Sophia's Chronicles
A/N:
This chapter covers scenes from Mommy Dearest, S6E19, and The Man Who Would Be King, S6E20. Btw, it's no coincidence that I chose to upload this today, the very Thursday of the season 12 finale. Hope you enjoy it
Chapter 30: The Angel of Thursday
I gasped. This wasn't supposed to happen. Not to her, my beautiful, intelligent, caring Eve. I warned her to be wary of the hunters but alas, she was naïve. My heart sank as I caressed her cheek. It was stained with blackish blood, similar to the Leviathans she lived with in Purgatory. All that potential that I saw in her the first time we met – it was trust well-kept and matured. But they had taken it all from her. This attack was… absurdly personal. A whiff from the empty bullet casing on the counter reached me in the small space of the diner. Phoenix ash. That's a lot of trouble to go through, considering that phoenixes were rare creatures.
Earlier, Eve had contacted me out of the blue, mentioning only one name: Ryan Silver. It was the name of her latest creation, a beast in the guise of a small boy. The urgency in her telepathic message suggested that it was important. Without hesitation, I called for a demon who knew his way around computers and databases to find me this child and soon enough, I had a few addresses. I went down the list personally, determined to find the boy and see to it that Eve's plan would be fulfilled. The first two addresses didn't turn out to be much. Just happy, wholesome families who were going about their daily businesses.
The third had "beast" written all over it. In blood. Among the clutter and pools of blood I found the mutilated bodies of a man and a woman, presumably Mr and Mrs Silver. The kids were nowhere to be found. Despite the general mess, a family photo remained upright on a table. My palm moved left and right on the glass, wiping the blood away to reveal the whole family – Mr and Mrs Silver, two boys and another man who could have been a close relative. The steady noise of typing sounded as the IT demon tapped away on his laptop. "The boys' uncle, Your Highness," the demon reported. Within seconds I had an address. It was a slim chance that I would find the children at their uncle's house, but it seemed like the best lead to work with.
Just as I was about to flap my wings, an uncomfortable wave of energy hit me. It wasn't overwhelming and didn't affect me that much, but the energy signature was familiar. It was Eve. She was dying. My jaw clenched. This can't be happening. Not when we are so close to getting Crowley. Denial would do me no good. She was dead. Though I never really had the chance to bond with Eve, I still felt a kinship to her, a loyalty for obeying me in the Garden. I could go visit the scene of her death now and show her killers my wrath. But I remembered what she told me mere moments before she died – to protect the boy. Sending the demons that accompanied me to scour for the location of her death, I went alone to Ryan's uncle's house.
The dark interior of the house was as silent as the Silvers'. Sprawled on the carpet in front of the fireplace, I found the uncle, eaten or bitten or both. They had to be here. "Ryan?" I called out. When no one answered, I scanned for anything unusual. The smell of death permeated the air. Following it, I came upon a door. Please don't be… I opened the door. … dead. There they were, the two young boys. I sighed. Clean stab wounds to the chest. The blood coating the younger one's mouth suggested that he was Ryan. How did this happen? I found my answer upon closer inspection of the surroundings. Sulfur. Crowley's demons had somehow gotten to Ryan. How could he have known? Even I didn't know until Eve told me, and judging from her tone, she would have gone the extra mile to keep the existence of the boy a secret.
I pressed the bridge of my nose with two fingers. My phone rang. The demons found her. That was when I entered the diner while the demons waited outside. The scene was a bloodbath with creatures of her latest design. A slow rock ballad played in the background from the jukebox, setting the melancholic atmosphere of this destruction. And there she was, lifeless on the floor in the vessel of the virgin girl they used to summon her in. With a heavy heart, I stood back up and looked across the diner. What struck me as odd was the lack of sulfur. I walked over to a dead creature slumped onto a table in a booth and lifted his head by his hair. Assessing the damage, I found burnt insides and small-scale explosions. There was only one kind of being that could cause this – angels. And here I thought everything was going well with Castiel.
I couldn't leave the body here for Crowley to find. I carried her on my shoulders to my garden, where I buried her in a grove of trees. "As you created in life, you shall continue to do so in death," I whispered, as I laid her to rest. When the soil covered up the grave that I'd dug, an assortment of plants and fungi grew over it, demarcating the final resting place of Eve on Earth.
