Stating the Obvious: The following fanfic is a sequel to "Final Prophecy" (because, apparently, I can't quit these two).

Disclaimer: I have no right over the Prophecy franchise, the movies, the characters and whatnot. Nor am I versed in the mythology of the movies as a whole.

Author's Note: This chapter has that fragment I told you about. My mom used to have a very extensive library and as a child, I loved reading (my first book being Greek mythology, so you can imagine how my mind developed) and one was in Spanish, Strange Worlds Amazing Places, and it had the most beautiful depiction of the Garden of Eden and I've never forgotten it. I kind of drew inspiration from that when I integrated that world into the fanfic, and being able to write about the guardian himself...I enjoyed it more than I should've, I think, so again, I hope I'm not the only one :-) remember, rated R, due to the oncoming gore more than anything else...and considering this is where Emilie Autumn's music tickled my mind, you can imagine.


Chapter 8. Blood on Our Hands


Dead is the new alive
Despair's the new survival
A pointless point of view
Give in, give in, give in, give in
You play the game
You'll never win

"Dead Is the New Alive" Emilie Autumn


In spite of Lucifer's attempts at a somewhat civilized conversation, Jophiel doesn't respond, but simply pulls the sword from the ground and raises it, taking another swing, and another, until Lucifer's jumps to evade him have him standing inches from the river. The sword is now pointed at Lucifer's face and Jophiel's azure eyes stare at him defiantly.

When he speaks, his voice is melodious, a harmony that would crumble the courage of any human being - luckily, Lucifer isn't human. "You may not enter the garden, serpent."

"I have no intention to," his smile widens, but that doesn't deter Jophiel's actions, as his sword remains pointed at Lucifer.

"You intend to hide from her?"

It takes Lucifer a moment to decipher who he means by her.

He shakes his head, "Lilith will find me when it meets her interests, but there's someone she aims to find first, and that is what I am here to prevent."

Jophiel's eyebrows furrow in response and he begins to lower his sword, almost hesitant, he lets it touch the ground and it disappears from his hand as if it never existed.

"It's true, then. You have fallen for a mortal, a nephalim," he says, the surprise clear in his tone.

"That is very old news, friend." Lucifer looks tired for a moment, but accepts the truth for what it is, the truth.

"I wish you'd stop calling me that," Jophiel pinches the bridge of his nose, eyes closed, and when he opens them, Lucifer is smiling. He smiles in return.

There once was a time when heaven was all there was; there was no humanity, no plagues, no sins, nothing but pure bliss in the glory of God...and Lucifer, he had been the most beautiful angel of them all, some would say the most beloved. It's why Jophiel had been chosen to guard the garden; not only is he excellent at keeping records, Jophiel had been one of Lucifer's favorite cherubs and proved himself faithful to God when he, himself, did not fall with Lucifer.

Jophiel's faith was, and surely still is, limitless, even when he loves the undeserving.

"I need your help." Lucifer is serious now - he's not begging, but he is asking for help, from an angel, no less. If his followers could see him now...there would be nothing he could do to save face and he knows - he trusts - Jophiel will not spread the news like wildfire.

"I don't see how I can help you, fallen." Of course, he has to say that. It's in his job description. He will hear him out, though, and that's more than most would.

"Allison is with child." Jophiel's face doesn't change, which means he already knows, and that thought alone proves one of Lucifer's suspicions correct. "Her child means something to someone or else," he sighs, lips tight, "it wouldn't exist. Either Lilith needs it to prepare for the battle against his coming or He needs it to incite the Second Coming. Now, somehow, I doubt the latter, though I wouldn't put it past Him; however, the point remains. Our child would be an instrument to something its mother is very opposed to, and bearing that in mind, I ask for a safe haven, for the child." Lucifer knew if he asked Jophiel to protect the child, he would have to protect the mother, for however long the baby remained in her belly, and Lucifer knows it won't take him months to dethrone Lilith and get Allison out of Jophiel's capable hands.

He just needs time - whatever time he can get - to get Beelzebub and the others organized, to cultivate every possibility, to entertain any idea, to give him an advantage against Lilith and the Almighty himself. He's intending to do this with little to no resources - no power over hell, no blessings from heaven; he's going to have to depend on whatever he can get his hands on.

"You cannot expect me to defy Him," Jophiel looks at him as if he is out of his mind - well, obviously - and crosses his arms, making his stand known.

