Fall Ch. 00-03

Notes: 1) This is a non-erotic urban fantasy story that spun up in my head. 2) If you see this anywhere but Literotica it isn't supposed to be there. 3) It has short chapters so I'm posting it in chunks.

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The Interview

"So, Ms. Alvar, as someone outside of all of this, maybe the best place to start would be with what exactly a dispeller is?" The cameraman was standing almost against the wall as the interviewer asked the first question.

"You're not really outside of it, just ignorant to it, but that's not really helpful at the moment." Verena shrugged and tried not to lean back in her uncomfortable wooden chair. "A dispeller does what it says on the box. We dispel spirits, and occasionally angels and demons."

"That was what I was told. But I have to admit it's fascinating to hear someone say they dispel angels. I would love to hear more about that." The man leaned forward and she tried to remember what his name had been. Jeff- no, Jett. A perfectly asinine name. Daugherty or something like it.

"Angels are persistent and you really don't want them hanging around. It's dangerous work sending them on their way."

"Angels are supposed to be helpful and loving, beings of light. They're the good ones, right? So why would people want to get rid of them?"

She snorted softly. "Angels are beings of what most people would call good or order, but good isn't nice. The creatures you're thinking of are the newly fallen. My Uncle called them grey angels, but they don't like that. I leave the newly fallen alone. They're less likely to hurt someone and more likely to bring positive changes." Taking in his expression she could tell he was trying to pick from the questions that were flooding his mind.

"Angels are very strict. You do what they say and if you're lucky you'll do it to their satisfaction and won't get your ass handed to you or get killed. They serve the, ah, I call it the Overarch. My Uncle always called it the 'man with the plan'."

"You're talking about God?" He smiled and sat up straighter.

"Yes and no. The Overarch brought all of this into existence but it's not a he or a she, it's kind of both and neither. It's interacted with people and shaped them from the start. Almost every religion has a version of it and even the angels it's used to communicate and manipulate with have found their ways into these religions. Sometimes as gods themselves."

"So by dispelling angels you're thwarting God's will?" He was almost smirking.

"Doctors do it every day. Every time you take medicine or allow someone to intervene surgically..." Verena gave him a pointed look. "Those people who let their children die rather than seek help and claim they were told to do it by the angels? Not lying. Some people listen better than others, and the angels really don't care what happens to the parents after they've done as they were told. They've followed the plan."

The interviewer looked a little sick, "That can't be right."

"The sweet fluffy angels you're expecting to hear about are the newly fallen. I say newly but it's any angel cast down since the rebels were exiled in the first Fall." Crossing her legs and letting herself lean back a little, she continued, "They care what happens. They still have the big plan in mind, still want to serve the Overarch. But they go about it in gentler ways. It's hard not to like them."

"Why were they cast down?" He frowned and crossed his legs imitating her posture.

"After the big rebellion, questioning the way things were done was not tolerated. They thought that humanity's needs should be taken into consideration as much as the Overarch's plan. That was considered questioning." Verena made a gesture of plucking and tossing. "They have hope that their work will be seen and appreciated, that maybe things will change. I don't know that I share that but I hope the best for them."

"The big rebellion would be casting Lucifer out of Heaven?" He tilted his head thoughtfully.

"That's not his real name and I really can't say that there is a Heaven that people will ever go to, but essentially yes. Around the time people started to get interesting, one angel had some radical ideas about how to get the plan brought about. The Overarch's slow, methodical, the-journey-is-important plan was too convoluted and in his opinion, frankly, a little stupid." She rubbed her eyebrow and smiled wryly.

"Like any 'infallible' being the Overarch was not thrilled by this. This angel and all of those who agreed with him were cast down to suffer in separation. Only..." This was one of her favorite parts of the story and she had to try hard not to grin. "He pretty much said, 'you know what, fuck this and fuck you.' This first demon set out to show people they don't have to listen. They don't have to believe, they don't have to be grateful for their struggles in the dirt."

"You like that. It sounds like you approve." He was studying her.

