19. Like Father Like Daughter

Elise was not just seeing things. Her father, Azrael was standing next to Mathew. She quickly ran out of her house. She reached the front porch in time to see Azrael pull his weapon out from between his wings. It was huge Scythe. He raised the blade back behind his head and then quickly bought it around. The blade swished through Mathew’s chest and as it passed through the other side Elise could see something being dragged along with it. It was Mathew's soul being pulled from his body as it fell dead by the mailbox. Suddenly a lower-level angel appeared, grabbed the soul, and flew into the sky. So, this was how it was done. Azrael would separate the soul from the body and then his underlings would deliver them up for judgement. It went a bit differently when the council of archangels instructed him to kill an angel, however. With angels the soul and body cannot be separated the soul is the body. In those cases, when he struck them down, they would fade into nothing.

“Father!” Elise yelled.

Azrael turned to look at her with a sad expression, as she ran up to him.

“Please father.”

Azrael didn’t say anything, but he did not leave either. Elise could see the pain in his eyes.

“Please talk to me.”

Azrael opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out.

“I need to speak to you. I need you to talk to me.” Elise pled.

The sadness in his face deepened. After another moment of silence, he finally spoke.

“I can’t”

“Yes, you can.PLease.”

Azrael gave in. He could not deny his daughter any longer. He had come to check in on her anyway. He had not really been needed for the harvesting of Mathew’s soul. “Alright but just for a moment.” he said glancing around nervously.

“Do you know why we have been kept from each other?” Elise believed what Levi had told her about the other Archangel’s fear. She needed to know if her dad knew too.

“I am being punished. That is why.”

“That isn’t the only reason, is it?”

“No, it is not.” Azrael could guess from the tone of her question that she was aware of the main reason they had been kept apart. He didn’t want to lie to her.

“Why would you let them do this to me? Why would you let them keep me in the dark? Did you know I have a weapon?”

Azrael face was shocked.

“I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah, and if they had let me see you, you could have helped me. You could have taught me how to access my weapon. But they fear me. They lied to me. Michael has been keeping secrets from me about who I am. How could you let them?”

“Michael is just doing what is best for all of us.”

“Best for all of us? Yeah right. You think lying is okay? He told me that I couldn’t lie. He said that it is not something Angels do. But here he has been lying for 200 years. He is a hypocrite. “

“I am sorry you are mad at him. He did the best he could.”

“Well, his best is not good enough.”

“Like I said he tried to raise you as I would have.”

“Oh, would you have kept things like this from me?”

“Probably not.”

So, what am I supposed to do now that I Know I have a divine weapon?”

“Don’t do anything.”

“Why not?”

“Because it is not your place.”

“What isn't my place?”

Azrael paused for a second. “We need to go to a secluded area.”

“Why?”

“Just please.”

“Fine Follow me.” Elise opened her black wings and lifted off the ground. She led Azrail to the same place Levi had taken her to in the bayou. They would have plenty of privacy there.

When they arrived in the muddy clearing Azrael said, “Now take out your weapon. I want to see it.” She reached up and pulled out the double-sided sword out.

As she held out her weapon, he began to examen it. He could not touch it himself. All divine weapons can only be wielded by the one they belong to.

“Do you know if it can take life?” he asked.

“I believe so, but I have not tried it.”

“We need to see if it can. Come with me.”

“Where are we going?”

“We are going to see if you can reap.”

Elise put up her weapon and opened her wings once again. This time she followed her father. They soon arrived at an older woman’s home. She was sleeping in a recliner. Elise could see she was meant to die in that rocker as she slept.

“Go on. See if it can sever a soul.” Azrael instructed.

Elise drew forth her weapon and held it with confidence. She had trained with hundreds of different weapons. Michael thought it was important for her to learn. If there was ever a holy war, he wanted Elise to know how to fight. She was quite good. She could even hold her own against Michael.

With expert procession she sliced one of the blades across the women's body. Her soul ripped away with the blade.

“Put that away and hide. Quickly!”

Elise did as she was told. No sooner was she hidden than a lower-level angel appeared. He grabbed the soul of the women and flew away.

“It is safe to come out.”

Elise peeked out of her hiding spot and then moved back to Azrael.

“Let's go back to your house. We have some things to discuss.”

Azrael led the way back to Elises’s home. Then he waited for her to open the door and lead him into the living room where they sat down facing each other.