P. Chapter 9
"Wait," I said trying to keep up with the hoard of angels. Unlike them, I still had a human body. "How are we corporeal and in Heaven?" I asked no one in particular.
"Heaven at the moment is very close to the Earth, and this is before Heaven really splits from the human world," Cas replied. I decided then to keep the two Castiel's separate, mine would be Cas and the other Castiel. Anyway, I don't think this time's Castiel would enjoy the nickname.
It was very sudden. The angels sped up again, and the few higher ranked in the front started whispering back and forth. Being so far in the back, I couldn't hear, but I could tell whatever was going on was freaking the angels out. Slowly, Cas dropped back to join me, and I knew I was right. Something was wrong.
"Lucifer is nearby," Cas explained, his gaze meeting mine. He said this without much emotion while I felt my heart jump into my throat. "Your little time jump apparently attracted his attention."
"Like I don't have enough things chasing me," I grumbled. "What are the angels planning? Leave me here?"
Cas blinked like I said the most outrageous thing. "No," he responded. "If need be we fight him off."
"Fight Lucifer off?" I asked. "In the future, you guys are freaking out about him, but now you want to go hand to hand with him?"
"We beat him in this time," Cas replied. "The arch angels will be strong enough to at least push him back."
"Remind me never to put my chips with angels," I sighed, but of course, Cas didn't get my analogy. "I'm slightly exhausted… I won't be able to fight up to my normal standards."
"Don't…" Cas didn't get the chance to finish.
All of the angels I was currently flying with were knocked from the air. Crashing into what was the ground of Heaven hurt, but I refused to stay down for long. Like the rest of the angels, I pushed myself back up to find we were surrounded by what I assumed were angels following Lucifer. Each angel around me drew a weapon- blades mostly. Thankfully, Cas handed me a blade, but I could only stare open-mouthed at him. Seriously, I was never trained to handle a weapon like this; plus, I didn't exactly want to take on one of the greatest arch angels of all time.
"So what are God's pathetic soldiers doing so far from the nest?" I heard one of the darker angels ask. Whoever it was stepped forward until I could see him. By far, he was the brightest angel I had ever seen which led me to believe that this angel was Lucifer.
"You are not welcomed here Lucifer," Gabriel responded. Well, that proved my theory.
"Dear sister," he sighed stepping closer and forcing the angels to raise their weapons. "I am an angel, this is Heaven."
Even from where I stood- in the middle of the group-, I could sense a change in the air. Whatever was about to happen, it wasn't going to be good. Searching with my eyes, I was able to meet what I thought was Lucifer's gaze. Human features didn't exist here, but somehow I could feel his eyes meet mine and a smile grace his features. A second after that, I felt the entire group being shoved to the ground. Lucifer was strong…
"But I'm not here for you sister," Lucifer joked stepping over the angels who were still trying to get back to their feet.
The arch angel stopped directly in front of me just as I forced myself to sit up. Keeping my fear in check, I looked up at the bright angel and gulped down the vomit in my throat. The angel reached down and attempted to grab me, but I rolled out of his grasp. Quickly, I got to my feet; my blade hanging next to my thigh. I really didn't want to raise it unless I had to. Deciding to be smart, I pulled my wings from sight. The last thing I needed was for Lucifer to break one of them.
"A human?" Lucifer frowned. "Not even dead… What is this thing doing here?" His eyes seemed to bore into me, and I refused to answer him. I could feel his eyes flicker up then down my form. "Well, well, well," he laughed stepping towards me. The rest of the angels had finally gotten back up, but Lucifer's followers were keeping them busy. I was on my own. "A half-breed. Human and angel… If I remember right, nephilim is what we call abominations like you."
"Rachel," I growled. "My name is Rachel." Not thinking about how much power I had used today, I shoved my hand out and pushed Lucifer back. To my shock, it worked; Lucifer flew back a few feet. Not being ready for my attack, he was unable to catch his footing and fell on his back. Afterwards, I panted- the excursion of just using a little grace was overwhelming. Time jumping equals not good for grace and energy.
