Chapter18
Raphael awoke with a start. He groaned as he realized he had slept upright in the loveseat. He looked over to where Leonardo was sleeping and found him there alone. He looked around the lair but didn't see her anywhere. Donatello was in the kitchen making breakfast.
"Where is she Donny?" Raphael asked concerned.
Donatello walked over to him and handed him a plate of toast. Leonardo woke up and sat up. "She's locked herself in my workroom. Been there for hours. I'm surprised you guys could sleep through the noise." "What's she doing Donny?" He asked as Donatello gave a mug of tea to Leonardo who took it with surprise.
He shook his head. "She was already in there when I woke up. And that was a couple of hours ago. It's been quiet though for the last hour or so. I figured once everyone was awake we could break the door down if we had to and find out what she's been doing and if she's okay."
Michelangelo emerged from his room and looked at them in surprise. Leonardo filled him in as he got dressed. They ate breakfast in silence as Donatello inspected the door to the workroom.
He tried using his code to get in several times but she had changed his password. He began to bang on the door. He stopped and put his ear to the door. He shook his head. "I don't hear anything." He walked over to the computer that was in the living room. He began hacking into his own security system. He sat back and watched the locking system on his door open.
They all looked at each other, worry on their faces. They opened the door. Leonardo sniffed the air. "I smell blood."He said as he drew his Katana, the metal scraping against the scabbards. He was the only one of his brothers who was actually armed. Pieces of metal were strewn around the floor. Donatello picked a piece up and looked it over. "It's a piece of the shell cycle we were working on." He grabbed another piece and looked at all of the other pieces. "Some of these are from the truck." "So she trashed our rides?" Michelangelo said looking around the work table. "Oh shell." He said. They all rushed to the other side of the work table and Raphael looked upon the goddess. She was in the middle of a bloody circle about five feet across. Symbols were written in three concentric circles. She seemed to be on the outer ring of the last circle. She stopped short of finishing the final outer ring. She wobbled as she stood up then looked at them. She looked drawn and tired. She was dressed again but was without her armour, weapons and cloak. She looked back at her circle and nodded.
"What the...?" Raphael asked. "Summoning Circle." She said gravely.
"To summon what?" Raphael asked.
She looked at Donatello. She seemed different, distant, like she had erected a barrier. "I'm sorry I ripped your stuff apart Donatello. I made a few adjustments to your truck and the cycle." She had walked over to the bike which was sitting beneath a tarp. She pulled off the tarp and revealed a bike. It was a black crotch rocket with a red leather seat and mirrors. On the gas tank was a white eight sided star. She straddled the bike. "This bike runs on magic." Donatello looked shocked. "But I thought you couldn't use your magic." He said in confusion. She shook her head. "I can't, but I am able to activate runic symbols with my blood. I've been so used to pulling my magic from within I had forgotten that there is a way to use magic without actually having to possess it. A powerless human could technically create a spell as long as they had the right sequence of signs, symbols and ritual." She looked in front of her to the eight sided star took a knife from her boot, sliced open her palm and placed it on the star. She lifted her hand, which was now completely healed, from the now blood red star. Runes and sigils that were not visible before glowed blue. "Now for simplicity, each of these buttons is directly connected to a spell. For example this one here," She pushed a button and disappeared. "Creates an invisibility shield. The bike will sound like a motorcycle, but when the invisibility shield is activated it will be completely silent." She reappeared. "I left an instruction book showing which button does what and what sigils and runes are connected to each spell in case it gets damaged. The bike should run off of my blood for a while, probably years as long as its magic isn't used too much. When the star goes white it means that another dose of magical blood is required. You will be able to activate the bike by doing the same thing that I did. Also, the only ones able to ride the bike are those with magic in their blood. So no ordinary human will be able to activate it."
"I also equipped the bike with some weapons." She pressed another button and small guns appeared under each headlight. "Also there are two removable guns." She placed a hand on each side of the fuel tank and pulled. The fuel tank came apart in two pieces. She flipped the guns around so they were aiming forward. "The guns harbour ice magic, which is the strongest type of ordinary magic to use against demons. It won't kill them, but it may give you enough time to get away." She put the guns away and got off the bike. "I also modified your garbage truck over there. Same deal but I left most of your cannons and weapons intact, I just added a little to the arsenal and beefed up some protective shields." She said her voice held little emotion.
