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Chapter 4
Darkness groaned as she opened her eyes in irritation. She had been enjoying her rest and now something was poking around at the edge of her defences.
"Darkness!" Donatello said in worry as he stormed into her bedchamber. She lay on her stomach partially wrapped in the arms of two men. The man to her right groaned in irritation. The one to her left opened his blue eyes and looked at Donatello in worry.
Donatello stopped in shock as he looked at her. His face became irritated. "Lucifer cover yourself up damn it. I don't need to be looking at your lily white ass."
Lucifer looked at his ass and frowned. "I will inform you that my ass is not lily white. That description is more apt for Kaethryn's lovely ass." He said while rubbing a soft hand over her ass and down her leg. "My ass is a beautiful olive tone." He said with an affronted sniff.
"I really don't care what colour it is." Donatello growled. Lucifer wrapped himself in the black satin sheets and lay on his belly facing Donatello his wings softly brushing Darkness' stomach.
"You could join us you know." Lucifer said motioning to the bed where his wife was still partially wrapped in Gabriel's arms.
He paused but finally answered. "Just because you are her lover doesn't mean I want to, or have to join in." Donatello said with mild irritation. He couldn't be too irritated, after all, he was the one who had suggested that Darkness be allowed to take them as her lovers.
"What?" Raphael had shouted in shock and looked utterly appalled. "Donny do you hear yourself? Did a minor god bash you too hard in the head?" He had asked. It had been 12 years after they had failed to save Katherine and even though he knew they had tried and even though he knew that they couldn't have done anything differently, he still felt heartsick.
"She loves them Raph." He had said quietly.
He remembered that Michelangelo had been shocked into silence and Leonardo was looking at him grimly.
They were still adjusting to what they were now. Darkness had told them that they weren't gods of gods like they had thought. They were gods for the gods. Darkness had explained to them that if gods were just ordinary people, they were now the King (Raphael) The Prince (Michelangelo), The General (Leonardo) and the Magician (himself). They did not exist above the other gods, but they guided and helped the other gods. But unlike how things worked on the mortal world, the gods would not know who or what they really were. Lucifer and Gabriel knew, but that was because Darkness let them know.
"So what, we can't share her with everyone she loves Donny." Raphael had ground out. "It's bad enough that we have to share her between all of us, and now you want us to share her with two other guys, are you crazy?"
Donatello had sighed. Now that he was a god of Fate, he could see things. Some things were still hidden from him, but some things weren't. Raphael couldn't see the big picture, but he could.
"Raph, she has loved them for what, nine thousand years!" He said with a shake of his head. "Can you even imagine loving someone for that long and never being able to complete that love? They gave up the chance to go back to Heaven for her, knowing that she would never be with them." He said to him.
Raphael had shaken his head in anger.
"Why are you suggesting this Donny?" Leonardo had asked him. Leonardo knew he was trying to get at something and he was patiently waiting for him to get to the point.
"Darkness…loves them, but she isn't acting on that love because of us." He said softly.
"That's the way it works Donny. She chose us, not him, not them." Raphael had growled.
"But that is the point. She chose us." He insisted willing them to understand.
"Goddess said a long time ago that her love for them was like a dream, one that could never be dreamt again." Michelangelo had put in.
"Because she chose us over them." He told them again.
"Donny just spit it out." Leonardo said in irritation.
"Darkness doesn't think like we do." He began softly. "She can love, truly love, more than one person at a time. She doesn't have a limit.
"We know Donny." Raphael said angrily his eyes narrowed. "So?"
He sighed. "How long do you think it will be before we stray?" He asked them.
Their jaws dropped in shock. "What?" Raphael asked in horror.
"How long?" He asked them.
"Donny!" Michelangelo said in shock.
"We've been married 18 years, but we can't even grasp the idea of eternity." Donatello said. "Trying to even comprehend that length of time…" He shook his head. "You don't hear about too many gods who stay faithful."
"Donny. I love Darkness with every fibre of my being. I would never hurt her like that. I would never betray her, and she would never betray us." Raphael said insistently.
"I know Raph, you say that now, but a thousand years from now. I'm not saying you won't still love her, but…"
Donatello looked at them and tried another tract of reasoning. "I know you haven't noticed, but it is breaking her heart not being able to be with them."
"So what, we aren't enough for her?" Raphael growled.
