The End of the World...Again? [Aziracrow]

3

Crowley was still with his feet in the water, this was already warm, his feet had already regenerated, but he still felt the burning as if he was a phantom limb, he took his feet out of the bucket and stood up, he walked to what was his room and looked at himself in the mirror he had there, he was thinner, the shadow of a beard was showing on his face where some scars could also be seen, his hair reached the middle of his back, his clothes were wrinkled; Disgusted with how poorly dressed he was, he undressed, exposing himself in front of the mirror, there he saw the tattoo of the snake, in the last two years it had grown and also showed its fangs for some reason that Crowley did not know, now it was coiled covering his right breastplate, sometimes it was like that, sometimes it coiled around his collarbone, sometimes it went down to his forearm, but most of the time it was on his shoulder and went up until it had its head on Crowley's neck, as if trying to be close to where it used to stay.

Letting out a sigh he snapped his fingers making an elegant black suit with a vinotint (slightly reddish) vest, adorned with a pair of chains appear, his feet were covered by leather boots with a buckle and as he walked a bright red could be seen on the sole. He ran his hands through his hair and it instantly changed style to shorter hair, slightly covering the nape of his neck and with a fringe that, despite looking unruly, stayed in place.

What was the reason for this sudden mood for grooming? If there was one thing Crowley usually despised it was self-pity and that was all he had been doing, self-pitying. So once he was well dressed, he put on his usual dark glasses and walked to the living room, where he snapped his fingers again making the mess disappear, looked at his plants, they began to tremble, took a breath, and spoke to them calmly.

"We will move again, my darlings, don't be alarmed, I don't want to speak badly to you, not today."

And just as he said it, Crowley moved that day, got into his Bentley, and drove to the place where his old apartment was, it was alone, because since Shax was upgraded the place has been empty, so he would get it back.

In Heaven everything was quieter than usual, there was nothing to do and Aziraphale was about to lose her calm because involuntary flashbacks were appearing, and remembering only brought him pain.

"Please, that's enough!" -he said to himself, fighting against the memories, repressing them as much as he could.

What Aziraphale didn't notice was that every time he avoided or repressed a memory, his eyes glowed purple.

"Archangel Aziraphale..." -somebody called behind him.

"Yes?" -he turned around enthusiastically, feeling grateful that someone had shown up to take his mind off it.

"They sent me to tell you that today things are regular both on earth and here in heaven" -said the smiling little angel and then withdrew.

Azira had a smile on his face, but internally he was screaming in agony. As quietly as he could he took a seat at his desk, closed his eyes while concentrating on his breathing, and this time it was inevitable, the blue star opposed the purple and memories flooded him, starting from the time they were in the basement of Job's house while the bet between God and Satan was being fulfilled, his friend drank wine while he just watched him until the demon offered it to him, naturally he refused with an expression of disgust, but when he offered him meat, as he tasted it, something inside him awoke as if he had been starving for eons. Then he remembered ancient Rome, the Middle Ages when they were knights and Crowley was the one who gave life to the legend of the black knight, the French Revolution, and Crowley freeing Aziraphale from certain execution, all because he was craving for crepes, Azira smiled nostalgically, the 1940s, the second world war, when the demon made the bomb fall saving them both and even his precious books, the archangel's heart accelerated remembering the exact moment when he handed him the briefcase and then, that night when he had given his that thermos with the most blessed water.

"Oh Crowley," -he whispered.

For he knew that the demon had been thinking for some time about erasing his existence with holy water and, since he had been wreaking havoc in churches for the past few months, it had suddenly stopped.
Pained by the idea that he had succeeded in carrying out such a self-elimination, Aziraphale suddenly stood up and approached the image of the earth there, he wanted to look, just take a look and make sure that he was okay or that he had simply ceased to exist, but he didn't have the courage, he dropped to his knees and covered his face with both hands, feeling pain, anger and longing, longing to have his best friend back, no matter how much of a demon he was, but he knew that deep down, he still retained a little piece of a caring angel and it was enough, for him. Without realizing it, Azira had let some of his power out as he thought about how much he missed Crowley triggering an event that no one in heaven would have believed possible until that moment.

"Hello?" -greeted a shy little voice behind the archangel.

He turned around in surprise and when he saw who it was, he was not only surprised but incredibly disturbed.

"What have I done?" -he blurted in anguish.

Crowley had already moved completely to his old apartment, there, he was no longer happy, but his anxiety and depression had been reduced a little... Or so he had thought until he suddenly found himself back in an empty church in front of a holy water font.

"It's just a drink and that's all.... It doesn't have to be slow, yes it will be painful, but once it's all over it won't matter.... Won't it?" -He spoke to himself debating whether to end his existence or not.

Then he remembered that day when he dropped a bucket of holy water on one of the demons who were after him for "betraying" hell when he was trying to stop armageddon. Fear filled the poor demon to such an extent that he didn't have much time to think when he was already inside the Bentley driving at full speed on his way to the pub he used to visit so much when he got there he did nothing but drink, drink and drink, as he used to say «industrial quantities of alcohol».

The problem with those quantities of alcohol was that he would end up so drunk that he would start babbling things about an angel that had abandoned him, he would even get into his Bentley, which he drove practically alone and took to the places he used to visit, especially to the park, as Crowley enjoyed watching the ducks. On one occasion he took one in his arms and wept inwardly as he stroked it.