Young Writers Society

She was silent for a moment, not sure what she was supposed to say or do. She was worried about Cornyx, and worried about what Boomslang would do. But it was her fault that he had changed his plan, even if it was for a good reason. "I-I can't leave you," she said - it was little more than a weak protest, but she wasn't going to willingly turn tail and let her friend suffer.

Even though she wasn't sure if she could really consider him a friend anymore.


Lucifer knew the name Raphael. Even though his view on Christianity wasn't the traditional, Biblical one, he had tried learning more about his brother's religion so he could come off as less intimidating when the two went on walks through Heaven. Raphael was an angel, and Lucifer was getting the horrible feeling that Raphael had been killed, too. Maybe Raphael was a healer, and that was why Mikael had uttered that name. Or maybe they looked alike, and the sound of his voice reminded Mikael of the angel.

Whatever the case was, Lucifer had to focus on helping Mikael regain his wings. Apophis held the wings up against Mikael's back. Once they were in position, Lucifer began the utter the words to a healing spell. Most spells were minor - humans were the ones using them, and didn't have enough magic in their souls to heal major wounds on another person. But his soul was more powerful; it was seemingly endless when it came to magical reserves, and he could easily use a spell Hecate had taught him long ago.

The wings began to mend, as well as any of the other injuries inflicted by Cornyx.

"You should," he answered coolly, but something wavered in his tone that betrayed his confusion and pain despite his forceful attempts at maintaining an aloof and cold appearance.

~**~

Mikael himself was unconscious before Lucifer's healing had even completed. Between the shock, pain, and torture of the past weeks he was beyond broken. There was more internal damage that was initially apparent: it was a miracle he'd made it this far.

Her face fell.

"Cornyx," she quietly asked, "why are you trying to pretend around me?"


As Mikael's body slumped forward, unconscious, God just barely managed to catch him before he could hit the ground. Fate knew what the guy had been through; God suspected a decent amount of torture, likely inflicted by Cornyx. He barely knew Mikael, but he suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to help and protect him.

Then again, when had not knowing someone ever stopped him?

It was hard picking Mikael up due to his now present wings, but God finally managed to find a decent way to hold him - he slung him over his shoulder. The angel wasn't weightless; he was actually quite heavy, thanks to said wings. Luckily, gods had always been blessed with incredible feats of strength, so God had absolutely no problem with the weight part of the situation.

"What now?" Apophis asked. He wasn't a fighter - he never had been - and God could hear the exhaustion in his voice now. Godly regeneration would do little to help with something like a tired state of mind.

God glanced over at the unconscious angel.

"I don't know," he admitted.

"Staying with me is just going to get you hurt, Runi," he said, stopping in his tracks and turning to face her.

She put her hands on his shoulders and looked into his eyes.

"We're friends, Cornyx," she said. "I'm not afraid of getting hurt - I've gotten hurt my entire life. What I'm...what I'm afraid of is..."

She took a deep breath, biting back the tears beginning to once again form in her eyes. Her grip on his shoulders tightened. It wasn't enough to hurt him, but it was enough for him to be able to notice the difference.

"...I'm afraid of losing another person I care about."

She reached a hand up to wipe away the tear rolling down her cheek.

"I'd go through metaphorical hell for you, Cornyx," she promised. "And real hell, too, if I have to. I'll fight anyone who wants to hurt you, and anyone who makes you have to act a way you're not."

She gave him a small smile, tears now flowing down her face just as freely as before.

"I'm there for you," she said. "You're not alone."


"Maybe we should ask the other me?" Lucifer quietly suggested. He was still feeling uncomfortable about his counterpart, but he knew the other Lucifer would know what to do. He just had to figure out where the man had gone in the short time that the confrontation had occurred.

"Sounds like a better plan than what we have right now," God agreed, easily hoisting the unconscious angel over one shoulder. "What about you, Apophis?"

"I think it's the best we can do right now," Apophis said, giving the two an uneasy smile.

"Miss Runi," he said softly, pulling her against his chest in an embrace, "I couldn't bear it if she hurt you because of me. You were never even meant to come here. None of this was meant to happen. Boomslang will not be pleased by what has gone on here, and she will blame it on you. It doesn't matter what I want now. It's all I can do to stay alive. I can't guarantee that I can protect you, too."

Runi wrapped her arms around him as well, burying her face into his chest.

"I don't know if I believe in some higher power," she admitted, "but I do think things happen for a reason, even if it's something you don't realize until awhile later. Maybe us meeting again is a chance for change."

She raised her head up. Her cheeks were flushed and wet, but she didn't bother to wipe the tears away as she continued to hug him. "What if we ran away, Cornyx? Just like in Grimmore? I'll help you take care of Boomslang like you helped me with Nissam, and then we could explore the world together."


"Now to find him and Apophis," God said, scanning the icy streets for any sign of the two. They had done a better job of hiding away than expected; he suspected they had used Mikael and his arrival as an opportunity to get away from Cornyx.