"No." Donatello said shaking his head. "It isn't about that. It is about love, pure and simple. She has already given them her heart and soul, but she cannot give them her body because of us. We are denying her the ability to love them the way she wants to love them because we are caught up with the mortal idea of…only being able to be with one person. Even though we four share her, we still are thinking like we four are really just one…set, if you will."
"I'm sorry Donny, I get what you are saying but I don't understand." Leonardo said in frustration.
"She will fall into the dark if we don't do this." He said softly.
His brothers paled. "What do you mean Donny?" Leonardo asked carefully.
He couldn't tell his brothers what he had seen, who he had glimpsed. But he knew that besides this, Darkness' heart was hurting. And it was only going to get worse if what he glimpsed came to pass, which he knew it would. "Just trust me on this one." He finished softly.
"So we gotta share her, with two other guys." Raphael growled at him. "Because we are hurting her and if we don't we will lose her."
"Actually three." Donatello said with a cough. "You forgot about Death."
They blinked at him in shock. Leonardo clutched the bridge of his beak in irritation. " Donny. You are asking too much of us." He said finally.
Not that he blamed Leonardo one bit. He was technically Darkness' soul mate and he already had to share her with his three brothers. That was already a tough thing for him. To share her with another three men was hard even for him to wrap his mind around. "I'm not asking and neither is Darkness." He said softly. "But," Donatello shrugged. "She loves them Leo. It isn't as if they are just random guys. And she doesn't love us any less. She probably loves us just that little bit more. And I know you and her are so much more than just soul mates Leo, but I swore to myself that I would do anything to have her in my life. I was already willing to share her with my brothers. If that means I have to share her with three other guys then I'm fine with that." He said in a steely voice.
He could see the wheels turning in his brother's heads.
Michelangelo frowned but gave a curt nod of agreement. Raphael and Leonardo both wore the same expressions of jealous anger mixed with resignation. "I need to go hit something." Raphael said. "So what now, we go confront Darkness?"
Donatello shook his head. "We talk to Lucifer and Gabriel."
Raphael paused. "Can I hit him?" He asked as he cracked his knuckles aggressively. 'There are probably some ground rules that need to be established."
Leonardo's shoulders tensed in irritation but he could see the capitulation in his shoulders, because Leonardo couldn't lose her, none of them could.
The expression on Lucifer and Gabriel's faces had been priceless.
They had arrived in Lucifer's private chambers. Gabriel and Lucifer were both engaged in a game of chess. They had stood quickly, worry instantly apparent on both men's faces.
Donatello knew then that they were making the right decision. Raphael had angrily marched up to Lucifer and had punched him in the jaw as hard as he could. Lucifer had gone flying hitting the stone wall behind him with crushing force.
Raphael had grinned. On Earth Lucifer was a big gun, he had a lot of power, but in comparison to the gods on T'lae-ran, his power was really just a drop in the bucket, compared to their power, a drop in the ocean.
Lucifer pulled himself angrily from the rubble and rubbed his jaw. "And to what do I owe the pleasure?" He ground out.
"Well I did say I was going to hit you when we got back. I know it's been a while but figured this was as good a time as any." Raphael sneered at him.
Lucifer worked his jaw. "Better late than never, I suppose." He said as he stood. "Now if you don't mind we were busy, please leave." He said rather politely.
Raphael grinned maliciously. "Oh I'm just getting started. That was for calling my wife 'your love' so often over there in Heaven." Raphael stalked up to Lucifer, grabbed him by the lapels of his fine blue Italian suit, and hit him hard in the face, letting him fall to the ground dazed at his feet. "And that is for sleeping with my wife." Raphael ground out in jealous anger. Raphael's fists had begun to flame. Donatello knew Raphael was the Leader of their pantheon, but he was also very much a sun god.
Luckily for Lucifer that was the one thing he was impervious to. He looked at Leonardo whose tightly clenched fists were beginning to form ice.
He hadn't understood at first why Raphael was the leader and Leonardo had been relegated to the Underworld. It had taken a while for him to figure out that Leonardo now reflected what Darkness was. Leonardo could now touch Darkness when she was Darkness. Also, being a god of the Underworld was a much more difficult job since Leonardo would eventually have to deal with the souls of dead gods. But that would be in the future, right now, things were mostly still the same. All the pieces of the puzzle were not in place yet. He knew that for a fact.
Lucifer wiped the blood from his mouth. "Believe me. I only wish I could be accused of such a thing. Unfortunately for me, Kaethryn would never betray you." He slowly stood. "Now if you are done."
