Magical Girl Exorcist Squad: Descent into Hell (Prelude)

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***

“Mom, Dad, Monica, I’m going to Hell,” Nicole said at the dinner table. 

They were gathered inside the new house, a four-bedroom place on the water, only a few miles from the harbor. A crowded street, commonly used by commuters, hummed with life and activity outside as it led into and out of the city. The floor was plain, light brown wood, while the walls were white and thus far barren. A rectangular wooden table sat in the kitchen, only a few feet from the stove and the refrigerator. It led into the living room, where dozens of unopened boxes littered the premises. Mom and Dad sat at opposite ends of the table, while Nicole’s chair was against the wall and Iris and Monica sat across from her. 

“I’m sorry, what?” Mom said. She’d prepared their first dinner in their new kitchen, a simple pot roast with gravy and mashed potatoes and peas and carrots. She and Dad were both having Hanazawa beers with their food, while Nicole and her sisters all drank milk. 

“Nicole, I know that certain parts of the Church still aren’t crazy about trans people, but you can’t really believe that you’re damned simply for existing,” Dad said, leaning forward, paternal concern plain to see in his dark blue eyes. 

“That’s not what I meant,” Nicole said. 

“Then what, pray tell, did you mean?” Mom asked. 

Monica looked ready to freak out again… Maybe I should have done this while she wasn’t here… No, no, that would just upset her more, being cut out of the loop like that. “I mean that there’s someone trapped in Hell, someone who needs help, and I have a responsibility to save them. The team is going with me.”

“Including me,” Iris said. 

“No, you’re not,” Nicole said. 

“Yes, I am.”

“Iris.”

“Nicole. I’m going. I saw her down there too-”

“What are you both even talking about?!” Monica screamed. “This is… This is crazy?! Who could possibly be so important that you have to go to Hell to save them!?”

“A member of our family,” Nicole said simply. “It’s my fault she’s trapped there.”

“I’m so lost right now,” Mom buried her face in her hands. 

“Let me explain,” Nicole said. 

She told them, sparing no detail, about her demon, about the Floodwater, about her visions, about Astra, about Lilith. 

“That’s everything,” Nicole said. “This demon and I… We’re connected. Our minds, our souls. Whatever it was that I did to expel her, it changed her. And I’m the reason she’s trapped down there. Every second she spends there, every moment of agony… That’s my responsibility.”

“Nicole… What you’re talking about doing,” Mom said, “I get where you’re coming from, but you can’t possibly think this is a good idea. What makes you think this demon is really worth saving?”

“Everyone is worth saving, Mom,” Nicole said. “You taught me that. You and Dad. How can you expect me not to follow your advice in a situation where it’s needed?”

“I,” Mom said, “I just… How can you expect me to watch my babies march into the fire to save someone they barely know?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do,” Iris said. Nicole blinked, then fixed her eyes on her middle-sister. Iris continued, “People can change, Mom. And this demon, this… This girl, she’s changing. I used… I used to be awful. I know I did, so don’t try to deny it or sugarcoat it. Nicole saved me anyway, over and over and over again. And if she hadn’t… I wouldn’t have gotten any better. You need to give people the chance to be better, by picking them up when they’re low. And how can you get any lower than the pits of Hell?”

“Iris,” Nicole said, furrowing her brow. 

“I’m going with you, Nicole,” Iris said. “It’s the right thing to do.”

“You can’t be serious… Iris, you’re still just a child,” Mom said. 

“I don’t know about that,” Dad said. “I’d say she’s grown up a lot. They both have.”

All eyes were fixed on him. 

Finally, Monica broke the silence. “This isn’t fair,” she sobbed. “Everything keeps falling apart, and I… What you if don’t make it back? I can barely take care of myself- monsters keep coming after me, and I… I can’t protect myself the way you two can. What happens if they come for me again? Or Mom and Dad? And you two aren’t here to save us? I know… I know I’m being selfish. I know there’s bigger things than me, that I’m not important, but-”

“Don’t say that,” Nicole said, leaning forward, putting a hand on Monica’s shoulder. “You are important. And you know we would do the same for you in a heartbeat.”