Accessing alternate universes? That had to require some pretty obscure materials right? Apparently Balthazaar, on Castiel's command, had managed to send the Winchesters to one and Raphael sent his aide, Virgil, to get a key from them. From what Balthazaar reported, Virgil was trapped in this alternate universe without access to magic. Yikes. Sucks to be him. That left us with Nathaniel, Haniel, Zadkiel and a bunch of Raphael groupies. Dinah and Shemsiel managed to gather that Nathaniel, along with Virgil and Sariel, was in charge of intelligence, which included a focus on the Heavenly weapons that I so conveniently managed to steal from their grasp. Haniel and Zadkiel were more executive guys, with Zadkiel being Raphael's own secretary. I was pleased with my team's progress and gave them a vote of approval when they proposed that we kidnap Nathaniel who, in light of his colleagues' disappointing performance, was sent out by Raphael to achieve what they could not. Big mistake, especially when Raphael had enemies who eagerly waited for the first chance that they could confront one of his people out of Heaven, where they weren't as safe.
And then there was the time that Castiel made Balthazaar change an event of the past – the sinking of a ship named The Titanic – to generate 50,000 new souls. Of course, this was during the time I was trying to harvest souls promised to Hell, but that was more of a publicity stunt than anything. I knew, from the moment I smelt the change in the flow of time, that this plan was a total bust. There was no way that the Fate sisters were going to let that slide. As I'd suspected, Castiel was forced to reverse his decision to save his precious boys. If he'd just waited another week or so, he could have been comforted by the knowledge of my victory in Hell.
Anyway, the purpose of my recalling these events was just to remark upon the sheer desperation that certain people went through to achieve their goals. And by certain people, I meant Castiel. I would be lying if I said his pattern of behaviour didn't strike me as suspicious. It was rather obsessive, a trait that I had only seen in an angel once a long time ago. It was a dark time when Lucifer was branded with the Mark of Cain. I had seen him develop behaviour that was worrying and out of control. Certainly, Castiel wasn't being influenced by The Darkness but his actions seemed to be pointing in a direction of uncompromising grit, which could be good and bad simultaneously. In focusing on the success of his campaign and my bid to overthrow Crowley, I had neglected the warning signs. I should have seen this coming.
With Eve's death, I was getting impatient. I needed answers. I needed to know for sure if it was Castiel, or someone else. I couldn't just ask him, could I? He'd just lie about it anyway. I broke the silence at the table when I spoke my doubts. Raziel and I were using Shemsiel's office to discuss our current involvement in the war while the others went about their prescribed duties. The muffled bass from the loudspeakers of the club upstairs reached us through the ceiling. As usual, Shemsiel hadn't cleared up the mess. Strengthening my will to think about matters at hand, I ignored the knee-high piles of papers on the floor. Raziel listened intently as I voiced my concerns. "Do Rahab and Pahaliah have anything to say about this?" I ended my tirade.
"When they checked in last week, Pahaliah mentioned that Castiel had been taking long absences when he wasn't with the angels or the Winchesters, and she knows this because Rahab has been checking on the Winchesters every once in a while. So during that time, no one knows where he is," he reported.
"When you say he's been checking on the Winchesters…"
"He doesn't approach them. He just watches them from afar to see if they have company."
I nodded. "Hasn't it been a week? Aren't they supposed to check in with you now?"
"They are…" Raziel fished out his phone. "But they could be running late too. Happens from time to time."
I didn't have a good feeling about this. "Raziel, call Pahaliah. Now."
The desperation in my voice set him off in a worrisome mood too as he dialled the numbers and put the phone on speaker. "Raz!" a sob-broken voice sounded.
Raziel and I exchanged alarmed looks. "Pahaliah, it's me, Sophia. What's wrong?"
"It's Rahab. I don't know where he is!" She broke out into sobs again.
"What do you mean?" Raziel probed.
"He was supposed to call me two days ago. He said he saw the Winchesters doing something shady and he needed more information to be sure about what he was seeing. But he never called." More sobs. "I know, I should have called you but I… I guess I was just holding on to the hope that he's alright and he'll call me soon." Oh no. This is bad. Someone got to him for spying on the Winchesters. And two days ago was when Eve was murdered. This could not be a coincidence.
"Pahaliah, listen to me." I leaned in closer to the phone. "You can't stay there anymore. You have to lea-"
"Sshhh… I think he's coming back… Castiel?" A muffled scream pierced through the air. Then, a gruff, monotonous voice said, "I'm sorry this had to happen. You were getting too close."
