be not afraid

Gaz wasn't afraid.

Gaz was never afraid.

She wasn't afraid of that stupid demon her brother was obsessed with, because the demon was stupid, and he'd come to freaking Oiho, land of the nothing-ever-happens-here-- something only someone boring or annoying or dumb would do. What was he going to do, invade the cornfields?

And she wasn't afraid of other demons, either, not like her brother. Way she figured, if they hadn't pulled off this supposed evil attack on Heaven yet, and they'd been trying for a real long time, then it would probably be another real long time before they managed it, and by then Gaz was gonna be powerful and tall and have a <I>sword</i>, and she knew that once she had a sword, she would be fine!

Gaz wasn't even afraid of how bored she got, even if it made her... peevish. But that was just 'cause of Oiho <I>sucking</i>? This part of heaven <i>sucked</i>. It was, frankly, <I>complete animal dung</i>. But it's where she was born, and where her brother was born, and where their dad thought they should stay, so she stayed there, and tried to find ways to get less bored, except the other kid didn't really like playing with her anymore. "You're <I>mean</i>," one of them had cried last time she tried, tears streaming down his chubby, cherubic face, "I think you're really a demon!"

That was dumb, though.

Gaz has wings as white as any other angel's.

And even if she was a demon, apparently a freaking awful pair of fake feathered wings and a wig to cover your demonic headbits was enough to fool most of the idiots on this particular mountaintop.

"I think you're really an idiot," she'd told her fellow child, and, "I hope everyone as stupid as you gets pushed off the side," which had made him cry harder, and, "If you keep sobbing like a dumb-butt I'll push you myself," which she probably wouldn't really do but it was getting more tempting the louder he whined.

She <I>hated</i> Oiho, but she wasn't afraid. What could happen here that could hurt her?

---

The angels at the door were here for her.

At least a couple of them were Pious, which, okay, she's NOT scared of them, but they're definitely weird and unsettling and way, way more scary-- like, objectively, she's NOT scared of them-- than that stupid Zim. The masks? They way they moved without hesitation or objection or even comment when ordered? That even though they're "pious" they do <I>anything</i> they're told? Like, obedience is a virtue, but she's been in the wrong places at the right times before and seen--

She's not afraid, even before the unpious adult said, "Be not afraid, little one."

"Why would I be afraid of you?" she asks, derision in her voice, and the adult frowns. That's fine, everyone knows she's her dad's kid, and everyone thinks her dad is great, so she's not too worried about some random jerk, even if he's five times her size. "Did you need something? I'm busy."

"Hmm," he says, and kneels down before her, to cup her chin and look into her eyes.

Gaz doesn't like that much.

"<I>DON'T TOUCH ME,</i>" she snarls, and wrenches her head down to bite him; he cries out in surprised pain as his fingers snap between her teeth. It's not too bad, he won't be able to use that hand until it's healed but it doesn't look like he does much work anyways. She's done worse to Dib. She's certain it'll teach him a lesson about touching her.

He makes a high, pained noise, and a fire lights in his eyes, and he orders, "Grab her!" in a sharp, whining voice, clutching his broken fingers to his chest.

Unhesitant, the Pious do, and Gaz isn't afraid, no matter how her heart starts to pound.

---

"You are accused," the angel says, hand wrapped in bandages, voice harsh, "of being a demonic infiltrator, come to destroy Heaven for your own Hellish ends."

Gaz can't help but laugh, shortly, at that. "You're an idiot," she tells him, and tugs helplessly against the grasp of the Pious on either side of her.

He takes in a sharp hiss of breath, and glowers at her, displeased.

"My dad--" she tries, and he cuts her off.

"What did you do to Membrane's real daughter, I wonder? How long has he had a demon living under his own roof, corrupting his real child?"

She can't reply to that, because it's insane, and just gawks at him.

"That poor girl... did you kill her in her sleep and take her shape?" he asks, expression dark, wings white and shining as he mantles them overbearingly, taking a step towards her.

"No--"

"My son was right, to point me towards you," he declares, and Gaz knows, with sudden clarity, that one of the other angelic children has leveled this accusation first, that he's been guided to her, that the suspicion was already planted in his mind. "You do not belong in Heaven, demon."

---

Gaz is not afraid.

She's not, she's NOT, she ISN'T afraid, except her Dad's not here and her brother was off doing something stupid and the Pious are pulling her towards the edge, where the soft white of the clouds fall away and the distant, foggy surface below is blue with distance-- she beats her snow-white wings at their arms, bruising herself on their armor, and fights as well as she can dangled between them, tugging and trying to kick and trying to bite-- and just like she's not afraid, her heart isn't racing with terror, her eyes aren't streaming with tears, it's the wind pushing over the surface of Oiho and the exertion--

Gaz isn't scared of anything, and the scream as she's thrown over the side is one of rage.