WRATH: A Hannigram Fanfiction

26- Paradis sur Terre

The creation of a new element, along with its subsequent Angel, was one of the most beautiful things one could witness. It was strictly secluded, and no other Angels were allowed to watch. It was God or Lucifer alone with his own Angel, comforting it. Integration came quickly after that, as the Angel would soon come to its senses and be ready to go. However, there was a brief period of delirium— having just been born, it doesn't realize who or what it is, and every aspect of Heaven is an assault on its senses. They're cold and frightened and confused. To suddenly be bombarded with life is disorienting.
Tranquility was no exception.
     The other Angels were confused at the Creators' placement; shouldn't Chaos belong to Lucifer?
But no, they'd replied, God creates light and sound and warmth and energy. Tranquility would fit best with Lucifer, who was much darker, cooler, softer.
That had been the correct choice. Lucifer had easily meld pre-existing elements into what he called Tranquility, and he implanted the element into a new Soul. The Soul, irregular in shape, had absorbed it and begun to twist. It grew, it changed, it contorted until it took a more comprehensible shape: a shape that humans would be modeled after many centuries later. Grey wings burst from its back and it fell onto the clouds with a soft puff. Lucifer watched with awe.
     It slowly lifted its head, now sporting dark curls and a youthful face. Pure light emitted from it, as it was made from nothing more.
Lucifer rushed to it, but as it opened its doe-like eyes it let out a loud cry that stopped him in his place. The Angel, pure terror in its face, cowered away, bringing its hands up to its mouth as if it was petrified of its own voice.
"Oh, Angel," Lucifer said calmly, holding out his arms. "It's alright. Do not be afraid. Come to me."
It— he, Lucifer remembered, he is more than just an object— hesitated before slowly inching forward. Lucifer blinked in surprise; he was calmer than most of the Angels normally were, and he was more willing to come closer. Most Angels tried to run. He lived up to his name.
He settled in front of Lucifer, both of them kneeling on the clouds, and let Lucifer embrace him. He leaned his head on Lucifer's chest, and Lucifer kissed his head. All of the fear left his body in that moment, and he melted. Lucifer smiled softly at him.
"I am right here," he assured him, "and I always will be. Welcome to Paradise, Angel. You are going to be safe here.
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     He hadn't wanted to cry.
     He knew that Will's transformation would be moving, but he wanted to remain calm throughout the process. He suspected that Will would be horrified, confused, and he wanted to be stable enough to comfort him. But he couldn't control the all-consuming joy that sent tears to his eyes— damn this human emotion— and now he was weeping harder than he ever had before. He held onto Will with all of his strength, leaning over and sobbing into his shoulder.
     "Oh, my word. My Angel. Angel! Angel!" He could barely speak. He gripped onto Will's hair and wrapped himself around him.
     This was the happiest he had ever been in his millennia of existence. This was everything.
     He heard a loud groan, a sound akin to that of a wounded animal, and he realized with horror that it was coming from Will. He pulled back, watching Will's terrified eyes fill with tears.
     "What happened to me?" Will whispered, flinching. His voice was the tinkling of bells, ripples in the ocean as fish skimmed the surface.
     "Everything is better now, my love. It's over."
     "No." Will let out a whine, squirming under his grip. "No, no, what did you do? What did you do to me?" Shining tears fell from his eyes. With each drop that landed on the ground, a small daisy bloomed in its place.
     "Nothing. I haven't done anything, Angel."
     "What did you do?!" He jerked violently, trying to rip away from Hannibal. His voice quickly raised into a screech. "What's wrong with me?! Make it stop, please!"
     "Will." Hannibal said it forcefully, startling Will into silence. He stared down at his beautiful Angel, crying and afraid, and he immediately softened. He was being unfair.
     "I'm sorry. I know you're scared. I know you're confused." He took Will's hand and kissed his knuckles. "But please, just...let me have this. For one moment. Let me bask in this." He squeezed Will's hand. "I've done so much for you. Let me have this. Please."
     Will didn't respond. He was staring up at the sky, his eyes blank. He looked completely broken.
     "Oh, Will. I'm sorry." Hannibal sighed and pressed their foreheads together. Finally, after thousands of years of searching for this one tortured soul, after spending night after night weeping in agony over his lost love, he was here. He would burn this entire planet down if it would keep Will happy. Will was his God. And he'd upset Will. He wanted this moment to be happy, but Will was anything but. He was terrified, and that made Hannibal want to die.