Lucifer smiles, "On the contrary, old friend. If you protect her, you would be doing His will. You do know how His book was written-"

"By men, influenced by their own imperfections," Jophiel interrupts him, seemingly bored.

Lucifer then remembers one of the many reasons he often missed his old friend. He continues, "Yes, however, some things are true. One of them being His son's return. Do you truly believe He wishes for His son to be destroyed by my successor?"

Jophiel is listening, as Lucifer has somehow struck a nerve.

"We know He is omnipotent, we know His son will live, but what if the reason His son survives is because we do not allow Allison, and our child, to be utilized against him? What if we are the reason His will remains true?" Lucifer feels he's overselling it a little bit, but considering the stakes, he's going all in. He cannot win this with doubt and he's certainly not second-guessing himself. Not now.

"What concerns me, fallen," Jophiel's eyebrow raises, just the one, "is how is it that helping Him helps you?"

Lucifer had been expecting that. He smiles, like the wolf that ate the canary, "Sometimes the interests of heaven and hell are not so very different, Jophiel. Get used to it." He almost laughs at his own memory, because it means he's been right since the start and he's ever the egotistical one. "I am no longer he who was once referred to as Satan. I am no Prince of Darkness. I have no formal title, no privilege or claim over hell. However, I am still Lucifer. I am still a fallen. I am still skilled with a gift for delicate atrocities, but I have been stripped of that which made me what I once was. I have been made weak," his tone gets lower, almost angry, "I have been influenced by emotions that are beneath me and I have loved every minute of it, every touch of her skin, every sound of her voice and every act of idiocy she has done in spite of my counsel, she," he pauses, trying not to scream the next few words, "she loves me." And in the end, it boils down to that, a child cast out from his Father's paradise, into the darkness, with few to worship him and none to truly love him, not like his Father once did.

Jophiel's eyes him suspiciously, but his eyes have softened and even he realizes the meaning behind Lucifer's words. He loves her, in his own sickening, peculiar way.

"Very well, fallen, I will help you. I will give you a gift to give to your nephalim. Once the gift is given, she will arrive here, where I will lead her into the sanctuary of the garden."

Lucifer's relief carries through his body likes waves. This is the first time he's ever felt Allison's survival to be absolute. In Jophiel's hands, he has no doubts she will survive. "And where is this gift?"

"Before I bestow upon you...this gift...I have a question of my own," Jophiel's eyebrows are furrowed, as wondering if he should be asking anything at all.

This intrigues Lucifer, who nods, "Do your worst, Jophiel."

"You've fallen for the nephalim, that much is clear," off Lucifer's shrug, he continues, "but the child...what will you do with the child once it's born?"

Lucifer stares at him, intently. He hadn't thought about it - hadn't allowed himself to. His main concern at this moment is Allison, nothing more, nothing less, but with Allison comes a child...No, not a child, but their child. Could he do it? It took him so long to accept his feelings for Allison - too long - but the child...could he truly have something so common and mundane as a "family"? One weakness is enough, but two...two would make things very dangerous - would make him very dangerous.

He answers as honestly as he can - as honestly as any fallen would, "Ensure their survival, Jophiel, and you might discover the answer to that question, and not a second before. Now, the gift?"

The corner of Jophiel's lips rises, his eyes slightly narrow, and he extends his arm, letting his hand catch the back of Lucifer's neck. "The only gift I have to give that He would allow, fallen, is one that cannot be seen." And Lucifer smiles, knowings that not even He would let Jophiel give him the flaming sword, or anything from the garden, so Jophiel is, quite literally, blessing him with the only gift he can give, coming from his very lips.

As their lips touch, it's not entirely chaste, and Lucifer can tell that, yes, Jophiel remembers his old friend Lucifer very well, even if he's not referring to Lucifer as such, and it means more to him now, in a different manner, that Jophiel was the one angel that loved him so much, and yet did not follow him to the darkness. At least that's one less soul he brought down with him.

As their lips separate, they're gazing into each other's eyes - one a pool of silvery, slithering darkness and the other a pool of calm, clear waters - and Lucifer smiles, "I always wondered why you never referred to me as Satan. Or the Prince of Darkness. If you heard the things Gabriel still calls me," and before Lucifer can go back to his old ways, once upon a friendship, Jophiel rolls his eyes and presses the bottom of his palm on Lucifer's forehead, which causes Lucifer to fall back in the water and disappear.


