13th Incarnation
By FireDreamer

Note: This is an original story, and may not be used without permission.

This is amongst the darkest of my stories. There may be lemon here eventually.

Ariel threw his coat against the wall and watched it slide down.
He didn't watch it leave sticky trail of mixed black-red blood on the
wall. It didn't matter. None of it was his. That was all on his face.
Damned demon had cut his face. He grabbed a beer from the
refrigerator, some cheap domestic cat piss he hated, but would
rather drink than water right now.

He'd rather not look at anything that reminded him of what he
had done that night, but went to the bathroom and looked in the
mirror anyway. He didn't want this cut to scar. It wouldn't get
infected, his body wasn't capable of a simple infection, but demonic
poisons would infect him easy enough. He could purge them from
his blood if he had to, thankfully this time he didn't.

But he couldn't touch his face. There was a beer in one hand
and in the other...

Ariel dropped Acariel onto counter covering the sink with the
massive blade. There was blood drying in the indentations from the
runes that gave the evil sword it's power. Evil. No Acariel was his
twin. His killing half. Acariel was holy, whereas he...Ariel, wasn't
even fit for a place in heaven anymore. Earn it, they said. This was
his thirteenth incarnation, he didn't have any more chances. No time
for morals. Just do the work of a good angel, like he was ordered to.

He wiped the blood off the blade and dropped it on the toilet
seat. He didn't have to worry about taking care of it. His twin
would absorb the blood in the runes to heal himself, and be new
again.

He wiped rubbing alcohol on the deep scratch that ran along
the side of his face to clean it, and bit his lip at the sharp sting.

He ignored the actual face in the mirror. Though catlike purple
eyes shimmered back at him, and his red hair had blood in it. His
beauty was of no consequence to him, and he was sick of his face,
which had gotten him into this mess in the first place.

If it wasn't for his beautiful face, Gabriel claimed he would
have never have been tempted to Ariel's bed. Of course this made
Ariel the guilty party, the seducer. And as punishment he had fallen
to earth, wings too broken to fly back to heaven. He was given his
orders in each incarnation, always remembering who he was.

For the punishment had been to remain here for thirteen
incarnations and on the fourteenth he would ascend again. He
would forever hate Gabriel though. Gabriel had seduced him,
coaxed him and promised him that everything would be wonderful.
And everything was wonderful for a time, but the bastard had lied
when they were finally caught. He cried innocence. God hadn't
spoken in a long time, so the other angels looked at him with scorn,
and after a council Aries had informed him he had been declared
fallen. He gave him the terms of his punishment, and a chaste kiss
on his forehead. Aries was like a father to him. The pain in his eyes
when he learned what had happened had been like a knife through
Ariel's heart. He felt like he had shamed Aries, through association.

Regardless of whether Ariel looked back at it or not, his
reflection watched him. Acariel was not just the sword, but also his
reflection, his true other half. What might have been.

Acariel's semi-physical body was in heaven, where it had
always been since Ariel had been cast out. He had forged his soul
into the sword to accompany his twin. Twins were known to do
some insane things to avoid being separated.

"Ariel...you cut our face."

"Like I walked up to the fuckin' demon and said 'here I am cut
my face!' Acariel get out of my reflection. I don't want to deal with
anything else but alcohol and my bed."

"You're not going to get drunk on that are you? It'll take you a
lot."

"It's none of your goddamned business!" Ariel smashed his fist
in the mirror, shattering his reflection into hundreds of tiny shards.
Acariel shrugged and disappeared from the reflection.

Why did it have to look like him? Ariel thought, and
forgetting the beer in the bathroom went to his room and leaving
shoes in the middle of the floor, collapsed in his bed, messy and
unmade and smelling of the rum he spilled on it yesterday. "Stupid
cheap shit..."

Nothing had ever gotten past his defenses, but this one had.
Somehow it had reached into his mind, and it looked like Michael.
He had hesitated for a second, but that was enough for a crimson
painted nail to slash a deep cut down his face.

