‹ Prequel: Ethereal

Purgatorial

Chapter 25 - Knocking on Heaven's Door

Nina's POV

If I'd ever wondered what Good VS Evil looked like, a stare down between the two epically jaded, first born twins in Creation didn't disappoint. It was my first time seeing Michael and let me say: they were identical to a T. What surprised me more was Michael's dragon tattoo, starting on his cheek, heading down his neck and underneath the V-neck sweater he was wearing. The brothers' eyes were the same color, but their essence differed. Lucas' were shinning, gun-metal, lit with mischief. Michael's were less vibrant, more guarded and… My shoulders gave a sudden jump when the Prince of Heaven moved his eyes over me. Cameron was right beside me, Phillip on his right side. The younger twins were silent, busy looking between the two Angels standing in my old house's backyard. Because, yes, Raphael was also awarding us with his radiance. The guy had a thing for bright colors, white shirt and white jeans.

"Well," Phillip cleared his throat. "This is anticlimactic." I could see Cameron's grinning face without side-glancing them. "I always thought you two would try killing each other, but I guess now that he's human there's really no point."

Raph cut a shrewd glance at his surrogate nephew.

"Last we heard Lucifer hadn't been the only one changed."

Phill's stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking at ease, "Yeah, I decided to go on a new diet. It's low-fat and high on carbon hydrates." His joking was laced with clear bitterness. Raphael's eyelids lowered, sheltering whatever emotions from the world around him. "I think it makes me snappy."

"Yes," Cam agreed in a huffed whisper.

"Enough," Michael spoke and I swear my leg muscles went into complete lock-down. Glad to know he and Lucas shared the quiet-deadly-whisper tone. "We're not here for a casual visit. We're here because somehow you've managed to get yourself dethroned, Lucifer. Of all the mistakes I expected from you, none led to you losing your reign over Hell or the loss of your Power and immortally."

"It's our dance," Lucas gestured between himself and his twin, appearing unaffected by Michael's chiseled coldness or the fact he'd called him Lucifer, his given name after the Fall. "I live to surprise you and you live to betray me. What a wonderful existence."

"Your pride was what led to my betrayal. Pride cost you your wings, brother. And now pride and foolishness cost you your Power and immortality."

"Pride might be my sin, brother. But envy is yours. You were jealous because our Father loved me best. Gabriel loved me best. You're bitter because I found Etna before you had a chance to kill her."

Michael's face betrayed nothing. It was pretty obvious where Cameron got his stonewall status from.

"Our Father loved you so much He heeded me in creating the sword that cast you out."

Lucas jerked forward quickly for a human. Romeo's reflexes were three times faster, though-no shock there-grabbing both of Lucas' arms. The Cambion looked like he was having as much fun as someone pulling out their teeth getting Lucifer to stay still. Lucas' murderous glare shot from Michael to Romeo and back to his twin.

Michael's eyes twinkled with... something, "Careful, brother, I wouldn't want to accidentally kill you. Humans are very fragile." He was enjoying this. Immensely.

"Stop," Raphael hissed. He stood in Michael and Lucifer's path, turning to both in turn. "This isn't time for one of your sibling's squabbles. We're here to discuss Cain and how to stop him—that's our job. Keeping this dimension intact?" He said to Michael who heaved a short breath and stood straighter.

"I know what our job is," Michael whispered quietly, before embarking on what sounded like a detailed military report on our enemy forces. "Virtues haven't been able to track Cain, he has too much Power. Even if he didn't, he could cloak himself. But since he leaves a body count wherever he goes, it's simple to map out where he's been. In the last week, he's been responsible for nearly a hundred deaths, maybe more. I have Authorities patrolling California, they have orders to kill any Vampire, Cambion or Fallen who follows Cain."

"How's that been working out?" Phillip asked, arms firmly crossed. Shifting uncomfortably as his uncle's metal gaze stopped on him.

"So far, they've dispatched thirty-three of them."

"What you're saying is," Cameron began, frowning lightly. "You're hunting down his army to minimize human deaths?"

