Sophia's Chronicles

A/N:

Hey guys! So sorry it took me so long to update, life happened. But don't worry, you are not forgotten. I had a bit of a writing block but I am also on a writing binge right now so you can expect somewhat of regular posting until I get to the end of season 6. Please remember to drop a review and tell me what you think. It really goes a long way!

Chapter 27: The Eye of Khaos

The sound of human conversation was a constant rumble in the background. It was a stark contrast to my normal setting: a quiet house in the middle of nowhere, the more comforting noises being those of birds chirping and plants growing. Yet this was a necessary change in environment, and only one reason justified my unorthodox visit to a centre of human population – a craving for strawberry cheesecake. Dammit, Zara. I didn't blame my vessel for this; she and I were pregnant, together. It was just unfortunate that I had to give in to her taste buds. There was a lot about being pregnant that was new, from the occasional loss of powers, to the giddiness, the nausea, the emotions, and most recently, the food cravings.

"Would you like anything else, ma'am?" a blonde waitress asked.

"I'll also have the avocado milkshake. And some pancakes while you're at it." Just a little more wouldn't hurt. The purpose of my visit to this roadside diner also extended to a meeting. My guest was taking a bit longer than expected, but he showed up when I began my milkshake.

"Sorry I'm late, there was a personal emergency." Hassiel's gaze flickered hesitantly.

"Are you alright?" I leaned forward in my chair, paying close attention.

"Yeah, it's not me. It's…" More hesitation. "I have kids."

I almost choked on my drink. "You do?" I tried my best to keep a neutral expression, but I had so many questions. "Who's the lucky angel?"

"Human, actually." When I didn't speak, his eyebrows furrowed.

"I'm not judging you," I reassured him. "It's… your choice. So, nephilim children?"

"Sarah-Jane and Joseph. Sarah's twenty years old and Joseph's ten." He showed me pictures on his phone. Sarah had auburn hair with green eyes and the dimpled cheeks of a sweet young girl. Joseph took after his father, the brown hair and blue eyes evidence of the resemblance. I'd heard that the Grigori had procreated with the humans some time after the fall and that God sent for the nephilim to be killed. What was I doing at the time? Right, distracting myself from the heat of Hellfire with the search for the fragments, and alienating myself from Lucifer. A pang of disappointment gnawed at me for being so cut off from everyone else, but now I had my chance to be more concerned about my angel family. And Hass was my friend. I respected his judgment.

"Cute kids. When can I meet them?" I smiled. He sighed in relief, returning the gesture.

"Well… that was the emergency. Sarah-Jane wants to leave. Build a life for herself. Go to UCLA, get a job, blend in with the humans." He rested his face on a hand, propping an elbow on the table.

"And?"

"And it's dangerous! She's a nephil, and you know how Heaven feels about them. What if they try to kill her? She's safer with me. And Joseph will miss her. Does she really need to go that far?" Another sigh, but in dismay.

"Sounds like you're afraid of letting go. There comes a point in every parent's life when they have to let their children go, be themselves…" I paused. I thought about my son. He would grow up. He would throw fits, want to break away, be his own archangel. I would have to stop being motherly. I already felt concerned about letting go of a child I hadn't even birthed yet. "Your daughter is a human soul powered by angel grace. It doesn't get stronger than that. I'm sure she can hold her own in a fight. Did you train her?"

"Yes, I did."

"Then you don't have to be afraid. Unless you're just worried you'll miss her."

"There's no avoiding that, or her impulse to roam free in the world." Hass seemed pretty upset. It was understandable.

"I suppose that at some point, you'll just have to trust that she'll be okay, Hass. Either way, I'm here if you, or any of your kids need anything." I dug into the pancakes. "How's Balthazaar doing with the weapons?"

"He has them safe. I check on him every week or so. What should we do with them?"

"Just keep them safe until we need them."

"How are we doing on the Purgatory front?"

"There's been a bit of a detour. I'm trying to infiltrate Crowley's Hell and find out his plan so that I can put an end to it once and for all."

"Why, though? Can't you just kill him and take the throne?"

