A/N: Hey, everyone! I'm so glad you're enjoying the story! Just to let ya'll know…I don't know very much about Catholicism or Greek mythology. So, since this is AU anyway, the majority of the mythos here is completely made up, so don't try to pass your Greek history final with it, folks. Also, in this story, I followed the pattern of half-breeds sharing names with archangels, but they are different entities. I think I'd be divinely electrocuted if I called them the same. So they're different. Ah, the joys of fictional license. Enjoy!
Chapter IV: Veritas
John furiously paced the floor of his apartment, pausing only to crush his cigarette in the ashtray and light another one. He took a moment to be disgusted with himself for smoking half a pack in two hours, but quickly let it go. He was slightly preoccupied with the fact that Chas had been asleep for over two hours and had shown no signs of waking up. If he was in a coma or dying or trapped in some alternate dimension he was going to kill that bitch with his own two hands.
He should have known it would be too easy to just get him back and walk away. There was always a catch, always.
He had to have answers, and he had to have them now, before this went on any longer, in case Chas was slipping away from him again and he didn't even know it.
The one person he knew would have answers was Michael, Gabriel's replacement. The only problem was he couldn't leave Chas alone.
John paced some more, worried, and killed more cigarettes.
Mahina stalked the streets of LA, secure in the night that had fallen. Her dark outfit made her virtually unnoticeable to the other people who were around. The silver cross around her neck occasionally caught the moonlight, revealing the blood red lines that ran through it.
She glanced at her watch and quickened her pace. As she passed an alleyway, a hand reached out and grabbed her arm. She squeaked in surprise, but allowed herself to be pulled along when she recognized her assailant.
"What do you want?" she whispered.
The man shoved her through a doorway and into an ostentatiously decorated office.
"What the hell are you thinkin', woman?" he growled.
"Midnite, give it a rest. Like you didn't think Constantine would find him?"
"In his own time, yeah he would've. And when he'd figured out the damn rules for his own damn self, Mahi. Do you know how much trouble you're in? You may have tipped the scales! You're supposed to be neutral!"
She poured herself a drink from his bar and shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm an independent party. And there was some weird stuff going on when I got to Ravenscar, might I add. I think the damage was already done."
He rolled his eyes. "That ain't for you to decide, sugar. Your orders were to protect Chas until Constantine came to claim him."
Mahina opened her mouth to argue that technically, he had, but Midnite cut her off.
"And when he knew how to claim him on his own. Without anyone telling him. Because someone telling him was against the rules." Midnite stressed. "Michael is gonna be spitfire mad at you, child. And Raphe…"
She whirled on him. "Don't even start with me about him." She hissed. "Raphael can't give a damn about what I do. He's my so called guardian and then vanishes when I'm sixteen? I don't think so. He could be dead or cast out or have been replaced for all I know. I asked Gabriel, I've asked Michael, and both of them said they didn't know which is bull. Especially for Michael, since he knows everything."
Midnite actually laughed, deep and clear. "Oh, child. He don't know everything." He winked at her. "If he did, he'd be God."
Mahina rolled her eyes and sipped her drink. Midnite shook his head and leaned over to pick up his phone when it started to ring. Mahina politely turned around and pretended to read labels on the bottles at the bar to give him a sense of privacy. She tuned out most of the conversation, only getting enough to gather that Midnite was being talked into something he didn't want to do. He put the phone down and sighed heftily.
"Well, child, I've got to go. Places to see, people to do. You should go talk to Michael." He said.
"A funny thing happened on the way to the cathedral…" she said airily.
He waved her off. "Just remember, every action has an opposite and equal reaction."
She put her glass down and grabbed her purse. "Thanks for the science lesson. Ciao."
"Bye, Mahi." He sighed after she'd gone. "Oh, child. If you only knew what you've set in motion."
Mahina pushed open the heavy oaken doors that lead to the library in the back of the Cathedral. The two priests back there paid her little attention, only taking time to be mildly surprised it was a quiet entrance. Usually the young woman came charging in, yelling at the top of her lungs. Though, to her credit, Michael was usually yelling at her before she got in the door.
