Interlude – The Flower Seller Part One
They’d tricked him. Somehow, they’d tricked him. The list made it quite clear which direction was the right one and he’d steered Alex expertly. Now the Seer was telling him his latest subject was going to help destroy the world.
How was that the right direction? He was supposed to be a guardian, a protector of the world. Instead he’d scared one man into making a decision that would bring the most terrible pain to every living soul on Earth. A small part, almost too quiet to hear, giggled.
And what about the others? He peered out at the thousands of chambers. In a few decades, they’d all be out of a job. That wasn’t going to be popular, particularly with the other angels who’d spent the last however-many thousand years trying to make things better.
The flower seller dropped the list and stalked across his chamber. He stepped out and dropped. The Dome of the Father grew bigger as he fell, imposing and, as always, faintly reminiscent of a huge breast. His wings caught the currents and he soared and turned until he reached the entrance. It was busy today.
He squeezed past a couple of goat-footed demons and headed for the bar. Seph would be there by now, as would Az. They should be the first to know. Truth was, they were the only two in here who might be able to hear it without attacking him. Being made of pure energy meant no dying, but pain was in plentiful supply.
The bar was heaving, the conversation high and he stopped at the door. Something was already happening. There was a buzz in the place, more than usual. Herc ambled over and gave him a nod of his enormous, ram-shaped head. ‘Evening, Luke.’
‘Hi Herc, what’s going on?’
‘You haven’t heard?’ He had an impressive rumble to his voice. ‘The Father is coming to visit.’
The flower seller, Luke, went cold and shivered. Rubbing his upper arms, he raised an eyebrow and strove to keep his voice steady. ‘Why’s that?’
‘Big news, apparently.’
‘Oh.’ The goosebumps racing up his arms faded and he relaxed. ‘Any idea what?’
Herc shook his massive head. ‘Not a clue, you know they don’t tell me anything. You’ll know when it happens though, don’t worry.’
Luke gave him a nod and sidled through the door, picking his way through the crowds until he reached their table. As suspected, Seph and Az were there. Az had his head down and scratched furiously between his horns, mussing the dark hair that sprouted there. As always, Luke resisted the urge to have a go himself.
Seph raised an eyebrow and waved to a seat, pouring him a drink from the massive jug dominating the table.
‘Join us, please. We have so much to celebrate.’
‘You do?’
‘But of course, my fine friend. Today, I cleared my week. Four-two up with a day in hand. Az brought quite astonishing pain and suffering and started a war. Between us, we’ve kept the balance very nicely. I do so like to think of us as a microcosm of the world down there.’
‘So what am I?’
‘Ah, you, my friend, are the random. You’re the thing that no one expects. How’s your week?’
Luke shook his head, staring down into the dark liquid thrust before him. ‘I don’t know. I think I’m three-three with all to play for, but, well…’
Az heard the note in his voice and raised his head. His thin yellow eyes always seemed to see more than the others. It was why he was so unpopular. That and the eight feet of muscled red demon that came out when he got particularly drunk or angry.
‘Yes?’
Luke held up both hands, beginning to think this wasn’t such a good idea. ‘Well, I think I ended the world.’
‘Oh.’ Az took a long swig of his drink, put his head back down and resumed scratching. His voice was muffled from where he talked to the table. ‘I think that at least once a week. It’s not a good week when I don’t.’
‘Yeah, but you’re a demon, you’re supposed to think that. I’m not.’
‘You did once.’
‘Yeah, well, people change.’ Luke glared at the top of Az’s head and looked back at Seph. His friend frowned and leaned forward. ‘What did you do?’
‘What I was supposed to.’ His voice took on that annoyingly-petulant tone father had warned him about, but he couldn’t help it. ‘The list said what saving meant so I did it.’
‘And?’
‘And I saved him. Only saving him meant letting his son be born, which meant the horrible crap he was supposed to do just got passed down to his son.’
‘And what horrible crap would that be?’
‘He’s invented a, I don’t know, serum or something, it’s like a gas. It turns everyone who comes anywhere near it into zombies.’
Seph raised an eyebrow and chuckled. ‘Zombies? Like real, Romero zombies?’
‘Exactly, only I think they’re closer to 28 days zombies. I’ve only been given glimpses. We’ve got a few decades.’
‘A few?’
‘Well, about thirty years I think.’
‘Oh, well, in that case, drink up.’
He topped up his cup and Luke stared despondently into it. What the hell. He tipped it back and slouched, staring at the wall. He hated sitting this side of the table and with a grunt, got up and switched around, pushing Seph along so he could join him on the bench.
The room had got fuller in the last few minutes and they watched in silence. There was nothing like the bar when it got busy. In front of their table stood three women, none more than six or seven stone despite the wings emerging from their back. They were pale blue, with darker blue slashes on their faces and naked chests. They were tiny, every part of them miniature and delicate. Seraphims, possibly, though no one really knew anymore. Once the religions blended, no one could keep track of them.
Beyond them was an obvious one. A hugely fat guy with skin the colour of beaten bronze and a third eye in his forehead the size of a plate. He chuckled at something his angelic companion said and his rolls of fat shook like jelly. He turned to stare at Luke and his eyes were very different to his face, piercing and cold.
‘I know.’
Was that what he said? It looked like it but he’d already turned back to the angel, still chuckling. Luke shook his head and turned his attention back to the table. ‘What’s the Father coming down here for?’
Az snorted and sat up, stretching and rolling his shoulders, grooming finished for the moment. ‘The ‘Father’ has his reasons, I’m sure. Not that we’ll ever know them.’
Seph and Luke both looked at him, eyebrows raised in a strangely identical way. Az glanced from one to the other.
‘C’mon, you know the drill. He’ll make some grand proclamation about how we aren’t doing our jobs properly and bugger off. Then a few people’ll disappear and we’ll spend the next fifty years running from our shadows until everyone forgets.’
He had a point. Not a very nice one, but accurate. Luke nodded. ‘Yeah, fair enough. Who’s going to disappear?’
Both his friends leaned forward, eyes fixed on him.
Next Installment Thursday 24th July
