Overly Familiar Ch. 03

"That's...that's just..." Laila stammered before almost jumping on Matt to embrace him. "Thank you!"

Despite her happy demeanor and the joy that he could feel from her, Matt could feel something else as well. "What did I do wrong?"

Laila broke the embrace and sighed, looking longingly as her wings. "I...appreciate you giving me my grace back. It's amazing."

"But?" Matt urged.

"But...well... I should have killed you years ago. You chose a demon as a familiar. Not only did you break the rules by having a second familiar, but you collared an angel, taking me from Heaven as far as they are concerned. And then when they decide that I should fall because of that offense, you...defy their will and give me my grace back. And most of these things happened in extremely fast succession. This is-"

"Bad." Matt grumbled. "Right. Maybe they're fucking right. Every damn decision I make lately seems to lead everyone I care about closer to our collective doom!"

Laila reached forward and held Matt's face so that he'd have to look at her. "Now you listen here. Every decision you made, you made with a loving heart. Even when I told you not to. They're wrong. You're a good person."

"Whooptie Doo." Matt muttered flatly. "I'm a good person. Why do I get the feeling that my good intentions mean exactly Jack and shit to those in power?"

"Because they...don't..." Laila sighed again. "That's just not how the world works. Intentions don't matter as much as actions. And as far as your actions go..."

"You fucked up."

Both Laila and Matt turned to the direction of the sudden voice to see a large, muscular man. He could have easily been related to Laila with how similar their features were. He had the same blue eyes and platinum blonde hair, as well as similar white and gold armor. Though he did have purple accents to his armor, and two magnificent pairs of wings as opposed to Laila's one pair. While his face wasn't hidden behind a headpiece as Laila's had been, just by standing there, he had an intimidating aura about him.

"Mara." Matt called out immediately, needing to know where the demon was. Almost instantly Mara appeared fully clothed right next to him, baring her teeth, ready to attack.

"No!" Laila shouted, taking a few seconds to have her own armor materialize over herself. "This is not a fight we can win! We need to talk!" Stepping in front of Mara, Laila gave the angel a pleading expression, taking a few tentative steps in his direction. "Look, I get it. I know how this looks. I know you're here to deal with the problem, but just... Just hear us out. Matt doesn't know the rules. He doesn't mean to...break so many. Please just...give us a chance to fix this."

At first, the angel made no move at all but then he walked forward, literally walking through Laila as if she were a ghost, his eyes on Matt and then turning to Mara as he spoke, "Allow me to make sure you stay dead this time."

"I thought that was you." Mara grinned wildly. "You blindsided me before, so I didn't get a good look. However, I already made a promise to my Master that if I saw you again, I'd rip you a new asshole. He does so hate when I lie. I'm just waiting for him to give the word."

The angel let out a sinister chuckle. "I'd like to see you try, filth."

"Okay, okay!" Laila yelled, getting in front of the angel again. "I get it. I'm fallen, so you don't acknowledge me anymore, but I know you hear me. This doesn't need to devolve into a fight! None of us want that!"

"Speak for yourself." Mara growled, licking her lips.

"Not the time, Mara!" Laila shot back only to have the angel walk through her again, still refusing to acknowledge her existence.

"Is this really happening right now?" Matt asked, visibly dumbfounded.

"Actions have consequences, boy." The angel's voice rumbled deeply as he spoke. "Your disrespect must be dealt with swiftly."

"Oh. No, that part I get." Matt waved off the comment. "I fucked up, and you're here to yadda yadda. I get it. What I'm talking about is that angels are supposed to be this...perfect version of humans. We're supposed to be awed at just seeing one of you, and here you are in all your fucking splendor, pretending someone doesn't exist because you don't agree with them. Considering you guys existed before the concept of time and all, I just expected more maturity than I'd find in a five-year-old."

"Matt!" Laila growled, once again appearing between him and the angel.

"Laila...I get what you're trying to do, but...look at him. He's not going to listen to reason." Matt sighed. "He came here to kill us. Plain and simple. You know that."

"The boy speaks true." The angel reached behind him, a huge sword appearing in his hand as he pulled it forward. "I will offer you a chance to surrender. I promise I will make your deaths painless."

"Such a kind offer and all, but I'm not trying to die today." Matt spat out. "Sorry Laila, but...Mara?"