He ran his fingers through his hair, feeling the dried blood and
forced himself to get up and go back to the bathroom, and throwing
his clothes on a pile of already dirty clothes he stepped around the
mirror shards and into the shower. The water felt nice, running
down his skin, the ice cold sting against his hot skin helped him
think clearer.

Ariel was just getting the last of the blood out of his hair when
the phone rang. He wiped his hand on a towel and reached in the
blood soaked, stiff clothes, pulling out the offending piece of plastic
and circuitry and switching the send button on. He leaned out of the
shower. "Yeah?"

"It's Maria, wanted to see if you were still up to studying
tonight."

"Sorry...forgot. Mhm...it's kind of a mess over here and I'm
beat. See ya tomorrow?"

"Okay. Bye." She hung up before Ariel could respond. He
threw the phone back down and turned the water on hot. Letting it
run over his aching body until it ran cold again.

Lucius watched the pretty redhead leave his apartment and
walk down the street, not paying any attention at all to Lucius. You
would think he would notice someone like him following him.

Lucius was short, much shorter than his human siblings, which
was good for him since it made him seem innocent. His wide blue
eyes and shiny blue hair made him look like he was fifteen. He was
glad he didn't look like his human siblings. He had taken a body
twenty years ago, three years after watching this beautiful angel die
in his last incarnation.

He'd know him anywhere. The man had the same dark red,
almost brown, hair, piercing lilac eyes and was a lot taller than him.
Oh, and he glowed to any demon who happened to do more than
glance at him.

Lucius wasn't sure that he knew that. In fact he was certain he
didn't. Else he'd be more on his guard during the day. He wasn't
the only denizen of hell that could walk by day, and kill by day. He
didn't particularly care for killing though. Nasty work, that. It was
terrible to get blood and brains out of cloth. And it never smelled
the same, even if you could get that stuff to not stain.

Lucius fixed his small wire frame glasses and watched Ariel
waiting to cross the road. He smiled and sent a pinprick of thought
into Ariel's mind, and when the angel turned around to see what was
there, Lucius simply stared at him.

Ariel's eyes narrowed and he approached him. Fantastically
stupid. Little angels can't kill the things that roam in daylight.

"What do you want?" Ariel snapped. This close he could
guess how pissed off his angel was at having his day ruined.

He wasn't used to a forward angel. They liked to be polite in
his experience. Well at least they used to be taught manners and
respect. He shrugged. "Breakfast, a new car and a nice fuck...but
you aren't a genie so how about you and me have breakfast. I think
we have something in common."

"I think we don't."

"Gabriel."

Ariel looked about ready to kill him there. "Where?" He
growled.

"There's a nice little coffee shop two blocks over there. I'll even
buy."

"I don't take charity from fuckin' demons."

"Baby, I'm more than a demon. Come now. Let's get
breakfast. They have great cinnamon rolls there."

"So who are you?" Ariel asked.

"Now, now. Let me eat breakfast." Lucius mumbled and
stabbed the last bite of his cinnamon roll with his fork, stuffing it in
his mouth. "That was great." He wiped his hands off. "Lucius Tanaka."

"Tanaka."

"My dad's japanese."

"I want to know your real name, not your human name."

"Why would you want a silly thing like that? I'm Violet
Daywalker. You think it would give you power to know. It wouldn't
so it's worthless. My original name is old as sin and as hard to say
as that. And I'm never called it anymore anyway."

"Sin." Ariel said. The man didn't have any smiles on him did
he?

"How did you know?" He grinned impishly and stirred his
coffee. "Yeah, that's me. You're quick."

"Why did you bring me here?"

"Because I like the cinnamon rolls."

"You know what I mean." Lucius started tapping the stick on
the table.

"Gabriel? Well because I think the only person that hates him
more than me is you. And having hate greater than mine is
something."

"I don't hate him." Ariel said and took the stick Lucius stirred
his coffee with.

"You hate him with so much passion. With your looks you
could get so much for that passion, but you throw it away on hate
and anger, doing their work like a dog. You get kicked and still
come back for more."

"Your daddy know you slipped hell again?"

