I guess I had it fairly easy in this modern world of ours. I had a steady job that I loved, a research scientist with a pharmaceutical company. I had a family that loved me. Romantically, I was alone but that suited me just fine.
But still I complained.
Like all of us, angels and humans alike, I was unhappy with my lot. I didn't pray every single day but when I'm in the deepest grips of my despair, I pray to God for some deliverance. Sometimes I swear I felt peace settle over my soul, as though my prayer had been answered.
These days, I mostly complained about the scientific block I'd had for the past few months. I was so close to a major breakthrough, I could feel it. My team and I had been working on a drug that, we hoped, could be used to cure a particularly nasty form of anaemia, a dangerous blood disease. But everywhere I looked I couldn't find an answer. After staying late in the lab, night after night for months, I was ready to snap.
This; coupled with the fact that I had recently met a sufferer of this disease, a little boy named Jimmy, meant that I was willing to do almost anything to find the answer. Jimmy's deep brown eyes and sunken cheeks haunted me, causing me to work even harder. The truth that I couldn't help him was staring me right in the face.
My prayers had got increasingly frequent these past few months. So when an angel came to me and told me that he could fix my problem if I let him ride around in my skinny 5ft6 body for a while, I agreed whole heartedly.
Goddamn it.
As a cold light descended on me, I already began cursing my decision. .
"You know wh-" Something crawled inside my mouth when I opened it to voice my concern.
Painful shocks, similar to that of being electrocuted, wracked my body as my consciousness fought with the intruder.
The fight lasted for a month inside my head. Which translated to a few seconds in the real world. In the end, I yielded, the need for rest overtaking my desire to continue.
"You are strong" muttered my captor. "I have not felt a vessel fight me so well in over a millennia"
I retreated to the back of my own consciousness, attempting to recover from the intensity of the fight.
With the last ounce of my strength I screamed at my parasite. "Who the fuck are you? "
"Oh little one, don't you recognise me? " The bastard replied as felt my body's lips moving. "I am the fallen one. The Morningstar. God's chosen"
"Lucifer.." I whimpered as I surrendered my body, my consciousness shutting down to heal.
Lucifer's mirthless laugh pierced my sleep. I shook my head to clear it as I awoke, my eyes opening in panic. I looked, not just through my own eyes (which could see the interior of my childhood bedroom, a safe haven constructed by my brain) but out of my body's eyes.
What I saw made me gasp with horror.
I saw we were in what looked like an abandoned warehouse of some sort. Dusty tarpaulins were scattered everywhere and they were spattered with blood. A dozen or so bodies rested in a circle around me, each with a pair of spectral wings surrounding them. The way that the bodies we're arranged each enormous wing touched the tip of another in an unbroken ring.
I screamed, but the other presence didn't.
"Calm yourself, young one. They were trying to harm me, to harm us. I was only protecting you." came a sing-song voice in my head.
Dread filled me as a whirled around to see where the voice was coming from, but there was no one there.
"So puny you are." came the voice, delighted at my clear confusion. "I am you, silly!"
Then came the laugh as I sank to my knees in despair.
I hardened my resolve." You son of a bitch, Lucifer. No wonder God threw you out of paradise. He didn't want a snake like you screwing up His creation"
"It wasn't my Father" Snarled Lucifer, cracks finally showing in his taunting demeanor. "It was my brother. He whispered that he loved me as he cast me down to crawl along the Earth with the scum."
Michael.." Lucifer whispered inside my head.
During his little internal monologue, Lucifer didn't notice that I had regained control of my body for a few minutes. With the battle of wills tipped in my favour, I reached down and gripped a silver blade which was still protruding from one of the corpses on the floor. I held it with the blade towards me, ready to strike, when Lucifer finally snapped out of his reverie.
Regaining control he dropped the blade on the wooden floor. "Ohh no no no little one. Can't have you spoiling the fun now can we? "Lucifer admonished light-heartedly.
