"Toss it!" Gil shouted out to his brother, holding his hands open as he crouched down in the grass. Nathan glared at his brother, holding the baseball tight in his hand.
"You're just going to hit me with it!" Nathan shouted back, his older brother knocked the head of the bat against the ground a few times.
"Come on Nate!" Gil shouted, his voice cracking with the shout. Nathan eyed the other, his body was rapidly getting bigger as the days moved on. He'd taken to going to the gym since their grandfather started to train them in the art of slaying.
Nathan bit his lip, the brilliant blue skies above shone it's light on the pair of teenagers. The crisp morning air turned Gil's breath to a fog as he narrowed his gaze, holding the bat tight. Nathan sucked in air before throwing the ball with all his might. Thwack!
Pain exploded through Nathan as the ball smacked into him hard, grunting painfully and falling to his knees. Gil snorted, dropping the bat and laughing as he raced up to his brother.
"I knew it!" Nathan bellowed, holding his stomach with a loud groan.
"Hey! I tol--"
A boom caught them off guard, they both moved their eyes to the skies as a flashing light erupted around them. Nathan screamed out in shock as it covered his vision and dragged him into its brilliance.*
Nathan's eyes shot open, pain rolled through his system as he shuffled uncomfortably on the floors below. Taking in a few ragged breaths he sat up, the ground here was cold, hard, dusty. His vision blurred for a few heart beats as he attempted to focus on his surrounding area, the taste of iron filled his throat. He could tell his nose was bleeding, his chest heaved with effort.
A set of bars stood before him blocking the slayer from getting out of the small enclosed space, the size of a large dog crate he placed his hands on the cold metal bars. His body was sore, his head pounded, and his right eye swollen almost completely. He couldn't recall what happened or how long he'd been out as he attempted to piece together the past few hours? Or was it longer?
He looked down at the chain on his leg, his hands were free but the fingers were purple and throbbed.
"What happened," he said out loud to no one, narrowing his eyes against the darkness of the room as he attempted to make out any shapes around them. The room looked to be some sort of lab, he could make out more cages in the far sides of the room but nothing moved within them. A large metal table stood in the middle of the room, he couldn't see anything else in the area though he could sense it was decently big. His mind raced to Butch, he attempted to glance to the side but the small cage had metal surrounding every inch but the front, the view out of the bars wasn't nearly enough to satisfy his courious hunger.
"Hello?" He called out.
"You're alive,"
The voice sounded close, coming from his right he assumed another dog crate must have been shoved up against his. The soft sound of movement told him he was correct in his assumption as he sat back in the small cage.
"Yeah I uh, think I am?" He whispered, his throat burning from the effort of talking.
"I've been trying to judge if you were alive or dead for awhile," The voice whispered, it was unfamiliar to Nate.
"How long have you been here?" Nathan asked, coughing a few times as he tried to keep his voice from cracking.
The man was quiet for a few heart beats before answering, his voice sad, "I lost count," he admitted,
"Do you know...why we're in here?" Nathan whispered, curling up against the side of the cage. He felt like a trapped animal,
"I know why I'm in here," the man whispered, "I'm Hani,"
Nathan frowned at this, though he wasn't sure what was going on he assumed it had something to do with the fact that he's a Slayer.
"I'm Nathan," He whispered.
Hani let out a soft sigh, as if knowing the other's name gave him some form of comfort. Nathan opened his jaw to speak again but the sound of metal doors opening caused him to fall quiet. He heard Hani shuffle in the cage beside him, the soft clank of metal against metal could be heard as the man scrambled to look out of the bars.
"So we have a Lancaster," A man snorted as the group entered the room, walking slowly towards the two cages. Nathan could only see his fancy shoes, the red socks stuck out against the darkness surrounding the area. The light from the open door sent a shiver through the slayer as the newcomers moved from Nathan's cage to the other,
"And an angel,"
Nathan froze, an angel?
"We already confiscated the Diadem, sir," the other man said.
