We're Setting Worlds On Fire

Andy looked around the venue and he couldn’t seem to keep the goofy grin off of his face. They had all made it to Japan and while they were all thrilled to be in a country some of them had only ever dreamed of seeing, it was also kind of nerve wracking. They’d had two shows so far and they had both been near disasters. The first venue had been strange to play in because nearly everything over here was under the ground. So the guys had had to lug their equipment down four flights of stairs and then set everything up with only minutes to spare before getting on stage. Now they were in the third venue and the guys were all kind of freaking out a little bit.

That morning they had gotten up to a very small earthquake, which freaked them out because being from California they all were nervous that something small was going to turn into something disastrous. Andy found himself getting agitated because their guides-two young guys who still spoke very broken English-had laughed at them and told them that it was nothing. Now they were all on stage, doing sound check and Andy noticed that Lily and Michael were over in one corner whispering to one another and avoiding eye contact with the band. What was going on? Did they know something and felt like they couldn’t tell the guys?

Andy sighed as he walked over to the side of the stage and grabbed for his bottle of water-they had been here an hour and still the venue’s audio guy couldn’t figure their shit out. This was getting frustrating-it was expensive for them to fly over here, stay in hotels because riding around in a bus just wasn’t practical with all the traffic and to top it all off their attendance was dismal. They would play though-they would rock their shit out tonight and tomorrow and the next day. Andy smirked as there was a loud amount of feedback coming from over the system and then all of a sudden everything just began to move in slow motion.

The speakers, which were hanging above the stage and slightly over where the audience would be that night, began to sway back and forth precariously and Andy noticed that everyone got deathly silent. This wasn’t just a baby quake-this felt the real deal and Andy looked over towards Lily and saw the utter fear in her eyes. What was going on? Suddenly Andy was being pulled off the stage-just in time as one of the speakers came crashing down and smashed on to the spot that he had just been standing in. A sea of people were rushing around and Andy felt the fear in his heart as he moved with the wave but had lost sight of everyone in his band.

Andy just moved with the crowd, almost falling a few times as he had tripped over his own boots, but someone was there to catch him before he face planted. They were going up the steps-thankfully this place was only barely underground and soon enough Andy was squinting in the light of day. As everyone ran around him, Andy just stood there-his blue eyes taking everything in around him.

Buildings were shaking, almost bending against gravity and reality and he felt in that moment that he would die here-they were all going to die in this place. People were screaming, children were crying and the streets were being flooded by thousands of people as they came out from under the ground like mole people.

Andy finally spotted everyone else-they were all standing around Lily and Michael and Andy noticed that the Angels both held a look of terror and shock on their faces. Was this it? Was this earthquake the start of the war? Andy rushed over towards Lily and after seeing her lavender eyes and how scared they looked Andy knew-the time had come. They needed to get ready for battle-they needed to call the troops and they needed to figure out what the plan of attack was going to be. As Andy stood there and listened to Lily speak, he felt like everyone was way too calm in this utterly terrifying moment.


“Michael and I are almost positive that this is it…the time has come.” Lily was saying as Andy approached and he felt his heart drop. So it was true-Satan was here on Earth.

“What does this mean Lily?” Jake asked and Andy watched as Lily ran her hands through her hair and closed her eyes. She was tired-they were all so tired and he knew that the Angel hadn’t been meditating well.

“It means we need to get the fuck out of here.” Michael said, his usually calm voice filled with fear and anger. Soon enough the group was walking, the ground still shaking in small tremors and Andy felt his eyes grow wide in horror.


There were buildings crumbling before his eyes and he knew that things could get much, much worse if they stayed much longer. The group was being led off towards their hotel where they would get their things and be taken to the airport. Andy jogged quickly and soon enough he had Lily’s hand clasped in his own and he listened quietly as she and Michael spoke. They thought Satan had come to Earth in LA-one of the worst places of sin on the entire planet. If that was true then it made things a lot easier-that was home turf for them and Andy felt like maybe that would give them an advantage.

As they walked Andy had pulled out his phone, pulling up Twitter but signals were down everywhere it seemed. He had to alert the Army-to let them know that they were all okay and that they needed to join forces and wait for the band to get back home. Andy felt everything rush around him in a blur as they finally got to their hotel and he was ushered in to the room he and Lily were sharing with Michael. A man stood in the doorway as the three of them hurriedly packed their things and moved around one another in silence. Andy couldn’t stand the silence and as they all entered the elevator and he looked down at Lily, he knew he couldn’t keep quiet much longer.


“Lily-tell me the truth…you know what’s really going on.” Andy whispered and he watched as Lily, who had been staring straight ahead of them, looked up at him with her sad lavender eyes.

“Michael and I have been keeping an eye on the signs over the past few weeks, but there was no predicting when things were going to happen.” She said, her voice strained and Andy knew she was trying to keep things quiet. So they’d know what was going on all along…that was comforting.

“What kind of signs?” Andy asked as the elevator came to a stop. The lobby of the hotel was in chaos-tourists trying to check out or talk to the front desk about connecting flights and getting cabs to the airport.

“Crop failures, lightening storms, floods, babies being born with deformities and even small cases of locusts. It’s all been there Andy…we just weren’t sure until now what it all meant…” Lily said as they all walked outside and Andy noticed that there were two huge vans waiting for them. They were being rushed to the airport and Andy was thankful that they had just survived to get to this point.