“I just… I’m so scared,” Monica said. “Everything keeps changing. Feels like I’m powerless, like I can’t do anything but hold on for dear life.”

“It’s okay to feel like that, Monica,” Dad said. “Sometimes that’s life.”

“Peter, please tell me you’re not okay with what our daughters are suggesting,” Mom said. 

“Of course I’m not okay with it,” Peter said. “And, my love, if you truly want me to back you, I’ll do my best to stop them from going through with this. But it sounds like their minds are made up. Nicole’s an adult. Iris is only a year off from being one herself. And we raised our girls to do the right thing, even when it’s difficult. What kind of father would I be if I told them not to do this?”

“I…,” Mom said, “I just don’t know. I can’t… If you do this, I won’t be able to protect you.”

“Mom,” Nicole said. “This is as much about protecting you as it is anyone else. The war going on in Hell… It’s threatening to burst through to the surface world any day now. We need… I NEED to get eyes on this situation, to find out what’s really going on and who all the players are, if we have any chance of surviving all that’s to come.”

“You’re asking me to let you go into the fire,” Mom said, choking back tears. 

“Because it’s what you would do for one of us,” Nicole said. 

Tears flooded out of Mom’s eyes, and she ran her hands through her hair. Nicole reached over and grabbed her hands and said, “Will you pray with me?”

“Of cour… Of course I will,” Mom said. 

“We all will,” Iris said.

They joined hands, and together, they said, “Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee…”

***

“Mom, Dad, this is Matt, my boyfriend,” Cass said.

“Sir, Ma’am,” Matt said with a wave. 

Patrick and Victoria sat on a pair of chairs on the cement patch that separated their house from the sand. Waves crashed onto the shore, and a small fire sat in the fire pit as Cass’ adoptive parents drank warmed spice wine together. They looked at each other, then back to Matt and Cass. 

“We’ve already met Matthew,” Patrick finally said. 

“Yes, but not us as a couple,” Cass said. 

“We’re putting labels on it now, ya’ see,” Matt said. 

“You weren’t before?” Victoria said. 

“Not as such, no,” Matt said. 

“I see,” Patrick said. Then he smirked. 

Oh, no, Cass thought. 

“Well, Mr. Callahan, what are your intentions with my Cassandra?” Patrick said, leaning forward.

“To make her happy, sir,” Matt said. 

Victoria smiled and leaned forward. Not you too! “And what are your prospects, young man?”

“Uh… Well… I’m working on getting my GED,” Matt said, eyes suddenly fixed on the ground. “And, uh, maybe joining the mechanic’s union.”

“Hmm, I see, I see,” Patrick said, a mid-Atlantic accent suddenly tracing his words. 

“Guys,” Cass groaned. 

“And what of your lineage?” Victoria said, her accent matching Patrick’s. “Do you come from a respectable household of name?”

“Not remotely,” Matt laughed. “I haven’t talked to my dad in years, and I don’t know where my mom or my brother are.”

“Oh, well,” Patrick said, his accent becoming outright faux-British. “Good heavens, but I’m not sure you’re an appropriate suitor for my young ward-”

“Young ward? Seriously?” Cass said. 

“Our beloved daughter deserves nothing short of a knight in shining armor, young man!” Victoria said with a haughty laugh. 

Matt glowed with navy blue light, and his armor shimmered in the porchlight as flurries of snowfall danced around him. “I think that can be arranged. Sir. Ma’am,” he said with a cocky smile. He turned his smoldering gaze to Cass and said, “Wouldn’t you agree, fair maiden?”

Cass sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “You’re all such nerds, Goddammit.”

“Watch the language, young lady,” Victoria said, her voice returning to normal, wagging a stern finger at Cass. 

Finally, Cass laughed. She’d wanted a normal family. If this was what that was like… She could get used to it. And she knew she wanted it to still be here when she got back. 