"Why are you spilling your blood again. You haven't even recovered from losing so much before, and why, why do all of this?" Leonardo asked angrily. "I was MIA for two days. Today is the third day." She closed her eyes. "I'm trying to protect you, all of you, in case I am not here to do it." Her voice cracked, the mask of indifference fell. "The air is thick with demons and there wasn't a single angel out there." She closed her eyes and breathed in. "All magic has its price Leonardo, be it blood, life force, power, your life, or even your very soul, there is always a price for using another's power. Even I must pay the price. If a little of my blood keeps you alive, I will pay that price." "What price did you pay for me?" Raphael asked softly. "Normally it would be just power, but I don't know the price I paid for you Raphael.
Raphael strode over to her, grabbing her by the shoulders. "What do you mean you don't know?"
"I mean I don't know. It didn't matter at the time, I could only think of saving you, and I would do it all over again, no matter the price." She whispered
Raphael pulled her into his arms. "Why does it feel like you are saying goodbye?" He asked her. He stepped back and took her face in his hands tipping her head to meet his eyes. Leonardo looked away.
She pulled herself out of his arms. She didn't answer but gestured to a large chalk circle. "That is a protective circle. Close the circle with the chalk and you will be safe inside. Learn the sigils so you will be able to draw one anywhere at any time. Always carry a piece of chalk with you from now on." She looked at the circle drawn in blood. Then at the pile of armour. She picked up her swords and strode over to Leonardo. Leonardo looked away from her. She touched the side of his face and brought it back to look at her. "If I had not saved Raphael, I would never have met any of you Leonardo." She leaned into him and like a plant reaching for the sun Leonardo couldn't help but put his arms around her. "You and Raphael struggle against the darkness in your souls." She pulled herself away. "You will never be able to wield Morte Morosus. Only you and Raphael can wield Cuthach Fuilteach. Hold onto my swords." She walked over to Donatello and Michelangelo who hugged her together. "Donatello, Michelangelo you can wield Morte Morosus. But remember these are immortal swords, they have Power, do not let them consume you, because they will try.
"What about the third sword?" Michelangelo asked as she stepped away from them. She looked at the empty scabbard held in Leonardo's hand. She looked torn as to what to do with the final sword. She grabbed it the air above the scabbard and the sword she had pulled to help Raphael appeared in the scabbard. "I will entrust it into all of your care."
"How do we use it?" Leonardo asked.
She looked at him seriously. "You don't. I am not planning on going anywhere, but I don't know what will happen when I summon the angel."
"Whoa, what do you mean when you summon an angel?" Raphael asked.
"I have to see what they are doing about the demon threat. I know you guys have been watching the news the past two days and I know things are starting to get bad out there. There should be angels out there in full force trying to keep the demon threat down, unless they are planning a major assault on Hell."
"So you couldn't find any of these guys running around in robes and halos." Raphael sneered. "I'm not seeing how angels would be any help anyway."
"Do not joke Raphael. It is true that not all of Heaven's angels are warriors, but make no mistake the ones that are, are powerful, and dangerous.
She grabbed her cloak pulling it around her and pulling up the hood covering most of her face.
"Hey Donny, how does the protective circle work.?" Michelangelo asked.
"I don't know a lot about magic Mikey, but usually you are in the center of the circle and you are protected from what is outside."
"And a summoning circle?"
"You stand outside to be protected from whatever is being summoned, nothing in, nothing out."
She walked into the centre of the circle and bit her finger, knelt down and finished drawing the line of the circle. She turned to the center of the circle and drew a symbol.
"Then why is she in the center of the Summoning circle?" He asked.
"You might want to cover your ears." She said as she pressed her hand flat against the center of the circle and called out one word. They covered their ears in pain as the cadence of that one word threatened to shred their eardrums. She stood up and took one step back.
All of the sigils lit up with a ghostly blue light.
"She's making sure that whatever she is calling can't hurt us." Donatello said looking with dawning understanding. "And so we can't stop her from whatever she is going to do." They all looked at the circle in horror and watched as a man appeared in the center. He wasn't what they were expecting. The man was middle aged but looked older with greasy salt and pepper hair, long beard and tattered clothing. He was slouched over as if the weight of the world was too much for him to bear. He looked around in confusion then stood up straight. "What mortal dares to summon me?" He asked, thunder in his voice. The outer circle flashed blue as he spoke and they were able to see the barrier which looked to be straining against the power the man in the circle was building. From outside the barrier they could feel his power like the crackle of electricity along their skin. It began to push down on them as if gravity was doubling its pull on them towards the Earth. Even she looked to be straining against his power. She fell to her hands and knees.
