Disclaimer: RWBY and all religions not owned by me. This is an Angel and Demon AU, so prepare for ridiculous, otherworldly shenanigans, and sorry it's taken so long to get all this uploaded. Just a quick dumb story for funsies.
Blake stalked along the rooftop, her black boots making far too much noise for her liking. She hadn't yet grown accustomed to the sounds she made unintentionally, having spent centuries gliding effortlessly across all manner of terrain. Unlike some of the other Angels, she hadn't visited the mortals far below Heaven's gates but for a meager few times in her existence, and she suspected that doing so would've amplified her disquiet now. Regardless, she'd been cast out alongside Adam for her part in the rebellion, and now found herself forced to walk among the mortals as one of them rather than flying overhead, unseen.
Well, mostly as one of them, anyway.
Her keen amber gaze remained riveted to her target, having recognized the sour stench of sulfur that clung to the man's burly frame and the faint wisps curling through the air around him immediately. A Demon of Hell, out to gather some manner of misery for his master. The Highest Angel had been clear: the only way she could return to Heaven was by vanquishing fifty of the vile Demons let loose to plague mankind, and this one would be number three. It wouldn't be so bad were it not for the time limit- a mere mortal year- and she'd wasted two months tracking down the first two Demons. One of the Angels who remembered her prior to her fall from grace must've decided to pull the strings of Fate that she might cross this one without trying, else there seemed to be no explanation for the good luck.
Blessed stake in one hand, she continued tracking her quarry, calling forth the remainder of her torn wings to aid her as she jumped to the next rooftop. She watched as the Demon disguised as a man turned into the alleyway below, consciously ignoring the way her coat flapped around her, stirred by the wind the same as her raven hair, focusing entirely on her target. Isolated, away from the eyes of mortals, unaware he was being followed- she couldn't ask for a better chance to strike.
So she did.
Jumping off the rooftop, Blake brandished the stake, ready to drive the tip into the Demon's chest, but he jumped forward, whirling around to face her as she landed on the ground in a crouch, her broken wings framing her shoulders.
"Well, well, well," he said, a malicious gleam to dark red eyes. "What have we here? A Fallen Angel too far from home."
She regained her feet, hardly wincing as she prepared for another lunge. Being forced to feel- truly feel- was a constraint she'd yet to become familiar with, despite being more resilient than the average mortal. "Call me what you will; I'm sending you back to Hell."
"A mighty threat." He scoffed, rolling his neck once. As a man, he looked the part of a biker- stereotypical and a bit bland, passing from memory the moment he left one's line of sight. "If I wasn't out on an errand for the big man himself, I might be inclined to play with you, little Cherub." He shifted his legs wider, an eerie red glow crawling along his skin as he transformed. He grew taller first, skin stretching over his frame in a grotesque fashion before discarding his disguise to stand before her as the full fledged Greed Demon he was, spikes covering his arms and shoulders. Most prominently, the collar around his neck came into view, studded in blood red gems like all the others, a testament to the master he served. "Then again, a little delay won't do much harm, right?"
Before being cast out, Blake hadn't paid much mind to the creatures dwelling in the circles of Hell, but she picked up the obvious things. The spikes meant he was a lesser Demon, though their number meant he'd survived far more centuries than she had, and the pale green tint to his skin all but confirmed that he hadn't recently fed off the mortals surrounding them, hustling about their lives with no idea that a private duel between the minions of Heaven and Hell stood ready to kick off. Whatever he'd come to the mortals' world for, it wasn't to feed or stir up trouble among the mortals, but that didn't mean he wasn't dangerous despite that supposed weakness. Fingers elongated into claws tipped with gold as his teeth sharpened and Blake became intimately aware that her chosen target possessed a great deal more experience than the first two she'd banished, promising a long, hard fight ahead of her.
This was the price of her folly. If she failed, she would be doomed one way or another, but perhaps she should retreat while she had the chance. This one was a bit out of her league to combat alone.
"Come along, Oh Exalted One. Do you not want to play?" A thick, spiked tail appeared behind him, hovering above the ground as he finished his transformation. "I know I still do."