***

“Hey, guys,” Heather waved to the camera on her laptop. Her whole family sat in the living room of their house in Hartford, gathered around the various chairs and sofas. Heather sat on her bed, Debbi next to her, leaning against the wall. 

“Hey there, Hime,” Mom said. “Is everything alright?”

“No, no it’s not,” Heather said. “There’s something I have to do, something involving my, uh, professional life. And I’m worried that… That I’m not strong enough to do it. That I won’t… That I won’t…”

“Hey, hey,” Dad said, his concern practically radiating through the screen. “You’re one of the strongest people we know, Heather. There’s nothing you can’t do if you set your mind to it.”

Heather sniffled, and she felt the tears coming. The words came flooding out, everything that had happened, from Astra to Lilith to what they were talking about doing tomorrow. Everything came out; when it was over, Mom and Dad and Jack and Shiro and Ritsuko and Naomi were all talking at once, all panicking, all begging her not to do it. 

Panic permeated Heather’s being, and she reached over and slammed the laptop shut. 

“Heather, what the shit?” Debbi said, leaning forward. “You can’t just-”

“Why not?” Heather said, back slumped, chewing on her thumbnail. “They’re right- I can’t do this-”

“That’s not what they were saying- that’s the opposite of what they were saying!” Debbi said. “Your dad literally said you can do anything-”

“Parents always say that,” Heather said. “They don’t know what they’re talking about.”

“Heather, no offense but-”

“If you say I don’t know what I’m talking about, I’m leaving.”

“This is your apartment.”

“Not what I meant,” Heather said. 

“Then what did you mean?” Debbi said, brow creased in concern, leaning in close to her.

Heather laid back on her bed, her long legs hanging off the side. “It means that… I’m gonna go on this mission, but if we make it back… I’m done. I’m not cut out for this life. I’m never gonna be strong enough, or smart enough. There’s plans within plans within plans going on here, and I just… Punch really hard. And not even hard enough, given how my last fight with Astra turned out.”

“Heather-”

“Debbi, please,” Heather said. “Just don’t, okay?”

Debbi said nothing. She simply laid down next to Heather and held her tight, let Heather sob into her shoulder, stroked her hair. “If that’s what you decide, then so be it. But remember I’m here for you. Always.”

***

Amy paced up and down her apartment, waiting, waiting, waiting, until the tumblers of the locks clicked, and the front door opened, and Nicole stepped into their shared home. “Hey,” the blonde said. 

“Hi,” Amy said. 

Candles were lit and placed over the table, while a bottle of bourbon sat next to a fresh-baked German chocolate cake. “What’s all this?”

“I, uh, just wanted to welcome you home,” Amy said, mustering up a weak smile. 

“Amy.”

“Nicole,” Amy said, walking over to her, letting her hips sway suggestively as she did so. 

“Is this… Are you trying to apologize for something?” Nicole asked. 

“I… Might be?” Amy said.

“Shouldn’t I be the one apologizing? I blew up at you.”

“Yeah, but I deserved it,” Amy said. “You were just…”

“Just?”

“Justified,” Amy said. “Your grievances were justified.”

“And yours weren’t?” Nicole asked.

“No, of course they weren’t!”

Amy pulled out a chair for Nicole, and Nicole sat down and put her purse on the floor. “And you don’t have any reservations? None at all?”

“No. Of course not! Why would I?”

“Because literally six hours ago you were saying how you didn’t care what happened to Hell,” Nicole pointed out. 

Amy poured the bourbon into two glasses, over ice. “Yeah, but now I know the full scope of what’s going on-”

“Amy, are you acting like this is all okay because it’s what you want, or because it’s what I want?” Nicole said. 

The bourbon overflowed from one of the glasses and spilled onto the table ever so slightly. “Let me get a napkin for that!” Amy said. 

“Amy, you’re avoiding the issue.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Because that’s what I do,” Nicole said, “You’re doing that thing that I do. Like when I was trying to pretend what you said to me when I came out didn’t hurt me anymore, and that I wanted to skip the healing and be with you. You remember what you said to me then?”

