It was one thing to know that Michael was still alive and walking around like he hadn't been locked in Hell for ten years. It was another to step onto the hot Egyptian sands and try to find him amongst the crowd at The Egyptian Museum in Cairo, into a world that seemed unaffected by Hell opening her maw.
"Why do you think he's here?" Lucifer asked at my side.
I sighed. "I'm not sure. Let's just find him and get out of here."
It had come down to a decision to send only Lucifer and I to find Michael. One that had been fought by Elly and Dean the most. But in the end, they accepted it in return for a promise we wouldn't kill each other or end up leaving anyone behind. It would be easier with just the two of us anyway. If there was anyone who could talk to the possibly crazy archangel, it would be his twin brother. And if there was any of us that could keep Lucifer from strangling him, it would be me. For some reason, it was always me.
"Cas couldn't pinpoint him?" Lucifer asked as we pushed through the crowd and slipped past through the door.
"You try pinpointing an angel that doesn't want to be found in the middle of thousands of tourists," I grumbled.
Lucifer nodded. "Fair point."
I rolled my eyes but smiled at him. At least he was back to normal. Or as normal as we all could be in the middle of this shit.
We walked through the tall white pillars, the bright lights, and large windows that lined the ceiling making cracks and worn stones of statues and ancient artifacts shine. The bits of quartz and other small crystals exposed in the breaks and crevices glittered as we walked around them. The brown pits of broken pottery or worn iron weapons laying along glass-enclosed tables or in roped-off standing displays seemed to stir the slumbering power inside my veins. But it wasn't until we passed a small bowl that it spoke to me.
'There, child. A depiction of my former self.' It spoke softly, almost as if it was worried about being heard.
I stopped and took a closer look at the tiny relic. There was nothing remarkable about the piece. It was nothing more than red, brown terracotta dimpled with fingerprints and painted in some sort of black ink. A snake was painted around the rim, long and detailed with many stripes and spots along the belly. The rest of the piece was painted with small fish and other aquatic animals or plants. Some seemed to be almost smudged away by the time under the sand, while others looked like they had just been painted yesterday.
'It's a bowl.' I spoke to it.
'It's more than that, child. But maybe you are not ready for that knowledge yet.' It sounded snarky as if I had offended it.
'Or you could just tell me. Especially if you want me to work with you.'
The voice scoffed at me. 'It was painted for the Pharoh of the time after I had spoken with him. There were going to be plans in place to give me worshipers.'
'Were?' I asked.
'Yes. The Pharoh did not like the idea of sharing followers as much as I thought he had. So I was hunted down and locked away.' It sighed. 'Many of the followers I had already accrued were buried with me, but they did not make it through the times. And when I had regained enough strength to try again, the one you call 'God' put a stop to that as well.'
That was news to me. 'What do you mean he stopped you?'
'He decided I was too much of a threat and threw me away. Like a toy he no longer wanted to play with.'
'Where did he put you?' I asked, leaning forward to take a closer look at the bowl.
'You would call it 'Purgatory'.' It answered. 'I was there for thousands of years until the red-headed witch pulled me from it for her own devices.'
'Rowena trapped you.' I nodded.
'Yes. And now, I am with you. Being used as a medicinal agent to revive you and make you what you are.' A small burst of power shot through me as if it was trying to make a point.
'Right, but what else do you…'
"What are you doing?" Lucifer asked, pulling me from my mind. "Is that bowl really that interesting?"
I blinked and shrugged. "It was kinda cool looking."
"Uh-huh. A piece maybe depicting Apep is 'kinda cool looking'." He looked me up and down, skeptical.
I shrugged again. "I like snakes."
"Right. Can we get on with the whole finding the brother that tried to kill me thing?" He said, gesturing for us to continue.
I chuckled a little. "You don't think he's just randomly forgiven you?"
Lucifer scoffed. "Oh ya. As soon as he forgets that I'm the reason he was in a cage for ten years."
"Think there's any chance he'll forget I was also a part of that?" I elbowed him lightly as we turned the corner into another chamber of the museum.
"We'd have a better chance of him forgetting creation." Lucifer smiled a little, but it fell again as his crystal blue eyes stopped studying the room. "There."
