"Is this for real?" A voice reverberated. Echoed through the skies, yet only those meant to hear it, heard it.
"Are my ears playing tricks on me? Perhaps I have gone weak after not using divinity today. Haha. That must be it!" Another tried to comfort himself. Yet, his face, filled with an expression of displeasure and disbelief, knew what he heard right now was a declaration from the Gods themselves.
-Nobody would harm the Demons for the next 7 days-
The words, by the Gods, to the Angels, were sent as a command, confusing the masses, making them wonder the reason behind it. The demons were after all the enemies of the angels and the Gods alike. And never in history, except a few rare cases, the angels were asked to hold their attacks against the demons.
The ruckus among the Angels spread around as each of them tried to understand the meaning behind it. But none reached a conclusion. And much to their displeasure, to their lack of acceptance, they still had to follow this command. After all, this was a command by the Gods themselves.
"What does it mean? We can't harm the demons even if they are walking around us? I don't understand? If left even for a second, they will kill every other race without any exception. Are we supposed to watch that and not do anything?" One of the Angels spoke, carrying the sentiments of many.
"I don't know… but something is going on," one of the Angels responded, gathering the attention of everyone around.
"What do you mean?" One of the onlookers asked.
"I mean. One of my friends serves a Minor God. And from what he knows, the order wasn't from a collection of Minor Gods, but from the All-Father himself. Just like us, even the other Gods are confused about this decision. All everyone is talking about is that something big is going to happen here in this mortal city," the same angel responded to what he had heard from his friend.
A strange silence spread across the city as all the angels looked at the demons walking among them. They looked the same as the humans, disguised as they usually are. Though this time even the Angels were disguised as humans, so some angels felt disgusted to be on the same level as them.
The demons didn't do anything 'demonic' and neither the angels were 'angelic' here. Everyone was 'human' in this city, and ironically, the number of humans in the city was a bit lesser than the 'humans' in the city.
'Why would the higher Gods do it? What is the All-Father thinking?'
Similar thoughts spread across everyone's faces as they looked around before slowly moving to their own work.
…
The same afternoon, in front of the Neptune's Clinic, a long line of humans, angels and demons was present. There were few other races in between, each waiting for their own turn to come.
And somewhere in the line, their stood a few demons, right beside the Angels, creating a strange tension in between them. A strange silence that seemed to be never ending.
Though as all things happen, one the demons, by the motion of the human behind him, happened to move forward and reach closer to the Angel.
"Can you not stay so close to me?" The Angel, standing in line, right in front of the demon, asked as he turned at the demon just behind him. Because of the Gods' rule, he cannot harm the demon and because of the clinic's rules he cannot leave the line either. Precarious situation, it was.
"I already am having a bad day, pal. Don't make this even harder on me, will you?" The demon asked with a forced smile as he looked at the angel. And then with a slight sigh he wiped the sweat on his forehead before he continued,
"Not being able to heal myself is a pain. And even to follow the stupid rules of this clinic… I don't know what Lord Laydig is thinking? Why would he force us to do this?"
The demon seemed exhausted, not even caring that his words would be heard by the Angels around him. For some reason, he too was not using his powers, just like the angels weren't using theirs.
And only then the Angel noticed that the demons too were not using any powers in the city.
'Just what are they trying to do?' Was the first question the Angel asked himself.
And then he realised something.
And then he corrected himself.
'Just… what are we trying to do?' He asked again. This time his eyes were much more perplexed than before.
"Hmmm? You seemed to carry the same expression as us," the demon narrowed his eyes at the angel before a smile appeared on his face as he added," seems like you too are in some form of a situation, aren't you?"
The demon cackled a bit before speaking," well. Well. Isn't this situation a bit funny?"
And then the smile slowly vanished, replaced by a slightly chilled, slightly scared, but mostly a serious expression. An expression that was heavy, that was grave. And carrying that expression, he added,
"It's giving me creeps… almost as if… we are being played as pawns in someone's play."
The Angel hated the demons. But he too knew that the demon wasn't wrong.
"Something big is coming. If you devils are trying to do something then be prepared for getting yourself wiped out," he warned the demon.
"Right back at you," the demon answered with a sincere smile before looking at the long line in front of him and asking,
"How long do you think this would take?"
"Should be about 30 minutes more," the angel answered as he sighed before looking at the water bottle in the demon's hands while he drank it all and then wiped his lips.
"Sigh. I should have bought a bottle of my own." The Angel mumbled with slight regret before he too continued waiting in line for his turn to come.