Chapter 19 | Interlude Matters in Heaven

HeavenFrom the front entrance of the Archives, one of the doors opened with Adam on the other side as he let himself out with Lute trailing not far behind him. Adam was expressing an annoyed look on his face mask, while Lute's mask was of stoicism as she followed her commander.As the two headed to Heaven's headquarters, Adam vented his frustrations to Lute. "You'd think the higher-ups would seal whatever breach there is that allows stray souls to crossover here, y'know?" he remarked while throwing his hands up at his sides in exasperation.With a calm facade, Lute responded to her superior with her hands clasped behind her back as she followed Adam. "I'm sure, sir, that whatever the angels are doing, they are doing their best to monitor the aether of realms.""Well, duh." Adam jerked his hands down a bit to express his exasperation, "You'd think management would have fixed the issue by then, but stray souls keep managing to slip through whatever gap that the higher-ups have fixed." he ranted"Hm." Lute hummed in agreement before voicing her opinion on the matter. "Do you intend on dealing with the matter yourself, like last time?" she asked with a mildly curious tone, walking faster to walk beside her commander and glance at him momentarily.Adam began gently using his index claw to scratch his chin under his mask before shrugging the question off. "Eh, it's up to Sera, I guess…though…" he smirked."I wouldn't mind going down there now to send that asshole off to whatever realm he came from myself…" before Adam shrugged with an annoyed look, "But that stupid treaty we have with Hell means I can't just go down and bust a soul.""Sir." Lute began to say, as she eyed her commander, "Didn't you already tell her Highness about the sinner? Wouldn't she have done something by now?" she asked."Meh." Adam made a flippant gesture, "I'm feeling a bit petty right now, and in case she hasn't done anything yet about that bible sinner, I might as well tell her that the guy is definitely not from our realm after the little digging that I did.""I'm surprised you even bother to do any work at all, sir," Lute remarked as she followed her commander into the headquarters of Heaven, to which Adam paused as he stepped inside the building to give Lute a look. "Other than attending the yearly exorcism of hell, that is," she added.With a tired look on his face, Adam huffed a bit before speaking, "Yeah, well, when you get to live as long as I have, Danger tits, you'll start to get tired of all the work." he answered, before shuffling back onwards to his intended destination.Noticing that Adam spoke a bit about himself, Lute decided to ask a follow-up question as she followed after Adam: "Is that why you left the job of watching over Earth to other saints and angels?" She asked with some curiosity laced into her tone.With a stern tone, Adam answered, mildly angered, "No…yes…grr. It's more complicated than that!" He replied while halfway glancing at his lieutenant as they continued to walk beside each other before he sagged his shoulders a bit to express his exhaustion."It stopped being funny watching humans kill each other in wars after the first few centuries! So many innocent people were killed for greed and shit! gah!" Adam stood straight up to throw his arms up in exasperation, "I stopped giving a shit after seeing the more wicked crap humans do in their pillaging during wars. It ruined my mood each time I looked down on Earth!" he expressed with a dour look.SeraphielSpeaking to a two-way floating video call, Sera sat at her desk with her elbows resting and her fingers steepled as she conversed with another angel on the other end of the call. "It was nice speaking to you again, Chazaqiel." she said while smiling delightedly, "It's always pleasant to know you are diligent in your work."On the other end of the call, an angel with gray skin and hair that looked like cascading mist smiled back at Seraphiel, "Yes, well, it helps that humans haven't been a total lost cause." she remarked with a glint in her pale green eye, "They've come a long way in figuring out how the weather works.""Quite so," Seraphiel replied calmly before dipping her head to bid her subordinate farewell. But I believe that's all we have to chat for now. It has been a refreshing chat with you, Chazaqiel."The other angel giggled warmly, "Yes. Yes. let's talk again some other time." Chazaqiel said before remarking with an amused smile, "And don't forget to tell Emily I said hi! I haven't seen her in a while." she gushed with a wide, brimming smile.Seraphiel nodded in acceptance. "I'll do that," she answered before the two bid each other goodbye. Once the call ended, and the video disappeared within the blink of an eye, Seraphiel was about to get up when the intercom on her desk chimed, telling her she had a visitor on the way.With a confused look on her face, Seraphiel tried to ponder who it was that wanted to visit her. Reaching across her desk to press a button on the intercom, she opened the door to her office and let the visitor.Just as the