Previously on my ao3
Prologue
Before there was anything, there was nothing.
But before there was nothing, there were two siblings, the Light, who was later known as God, and the Darkness. Brother and sister since the beginning of time itself. God and Darkness were the only ones in the entire universe, and they were happy floating through primordial cosmos, just being together. They were content, playing in the very essence of life before life was born.
Millennia's had passed and they were at peace.
But God felt He had a purpose, He was here for something. So He had an idea. And from that idea He created humanity, He created earth, the universe, the cosmos. The very primordial material they played in, and he had formed life.
But the Darkness was not happy.
She loved Her brother, and had loved the millennia's they had spent together. But with God's new creation, this thing He called 'humanity', Her blood boiled and the ugly feeling of jealousy erupted within Her.
But She had seen the look of pure joy in His eyes when He found something else to create, something else to grow and cultivate.
She couldn't hate Him for creating something that He played with, but it was that same something had taken His entire focus away from Her. It was supposed to be Them, no one else to worry about, no one to get in their way. Just Her and her brother flying through the cosmos for eternity.
But He changed all of that.
God created the archangels. Four powerful beings that were similar to them both, maybe He had seen how jealous the Darkness was getting, and wanted to do something about it. Wanted Her to understand the greatness in what He had created.
But all the Darkness felt was fury. She was absolutely furious with her brothers new, more powerful, creatures. Though He had created them in their own image, He had given these new archangels weird appendages on their backs so they could fly. Wings, icky, feathery things that were stuck onto their backs, and fluttered at every moment.
She hated those things. And She hated her brother for making them.
But She made do. Because even though they were filthy little winged beasts, the delight in her brothers eyes was almost worth all of the torment She felt inside.
And then God created humans...
And that was it for Her. The creation of those filthy, ignorant, imbecilic little things was the last straw.
There was only one thing She could do.
She would destroy the very things He had created, starting with the archangels He had so lovingly made. And then He'd see the errors of his ways and they would go back to the way they were. When it was just them.
But, She wanted her brother to suffer.
The first archangel created, Michael, was a problem. He was strong, and resilient in his ways. But She had expected him to be. God himself had been the same when He had created the winged beast of an angel. Michael's very essence to follow every single word God had said, it made Her skin crawl. She knew he would be a problem, so she would leave him for last.
The second, God's favourite, Lucifer was just as bad as his older brother. But She saw the streak of rebellion in him, She wasn't fully aware which way he would go. She was omnipotent, much like her brother, and She had seen much of herself in this archangel, She saw the darkness within Lucifer. And that confused Her. Had her brother created this icky angel under Her image?
She would leave him for last, alongside, Michael.
The third archangel, Raphael, looked easy to kill. He'd be the first She would kill, the first She would destroy.
Then there was the last archangel, the one that glimmered like sunshine. Gabriel, the fastest of all of his brothers. She knew he would be difficult to kill, but it would be so simple. He had been so trusting, so loving, but so very tricky.
She had seen enough, and this would be Her time to reign.
The final battle had been momentous. There had been utter destruction at every single turn.
Both God and the Darkness had lost too much power, too much strength. After a brutal battle the Darkness had been victorious in defeating the archangels, they lay on the ground, racing towards their death. Pure angelic grace and power falling in rivulets over their bodies, their wings stripped, bent, broken.
Oh how she hated those feathery things.
Now it was His turn. She would destroy God, but not kill Him. And while they recovered from their injuries, and the world would plunder to nothing. No more earth, no more humans.
They'd recover and be together again.
Holding Her hand up to his fallen form, she called on all of Her remaining strength, the power swirled through her outstretched arm and poured like a cloud of smoke. But God just stood there, smiling sadly as he watched his sister try to kill him.
She was confused. Why was He smiling?
She didn't notice the small spark of blue behind him, morphing into a human shape, or that one of the archangels hadn't died, but instead had made their way to the little blue ball, picking it up gently and snapping out of the fight.
The Darkness screamed as Her very last remnants of power escaped and engulfed around God, stabbing and slicing into his body, making him scream and writhe as He was lifted up into the air. The Darkness faltered, having used up too much power, and Her hold on God withered.
God fell to the ground with a thump, groaning as He tried to brace himself against the sudden pain. He looked up to see his sister had also fallen. He reached his hand out to Her, offering her his love, because regardless of what she had just done, She was still his sister, He still cared for Her deeply.
He didn't understand why She was acting this way, why She wanted him dead. But He wanted to know, He wanted to know what He had done wrong.
They could fix this, damn it.
But She just looked up at Him from Her fallen position, glaring at His outstretched arm, and disappeared in a plume of black smoke.
This is where our story begins.
It had been many millenia's since the battle between god and his sister. The earth had continued to rotate and thrive, humanity grew and the archangel that had taken the small ball of blue light created by God himself was finally able to settle down and know he was a little safer.
Gabriel was a trickster archangel, the fastest ever created, with six beautiful golden wings that looked like the very sun shone through them. He had held the small morphing orb, the little angel fledgling, close to his chest and had never let him go. He had a job to do, God had created this being with the last of his grace, before he had gone into hibernation to recuperate. This being, this little fledgling, Castiel.
He was important.