He mused "Nice try though, getting me all riled up. And so willing to sacrifice yourself. "
"I would do anything to see you die" I seethed, raising my head in defiance from inside the bedroom I was trapped in.
For weeks Lucifer had been wearing me to the prom. And what a party it was.
Endless slaughter. It felt like Lucifer would never tire of the feeling that came when you held a life in your hands, and crushed it.
I paced around my room in distress as I heard the angels dying. It was amplified by the knowledge that it was my hands around their necks, even if it wasn't me controlling them. The guilt I felt was overwhelming. If I had never said yes...
"Face me yourself, big brother, you coward! Or are you afraid to face me as your equal?" Lucifer roared once the massacre was over. Once again shouting the challenge he'd been repeating for weeks.
He then dipped his fingers -my fingers- in the angel's blood, grinning at the still warm liquid. He smeared the blood on the nearest wall, writing a name on the wall in Hebrew.
Michael
In the fourth month of my capture (human time) I was about done. I was crushed by guilt and horror at what I'd seen. I was haunted by terrible nightmares wherever I closed my eyes, even to blink.
The faces of the dead angels drifted around me, each one shouted accusatory remarks in my head.
"Your fault"
"I had a family. A husband, three children. I will never see them again." Their vessels screamed in pain.
"You are pure evil. You'll never go to heaven, your soul is too tainted."
I shrieked, covering my ears to block the sound. Hopelessness enveloped me as I embraced my future, being an unwilling spectator of horrific murders until I became a gibbering wreck.
Then suddenly it stopped. I felt Lucifer pause and a calm settle over his stolen body.
"Michael" he stated calmly, almost welcomingly. "So nice of you to finally join the party. "
I peeked put of my body's eyes. I was curious to see the Prince of Heaven, the being Lucifer had been tirelessly seeking since he trapped me.
He was tall, over 6ft, towering about the smaller model Lucifer was sporting. His curly brown hair was cut fairly short but it was smooth. His deep blue eyes studied Lucifer calculatingly. He looked completely at ease there among his dead comrades. I shivered with the intensity of the gaze he was giving my captor.
"Lucifer." Michael stated simply in acknowledgement, his voice rich and deep. "Well, brother? How did you do it? How did you escape the cage? "
"I could ask that of you" replied Lucifer in a clipped tone.
"The Lord Our Father plucked me from your eternal punishment. We both know he did not bestow the same gift to you, his traitorous son."
"Low blow, bro" said Lucifer in retort.
"and mindlessly slaughtering our brothers and sisters was not? "
"It was necessary," shrugged Lucifer. "you're hard to get hold of.. By the way, do you like my new look brother? She's pretty, is she not? And she's the one. The one who's prayers you take privately."
I gasped. The archangel had heard all of my desperate prayers? In private. Like my happiness was some kind of special project for him.
"I can see her within you Lucifer. She is not broken. Her will is still strong."
"How wrong you are brother. The puny human girl is gone. I must admit, the original fight for the body was intense but it was a welcome opportunity to spread my wings after the confinement of the cage. And in the end, she yielded and my grace crushed her soul."
"I'm sorry" I whispered as I sat back on my heels inside my consciousness, uncontrolled tears rolling down my face. I was unsure to whom I was apologising. To the angels, to Michael or to myself.
Michael looked deep into Lucifer's eyes but I knew he was really looking at me.
"Anna.." he said, his tone was full of deep sadness. He closed his eyes briefly, then he shook his head.
"It is of no consequence Lucifer. I thought casting you down to live among them would humble you, but I can see that it has not. I thought locking us in the cage would contain you but again it has not. Your crimes against human and angelkind are too great to ignore. I, Michael, Defender of Heaven's justice sentence you to die" With that Michael's wings materialised behind him and he raised them high above his head. The pure white feathers glinted silver even in the dim naked light of the warehouse. They were breathtaking. In equal parts beautiful and terrifying. Michael reached up high with his arms and pulled a huge glittering sword from nowhere. He settled into a defensive position, looking every bit the warrior, the Prince, that he was.