"A little bit. Humans have a strange love of the underdog, and we like to hear things that free up our minds and time. I'd be lying if I didn't tell you demons are charming as all hell. They know people. They can play a person like a fiddle nine times out of ten. The big problem is, they'll give you what you want. You want a nasty hellfire breathing, cloven-hooved monstrosity to command you to do something awful? Sure. I think it's fun for them sometimes."

"Who would want that?" He was almost laughing.

"You'd be surprised. They're most dangerous and effective, though, when they're being urbane and polite. 'Handsome devils', you could call them."

"But if all they want is to take away worship from the Overarch..."

"I never said that. They want to thwart the plan. Before you ask, I don't know what the plan actually is. Everyone worshipping the Overarch in some form or other is rumored to be part of that plan. The rest... " She leaned her elbow on the table and rested her head on her hand. "I couldn't tell you. What I can tell you, is that as charming as they are, demons are purpose driven and care about humans in general about as much as angels do."

"They're out for revenge against the Overarch." He nodded, that at least made sense to him it seemed.

"Right." Verena sat looking at him for a moment, waiting.

"So you've met angels, demons, and the newly fallen?" He paused until she nodded. "Did you ever ask about the plan?"

"I was warned not to. A lot of information gets passed down from one generation to the next and both sides are aware of that. They won't risk sharing that information for fear we'd take sides. Humans are something like game pieces moving on the board. Even demons can't make sweeping changes overnight. But a human might, if they wanted to help or hinder the plan and knew what to do, that is."

"Would you? Help or hinder the plan if you could, I mean?" He was smirking again, and she smirked back.

"No. Taking sides is flatly forbidden to dispellers. Not only for the fact it would be suicide for the individual. If you show up to dispel a demon and you're in over your head you can call for help. The newly fallen will often answer. Once, my Uncle swore an angel answered when he called for help."

"But you dispel angels too?"

"Yes, and that sometimes requires a little demonic assistance, depending on who you're trying to face down. There is always a cost, no matter who you're calling on for help, don't get me wrong. But they've been playing this game amongst themselves for so long the dispellers are just window dressing."

"Can you explain to me why some people get visited by angels or demons and not others?" He uncrossed his legs and then crossed them the other way.

Verena nodded as she straightened herself in the chair, "From what I can piece together, some people are more important to the plan than others. Everyone has a certain amount of value, as set pieces, or behind the scenes workers. Um, think people who work to set up a theater production. But the most important-"

"Are the actors." He nodded. "So you can tell who has something important to do?"

"Often, yes. Even if it's just putting a certain thing in motion to move an actor across the stage."

"How would the death of a child or the needless death of anyone serve some greater plan? Wouldn't it make more sense to... Why are you grinning like a cheshire cat?"

She hadn't been able to keep her amusement hidden and she'd been waiting for that one. "The newly fallen feel the same way. But to answer your question, you can't paint a vibrant picture without dark colors too. Death brings out strong emotions and moves people deeply. How angry do you get when you hear about those sorts of things? Does your heart ache for the child? Do you go out of your way to do some small kindness, hug your kids or buy a coffee for someone afterward?"

He stared.

"Thinking that it seems a little convoluted and there might be a more direct way?" Verena couldn't keep back her smirk. "One thing you can definitely say about the Overarch is that it's inscrutable. I honestly couldn't tell you if the big plan is good or bad or..." She lifted her hands and shrugged. "I don't meddle in it unless I've been asked to. And then only as much as I've been asked to."

"That sounds prudent." He paused, "Can you tell me about meeting these creatures for the first time? I mean, that had to be startling."

Verena started to laugh. "The angel was intimidating to say the least. It probably isn't a stretch to say those first meetings still color my interactions with them. I was maybe about 13 when I went with my Uncle to do a job. Holding the bag, handing him things just trying to learn the basics. And this angel was standing blocking a doorway inside the house. Not a little doorway, I'm talking a wide, three people can walk in at once living room archway."

"What, with wings spread or something?" He looked amused, his eyes crinkled and he recrossed his legs again.