"Well the nephilim has tricks," Lucifer said once he was back on his feet. "Too bad I have better ones." With a single wave of his hand, I flew back more than twenty feet and nailed the ground- hard.
During my unexpected flight, I had dropped the blade, and now, I had no way to defend myself. Not even my grace could compare to Lucifer's. Unusual that I went back in time to die by the hands of an angel, but not only that, one that was rebelling against God.
"Stop being a teenager," I hissed getting back to my feet. I refused to be kicked when I was down. Lucifer somehow was only five feet from me again. He moved much faster than I could keep up with.
"I'm shocked that the angels haven't killed you yet," he spoke, his blade sitting teasingly against his shoulder.
"What can I say?" I shrugged. "They just loved my personality."
"Lets see how they like it when you're dead," Lucifer said done playing games with my head. He moved to attack me, and I tried again to push the arch angel away. He was ready for it and only skidded back a few feet.
God, I was so tired. All I wanted to do now was lay down and hope this was all a dream. I only saw Lucifer's blade rising, and I knew I was dead. There was no way to block his weapon. That was probably why I was shocked when I didn't feel the blade cutting through me. Opening my eyes, I watched as Cas started to defend me. Wow, he was good with a sword. Thankfully, Gabriel appeared and started to help Cas as well. The two of them combined, and Lucifer's followers pulling back, the two angels were able to force Lucifer to leave.
"You alright?" Cas asked walking to my right side.
I was panting hard, and I couldn't keep it down any longer. On the sacred ground of heaven, I threw up the turkey sandwich. It was a mix of meat and blood. Before I had the chance to collapse to my knees, Cas grasped my right arm and kept me on my feet.
"I'm tired," I finally said looking at the angels who were fascinated by what I pulled from my stomach.
"Can you fly?" Cas asked not bothered nor fascinated by my stomach contents.
"I can try…" Pulling out my wings again, I hissed at the pain. Even my wings were causing me discomfort. I didn't even get the chance to take to the air because Cas ended up sighing and picking me up. To make things more comfortable, I pulled my wings from sight and allowed Cas to carry me.
It was nice to be able to keep up with the angels now even though it was because Cas was carrying me. Gabriel flew close as did Castiel. I didn't think I was that interesting.
"How'd you do it?" Gabriel eventually asked. My blank look caused her to continue. "Jump time, push Lucifer away?"
"Wish I knew," I laughed. "How do you fight with two blades?"
"One in each hand," she replied.
"Angels have sarcasm?" I grinned. I liked this Gabriel. "I mean, how did you learn?"
"I could teach you," she offered. "You might be stuck here until you figure why you transported Castiel and yourself back here or you find a way to reverse it."
"Thanks," I said to Gabriel before turning to Cas. Looking up at him, I sighed, "Thanks for saving my life."
Cas only looked down, and I wanted to smack the angel. Did it really kill the guy for a smile, or even a "no problem?" Seriously, if I ever got the chance to talk to God, I'd be like 'what the fuck? Why can't angels have feelings?' Maybe I'd leave the fuck out though.
Finally, I saw our destination. It was literally a stairway to what seemed like a palace. It truly was gorgeous here. When we landed by the gates, Cas set me down, and we were swarmed by all kinds of angels. Most had felt the power jump and were immediately curious about me. Apparently in this time, nephilim didn't really exist. There were probably only a few and none like me. It didn't help that Cas was in a human vessel. It was weird that these angels found humans to be so "perfect" just because God said he created us in his image.
"What do you think?" Suriel asked. I just looked at the angel, slightly missing her human form.
"Beautiful," I replied trying not to look to awe-struck.
"We don't get guests often," she continued as we walked into the palace of sorts. "At least not of your kind."
I glared in response and said, "It would help if you didn't threaten to kill them when they appeared."
