Okay all, this next chapter is kinda long, but so much stuff to squash into it! A big shout out and thank you to Griffon of the Night and Double rainbow All The Way for being awesome and reviewing!
I hope everyone enjoys!
Chapter 8
Raphael looked at where Katherine had stood. A heavy feeling rolling around in his gut.
Michelangelo slowly walked over to where she had placed his mask. He picked it up gently as he thoughtfully stroked the fabric.
Donatello wavered on his feet.
"Donny!" Leonardo said worriedly as he caught Donatello. Leonardo helped him over to the couch.
Donatello opened his eyes. "I'm sorry Raph, I can't hold it all." He said as he doubled over. Raphael doubled over as emotions crashed into him. He knew they weren't his but they were so intense it was almost painful. He lost his breath as longing, horror, guilt, anger, love, pain, hatred, hunger and lust burned through him.
He gasped as the emotions were suddenly cut off. He began to breathe again. "What the hell was that?" He whispered.
"You already know the answer Raph." Donatello said to him.
"Wait that was...her." He asked in shock.
"She's blocking her emotions really well, but her control slipped for a moment. I can feel her Raph," He closed his eyes. "I can feel her, like I am bobbing on the end of a line. She swore she would never let me go, and she never did, even in death, even through the shattering of her soul, she still held onto my soul." He managed to choke out.
Raphael closed his eyes. He could feel her. The part of him that had been missing, that had died the day she had, bloomed to life. She was alive and well somewhere in the world. His eyes snapped open. He knew she would be back, because she would no more be able to walk away from him as he could walk away from her. But he knew he was going to have to be patient, which was not his strong suit.
He looked into Leonardo's worried and anguished eyes. He stood up and gave his older brother a hug. "I'm sorry Leo. Gods, I am so sorry." He said hugging his brother close.
His brother clutched him tightly. "I'm sorry Raph." His brother said to him. "I should have known...I should have been able to figure it out." He choked out but he was already shaking his head. "Is she okay Raph?" Leonardo asked him. "Will she be back?" Leonardo's voice was filled with worry mixed with desperate need.
"She's good Leo." Michelangelo said. "Well, as good as she can be. She's not insane, and she remembers us. It's a start." Michelangelo said softly as he gave his mask to him.
He looked at it in confusion. "She wants you to wear it again Raph, even I got that." Michelangelo said to him.
He took his mask and walked to the bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror. "Holy shit!" He yelled as he stumbled back crashing into the towel bar behind him knocking it down.
Leonardo was at the door looking at him with concern.
He knew he had been beaten to within an inch of his life, but he looked like hell. Scars raked down over his eye ridges and over both eyes. Three jagged scars cut across his right cheek. He had a few other smaller scars on his neck his arms his plastron and he guessed his legs, from his encounter with the Red Dragons. But the scars weren't what made him exclaim in shock. He knew he had been losing a little muscle since he couldn't train after he was beaten and blinded, but he had lost more than he thought. He was slimmer than even Donatello now.
No wonder she had a hard time looking at him. He had a lot of work to do if he was ever going to regain any of his muscle.
"It's not that bad Raph." Leonardo said quietly.
He looked at his older brother and frowned. Leonardo looked bulkier and older than he remembered. He had dark circles under his eyes and worry lines had been etched into his forehead and around those same eyes.
"Jeez Leo, you look like hell. " He said as he walked past his brother. He looked at Michelangelo and Donatello, both of whom also bore the signs of too long with too little sleep, not enough food, and too much worry.
"No wonder she ran away, we all look like death warmed over." Raphael grumbled as he strode to the kitchen. He opened the fridge and grimaced. He couldn't even remember what he had eaten over the past 4 years, but if the fridge was any indication, they had been eating crap.
He closed the door and looked at his worried big brother. He walked over to him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Do you still love her Leo?" He asked softly.
His brother's eyes widened in surprise and shifted away. "Darkness scared the hell out of me. I understood why and how she became what she was, but," His eyes shifted back to his. "Raph, she is your soul mate, not mine, not Mikey's, and I still don't think I can even grasp what she did to Donny." He said softly.
