Good Omens - You and I

The third fragment

When Aziraphale opened his eyes, it was the middle of the night. The rain fell on the small cottage breaking the deafening silence. He sat down in composure and looked at his clothes for a moment. They were dirty and in some places ruined, he curled his nose and made a small groan of impatience "Never, never in my life have I let my poor dress end up like this", snapped his fingers and his clothes came back white and perfumed in an instant. He sat down and carefully observed every detail of the room. On the walls the burns of her celestial form gave the room a completely different aura. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply in the darkness, and the memory of it attacked him in an instant. The pain he had felt at that moment, when he had returned to his origins. His purest form could give him all the power he needed, but it also made everything feel differently. It made him feel every purest form of emotion, and that included pain. The pain he had felt when Crowley's life had die out had become everything, for a moment there was nothing else, and then suddenly he remembered the words the demon had said long before, "I'll always be there if you want to keep me with you. Those words had filled everything in his mind and had brought him back to himself, descended into hell and brought him back to this world. For once in his long life he had been selfish and only acted for himself. Later memories were confused, he had repressed his strength and tried to extinguish his flame, until he left the usual little flame that made him the angel worshipper of books.

The angel heard the glasses clink in the next room, he heard the soft voices that let out a note of worry. But there was something else too. From that room came waves of demonic energy. He must have imagined it, after all, had brought his beloved back from hell, but however little was left for Crowley the torture must have lasted an eternity. And now the demon had the same aura as centuries earlier, the aura that protected him from the outside world. He dwelt on those faint waves that came down to him and let them in, trying to better understand the emotions that gave birth to them. It was the thought of an instant that lightened his soul, but it was the right thought. That aura, although demonic, was different, it wasn't made to protect only Crowley, that aura of expanding around the small cottage forming an impenetrable barrier. A small smile was born spontaneously on the angel's lips. She stood up and walked lightly into the kitchen. Around the round table Anatema and Newt were arguing animatedly, bickering about something, but it was in an affectionate way and Aziraphale noticed that they were holding hands under the table.

Crowley was leaning against the kitchen countertop, his black suit perfectly clean, his glasses down on his face. The demon turned to him and smiled happily. "Angel, did you have a nice nap?" he snapped his fingers and put a cup of his favourite tea in the angel's hands. The witch smiled at the little sketch but immediately went back to her usual concentrated expression, got up and started walking back and forth. "So, what we know is that we have two out of three pieces and that the only missing piece is here somewhere on earth, besides since we came back some things are happening. First, the energy currents are all converging towards London, and I don't like that at all, second, I'm sensing new auras, suddenly appearing, and they're completely obscure!" he spoke calmly, the calm it takes for someone who's announcing an imminent battle that you're not ready for, not even a little bit, "and also, that dark energy seems to be pointing at us. The angel had one of the most terrified expressions ever, Newt clutched convulsely at the table and Crowley clutched his jaw. "And I thought I'd be back to my plants by tonight, if you don't scold them enough they think they're free to make all the stains they want," said the huffing demon. In great stride he came out of the kitchen, walked through the living room and headed for the Bentley which had remained faithfully in its place waiting for the return of the demon. Aziraphale, and the two humans looked into each other's eyes for a moment and then snapped like springs, rushed to the door so fast that they were stuck for a moment. The celestial took a step back and tried to keep a composed air. "I apologize my dear, ladies first" let the two humans pass and then hurried out. They arrived just in time to see the demon open the door of his beloved car mumbling something incomprehensible.

The angel didn't stop at the threshold, but continued towards the car at a fast pace as he tried to catch his breath, "Crowley, my dear, what are you doing?" he said, opening the passenger door wide. What he saw really puzzled him, the demon spoke in a calm tone in a state-of-the-art telephone "...yes, thank you madame Tracy...you just have to water them...I have no idea madame" he closed the call without adding anything else. "What's the matter?" said the demon who hid the redness of the sure ears, turning around and returning to the house. For the first time since that affair had begun Aziraphale smiled, if there was anything to count on, it was the soul of his demon that would never change.

They felt it immediately, even though the distance was still a long way away they still felt a frightening force coming towards them. Even Newt so human felt his knees go soft. Everyone began to feel oppressed. Crowley was the first to understand, spread his wings and stood in front of everyone "Something is coming, and like hell it's something good", even the angel heard him clearly "Crowley the language, I've told you a thousand times that it's not necessary" the demon puffed. In all of this, neither of us had stopped looking at the sky. Whatever it was as it approached became terrifying, its aura grew wider and wider. It looked like the aura of the king of hell himself, rather than something worse. "It can't be" the angel's face had turned into a mask of horror, as soon as his eyes saw the figure approaching they knew. A figure of a young woman was approaching at great speed levitating in the air, underneath her everything withered and crumbled, no matter whether it was concrete or grass, everything became dust, rotted and withered in an instant. The transformation of the two celestials was sudden, Aziraphale had assumed his guardian form while Crowley had assumed his form as a warrior from hell. The facade they had built to mask their fears fell. "Shit, we couldn't even breathe, we didn't even think of a plan," the demon didn't finish the sentence they heard the air whistling and in an instant there was a tremendous impact on the ground. The fence was shattered and they flew everywhere and crashed into the walls of the cottage, the two humans were sent to crash into the porch, ending on all fours trying to catch their breath.

The ash that had suddenly risen made it impossible to see anything, but you didn't need to see to know what was in front of you. Both celestials were petrified by fear and horror. Both of them had understood the end of the third fragment; they no longer needed to look for it, because it was embedded in the chest of the monstrous figure in front of them. "Why the long faces? Didn't you miss me?" the voice came threateningly to them and erased what was left of their safety and hope. There was only one thought that crossed the demon's mind. "Is this really how it ends?"