Part Two: Light
Chapter Two: Watch The Queen Conquer
She was the heir of ash and fire, and she would bow to no one.
- Heir of Fire
May 1st, 2011
The Gates of Hell were massive obsidian structures completely encasing Hell. They were shut so that those inside stayed there, but there also had to be a way for people to get in.
Throughout the gates, there were little holes, just big enough for reapers to cram a soul in. Most of these were all but impossible to find, and even when they were found, they usually closed up once someone actually got out. But Crowley gained control of a dozen or so of the larger ones and bribed the reapers in charge of them to keep them open (when Adrienne wondered how one bribed a reaper, Vetis just said she didn't need to worry about it since those dared to work with Crowley would be dead soon and he would manage the others).
Guarding most of the holes was twenty demons, but this one, being the largest, had thirty. Their leader, Lucas, far from being proud of his high position, was bored. He didn't understand why their had to guard the holes all the time; no one would dare pass through without the king's permission, and if they were really that desperate there were plenty more to be found if one was willing to look.
Idly, he chatted with one of his colleagues, waiting to be released so he could return to Earth, until he saw a group of demons near him. "What do you want?"
They stayed silent.
Lucas bristled, reaching for the blade at his belt. Before he could reach it, one of the newcomers threw something shining silver. The angel blade stuck in Lucas's throat as his skeleton flashed orange, his demonic essence dissipating.
The other guards reached hurriedly for their weapons, but the others descended upon them so quickly they could barely fight back. By the time it was finished, the guards were dead, while Adrienne's demons had only lost three.
Tarot, of course, was pleased with their success and immediately used one of the dead's blood to contact Meg, who was waiting to hear from the groups. "The entrance has been secured; Crowley's guards are dead. If you go quickly, they won't expect you."
Once all of Crowley's guards were good and dead, Meg lead the demons into Hell, practically bursting with energy. The last real mission she'd been on had been during the apocalypse, before the Winchesters had screwed everything up. She thought of Adrienne. Maybe not everything.
The halls of Hell were filled with the screams of the damned. Meg smiled at their pleas, dragging her fingers over their chains, and leaving demon bodies to rot whenever they came into contact. It did not matter; anyone in Hell that wasn't with them was with Crowley, and deserved to die. Any loyalists were either still on earth with Adrienne, or in the other groups in Hell.
Within half an hour, Meg had captured and executed most of the demons that could be considered a member of Crowley's inner circle. There was only one left, Cecily, who had spoken to them on more than one occasion, providing information on Crowley while reporting back the meager knowledge they let loose. Playing both sides, as it were.
Big mistake.
"Please," Cecily begged as two other demons held her arms to keep her from moving. "Please, I'll tell you whatever you want."
Meg towered before her, twirling the angel blade in her fingers. "Where's Crowley?"
"He's in his throne room," she said without hesitation. "Please, I swear, I swear I'm loyal to Adrienne, to Lucifer, please…"
"Here's the thing Cessy," Meg said, crouching in front of her, "I think you are loyal. But not to Adrienne, or Lucifer, or me, or even Crowley. You're only in it for yourself, and that makes you dangerous."
Without another word, Meg stabbed Cecily in the chest, smirking as her bones flickered an electric orange before her body slumped forward. Once she was dead, Meg slit her throat, the blood filling the stone goblet she'd brought, chanting briefly in Latin as the blood bubbled. "Crowley's followers are dead. The king sits on his throne. We await you."
Crowley looked at the charts his minions had presented to him, head resting on his fist as he tried to stay awake.
"As you can see, in the past year we have taken in 3 to 4 percent less souls than the previous year, which experienced a 2 percent increase from the year before that. Now, we believe that this is due to a sudden loss of over two dozen of our crossroads demons, 18 of which were strategically positioned in America. Now, one solution would be to-"
"Hold on," Crowley interrupted, gesturing at the demons in annoyance, "what's this about the twenty or so dead crossroads demons?" They didn't answer. "Let me guess. Winchesters."
Lane, Crowley's resident yes-man, said, "No, sir, our sources believe that there is another cause."
Crowley waited for him to continue. When he didn't, Crowley said, "Well?"
"We believe that Adrienne Morgenstern - Lucifer's daughter - may be responsible for the deaths."
Crowley thought about that. Charles, the idiot, had yet to report back anything substantial about Adrienne. Only that she was on earth and had limited allies, and recently several of them were exorcised and promptly massacred upon returning to Hell, except for a select few who were being kept for information. Ultimately, they had come to the conclusion that she was not a threat. "What, that child? How dangerous could she possibly be?"
"Oh, I'm better than you think."