doors opened, Adam was already on his way in, with Lute walking not far behind him, seemingly in midconversation with his lieutenant. "And that, my bonafide number two, is why I hate how humans waste each other in such asinine ways in wars. And don't even get me started on those fucking stupid religious wars!" he rolled his eyes, seemingly at the end of some rant he was discussing with Lute.Seraphiel couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at what brought on Adam's rant against one of humanity's worst attributes but stymied her curiosity for now and cleared her throat to get Adam's attention, which it did as she looked down at him as he approached her desk."Hey, Sera!" Adam said in a stern tone with a half-hearted wave, dispensing without formalities to her, while Lute stood behind Adam and bowed her head in respect. "Your Highness," Lute greeted her.Eyeing the two momentarily, Seraphiel spoke with a measured tone of curiosity mixed with authority, "Adam." As she focused on the man, she began by saying, "What brought you here all of a sudden?" She asked, "If I'm not mistaken, you're usually out partying or helping the exorcist train for the next extermination." Seraphiel pointed out."Eh." Adam waved off the idea with a disenfranchised look and tone. " I wasn't feeling it today. I wanted to do a bit of research on what passage that sinner actually quoted from.""Well…" Seraphiel looked down at Adam in a different light. "I'm surprised you'd bother with such a thing."Letting out a gruff tone, Adam responded with a flippant gesture, "Yeah, well, I was feeling petty." he replied in a grumpy tone, "So, imagine my surprise when I actually searched up the quote that Peter said, and it wasn't in his book of good deeds.""Yes…" Seraphiel replied with a measured look of thought, "You've said something along the lines of that of the sinner."With an intense stare back up at Seraphiel, Adam continued to talk to the Seraphim. "Well, after a bit of looking through the archives and back to the forbidden section…" he started while earning a wary look from Seraphiel, "I had to look through those Bibles that manage to crossover to our realm from other heavens and their denominations.""So imagine my surprise that the sinner's quote was actually from a different bible than what Peter wrote." Adam finished explaining with a proud look before chuckling with mirth, "The dumb idiot has to have probably realized by now that he's not in the hell that he's expected!"When Adam mentioned how far he had gone to investigate the matter, Seraphiel was surprised at the man's willingness to do any extensive work outside of exterminations. After Adam finished speaking, she had to lean forward to gently palm her forehead. "Why can't that tear stay sealed?" she muttered while letting out a soft, frustrated sigh."What's that?" Adam asked, his face mask revealing a confused look. He did not fully comprehend Seraphial's mutterings.Looking up from leaning on her desk, Seraphiel gave Adam a stern frown. "Nothing, Adam," she began as she stood up from her desk, "But thank you for bringing this to my full attention and actually getting to the bottom of this discrepancy.""Oh yeah?" Adam began to ask, giving Seraphiel an expected look. Let me guess, you're gonna sic your special angels on the guy and send his soul back where it should be, right?" he asked, expressing a smug look.Seraphiel's eyes sharpened back down at Adam. "Yes…" she drawled out while palming her desk. You can leave the rest of this matter to me, Adam." Seraphiel smiled maddeningly, "I thank you for your due diligence." She said before making a quick shooing motion at Adam and his lieutenant. "Now be off now. I have a phone call to make," she advised with a warm smile."Tch, don't have to tell me twice!" Adam remarked with a wave. He took his leave with Lute, saluting Seraphial before following after him. "I'm totally going to hit up this virtue chick and see if she still wants some lessons on the guitar…" his voice trailed off as the door shut behind him and Lute, Leaving Seraphiel to herself.As Silence permeated her office, Seraphiel began tapping her index finger in contemplation of her next act, her eyes glancing in thought. She steeled herself to move forward with putting a plan into action. Seraphiel's eyes hardened as she summoned a phone.After thumbing through a few actions on said phone, the device rang once before someone answered while Seraphiel held her phone up next to her ear, "Yes. Yes. How long can you arrive here? No, it's not that big of a problem…" She conversed with the being on the other end of the call before turning to look out the window of her office, "...About one soul…yes, that sort of problem…yes, and make it quick…very well then, make sure you are not seen." she ordered before shutting the phone off.Letting out a tired noise from her mouth, Seraphiel glanced up at the shining sun that shone down on Heaven. "He keeps sending these people and books over," she muttered darkly. The Angels and I are doing just fine on our own!" she told herself with a look of resolve.