She strode past them, not saying a word until she got to the fireplace, and the desk Michael had placed in front of it. Unfortunately, Mahina thought grimly, he had succumbed to the stereotypical authority figure type chair: tall and made out of dark leather. Mahina rapped her knuckles on the desk.
"Hello…Mike…"
There was no response from the other side of the red leather.
"Yo! Michael!" She reached over and gave the chair a shove, revealing that the half-breed was, in fact, not there.
Mahina whirled around to the priests. "Where is he?" she demanded.
They glanced at each other and shrugged. "We don't know, Ms. Elliot. We haven't seen him in several days." One of them said.
She rolled her eyes. "Fabulous."
Mahina scanned the paperwork on Michael's desk before wandering off towards one of the shelves. Her fingers trailed over the spines, and she closed her eyes, letting energy flow off her fingers and pass between her and the books. It was why she had always worked in libraries or book stores. Books were complete; the energy they created was calm. Her fingers slid off the spines and onto glass.
Mahina's grey eyes shot open and she yanked her hand away from the glass case as if she'd been burned. The figurines –if one could call them that- were all artifacts of some kind, all of them contained dark, violent powers that had been captured by the half-breeds or people like Mahina who worked for them. Demons, creatures of black magic, even some half-breeds from the hell side had been captured in the vessels locked behind the glass. Generally speaking, most of them were minor. Minor meaning they couldn't cause the destruction of the known world. There were only four that had that power, known in the ancient world as the titans. Four hell beasts that had devastating elemental powers, but had been subdued by the heaven sided half breeds of the time. The half breeds had cast them into small iron figures that were locked by a divine seal in the case in the divinely protected Cathedral and yet…
"One's missing…" she breathed.
A small boom sounded from behind her, and Michael appeared in a flash of short, spiky blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and an expensive business suit.
"What the hell were you thinking?" he shouted. "Do you have any idea how much damage control I had to do? His complete destructive force was nearly unleashed on the unsuspecting world because you can't –no- you refuse to do what I tell you to do! This boy coming back to life was an absolute disaster to begin with, but you've just ripped the lid off the box, Pandora! Congratulations, I hope you're happy that the two Stooges are back together because…are you even listening to me?"
"Michael…" she whispered.
He was behind her in a split second. "What? What's wrong?" he asked, worried by the tone of her voice.
"Tertura, the earth beast isn't in the case. Why is it not in the case?" she asked.
Michael felt actual fear clutch at him. "Oh, shit." He whispered.
The library door was flung open. Mahina squeezed her eyes shut and Michael sighed.
"Now is not a good time, John." The Half-breed said quietly.
"What the hell is she doing here? In all the times I've talked to you," Constantine growled, "you never once mentioned you knew her. I showed you her damn picture, for God's sake and you lied to my face, Michael?"
Michael rubbed his temple. "It was necessary…"
"Necessary? How could it be necessary…"
"Where's Chas?" Mahina said, forcing herself away from the case. She glanced around, her gaze becoming accusatory. "Where is he?" she demanded again. "You didn't…"
"Midnite's with him, as if you care." John said darkly.
"You're damn straight I care! Had he woken up yet? Has he remembered?"
"No! That's why I came here! It's been hours and he hasn't even stirred! I want to know what's wrong with him and I want to know right now!"
The lights in the building flickered ominously, and the ground started to rumble as it had when Chas had first seen John.
"Crikey." Mahina grumbled.
"Is that bad?" John asked wryly.
"Bad? Bad doesn't even begin to describe it." The girl said.
"Mahi, do you…" Michael started, but she stopped him.
"I don't have enough power to take down a titan-creature. Even if Raphe showed up we wouldn't make it." She said.
"Uh, excuse me, I am a professional, or am I not in your realm of expertise?" John asked.
Michael's wings twitched. "You can't take him either."