Amy pressed a cloth napkin on to the wooden table. “I… I called you a liar. And I told you to take all the time you needed.”

“Yeah, you did,” Nicole said, looking up at her with a pleading expression that made Amy want to cup her face and brush back her hair. “And I also told you, today, that I’m not perfect. That I make mistakes. And if you think that what I’m doing is a mistake, that this whole mission is a bad idea, then I NEED you to be completely honest with me about it.”

A rush of pressure let itself out of Amy’s head, and she let her mouth hang open for a moment. “I… I’m doing it again, aren’t I?”

“Acting like I have this perfect moral compass? Yeah, you are,” Nicole said, exhaling deeply, then cutting herself a slice of cake. “There is… So much about this plan that’s a bad idea. And I know that. It’s crazy, what we’re doing is crazy, and we’re doing it for…”

“A monster?” Amy said, sitting down and holding out her own plate. 

Nicole put a slice of cake on Amy’s plate. “Maybe? I don’t… I don’t know if she deserves what I’m doing for her. But what I believe… What I HAVE to believe… Is that everyone deserves the chance to be better.”

  “That’s a good thing, though.”

“Yeah, but if they don’t take that chance, if they don’t get better, if they, Heaven Forbid, get worse- isn’t it on me at that point?” Nicole said, sipping her bourbon gingerly. “Just look at Winona- I convinced Cass to let her live. That means that if Winona kills anyone again, it’s my fault. That happened because I gave a second chance to someone who didn’t deserve it.”

Amy looked at Nicole, and a million thoughts ran through her head- that her girlfriend was being too hard on herself, that she was noble for wanting to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders and die for everyone else’s sins, that she was practically a saint for being willing to step up like that… But she knew that wasn’t what Nicole needed to hear at that moment. Amy chewed and swallowed a piece of cake- damn, I did good work on this- and said, “Babe? Can I be real with you? Don’t be so fucking arrogant.”

Nicole, midway through a swallow of whisky, nearly choked. She coughed, then finally managed, “I’m sorry?”

“Yes, you let Winona live. You and Cass. And you let Aidan live as well, for good or for ill. But all you did was give them a chance. What they do with that chance, whether they squander it or seize the opportunity and become genuinely better, that’s on them, not you. You’re not their mother, and you’re not their keeper, and you’re not God. Their sins aren’t yours to bear. It’s the same way as it was with me, before we started dating- you wanted to fix me. Don’t try to deny it- I could see it happening in real time. You thought if you played the part of the perfect girlfriend, you could correct everything wrong with me, but all you accomplished was hurting yourself. It’s arrogant to think you can fix people, and it’s even more arrogant to act like it’s your fault if they stay broken.”

Nicole stared at her a while, silent, unblinking, mouth hanging open. Finally, her eyes closed, and she slumped back into her chair and down the glass of bourbon in one go. 

“You okay?” Amy asked with a nervous chuckle.

“Yes. Thank you. Seriously, thank you for saying that,” Nicole said, “You have no idea how nice it is for somebody to call me on my hogwash-”

“Just curse already, Nicole, Dear God,” Amy laughed. 

“I will when I’m good and ready!” Nicole said, leaning forward, hands placed firmly on her hips. 

“And I am actively anticipating that moment,” Amy said, eyes narrow, grin smug. 

They ate, and they drank, and they laughed, and when they were done, they went to Amy’s room and made love for hours and hours. And as they laid on Amy’s bed, tangled up in each other’s slick, sweaty bodies and basking in the afterglow, Nicole said, “I love you, Amy Donahue.”

Amy blinked again, and hesitated as she tried to think of what to say. 

Nicole placed a single finger over Amy’s mouth. “Don’t worry about it. You don’t have to say it back. You don’t have to say anything you don’t want to. And I won’t say it too often, if it bothers you. But I just wanted to say it now, before whatever happens next. Is that okay?”

Amy didn’t say anything. She simply kissed her girlfriend on her mouth and wrapped her arms around her, drinking in her scent and letting their bare skin warm each other up as they drifted off to sleep in anticipation of tomorrow.