"Yes. Cain's wreaking havoc by allowing them to run free, kill, feed—whatever they want. Taking them out diminishes damage." Raphael intruded. "Some Angels tried obtaining some... information about Cain's whereabouts, or where he was going next, but they were all unsuccessful. Whenever they speak of anything Cain-related, they..."

"They what?" Cam coaxed.

"He must've placed a hex on them... Whenever they're about to say anything about Cain they start bleeding out. Their heart rate goes above and beyond until it just bursts in their chests."

There was a beat of silence. A look of disgust was plastered on my face. You'd think after all I'd seen this past half-year, hearing what that hex did wouldn't cause my stomach to twist in tangled knots. But I don't think you ever got used to it. Some things were meant to make you feel sick.

"You've got to admit," Romeo started bitterly. "He's clever."

"He's incapable of processing any form of empathy, he had to have something going for him." Cameron commented dryly. He glared at the ground, lost in thought. "He said he was going to unleash Hell and collapse Heaven, he—"

"He wants to get everyone and everything—emphasis on the things—on this dimension." Lucas stated in a monotone, leaning all too casually on the wall. Michael threw his twin brother a glare, eyes widening a fraction. Lucifer's lips curled a tiny bit, sourly. "All those years ago, I thought I knew why you wanted Etna gone, I thought it was because she could redeem Fallens—but it wasn't that, was it? Or not just that. You could've used her ability in your favor if you'd gotten to her first. There's something else—a side effect. The only way for a Fallen to be redeemed is if he or her is exposed to holy energy. The purest energy there is. Downside? No Fallen can set foot in Heaven after they're wings get cut off. And holy energy only exists—in enough quantities—in Heaven. Which means… when Etna redeems a Fallen what she's doing is pulling Heaven's energy, exposing the Fallens' souls to it." Lucas paused as if to enjoy the visible discomfort on Michael's face. "Now, if a Witch or a Warlock could harness the holy energy while she's redeeming a Fallen… They could use it to open a breach between Heaven and Earth."

The exchange between them was silent, like they were having a brutal throw down inside each other's heads, kinda like what Cam and Phillip did sometimes. Communicate through silence.

"So... it'd be like when Cam got used as a conduit for Sabine to harness the moon's energy." I mumbled breaking the neck-breaking tension.

Lucifer turned toward me, lips quirking, "Precisely. Cameron and Phillip have—or in Phillip's case, had—ties to the moon because of their bloodline. Cameron only acted as a conduit. He couldn't gather the energy himself. Etna can." Michael didn't respond, only squinted his eyes at his twin. Lucas held out his hands, shrugging. "You didn't actually think I was that stupid? I've known for a time, but when Cain was so hungry for her ability it confirmed itself."

"Okay, so Cain wants to take a trip to Heaven." I sighed, deeply flushed. "How did he even know about Etna?"

Michael's nose scrunched like he'd smelled something foul, "Because Uriel told him." Ah. Of course. The hateful Angel bitch herself. I hoped she was suffering endlessly inside the Cube.

"You're not blaming me? That's new." Lucifer mocked openly.

Michael looked exasperated for a second, before growing stone-cold again.

"After all the trouble you went through to get out of Hell and get Etna back, I don't see what you could possibly gain from telling a lunatic he can open a breach between Heaven and Earth by using her. Don't look so surprised,"

"I'm just surprised you used your brain."

Phillip sighed, throwing up his hands, "Fine. Cain knows Etna's the key to open a passageway to Heaven. The question is why he wants to go there. Kill Angels for kicks? Because he does that a lot."

Lucas' lips curled in a knowing smile. It was a burning joke on his face, taunting and devious.

"Speaking of that famous sword you used to cast me out..." He said slyly.

"He can use that?" I choked out.

"Anyone with Angel blood can wield it—if it's pure Angel blood. Fallens blood is still angelic, but it becomes tainted after the Fall. That's why Cambions are different from Nephilims, why they have venom. It's a mirror of what our blood became." Lucas summarized, apparently interested in brushing invisible lint off Cam's borrowed hoodie.

