Chapter 7 -- Reversal.
Sandy screamed.
The second's body was spread out, ripped apart. She could have stopped it, if she had been paying attention, if she had kept hold of her magic. She was so relieved Jezebel had won she had looked away and taken a deep breath. That was all the time it took. She heard Daniel's shouted warning and looked up, and it was already done. There was nothing she could do. Natalie, her love, was broken, lying in two pieces on the ground.
She was really tempted to kill some more of them, fuck the plan and fuck the planet. She couldn't do that though, she would become the nightmare. It was hard to see, her eyes were drowning in tears. Why? She was watching the Angels who looked nervous. One of them stepped forward, his sword sheathed. He looked like a nervous five year old headed to the principal's office.
It would have been funny, if Natalie... She just watched as he went to Jezebel and bowed. If he even moved wrong she would make an example of him, a painful one.
He said to Jezebel, "I am Tir. You are in command of us now. Although we have no specific orders to follow at the moment with Gabriel dead. I... I don't know why the second did that, or the old one I should say. Outside of revenge that is, which I can't relate to. Gabriel was our enslaver. What do you want us to do?"
Sandy was livid and Jezebel looked like she was in shock. She growled, "Take your weapons of war and leave, do not come back!"
The Angel just stood there, waiting for Jezebel's response. She saw him glance fearfully at her, but she was not in command, Jezebel was.
Jezebel's voice sounded dead, "Wait."
Wait for what? Sandy was pissed and it was taking all of her control not to turn into a monster. Plus she knew she would die if she did attack, after all without Jezebel and Daniel feeding her power she could probably take out a hundred or so before being overwhelmed?
Sandy asked impatiently, "Wait for what?"
Jezebel asked Tir, "If we send you home. Then go kill Ambriela and send them home. What would happen?"
Tir looked confused as Sandy felt, but he said, "Well there would be a power struggle. Then whoever took over would probably just send us back, seeing you as a threat to their power. All it would do is delay things a bit."
She saw Jezebel nod slowly. Tir's answer slowly sunk in through Sandy's rage at Natalie's death. It wouldn't help in the long run, just delay the inevitable. Another invasion? What could they do about it though?
Jezebel her voice still dead said, "We are going with you, wait here for us."
Sandy figured she was slow because of the grief. She just didn't get that idea at all. Why would they go there?
She watched Tir acknowledge the orders then went to break down camp. Then they took Natalie's body and left to grieve, she could figure out the what and why of it later.
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Jezebel sighed. It was the only way they could end the cycle, tackle the source of the problem. Just winning this war was not enough. The last few days had been hard, every time someone walks in the door she expected to hear Natalie's voice bringing her a report.
They had a private funeral ceremony. Just the three of them. Sandy had covered the grave with flowers and created a smooth marble headstone from the surrounding dirt.
They were all not at their best, but they had to move before Ambriela did something. She needed Ambriela, or more specifically, the command blocker, here in this world.
They showed up at the Angel encampment, and it had grown. All the Angels in Asia had made their way up and were ready to go home. Most did not wish to fight, now that they had no controlling orders forcing them to do it.
They opened a large portal and moved through. As soon as she got through to the other side she opened up her command ability. She was not as naΓ―ve, but they needed to be free. So she ordered that they were to ignore all other command orders, except that they could not kill each other at all. A new government would have to be built through discussion and consensus, not who was strongest.
Jezebel knew that was the biggest problem. The way things were set up with the command ability the strongest always won, and always feared they would lose that power to the next one born a little stronger. That's why they attacked earth, for a possible threat. Trying to make an ally or peaceful trade wouldn't occur to an overlord desperate to keep their authority.
Of course, that initial order only stopped the cycle while she was still alive. They needed something else.
She opened her eyes and looked around for the first time, and it looked like earth to her. Oh, the city looked like something out of sci-fi movie. But the grass, trees and everything else looked like earth. Almost like they were still there, just in a different dimension, or version of it. She looked up and gasped, there were three moons above. Ok, so not quite the same as her earth, but still similar.
They all followed Tir to the capital. They took over Gabriel's residence and started searching it. At the very least they needed to see a halfway stable interim government before they left. But they were looking for a way to make the peace more permanent. Jezebel had no illusions anymore about it, it would return to business as usual if she died.
They needed to get some kind of treaty and trade going maybe? Even if they did backslide into power over thinking perhaps ten millennia of peaceful coexistence would make a difference? Assuming it lasted that long and she lived to her potential age that is. So they searched the databases, looking for the best way to do things.
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Ambriela was scared for the first time in as far back as she could remember. Both Uriel and Gabriel were dead. A third of the army was dead as well, the other third no longer under anyone's control and back on their world. She had no weapons to back up Gabriel's threats. He had taken the whole inventory with his part of the army.
All she had left was the command disruption tech and that was limited in helpfulness. Really was there to only counter one person on the whole planet. She wondered if it was worth staying... Her second came in looking nervous.
"Report!"
He swallowed and said, "They home dimension has been taken."
She sighed and shook her head. Their paranoia was leading to what they feared the most. She could either stay here and carve out a little kingdom, or she could go back home and fight. The latter she would be heavily outnumbered. She would think on this, maybe a small group to assassinate that bitch and send them through? If she didn't sense them coming they wouldn't get her orders...
She would think on this, "Dismissed!"
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Daniel was beat. They had been going through data all day, only taking a few short breaks for food and drink and to recharge Jezebel. The guilt after the soul joining was overwhelming. The loss of Natalie tore him up after experiencing that moment of perfect ecstasy, where he had briefly forgotten. For that time only he and Jezebel existed.
The search today had pretty much been a bust. It looks like this dimension has pretty much followed the dictator model for all of recorded history. Strangely they couldn't find anything older than forty thousand years or so. Maybe they would have better luck tomorrow.
He felt a little guilty, his libido was speaking up. He hadn't been able to fall asleep and he had both Sandy and Jezebel snuggled up against his side. They were warm, and soft, and kept rubbing their bodies up against him in their sleep. He decided the hell with it, they won't mind if I wake them up for a little while...
Chapter 8 -- Perfidy.
Jezebel sighed. They had been looking for two days and nothing useful. Tir however had suggested she speak to the head archivist. The Angel kept an eye on the vault where the top secret weapons and information was held. If anyone had the knowledge they needed it would be her. She decided if that didn't pan out she would leave and take care of Ambriela, who knows what she was up to.
Then she supposed she would have to come back here, make sure they put together a good government, she didn't want to have to step in and command it done right. But free or not they were too used to a dictator type government and that couldn't be allowed to continue. She also didn't want to be stuck here very long, the technology was amazing, but it wasn't home.
She took a shower, got dressed and got something to eat. Daniel and Sandy were with her as well as she waited for the archivist. Tir brought the old angel in a short time later. Jezebel had never seen an Angel so old they tottered, until now.
Tir bowed and said, "This is Triel. Triel this is Jezebel, Sandy and Daniel from the other world."
She offered Triel a seat and waited for her to get settled before stating her questions.