"Do you need to sleep?" Cas interrupted before a fight broke out.
"I have to," I sighed with a shrug. "It's the only way for my body and grace to restore themselves."
"Since we don't sleep, you will just have to camp out on the floor."
"Fine with me. Point me where it's okay." After I had settled against a nearby wall, I fell asleep listening to Cas explaining what exactly happened to land us here… In other words, the Nephilim screwed up and shot both of us back a few thousand years.
. . . .
After what seemed like an eternity, I opened my eyes to find that I was mostly alone. A single angel was left in the room, and I wanted to kill myself. Of everyone that could be left to watch me, it had to be Uriel. 'Smite me now,' I sighed as I stretched out and forced myself to stand.
"Awake Nephilim?" Uriel asked without turning to face me.
"No," I replied smugly. "I'm sleep walking." I knew I was asking for it the second the angel got in my face. Even in this time period, we didn't like each other. It probably didn't help that I was always egging the prick on, but I couldn't care less. He really was a prick.
"Enough you two," Gabriel scolded walking into the room. "Are you well rested Rachel?"
"Yes," I said through gritted teeth not taking my eyes of Uriel.
"Then come," she motioned and left the room with me only a few feet behind her.
"Where are we going?"
"You said you wanted to learn how to fight with two blades. Might as well start now," she shrugged, and I felt some excitement. I was in Heaven about to be taught by an arch angel. Maybe the time jumping thing wasn't so bad.
"Where's Cas?" I asked not seeing the angel anyway among the hundreds of other angels we seemed to be passing. "My Cas," I quickly elaborated.
"Outside most likely," she responded. "He is going to help me."
"At least Uriel isn't," I sighed.
"Oh he is…"
Seriously God, smite me? Gabriel led me outside to a flat area raised slightly. It seemed like a training area as weapons surrounded it, and Cas, Suriel, and Uriel was waiting. How Uriel got out here so fast, I'll never know. These angels have that magic teleport power, I swear.
Gabriel ushered me to the platform where Uriel was standing, holding a blade. She handed me a dulled blade before explaining that I had to start with a single blade before moving up to two. There was no Go, no on your mark… Uriel just rushed me, and I attempted to block his attack. His first swing I was able to stop, but he spun the blade and hit me against the ribs. I began coughing as I was sure he just cracked a rib.
"Block Rachel," I heard one of the angels say from the sidelines.
I wanted to respond with a 'no, duh,' but Uriel came at me again. I was able to block a few, but then, he landed a blow to my back and sent me sprawling. I think the angel was enjoying this too much. More than anything, I wanted to throw the idiot of the platform with my grace, but where did learning to fight with blades come in? Being tired of getting my ass kicked, I spun onto my back and tripped the prick. So maybe I didn't know blade fighting, but I was damn good at hand to hand combat- thank my step-father for that.
"Enough Uriel," Gabriel called from the side. "Allow Castiel to try now. Rachel I'm curious to see your hand to hand experience before we continue with weapons training."
Grinning, I tossed the blade to the ground and watched Cas step on the platform. This was too good to be true. What other chance would I get to kick this angel's ass? Placing my right foot behind my left and pulling my fists up to protect my face, I waited for the angel to make the first move. Since he didn't move, I decided to. Stepping forward, I threw my fist out which Castiel ducked, but I doubled it with an upper cut catching the angel in the chin. I wasn't going to relent either. I brought up my leg and kicked the idiot across the side, but he was able to catch it. Only I smiled, spun on my free heel, and brought my free leg up and kicked the angel. I fell to the ground, but I caught myself on my hands before going into a combat roll and getting back on my feet.
"Come on Cas," I taunted. "Please tell me this isn't all you got?"
This time Cas made the first move with a right hook which I sidestepped and grabbed his wrist. Sadly, he was quick and was able to grab and twist my arm. My back was pressed against his chest with my own arm wrapped around my neck. He used his other free hand to twist my other hand into a useless position, and to finish it off, he place one of his legs in between mine effectively rendering me incapable of a defense.