"Perfect, get the Diadem from the Lancaster next than kill him, the king can't rise,"
"King?" Nathan whispered softly, watching as the fancy shoes turned and left the room. The other man remained, pulling out a set of keys Nathan watched as the door was opened. A scruffy, long haired man grinned down at Nathan. His long, shaggy hair raced down to his shoulders, a lopsided grin plastered on his face.
"Come on," He grunted, standing back so Nathan would step out.
"No way," Nathan snarled, the man leaned back down. Still smiling.
"Go!" Hani gasped out to Nathan who ignored him,
"Fuck off," Nathan spat at the long haired man.
"Oh, okay, you want to play? Sounds fun," the man laughed, he placed his hand on the metal floor of the cage causing Nathan to look at him in confusion until bright, vivid black electricity flashed from the other's palm. It rolled through the metal, pain shot into the slayer, white hot pain was the next thing he knew. Screaming out in agony as the electricity rolled through his veins, the long haired man pulled his hand away and laughed loudly.
Nathan gasped for air, his body twitching violently as the man reached in with great strength and yanked the slayer from the small cage, grabbing Nate by his long hair with laughter in his gaze. Nathan stumbled, scrambling against the other. His feet still shackled together making it hard for him to move in any form of rapid pace,
"Mammon, stop! He's only human!" Hani shouted to the demon known as Mammon.
Mammon turned his head to the other cage, Nathan followed the others gaze. He could see Hani, the man was beaten decently badly, his seashell colored skin bruised and purple, brown eyes glaring daggers at the long haired demon.
"Hani, I'm getting big bucks for this," Mammon laughed, grabbing Nathan roughly as if he were made of nothing.
Nathan yelped in pain, he felt too weak on his feet but Mammon kept him from falling. Practically dragging Nathan behind him as he turned and made for the door, laughing loudly into the air as Hani shouted something after him.
"Hanibal, baby boy, you can be as mad as you want but you and I both know the king's a Lancaster," Mammon shouted over his shoulder to the angel.
"W-What do you want with me? where's Butch?" Nathan asked, attempting to keep the anxiety out of his voice but panic was starting to settle deep into his core.
"Shut up," Mammon snorted, still holding Nathan's hair with one hand, his fingers dug into the others locks tight causing pain to flood through the others skull. Another man came up, he was large with a thin, snake-like smile on his face. Mammon shoved Nathan into the other who grabbed him, Mammon lit a cigarette and blew the smoke at the slayer who coughed and gagged from the rancid smelling cigarette.
"Oh yeah, you quit these didn't you?" Mammon grinned, "Room seven, Botis,"
The large demon nodded, Nathan yelped in pain as he was yanked down the long hallway towards a set of stairs.
***
"Wow, so handsome," Mammon snorted, leaning against the wall with a cigarette in hand. They sat in a small room with only a single, plastic chair inside. The floor is covered in tarp, Mammon and Botis are the only ones besides Nathan in the enclosed area. The slayer gasped for air as the hot fire of pain rolled through his system, he whimpered as Botis shoved the crown of thorns deeper into his skin. The large, pale demon seemed to almost hiss with pleasure as Nathan's groans of pain.
"So," Mammon flicked the cigarette butt to the floor, stepping down on it with dirty boots, tugging a pack of smokes from his front pocket and knocking them against his palm. Plucking one out and into his mouth, Botis snapped a finger turning the tip to fire and holding it out to the other. Mammon nodding towards his friend, Nathan eyed the man's jean jacket that held multiple patches all over it. Most of which had to do with money, he silently wondered who this demon was.
"I don't know what you want," Nathan grunted out as Mammon leaned down to look him in the eyes, placing his hands on his knees as he got within only a few inches of the others personal space.
"Where's the Diadem, king Lancaster?"
Nathan blinked at him, his eyes reminded the Slayer of smoky topaz.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Nathan snarled, making sure to spit out the words. His saliva flecked against Mammon's ivory skin as he spoke, the demon didn't seem to care about this as he stood up straight and laughed.
"Nathan, my man, we can do this the easy way,"
The demon held out his hand, Botis handed the other a hammer. Nathan shuffled as fear pumped into his veins, Mammon tilted his head to the side overdramatically. A smile brightening up his face,
"Or the harder way!"