"Why the hell not?"
"I can't tell you."
"Oh, for God's sake…" Mahina exclaimed.
"Why not?" John demanded.
"Because, some of the rules haven't been broken yet." Michael stressed, glaring at Mahina.
"Oh, go ahead and blame me. I did what I could for as long as I could and, oh, look now you've got a freakin' titan on the loose, and oh, a Seal with destructive powers that doesn't know he's got destructive powers, and oh, a Cornerstone who has no idea what's going on!" she shouted.
"Would you please shut up? You do nothing but cause everywhere you go! He doesn't know what's going on because he isn't supposed to! There are things about Chas that both of you don't know and that's why it was damned secret in the first place!" Michael shouted back, as the lights went out completely.
The room fell silent and the earth vibrated beneath them. Mahina struggled to find a shelf or anything to orient her so she could find her way towards the door.
Michael sighed. Humans were so difficult. He stiffened when he felt a warm breath against his ear.
"What do I not know about Chas?" John demanded. His tone was quiet and dangerous.
"He has been granted a dark power, Constantine. One he does not have the ability to control. If you wake him, you will condemn not only yourself, but the entire world."
"Oh, please." Mahina said, sounding far away. "Don't be a drama king about it. Seals learn to wield their power like anyone else."
Michael gave a disdainful snort. "Like anyone else indeed. You do realize that he could be the most powerful of all of you."
"Such is his destiny, Mike." Mahina said quietly. She found the door and pushed it open. Light flooded in from the sanctuary and Mahina peered through the stained glass in an attempt to see what was going on outside.
Constantine gripped Michael near his collar bone. "You're failing to explain yourself." He growled.
"Don't worry about that now." Mahina said. "You've got bigger problems. Come look."
The two men joined her by the door, Constantine's grip still powerful near Michael's neck.
"The sky is not supposed to be green."
"That is the power of Tertura. He controls the earth element, and as such is one of the most powerful beings on the face of the planet." Mahina said.
"Great." Constantine said. "What's the black, then?"
Michael and Mahina looked further to the left to see swirling black energy rising towards the sky.
Michael groaned. "That would be Chas."
That was all John needed to hear. He ran out of the Cathedral, not understanding anything that was going on. It didn't matter, not if Chas was in danger.
Mahina and Michael watched him; let him go. She turned to him.
"Are you happy?" she asked.
"Why on earth would I be happy?"
"Once John gets Chas to remember, the balance of Seals and Cornerstones will be back in place. The damage Gabriel did will be undone." She hesitated at the look on his face. "Right, Mikey?"
Michael reached out and brushed his fingers against the side of her face. "Raphe's alive, I promise you that." He said quietly. "But Gabriel's mess won't be finished. Mahi, he's the only one who could have gotten Tertura out of the case."
"Oh, snap." She whispered. "And the first people he'd go after…"
"Would be John and Chas." Michael finished for her.
"The only one who can stop Tertura is Chas, isn't it?"
Michael shook his head. "No. Chas and Constantine are the only ones who can stop it."
John ran towards the center of the swirling, black vortex, taking note that almost everyone and everything else was trying to get away from it.
"The things I do for you, kid." John mumbled. He pushed forward, knowing that Chas was at the middle of this monstrous energy.
That was something else they were going to have to deal with.
John stopped moving when he caught sight of the teenager, the gale force winds making it hard for him to stand upright.
Chas was on his knees, hands pressed against his head. The energy seemed to be emanating from his very being, and it was very clear that he was not controlling it. It was controlling him.
"Chas!" he screamed above the wind. "Chas! Hang on!"
From outside the blackness that had overtaken his mind, Chas heard. His heart clenched with his first taste of hope since he'd died in Ravenscar, and he began to fight against the darkness. There was so much trying to push in on his mind, so many memories…
"Chas! Chas!"
Chas latched onto that memory. The one he knew would get him out of this bottomless pit he'd been sucked into. The one he knew would always come for him.
"John..."
And the balance shifted.