My eyes widened in shock. The sounds of struggling grew louder and louder until suddenly, a noisy thud resounded and the call was abruptly cut. She must have dropped her phone. Shit. Now two of my angels were taken. What would he do to them? Was he going to kill them? I swear if they got hurt… Raziel's exasperated grunt brought me back to the present moment. He breathed heavily and paced about, clearly distressed. "What do we do now?" His eyes begged me for some sort of resolution. And I was inclined to give it to him.
"I get that you're angry, but you still need to do what you're supposed to do. When Dinah and Shemsiel get Nathaniel, I want you to channel your anger into finding out what Raphael has planned and if there's anything we should be wary about," I commanded. "I'm gonna have a little chat with Castiel."
The Winchesters were hard at work interrogating a demon named Red at the Singer household. They suspected that the demon had connections to Crowley, since he'd helped him clear a nest of vampires. Perhaps it would have been wise to ally with the hunters on this one. The four of them jumped when I showed up, the hunters reaching for their guns and knives. With a simple flick of the wrist, I flung them to the walls and locked them in their positions.
"Sophia," Dean recognised.
"Just a minute, boys." I hurled my blade into the demon's trap on the ceiling, breaking it open. "I'll be right with you." The demon shrunk into his seat, clearly terrified. "You will pay for your crimes against Hell."
I grabbed the demon by the shoulder. "Please, Your Highness, I concede! Please don't hurt me!" He begged as I flew him to Hell. I handed him over to the demon in charge of the prisons and ordered them immediately begin to extract information from him about Crowley's whereabouts. Within a matter of minutes, I went back to the Singer household.
Sam held my blade in his hands, retrieved from a gaping hole in Bobby's ceiling. He twirled it smugly as I appeared again, probably thinking that he would have a chance of using it against me. "Enjoyed your five minutes of feeling powerful?" I teased as I summoned the blade back into my grip. They shuddered at the gesture, staring at me all wide-eyed.
"You're looking a bit full there," Dean commented. "Who knocked you up?"
"Lucifer," I answered proudly, to their disdain. "Didn't your buddy Castiel tell you? Oh well, I bet he doesn't tell you a lot of things."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Bobby interjected. I scanned the old man. His body was weary from age but clearly his sense of scepticism had been refined over the years.
"Tell me, boys, how much do you think you know about Castiel? What is he doing for Crowley?" I inquired.
"Even if we knew, we ain't selling out our friend to you!" Dean spat out.
I sighed. "Your friend could be trying to open the floodgates of the one place where every monster that even God rejected rests, and you're still clinging on to loyalty. Your priorities are off, kid."
"God rejected you and you're roaming free, aren't you?" He retorted. Oh, the mouth on this one. Looks like it's time to get Castiel to rush over here.
"Let's cut the foreplay." I raised a finger towards Sam. "Eenie." My finger moved to Dean. "Meenie." Sam, again. "Miney." Dean. "Mo." Sam, it is. My fingers curled in slowly as his insides were crushed and he yelled out in pain. His intestines burned slowly under my focus, their bloody remains swirling inside his abdomen as he keeled over.
Dean's frantic cries were cut short by a fluttering of wings. "Stop it!" The trench-coated angel appeared before us. Ah, poor predictable Castiel. God's favourite little soldier, leader of the angelic revolution and powered by thousands of souls - still beholden to a couple of humans.
"Finally. I was wondering when you'd show."
"Why are you doing this?" He asked through gritted teeth. His fists were clenched. I managed to get him riled up, it seems.
"Did you think me a fool, Castiel?" I forced him to the side and he crashed into a wall. "Did you think you couldlie to me and get away with it? I told you to keep your people away from Eve. I told you to keep my angels safe!" I picked him up by the collar and threw him to the other side of the room, where Bobby was pinned against the wall. "We had a good deal, Castiel. You should have listened to me. Instead, you continue to throw in with a cockroach like Crowley!" The humans exchanged terrified glances, like I'd just confirmed their worst suspicions. Understandable.
"And you're any better?" Castiel muttered, as he slowly got to his feet. "Am I supposed to believe that you wouldn't want to rule Heaven once Raphael is gone? Who's to say that you wouldn't do what he would - restart the apocalypse? It's obvious that you want to release Lucifer!"
"Lucifer and I have suffered long enough!" I shot back. "And for what? The very same cause that you are fighting for right now. If you doubted me so much, why'd you set me free, smart guy?" I held his gaze for a second. "That's right, you still need me as a back up plan in case you can't open Purgatory before you confront Raphael. And then what, you'll take the Purgatory souls and kill me, is that it?" I let out a short laugh. "Purgatory is too much juice for a simple angel like you and certainly too much for a mere demon like Crowley. You wouldn't just defeat Raphael. You would become God." Bobby's eyes widened at what I said. "And there's a reason why God is the only God around. This isn't about Heaven, or the angels. It's about you and your greed for power!"