Blake flipped the stake around in her hand, preparing to make her retreat. Luckily, Greed Demons weren't the fastest of the lot, so if she timed it just right, she could outrun him. First, she would need to goad him into an attack. "I can't very well allow you to leave. You know too much."
He laughed at her attempt to intimidate him. "Let me guess; you're the reason those two little ones were sent back. Should've known- it's not her style to be so… forgiving. Doesn't matter, though." He narrowed his eyes. "Someone like you isn't a threat to us. In fact- hrk!"
The Angel tensed, watching as something behind the Demon moved, snapping his head and arms back while leaving his chest undefended.
Well, she wasn't the sort to waste an opportunity.
Lunging forward, Blake brought the stake up and stabbed down, pouring her strength into driving the pointed tip as far into the Greed Demon's body as possible. Sometimes, it took an extra try or two- because the blasted thing would only work if it sunk in up to the first circle of inscriptions etched in one of the Dead Tongues and Demons were wily bastards to begin with- but this one couldn't seem to move at all. So, instead of having to quickly roll out of the way to avoid a counter attack and try again, her blow landed full force, the pure white stake disappearing all the way to the second ring before Blake let go and jumped back as the light of Heaven erupted from within the implement, sending the blasted beast back to the lowest pit of hell. She'd never been there herself, but supposedly the stakes would keep those she banished from re-entering the mortals' world for a millennium at least.
Once the flash of light subsided, she appeared to be alone in the alleyway… but something about the shadows in front of her didn't seem right. Perhaps it was the after image of the stake's power throwing off her less-than-Heavenly vision but she could've sworn she'd seen something duck behind the dumpster nearly pushed against the wall on the left side.
"Is someone there?" She ventured, taking a single step closer while reaching into her coat for another stake. When casting her out, the Highest Angel had given her the exact amount to earn her way back into Heaven, so she couldn't rightly use one on a mundane threat, but she hoped whatever lurked in the shadows wouldn't be able to guess as much. Whatever it was, it overpowered that Greed Demon with ease; only a greater creature of Hell could manage such. There was also the dim hope that one of her fellow Angels had come down to assist her, despite being expressly forbidden; the whole lot of them bent the rules when they could, often to show compassion to those poor souls trapped in agony below. But that was perhaps asking a bit too much and her luck hadn't been exactly good recently. "Show yourself!"
"Was he telling the truth?" A voice called out, from behind the dumpster. Sharp and light, a woman's voice lent a killer edge as it cut through the night. "Are you truly a Fallen Angel?"
"I am." She shifted her shoulders, bringing her broken wings into view, the black feathers ruffled from her landing. They'd been cut, severed just below the joint, a pale mimicry of their former glory. Good for cushioning her falls, short glides, and literally nothing else- a constant reminder of her foolish decisions, alongside her absent halo. "And what are you?"
"… that is a very good question," the voice replied, a moment before movement pushed the dumpster away. Stepping out from behind it emerged what one might think to be a woman at first glance, a little shorter than Blake with hair white as snow and striking blue eyes, a fancy, modern blue dress swirling about her lithe frame, but the Angel could see more than that- the faint wisps hanging around her head denoting a disguise.
An Angel, then? But no, because an agent of Heaven would have no need to hide in shadows- the stake would do nothing to her, meant only to cast the creatures of Hell back to their pits- so it had to be a Demon. She raised the stake in her hand, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.
The creature didn't seem to take offense, lifting her left hand and snapping her fingers. Unlike the one she'd just banished, this Demon's skin turned nearly white as her hair, two horns protruding from her head and sweeping back, though the left one seemed damaged somehow. Her stature didn't change but a tail curled behind her, thin and with a spaded tip, which proved to be the most damning bit of evidence- a Pride Demon, the most powerful of all the vile creatures in Hell.
Obviously, her luck held true.
Blake immediately tensed, bringing her stake to bear and preparing to defend herself from the creature before her, ready to make a break at the first opportunity. Although young by Demon standards, only the Archangels would battle them due to their strength and tenacity, and many would only agree to confront a Pride Demon loose in the mortal world with at least three others to assist. Cunning, crafty, and intimately attuned to manipulating mortals to their whims; they were not to be underestimated.