"Leo..." He began.
Leonardo shook his head. "It's too much to ask of her Raph, too much to ask of us. She's been dead to us for over 4 years. I'm trying to wrap my head around her being," He began ticking points off on his fingers. "Alive. A goddess. The Devil. And almost two and a half thousand years old."
"Leo?" Donatello asked him. Leonardo turned his attention to Donatello. "If we had saved Katherine, and she had come back...hurt, more than just physically, would you be patient with her? Even if she flinched away from your touch because even though her mind and heart knew it wasn't us who were torturing her, her body still shied away?"
"Of course." Leonardo said closing his eyes against the image Donatello had created.
"And would you still love her, even though she wasn't quite the same because she could never be the same, because what she went through was too traumatic for her to ever be that person again?" Donatello said pushing just that little bit more.
"Yes. "Leonardo closed his eyes, his shoulders sagging in defeat. "I still love her." He whispered. "She is the only woman I could have ever loved this much." He said with a shake of his head.
Michelangelo nodded."My other self dated scores of women." Michelangelo said to him. "He never moved on either. But this is harder for her." Michelangelo said seriously.
Donatello nodded. "She just remembered who she was. She is feeling too many emotions. She feels betrayed by Raph, guilty because of, well, what we went through in mourning her, and confusion over who and what she is." Donatello shook his head. "We can't expect her to be the same person, no matter how much we want her to still be Her, she never will be. For her it has been almost 2500 years. Can you even begin to wrap your head around that kind of time? I mean, if you think that far back in human history, Alexander the Great wasn't even born yet to go conquering across the known world! And besides that, she never did answer Raph's question when he asked her if there was someone else." Donatello put in softly.
Raphael opened his mouth to protest and then he remembered that she hadn't answered his question. He frowned. "So then if she already has someone, why wouldn't she just say so?" Raphael growled in anger.
Donatello shook his head. "I'm not sure Raph, but, she can't lie."
"Hey Raph!" Casey's voice rang out. "Heard you were alone tonight so I thought we would drop by. Me and April brought over a movie and some pizza."
Raphael's eyes went to the clock. It was close to 9:00pm.
"She brought us back a few moments after we followed Nightmare." Donatello said looking at the clock.
Raphael looked at Casey and April as they strode in. Raphael's mouth opened in shock. "Gack, you're pregnant!" He said in fascinated horror to April. April and Casey stopped dead as her eyes sought out Donatello's. "Why didn't anyone tell me!" He asked, hurt creeping into his voice.
April looked at him and waved her hand. He followed the movement of her hand. "Raph, you...you can see." She stammered. Her face broke into a huge grin as she launched herself at him. Or as well as a very pregnant woman can launch herself.
He let her hug him. "I'm sorry, I hope I didn't hurt you." She said in concern as she pulled back, happy tears filling her eyes. "What happened?" She asked in as she dashed away the tears. He looked over at Casey and realized that it had been a tough 4 years for all of them. His brothers not only lost the woman they loved, but for well over 4 years, they had lost him as well. He had been there in body, going through the motions, but..."Congratulations April, Casey." He said to them.
She waved away his words. "When did you get your sight back? How did it happen? Donny was sure that the damage was permanent."
He shrugged, uncomfortable with the events leading up to him regaining his sight. He looked at his brothers wondering exactly what had happened after he had died. It was then he realized that he had actually been talking to Katherine or he supposed Nightmare, and that she had watched him kill himself. A new wave of shame and guilt tore through him."Just a little bit ago." He said looking at his brothers who had brought him back to life by making a deal with The Devil. "Forget about me, why didn't you tell me April was pregnant?" He asked, looking at Casey.
"We didn't mean to hide this from you bro...we just thought..." Casey gave a shrug and looked to his brothers for help.
