I hear the MORNING Choir {open}

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Pain gripped her unlike anything she had ever known. Lailah, the beautiful sound that her Father had named her, the beautiful voice of the Host that could sing the Dawn away, the beautiful woman that had taken care of so many souls before her own was taken, was now Lust. She knew it for a fact, for all of her memories were flooding back into her mind as if a dam had broken and the waters were spilling forth. So many horrific scenes with her and some poor soul struck at her as if she were coming to blows with another and her eyes only continued to shed tears as they changed from the lovely fuchsia to the dark blood red. Yes, she was a Sin and a Sin she did not want to be. Screaming as if she had been struck by God Himself, Lailah cried out in anguish, knowing that she was totally lost forever.

"What have I done?" The terror in her voice was evident as she turned to Malachi to only see anguish and heartbreak written on his handsome features. There was a look of pure disbelief in his eyes and that made it even worse. Tears fled her eyes and a cold shock came over her body. She had become something evil. Something so vile and sinister that she would never wish to look upon herself again. What had she been thinking? Hadn't Lucifer tricked so many before her and yet, she had fallen for his tactics. A simple request, a simple wish and here she was. Standing in New Testament with a tear-streaked face, horror in her heart, and a companion lost. Had she just waited for the end, just waited for her Father to console her as He had so many times before, she would not be here now. But the temptation. By the name, the temptation was too much for even her and she had fallen.

So when Malachi came to her, she turned to face in him confusion and shock. He had come to her to console her, to comfort her. He was certainly the Angel of Mercy if he could comfort and care about her, the Lady of Lust. The most disgusting thing to walk upon the earth in her opinion. "I have fallen so low, Zadkiel. What have I done?" More like, what could she do? She had fallen, and she had taken that anger out on Zain, not that they cared at this point. Her eyes met his and they were not the blood red that he had seen before, no, they were back to her beautiful shinning eyes that were full of love and warmth for everyone. She was in a conflicting stage and was shocked; there was nothing else she could do but look at him.

"I KNOW MY SIN! WILL YOU SHUTUP?!?" She jerked away violently from Zain, the blood red coming back into her eyes warning the Abomination of her anger and her hate. He was right though, every time she looked to Malachi, she felt something rush inside of her and the realization that he knew made it worse. She was trying to calm her body, calm her wants that she had no control over, but him bringing them up? It only made things worse as she clenched her teeth and pushed him away. She could not stay here with Malachi, she had to leave him or he too would be in danger of her as so many had before him. She had not remembered Zain, but in due time she would get him. Oh yes, she knew her strength only too well and he had caused her pain. If he wanted to play it that way, so could she. The feel of anger and the want for revenge made Lailah swell with power as she stood in Malachi's arms for a moment. He would feel her new-self and all that it could, and had done before. Yes, she was Lust, but she was still an Angel even if it meant she had fallen to become a Black one. Hearing Zain's insult of their Father had even her gasping, and she knew that Malachi would not stand for it long as the color seemed to drain from his features. Yes, there was that righteous anger that she knew so well. She hoped that Zain learned his lesson for the time being, for she would have him the next time. Watching as Malachi's body shone with a holy light, she had to cover her own eyes even as they faded back to their natural hue that could be considered hot pink to some. He was beautiful as any Angel would be, but there was an edge to him as he attacked Zain. A smile curled her lips for a moment as he was finally brought down as he should have been before.

As Malachi spoke, Lailah shook. She should not be here, not while she knew her sins and her evil deeds. Would their Father hate her as he feared he had? Even after she found herself all over again and wished she was not Sin? As Malachi began to shimmer brightly, more brighter than before, Lailah felt the sting of that holy nature. Her hands burned! Throwing them up in front of her eyes to shield the light, she felt her skin crawl as if being burnt slowly. Like Hellfire! "Zadkiel?! My hands! I am burning!" Terror gripped her now as she looked down at her delicate hands that were turning red. So she was not to be saved. Rejection filled her heart as she stood there in front of the alter, in front of the statue of the Lord. Lailah was Sin and Lailah was lost.

