Chapter Ten
Behind the Curtain
CW/TW: Mentions of suicide, torture, and descriptions of dead bodies
Iceland: Morning - June 17, 2010
Azrial took a deep breath and glanced over at Bobby. "I'll be back in five mintues."
"I'll give you two," he said flatly. "I'm not sure I'll be able to hear you over the roar of the water."
"Fine, two minutes," she agreed. Azrial glanced toward Crowley who was giving the creek a wide berth. "Keep him safe?" she joked to the demon.
"Of course, angel, but who will protect me?"
Azrial snorted, "You could always go back to the Winchesters."
"No," he said flatly and Azrial rolled her eyes.
"Did Dean hurt your feelings? I'm starting to worry about why you aren't going back."
"The two people worth anything are here," he said dismissively.
"Timer is starting, princess," Bobby warned her.
"Right," she muttered and faced the waterfall once more. This was going to suck if there wasn't actually an entrance here. Hitting a cliff face wasn't high up on her to-do list, but needs must.
"I hate my life," she sighed before leaping toward the waterfall.
Her clothes were soaked by the time she hit the slick ground on the other side. She looked around the massive cavern, but couldn't see much further than two feet in front of her. A soft glow a foot into the cave caught her eye, but she hesitated to approach it. The pessimistic part of her mind that knew exactly how this search was going to end stopped her. Azrial shut her eyes and looked back toward the waterfall. She couldn't hear much over the roar of the water, but she could still pick up the worried tones. She shot a glance back at the glow further into the cave and shook her head, jumping back through the water.
There was no way her landing was going to be graceful, and she missed the shore by a foot and fell into the chilly water. She broke the surface with a gasp and waded toward the bank. Bobby was there in seconds and she grabbed his offered hands, hoisting herself out of the water.
"Thanks," Azrial said as she wrung her hair out. "There is definitely something back there, but we'll need a flashlight to see fully."
"And a bathing suit," Crowley huffed in annoyance.
"The cavern was large, maybe there is another entrance?" Azrial offered.
"We don't have time to try and find it," Bobby said. "Can we get in and out without getting wet now that we know there is somewhere to land?"
"Of course," she said. "Crowley can just transport us the few feet in, but we still risk getting wet coming out if he messes up the landing."
"I'll ignore that insult. Are you ready?" Crowley asked.
Azrial pulled the soaked jacket off and tossed it on the ground. "I'm ready. No point in changing when we may run into more water."
"You sure?" Bobby asked. "You've gotta be freezing."
Azrial blinked at the concern and Crowley chuckled, shaking his head.
"Her body temperature is much lower than ours, pet. Don't worry, she won't catch a cold."
Bobby huffed, turning away from them both for a moment. Azrial smiled softly at the hunter, the concern doing more to warm her than a change of clothes ever would.
"Can you bring us both at once?" she asked.
"Since it's only a few feet it should be fine," Crowley waved off. "If you're both ready?"
Line Break
Bobby was positive he would never get used to being transported by supernatural means. It always left him mildly nauseous, like he'd been on a rickety carnival ride that was barely being held together. He blinked away the spots in his vision, grateful for Crowley's steadying hand on his arm. He turned on the flashlight, moving it around the cavern.
"Balls," he whispered sadly.
The light hit the back wall and illuminated a skeleton leaned up against the dark stone. Azrial slowly walked toward it, kneeling down and placing a gentle hand against the skull, and shutting her eyes.
"She died as a human."
Azrial's voice was heavy, and Bobby walked up placing a hand on her shoulder.
"She?"
Bobby knew better than to say he was sorry. He hated when people did that to him, and he was learning more and more that Azrial was cut from a similar cloth. She sighed, and slowly stood up.
"Her name is," Azrial paused and glanced over at Crowley who'd been looking down at the glowing water near the skeleton. "Was, I guess, Cassiel. Gabriel's second in command."
Crowley's head snapped toward Azrial, and for a moment there was a very real concern in the demon's eyes. His dark eyes shifted toward him, and while the concern died down a bit Bobby could still make it out.
"What's going on? Did you both know her?"
The beings exchanged a loaded look, and Azrial shook her head.
"I did, of course. Crowley has only heard of her."
"Then why does Crowley look concerned?" Crowley shot a dirty look at him, but Azrial ran a hand over her face. Bobby eyed her carefully and noticed she was shaking. "Damnit princess, I knew you should change. You must be freezing."
He pulled his jacket off and wrapped it around her shoulders. She looked up at him with startled eyes and laughed brokenly.
"I'm not cold, hunter," she whispered. "I'm just…"
"She's in shock," Crowley cut over her. "This is her sibling after all."
There was a subtle warning to drop the subject in Crowley's voice, but Bobby didn't bother to look at the demon. He wouldn't break from Azrial's gaze, and he tried to riddle out the maelstrom of emotions in her eyes.
"Crowley, I think we should tell him," Azrial said.
"It isn't anyone's bloody business," the demon snapped. Bobby was shocked that it sounded far more protective than angry. "You don't owe anyone an explanation, angel."
