Chapter 785 - He Was A Monster (Merle's Arc)

Newest Chapter for Highest Tier (November 2021 )

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Merle and Archangel Uriel Story Arc

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Her real name was Merle.

'How many times had she told him that?' She always threw the bastard an irritated glance every time Archangel Lucifer called her 'Mermaid.

Of course, Archangel Lucifer knew it irked her to no end and it was one of the disadvantages of owning an expressive face. 

She had no idea how he knew it was her back at the tavern.

He saw past her disguise when she had never seen him before.

Yet, that was the least of her problems.

Uriel never introduced this Archangel to her either. 

Archangel Uriel didn't show up in the mountains for three consecutive nights.

She was getting worried and frantic that she found herself pacing on the wooden floor of their hut until dawn.

The only one stopping her from spiralling out of control was Archangel Lucifer's casual visits in her roofless hut for the past three nights, claiming that he pitied her solitary figure in the mountains and that he wanted to keep her company since he was lonely as well, waiting for Archangel Uriel to return.

The bastard still hadn't told her the secret of how to set Archangel Uriel free from his obligations with the Highest Creator without compromising his Covenant with him.

Lucifer also said that those females in the Material Realm were their test of loyalty to the Highest God.

It was all or nothing.

Archangels couldn't choose to carry both duties.

She could imagine the difficulties the Watchers'  had faced after eloping with their families.

The 'Watchers' weren't torn with two responsibilities anymore since they already threw the other one—their allegiance to the Heavens with their own free will.

The sight of Archangel Uriel's blue wings hovering in the air made the tense muscles on her shoulder relax as she met him outside the door, wearing the thick grey wolf skin fur Archangel Lucifer gave her that night.

He said that his gift would keep the warm every time she was outdoors, waiting for Archangel Uriel to arrive. 

Snow had started to fall in the Faerie Realm even if it wasn't Winter Season yet. 

It seemed like the seasons had gone awry from the presence of the Watchers along with the demons and Nephilims infesting this Material Realm—a palace where these creatures didn't belong. 

Well, that can also apply to all of the Angel Kind but it was the Watchers and their offspring who had destroyed the balance of this world.

It was her and Archangel Uriel's mission to help in getting rid of them.

Archangel Lucifer offered to watch over her while he sat on the small chair beside the bed which he could barely sit it since the bed almost occupied the entire wooden floor.

Merle wanted to accept that offer since she trusted him anyway.

She also made the decision just the simple fact that Lucifer was an  Archangel who couldn't care less about anything in this Material Realm and what the creatures here do.

She could hear this unmistakable arrogance in his insistence as if he was above in comparison to them that he might as well call them lowlifes. 

Maybe, it was simply her assumption but she had this idea that Lucifer had this superiority ingrained in his mind.

That a powerful cherubim, like him, were on a whole other level than anyone else in the Material  Realm.

From his hubris alone, perhaps, this Archangel also thought that his magical and heavenly abilities would help him defeat the gods, the goddesses and the Angel Kind if he desired it. 

Nevertheless, Merle changed her mind and turned Archangel Lucifer's offer down because she needed Uriel—Archangel Uriel and not him —more than everything to calm her racing heartbeat.

The moment she curled up into his strong arms?

That was when she could finally breathe a sigh of relief. 

She would rather feel Uriel's thick feathers in her fingers.

His muscular torso against her soft flesh.

In the end, Merle stood, barefooted, outside the door, waiting for a goddess to free the sun from the far horizon and watch it give birth to the morning. 

There were times when Lucifer left her alone to give her personal space so she wouldn't feel like his tall and muscular physique was crowding her inside the hut as well as the outdoors.

It was a request of hers after the Archangel had positioned himself near her many times, standing so close than what was normal, which made her uncomfortable. 

Ever since a male Fae had tried to take advantage of her, she didn't feel uncomfortable being around them.

If a man was an Archangel who didn't want to turn into a Fallen Angel, she could try to be lenient since she felt safe but if it was a forceful Archangel like Lucifer who seemed ignorant of the strong walls and boundaries she tried to circle her thoughts and her emotions, 

It was a miracle for her that the zealous Archangel like him still respected her wishes and she was glad about it. 

At Archangel Uriel's arrival outside their little home, Merle caught sight of the dark heavy clouds covering the brilliant white stars suspended on the dark velvet blanket of the universe. 

She ran towards Uriel and hugged him but he was unresponsive.

He kept walking towards the hut in his impassive countenance as she bombarded him with questions, "Where have you been? What happened?" 

He took another step and paused to snap his emotionless gaze back at her, "What were you doing with Lucifer by the time I wasn't here?" 

"Nothing." Merle's voice turned small as she hunched her shoulders in surprise,  "We were waiting for you to come home to our refuge."

"You said it yourself. It is 'our' refuge." He enunciated the word 'our' with an eerie calm that sent alarm bells in her head, "You shouldn't have brought him here." 

