Sophia's Chronicles

Chapter 63: Under Pressure

British Men of Letters, London Headquarters – 14 February 2012, 10.40am

Dr Hess sat uncomfortably on her lavish, cushioned chair at her large wooden desk. She'd been like this for a good part of an hour, elbows on the armrests and fingers held together in a steeple. All that filled her mind was the gruesome massacre that had occurred just over a week ago. A smiting from Heaven. How many people had been lost that day? The incident had shaken the organisation to the core, drawing doubt and grief from members of all ranks. There was no way to consolidate all the losses from the incident. Nearly a hundred people unrecognisably burnt, the two prized angels lost and all the experimental data mysteriously vanished. Sure, they had a copy of the data in their main office building, but it didn't include everything – the most recent data from January had not yet been sent. And considering that the angels now knew what the Men of Letters had been doing, Dr Hess could not help but wonder if the US operation was in danger.

She had considered sending more personnel over in the case of another attack but then paused. Would it really be worth it to go to battle with angels? Beings who were mighty and powerful and barely understood by humanity? Sure, the Men of Letters had their tools, but could they really stand a chance against a whole troop of angels? The recent massacre seemed to show otherwise. But little other options remained. She could not let them get their hands on Zara. Zara was theirs to study. A wealth of information still remained to be uncovered from her. Dr Hess would not let the angels get her. But what was next? She fiddled with her phone in her hand, unsure of whether this was the right thing to do. She straightened up in her chair, mustering willpower and dialling a three-digit number on the keypad. A few rings passed. "Do you have a moment?" she said into the phone.

"For you, darling, always," the demon promptly appeared before her in her office, phone still held to his ear. He put it away now that he was here, though he kept the suggestive smile. "Why, I'd love to be your valentine."

Dr Hess suppressed a grimace. "I need to discuss an important matter."

"Don't you always," Crowley sighed, walking over to a side-table to help himself to a glass of scotch. "It's never to just talk or have a heart-to-heart over tea."

"Last week, one of our facilities was under attack. By angels," she stated, her grey eyes studying his body language.

"Yes, I heard. Tragic," Crowley swirled the glass in his hand. "My condolences."

"Ever since, I've been… puzzled by the whole debacle. You see, this attack seems to have come… out of the blue. I don't quite understand it," she said, getting up and walking over to the side of her table to stand closer to him. "I mean, why would they attack us? Why now? We've had two of theirs for over a year and nothing's happened to indicate that this was coming."

"That's the Heavenly Host for you. You can never tell when they'll be all harps and halos and when they'll give you the old smite-up-your-arse," Crowley remarked. "My advice? Don't take it personally."

"And then I kept wondering: How could they have known at all where we were holding them? Only a select few within the Men of Letters knew about this operation," Dr Hess admitted. "And of course, you."

"What are you suggesting, Julia? That I had something to do with it?" Crowley gave her a disappointed head-tilt. "I deeply value our non-confrontational arrangement."

"It has also come to my attention that you have been acquiring several businesses discreetly," Dr Hess pointed out. "Considering that that includes a direct influence on human affairs, I'd say that counts as a violation of our arrangement that you value so deeply."

"Is it a sin now to own a business?" Crowley huffed. "I just want to have a hobby on Earth. Staying in Hell for all eternity isn't as fun as it sounds, you know."

Dr Hess crossed her arms, taking one step towards him. "I don't know what game you're playing. But let me make something clear for you: This betrayal will not be forgotten," she declared pointedly.

The demon King smirked, placing his finished glass back on the small table. "Oh? And what will you do, pray do tell?"

He stepped toward her and she backed away reciprocally. "You underestimate the Men of Letters," she threatened. "We'll fight back."

"And you underestimate me, darling," he shot her a playful grin. "I'm Crowley. The Devil is my pet dog. That's not a figure of speech, by the way." Dr Hess was stunned, frozen in her step. This was worse than she'd imagined. "You're probably wondering what you should do next. But I assure you, Dr Hess, that you are not my enemy. I don't want you as my enemy. So here's what you can do: just keep things the way they've always been between us."

