#raphael and his angels have done everything to keep them alive

[cherubchoirs]

How does fallen Gabriel eat..? What sorts of things does he have to consume now in order to survive? Or is it just for luxury?

i do think of angels in general as having to consume something to survive, and i did always think of it in terms of the fruits of heaven's garden/the bread given by god...because of the lore implicated by the tree of life in ultrakill, however, this made me think of the idea that what they were consuming was, in a sense, much like the flesh and blood represented by bread and wine. it is freely given as a blessing to them and so taken in great joy in the form of ambrosial fruits, pieces of god that he uses to sustain all the angels. but now as a fallen angel, i think gabriel must be confronted with actually devouring to survive, taking blood and meat in a raw, visceral form from the demons he kills with v1 - no longer given, no longer a blessing, but practical, survival based predatory consumption. it's basically a little play on the fall of man, how in the garden everything is free to take with a little work of caring for it, but once sin is introduced it is now sweat, blood, and toil to continue to survive. it took him some time to accept that and he always ate quite privately (a custom, from heaven, that he maintained even during his crueler period as a fallen angel), but i think gabriel does become increasingly practical during his time in hell to be at peace with his needs as they are. v1 is, once again, a tremendous help considering its own diet...though it may be another reason they go looking for that tree of life.

[devildomwriter]

Simeon’s Journey

Simeon was introduced to us as an angel, not just any angel but an archangel; A warrior angel in charge of legions of angels.

From season one we immediately learn not everything is as it seems with Simeon. Simeon tends to bend the rules, be more relaxed, and was mentioned as having once been a Seraph, the highest rank of angel in the Celestial Realm.

In the Celestial Realm Simeon was a brother to Lucifer. He was given a rose garden by his Father and watched it diligently while having a great interest in a book of prophecy, one that foretold he’d one day lose his wings. Although this concerned Mammon, Simeon wasn’t particularly bothered.

When the war broke out, Simeon tried to cover for the brothers, and for this, he was demoted to Archangel, a busy position where his job was to defend the realm from the frontlines. Gone were the days of rest and relaxation with his family and two close remaining friends, Raphael and Michael.

To cope with the loss of the brothers, Simeon began to write about them, likely using the book of prophecy as a reference since most of his books reflected what would eventually become reality, with the main protagonist, Henry, replacing MC. These books would eventually be published but upon visiting the Devildom and discovering the brothers were so different from how he remembered he became disheartened and didn’t continue his work until Season Four of the game.

Upon coming to the Devildom in season one Simeon was guarded against Diavolo and didn’t particularly like him. He enjoyed scaring Luke, befriended Solomon, and acted as a messenger for Michael.

In season two things take a turn with Simeon. He’s more relaxed and adjusted to the Devildom and doesn’t hide his secretly stern behavior, even bringing Mammon to tears when put in charge of a play he’d write.

When everyone learned MC would likely die from their abundance of uncontrolled power, the ring of light was given up as an option because it was lost in the war. Simeon keeps quiet but immediately leaves to steal the ring from the celestial realm to save MC’s life.

These actions closely resemble Lilith’s choice which started the war with similar results.

Lilith directly altered a human's lifespan which is forbidden, by offering him stolen fruit from the Celestial Realm.

Simeon more or less altered MC’s lifespan by bringing them the one object that could keep them alive. If MC hadn’t died, Lucifer would have, Lucifer who although forgiven, was still a traitor to the realm.

The final chat of season two is Michael asking to speak with Simeon. It’s clear he’s in trouble for what he’s done.

In season three we aren’t shown anything is too different with Simeon although the brothers find it weird that he’s in the human world as it’s not an archangel's job. During his time at the cafe, Simeon meets with Raphael on multiple occasions who is checking on how he is doing as a human.

In season four Simeon comes back to the Devildom, this time as a human exchange student though this fact is only known by Solomon, Raphael, Diavolo, Barbatos, and Lucifer who keep an eye on him to make sure he is safe from other demons.

Now in the Devildom, it’s clear how powerless Simeon is. Unable to protect himself or his loved ones with an angelic blessing, everyone learns the truth. With the truth revealed and his closest friends there to support him, Simeon finally takes the steps towards accepting his new life as a human and even begins to wear his old celestial realm clothing.

But things don’t end there. Despite his newfound confidence, no more than a few weeks later he becomes sick and unsettled, even missing part of the RAD Science Fair to stay home.

While observing Simeon one day, Lucifer notices his aura has changed and when he confronts Solomon, Solomon reveals that Simeon is turning into a demon and he has been since the human world.

Moments we can see this too in the human world were Simeon’s teasing in the “Celestial Realm”, his threats to the brothers in the cafe, and his confession to Lucifer that he feared his own Father or an aspect of him.

Simeon may not understand what’s happening to him, although he knows his magic is stronger and applauds MC for noticing in chapter 47. Simeon is now forced to make another huge adjustment by becoming a demon, and it’s difficult for the people around him too—after learning Raphael was found staring into space and incorrectly answering questions, even struggling to drink Demonus, which he loves. Michael has been pestering Luke for updates on Simeon, and Luke is now concerned about his condition again.

This will only go a few different ways. Simeon becomes a demon, demon form and all, and perhaps reunites as brother with the other seven, or he’s going to fight against the change to become an angel again as even Raphael states he believes Simeon is better at his “job” than he used to be.

Depending on how Simeon copes with this change, it’s either a tragedy or a new beginning. Simeon has always been disillusioned with his job, even telling MC he believed angels couldn’t have dreams of what they wanted to do, and drunkenly sobbing to Lucifer that he’s now more of a middle management type.

Either way, for Simeon and everyone around him, it’s hardly the ending.

[d34dlysinner]

Heyo, could I request WBH Raphael x fem reader?

Some relationships fluff headcanons would be lovely (of course only if you want). He is my favourite of the Angels and would love some content for him.

Thank you for writing for this fandom! We all appreciate it hehe! Have a lovely day/night/afternoon! 🥰

SORRY FOR THE LATE ANSWER LIFE HAS BEEN HECTIC ANYWAY THANKS FOR THE ASK (first angel ask too wooo)

MINORS DNI

Raphael headcanons:

He received demands to hate everyone, including you. But you have that something that makes it hard for him to hate you.

If you're interesting enough he would stick around you for long periods of time.

Started hanging out with you just to piss off some of his fellow angels, but later on, he realized that he struggled with hating you.

He would get annoyed if he started questioning why he can't hate you. It also annoys him if he gets more demands to hate you.

There are times when he'll avoid you. These are moments where he's annoyed at the demands he received or when he gets annoyed from questioning whether he hates you or not.

He would tease you just to see how you would react.

If he really cares about you A LOT. He would probably risk seeing you when you're asleep. Just to check if you were okay or not.

There are moments where he wants to see you drenched in angel blood. He just believes that you would look very good.

He would greet you by popping up out of nowhere. He then would either try to make you scared or angry. He thinks it's cute when your face scrunches up.

If he had to do any cute couple thing then you might have to plan the things, because he'll just go to kill off different beings with you watching him.

Doesn't mind a picnic date. He would even dare to lick off any crumbs that stick to the corner of your mouth.

He doesn't mind kissing you out of nowhere. Again just to see something entertaining. He also just likes kissing you.

If Gabriel or Michael tries to kill you he'll try something to make them stall.

He hopes 90% of the time to see a demon at your side when fellow angels pop up.

He wasn't caught dating you solely because the angels wouldn't believe that a seraphim that hates everything would keep you alive. NFSW IDEAS FOR RAPHAEL

He loves to eat off your body.

He loves to see you cry and get wet. The crying doesn't have to be from pain or fear. Pleasure is what he wants to give you.

He doesn't hesitate to put bite marks all over your body.

If you have a wound. Be prepared to see him aroused and angry at the same time.

He would love to tease you until you're a sobbing mess.

He's quite rough when he bangs you. He just doesn't always like it soft.

He loves to rest on your chest when he's done.

Since he's an angel and for as long as he has commands to kill you, he'll leave your side before you're awake. Or he'll leave soon after you've fallen asleep. Meeting him again will mean that he needs to randomly pop up again.

I hope I did your request some justice seeing how there's not that much info on him. TvT

[sunsetcougar]

Biotech AU. At about the same time Charlie and Vaggie are having their talk, Sera and Raphael are meeting up to have their own discussion.

Sera was the one who had to contact Lucifer, and that conversation wasn’t pleasant for anyone involved. “Lucifer was… displeased to hear we’re keeping his daughter here, but after I explained what happened and why it’s necessary he thankfully backed down. Though we should make an effort to get her home quickly. How is Lute faring?”

Raphael barely looks at Sera, more focused on looking over the latest test results. There’s stress lines in his face, a rare thing to see in Heaven. “Honestly? I���m not entirely sure when she’s going to wake up, if she wakes up at all. Removing her halo was the right call, it was causing more damage, but quite frankly I’m shocked she’s still alive. Half of the mechanical parts I’ve found should have killed her when they were installed. There’s machinery in pretty much everything, including her heart and lungs.”

“So how is she still alive?”

“I don’t know. Sheer force of will? Unheard of luck? Some secret technique? I don’t have enough information to say for certain, and that also makes treating her difficult. But I did learn something, at least. Her blood is red.”

“Red? But only earthly creatures and sinners have red blood.”

“Exactly. She’s not an angel, Sera, she’s a sinner. A sinner who’s mostly machine and had a false halo feeding her who knows what.”

Sera is quiet for a minute, processing that revelation. “Why is a sinner in Heaven, let alone acting as one of our soldiers?”

“I don’t know! Everything I learn just gives me more questions.” He sighs. “Are there any other updates on your end?”

“Adam still isn’t talking, and if his silence continues I may have to resort to force to get answers, though Emily is trying to reason with him now. We may also be able to gain some insight from the princess’ exorcist partner.”

“Ah yes, Vaggie. Shes not in as bad of shape as Lute. When I saw her she was mostly aware and seemed to be disoriented mainly from stress. I couldn’t run the tests I wanted since she wasn’t able to stay in my office that long, but I’m not concerned about her suddenly collapsing or anything like that.”

Sera sighs and rubs her forehead. “How did no one ever realize this was happening?”

Raphael shrugs. “I don’t know. I just… don’t know anything about this. But I need to go check on Lute. Her vitals have been a bit shaky and I’m concerned her body might give out. It’s under so much stress it might not be able to handle it.”

Sera begins following him as he heads towards his office. “You’re saying she might not survive?”

“I am. Some of the machinery I found is long outdated, installed decades ago. It’s obvious she’s been fighting a long time, and for souls will goes a long way in helping them heal. If she doesn’t have the will, doesn’t want to fight anymore, she won’t. If she’s done all I can do is keep her comfortable while her soul fades.”

That sets the mood to heavy when they get to Lute's room. Shes laying on a hospital bed, unconscious and hooked up to about a dozen different monitors and machines to keep track of what her body is doing and keep it stable. Raphael sets about checking on her while Sera just stands in the doorway, half hugging herself and trying to swallow back the thick guilt she beginning to think might choke her.

[clanofjones]

Ghosts of Our Days - Chapter Two

<- Chapter One

Ao3 link (full work)

This chapter, like all of them, was co-written with @theosb0rnway!

Chapter Two: Iced Iced Baby

"Fuckin' creep." Casey wished that Donatello would find a hobby besides spying on his friends and family, especially since Casey Jones didn't want to be seen by anyone.

Okay, he wanted to be seen by Shredder in his nightmares, but it's not like he'd willingly tell anyone that, or tell anyone anything.

If the others found out about Raph, Casey knew he would be blamed for panicking and very clearly following Raphael's orders to run. Sure, Raph never told him to take his body, but no way in hell was Casey going to leave Raph to die with Super Shredder. Master Splinter was in no shape to fight, so Raph was a laying, stabbed, broken target that Saki could easily stab again.

'He's still dead anyways' a voice muttered in Casey's head.

"Shut up."

'You let him die, you made things worse.'

"Shut. Up."

'If it wasn't for you trying to save HER he'd still be alive-'

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

It took Casey a minute to realize he was talking to himself.

Alone.

On a roof.

While dismantling all the electronics he owned.

Sorry, Angel, big bro would have to get another phone and spam you with another crappy "New phone who dis?" message at 2 am.

Angel.

Casey faltered for a second, trying to think of a way to tell his precious baby sister that her favorite tea party playmate was now laying face up in a pool of his own blood, a loving expression still on his lifeless face.

"At least he's... happy..." He whispered, walking to over to finally shut his eyes and officially lay Hamato Raphael to rest. He took a moment to cry and wiped his tears before getting back to work.

The vigilante's mind raced with ideas of what to do next. He was almost done destroying any evidence of his existence, but he couldn't go home and he CERTAINLY couldn't go back to the lair.

Then there was the matter of Raph's body, which he desperately wanted to keep with him, crossing hotels off the list. He could find an abandoned building for now, maybe one by some of his favorite dumpster haunts so that food and clothes were always nearby. He knew he had to sneak home, but that was at the bottom of his current to-do list.

He put that at the bottom of his ever growing list:

1. KILL THAT FUCKER

2. Get Raphie a new home

3. Food.

4. New dumpster territory?

5. Raph's things from lair

6. Get un-Donnie-fied phone

7. Angel

8. Raid room for all things

Casey Jones was a man of few words, mainly because when he tried big words they all came out screwy. He liked big words, but the gap in his mouth sure didn't. This is why he resorted to physical ways of communication.

Currently, his fist was communicating with his broken phone that today was the worst day he'd ever had and that ripping things apart felt good. He pulled out the last wire on the beat up old thing and smashed it with his boot, throwing everything he destroyed over the edge of the rooftop before grabbing Raph's heavier body and honing his expert searching skills.

For all his vigilantism, Casey wasn’t sure what to do with a body. Especially not the body of someone you cared deeply about, and especially not the body of his lover. But he had to do something with Raph’s body, and he wasn’t taking it back to the lair. Even as he thought it over, it stung to realize he’d referred to Raph’s body as an ‘it’, no matter how correct it was.

He knew that bodies were sure to rot if left unattended for long after, and he couldn’t let that happen to Raph.

It wasn’t as if he could just as well bury him, either. Cremation was also out the window. Until he decided on what to do with it, as he got his breathing under control for a third time that night, he knew he needed a box freezer. Ice and cold kept a body fresh, right? He hoped so.

In some odd twist of fate, luck smiled on him, after everything, after keeping him out of commission, after killing his boyfriend, after forbidding him from reaching his boyfriend in time to save him, and he raided an unoccupied apartment for their box freezer.

If tonight had been a normal night, he would have felt the strain of pushing a box freezer up a flight of stairs, to an apartment he knew would always be empty, due to the crushed wall that the HOA or whoever never bothered to fix, after running up over twenty levels not two hours ago.

But tonight was not a normal night, he registered after plugging the freezer into an outlet. And as he lowered Raph into the freezer, his lover’s face almost uncharacteristically soft and affectionate to all who hadn’t known him, really knew him, Casey found that he couldn’t physically feel much of anything at all.

Even as he sank next to the freezer, his body was overtaken by belated sobs, the cold from the freezer seeping into his veins. This was the man he loved, dead, laying in a fucking freezer who knows where, with his whole family miles away probably out looking for him.

Did Casey feel bad for this, for doing what he thought was right to save Raph?

For leaving April, Splinter, and the boys to deal with Super Shredder on their own?

A couple hours ago, Casey would've said yes, would've stayed to protect his friends and finish that fight fair and square, but then Oroku Saki just HAD to get his boyfriend involved and Casey couldn't think about friendship or protection or anything but the horror in front of him.

So he did what Casey Jones always does when he's scared.

He ran.

Ran as far as he could until he finally dropped, and then he had to watch the love of his life slowly die in his arms. It was almost laughable, how many times he had to keep his breathing in check, to refrain from hitting the already brittle wall.

The hardest thing in the room was probably the freezer, and he couldn’t do that, no way in hell. Raph was there. Even if he was dead, he was there. And nobody was going to take that from Casey with their head still attached to their neck.

But, he reminded himself, now wasn’t the time to decapitate anybody, nor was it the time to lose himself – he had to do things methodically.

Rationally, he knew that Super Shredder was too strong for him to fight on his own, and coupled with the inevitable presence of Leo, Donnie, Mikey, April, Slash, Splinter, and Leatherhead in various places around New York, and they’d all be crowding at the hotel sooner rather than later.

Oddly enough it took a few days of hanging around the apartment, with nothing but the freezer, Raph’s body, and his own mind for company, until he got properly hungry.

Long ago, in happier times, he’d mapped out a small grocery store three blocks from the apartment complex, and after determining that there wasn’t a single crumb in the entire room, while expired food wasn’t one of Casey’s biggest worries, per se, he really needed to not die of starvation.

So, he opened the freezer, pressed a kiss to Raph’s cold forehead, told him he'd be back soon, closed the lid again, and climbed down via his grapple line.

He wasn’t sure if the trek had been easy or if he was slowly becoming desensitized to all but everything. Either way, he slipped inside the convenience store with minimum stares. It was the early hours of morning in New York, after all.

He snatched anything that didn’t look like it would give him food poisoning that would last relatively long. Specifically foods that he'd known Raph to like. Memories had to be kept alive somehow, and what better way than through food, right? At least until the fucker that killed him was properly dead, no resurrections allowed.

He still had to live long enough to make sure Shredder died, and stayed that way, this time, and to make sure that Angel would be okay without him. However, this was counterproductive, because as he stood, he was also broke.

All his savings were back home, and he hadn’t put a resounding amount of thought into getting back there. Truthfully, he hadn’t put much thought into much of anything besides killing his newest nemesis.

He managed to grab a few boxes of poptarts, microwavable pizzas, canned soup and fruit, and a few handfuls of granola bars. It wasn’t exactly a good meal, but it was edible, he supposed. Reasonably priced, given the economy.

‘Casey,’ the voice whispered in his ear.

“Shut the fuck up,” he bit back in a mutter, and the voice offered no retaliation, as if it had only time to whisper one foreboding thought to him alone, before running off to torment another poor soul.

He thought it odd that the voice had called him by name. And that the voice sounded as familiar as it did. Almost like-

“Casey?” He blinked three times, before turning to the source of the noise, which actually hadn’t been a disembodied voice in his ear.

It was April O'Neil, looking about half as awful as Casey, he was sure.

“Where have you been? I haven’t seen you in–” This was bad. Casey had no way to explain to April anything that had happened without any possible incorrect conclusion not only being jumped to, but tackled and put in a headlock.

So, for the second time that week, Casey did the thing he was best at in crisis – he ran. Even as April called his name, chasing him, demanding to speak with him, that this was IMPORTANT, CASEY, but he didn’t stop, not at the checkout, and as alarms rang that someone was robbing the store, he rammed the door with his shoulder.

“Casey! Have you at least seen Raph, we–”

What.

He chanced a glance back at April, as he felt his eyes widen from behind his mask, and his knuckles turn white from the pressure he was exerting on his stolen wares.

April was saying something else, a hand extended, but he couldn’t, there wasn’t time, there wasn’t a way he could, not when Shredder was still alive.

He left as quick as he could, not bothering to turn around and taking the longer route back to the apartment. After all, he had a very important job to do.

Then he’d see about April and the others.

Eventually.

.

.

.

.

A/N: FYI, this is a canon-dependent fanfiction written by two dummies (aff) who don't have access to TMNT 2012 in its entirety.

Chapter Three ->

[ducknotinarow]

[2k12 Foot Angel for Karai]

She's worried, that's obvious, watching their eldest brother walk away. When he's out of ear shot, Angel takes that wide stare up to her sister,

"Casey's being weird..." Angel comments, worried, "I thought he was upset because of the Turtles, but, ever since he and dad talked he's been, well, strange. Like he's there but he's not?"

