At that same moment, Cain and Lucifer stood at the entrance of the Manila Ocean Park. Cain bought their tickets, his mind a tangled knot of worry despite the cheerful surroundings. The news footage and Lucifer's warning about more angels coming for him would not leave his thoughts. He had chosen this place partly for Lucifer's enjoyment, but also because it was a weekday, with fewer crowds. He hoped it would be safer, less conspicuous.
Lost in his anxious calculations, he kept glancing at Lucifer. Every time he did, his fears temporarily receded. Her face was a canvas of pure, unadulterated wonder. She pressed her nose against the thick glass walls of the aquatic tunnels, her eyes wide as schools of iridescent fish drifted past. She pointed at a lumbering sea turtle with the excitement of a child. Her genuine marvel was a quiet antidote to his dread.
As they walked, they still drew stares. Lucifer's height and ethereal beauty were impossible to ignore. Each time she called his name—a clear, ringing "Cain!"—heads would turn, followed by the inevitable whispers. Look at her. Who is she? He's so lucky.
When they reached a particularly beautiful section of the tunnel, a wide chamber with a domed ceiling showcasing rays and small sharks, Cain called out to her. He didn't use "Lucifer."
"Lucy. Over here."
Lucifer's head snapped toward him, her expression instantly brightening. She beamed and, in a flash of impossible speed, was standing right in front of him.
Cain leaned in, whispering urgently. "No using that trick here, remember?"
"I apologize," she whispered back, still beaming.
He pulled out his phone. "Okay, stand right there. Don't move until you hear a click from my phone."
Lucifer nodded, a playful glint in her eye. She walked to the spot he indicated, her movements fluid and unconsciously graceful. She struck no pose, simply stood there naturally, but the moment Cain raised his camera, the frame was perfect. The soft blue light from the tanks illuminated her profile. He took the picture.
The soft click had barely sounded before Lucifer was at his side, peering over his shoulder at the screen. Around them, couples watched the interaction, charmed by her eagerness and his apparent nonchalance. Cain felt a flush of embarrassment under their collective gaze.
He showed her the photo. Lucifer's eyes widened in recognition. "It is like the images in your room!"
He didn't explain photography. He just wanted to move. "Let's keep going," he said softly. "Too many eyes."
They continued their exploration. Cain found himself taking more pictures, not just to document her first experiences, but as a distraction. Each snapshot was a deliberate effort to push the image of the winged figure on Mars and the cold weight of the mark from his mind. He was also, he realized with a pang, retracing steps. This was where he had once walked with Amelia.
He stopped suddenly, the realization hitting him like a physical weight. Was he doing this for Lucifer? Or was he trying to overwrite old memories of Amelia by filling the same spaces with a new face?
Lucifer noticed his hesitation immediately. She stopped and turned, her expression shifting to one of concern. "Cain? Is something amiss?"
He opened his mouth to answer.
Then, his ears began to ring. A high-pitched, painful whine that blocked out all other sound.
A tremendous, shattering CRACK tore through the air above them, vibrating the very glass of the aquariums.
Both of them looked up.
In the next heartbeat, two violent explosions detonated simultaneously—one at each end of the long aquatic tunnel they stood in. The concussive force was immense. The thick acrylic walls of the massive fish tanks ruptured. A torrent of seawater, mixed with debris, shattered glass, and helpless marine life, exploded into the walkway. The world became a roaring, chaotic cascade.
Lucifer moved faster than the blast wave. She grabbed Cain and spun, placing herself between him and the nearest point of detonation. Her eyes ignited with a fierce golden light. Above her head, two intricate halos materialized—one blazing with a pure, heavenly radiance, the other shimmering with a deep, obsidian dark. They rotated slowly, stacked one above the other.
Dust and water filled the air, reducing visibility to a few feet. The floor was already ankle-deep in cold, swirling saltwater that rose rapidly.
"Do not move, Fallen Angel."
The voice was not loud, but it cut through the roar of rushing water and alarms. It held a command that was absolute.
Lucifer's body locked. Her glowing eyes widened in surprise. She could not twitch a finger.
Cain heard the command too, but it had no power over him. He was still able to move. He understood; the order was for her alone. He stumbled back until his shoulders hit the cracked, weeping glass of a surviving tank wall. Unseen by him, the strange mark on his forearm began to pulse with a faint, internal light.
The water swirled around their legs, now knee-deep and rising. From the swirling clouds of dust and mist at either end of the devastated tunnel, two figures emerged.
Angels. Clad in ornate, silvery armor, with four majestic wings of solid light spread wide behind each of them. Cain's breath caught. The terror he had felt with Zephon came rushing back, cold and familiar. But now he knew why they were here. They were not after Lucifer first. They were here for him.
The angel on the right, Raziel, looked at his companion, Dumah. "It was that simple," he said, his voice metallic and dismissive. "I wonder how Zephon managed to fail."
Ignoring the immobilized Lucifer, they began to wade through the flooding corridor toward Cain. Their focus was entirely on the marked human.
Cain squeezed his eyes shut as Dumah reached out a gauntleted hand. The metal fingers stretched toward his throat.
HMMMMMMMM.
A deep, resonant hum filled the space, a sound of reality being severed.
Thwip.
Dumah's outstretched hand was simply gone. Cleanly severed at the wrist. Dark, shimmering blood, unlike any human fluid, gushed from the stump, mixing with the churning seawater on the floor. Dumah stared at his own arm, the shock visible even through his helmet. He had not seen the attack. He had not felt it.
And Cain was no longer cowering against the wall.
"Did you drop something?" a voice mocked from behind them.
The two angels whirled around.
Lucifer stood where she had been frozen, but she was no longer still. She had broken the command. A faint, smug smile played on her lips.
"Surrender the human to us," Dumah snarled, his severed wrist already beginning to knit itself back together with threads of holy light. "Or this will conclude in a manner you will not enjoy, Fallen One."
Lucifer's smile widened, showing teeth. Her confidence was a palpable force in the ruined tunnel. Four vast wings of pure, light-absorbing obsidian unfurled from her back with a sound like unfurling velvet.
"If you desire him," she said, her voice ringing clear over the sound of rushing water, "then you must take him from me."