"And let you carry on this crusade of conquering the world?"

"It's not as bad as you think. Earth will be shared between Heaven and Hell, the way it should be."

Dr Hess folded her arms in disapproval. "So you and the angels just decided the fate of humanity was yours to control in a secret meeting?"

"It's the kind of meeting that only the big boys attend, no offence," he confessed. "So you don't have to worry your little head about it. Of course, I'm a generous ruler. I can give you gifts every now and then. Like how I gave you the two angels and your most precious resource to date, Sophia's vessel."

"You took the angels from us. And a lot of innocent lives in the process," Dr Hess shot back. "How am I supposed to believe that you wouldn't do the same with Zara?"

"That is an excellent question and I'm glad you brought it up," Crowley stepped forward, forcing her back again. Now she was pressed against the front of her table, with nowhere left to move in case he tried something. Yet, her hands inched backwards to reach for a solid metal statue that was given to her once as a gift. "You see, my… associate in Heaven knows nothing of Zara or her location. She is, at best, of use to you and by association, me. So it is in my best interest to keep the angels from getting to Zara. Of that, you have my word."

"Your word means nothing now," she snarled, her hands slowly gripping the statue behind her back.

"Hm," Crowley exhaled. "But you have no other choice, do you? What are you gonna do? Relocate the operation? Turn around, Dr Hess." That caught her off-guard. She stared blankly at him for a moment before obliging cautiously. Heart racing, she fully anticipated another hostile intruder to be standing at the other side of the desk. But she was wrong. There was no one there. "Look at the file on your desk."

Her eyes roved down onto the table. Surely enough, there was a khaki folder that definitely wasn't there before. Hesitant, her hands reached for it and she flipped it open. In it were several pages of information. Information about the operation. Pages and pages of profiles of everyone working on it. Pictures of the personnel inside and outside the headquarters as recent as a few days ago. There were even pictures of them working on normal cases in the immediate vicinity of the state they were located in. Crowley had been keeping a close eye on them.

"You try to move them, I'll know. If you do that, well, I don't think I'll have to spell out the consequences for you," he stroked his stubble. "Good talk."

With that, Dr Hess was left alone in her office again. She simply stood, befuddled as she stared again at the folder in her hands. She sat back down behind her desk, contemplating what her next email to the board of directors should entail. As she opened her inbox, there was one email that immediately grabbed her attention. It was from the US operation team. The old bunker in Lebanon, Kansas, had been opened. By the Winchesters. The email inquired about what the next step should be, proposing sending a force there to secure the bunker and take care of the intruders. On any normal day, that would be the approved course of action. But that day was special. It was the day Dr Hess learnt that Crowley had a close eye on her operatives. A close eye that could come to know of the bunker and its vast resources if they did as protocol dictated. In response to the email, Dr Hess wrote, "Do not engage. Your mandate is limited to the research on the archangel vessel."


Old Processing Plant, Normal, Illinois – 20 February 2012, 8.20pm

Incomprehensible whispers rumbled in the air. The demon Tommy waved his hand over a dried bloodstain in the darkness, surrounded only by a few candles arranged in a circle around a map to his right. On his left, there was an open spell book that he managed to snag from Hell's resident witch while she was off on one of her shopping crusades. Man, she was a heavy spender. But Daddy Crowley enjoyed rewarding her. It kinda disgusted everyone but no one spoke against it. Not that they disliked her particularly – though that was reason enough for some – but it was just her whole demeanour. She always ordered the demons around like they were her servants. Granted, Crowley ordered them to tend to her needs and wants, but who was she to demand subservience from them? She hadn't earned their respect. And waving your hands to make things fly wasn't gonna cut it. Any demon could do that, he thought. The same logic tended to extend to Crowley. He didn't earn anyone's respect.