Surely Karai had seen it too?

"I'm worried Rai..."

| Muse Interaction

Idiot.

Stupid.

Dumb ass.

Was the cycle of words running laps inside of Karai’s head when she was fetched by Branford. As if that wasn’t already bad enough in her eyes the fact that the reason was because the missing son finally returned home. What id he mean he returned home! Of course, Karai knew Casey wasn’t dead seeing how she was meant to have been th one to have his blood on her hands after all. Now she understood better why Shredder had kept it between just them. It was a test the whole time. Shredder couldn’t be that easily fooled in the end and maybe they were the ones who were wrong in the end to think he ever would believe that. Karai wasn’t sure what was getting to her the most that they were stupid enough think he would, or that Casey did this.

From what dog breath was telling her they had found her brother stupidly sitting in the open on a roof in the middle of the city. Idiot. Raphael was the last one to see Casey it had only been two weeks ago. Raphael said things seemed to fine by then. Karai figured whatever stupid shit the par had going on between them seemed at least a bit better from how the stupid turtle seemed. So why the hell was Casey in the city at all! That idiot knew it was’t safe still. Shredder was still keeping tabs on Karai after all. She had the suspicion that he didn’t fully buy her ‘evidence’ that the job was done.

If it had just been some foot shoulders that found Caseys she could deal with that, the mutants? Just stage something with the turtles t make it out like they were the ones to break Casey free. Maybe even claim they were the ones behind Casey being alive.

But now? there was no scheme she could even hope of working with when it came to one small fact. Casey was found by Shredder himself. That was enough to make her blood run cold. Was Casey lucky? Or off worse that Shredder hadn’t killed him on the spot? Slightly biting back on her tongue, she just couldn't think about it. Because, she wasn't in any better shape. She had claimed to have killed Casey after all. Was the clear favoritism going to help her this time around? Likely not.

When they finally returned home Karai tried to stand tall as she made her way to Shredder's domain. But even she knew her heart was beating rapidly she took a moment to take in a deep breath and concertante on slowing down her heart rate. Sometimes she had to thank the accidental mutation cause by her father because it let her get away with more tricks now that she had these strange new abilities. She couldn’t risk the mutt somehow picking up on her sudden quick heart rate. Karai needed to keep clam she needed some kind of plan what was she going todo? She was certain Shredder was going to make it clear he knew she lied. And who knew hat she have to handle with that finally coming across. Maybe she should think up some lie on how she didn’t know? The turtles and Splinter knew that healing hand nonsense maybe he would by that they used it on Casey and took him?

Or should she just bite the the bullet and plan to flee with Casey? Casey was still in danger that fucking idiot!! Why did hello everything out of the water? And what for? What could have matter more than his life? As her mind was in a whirl of thought and emotion she hears the smallest little voice, like a bell, call ou her name snapping Karan’s focus. As she came to a sudden stop even catching dog pound off when the sound of Angel’s voice. Karai turned to face her sister as she made her way towards them. Glancing over to Dog pound. “Go ahead of me I’ll be right there.” She ordered and of course that earned a defiant growl from the once master marital artist. Karai simply glared at him and bear her fangs as a way to say ‘Don’t push it’ and it was all it took before the skeleton dog creature continued on his way. With him gone she dropped to a knee and set a hand to her sister’s shoulder. “What I it?”

“Casey’s being weird…”

So Casey was here, and at that Angel had been able to see him. “Casey is always weird Angel. That’s like breathing for that idiot.” Karai joked but the relief in her voice was all to apparent to even herself. Far to early to call it there.

“I thought he was upset because of the turtles, but, ever since he and dad talked he’s been, well, strange. Like he’s there but he’s not?”

Karai blinked a bit, she knew Casey had been well not much himself. Considering how he nearly offed him self as well. But the last time she visited he seemed to be doing fine, In truth she been keeping a lot of what was going on from Angel. Wishing to protect her from all of that. Part of her knew as well that there was no way Casey would want Angel to see him in such a state as well. But she thought from what Raphael said maybe he could handle a visits with Angel. They talked about it. Fuck that’s why he left isn’t it? That sentimental idiot! She must have taken to long to give a response by the time Angel spoke up once more.

“I’m worried Rai…”

Karai couldn’t say she wasn’t also, she had no idea what she going to find when finally seeing Casey. Was he at least okay? If Angel had seen him? She would tell her if Casey was hurt? She offered a smile and gentle hand her hands over the sides of Angel’s head resting them to her sisters cheeks playfully pushing them it so to ‘squish’ her face.

“Don’t worry I’ll take care of Casey” She promised, and she hopped she could keep that. “Be good and go to his room okay? I’ll find you soon.”

Karai stood up and finally went t face the music, if they had to make a run for it in the end? Karai would be able to grab Angel fast at least. She took in a good deep breath for a moment as she pushed the large doors open and sure enough there was Casey. But he was standing at her father’s side no different than the mutants in the room or the foot solders that stood off to both sides of the door. Karai took a moment to look at everything around here. Getting out of here would not be easy. Stepping forward she let her eyes rest over Casey. He really looked not like himself. No trace of an emotion at all?

“Karai, look who I found.” Was what Shredder said drawing her attention to him, moment of truth “Seems your brother escaped to the turtles.” Was that a guess? Did Casey say something? “From what he told me of course. But I was able to bring him back to his senses and return home” Her eyes darted back to Casey. “I finally have those brain worms perfected thanks to the time we used them on you.” Her eyes widen but she made sure to kee her heart rate low it made her body slow down and not flinch in anyway to give her away to her father.

“Go on Karai welcome your brother back.”

She couldn't, this may be here brother standing beside their father but glossy stare? The lack of annoying grin on his face nothing but the perfect solider their father always wanted. that wasn't Casey.

[welcometodiehop]

Life Goes On Without You- A Replaced! AU part 2

A/N: I did NOT expect all the positive feedback on the first fic, and someone even asked for a part two! I initially had NO idea how to continue it but now i’m pretty excited to get this one done. Hopefully this one will be more readable since i’m still learning tumblr fic writing.

Read part one: here

GN reader x Brothers and Dateables (platonic Luke)

CW: Traumatic flashbacks and a bit of swearing.

You don’t know how long it’s been since you’ve last seen the sun. The last time you felt the warmth of another. To the others, you’re a distant memory. Something to be kept in a glass case, to “preserve your memory” as they call it. Did Lilith weep as you wanted so desperately to when you first came along? If only you could ask her.

It’s another tour day, you forget when the last one was. Was it a month? a year? maybe more? It doesn’t matter to you anyway. You take a good look at the two figures you hadn’t seen before. A woman with gradient hair and strange eyes, and what you assume to be an angel from his attire- though he looks like a sopping wet kitten in the rain. You could almost bring yourself to laugh a little. They seem to call themselves “Thirteen” and “Raphael” respectively. You don’t tend to pay attention to people anymore, but Thirteen keeps giving you an odd look. Almost concerned. Maybe she just finds dolls creepy, you did when you were alive.

It wasn’t until the late hours in the night that you got your answer. You were awoken by the lights being turned on as you saw Thirteen cone into the room and slowly shut the door behind her. She approaches you and gives you a small “shhh” as if you could speak. She lifts up your shirt and opens the chest compartment where the magic stone holds your soul is placed. Taking the stone, she holds it up to her ear and asks:

“Hey, are you awake? You have to be bored out of your mind in here, right?”

You wonder if she could hear you like this, but instantly banish the thought as you try to communicate back.

“Yeah, I can’t tell how long I’ve been like this.”

“So you are alive… If I knew someone did something like this I would have dealt with it a LOT sooner.”

You can’t believe your ears. Someone just talked to you… and they could hear you! Many questions swirl around in your mind, but you settle on a “You can hear me?”

She huffs out a puff of air in amusement.

“ This isn’t my first time dealing with a soul stone, us reapers have to keep an eye on these kinds of things if we want to be good at our jobs.”

“Is there anything you can do to help me?” you ask.

“ Duh, that’s why I’m here. Everyone’s probably going to be pissed at me for doing this but I’d be a shitty reaper if I didn’t help lost souls pass on. So tell me this, how about give you a break and help you start a new life? Sound cool?” she looks at you expectantly.

You don’t quite know how to answer. Yes, you’ve been suffering in this immense boredom and loneliness for what feels like forever now, but to leave them all is-

“Yeah, sounds cool. I’m tired of sitting here all day anyway.”

They’ve abandoned you. It only makes sense that you move on with your life.

“All right, I still don’t know if this will hurt but brace for impact-“

“Impact?-“

You don’t get to finish your question as Thirteen slams your soul stone on the ground, shattering it. That’s the last thing you see.

———————————————————————

Your name is (Y/N). If someone asks, you’d say you live a pretty good life. You have loving parents, a pretty good apartment, friends here and there, and can sometimes muster up the courage to talk to cute people at the café you frequent. However, work tends to be a slog. You’re an accountant at a hotel chain you don’t care about. Corvo… something? You really can’t be bothered to remember. You make enough to probably go on vacation, but you can never really make time. Punching in numbers day in and day out numbs the brain, but you can’t complain. After all, everything else seems fine.

“So then (Y/N), we- hey!” your coworker snaps their fingers in front of your eyes to get your attention. “ Earth to (Y/N)! Space cadet, I’m talking to youuuu!”

“Ah- sorry, just sort of spacing out. What were we talking about again?” you reply.

“Man, have you been getting enough sleep lately? You’ve been spacing out a lot lately.” They ask.

“I dunno, I feel fine, it’s just that-“ you look at your phone, “Crap, break’s almost over. If I don’t get back to work our supervisor is gonna put me in for review.” you shudder.

As you’re opening the door to leave the break room, someone stands in your way. He wears clothes so expensive that you feel poor just breathing around it. You crane your neck up to look at him, golden eyes boring into yours. This definitely isn’t your supervisor.

“Um… can I help you?” you muster out.

“Ah- yes. I’ve actually been looking for you, you must be (Y/N), right? I’m DD, CEO of this company.”

DD…? Are those just his initials? you think to yourself. Today’s just getting odd, what would the CEO want with you? You look back at your coworker and they shrug. Figures they have no idea what the hell is going on either.

“So um… what do you need from me? Lemme guess, you’re gonna fire me in person?” you manage to give an awkward laugh.

Yours however, pales in comparison to this man’s boisterous one. Genuinely amused, he seems.

“No, no. Nothing like that. Just come follow me up to my office. I would just like a little chat with you.” he says.

With how awkward this is getting, you wish you were about to be fired. But reluctantly, you follow him anyway. You feel a pit in your stomach begin to grow, and DD notices. He tries to pat your back and give you a grin in order to comfort you, but it brings minimal success.

Once inside the office, you’re met with 11 other people. Some wildly not dressed for an office setting, and why is there a child in here? They look at you with expectant eyes, some filled with a tinge of sadness, others a sense of hope. You sit down in one of the leather seats in front of the desk, wanting to sink into it, never to be seen again. Living in the chair dimension sounds heavenly right now.

“(Y/N), we-“ the blond one with the obnoxious tie speaks up.

He didn’t get to finish as DD sat down at his desk and waved his hand, a silent order for him to stop. He looks at you with a serious expression, one that contrasts with his seemingly jovial nature he’s shown previously.

“ (Y/N), we’re about to ask questions that may seem odd, but just know that everything we tell you is the absolute truth.” he says.

You raise an eyebrow at him. Things go through your mind at breakneck pace.

If this company is run by a cult, I’m sending in my resignation letter and leaving without two weeks notice. you think to yourself.

“To start off, I suppose we should tell you things about ourselves. My true name is Diavolo, and I am the crown prince of the Devildom, land of demons.”

You open your mouth to speak, but 9 of the figures, including the man apparently named Diavolo, show what appear to be their true forms. They all are large an imposing, sporting horns and various extra appendages. You recoil in fear. Demons?! Aren’t those just the creatures that religious zealots tell you that will steal your soul? Why are they right in front of you? Are you going to die?

You look at the remaining three, and point to them, mustering out a shaky “Wh-what about them?”

“Well, I’m a sorcerer,” the pale white haired one motioned to the other two beside him. “and these two are angels.”

Yup, this is way worse than a cult. You turn back to Diavolo, your body shaking.

“What do you want with me? I haven’t done anything particularly bad- and it’s definitely too early to die-“ you get cut off.

Diavolo’s eyes soften, as do the rest of the people beside you as he slides you some photos. “Do any of these look familiar?” he asks.

You look through the photos, each more confusing than the last. There you were, smiling and laughing with some of the people in the room, some of the photos of you arguing, some where you console the others, others where you were being consoled. You’ve never seen these people before, when did they get these photos? How do they all know you when you’ve only met them today?!

“I… I think i need to go-“

You rush to get out of your seat and push past the people surrounding you. As you make it to the door the serpentine-esque demon grabs you by the wrist, in a desperate attempt to get you to stay.

“(Y/N)! Please don’t go- not yet!”

You turn to get your arm out of his grasp but a searing pain stops you. He lets go of your wrist, as you stare at the mark that seems to be branded on the inside of it. Soon, other parts of your body begin to burn, each with different markings. You fall to the floor and gasp in pain. You look up at all the concerned faces watching you-

When suddenly, it hits you like a truck.

All those memories: the exchange program, the pacts, the sorcerer trials, the tender moments you’ve shared with each of them. The pain eventually subsides as you stand up, feeling as if you were floating. You smile at them for a moment, whispering a “You guys….“

But the rest of the memories come back as well. The mind numbing boredom, the ache to feel their touch, the melancholy of being forgotten and the burning hatred of being replaced by another. Tears well up in your eyes. They overwhelm you with so many emotions, and you choke out twice the sobs as you do words.

“ How could you?… How could you guys leave me alone like that?! What was I to you?” You sob.

They all surround you trying their best to hug you all at once. Lucifer then speaks up.

“We were so consumed in our grief…we didn’t know what to do.”

“We’re so sorry (Y/N)! We promise to never leave you alone again!” Asmodeus sobs with you.

Words now elude you. Is it really right to go back to them? After everything that happened?

“ What… happened to the other exchange student?” you ask

“They… ended up being unable to stand us anymore… I guess we sort of drove them nuts.” Belphegor says.

So they still remembered you even after the exchange student left. This still all feels wrong. You love everyone so much but you can’t stand being around them after everything they did. It hurts more than words can describe.

“Will you come back to us? We’ve really missed you-“

“I can’t.”

You interrupt him before he can finish.

“I just- I love you guys so much but… I think I just need some time. Time to think. Time to… get this all figured out.” you say.

“But-“ Mammon says, “ We’ve spent all this time looking for you and-“

“If it’s time they need then it’s time they’ll get. we need to respect that.” Diavolo interrupts.

He pushes past everyone else and hands you your old DDD and lays a hand on your back.

“If you ever need us, we’re here for you. Take as much time as you need.”

“Thank you. I think I need to head home and lie down…” you reply.

They all give you your space to leave and you wave them goodbye as you head through the door. You shut it behind you softly.

You begin to cry again.

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

The shifting narrative of God’s interventism and how it reflects on the narrative on John

This post will ignore the issue authorial intent entirely because I can, but it’s also about authorial intent in a way, but I also don’t like to talk about things as happening “accidentally” because a) a serialized story like Supernatural, especially one that got renewed for much longer than anyone could possibly expect or hope in their wildest ambitions, structurally relies on serendipity, because that’s how stories work when they’re work in progress, b) a television show is an extremely multi-authored text and the chance that something happens out of the intent of any of the multiple layers of creators is kind of... statistically negligible. So, yeah, that’s my stance on the topic. Anyway.

The shifting narrative about God is simultaneously something that hangs on fortunate storytelling clicks on an essentially programmed narrative. At first, we don’t know where the fuck God is. Cas starts looking for him with little success. Raphael says he’s dead, Cas doesn’t believe it. Dean relates to his struggle because he knows the feeling of not knowing where the fuck your father is and going looking for him with little success, not knowing if he’s even alive. Then the theory that gets assumed as the truth is that God has left. He fucked off who knows where, who knows why, leaving his creation to struggle alone. Also essentially how Dean had felt after John had died; in that case there was guilt for his demon deal and everything, but the most cruel weight on Dean’s shoulder was that John left him alone to struggle with his devastatingly horrific instructions he doesn’t understand. The angels are also left with horrific instructions they don’t understand. No wonder Cas does his own ‘demon deal’ in season 6, as he desperately tries to do what he assumes his father wants from him, but he doesn’t actually know what that is.

“God has left” is maddening, and everyone is angry about it, but it has its own dignity. God has left us without clear instructions, we are confused and in pain and evil runs amock but at least, we suppose, the evil of it is our own doing. We are alone and we do our best, our best is simply not enough. We wish he gave us guidance, but he won’t. He wants us to figure it out ourselves, possibly. We don’t actually know what he wants. But maybe that’s the point. It’s possible he doesn’t even know what’s happening, he just has left the building entirely.

But then Chuck reveals himself. We find out that he never actually left. He was there. “I like front row seats. You know, I figured I’d hide out in plain sight”. He simply chooses not to intervene. He chooses not to answer. He chooses to be hands-off. He presents himself as a laissez-faire parent, because, he says, it’s better for his children to have the responsibility they need to grow up. He’s absent, but in a different way than we thought! It’s not that he doesn’t know what’s happening or isn’t interested in knowing what’s happening. He’s here, he knows what’s happening, he just stays there and watches as you stumble and struggle and scream. It’s worse, and it pains Dean so much he isn’t even afraid to yell at God. You know we’re suffering and you just don’t give us any support, any comfort.

You’re frustrated. I get it. Believe me, I was hands-on, real hands-on, for, wow, ages. I was so sure if I kept stepping in, teaching, punishing, that these beautiful creatures that I created... would grow up. But it only stayed the same. And I saw that I needed to step away and let my baby find its way. Being overinvolved is no longer parenting. It’s enabling.

But it didn’t get better.

Well, I’ve been mulling it over. And from where I sit, I think it has.

Well, from where I sit, it feels like you left us and you’re trying to justify it.

I know you had a complicated upbringing, Dean, but don’t confuse me with your dad.

At that point of the show, the writing team almost certainly didn’t have the s14-15 twist in mind. So this was probably intended to be Chuck’s truth. Later it gets twisted (retconned?) into a lie, but about that later.

Here, Chuck is really good at manipulating the conversation. Dean has a perfectly valid point, because there IS a middle ground between being overinvolved and not being involved at all. There is a middle ground between enabling your children and abandoning them completely. But Chuck hits Dean where it hurts, plays the emotional card, basically tells him that he’s too emotional to understand, too emotional to think rationally about it, because he mixes his feelings about his father to the issue and thus cannot see it clearly. He basically tells him he’s too close to it to get it. You don’t understand parenting, Dean, because you’re too blinded by your emotions about your own little life and cannot see the big picture.

It doesn’t really matter here if he’s telling the truth or lying, it already says a lot about Chuck that he’s emotionally manipulating Dean, silencing him by hitting the painful spot.

But the thing is, 11.20 immediately presents Chuck as a liar. He makes Metatron read his autobiography and the very first line is a lie (“In the beginning, there was me. Boom – detail. And what a grabber. I mean, I’m hooked, and I was there.” “I’m hooked too, and yet... details. You weren’t alone in the beginning. Your sister was with you.”) and the stuff he talks about his experience as Chuck is not exactly truthful about anything (“That, you know, makes you seem like a really grounded, likable person.” “Yeah, what’s wrong with that?” “You are neither grounded nor a person!”). Metatron calls him out (“Okay. There are two types of memoir. One is honest... the other, not so much. Truth and fairy tale. Now, do you want to write Life by Keith Richards? Or do you want to write Wouldn’t It Be Nice by Brian Wilson?”). Chuck SAYS he chooses truth and gives Metatron a different manuscript, supposedly containing the truth, to which Metatron reacts positively. Metatron believes it, and we believe it with him.

