Horns and Halos
Rowan walked down many of those corridors with Castiel and Gadreel. They seemed to know exactly where to find Metatron and, within a few minutes, Rowan could feel it too, as if her father's birthrights were kicking into high gear. Metatron was not very close, but not far either. And, if she was right, he knew they were there.
He was waiting for them.
Rowan repeated Crowley's words in her mind: I could have something he wants. I could use something that's important to him. I could make him think we're on the same team. I could fool him into a trap. Get to know him and use what you know.
So, Rowan was building up her knowledge of Metatron. The first thing on her list was the fact that he knew they were there and was waiting for them. He had quite the ego and he wasn't afraid.
Yet.
They turned the corner and were indeed close. Down the hall, at the end, was an office and that's where he awaited them.
"Go and I'll be there shortly." Rowan whispered to them, giving Gadreel a reassuring nod. They walked ahead and into the office where Metatron gave a laugh, as if surprised at who made it into Heaven.
"Castiel, you are a persistent one." Metatron said in a voice that was very distinguished. "You're so conflicted; be the big hero, the rebel, but then you must do what's expected of you." He added, letting out a laugh, pausing as he was no doubt looking at Gadreel. "And imagine my surprise. I didn't think you'd be here. Quite brazen, aren't you?" he asked, indeed talking to Gadreel. "Well? Not going to talk? Not going to tell me what great plan you have?" he asked and Rowan approached the office.
No doubt Metatron was sensing a third presence about to make itself know and, if he could sense her as well as she thought, he'd know she was something to take very seriously.
"I hope you'll keep that confident smile, Metatron." Gadreel said a couple of seconds before Rowan walked into the doorway, looking elegant in her black lace dress and that fierce expression in her eyes. Metatron simply stared at her, surprised, but indeed keeping that smile.
"Well, what a party." He said, grinning from ear to ear. He wasn't what she expected. He looked like someone's creepy uncle that shouldn't be around children or out of a mental hospital. However, as she looked at him, oddly, she could see how seriously he took his role given to him by God. He was the scribe of God and he left superior as he was chosen among all the angels.
It was indeed ego.
"Hello, Metatron." she said sweetly as she walked in, pulling up a chair and sitting across from him. He continued to look at her, not in the way Crowley did, but as if he was so memorized by her presence and what she could be, as if he never saw anything like her. He never did and he never will again. "Allow me to introduce myself." She said, extending her hand to him. He took it tenderly and just held it, staring into her eyes as if figuring out that she's part angel and part… something else. "I'm Rowan McKinley, otherwise known as Hel, Goddess of Helheim." She concluded and his lips twitched into an awkward grin.
"How can you –" he began, but stopped as if he finally knew. "Gabriel." He muttered and she grinned darkly.
"You certainly are intelligent." She replied, her grin turning into a dark smile. He smiled in returned and released her hand, as if he was enjoying talking to her. It seemed he forgot all about Castiel and Gadreel. "No doubt chosen because of this quality." She added, getting a rather surprised look on his face. Then, his lips twitched again, like a little kid who was flattered, being told they were highly talented. "No doubt the only one deserving of Heaven." She concluded and his eyes widened as if he finally met someone who saw things through his eyes.
Only then he remembered Castiel and Gadreel, as he looked up at them, his eyes becoming harsh as if he didn't know why they were there if she agreed with him.
"You see, the angels, believe I can talk to you, because Gabriel was my father; I'm the only one that can enter and who doesn't have anything she wants out of all this." Rowan said with a little grin that got Metatron's attention back on her, his lips twitching into a slight grin. "But, there is something I want." She added and his eyes glimmer with curiosity. "To make them cry." She concluded and at that moment, an unseen force pushed Castiel and Gadreel up against the walls of the office and Metatron let out a little laugh as he watched them struggle.
"So eager that you blindly trust. Typical angels." He said and looked back at Rowan with a smile.
Crowley was a genius. Based on what she got from Metatron, making him think they were on the same team worked pretty damned good. He was egotistical because he was chosen and if she played the role of betraying the angels, that would make him giggle like a teenage girl at a football game.