"The only one to whom you may never appear under any guise of illusion." She said to him through clenched teeth. His eyes widened and his arm flashed out catching her throat and dragging her up against the barrier. "Never speak those words." His voice broke, despair ringing out with each syllable. But as he touched her light flashed down his arm. He stepped back in shock dropping her. The light engulfed his whole body transforming the dirty slouched homeless man into a radiant heavenly being. He was just over 6 feet with a golden complexion, curly blonde hair and eyes the colour of the bluest sky. His face would have made Botticelli weep, it was so perfect. He was almost too pretty to be overly masculine, but the square line of his jaw and thickness of his golden brows made his face masculine enough. Gone were the tattered clothes, instead he was now resplendent in layers of white, red and golden robes. Snow white wings arched gracefully behind him as he looked in shock at his hands. "No." He said in a whisper. She lay crushed to the floor. Having loosed the angel from its mortal form the intensity of his power increased. He had fallen to his knees he looked at the figure on the floor.
"Goddess!" Raphael screamed banging at the barrier with both fists.
The angel in the circle ignored him. Instead he gingerly pulled back the hood. "You want to tone it down a bit Gabriel you are crushing me." Each word sounding strained. Suddenly the devastating power disappeared and the angel looked at her, shock and disbelief turned into tears of happiness. He helped her to her feet and held her face in his hands fingers caressing her cheeks. "My love." He said touching his forehead to hers. "My very dearest love."
Pain shot through Raphael. It seemed to be radiating from the area around his heart. He looked away, not being able to stand the sight of the two immortals standing together. It was like watching the love between darkness and light. But then she only looked like darkness, instead she was everything that was light. He looked at Leonardo whose face was full of hurt. He too had turned away from the sight. Donatello and Michelangelo were watching the two with looks of hurt and sadness. "Word spread through Hell and Heaven that you had been slain. I tried to find you, but...your energy, your power was just gone. Deities of both worlds searched in vain for you, but when all came back empty handed, I knew then that I had sent you to your death." He whispered in anguish. "Gabriel what in Heaven's name are you doing on the ground?" She asked him. "Gabriel I need you to focus."
He just shook his head. "Kaethryn, I can't lose you again. I lost you once, was responsible for your death once." He said wrapping his wings around her protectively.
"You weren't responsible Gabriel, Michael killed me, not you. Oh please tell me Michael is on the ground, his death would make me feel much better." "He's planning strategies in Heaven. And even if he was on the ground I couldn't let you kill him, he's my brother." Gabriel whispered. "Kaethryn..." he began.
She pulled her face away. "Don't you dare Kaethryn me. Kaethryn's bones lay at the bottom of a rocky sea cliff, all because your brother stabbed her through the back and threw her into the sea. He wasn't even kind enough to give her a killing blow, instead she died from the force of being smashed repeatedly against the rocks at the bottom of the rolling sea . It was not a swift death, and it was not a painless one either." With each word that came from her mouth he winced in torment. "He killed the woman you loved and still you protect him." "He was ordered..." He began. "I could forgive him that, but he has made it a game. I was his prey. If the diseases and accidents didn't kill me, he was right there like some sadistic Angel of Death devising up new and interesting ways to kill me. Do you know how many times I died, to be reborn only to be killed again. Hundreds upon thousands upon millions of lives, and I remember each and every one in exact detail. I was passed from one god to another, never resting always being executed." A single tear tolled down her cheek. He brushed it away leaving a smear of dark pink.
"A human soul is only supposed to take so much. You shouldn't be able to remember every life that you have lived, it should have broken you by now." He whispered in agony. "I have not broken Gabriel, I have never broken." She said angrily. "Your soul has been sundered Kaethryn."
"I sundered it myself. Believe me Gabriel I am well aware of the current state of my soul." She glared angrily at him.
"If I had made you mine when I fell in love with you that day on the loch...I could have saved you." He whispered. "If you had made me yours then, you would have Fell." She said softly. "Do you think I cared for that. I would have Fallen a thousand times if it would have saved you. If I could have had you, even for only the span if a mortal lifetime, I would have Fallen for you." He said closing his eyes. "But would it have saved me?" She questioned. "Or would the goddesses that have resided within me since the Beginning consumed me, gotten free and destroyed the worlds?" "They did not consume you. You managed to seal them within yourself. It may have happened that way back then."