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It happened so fast but it was expected. Zain was on the ground biding his time. Malachi was strong, no doubt. But was was a mercy angel. Not exactly the warrior type. Not like Zain who was created and bred to kill angels like him. But he took it lieing down. It was needed to push the women to her breaking point. Whether good or bad he accomplished that. Now what would happen next made him ponder as he grabbed chis leg springing to his feet as he threw Chi into the air. He knew chi would catch himself with his wings but Zain had to get the angel off of him as he wiped his face. "You play your part well in this big grand scheme. But you to will fall to your fathers wrath. Do yourself a favor...brother. You've been on earth to long. Times have changed and its time you head up to heaven and read the memo. God does not care about you nor his children anymore. AND I WILL PREACH IT TILL I'M BLUE IN THE FACE!" Angels..they think there so great.., what truly pitiful creatures they were. Even Lailah had no right to judge. She was a perfect example at how imperfect those creatures were. Zain then turned as his wings began to painfully reside back within his body as he turned to her. "Right now you are all alone. The last thing you need is to make enemy's with those who once followed you." It was not meant to be a threat, more so a warning to her. Zain was the least of her worries. As of right now at least. His greatest weapon to use was something that could catch his eye. Now that she changed., her appeal to his eye seemed to somewhat dim. She was lust again. A sin. There was no more use to him as he saw it. "I think I will leave you.,The stench of Holiness is burning my nose. I advise you leave to before you erupt into a ball of fire." He dare not touch her as he pushed open the doors and stepped out to disappear. "Call upon me if you ever need my bidding my queen of darkness."

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"Nothing that cannot be forgiven, Lailah, only do not despair."

Malachi watched the poor woman, trapped between a great good and a great evil, bounce around her own psyche like a pong ball. It was painful to watch, how she swung back and forth, her eyes deepening to a burning red one moment and her true pink the next. In the moment where her hate rushed back into her, and with it her power, the great white angel Zadkiel felt himself shudder with holy dread. Lust was not one of the temptations he was exceptionally good at dealing with. Greed? Gluttony? Wrath? No problem. But women? Rather tougher. He had been dealing with the problem for most of his time on earth by regarding just about every female he met as being sort of a daughter or sister sort of figure to him, but there had been lovers in his long lifetime as well.

Still, he was in a human body, and human bodies wanted things like angelic bodies did not. It was the reason why there weren't more angels wandering around the earth-- going from never having to have dealt with temptation to a world rife with such temptations...well, it lends itself heavily to falls from grace. Zadkiel had been embracing Lailah, but he had to let go, to reset his thoughts, recalibrate his emotions after feeling the rush of power a Sin possessed.

Zain, of course, being the slimy sort of thing Malachi percieved him to be, attempted to get out from under his foot by throwing it off and slithering off. It was effective in that Zain got away, but not that Chi was thrown into the air-- the angel was bigger and better balanced than that. No, instead of flying into the air, he was set back a few feet, towards Lailah...who began screaming. And Zain was screaming obscenities as well-- still, but Malachi's attention was obviously on the girl.

His first action was to 'dim the lights,' so to speak, turning off his little light that was absolutely blinding amid the morning sun in the empty church. He cursed himself for being such a damn fool. Of course holy light would hurt her-- she wasn't her pure old self anymore, she was tainted. She is Sin. Lust! It was a voice in the back of his head that whispered to him fearfully, a constant reminder of his trepidation about what she could easily do to him and the conflict of that feeling with his desire to heal her. Zadkiel approached her cautiously, tenderly, his troubled heart evident in his eyes. He watched her turn to look at the altar, her dejection apparent. "Lailah, please. You can't lose faith in yourself. He won't give up on you. I won't give up on you. We'll find a way to fix this strange mess, I know you, I know...I know you're an angel, Lailah. You don't have to be this thing that you were anymore, it's not branded to you forever. Let it go, let me help you." He was begging, now, and doubtless Zain, had he not slunk away, would've found this humble pleading highly amusing.