"Say it, Baby..." Mara almost moaned, her eyes wide in excitement as she crouched into an attack position, her body shaking in a feral bloodlust. "Say it. Say it. Say it."

"Master..." Laila warned.

"Sic 'em." Matt growled.

A loud sound rang out, and it was like a gun had gone off. It took Matt a few moments to catch up with the speeds at which things were moving, but he finally saw that the angel had brought his sword down, which Mara had gleefully blocked with a familiar, equally large weapon.

"Hey!" Laila protested. "That's mine!"

Mara pushed off, separating her and the angel momentarily with a forceful thrust of the sword, apparently using enough of Matt's grace that it didn't burn her at all this time. "We share things now! Weren't you paying attention? I kinda need it more now than you do!" Going into her own attack, the two beings traded slashes back and forth, attacking and defending at impossible speeds against the massive weapons as Matt and Laila watched.

"She could have asked first..." Laila murmured, before seeming to notice Matt again and began making a cross shape with her hands and muttering words Matt didn't understand. He got what she was doing when a swipe of one of the swords caused a stream of glowing white arrows to fly in every direction and they deflected off an invisible dome that now appeared to surround Matt and Laila.

"Thanks." Matt acknowledged with a nod.

"It won't hold if he directly attacks us." Laila grumbled.

"I can feel your fear, you know." Matt turned momentarily from the chaos outside the barrier and hold Laila's hand. "I know how bad this has to be, but I'm hoping at the very least that between my magic and yours she can hold him off enough for us to come up with another plan. What have you got?"

"Oh? Now you want to listen to me?" Laila shot back, the panic clear in her voice.

"I always listen to you. I just don't always agree with you." Matt flashed Laila a smirk.

Laila rolled her eyes and shook her head, but before she could actually speak, there was a loud thump against the barrier, as Mara used it as a springboard and bounced off of it, launching another attack, this time the swipe of the sword, shooting out a stream of fire, which the angel blocked with a barrier that looked similar to the one Laila and Matt were currently protected inside.

"How are they not wrecking this place?" Matt asked, looking around at the mostly unaffected surroundings.

"I told you they don't bless them like this anymore." Laila replied, looking on in concern. "But going back to the plan...well...there is no plan. That's why I wanted to talk this out. He'll be able to follow us anywhere we teleport to. We can't beat him, so-"

"You sure about that?" Matt asked, distractedly.

"Yes! I'll help her in a bit, I just wanted to make sure you were safe as possible but even with my help-"

"Laila..."

"What?!" Laila scowled before she realized what had his attention. Another object bounced off the barrier. Laila recognized it as an arm, and it was not Mara's.

"Is...he holding back or...?"

"No..." Laila gasped. "He's not." Putting her hands against the barrier, her eyes began to glow as her jaw dropped. "Oh my God..."

As curious as Matt was of Laila's behavior, he was enraptured by Mara. He remembered both Laila and Mara herself had insisted that just because Mara was nice to him, it in no way took away from her demonic nature. In Mara's own words, she was on her best behavior with him. He could clearly see the monster now.

She wasn't even using the sword anymore. Her teeth bared in a feral snarl, her entire body became the weapon. Her claws, her teeth, her feet, her tail, she attacked with everything. She was hurt, but the pain had only focused her resolve. Not to say that the angel wasn't without fight of his own. He was fighting her back with just as much passion. Even though he'd lost his weapon with the arm, his swift movements and the way he used his magic to keep Mara away gave him a fighting chance.

The more Matt watched, the more he could see what was going on. The angel was a better fighter. But Mara was overwhelming him with sheer power, speed, and ferocity. The only thing keeping the angel in the fight was that when he'd get enough distance, he'd heal himself. Already, half of his arm was back. A dark thought crossed Matt's mind, and once it was there, he had no choice but to act on it.

He knew he could focus on healing, but what if tried to do the opposite? Stop the angel from healing himself. He got the feeling that Mara would eventually win regardless, but maybe she would get hurt less if he helped. Accessing the magic pool, he could immediately feel that Laila was somewhat...exploring it, while Mara was pulling as much as she possibly could. There was still more than enough for him to use.