Which was why Tommy was here. Tommy was following an order from the true King – Lucifer. He had never felt so honoured as he had when Lucifer gave him a mission. He swore that he would finish it, even if it meant his death. And risky, yes it was. Working away from Crowley's all-seeing eye was difficult. But with the right pretence, he managed to find this location. This was where the Winchesters had faced off with Abaddon. This was her last known location. And that spot of blood on the floor? Hers, he hoped. It would have to be for the spell to work.

"Inveniet, inveniet, a viribus a vis sanguinem, inveniet," he recited as he poured rosewater on the bloodstain. Next, he crushed dried thyme and powdered teeth of a virgin – don't ask how he got it – between his palms and sprinkled them on the small puddle he'd made. For the final step, he brought out a small box of iron nails – the kind you use to pin things on wooden boards, really thin and small. He dipped one in the mixture puddle, continuing to recite the incantation, and slowly put it through the flame of a candle. As soon as the nail touched the flame, it shot forward onto the map, levitating above it. Tommy looked on in anticipation, awaiting the spell to finish and the nail to pin down Abaddon's location. But it never did. "Huh?" His eyebrow furrowed in confusion. He was sure he performed everything correctly. So why wasn't the nail landing?

Suddenly, the nail moved, floating in an upright position over a certain spot. "Come on," he muttered under his breath. Then it moved again, standing above another spot. Then again, and again. It seemed to be moving in a routine manner, alternating between different spots on the map. It was like the nail couldn't decide where to stick itself down on the map. Maybe that was it. Maybe there were multiple locations. No time to waste, Tommy repeated the incantation as he dipped another nail in the puddle and put it through the flame. And just like the previous nail, it shot through the flame and began levitating above the map in the exact same manner – alternating between the same few positions. Taking that as proof of his theory, Tommy counted the number of times each nail paused over a spot. Twelve.

Patiently, the demon repeated the treatment ten more times. Each time, the number of movements for each nail decreased as less spots were available to be taken up by the nails. Enter twelfth nail. Suddenly all nails froze in their position. With a unanimous slice, they shot down onto the map. "Yeah!" he exclaimed in triumph. He studied the map. What could this mean? Either the blood was impure – it had more than just Abaddon's blood – or… or she was in pieces. The latter seemed more likely, considering that it wouldn't be easy to take down a Knight of Hell in a single swoop. It was one of the things that excited Tommy about his mission. Once Abaddon was up and about, she could take Crowley out with ease. And with Lucifer at the helm, Hell would enter a new Golden Age.

Stowing away the ritual materials, Tommy got up, invigorated. This was going to be amazing.


Hell – 21 February 2012,

"So how we lookin'?" Lucifer asked the demon before him.

The poor demon was visibly nervous to be standing in front of the Dark Lord. He could get into trouble if Crowley knew… but he would be in even greater trouble if Lucifer got free and he didn't help. Which was why he immediately assented when Tommy approached him and told him to visit Lucifer. That, and the fact that Tommy had blackmailed him by saying that he'd already told the archangel his name so that if no one showed up, Lucifer would know who to blame. Gulping, the demon asked, "You're sure Crowley is occupied elsewhere?"

Lucifer did a little head-shake, recounting Crowley's schedule in his head. He'd been observant, listening keenly and taking note of when Crowley was here and when he wasn't. "Yeah, he's on his rounds. Crowley's got, like, two and a half more hours of gettin' his pert, royal ass kissed," Lucifer reassured him.

The demon scanned the vessel, examining its energy signature. "Well, upper left quadrant is sound. Restoration's holding. No laminations detected. Lower left, likewise," he assessed.

"Carl, you made the right decision, you know," Lucifer grinned confidently. "'Cause when the dust settles, there's only gonna be one of us standing... and it ain't gonna be the guy with the accent, if you know what I mean." He rested a hand on the demon's shoulder, invoking in him a strange mixture of pride and nervousness. "I'm very, very impressed."

