Epilogue (Part 1)

Esther slowly regained consciousness, feeling some very bright and warm white light around her. It was an extremely strange feeling. Besides, it felt as if she was lying on an extremely soft mattress and was covered with an equally soft duvet.

"Esther, wake up." she heard a woman's voice nearby, and then opened her eyes fully, realizing she was lying on a bed of some sort. Esther got up and looked to the side, noticing that on the chair near the bed, was sitting a tall, slim woman with blond hair, a pale complexion, and dark blue eyes without pupils. Then she saw her two huge scarlet wings. She was similar to the figure on the Laurens Vermeulen's drawing, but her facial features were a little bit different.

"You know who I am, don't you?" the woman asked calmly, and contrary to what Esther saw in her dream, she was moving her lips while talking.

"Yes... I mean, I think so." replied Esther, looking at the female angel uncertainly. "You're Saraqael, one of the Scarlet Angels, right?" she added after a moment.

"Yes, exactly." Saraqael confirmed, but her face showed no emotion, as if it was carved out of marble. In general, her entire figure looked more like a sculpture than a living thing, only her moving lips showed that she was alive after all. "And don't be afraid of me, I'm not going to hurt you. You are not one of those terrible sinners I punish. Yes, you were too curious about us, but this is not punished with death or torture." she said without taking eyes off her.

"Then where am I and what am I doing here?" Esther asked, relaxing a bit, but as she looked into the strange eyes of this woman, without any pupils, she still felt a little scared.

"At first, when you started looking for information about us, especially after contacting the_scarlet_truth user, we had to stop you, so we haunted your house to scare you and discourage from delving further into it." Saraqael said, as if ignoring her questions. "So it was us the first time, but not the second time. And we didn't install that search engine on your laptop again, we removed it and we hoped it would stay that way. Unfortunately, as it turned out, by succumbing to your curiosity and opening this search engine again, you invited something very bad to your home. We are not sure what exactly is this being, but it's demonic. Perhaps it's one of the ordinary demons, maybe Satan himself." she continued speaking. "In any case, I can assure you that the user the_scarlet_truth was not a human, but a demon that hunts people like you, who want to learn more about the Scarlet Angels. It's been creating these webpages in a Deep Web for a while and we are doing our best to close each one of them as fast as possible. Somehow, with the help of the internet and this particular search engine, the demon gets into people's homes, haunts them, and then possesses them. If it weren't for the fact that we were near your apartment that night, this might have happened to you." she explained. "Actually, you should be grateful to Rathanael." Saraqael moved for the first time, pointing by hand behind her, and at the same moment a figure very similar to her, but male, appeared.

Esther was silent, trying to process all the information somehow.

"Rathanael insisted that we visit you that night, and then he told us something very interesting about you, something that he sensed in your aura, because it was mainly him who visited you and whispered." Saraqael continued. "Therefore, it would be best if he tells you about it himself," she added, then turned to her companion, who only then moved closer to the bed.

"There is something else?" Esther asked, surprised, as she not yet fully processed the previous revelations.

"Esther, you are not exactly human either. When I was near you, whispering, I sensed something familiar in your aura. After a while I realized that there was a part of an angel in your aura that I knew well." said the man that Saraqael called Rathanael. "Do you know your father?" he asked, glancing at her.

"No, I do not know. My mother met him on vacation and after returning home, she did not say who he was, even to her own mother, my grandmother. All I know is that he was a very good and religious man, that's why gave me a biblical name and then only gave my mother the money for my living, but never visited me." replied Esther.

"Your father did not visit you because he couldn't." answered Rathanael. "Your father was an Archangel and during the mission on Earth he met your mother, fell in love with her, and then conceived you. Unfortunately, relationships between humans and angels are forbidden, so he had to send your mother away and ask to never to tell anyone about him, especially to you, as this knowledge could awaken the angelic part of your nature early on and then the messengers of Heaven, sent down to punish your father, would find you easily. Hybrids are not accepted either and are usually killed." he explained in more detail. "You were protected by your ignorance, Esther. Therefore, you should be extremely grateful to your father and mother. They simply protected you this way." he added at the end.

"Exactly." Saraqael confirmed. "When we got to your apartment that night, I sensed how much this demon wanted to possess you, so I immediately believed what Rathanael told me about you. This being wouldn't care so much about possessing a mere human, it wouldn't be so angry when we took you away." she continued, seeing that Esther was listening carefully. "You see, possessing a creature that has at least a bit of an angel inside is recognized in Hell as of great merit and brings the demon innumerable benefits. In addition, it could also make you into a new demon, and quite powerful at that, considering the fact that your father was not an ordinary angel, but an Archangel." she added at the end.

"Okay, I understand... More or less." Esther finally spoke up. "But when will I be coming home, to Earth? Leo is for sure worried, my mother and grandmother will probably find out about my disappearance..." she enumerated, clearly worried.