"No. Now as I was saying. You aren't going to be allowed
back with all that hate and so few demon kills."

"Whatever."

"I am offering to help you."

Ariel stood up. "You are the last person I need help from."

"The young ones must die. They're foolish and careless. I
would let you exterminate them yourself but at this rate you'll be
eighty before you're done. Hell, you'll be dead before you're thirty.
None of your incarnations lasted past thirty."

"I was thirty-one in 1789."

"You died just a bit before midnight the day before your
thirty-first. You were thirty. I checked out the records last week."

"Fine ...fine, what would you want for your help?"

"A promise that you won't suicide if you can't get back to
heaven. That you'll come with me."

"I'm getting back to heaven though."

"Then kick Gabriel good once or twice in the ass for me. Little
bastard pulled the seduction trick on me in 1904."

Ariel frowned. "You're evil, you deserve stuff like that."

"I didn't do anything to him. He does that to everyone. He's
done it a lot of times, and I should know. I'm the entity that was
once known as sin remember?"

"Yes why aren't you lording it up today as Sin?"

"It's way too easy today. I gave up the job during the dark
ages."

"Too much sin?"

"Same ratio. People are relatively good. But there are a lot
more bad people in the world because there are a lot more people.
You can't walk ten steps without passing food. So I gave up. I
enforce the rules of chaos now."

"Rules of chaos. Chaos doesn't have rules."

"Sure it does."

"I'm not helping you."

Lucius pouted. "I was so hoping we wouldn't have to be
enemies, Ariel. I don't think you'll make it to eighteen in this life if
you are going to choose your enemies so poorly."

"I choose nothing poorly. I don't have to talk to you." Ariel
started to stand to leave. Lucius stilled him with a hand on his
shoulder.

"I'll leave. You'll regret this, my angel."

Lucius looked away as he walked out the door and was gone.

Ariel hauled the grocery bags up the stairs, thankful it was
Saturday and he didn't have classes, because it was tiring carrying
this stuff so far.

As he got to his apartment door he swore, seeing the woman
standing there. "Shit, I'm sorry Mrs. Emerson. I got held up..."

Margaret Emerson was a pretty woman in her mid-twenties
with long brown hair she kept in a braid down her back. Her normal
attire was business suits, but this was the only time he had for her to
visit, so she wore a skirt and a blouse that only looked halfway
professional. Ariel didn't care much for his foster mother, but she
was fair at least.

"We agreed to let you live alone on the conditions that we
visited you at least once a month. You're so forgetful Ariel." Ariel
tried to remember if he had dropped the bloody clothes in the
hamper in his bedroom and gotten rid of the beer cans, and let out a
sigh or relief when he remembered doing that this morning while on
the phone.

"I'm sorry, really!" Ariel pulled his keys out of his pocket and
pulled up the right one with his mouth, grabbed it then unlocked the
door. He left the keys in and kicked the door to get it open. "The
place is a mess, I've been kind of busy these past few weeks."

"It's okay."

"Give me a minute to put these away. Would you like
something to drink?"

"Just water, please."

"One water coming up." Ariel dropped the bags on the table
and began stuffing stuff in the fridge.

"How is school?"

"Annoying, boring and a complete waste of time to anyone
with more than two brain cells to rub together." Ariel pulled a
carton of milk out of the refrigerator and looked at the expiration
date. Considering that it was only two days past, he opened it and
smelled it. Sour! Ariel put it in the sink, hoping she wouldn't notice.

He then rinsed out a glass from the sink, and filled it with water. At
least the water didn't look cloudy today. Occasionally it did, and that,
while it didn't taste any different, would have worried Mrs. Emerson.

"You've said that about school since you came to us, but you
always do well."

"Wouldn't do to look stupid." Ariel offered her the glass, an
insincere "I'm happy. I'm having a good life." smile on his face.

"Daniel's been asking if he can visit you again sometime.
Apparently you're more fun than his parents." She laughed softly. "But
that's the way it always is, isn't it?"