Oh! Oh, this! This is what I was talking about. Chapter Ten “Why I Never Answer Prayers, and You Should Be Glad I Don’t”, and Chapter Eleven “The Truth About Divine Intervention and Why I Avoid It At All Costs”.

Nature? Divine. Human nature – toxic.

They do like blowing stuff up.

Yeah. And the worst part – they do it in my name. And then they come crying to me, asking me to forgive, to fix things. Never taking any responsibility.

What about your responsibility?

I took responsibility... by leaving. At a certain point, training wheels got to come off. No one likes a helicopter parent.

This is sort of what he later says to Dean, except that to Dean he talks about “beautiful creatures” “my baby”, talks about helping, none of the harsh tone he’s using here. When Metatron accuses him of hiding from Amara, he retorts “I am not hiding. I am just done watching my experiments’ failures”. What a different language, uh? Then Metatron asks him why he abandoned them, and Chuck answers “Because you disappointed me. You all disappointed me”. Then, he admits he lied about “learning” to play the guitar and so on, because he just gave himself the ability, and then appears to Dean and Sam, after Metatron’s passionate speech about humanity.

So, no matter the authorial intent at the time - the truthiness of Chuck’s words was already ambiguous. He kept lying and being called out, or silencing the conversation with some good ol’ gaslighting.

The season 14 finale introduces the big twist: it was, indeed, all a lie. The whole of it. Chuck didn’t abandon shit. It was all him, minutely controlling the narrative of the universe, putting the characters through all the pain and struggles for his own amusement.

The “absent father” narrative was a lie.

What does this tell us about John? Nothing, according to the authorial intent that shines through Dabb’s Lebanon. But we don’t give a crap about Dabb’s authorial intent about John! He’s just one dude and plenty of other authors have painted a different picture. So I’m going to read the narrative the way I want, because I can, and the narrative allows me to. It’s all there.

I’m suggesting that the fact that Chuck lied when he talked about being a hands-off/absentee father parallels how Dean and Sam prefer to think of their father as an “absent father” when that’s not exactly a reflection of the truth.

You left us. Alone. ‘Cause Dad was just a shell. [...] And I-I had to be more than just a brother. I had to be a father and I had to be a mother, to keep him safe.

Setting aside how “I had to be a father and I had to be a mother” sort of retcons and cleans up the Winchester family picture painted by ealier seasons, the fact that John didn’t really count as a functional father figure and Dean and Sam were essentually alone is not incorrect or anything. It is true that John would leave them to their own devices a lot, thus the long stays in motels, the hunger, the food-stealing, and all. But John wasn’t always absent, at all. He trained them as soldiers, he disciplined them, he was around enough for them to be intimately familiar with what happened when he drank. He drove them around.

It’s almost like it’s preferable to Dean and Sam to spin their own “absent father” narrative, putting the accent on the time they spent alone, painting their childhood as a time they had to grow up on their own, rather than acknowledge they grew up under the thumb of a controlling, looming figure they would regularly live in fear of, even when he was not physically present.

The “absent father” narrative is what Dean and Sam need to use to avoid confronting the reality of the father figure whose moods and whims they had to dance around. “I know things got dicey... you know, with Dad... the way he was. And I just... I didn’t always look out for you the way that I should have. I mean, I had my own stuff, you know. In order to keep the peace, probably looked like I took his side quite a bit.”

John shaped their lives. He shaped their identities. Even in the episodes where he abandons Dean or both children somewhere, he’s portrayed as the figure who drives the car. He symbolically drives the car, you know? John shaped Dean and Sam’s relationship with each other, both on a surface level (the conflicts) and on a deeper level (the parental dynamic).

Heck. The entire first season of the show plays on John’s disappearance as the “elephant in the room”. John is there by not being there, you know? And after he dies, his death - his absence - is again the elephant in the room for Dean, the weight on his psyche that he shatters under.

It is not wrong that Dean and Sam had to spend long periods of time without John. But John structured their lives in quite minute detail. Where they needed to be, what they needed to do, what they must not do, everything had to follow John’s instructions. A drill sergeant, the narrative called him, ordering how his sons needed to live their lives. That’s no absence, except on a level where Chuck not showing himself and pretending he’s not there can be considered absent. That’s a presence, not necessarily always physical, but semiotical and psychological.

John is an absent father as much as Chuck is a hands-off god. He even writes himself into the story around the time Cas has the “season 1” phase (let’s go look for dad/let’s go look for god), which is when John actually was alive and appeared. Then he was no longer physically there, but he was still shaping his characters’ lives, just like he’d always done.

The “absent father” narrative on John is that - a narrative. Spun by the characters themselves because it’s easier and actually kinder on John. Or, better, it allows them not to be crushed by the psychological implications of having to accept that their father was such a looming, minutely formative figure in their lives. They know, but they can wave the “absent father” idea around to avoid thinking about it.

“I had to be a father and I had to be a mother” is something easier to tell yourself. I was the one who did it all. But he wasn’t, and that’s the problem. The fact that John was their father - Dean’s and Sam’s - is the problem. But ironically, blaming himself for every failure is a better option for Dean than fully acknowledging John’s abuse. As long as he blames himself, he has control over it. The moment he acknowledges the extent of John’s influence, he loses control over the entire narrative of his own identity and the family identity, the family dynamics. That’s scarier, just like realizing that God manipulated everything is much scarier than the alternative. “God abandoned us” was indeed a better option, and “John left us alone” was a better option. But neither was true, and the characters faced the implications of the cosmic level, but never got to face the implication of the familial level, because the narrative always danced around it and then Dabb’s apologist version “won”.

But what’s been put in the show is still there. The narrative of John’s abuse is still there. Nothing can take it out of the story.

[glowinggator]

Friendly Competition

Request:  Now I can’t get the image of Mikey and Leo prancing around the lair to try to impress Y/N and Raph and Donnie just exchanging glances like wth in response to this X,D Wait, are you open to requests? Because then I’d totally request if you could do the idea of Leo and Mikey trying to impress Y/N in outdoing each other…

Characters: Leonardo (Pining)/Reader/Michelangelo (Pining)

Content Warnings: Swearing, really brief reference to The Walking Dead (Season 4). 

Word Count: 1946 

“Carl, Carl! Oh my god, dude,” Mikey squeals, clinging tightly to Raph’s side. Any other day, you might have laughed a little at his reaction - once a little brother, always a little brother - but you’re not in much better standing this time. The boy on TV backs slowly away from the zombies a little overconfidently for your liking, and you can’t suppress the rush of anxiety that courses through you. He’s a TV character, sure, but you’ve watched him grow up! He can’t die now, right? 

And when the third walker appears, grabbing onto the young boy and pulling him down, you could have sworn the whole lair screamed. The room is filled with the “no’s” and various swears of your friends as the kid fights for his life, and you press yourself further into the couch to try and put some distance between you and the TV. You flinch at the sound of gunshots as he pushes the walkers away, barely managing to stay alive, when suddenly the room is pierced with a noise that’s somehow even more jarring and terrifying. 

Battle alarm. Of course. Some yokai...alien… whatever it is... had to terrorize New York City now, of all times? 

"Couldn't this have been an email or something? Really, the nerve of some people. Interrupting The Walking Dead now, of all times," You groan jokingly, pausing the show for the boys as they rise to their feet. 

“If you unpause it while we’re gone, I will take you as a prisoner of war and treat the Geneva Convention as a to-do-list,” Donatello snarks. 

You stick your tongue out at him, but you can’t help but giggle. “Noted, D. Hurry back guys, stay safe!” 

“We will!” Raphael calls, waving to you with a smile before stopping at the exit of the lair, waiting for his brothers to catch up. Donatello walks right past him, balancing his tech bō over the expanse of his shoulders. You smile and wave back at Raph, but soon after, you’re met with the excited cheers of Mikey. He takes a running start at one of the nearby guard rails, grinning as he lines himself up at an angle. He jumps, grabbing the bar and spinning himself around it with ease to face you. In the brief second where your eyes lock, he shoots you a wink and a grin, before spinning himself back around and walking off. I mean, you know he’s a ninja and all, but has he always been that smooth with his parkour? Or like, that smooth in general? 

He waves quickly at you with a smile and walks straight past Raph and into the tunnels of the sewer system. “Later, angel!” He chirps. 

Leo boos before taking a running start of his own. Not to be outdone, he avoids the bar completely, instead choosing to flip over it entirely. He clears the bar with ease, landing on one leg and sweeping the other under him to perform a small rotation towards the ground. As he regains his balance, he pushes himself up with one hand and removes his feet from the ground to do another rotation before planting them once more and performing an angled flip. His movements are quick and fluid, as though such acrobatic feats were innate to his nature. As he lands he grins and shoots you a pair of fingerguns - which you laugh at softly - before backing out of the lair. “Later, sweetheart,” he coos, and turns around to walk out properly. You chuckle again once you hear Mikey’s voice echo from the sewers. 

“Show-off.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You swish the warm drink around in your mug and take a sip. You practically purr at the heat as it hits your tongue: it’s been far too cold for your liking lately. Or, maybe you’re spending too much time in the sewers. Maybe you should invest in some space heaters, if you’re gonna be down here all the time. You twiddle a pencil between your fingers as you fill out the tattered crossword in a vain attempt to wake your brain up a little. Who was Aphrodite’s son again? Did she even have a son? You suppose you’ll get back to that one. 

Raphael stumbles into the kitchen with a groan, fumbling around for a fresh mug. “Good mornin’, Y/N.” 

“Good morning, Raph,” you reply. 

He finally manages to find a mug, pouring some coffee and creamer and pulling up a chair next to you. He leans his head in his hands, clearly not awake yet. You chuckle. “Sleepy?”

He hums affirmatively and takes a sip of his coffee. You pat his shell gently and return to your crossword. You’ve never felt more like an adult, you think sarcastically. It’s like some scene out of a Lifetime movie. 

Out of nowhere, there comes a loud thump from the common area, followed by the quiet swears of Leo. You damn-near jump out of your seat at the sudden noise, barely managing to keep your drink in your mug. It sloshes around the rim, and you quickly put your hand up to steady it. Raph, meanwhile, stays glued to his seat, seemingly unbothered by the loud noise. “Good morning,” he repeats. You snort. “Good morning, indeed,” you reply. 

After a moment of thought, you set down your cup and rise to your feet. You might as well check out the noise and make sure everything is okay. You pat Raph’s head one last time before walking out into the living room, only to find Mikey and Leo whispering loudly at one another. Their voices are so hushed that it’s difficult to decipher what exactly they’re saying, although you can certainly hear them. But judging by the force behind the indecipherable words - and the overexaggerated hand motions - it clearly isn’t a friendly discussion. You clear your throat and wave gently at them, which catches their attention. 

“Everything okay?” You venture. 

“Yeah-” says Mikey. 

“Yeah- It’s- Everything’s all good,” Leo stumbles, only to be cut off by his brother.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” He elbows Leo harshly, emphasizing some point to his brother that you’re clearly missing. 

“Hunky-dorey.” 

“Peachy-keen”

“Perfect.” 

The two keep stuttering and stammering, occasionally elbowing the other without warning. You raise an eyebrow at the strange behavior, and decide to intervene. “Okay,” you drawl, “I’m gonna pretend I didn’t just hear… whatever that was. For your guys’ sake.” You joke lightly, attempting to lighten the mood a little and divert the attention away from that… trainwreck of an interaction. And the boys seem all-too-happy for the excuse, as Leo quickly jumps in with a quick question. 

“Hey, now that you’re here, could you do us a huge favor? We’re having a little…” he pauses, “brotherly competition, and we need someone unbiased to judge.” 

“Oh, that sounds fun!” You chirp, “What kind of competition is it?” 

“It’s-” 

“It’s a parkour competition!” Mikey interjects. 

The tension between the two turtles is thick, and you certainly don’t want to be the one to address it. Perhaps if you ignore it, it’ll go away on its own? Maybe they both woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, or maybe this competition has high stakes? You sigh internally: it’s too early to be thinking this hard. “Sweet! I’m ready to be impressed,” you jest. “Who’s going first?” 

“Me!” 

“I will!” 

They reply in unison, cutting each other off for the umpteenth time today. You chuckle and roll your eyes, which catches their attention. You don’t miss the way their eyes light up… or the way Mikey begins to smirk. He looks almost devious, although you suppose such a mischievous look isn’t an uncommon sight with him. 

“Leo,” he starts, “How about you go first?” 

He takes the bait with a grin, clearly unaware of whatever plan Michelangelo’s formed. “Why certainly!” He rolls his wrist around in an overexaggerated motion, beaming with absolute confidence. “As the eldest brother in the room, I’d be happy to show you how it’s done.” 

And with that, he’s off. His movements are as smooth as silk as he runs towards the nearest crate, grabbing it at an angle to flip himself over once. He lands on his feet with a loud “thump” against the concrete, but he doesn’t waste a moment as he runs towards the nearest wall. He runs up its length the moment he’s in range, this time using his body weight to spin himself during his flip. He’s fluid in his movements, years of practice and training shining through in this brief moment. This time he lands straight up on both feet, although he doesn’t take any reprieve. Instead, he kicks himself up and over, sweeping the leg to enter a combative stance. A final flourish in his display, you assume. And just like that, it’s over. The show only lasted a matter of seconds, but it’s still enough to leave you starry-eyed and in awe. 

“That was fucking badass, Leo!” You clap. 

“Really?” He smiles, “Uh, I mean, yeah! Thanks!” He fumbles with his hands for a moment before finding a spot for them. He rests them behind his head, shifting side to side on his feet. God, that’s so fucking cute. 

You beam: You can’t wait to see what Mikey does! “Think you can top that, Mikey?” 

He returns your excitement wholeheartedly, shining back with something that seems like… so much more than his typical positivity. In most situations, he radiates so much positivity that one could liken it to a lighthouse for the hopeful. But his attitude seems different from that usual beacon of light. He’s excited, positive, and confident, but that’s not what’s throwing you off. Sure, they’re competitive, but what’s the motivator this time? Ah, you suppose you’ll find out soon enough. You’re brought out of your thoughts by his cheers. “Easy!” 

And god, Mikey’s movements are so graceful that he makes Leo’s look inexperienced, like a giraffe crossing a tightrope. He moves like a swan through water, scaling walls effortlessly and flying through the air like it’s his second home. He starts his routine off strong, leaping at the first waist-high object he could lay his eyes on, performing an impromptu 720 rotation and landing on the concrete protrusion hands-first. He leaps off it as quickly as he landed, using his momentum to propel himself onto a nearby set of steel bars. He throws himself from one to the other with ease, spinning and adding his own flair to each and every movement. You can’t seem to take your eyes off of him while he leaps his way to victory. He uses any ledge possible to propel himself higher and higher, and his movements are so light and quick that they hardly make a sound. And before you know it, he’s standing at the topmost bit of the lair. He plops himself down, dangling his legs off of the precipice and swinging them back and forth. From this far away, you can barely see the way his grin stretches across his face, but you know it’s there. He raises one hand to wave at you and Leo, and the way he wiggles his fingers signals that he knows he’s won. And to be fair, he has. You giggle at the way Leo mutters “show-off” under his breath - where have you heard that one before? - before signaling for Mikey that he’s won and to head on down. And god, the descent is just as impressive. He laughs as he kicks and spins his way down, and despite the competition being over, he continues to shine and demonstrate his skills flawlessly. 

“One and one, baby!”

[luna-the-moth]

The Birth of Satan (SFW)

Hello hello lovelies! I felt the strong urge to write some Satan angst, so why not illustrate the fall, Lilith’s death, and Satan’s birth?

CW: Blood Word count: 1.3k

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Staring at his previously snow-white wings, Lucifer felt a shiver of fear run up his spine, as the voice that had been plaguing his mind for eons had finally silenced.

He was used to it shrieking, furious at even the slightest inconvenience. Whenever Michael had belittled him, or Mammon had stolen Raphael's feathers, he would hear an ear-splitting voice, screech and attempt to claw it's way out of his head.

However, Lucifer had never reached that tipping point. Always reigning in his fury, his feelings of being slighted. Repressing, over and over, plastering that infuriating smirk on his face, permanently. Until now.

Watching Lilith's body fall in slow motion, Lucifer paused from his duel with Raphael, giving the other seraphim a chance to drive his spear into the future demon's torso. Yelling out in pain, Lucifer ripped it out of his body, a guttural noise of pain reverberating from his chest.

Before the angel of healing could respond, Lucifer dove through the clouds, wings spiraling down, rushing in a torpedo of blinding wings. He had to reach her, he couldn't fail her, not after everything they've been through. Not after betraying their Father, performing one of the most outrageous and traitorous actions an angel could commit.

Falling in love with a human

He could see her, limbs twisting, blood-stained wings beginning to burn, brighter than all the stars combined. She was dying, he realized. Dying for such a trivial thing. Although Lucifer hadn't seen the appeal in humans, he couldn't deny the stars in his sister's eyes when she talked about humans, the happiest she'd ever been.

How could he deny his sister of her happiness?

But now, as she plummeted into the Devildom's ground, a crater left in wake, Lucifer would've done anything to have changed his mind. To stop her from visiting the human world, even if it meant she would loathe him for the rest of their eternal lives.

Abruptly changing his flight course, Lucifer had realized too late that he was about to crash down as well. He went rolling into the dirt, wings splaying out in unnatural angles, twisting, fading into ash.

But not even moments later, he forced himself up, wings ached and burned in excruciating pain. He could see it in his peripheral vision, falling around him. Snow white feathers fading into black, corrupted with sin. Among them, the Demon Prince and his butler, stood in the far off corners of his vision, watching.

Of course, this was mere entertainment for them, he thought bitterly. This was nothing but a game, a chessboard. As he and his brothers were knocked away by their king, they were relinquished to the Devildom, unwanted, and thrown away as scraps.

Chuckling scornfully at his predicament, Lucifer hauled himself to his feet. Barely being able to stand, he staggered his way over to his sister.

With a flicker of hope, he saw her chest rise and fall, albeit weakly, but still, she was alive. Throwing caution to the wind, Lucifer painfully fluttered his wings, attempting to fly to her. However, all it succeeded in, was cause numbing pain in his back.

Finally kneeling over Lilith's body, Lucifer carefully picked her up, tears gathering in her eyes. She looked fragile, like a porcelain doll. Cracked and thrown away, nothing more than a discarded pawn.

Her wings, twisted and mangled, were already starting to fade away. With her breathing starting to turn ragged, she let out a weak chuckle, and uttered one last wish.

"Hey Luci.....? Don't....let them....fall....too....okay?"

Looking up at her brother with adoring eyes, Lilith let out one last chuckle, cheerfulness still ever-present in her eyes. With a peaceful smile gracing her blood-stained lips, Lilith breathed her last breath, body turning limp.

"No....this can't be real. Lilith, it's not your time yet, please come back, I'm begging you!" 

Tears falling freely from his face, Lucifer sobbed brokenly, tears carving their temporary scars on his face. After all he's done, and everything he's fought for, she still died. So this is what Simeon had meant when he had said no one comes out of war a victor.

Lucifer had known this fact intimately, watching humans go through the same, repetitive, heartbreaking process. Time and time again, wars and battles would be fought, but in the end, no one truly came out victorious.

Yet Lucifer had never thought the war would come to this. He thought there was still a chance, that she could live. He had anticipated losing the war, yet he had led his brethren against his own kind, choosing love, and loyalty.

Lucifer gently set down his sister's body, with one last kiss on her forehead. Seeing her body, disgraced and bloodied, had been the tip of the iceberg. Everything was red, no green, as Lucifer screamed in agony, a broken war cry.