Allison took a risk in sleeping - a very big risk - but had been daytime, everyone is awake and alert, unable to sleep due to their memories being twisted into nightmares - many have chosen not to sleep, unless absolutely necessary, and even then, they fight it. Laura is still somewhat shaken, but with her brother next to her, she feels safer, calmer, and not so easily rattled.

Allison had also been feeling tired. It makes her wonder what kind of baby this will be, and what it would do to her. That's when she decided to rest, for the baby's sake, hoping not to fall into too deep a sleep that she couldn't remain alert.

Sleep came, and she dreamt of the impossible, of tall green grass, fields covered with blue bells, children's laughter, two beautiful children chasing a kite, then their father, John, and herself, jumping on his back pointing at the sky, and that's when the sun becomes hidden, behind a dark, dark, cloud. The grass is gone, leaving only a barren land and night sweeps in, a chill running down her spine. She looks at John, but he's John no longer. She sees Lucifer's black eyes staring back at her, no goodness within, and the children...the children aren't children, can't be, with a gray complexion, vein-like lines all across their skin, eyes burning red and a palpable hatred, responsible for death, for they have become death - a family only the Prince of Darkness could create.

Allison screams herself awake and immediately starts looking all around her, fearing seeing them again, but they're not there. It was just a dream.

"Shhh, hey, it's all right, we're all here," Pete approaches her first, keeping a respectful distance, checking to make sure she's all right.

"Did you see something, too?" Laura, poor Laura, still afraid she's going crazy, or being a target of the demons lurking in the shadows.

Allison's hand is to her chest, her heart beating fast, and she just nods, not wanting to say a word. She knows it's not possible, but they don't. She never did explain to them why John preferred her to be alone rather than with them - for all they know, he just didn't trust them. Demons cannot persuade nephalims the way they do humans. They're not so easily entranced. Although, with Stark, he had been able to make her see more than she wanted to and yet, that had been a slightly different circumstance...wasn't it?

"I need something to drink," Allison clears her throat, and they bring her a cup of water - it's the thing they use most, and the thing they are trying to ration carefully as, after the bathroom incident, some of the others had decided to use the restroom and realized the water had been cut off.

Allison has a suspicion that the world is going on outside those doors, but who is managing it and how, is a risk Allison hasn't been tempted to investigate yet. Their circumstances are not just biblical, or apocalyptic, but it's very much like a war, on a more global scale, of course, where entire cities are destroyed and the survivors become the law until the real law comes into town. Except, in this scenario, the law is the most likely to be dead, or death itself. Lilith is no fool and she would've gone for the major threats first. No one in her position would tolerate such competition, but it also means they have control of the workings of their society; could you imagine demons working at a hospital? Absolute chaos, until heaven's law comes down to release them, one way or another.

Not knowing is what's killing her. A moment ago, she wanted to slap herself for not going with John, to be of some use, because even though her presence helps them, it can't protect them for long. The vision Laura had had been a cruel reminder of that fact. How many warnings has John given her has she ignored?.

The others are keeping their distance again. They're all scared, tired and lost. They've all lost people, they've all had nightmares of memories and their inevitable, yet undetermined, fates. They sleep when they have to, but as the nightmares get worse, they can't even do that. They've talked as much as they can, but the more they remember, the more it hurts.

Everyone writes about those who ascend, those who fly into God's grace, but no one really considers the sinners, the battle-scarred, those who weren't as wise or as strong to recover. They're the ones who had to live in the shadows, or to hide in plain sight, pretending to be what they're not, just to survive in the world given unto them by their forefathers, doing what they could to fit in to society, to follow the rules within their environment, regretting their sins in silence but doing it all over again, because it's all they know. It's all they've ever known.

There are two kind of sinners, Allison thinks. There are those who love the sin, who would bathe in the blood of their own if it met getting what they're wanted, but then there are those who use the sin to survive, who are so utterly lost, they think the sin is that which sparks their life...a necessary evil, it already exists, you're already at the doorstep, why not walk in when everything is already pulling you there?

They all had choices. They all made wrong ones. Even Allison.

She doesn't regret meeting John...falling in love with Lucifer. There are times she think she does, but then her heart starts beating a little harder and she feels it's hard to breathe; she know what that means. She loves him too much to regret that sin.