Then it struck him. Had he really been that bad? He wondered. He had thought that he had hidden all of his misery from his brothers, but maybe he hadn't. They had believed him to be in such a fragile state of mind that they thought he wouldn't be able to handle the news. Between losing Katherine, and his sight, they had thought that the news of them having a baby would hurt him, possibly break him. He opened his mouth to give an angry retort but slammed his mouth shut. His shoulders slumped. He didn't know how he would have reacted, but truthfully he probably wouldn't have cared. He was just waiting for the all important goal of finally ending his miserable existence. And that thought made him realize more than anything else why Katherine believed she had been betrayed by him. That he wouldn't care that his best friends were starting a family made him realize how far he had fallen, how deep he had been sunk within the depths of overwhelming depression. He swallowed.
He blew out a breath and nodded in understanding. They hadn't wanted to push him over the edge. They just hadn't realized that he was so far past the edge, he had already stepped over and was halfway down. "Got any names picked out?" He asked softly.
Casey and April looked at each other and then looked back at him with hesitation.
"We have a few, but nothing really decided yet. We still have two months to decide." April said watching him carefully.
He nodded. "Do you know what would be a really good name, if it's a girl?" He questioned his friends.
They looked at each other again, hesitating as if gauging his state of mind. "We..." April paused as she looked at Casey. "We liked the name Katherine for a girl, but we didn't really know how you guys would feel about it." April continued softly.
Raphael looked at them in shock, but he smiled. He was sure Katherine would have appreciated the sentiment. "Katherine's a good name, and if you want to use it, I'm sure Katherine would be honoured, but, I was thinking instead about the name Shadow."
They blinked at him in shock as his brothers smiled.
"Shadow?" They asked in unison.
"I think it's a good name April." Donatello said with a nod.
"But...You guys really think Shadow is a good name?" April asked in shock.
April grabbed her stomach. "The baby just kicked." She said in wonder. Casey reached out and touched her belly gently.
"I think she likes it." Casey said softly.
Raphael smiled as his brothers grinned. He turned serious. "I'm happy for both of you, and I wished you hadn't kept it a secret, but...I understand why you did."
Casey walked up to him and clapped him on the back. "It's good to have you back bro, we were worried." He nodded but felt guilt burn through him.
"Sorry guys, but I need to sit down." April said as she pulled away from Casey. She walked over to the couch picking up Katherine's cloak, which was half on the seat half on the floor. She looked in horror at the blood and the blood stained sai laying on the ground. She looked at them searching for wounds.
"It's a long story April. We...we made a deal with the Devil." Donatello said softly.
April paled.
Suddenly the lair began to shake. Raphael's eyes widened in horror as Casey grabbed April protectively.
A red circle with burning sigils appeared in the air in front of them. Raphael backed away as his brothers drew their weapons and he drew his sai from his belt.
The center of the circle split open revealing a tall handsome man in a dapper grey business suit with dark purple vest and matching tie. He had longish sandy blonde hair parted at the side. Piercing blue eyes looked at them through black rimmed glasses. He looked at his shoulders which were burning. All Raphael could see behind the man were rolling orange clouds. The man brushed at the tiny bits of flaming particles on his suit. He frowned in irritation."We have got to get that fixed." He grumbled as he stepped through the doorway which closed behind him, the ring of red disappearing.
He looked them over and straightened his tie with his left hand, in his other hand he held a black leather briefcase.
Raphael started as he recognized the man, though he was used to seeing him in Khaki shorts and a tacky blue Hawaiian shirt.
He gave a slight bow. "My name is..."
"Azazel?" Raphael asked in shock as dread and anger surged through him.
Azazel frowned. "Don't call me that." He hissed.
Anger raged through Raphael. It was the very demon who had killed Katherine over and over through thousands of lifetimes. His anger receded slightly. It was also the demon who had, in the end, tried to save her life, almost at the cost of his own. Raphael knew he had been tortured for having helped her, and he knew that Lucifer would have killed him eventually, or maybe just tortured him for the rest of eternity. Azazel would have to have known this, known that he didn't stand a chance of saving her, but he had tried anyway.
Azazel straightened his tie again. "I prefer Samael." He said, a small amount of irritation leaking into his voice. He strode past them sitting down on the couch Casey and April had hastily vacated. He placed his briefcase gently on the coffee table. "My Lady Morning Star has charged me with the task of delivering this to you." He said as he opened the briefcase. He pulled out two thick, legal sized envelopes. He closed the briefcase and stood.