He cried because he finally felt free to do so. He shook, sobbed, touched Will's face to reassure himself that he was really here. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
     He wept for a long while, until he felt like he had expelled all of his energy. Spent, he nestled into Will's body, and the two of them began to glow softly in the night. I'm done," he said. "I'm so sorry. I'm done now."
     He put a tentative hand on the back of Will's neck, moving them closer together. Will didn't object. "This is your new body. Tell me how it feels, Will."
     "I'm floating. I'm a cloud."
     "You feel light?"
     "What's happening to me?" Will asked him. "What did you do to me?"
"I didn't do anything. This was meant to be."
"No. Tell me the truth. Please." He clenched his hands into fists, fighting back more tears. "Why did you kill me? I didn't want to die."
"Oh, no, no," Hannibal kissed Will's forehead and enveloped him in his soft wings, letting their warmth overtake him. Will calmed quickly, but his eyes were still glassy and his body was still trembling. "No, love. You're not dead. You're more alive than you've ever been."
"But I'm scared. I don't feel right."
"Shh, I know. Don't be afraid."
     "Where did my body go?"
     "I'll tell you what happened. Everything."
     "Please." He was more meek than Hannibal had ever seen him before. Hannibal rocked them slightly, keeping his voice low and calming like he was reading a story to a child.
     "Before I was banished to Earth, I lived in Heaven. I worked with God and all of our Angels to keep this universe going. Things were perfect. We all loved each other, but then God betrayed me. He planned to create humanity without any of my input or approval. He was taking all of the worship for Himself. It made me very angry.
     "I began to isolate myself. I didn't want to be around anyone anymore, because they all reminded me of how unwanted I was. But there was one Angel that wouldn't leave me alone. He sat with me every day. He spoke to me like I was on his level, like I had feelings. He made me realize that perhaps I was wanted by someone. Perhaps I could have happiness. And we soon fell in love." He stroked Will's hair. "And that Angel is you."
     "Angel," Will echoed. "I'm an Angel?"
     "Yes." He kissed the top of Will's head. "You, Will, are my dearest Angel. You are the only being that I've ever truly, truly adored."
     "But I was human. I didn't know you."
     "Yes. When God found out that we were in love, He wanted to punish you. I refused to let that happen. I spoke out against Him, and I confronted Him about His plans to create humanity. He didn't take kindly to it, and He decided that both of us had to be taught a lesson. He banished me to Earth to forever be cursed with human emotion. That's why you met me. That's why I'm here."
"What about me?"
Hannibal hesitated. It would be extremely difficult news to take, but he had to give Will the truth after all of this time. "He banished you to forever walk this Earth as a human. To be reincarnated over and over again, each time with no memory of the last," he said. "And the only ones who could break your curse were God or myself. You've been through many, many lives, and for all of this time, I've never been able to find you. But now, after so many years, you're here. You're here. And now your curse is broken."
"It's me? You've been looking for me?"
     "Yes. You have always been this way, Will. You have always been a displaced Angel. That's why you have suffered so greatly— because that was never who you were meant to be."
     "But I don't remember anything."
     "I don't expect you to. You've lived through so many lives. You've been human for eons, reincarnated every time you die with no memory of your previous life. It's pure torture." Lucifer shivered just thinking about it.
"How did you know it was me?"
"The day before I met you, I dreamt of you. It was vivid. You begged for me to help you, and then you began to transform. Never, not once in my entire existence here, had I had a dream like that. I knew that it had to be something meaningful." He smiled wistfully. "And then, the next day, there you were. The Angel from my dream."
"You knew all this time?" Will gazed up at him with a hint of betrayal.
"Yes. I spent all of this time slowly coaxing you to accept me. Once you embraced me, you could turn back into your true self. And you did it, Will. Words cannot express how proud I am."
     It looked like the truth was finally setting in. Will's eyes were wide, lost, but they were slowly brightening as he understood the implications of everything they had been through together. Will evolving into his true identity, finding the peace within himself that he needed in order to change. The Devil being with him every moment of every day. He gripped Hannibal's arm, silently shedding tears.
     "Lucifer," he breathed, "how long was it?"
"What?"
"How long have I been here? How many lives have I lived that I don't remember at all?"
At first, Hannibal considered lying. It was an instinctual desire to protect Will, but it was quickly overridden when he reminded himself that lying was physically impossible. Besides, he could never bring himself to lie to his love even if he was able.
"...I'm not entirely certain. But I know that it's been thousands of lives."