The few demons in the room jumped when they saw her. Adrienne was resting her arms and chin on the back of the throne, smirking down at Crowley. She was dressed more casually than normal, in a black tank top with a red leather jacket and black jeans with matching boots. Her only makeup was a dark red lipstick. Crowley stood up when he saw her, backing away.
"Thanks for the seat," Adrienne said, plopping down in the chair and swinging her legs over the arm. "I think I might keep it."
"How did you get in here?" Crowley demanded, practically shouting.
Adrienne, on the other hand, was utterly calm and completely unaffected by the king's theatrics. "It wasn't hard. I just walked in. After killing your guards at the gates and anyone I saw. After that, it was just a hop, skip, and a jump."
One of the demons in the back of the room tried to subtly pull a knife out of his jacket. Adrienne, without looking at him, took the knife, allowing it to hover in the air for a brief moment before stabbing the demon in the forehead.
"Hey now, there's no need to be tetchy, we're all friends here." Several demons came into the room, led by Vetis. They took hold of the others, fighting while Adrienne looked on.
Crowley's supporters were well outnumbered. Soon Adrienne's demons held their opponents still. They pulled back so that they lines the walls, except for Vetis and Crowley, who stood in the middle.
Adrienne stood and walked slowly around the demons, drawing a finger over Vetis's shoulder when she was close enough, otherwise not doing much. Finally she stopped in the middle of the room, waving at Vetis to get him to move back some. Vetis had put a gag in Crowley's mouth to keep him from talking as Adrienne made her speech.
Adrienne looked at her captive audience, expression mildly blank. "I'm not sure what you know about me. Maybe nothing, maybe everything. What you need to know is that I am Lucifer's daughter, and that I am more powerful than any demon or angel. You need to know that I am going to raise Lucifer from the cage, and kill every last angel. You need to know that if you stand with me, you will ascend to Heaven with me. And let your so-called king serve as an example as what happens to those who would defy me."
Vetis removed the gag from Crowley's mouth. Adrienne watched as his face turned red, entertaining herself with his pathetic fuming. "You can't do this!" Adrienne did not acknowledge him, instead sharing a mocking look with Vetis. " I'm the king of Hell!"
Now Adrienne looked directly at him, anger contorting her face as she stood straight. "You are an ant!" She calmed a bit, leaning back some. "And I am a goddess."
"You," Crowley began, but Adrienne would not let him finish. With a wave of her hand, Crowley had been disintegrated so that it was hard to tell if he'd ever been there. The demons stared at her, some in horror and others in awe. Adrienne turned her back on where Crowley had stood moments ago, moving to sit on her new throne, Vetis following to stand at her side. "Now," she said, settling into her seat, "let's talk business."
Hours later, once the demons had left to carry out the duties Adrienne had assigned to them, Adrienne finally allowed herself to rest, her body slumping in the throne as she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and yawned. "I'm tired."
"You don't need to sleep," Vetis said.
"Shut up," Adrienne countered half-heartedly, groaning. "My shoulders ache."
Vetis thought for a moment before stepping up onto the the wide, flat arm of the throne, slipping behind Adrienne, his thighs framing her waist. She gave him an odd look, but did not object. Vetis pulled at the sleeves of her jacket, slipping them off when she lifted her arms for him, placing it on the arm rest. The tank top she was wearing left her shoulders and arms bare, and Vetis quickly rubbed them when he noticed the goosebumps spreading over her skin. Adrienne drew in a breath when he did that, watching him from the corner of her eye. She turned away completely when he started massaging her shoulders, closing her eyes as she felt her skin heat up, cheeks blushing.
Vetis didn't notice the blush spreading over Adrienne's face, though he frowned when he felt her shoulders tense. He presses down firmly on her arm. "Relax," he says gently, voice quiet. A moment passes before Adrienne give a quick nod. Vetis makes a satisfied sound when she follows his instruction, carefully massaging her back.
Adrienne made small, happy noises as Vetis worked out the nots in her back and shoulders. Vetis smiled when he heard them, making a pleased sound. A thought entered his mind, growing more and more obtrusive until he was forced to confront it. Slowly, he moved his hands down her back to her waist, brushing over her stomach, feeling the muscles shift with every breath. Adrienne looked back at him in surprise. He kept still, waiting for something. Adrienne gave a careful dip of her head before looking away again, making no effort to move.
Vetis smiled happily, leaning his head on her shoulder to better look at her chest and abdomen, moving his hands under her shirt to better feel her, sensually brushing against her smooth skin, fingers feather-light wherever they touch. Adrienne stiffens when Vetis unhooks her bra, shifting to push the straps off of her shoulders and pulling it out of her shirt, dropping it on the floor. Adrienne's breath hitches when Vetis's calloused fingers slowly ran over her breasts, gasping when he squeezed. She let her hands follow his, holding them in place over her chest.