"And here's the problem." Rathanael cut her word, his so far stony face now expressed something like an apology. "I'm afraid it would be better for you to not come back to Earth. The demon you let into your home is probably looking for you and won't rest until it finds you. This being can't enter the Kingdom of Heaven, so only here you are safe." he explained seeing her accusing gaze.

"And what about my family? What about Leo? Am I supposed to condemn them to suffering and thinking that maybe something bad has happened to me?" Esther asked, tears in her eyes.

"Esther, you have to understand that by returning to Earth you will also put them in danger." Saraqael interjected. "If this being hasn't attacked your loved ones so far, then it doesn't know about them, probably because your thoughts were full of the Scarlet Angels and perhaps your little obsession saved your loved ones. But if you come back to Earth now and start meeting them, think about them... This demon will find out about their existence and may want to visit them and then possess, if only in an act of revenge." she informed her.

Esther was speechless at all this and began to think, staring at the quilt she was covered with. It took about five or ten minutes before she looked up.

"Okay... I understand everything, and in this case, I really shouldn't come back to Earth," she said finally. "But then what am I supposed to do with myself?" asked Esther, looking at the two angels with slightly lost gaze.

"And that's where we, Scarlet Angels, come in." Rathanael replied, then gave Saraqael a meaningful look.

"We have a proposal for you, and I note that it has already been discussed with the Lord, I mean, the God." she said, looking at Esther. "By the rules, as a human and angel hybrid, you should be killed. But since you're a rare case, an Archangel child, it would be a huge loss to get rid of you just like that, and now that you've landed in the hands of the Scarlet Angels and were so curious about us, you could join our squad. What do you say?" suggested Saraqael, and finally some emotions appeared on her face, something like anticipation.

"Me? I can join the Scarlet Angels?" Esther asked incredulously.

"Of course, if you want." replied Rathanael. "You would help us a lot, because each of us comes from rather ordinary angels. Even as a half-archangel, you still have great potential. And now, with more and more heavy sinners, we are needed more than ever." he added.

"Besides, you can choose this or.... death." Saraqael added, with a hint of hesitation in her voice. "You must understand, if you don't want to help us, we won't be able to let you live. You would have to come back to Earth, and if there is a demon that is chasing you, there is a danger that it would eventually get you, and we cannot allow another powerful demon to be created." she explained in more detail.

"But I want to join, absolutely." Esther assured them. "Especially if I have some power, a part of my nature that will be helpful. I have the impression that this has always been my dream, from the moment I heard the legend about you from my grandma." she added, smiling slightly.

"We are very happy about that, Esther..." Rathanael began, but was unable to utter any more words, because another three figures began to appear behind his back, also similar to the two already present, but male, just like Rathanael, only slightly shorter in height and their scarlet wings were a little bit smaller too.

"Anahel, Orphamiel, Razael..." Saraqael spoke upon seeing them. "I think I told you that you can come only at my explicit call, didn't I?" she gave them a scolding look.

"Forgive me, lady Saraqael." bowed one of the angels standing in the centre. "Orphamiel and Razael..." he said, pointing to his right and left sides in turn. "... they were too impatient and dragged me with them." he explained, bowing again, with a clearly apologetic expression.

"Well, as usual." said Rathanael and you could hear a note of amusement in his voice.

"Stop always blaming us, Anahel." said the angel on the right, named Orphamiel.

"Exactly, you must have been curious yourself, otherwise you would have resisted more." added Razael, standing on the left.

"Okay, take it easy guys." Rathanael turned gently to them.

"There's no point in arguing, since you're already here anyway." Saraqael said, looking at those three like a mother on her mischievous children. "Please, be more serious, you belong to the Scarlet Roses after all. You're good at your job, but sometimes you act like children." she sighed, then turned her head to Esther. "Meet your colleagues, they're Orphamiel, Anahel and Razael." Saraqael introduced them, pointing from right to left. "Their main task is to bring back the souls of the victims so that they can take vengeance on their tormentors, and also to track and find great sinners before the whole group develops a plan to punish them and implement it. Anahel, Orphamiel, and Razael are all 1000 years old. Rathanael is 2000 years old, and unfortunately, I don't know my age exactly. I know that I'm rather older than Rathanael, because I was a member of the previous Scarlet Angels squad, however we were attacked by demons, the rest of my companions did not survive, only I did, but it turned out I lost my memory. Sometimes I have some flashbacks from the past, but nothing concrete." she explained, seeing Esther's questioning gaze.

"I'm so sorry to hear..." Esther spoke up, but Saraqael's gaze made her stop mid-sentence.

"There is nothing to feel sorry for." she replied, and finally got up from the chair. "Let's move on to important matters. If you want to become one of us, you have to awaken your angelic nature first." she announced.

"How can I do this?" Esther asked as she pushed herself off the covers and climbed out of bed.

"Come with us. We have everything ready for the ritual." Rathanael replied, showing her the way out of the room.