“Why didn’t you tell me…” He growled in her ear as the two of them, followed by Michael and Jake, all got into the van and were soon speeding off down the road. Andy looked out the windows, his mouth open in shock at what he was seeing.


Entire buildings were flattened to the ground, their walls and foundations having crumbled under the pressure from the quake. People, covered in blood and dust, were being evacuated from those areas and Andy had to fight everything within himself to keep the van moving and not stop to help. How could they just leave? How could they just go home and pretend like none of this happened? Andy bit down on his lip ring, running a hand through his soft black hair and he caught site of the feathers that were hanging down from some of the strands.

Things had changed so much in the past few weeks-Andy and Lily had gotten back in to a comfortable place where they were friends. Best friends-and while they kissed and cuddled, Andy knew that it wasn’t meant to be. It had been hard at first, admitting to himself that there was someone out there who wasn’t Lily that he was meant to be with, but at the same time it gave him some comfort.

Lily, after the battle, was going back to Heaven where she would watch over him and the guys and cheer them on from the clouds. This would mean that Andy would be left on Earth-alone once again to drown in his sorrows. This time though maybe he wouldn’t have to do that…maybe he would meet the girl he was supposed to be with.


“Michael and I didn’t want to say anything in case we were wrong. We weren’t even sure when the earthquake started that it was Satan or not. We’re still guessing at this point.” Lily said, moving her hand to cover his and Andy felt himself relax slightly. So Lily wasn’t really keeping things from him…she just was holding back the truth.

“So we’re just going back home on a guess…” Andy said as the airport came in to view and he gulped. The flight over had been rough and he knew that the flight home-after such a shock-would be even worse.

“We can’t stay here Andy-it isn’t safe. There’s no telling what could come up from those fissures in the Earth…” Lily said and Andy just looked at her. Fissures? Cracks? Were Demons crawling up from Hell through the cracks made from the gigantic quake they’d just had?

“So we’re just going to go home…leave these poor people to fight the Demons themselves?” Andy asked, his voice gruff and suddenly he noticed that Michael wasn’t chiming in like he usually did. Andy liked the male Angel-he was a good friend to Lily and he made them all laugh-but sometimes he had a habit of butting in. Not now…

“We have to Andy…if there are Demons coming up from Hell here in Japan…then three times as many will be with Satan when he rises in LA.” She explained and suddenly the car had come to a stop. The area they were waiting in was jam packed with people and Andy knew that getting home was going to be harder than they all thought.

“I don’t like it.” Andy said and Lily only sighed, blowing her hair out of her face as she looked around. Michael was sitting beside her, his lavender eyes closed as he tried to meditate and get in touch with someone back home. Heaven was probably in chaos and Lily only wished she could be home to help deal with everything.

“I know and neither do I-but you have to get back home Andy…” Lily said as she unbuckled her seatbelt and then moved to undo his. Wait-what? She was making it seem like only he and the guys were flying back home-so what was going to happen to Lily and Michael?


Andy felt his breathing grow shallow as he thought about getting on that plane without Lily. He could hardly fly on a plane with Lily sitting beside him, his head in her lap as she ran her fingers across his scalp and told him funny jokes from when she was a kid. How in the Hell was he supposed to get on a flying death machine, fly over the ocean for however many hours and then get off like nothing happened?

Furthermore-how were Lily and Michael getting home? His questions were stuck in his throat as Andy felt Lily pushing him softly out of the van and soon enough everyone was congregated on the sidewalk outside of the frantic looking airport.

People were rushing around, towing small children after them or roller luggage and Andy winced as one scared looking woman actually ran right over his foot. All of the guys, plus Jon and Toby-their merch guy-were standing around while Jon tried to talk to the touring agency. They needed to leave, but their contract wasn’t up and yet there was nothing to be done. As Jon hemmed and hawed on the phone, Andy turned to Lily and took her small hands in his own. She looked sad and as Michael stood behind her, his hand on her shoulder, Andy could see that his Angel wings were already popping out. Humans couldn’t see them-only other Angels and Demons.


“You really aren’t flying home with us?” Andy asked, his voice sad and Lily only smiled as she stood on her tip toes and placed a kiss to his lips.

“It’s faster if we fly this way and Michael and I need to get back and assess the damage.” Lily explained and Andy only sighed. He could fly with her…she could carry him in her arms or on her back. He knew there was a way that they could be together-he needed them to be together right now.

“I could fly with you…we can figure this out Lil’.” Andy said, that usually convincing smirk on his lips and Lily knew that he wasn’t going to give in easily. She didn’t want to do things this way, but it had to happen. Michael was sure he knew where Satan had come to rest and they needed to get there to form a magical perimeter to keep Demons and other nasty things from lurking the LA streets at night.

“You can’t Andy-you need to stay with the guys…incase you get attacked.” She was whispering the last part and suddenly her arms were around his waist. Andy said nothing as he hugged her to him tightly and soon enough he knew that it was time…Lily was leaving him to go save the world.

“I’ll miss you.” He said simply and Lily only smiled as she placed a hand on the back of his neck and kissed him passionately. There were cat calls and wolf whistles, but Andy paid them no mind.

“I know…you’ll see me soon though.” She said, a faint smile on her lips and Andy sighed as he kissed her one last time and watched as Lily walked over towards a corner, never turning around or taking her eyes off of his.

“I love you Andy!” She shouted, a teary smile on her face and before Andy had any chance to say what he wanted to say-both Angels had flown off and he was alone.


Hopefully he would survive this flight and make it to LA in one piece…to fight the War of his life.

Notes

It has begun...

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