I followed his gaze and found the archangel we'd been sent for. Adam hadn't changed much since the last time I'd seen him. Maybe gotten a bit taller and filled out his old jacket and jeans better, but he still looked like the same kid we'd forsaken ten years ago. He still had the same shaggy brown hair, curious blue eyes, and sweet boyish charm that had almost made me a target the last time I'd seen him. It was hard to find the similarities to John in him, but they were there, just buried under the surface. But there was no denying the angel's presence within him the closer we got. Nothing could stop the overwhelming urge to turn on my heels and run as we approached the patron saint of warriors. So I swallowed it down and reached out for him.
"Michael." I started slowly, putting my hand on his shoulder, though the angel's eyes did not meet mine.
"Alex." He said, a deep, raspy voice replacing the one I had known. "Brother." His eyes did not stray from the mummified hunting dog in front of him as Lucifer came up to his right. "I think we could all take a lesson from these creatures."
"What would that be?" Lucifer asked, taking a turn to stare at the dog.
"He was a man's best friend. Loyal until the end." Tension began to rise in Michael's voice. "Enough so that he was buried next to his master. Who was probably the king. Doesn't that sound nice? A mutt of the highest honor."
"Micheal…we're not here about what happened." I tried.
"And what did happen?" The archangel interjected before I could go on. "What do you think happened when my father left me to rot in that cage? What do you think happened when I decided to follow my brother's lead because it 'would get his attention'?" His attention turned to me then, blue eyes sizzling with angel grace as they bore into me. "Did I deserve to be treated less than the others because I wanted his attention, too?"
"Of course not," I said, taking his gaze in stride, even as the darkness inside of me trembled. "You know you didn't deserve that."
"We're here to make him pay for that, brother," Lucifer added. "To change what he's done now."
"And how do you expect to do that?" Michael asked, turning to him now. "You're the reason I was trapped for so long."
"I know. And you have to believe how sorry I am for that." For all his tricks and mistakes, Lucifer didn't seem to be lying now. "I never expected that he would leave you there. You were always his favorite."
Michael scoffed, "He has no favorites. Just pawns to use for his entertainment. Did you know we're not the only versions of you and I?"
"That's part of what we wanted to talk to you about," I said, calling his attention back to me.
His deep blue eyes studied me as if he was seeing me for the first time. As if the man he used for a vessel hadn't met me years ago, or had forgotten we had existed too. But then they softened and Adam was looking at me.
"You haven't changed much." He said, a light laugh behind his voice. "Ten years, and you still look like you'd do anything for them."
"A lot has happened in the last ten years, Adam," I said, a soft smile tugging at my lips. "It's good to see they haven't affected you much either. I'm sorry we didn't come for you sooner."
"Don't apologize for that." He shook his head gently, "It gave me time to talk to Michael and reach a good point with him. We have a bond now that allows me to switch places with him whenever I want. And I don't blame you for what happened. I'm just glad you were able to save Sam. He is ok, right?"
I chuckled. "Ya. He's been through a lot worse since then, though." I shuffled my feet. "What do you mean? A bond with Michael?"
"We can talk about that another time. You seemed like there was something important you wanted to talk about." He nodded towards some benches off to the side.
"Well…I should probably start with what happened after you fell into the pit." I sighed heavily. It would be a long overdue story.
Between trying to remember everything not worthy that had happened in the last ten years, and the constant questions Michael and Adam both had, I thought I would never catch him up.
"So you're going to lock Hell for good." Michael nodded at last.
"And we would like your help in doing so," Lucifer added.
"You know that's not going to stop Father," Michael said. "It's only going to anger him. He may not even allow it to happen."
"Honestly, that's what I'm hoping for." I shrugged, leaning back against the bench.
"Come again?" Lucifer asked, leaning around Michael to look at me.
"If we can get God to come to us, then we can finally do something about him. Maybe even kill him." I looked at the museum ceiling.
"You want to kill God?" Michael and Lucifer said together.
"Preferably before he catches onto the idea." I nodded.
"And you're just now telling me this?" Lucifer scoffed. "What happened to the other plan?"
"To lock Hell up and just deal with a pissed-off creator for the rest of existence? And try to kill everything on top of that?" I looked at him. Amber studying the ocean. "Michael's right. He's not going to stop until we put a stop to him. And I'm pretty sure the first plan was just a joke for God at this point."
Lucifer shook his head. "You're insane. You know that right?"