Leonardo's eyes narrowed. "Who sent you?" He asked suspiciously.
"I already told you, My Lady Morning Star." He said as he looked at his watch. "I am to answer any questions you may have, but I only have half an hour before the gate opens again." He said as he presented an envelope to Donatello and himself.
Raphael looked down at the envelope and frowned in confusion.
"Who is Morning Star?" Leonardo asked suspiciously.
"Lucifer means light bearer, but he was also known as Morning Star." Donatello said slowly as he turned the envelope over in his hands.
"But he said My Lady Morning Star." Raphael said looking at 'Samael'.
"K..." He began before Michelangelo hit him hard in the stomach.
"It's Nightmare." Donatello said slowly. "So is that what they call Nightmare in Hell?" Donatello asked Samael.
"You're here at Nightmare's request." Leonardo asked sceptically.
"Correct." Samael said with a nod. "Now, in your envelopes you will find the documents relating to said deal you entered into with My Lady. The deal was originally a verbal agreement, however, for record keeping purposes we would like a signed copy of the transaction made between you and My Lady for services rendered. Also, " Samael's gaze zeroed in on Raphael. "Since you were unable to agree to the deal, we need your signature as well, stating that you agree to having a relative speak on your behalf, as well as signing the liability clause which absolves My Lady of any potential side effects caused by services rendered."
Raphael and Donatello looked at each other and looked back at the envelopes in shock. "Side effects?" He questioned.
"Guys, what is going on?" April asked in fear and worry.
Samael handed Raphael a white quill pen and a dagger. "The contract must be signed in blood." He said as Raphael looked at the dagger in confusion.
"Wait...don't tell me, you really did make a deal with the Devil?" April asked in a horrified whisper. "I thought you were talking about Bishop, or Dr. Stockman, not the actual Devil. The one who killed Katherine!" Her voice shook in horror.
"So Night...Morning Star wants us to sign this?" Raphael said as he opened the Contract. It was about 30 pages long and his brain hurt after he read the first sentence. The contract was written in legal terminology that he had a hard time following.
"Just show me where to sign." Raphael growled as he walked over to the couch and sat down avoiding the still wet blood stains.
"Raph!" Leonardo said in horror.
Donatello began skimming his contract.
He shrugged. "What, you think she's inserted a clause in there somewhere to get my soul?" He asked his older brother. His brother looked at him with worried eyes. "She can't take what she already has Leo." He said softly as he glanced at Donatello.
Donatello finished skim reading his contract. "Everything seems to be in order." He said to them.
"We have the finest legal team in the Underworlds working on these contracts." Samael said defensively.
"That's what I was worried about." Donatello said as he sat beside him.
"Let me sign that Donny." Leonardo said softly to him, holding out his hand.
Samael shook his head. "The deal was struck between Donatello and My Lady. "
Leonardo opened his mouth to protest but Donatello cut him off. "He's right Leo. I was the one who agreed to the terms of the deal, not you. I am the one who has to sign."He added softly. "Besides Leo, she already holds my soul."
Raphael looked at the dagger and nicked his arm. He took the quill and touched the nib to his blood that had slowly begun to pool over the cut. The quill turned red. Raphael looked at the red feather in surprise then shrugged as he signed the contract where there had been little red X's marked.
He put the Contract back into the folder and handed Donatello the now white quill and dagger.
His younger brother repeated what he had done with the dagger and then signed his contract, placing it back inside the envelope.
Raphael looked at Casey who was looking pale and at April who was looking ill.
"That all Sam?" Raphael asked him.
Samael frowned at the shortening of his name, but he didn't protest. "I was instructed to wait until after you signed and if you did willingly sign these contracts to do this. He held up the envelopes and they burst into flame. "Technically you were dealing with Nightmare, not Morning Star, she used Earth magic to bring Raphael back, not Hell magic."
"I don't understand?" Raphael said in confusion.