"Far from it," he responded.
"Good," I grinned. "Because I'm just warming up." Throwing my head back, I nailed Cas's nose and broke free of his hold. Right after, I jumped in the air and performed a spinning kick. Seriously having a father that was a marine had its benefits. He wanted to be sure that I could defend myself, so I spent ten years in karate and then learned some from him.
We kept sparring for a few more minutes; although Cas was a pretty ok fighter, I grew bored and wanted to finish the fight. When he got in close for another attack, I was able to slip him into a headlock and jammed my knee into his stomach. Grabbing his hair, I brought my knee up into his face, and with that, he fell flat onto his back. Not being able to help myself, I straddled his waist and glared down at him.
"Yield?" I panted. The excursion was still exhausting- good fighter or no.
Cas refused to answer, and I sighed. It was obvious I won, but he didn't want to admit I was his better fine. Just before I stood, I heard Cas mumble underneath his breath, "yield."
Smiling, I stood up and offered my hand. Once I helped him to his feet, Gabriel clapped. She seemed impressed by my close combat skills, but that didn't mean she was going to relent in my training. Once Cas stepped off the platform, she stepped up and tossed me my blade. Not only was I receiving weapon's training now, but she was going to teach me to better control my grace… I moaned, but it was cut short as Gab attacked me.
Being trained by some of the best angels was a real privilege. Sure I hated angels, but in this time period, Nephilims had yet to become hated to the point of killing. Most angels were just fascinated by the fact I was half and half. Which is why when I was given the chance, I flew down to Earth.
Earth before humanity overran it is a grand sight. The place was mostly forests, wild animals, and pure water. Currently, I was sitting on a stone in the middle of some meadow. In the distance, deer were eating, and I couldn't take my eyes off of them. It was only when an apple dropped into my lap did I tear my eyes away.
"Thanks Cas," I laughed taking the apple and taking a bite. "Please don't tell me this is the sacred fruit," I asked after I had already chewed and swallowed.
"Just an apple," he replied taking a seat next to me.
"It's been weeks Cas," I sighed, "and I still haven't found a way for us to get back. Can't you take us back?"
"I've told you Rachel, somehow I'm being blocked from taking us back to the future. I believe you're doing it unknowingly."
"Why?"
"For whatever reason you brought us here…"
"And that is what I don't know…" I took another bite of the apple and continued to gaze silently out over the meadows. "Why haven't you told Dean?" I finally asked.
Cas just stared at me, tilting his head- the tilt he used when he didn't understand something.
"I hear the angels speaking," I explained seeing no reason to withhold that information anymore. "I know what Dean did in Hell, and I know that he is the reason that the first seal was broken."
Cas remained silent.
"If he finds this out from another source, it'll break him Cas," I said getting to my feet. "Tell him or I will." Our eyes locked, and I knew Cas could see I was telling the utter truth. The gaze didn't break until Cas blinked.
"A battle…" He didn't elaborate.
"Lucifer?"
"Most likely."
"Let's not keep him waiting." My wings sprouted, and I took to the air. More than anything, I wanted to help the angels push Lucifer from Heaven. Gabriel had helped my fighting exceptionally, and I was thrilled to see how it would do in actual combat. Still, this was Lucifer, so I felt fear curling in my stomach…
Chapter 10 Preview: The battle for Heaven and the two main characters are stuck directly in the middle. Rachel is only a Nephilim while Cas is stuck in a human vessel for the moment. Will the two be able to fight by each others' sides without killing one another? Or will they both fall in one of the greatest battles of all time?
OOC: Well, I felt nice and decided to post another chapter. Plus I wanted to put a Rachel vs. Castiel fight in here. Don't get the wrong idea- Rachel isn't super powerful, but in hand to hand combat, Rachel has the advantage. Thank-you to everyone who has reviewed… Well Read and Review and I'll update faster!!!