"You're not disagreeing with me." I smiled at him.
"I will help you with that if that is your plan," Michael said. "I think I'm the only one who knows how."
"There's an actual way to kill God?" I sat forward. "I was just going to wing it and hope for the best."
Lucifer wiped a hand over his face. "Of course you were." He grumbled.
Michael laughed at his brother. "You chose a strong vessel, brother. She's a lot more like you than you gave her credit for."
"Believe me, I know." Lucifer chuckled. "What do you know about killing him?"
Michael's smile fell. "It's not going to be easy. And I'm sure, as soon as he knows what's going on, he's going to try to stop it."
"So it's some sort of spell?" I asked.
"Mostly." Micheal continued. "It starts with a spell that will weaken him. Not enough to make him mortal, but enough that an archangel blade should finish the job."
"Does it trap him too, or do we have to try to keep him still while also doing the spell?" Lucifer asked.
Michael nodded. "That is the tricky part. I think I remember seeing something that would trap him somewhere in his library. But I'm sure it's gone by now if it ever existed to begin with."
"So that's out of the question." I looked out into the crowd that had begun to grow thicker as the day stretched on. "How much of the spell do we need him for?"
"Just the end, as far as I remember," Michael stated. "He shouldn't need to be present until it's time to cast it."
"What ingredients are we looking at?" Lucifer asked next. "Something outlandish or impossible to find anymore?"
"On the contrary, you already have two of them in your possession." Michael looked to Lucifer as he said, "We need a Nephilem."
"Oh great. That explains why they're hunted down and banned from creation." Lucifer threw his hands up. "You want me to sacrifice one of my kids?"
"Not sacrifice." Micheal shook his head. "They just need to gain enough power to strip God of his abilities. Only a Nephilim can do it."
"And how do they gain power?" I asked, weary of how easy this all seemed to be.
"They need to go to The Empty."
There it was. Said so nonchalantly by the archangel who held all the answers. The only way to win this fight was to kill one of the two Nephilims we held. Send them to the place where all divine and demonic souls go when they die. The place Cas had narrowly escaped by annoying the being that looked over it.
"They're just supposed to magically come back from that?" I asked.
"Stronger than they were when they went in." Michael nodded. "They will have to absorb the power there. Take the souls that exist and use them to overpower God himself. They're the only ones who have the strength to hold it all long enough."
"'Long enough'? Long enough to take God's power from him too. And then what?" Lucifer asked, finding his voice again.
"I'm not sure," Michael admitted. "I would assume they take his position. But I'm not sure what would happen to them. None of them have lived long enough to try."
"Great. We create a divine nuke, point it at the thing that made us and all other universes, and just hope that it doesn't take us out with it." Lucifer scoffed. "Sounds perfect."
I rolled my eyes. "We can figure that out when we come to it. Right now, we should get back to the bunker and fill everyone else in."
Lucifer sighed. "And decided which one of them should go."
I looked at him sympathetically. The man I had just gotten his life back together. His entire family was starting to heal and become one, and now he had to decide which one of his kids he was going to subject to this. Which one of them would save our world for the last time. I couldn't imagine the pain and strife that lay behind those ocean-blue eyes of his.
"Are you ready to come with us?" I asked Michael.
"I know where the bunker is if that's what you're wondering." He stated.
"I hadn't thought about that," I admitted. "But, good to know."
I stood, patting Lucifer on his knee before taking a step forward. It wasn't weird to step back into the bunker and find all of the lights off. It was a six-hour time difference to Egypt. It was the heavy silence that hung over the map room that felt weird. The shadows that hugged the walls seemed to hold malice in them as Lucifer, then Michael, appeared next to me.
"You feel that?" I asked Lucifer.
"Ya." His eyes scanned the room after mine.
"Something happened here," I said as I stepped further into the room.
There was broken glass along the top of the table and small spots of blood that led from it. I followed the trail with my eyes until I found the source leaning against a bookshelf along the wall.
"Lucifer!" I called just loud enough for him to hear me.
Together, we went to Elly where she was slumped against the shelf. She was alive but unconscious. A slow stream of blood came from her hand, where several small pieces of glass still protruded.
"What the fuck…" I started to ask the air when she shifted and looked up at us.
"Alex…" Her voice was rough but steady.