"If you know that she is the Devil and would willingly sign the contract anyway, then she knows that you perhaps accept her being the Devil. I was instructed to then give you these." He said pulling out four envelopes and a business card. He handed each of them an envelope and handed the card to Leonardo.
"Celestial Tailors?" Leonardo questioned as he looked at the card.
"That is correct." Samael said with a nod.
Raphael looked at his envelope and opened it. He pulled out a Tarot card. He flipped over the card, it was The Devil. Raphael frowned as he looked at the card.
"I don't get it." Raphael said to Samael.
"You each hold a card that has the ability to summon My lady if you so desire. Time does not move on Earth as it does in Hell and in Betwixt and Between, so sometimes it is difficult for her to keep track of what is going on in the mortal realm. To summon her all you need to do is sacrifice some of your lifeblood to the card and she will know she is needed." Samael said to them. "As for the Tailors, if you are to go out with My Lady, I will not have you embarrassing her by dressing as you normally do. They are the best tailors in the world and will appropriately clothe you." Azazel said as he wrinkled his nose as he look at them.
Raphael looked down at himself. He was shirtless, his sweats a splattered mass of blood. He looked at his brothers who all wore jeans and hoodies. All of his brothers had his blood on them as well. He grimaced.
"Out?" Raphael questioned. Katherine had just walked out on them a few minutes ago.
"Yes, she has given your...situation...some thought, and has decided that if you so desire, you may accompany her on some important business she has to attend to here on Earth. After this business has been dealt with she will have some spare time afterwards to get...reacquainted, with you." Samael said to them as he straightened his jacket.
"Morning Star wants us all to go on a business dealing with her on Friday?" Donatello asked shocked.
"Like a date?" Raphael asked.
Samael gave a curt nod. "Unless of course you wish to decline, that too is an option." Samael said to them.
"So how are we supposed to go out with her, we aren't exactly human, and how are we supposed to go to this tailor?" Raphael asked.
Samael waved off his concerns. "Just go in and ask for Tony. My Lady Morning Star will take care of the particulars, you just have to be ready by 7:00 Friday night. Your ride will be sent round at that time, and the driver does not like to be kept waiting."He warned.
He looked at his brothers. He figured it was as good an opportunity as any to convince Katherine that she couldn't just walk away from them, and that they didn't care who or what she was now. He loved her and if he couldn't convince her to stay with him, he didn't know what he would do, but whatever it was, it wouldn't be what he had done for the last 4 years.
"We'll be there." Raphael said as he looked at his older brother who was flipping the tailor's card around between his fingers looking conflicted.
Samael nodded. "I shall inform My Lady."
"Where is Morning Star right now?" Donatello asked softly.
"She and her other consort are currently off-world at the moment." Samael informed him.
Raphael's head shot up. "What do you mean other Consort?" Raphael exclaimed. "When did she get married!" He growled as Donatello's words came back to him.
"Consort, small 'c', not her husband or husbands. My Lady has never married. Her consorts represent her when she is performing her duties as My Lady Morning Star, but is unable to be present as My Lady Nightmare as well as the reverse. You must remember she is both the highest Prince of Hell as well as the goddess of all magic. Her consorts represent her, as well as help her with her duties when she is within Hell, within Betwixt and Between or within Yggdrasil." The name sounded like igdrasil.
"Gesundheit." Michelangelo said to Samael.
Samael frowned and growled a little in irritation. "My Lady Nightmare has claimed Yggdrasil as her Seat of Power. It has many names, but it is also known as the Cosmic Tree, or the Great Tree of Life, to name a couple, and she controls it."
"Wait, the giant Tree thing that used to be a house?" Raphael asked in shock.
Samael looked at him as if he didn't really want to answer more questions but had no choice. He sighed and sat on the arm of the couch crossing his arms over his chest. "Yes, the Giant Tree thing." Samael grumbled. "The Great Tree is symbolic in many human cultures. Yggdrasil was probably the most powerful because it was Named, and things with names have great Power capital 'P'. But more than that, all the belief and all the power that existed, was housed within that tree, and it was dying. But the Tree chose Nightmare as its new god, and now the Tree flourishes. Unfortunately this means that all of the creatures and gods associated with the Tree are rising. And so there are many gods and goddesses who are trying to gain or reclaim the power of the Tree. Of course this is just one of many problems that My Lady Nightmare has had to deal with over the past two and a half millennia." Samael said with a shake of his head.