Vetis kissed her neck, pushing at the strap of her tank top so he could nip lightly at her shoulder. Adrienne leaned her head to the side to allow him better access. She pushed back against him, moaning when she felt him against her back. Vetis slid one hand down to her pants, fingers moving to open them, but Adrienne grabbed his hand.
"Stop," she said, breathing hard. Vetis froze, looking at her in confusion. She said it again, though it was useless this time as he wasn't doing anything. Adrienne pushed herself away from him, practically jumping off the seat. She turned to look at him, still sitting in the throne and looking so confused. Still, he looked impeccable in his soft black and silver uniform, especially in comparison to Adrienne, who was now missing her jacket and bra, and the straps of her shirt had been completely pulled off of her arms, leaving her arms and shoulders bare. Frustrated and feeling incredibly weak, Adrienne did what any great leader does.
She ran.
Dean and Sam had had absolutely nothing to do since Adrienne had been rescued and it showed in their jumpiness, as well as their constant irritation. They could not even go to see Bobby as he was already working a case with his old friend Rufus, and had refused their help. And Cas had not felt the need to visit, and Dean refused to call him just because he was bored, insisting the guy was busy when asked by Sam. They had soon resorted to an old-fashioned prank war, which had only ended when Dean, in retaliation for his cassette tapes being replaced with pop music, dyed his brother's hair green, which had only somewhat faded several days later. Now they had returned to their more-constant-than-usual bickering. So Dean was relieved when Cas did show up, although he knew it probably meant something was wrong.
"Cas!" Dean said, smiling.
Castiel did not return his enthusiasm, or even his greeting. "Dean, Crowley is dead."
Dean blinked in surprise. "Yay?" When Cas didn't respond, he continued. "Cas, I'm kind of wondering why you look so upset. Sounds like a good thing to me."
"He's dead because Adrienne killed him."
…"Still not seeing the problem."
Castiel sighed in irritation. "Dean, before Adrienne had a few dozen supporters, maybe a hundred. There were thousands more that had been loyal to Lucifer and probably would have been to her, but they couldn't do anything with Crowley in charge. Now she has all of Hell behind her. Crowley was content just to be king; Adrienne will not be."
Sam (who Dean swears he didn't forget about) thinks about this. "So before she was angry and scared, and now she's angry and well-equipped."
"Okay, I see your point," Dean says. "So what do we do?"
"You will not do anything." Dean started to argue, but Castiel quickly cut him off. "No, Dean. You ignored me before and we had to hold off over a dozen demons and Adrienne escaped. Now she has an army, and she hates you. If you seek her out again, you will die. And though I wish I trusted you with this, the fact that you sought her out anyway let's me know I cannot."
Dean's jaw clenched in anger as his cheeks flushed. Fighting to control himself, he grit out, "And what exactly are you gonna do? Watch us every second? Heaven needs you."
"Yes it does, and I need to be there. Fortunately, being largely in charge of Heaven means that I can assign angels to look over you."He does not even acknowledge Dean's shocked face before continuing, "From now on the two of you and Bobby shall have no fewer than three angels looking after each of you at a time. They will not interfere with your life or your hunts unless you ask them to do so. They will prevent you from seeking out Adrienne or her demons, and ensure that you are safe if she attempts to find you or if you run into her on accident.
"Cas, this is ridiculous! We don't need you to take care of us, we're not children!"
You would be dead right now if it were not for the sigils I used to weaken Adrienne after you sought her out after I told you not to. Perhaps you've changed your mind about going after her, but that is not a chance I am willing to take."
Dean huffed angrily and turned away from him. Cas grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to turn and look at him. "Dean, I'm only doing this to keep you safe."
Dean shrugged him off, stubbornly crossing his arms. "I don't need your help. I can take care of myself."
"Not against Adrienne you can't." Dean remained silent. "We were lucky last time. The sigils worked well enough, but if Adrienne hadn't been going through withdraw, she could have destroyed us as soon as the demons got there, and Vetis did not want to risk fighting us while Adrienne was weak. I do not want to take that chance again." Dean continued to ignore him. "Dean...I have seen you hurt before. I've seen you die before. If anything like that ever happened again, I would stop at nothing to bring you back. I would tear apart innocent people and myself to keep you safe. So please, for my sake if not you're own, stay safe."
Slowly, Dean loosened, letting his arms uncross as he sighed dramatically. "Fine, I won't do anything stupid."
"Nonsense Dean, I wouldn't want to take away your favorite hobby."
Sam barked out a laugh, stopping when Dean and Cas looked at him in shock, Dean blushing, having forgotten he was there.
"Well," Cas said awkwardly, shifting on his feet, "I have to go now. Take care."
Cas was gone before Dean could object.