"All good questions. Thing is, having a child isn't very conducive for power-grabbing moves like that, apparently. My powers experience temporary lapses sometimes, so they're unreliable for a battle. I could try and hope for the best, but should I really take the chance?"

"I see. How is it working out?"

"Crowley seems to trust me." I stirred the foam on the surface of my milkshake with a straw. "On an unrelated note, do you know how I could open the cage?"

"Let me think…" he stroked his chin, his thoughtful eyes wandering into the distance in contemplation. "The only ways known to open the cage are the 66 seals and the horsemen's rings. Lilith is already dead, so the 66 seals can't be used again. The horsemen's rings, well, you'd have to find them and I suspect that Death can't be kept away from his."

I could ask Death for a favour, but then again he doesn't like Lucifer that much. And I didn't think that fluttering my eyelids was going to convince him. "Are there ways that are unknown?"

Hassiel gulped. "I've only heard rumours…"

"What is it?"

He took a deep breath. "In ancient Mesopotamia, it was said that a Sumerian nun hid herself away in a cave after having 'visions of Darkness'. She devoted her whole life to figuring out the dark mysteries of curses, which could include opening the cage. Her grimoire, the Book of the Damned, is lost to time, and the fact of its truth unknown."

It was worth a try. But where would I begin? That would take a while to figure out. For now, I had to stick to the original plan and do this on my own time. "I'll look into it. Thank you for your help." I got up to leave.

Hassiel handed me a large brown envelope. "This is regarding that other matter that we talked about." I nodded, and we parted ways.


Light streamed from a window into my study, a room configured so similarly to my former home in Heaven that Lucifer must have thought that I would miss home. I used a silver letter opener to cleanly through the seal and pulled out a report – Hassiel had gotten me a case of humans discovering dangerous knowledge. A top-secret government research facility, investigating the properties of anti-matter. It had advanced well beyond what was expected from the scientific establishments in this day and age, and was operating under the utmost levels of security and secrecy. The scientists were getting close to a breakthrough, which meant that they were about to violate the laws of the universe. Matter and anti-matter were never supposed to coexist in the same universe, me being the only exception since God had stabilised me before I could harm anything or anyone or be harmed.

This would be a start in my quest to engineer a shift in human civilisation. Destroy their work on subjects they don't understand enough to use safely, and then make them dependent on me for their advancement. I liked the sound of that. Anyway, this was my duty – to keep information such as this from getting into the wrong hands.

Trespassers will be prosecuted, read a sign on the wired fence. Today, I will prosecute them for trespassing the laws of the universe. Cameras were everywhere, though the path to the actual facility was surrounded by trees, a convincing cover from human eyes. The building was four floors high, but any angel could tell that the actual work was being done underground since the air pressure on the surface of the earth would not be high enough for experimental work to be done with anti-matter. Eight floors underground, I found the laboratories.

Scientists whizzed about in lab coats. Several rooms with peculiar machinery were inhabited by them. Whiteboards were full of theoretical calculations. At the end of the hallway, there was one giant lab and that's where I found it – a makeshift portal. They'd been feeding the machine that made up the frame of the portal neutrinos and photons in an attempt to get them to join back into anti-matter, a move that could tear a hole in space and time. The scientists had donned hazmat suits in this lab, a precautionary measure due to the ionising gamma radiation that could be emitted. I observed invisibly for a while, curious as to how they went about their experiments.

"Test number 41. Load up the emitters," ordered one scientist. A loud 'whoosh' sounded, followed by a low rumble. Lights fixed around the portal flickered, an indication that the equipment was working correctly. The rumble increased in its volume, and with a deafening crack a fracture appeared on the wall. This must have been unexpected, because the scientists began throwing up their hands and celebrating. Was it me? Did my coming here increase their odds of making progress? I did have anti-matter essence, an unkind reminder of my place in this universe.