"Always one for show, brother" sneered Lucifer, unimpressed by the display.
But inside, I was terrified. Even before Michael retrieved his sword, the match was extremely uneven. Michael's vessel towered over my body, the muscles clearly defined under the dark green t-shirt he wore.
"Oh you of little faith" came Lucifer's voice inside my head. "you forget, I have been fighting Michael for millennia and you are a compliant soul. Together we can destroy Michael and end this bloodshed. Isn't that what you want, little one? "
His words flowed over me. An end to the bloodshed was certainly an attractive prospect. But this was Lucifer! How could I be sure that his killing campaign would end with Michael?
I gathered my strength for the upcoming fight and I called out to Lucifer:
"I wonder. When Michael plunges his sword in between your ribs, do you think he will tell you that he loves you?"
Lucifer growled in response and charged at his brother, his archangel blade glinting in his hand. Michael easily dodged the assault, clipping Lucifer on the back of the head with the butt of his sword as he ran past, leaving Lucifer sprawling in the dirt.
"Clumsy.." muttered Michael, almost to himself.
In response, Lucifer rose to his feet and twisted around to face him again. I felt a sharp burning sensation on my shoulder blades as Lucifer's wings became corporeal. He spread them wide and arches them over his head as Michael had done before. I saw in my peripheral vision that although they were smaller than Michael's, Lucifer's wings seemed to glow with cosmic energy. The icy light blue of the feathers bathed the warehouse in a cold light.
Responding to the challenge, Michael rushed forward, his sword raised high. The chink of metal on metal rung in my eyes as the force of the collision sent shockwaves up my arms. Already stunned from the blow to my head, I sat back on my heels. It seems that I could feel Lucifer's pain even if he couldn't. Great.
Once the pain had subsided slightly I looked up through Lucifer's eyes. He was fighting well. Michael had a cut lip and seemed to have grazes littered up his left arm.
"You're out of practice brother" taunted Lucifer at the injured archangel.
"What is it? Are you too big and important to fight your own battles? "
"Running heaven is a complex duty, Lucifer" growled Michael, shaking his injured limbs as he stood."That's probably why Father never trusted you with it."
Lucifer flapped his wings and flew high, ready to strike at Michael from above. But then Michael pulled his wings back once and with a powerful push, launched himself into the air beside his brother.
Michael and Lucifer gazed at each other almost 10 feet off the ground. Their wings moved to keep them stationary in the air. Caught in each other's gaze, the brothers remember playing together in heaven. With a pang of regret and pain Lucifer remembered when Michael first taught him to fly.
"Your wings will never fail you"
Lucifer snapped out of his wistful memories and rushes towards Michael. The blades met again in midair as the angels struggled to maintain composure.
"Do you think your brothers call out for you? Do you think they wish for your return? You're delusional Lucifer. They want you dead more than Michael!" I cried as Lucifer raised his blade to strike Michael. He missed in his rage, instead swinging around Michael's head to wrap him in a sort of embrace.
The elder brother seized the opportunity and scored a long cut with his sword almost the entire length of Lucifer's right wing.
I cried out in pain as my whole right side burned with pain.
I don't have any bloody wings I thought to myself.
The injury caused Lucifer to lose his momentum. He banked heavily on his right side as his damaged wing flapped desperately to keep him upright. But it was not enough. Lucifer lost his balance and crash landed onto the floor where he lay for a second, looking like one of the corpses that still lay there.
Michael gracefully landed and looked around for his brother. Lucifer lay still as I moaned in pain. Michael came to stand over my body, he flipped Lucifer over to face him.
"My brother, my poor brother. What happened to you?" Michael said softly, the pain and sadness in his voice apparent as he raised his sword high for the kill.
