When the Angelus looks for a new vessel She is weak. The Darkness seeks to gain the upper hand.

I wish to thank Top Cow for such great characters and give them kudos for showing the development of a lesbian relationship in mainstream comics.
I originally intended chapter 2 to be longer, but to give a greater description of things and better pacing I've made a long chapter 2, two short chapters. Please enjoy chapter 3.

It was Finch! She was alive!

I forgot where I was,and the next thing I knew, I was in her arms. She laughed, “Whoa there and whoa again”, she had pulled pack and was just staring at me. “What's wrong is my lipstick smeared?” I asked thinking that it was the changes of the increased femininity she was staring at. “She knelt before me, “ My queen, you shine.”

I stared at her as she knelt in a position of obeisance, I looked up and saw all my soldiers in the same position. It seems that when I'm happy I shine.
At the moment finding that I hadn't lost Finch meant that Light around me would have been blinding to a mortal human. Here it seemed the corona flared around me indicating my right to be the Angelus.

I was surrounded in flame and it felt as if my body were being remade. I focused on dampening down the flame. Suddenly it occurred to me that she had just called me her queen. I understood she was my soldier and everything but I felt that after all she had given up for the light that she didn't need to honour me in such a way. I thought of us as more like partners.

“You called me your queen.”
“Huh?” she replied. “Of course I did”
“So you don't mind being with me if I'm turning into a woman/”
She stared at me, “ You've command the entire Hall of Light and your biggest concern is whether I mind that you're a woman?” she asked incredulously. “Of course I'll Love you no matter what, I already told you this when I was still human.”
“Good,” I said “because I feel the same way.”

I asked Finch not to pay me such respect because I felt that she should have equal recognition in helping the Angelus find a host. She told me that it was just a natural thing that all Angelus warriors had a need to obey the Angelus, She was their creator after all.

“Bit you're different, you were human with a human soul that is balanced with polar energy. You have light and dark knowledge, whereas my warriors only understand the light.”
“I don't know what to tell you” she replied, “they will only listen to you. You are Light and hope. They were created to battle Darkness. You are what matters most to them. You matter to me because you're a part of me.”

I thought about this and smiled as an idea came to me. It was a good one and for more reasons than one. I stood before my throne, I had their attention as soon as I moved. I took Finch's hand and gently pulled her toward me.

This didn't seem as big a deal as when the Angelus put her crown on my head but I think it was still a big deal (If one judged by all the whispering). “This is Finch,” I called out, “She is my consort and my second-in-command. If I am unavailable to answer, you talk to her.” I only needed to think it and a chair for Finch was next to mine.

Apparently the Angelus had had consorts before. She, however had never shared power or delegated before. It seemed that I was making a few waves. I could see that they wanted to know the reasons behind my choices but the Angelus had never deigned to explain things before so they just didn't ask. It would be up to me to explain.

“A new contract has been agreed upon, as you see the Light has a new body,” I indicated toward myself and their answer was like a gentle breeze flowing across my skin. I needed to learn to communicate this way; also:My god no wonder She never complained about sexual frustration in any of my memories!

I continued trying to find words to explain why I would choose a commander who was so obviously a newborn warrior, “As humans are born with the potential for light and dark they are in a greater position to understand the reasoning of the host of The Darkness. Finch understands the positive and negative. She has also have been touched by the Darkness and then cleansed and raised by the Light.”

“Laying it on pretty think aren't you there soldier,” Finch said teasingly under her breath. But I knew what she meant, it did sound like I was tooting Finches own horn. But I needed to get the point across that even though I was a new body I was still the Angelus. She agreed with me but I was aware that this little stunt could come back and bite me in the butt.

“Return to your prior business” I told my 'court' and they left. I looked at Finch and asked, “ are you strong enough to return to earth with me?”

“As your consort I am but I have no body. I am a being of The First Fire.

I asked if it was possible for her to get a new body and she told me that in about a hundred years I should be able to make her one but we both knew that there was probably no way to achieve what I wanted. She kissed me and said, I can be with you on Earth anywhere but you probably don't want me indoors.” I thought of her visiting the hospital and setting it alight.
“By don't worry my Love, you can feel me inside of you - always.”