"Uh... You'll be happy to know the... the vessel is completely sound," the demon's voice trembled as he spoke. And that's to say nothing of the rest of him. "The repairs are secure."

"And the security system? Whatever it is that lets Crowley turn me into his own personal sock puppet?" Lucifer inquired. The demon's eyes darted around, unsure of how to phrase the unpleasant bits. "I don't hear words."

"The... the s-system is very much i-intact," Carl stammered.

"But you can disarm it, right?" Lucifer pointed a finger at him. When the demon said nothing, he didn't hesitate to grab him by the neck and pull him close, as he tended to do. Carl learnt to be succinct real fast. "I'm not really known for my patience," the archangel snarled.

"I don't quite have the means-" Carl choked out a reply.

"Who does?"

"Spivak. He designed-"

"Where is he?"

"Dead."

"Dead?" Lucifer frowned, puzzled.

"Dead," Carl reaffirmed. Lucifer let go, leaving the demon to stumble back and catch his breath. "Uh, yeah, after the system was installed, Crowley killed Spivak to safeguard its secrets," he informed Lucifer. The archangel's forehead creased in thought, contemplating his next move. Gently massaging his neck, Carl continued, "But there is someone else. Esther. The witch, sir."

"Alright, then get on it," Lucifer ordered. "Get her to crack it."

"But- but there's a problem," the demon swallowed nervously.

"What?" Lucifer sounded flustered.

"She- she's l-loyal to Crowley. She won't help us."

"Hm." Lucifer stroked his chin. Then, his icy blue eyes bore straight into the demon's irises, piercing deep into them. "Then make her. Find out how it works. Can you do it?"

Carl adjusted his collar. It suddenly felt so constricting. "Y-yeah. I just need some time. I'll... I'll be quick."

Lucifer cracked a smile in a fraction of a second, pulling his shirt over his head. "Good. 'Cause I am gettin' stir crazy in here."


The Void – Time is an illusion constructed by the Demiurge

Our first moment of calm. Torn up parts of Defenders lay strewn about. That certainly wasn't all of them – the Void was engineered to spawn effectively an infinite number of them, like an unending battle simulation. But for the time being, we'd managed to put a halt on a thing that allowed the Defenders to rise. If you listened closely, you could hear them scratching at the walls, fighting for a release so that they could finally fulfil their duty. With the mainframe destroyed, Alpha was effectively blind. He was probably stumbling around here somewhere, looking for us. The Void being a practically infinite space meant that He would be a while. Without his eyes, Alpha was at least a little weaker. I wasn't so sure what that meant for the others. Would Theta, Delta and Omega all be affected as well? I suppose that didn't matter now. It certainly didn't to all my doppelgangers, who just wanted to get back home.

"My sisters, please listen to me," I ushered all of them. They stood assembled in front of me while I was on a podium of sorts. I saw faces that were just drained of all energy, faces that looked like they were ready to give up. Truly, I could understand it all. But there was still a job left to do. "We can't all just leave. Not now. Khaos has yet to be destroyed. Don't you want justice for what has been done to you?"

Murmurs erupted among them. Then one of them spoke up, "We respect you, but you haven't been here nearly as long as we have. Some of us practically lived our whole lives here. We just want to go home and see our families again. We're not picky about justice."

Agreeing noises could be heard. Some of them looked ready to leave. My heart raced, afraid that I would be left alone without their solidarity. How was I supposed to get my baby back without an army? "But what's the point?" I said through heavy breaths. "What's the point of going back home while Khaos still lives? While He could come after you again? And this time, the people you care about will be in danger too."

That still didn't seem to convince them. "I've been here far too long," she rebutted. "I'll take my chances."

"His endgame was you. He's already won. He won't bother coming after us anymore," another one chimed in.

"The Void is practically shut down. He can't do anything to us."

My heart sank. Was this what it came to? Appealing to their self-interest? And here I thought my doppelgangers and I would always have each others' backs. "Please," I felt desperation sting my eyes. "This is the only way I'll get my son back. Put yourself in my position. What would you do if it was your son? Some of you must have children."