And then he faltered. The hesitation lasted a few seconds but it gave Lucifer long enough to twist and pin Michael to the floor.
Lazily pinning Michael's hips with his legs, Lucifer pulled Michael sword from his grasp.
"You're weak brother. Too weak to kill me and finish the job."
Michael growled beneath Lucifer as he began to trace the sword over Michael's lips and neck.
"Or maybe its this body. Even though she's gone, you can't bring yourself to kill your pet human..."
Pain briefly passed through Michael's eyes but I knew that it was not his injuries that was hurting him.
"Well brother, little Anna is going to be the death of you"
Lucifer raised Michael's sword high over his chest, ready to plunge down."
"Do you think your father would be proud of you Lucifer? Using what He gave you to hurt and kill your own brother!" I screamed in desperation.
Lucifer's vision went white with hot rage allowing me to reengage him in battle inside my head. Lucifer's attacks were clumsy with hatred and this time I managed to defeat him. I forced Lucifer into a corner of my brain but I knew I didn't have long before he regained his composure.
I blinked. The war had lasted a lifetime in my head but only a second had passed in the warehouse. I looked at Michael beneath me. I saw the confusion in his eyes as to why Lucifer had not struck yet.
"Michael.." I said. "It's me"
Suspicion creeped into his dark blue eyes as he glanced over me.
"A..Anna? " he stuttered disbelievingly.
"Its me" I repeated gazing at the archangel with awe.
"But Lucifer said you'd gone.."
"Yeah Lucifer says a lot of stuff. Listen, Michael, your erm heavenliness..we don't have long. I have subdued Lucifer for now but he will be back shortly."
"It was you." Michael said slowly "you're the one that kept making him miss.."
"Michael! Focus here. Lucifer will be back any minute. You have to kill me." I said
"Anna! No! I can't." Michael gripped my arms from underneath me to illustrate his point.
"Michael, Lucifer is inside me and he has to be stopped, before he kills anyone else. It's the only way." I explained, placing his sword back in his hand.
Michael flipped us over so that he was on top of me he leaned back into a kneeling position beside me. We were so close, his blue eyes fixed on mine intensely.
"You will be raised up among the saints in heaven. You shall have a glorious throne beside mine at my Father's right hand. All the humans on earth and the Host in heaven shall exalt you." Michael announced passionately, his hand tracing down my cheek.
"Do it Michael!" I cried. "Quickly! I can feel... "
A jolt ran through my body as Lucifer wrenched the control from my grip. He forced my mouth open as his grace poured from it, leaving my body cold and empty.
"No!" Michael roared as he clutched my body. "Anna!" he screamed upwards, his eyes turned to heaven.
I coughed and Michaels face lot up with relief.
"Nice to finally meet you, feather boy" I managed to say before I flopped backwards in a dead faint.
When I awoke I was lying on my a soft feather bed. I knew it was daytime as I was surrounded in a cocoon of light. I was incredibly warm and comfortable although I felt the stiffness in my muscles as I shifted.
I felt his gaze on me even before I opened my eyes. The intensity made my blood rise to the surface of my cheeks in a deep blush.
"Stop staring at me. It's creepy. I muttered as I rolled over to face him.
"My apologies" replied Michael in his deep baritone. When I finally opened my eyes, Michael had averted his stare to the wall behind him, as if it were the most interesting thing he had ever seen.
"Oi, feather boy, cut it out" I said as Michael's eyes flickered back to mine. I knew that I was addressing the most powerful being in heaven but after learning of his interest in me and after our compromising position at the warehouse, I was unsure of how to act around the Prince of Heaven. So, as usual, I masked my uncertainty with humour and sarcasm.
"I.. so, ermm, what happened? You know, after? " I asked awkwardly after sitting up. A little too quickly it would seem as a wave of dizziness came over me. Michael was there in an instant, gripping my shoulder tightly to keep me upright.
"Ermm, thanks" I blushed.