He glanced at her with curiosity in his eyes, supporting his chin on his hand, indeed looking like a teenage girl.
"Why do you want to betray them?" he asked and she knew she'd have to tell him the type of truth he'd want to hear, which wasn't exactly a lie.
"My father's dead." Rowan said, her voice cold as her eyes grew dark. "No one was there for him. They abandoned him all because he walked away? He was in pain! And they abandoned him. I have very few memories of my father. Like I'd help those angels." She concluded, her expression sharp and chilled, pleasing Metatron as if he was happy to see someone as angry as he felt.
Only it wasn't anger; it was a wounded pride.
"Now, how can I help?" she asked, relaxing her expression, but keeping it fierce. Metatron maintained his grin and he looked at Castiel and Gadreel, grinning as if he was victorious.
As long as he continued to believe that.
"If they want back in, they're going to have to prove their worth." Metatron replied, looking back at Rowan with a wicked excitement in his eyes. "Do everything that I say." He added and Rowan nodded.
"Quite excellent." She replied, as he folded his hands on the desk, leaning over towards her, like he was ignoring the two angels behind them.
"And what exactly can you offer me?" he asked, his eyes oddly seeming greedy. This is where she could also have something he would want and use it against him. She had an idea, it was actually the only idea she had, but she was willing to take a risk. If he wanted to be as almighty as God, then no doubt he'd feel greedy at the idea of power. Crowley had told her that souls were raw power and power for beings at the top of the chain was exactly what she had.
Souls.
"I'm Ruler of the dead. All those souls. You obviously know how powerful a soul can be." She replied and his eyes glistened, but she wasn't sure he was hooked on the idea. At least not yet. "I understand souls and you'd be intrigued by my knowledge and what I can do with them." She added and saw a spark in his eyes, knowing very well why he was tickled pink when she said he was intelligent. He values knowledge and obviously has a desire to acquire all there is to know. "I'm also playing double agent, here." She concluded with a grin that made him smile.
"And you think that's going to sweeten me up?" he asked her and, one would typically feeling like their plan is crumbling like a cookie in milk, but Rowan remained confident, calling his bluff.
"I hear the Angel tablet is what makes you super juiced up. And I'm not saying you're not powerful, but you have to admit that nothing is as powerful as a soul. Those little gems are packed with raw power and imagine all of them together. God's little meth crystals." Rowan replied with a sinister grin. It was bold, but she was beginning to believe that she had Metatron right where she wanted him.
Eating up every word that came from her soft pink lips.
"And why would you help me?" he asked and she tilted her head at him with a sad frown.
"So afraid that the world has turned its back on you." She said, seeing a small flicker of vulnerability in his eyes. Yeah, it helped when she could see things, whether it was a soul or not. "Do you honestly think I care about anything? I'm a Death Goddess, Metatron; life isn't exactly my cup of tea. Do what you want with it, destroy it; I'd be happy." She added with a dark grin that was nearly insidious.
Metatron looked at her for a brief moment, as if considering what she had said, and before he could think any further, she decided to ask a very touchy question, she was certain of it.
"Where's God anyway?" she asked and his expression fell away, revealing much vulnerability. Indeed a touchy subject.
"No one knows." He replied and she gave him another sad frown.
"What do you think that means?" she asked him and he stared at her, as if wondering if she had an idea that she was withholding from him. "Was that right after you wrote the tablets?" she asked him and he looked down at his hands.
"Yes." He replied and she nodded. When he looked back up at her, she had her eyes on the desk, looking puzzled.
"And you thought taking his place would make him come back?" she asked, her tone low as her eyes lifted up, meeting his in a serious expression. That's when she was asking herself just what the Hell was she doing. Did she want to piss him off?
Well, she was about to see what would happen.
"I thought he left because of me." he said and before he could continue, she cut in. If she was going to piss him off, might as well do it right… by hitting a nerve.
"You're proving your worth." She said and his stare on her was intense, but it also indicated that she had indeed hit a nerve. Metatron remained silent for a brief moment, looking down at his hands folded together on the desk. Rowan could have continued a bit further, but she didn't want to give away all her secrets, at least not yet.