"Test number 42. Crank up the emitters by 20%." I had to do something. I went over to the emitters, two large machines placed side by side with large keyboards and a myriad of buttons, each with corresponding lights. I placed my hands on them, trying to overload them. The machines vibrated with an abnormal frequency, causing the scientists to back off in alarm while sparks flew. Any time now… I was waiting for the whole contraption to meet a violent end. Sirens blared. Humans panicked. The lights turned into an ominous shade of red. The humans were beginning to evacuate into a safe observational area, unwilling to leave with their lives even when faced with a possibly fatal sign of the paranormal. It left more fun for me. The rumble appeared again and this time it diffused with an even louder crack, practically blowing up the part of the wall confined by the portal.

A dark void appeared. To the humans, it would appear as though wind was blowing out from the portal, when in fact the motive force extended both inwards and outwards of the portal. Did they really do it? Did they open up a portal to the anti-matter universe? I had to see for myself. With a hand nervously extended outwards, I approached the portal. If this was really what I thought it was, I would see a place I tried so hard to put out of my memory since the beginning of time. My heart raced at suggestions of what I might find. Did I really want to know? Images floated in my mind of torture and pain. I felt myself growing weak. My hand froze inches away from the void. I hadn't even noticed my own heavy breathing until then.

The surface of the portal was shiny and ripples formed on it, like water. I saw my own reflection, distorted by the regularly-occurring waves. It looked strangely familiar, but I couldn't quite put my finger on where I'd seen this texture before. As I stared into the deep abyss of the void, what I could have sworn were eyes became bigger and bigger. That's when I recognised the shape of a figure, not growing larger but in fact coming towards me, at a speed that was even unknown to me. I staggered backwards, a gasp escaping my lips. The figure walked through the void, a shiny black substance coating its form. What the hell are you?

Even after exiting the portal, the figure continued towards me. I took another step back, finding that there was a lower platform behind me a bit too late. I felt myself falling backwards and closing my eyes to wait for the impact. But it never came. My hands held onto something solid. Something that held me back. The hands gently pulled me back onto my feet. Confused, I opened my eyes and observed the figure before me. 'It' was a genderless being, with the universal form shared by humans and angels alike, and it was composed of a black substance. "Be careful, don't want to hurt the baby, do you?" It spoke, its voice a distorted murmur.

"Who are you?"

"Don't recognise me in this form?" I said nothing. "Khaos."

"This-This is you?" I stammered. "You looked really different the last time."

"I have no form, no gender to speak of. This is merely an emanation of the fabric that I am, a representation to communicate with you."

"W-What are you doing here?"

"Same reason as you. Taking dangerous toys out of the hands of an infant." Something resembling a smile appeared on its face.

"How did you know why I'm here?"

"Oh dear Sophia…" It began. "We are intimately connected in a way that cannot be described. It is no mere coincidence that we are both here." It gestured towards the curious humans. "Shall we?"

I allowed Khaos to take the lead, still taken aback by this meeting. Khaos smashed the glass that separated the observation room and the lab. Humans screamed. Long filamentous appendages extended from Khaos' form and impaled the humans, causing instantaneous death. Some humans scrambled for the door, hands shaking as they unlocked the door and ran through the hallway. Khaos placed a foot on a dead human and turned to me. "Well, don't just stand there."

I appeared before the sprinting humans, abruptly halting their escape. More screams ensued as I grabbed one of them by the neck and twisted it. I drove my hand through a woman and exploded another. Just as I turned to look for more victims, I felt a tingle at the back of my head. I turned around slowly. The frightened man dropped the fire extinguisher, hands shaking like leaves. The look of despair on his face was pathetic as I reached into his chest and pulled out his heart, feeling blood spurt all over me. This got messier than I'd expected.

A sudden bang caused me to jump. It was unlike any kind of sound I had known – louder, deeper, and again with the distortion. Then another bang followed. This went on and on for a while. I traversed back down the hallway towards the noise. The sounds alternated between the left and right sides of the hallway, possibly coming from the various rooms on this floor. Then, silence. The air was still. Like a phantom, Khaos appeared again before me. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

"Pfft… I wasn't startled." I'm an archangel, a mighty force of Heaven. I do not get startled.

"Right." It paused. "The humans have been taken care of. Their files destroyed. The capacity for reaching this information stunted to last at least a few millennia. Your work here is done. Though I must say, it must be annoying to have such minute creatures pose a threat to the whole universe in such a manner."