She looks around the church, her eyes swelling with tears. She hopes they might be forgiven; they all seem like good people to her, they do regret, and they seek forgiveness. If the scripture wasn't written to give false hope to those witnessing the end of days, well, then they just might find some shred of peace.

Allison, however, doesn't feel as lucky, and she's come to terms with that.

She may not survive, but her baby might. The child might be good, might have a guardian - hopefully, a human one - and maybe will be the hope for a new beginning. It doesn't matter if the child had been planned as another tool - a fate she wishes she could've spared it from somehow - because it will end with her. She hasn't told John this - hopefully, she won't have to - but she's not worried about surviving this time. She knows the cost is too high. The world is already in chaos, she may just be carrying a child so special that it needs to survive the impossible odds. She'll make sure she lives long enough to have the baby, but after that...she'll sacrifice everything for the baby, for him, for everyone, if it means stopping it, stopping them. She's died before, she's lost before, and of the two, she knows which she'd choose.

"You gonna talk about that dream you had?" It's Pete, and he sits on the pew next to her, to where she's been isolating herself ever since the dream. She knew they would give her the space she needed to recover, but she hadn't realized Pete would be the first to come to her side. Maybe he recognizes the spirit inside of her. They're both people of faith and, in the face of darkness, they both believe. They also have no delusions of goodness. Pete is not a good man who has done good things; the things he has done, he's done them for reasons that, to him, however wrong, were justifiable. Allison can relate, which is comical, considering she is empathizing with a criminal, but she herself knows she hasn't done good things, but what she has done...she's done for reasons she thought good.

She shrugs, "Not much to tell. Just as weird as everyone else's." They had been dreaming about their families, their friends, every day events suddenly turned dark and deadly. Memories of things they had done, regrets that barely tickled their conscience before now have joined with their subconscious in an effort to torment them and twist their reality.

Pete copes better than the rest because he knows he's not a good person, he knows he needs to be punished, but the others...they all pray for second chances.

Allison thinks she's done praying, too. If she wants another chance, she'll have to fight for it, for the sake of the child.

"Yeah, something tells me yours are probably weirder, considering what you're involved with. A little blow ain't got nothing on devil's girl." His smile tells her he doesn't really care; even though he does think she's a little crazy, everything that has happened thus far falls under his category of crazy, so the devil's girlfriend is not the craziest thing, in truth.

Allison tries to smile back, but her smile is tired, "I still started out human, like the rest of you. I thought I was normal until a pack of dogs attacked me and killed me, except that, I didn't die. Now...I'm this."

"God gave you a gift," he mutters, "seems like you're trying to do good with it."

Allison laughs as soon as he calls it a gift, turning her head to look him in the eye, "When I used to just be me, ignorant to the war in heaven, I would've called anything a gift. For a time, I thought my schizophrenia was a gift. When I realized an angel was speaking to me, I thought, yes, this is a gift, this is his way of giving me what I need to survive and save humanity, but if you walk out that door, you'll probably see most of humanity hiding in shadows or getting their guts ripped out by giant skeleton bugs." She still hadn't figured out what to call them.

"You saved us," he bumps her shoulder with his, "and you got a little life in you. You win some, you lose some. Take it from someone who's used to losing. This? This is a win."

She shakes her head, looking down at her hands, "We haven't won anything yet."

To her surprise, he holds her hand, giving it a soft squeeze, "Leave the war to better men, or not men," he shrugs, "We just need to worry about the battles."

That makes her smile, she bumps his shoulder, "When did you get so wise, felon?"

He laughs, a full laugh, "Hell, I had to learn something after getting caught so many times. In fact, I could-"

But before Pete could tell all the stories of how many stores he broke into and how he started dealing in very dangerous places, a scream alerts them and Allison's eyes immediately finds the group. Brian and Hanna have their backs against the wall, away from the scene at hand, and in the middle of the altar is Laura, a knife in her hand, pointing it at Kyle. Allison stands up, Pete right behind her, but as they get closer, they see the drops of blood, they see Kyle's hand covering his stomach and the knife...it's dripping blood.

"Get away from me! Get it away from me! Someone, please, it's here! Allison, one of them is in here!"