"Oh I'm not finished yet." Raphael growled. "I know Darkness would never betray me, betray us." He growled.
Lucifer frowned in confusion. "I'm sorry, I'm confused." Lucifer said as he dabbed at his broken lip with a handkerchief. "I did not have sex with Kaethryn, yet you are accusing me of doing so even though you know and I know Kaethryn would never betray you. Have I missed something?"
"No, I think you have it about right. And let's not forget Gabriel." Raphael said stomping up to the golden haired Fallen.
Gabriel's jaw hung open in shock. "I never had sex with Kaethryn" He said vehemently shaking his head.
"I know. And I like you Gabriel so I'm not going to hit you." Raphael said squeezing Gabriel's shoulder hard enough that he winced in pain.
"I'm just laying the ground rules for when you do." Raphael said getting in Gabriel's face.
Raphael let his shoulder go and stepped away letting Donatello talk. "We haven't talked to Darkness yet. We thought we would talk to you first." Donatello began as Gabriel walked over and stood next to Lucifer. They both wore expressions of confusion and worry. They probably thought they had all gone insane, which they probably had. "Darkness loves you, both of you, and I am tired of seeing her hurt. So here is the deal, you can sleep with her, but only if she wants to, and you both have to remember that we are her husbands not you, got it." He managed to growl out.
Lucifer and Gabriel looked at each other and looked at them in shock. Lucifer cleaned his ears out. "I'm sorry, what?" He asked in confusion. "Did you just give us permission to sleep with your wife?"
"Yes we did." Michelangelo said curtly. "But it is up to Darkness." Michelangelo said.
"And we don't like it." Raphael growled. "But we will accept it if it will make Darkness happy."
"And by sleep you mean…?"Lucifer asked hope warring with suspicion and confusion.
"You can have sex with her; make love to her, whatever you want to call it." Raphael ground out.
Lucifer fell where he stood. He sat on the ground unseeing. Donatello looked at his brothers in shock.
"I think I need to…I just…" Lucifer tried to form a coherent sentence but couldn't. Lucifer looked at them then shook his head smiling viciously. "You are too cruel." He said trying to stand.
"We aren't lying to you Lucifer." Donatello said shaking his head. "Believe me it isn't something we would ever joke about."
"Yeah, and you aren't the only two the invitation is being given to." Raphael growled.
"Who?" Gabriel asked.
"Death." Leonardo said crossing his arms over his chest.
Lucifer blinked in shock. "But…" He frowned. "Ah, he would take his previous form" Lucifer said with a nod.
"Wait, what?" Raphael asked in surprise. "What form?"
"Death has many different forms, just because he always appears as a 6 foot walking skeleton doesn't mean that that is the only form he can appear in. He isn't just called an angel of death for nothing. I seem to recall that that particular form is very pretty." Lucifer said with a nod.
Gabriel frowned. "I don't understand. You are letting Kaethryn be with everyone she loves? But…"
"We swore that we would do anything to have Goddess back. If that means sharing her with a few extra people then fine. We don't like it, but we will accept it because we know she loves you two, and Death." Michelangelo said.
"I would like to see you try to explain to Kaethryn this particular idea." Lucifer observed.
"Yeah that one is going to be tricky because she won't think we will be able to handle it." Michelangelo said to them.
They all shrugged. They would just have to convince her otherwise.
"And what about the beautiful yet terrifying Light, and Azazel?" Lucifer asked as he managed to get to his feet.
"We don't know enough about Darkness' feelings for Light." Donatello began. He believed that Darkness and Light's relationship was one they couldn't even begin to fathom.
"At the rate things are going I would be up for having another chick around." Michelangelo said with a shake of his head.
Donatello looked at his brother. "Yes, but I don't think Light would be interested. I think she has eyes only for Darkness."
Michelangelo shrugged. "Whatever, I would watch." He said with a smile.
Donatello shook his head but grinned. "As for Azazel, Darkness likes him well enough and he loves her, but it isn't romantic love. He literally worships her. I believe Azazel is content to just be in her presence."
Lucifer nodded but looked at them seriously. "Are you sure you wish this?" He asked.
Donatello frowned. He thought that Lucifer would be halfway out the door already. But he was really making sure that they were okay with what they were offering.
"We don't want it Lucifer, but we will offer it anyway." Raphael said crossing his own arms over his chest.
Lucifer nodded slowly as if trying to figure out the hitch. Not that he blamed him.
"Darkness would hate us if we ever did anything to hurt you Lucifer." Donatello said softly.