He couldn't fight the voice inside of his mind anymore, no. It had overtaken him, rage, and pure wrath taking over his instincts. All of his composure, his masks, crumbled and let out the monster underneath. Twisting his form, he tore out his wings in a fit of rage.

Feathers flying throughout his vision, Lucifer cast the wings to the side, watching as the pure feathers had darkened into black, a sign of his sin. The heavens were cruel, and always were. Yet Lucifer had never experienced it's full fury and viciousness until now.

Clutching his head between his hands, Lucifer finally had a moment of peace. For eons, his mind had been plagued with wrath, always taunting him from the back of his mind. Now, he felt himself, with no one else influencing his decisions.

However, Lucifer's grief was far from spent.

No, fate couldn't let this man have a single moment of peace, could it?

Behind him, where his wings once lay, was a black and green mass. Writhing and erratically moving, it started taking on a form. Twitching and lumping itself together, if gradually started taking on a solid form.

A unicorn, Lucifer realized with a startle. With black, skeletal armor, and a fiery green mane, it reared it's head and whinnied loudly. It's horn, a deep obsidian, carved with emerald, glinted in the Devildom moonlight.

This wasn't like any creature Lucifer had seen before. In his entire lifetime, Lucifer had never seen something as volatile, furious, and absolutely magnificent as this.

The unicorns in the Celestial Realm had been tame, calm, and soothing creatures, renowned for their medicinal abilities.

Yet this one looked at him with absolute disgust, an intense hatred burning in it's furious green eyes. Or, what he thought were eyes. In the eye sockets of the beast, were bright green flames, which Lucifer assumed were eyes, as they narrowed and behaved like his own.

With a taunting gleam in it's eye, the beast wordlessly stood before Lucifer, who was already broken and bloody. Prideful and arrogant, the beast stood proudly, brandishing it’s strength compared to Lucifer’s.

It's own creator who had hosted it for years. Even so, the beast resented him, for keeping it in the corners of his mind, always repressing and quieting it's voice.

Whirlwinds of flame surrounding the unicorn, it's form took yet another shape. One more...human. No, human would be far too generous. Demonic was a more suitable word.

Horn splitting into two, twisting themselves to frame the humanoid head, the beast had started to hone itself, refining it's outward appearance. Blond locks replacing the fiery green mane, hooves morphing into hands and feet, it gradually took the form of one of the Devildom's strongest demons.

Yet, the beast couldn't help but add a finishing touch to it's form, just to mock Lucifer. With one last flourish, a boa of black feathers appeared, draping his neck, a final mark of rebellion against his creator.

Flashing a nasty grin towards the fallen angel, Satan jeered at him, seeing the all-powerful Lucifer Morningstar, broken and grieving. It was almost laughable, at how weak and pathetic his previous host looked.

With a smile full of spite, he spat out a venomous statement, filled with loathing and hate.

“Hello, Lucifer. Did you have a nice fall?"

[still-a-morosexual-help]

OBEY ME! LESSON 55 DETAILED SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION/THEORIES

*I wrote this days after the lesson was first posted and never bothered to go back and edit it so meaning there will be me theorizing about the next lesson as well

*I write a small para for each chapter and I write it immediately after finishing that chapter so there’ll be theorizing about the next chapter too

*I swear more than usual here

*Some of the dialogue is heavily plagiarized and a few is lifted directly from the story, the game is to figure which is which.

*Summaries and Discussions/theories for all the other lessons can be found on this blog under #obey me spoilers or #my theories or #my headcanons

OKAY! So first off the background for this is absolutely gorgeous and shows a real demon. You know the kind you’d imagine an actual demon to look like and everything’s dark (black, grey, brown) there’s a castle on a mountain like area with a narrow suspended pathway leading to it, there are crows flying around and a person in a robe pointing what looks like a lit wand at a snarling attacking demon, there are skulls and what looks like weapons on the ground and my favourite part: a person in a long robe, kneeling on the ground, covering the top of their face with their hands and wailing to the sky. It’s all tailor made to my taste and I love it! There’s one locked lesson.

It’s breakfast time and Asmo & Beel are heading to an all you can eat global sweet sampler, MC questions it and Asmo says you can get desserts from all over the world there and Asmo’s hoping to live stream it. Asmo invites MC but Mammon interjects asking them to come see “cute horsies” with him. “’Horsies.’ He’s so pretentious. Shut up, it’s the fucking horse race. ‘Horsies.’” Says Levi. Levi invites MC to a real life TSL themed escape room (that sounds really fun tbh), Satan invites them to come watch the sci-fi movie they were talking about, in their home theatre. (he’s actually watched it 3 times already but he read online theories about it and now he wants to see if he can catch the basis for those theories in the movie). They all start arguing about it (except Beel who’s just eating) when MC gets a text from Diavolo congratulating them on their 5th star and wishing them luck for the other 2 and inviting them to an amusement park date. Everyone – MC included – is kind of baffled by the one on one date with Diavolo. They ask any of the others if they want to tag along but they all refuse but Beel asks if MC can take Belphie along since he hasn’t really left the house in a while and Beel’s worried. MC texts asking if they can bring Belphie along too and Diavolo says the more the merrier and I just know this is gonna end in disaster like did Belphie ever even resolve all the problems he had with Diavolo back in S1?

Beel drags Asmo along to wake Belphie up because a.) he doesn’t want Asmo to leave to the sweets thing without him b.) they need all the help they can get to wake him up. MC suggests using force and Asmo happily volunteers to grab Belphie, turn him over and drop him on the ground, Beel says they can’t do this to poor Belphie cause Beel’s a sweetheart, and says the most force he’ll allow them to use is by tickling Belphie, which Asmo then does. It doesn’t work so Asmo says if they’re gonna use force they should do something like this right before he screams “ASMO DIIIIIIVE!!!” and jumps on top of Belphie as Beel protests and I love that despite what you’d assume from his aesthetic and despite what Asmo would like you to believe he’s a lot more rough and tumble and violent (I just really love the sweet with hidden edges trope as much as I love the jerk with a gooey centre trope). Belphie says ow and Asmo brightly and sweetly cheers that he woke up as if just seconds ago he hadn’t used a wrestling move on his sleeping baby brother. Beel says that though Belphie’s body is awake his mind isn’t (relatable), Beel fixes Belphie’s bedhead and Asmo complains that Belphie’s a stereotypical spoilt brat youngest child and says that Diavolo obviously would’ve wanted a one on one day with MC. Beel says he knows and it’s another reason he wanted Belphie to go. Asmo agrees saying that after everything if MC chooses their boss over any one of the seven guys MC actually lives with it’d feel wrong. Asmo tells Belphie to keep an eye on them and not let it turn into a “whirlwind romance”, Belphie just asks for his pillow and Asmo’s upset cause he doesn’t feel confident about the plan now. Poor Diavolo being constantly cockblocked

On the way Belphie complains about being forced to do this when his schedule is just as busy but MC says all he does is sleep and he says because naps are important to him and he takes them seriously. He wishes he could go back home and asks why of all the demons he had to be stuck with Diavolo (so guess those issues are still around good to know). MC asks if he still dislikes Diavolo cause of his fondness for humans and Belphie says he’s fully gotten over that whole human genocide phase which is great to have confirmed. They ask why he dislikes Diavolo – lots of reasons. He always thinks he’s right and expects to get his way about anything and everything and never listens to anyone’s opinions. He hadn’t bothered to listen to Belphie back when the exchange program had been proposed and Belphie was against it (and I mean to be fair back then Belphie was 100% okay with killing the entire human race for no reason other than the fact that he blamed them for Lilith’s death when really they had nothing to do with it and it was definitely the angels’ fault. I mean I don’t think I would have listened to him either and he really does have the spoilt youngest kid personality. I think out of all the brother’s Belphie’s the one who has the fondest memories of the Celestial Realm – probably helped by the fact that Lilith was still alive then – which is why he never blamed them for what happened and instead directed all his anger at the humans) Lucifer hadn’t let Belphie plead his case (what case Belphie!? That all humans should die!?) and that Diavolo’s surrounded by demons like Barbatos and Lucifer who shield him from criticism (and yeah I agree that this is true and that it’s a bad thing but Lucifer wasn’t shielding Diavolo from criticism when he refused to let Belphie plead his case, he was protecting Belphie cause if Diavolo found out Belphie wanted to kill humans he would have thrown him in jail like he did back at the end of S1 and MC you dumb fuck can you pls tell all this to Belphie) and that Diavolo doesn’t understand that he’s been saved from criticism and Belphie hates that about him and he shudders at the thought of spending the day with Diavolo. On the way they run into Simeon and tell him where they’re going, he says Luke’s been wanting to go there since he saw a ad for it and MC says they could take Luke along with them but he says Luke’s at a cooking class today but that he’d probably love to hear about it when he gets back. Simeon then takes off saying he has a meeting. Belphie goes to call after Simeon to tell him something and catches a glimpse of the person Simeon was supposed to meet. He’s surprised and says “Is that…” and when MC asks what’s wrong he said he must have just imagined it and that the person Simeon was meeting just looked really familiar and HOLY SHITTTTTTT GUYSSS rfhiefjoSJKWDLDADJSJ was I right are we really gonna get to see angels???? That’s the only explanation, right? It would have had to be Michael or even Raphael and there’s only a few lessons left and this and the next lesson are probably gonna focus on Diavolo and Belphie’s relationship and following the patter MC should get their 6th star next lesson, then the two lessons after that will be their final exam for the 7th star and then the last two lessons will focus on saying goodbye as the brothers go back to the Devildom and all that’s gonna have a lot going on but if they’re teasing the angels being here now could they manage to slip them in or will that be too much? I mean they’ll be introducing a whole new (or two whole new) character(s) and ahhh I’m rambling but pls I need the tension and angst between them and the brothers ok I’m done.

When they get there Belphie complains about how crowded it is and MC tries to look for Diavolo to which Belphie points to a group of fangirls surrounding Diavolo. Diavolo answers them sweetly and one of them says he’s even better looking irl and another shyly asks if he wants to walk around with them. Belphie cuts that short by barging in and asking Diavolo what’s going on, Diavolo happily greets Diavolo and one of the girls realises that Belphie called Diavolo ‘lord’. Diavolo apologises to them and said he’s already made plans with friends (and ugh he’s so sweet I love him just wanna give him a big hug I bet he gives great hugs), the girls are very understanding and sweet about it and they leave. Belphie’s a lil shit and says “Aww, too bad, Lord Diavolo. I’d hate to interrupt just as they were hitting on you…” and Diavolo laughs it off saying it wasn’t like that (and can Diavolo not understand sarcasm or does he just ignore it? Both seem highly likely) Belphie disagrees and says they were clearly hitting on him and Diavolo changes the subject and says he can’t believe Belphie actually came, MC explains why and Diavolo says it’s understandable that Beel was worried after Belphie hadn’t left the house in a week (Me, who hasn’t left the house in almost a year: :’) ) Belphie says he knows Diavolo wanted a date with MC but too bad cause now Belphie’s gonna third wheel them. Diavolo tells Belphie not to be ridiculous and that he’s happy that Belphie came (and the thing is other than a small twinge of disappointment this is probably the truth). Belphie says that it probably won’t be a good idea to go around calling him “Lord” Diavolo given the way the girls reacted, Diavolo says he can just call him by his name since he wouldn’t mind but Belphie says he himself would mind and anyway if Lucifer or Barbatos found out Belphie wasn’t using his proper title they’d kill him. So Belphie suggests a nickname which Diavolo’s really happy about and MC suggests DD (they can also suggest John or Cap’n), Diavolo adores it and asks them to call him it all the time hereafter (I want to give him a hug so badly). Diavolo then happily and with lots of exclamation points goes on to say that it’s time to let their hair down and that Barbatos had made minute to minute schedule for them to follow so that they could enjoy the park to the fullest and Belphie says he wants to go home

Diavolo keeps unsuccessfully trying to get Belphie to wear a themed headband and take a group photo, saying he also wants to wear the headband on a boat ride and the ferris wheel. Diavolo gives MC sad puppy dog eyes (which I’m sure he uses successfully on Lucifer regularly, but that don’t affect Barbatos at all) and MC can’t refuse, asking Belphie if there’s anything that’ll get him to change his mind. He says no but he’s not stopping the others from doing it, Diavolo says since they’re here as a group they all should do it, Belphie snaps saying he doesn’t like how Diavolo’s using MC as a tool to bend Belphie to his will and he says he’s going home. Diavolo tries to stop him but he marches off and Diavolo drags MC off to chase after Belphie. Diavolo grabs Belphie by the arm outside the park and begs for a chance to apologize, Belphie denies it and tries to free his arm. Diavolo refuses to let him go saying he should have listened to and considered Belphie’s opinions now as well as in the past, Belphie’s shocked and MC asks Belphie to just hear Diavolo out. He agrees but tells them not to have any expectations of what this’ll accomplish.

Belphie says he doesn’t want to wear the headband or take pics and that he’s only gonna ride what he wants to, Diavolo agrees with all that. He asks if Belphie will stay with them and Belphie agrees and Diavolo is just so brightly stupidly happy and I can completely understand how he was able to make Lucifer question his entire world view. Diavolo’s so happy he starts waving Belphie’s arm around unconsciously and then asks Belphie what rides he wants to go on as they make their way back inside, Belphie doesn’t answer instead he’s blushing and annoyed and asks Diavolo to let go of his hand. Belphie wants to ride ‘The Twisting Freefall of Death II’, MC & Diavolo would like to not freefall to their death thank you very much. Belphie quotes the ride as being, “the single most terrifying experience in the world where you’ll scream for mercy and receive none” Diavolo says, “Did you say scream for mercy…” Belphie happily agrees. Diavolo turns to his last hope, MC, and asks how they feel about this. I like to imagine that even MC has a line where their lacking self-preservation will kick in. Belphie just smiles saying it won’t actually kill them (this would have been more reassuring coming from someone who didn’t once murder MC but whatever.) They can also ask Diavolo how feels about it. After the ride Belphie’s cackling loudly and gushing about how great it was. He’s especially happy about the look on Diavolo’s face during the ride, saying he’s never seen it before (probably the look of a demon praying to God for mercy). MC can say that Belphie seemed to be having a lot of fun, cheer how the ride was the best or say they thought they were going to die. For the 3rd option Belphie very cheerfully says MC’s alive and ok. Belphie asks Diavolo how it was only to realise Diavolo’s missing. He fell off the ride at its highest peak. He’s dead.

They’ve tried texting Diavolo but he doesn’t read them. Belphie wonders what kind of person actually gets lost in an amusement park unless they’re 5. Then he says “…is that what it is? Is he actually 5 yrs old?” He remembers that mammon got lost in a park once too and says the only thing the two of them have in common is that they’re both basically children, They then run into my favourite character in the entire game – the butcher (is2g this man needs to become a recurring side character) who is here with his wife and daughter. He asks them if the rest of the harem is here too and Belphie lets him know that unfortunately they’re here with a new inductee who got lost. The butcher offers to help and asks for a description. MC says he’s the owner of the corvo hotel chain and the butcher wonders who the fuck are these people in the first place to know someone like that and then because the butcher’s the sweetest person alive he too starts worrying about diavolo, scared that he might have gotten kidnapped. Belphie says “there’s no one in the human world oh shit I mean THE WORLD. THE NORMAL WORLD ALL US HUMANS - BECAUSE WE ALL ARE HUMANS - LIVE IN” the butcher now probably used to how weird this cult is (because they definitely are a satanic cult with their extremely obvious demon names, how weird and unused to normal life they are, 7 of them being obviously infatuated by the eighth one but the butcher’s not gonna bring this up cause with the amount of meat they buy from him he could keep his family afloat for years AND pay for his daughters college tuition) ignores this and says he hasn’t seen Diavolo but advices them to check the information desk and ask them to page Diavolo over the loudspeakers. They thank him and Belphie promises to stop by with Beel later, the butcher says he’ll see him then and tells them to take care (I love this man). Barbatos text MC asking how they’re doing and which itinerary of his they’re following cause yes apparently he made more than one and telling them he trusts them to take care of diavolo (and I can’t believe it took me this long to realise Barbatos is a helicopter parent). MC leaves him on read. Lucifer then texts them saying Satan told him where they’d gone and telling them that since the two of them are with Diavolo he assumes he’s okay but just to clarify make sure nothing happens to Diavolo. MC leaves him on read. Belphie says that Barbatos and Lucifer are way too overprotective. Barbatos and MC then realise how fucked they are if either of them find out that they’ve lost diavolo and so decide to skip the whole loudspeaker thing.

They can decide if they want to check by the lake, the ferris wheel or the last ride they went in. He’s not at the lake and they choose to take a boat across the lake to get to the ferris wheel cause it’s faster than going around it. Belphie actually enjoys the boat ride and asks if the two of them can just enjoy themselves together for a bit instead of looking for Diavolo, MC says “I’m worried about Diavolo also can you not remember how fucked we are if we don’t find him”. Belphie gets jealous that MC seems to care more about Diavolo than him (they’re just been practical! If the roles were reversed they’d have shut Diavolo down to look for you!) and says that even they have a real soft spot for Diavolo (He’s like a giant golden retriever!!).  There’s an announcement over the loudspeaker for MC and ‘Snoozy’ saying that DD’s waiting for them at the info desk. Belphie’s not happy about ‘snoozy’ (understandable)

[cherubchoirs]

How would Lucifer feel about his student's states rn? Michael is literally a walking corpse and Gabriel nearly died/is similiar to him rn and his other two students just try to be normal as much as possible while internally screaming, Raphael trying his best to keep optimistic and be a leader and Uriel trying not to panic over finally getting to think about the stuff he has written down and contemplating all the secrets he's keeping from his brothers

lucifer, once he's able to process the world around him, would see them as the victims of god's corroding presence, that no matter if one was banished from his side or cleaved to him in perpetual adoration, they must all ultimately deteriorate. he has very complicated emotions concerning the archangels, at turns feeling a great pity for them in their servitude, knowing how they must have been punished, how they lived under constant threat, constant surveillance, knowing that if they did not perfectly conform to god's capricious whims they could lose everything they had ever had, ever been...but then at other times expressing a deep, bitter hatred for what they had done, not just to him but to all the angels who followed him, to all the damned souls, so many of which did little or nothing at all to deserve so hideous a fate. not only did they uphold it, but they actively contributed to the condemnation, to slandering lucifer and his angels to the righteous and the damned over generations. and not even hell itself can hate as lucifer does.

in michael's fate he almost sees god's kingdom laid bare, and it's obviously the one that makes him most volatile - he had been closest to michael but michael had also cast him out, michael the most egregious victim but only because he had so fought for all the evil that god perpetuated in this world. god's greatest champion now his most heinous casualty. michael would likely try to conceal himself, but lucifer knows far more than he thinks - hell has whispered it to him already, long ago now, and besides, this is an evil he recognizes from eons prior. god did many things and lucifer, by his side, saw angels created only to be destroyed, to test what it meant to lose light, that all the rest of the host of heaven never knew. and lucifer, as a seraph, would have had the responsibility to carry out that ritual - he left many like michael is now in his "practice" (god promised they were never really alive, they would be erased and there would never have been any pain) lucifer, really, is the first one that can give michael any verifiable information on his state, though there is nothing he can do for it - so fallen, he cannot complete the process now as he may once have been able to as a high seraph. and he grieves for michael. he grieves horribly, to the point that it causes him physical agony, trying to touch him, to feel what he feels but unable to when michael is not truly damned. the fire left in him sparks, ignites, explodes, until smoke is billowing out of every crack of his ashen body, yet he erupts into unstable reactions that michael can do nothing but take. lucifer mourns, telling him how he always knew this would happen, that god would twist and shatter michael into so many pieces, that making him prince had been the cruelest punishment he could have given him...but then condemning him for his stupidity, that he had finally gotten the fate allotted to a mindless, barbaric dog and choked himself on his own collar. he is no better than a husk, rotting in hell just like the rest of them but fully conscious, trapped in a corpse falling to pieces and showing everyone the greatest reward for his loyalty. and finally lucifer rails against him for taking what he says without fight, look at how still michael clings to penance, to think this will do anything for either of them. in part lucifer is vindicated in michael's fate, in part he aches for him, a part of him believes he made his bed and a part of him wishes to help him out of it. the most terrible thing is that he seems to far prefer lucifer's abuse, and can't stand to see that beneath it all, his old teacher's love still remains.

