Five minutes with Mercy from Angel of Mercy

Iris: Iris here, and I’m talking to Merceline Renault, a bartender in Seattle and part time angel. You’ve had a crazy few months, thanks for taking the time to talk to me.

Mercy: Call me Mercy, please, nobody calls me Merceline but my mother. [Her nose wrinkles with distaste, and I remember she doesn't have the best relationship with her mother by all accounts] I wouldn’t say I’m a part time angel, I’m still me. I’m just… well, not entirely human anymore.

Iris: That sounds interesting, how did you get that way?

Mercy: I got stabbed in the alley outside of the club I work at, Eden. I don’t remember much about it, but when I woke up in the hospital, I was different. [Her expression grows distant for a fleeting moment with remembered pain or something else, it's hard to say] I found out later that Sam had healed me and some of his Grace rubbed off on me.

Iris: Sam is your guardian angel?

Mercy: No, not exactly. He didn’t follow me around or anything you normally think of from a guardian angel. I’d never met him before that night in the alley. For whatever reason he decided I was worth saving and he healed me.

Iris: I dunno, sounds kind of like a guardian angel to me. What kinds of things can you do with the Grace?

Mercy: I can’t fly or anything, but there are a few tricks I can do like make myself imperceptible to people and the Grace protects me from harm. I can see people’s souls now, tell if they’re good or bad, that sort of thing. Oh and my eyes turned blue, they used to be brown. [She leans close to show me]

Iris: They sure are, I was noticing them before. They’re just like Sam’s.

Mercy: Oh, Sam let you see him? That’s impressive, usually he hides from most people.

Iris: Why would he do that?

Mercy: I don’t think he’s comfortable around people for the most part, he takes the exile part of being Fallen very seriously.

Iris: But not Adam, right? Does he take anything seriously?

Mercy: [A scowl crosses her face and she shifts in her chair] I don’t want to talk about Adam.

Iris: Fair enough.

Mercy: Have you seen him? Is he okay? [Her expression softens, teeth worrying at her bottom lip]

Iris: Not yet, I’ve got an appointment to talk to him next week. Is there anything you want me to ask him?

Mercy: No. Yes, ask him… no nevermind, I don’t care what he has to say. [She waves the question away]

Iris: Yeah, I can see that… Okay, if we’re not going to talk about Adam, who should we talk about? Ben?

Mercy: Just because he’s sexy as hell doesn’t mean I’m sitting at home thinking about him…

Iris: Who, Ben is sexy as hell?

Mercy: What? [She blinks, as if she has just realized she was talking aloud] No… I mean, yeah, he’s sexy in a different way, I guess. Ben is a great guy, things are going great between us.

Iris: That’s good, he seems like a really nice guy, for a cop. He was really there for you when you were attacked by that Weatie guy, wasn’t he?

Mercy: Yeah, he was really great, he even let me stay with him for a little bit after Weatie broke into my apartment.

Iris: Yes, you said that already. So you guys smoothed out the rough patch you were going through when he thought you were hiding things from him?

Mercy: Well, to be fair, I was hiding things from him. I couldn’t just come out and tell him I was seeing angels, fallen or otherwise, let alone tell him about my Grace.

Iris: Why not? If he’s such a great guy?

Mercy: I don’t really know. Something told me he might head for the hills, and I really wanted one thing in my life to be normal, you know?

Iris: I can understand that. So everything is back to normal then? You’re still working at Eden as a bartender, and you haven’t had much contact with Sam or Adam lately?

Mercy: Not a peep until the Halloween party. You could have knocked me over with a feather when Sam walked into the bar. He is not a bar kind of guy.

Iris: So, I’m dying to ask you, what did he say?

Mercy: [She hesitates for a moment, as though she's not sure she should talk about it, and then leans forward, her voice dropping conspiratorially] He said that there’s some prophecy that talks about a demon or something trying to be reborn to the world through me. Well, someone who sounds an awful lot like me, my name wasn’t in it or anything.

Iris: Yikes, that sounds scary, what are you going to do about that?

Mercy: Honestly? I have no idea. [Her voice takes on a forlorn note and I remember she's really still in the middle of dealing with some major stuff here] I really wish that Adam was here.

Iris: I thought you didn’t care where Adam was?

Mercy: [Just like that she sits up straighter, the vulnerability gone] I don’t. Not specifically… I just need all the help that I can get.

Iris: I think you’re not being honest with yourself.

Mercy: I think you talk too much. [uh oh, I might have worn out my welcome here...]

Iris: I’m sorry, occupational hazard; I’m just calling it like I see it. And from where I’m sitting, it looks like your feelings for Adam are unresolved.

Mercy: I’m with Ben. [Those blue eyes stare me down until I change the subject]

Iris: So did you tell Ben about what’s going on? About fallen angels and demons and the prophecy?

Mercy: I’m going to. In fact, I should get going right now. No sense in putting it off any longer. [She doesn't sound too thrilled by the prospect]

Iris: Good luck. [It doesn't seem like enough, but she accepts it with a tight smile]

Mercy: Thanks. Something tells me I’m going to need it.

Thanks for reading, guys. Stay tuned for the next Between the Scenes interview with Samael, the fallen angel from Angel of Mercy.

*If there are other characters you’d like Iris to interview, or burning questions you wish she’d asked, please drop her a line in the comments section here, she adores fan mail.

** The picture above is not an actual depiction of Mercy, merely an interpretation of the author’s vision of the character.