Merle quickly positioned herself in front of Uriel with her hands, outstretched. "I thought he was your friend?" 

"Well, a friend who betrays a promise is a friend no more. You know what this entails, Merle." Uriel's teeth were gritted and his fists were clenched. This was the first time she saw him furious and her lips parted in surprise,  "If he is here for three days with you, then who is watching the Garden of the Four Seasons?" 

"D-didn't he tell you that he was here to tell you something important?" She stuttered but she acknowledged that his concerns made sense. " I think he will come back to the Garden of the Four Seasons as soon as possible after your discussion." She glanced behind Uriel but no Lucifer had trailed after him, "I don't see him anywhere which means he isn't with you." 

"He isn't going back to watch the Garden for me, Merle." Uriel exhaled a heavy sigh old fingertips traced the side of his jaw in the gentlest of touches. The wide smile splitting her face froze when he added, "I need to leave you and return there since the walled enclosures wouldn't be enough to protect the Garden and keep the magic fruits safe." 

"Leave?"  Her voice was hollow and it felt like she was hit by the lightning when it flashed into the dark night. 

She felt a myriad of emotions in just one minute—denial, anger, and bitterness—and she couldn't accept that this exact moment was the farthest they could go.

'Can you stay here a bit longer, Uriel?' She thought but she couldn't say it out loud. 

Her tongue was tied and her eyes burned from the tears which threatened to fall.

"What did  you talk about with the other Archangel?" Merle asked softly.

Archangel Uriel refused to look at her but at least, he regarded her in his peripheral vision. "I can't tell you."

"You don't trust me?" She demanded in a shrilly voice.

Both of her hands reached out to one to him but Uriel deprived her of physical contact by pulling his hand from hers.

She heard that penny drop as her spine stiffened from the abrupt rejection.

Merle had never prepared for this scenario—Archangel Uriel breaking her first on purpose.

Not even in her imagination.

She thought that they would find a way to be together but she wasn't really in a hurry.

The loud clap of thunder was followed by a flash of forked lightning.

Soon, the heavens would sympathize with her sorrow and the rain will fall like her tears.

"I never trusted you, Merle, and the three days that I was away, I realized that I don't love you either."  Archangel Uriel said.

She couldn't believe what she just heard because it was clear that he still loved her from the intense stares his beautiful eyes had given her accompanying that brutal declaration.

Female Faeries who have experienced heartbreak always tell the younger ladies that love hurts but what hurts the most is careless betrayal, thoughtlessness, apathy, indifference and of course, falling for the wrong person Loving an Archangel was the biggest mistake a young, naive romantic Fae can do.

Wasn't this the very same reason while the Faerie Realm was in chaos in the first place?

Swallowing hard, Merle stood in front of Archangel Uriel—a beautiful picture of heartbreak and overwhelming grief-- trying to hold back her tears but she didn't want him to remember that she was emotionally weak. This living, breathing heart inside her ribcage filled with blood and capable of supporting life, he stabbed her with razor-sharp swords, encircled them with thorns,  threw it to the ground, and watched it shatter himself.

As if her bleeding wounds weren't enough, he trampled on her love like it was nothing and Merle had wondered if her life was still worth living.

Young star-crossed lovers in the Faerie Realm usually search for shooting stars to fall so that they could wish for their happiness. 

If only it was that easy and true, then she should have done that a long time ago.

It was her fleeting wish to be reborn an Archangel so that she could be with him forever.

But then, the pent-up resentment in her chest rose to the surface when she recalled Uriel's brazen lies. 

If she wasn't a Fae in the first place, would they even have a chance to meet out of so many Archangels in the Heavenly Realm?

If she could wish upon a shooting star, Merle would pray that the Highest God would allow her to travel back in time where Archangel Ariel didn't rescue her from the ravisher and she could have avoided Uriel and the Garden of the Four Seasons.

Fate had some other plans. 

"How—How can you hurt me like this, Uriel?" Lips trembling, Merle hissed as tears started streaming down her face, "Is it something that I said?" 

Deep inside her heart, she knew that this separation was predestined and that their love wasn't permanent but why was it so hard to let him go?

She couldn't but her mouth wanted to utter the exact opposite.

She will be lost if he left her alone.

"You really know how to kill me with just words. Have you lost your mind? Did you forget the moment you told me you loved me first?"  "I was never desperate for you. I was prepared to leave your damned Garden but you chose to come with me." She shot back as she repeatedly punched his solid chest with her all her might with her small fists. It didn't hurt him at all because he just stood there, taking every hard punch he can without wincing."and I never forced you to into anything, you bastard!" 

Archangel Uriel appeared like he had a halo of heavenly light above him when he said, "You seduced me and like an idiot… like all those Watchers we have been hunting, I fell for your trap." 

The lover in front of her wasn't an Archangel.

He was a monster.