Ariel walked Mrs. Emerson down the stairs of the apartment
building. "Take care." She said at the door, and hugged him.

Ariel held back a cringe. He didn't want to be hugged today. "I will,
you too." He forced himself to hug her back. Be reassuring. Humans like
that.

He waved as she got in her car and was relieved when she left.
Taking the stairs up by twos back to his home, he stopped when he heard
voices. "Leave me alone! I just want to see Ariel!"

"Sure....sure you do. Innocent little angels come to see him
everyday." A familiar voice mocked. "Say you're pretty...you wanna..?"

A strangled cry broke from the other's lips, and Ariel ran to see
what that bastard, Lucius, was doing to this innocent person. Lucius
smiled at him when he appeared, blew a kiss and dissapeared in a cloud of
smoke.

The young angel, for that was exactly what it was, coughed from
the smoke and then blinked a few times, clearing his eyes. "Ariel?"
Ariel nodded. Who the -

"ARIEL!" The angel latched onto him. "I've missed you so much!
They wouldn't tell me where you went and since I was still in training with
the Master of Ice and Air when the trial went on I didn't know!"

"Who are you?"

The angel frowned, full lips making the expression almost
seductive. "You don't remember me? I'm Raphael. I was the first
apprentice to Ice and Air."

Ariel looked over the angel slowly. Pale pink lips, soft and lovely,
the lower one being bitten by small white teeth as the young angel
squirmed under the scrutiny. Bright golden eyes avoided his gaze shyly,
framed with pale blue lashes.

His hair was pale blue as well, and fell down nearly to his waist in
some of the braids. It had more braids and charms in it than Ariel had
ever seen on one person in the last few centuries, but this was the style
of angels of Ice and Air. Their hair seemed to talk to the wind, jingling
prettily as they walked.

His body was barely covered by the thin gauze-like layers of
material, this kind of angel favored. It was clearly not that of a child.
And that was how he remembered Raphael to be. "How long has it been
at home? You've grown so much."

"It's been awhile. Everyone misses you. The master said the wind
told him that you would have extra trouble this time, that the creatures
of hell that would attack you this time would win."

"They always eventually win. I've never reached old age in an
incarnation."

"No...that you would...would...Fall....for real this time and there
wouldn't be anything we could do if we didn't try to stop it. I begged him
to let me go." He clung to Ariel again. "I missed you so much!"

"Let's get inside. People will stare at us, thinking we've gone
insane." Ariel led Raphael inside, he closed his eyes as he heard the
beautiful noise of the bells and trinkets in the angel's hair. It was almost
like being home again.

"You need to look more...inconspicuous. Humans don't look like
that."

"Oh..Okay!" Raphael concentrated and an icy blast of wind swirled
around him. Ariel covered his eyes.

When the storm in his living room died down he blinked and the
previously very ethereal angel, looked...well still ethereal, Angels couldn't
really hide that unless they took true incarnation.

He was wearing jeans that fell low on his waist, and his previously
pale skin had a slight tan touch to it. He actually looked alive. The golden
eyes had toned down to a pale brown, and he had made his hair almost
the same tone. Undone, it fell to his waist, wispy and shining. "Is this
better?"

Ariel couldn't argue with the angel, what would he say? "No pick
something where you look a little less like an open invitation just by the
way you look?" or maybe closer to the truth would be "Look less like a
temptation to me."

Raphael smiled and then focused his attention on looking around
the apartment. "This is a nice place. It's only a little messy." He went
over to the window. "And It's so lovely outside."

Ariel shrugged. So Raphael had decided to move in. Just another
problem into his fucked up life. He picked up a school book and collapsed
on to the thread-bare couch, intent on getting something useful done
today.

"Ariel.." Raphael leaned over him, "What are you reading?"

He held up the book in the inches between his and Raphael's faces,
so Raphael could see the cover.

Raphael looked at the cover. "What language...english...ok..oh.
Why would you read about something so silly?"

"American History is one of my classes."

"It will be mine too." Raphael sat down beside him, a little too close
for Ariel's comfort, but looking innocent. "This will be fun."