Good Omens - You and I

The preparations for battle

Risengard took flight and returned to his lair. Darkness enveloped everything, leaving no room for anything. Since he had absorbed the fragment and its powers, he perceived everything differently. His strength had grown out of all proportion and he no longer felt fear or uncertainty, he was sure that he would emerge victorious from the now imminent battle. When he returned to the building, the walls flickered under the crushed pressure of his powers, the once brawling and indomitable creatures and demons now remained motionless and silent. Miro was still the only one who could get close without feeling pure terror. "What happened? Where are the pieces?" said the demon without much compliment, "What do you think happened? They escaped me, but just a little while longer... It's time!" On the last two words Miro started to change his expression, a slow and horrible sneer was drawn, all the monsters and demons present exploded in wild screams. It's time, it may seem a trivial phrase but not in that moment, and not in that context, because it meant taking back an immense revenge on heaven and hell, on God and Lucifer for them it meant doing justice. And now, it meant preparing the weapons, preparing the battle and preparing the new end and that's exactly what they did. Risengard turned and went to the center of the room, reached out his hand and the wall exploded. The entire wall of the building was falling back to the ground in the form of ashes, and while this was happening the former archangel was infusing a new force into each of the members of his monstrous horde who were beginning to launch themselves into a mad race towards the battlefield.Preparations began not only there, but also in the two kingdoms. In heaven the archangels were mobilized, each one of them was assigned a platoon, each angel was given the grace to fight, an armor was put in line and instructed on his task. Everything in heaven was carried out with precision and rigor. Everyone seemed certain that things would turn out the way they wanted. A few floors down were performing the same actions, albeit in a rather demonic manner. In the throne room of hell reigned the most total chaos, the infernal dukes screamed orders all together sometimes saying the opposite of each other, despite this the preparations proceeded although slowly and the demons began to wear armor and weapons of all kinds and sizes, painting their faces with soot already dreaming of the moment when they would spill on earth to fight.

Each in his own way contributed to the preparations for the battle. Even in Crowley's apartment things were going on, but in a completely different way. Crowley whispered to his plants for once, Aziraphale made hot tea, Anatema read magic books that the angel had procured while Newt looked at her and burned her figure into his mind. When the tea was ready Aziraphale called the others and they all stood around the table, sipped the tea and tried to live a moment of pure peace. The two celestials felt that as time passed the situation worsened, the tension in the air was becoming perceptible. In the room the gazes between the couples were flying crazy, all worried about how things might go, or rather, how bad things might go.

The first thing they heard was the shaking of their cups, the one that the demon had placed on the corner of the table went towards the edge between shakes, the spoon on Anatema's saucer ended up on the table. Then the tremors got worse and they all looked into each other's eyes for a moment and snapped, "What the fuck is going on?" Crowley shouted as he walked out the front door and grabbed a pair of glasses, a bottle, and his favorite plant as a gift from the angel. Aziraphale grabbed his books and pushed the demon up the stairs while the two humans barely stood clutching each other. They ran down one floor to the other and when they reached the entrance for a moment they got stuck in the door, it was Aziraphale's push that made them all plunge out into the open air. While the ground continued to shake they looked around expecting screams and chaos, with people running in the street because of the earthquake instead to their ears with great surprise other sounds arrived well "What a paradise you're saying! We are much stronger than you pompous bureaucrats!" shouted Beelzebub a few inches away from a madman Gabriel who was making all of his extra inches to his opponent. "I don't think you saved yourselves last time just because there was no apocalypse or else heaven would have won!" replied Gabriel who aimed a fiery glance at his opponent. They were all trying to extricate themselves from the pile of legs and arms he had created by falling to the ground, and the first to succeed was Crowley. While they were getting up from the ground, Anathema noted that around the heads of the factions were gathered some angels and demons, it seemed the beginning of a fight between children, the witch was stunned but never as much as Aziraphale at that time. The thing that she also noticed was that in the calm sky of London a sort of cloudy gap had appeared from which angels covered in shining armour were floating out, while several metres down a huge crater seemed to vomit demons covered in soot and all sorts of invented weapons must have caused the earthquake just before. The whole thing was crowned by the figures of an angel and a demon exchanging paperwork accompanied by the words "human transport". The upset expressions of our little group were quite running for the moment, especially because the angel was looking at his demon talking to another angel and showing him his map. Aziraphale's body moved without even thinking about it went near the two of them and stood there until Crowley's gaze met his and what the demon read there was a big question mark "He took my plant when we fell out" Crowley didn't even know why he said it, why he was justifying himself, for heaven's sake! He was a demon! Demons weren't justifying themselves to anyone! But the answer seemed to be the right one, and a lying smile appeared on the angel's face. They came back to the others a moment later only to find Newt waving around in a dry twig of some grass and Anathema drawing an intricate group of signs on the ground in a frenetic way in a kind of trans-spirited transsy. The witch didn't even look up "It's a circle of protection and refinement of the senses that will help us all to move better" after a second of uncertainty was the angel to answer "But of course Anatema this is a very good idea, let me help you" the angel snapped his fingers and a second ring of different symbols was created around that of the witch, in an instant everyone felt the effect because the strange little group seemed to hear and see better than they had ever done in their lives. "Good job!" said Newt who enthusiastically high-five the angel and smiled at him taking off his glasses, his eyesight had never been so good. Slowly the boy gurgled around, everyone was doing something, everyone was working to help others while he was the only one with me, he was the only one who could do nothing. He sighed discouraged and took the chalk from Anatema's hands and went over the marks he had drawn.