It was odd trying to reverse heal someone. It wasn't natural. The magic felt awkward and clumsy, as if he were trying to write with the wrong hand from right to left. He could tell when the magic hit. The angel flashed him a dirty look and Mara glanced back and gave him a wink before going back to work.

Matt could feel the angel fighting the spell and he put so much effort into keeping it going that he hadn't been paying attention. He remembered Mara telling him that the reason elemental magic was so easy was because it was so basic. But the more complicated the magic, the more chaotic the results. This was why spells, words designed to focus the magic to do specific things, were necessary. Since Matt didn't need words to heal, he assumed he wouldn't need it to do the reverse.

And it turned out that Matt was wrong. Very, very wrong. His intention had been to simply stop the angel from healing himself, but what he'd actually done was the equivalent of pinning all of the angel's limbs together, leaving him completely helpless to Mara's fury. And she took full advantage, putting all of her energy into attack after attack. By the time Matt realized what he was doing and stopped, it was a moot point. Mara was quite literally beating the angel to death.

"I...should...stop her from killing him, shouldn't I? With their limited numbers and all..." Matt asked Laila, who was currently looking at him with a blend of awe and fear.

"Y...yes. You...you should do that..." Laila murmured quietly.

"Mara. That's enough." Matt stated, watching as she stopped in her tracks, her eyes still wide with excitement, riding a high from her own sadistic streak.

"My Master has chosen to show you mercy." Mara grinned wickedly as she stepped on the angel's head. "You should show him the proper gratitude, mongrel."

"Mara..." Matt repeated in a warning tone.

"As you wish, Matt." Mara replied, releasing the angel entirely before leaving him be to rejoin Matt and Laila.

As Laila dropped the barrier, she gave Matt a cursory glance. "Um...if you don't give him back his grace, he'll die from those wounds regardless..."

"I took his grace?!" Matt exclaimed incredulously.

"You weren't trying to?" Laila asked with just as much confusion.

"No! I was just trying to stop him from healing so quickly, so the fight would end faster." Matt groaned, understanding Laila's underlying fear now that he realized what he'd actually done. Luckily, he'd given an angel their grace back before so doing it again wasn't nearly as difficult.

"Sorry about that..." Matt muttered as he watched the angel gingerly rising to his feet again. "I was just trying to protect my familiar. I wasn't trying to hurt you. I don't suppose you could just...leave us alone? We're no threat to you."

"You're...no threat to-?" The angel began before he threw back his head into a loud laugh, vanishing from sight with his laugh left echoing through the church.

"That laughter isn't a good sign is it?" Matt sighed.

"No...it...probably means they're about to smite the fuck out of us." Laila groaned.

"They better not." Mara growled, her arms and most of her top splattered with blood. Though short of a few burns, she seemed more or less to be fine. "I really want to see how we stack up against an archangel. Did I do good, Matt?"

Matt couldn't help but to laugh at the eagerness she looked up at him with. It was like a child bringing home a good report card. She was the Mara he knew again and not the feral beast that almost happily murdered a basically defenseless being. When he looked at her, he accepted that if he was going to keep her, he'd have to accept both of those sides and it didn't stop his smile. "You were a total badass, Mara. Don't get so hurt next time." He praised, sending his magic into her body to heal her wounds. He was pretty sure she could have done this herself, but he had to assume she just wanted him to do it.

"Mara...that was an archangel..." Laila sighed.

"Wait, what?" Mara shot Laila a shocked look. "Are you sure?"

Laila rolled her eyes. "Of course, I'm sure! Didn't you notice how much more powerful he was compared when you fought me?"

Mara shrugged. "I thought you were just weak."

"For fuck's sake Mara. Angels aren't demons! We don't come in 'weak'. We're designed for specific purposes and we're given the power we need for those purposes. I'm as powerful as every other warrior angel. Or...I was. Our magic pool is just...fuck..."

"Right?" Mara said eagerly. "There was more magic in there than I could use! It was orgasmic!"

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, but can we just-...?" Laila pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "There are three of us and with just two, we basically bitched out an archangel."

"Exactly! How awesome is that?!" Mara giggled, before something apparently clicked in her head and her face fell. "Oh...they are going to smite us, aren't they?"