"Where would they go...?" Lucifer quietly asked. God could see him peeking over at Mikael's unconscious body out of the corner of his eye.

"Maybe they went in one of the alleyways?" Apophis suggested.

"Well, wherever they are, I know how to find them," God said. He took a deep breath, cleared his throat and then yelled at the top of his lungs, "Hey, Lucifer! Apophis! Cornyx is gone now, and we have an angel in a serious need of a place to stay! It would be great if you could get your butts over here and help us out!"

What if they did? They could leave here, never come back, slip out of Boomslang's coils and disappear. Just him and Runi. It's not like he had much to lose, but...what about Eve?

He knew he couldn't trust Boomslang's words, but those artifacts were powerful beyond compare. They could bind the Void. They could most certainly sway Azrael - right? He'd killed Ajax. He'd betrayed Mikael and frozen Raphael's beating heart. If he left, now, all of that would've been for nothing.

But this wasn't freedom. This wasn't what he wanted. Could Runi fill this hole in his heart?

Remember to live. Evelyn's words rang through his mind. This wasn't living. She wouldn't want this. And if he stayed, he might lose Runi, too - and now, she was all he had. He couldn't let that happen.

But to leave...after everything...He looked over Runi's shoulder back down the road. What of Mikael? What of those he'd betrayed that still lived?

"...I can't," he finally found himself saying, voice hardly above a whisper. "Things here...There's too much unfinished business, Runi. I can't just leave. Not after...this."



The shadows of a nearby alley twisted and coalesced into the form of the Viper, eyes glowing in the darkness and her teeth unnaturally sharp despite her red-haired human body.

"Miss me already?" she asked with a smirk.

"Then let's finish that business," she said into his chest. She knew very little about his life since Grimmore, and knew very little about the battle that had just occurred, but she guessed that his hesitation had something to do with that. "It's okay to be scared, Cornyx. I was scared back in Grimmore, too. But you helped me get through that, even when I thought it was impossible. And if you think getting through this is impossible, I'll do what you did for me. I just need to know what I need to help you with - why can't you leave yet?"


Not too much was the honest answer from the three, but they all gave her strained smiles instead. God lifted Mikael up ever so slightly to draw attention to the unconscious angel over his shoulder. "Do you have a place I could bring this guy?" he asked.

Lucifer glanced around the street. "...Where's the other me?" he asked.

He hesitated, looking down. This was folly, and he knew it.

"There's...two things, really. The first being that...I should at least fix things, first, and the second being...Evelyn."



Apophis shrugged, glancing down at Mikael. "Don't know. Probably trying to evade the Hellhounds. Welcome back, Dean. Steal Mikael, did you? Of course he did- don't be a fuckin'-" her eyes flickered and she twitched like a glitching computer game NPC. "I-y-he's-k-ki-sist..."

Her form shimmered and promptly split into two separate beings: the golden-haired form of a modern Apophis and the red-haired one of Auryon. The latter collapsed the moment Apophis was free of her body, clasping her fingers around her forearm as her face contorted in pain.

"As I was saying," Apophis began again, "it's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, Dean. How did you get the Archangel? Steal him from Boomslang?"

She nodded.

"Let's fix things first," she said, taking a step back and wiping away her tears. She glanced back in the direction they had come from. Something told her that the people there were the ones that he was talking about. "I'll do whatever I can to help you, no matter how large or small the task is."

She gave him her signature big grin. It was clear that she had just been crying, given her flushed cheeks and red, moist eyes, but she was already beginning to feel a little better.

"We'll get through this together, Cornyx!" she reassured him, giving him a thumbs up.


God was too preoccupied with holding Mikael to help the woman who must have been the vessel that Apophis was possessing - Auryon (?) - but Apophis and Lucifer both rushed forward to support the vessel. Neither one wanted to move her too much due to how much pain she already had to be in, but they also didn't want to leave her laying on the icy ground. They carefully managed to lift her up.

"I took him from Boomslang," God coolly said as he glanced over at the woman in pain. "Simple as that."

"Can I help you?" Lucifer quietly asked the vessel, his voice floating over from a few feet away. "I know magic. I could-I could heal you, if you're injured. And I know some painkilling spells, too, if it's not an actual injury."

Apophis patted his pocket with his free hand. "I have some ibuprofen, too, if that'll help."

"Ah, gutsy," she said appreciatively. "I'm sure my sister is loving that," Apophis smirked, glancing over at Lucifer and her double with a sigh. "You can't help her, dearies, that'd be her disobedience that's causing her problems, nothing more." She paused and looked down at Auryon dispassionately before sighing. "Fine," she relented, waving a hand, and the brand on the woman's arm dimmed. The human let out a gasp of relief as she struggled to find her breath again and fell against Lucifer, shaking like a leaf.

"Anyways, I know a place where my 'ukht won't find us," she said. "I can't get us there until I recharge my mana, though, so we'd best find closer shelter in the meantime."