"Wait, stop." The creature held up both hands in a gesture of surrender. "I'm not-"
"If I let you talk, I am lost." Blake grit her teeth, trying to gauge if she would be quick enough. In all likelihood, she wouldn't be; even with her wings, she was a mere Angel, not nearly strong enough to do battle with the oldest and most powerful of Demonic lineages. "I know how your kind work."
"Is that so?" The Demon sighed, taking a step closer, allowing the dim light of the street lamp above to fall upon her, drawing the Angel's gaze to the length of chain attached to her collar, the last link dangling at waist level snapped off and shifting slightly in the night wind. "Tell me: what is my kind? I seem to be at a loss for an apt description myself."
"This is a trick," she said, as much an accusation as to consciously acknowledge that she couldn't trust her eyes. Pride Demons had powers that could extend far beyond what a normal creature of either Heaven or Hell could accomplish alone and perception fell well within their range. "You're trying to make me think I should let you go."
"On the contrary, I'd rather we didn't part ways." One clawed hand indicated the stake. "It's clear you must vanquish Demons and many will be seeking me out, trying to take me back to that wretched place. If I act as your bait, you can accomplish that task more easily… and I might have an easier time surviving the encounters. It seems like a mutually beneficial proposal."
"A Demon with a penchant for fairness. Never thought I'd see the day." Blake didn't let her stake waiver or her stance relax. One couldn't trust a Demon's deal, unless it was signed in blood and read very thoroughly. Neither of which she had the luxury for, at present. "You're not genuinely expecting me to believe that you escaped Hell, do you?"
"What makes that so difficult to believe?" Blue eyes sharpened as she turned her head slightly, the damage done to her left horn and eye now more prominent as the light fell on them fully. A long gash marred the left side of her face, starting at the tip of her horn and following it down, splintering along the white bone until it reached her skin, then going down further until just below the swell of her cheek. Coupled with the damage done to the chain and collar, it gave a remarkable amount of credence to her offer. "The fact that no one's ever done it? That no Demon has ever dared try? Or can you not imagine someone willingly departing their home, even if that home happens to be such a terrible place as Hell itself?"
"I think all three are strong enough on their own, honestly." She inclined her head slightly. "Seeing as all three applicable now, however…"
"Ah, of course." The Demon sighed, grabbing the broken end of her chain and sliding a clawed finger along the gleaming metal. "Then, I submit this for your consideration."
Blake waited, the moment of silence that followed the offer drawing on far too long for comfort. Finally, she spoke up. "Well?"
The very next blink of her eyes, the Demon had vanished, and a feeling of dread descended upon her as she felt the sharp pinpricks of claws exerting the barest hints of pressure on either side of her throat. It wouldn't kill her- she still held enough of her Angel heritage to be resistant to such things as death- but she could feel agony the same as any mortal, and the time it would take to heal would be far too long; her journey back to Heaven would end, here and now, with just a twitch of the Demon's fingertips.
"Had I wanted you out of my way, you would be." The voice came from behind her, just beside her ear, and the pressure disappeared in the next moment. Blake whirled around to find the Demon standing there, tail arching up behind her but not threatened, not the least bit concerned by the stake hardly a foot from her chest. "Truthfully, I see only two ways this ends. Either I leave you here, alone, to do… whatever it is you're doing with those." Blue eyes fell briefly onto the stake. "Or we join forces." She gestured towards the entrance to the alleyway and turned that way, as if expecting the Fallen Angel to follow even as her Demonic heritage fell away and her disguise returned. "Either way, the Demons of Hell won't stop coming for me. Whether it's you or I dispatching them from the mortals' world doesn't truly matter, now does it? At least, to me; perhaps you have a different view of the matter."
As the last of her horns and tail vanished from sight, Blake made her decision. "What's your name?"
The Demon stopped, turning her head to offer a small smile over her shoulder. "Call me Weiss. And you?"
"Blake." With a dark sense of foreboding hanging over her, she followed Weiss out onto the street. Nothing good could come from making a pact with a Demon… but she had ten mortal months and forty-seven Demons to banish.
A little help couldn't hurt.
Author's Note: Installments every day until complete; like I said, just a quick stupid story that gets strangely philosophical at times because apparently Weiss and Blake have some Opinions about the nature of angels, demons, sin, and the whole cosmic balance thing.