourself to be a good woman, Amelia. But even you are not free of darkness. Once I rid this land of Jessamine’s influence, I will have use for mortals like you.” The ominous way she phrased that sent shivers down Amelia’s spine.
Sophia turned to the horizon and prayed. Amelia couldn’t make out the words, but it was complicated and seemed to demand much of the large woman’s attention. Eventually, she turned back, “Amelia. The demon is at your capital city. I will go there, but I require more power to stop her. Do you understand?”
“N-no. What are you saying?”
“There is no power gained without sacrifice.”
Amelia nearly fainted, “Wait! Angel! Sophia! Please, we haven’t done anything wrong. We can be better! More devout, I promise!”
Sophia walked over and plucked the woman up, pinning her as she squirmed helplessly between the angel’s perfect fingers, “I believe you can. But the survivors of your den of sin, they will not. And so, they will feed me.”
“No, please! Don’t--” Amelia was interrupted by a shifting sound below her. The dirt by Sophia’s feet began to twist and swirl. Sophia dropped Amelia in feet first, the slow vortex swallowing Amelia as she screamed. “Don’t worry. You’ll be safe in there,” the angel said. “I’ll get you later.” The vortex gurgled, then settled back to its original configuration.
The survivors, having heard this conversation, had all started running if they had usable legs. But this didn’t matter. They were hers, now. Sophia sprung hundreds of feet into the air. She spoke, first in the ancient language, then continued her prayer in the common English,
“O Great Mother! She who sleeps eternal! I beseech thee, grant me thy blessing to purge thy holy vessel of those who defile thee and abandon thy word! Grant me thy grace to make myself as the titans of old, those mighty arbiters of thy justice and thy wrath! With these souls I do bargain! Praise to thee, O Mother of All! In thy name, I serve!”
Speaking the forbidden name of the one who made her, the bones of the Earth shifted and groaned. Slowly, Sophia could see little dots float above from the ruins of the city. Sinners. Not worthy to live in Her world. More and more humans lifted from their would-be burial sites, until all twenty thousand were suspended high in the air. Then, the mortals all congregated together in one giant ball of flesh, not unlike the one lobbed at Sophia just before. Sophia approached the ball of mortals, the humans wriggling in a futile attempt to break free, when the Earth shook again. Sophia felt her tunic begin to tighten and stretch. It’s happening. She grew, her clothes and sandals snapping off leaving her fully nude, and kept growing until her feet could span half the ruined city. The ball of humanity was now no larger than a grape to her. The Earth shook, the Great Mother demanded the sacrifice. Sophia grasped the ball in her hand, feeling the humans on the outside squish on her fingers, and dropped the mass into her mouth. The ball deformed, as the sacrifices all spread out into the hot expanse of the angel’s tongue. Swishing them around a bit, she found their flavor was surprisingly nice, she coated all the humans in saliva until around a quarter had drowned. Then, she swallowed, sending fifteen thousand living, breathing humans straight into her divine stomach in a single gulp. Her belly growled, happy to have received a meal. The first real meal in a few centuries. The Earth shook a final time. The bargain was complete. Sophia spread her wings, now the span of mountains, and flew straight West, right to the capital city, Celioth.
Right to the little heretic.