Gabriel had moved little Castiel into a small town in the middle of a deserted forest. The little town was quiet, a great place to lay low and not get caught. There were always the same people walking by, doing their usual daily jobs, day in and day out.
Nothing changed here, and no one took any notice of the large house that had erected itself in the heart of the forest. It was like a castle, beautiful, haunting, with a large ballroom and ostentatious bedrooms, dining halls and a garden that boasted beautiful flowers of all kinds.
Laying low was one thing, but Gabriel wanted his little Castiel to have a wonderful childhood. As an angel, his wings were a gorgeous midnight black that looked like they held the entire cosmos in them. They sparkled like little stars were hidden in their darkened depths. Gabriel had never seen anything like them. He had told Castiel to keep them tucked to his back, keep them hidden, but those wings always shimmered and shone every time they fluttered.
With a snap of his fingers, Gabriel was able to conjure up the latest and greatest technologies of their time. They were want for nothing. Castiel was his baby brother, and Gabriel was going to do anything he could to protect him.
But they soon found they were trapped in the house. Gabriel didn't dare let Castiel leave whenever he had to go out for an errand. With the Darkness thinking him dead, she was not looking for signs of archangels. But Castiel's grace was fresh and new, easy to find amidst humans.
So Gabriel had sought friends for Castiel, using the powers he had seen his father use, and brought life to inanimate objects. Castiel had been elated at the new friends, the talking clock, the cute little feather duster, the large armoire. They were lovely, kind, charming and so interesting to talk to.
But the dark was soon to come.
It was one of those nights where everything felt just as it had every other night, when Gabriel found himself leaving for an errand. He had always been adamant to leave Castiel alone in the home, and today felt different than usual.
But thinking nothing of it, he said goodbye to his little brother, telling him to lock the door and not open it for anyone. And then he left, and Castiel returned to his mountain of books in the library Gabriel had conjured up for him.
Hours seemed to have passed, and it was then that Castiel heard a large thudding knock on the entrance door. He looked out of the window, the night was blustery and cold. Gabriel had told him not to open the door to anyone.
But the thudding didn't stop.
Curiosity was too tempting, and Castiel found himself setting his book on the side table, getting up from his favourite seat in the library, the comfy one in front of the large roaring fire place, and made his way through the house and to the incessant knocking.
He stopped in front of the large door, eyeing the sigils and signs that merged into the wood itself. The thudding sounded again, and Castiel hesitantly reached for it.
He opened it to see a pretty woman, with beautiful long hair and dark eyes smile at him, her stretched lips were painted a pale red, she wore a dark cloak that covered her body and a hood that covered her face from the wind and cold.
"Castiel," She said, letting out a sigh as she placed her hand on the door jam, not venturing closer. "I am here for you,"
"Who are you?" Castiel asked, taking a tentative step back.
"Did He not tell you about me?" She smiled, her pretty white teeth shining. "Why, I'm your aunt, sweetie,"
This woman was the Darkness! This beautiful woman who stood before him, looking so pure and angelic, so enchanting, was the very villain that Gabriel used to tell stories to him about? It couldn't be.
Castiel stumbled back, falling to the ground with a thump as the pretty woman held her hand up in front of him. Her gaze narrowed as she saw those pretty wings. "And I am here to end you, once and for all."
He didn't know what to do, his large wings fluttered behind him as a plume of black fog like smoke erupted from her fingers. He watched in fear filled awe as the smoke seemed to seep into the walls of the house, turning all the beautiful things black and decrepit, it swooped around the large castle, rotting the wood, destroying the curtains and sofas, the televisions and other electronic gadgets blackened and sparked, the lights flickered and smashed. The smoke then turned and engulfed around Castiel, devouring him.
"I curse you little Castiel, curse you with putrid hatred, with death," She growled through the smoke, "You will feel what I felt, no one will ever love you. You will never be free."
Castiel screamed, unable to move as the spell singed through him, burning him from the inside. He felt his body change, his back cracking as his wings snapped open, twisting this way and that as feathers were plucked out or singed completely. His eyes widened as he tried to scream, but it wasn't possible, something was growing in his mouth, his teeth sharpened into fangs, his mouth aching at the sudden change. His body twisted, growing in odd angles.
It hurt. Every single part of his body, down to his very molecules, hurt. They ached and they throbbed as white hot pain seeped into him like a flood, rushing through him until he felt nothing but pain. He wanted to die.
A beautiful golden light erupted through the darkness, the fog dissipating, until it was near gone. Looking up through his wide, tear filled eyes, Castiel saw Gabriel, his older brother, try to fight against the woman, screaming as the Darkness stripped him of his wings, breaking and twisting them until they were nothing but husks of what they once were.
"Fastest no longer, little nephew," The Darkness said, clenching her fingers together, making Gabriel scream. "I curse you both, you will never find any one to love you for the monsters that you are,"
She worried her lips as she continued her onslaught. But even through the pain, Gabriel had lifted his fingers, and with a snap, they were gone, leaving the disfigured Castiel, aching, close to dying, on the marble floor.
One of Castiel's blue feathers floated down on the ground, looking pristine and immaculate, as if they hadn't just been destroyed and blackened by the Darkness's hand, the beautiful cosmos glimmering brightly. Castiel reached for it, holding it close to his chest.
What was he going to do now?