"Woah, woah, hold on a minute. I'm just supposed to take your word for it? Show me."

It stared blankly at me. Or I thought it did. I couldn't make out an expression. Had I offended it? Before I could react, it grabbed my hand and pulled me forward, bringing me to a room. Scorch marks lined the walls and the floor, some in the shape of humans. Clumps of charred remains were melded to equally burnt had set off a mini-explosion in each room, destroying everyone and everything in its way. But that wasn't all. I tuned my senses to look for information wavelength and… nothing. Not a wave of knowledge flowed here. It was practically an information vacuum. This kind of destruction made me uncomfortable. Only time could heal such a location.

"Do you believe me now?"

I nodded. I watched as a hole opened up in Khaos' eye socket, and a white crystal appeared. It plucked it out of its form, and handed it to me. "What is that?"

"This is a crystal I fashioned for you. It contains all the souls of the humans we just killed. You may use it to power yourself. Take it as a gift."

I held the crystal in my palm. It had a round shape, with a black ovular colour in the centre, resembling an eye. "Why are you giving me this?"

"You do need souls, don't you?" It didn't wait for my answer. "It's just a show of good faith for what's to come. I hope you remember your debt to me, Sophia."

"I remember that you want something of me, but I don't understand what you think I owe you or why."

Its obsidian hands took mine as it led me back to the hallway. Its skin felt like nothing – neither hot nor cold, neither smooth nor rough. Really, I had no words to describe it. It was everything at once. "There is a reason to this… confusion."

"What confusion?"

"The confusion that is your past, your present and your future. It is a tale as old as time. A secret unknown to even God and Amara. An unanswerable question. I suppose the first step to understanding it is to understand yourself, which you are not destined to do at this point in time."

I rolled my eyes. I was getting impatient. "Time is relative."

"It truly is. Events in time are relative to one another. As are truths that you seek. I advise you to be patient, and all will be revealed. Just have faith in me. It has always worked for you."

"Always? But I've only just met you."

"You have, but you aren't the only you. I've known you for a long time, Sophia, and every single time certain things about you have been constant. Your flair for wisdom and guidance, your capacity for love, and your equal capacity for destruction."

What it said seemed so far from my understanding. I guess the only way to find out more was to play along. "And in all those times, I've been indebted to you?"

"In one way or another, yes."

"Have I ever refused to fulfil this debt?"

"Yes, a few times."

"And what happened?"

"Everything died." A chill spread across my chest. We both remained silent as we headed back to the portal, which was still open. My initial question resurfaced to mind.

"Does that lead to the antimatter universe?"

Its hand paused, halfway through the portal already, as it turned to me for one last time. "That would be too easy. And dangerous. This is the wall that separates both universes. It is the void in which I reside."


What the hell just happened? I looked at the crystal –the Eye of Khaos. I felt the power of the souls within it pulsing in my hand, aching to be released. I ran my thumb over the black spot in the centre. With a low, resonant hum, the Eye glowed. Like a touch of lightning, I felt the souls flow through me, energising me. Oh, I felt the power. It was intoxicating. But then, the feeling began to fade. Wha-What's happening? The feeling of souls faded as soon as it appeared. I concentrated on the feeling, trying hard to hold on to it. It wasn't flowing away from me – it remained within me. It just wasn't powering my essence. With a bit of inference, I figured what was stealing my soul-power away from me. Or rather who. "We could at least share, son." I sighed.

At least now I had a way of harvesting souls. Time to go on a mass murder spree? Wouldn't be very conducive for staying low-profile and out of Raphael's radar. But this was a start. Maybe now Castiel will give up on Purgatory. Sometimes I find myself thinking that it would be easier to just explode the guy, but apparently Lucifer pulled the same thing and 'God brought him back'. Who was I to mess with God's executive decision? Wait, that's why I fell. Even then, Castiel was the poster child for this war. Without him, there wouldn't be a war to begin with. So I'd still have to work on convincing him that I had a better option. Partnerships suck.