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Her mind was an endless sea of confusion at this point. She remembered everything clearly. The night she had become Lust she had lost her soul to Lucfier gladly. Lailah had practically handed it to him, begged him to take her and all of her goodness away. How could she not despair? She who watched over the night, watched the souls of men until her brother Sammael would take them back to the Father? "How dare you speak of our Father that way. You know nothing of what Heaven is like because of all of your ways, you shall never see it Zain. If you continue on this path, you will be no better than the fallen Angel I have become. So do not preach to me of my Father not caring. If anything, He is the only one that does care. You just abuse my anger, my torment, just as Lucifer did. You are just power-hungry." A snarl passed through her lips as she finished speaking. Perhaps what she had said was part of her old ways, part of who she had been as a White Angel, but whatever it was, she spoke from her heart. All the while she had not known the affect she was having on poor Malachi who was struggling enough without her added anger and her body recognizing its powers.

"You dare threaten me? Me out of anyone in this room?" The red of her eyes lit up like hell-fire for a brief momement before she realized that that was exactly what he wanted her to do. He wanted her angry, to become enraged and use her power as Lust. Turning away, she saw the look across Zadkiel's face and frowned. What was going on with him? It was if he was in pain or something far worse. Could it be something she had said earlier? No, she thought not, but maybe it was something Zain kept yelling. Feeling him let go, it finally clicked. Lust. Poor Chi was feeling lust because her emotions were so strong, and well, he was so close to her. Understanding, feeling highly embarrassed, Lailah stepped out of his embrace while her face turned a bright pink from blushing.

That light! Once in her life she had felt such light and had relished in the warm feeling of being welcomed in its embrace. Now? Now it burned her like a fire not even Hell could produce and the screaming only grew as her hands began to smolder as if she was on fire from it. Hearing Zain call her the 'queen of darkness' angered her, but there was nothing she could do as of right now. The horror in her eyes was evident as they faded back to their natural color and turned to Chi's blue ones. She had become tainted flesh, a Sin that men and women were so familiar with and loved. How could she? How could she let herself become this? Maybe it was a good thing she was burning, maybe it would end it all. Seeing the trouble within his own eyes, she felt horrible for what she could do, what she was doing without wanting to, to him. "How do you know? I've done so much...I've caused so much sin and gladly, Zadkiel. I loved it! But I can't -- I can't be this way anymore. I want, I want to be myself again. But how?" Tears had formed in her eyes without her knowlege of them and were gently falling on her face, her shirt. "Please, make it stop. I don't want to be a monster anymore, Zadkiel, she whispered almost silently as her eyes met his.

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Zadkiel, known on earth as Malachi, watched in awe as the great power of an angel-turned-sin spiked in wrath. He felt as though the room warmed when she was in such a state, like hell was a little closer, like the eyes of Lucifer were upon the three of them. The angel felt a cool sweat bead upon the back of his neck, turmoil surrounding him within and without. It was the action that was sin, not the feeling, but did he ever have the feeling. The goodly angel felt desire rip across him like a speedboat rips across a calm lake, making his hair stand on end-- and it was all poor Malachi could do to keep other things from standing on end as well.

Think about something else, think about something else... The great angel's head turned from the woman, waiting until the sensation passed before he could look at her again. Damn, if this wasn't a dangerous game he was playing, like putting his head in a lion's mouth. A prayer was said inwardly, pieces of the Lorica of Saint Patrick which he well knew.

I arise today, through the strength of Heaven;
light of Sun, brilliance of Moon, splendor of Fire,
speed of Lightning, swiftness of Wind, depth of Sea,
stability of Earth, firmness of Rock.

It was a good incantation, and just the thought of the peaceful words calmed him, straightened his mind. The angel's wings, which had been fluttering raucously behind him in his lusty distress, calmed within moments, settling back down unto his back. He breathed deeply, and turned back to the fallen Lailah, blue eyes colliding with her pink ones. His sense for emotions detected her guilt for the effect she had on him, and he lifted a hand in a pardoning gesture. "I know you don't mean to, don't worry, Lailah." He'd say he'd gotten through worse, but...she was the sin of Lust, a rush of desire from her would've made a quivvering wreck out of him had Malachi not been dealing with earthly sins for 3000 years or so. Still, it took his every last shred of self-discipline not to-- well, he wouldn't let his mind travel there.

