AZAZEL (DEMONOLOGY II)

XVIII

RAVEN

Of course we didn't fully trust and Lilith Finn. We knew they would subdue Lucifer and give us an opening to strike, but we knew that they would resist us as well. That's why we sent Ivy in as well from the back. After a few hours of waiting, the druids outside disappeared. We took a step towards the church's front door, but paused when the ground began to shake.

"What? I thought they took care of Lucifer?" Wynne looked around. The army was only a few miles away, and they were ready to strike.

"His energy was the only thing sustaining the barrier. So if they didn't weaken him, then he must e channeling all of his power into something new. He's summoning Azazel." Wynne seemed to understand, and we stormed into the church. I was aware of how heavy the gravity felt inside, and Wynne clearly was as well. Up on the transept was Lucifer, and standing next to him was Lilith.

"I knew she couldn't be trusted." I hissed. Standing in one of the aisles shrouded in black flames was Finn. She must have deceived him. She brought him here under the pretense that they were going to stop Lucifer, and betrayed him once he was inside. I should have killed her when I had the chance.

"Look," Wynne pointed to the bodies that lay before Lucifer. One of them was the young man that I knew to be Eloy, the one who was to serve as Azazel's vessel. Laying next to him was a robust little redhead. It was Ivy.

Lilith held a hand out, and Wynne and I were paralyzed. "What should I do with them?" She asked her father.

"Kill them." He said maliciously as an evil grin crept across his face. Lilith nodded, and torrid black flames begun to dance towards us. But they stopped and there was a loud scream. It came from Finn, who had stuck his hand in the fire that surrounded him.

"You destroy them," He said, panting. "And I destroy myself." Lilith looked to Lucifer for guidance, and he sighed.

"Spare them for now. I suppose they deserve to see the end of this world." He commanded. Lilith shrouded us in a ring of fire similar to the one that Finn was trapped in.

Suddenly, the army rushed in, but Lilith simply raised a hand to them and they all disintegrated in an instant. The church was giving him power. Far more power than I'd ever seen her possess.

"Now that there are no more disturbances." Lucifer stood over Eloy and Ivy. They were stripped down to their underwear, and had symbols drawn all over them. I realized what he intended to do. "Let's awaken my sleeping children. Azazel, Abaddon, you are coming home." He went to Eloy first and began chanting. The symbols on his body began to glow, and the choir of demons began to sing. A vortex of jet fire surrounded him. Once it cleared, he was standing, dressed in Azazel's armor. He wore a full black suit of armor, and had the symbol of Azazel on his forehead.

"Ah," he smiled evilly from ear to ear. "It's been too long. This body will not do for long, however. Once I've regained all of my power, I will build my own vessel. Thank you, father." He then turned to Lilith. "Sister? I thought you defected ages ago? It seems you've realized what's important."

"I have," she confirmed. Lucifer then moved towards Ivy. "And what's important," She continued. "Is protecting what I love." She grabbed Lucifer, and his body began to age rapidly. She was absorbing the energy from his vessel, forcing him back into Hell. Eloy - Azazel, he now was - grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around. He then flicked her in the forehead, sending her flying through the church wall. The fires around Wynne, Finn and I disappeared. We sprung into action, but Azazel sent us flying with a flick of his wrist.

"Know that I am far more powerful than all of you." He boomed. "An angel who can harness the powers of Hell, I am the manifestation of balance. Good, evil, it doesn't matter. I reign sovereign over all of it. And once my brother reigns with me, all of the worlds - Heaven, Hell, Earth - will bow to us."

He started chanting, and the choir sang once more. Wynne, Finn, Lilith and I tried to intervene, but he deflected us again simply by moving his hands.Fire rose around Ivy. And when it cleared, she was dressed in Abaddon's armor.

She frowned in disgust. "This body is not optimal. My power will destroy it in a matter of days."

"Then let me help you unleash your true form." Azazel entwined hands with Abaddon. He was transferring his energy. The ground began to quake yet again, and the church was falling apart around us. I realized that the ground was rising up. I grabbed Finn and flew away from the abbey. Wynne followed us.

"We can't just run from this, you know." Finn shouted at me. "We need to fight now while we still have a chance."

"And how do we fight them? Azazel was able to overpower us with one single movement. And Abaddon possesses far more power than he does. Our only option is to retreat to Heaven and wait for God to make his judgement." Wynne scolded him. Despite all that they had been through, she still treated him like a nephew - and sometimes even a son. I guess that pretending to be his mother had a lasting effect on her.

Finn was clearly upset with our decision, but he didn't put up a fight. After all, it was the only way he could have a chance at survival.

EVA

Azazel had no intention of killing me. He instead had me bound in rock salt chains, which burned me slightly.

"Once Abaddon and I are back to our full power, you won't be able to resist us anymore. You'll learn soon enough." He said in a patronizing tone. I spat at him, but he remained unshaken.

"Now, Abaddon. Let's do some remodeling. When father returns from Hell, we should surprise him. Let's show the world the powers of Hell." They held their arms out, and the earth began to crumble, they sent large boulders flying towards nearby civilizations, probably killing hundreds of people. I knew that that number would only go up, but there was nothing I could do. Moving with these chains on was agonizingly painful.

To my right lay Ivy's limp - and hopefully not lifeless - body. Abaddon had been ripped out of her after he transformed into his true form. I didn't like her one bit, but she was Finn's sister and I knew deep down that he cared about her. He had to.

Abaddon's true form was very close to what humans believed my father to look like. He was a tall, red-skinned beast with long razor-sharp horns. His large mouth housed teeth like razor blades, and he had large claws instead of fingers. He must have been twenty-feet tall. He was sent back to Hell once he was extracted from Ivy's body, but Azazel had immediately summoned him back,

Azazel turned to me while our brother continued to decimate the landscape. "There will be a place for you in the new world sister. If our father has his way, it will be in a cell where you can never escape again. But maybe we can convince him to go easy. Maybe you can be a maid in his palace, or maybe you can work in a brothel, satisfying the needs of our hardworking soldiers." He laughed that annoying laugh again. I knew I could defeat him. But the only way for me to do so was to leave my vessel and retreat back to Hell, then make the journey back to Earth and fight. But would I make it in time? Would there still be an Earth to fight for? And not only that - my father was down there too. I would have to fight him while we're both in our true forms, and I honestly didn't know who would win that bout.

But it was a risk that I had to take.