This brought him back to why he was staring at Lucifer's ass. He didn't know if Darkness had consummated her relationship with Death yet, and he wasn't going to ask. All he knew was that if she had, they hadn't done it here.
"I am very well aware of our intruder Donatello." Darkness said as she broke away from Gabriel's embrace. She held out her arms to him. "We have some time yet. Make love to me Donatello, or have sex with me, whatever it is you wish." She said holding out her arms in invitation.
He looked at the two Fallen who were still lounging in her bed. Darkness hadn't kicked them out so they were staying. Donatello couldn't say no. He wished he could, but he could not resist her. He also knew there was a hidden question beneath her words. It had been a little over 2 years since Lucifer and Gabriel had started sharing her bed, and although they had adjusted somewhat, it was still an uncomfortable subject.
If you are truly okay with this then why does everyone act as if it is not happening? Darkness asked him silently.
Because. He answered. They must all deal with it in their own way, which is basically ignoring the problem. I can see how happy you are now. He thought to her.
I was happy before just having you, but I am more complete and at ease with what must come. She said to him.
He nodded. Then paused in thought. You let me see. He thought in shock. You blocked everything. I thought it was an accident, but you left one tiny clue for me to see. He accused.
I did. She acknowledged.
Why? He wondered.
Because I wished to know what you would do with the information. It would either make us stronger or break us.
He sighed. He was never going to understand how her mind worked. Just when he thought he had her figured out, she would do something unexpected. He looked at her. He loved her, and he knew in his heart that he would never stray. She would keep amazing him throughout eternity, because she was the love of his life, and afterlife. It was then he realized something. Darkness always said she didn't know what was going to happen, that she didn't know and she couldn't control anything, and Donatello realized that as much as she knew, as much as she could calculate probable outcomes and be correct almost 100 % of the time, she still didn't actually know what was going to happen.
Lucifer and Gabriel watched their silent interchange. Prove to me that you are okay with this Donatello. She said to him silently.
"I will never understand how blue ended up your soul mate Kaethryn. I should have chosen purple for you I think." Lucifer said thoughtfully.
Lucifer was more polite, more sincerely polite and always watched them with wariness, as if he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Lucifer and Gabriel knew as well as they did that if they told Darkness at any time to stop seeing them, she would, in a heartbeat, because it would make them happy.
Donatello had harboured a secret hope that Lucifer, after chasing and pining for her for so many millennia, would, now that he had her, not want her. But so far it didn't appear to be case.
"Leonardo is mine and I am his. His soul rings for me, but this does not mean he understands me all of the time, because what we have is so much...more than simple thoughts or simple understanding or knowing. It just is." She said as she continued to hold her arms out for him.
Donatello shook his head. He never imagined that his sex life would consist, more often than not, of more than one person either watching or participating. He let his kimono fall to the ground as he walked naked over to the bed.
Lucifer looked him over curiously. His eyes roved over his scars, his muscles, his flesh, his shell, and finally stopped at his cock, which was already hard and aching for his wife.
"They don't get to touch me." He growled as he claimed his wife's mouth in a searing kiss.
He had gotten used to having more than one guy in bed with him and his wife, but with his brothers there was nothing but brotherly feelings towards each other. They just tried not to get in each other's way. But here there was no such barrier.
'Wait a few millennia, you never know." Lucifer said with a chuckle. Lucifer lay back on the sheets and looked at Darkness, his eyes glittering with desire. "I think I can see why you wished for him." He said softly. "And if he is anything like the other brothers, I can see why you desired the set."
"I don't need a running commentary Lucifer, so if you are going to stay, shut it." He said glaring over at him.
Lucifer smiled and shrugged. He looked over at Lucifer. His eyes roved over Lucifer's flesh in idle curiosity. Darkness had never had a problem with their bodies not being human, and he wondered now that she had two, possibly three lovers who were human, if she had a preference. Then he remembered that Michelangelo could take human form and although she had given Michelangelo the choice, she still seemed to prefer him when he was in his turtle form, not his human one. He turned his attention back to Darkness who was watching him with a raised brow. "Hard, fast and bloody." He said to her finally.
She chuckled as she bit him hard in the neck, not even tempering the pain with any pleasure. Her nails dug into the flesh of his arms as he roughly pinned her to the bed slamming himself into her over and over at a furious pace. He forgot all about his audience, his focus narrowing to the pinpoint awareness of just him and her. He had finally been able to share her with Michelangelo and Raphael, but it had been awhile since he was just able to take that dark part of his lust and let it loose.