Nathan flinched as the thorns stabbed angrily into his skin, causing him to hiss in agony.
"I'm not fighting! I don't know what you're talking about,"
"Look Nate, Can I call you Nate?" He circled the other like a shark, taking a few drags from the cigarette as he walked. The flames from the ends of the cancer stick turned the hues of his eyes red.
"We know the king is supposed to rise with the darkness," He started, stopping behind Nathan and getting close to the other. Whispering into the man's ear,
"We know it's a Lancaster, and your brother? Well he's long dead, so, we only have you,"
He pressed the end of his cigarette against Nathan's neck causing the man to yowl out in agony. Hissing as he fought against the ropes that kept him securely tied to the chair,
"I don't know!" He shouted out, whimpering.
"Maybe he isn't the king," Botis offered, Mammon stood up tall now. Eyeing his friend for a few heartbeats before turning attention back to Nathan.
"Probably," He mused, "Honestly, I think Lucifer got the wrong guy,"
Nathan visibly relaxed at this, "Yes! I'm not...whatever you think I am,"
Mammon nodded at him, "Too bad, just means you don't know anything. Which means I can do whatever I want to you without worry!"
Nathan's fear pumped into his veins, he could feel it deep in his blood as he started to struggle harder against the ropes. Pain shot into his body as blood raced from the thorny crown on his head. His vision blurry from his lack of contacts.
"P-Please--" Nathan begged, begging wasn't something he'd ever done before but he couldn't imagine a way out. His mind flashed to Abel, from what he gathered from Mammon they didn't know Gil's son even existed. If he could keep his mouth shut his nephew would be safe, at least, for now.
Mammon knocked the hammer against his palm a few times, grinning wildly at Nathan for a few seconds, Nathan knew the torture was coming. He'd been in a similar situation before but back in the day - he was freshly out of high school, was muscular and strong, he took it easier but now he was pushing forty five. Since his brother's death he had all but given up on attempting to keep himself healthy and full figured.
Shutting his eyes he tried to tune everything out as Mammon closed in on him, the hot pain that rolled through his fingers caused him to gasp loudly.
***
*Gil stared at Michael for what felt like hours, Nathan shuffled uncomfortably on his seat in the dinner. The angel had come to them only an hour before, telling the pair of slayers they had some sort of giant role to play in saving the world. His shaggy blonde locks we're pushed back lazily, his blue gaze so pale they looked purple in the dim lights of the small diner.
"So lemme get you right," Gil asked, leaning against the booths cushion. His plaid overshirt tattered near the bottom, facial hair covered his sharp jaw. Brilliant green eyes shone as he eyed the blonde, Nathan glanced from the cup of coffee in front of him to the angel and back.
"Me and my brother are meant to stop-- who? The devil?"
"Kind of, Lucifer has vanished and we aren't sure what will happen," Michael murmured this part, rolling his finger against the water glass rim in front of him. His tired eyes moved from the glass to Gil.
"So they send one of the members of N'sync to come and talk to us? No offense, man, but this sounds like garbage." Gil snorted, taking a long swig of his soda until the ice clicked against his face.
"N'sync?" Nathan snorted, looking over Michael with a puzzled expression. Gil nearly choked on a piece of ice, chewing it between his teeth causing Nathan to cringe against the noise.
"Stop!" Nathan batted at his brother with a hand, Michael smiled lazily at the two.
"I know it's hard to believe, but I can assure you I'm--"
"It's cause he's got like-- a perfect face," Gil interrupted, motioning a hand at Michael who turned a light shade of red at this.
"Perfect face? That's pretty gay," Nathan laughed, causing Gil to wave a hand at the other.
"No no! I mean-- shit, no homo, man. Just like, you got like-- you look like a model, yaknow?"
Nathan looked at his brother in shock, was the great Gilbert lady slayer flustered?
"Gil! I told you! Being gay to angel will get you smitted!" Nathan joked, pretending to be shocked but his voice glowed with laughter. Gil laughed at this,
"Oh right! Sorry!" He said with good humor in his voice, Michael looked between the two slowly before yawning and smiling, lazily.*
"Nathan!"