"What is smiting?" Matt asked. While he had been listening to their conversation, he hated that Mara had gotten hurt protecting him. Even once he'd finished healing her, the blood that remained had unnerved him. Luckily, magic helped with that too. When he'd focused enough, the blood just...fell from her like rainwater from a car. Her ripped clothing and ruffled hair were the only indications that she'd even been in a fight now.

"Think...heavenly bomb." Laila answered.

"Maybe we can survive a smiting." Mara pondered out loud, smiling widely at Matt when she saw the revitalized state of herself.

"Maybe a human can survive a bullet to the head." Laila grumbled. "But testing that theory out is absurdly stupid. It's a literal nuclear option. No one has survived a smiting before and personally I don't want to find out if we can or not. This is why we needed to talk things out. It's just going to escalate. God, I can't believe we beat down a fucking archangel! I can guarantee they're all gathering their power right now to wipe us out of existence."

"Are archangels really that powerful?" Matt wondered. "Like...there's nothing else up there more powerful? This smiting is really the only option for them now?"

"Yes, Master." Laila groaned. "After what we did, there's no way they would risk sending anyone after us directly, anymore. You have to understand, the only thing that could even rival an archangel would be a g-...."

When Laila's sentence trailed off it was as if her mind went blank for a moment, immediately worrying Matt. "Laila? Laila what's wrong?"

Laila's expression slowly turned to one of the utmost joy. "I know where we can hide! Hold my hand!"

Both Matt and Mara held Laila's hand as her wings covered the three of them and then just like last time, their surroundings changed.

This time the trio stood in front of an intricately carved stone structure. There was something odd about it. It almost hurt to look at it for too long, so Matt chose to take in the surrounding area. All he saw were woods. There was something familiar about them even though it obviously wasn't his woods. But it still made him feel more comfortable. However, he couldn't enjoy it too much as Laila pushed them all inside.

"Okay, okay, we're going." Mara protested, still going along with Laila's urging. "Where are we?"

"We're in a forgotten temple." Laila replied, seeming to relax once they were all inside. "It's in a constant state of both existing and not existing. It's the kind of place that even Heaven would have difficulty finding without knowing exactly which one we were at. You can't smite what you can't target."

"Why didn't we just come here to begin with then?" Mara asked, curiously. The temple seemed a lot bigger on the inside than it did on the outside, with multiple hallways and rooms. All the decorations seemed ornately carved or were accented with gold or jewels. The inside clearly didn't have the same hard to look at quality as the exterior.

"I didn't think about it!" Laila groaned. "It's just been one fucked up thing after another fucked up thing since I went on break from work to find out where the demonic presence was coming from!"

"Pretty sure your boss is going to be pissed you never came back to your shift." Matt teased with a chuckle.

"Yeah, well he can fire me for all I care. I doubt he'll ever see me again, whatever..." Laila muttered, rolling her eyes.

"This place is really cool." Matt said, taking in the various artwork and sculptures. "How did you find it?"

"It's where I found-"

"MATT!" A voice shrieked in the distance. By the time Matt realized that something was dashing at him, Mara had already intercepted it.

"Back off!" Mara snarled, backhand slapping it against one of the walls.

"Thanks?" Matt stated, looking curiously at the figure who'd darted to him. He could understand Mara's protectiveness given their current situation, but he also didn't think he was being threatened this time.

"Ow! What the heck? That really hurt..." The figure mumbled with a pout. She was the very definition of petite. Her black hair was cut short and seemed to spike in all directions at the tips, and as she stood up again to glare at Mara, a pair of large wings that mimicked a dragonfly's came into view. "Who the Hell are you?! Get out of the way!"

"Make me." Mara growled, baring her teeth and taking advantage of the few inches of height she had on her adversary.

"Mara! Calm your shit. She's harmless!" Laila protested, standing between the two.

The girl in question looked a little closer at Mara, her eyes darting to the collar and then to Matt, her own bright green eyes narrowing into fury. "What the fuck?!"

"Lynette...I can explain..." Laila said, calmly putting a hand on her shoulder.

"You damn well bet-" Lynette's eyes bulged at she finally saw the collar on Laila's neck as well. "WHAT THE FUCK!"

"Lynette...why does that sound familiar...?" Matt pondered outloud.

"She's the fairy." Mara grumbled, never taking her eyes off the petite girl.