"Yes!" She laughed and shook her head. "It had a sword held, blade down," she demonstrated a two-handed grip. "Looking at us like we were bugs about to be squashed. I stopped dead still. My Uncle turned around, slapped me on the back, and told me to breathe."

"What did it look like, I mean was it a he or a she or glowing or I'm dying to know!" He was smiling indulgently.

"They do have a glow about them, but it's a cold glow, not a warm light. And as for gender I didn't ask and you honestly can't tell what it is behind the facade. This one had creamy golden wings, its eyes were hard and looked like pale hessonite garnets. It was terrifying."

"How was it dressed? Flowing robes?"

Looking down at her hands she took a breath, "No. It wasn't that it was invisible, though they can be. It had taken on a human form, he was dressed like he belonged there. Khakis and a button-down shirt. Like in a nightmare where something normal is suddenly not. It was standing there bold as brass but they couldn't see the sword or wings, just a man they knew."

"Wow. If an angel was like a nightmare I shudder to think what a demon must have been like."

Exhaling a soft laugh and looking back up at him the corners of her mouth started to twitch. "I expected the same after meeting the angel. I started reading anything I could get my hands on about all of them, and I was struggling through a particularly difficult grimoire I'd stupidly snuck out of the protected room so I could read it without being fussed at."

"Why would you be fussed at? And why would you need a protected room?"

"If someone had books on how to summon, harm, and dispel you, how badly would you want to get your hands on those books? And how dangerous do you think it would be to have someone too young and stupid to understand the dangers combing through some of the more complicated books?"

"Right. So what happened?"

"I took it to a public library and hid in a corner with it. A very charming gentleman in a purple and black pinstripe shirt, french cuffs, black slacks, approached me, chiding me gently for being so foolish as to bring a book like that out. I thought he was one of us for a second until I looked up at him. I had actually opened my mouth to spout off and shut it real quick." Verena looked at the curious interviewer.

"It was clear to him I couldn't defend myself, and he genuinely wanted to know what would possess me to do something so stupid. So I told him about the angel. I have never heard anyone or anything laugh like that since. He let me take the book straight back to the safe room just for 'amusing him so tremendously'."

"Why would he do that?" He looked baffled.

"They don't care for humans in general, but individually they find us occasionally entertaining. And dispellers are the only ones who'll try to prod angels off of their targets. We're useful to both sides as much as we can be a pain in the ass to both."

"Other than his clothes, what did he look like? Horns? Wings?"

"No horns, he kept his wings folded, but they were black, matching his clothes. I'm certain he did that deliberately. His eyes were dark and opaque like star garnet without the star. He was much prettier than the angel, in my opinion." She gave him a half-smile.

"And what about the newly fallen? Are they more like angels or more like demons?"

"The first time I saw one of the newly fallen, my Uncle had been called to shoo away a demon and needed help. It showed up, dressed like a homeless woman. My Uncle had to stand and fight next to it and I watched, keeping out of the way. I was paying more attention to what my Uncle was doing, trying to learn, than to what the demon was doing. It tried to lash out at me to break my Uncle's concentration and the fallen took the hit."

"Was it injured?"

"Not badly, so it said after they finished the dispelling. But I was grateful. My Uncle introduced it as a grey angel and it was very unhappy with that, it almost left. I asked it what it preferred, I told it I didn't like how sad it looked." She paused looking into the middle distance of memory, "That made it smile, like the sun coming through the clouds. Its eyes had looked like an almost opaque smoky quartz, but they lit up clear and really lovely. Warm. Before my Uncle could stop it, it made a mark on my forehead for my own protection, it said."

"So you have angelic protection?"

"No. My Uncle took it off. He said it would prevent me from doing my job." Verena sighed. "It felt really nice though, I've been very fond of the newly fallen ever since."

"I don't think you mentioned the wings?"

"Ha! No, it had wings like a gyre falcon. Speckled on the outside and creamy white beneath."

"And dressed like a homeless woman. That's interesting."

"You'll find the fallen where they can help. Places where kindness is needed."