gabriel garners a relatively different reaction - though lucifer doesn't really have the humor for smugness, there is a distinct lack of surprise seeing him as fallen. he always knew gabriel was likely to join them, sure he had the heart for it but wasn't quite there yet in his head. however, there is a similar honesty to what lucifer tells him - he fell into treachery, but that betrayal is hardly limited to the council he slaughtered. reflected in his fall is all the damned he stabbed in the back, how he may have had some form of mercy for them in his heart, how he may even had compassionate dealings with them, but how little it truly mattered in the end. in judecca for his ultimate treachery, but just as at home in ptolomaea. so lucifer deeply resents what he considers gabriel's "fake" service and the careless, disingenuous hope he gave to the souls of hell who are already tormented enough - having hope doubles that cruelty, and he doubts gabriel even considered it. yet it is also clear lucifer trusts him more than he does the other archangels at this point and in his favorable change of emotion would tell him he was proud of his liberation of heaven. gabriel took great personal risk to finally act so late on his conflicted feelings, yet able to break the angelic yoke, and lucifer is sympathetic to what gabriel experienced at the hands of the council - he is the one gabriel is most able to speak to about his loss of faith and meet understanding of it. lucifer is far more extreme in his hatred of god, but it provides gabriel about the least judgmental outlet he could have when he feels a particular need to express his grievances. lucifer still believes gabriel is different from other fallen angels and doesn't care for the fact that he continues to feel kinship to those in heaven, but he is the most comfortable with him (as an aside, gabriel quickly clears any remaining virtues out of hell when lucifer is released because. well. they would never last)

raphael and uriel he is most distant with, not trusting them yet still observing them closely. because lucifer does hold on to the love he had for all of them, and more than gabriel or michael, he sees the result of fear in these two and how evil becomes self-sustaining. they attempt to apologize to him, but there is a distinct tension, an anxiety carried forward despite them now knowing the truth (uriel especially, given that he himself edited the record of lucifer's fall) and it makes lucifer burn in despair, in hatred of god. in them, he sees the full effect of what's been done to his memory in heaven, how much he's become an object of loathing and warped in the minds of even those he loved the most. so he avoids them almost entirely, not even desiring to feel pity for their positions given how comfortable they still are by comparison even to their brothers - if he does speak to them, he's almost sure to bring that up and little else, almost forcing himself not to care for them despite knowing that he does. because he knows raphael is there sacrificing his own wellbeing to sustain the other three, and he knows uriel feels defunct, vestigial but laden with all the knowledge of truth. for as low as lucifer is, he could never detach himself to the point of apathy, he can't close himself off to the suffering of others no matter how abstract it is to him in his misery. so...very occasionally as they continue to try to speak with him...he offers them advice on what to do. it's shocking when it happens each time, as they usually either get the cold shoulder or some venom spat at them (with him ever so often just blaspheming to scare them off immediately). but for raphael he will sometimes tell him just how to solve some argument, or when the problem doesn't require his intervention and instead should rather be solved only by those involved. for uriel, he tells him with all the truth he has it is now his place to administer it wisely, to methodically come to know what must be told and when, and that his presence will be necessary if they wish to move forward without all the lies perpetuated under god. these moods typically don't last long, but they serve to ease something in all of them as raphael and uriel remember the lucifer they once loved little by little.

[electronictimetravelmoose]

Chapter 3, The Attack

Series Masterlist: The Prophet and the Angel

Pairing: Michael x Prophet!Reader

Warnings: none

Wordcount: ~1.4k

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Time passed like it always does, bright green trees slowly turned colourful browns and reds and soon enough almost half a year had passed since ‘the second incident' as you called it. It still bothered you sometimes, thoughts swirling around who may have helped you that day and if he was really watching you, but those thoughts were pushed to the back of your head most times. You knew thinking about it too much would make you paranoid again. It was probably just one of your neighbors. That idea came to your mind three months after and since then you just accepted that as a reasonable answer to what happened, but still... Something deep inside you just didn't believe it as you would have liked it too. A small sighed escaped your lips as you sat in the last lesson of your day, staring out of the big clear window of the classroom. It was a usual Thursday religion class. Talking about God, Jesus and the Angels as you often did lately. It was actually a quite interesting topic if you thought about it in detail. Especially interesting were the different types of angels there are, normal Angels, Seraphim, Grigori, Archangels... The latest one always gives you goosebumps when you were thinking or talking about the subject. They are the most powerful and dangerous of all of the angels and certainly heaven's most terrifying weapons, as angels are indeed described as Warriors of God. Your thoughts were now swirling around the topic of the archangels. There were four archangels in total. Michael, the prince of heaven, a protector and defender of the faith, the first archangel there was. Lucifer, the lightbringer, also known as the morningstar, the first angel that fell and Satan. Raphael, the healer and the angel of truth. And the last one... Gabriel, the messenger, the strength of God, the youngest of the four. If they worked together no one could stop them, you thought, probably not even God himself. Before you could think about anything else the bell rang, pulling you out of your thoughts. Packing up your stuff didn't take long and soon enough you were out of school heading to the bus stop with your best friend, Belle. She was walking beside you, talking about the new girl in her english class who she thought was extremely cute. You really tried to listen to what she was saying but you couldn’t focus on the words coming out of her mouth. The Nightmares were getting worse again and the blackouts were increasing by the week. It didn’t make sense anymore but then again it didn’t since the beginning. You couldn’t help but sigh and try to focus back on your friend. “...and then she asked me if I wanted to hang out with her this weekend! Can you believe that? I was so nervous but I tried to play it cool and said ‘sure’ and now we will be hanging out on Saturday!” The words coming out of Belle’s mouth were like a never ending waterfall. “Jesus Belle breath” ,you sighed, “I am happy that you can spend time with your new crush but you can’t do that if you choke on your own words.” You gave her a tired smile. The last time she had a crush it didn’t end so well and you were really hoping it would finally work out for her. “You’re right. I mean it’s not even a date, we are just hanging out. It’s totally normal.” You nodded and the both of you stepped onto the bus that was waiting at the bus stop. You took a seat near the front and continued to talk. “What about you? Is there someone catching your eye?” Belle was wiggling with her eyebrows and you let out a mix between a laugh and a groan.  “Besides the boys haunting my dreams, no, there is no one.” “Boring.” You let out a snort and rolled your eyes. Belle was the only one who knew about your nightmares and the things that have happened over the course of the last few months. You knew she would never judge you for the things you see that probably aren’t even real and you were true. She didn’t, she actually believed you. Especially after you told her the story with your sister and the vision you had beforehand. “Is it getting worse?” The only answer you gave her was a nod. Belle already saw how tired you were that morning and she had given you a pitiful look because of it. She always wished she knew how to help you but there was nothing she could do. The lack of sleep, the nightmare and the stress of your last school year were all resting heavily on your shoulders and only time would tell how long you were going to stand the pressure. Tiredly you rested your head on her shoulder and closed your eyes, focussing on the noises around you to keep you awake and away from the bloodshed. “Hey your mom and brother aren’t home over the weekend right? I could come over tomorrow after school and we could make a movie marathon! We haven’t done that in ages!” Even without looking you knew Belle was beaming, not only because of her suggestion but because she knew it always made you feel better. You smiled softly and nodded. “Yeah I’d like that.” Back at home you were once again alone. You dropped your backpack on the kitchen table and began rummaging through the fridge in search of something to eat. You took out the leftovers of the lasagne your mother had made the previous day for dinner. You took a piece of it and put it on a plate and which you heated in the microwave. You yawned and looked up at the clock hanging over the door frame, 2:14pm. You were thinking about what to do before your mom came home when the ring of the doorbell pulled you out of it. You walked out into the hall and over to the front door. You didn’t even think about looking through the peephole before opening the door as your mind was way too clouded with the lack of sleep to even notice if an elephant was in the room with you or not. “Yeah?” You asked as you looked at the person in front of you. It was a man in his late 40s with blond hair that was slowly graying who seemed to be wearing a really expensive suit. You immediately noted that he didn’t seem to fit in with the neighborhood but he could be visiting someone. A few moments passed in which the guy didn’t say anything. “Can I help you?” “Are you (Y/N) (Y/L/N)?” The man’s voice sounded weird to you but you couldn’t pinpoint how so and you leaned slightly back. You cautiously took a step back and looked closely at him. Something was off about him, but what? “I am, why are you asking?” After that sentence left your mouth everything happened too fast for you to comprehend. Maybe your alarm bells should have rung earlier but a sudden wave of dread washed over you and you tried to slam the door shut in the man’s face. In the last second he put his foot between the door and the frame, blocking it from closing.  Your body and mind were suddenly wide awake and filled with adrenaline. He pushed the door back open and you stumbled a few steps back before your survival instinct kicked in and you bolted for the knife block in your kitchen. The man followed right behind, angrily muttering under his breath as he reached for you, you just took a hold of the biggest knife of the bunch. You whirled around and slammed the knife to the hilt into his chest. You breathed heavily and a wave of shock washed over you. I just stabbed someone! You let go of the knife which was still sunken into the man's chest and took a few steps back. The shock was replaced very quickly with a sense of fear you have never felt before. Without even flinching the man grabbed the hilt and slowly pulled the knife out while holding eye contact you the whole time. He pointed the knife and you and his eyes turned completely black. Oh no… “You shouldn’t have done that little girl. I was tasked to bring you in alive but he didn’t say anything about you being unharmed.” The moment he was about to stab you a white blinding light and high pitched noise filled the kitchen.

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Tagging: @satans-bae-and-queen, @hippogreif-joana

[sophi-s]

Cost of Kindness

Chapter III: Between joy and sorrow

By: sophi-s

Fandom: Darksiders video games

Words: 7,405

Characters: Raphael, Darksiders OC

Warnings: None

Summary:

After a crazy adventure outside of Haven, Nicola finally is in shape to try and find her way back. As sad as she is about it, she bids her farewells to her new angel friend. However, it seems Raphael isn't quite ready to say goodbye just yet. And so the fearful human finds herself in the company of an archangel stuck to her like glue.

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Until the sun peered shyly from behind the horizon to announce the arrival of another dawn, Nicola slept like a log. Literally. She hadn't stirred throughout the whole time of her dreamless, magically induced sleep. Were it not for her steady breathing, because as pale and motionless as she was, some might have thought her dead, not sleeping. After long hours, she finally opened her eyes as the remnants of the arcane haze fell and left her mind unshackled. The fog receded from her sight and she was fully expecting the ceiling of the room she occupied in Haven to greet her. Only to be met with disappointment when the dark interior of an underground tunnel filled her vision instead.

For a couple of seconds she was absolutely stunned, unsure where she was or why. The shock of waking up in a strange place had her frozen while her brain was trying to process what in the actual Hell was happening like when she awoke after her first night spent in the Maker Tree. Slowly, the memories of the recent events creeped back into her head. Raphael. Kitten. Demons. My leg… Right… She did feel much better than before but still a little woozy, possibly because half of her brain wasn't fully awake just yet. Massaging her eyelids to rub away the vestiges of sleep, Nicola sat up and scrutinized her surroundings blinking groggily. The same, damp sewer, the same cold darkness. Yawn, which followed, was so wide one might think Nicola intended to swallow everything in this "room".

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the aforementioned angel sitting a couple of feet away, supporting his head on his hand, elbow on his knee while a small cat slept in the rumpled fabric of his green waistcoat. His hood concealed his features as his wings rested against his back and shoulders which steadily moved up and down in the rhythm of a calm breathing. For a moment it might have seemed Raphael was dozing as well but at the quietest move Nicola made, his wary eyes open to look at her without any traces of sleep in them, glimmering like two bright stars from the shadow the hood was casting over his face. It was so abrupt that it made her jump a little.

"Oh! H- hi! Good morning. If it is morning, I mean.."

At her greeting, the cat perked its head up with a "mrowf" noise and shot her a dirty look for daring to interrupt its rest before yawning almost as widely as she did. Raphael answered her with a nod and a small, affirmative sound in the back of his throat but otherwise remained quiet, content with watching her in silence when Nicola leaned down to inspect her thigh and determine whether or not she was in shape for walking anywhere. And to her not unpleasant surprise, the wound was almost fully healed and moving her leg wasn't painful anymore. She did feel the recently present damage to her muscle but she wouldn't call it "pain". More like strain. And that was in like seventy percent of her body from the previous day, even if not as intense as she expected it to be. She really did over exert herself quite a bit. Still, with all certainty she could say Raphael did an unbelievably good job. If only human doctors were in possession of even a teeny tiny part of the healing abilities he had, the world would've been a much safer place.

Though, she couldn't really decide whether the fact that her leg seemed to be perfectly fine was a good thing or not. On the one hand it would mean that nothing hindered her any longer. If the sun is really up then she should wait no longer and set out to make sure the nightfall doesn't catch her again and look for a way back home. Home… In spite of herself she smiled sadly. How quickly she started to refer to Haven as her second home. Her own was irreversibly lost after all.. Reduced to nothing but a grim rubble with all her childhood memories buried underneath. Nicholas died so that she may get out of there alive. He would love it in Haven if he had a chance to see it… In this last safe sanctum for her kind, other survivors, makers.. They were her new family. She could only imagine how they're feeling right now. She should've been back ages ago. She has to return as quickly as possible. The idea of asking Vulgrim for help wasn't completely off the table. She could probably promise him something in return for taking her to the Tree and give it to him later. Nicola can be pretty convincing if she has to but she wouldn't put that past Vulgrim to deny her still. She'd have to play it smart should she fail to find the way back herself. He doesn't trade in favors in exchange for promises after all. No matter. One way or another, she will get back to Haven. That, or she can say goodbye to her wretched life.

But on the other hand… Glancing up at Raphael, who was half-busying himself with petting the very content cat and half-watching her, she realised with a twinge that she'll have to leave him. In those few short hours he'd done so much for her.. so many things she was grateful for… And on top of that, with how sad and lonely he was, Nicola couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor man. She'd never met an angel before and hadn't come to know one well but those she'd seen when this nightmare started didn't make a good impression on her. Raphael was so much different from his kin. She still wasn't sure why he decided to help her even though he didn't have to. And that made her feel empathetic towards him, especially every time he gave her this suffering look which told her a long story of pain and misery. Nicola may have known him for barely a couple hours, if not less, but somehow the thought of leaving him here possibly never to see him again was making her heart sink. Because of the apocalypse, she was running really low on friends and so no one could blame her for wanting to keep every single one she had left or recently made. And honestly, after the angel saved her life and treated her wounds she would lie if she said he wasn't on the right path into the alarmingly small circle of people she held dear to her. Such experiences have a way of bringing people closer to one another, despite the differences they may possess. And besides, what would leaving him here be if not cruelty?

"You seem… troubled."

Raphael stated, making Nicola look at him again. Even after only a few hours spent with her, he sensed her current mood without a mistake. He was pretty insightful. Not that Nicola was trying overly hard to hide it but still. Maybe that's just something the angels do. She sighed in response. I really am.. She thought. It wasn't as though she didn't have a lot to be grim about but this particular thought at the forefront of her brain bothered her the most at this given moment. She didn't want to go just like that but she knew she had to. If only to make sure other guys are alright. But honestly she doubted that Ulthane would ever let her out of his sight again after the stunt she pulled, no matter what she tells him afterwards. In turn, this might be the last time she sees the kind and selfless, not all there angel. Whether she likes it or not, it was time to bid farewell.

"I… I wanted to thank you again for what you did for me."

She started as she stood up - still a bit wobbly from all the crazy stuff that happened so recently - looking around in search of her backpack and shotgun. Both were resting under a wall not far from where she was laid down before, right next to the place where the mummified Goreclaw used to be. Raphael must've moved it further down the sewer where the rest of the corpses were when she was sleeping. Sooner or later it would start attracting pesky flies and other nasty vermin if not things far worse, not to mention the smell of decomposing meat. A little reluctantly, she flung the backpack over her shoulder and picked up her gun before turning to face Raphael. An increasingly unsettled Raphael who seemed to have taken the hint what she intended to do.

"Really, thanks. It's been very nice to meet you. But I have to go now."

"Go? Where to?"

The barely audible note of fear in his voice and the look he gave her made Nicola feel even worse for having to part ways with him.

"I'm going.. home."

Nicola to some extent knew how to read certain people but the blank stare of the angel before her was giving her a really hard time.

"Look, I can't stay here and I'm sorry but I have to go.."

She said hesitantly and turned towards the exit from the tunnel to leave for the surface, quietly wishing she didn't suck at saying her goodbyes. This was one of her greater weaknesses, right after small animals. Especially cats.

"Goodbye. And good luck! I hope we'll meet again.."

With that short farewell, Nicola turned away to walk off into the sewer and begin her search for Haven. But a firm grip on her shoulder stopped her from taking more steps and made her glance back in bewilderment. Somehow, Raphael shifted from a sitting position to standing and closed the distance between himself and Nicola in one beat without producing a single sound. Not going to lie, it was quite scary and Nicola couldn't help a startled squeak that escaped her. But even though he spooked her yet again, the distressed face he pulled made Nicola bite her lower lip. And the hesitant plea leaving his mouth made it even worse.

"Stay…"

"I- I can't! I really need to go!"

"Please…?"

Raphael quietly begged her. His flared and bristled wings were quivering anxiously and his face bore the most pitiful pleading look she'd ever seen. God, why do you have to make this so difficult? It was strange. He'd been doing fine without Nicola for who knows how long. Well… fine might not be the right word to use in this case but whatever. Though, now that she thinks about it, it makes sense that he wouldn't want to be left alone again. Especially because loneliness doesn't serve healthy people well and Raphael looked like someone who could use the help of a specialist. Still, Nicola found herself asking.

"Why do you want me to stay?"

Instead of answering, Raphael glanced down from her face, looking at the point on her chest, just below her collarbone. Nicola awkwardly cleared her throat to get his attention once she felt like his gaze was going right through her mortal shell and piercing into her very core.

"Uhh.. What exactly are you thinking about?"

Not bothered by it, Raphael squinted and lifted his forefinger, extending it to the place he was looking at. And seriously, for a second Nicola was considering batting his hand away since it could without a doubt be viewed as invasion of personal space when the pad of his finger connected with her chest where it ended and her neck began. And in this moment white flash passed through Nicola's eyes, followed by a deathly chill somewhere inside, tearing into her heart from within with icy claws like a vicious beast. As though someone had poured freezing cold water into her body. And amidst this coldness was a tiny wisp of warmth pressed against her ribcage, as if it was trying to get out. To get as close to Raphael as possible. She gasped in shock and fear and from the unexpected and not physical pain - so intense it made her feel sick - which wasn't really… her own. She felt it, experienced it but she knew it wasn't hers. Somehow Nicola knew that it belonged to someone else. And this someone was standing right in front of her.

Slowly but surely, it was starting to make sense. Why Raphael was constantly so shaky, so easily frightened, so… wrong. It all lasted barely a fraction of a second before both she and Raphael abruptly backed away with astonishment painted across their faces. Neither of them was entirely sure what on God's green earth just happened or why it happened. Whatever it was, neither of them would say it felt pleasant. Nicola was fairing better than the angel however. While she was only mildly frightened and befuddled, he immediately retreated into the corner and curled up on the floor, wrapping himself up in a feathery cocoon of his wings, trembling like a leaf on a gale.