"What can he do with a sword?"

"Besides casting out every Angel residing there?" Romeo quipped then stopped, curious. "Actually, that's a good question."

"That sword does more than cast out Angels. Anything it stabs withers away—it gets destroyed. If he plunges the sword into the ground—in Heaven—he'll destroy it. Heaven will crumble away and everyone on it will be wiped from existence."

"Are you kidding me right now? Go back to Heaven—destroy the sword!" I yelled on the brink of officially freaking out. Why would anything have that much power?

Michael shook his head, "You can't destroy the sword," The good news kept on coming. "You can't even carry it outside of Heaven. Whatever damage Cain wants to do... He can only do it there. The sword is grounded to its place of origin."

Okay, not to sound selfish or anything, but I was hit by a wave of immense relief. If an object that powerful could be used to end dimensions... Cain already had so much Power... Magic... Heck, from where I was standing he was pretty much untouchable.

"He wants to destroy Heaven and all the Angels there in one fair swoop. Next, he'll hunt down the rest of us on Earth. Maybe he'll take their Power for himself, maybe he'll just kill them. Either way, there won't be anyone left to protect humans. He'll have unleashed Hell and Earth will be his own playground. With that much Power backing up his Magic who knows what he'll be able to do?" Raphael offered up, gloomily, leaving the brothers to stare at each other in bristling anger. Again.

"There's a kink in his master plan, through." I looked up at Cameron. He tilted his head, "He's been stealing Power and absorbing it like a sponge, but a human soul can only handle so much Power. Serena had to put a seal on Lucifer's Power when my soul was inside his body—it would've slowly broken down my soul. Killed me. The bastard has to be bursting at the seams."

"Junior has a point,"

Cameron's jaw flexed caging in a curse. Was he... I think I heard him count to ten under his breath. Cam didn't fire back. I was silently proud of him.

"True, but we can't sit still and hope Cain will blow up or something else eerily grotesque."

"We?" Lucifer shot back, suddenly pushing himself away from the wall, eyebrows arching with an elegance practiced over millennia. "There's no we, brother." He spat the word with vehemence, nose wrinkling.

"Oh, really?" Michael swaggered two steps too close, before leaning forward with something akin to annoyance. "Then what's your plan?" The twins' gazes held together for what felt like an eternity, it was easy to see the shift in Lucas' forehead—frustrated lines showed up in a silent defeat—before he turned his cheek to Michael. "See? You don't have one."

"I don't trust you." Lucifer's voice was soft but chilling as he said it, looking deep into his brother's eyes. They were dangerously close now, Raphael barely served as a barrier anymore, they'd gone around him. Like two people on a collision route, ignoring everyone else who could get caught in the crossfire. "You schemed with our Father to cast me out. You blamed me for crimes Uriel committed—right under your nose—you hunted down Etna and you allowed Uriel to help that Coven imprison me in Hell. I'm not that desperate for your help."

"You don't have a choice." Michael shot back, dangerously quiet. "I don't need your permission to help anyone, Lucifer. I'll do what I must to stop Cain because our Father entrusted the safety of this dimension to me—to all of us. Whether you want my help is irrelevant, especially since you've lost your own Power. But I know you, brother, you'll do something on the sidelines that could get everyone else killed as long as you get what you want, as usual. I won't stand for that," Michael's nostrils flared—so did Lucas'. "If you want Etna alive you either help with whatever you can or you can stand aside and let me handle this mess."

Lucas' pinched his lips, shaking his head minutely, never breaking eye contact.

"Fine," he let out. "But if you end up doing anything—anything that gets her killed—I'll find a way to dismember you and scatter the parts across the Pacific."

Michael's head tilted in a knowing fashion. Seemingly satisfied with putting his wayward brother in his place—though I doubt it would last—he eyed Cameron with scrutiny.

"You lied to me. Cain didn't want to kill Lucifer, he wanted to know Etna's whereabouts."

