text: Sophia watched.
  
  Ever since she had been felled by Daevia's chain and felt the kiss of the Succuba's Lust, her spirit had left her incarnate body. She had been following Bill, floating disembodied around him, helpless to guide and protect her champion.
  
  He was everything a mortal should be — fearless and loving. She had never been more proud then when he selflessly threw himself into Hell after Cynthia. If he could be rescued from Hell, such a potent force he would be against Daevia. His love had grown so much, transforming the dagger that had pierced his side into a full-blown sword, a weapon far more powerful than the flaming one she wielded.
  
  And then Bill and Cynthia met Adriel.
  
  A Tyrant of the Grigori Order, skilled at treachery and lies. Adriel was far more powerful than Daevia. Like Angels, the specialized Demons — Grigori, Succuba, Shedim, Erinyes — could attain three levels of power: Vices, Powers, and Tyrants, corresponding to the Angelic Virtues, Dominions, and Authorities. Sophia was a Virtue, the lowest, and Daevia was a Power, in the middle. Adriel outstripped the both of them.
  
  It pained Sophia as she watched Bill and Cynthia taste Adriel's essence. Fear gripped the Seraph's heart.
  
  Nothing good will come of this, she wailed, straining and hoping and praying that Bill would hear her silent warnings.
  
  But he couldn't hear her. No one could. All she could do was watch as Adriel led the pair through Hell while feigning an injured wing and conjuring the illusion of Dagon to harry their progress. Every time Bill or Cynthia balked, Dagon's booming footsteps would echo, and the mortals would let Adriel lead them deeper into Hell.
  
  Sophia flitted around the Grigori, wishing she could strike the foul Demon down. Like Angels, Demons came in four kinds, starting out as disgusting Lemures, then graduating to Succuba, Erinyes, Shedim, or Grigori. Each was dedicated to a different sin: Succuba, lust; Erinyes, wrath; Shedim, excess; and Grigori, treachery.
  
  A Succuba would befuddle the mind with desires to manipulate a mortal, while an Erinyes would harry one with pain, and a Shedim would dangle wealth and reward. But the Grigori would use lies and deception, tricking instead of coercing or enticing.
  
  She'll use them to escape Hell, Sophia decided. Succuba served Mephistopheles, but the Grigori served Satan, and both Archdemons hated each other. Whatever plan Mephistopheles wrought through Daevia, Satan would use Adriel to turn it to his advantage.
  
  Discord in Hell was the greatest weapon of Heaven. Angels did not disagree. They obeyed. Anything less was Rebellion and banishment to Hell. Better to not exist at all then to Fall into Darkness. But Demons couldn't help but squabble — they were devoid of love.
  
  Sophia cringed and prayed as Bill and Cynthia fought another group of Lemures. They were real, and it seemed that Adriel had little, if any, control over them. It warmed Sophia's heart when Cynthia conjured her image. It so captured her likeness that Sophia thought she could step into it and exist.
  
  Warmth passed through her soul as the Sophia-Illusion soared past in a rain of white feathers, falling upon a pack of Lemures and dispatching them with the love Bill felt for Cynthia. She flitted towards the illusion, sticking her disembodied hand into her image and felt the warmth of love seeping into her.
  
  She willed herself to flow into the image, to inhabit it. Something stirred inside her spirit. Bill's loved engulfed her and she gasped. It was so strong, so powerful. He loved Cynthia and all his women with such fierceness. Sophia had never felt its like before. Not even when she shared his dreams before her manifestation had his love been this strong. It had grown so much in such a little time.
  
  If she had a body, she would be weeping tears of joy at such a miraculous, encompassing love.
  
  Something wet touched her face. Tears ran down her cheeks. She had a body. She was the illusion. Her spirit had been swallowed by Bill's love, suffusing through every corner of her existence, and she had become one with it. She tried to laugh, to call out, but strings of light constrained her, forcing her to slash her arm, to dance about the battlefield and slay the Lemures.
  
  No! I need to warn them.
  
  Cynthia controlled the illusion completely. Sophia was trapped in a prison of love. There had to be a way to reach her, to let her know that I'm inhabiting her puppet. Sophia fought the control, trying to alert Cynthia that something was different, but the girl was too strong, too in love with Bill for her power to be easily disrupted.
  
  There has to be something I can do!
  
  The illusion slashed and fought the Lemures as she fought Cynthia's control. Her spirit reached out, probing through the illusion, trying to find something, some way, some method that would let her warn the woman.
  
  She found a ribbon of white about the throat of the illusion, connected by a thread back to the blonde woman. She touched it. The thread vibrated. Cynthia gasped, stumbling and looking about, her hand reaching up to touch her neck.
  
  Cynthia, she whispered into the string.
  
  "Sophia?" Cynthia frowned.
  
  "What's wrong?" Bill asked as his sword carved into another horde of Demons. The Lemures broke, fleeing across the blasted landscape.
  
  You must be careful. Adriel is not to be trusted.
  
  "I thought I heard Sophia."
  
  Don't trust Adriel!
  
  "Are you okay?" Bill asked, walking up and touching her. A surge of warm energy flowed into the illusion.
  
  "I'm fine," she smiled, pressing her body against Bill, and let go of the illusion.
  
  Sophia was bodiless again.