Chapter 19

Hope whirled around; her fist clenched. She knew that the demon wearing human skin wasn't really expecting her to throw a punch or to fight back in general, so it must've been a shock when her fist connected with his face.

She had thrown her entire weight into the punch and when he went down, Hope gave him a kick for extra measure before booking it. The young being ran as fast as she could towards where the others were waiting. Her lungs ached as well as her legs, but the demon was right behind her, shouting and screeching.

"GET BACK HERE, YOU LITTLE BITCH! YOU'RE GONNA WISH YOU DIDN'T DO THAT!"

I don't think so, she thought as she dodged through the crowds. Up ahead loomed St. Luke's cathedral. All she had to do was to burst through the doors, where Amenadiel, Lucifer and Maz were waiting for her and the demon behind her.

Almost…..there-

Athahsaia tackled her. Hope fell to the ground with an oomph, the wind getting knocked out of her. She fought to free herself, only to feel the demon flip her over onto her back. The poor human that Athahsaia possessed was obviously long dead, as his face was rotted and falling off in places.

"You're not getting away from me that easily," the demon growled. Hope continued to fight, even as Athahsaia leaned forward, breathing on her heavily with his rank breath. "You're gonna feel me as I work my way into your being. You're going to see as I inhale your essence, as I devour your flesh."

Hope managed to push his face upward, gathering up her strength until she was able to push him off and make a final dash for the church.

"GOD CAN'T SAVE YOU NOW, LITTLE PIGEON!"

Hope ran up the stairs to the altar, her hands dipping into the Holy Water before turning towards the demon that managed to cross the threshold, the human he was wearing like a shield. He and the messenger squared off, both of them staring each other down with intense heat.

Until the demon made the first move.

He didn't expect the fight to go the way it did, judging by the expression on his face. While he slipped out of his jacket a blade made of dark obsidian, daemonic sigils inscribed on the blade and hilt, Hope managed to will her Holy Sword from the ether. With a little infusion of power, Holy Flames leapt to life on the blade. She brought it up just in the nick of time to block the daemonic knife with a loud clang. Hope gritted his teeth and felt all the muscles in her body stiffen as she fought to push the demon back. Hand-to-hand combat had never really been her forte, not even with Mr. Aziraphale assisting her in developing her fighting skills, but against the demon, it was something quite difficult to push back.

But she managed to do so.

"I fought the Angels during the Rebellion," Athahsaia whispered harshly as stared her down, the knife rippling and shifting into a sword. "I've cut down Thrones, Seraphim, Principalities, Powers and Virtues. I've feasted on their essence and consumed the very fiber of their being, until there was nothing left. But never in my millennium have I tasted Messenger. This'll be quite interesting."

Hope felt the air around her crackle with energy. She felt that familiar, but strange energy that she held within her. It was amplified by the Holy Water still clinging onto her hands.

"I would warn you to stop with your brutal killings. Otherwise, you'll have the Devil to pay."

Athahsaia chuckled. "Is that so?"

"Indeed, it is, Athahsaia."

The demon twisted around to see Lucifer standing at the entrance of the church, unaffected by the Holy Sacrament. Unfortunately, Maz lingered right outside the threshold, looking quite annoyed. Hope couldn't see the lower demon's face, but judging from his body language, he was quite shocked and frightened to see the Lord of Hell standing before him.

"M-my Lord Lucifer." Athahsaia started to tremble. And Hope could smell the fear coming off him.

She started to scoot around the demon as Detective Decker approached with her pistol out and aimed at the demon. While normal bullets wouldn't have any effect on a demon, the ones contained in the chamber of her Glock were blessed. Heavily so.

Athahsaia dropped to his knees, and started to grovel before Lucifer. "I have come to serve you, My Lord."

"You escaped from prison."

"Yes sir," Athahsaia whimpered. "The Prison that those blasted Archangels sealed me in. But I have escaped and have rushed to your side."

"You weren't ever supposed to get out, Athahsaia. Even by demonic standards, you have no restraint."

"But my Lord-"

"Now, we have no choice but to get rid of you before Gabriel shows up. I don't his Holier-Than-Thou arse here in my Paradise of Sin."

Hope swallowed as she adjusted her grip on the hilt, her eyes darting in between the Devil and the demon.

"But Sire-"

"Enough. Let us get through with this."

He nodded, ever so slightly. Hope smirked, catching the signal and jumping into the fray. She leapt from the altar, throwing all her power into the pull back and (eventually) the swing. Hope managed to catch the demon's shoulder, however he managed to duck out of harm's way of the blade. His skin sizzled and popped where the Holy Flame burned him, eating away at his essence. It wasn't deep enough to obliterate him completely but it looked like it hurt like a bitch.

Athahsaia turned around, his face contorting into one of pure demonic rage.

Hope buckled in her resolve for a brief moment, becoming terrified, purely terrified in a moment of weakness. She was back in that alleyway, with Hastur and all those demons looming over her with Hellfire.

Her fingers grew cold and numb. The sword clattered to the ground as Athahsaia leapt forward, with his claws out and his teeth bared. There was a moment where there was a feeling of something snapping inside her.

She screamed her lungs out as she expelled that power from inside her. Visions danced in front of her eyes as power she could barely contain expelled outward from an ever deepening well.

"HOPE!"

Hope let go with a strangled gasp, watching with horror as the form of Athahsaia cracked and crumbled down like a pillar of salt. There was a moment of strangled shock from all the parties involved especially Hope whose vision darkened dangerously around the edges before it engulfed her every being.