Part One: Dark One

Chapter Four: I Will Fix It

"I found Heaven in his eyes,

And angels in his smile.

But he hid Hell in his mind,

And demons in his heart."

April 6th, 2011

Vetis kneeled in front of Adrienne almost instinctively, drawn to the vulnerability in her voice and power in her eyes. It was almost seductive, the way she looked at him as though he could fix everything that had happened and maker her whole again.

He grabbed her small hand, encasing it with both of his own. He closed his eyes, seeking out the shield he'd placed over the angelic part of her. Finding it, he grabbed it, using what little grace he had left to rip it apart and dissolve, refusing to leave even a single atom resting over her.

Adrienne gasped as she felt fire fill her body, her soul, her grace. Her eyes and body glowed with a white light that flooded the room, burning its contents. Vetis was tempted to cover his eyes, but knew that it wouldn't kill him, would only burn his eyes that had not seen another angel's true form in so long.

Adrienne collapsed onto the floor as her chair was destroyed, and began to force in breaths she no longer needed, feeling the new found energy thrum under her skin. She wanted to tear her skin away, wanted to force out this new power that felt like electricity thrumming through every part of her body.

The burnt floor, the red walls, the lights on the ceiling - everything was so much more now. It was as though she had been living with her eyes closed her entire life and had finally opened them. There was a lound, pounding sound that she couldn't place, and rushing liquid that seemed to be coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. She realized it was her heart beating, faster and louder than any drum, and the liquid was her blood running through her veins, trapped under her skin and waiting to burst free. She breathed in through her nose and smelled her own flesh and blood, the thick scent of hormones, and a thousand other things from in and outside the building that she couldn't place. Adrienne put her hands over her ears, writhing in pain from over-stimulation, but Vetis pulled them away.

"Let it in," he told her. He wrapped his arms around her, but Adrienne pushed him away, couldn't stand the feeling of his skin pressed against hers. She clawed at her shirt, hated the rough cotton that had seemed so soft a minute ago. Then she was forced to contend with the torture that was the carpet along every inch of her body, and began to scratch her skin in a desperate attempt to free herself of the sensation. A thin trail of blood formed under her nails, and Vetis grabbed her wrists and held them down. Adrienne struggled against him for a few seconds before giving up. She whimpered in pain as tears flowed down the sides of her head and dripped onto the floor, where they formed neat little holes that sizzled for a moment.

Adrienne rolled over onto her stomach and vomited, then groaned when the smell was added to the list of things that she hated. Vetis pulled her away and laid her on her back a couple of feet away. She made a small noise of appreciation before returning to her suffering. Vetis held her hand comfortingly. Adrienne held onto him, despite how strange it felt, in need for something familiar.

After what felt like days, but was closer to an hour, the pain began to seep away. It didn't seem as bright anymore, and soon she realized she could block out certain sounds if she wanted to. She became used to the smells and started blocking those out too. Carefully, she opened her eyes.

She looked at her arm, expecting it to look different, but it was the same that it had always been (and looked like it could uses some moisturizer). She looked up at Vetis and gasped.

He had the same face he had before, but under it he glowed brightly, but his light had dark spots in place, like bruises. His eyes were each brighter than the sun. Red wings stretched behind him, barely fitting inside the room. As she looked at them, she realized that most of the feather were fallen, and the ones that were left were burnt and bloody.

She reached out her hand, caressing his face. He leaned his head into her touch, sighing at her soft and warm it was.

"You're beautiful," she whispered.

Vetis smiled. "Thank you Goddess." Because that was what she was now - not a human, or an angel, or even a nephilim, but a being worthy of worship.

"Are all angels like this?"

He shook his head. "No, they're brighter. Less damaged."

Now she shook her head. "You're not damaged. You're perfect."

Vetis chuckled self-depreciatingly. "It's been awhile since anyone said that."

"I find that very hard to believe."

Vetis smirked, a small bit of cockiness slipping into his tone. "I'm sure you do."

Adrienne grabbed his arm. She focused on his wings, imaging them undamaged and beautiful. As she thought about it, they slowly began to change, and her eyes started glowing white. Vetis's mouth gaped open as the bones healed and the feathers regrow, far stronger than they had been before he had fallen. Before the feathers had all been the same red color and were dull. Now they varied in shade from bright scarlet to the color of bagged blood, and seemed to shimmer, reflecting back both Adrienne's and the room's light. He delicately ran a finger along one of the larger feathers, then stared at Adrienne in awe. "Thank you."

Adrienne, for her part, seemed somewhat confused, but smiled when she saw the affect she'd had on Vetis. "You're welcome." She waited a few seconds before saying, "It's true then." She hadn't been sure beforre, had been wondering in the back of her mind if Vetis was crazy. Now there was no denying it. "I'm the Antichrist."

Vetis wrinkled his nose. "No, the antichrist is a child born of a human and a demon. You're a nephilim."

"Antichrist sounds better." Adrienne smiled, and he returned the gesture. After a moment, Adrienne asked, somewhat awkwardly, "What do I do now?"