When Metatron looked back up at her, she stayed strong in her projection of an ally. He wasn't stupid and she had to remember that.
He opened a drawer of his desk and pulled out one tablet, and then pulled out another. Rowan didn't have to look closer to feel drawn to one of the two; she knew which one was the Angel tablet. She took a slight glance and then looked back into Metatron's piercing eyes. He had taken them out to either test her intentions or confirm a theory he had about her.
"Everyone's just interested in them." He said and she gave him a slightly dark smile.
"Being the word of God, it's understandable." She replied and a creepy smile slowly broke out on his face.
"But it's useless when I'm the only one that can read them." Metatron said and she wanted to argue that the prophet Kevin could as well, obviously, but that would probably tell him what he thought to be true; that she wanted it for herself.
Not true, but he was sort of a mad man and it was never a good idea to argue with one of those.
"So why are you worried?" she asked him, tilting her head with a dark glimmer in her eyes. Maybe she was arguing with the mad man, but she was going to have to reveal her cards soon.
Yeah, she used Crowley's advice, but she had also used a bit of her father's old tricks. She didn't see it in her dreams, but as she stayed longer in Heaven, she was beginning to feel more like the daughter of an Archangel that just so happened to be a little trickster.
"As the old saying goes; keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer." Metatron said, his stare so intense on her, as if to say that he knows she's not trying to be a friend. Rowan gave a dark and chilling smile, no doubt her aura of power glowing in her eyes.
"I don't have enemies; that would suggest that my opponent stands the chance of beating me." she said and looked up behind him. In a second, before he could catch on, Gadreel and Castiel vanished from the wall behind Rowan in a shimmering illusion. A ring of Holy Fire was lit around Metatron and Rowan, as it was the only way to get around him without crawling under the desk. As the circle was lit aflame, Gadreel swiped the Angel tablet out of Metatron's bewildered grip as well as the Demon tablet.
Both angels stood away from the circle and, as much as he tried to fight against it, Metatron was reduced to a simple angel now that the Angel tablet had been taken out of his possession.
Metatron turned his eyes back to Rowan who remained seated calmly in her chair.
"Well, you are your father's daughter." Metatron said, referring to the illusion she had created. All that time, she had Castiel and Gadreel imprison him unknowingly under the disguise that they had been betrayed. And all those things she told him, it was quite clever. "You realize that being part angel, you're stuck in this circle." He said with a smug smile, but she simply smiled at him.
"Makes no difference to me; what have I got to lose at the moment?" she asked and glanced at Gadreel. "Time to take a break." She added and Metatron let out a gasp a second later, realizing what she was actually saying. As he began to protest, Gadreel held it firmly in his hands and, at that moment, Castiel too protested.
The Angel tablet hit the bookshelf just beside Gadreel and, with such force, shattered into two pieces. Metatron's face was pale with horror and Castiel's eyes were wide with confusion.
Rowan gestured to Castiel as Gadreel met her dark eyes. She turned her head to Castiel and waved him off.
"Go." She simply said and it took him a second to obey her order, pushing aside the confusion. As soon as he was gone, she turned back to Metatron and smiled as if there was something that suddenly surprised her. "Can you feel some angels in Heaven? I sure can." She said and stood up with a sinister grin. Gadreel had hid the Demon tablet in his jacket just before some angels had burst into the office, glaring at Metatron with resentment for what he had done.
They doused a small portion of the circle of Holy Fire, enough to break its hold on Rowan and Metatron. Before he could do anything, some angels restrained him, pulling him out of his chair.
The high ranking female angel walked in, not looking very pleased, but compliant.
"We have reapers to escort the souls over to Helheim." She said and Rowan turned to her, stepping out of the broken circle.
"Good." She said, taking Gadreel's hand and looking over at a stunned Metatron. Yes, he now knew that all of this had been nothing but a deal to her.
"You're no better than a demon." he said to her, but she only smiled sweetly at him, despite that dark glistening spark in her eyes that revealed she was taking that as a compliment.
"You're not worthy, apparently." She replied, looking around at the absence of God. When she looked at Metatron just before the angels took him out of the office against his will, she saw the expression on his face.
She hit that nerve one last time.