He let out a scream of pleasure as he bit her shoulder hard enough to draw blood. He tasted the blood in his mouth and liked it. He shocked himself at his violence. He released his grip on her wrists as he looked down at her, almost ashamed. He had never made her bleed. He was always the one who bled, never her. Darkness looked at him. Her blood mixed with his. She bled from where he had bit her, but also where his own nails had raked themselves down her skin. Her eyes briefly flashed gold. His shoulders relaxed as he realized that is was his suppressed beast and not he that had enjoyed the taste of blood. She pulled him down for a tender kiss, a forgiving kiss. He knew Darkness didn't get off on pain, but she hadn't seemed to mind what he had done.
"I would suggest, that unless you want to witness me having sex with your wife, you had best leave." Lucifer growled. "Your performance was rather…stirring." He said seriously.
Lucifer and Gabriel did not seem bothered by all of the blood. His wounds were rapidly healing. He looked down at t his wife because it was her decision, not his.
"Do as you wish Donatello. If you wish to stay, stay, if you wish to alert your brothers that we will soon be having company, do so." She said gently.
He nodded. His brothers needed to be prepared for whatever was trying to break through the barriers Darkness had around the Castle. Though she didn't seem worried, he was a little concerned as he could not see who or what it was. He looked down at himself. He was completely covered in his own blood. It had been a long time since Darkness had cut him up so much, or so deep. He supposed he had asked for it though.
He crawled off the bed and went to clean up. He figured he had time enough if Darkness was going to go at it with both Lucifer and Gabriel.
Darkness looked at the two men curled up in her bed. She looked around the room. There was blood everywhere. The mirror was covered in blood, the bed the floor the walls, even the ceiling. At the moment she was preventing Castellum from soaking up the blood. He could have it in a bit, but right now, she surveyed her handiwork, she needed it.
She had had Donatello and Gabriel and Lucifer, but her arms craved to hold another man. She pushed more power into the barrier around the Castle delaying her intruder. At her thought Death appeared before her. His empty eyes took in the bloody chamber. Flesh began to cover his body, his slightly worn grey wings filled out as the most beautiful man she had ever seen stood in front of her. His body was as pale as alabaster, his hair as black as pitch. Black eyes looked at her with a timeless intensity that only she and he could ever understand. She had always found peace in Death's arms.
He pulled her from the blood soaked bed. He just held her, his cold skin the same temperature as her own.
Our Daughter misses you Death's voice toned in her head.
"I will see her soon." She said with a smile.
She is getting curious
"Well she is a child, it is what they do." She chuckled.
Death nodded as if this concept were foreign to him.
Death vanished from her arms.
One day her husbands would learn of her daughter, but until then she was hidden because of who and what she was. She was too young to control her powers. Her husbands could not meet her, not yet. When she was older and fully in control of her powers she would introduce them, but until then, only she, Death and Mon knew that the Death of Gods had been born.
She looked around the room again. A few more hours before reality intruded. She had too much to do. She looked at the two turtle shells pinned to the wall. One was pinned with a sai the other with a katana. Trick and Treat had lost their masks years ago. They had placed their powers in their turtle shells. At the moment they were being punished for pretending to be innocent deer so they could peep on Artemis while she was having a bath.
Sure her husbands had been 'disappointed' with them, but were sharing that secret smile that they didn't think women noticed that really meant, 'good job son, but don't tell your mother or we will all be in trouble.'
Then there was trying to stop Raphael and Leonardo from smiting every suitor that happened to come across Starlight and Strabright. She knew the girls were only 17 which was incredibly young, but not too young to be courted by some of the eligible gods. After all with The Destroyer as a mother, there would be no random gods stupid enough to try to either abduct her daughters or not be serious about their interest in them. What her husbands didn't realize was that gods did not think as humans did. The gods could court them for hundreds of years before coming to them with a formal request of marriage. She sighed. Then there would be Azazel telling her that some god had done something to another god and they needed it worked out, and then Mon would swoop in with complaints about the whole Underworld overcrowding situation that still hadn't been remedied.
She turned and crawled back between her two lovers. She yawned as she felt the pressure of the barrier begin to buckle. She could keep the intruder out if she wanted, but she didn't want to. But she couldn't let the intruder believe that she had been expecting her arrival. She closed her eyes. She'd let her intruder fight against the barrier for another hour or so.