Nathan's eyes flickered open, he groaned painfully. He was sitting in his cage again, the room was darker than it had been previously. His head aching as he coughed blood from his throat, every inch of his upper body pulsed with pain. Mammon had tortured him for a good hour before growing bored. Though he didn't remember the last ten minutes aside from flashes of walking back to the cage.
"Hani?" Nathan whispered, attempting to see out of his blurry eyes as he scuffled to the side of the cage and leaned against it. His contacts had fallen out at one point, making the world seem even more unyielding.
"Thank Faith, I thought you were going to be killed," Hani whispered, Nathan chuckled dryly,
"Faith? Don't you mean God?"
"No, I mean Faith. She's an archangel,"
His mind was ripped back into reality so quickly his head nearly spun, "angel? You're an angel?" Nathan blurted out, pushing his face against the cage door. He shoved his arm out and felt around the sides of the cage, hoping he would find a latch or anything he could use to open the prison.
"Yes," Hani whispered, "I'm an angel of kingdoms,"
"Why do they have an angel?" Nathan asked, letting his arms dangle out. After a few short seconds he saw the arms of another, he smiled to himself. Feeling a little less alone.
"I can't tell you, it's classified," He whispered,
"To who? I'm no one important. I...never really was," He frowned at this, when Michael had come to them with his prophecy the angel had spoken to both but in reality it had only been Gilbert who was the chosen one.
"Archangel Faith is a long forgotten angel," He whispered back, ignoring the others question, "She's the only one who can stop the Darkness,"
Nathan opened his jaw to speak but closed it again, rolling what the other said in his head. He'd never heard of her, but then again, he wasn't exactly taught about Angels. In fact, he assumed they were fake until they met Michael.
"If you're an angel can't you just...poof out of here?" Nathan asked, he could hear Hani hesitated.
"No," He whispered, "I've lived as a human for too long. The Darkness prevents me from touching that part of my powers, angels who recently came to Earth can but I've been, unfortunately, here too long,"
"Why?"
"The darkness makes you stronger physically," Hani explained, "But mentally it takes a toll."
"Are you talking in riddles?" Nathan asked, his eyebrows pinched together.
"No, physical power comes from your physical being. I can control the winds, use them to fight if I must," He paused, seeming to think better of going into heavy detail, "The darkness makes this part of my being ever powerful! Because I use it with my human body, but the parts that are unseen, my ability to heal, teleport and whatever else - those are controlled by my soul,"
Nathan shook his head, he couldn't make heads or tails of what Hani was saying. It made some sort of sense to him.
"So...it's like - you drank an energy drink while also taking a sleeping pill?"
"That's a lot simpler to say," Hani laughed softly to himself, coughing a few seconds after. Snorting to himself in frustration.
The two continued to chat as the night went on, enjoying one another's company for the time they had it. They fell asleep, woke back up and continued to talk. A few days had passed and neither of the two had seen a single demon aside from one who brought them some type of food paste that caused Nathan to gag as he forced it down. The Slayer was starting to give up hope as time passed, he and Hani would starve in here before they got out. He rubbed his head with a hand and let out a sigh,
"Hey...why are they looking for a King?" Nathan asked eventually, it had taken him a while to muster up the courage. He was afraid to ask, fearful Abel was in trouble and it was due to his negligence.
"It's part of Faith's prophecy," He whispered softly, "A king will rise, with his rise...the greatest darkness known to man will rise."
"Did...the prophecy say the king was a Lancaster?"
He heard Hani pause, he knew when the angel didn't want to answer a question but that didn't stop him from asking again if he had too.
"I don't know," He said finally, "I-- no one's seen Faith's prophecy since she disappeared. But what we do know, Gil's bloodline has always carried a chosen one,"
Nathan blinked in confusion, what did that mean? He wanted to ask but felt something holding him back. Maybe it was the pounding headache, the lack of food or his need to scratch his legs till they bled out of sheer frustration.