Cameron shrugged lazily, unashamed. Wow, I hadn't seen Michael and Cam's first meeting, but I wasn't expecting my boyfriend to dish out nonchalant attitude. I could see he wasn't wearing armor, he really was at peace—with himself and his actions—unafraid of what his uncle might do.

"Lying must be genetic? I could say I did it just to spite you, I knew you'd track Etna down and probably remove her from the equation. I can't imagine your plan to deal with her has changed after two hundred years." Cam said, keeping obsidian irises trained on Michael. "But I didn't do it to piss you off," his gaze hardened before slithering to Lucas. "Or to help you ride off into the sunset and get your happily ever after. I did it because Nina almost got herself killed trying to find Etna and because they're family."

"How chivalrous of you." Lucas said.

"You should assemble the Fallens still on your side we need to move fast if we want to catch Cain before he makes a move to open a breach." I heard the spoken question in the air: why hadn't he opened one, already?

I thought back to those poor people, stuck in Hell. They'd gotten left behind to suffer worse fates than before. I wished we could've brought everyone here—where they belonged.

"That's it?" Michael asked after Romeo stopped listing, what I assumed, were powerful Fallens. One of the name's I Knew. Mammon. Cam and I attended one of her parties in Hell. I kicked jealousy's ugly head into dust. There was no reason for me to be jealous, not anymore.

"As far as I know." The oldest Cambion shrugged.

Raphael's blond eyebrow hiked up his forehead, "What about Raziel?"

"Raziel's dead." Lucifer answered brusquely. Leaving no room for argument. Most might have missed it, their eyes were on Lucifer, but I'd seen the glare cut between Heaven's most famous pair of twins. Something crossed Michael's eyes... several somethings. I could only pick out two, though—his mask was better than Cam's—hate and surprise. Strange combo. "Romeo, round up all the Cambions and Vampires you can. Tell them about Cain—what he plans on doing. Bring them over to our side if they aren't already," he paused deliberating. "Whatever the cost."

Romeo's eyes shone with understanding. But before anyone could ask, he was mock saluting us, "This was nice gents'." And then he became a blur, disappearing.

Which left Lucas in a pretty awkward position, I thought. No one here actually liked him—I'd feel threatened in his shoes. He kept standing tall, not tearing his eyes away from the two Archangels in front of us.

Michael spoke, his voice sounding a little off—he paused to clear his throat.

"I'll talk to Diniel so that the Grigori will know that we're working with some of you."

Raph swept a hand through his short hair, sighing.

"It might be better to talk with Nuriel. Din's been busy with a human assignment. The Virtues' insist she be watched at all times. Lately she's been attacked more and more by Vampires and Demons."

"Why?" Phillip fired, shifting impatiently. I saw veins silently shift underneath his eyes. His vibrant blues were darker, sorta feverish. His jaw was going through motion of clenching and unclenching. I'd been around V long enough to recognize the signs. Hunger. If anyone else picked up on this they chose to let it slide.

"Crudely put? They want to drink her blood. All of it."

Cameron uncrossed his arms, planting his hands on his brother's shoulders.

"Speaking of blood, me and Dracula have to go. Hospitals to ransack."

"What?" Phillip stuttered, jostling from his frozen pose.

"Where did you think the blood was coming from? People I pulled off the street and bled to death?" Phillip drew a blank face. "Seriously? What am I, Jack the Ripper?" I choked down a laugh at Phillip's askew smile. "Don't answer that." Cam murmured, shaking his head. "It's time for a crash-course in compulsion, anyway. Maybe you can compel me a Ferrari while we're at it."

Phillip held up a hand between them for Cameron to stop talking.

"I'm not getting you a free Ferrari. It's bad enough that we're stealing from a hospital."

"We're literally stealing the most common blood type in America—O positive. So, unless you want to compel some poor bastard into being your lunch, we'll ransack the nearest hospital."

Phillip shouldered past him, "Asshole."