Aziraphale decided to teach the witch some new signs so that she and the boy could defend themselves once it all started. On the sidelines Crowley laid the plant on the ground and uncorked the bottle from which he took a sip with which he emptied half of it, walked slowly towards Newt, the boy felt the hair on the back of his neck rise and with the eye thing he tried to see what the demon was doing, when he heard his voice he jumped "I know how you feel. I'm not saying the demons happened to me, I'm not... well, they don't feel certain things, but... I think I can tell when you're feeling useless, you want to do something but you can't. Your time will come, boy." Newt was surprised by the demon's words, but when he turned to thank him, Crowley was already walking towards Beelzebub, who beckoned him to come closer.

"Move, you idiot! You are still under my command, and when I give you an order, you must follow it!" The king of hell waved like a mad duck and gesticulated endlessly, demons gathered around him in an ever-growing army. "I'm here," said the demon hissing hissing threateningly, he looked at his feet and kicked the pebbles he met, when he arrived in front of Beelzebub he pushed his glasses over his face and puffed nervously. "What do you want? What's going on for everyone to gather here? Are you throwing me a birthday party?" For his answer there was a menacing buzz that immediately started from the flies around the king's head. "If you put that forked tongue to rest you might already have the answer." He had changed his expression as he said it, it had suddenly become extremely serious and Crowley understood why a few seconds later. A black smoke was appearing in the king's hands, and it continued to grow and become thicker and thicker, and when it dissipated the demon stepped back. In those hands was his old sword, he had had it forged by the demon blacksmiths in his darkest period, during the Crusades he had corrupted many people and committed the most horrible things with that weapon. The Crusades had lasted 200 years and that was the time when he and Aziraphale had had no contact. He was not proud of that object and as soon as he could he got rid of it and it had taken him well over 200 years to free himself from its demonic influence, when he held it he completely transformed himself into a being he hardly recognized himself. "Where did you get it?" Crowley's question was also an accusation, he hated that sword. "You'll need it for what's coming, you have no choice! Crowley didn't want to listen, he didn't want everything that was happening and he didn't want to have to save anyone, he felt his powers increase with his anger, he looked for the reassuring look of his angel but when he turned around he saw him busy talking to Gabriel who was holding the flaming sword in his hands. Aziraphale seemed hesitant towards the object, but after a slight assent and surrender, he reached out his hand and took it. The light that the sword emanated in Aziraphale's hands, and the flames that flowed from it, drove away all those around him. Crowley once again turned around and lost his former leader, "We don't need this anymore, look there!" he almost screamed out pointing to his angel. His happiness was short-lived, his mocking smile melted like snow in the sun, in the air the destructive aura that belonged to Risengard was now approaching, all the security of the demon crumbled in an instant and the screams of the army leaders giving orders began, silence fell and the waiting began. Ready or not, the battle was about to begin.