Angelus by Sabrina Benulis

down, she saw that the white sapphire pendant she’d given Sophia no longer sparkled. “What happened to the stone in your necklace?” she asked weakly.
    Sophia dropped her gaze to the floor. “Its fire has gone out,” she said. “Perhaps because we’ve been down in Hell for so long. Everything eventually changes in this awful place.”
    Angela pawed her own chest, rubbing the gem of her matching necklace with her thumb. Even with her memories temporarily erased, her reasons for cherishing the symbolic gem had somehow never vanished. “Well,” Angela said. “We haven’t changed. We’re still together, right? We always lean on each other for the most important things, right? That means much more than a gemstone.”
    â€œYes, we do share everything with each other,” Sophia whispered. But her smile was faint and sorrowful.
    â€œThen I think it’s about time you told me,” Angela finally said.
    Sophia paused. She peered carefully at Angela, clearly startled. “Tell you what?”
    â€œWhat that lullaby you sing really means. Israfel sang it, using it to guide me to him the first time we met in Luz.” Yes, Angela thought, on that long, long ago day in Luz . “And you told me it was a lullaby. And that even he, the great angel that he was, doesn’t know what the lyrics really mean. Because it’s your song. So tell me what they mean, and how in the world Israfel’s song can be your song at all.”
    Sophia’s eyes went glassy. Her face masked over with distress.
    â€œWell?” Angela said insistently, unable to stop. “Where have you been for so long that Israfel learned a lullaby from you, Sophia? How did you survive in the Abyss so that Raziel could find you?”
    They should have left by now, but Angela couldn’t help thinking about her vision whenever she looked at Sophia. As if the answers were right in front of her. But nothing about it really made sense. Even though Lucifel had remarked on Angela’s likeness to the Father more than once, Angela was a human being, not a god. Her soul was said to be mysterious, but Raziel had chosen her to be the Archon because it was the best choice available to him at the time.
    She wasn’t special. Or maybe she just didn’t want to be. Angela wasn’t sure she even knew anymore.
    Sophia’s lips parted. She looked at Angela and back to the black hole in the floor, as if tempted to jump inside to avoid the question. Then she shook her head. “No. You wouldn’t understand. Not yet.”
    â€œ That’s what I don’t get. How could I not understand? I’ve understood everything else about you, haven’t I? I think I’m more than ready to grasp the rest. Why are you trying to evade the question?”
    â€œBecause you’re not ready to know everything about me,”Sophia said softly. “That’s why.” She sighed painfully. “It’s time for us to leave, Angela—”
    â€œNo. I’ve had it. Enough secrets.” Angela held her tightly by the hands. “What was the punishment you suffered, Sophia, that was so great? What could you have done to merit being in darkness that deep? When I look at you, all I see is kindness, and compassion, and beauty. You’re not a murderer or a thief. So what did you do and how could you be so impossibly ancient?”
    â€œI told you I died in childbirth,” Sophia whispered. “And that wasn’t a lie. And that’s why I’m what you see before you now. I’m just a soul trapped in a body made from scraps of my original one.”
    â€œFine, scraps then. But what does that mean? I hate these riddles!”
    Sophia set a finger on Angela’s lips to silence her. “See? There’s no way you can understand right now. But trust me when I say you’ll know everything, and you will understand, soon enough.”
    â€œAnd