"And only dispellers can see the wings and gemstone eyes?" He was being ever so slightly snide and she straightened her ponytail.

"No, but the people who can are usually considered crazy, or charlatans. But I could show you if you wanted to see." It was true, there was a way to do it but he might never be sane again afterward. She could feel her lips curving in a mirthless smile.

"Janine told me to decline if you offered, something about insanity." His smile had gone ever so slightly brittle.

"True enough. Looking through the door after a certain age, when the mind is already set, comes with certain risks."

"Why did your Uncle decide to train you? I assume your parents were deceased?"

Snorting and leaning her head on her hand again, "Aunt and Uncle are more like titles. Dispellers usually start out as street kids. There's a certain amount of resourcefulness and distrust you need for this work. I caught his eye and he offered me work, I found the work fascinating and he started teaching me."

"What work were you started out with?"

"Can't tell you that. There are those who would watch for it and try to snatch those kids up."

He laughed. "Is it really work that kids should be doing?"

"It's work that needs to be done." She shrugged, "And it's nice to find a place to fit."

"Do you think it's part of the plan?" He sounded like he thought he was very clever.

"Inscrutable, impossible to understand or interpret. I wouldn't rule it out but I wouldn't rule it in either. My Uncle was killed by an angel. It really didn't want to get booted out of that poor girl's house. If her mother hadn't thought it was a demon who knows what would have happened to her."

"How did it kill him?" He sat up and leaned forward.

"He was doing the lion's share of the dispelling work as I was struggling to call for help. It put that damned sword right through his chest. To the girl and her mother it looked like he fell over clutching his chest. The autopsy said his heart burst."

"What happened? Did you lose that one? Did you leave?"

"No. I managed to summon help. The burst of horror and rage I felt drew something much stronger than my fear was pulling. The demon helped me dispel it."

"What did that cost?" He looked intrigued.

"An errand." Verena sucked on the inside of her cheek for a moment looking away.

"Not picking up the dry cleaning, I take it."

"No. I wasn't in a good headspace and this wasn't a nice errand. Think kicking puppies to piss off angels and you'll be in the same meanness zip code."

"And you did it?"

"You don't go back on your word in my line of work. Not and live to tell the tale, anyway."

"So you did something cruel on the orders of a demon?"

"Yep. And then I had my Uncle cremated like he wanted. Paid extra to be there when they put him in the oven. Had to be sure. He was very clear about that. Then I went and got so shitface plastered I woke up covered in my own vomit in a pile of trash bags with one of the newly fallen looking down at me like I was a curiosity."

"That could have been dangerous."

"You have no idea. As hungover and distraught as I was, I couldn't have defended myself from an angry pigeon. It offered me water and I tried to refuse before telling it about the errand I'd run. It petted my head like I was a cat. It knew. It was still trying to help me."

"Why would you tell it you'd just run an errand for a demon? Were you trying to get killed?" The incredulous look on his face made her shrug.

"Maybe. I was in a bad headspace. The first decent, solid person you can remember having in your life gets killed in front of you, you're going to be fucked up for awhile. The newly fallen managed to help me home, then I had several of them that would just turn up now and then. Almost daily at first but then it petered out as I got better."

"Did they ask for anything? That seems like a lot of effort to put into someone who might..." The dawning realization on his face almost made her laugh. "Wait, you said you don't dispel the newly fallen didn't you?"

"That's correct. I trust them not to fuck with people unduly. Some of the others don't think I should. I've been told to refer jobs involving the newly fallen back to someone else."

"Do you?" He looked like he expected her to confess to disobedience.

"If the job still needs doing after I've sat and talked through the reason for the visit. You'd be surprised how many people change their minds after hearing me talk it out with the newly fallen."

"And if the job still needs doing, you refer the job back. How does that go over with the newly fallen? And with the other dispellers?"

"The other dispellers tend to give me crap jobs when they can get away with it." She grimaced. "But the newly fallen are understanding about it. They know I tried to help the people comprehend the situation and they at least have forewarning."

"You don't do that for angels or demons?"