"You're wrong." He shook his head. "I'm doing what I have to do and you just don't like it."
"Then we'll just have to disagree." I held my blade in front of me, ready to strike. "I'm going to give you one last chance. Tell me where you're keeping Rahab and Pahaliah."
His gaze hardened. "No."
Wrong answer, Cas. This time I threw my blade into Dean's shoulder, causing him to groan in pain. "I don't think you understand. Tell me, or your pet humans get it." Almost immediately, I summoned the blade back to my hand, causing blood to gush forward and stain his shirt.
"I don't think you understand, Sophia." He raised his palm toward me, a ball of light emanating from his hand. "I'm powered by souls. You can't make me do anything."
"I'm not scared of you," I declared. "You're just a child with a dangerous toy. For your sake, I hope Rahab and Pahaliah are alive." I raised my own palm, getting ready to counter his strike. As I focused, black spots began to appear in my vision. Dizziness overcame me. I shut my eyes tightly and held a hand to my forehead. Not now, dammit!
"What's wrong, Sophia? Someone steal your juice?" He provoked. My breathing grew heavier. I held onto the nearest table for support. Over time, I'd gotten used to the occasional dizzy spells and learned to overcome them as quickly as I could, but this was different. I couldn't seem to get rid of it. My grip on the humans began waning and they soon broke free. Then, I felt it. A strong kick in my tummy. Not like "I'm here and alive", but more like "I'm coming out". I was going into labour. This wasn't supposed to happen. Not like this! I was supposed to be ready and willing. It's like my son made the decision himself. Could he do that?
"You crossed the line when you threatened my friends. I didn't plan on hurting your son, Sophia, but you will leave me no choice if you continue to stand in my way," Castiel warned with fury in his voice.
"This isn't over," I uttered bitterly before I took off.
I rushed to the bedroom. It was raining heavily. Thunder boomed and lightning pierced the air. I was alone in my home. Through the labour pains, I managed to pull off my clothing and lie on the bed. I needed to stay calm. Breathe in, breathe out. The child was impatient. Another painful kick had me groaning through clenched teeth. The sheets bunched in my tight grasp as I exerted my first push. God, this was painful. Taking another deep breath, I pushed again. A raspy grunt escaped my throat. Just a little more. Before I could summon another burst of strength to push through the pain, I felt a familiar flare reach out to me. Only this time, it was a silent beckoning and, relieved, I gave into Lucifer. The anguish in my womb slowly drained into the link between us as I held onto my newfound by little, taking my time, I patiently pushed the child out. Hours passed. It had been almost a full day and the heavy storm carried on through the night. Finally, the skies cleared and a ray of sunlight enveloped me in its warm embrace as I felt the first wave of relief from the subsiding pain. Soft cries reached my ears. Son of Lucifer, born through a storm and emerged in light. My son.
Slowly, I straightened up to a sitting position and glanced between my legs. On the blood-soaked sheets, there he was. A little bundle. A little archangel born with his own human vessel. Picking up my blade, I sliced the umbilical cord. He felt warm to the touch when I picked him up gingerly, one hand supporting his neck and another his back. He quieted down as I brought him closer to me and gazed lovingly upon his innocent face. For a moment, his eyes opened. I gasped with indescribable joy when I saw the eyes of his father staring back at me. I instinctively knew what to call him. "Luciel, my beautiful boy. I can't wait for you to meet your father."
As though understanding what I said, his tiny lips opened into a pure, short chuckle. I didn't think I have been happier in my life than during this moment. Just holding his small body in my arms made me want to slay armies for the sake of protecting him. "No one can touch you. You are strong, the product of the eternity of love that your father and I shared. And you are loved," I told him.
Cleaning up the mess, I threw on a soft dress, the feeling of it sticking to my natural figure a refreshing one. Luciel slept comfortably as I wrapped him up in a blanket that I tied around my torso to carry him around with me. The rain had stopped, and the soft sunlight made everything glow. Mist clouded the landscape as I walked through the garden, going back to the river I visited when I first became pregnant. The water flowed gently, its clear surface like flowing glass. It cooled my legs when I sat at the river bank and immersed my feet in the river. "Thank you, God," I whispered through tears of happiness as I gazed up at the sky. It just felt right to be in God's company in a moment like this, despite everything that had happened. After all, my child could not be this well were it not for God's blessing. I hoped this meant that we had a bright future.