"What happened, Elly?" I asked her, gently taking her face in my hands as Lucifer started to mend her hand.
"He…he came out of nowhere." She said. "I heard him talking to himself. Thought maybe he was…working on something, so I tried to come help…"
"Who, Elly?" I asked again.
"Alex…he…"
A crash and yelp of fright came from the hallway. I jumped to my feet and rushed towards the sound. I didn't care who it was anymore. Whoever had decided to ambush my family was going to pay for this. There was no way they would get out of here alive. I followed the continued sounds of pleading until I came to the only room that seemed to have any lights on. I hardly waited before I pushed the door open and stepped into the room.
It wasn't hard to recognize the room that we had lent to Gabriel while he was here. It was sparse, with nothing more in it other than a single dresser and the bed in the center. There had been nothing special about the room at all. The bed was a simple oaken four-post bed, an old box spring mattress sat on top of it covered in beige white sheets and a blanket thick enough to keep warm with. The dresser held three drawers that I was sure had nothing in them. Dean had found the thing in the basement forever ago and had insisted it be used for its 'nostalgia'. But, there was enough for an archangel to have his own space, even if he didn't need to sleep or eat. There was nothing special about any of it.
What was special, was the slashes and markings that now covered the walls. The deep-rooted carvings that had been driven into the walls. The scratches that now marred the dresser and the floor. And the blood. The blood that dotted the floor where it had flown off a blade. The blood that slid down the walls and dresser in rivulets. The blood that flowed from the cuts along Gabriel's arms and chest. The blood that filled the entire room with its sickening sweet copper tang.
Gabriel was special now too. His normal, playful demeanor had been cut to shreds the same as his shirt. Those hazel eyes that usually held whimsy and jokes now looked terrified and hurt. His red blood trickled from his arms, chest, and legs, staining the once-beige sheets deeply crimson. His hazel eyes shot at me as the door banged into the wall.
"Get him the fuck off of me!" Gabriel yelled to me, the fear making his voice higher.
But I was frozen. Stuck to the floor as the man hunched over Gabriel and turned his eyes to me. Stuck in that blood-soaked room as the smile on his face grew wider and wider.
Where had it gone wrong?
What had happened that we were in this position?
What had gone so horribly in the wrong direction that this was how it all turned out for us?
Why were the grey eyes of the man I loved staring at me with such murderous intent? The smile on his face was nothing more than something a lion would use to stare down an injured gazelle. Ruthless and ready to devour whatever was in its path. The right side of his face was covered in blood, and a deep gash in the side of his head it's cause. It dripped down into his eye and slicked back the deep brown hair on that side, though none of that seemed to affect him. The blade in his hand was slick with more blood, though this I doubted was his own.
What had he done?
Why was he looking at me as if I had never been anything more than a pawn?
"Why?" I asked out loud, my voice not my own as the word passed my lips.
"Why what sweetheart?" His voice was something deep. Something dark a twisted.
"Why are you doing this?" I heard myself asking.
"Well." He dug his knee firmly into Gaberiel's chest, eyes changing from silver to nothing but onyx black. "I had to get your attention somehow."
"But you've…" The pieces clicked into place slowly. "You're not Arthur."
"Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!" He threw his arms into the air. "Of course, I'm not! You think this whimpering meat sack would have half the balls to do anything I've done?"
"I…I don't understand." I said. "Who…why…"
"Oh no, sweetheart. You'll have to wait a little longer for those answers." He put the tip of the blade to his lips, "And as for the archangel here…"
His attention returned to Gabriel as quickly as it had left him. With a quick swipe of the blade, he had cut Gabriel's neck, and brilliant blue grace began seeping from it.
"There we go. Absolutely beautiful," he said to himself as he collected a small amount in a vial. "Don't worry. I only needed a drop."
"You can't…" I tried.
"Oh, but I just did, sweetheart." He said coldly. "And now that I have…" He stood up on the bed, vial and knife in hand. "I'm going to leave before the calvary gets here."
Before I could move, or even think about how to react, he was gone. Leaving nothing but the sick smell of sulfur in the air.
My knees buckled then, my hands stinging as they hit the floor. I took in ragged breaths as my mind raced back and forth along so too many lines of thought.
"What the fuck was that?!" Gabriel said from the bed.
"Orion," I muttered.