Vetis smiled at her again before standing up and reaching out for her hand. "First we get you some new clothes." Adrienne blushed under his gaze, and Vetis chuckled before continuing. "Then, you to raise Lucifer."

The book Vetis gave Adrienne was thousands of years old, older than the messiah even. It was loosely bound with dried animal sinew and seemed ready to fall apart at the slightest touch. It had a thick wooden cover to protect the thin leather pages on which were written ancient spells in blood.

"Where did you get this?" Adrienne asked Vetis.

"I saw it in a vision that your father sent to me. It has the spell to release him in it." The book had been hidden in a centuries old crypt, and had easily been in dozens of other places before that, kept safe and hidden by several demons that had gone through great pains to keep it so. They would be amongst the first to learn of Adrienne.

As Adrienne looked at the book, it made her feel slightly sick, and when he handed it to her, her knees grew weak from its power. She dropped it onto the table as though it had burned her and quickly drew her hands back, keeping them flat on her thighs.

"I don't want it."

Vetis sighed and traced his fingers along the book's cover. As an angel (albeit a fallen one), he could feel the book's power too, but instead of feeling sick, it made him feel drunk, like he'd drank a bottle of wine, but without the dulled senses or blurry sense of mind. It was almost comforting in a way. "Adrienne-"

"No! I don't like it, get it away from me!" She stood up, knocking over her chair, and stomped over to the far side of the room, desperate to put distance between herself and the book.

"Adrienne, you're being childish."

"I don't care, that thing makes me feel sick!"

"That's because you don't know it yet. A book like this is practically alive. It has a personality, opinions, and power. If you're going to use it, you need to know it."

Vetis drew her to the table (they had switched to a different room identical to the first after Adrienne had accidentally destroyed it) and handed the book to her again, and Adrienne took it reluctantly. She ran her fingers over the wooden cover. It was utterly plain, with no decoration, but still so threatening. Reluctantly, she opened it.

The rust-red words stared up at her, seeming almost mocking, written in a language unknown to humans. Her hands shook, but she forced herself to keep looking.

Adrienne felt like she should know the words, but whenever she tried to focus on them, they didn't make sense. She growled in frustration. Vetis moved behind her so that his chest presses against her back. Adrienne breathed in, simultaneously uncomfortable at how close he was, and comforted by his presence.

"Let's try something else," he suggested. He placed the book down on the table. Vetis guided her hand to the book, letting it rest on one of the pages. She could feel the grooves, could sense every molecule and how they all connected. "Close your eyes." Vetis orders, his voice was practically a whisper, his lips pressed behind her ear. Adrienne obeyed.

"Now, don't think of the spells as words. Try to feel their power."

For a few seconds, nothing happened. But as Adrienne began to grow tired of this, she felt it. It was the same feeling she'd gotten from the book earlier, but soon intensified. It felt like there were teeth digging into her mind and taking hold. She tried to yank her hand back, but Vetis held it where it was.

"Just wait," he told her, his lips brushing against the soft cartilage of her ears.

The feeling changed, softening as it recognized the power in her. It encompassed her mind, soothing her pain and making her laugh cheerfully. As Vetis watched, the words left the book and traveled up Adrienne's arms, chest, and face, dying her eyes the rust-brown color of the dried bloof before disappearing into her head. When she was done, the book was completely blank. Vetis picked it up, but felt nothing. It was dead now, its essence safe in Adrienne's mind. He dropped it onto the table and returned his attention to Adrienne.

She was swaying on her foot, face blank. Her eyes that had been so bright only minutes ago and had been literally glowing half an hour earlier were now dull and dim. She started to collapse, her arms wailing mindlessly as her legs failed to offer support, and Vetis caught her in his arms. "Adrienne? Are you alright?"

Adrienne shook her head. "I don't want to do it. So much blood, so much death. Please don't make me do it Vetis, please-"

"Shhh, it's okay." he cradles her in his arms, making small comforting noises. Adrienne cries, leaving fresh grooves down her cheeks. "Don't worry, I'm not going to make you do anything." Once Adrienne calms down and stops crying, he asks her, "What did you see?"

"A spell," she answers in a shell-shocked voice. "It was the spell to raise Lucifer." Vetis nodded, encouraging her to keep going. "And it had a lot of ingredients, awful things… Vetis, don't make me do the spell!"

He shook his head. "I won't, but you have to tell me what the ingredients were."

Adrienne whimpered, but continued, forcing the words out of her mouth as though they were poisonous. "There was… a heart, a human heart. It has to be the heart of someone that I cared about and betrayed."

Vetis nodded. He remembered seeing that, over a year ago now, when he had been trying to decide what to do with Adrienne. The first vision Lucifer gave him. "Keep going," he said in what he hoped was an encouraging tone.

"There were… sacrifices, demons and humans were sacrificed, dozens of them. The demons were willing, but the humans… They were slaughtered like animals. And there was… this really bright light, like yours but smaller and… undamaged."

"A human soul," he explained. "A pure one." That might be a bit difficult, he thought.

Adrienne continued, sounding as though she might have been sick again if she had anything left in her stomach, "And there were five bottles of some sort of glowing, bluish-white liquid."