"After you blacked out, I took you in my arms and flew you to this establishment, where I booked you a room and laid you down to rest." said Michael matter-of-factly.
"How did you pay? I mean, I don't have any money on me and-"
"Ahh well, being an archangel has its perks." Michael smiled, the humour reaching his blue eyes.
I realised that that was the first time I'd seen him smile.
"Wow.. " I muttered before realising what I had said and going a deep red colour. Again. Goddamn it.
"You have a strong will Anna. Most of Lucifer's vessels over the years have disintegrated once he left them. Their minds permanently lost."
"Well I'm glad that didn't happen. " I said, wincing at how close it had been for a while.
"As am I" Michael said tenderly. And as if I couldn't control it, my gaze dropped to his plush lips before I could stop myself.
I blinked and stood quickly (thankfully with no sign of dizziness). I realised that I was wearing the same clothes as I had when Lucifer possessed me, a red T-shirt and jeans. They were extremely grimy and almost half torn away. I flinched at the sight, knowing that I hadn't showered in months.
"Well I'm gonna go take a shower so.." I said awkwardly. Micheal nodded in acknowledgement and left the room, leaving me alone in the fancy hotel room.
I took a long time in the shower, cleaning every bit of accumulated grime from my body. I delighted in the fact that it was once again mine, controlled only by me. Once I was out I stared at myself in the full length mirror in the bedroom. During my capture my dark brown hair had grown a few inches, now reaching to my shoulders. I was thinner now than when I had been myself, and paler too. This made my green eyes look disproportionately big against the frailty of my thin features. My body was skinnier still thanks to months of relative starvation. Lucifer had not eaten during his time inside my body, his angelic self not requiring sustenance. I sighed as I dabbed my hair with the towel.
I dressed my small body. Someone, presumably Michael, had left me a blue shirt and jeans out on the bed. A bra, pants and socks were also waiting. They were made of soft white cotton and I chuckled at the thought of Michael shopping for them. Once I was ready I finally called Michael back in.
"So, do you know where Lucifer is?" I asked breaking the silence that had settled as Michael entered.
"I have a few ideas. There is a missing person in the next town over. He could not have gone far after the injuries he sustained."
"Fantastic." I replied. "When do we go? "
Predictably, Michael blinked at my words. "We?" he enquired. "You are going home and I am hunting down my wayward brother."
"Nuh huh, sweet cheeks. This is my mess. I said yes to Lucifer. I helped him kill all those people. I'm helping you end this."
"But you're-"
"Don't start on the 'only human' crap Michael. I'm not buying it. I tipped the scales last time. You need me."
"I can't put you in danger Anna. You have no training and you're a wom-"
"If you say woman I swear to got I will punch you in that self righteous face of yours" I seethed.
Michael gulped at the force of my rage. Gulped. I had frightened the Sword of Heaven. That's one to tell the grandkids.
I stared Michael down for a few minutes as I saw the indecision on his features.
"Fine." he muttered eventually, turning bright red at his submission.
I winked at the bemused angel.
"Thanks, feather boy."
-We had been tracking Lucifer's movements for two weeks when I finally asked Michael why he didn't just use his powers to find his brother.
"Lucifer has been shielded from me." he explained softly. "Most likely he as had an enochian spell tattooed onto his host's body."
"Why didn't he do that with me? " I asked kind of wishing I had a badass anti-angel tattoo.
"Because he wanted me to find him, and you. He wanted me to know that he was back. Strong as ever."
"What was this cage you were talking about?" I asked.
We had yet to discuss him hearing all of my prayers. It was mortifying to think that Michael had heard all my deepest regrets and desires. It seemed to be an embarrassing topic for him too so we avoided it as much as possible. Instead I asked him about heaven and the other angels. His face lot up as he recalled playing with his younger siblings. At night, I asked him about the things he had seen, especially about the early world, and I would drift off to sleep with the sound of his voice.