Making a point to keep his eyes on her eyes and nowhere else, the angel stepped back to her, tentatively putting his arm around the little angel again. It was a foolish thing, but he was Mercy, and he felt it was what he must do. "Lailah, you, you fell very far...it will be hard to come back to the Light, but I know it can still be done. Our Father knows our hearts. If you truly no longer want to live as Sin, in Sin, I know He will find a way for you. But you must truly let it go. You must show that you can be pure again before you get yours wings back." He pulled her closer as he saw the tears form in her eyes, but then a mingled fear and desire clutched at him again. Malachi's stony blue eyes squeezed shut again for a moment, an obvious sign that he was struggling to battle the feelings that came from taking Lust in one's embrace. His wings stretched and refolded in his quavering state of mind, though the expression on his face stayed as placid and beautifully calm as ever.

I arise today, through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's host to secure me:
against snares of devils,
against temptations of vices,
against inclinations of nature,
against everyone who shall wish me ill,
afar and anear, alone and in a crowd.

When he opened his eyes again he looked back directly into hers, and her near-silent plea to return to her old self. Her pain only made him feel as though he had to be stronger still for the both of them, and yet Zadkiel felt so hopelessly overpowered, it was all he could do to keep himself in check. He swallowed before speak again. "The first part of not being a monster is not wanting to be a monster, Lailah. I will do whatever I can to help you, but...I think you know you have to do this yourself."

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This was madness! Lailah had a temper even while she was in her white wings, always had, but this? Zain was getting under her skin in all the wrong ways and she had to control herself. The feel of hell fire sparked within her and knowing what that could do to Chi...she had to stop herself now before it was too late. Her sin was a contagious one, one that took down even the most holy of men. Turning on her powers in rage? Not a good thing for any of the three or anyone else that was currently in the church. And not for Chi, she could see it now on his face. She was...it was getting harder for him to control himself as it was without her doing this!

Stop it! Lailah shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts from rage...and something along the lines of lust again as she pushed down all of her power. It could be controlled, but since she was rusty from not using her powers, and because she had totally forgotten everything for a while, it was taking more strength, and longer than she had thought it would. What was wrong with her? Her power had always been controlable and easy to shove to the side. What was it about today that made it so much harder?

Hugging herself around the waist with her own arms, she kept her eyes to the floor in shame. It was so humiliating to be doing this to him, and to herself, without her consent. At one time, she would probably gladly have played with Malachi, tried her best to get him to sin just for the fun of it. But now? No, she did not want to do that to him now. Never! Her eyes finding his, she was still blushing from her embarrassment, but able to not feel too ashamed as he spoke, telling her it was alright. Alright? How could that be alright? "I'm sorry, Zadkiel," she whispered lowly. She could very well remember what she could do to a man, but to an Angel? It was almost worse in some ways for some reason. Maybe it was the whole thing about how they always wanted to 'save' her. Like him.

The feel of his arm around her was comforting, but still, she stiffened and shut her feelings off so she wouldn't do something she'd regret later. It was sweet of him, but...they had to be careful around each other obviously. He was right, she had fallen very far, so far that she had no idea how she could get back to the Light. Their Father...could he ever forgive her after all the chaos and sin she had caused in man? "I am trying even as we speak. It's so difficult and I'm not even doing what I am to you on purpose. I am so sorry," As he pulled her closer, Lailah buried her face into the nook of his shoulder, since she was much shorter than he was, and hugged herself tighter. Feeling comfort was no sin, but if she even dared to move, she knew the lust would overcome her again and it would destroy any redemption she could find. At least he was doing better than she, though as she peeked up at him with her bright eyes, it seemed to be harder for him as well. Damn her sin. Damn Lucifer for making her this way!

"Yes, I know this. We...we cannot be in close contact until I have controlled...my Sin. I am sorry for what it has done so far...I really am not trying to..seduce you or anyone here. It's..a natural reaction since Lucifer and I.." shrugging, she did not know how to continue on because she was just rambling. Much like a child trying to find an excuse for something they did not understand and she knew that there was no point in her trying to tell him anything, because she was sure that all the the White Angels knew what she did to fall so hard. "Thank you, Zadkiel."