Luciel's cry beckoned me to look back at him. I could have sworn he was sleeping peacefully. Then I realised it wasn't that something was wrong with him. He was troubled by something else. The river was changing. Its crystal clear surface now took on a pinkish tint, which gradually deepened into red. I immediately pulled my legs back out. What was happening? This reddish colour, upon further inspection, could only be blood. Where did it come from? "Shh…" I gently calmed him down as I got up to return home. I'd have to consult my books on this one. My dog eagerly wandered about my legs when he saw me. These days, the dog enjoyed the fruits of my garden, free to roam anywhere but always returning home. It seemed he too was excited about seeing my son.
The sound of my phone ringing reached me before I entered the house. It was Raziel. He'd be the first to hear about the birth. "You have good timing, Raziel," I said as I picked up.
"This is urgent. Please tell me you aren't home."
I frowned. "I… am. What's wrong?"
"We just got Nathaniel in a few hours ago and I just managed to crack him. They're planning an ambush on you, Sophia! You need to get out of there!"
"What? I don't understand. How could they have known where I live?"
"I don't know for certain, but it seems there is a trail of sorts. They believe that the Holy Lance is being used." The blood in the river. The weapon of God. "They were following the trail to find Castiel but they realised that it was you it led to. Raphael is leading his supporters to kill you as we speak!"
I let out a heavy breath. Castiel led them to me. I didn't think he was capable of something as low as this, but clearly I was wrong. The loud, disruptive barking of the dog drew my attention. I rushed out to the porch. The angels were coming. "It's too late. They're here."
"Oh my god."
"I've given birth, Raziel. I need to protect my son."
"We're coming to help you." He cut the call. Okay, now I wasn't pregnant anymore. I was at full capacity. I can do this. I lay Luciel down on the couch to sleep and locked all the doors before I stood outside, with my weapon and battle armour, which Hassiel had been so kind to have designed for me.
"Like a lamb offered up to slaughter," Raphael remarked as he showed up in his new female vessel. A group of at least two dozen angels stood ready to fight behind him. They hovered above the ground around my house. I flew up to face them. "The child has arrived, I presume."
"Not that you'll get to see him," I spat out.
"I beg to differ. I think I'd make a great uncle. You, on the other hand, will be the mother he never knew."
The fluttering of more wings sounded. At my side, Raziel, Dinah, Shemsiel and Hassiel had shown up. The odds were not looking good. But I would be damned again if I gave up my son without a fight. With a flick of Raphael's arm, the angels charged toward us. Raphael and I advanced towards each other, once again engaged in battle. I fought hard, striking furiously and blocking his strikes with my vambraces. While we fought, a number of angels rushed to the house, trying to get the doors open. The house, being sentient, put up its own fight, occasionally releasing short spurts of energy to repel them. But it wouldn't hold for long. Soon enough, I found an opening and with a large swoop of my wings, I rushed Raphael and drove him into the ground. Not wasting a second, I summoned a tree to grow around him, holding his limbs down in a wooden prison of its roots.
A single glint of sunshine reflected off my blade as it soared through the air, piercing an angel through the head. The angel adjacent to him jumped reflexively before he saw me coming at him, my fist clenched and ready to punch. He plummeted to the ground while a few more angels tried to hold me down by my arms. They never learn, do they? In a swift motion, my wings expanded to their full length, flinging the angels far away. Retrieving my blade, I slew more angels. I looked to my companions. Their hands were full and I needed to help them but with Raphael still alive that would be difficult. My eyes wandered back to the tree that I just grew. The roots were broken messily, Raphael nowhere to be found. Shit, where did he go?
Out of the corner of my eye, a figure rushed at me with unprecedented speed. Before I knew it, I was driven down into the ground. My head hit the ground so hard I began seeing double. Dark hands belonging to Raphael grabbed onto my blade and began impaling my right shoulder. The pain was so great that barely any sound escaped my throat. Sparks of my essence began appearing around the blade as I felt my power slipping away, along with my consciousness. "You can't survive this," Raphael announced. With a slowness conferred by the resistance of my body, he pulled the blade further down my torso a few inches. This time I groaned in pain. He had the upper hand. I could not imagine a possibility where I would survive this scenario. If it was any other time, I could have at least found some peace in death, but images of my son being hurt kept my last moments filled with panic. I can't die now!