Michael winced at the mention of the cage. I saw the pain on his beautiful features.
"Michael, you don't have to-"
"Yes. " he sighed. "I must."
He came and sat on the bed next to me. His hands absent mindedly playing with the white sheets, spreading it out and scrunching it up again.
"A few hundred years ago, there was an apocalypse scare here on Earth. Two humans called Sam and Dean Winchester we're tricked into opening Lucifer's cage. The cage was a prison that I had designed to hold him and he had been trapped for a long time. Eventually, after a great struggle and many lost lives, the humans managed to trap Lucifer back in the cage, one of them, Sam, sacrificed himself in order to trap him. I, foolishly, tried to grab Lucifer as he fell. I was impetuous. I thought it my destiny to fight Lucifer on that day but as he fell, my vessel, Adam, and I fell with him.
"Upon entering the cage, Sam was pulled out by an unknown force. Later we realised that this was my lieutenant Castiel who now sits on my advisory council. It is to my eternal regret that Adam was not so lucky. His body burned away on contact and his soul was lost to eternal torment. Even I cannot reach him now."
Michael, who had been staring at the sheets the whole story, flicked his eyes up to meet mine. I saw the emotion in them. Tears began to form at the corners.
"You cannot fathom the regret Anna. I led this innocent boy to Hell. I dropped him like a doll I was bored with. I.. I was different then. I did not see the worth of human life. I hated them all because they had tore my family apart. If only I had.. "
Michael paused. He took a deep shuddering breath as my hand moved to take his where it lay. He looked at our intertwining fingers for a moment before continuing.
"I was in Lucifer's cage for a hundred Earth years which translated to over 10,000 hell years. I spent those years in constant battle. With Lucifer and with the monsters inside the cage. I had placed a few of hell's worst horrors into the cage to distract Lucifer from escaping. And now I found myself fighting them. I was torn apart nearly every week but was healed within a minute. I had no rest. My grace, although weakened, kept me alive and I cursed it. I wanted to die. I wanted it to be over.
"And then I was saved."
I glanced at Michael expecting to see that beautiful smile at the memory but he still looked grim as ever.
"I told Lucifer that Father saved me but truthfully, I don't know. I built the cage myself, once trapped there was no escape. But why would my father leave me all this time, just to save me in the end?
"I was raised up to heaven but as I entered the throne room, I saw the chaos around me. There were dead angels everywhere. Castiel, my Father's most loyal servant stood in the centre, his eyes bright with blood-lust and a desire for power.
When he saw me however, he dropped his blade to the floor and ran to embrace me.
"Castiel explained the state of heaven to me. He explained that all the angels had fallen to earth and formed factions. He told me that without a clear leader they had split into factions, each vying for their own power. He admitted his own guilt at playing God and the blood on his hands. He told me that my beloved brother Raphael was dead, killed at Castiel's own hand.
"I have spent the past hundred years restoring my Father's kingdom to it's Glory. I gave each faction leader a place at a great council in Heaven and I took my rightful place on the Prince's throne. My Father's seat is still empty."
Michael shook his head.
"Sometimes I wonder if He'll ever return.
"Then a few months ago I heard rumours of Lucifer's rise from the cage. I dismissed them as hearsay but the claims grew stronger. I dispatched garrison after garrison if angels to hunt him down but they were all slaughtered. In every case, my name had been written in blood on the walls. It was in Lucifer's handwriting and I knew it was true.
"And you know the rest, Anna."
Hiya,
So I have been writing this fic for a few weeks and I didn't want to post it until it was finished. However this morning my laptop informed me that I have "permanent battery failure."
Isn't that just great!
So yeah, I wanted to get the stuff that I'd written up before my laptop breaks and deletes it all. I'll try and get more written to update soon but yeah please enjoy.
Love to you all
Anna (Yes I used my own name as the OC :L What can I say? I'm lazy and Michael is just so dreamyyy)