"Raphael..?"

She huffed trying to steady her own breathing as she cautiously approached him just when he started to mutter obscene nonsense again. This time Nicola couldn't even determine what exactly he was saying. He spoke way too quickly and he was only able to pick up single words like "torment", "soul" or "help". This odd sensation, this pain she felt was undoubtedly in him. All. The time. Every day of his existence. It became clear. Nicola could imagine that even she would sooner or later go absolutely mad if the suffering he's experiencing without a moment of rest was hers. It was nothing short of a miracle that he retained at least some small semblance of who he used to be. Ever since she came to him, he did start to make more sense than before, possibly because she could at least partially distract him from this pain. But if he needed distraction, why would he leave his White City behind? Angels may have been mean to her race but surely they would help out their brother in need, right?

All questions Nicola had most likely could be answered by a story of his past which he wasn't ready to reveal just yet. Perhaps, if she's careful enough, one day he will open up and tell her about it. But until then, she remained in darkness of uncertainty. Still, she couldn't help but wonder.. Carefully, she crouched and laid her hand on Raphael's shaking shoulder, making his head snap up with a fearful look to his round, empty glowing eyes.

"Who… who did this to you?"

The angel opened his mouth as if to answer her but no words came out. Only a soft huff. Tears welled up in Nicola's eyes when his face scrunched up in something between anguish and misery. And that was enough for her to snap. In spite of herself, Nicola reached around the angel's neck and pulled him into a tight hug burying her face into the side of his green hood which despite the stench surrounding everything here still held a barely noticeable scent of something that brought to mind clean cotton with a tint of vanilla. His entire body went rigid as she did but only for a moment. Merely seconds later, he relaxed, his breathing evened out and he moved his own arms around her back to return the embrace that brought a tiny bit of comfort that could at least partially fill the emptiness he felt within for so long he couldn't even remember how it is to not feel it.

"Don't leave me alone…"

He breathed against her ear, clinging to her desperately as if letting go of her would mean his inevitable end. Up this close, Nicola could feel his heart - much bigger and more powerful than her human one - hammering uneasily against his ribcage. Similar, but completely different. And for some reason, her own heart suddenly skipped and beat once alongside his in the exact same rhythm before everything returned to normal. Or maybe she was just imagining things? Possibly…

This warm and tight embrace, even though it was meant to comfort him, still gave Nicola an odd feeling of safety. All of the sudden Raphael seemed to her not like a stranger she met by chance not even a day ago but like a good, old friend she knew she can trust no matter what. The decision of leaving Raphael behind was difficult enough before but now… her heart fell to pieces. It was next to impossible. She couldn't just leave him like this. He doesn't deserve to be abandoned again. No one does.

What do I do? Nicola knew she could neither stay with him, nor can she return to Haven without risking that her conscience would make her feel shitty for the rest of her goddamned days and that a thought that she doomed some poor soul to descend into utter insanity would make her share his fate. But there has to be something she can do.. Anything.. Then, an epiphany struck her.

"Wait.."

She said once Raphael let her go and she could look him in the eye as he gave her a questioning yet hopeful stare.

"You could come with me!"

"Come with you..?"

"Yeah! The Tree is much safer than here and there's a lot of useful stuff there. Also, it doesn't stink that much…"

Not only that. Other survivors, even as skeptical as they are towards angels, surely wouldn't mind Raphael poking around. Having a skilled healer on their side would certainly change their mind even if they weren't eager to let him stay. Ulthane, Elanya and Yarin can be persuaded if they don't agree at first. After all, if Raphael's presence will mean that "wee uns' " are even safer, then Nicola couldn't think of a reason why they shouldn't relent. Not to mention that Raphael can fly. It would make it a child's play to find the Tree. Back in Haven she could also get the poor angel patched up and cleaned up a bit, since he himself is in a rather sorry state. That's the least she could do for him in return. Only one thing was left to do, considering how uncertain Raphael looked. Convince him.

"What is this… Tree?"

"This is a safe place for us, humans, and it's… kinda our new home now."

Before, Nicola was absolutely certain Raphael's eyes couldn't turn bigger and rounder but he was very quick to prove her wrong. Not to lie, it was quite impressive. He blinked a couple of times as if to make sure he heard it right.

" 'Us' ? There is… more of you out there..?"

Nicola nods enthusiastically once she realises she's on the right path.

"Yeah! Ulthane made us a safe place to-"

"Ulthane?"

He interrupted with confusion on his face, making Nicola stop in mid sentence to look at him questioningly.

"Ulthane… the Black Hammer?"

"Yes, he's a-.. Wait… you know him?"

Humming thoughtfully, Raphael drummed his fingers against the cold floor. His answer didn't clarify much however.

"No.. Azrael does.."

"Who?"

An angel most likely. Probably one of Raphael's former acquaintances. Mentioning this "Azrael" seemed to have brought some memories back, very fond ones at that since for the first time today, a ghost of a smile passed across Raphael's face and an absent look in his eyes turned warmer and not so frightened anymore.

"Friend.."

Seriously, for a moment Nicola wanted to say that she's sorry because she just assumed that Raphael's friend could be dead but she bit her tongue before she could tell him that when she realised he actually used the present tense and not past. Which indicates that Azrael, whoever he is, is still out there somewhere. Instead, she wanted to tell him more about Haven but he once again interrupted her.

"The Balance is upset.. the Third Kingdom is vital to it… Humans. Humans live still? Not everything is lost then.."

Oh boy, here we go again. Unwittingly, Nicola pulled an annoyed face. For the umpteenth time, Raphael unintentionally made her feel like an uneducated imbecile. Why is the Universe even more complicated than we initially thought?

"Yes, he does the right thing.. They need a protector."

Nicola decided to patiently wait until Raphael is finished thinking out loud, even though she once again had no clue what he's saying. What Balance? Third Kingdom? The what?

"The Horsemen cannot do this alone… It is the duty of us all… to- to uphold the Balance."

The WHO??? Nicola could only imagine how stupid she looked with that dumb face she just made. What. The actual fuck. The Horsemen? As in… the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? They are real too? So it is a legit end of the world like the one in the Bible! How lovely! It's honestly a miracle that anyone has lived if that's the case. What else? Maybe it will suddenly turn out that snow is warm, sun is cold and skunks don't stink. Though with all the chaos going on around, Nicola would hardly be surprised if dogs suddenly started chirping and birds barking. She really just wished for the things to calm down already.. Returning to normal seemed to be off the table unfortunately but for God's sake, can the demons at least just go home or something? But… Now that she thinks about it… Could the mysterious warrior clad in crimson be one of the infamous Four? He didn't look like an angel, even though he bore quite a few similarities to Heaven's denizens, nor did he seem purely demonic in nature. And he was there when the Apocalypse began.. Curious. Especially because if it wasn't for his interference, Nicola would have probably been dead by now. All he did was stop for just a second to tear the bus door out once he saw her struggling to open it from the inside. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't, who knows? Eventually, Raphael glanced at her with a more certain look on his face.

"You don't stand a chance. Not against the Destroyer."

Yeah, no shit, Sherlock.. Nicola thought, still having the clear image of the flaming dragon standing barely fifteen feet away from where she was hiding in her head as if it happened yesterday. He was terrifying, no one is taking this away from him, but screw that! That's one gigantic motherfucker. Nicola was pretty sure she could comfortably live in a room that was the size of his goddamned head. If he tried to eat her, she'd probably get stuck between his teeth at best. And so far that's the last place she wanted to find herself in. She really didn't need help in figuring out that a bunch of humans still shitting their pants at the sight of a single Wicked could stand up to the bloody Destroyer. What are they, the legendary dragon-slaying knights or something? Not to be pessimistic or anything.. but Nicola wouldn't be surprised if that thing could kill her by so much as breathing in her direction. He does breathe fire after all. It goes without saying that he also has a huge horde of ugly assholes under his whim, jumping at the tiniest flick of his tail. So yeah. Chances for success in an open confrontation are pretty miniscule. Fortunately, what Raphael said next made her sigh with relief.

"You need all the help you can get… I will come. If this is your wish…"

Victory! Now that was the solid dose of serotonin Nicola had been missing for quite some time. Not only can she return home and assure her strange little family that she's alright but also she doesn't have to leave her newfound friend behind. Her conscience will stay clean, Raphael will be safe in Haven, maybe even recover to some extent, and the humans will have a powerful angel healer on their side. To her it was a win-win.

"You will?! That's awesome, thanks!"

Nicola was quick to gather her humble possessions and waited for Raphael to get up and take whatever he needed. But surprisingly, all he took was the kitten which he held against his chest since it wasn't really pleased about being manhandled but the angel simply ran his finger through the fur on its head to put it back to sleep again before depositing it to a small knapsack he had on his belt where it could rest safely. Apparently, he wasn't attached to anything he stored in his hideout over the time he spent here. Well, there weren't many useful things to take anyway. At least that's what Nicola thought before, because Raphael leaned over one of the bigger crates and reached for something apparently hidden behind it. And oh boy, the thing he pulled out… An ornate, gilded staff, as tall as Nicola is. The centerpiece was flanked by two slender serpents coiling around it in a beautiful, symmetrical way to the very top crowned by a pair of wings and a ring between them.

"Whoa…"

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't hide her amazement. That was some sick looking staff. The design seemed to ring a bell but she couldn't quite tell where exactly. Unlike Raphael himself, the staff was well kept, clean and undamaged, even if a bit tarnished. Apparently in his solitude, the angel cared for it well and often. For this last piece of home he has, Nicola realised with a pang of sadness. Even in his fond expression she could see the attachment to this one small part of his past. Okay, maybe not that small… Once Raphael was ready and glanced at Nicola to confirm it, she nodded and walked off into the dark tunnel with the angel trailing after her like a duckling.

"Oh, and by the way…"

Considering what Nicola had seen before, she figured it would be best to warn Raphael about some of Haven's denizens. Well.. by some she specifically meant Vulgrim. Despite his queer way of being and shiftiness, Nicola still somewhat liked him. The demon merchant was hardly a good material for a friend but so far he proved only two things to her. That he can be cunning and annoying. And that he's unbelievably helpful. And in truth, Nicola couldn't help but grow a little fond of her exceptional neighbour. Especially because Vulgrim was the only demon so far that didn't try to kill her where she stood but instead engaged in a conversation. That might be because he's just scared of Ulthane but he seemed rather harmless. Hell, he even sometimes provided useful resources if Haven could afford a trade with him. In a way, he too was helping humans survive. But if he suddenly jumped out of that Serpent Hole of his… Nicola could already see Raphael blasting the demon into Oblivion without a second thought. And that was something she didn't want to happen. Better safe than sorry.

"There's this… guy sometimes swinging by to say hello to us.."

Even as she spoke, she didn't stop walking and the quiet tapping of the end of the staff against the floor told her that Raphael kept following. How do I explain to an angel that a demon means no harm?

"The name's Vulgrim. He's a little… Ugh, how do I put it?"

"A demon… Crafty fiend, far more powerful than he lets on. Yet, so… deceivingly docile.."

Nicola halts as though she's just come face first into an invisible barrier once she heard Raphael grumble distastefully to himself. Turning around, she gawked at him with non hidden shock. And while she expected anger or at least disgust, Raphael looked rather… resigned for the lack of a better term. And only ever so slightly annoyed.

"You know Vulgrim?"

That literally came out of nowhere. The description of Vulgrim Raphael just gave was so unbelievably accurate. Nicola already suspected that the demon is much more dangerous than he seems but simply refuses to put his power to use and do something constructive with it. And now she got a confirmation. From a very unlikely source but still. Raphael was quick to offer a clarification and answered her question with his own.

"Who doesn't?"

"Ah, that's fair.."

She chuckled. Vulgrim is that kind of a "person", who seems to know everyone and has been to pretty much everywhere. He offers his merchandise to every creature that can afford it and it shouldn't be that surprising that some people, even angels like Raphael know him, or at least know of him. She suspected the latter part in this case. This makes it much easier to explain to Raphael that he's a friend.

"He's cool though! He's helping us keep it together and doesn't really bother anyone in the Tree. Vulgrim is really helpful if he wants to."

To this, Raphael answered with a doubtfully raised eyebrow and a thoughtful hum. He didn't seem convinced but what he said fully satisfied Nicola.

"Hmmmm… so I was told.."

Before they even noticed, they were right below the well lid which was Nicola's original entrance to the sewer. And honestly? She was so glad that she decided to come down here. Otherwise, she wouldn't have met Raphael. Some part of her still dreads to wonder what would happen to him if she didn't find him. He was already at the brink of losing it but now it didn't seem as bad as before. In a way, Nicola saved him too, it seems. Before, he was barely registering what was happening around. Now he was more or less capable of a relatively normal conversation. Sure, he tended to talk to himself quite a lot but she supposed that the solitude and whatever nightmares he'd been through have taken their toll. Climbing up the ladder, Nicola pushed the lid out of the pavement and immediately the golden light of the new day spilled through it, banishing the darkness and ouch, it hurt her poor eyes.

Even though Nicola wasn't in utter blackness all the time thanks to the arcane wisp of light that followed Raphael everywhere whenever he needed it, the bright pillar of sunlight struck her like a physical force, leaving her mostly blind for a good ten seconds. Still, another breath of fresh air tasted like ambrosia to her. No stench of the sewer and rotting meat. Thank God.. It took only a few seconds afterwards for her sight to get used to the brightness but still she needed a moment to wipe the tears from her eyes. Before she exited the sewer however, a quiet hiss behind her made her stop.

Looking over her shoulder, she saw Raphael recoiling from the light with his eyes squeezed tightly shut and a grimace on his face, shielding himself from the radiance with his left wing. Right.. How long he'd spent down there, Nicola could only guess but she could understand how dizzy it might've made him and how much it burned his darkness-adjusted eyes. More than that, to him the sunlight probably felt like it does to a goddamn vampire.

"Raphael? You okay?"

The angel didn't answer her, simply kept still, slowly lowering his wing to look at the light flowing through the opened way out, blinking rapidly so that his eyes adjusted to it quicker. And once they did.. Without a word, he hesitantly reached out towards the bright sun rays and put his bandaged hand right through the border where the light and dark clashed with one another. And immediately, once the warm glow caressed his skin, his face brightened in mute fascination. The fact that he hadn't seen the daylight for way too long became ever so apparent to Nicola and made something twist inside of her sadly.

"The sun…"

Raphael breathed and let his mouth form a wide grin once he fully entered the illuminated area and turned his face up with his eyes closed to soak it in.

"Blessed Creator, I missed it.. oh how I missed it…"

It took less than a second for Nicola to decide that she's going to let him have that moment. They were in a rush, true, but she simply didn't have it in her to tell him to hurry. She didn't want to interrupt him because even with all the dust and grime on his emaciated face, for the first time since she'd met him, Raphael looked so unbelievably happy. Truly happy. Just because he could feel the warm light of the sun upon his skin. And with a full smile he underwent a sudden change. All fear left him, his features softened and Nicola would dare say that even as broken, mad and defeated, in this short moment he looked… beautiful. As an angel, which humans often imagined, should. Under all that dirt something was glistening from the surface of his skin under his eyes, on his cheeks and forehead, the sunlight painted warm streaks on his long, white hair that fluttered on the cool breeze from above. In spite of herself she smiled too. This look to him suited him far better than a sorrowful, troubled frown. She could already tell, she will be always trying her best to save this precious smile.

With a deep breath of fresh air, Raphael opened his eyes to look out at the clear sky in shades of delicate blue and… in a flash of gold accompanied by a quiet whizz disappeared. Nicola's jaw fell open. Her human mind will never stop getting surprised over the stuff like that. And even if it will, it's going to take a long time. Before she could even start wondering where the angel vanished to, a large silhouette blocked out the sun. Still a bit surprised, Nicola looked up right at Raphael's kind face and his outstretched hand as he offered her help in getting out of the stinking well. So he can teleport. Lucky bugger. To be frank, Nicola felt a small sting of jealousy. And while she expected him to simply let her hold onto him as she pulled herself out, he hoisted her up in one fluid motion and set her on the pavement beside him the moment she took his hand.

The odd angel kept surprising her. Despite his thin frame, he was quite strong. For human standards that is, she didn't know how his physical strength was viewed among his brethren. During the initial armageddon she caught glimpses of much more sturdy-looking angels after all. The memory actually made her wonder if Raphael knew that one angel she saw talking to the warrior in red. The one who got… brutally squashed by that gigantic fuck-off demon that nearly made her heart refuse to keep fighting out of pure horror before she booked it. At least she could only assume that he got squashed because as soon as she saw the hand shoot out from the pit of boiling magma below she averted her eyes not to look at it and all she remembered now was a female voice desperately crying out a name she couldn't quite recall right now.

I'll ask him another time. She thought as he was pulling her out into the outside world. Still, the caution he did it with… Sighing inwardly, Nicola realised that Raphael already has something in common with her other bizarre friends. He too handled her as though one uncareful move could harm her and treated her as though she was made of porcelain. For quite some time Ulthane was afraid to even touch any of them not to break something and there were very few people in Haven who could resist poking a little fun at the maker. Oh well. Looks like it's a privilege that last members of the human race get. Everything is either super gentle with you or is trying to ruthlessly murder you. Nothing in between so far. Only Vulgrim seemed to be mostly neutral towards them but that was one exception.

Outside of the sewer the day was unusually warm. The sun was shining down at the crumbling Earth from a clear sky, no clouds hindered its rays and the air movement was a bare minimum. Nicola didn't wait long before unzipping her vest. Cooking inside of it was the last thing she fancied right now. Judging by how high the sun already was, she'd say it was far past the morning hours. Actually, maybe even somewhere around midday. Looking down at her watch confirmed that she guessed it right since it showed the exact time of

11:56 A.M.

Now's the high time she started looking for a way back. She walked over to one of the tallest buildings nearby to search for a suitable vantage point - careful this time, not to get jumped by some asshole again - and glanced back to see if Raphael was still following her. And in agreement to what he'd accidentally shared with her back in his hideout, Nicola has taken a note that he's.. limping. He was leaning on his ornate staff heavily and his eyebrows were furrowing with each step he took but his eyes were quickly shifting between all directions of his surroundings, always on watch for a threat. Still, there was an ever-present weariness to his pace. To put it simply, Raphael looked tired and moved with difficulty, as though he was in constant pain. In a way, he was.. But somehow Nicola knew it wasn't really the same pain one feels when getting injured or ill. This was something… else.

Nicola decided maybe she will ask him about it later, once they're safe. Maybe. They had to find Haven before the sun sets after all. No time to waste. Though… she didn't really know how to approach the matter. Raphael had done so much for her already. Asking him for help and a lift made Nicola feel incredibly awkward. Especially because she wasn't quite sure if asking an angel to fly her somewhere was considered rude by his people. But it had to be done. Otherwise, they might not make it on time.

"Hey.. Raphael? I forgot to say that but… there's a little problem.."

"A problem..?"

Raphael cocked his head to the side as he looked down at the small human woman wringing her hands nervously. Why was she nervous? The archangel could no longer sense or even see fear in her, yet something was still wrong. For some reason she was feeling uncomfortable, whether it was his presence or something she was about to say.

Why should she ever trust you? Your kind destroyed her life!

And that was unfortunately the truth. Half of it at least. Demons too had their part in it. Raphael knew he holds no ill intentions towards her or her kin hiding from the Apocalypse in the Tree she kept talking about but something told him that Nicola is still afraid of him. She just doesn't know it yet.

"I'm not entirely sure where we need to go.. I got… a little lost..?"

