Heaven Ablaze In Our Eyes

“When did humanity get so boring?” Hanzo complained, taking a drag of his cigarette and looking at his companions. “Even when they’re high as hell, they still find a way to be dull as fuck.”

“Don’t worry my Lord,” Junpei started, linking his fingers and cracking his knuckles, “I’m sure we’ll find something interesting soon.”

“There’s got to be someone to corrupt around here,” Katashi chimed in, almost as if to not be left out of the conversation.

Hanzo sighed dramatically, and rolled his eyes. He wasn’t sure they would find anything. It seemed to get harder and harder to find humans with any interesting qualities. It used to be that he could find the most innocent of humans and corrupt them over time. Now it seemed humans just had a much higher tolerance for sin, and as a result were so much more uninteresting.

All three of them had their attention drawn to a very loud bang in a nearby alley. Hanzo shared a look with Junpei before they both turned their gaze to it. While it was likely just a cat knocking over a bin or something else equally mundane, there was a 50% chance it could be the interesting thing they were looking for. Hanzo decided he liked those odds as he began to stroll forward.

He peered into the alley, immediately taking in how the bins were all scattered across the floor, contents spilling out. More curiously, the concrete was cracked like a spider's web, as if something had hit it with force. Blood splatter and feathers were mixed together and stained the ground. But most importantly, in the centre of the alley, lay a man.

He was facing away from Hanzo, face down to the floor, but his chest was rising and falling rapidly. There was a gurgling sound, like he was struggling to breathe due to liquid in his throat. As Hanzo approached, he got a better look at the man’s form. His clothing looked traditional, a cheongsam if he had to guess, nothing like the modern fashions currently trendy amongst humans. The outfit left his back exposed, where there were two large bloody stumps.

Hanzo smirked to himself as he realised what he’d just come across.

A fallen angel.

Freshly fallen if the way the stumps were still bleeding was anything to go by. Hanzo licked his lips. Once again, humanity proved useless in bringing him entertainment, but by the Gods this was so much better than anything a pitiful human could bring him.

He slid down onto the floor, bracing his knees either side of the angel’s torso, his large hand pressing at the small of the angel’s back and pushing him to the floor. The angel wheezed in pain, shifting his face to try and see what was pinning him down. His eyes widened when he made eye contact with Hanzo.

“Hello, little angel,” Hanzo greeted, not able to stop the toothy grin spreading across his face. His sharp teeth must have been a terrifying sight to an angel, the poor thing trembled under him. “Nice of you to drop by.”

Running his free hand along the angel's shoulder, he stopped when he reached one of the stumps. The angel cried in pain as Hanzo’s fingers began to examine the wounds. They were rough and uneven, like they had been hacked at rather than taken out in one fell swoop like most of the fallen Hanzo had encountered. It was sloppy work, the creature was probably in an immense amount of pain, no wonder there was so much blood.

“Please,” the angel weeped, coughing up some blood that stained his lips. “Please.”

What the angel was begging for, Hanzo didn’t know. Maybe his life? It was likely that whatever God this angel worked for had told of how demons oh so loved to torture poor innocent little angels.

Well, most did, to be fair. This angel was right to fear that fate. But Hanzo didn’t find pleasure in torture, he had far superior ways of entertaining himself.

“Hush,” he hissed, leaning down and over the angel. More weak whimpers and pleas spilled from the angel's lips and Hanzo reached around to smother his hand over the angel's mouth. “Easy, I won’t hurt you.”

Not that he’d really need to. The angel was already heavily injured, he doubted there was much he could do to make things worse. He must have really pissed off whichever God he works for.

Before he could continue talking, he heard a shout in the distance. He hissed, not wanting any hapless human coming across them. Pulling the angel to his chest, he hauled him off the floor, dragging his body like a rag doll towards a small side path in the alley. Junpei and Katashi followed.

“I see blood and feathers down there,” one of the voices called, followed by two sets of footsteps coming forward. In the dark of the alley, whoever it was hopefully wouldn’t see Hanzo and his companions, but his grip on the angel tightened to try and keep him silent. “Kuai Liang must have fallen here. Spread out. He’s injured and couldn’t have gone too far.”

Hanzo frowned, shifting just enough to peer around the corner. He was met with two winged gentlemen walking off down the alley. Angels. Angels who were presumably looking for the fallen one currently shuddering in his arms. But why? Everyone knew falling was a punishment akin to banishment. Why would they do that and then search for him immediately afterwards?

Once he was sure the angels were gone, he twisted around, pushing Kuai Liang against the wall. He gave another pained whine, wide blue eyes looking up at Hanzo like a puppy.

“So, Kuai Liang,” he started, and Kuai’s breath hitched at the mention of his name. “It seems someone is searching for you.”