"My child isn't a son born of Light and Darkness," someone said. "She's a nephil."

"Mine are pure Darkness, just like me," another said, shrugging nonchalantly. "Safely awaiting me in their one true home."

I could see nods of agreement being exchanged. Finally, someone added, "Looks like you're the only one who was dim enough to create something that Khaos could use against you."

"Oh come on," I pleaded.

"No, no, she's right. We have to stay and fight," someone urged. Yes, finally.

"Maybe you don't have people who depend on you but I do," someone else argued. We were so close…

"This is the right thing to do. What would God say if you went back home when someone was in dire need of your help?"

"God wouldn't say anything, idiot. He left Heaven. He left us all alone a long time ago."

"How is leaving now going to weigh on your conscience?"

"I don't know, how is me stabbing you gonna weigh on your conscience?"

"For the love of Amara, please stop this talk of violence!"

"Bring up Amara again and you'll be the next one to go!"

Oh God. What's happening? I could see clear lines of division forming. While I was heartened to see some of them opting to stay and help, I was just as disheartened to see some of them arming themselves for a fight. This was absolutely not how I envisioned a meeting with all the other Me's to go. At this rate, it looked like there would be another war in the Void and there was no telling how many of us would survive this one – very possibly none. I sighed, my shoulders drooping in dejection. Things looked to be escalating quickly with voices getting raised. I didn't know how to react. Was this it? Would I have to scour an entire universe – one that still gave me nightmares from time to time – all on my own? The thought of it made me feel lost, but it wasn't something I would neglect. If it came to that, I would do it. But that was still to say nothing about the possibility that Alpha could regain His strength and come after us again. No, I had to defeat Him if I wanted my son back and alive.

"Hey!" A loud voice beckoned. I turned to see one of my doppelgangers – one who was completely made of the Darkness – step up next to me. Her green eyes appeared threatening against the background of her black sclerae as she scanned the scene before us. Wisps of dark smoke emanated from her. "You heard what she said. If we don't end this properly, Khaos will still be kicking. And there's no telling what He'll do next. You all seem so confident that the threat is over… but when have you ever known Khaos to stop at what is just necessary for Himself? If He did, none of us would actually be here. None of us except her," she pointed an obsidian sword at me. "And which one of you set us all free? Oh that's right, it was her. So I think a little bit of gratitude is in order."

Silence fell over them. Admittedly, I was impressed. But considering all of their responses thus far, I couldn't help but wonder what her intentions were with helping me like this. And being purely Darkness – no offence – it seemed odd to me that she would be so willing to boost me up. Or maybe I had just been harbouring an implicit prejudice not entirely based on reality. After all, I had the Darkness in me too. So I relaxed my shoulders, seeing where the natural course of this situation led us.

"We are all now indebted to our dear Commander here," she spoke bitterly, but I supposed that was her normal speaking voice. "And I think the best way to pay off our debt is to join her in taking down the monster who has damaged us all for life." I could see reluctant looks of assent. "So, you over there," she pointed someone out indiscriminately, presumably the one who'd said something earlier. "And you, and you, and you. You got someplace to be?"

No protests this time. They seemed to be listening to her. She assumed a position slightly back away from me and I gave her a nod of thanks as she passed me. "Listen," I began, my tone considerably more gentle than hers as intended. "I know none of you actually want to be here any longer than you have to. And believe me, neither do I. I have a lovely home to get back to. A garden to tend to. A son to find. Winchesters to defeat." That earned me a chuckle from some, derisive looks from others. "An angry Lucifer to answer to-"

"Just kill him already," someone uttered.

"You're throwing in with the Devil?"

"Lucifer? The Devil? You on something?"

"Of course it had to be Lucifer of all people."

"Lucifer who?"