She shook her head. "Kaethryn was strong, but I do not think she had the will. She was delicate, and too good. There were a lot of lives between then and now. Almost two thousand years worth. So why didn't you claim me as you wanted if you did not fear to Fall?"
He turned from her, wings brushing the sides of the barrier the circle had created. "You loved me, but you loved Cellach...Lucifer... more, and he loved you. How was I supposed to betray my own brother by taking away the woman he loved!" He shouted angrily.
Raphael had been drawn back into the conversation going on between the two figures in the circle. The implications of their conversation were slowly dawning on him. But Raphael felt his world tip and the breath from his lungs leave his body as if punched at the angel's last words. He looked at Leonardo who was looking at him with pain and guilt in his brown eyes. "You were both loved equally Gabriel, you just never believed that she did not favour one over the other. Kaethryn..." She closed her eyes ."I...loved you both, but I would never have taken one without the other, just as I would never have chosen Seymous without Daemon."
"You are always light and dark aren't you. An Archangel and A Fallen Archangel, a vampire and a Light Elf." He looked at her more closely then, stood and grabbed her arms. "Where are your bonds?" He asked panic rising in him.
"Broken. They were killed nearly 900 years ago." She said in a whisper of pain.
"But, they kept your emotions balanced. Without them you shouldn't have been able to control the goddess' within you." He said in horror.
She shrugged. "I shouldn't have been able to seal them within me either."
He looked at her then, really looked at her. "Your..." He began. She put a finger to his lips. "How long?"
He looked at her and turned his head away in anguish. "Five days, a week at most."
She nodded. "Enough time then. After today all of Hell will know I am still alive. I figure I have maybe three days after today before all Hell comes looking for me. I have no power to protect myself against them."
He looked at her in shock. "No power, as in none at all?" He asked incredulous.
"I had a tiny bit of power for about four days after the Syna attacked me, but after that, nothing. I have been separated from my power for almost two months now."
"That's impossible. You should have di..."
She cut him off. "What are you doing on the ground Gabriel?" She asked. He let go of her face. Turning away.
"I was ordered here." He said voice emotionless.
"But Gabriel." He stepped away from her. She stepped towards him and turned his face, forcing him to look at her. "What do you mean you were ordered? What is Heaven doing?"
"Heaven has dispatched a number of angels to try to control the demon riders on earth, but so far Heaven is divided. There are those who wish to attack Hell, there are those who wish to wait, and if the Apocalypse begins, so be it."
"And God?" She asked. He just looked at her. "Right, sorry, stupid question."
"Lucifer's in danger." She whispered. "He doesn't know who the traitor is yet. He or she has not revealed themselves. He is going to be killed if the traitor isn't stopped." She looked at him a worried expression on her face.
"You still love him don't you?" Gabriel questioned as he searched her face.
"As I still love you." She said. "Why are you on the ground. You were given the word of the Seraphim that you would never be placed on the ground again, what are you doing here?"
The knife in Raphael's heart twisted at her words. Of course she would be in love with Gabriel, he was a beautiful Heavenly being, he was a freak of nature. But she was also in love with Lucifer. That was why she has been so concerned about him.
"I was ordered here." He said his voice breaking he fell to his knees. She clutched him to her, wings wrapping and intertwining with his.
"Oh Gabriel. I am so sorry."
"I can't do it Kaethryn. I can't be here it's too much. Everything is so much...more here, and then I remember you and I feel as though I will burst into a thousand pieces . Each arrow of grief shatters me anew. I thought that I would always know you. I thought that I would be able to find you. I don't know how we both missed it. You are her image exactly. Of all the souls ever created only you have ever had the same colour of eyes. No matter the impossibility of genetics, each incarnation saw the exact shade of green. And yet it took me over one hundred years to figure out that it was you."
"Gabriel, I wouldn't have known without you telling me that Geldric was you, and that Cellach was Lucifer." She was silent for a moment lost in thought. "Gabriel, I think it's Time." She said tipping his face up to look at her. He shook his head. "Gabriel, He will forgive you."
"How can you be sure?"
"Because He gave you free will. He gave you the ability to choose. You have to save him, he's your brother."
"How do I know if it is the right choice?"
"We never know. It is one of the things about being mortal. We never know what will be, only what is. But the Apocalypse doesn't happen. I know for certain." She said with conviction.
"How do you know?" He asked.