"Dickhead," Cameron's lips stretched in a victorious grin. "Stay, we won't be gone for long." Cameron told me. "Serena might freak out if she makes it back and no one's here. Maybe she'll think Phillip ate us and hid the bodies."

"I can hear you and I hate you." Phill mumbled, sighing off to the side.

"I know," Cam bantered with a mock-sweet smile his way. "By the way, V called this morning squeaking really loud. She blew out my eardrum."

I jumped forward, grabbing my boyfriend's arms, brimming with happiness.

"She did?"

"My pain shouldn't excite you this much."

I slapped his forearm, "You're not funny! And that's not what I meant. She called?" I couldn't keep the giddy excitement from my voice.

"Yes. Something about Dawn being back to her normal talk-a-lot self. Well, she said she's been crying non-stop. Vanessa isn't sure whether it's because Zeke's dead or because she slept with a psychopath." I gazed at him long and hard. A little exasperated. But it quickly changed with a tilt of my chin and Cameron's soft kiss. "Dawn will be fine," he murmured, sounding like he believed it with every fiber of his being. "You said you didn't want anyone else to die. If it's up to me that's a done deal." I reached out for his hand, blown away by how far he took the promises he made. Cam squeezed my fingers. "Be back real soon."

Cameron's eyes crossed Raphael's and lingered for a minute. Then, he surveyed Lucas and lastly Michael. Throwing the words 'let's go' over his shoulder, him and Phill became blurs.

"Hum," I intoned, very self-aware. "Do you want to... come in?" Why was I saying this? I didn't want them to come in! I mean... Lucas I'd gotten used to—out of necessity. But two Archangels and the Devil—former Devil?—inside a house together... There's a joke in there somewhere, I thought grimly.

Lucas tipped his head toward me, black as night hair falling from its slicked demeanor. He was frowning massively. Oh, boy.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea." Raphael answered sheepish. I felt a breath make its way up my—

"I'm sure everything will be fine. We've cohabited before." Leave it to Michael to deflate my hope.

"Sure," Lucas drawled. "After you your highness." He made a mock bow, the left side of his mouth tilting into a smirk. "I'm antsy when people walk behind me. You never know who'll stab you in the back."

Quiet as ever, Michael walked in front of him. I sighed as he passed me, climbing the backdoor stairs. I did my best to ignore that the house was a mess. Or that the living room had blankets and sheets thrown over couches. Owed that to Serena and Phillip. Should I offer them something to drink? It used to be my Mom's go to when she was nervous. She'd march into the kitchen and pour a bunch of "house made" cookies into a jar and served them up with a big smile. Yeah, I grimaced, I wasn't big on hospitality like Mom. Plus, Serena had gone out because of our raided kitchen.

Fumbling around for something to say, I remembered what Lucifer and I had been talking about before this whole meet-greet.

"Ah, so, I was talking about a book with… hum…" What should I call Lucas in their presence? They called him Lucifer. "Him," I settled, pointing stupidly at Lucas. He merely quirked a brow before dropping into the love-seat, watching Michael. "I dreamed about it. He said…"

"I said," Lucas stole the show, a little aggressively, like he was offended by me. "That the book she described was the Sacred Word."

"The Sacred Word?" it was Raphael who whispered looking fixedly at me. "That book hasn't been spoken of in long time."

"When Raphael says long, he means long." Lucas saw to clear up with a wolfish smirk. He outstretched his arms, wincing under his breath from putting too much strain on his previously dislocated shoulder. "Damn humans…" he grunted.

The grunt was ignored as Raphael talked. Michael was strangely quiet, looking at the double Katanas on the wall.

"The Sacred Word was entrusted to Michael by our Father, for safekeeping. But no one knows what's truly written down, only Michael and our Father swore him to secrecy."

"The pages are blank," Lucifer stated. "Or so my Saint brother claims. Some Angels think the book's an instrument of Destiny itself. I don't know why, if free-will is a truth then there should be no predestination. Right, brother dear?"

Michael's lips pursed and with an exhale, he faced his brother. For a while it looked like he hadn't heard a word of what we'd been saying.