"You could do so much bet-"

"Alright!" I stopped them. "That's enough. God forbid I mention Lucifer. Or Amara, whoever you're more attached to." I'm not going to be able to mention anyone who means anything to me without pissing some people off. Damn. "My point is, I understand you. But Khaos is our enemy. The only enemy that matters. Whatever you care about, He knows how to take it from you. I'm guessing that's how He got most of you here in the first place – He must have threatened something that you deeply cared about." Images of memories from the day he almost destroyed my world completely flashed through my mind, invoking a nearly-forgotten sorrow. "And it is tempting as hell to get back to whatever that is. But the fight isn't over until Khaos is dead, locked up or defeated in some substantial way. Until that happens, none of the things we care about – none of the people we care about – will be safe. Please stay with me and help me defeat Him. An army of thousands of archangels is definitely a firepower to reckon with. And this isn't about me or my son. It's about us. We all need each other."

I paused, in anticipation of their response. "Alright," one of the more defiant ones relented. "Let's get this over with as soon as possible."

I heard mumbles of agreement. "I'm glad to hear it. But first things first, we need to get organised. I know it's not ideal, but we need some way of identifying each other. I mean, we all share the same face, same name…"

"Numbers," the one behind me said. She stepped forward again coolly, arms folded. "We should all have numbers."

"That's a bit… de-individuating, isn't it?" someone pointed out.

"You got a better idea, princess?" she snapped, muscles poised as if she was ready to pounce forward and attack. Whoa.

"Okay," I interjected, stepping between them. "Like I said, this isn't ideal. And yes, I understand your concern. You are not my soldiers and I am not your superior. This numbering system? A temporary inconvenience for us to get around, okay? I certainly do want to get to know all of you better. That way I can understand what your contribution means and trust me, I value that. So first things first, let's all get numbered. Then I want to talk to every single one of you, alright? And you guys should talk to each other too. Nicely." I glared at the archangel standing next to me, who just avoided my gaze. "Who knows, maybe we'd actually make friends and help each other outside this place. So get talking. We need to take turns patrolling the Void and watching out for each other."

Something began here in the Void in that moment. Something that was much greater than I could have ever imagined. Something that I was proud of, but also something I would come to regret in due time, much like some of my decisions. Nevertheless, I felt a wave of satisfaction as we all announced our numbers – myself being Number One as Commander – and displayed them as engravings on the side of our left wrists. The one who'd helped me get their attention shot me a proud grin – a little child-like demeanour of hers, it seemed – as she held up her wrist and showed me a number that read '66'. I huffed a smile. Perhaps that meant something amusing to her. I was interested to find out. Finally, some unity among us. Hopefully, knowing a bit of their histories would make them all more likeable despite the fact that they were ready to walk out on me a mere few moments ago.

As I watched them talk it out and decide their numbers, my eyes rested on a single individual who stood still in the crowd, staring straight at me. It was her. The one who started this escape plan. The one who passed me the note from Omega. The one who Khaos tried to use to convince me to join Him. My most identical doppelganger – a hybrid of Light and Darkness, just like me. My eyebrows crinkled slightly into a frown as I locked eyes with her. I'd been standing here, losing my will slowly trying to convince all of these versions of me that this was a worthy crusade, and she'd been silent this whole time. She could have said something! She knew, possibly more than anyone else here, what this war meant yet she'd been staying in the back observing without saying a word. And that look in her eyes. It might just be the distance between us, but I could have sworn I saw the corner of her lip turn up slightly. What game was she playing? Ugh. Even after all this while, I didn't know if I trusted her. That was beginning to irk me.


A/N:

Man, all those Sophia's in one place almost seemed like a good idea. I am keen on introducing some of their backstories as well – they are all interesting characters too. Let's just say, that some of them are not very cooperative (what made them that way?). Oh and if you're wondering about why I label the time so strangely, I'm just screwing around. It makes it fun for me, idk about you. The point is that the characters are not aware of the passage of time in those scenes. (Or maybe I'm just slowly going insane like Zara…)