Raphael looked at Samael. "So these consorts of hers..." He began.
Samael shook his head. "I was instructed not to talk about them. That is between you four and her."
Raphael frowned in irritation but nodded.
Leonardo turned the Devil card around in his hand in thought. "Why did you do it Sam?" He asked softly. Samael's blue eyes widened in shock, but shifted away uncomfortably. "You killed her over and over with no thought, but you tried to save her this time, why?" Leonardo asked showing him The Devil card. The card showed the stereotypical image of the Devil. Red skinned, goat-horned, goat-legged, black goateed Devil. Samael's true form. The Devil didn't look like that anymore, maybe he never did, or maybe Raphael was missing something.
"Why do you look like the Devil?" Raphael questioned.
Samael's eyes shifted to him and he looked at his watch. He grimaced and stood beginning to pace. Raphael could almost imagine his red triangle tipped tail lashing from side to side in irritation.
"You love her." Donatello said softly.
Samael stopped pacing and tensed, his shoulders finally slumping. He blew out an irritated breath and turned to face them. "I killed her, over and over again because her goodness made me ill. It gave me great pleasure to kill something that burned with so much goodness that it hurt to look upon her." Samael began. Raphael noticed that Samael wasn't using any of her names, and remembered that their counterparts had to keep who Darkness was a secret, and he assumed this was most likely the case now. He assumed as well that Samael actually did know who and what Katherine actually was.
"I thought I was destroying one of God's greatest creations, until I figured out that she wasn't. I had begun to notice that she died unusually quickly for a mortal, in all of her lives. There were too many accidents, too many coincidences for there to not be another force at work. I finally discovered it was the hand of Heaven that was also killing her. It made me question why Heaven would kill such a sublime thing of beauty and purity. When I discovered who and what she was I was thrown into turmoil. She began to fascinate me. I still killed her, but it gave me no pleasure. We developed a banter of sorts if she was powerful enough or old enough to understand, maybe even remember what was going on, but she never feared Death or myself. She never wanted to die, but accepted it as her Fate. I knew Lucifer wanted to use her eventually, to what end I realized eventually, and it was then that I decided to stop him, because I felt something for her. I did not understand what it was that I felt. I knew it was some human emotion. I possessed many a human, but there were times when I walked the world in my own created form, searching for her, and each time I did this, a tiny piece of the human came with me when I returned to Hell."
"That is why I placed the trigger within Kathlynn. I made Kathlynn remember everything so that when the time was right, the memories would be triggered and she would remember, and she would know she was in danger. I got Donatello to trigger her memory and she remembered. Though I underestimated how powerful she had become." He said softly as if he regretted that he had nearly killed her when the memories surfaced. "The night we attacked, I took her. She looked up at me with those green eyes. Eyes that never once judged me, should have judged me, should have hated me, should never have trusted me, and yet she did. I held out my hand and she took it willingly. I knew then that this was it, the moment I had been waiting for. We rode into Hell, but I did not take her to Lucifer. Instead I hid her from him as best as I could, for as long as I could. But Hellhounds are merciless and they eventually tracked and cornered us. The rest, I believe you know." He finished softly. "I love her." He said softly. He sneered at himself. "I am a demon who can love." He shook his head angrily.
Samael turned his attention to him. "And I look like the Devil because I was at one time the Devil. I was one of the first rulers of Hell, until an angel by the name of Lucifer Fell and became the first Prince of Hell. But I remained. More than just a demon, less than an angel." He shrugged. "But I serve My Lady Morning Star, and shall serve her until the world crumbles to ash and nothing is left, but darkness." He said softly.
Raphael nodded.
Samael looked behind Raphael and nodded at them. Raphael looked over his shoulder at the Hell Gate that appeared. It opened showing the rolling orange clouds of Hell. Samael strode through, the gate closing behind him and vanishing as if it had never been.