“Please,” Kuai begged again, his hands scrambling up to loosely grip Hanzo’s shirt. “Please don’t let them take me.”

Hanzo grunted, that made things more confusing, if he was being honest. There was more to this than a simple case of an angel being cast out. Something else was going on here.

“I won’t, if you answer my questions.” It took a couple of seconds for the angel to nod in agreement. “Why are they searching for you? Angel’s who fall are not typically brought back to the heavens.”

Kuai blinked a few times, lowering his gaze. “I… escaped.”

“Escaped?” Hanzo questioned, trying to figure out what the hell he meant by that. He thought about the wounds where Kuai’s wings had been. How they looked like someone had struggled and hacked through them. Maybe because someone had tried to reach behind their own back to do it. “You cut your own wings off?”

“Yes,” Kuai Liang whispered, voice tinged with sadness. “I had to… to protect my brother.”

Hanzo had seen a lot of things in his time, he’d met many fallen angels, yet this was the first time he’d met one who had done it to themself. He brought one of his hands up to the angel’s face, gently brushing some loose hairs out of his eyes. He didn’t know the full story, yet a part of him couldn’t help but be slightly in awe at the bravery to protect a loved one in such a way.

Such bravery would suit well by Hanzo’s side.

“They will hunt you,” Hanzo softly told the angel, as if Kuai didn’t already know that.

“I need to find my brother.” Kuai blinked slowly a few times, clearly delirious from the pain he was in. “I need to warn him.”

“Your brother has fallen too?” That was the only thing that made sense. Kuai nodded slowly. “Then let’s make a deal.”

“A… deal?” Kuai looked at him warily. He was right to be, Hanzo supposed. Demonic deals were not exactly known to be fair, heavily favouring the demon making it. And well, this was a desperate situation that Hanzo may have been taking advantage of.

But he was interested in helping the angel, this was unfortunately the most efficient way of doing so.

“I will protect you from those that hunt you and aid you in your search for your brother.” He watched Kuai’s eyes narrowed in suspicion at him. “All I ask in turn is for you to aid me in whatever I require of you.”

“That…” Kuai swallowed, and attempted to pull back from Hanzo, stopped by the wall behind him. “That is vague. That could mean anything.”

“I like to keep things open.” Hanzo licked his lips slightly. “I have never met an angel like you, one who would forfeit his own divinity for the sake of another. I find that an endearing quality, one I am interested in having by my side.”

Kuai closed his eyes and lowered his head, mouth twitching in pain. Honestly, even if the angel didn’t accept the deal, Hanzo considered at least still healing him. He stood no chance in this world in the state he was in.

“With the injuries you have received, you will not get far on your own.” Just because he might heal Kuai regardless, didn’t mean he couldn’t use it as a bargaining chip. “And even if you manage to evade them, this world is large, and will be difficult for you to navigate without help.” He reached to push Kuai’s hair out of his face, feeling surprised when Kuai almost lent into the touch. “I can keep you safe. I can help you find what you need. All I want is your loyalty.”

There was no reply, but Kuai’s shoulders began to shake, a wavering sob coming from his lips.

“Shh.” Hanzo continued to stroke Kuai’s hair, gently trying to calm him down. “I know, you have just escaped one beings servitude, and now I am asking you to bow to another. I won’t make you do anything against your will, or anything that would leave you in distress. I don’t expect you to kill thousands in my name or harm anyone, I am not that kind of demon. I prefer to corrupt, rather than kill.”

Kuai’s head swayed and he looked up at Hanzo with big pleading eyes. “You… Will help me if I agree?”

“You have my word,” Hanzo promised, although he wasn’t sure how much the word of a demon would mean to an angel. He moved ever so slightly, and held out his hand. “Do we have a deal, Kuai Liang?”

He paused for a moment, before nodding slowly “yes, we have a deal.”

Kuai accepted Hanzo’s hand, as they shook, the binding magic of the deal set off, fire circling their arms for a few seconds before it settled. The deal was done, Hanzo and Kuai Liang were now bound.

At this point, Kuai’s energy seemed to completely leave him, as he stumbled and fell forward. Luckily for him, he fell into Hanzo’s chest and arms.

“Easy, I’ve got you,” Hanzo whispered in as assuring a tone as he could manage. He shifted his grip on Kuai, supporting his back with one arm while the other scooped down to lift up Kuai’s legs. Both Junpei and Katashi took the opportunity to go ahead, silently agreeing to take the lead and warn Hanzo should he need to hide with his newest follower.

With Kuai comfortably in his arms, Hanzo’s first task was getting him back to his lair. From there, he’d work to heal him. And beyond that? Well, Hanzo wasn’t sure yet. But there was something that he did know.

Whatever happened next would be far from boring.

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