"The Sacred Word has nothing to do with Destiny. Free-will is fact, Lucifer, you know it so. The Sacred Word has a much more important purpose. It's true that it's blank but it was a cautionary precaution by our Father. Blood needs to be spilled on its pages in order to be read, you see."

"In my dream, my blood got on it and the book went up in flames."

Michael spoke after a beat of silence, "You can't spill just any blood. It must be someone from a particular bloodline. The first bloodline. The one that stretches back to Adam and Eve." Oh. Well. Amazing sauce.

"Our Father always had a flare for being dramatic." Lucas commented with a harsh laugh. "Can't say I've been keeping track of Adam's bloodline over the last few centuries, though."

Michael's eyes churned with something akin to anger, "After nearly ending their bloodline I'd hope not." He shot.

"Okay, take a beat from your bad-blood," I would've laughed at my pun if the air didn't feel suffocating. "And tell me why I'd dream about this damn book and why my Power thinks it's important to stop Cain?"

"You dreamed about stopping Cain with this book?"

"Not in so much words, but yes. I'm sure that's what the dream meant. After the book burned, I saw a world completely destroyed, plunged in blood and death." Including my death, but I left out that part. My fingers curled inward. "Cain was there. Very much alive."

"What's in that book?" Raphael asked the older Archangel.

"Something that's only meant to be used as a fail-safe." Lucas seemed intrigued. It didn't seem surprising, after all, there were little things kept secret from someone as old as he was. "Magic is a fail-safe, too. Our Father meant for Witches and Warlocks to be protectors of humans—from any of us. Just in case we ended up…"

"Like me?" Lucas baited. His brother didn't bite the hook.

"Just in case." Michael finished. "But Magic takes a big toll on humans. No matter what, their bodies are weak and Magic is only as strong as a human's health. If we—the ones with Power—were ever to turn on humanity, the Covens wouldn't be enough to stop all of us. Dad knew that. So, He created a bigger fail-safe. A prison."

"Like he did for the Demons?"

"Yes and no. It's another dimension, completely separate from any other. Closed off from Heaven, Earth and Hell. Almost like it exists in another universe. And unlike Hell, it's not a mirror image of Heaven or Earth. It's just… void. A black hole where time does not exist, it consumes itself and never stops, renewing itself. Our Father called it Purgatory." My jaw dropped to the floor. Purgatory… was real? "Purgatory's never been used and it can only be used once. Opening Purgatory would mean sending every being with even a hint of Power inside it, trapping that being in a perpetual state of being consumed and remade by Purgatory's timeless existence." That sounded… a lot more like hell than the actual Hell I'd visited. "It's a prison, it's meant to be torturous." Michael claimed dispassionate, reading my weary mind.

"Opening Purgatory would suck us all in," I felt my legs tingling from the shock. Winded, I sat a seat away from Lucas. Dumbfounded. "Maybe there's another way of stopping Cain. It's not like he's… immortal."

"Yes," Michael agreed. But I caught how the skin around his eyes crinkled, like he was braving himself for something bad. "And Cameron was right. His body will soon take a toll from all the Power, if it hasn't started already. That will make him vulnerable."

"But if he were to find a way to assimilate all the Power he's stolen—Lucifer's Power—to his own…" Raphael ventured.

"He'd become invulnerable."

"How invulnerable?" I whispered, fear stuffing my airways, leaving me breathless.

"Let's just say: if you'd rip out his heart he wouldn't die."
♠ ♠ ♠
I know I keep apologizing for the long waits between chapters but I mean it! I try to write whenever I catch a break from tests and projects. Moving on, this chapter was a tough one to write because of Lucifer and Michael being face-to-face for the first time. I re-wrote it a lot because I knew it had to be tense, but I hadn't always planned on making Lucifer human and so the other times I thought of them meeting up ended up in a huge fight scene. If you were kind enough to let me know your thoughts, I'd really appreciate it. Until next time (I hope it's sooner)