Ah. So that's the problem. Honestly, Raphael was half-expecting something truly horrendous but if being lost is the only problem they have - for now that is - then there's nothing to worry about. The directions to the safe place are surely buried in her mind somewhere, accessible and possible to dig out. All she needed was a gentle nudge in the right direction. And if that doesn't work, Raphael can always try to search through her memories himself if she won't have a problem with that. Though, considering how fragile humans are, both physically and mentally, Raphael didn't want to risk irreparably damaging her mind that way. This was the last resort. Instead, he reached out to her and laid his hand on her shoulder, summoning his magic to take both of them to the top of the crumbling block of flats looming over them.

"Wh- whoa! Hoo.. lee!"

Nicola loudly exclaimed to make her astonishment apparent once they reappeared on the rooftop high above the destroyed city. Raphael could only imagine how odd teleportation must feel to a human who's absolutely devoid of any magical abilities and not used to it being used around them.

"Will this help?"

Shrugging off the surprise, the human walked up to the ledge, so close it made Raphael feel mildly uncomfortable, and looked out at her ruined home bathed in daylight. Squinting at the sun and shielding her eyes from its shine, Nicola looked around, murmuring under her breath

"Gimme a second.. The cathedral is there, the shopping mall there… So the Tree should be somewhere around-…"

She tapped her chin thoughtfully for a moment before she turned to her left and her face immediately brightened as she pointed into the distance.

"There! Look!"

Glancing towards the place Nicola was pointing out, Raphael could barely make out a massive shape between ruined buildings. It really did look like a grand tree. An enormous shadow standing tall above the ground. And Nicola was pretty much vibrating with ecstasy and shifting on her feet like a small child impatiently waiting for something amazing to happen and beaming.

"It's right there! We did it!"

She squealed like an excited child as well. But Raphael knew it might be too early for celebration. That was quite a long way… How she even got from there to here anyway, he may never find out. What's more important, if Nicola wanted to make it all the way back there, it might take her a whole day if not longer and each minute spent out in the open means that demons have a bigger chance of discovering her and putting an end to her existence. And that Raphael couldn't allow. Every human that survived counts. He could see why she asked him to come with her and he decided he won't fail her. He won't fail anyone ever again. The faster they leave, the better. Turning to the excited woman standing beside him, the archangel unfolded his arms and crouched.

"Hold on to me…"

Nicola's mood shifted instantly. Sometimes it was kind of disturbing how humans can turn from happy to sad, angry to calm, excited to apprehensive and vice versa in the matter of seconds. Her eyebrows wandered up as she eyed him cautiously.

"Huh? You want to-..."

In response, Raphael gave her the most reassuring smile he was capable of despite the coldness of his tattered soul feeling especially troublesome today after he unwittingly created some sort of a link with Nicola. Or maybe not as much with her, as with the bright, heavenly spark inside of her. By all means, the flash of blinding pain, as intense as the day he tore out the first fragment of his being and multiplied by the amount of times he repeated this, was not a pleasant experience. The memory still lingered at the back of his head but he tried anyway.

"Trust.."

He simply said, making Nicola swallow and smile nervously, half-heartedly joking

"O- okay. Just don't drop me, alright?"

“Of course..”

She uncertainly conceded and wrapped her arms around Raphael's neck for the second time this day, holding on so tightly that for a human it would surely be excruciating. No wonder. A human doesn't need to fall from a very high place to get themself killed or at least crippled for the rest of their life. But Raphael had no intention of letting her fall. Putting his free arm around her, holding her securely against his chest, the archangel unfolded his grand wings. The soft breeze rolling above the city immediately caught in his feathers, calling and beckoning him into the vast skies. It's been way too long since his last flight. Luckily, it's an ability that once learned is never forgotten.

Raphael shot up into the air just as Nicola tightened her grip even more, holding on no worse than a koala bear. Not wasting any more time, he swept over the human city turned into a dreary graveyard, heading towards the Maker Tree and gladly leaving the sewers behind in favor of the brighter future opening up before him for the first time in centuries.

--------------------------------------------------

Listen, Raphael needs and deserves a hug, okay? For being a precious guy <3

Send over all the hugs for him 💓

EDIT: Gonna upload it on AO3 tomorrow

[grimcorvis]

Sins Locked Away- The Wedding

Part 3 of 3 (Part 1 & Part 2)

The Aftermath

“Papa!” “Jeffrey!” “Abaddon!” Reaper, his mom, and Alistair came running over to him, the rain continuing to pour. “Are you alright? That was an incredible battle! I didn’t know you had that in you!” Alistair held onto his arm and helped him to his feet. Reaper went to assist him on his other side as Raphael called out to them. “Abaddon! You need to hurry over here now. He hasn’t got much time left…” Raphael’s hands were covered in blood, and Grim was still bleeding out on the ground.

“T-Take me to him…” Abaddon could barely keep his eyes open, the battle had exhausted every last bit of strength he had. Right now though, all he cared about was seeing Grim, no matter what condition he was in. 

Alistair and Reaper helped Abaddon walk over to his bloody fiancé on the ground, easing him down beside him. His condition was terrible- Grim’s skin was almost white as a sheet, blood pooled around his body on the ground, it flooded from his chest and even trickled down the corners of his mouth. His breathing was slow and shallow, his overall appearance was worse than Death itself; he was dying. “...A...Abaddon..?”

Abaddon rushed to his side, grasping Grim’s hand. “I’m here… I’m here…” He hated seeing Grim like this, but what else could he do? Raphael had clearly tried everything judging by the countless amounts of medical supplies around him. 

“You...you really did it...you kicked Satan’s ass...you’re free…” Grim smiled weakly at him, interrupted by a coughing fit which caused more blood to spurt from his chest and mouth. “..I’m so p-proud of you, baby…” “Abaddon, I- I tried everything and nothing could heal him. I even tried to apply bandages but the wound burned me. I-I- I don’t have the power to heal him from this.” Raphael stammered, visibly shaking as he could not do the one job he had been given. “He’s fading fast…”

“It’s okay… we’ll think of something…” Abaddon was now just as emotionally exhausted as he was physically. This day started so perfectly, and now his fiance was dying in front of him. ‘Wait… we never even got married!’ Abaddon looked down at Grim again, the sight almost too horrifying to stare at. “Grim… stay with me… we can still save today… Let’s… we can still get married… right…?”

Grim reached up with a trembling hand and cupped Abaddon’s cheek, smearing crimson on his tan skin. “Abby...I want you t..to promise me something……promise me that y-you’ll be strong..no matter what happens...I l..love you so much.” He coughed again, his silver eyes losing their light. “So this is what it’s like...dying. N-never thought it...w-would happen...to me…”

Grim’s hand started to go limp, causing Abaddon to panic. “Grim…! Grim, stay with me. Please… don’t leave me. I need you, I… I love you.”

“I...l...love...you...t...too…be...s..strong....” His silver eyes dulled to gray and his lids slowly shut. His hand went limp and fell to the ground in the puddle of blood, his entire corpse now frigid. Raphael felt Grim’s chest for a heartbeat, then his neck for a pulse. He didn’t have the heart to look at Abaddon, his own tears falling to the ground as a downpour began. “...I’m sorry...he’s gone.”

“No… no, no… he- he can’t be…” Even as Abaddon spoke those words, he knew what was true. The Grim Reaper was dead, his body lying cold in front of him. Abaddon fell across his body, crying out for all who could hear. 

The rain poured down on all of them as Abaddon wailed, the garden even began to wilt from the loss of Grim and Abaddon’s anguish. Reaper let out a mournful wail as everyone shared their tears. Abigail hugged her son, this wasn’t how she wanted his birthday to go for him. It was a while before Raphael got to his feet, placing his hand on Abaddon’s shoulder. “Abaddon...you should go rest. We’ll take care of Grim now…”

“NO! Don’t take him from me!” Abaddon was not in the right state of mind to leave Grim’s side. He planned on sharing his whole afterlife with him, but now… he wasn’t even sure where Grim’s spirit was if he even had one. 

Alistair kneeled to Abaddon’s side and took his hand. “Abaddon...he’s already gone. We can’t bring him back, and I wish we could...we should tend to your wounds. Raphael will handle his body. C’mon Ab.” He gently tried to coax the demon away from the limp form of Grim, there was nothing else they could do for the Reaper.

Abaddon’s eyes flashed blue as Asmodeus communicated with him. After a second, he was brought back to reality. “Mom… remember the… the bottle I asked you to look after?”

“Huh? That red one? Y-yes, I remember. It’s on my nightstand...why?” Abigail looked at her son, why was he suddenly bringing this up now of all times? Was there something special about it?

“Get it for me… quickly!” Abaddon had tears in his eyes, although his expression turned more determined than depressed. ‘God, I hope Asmodeus was right about your gift.’

Abigail nodded and ran across the street to the house. It was easy to find the bottle of red liquid, shimmering gold in the light. She held it close as she ran so she wouldn't drop it, then handed it to her son. "Here, it's still unopened." The angels' eyes widened at the vial and Raphael was the first to speak. "That's- how did you get that?"

“So it is what Asmodeus said it was… It’s a bottled miracle.” Abaddon cracked a smile for the first time after the battle. Finally, there was hope. 

"That's incredibly hard to get from the Almighty...not even the highest-ranking angels could get that. You're really lucky to have been given that." Alistair looked at the bottle in awe, scooting back to give Abaddon space to use it on Grim. Would this work? Could the miracle bring Grim back from the dead? There was only one way to find out.

Abaddon uncorked the bottle, staring at the glowing liquid inside. ‘God, if you’re listening, please… bring Grim back to me.’ He listed Grim’s lifeless body, tipping the liquid into his mouth. 

The red seeped past his lips and down his throat. For a little bit, it seemed like nothing was happening. The silence that hung in the air was suspenseful as they waited. Raphael took out a stethoscope and placed it on Grim's chest. "I'm not getting anything yet...maybe it takes a while to go through his system? Gotta be patient, keep pouring it."

“R-right.” Abaddon continued to pour the crimson liquid down Grim’s throat. He was starting to get nervous, questions running through his mind. ‘What if this doesn’t work? What if he’s really gone for good? What if I never love again…?’

Half the bottle was used before Raphael held up his hand to pause Abaddon. "Hold on- I think I'm getting something. It's faint, but I can hear his heart!" He glanced at Abaddon with a hopeful smile. "Okay okay- can you wrap his stomach with bandages? We don't want him to bleed out again when he comes back." He kept his ear on his heart, making sure Grim stayed with them this time.

Abaddon snapped back to reality, a new feeling of invigoration coursing through him. His eyes turned purple as Asmodeus supplied some of his power to magically bind Grim’s wounds together. After it was complete Abaddon returned back to normal, panting and sweating. “There. Is he still alive?”

"Yes, yes he is! His heartbeat isn't that strong, but he's back!" Raphael took off his stethoscope and wiped the sweat from his head. "Thank God, he's back.." Sure enough, there was a slight movement in Grim's chest. He was beginning to breathe as his heart got working again, and his deathly pale skin was looking less white. "If you didn't have that miracle I don't know what we would've done. You brought him back." 

The number of tears that Abaddon cried today could fill a river, and this moment was no different. Tears of joy fell from his face as he hugged Grim’s body close to his. “I was so scared I was going to lose you.”

Grim only made a quiet moan in response, still unconscious and in a terrible amount of pain. "Easy Jeffrey, we should be gentle with him now." His mother smiled softly at him and patted his shoulder. "Your mom is right. He still needs a lot of healing and so do you. Demonic injuries are not to be taken lightly." Raphael packed his bag and stood up. "Koban can carry Grim inside. We need to give you both proper attention. For Grim, however, he'll need a different type of doctor for his wound."

Abaddon turned to Raphael sharply. “You are not taking him away from me! I can carry him myself.” Without another word he lifted Grim into his arms, standing on shaking legs. 

"Abaddon- you are in no condition to support him!" Raphael argued with him, frowning. They both needed to rest and pushing himself was the last thing Abaddon should do! Koban strode over and picked both Abaddon and Grim up into his large arms. "No one will take him away from you, little demon. If you will not let me carry him, then I will carry you as well. No arguing about it."

Abaddon sighed, knowing he was in a losing battle. “Fine, but Grim is not going to leave my sight.” He had already lost Grim once, and he wasn’t going to take any more chances. 

Koban nodded and understood Abaddon's worry, carrying the two of them back into their home as the rain got worse. Everyone followed them inside to dry off and relax from the chaos of the wedding. The only one who didn't come in was Joseph, who stayed out on the porch. The tall Oni set Grim in bed and Abaddon next to him in a chair. "Now, stay put. Raphael will tend to your injuries, but he is calling another to look after Grim's. Only one type of doctor can handle that infernal wound."

“Who did he call?” Abaddon thought Raphael was the best in his field, who does the best healer call for help?

"A demon doctor. You'd be surprised that your kind actually has them." He explained as he draped a blanket over Grim's body to warm him up. "Apparently they specialize in infernal and strong holy energies and can withstand them to heal their patients. Raphael cannot do that, so he will be tending to you while the other one tends to Grim."

Abaddon was hesitant to trust anyone else with Grim, but what other choice did he have? “Alright… I don’t like it but… I trust you.”

Koban looked at Abaddon over his shoulder and smiled at him. “Raphael will be in the room with them at the same time, you have no reason to fret. You both are in good hands.” He rested a hand on Abaddon’s head and ruffled his hair slightly. There was muffled shouting from downstairs and he sighed. “I’ll go deal with that. Why don’t you change out of your dress in the meantime?” He suggested as he got up and left the room, shutting the door on the way out. The only sounds that could be heard were the faint noises downstairs and Grim’s soft breathing.

Abaddon struggled to get up, groaning in pain for every inch he moved. He had just enough strength to strip the dress off himself before collapsing against the chair once again. “Fuck… I really am beat up, huh?” The question was posed to Grim, though Abaddon knew he wasn’t going to get an answer. 

If he was actually conscious, he definitely would’ve retorted with ‘Yes, you are. But still sexy as ever~’. He probably wouldn’t be awake for a while. It wasn’t too long before Raphael peeked his head in the bedroom. “Abaddon? I can come in now, right? I have an...assistant with me if they can also come in to help.” A voice from behind him scoffed, tinged with German. “Assistant?! I am more skilled in demon medicine than you. You should be my assistant instead, Archangel!”

“They sound fun. Hope they can handle scantily clad demons in poor condition.” When all else was gone, Abaddon still had his sass. He adjusted himself as best he could on the chair for whatever medical procedures needed to be done. 

Raphael nodded with an eye roll at the person behind him, then entered the room. The person that followed was definitely a demon by the aura around her. Blonde hair stuck out from a wide-brimmed hat, she wore a dark overcoat and high boots, brown leather gloves, and carried a medical satchel with them. The most striking and creepy thing about her was the familiar bird-like plague mask she wore, black tears dripping from pitch black eyeholes. "Alright then, where is my patient?" She asked, pulling out a long needle.

“Raphael, I’m immediately having second thoughts…” Abaddon was rightfully put off by the demon’s appearance. The last time he saw one of those masks was the same day his mother died. 

Raphael sighed at Abaddon and kneeled down, opening his own medical bag. "Cicely's the only one who can heal Grim. Demons don't really have doctors and she's the only one with the right skills for this. Just...trust me. Please." He looked at him with a pleading expression as the plague doctor looked around their room with a hum. "Nice place for the living world...oh, is that my patient in the bed?"

Abaddon couldn’t help but stare at Cicely with fear. He was forced to trust a complete stranger with the fate of the love of his life. It didn’t help that she was wearing a mask that caused him a lot of trauma as a child. 

Cicely strode over to Grim, pulling back the sheets and opening his tattered shirt to get a look at his gash. "Sheiße...this is one Heaven of a wound. Did someone try to heal this? While I can see they tried, he'll need a lot more than an attempt to close it." While Cicely looked over Grim, Raphael started to apply a powerful aloe cream to Abaddon's burns. "Tell me if it hurts too much, okay?"

“Whatever it is, I can handle it.” Abaddon was not about to be weak in front of everyone, especially not the new girl. ‘Excuse me for trying to save my fiancé’s life.’

Raphael continued to apply the cream as Cicely took out a few tools- sewing needle, surgical thread, a hypodermic needle, and a few bottles of fluids to sterilize and numb the wound. "This is going to take half of my thread to sew up. If I weren't a demon I'd use about 5 gallons of holy water for this thing." She groaned and filled up the needle, readying a numbing solution.

It took every last bit of strength for Abaddon to not knock out everyone in this room so he could heal Grim himself. He knew he could do it, but it would take way longer without the proper tools and training. So, Abaddon was forced to just sit and watch his beloved be poked and prodded several times with a needle. 

Grim occasionally made a small groan and winces as Cicely cleaned him up and worked, sewing up his gash carefully. Raphael even gave glances back at the demon, just making sure Grim was doing okay. "You're almost done, Abaddon. Just gotta wrap the rest of your cuts in bandages." "Hey, anyone still using that IV in the corner? Can I use it for The Reaper?" Cicely pointed to the corner near the closet where Raphael's IV bag hung, still somewhat filled with the clear miracle fluid.

“Um… not sure if you want that. It’s full of demon magic, or something similar… Actually, I have no idea. I just know it was last used to help restore my powers temporarily.” Abaddon looked to Raphael to fill in the details, as he was clearly clueless. 

“It’s more like a boosted health formula I concocted, with some demonic ingredients I could lay my hands on to make it specific for you.” The angel explained as he wrapped a part of Abaddon’s arm. “If you’re gonna use it, switch the bag with another IV. Maybe we can use the rest of that bottled miracle to boost his healing. If that’s okay with you, Ab.”

“Don’t see what else we would use it for.” Abaddon started to feel a little better, not realizing how much pain he was in while the adrenaline was still coursing through his body. He handed the bottle to Raphael as he was closest and he could barely keep his eyes open anymore.

“Easy Abaddon, don’t pass out on us yet. At least let me get you in a better sleeping position.” Raphael handed the IV and bottle to Cicely and got up, grabbing a spare blanket and extra pillow for the demon. “You took quite a beating after all. Do you need anything else, medicine wise?” While Raphael dealt with him, Cicely hooked Grim up to the new IV and resumed her work. “He’s a demon, he should be fine. I can feel his aura from here, he’s got enough in reserves.” She waved a hand as she began threading the surgical needle.

“A-aura…? I thought… I was running out of… power…” Abaddon started to drift off to sleep, his body shutting down after being abused in the battle. 

“Just because you still have power doesn’t mean you don’t need rest.” She sighed and paused what she was doing, going over to Abaddon and laying out a spot on the floor for him. “C’mon, you won’t wake up good if you sleep in the chair. Lie here.” Cicely helped him out of the chair and laid the demon on the floor, covering him with the blanket. “Now, get some sleep. The Reaper will be just fine once I’m done sewing him up.”

“O… kay…” Abaddon was too tired to argue, swiftly drifting off to sleep not two seconds later. As much as he wanted to object to his spot on the floor, much preferring to sleep next to Grim, dreamland came all too quickly. 

Cicely and Raphael finished their work on Abaddon and Grim, then left the bedroom to let them rest. While they slept, most of the demons went back to their homes and Hell, deciding that they themselves needed rest. Only Abigail, Alistair, and Reaper stayed in the house to wait for them to wake up. It was quiet for a few hours when Grim finally made a few grunts, coming to full consciousness. He cracked his eyes open, blinking the bleariness away. “Wh...where..? Where..am I?”

Abaddon had woken up only minutes before, but he was awake enough to jump onto Grim, hugging him tightly and placing countless kisses on his skin. “Grim! Oh, thank God, I thought I lost you!”

“Agh- ow- stop a second-” Grim placed a hand on Abaddon’s body to stop the assault and bone-crushing hug, pushing him away for some space. He felt a burning pain in his stomach and looked down at himself, his torso covered in bandages. “What happened to me...why am I feeling so much pain?”