Will immediately let out a howl of grief. For the first time, Hannibal let go of him, backing away to let him carry out whatever he needed to do. He wanted nothing more than to take this pain away, but it was only natural. The idea was terrifying even to him, let alone someone with the complete mind of a human.
Will screeched up at the moon, causing large gusts of wind to shake the trees. Hannibal heard them creaking under its weight, the whistling of the breeze passing through gaps in the bark. He closed his eyes and let Will's voice overtake him. It was a hurricane.
     "Why," Will cried, "why, why, why..."
Hannibal drowned out the noise until its sudden halt. The night was still and quiet. Will, eyes exhausted and body relaxed, rolled back over towards Hannibal with his arms outstretched. Hannibal welcomed him, and the two lay there in peaceful silence.
"Is it over now?" The storm was now a trickling stream, gentle.
Hannibal nodded. "The pain is all over. Now there is only us."
"I don't have to start all over again? I'm safe now?"
"You're safe for eternity, Angel."
"I'm an Angel. I can be an Angel again."
"Yes. This horrible curse on your life is over."
    "Oh, my God." Will leaned in and kissed Lucifer's cheeks, his hands. "Thank you," he said. "Thank you, Lucifer."
They both cried as they held each other, and their bodies erupted in a beam of Heavenly glow. They were the Universe now, every human being, every star, life and death. Light, light, light.
     "My Angel," Lucifer said into Will's hair. "You're finally here. I've been waiting for so long." He smiled. "All of your pain is over now, beloved. You'll never suffer again."
     "You saved me." Will smiled through his tears— such a beautiful sight. He brightened the whole world.
     "You saved yourself. You're the one who made it through all of this. I'm so proud."
     "It was all worth it."
     "Isn't it breathtaking? Don't you feel lighter than air?" He laughed. "Can't you feel the two of us coming together?"
     "You kept looking. You found me," Will realized. "You cared enough to look, and you found me." His smile got even wider. There had been so many factors against them, and out of some sheer miracle of luck, they had finally crossed paths. Once was all they needed, and now that time had finally arrived.
     "I did. And you found me. We found each other." Lucifer cradled Will's cheek and kissed him on the lips, smiling. "I'm so happy...I've never felt like this before." It was true; he had never found pure joy before on this Earth, and now he finally understood what it felt like. He knew that Will felt the exact same way. They were completely bound together now, unable to experience an emotion without the other experiencing it too.
     "Thank you," Will said. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, thankyouthankyou—" The words dissolved into nothing as they sank into a deep kiss. They were sprawled out on the grass and their feathery wings were soaked, but none of that mattered. It was all material; this was forever. This was the rest of their eternity, and it was going to be perfect. Will was finally free from his chains.
     Lucifer had wanted this for so long: Will's worship, his gratitude, and now that he had it he didn't feel any kind of superiority or pride. He was humbled. Compared to this miracle of a being, Lucifer felt so small. He was so deeply in love that it lessened his grandiosity.
     "What's my name?" Will asked between kisses. "Do I have one?"
     Lucifer gazed at him with love. "Tranquility," he told him. "You are my Angel of Tranquility." He ran his fingers through Will's hair, one thing that didn't have the ability to get wet. Everything but their wings was made of light. "It was your element. You had it ripped away from you— how does it feel to have it back?"
     "Beautiful." Will didn't hesitate. "So beautiful."
     "It's what you told me you wished for on the day we met. That was my ultimate proof that it was really you."
     "I never want to go back again. Don't make me. Don't make me live like that ever again." His eyebrows drew together with worry.
     "You're willing to run?"
     "I have to. I can't live the way I was. I can't go back."
     "Then we need to cover your tracks." Lucifer told him. "They're going to find us."
     "I know. And I know that we don't have a lot of time."
     "Look at us. Look at what you have just become, my Miracle." He gestured to the frozen world, bending to their will. "Time means nothing to us. We have hours, weeks, years if we need them. I must take care of you before we do anything else." He kissed Will's lips. "Where do you want to go, Angel? Anywhere at all, I'll take you."
     "Your house," Will said immediately. "Your bed. Your arms."
     Hannibal smiled. Now that he thought of it, that was all that he wanted, too. He thought for a moment, considering the options that lay ahead of them. There was one that stood out above the rest, one that would forever cover Will's tracks and make sure that no one went looking for him. One that would mean he could stay safe inside while they finalized their plans to run away, all the while keeping Hannibal out of the negative limelight.
     No one would search for a dead man.
     "Okay," he decided. "Here's what we're going to do."