Azrial squeezed his arm, and Bobby sighed. "He's right. You don't owe me an explanation, especially if it's a personal thing and not to do with our apocalypse problem."
He'd learned his lesson, especially after the whole revelation at the Vatican. He trusted Azrial and Crowley to talk to him if it was important, but Rowen was right. It wasn't fair to expect more from them than he would a hunter.
"Thank you." The sincerity dripped off her voice, and Bobby tried to muster a smile for her. "But...I think I want you to know."
Crowley was between them before the shock wore off from Azrial's words. His red eyes were boring into him, and he had a protective arm out in front of Azrial who looked shocked by the demon's interference.
"Crowley-"
"Be quiet, angel," Crowley snarled, before glaring at him. "I want your word, hunter," Crowley stressed the title and Bobby winced. "That whatever is said here, you will never repeat. Not to your friends, or lovers, or even those damn kids of yours."
"Crowley," Azrial tried again. "I doubt Bobby would ever do something like that."
"You're far too trusting, Azrial," Crowley growled. "Don't forget what happened when we faced Lucifer."
Bobby wanted to be offended, but he couldn't muster it. Whatever was going on, and it had to be something big, had shaken the two beings. He'd only seen Crowley act like this after Azrial was stabbed and when she'd fallen at the bar. The demon seemed content to pretend they were just fuck buddies until something big happened, at which point he may as well just proclaim his love for the archangel.
"You have my word, not as a hunter but as ya friend."
That statement seemed to soothe Crowley's hostility, and Azrial shot him a grateful smile.
"Thank you," she said. Crowley just grunted until Azrial elbowed his side.
"Yes, thank you."
Bobby snorted at the demon's words. He didn't need them, but it was nice to hear nonetheless. He glanced back over at the skeleton, sighing softly.
"How do you want to handle this?"
"We should collect her bones," Azrial tiredly said. "When we find Gabriel, it will be up to him how he'd like to proceed."
Bobby nodded but frowned as he shifted his flashlight a bit more to the right. "What's that?"
Crowley glanced over at the wall. "It looks like blood, but the language-"
Azrial exhaled sharply, walking closer to the wall. "It's Enochian." She stared at the wall for several moments before giving a frustrated sigh. "That doesn't make any sense!"
"What's it say?" Bobby asked.
"There is more than one snake," Azrial muttered. "But how so? Lucifer is obviously the first, but what was she getting at?"
Bobby frowned and leaned down over the bones once more. "Is it possible this wasn't a…" he searched for the right word before Azrial found it for him.
"A suicide?" she asked dryly. He hummed, and she shrugged in response. "Maybe."
"I think it's more than a maybe," Crowley said from across the cave. Bobby stood up, moving the flashlight over to the spot of ground the demon was looking at.
"Fuck," Azrial whispered.
"This complicates things," Crowley sighed.
Sprawled against the floor and part of the cave wall were two sets of angel wings and a mismatched pile of bones.
"Azrial, is there any way you could find out what happened?" Bobby asked.
The archangel looked sick, and he was starting to worry if she'd be able to handle this. She stumbled slightly toward the wall, and put her hands against the stone, and shut her eyes.
"Fear," she muttered. "So much fear."
Bobby exchanged a worried look with Crowley. "Anything else?" he asked.
"Malice. This was…" Azrial's eyes fell from the wall and she took a shuddering breath. "They were murdered."
"Fuck," Bobby sighed. "Do you know-?"
Azrial shook her head sadly. "No. They aren't familiar to me. Maybe they were of Raphael or Michael's flock, either way...they will need a proper burial."
"Could you ask Death?" Crowley cut in. "This almost seems like a trap for angels."
Azrial bit her lip, looking around the cave. "I don't think he'd answer me," she admitted. "His library isn't something he shared with anyone, even me."
"Damn," Crowley sighed. "Well, this is a mess."
Bobby nodded in agreement. Azrial walked over to the water and leaned down, pulling a softly glowing vial out of the water. It made the cave darker, and the flow of the water ebbed slightly.
"We'll need the proper supplies to collect their remains, and I don't want to have our conversation in this cave."
"Princess, ya really don't have to-"
"There may be something in our past we've missed," Azrial said firmly. "After seeing this, I really think you need to know what happened."
"She's right," Crowley grudgingly agreed. "This has demons written all over it, yet I don't feel anything. Even if this happened hundreds of years ago there should be something left of the demon who did it."
"All right," Bobby sighed. "Let's get out of here for now. We can call the boys and ask Castiel to bring something to transport the bones."
"Whoever did this," Azrial growled. "They are going to die."
Bobby hummed in agreement as Crowley offered his arm.
"We'll figure it out. Don't try and handle this on your own."
She shot him a grateful look and stepped into Crowley's outstretched arm, allowing the demon to wrap his arm around her waist.
"Hide the grace," Crowley muttered. "We'll need to dig out that warded box you used."
"Agreed," she sighed. "Get us out of here, Crowley."
The demon hummed, and the cave seemed to spin around him as Crowley transported them back outside.
The next update is Saturday, October 30, 2021