"Because Michael hasn't killed her yet." Gabriel looked at her. "Me, present me. She, Katherine, is alive and well and blissfully walking around not knowing that in about eight months Michael will kill her. Heaven is doing nothing, which means that something changes, something happens to make it so that Michael is free to kill her." Then her brow furrowed in confusion. "I feel like her Gabriel. I feel like Katherine, I think like Katherine, but she's dead Gabriel. Why do I feel like her?" She asked in confusion. Gabriel looked up at her, sadness in his eyes. "I have not gone insane Gabriel. I..." Then her eyes widened. "Michael isn't in Heaven, he's on the ground searching for me...for her."
"No he..." Gabriel began then stopped.
"I am his obsession Gabriel, he knows I am out there somewhere, and he knows he fails, because if he didn't fail at some time, in some place, I wouldn't have risen. He will find me and he will kill me." Her brow furrowed. "I see." She whispered as she closed her eyes. She looked at Raphael whose hands were pressed against the barrier. She reached out a hand and placed it against his through the barrier..
"It was worth the price." She said looking at him with a sad smile. She looked at Gabriel. Who was looking at Raphael an inscrutable expression on his face.
"I will help him, as best as I can, but it is you who will turn the tide. You will break the Binding." He closed his eyes in despair. "To think He would ask this of you." Gabriel looked at her.
"Gabriel, I accept my fate." She said quietly.
"Once I Fall Lucifer will know who you are."
"I have never had any desire to keep that knowledge secret. It was your being bound by the Will of Heaven that has kept that knowledge secret. Lucifer and I have not exactly been friendly over the last four thousand years, or almost two hundred for him I suppose, but you just figured it out yourself."
"He will hate himself. To think he found you then let you go. And what you suffered in Hell, how those demons tortured you." His voice broke then.
"Shhh, my love quiet yourself. Sometimes things that are in the past must remain there. I never blamed Lucifer for that. It was not upon his orders that the demons acted." She shook herself then said, "It is time to help your brother. We don't have much time."
He looked at her. He smiled but the smile was sad. "I am not your love."
"You will always be Kaethryn's love, you and Lucifer both, but I am not Kaethryn. I love you both, but for me that love is like a beautiful half forgotten dream that can never be dreamt again." She leaned down and kissed him. "It is time to Fall, Gabriel."
"I'm scared." He said as he clung to her.
She knelt down embracing him. 'It's okay, I will catch you when you Fall."
"Lucifer Fell alone."
"And my heart breaks to know that."
"You can't, you will never survive it." He whispered.
"No I probably won't, but I will try. I have a promise to keep." She said as she looked at Leonardo.
Gabriel looked at all of them. "I see." He whispered.
She had a look in her eyes that Raphael couldn't decipher.
"This is going to hurt isn't it?" He questioned.
She looked at them. Raphael looked at her in horror. "No, don't you dare!" Raphael screamed as he pounded on the barrier.
"More than anything you can ever imagine." She whispered
"That is not true. It cannot hurt any more than losing you." He whispered.
They clung to each other Black leather wings wrapped around, snowy soft down. The circle began to burn red. Cracks began to form within the circle. Flames engulfed both figures. Gabriel screamed as his beautiful wings began to burn. The flames trickled and ran their way along her flesh as well as his. The floor collapsed beneath them. Both figures fell, swallowed into the earth as if they had never existed. The Barrier disappeared sending Raphael flying forward hitting the now bare ground hard. There was nothing there. No markings and no cracks to even show that anything had ever been there.
"NOOO!" Raphael screamed as he punched the ground with his fist, tears hitting the floor in silent despair.
He looked at his brothers who had all fallen to their knees, horror and desolation etched within every line on their faces.
Leonardo clutched at the swords she had given him.
Donatello was the first to stand. The first to gather his despair and turn it into determination. "Come on, Let's go." He said walking away from spot where she Fell, and walking to his workbench.
"You heard her. Things have been getting bad outside, and we will be doing her no good by sitting around here moping and worrying. Raph and Mikey, you guys take the new shell cycle out for a test drive, see what you can find out about any strange things going down. Leo and I will stay here and learn how to create a protective circle."
Raphael looked at Donatello in shock, but he pulled himself off the floor and walked over to the bike. He grabbed his helmet and leapt on. He grabbed the handles and a shock went through him. He kicked started the bike and it roared to life. Michelangelo jumped on the back, helmet in hand. They roared out of the lair.