She was right. Here's how it works. I created the entire realm of Light when I was at my strongest, and while each of my warriors are individuals with their own lives they are also part of me and I can feel them where ever they are. Finch was my creation, as she was reborn in the fire and Light of the Angelus. But she was also my soulmate when we were human and came to what she was still havi human free will.. That human part stayed after we changed and now she was inside me, but she had chosen to with me all the time. As such she had joined us together in spirit.
* * *
His name was Sonnetine but it was so long since he had used any other name that he barely remembered that it was an Alias. He had quested for power when he was younger, that was his goal then. Money and power. In the 10th century the quickest way to make that come about was to be born into it. He was not.

What he was was a thug, running around stealing and intimidating those around him. He enjoyed hurting others, it made him feel strong. Not useless like his father called him. His father was not calling him useless anymore, now that his son shoved a dagger into his belly. Now the only useless thing was the stench of his father's rotting corpse.

So Sonnetine stole, bullied and murdered to make his way in the world. Filling no particular purpose exept being self serving. Until he had a stroke of luck.

It seemed a man had seen him around and wanted to hire him for a job. This job turned out not to be that great as Sonnetine was to be the sacrifice to a demon. He was told that he should be honoured as this was not any demon. It was THE first demon. The Darkness.

After he had been dressed in sacrificial robes and his hands were tied so he couldn't escape. He was place in a ritual circle and given a potion to drink He pretended do this and dropped to the floor in a faux collapse and the bottle containing the potion shattered under the bulk of Sonnetine's body.

The dark wizard had to do the ritual with his eyes closed and he didn't see his prisoner cut through his bonds with a shard of pottery from the vessel that had contained the potion. As the ritual was coming to a close the demon appeared and Sonnetine managed to break free of the circle and the tables were turned in a most spectacular manner. The wizard turned out to be the sacrifice to the demon and Sonnetine received the boon that the wizard wanted; money, power and immortality.

Sonnetine studied all the magic books the wizard had, learnt darkest magic, and sinister rituals. He specialised in Necromancy. But most of all, he was obsessed with the Darkness. Sonnetine became obsessed with the Darkness, formed a cult worshipping the Darkness and when he learned that the Darkness took an Avatar on this earth-realm. He decided to seek this Avatar out.

For five hundred years he searched. He found the Darkness hiding in plain sight. In the public eye, using the cover of the criminal underworld. A brilliant thing to do, but he had long ago leant that the Darkness was not that subtle. This meant that It had made a faux pas in choosing a host or, It had begun to learn subtlety He thought the latter very unlikely.

The church dedicated to the Darkness was only a front now. All the high priests knew that Sonnetine's real aim was to control It. The church of The Darkness was now the Crime syndicate known as The Darko family and it was their attack on his holdings that finally convinced Jackie Estacado to cut his losses and leave Australia.
* * *

Estacado was boarding his private jet with a bevy of beautiful women and a male bodyguard.. As the plane taxied down the runway Estacado looked at the women, “all right ladies once were in the air we can have that orgy I've been promising you.

They levelled out and Estacado looked at his latest acquisition and smiled. “You,” he pointed at the bodyguard “will give the ladies what they want.”
“Oh I don't want anything from him” said a woman with size C breasts and a deep voice. “I want to give to him. I wanna fuck him so hard in his arse.”
The Avatar of the darkness smiled, “That's fine.” He turned to his bodyguard and said, “When we land in the States we'll get you on a more permanent roster for hormones. No more small doses of pills every day, we'll start you on monthly injections. We'll make a woman out of you yet.”

“Now” he said to the man, “get undressed for the ladies. But before you do anything for them come here and suck me off.”
The man answered “Yes master”.
As sucking sounds started Jackie closed his eyes and sighed, “Ah, Gleason, you're going to
make a wonderful woman.”
* * *
I returned from that Other Place to the hospital room to find a tremendous commotion going on. There were nurses every where and the doctors were shaking their heads. The odd thing about the commotion was that no one was paying attention to me.

