… solipsubmissive …

This is a continuation.  You might want to begin here:  one

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”

***

“i can’t breathe,” Olivia whispered.

Sera dragged her gaze from the back of Micah’s head.  She noted the look passing between Jason and Olivia.  “You’re dead.  You don’t need to breathe.”  She might have been talking to a wall for all the attention Olivia paid her.  “Olivia!” she hissed.

Micah leaned toward Jason and said something.  Jason gave Olivia a barely perceptible nod then turned his attention to the Life Defense Counselor.  They huddled over a pile of papers, deep in whispered conversation.  The spell broken, Olivia finally realized what Sera had said.  “Why does it feel like i’m breathing?”

“It’s an easier transition from being human if they leave all your involuntary instinctive reflex activities in place.”  She paused.  “You can’t do that.”

Olivia frowned.  “Do what?”

“Catch his attention.  Micah has to focus.  He needs Jason to focus.”  She tilted her head in the direction of the table of demons.  “They,” she said, her tone dripping with derision, “love it when people lose focus.  Thrive on it.  Exploit it.”

“i didn’t mean to.”

“I know.”  Sera frowned.  “We shouldn’t have come.  If it wouldn’t draw even more attention by doing so, we’d leave.”

Olivia said nothing, just bit her lip and nodded.  She glanced down at Lucifer’s table and sucked in her breath.  He had turned in his seat and was now looking directly at her.  She reached blindly for Sera’s hand and squeezed it.

He didn’t look at all as Olivia might have imagined.  He was, in fact, rather handsome.  His dark hair was impeccably trimmed and slightly wavy, not slicked back ominously from a widows peak on his forehead as she had frequently seen him illustrated.  He looked serious and assessing, with dark eyes under slashing black brows.  Nothing diabolical about him.  Just a strong face, not unlike Jason’s in expression and demeanor.  And, with that thought, she remembered why he was here, that his intention was to deny Jason the opportunity for entry into Heaven.  She folded her lips and narrowed her eyes at the disarming former angel.

A corner of his mouth quirked, almost as though he were stifling a smile, and he turned his back. 

Olivia sat back and crossed her arms.  “i don’t like him,” she muttered.

Sera looked amused.  “He doesn’t like you much, either.  Were it not for you, Jason wouldn’t even be here.  Lucifer had him well in hand before you entered his life.  The fact that he’s personally fighting for Jason’s soul is huge.  He seldom bothers.”

One of the angels on the dais nodded toward Micah.  “Begin.”

Micah stood.  “I bring the case of Jason, a deceased human soul for whom I intend to show just cause to be brought before this court in defense of his life.”  He swept a hand toward Jason, who remained seated, his eyes lifted to meet the gazes of the four angels.  “It isn’t often a soul destined to spend eternity in Hell finds itself before you.  And the forces of Evil have joined us.”  Micah crossed his arms and strolled toward Lucifer’s table.  He tilted his head toward them and smiled.  “They clean up well, don’t you think?”

A small wave of nervous laughter rippled from the gallery

Micah dropped his arms and the smile, turned back to face the angels.  “They have turned this soul into a commodity, and I have little doubt that Lucifer and his …” he smirked “… backup singers will present example after example in an attempt to prove that Jason’s soul has no business requesting entry into Heaven.  And they might be right.”

Olivia tensed and sat forward in her chair, her hands clutching the seat so hard her knuckles were turning white.  Sera placed a restraining hand on her shoulder.

“What they’re requesting with their ludicrous claim of prior ownership, is the chance to simply take this soul and have their way with it.”  Micah shook his head.  “And isn’t that just the sort of thing you’d expect?  They seek the easy way.  No waiting for a Life Defense trial, no sense of fair play.  Just pure selfishness.  We want it now.”

Micah lowered his voice, turned to face Lucifer again.  “I’m here to make things hard for you.  Too easily you capture souls before they die.  You had this one.  I’ll concede that.”  He leaned forward, smiled a little.  “But you lost him.”  Micah straighted and turned to again address the angels.  “This soul fought back, dragged itself from the clutches of Hell.  He deserves a chance to defend his life, deserves a chance to finish his fight.  Death came too soon for Jason.  I think you’ll agree, however, that it came too late for Lucifer.”

Micah bowed his head briefly, then turned and strode back to his chair, seating himself beside Jason.  His demeanor was relaxed and confident.  He looked expectantly at the angels, then at Lucifer.

“Sadism.”  Lucifer didn’t stand, didn’t even change position in his chair.  His voice rolled out into the courtroom, rich and deep with a silky, lazy quality.  “Selfishness.  Greed.  Ruthless disregard for the needs of others.”  He leaned back in his chair and smiled.  “Qualities I admire.”

Sera’s hand moved soothingly across Olivia’s shoulder.  She had flinched the first time Lucifer spoke, and Sera could feel her trembling slightly.  “Breathe,” she whispered.

Lucifer finally stood, walked from behind the table and sauntered to the middle of the room.  “Jason wasn’t a soul I had to tempt.  There was no need.  The depth of his depravity alone caught my attention early on.  Impressive.”  He nodded toward Jason, who stared back at him evenly.  “There is nothing I need to prove here.”

Lucifer looked up into the crowd and found Olivia.  “Jason belongs to me, just as surely as his girlfriend belonged to you.”  The crowd murmured and turned to see who he meant, and Olivia froze, pinned in place by his eyes.  “He soiled her, would have ruined her, given more time.  Instead, she is now forced to defend a life that had never required defending.”

He turned back to face the angels.  “You know, I think I’ll take my chances.  I’m giving up my claim of prior ownership.  Let him defend a life that is impossible to defend.  I’ll be back to collect his soul — and that of his girlfriend — when he fails.”

Before anyone could react, Lucifer and the demons disappeared.  The crowd erupted with excited exclamations and began exiting the courtroom.  Olivia stood and began making her way toward the stairs, pushing against the surge of people leaving. 

“Olivia!  Stop!”  Sera’s voice didn’t carry over the noise and Olivia pressed on.  By the time she’d shouldered her way to the floor and emerged from the crush of bodies, Micah and Jason were gone, as well.  She looked up at the angels with tears in her eyes just as Sera caught up to her.

“You have to listen to me,” she said.  “He’s tried so hard.”

“Enough.”  The angel to the far right spoke sternly.  “Your Jason will have his trial. And yours is ongoing.  Sera.”

Behind her, Olivia heard Sera speak.  “I bring the case of Olivia, a human soul requesting entry into Heaven.  The commandment in question today is four, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it Holy.”  Olivia went numb, unable to process the fact that she was on trial again after all that had just happened.  “I have no defense for this commandment.  Olivia did not attend church and often worked on the day of rest.”

“Guilty, then.  You may go.”  The angels abruptly disappeared, leaving Olivia and Sera alone in the courtroom.

five