"Nate,"
He turned his head to look at the others outstretched hands.
"Yeah?"
"I...I think I can get us out,"
The words caused Nathan to freeze, a smile lashed against his features for a few heart beats.
"Really? How?"
"Do you believe in magic?"
"Like - fairies?"
"No, I believe - people in the states refer to themselves as a Witch?"
***
They had nearly finished setting up their plan when Mammon kicked the door in. Nathan couldn't see his smile, but he knew it was there. He shuffled himself closer to the door to get a better look, the man was followed by a few other demons. They all chatted together at once a woman with brilliant red hair kicked Hani's cage a few times.
"Hey! Stop that!" Nathan yelled out causing the red head to lean down and look at him, her cherry red lips twisted into a smile.
"Oh? Being brave, Lancaster?" she snorted, standing up tall and turning to Mammon. Her arms crossed over her chest,
"Take him into the room," She growled at the other two large demons, another smaller demon stood beside her.
"Nathan!" Hani yelped as the entire cage was hoisted into the air,
"Where are you taking him?!" Nathan yelled out, slamming his foot against the cage bars a few times.
"Ancitif, stand guard," She handed the man beside her something, following the large demons out with a flick of her hair. Mammon followed behind her, he flicked Ancitif on the back of the head as he went. The door shut, the demon groaned inwardly.
Nathan had to get out, he sucked in air. Closing his eyes as he recalled what Hani taught him, he felt a spark in him he couldn't understand as he raced his sharp, chewed down fingernails over the bruises on his leg until blood raced down the skin. Letting it soak into his fingers he started to draw the symbol Hani had drawn in the dust below, closing his eyes as he tried to visualize it.
"What are you doing?" Ancitif asked, he leaned down to the cage. He was shorter than the other demons, his brown hair a mess, his yellow hoodie seemed a little too big for his frame.
Nathan ignored him, Ancitif simply watched the man draw into the dust just outside the cage. Ancitif sat up, he heard the man fiddling with a walkie talkie causing panic to spark into his veins.
"Shit," He whispered to himself, attempting to recall the last part only for Ancitif to run his foot over the blood. Smearing it lightly, making the slayer growl in frustration. Ancitif took a step back and stood on the symbol causing Nathan to curse under his breath.
"Stop it," Ancitif growled as Nathan tried to draw another pentagram.
"Stop!" He put a foot over that one as well, Nathan was going to start again but the sound of the other door opening caused him to freeze. He was dead. This was it. Ancitif would tell them he was trying to use witchcraft to escape.
"Ancitif," Obizuth bellowed, storming in with an angry glare on her face.
"Diadem's gonna be in this shitty little bar," She snorted.
"When?"
"If I knew that don't you'd think I'd tell you?" She snapped at him, he flinched and nodded.
"Sorry, Obizuth,"
"Whatever, I came in to grab--" she walked past him, snatching something off the table in the middle of the room before turning on her heels.
"Getting more information now," She sang, exiting the room. Ancitif let his shoulders drop, he took a few steps away from the cage so the symbols were visible again. Walking over to the bed, leaping on it with a sigh and letting his legs dangle.
Nathan hesitated but the demon didn't move, his amber gaze moved from Ancitif's dangling feet to the symbols on the floor. He started up again, drawing the symbol he had been taught. His mind buzzed with confusion but he would take whatever chance he got to get out. He finished drawing the symbol, shut his eyes and put his hands together as if he were about to pray.
He whispered a few short words in the strange language that he wrote in blood on the side of the cage. The pentagram glowed gold, Nathan gasped in shock! He hadn't expected it to work! The pentagram's glow got vivid and bright before dying out. The soft sound of a click followed, Nathan put a hand on the cage door and it swung open. The man shakily got to his feet, he stumbled softly his legs felt like jelly. Turning his head to look at Ancitif, the demon didn't look shocked but simply shrugged at the other.
Looking down at the phone in his hands,
"Are...you going to stop me?" Nathan whispered, Ancitif shrugged again.