“You were… attacked.” Abaddon took a deep breath before explaining. “Satan crashed our wedding and-”

“Wedding? What wedding? And why would it be ours?” Grim cut him off and seemed very confused. It was then Abaddon could see that Grim’s eyes were not the gleaming silver they usually were. No...these were cold, gray steely eyes. They did not look at him the same way they had at the podium, in Japan, in Paris, and every other day of their lives. “Who..who even are you?”

TO BE CONTINUED…

[askthebunker]

Another familiar face returns and Adam gets some answers about how everyone is being brought back...will he tell anyone or keep it between him and the source of the truth?

“Where were you?” Jack asked curiously, tilting his head when Castiel appeared in the library, taking a seat across from him at the table. He’d been working with Adam, who simply sighed when the angel appeared, looking a little annoyed but not saying anything.

“I was taking Sam and Dean to their appointments,” Castiel said simply, “It is...odd, seeing them talk things out.”

“Yeah, well, most people tend to use basic communication skills,” Adam mumbled, tossing a pencil down, realizing it was basically pointless to try to work on Jack’s schooling while anyone was around to distract him, “I guess having an incompetent bastard for a father doesn’t really help...case in point,” he mumbled, looking Castiel up and down.

Cas narrowed his eyes but didn’t say anything, quickly changing the subject, “Seeing the three of you go through this has made me evaluate myself...and all my mistakes,” he explained, “It has been good for all of us.”

“Mistakes?” Jack asked.

“I’ve made many,” Cas shrugged, “I mean, most people do...I just make a little more than most people sometimes, I think.”

“Like what?” Adam snorted, “You seem to be the local favorite angel, I can’t imagine you making many.”

Cas actually scoffed, “Oh, there have been plenty...some I don’t care to mention in front of Jack,” he cleared his throat, “When I was under the control of Heaven, especially Naomi, I made many mistakes. I even took the life of another angel,” he smiled sadly, “Jack, he really reminded me of you. He was young and bright and had so much faith in humanity. I wish you two could have met.”

Jack looked down when he saw the look on Cas’ face, “Do you miss him?”

“Yes,” Cas nodded, “Sometimes. I didn’t really know him well, but he...admired me, in a way.”

Adam glanced at the look on Cas’ face before clearing his throat, “Hey, Jack, let’s get back to work, okay? I want to make sure we wrap up this unit before your Uncle Mike and I go out.”

“Okay,” Jack mumbled.

“I will let you get back to your work,” Cas stood up quickly, “I am going to go and speak with the others and see if they’ve made any progress on Chuck,” he said, touching Jack’s shoulder before heading out.

“That’s so sad,” Jack said, looking up at Adam, “It always feels like they’ve lost so many people...it makes them sad and I don’t like it.”

“It’s part of life, buddy,” Adam smiled sadly, “Things happen, y’know? Can’t change it or dwell on it...we just gotta honor the people we lose that deserve it.”

Jack smiled slightly at that, “Like going to visit my mom’s grave and giving her flowers?”

“Exactly like that,” Adam nodded with a smile.

...

“You okay?” Gabriel asked an hour later, appearing in the office waiting room as Sam walked out, scaring some poor other hunter shitless, probably.

“Yeah,” Sam mumbled, “Can we just...get out of here? Please?”

“Sure,” Gabriel nodded, giving Dean a sarcastic-polite smile before linking his arm with Sam’s, “Where to?”

“Home,” Sam sighed, “No where extravagant, Gabe, I’m exhausted.”

“As you wish, my dear hunter,” Gabriel said and they appeared in Sam’s bedroom at the bunker, “Sorry for going straight here, but there’s a little powwow going on in the living room, figured you just wanted some peace and quiet.”

“Thanks,” Sam smiled slightly before flopping back on his bed with a sigh, “I get that this was kind of my idea, but it doesn’t make it any less exhausting.”

“I figured,” Gabriel said, moving to lean on the wall and looking at him.

Sam patted the spot beside him without looking up and Gabriel plopped down beside him, staring up at the ceiling.

“You feeling okay?” Gabriel asked.

Sam just sighed, “It just brings up a lot of shitty memories, y’know?”

“Trust me, I know,” Gabriel said, linking his hand with his and stroking it with his thumb, “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

“I just want to relax and be here with you,” Sam mumbled, “Maybe some other time, yeah?”

Gabriel nodded before smirking slightly. He raised his hand and the ceiling was replaced with a night sky full of glistening stars, “Since you wouldn’t let me take you somewhere extravagant, I’ll bring it to you.”

Sam stared up at the stars, a smile on his face. He moved slightly, putting his head on Gabriel’s shoulder as they stared up at the stars, holding hands.

...

“I’m just saying, he can’t beat all of us,” Charlie said, “It’s like the Power Rangers! We team up and take down the big bad all together!”

“For some reason I think God might be a bigger problem than a one-off thirty minute villain,” Kevin sighed, looking over at Balthazar, who was leaning back in his chair, his feet on the table, “Can you at least try to act like you’re helping?”

“No,” Balthazar said simply, looking up when Adam and Michael came into the room, “Where are you two off to all dressed up?”

“Paris,” Michael deadpanned.

Balthazar rolled his eyes, “Any specific reason you’re going to Paris?”

“It is the anniversary of the first time Adam and I spoke to each other,” Michael said, grabbing his hand.

“We’re going to Fouquet's,” Adam smiled, “Hence the blazers.”

“Disgustingly adorable,” Balthazar rolled his eyes.

Jack suddenly leaned over the banister, “Can you bring me back macarons again?”

“Yes, but you cannot have them until morning, you are getting ready for bed,” Michael said simply.

“Yes!” Jack cheered before rushing off to his room.

Michael wrinkled his nose when he saw the group staring at him, “What?”

“It’s just nice to see you acting like you have emotions with someone other than Adam is all,” Dorothy mumbled.

Michael rolled his eyes before turning to Adam, “Ready to go, darling?”

“Yup,” Adam said simply and they disappeared from the room.

Kevin sighed, looking where they were standing, “Do they make anyone else feel grossly single?”

“Yes,” Cas deadpanned.

“Haven’t you and Dean worked your shit out yet?” Benny scoffed.

Cas narrowed his eyes at him, “No. Why don’t you give me some advice on that?”

Benny held his hands up in surrender.

“Well,” Charlie said, closing her book, “On that note, I’m giving up for the night,” she said, getting up, “Some of us actually need to sleep.”

“Same here,” Dorothy said, getting up and grabbing Toto in her arms, following Charlie out of the room.

“Your room is the other way,” Balthazar called to Dorothy, earning a middle finger from her, “Someone has certainly adjusted to the time period.”

“If the world ends and we all die and I’m still single at the end of it,” Kevin said, watching the two walk out together “I’m going to be pissed.”

 ...

“I am in need of a vessel again.”

“But how...I thought you were gone...”

“I thought I was too.”

“Well, I’m game...not like I have anything better to do.”

“I appreciate you, Matthew.”

“Anytime, Al.”

 ...

Balthazar had disappeared within the hour, Benny went...Kevin probably didn’t want to know, Cas went “out,” leaving Kevin alone to continue researching. If Gabriel hadn’t swept Sam away, he’d probably be up with him, given they were both insomniacs.

Kevin rubbed his eyes tiredly and sighed. He looked confused when he heard the sound of...knocking, from downstairs. 

He immediately grabbed a gun and shoved went up to the door. Sure, there were a ton of angels running around, but he could handle himself after everything. If it was just someone screwing around with the bunker, he could easily handle it. 

He finally found the source of the noise: the garage door. He stood on the tips of his toes to look out the windows and saw some guy standing there. He sighed, putting the gun away and opening up the door, “Look, you can’t be screwing around this place...it’s dangerous,” he shrugged, “And warn all your urban explorer friends too.”

“I am not...” the man trailed off, confused, “I am looking for Castiel. I tracked him to this location but I was unable to enter. Is it warded?” he asked curiously.

“Who are you?” Kevin demanded immediately, stepping back, his hand going to the gun in his pocket.

“My name is Samandriel, I am...was an angel of the Lord,” the man said formally, “I was dead and now I am not. I am looking for Castiel.”

“...Right,” Kevin sighed.

He didn’t know why he was surprised by so many people turning up alive at this point.

“C’mon inside,” Kevin smiled weakly, “He’s around here somewhere. I’ll find him for you.”

“What is this place?” Samandriel asked curiously as he entered, the garage door closing behind him. Kevin noticed him flinch slightly when the metal door closed, but didn’t comment on it.

“The Men of Letters Bunker,” Kevin explained, “Sam and Dean’s place, basically. It’s kind of our headquarters right now.”

“Headquarters for what?” Samandriel asked.

“The fight against God.”

...

“I just don’t understand how this shit keeps happening!” Dean said, pacing back and forth. Everyone was awake now and anyone who was out had returned. All the necessary tests had been done and it was definitely Samandriel, Grace and all.

“Can’t be just be grateful it’s happening?” Sam sighed tiredly, “It’s someone else to help.”

“Look, I’m not annoyed or anything,” Dean put his hands up, “I’m just trying to figure this shit out,” he looked at the large group of people in front of him...most of them were in pajamas, looking half asleep, “Anyone got any answers to this?”

Silence.

They all looked at each other...Adam looked at Castiel and Jack. Cas was looking at the floor and Jack was looking away awkwardly.

Dean rubbed his eyes, “Yeah, I figured.”

“It seems to be some unknown source resurrecting former allies,” Michael said simply.

“Thanks, genius, real helpful,” Dean sighed, “We already knew that.”

"I will search for an answer, but I doubt I will find anything in Heaven,” Michael said before disappearing.

“Was that...?” Samandriel mumbled in shock.

“Michael, yes,” Castiel nodded, “Along with Raphael and Gabriel.”

Samandriel dropped down on a knee immediately, “It’s an honor to meet you.”

“Oh, jeez,” Gabriel looked uncomfortable, “Uh...you don’t gotta do that, kiddo, just a handshake is completely fine,” he said and then elbowed Raphael.

“You do not have to do that,” the other archangel agreed.

Samandriel stood up, “It is an honor to meet you though...I should have said the same to Michael. I cannot believe you’re all here, in one place...” he trailed off.

“Fighting against dear old dad? Crazy, right?” Balthazar scoffed.

“Look, we’ll get you set up in a room,” Sam said to him, “I’m sure you’re...tired?” he trailed, “Do you need to rest? Cas rests sometimes.”

“It would be nice to have somewhere to settle down, thank you,” Samandriel nodded.

“C’mon, I’ll find you an empty one,” Sam smiled at him, leading him away with Gabriel in tow.

“Okay...back to bed, all of you, or whatever the hell you were doing,” Dean grumbled, rubbing his face, “I need sleep,” he said before walking off as well.

Adam waited until everyone had cleared out except Cas before speaking up, “Castiel-”

“Don’t,” Cas said quickly, “Adam, I am...begging you. Do not bring this up to Dean.”

“You talked to Jack about Samandriel, now here he is!” Adam said quickly, “Is Jack bringing these people back?” he demanded.

“Yes,” Cas sighed, “The same thing happened with Benny...I told Jack about him, he went to bed, then he was back when we were out looking for you.”

“This is...” Adam trailed off, “You’re worried Dean will freak?”

“Yes,” Cas said firmly, “Dean and Jack...they got off to a rough start. Things are as good as they can be with Jack getting his soul back now, but I won’t have Dean convinced Jack is some kind of monster in need of hunting.”

Adam swallowed and nodded, “So we keep this between us and us only.”

“You won’t tell Michael?” Cas asked.

“No,” Adam shook his head, “Mike is kind of in the same boat as Dean, I guess. He’s still a little freaked by a nephilim just being here, it took forever for him to warm up to Jack,” he explained, “He’s so happy being his uncle now, I don’t want anything to change that.”

Cas nodded, not sure what else to say except, “Thank you.”

“So, what? Did you have some big storytime the night everyone came back?” Adam asked.

“No,” Cas sighed, “But I remember that night and I think I know what happened...”

...

2 MONTHS AGO

Jack Kline peered around the door to the kitchen when he heard the sound of shuffling. He figured Dean was a little tipsy again, which was nothing new, but it was Sam and that was certainly new.

“We’ve done so much,” Sam whispered, “An-And it was all for nothing. We lost so many people and now it’s just gonna end? Just like that?”

“C’mon, Sammy, you’re gonna wake Jack up,” Dean sighed, obviously the sober one here, “We can talk tomorrow when you’re feelin’ better- Jesus, Sam,” he grumbled when his younger brother hugged him tightly, burying his face in his shoulder. He just rubbed his back, not saying anything after that.

Jack stared at them with watery eyes. Sure, he’d seen them upset before; he’d seen all of them upset before. But lately Sam seemed so hopeless and that was something he wasn’t used to. 

“They’re all gone,” Sam choked out, “All our allies, all our friends and family, they’re just gone and we have nothing to show for it. Everyone is gone,” he whispered.

“C’mon, Sammy, let’s get you to bed,” Dean sighed, trying to console his younger brother.

“Jack,” Castiel interrupted his watchful gaze, suddenly appearing behind him, “I thought you were sleeping,” he said before looking over to Sam and Dean. He quickly stepped in front of Jack’s view, “Let’s get you back to bed.”

“How many people, exactly, have they lost?” Jack asked quietly as they walked down the hallway, he looked over his shoulder, back towards the kitchen, despite not being able to see them anymore.

“Many,” Castiel said softly, “But...it’s nothing you need to worry yourself about.”

Jack sighed and nodded, walking with his father-figure back to his room.

…

Jack turned fitfully in his sleep. He didn’t sleep often and when he did it was usually only for a few hours. Castiel said it was the angel side of him fighting with the human side, as an explanation. It was more mixing dreams with what was really going on in his life, but Jack wasn’t going to bring it up.

He loved Sam and Dean so much, they were like fathers to him...they are his dads. Seeing them suffering hurt so much. He just wanted his loved ones to be happy and together.

He didn’t see why things were so unfair.

He just wanted to bring some of them back, just so they could have some help.

Just so Sam could have some hope again.

…

“WHAT THE HELL?!”

Jack blinked awake after what felt like just a few moments, but he knew it was morning now. He sat up quickly and ran to his door when he heard yelling outside.

“This is some shit,” an unfamiliar voice said, “We were just...changing a-and we were here all the sudden. Did you really have to kidnap us again?”

“Oh yes, sure looks like you two were changing, kiddo,” a voice that sounded like his Uncle Gabriel said.

But it couldn’t be...his uncle was dead.

Jack walked down the hallway quickly, trying not to run as he continued to listen.

“Shut up,” Dean barked quickly, “And when the hell did you get another vessel?”

“Shortly after you and Castiel went to Purgatory,” another voice said simply, “Can we leave now?”

“I didn’t bring you here!” Dean said, sounding frustrated, “I don’t even want you here-”

“Nice.”

“I didn’t...mean it like that, man.”

“Sure.”

“Adam-”

“Well, as fun as this is,” an accented voice said, “What exactly brought us all here?”

“Uh…” Jack said awkwardly, standing on top of the stairs, looking down at several unfamiliar faces, along with the face of his Uncle Gabriel, Dean, and Castiel.

“Jack,” Castiel said quickly, hurrying up the stairs, “We didn’t know you were up yet,” he said, looking over at Dean helplessly.

“What’s going on?” Jack asked, looking at all the people; six he didn’t know all together, along with definitely being able to sense some Grace in a few of them.

“I leave for...ten years, your time, and you break one of our most serious laws,” one of the men growled, his voice getting louder. He blond man put a hand on his arm and Jack didn’t know if it was to calm him or hold him back.

“Oh please, calm down, Mikey, we all know Cassie doesn’t get lucky,” Gabriel scoffed, “It was Lucie...duh,” he added for good measure, “I figured you’d sense it.”

“Well, my powers are...not what they used to be,” the guy, Michael, Jack realized, huffed, his hands still gripped into fists, “But still…”

“He’s just a kid,” the blond guy said softly to Michael.

Michael took a deep breath through his nose and nodded, obviously listening to the guy.

“I was just chilling in Heaven,” a red headed woman said, “And trust me, it was good, and now I’m here. Wanna explain, guys?”

“Trust me, I know the feeling,” the blond scoffed, earning a glare from Michael.

“I...I think I may have...accidentally-” Jack started, but he was quickly hushed by Castiel.

“Who knows what’s going on,” Castiel said quickly, “With everything going on, we shouldn’t be surprised,” he said, walking down the stairs with Jack this time, “Jack...this is…” he trailed off, pursing his lips and looking over at Dean.

Dean sighed, gesturing to the people in the room as he went, “This is Michael, your uncle, the real Michael; Adam; Charlie, total genius and freakin’ queen; Dorothy and her damn dog from the Wizard of Oz; Balthazar, your other uncle; Kevin, he’s family, got it?”

Adam snorted, “I’m family too, by the way...blood only.”

Jack raised an eyebrow.

“He’s, uh...our younger brother,” Dean said, looking away, obviously unsure.

“Half-brother,” Adam added, “Dad’s side. Shocker, right?”

“Oh, I like you already,” Gabriel commented.

Michael glared at him, putting his arm around Adam.

“Give it a rest, big guy, I’m not after your human boytoy,” Gabriel rolled his eyes.

Sam emerged then, looking like he was half asleep still.

“That human boytoy, on the other hand…” Gabriel smirked.

“What…?” Sam trailed off.

Hungover, Jack thought to himself and Balthazar snickered.

“...we’re gonna need some drinks,” Dean finally said, breaking the silence.

“Is this real?” Sam blinked a few times.

Kevin ran over to Sam suddenly, pulling him into a tight hug.

“I agree completely,” Charlie added before running over and hugging him as well. She grinned, looking back at the others, “Anyone else wanna join in on this?”

“Hard pass,” Adam deadpanned, his arms crossed, “It’s been fun, but we need to go.”

“Wait,” Michael said softly, “If we are here, there must be a reason. We should stay and help them.”

Adam just shook his head, taking a deep breath, “I’m going outside for a cigarette, let me know when you come to your senses,” he mumbled, stalking out quickly.

“He’s your brother, why doesn’t he want to stay?” Jack asked, looking at Dean and Sam, confused, “We’re family.”

“It’s...a long story,” Dean swallowed.

…

“So...you think the universe is telling you to keep fighting our dad by bringing all of us back here?” Gabriel asked, leaning on the counter.

“I mean...that has to be it, right? There’s no other explanation,” Sam said, sitting at the table, now drinking his coffee, “Whoever brought you guys back, brought back some of our most powerful allies. It’s a sign.”

…

“I think...I brought them back,” Jack breathed out, sitting with Castiel, “It was an accident, I don’t know how I did it. But...seeing Sam hopeful again, I wouldn’t take it back.”

“Jack,” Cas said quietly, “I understand wanting him to have hope again, but this...it can’t happen again. It’s amazing, but it’s not right. We don’t understand your powers or the repercussions this could have.”

Jack stared down at this feet.

“This can not happen again and no one can know,” Castiel told him, “For your safety, if anything. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

...

NOW

“So this entire time, you’ve known?” Adam asked.

“Yes,” Cas said quietly, “I don’t like keeping secrets from Sam and Dean, but...I’ve explained this to you. It’s for Jack’s safety that this stays between us. I...love you having a place in Jack’s life, Adam, you genuinely care for him and want to protect him in the same ways that I do. Help me protect him from this.”

Adam nodded, “I already told you, man...this stays between us, for Jack’s sake.”

...

“I hope this is okay,” Sam explained, “I mean...I know this probably isn’t okay, but...” he trailed off with a shrug.

“I just need to rest, thank you,” Samandriel nodded, “Thank you for giving me a place to stay, Sam Winchester.”

Sam smiled slightly, “No problem, Alfie.”