"Kyle!" Allison can't worry about Laura right now, she can't think, as Kyle stumbles into the ground, not reaching the pew in time, and his hand stops covering his wound and she must've hit something important because blood is pouring out faster than Allison can move. Allison falls on her knees next to him, she rips off the sleeves off his shirt, they're long, and she can tie them together. She has to try something. She's not a medic. She's not a doctor. She just knows she has to stop the blood - Laura didn't just stab him once, she can't see all of them but she can feel the puncture wounds. There are more than just one. She has to stop it before they can smell it. "Kyle, I need you to apply pressure here. Damn it, I need something thicker. I need a pair of scissors, a knife, anything, damn it!"

Hannah is the one who responds to her, giving her a knife that she assumes belonged to Brian, and Allison cuts Kyle's jeans, using a small piece of it as a patch while she ties the sleeves around the wound. Some time between her tying it and still applying pressure, Hannah took Kyle's head onto her lap, slapping his cheek to keep him from falling asleep...and never waking up.

Allison then risks looking back where Pete has Laura, her arms behind her back, tears running down her cheek as she realizes her actions. "It was one of them! I thought he was one of them! I woke up and, I saw it, but it wasn't him, it was one of them!" She keeps screaming, trying to break free from Pete's grip but he has one arm around her neck now and Allison wants to tell him to let her go, he's probably hurting her, but she can't force herself to.

When she turns to look at Kyle, he's pale, barely breathing and he smiles, his eyes on Allison, "Can I ask a favor?"

"Sure," Allison smiles back, biting back the tears, and leans close to him so he doesn't have to talk too loud.

He coughs, a drop of blood on his lip, "Ask your boyfriend to get me a good room. With my sister."

Allison bites her lip. She can save him. She has to. "You can be forgiven, Kyle. Whatever you have done, you can...repent. I'm not a priest, but there are ways..." to buy your way into heaven, she almost says. She knows what indulgences are, though she always thought God knew better than forgive someone putting a price on a sin, but then, what are sin-eaters, and why do such myths exist? It's too bad she doesn't know any sin-eaters. She can think of a lot of people that would need one right now. But Kyle? She doesn't know what he has done to think he deserves a first-class ticket to hell.

"None of that matters," he coughs again and, this time, when Allison sees his teeth, she sees blood on them. "I don't regret it," Allison notices he's looking at Laura as he speaks. Laura, who has fallen on her knees, unable to carry her own weight at the realization of her actions. "I love my sister," his eyes are starting to get glazed, he's looking at the ceiling, "I love her," he's having trouble breathing now, and Allison moves away as Laura crawls towards him. She leans in, kisses him softly, on the lips, and Allison can tell, by the way his hands hit the floor - lifeless - that he's dead.

Allison is about to cover her mouth until she realizes they're covered in blood, his blood, and she wipes it off her pants, though that only does so much. Brian stands by Hannah, who no longer has Kyle on her lap as Laura pulled his lifeless body to her and is now clinging to it like it's her only lifeline.

Incest. No one says it, no one would dare to, but it makes sense. It's a sin that has no forgiveness, none that Allison can think of, though part of her hopes - and maybe this means she's been spending too much time with Lucifer - that if Eve came from Adam, they were kin, in their own way, so why would that be unforgivable if God made it so?

Because man wrote that, while it happened, it was not supposed to and many were not conscious of said sin while committing it. It's wrong because so it is written.

Worse than that, Allison knows that Laura has now killed her own brother - a sin she is all too familiar with - and like Cain and Abel, that is a mark that never leaves you.

Allison accepts Pete's hand when he offers it, so she can stand, and he hands her Laura's knife, which she takes, without another thought.

She looks through the window - sunset, probably - and still no sign of John. She knows they're not going to sleep tonight - who would, after that? - and she feels...there are many nights to come.

None of them are safe.


Author's Afterword: I should mention I am no advocate to incest, so I hope my use of it in this fic does not offend anyone, but it's not uncommon, sadly...and it's not often willing. I have heard stories from people and I'm always saddened by how much guilt they carry when, most of the time, it wasn't their fault, and while people condemn that harshly, I often hope it's something that can be forgiven...but that's just me, the idealist. This chapter was hard to write because of it, because I knew I had to write it honestly, by the rules of the bible and catholic church, rather than my idealism. As for Jophiel's relationship with Lou, well, I confess I did take liberties with that. I mean, in my mind, angels aren't subjected to the same rules as humans and being that they don't envy, don't lust, don't feel any of the emotions that easily lead down to a sin (unless you're a fallen), then any love they feel would be pure. But, again, that could just be my idealism!