It seemed that...in the words of the doctor, “...and he began to emit some sort of fiery force field and seems to have burned through all equipment connected to him and everything around him. We can't get close to him as the heat is to much and the light blinding.”

I felt inside me and found my connection to the Light. And focused. The room went back to normal — except for the melted equipment that was pooling of the floor. I opened my eyes

It was my mother who first noticed I was awake. “Oh Danny I was so worried.” her words caught the attention of the staff in my room. It seemed that being in The Realm of Light had...certain effects on my physical body. No, there was no sign on me turning into a woman...well except for the loss of my hair — all over.

There was a stunned silence from the doctors. And then all of them converged upon me like children at the first sight of a new toy. I sat up and tried to figure out which questions from the barrage to focus on. None of them were valid to the Angelus aspect of me except for the fact that they wanted to do tests.

That couldn't be permitted. The Angelus was changing my physical structure and even though their first conclusion would be that the changes were meta-gene related, the fact was that I was no longer completely human.

“Doctors.” I used the necessary force to get their attention. Human's weren't used to the Angelus force talking, but somewhere in the the their brain was the spiritual — genetic knowledge that the First Mother spoke and they stopped their chatter immediately. “I am fine. Thank you for your help. Your have my medicare number and for any other aspect of payment the hospital can send a bill to our home address.

The human mind does not cope well with things that are to large for it to comprehend and so it blocks what it is not ready to accept. And so it was with these men of science. The human part of me understands that.

That is why I didn't permit myself to get short tempered we they began to argue that I needed to stay. They needed tests to see if I posed a danger; they wanted me there for observation.
The Angelus was losing patience. I imagined clothes covering me and they did, this seemed to be stun the hospital staff for enough time for me enough to take my mother by the hand and walk out of the hospital.

In the car my mum looked at me and said, “That was very impressive.” She said nothing else until we got home.

As I closed the apartment door behind me I gestured for her to sit. “I have something to tell you.” Everything came out. I must say I was surprised at how calmly she took it all. Out of all I told her, she expressed sincere joy at two things, I think that she was most excited about Finch.
But I think the second thing that made her happy was that I would be getting a life long wish. “And you will be a woman, finally. I'm glad, it's finally happening for you.

When I was young child about 4 years old it became clear to my entire family that I was transgendered. I didn't enjoy playing with boys as much as girls, I loved dolls and pretty clothes and no one could convince me to act differently. After speaking to doctors my parents began to understand why I acted the way I did and they supported me. I even completed my primary school years as a girl

My father died when I was 10 and it was a crushing blow for me to lose one of my strongest supporters in my goal to achieving complete femininity even though everyone continued supporting me but without my father's help I began to sink into a depression.

We tried HRT when I was 12 but my body had rejected it. We tried every type of drug but none worked. When I turned 15 my voice began to break and I finally came to the conclusion that a higher power just refused my wish and I decided that I had to get on with my life.

I even stopped dressing in feminine clothing. When I met Finch, the need to be in the body I felt I should be in, didn't disappear, but it was not as demanding.
* * *
The Angelus, it seemed was giving more than She took. My mother said that she would formally do the paperwork declaring me a legal woman of 21. My name would be Danielle Baptiste. She told me that it would be too much money to keep getting me a new closet every time my size changed as I developed but the Angelus explained that I needed to only get my first set of clothing and She would ensure that the clothes change as my body did.

The next few months were peaceful after the previous ones. I had taken mum to a clearing and showed myself to her as the Angelus, I also re-introduced her to Finch. They were so happy to see one another that they almost hugged and I had to intervene so my mother wasn't reduced to a cinder from Finches fire.

I now worked at the French Embassy as Danielle. I had been accepted as a young woman who was going through my transitioning period before I went in for SRS. Making friends, was surprisingly easy. I don't know if it was a French acceptance of sexuality or something else. Being transexual didn't seem to phase anyone at work.
* * *

Sonnetine had been getting reports of Estacado's vices. From everything that he knew about the Darkness, he knew that It wouldn't be happy with it's Hosts inability (actually lack of motivation) to move chaos onto a Global level.

He realised that he would never get a better chance to succeed at his goal. With the correct ritual at the right time and place, Estacado would die and the Darkness would be his.