"Angel grace," he told her. "It's what separates us from humans. Without it, we're powerless." It occurs to him that it may not be the best idea to tell her this, but he is certain by now that she will not turn on him, so it likely won't matter. And getting the grace should be easy enough, especially if Adrienne can be trained to kill angels.

"And blood, my blood." Adrienne finished, and sounded relieved to have done so.

"Where did it happen, was there a specific place you needed to be?"

Adrienne made a pathetic, pained noise as she forced the memory back to the surface. "It was wherever Lucifer was last on earth." Stull cemetery, Vetis thought to himself. "Can I stop now?" Adrienne asked him. "Please Vetis, I'm so tired."

There were dark shadows under her eyes and her hands trembled weakly. Vetis nodded, feeling almost guilty for having made her recount all of it when it was clear that she'd rather forget that she'd seen it at all. "Of course you can," he said softly. Vetis carefully picked her up, allowing her head to rest against one arm as her legs hang over the other. He lays her down in the bed, and even tucks her in for good measure. When he's satisfied that she's settled, he starts to leave, but Adrienne grabs his hand. He looked at her expectantly.

Adrienne wasn't entirely sure why she had grabbed his hand; she knew that she didn't want him to go, but it would be too awkward to ask him to stay. Instead, she asked him, "What will happen if I set Lucifer free?"

Vetis was silent for a few moments before telling her, "If that happens," When that happens, "Lucifer will battle Michael. If Michael wins, then we're all destroyed. If Lucifer wins," the demons will die, "you, me, and all the demons will get to Earth, which Lucifer will have transformed into paradise."

"What about the humans?"

"The humans… will ascend to Heaven."

She looked at him sharply. "You mean they'll die."

"Yes," he admits, "but they're all in so much pain now. If they went to Heaven, they'll never be in pain again. It's for the best."

Adrienne didn't respond. Instead, she allowed her eyes to drift close and yawned.

Vetis chuckled and gently kissed her forehead, letting his hand rest against hers before moving back. "Get some sleep Adrienne."

Adrienne nodded tiredly and buried her face in the soft pillows, only staying awake long enough to let out a quiet, "Goodnight." Vetis chuckled at her sleeping form and left the room, thinking of how he would convince her to complete the ritual.

When Adrienne next woke, her shoulder was being roughly shaken by someone with a gray, almost skeletal hand. Her eyes widened and she hit the person's arm, pushed them away, scampering farther up the bed and drawing her blanket around herself.

The person fell backwards with a loud 'oomph', the black velvet dress shed been holding falling out of her arms and to the ground, along with the sleek black flats. Adrienne stared at her, ignoring the dress and shoes. Her bones were prominent with onlt a think layer of skin stretched over them. Her eyes were pure black and sunken into her school. There were dozens of scars covering her body - their sources varied from knives, teeth, fire, chemicals, and probably over a dozen other things that Adrienne didn't even know what they were.

But as she kept looking, she saw the woman's thick black hair, pale skin, and vibrant green eyes, laid over her like an almost completely sheer layer of fabric.

"Dakota."

Dakota stood up, holding the arm that Adrienne had hit gingerly. Adrienne winced when she realized that she had left a large purple bruise that seemed to encompass all of Dakota's forearm. Guess I don't know my own strength. Adrienne slid out of the bed and walked over to Dakota, grabbing her arm carefully. She felt along the bruise, wincing when the demon hissed in pain. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"It's all right," Dakota responded, though her voice shook, and Adrienne could tell that she had caused more pain than she had originally thought. "I should have been more careful."

Adrienne shook her head. It was not anyone else's job to keep her under control. It was her own.

"What happened to you?" Adrienne asked, referring to the wounds that decorated the demon's body.

"Hell," she said simply. "I was tortured for centuries before I became a full demon." She said it so casually, as though they were talking about the weather and not years of blood and pain.

"That's awful," Adrienne said, her voice barely above a whisper. She tried to imagine what it might be like - the smell of her own flesh burning, knives digging into every inch of her, the sight and smell of her own organs strung around her, the knowledge that no matter what was done to her body she could never die, the cruelty in her torturer's high-pitched laughter, the sight of the same scars that now litter your body on theirs as well, a cry for mercy that goes ignored, the sound of thousands, if not millions, of other people in the same position, all screaming for a savior that will never come - and realized that she could not. Whatever horrors she could think up, whatever pain she'd been through, Hell would always be worse.

Remembering what she'd done to Vetis's wings last night, Adrienne attempted a similar approach. She held the arm tightly and imagined the demon's body free of scars or bruises. Inch by inch, a light overtook Dakota's body, slowly fleeing from one spot to another as it healed her, leaving only smooth skin, until she was completely healed.

Dakota looked at her in awe - a feeling Adrienne was beginning to become familiar with - and said, "Thank you."

There was fire in Adrienne's eyes, and she surprised even herself by saying, "Don't thank me. I'm only fixing God's mistakes."

A/N: The poem at the beginning of this chapter is "my paradise lost (and found)" and was written by dvoyd on tumblr, who kindly allowed me to use it in this story. Please do not use it without her permission.