"I'm talking to Danjal, I'm a little busy," He gave the other a small smile. Nathan felt a rush of excitement flood his system as he raced for the door on the other side of the room. He pushed out nearling colliding with the ground as he did so. He was in the hallway again, taking a few steps forward he froze.
The world around him contorted, he gasped in pain. Grabbing his skull, stumbling lightly.
"Oh, no no, my boy, we're just getting started," The voice echoed around him, he felt as if he were high but he hadn't taken anything. The feeling sent a burst of panic into his chest that made him fall to his knees.
Was he high? The familiar feeling of the euphoric drugs took hold over him yet it felt empty as if someone was attempting to make him believe he was high without actually making him so.
"I can't be high!" He gasped as a man with blonde hair came walking up to him with Obizuth by his side. The two glanced at one another and back to Nathan he fought against the visions in his head.
"I'm - ten years sober," He gasped, "Ten years!"
"Buddy, you relapsed once," The blond laughed, "Don't worry, you're not high!" He snapped his fingers, it all stopped! It was as if he just turned it off with a single movement, Nathan blinked up at the blonde and redhead with confusion and fear burned into his features.
"Arphaxad, stop being a tease," Obizuth sang, the demon known as Arphaxad leaned down with a giant grin.
"Bye bye," He whispered, putting a finger on Nathan's head causing the man to howl in fear as the world under him opened up and swallowed him. He fell deep into the depths of his mind, it was like a giant forest but he found himself drowning in the lake.
"Hani, I tried," He groaned.
Arphaxad watched the slayer collapse to the ground, nudging him with his shoe.
"What the hell, you can just do that?" Obizuth snorted with laughter as she prodded Nathan's cheek.
"Oh yeah, if it has to do with the mind I can break it!" Arphaxad laughed, shoving his hands into his pockets. The red framed circular glasses on his face seemed to shine with devilish intent.
"This is going to be a fun armageddon," Obizuth mused,
"Especially since the Red Dragon has awaken,"
***
Hani huffed painfully as he was thrown into a cell, the cell was bigger than the dog crate making it a little more comfortable. Mammon barked something at the angel who didn't hear what he said, it was as if everything was underwater. He sucked in air a few times as the pain from his torture settled within him. His body laid on the floor of the cage, but the movement of another caught his attention. Hani rolled to sit up, his vision blurry as he attempted to make out the furry shape that sat on the opposite side of the cell.
"W-Were am I?" Hani whispered out, rubbing his head lightly with his bruised up hand. A few of his fingers had been broken, causing him to wince with every movement. The cage was settled in a room with a large metal door, what was the need for such a door?
"Who are you?" The other said, his voice caused the angel to freeze where he stood. It was dark ominous, he blinked a few times to get rid of the blurriness. He could see the man more clearly now in the harsh lights of the overhanging lamp that sat in the middle of the cage. A small, wooden bench sat not far away with a single blanket draped over it. A toilet settled not far away with a tiny sink not far away. He'd been in the large building for a few months now and had yet to see such a 'luxury' cage.
"I-Im Hani," He stuttered out, trying to get to his feet but the pain in his hips caused him to fall back to the floor. Groaning inwardly as he recalled the hammer connecting to his hip bones, "Are you okay?" He murmured.
"I'm Butch," The man huffed,
"Butch? You're...Nathan's friend, right?"
At this the man laughed, a hoarse angry laugh that sent shivers through the angel as the man slowly turned to look at him. His eyes glowed yellow in the pale light of the lamp, he could see sharp teeth jetting from the other's lip. Hani's entire being yelled at him to run as the man's skin shuttered.
"Y-You're…"
He looked down at the others tattoo, immediately he spotted Archangel Faith. She was tattooed on his pale skin and above her was the Diadem that was so heavily fought for.
"I wouldn't call Nathan my friend," Butch snorted, he grinned wildly at the angel who shrank under his gaze.
"More like, my pawn to the king,"
"Do you know who the king is?" Hani whispered, cowering now as sharp claws shot from the others large hands, Butch licked his lips with a long, dog like tongue.
"Oh, I know who the king is, and when Mammon comes back I think I'm ready to talk,"