The immortal ones, the celestial beings, the fallen, the divine and the devils, the Angels and the Demons: If they are killed, they can be re-born.
Either back in their own land or in the land of the humans, almost to the second of their death a baby is born that not only has their soul, but will grow to look the same as they once did.
Angels and Demons have tried for centuries to make weapons that could prevent this, all have been tried, tested, and failed.
Apart from one item, one in possession of the Angels. A rare type of blessed golden arrow with a rare gemstone for its head. This is the only weapon known to be able to stop the reincarnation.
So, for now, the War remains pointless. Demons are killed, demons are reborn, either back in Hell or on Earth and are usually found. Angels are killed, Angels are reborn, either in Heaven or on Earth. Never are they re-born in their enemy's land.
I hated the bus after school. I hated it even more after detention because I hated getting the bus in the dark. The only thing that made it somewhat bearable was Dan, my best friend. And if I had detention, he would have it with me, because it was usually because of something we had done together.
Right now we were giggling at a girl sitting in front of us, at her absolutely ridiculous large gold earrings and matching jacket, orange tan and bad make up. Usually it was people like her that picked on people like us, but we made it different, plus we knew she had probably beaten up some poor geek already today, so we felt we were doing some sort of justice.
"You done that English homework?" Dan asked, casually picking at his nails.
"Oh sod off" I told him "You know I haven't, and I won't"
"I know" he smiled "I was just annoying you"
I punched him in the arm in reply and he ruffled my hair. The girl we were making fun of gave us the look of 'you two are blatantly sleeping together' and I stuck my middle finger up at her. Though to be honest, I was used to it, most people thought me and Dan were an item. I mean, yeah, he was handsome, he was the typical tall, dark, handsome type, with the tanned skin and stubble. But he was Dan, we were just best mates, close as anything, but I had absolutely no interest in his lower regions whatsoever. Except for when I kicked him in the balls of course.
I settled with my head against his shoulder, there was still a good 20 minutes left of the journey and I was planning on spending it asleep to make the time pass. The journey between school and home was always a good time to catch up on some shut-eye.
That was another thing; we (Dan and I) lived together, in a 'children's' home. We were foster kids, both of our parents were dead and we were too old to be adopted, so basically, we were just staying in the system until we were 18, then we got booted out and left to sort out our own lives.
Which was fine by us, especially as we were exactly the same age (almost to the hour) so we'd get booted out at the exact same time.
The bus jolted a little and jumped me awake from my half sleepy state.
"What was that?" I asked sleepily, looking over everyone else on the bus, and then looking through the window behind us to see if we had run something over, we were seated at the back, as we always were, I liked to be away from people.
"Dunno" Dan shrugged, "Probably crap on the road."
"'k" I settled back down, but seconds later came another jolt, bigger this time and I sat back up straight.
Dan had raised an eyebrow in curiosity, he wasn't usually bothered by anything but he seemed interested, it had been a big jolt.
The lights flickered and went out, and moments later the bus screeched to a halt. I grabbed Dan's hand and he squeezed it back. He knew I could be a bit of a coward when it came to weird things like this, and they often happened to us.
For example one time one of those religious nuts, you know, the type that stand on boxes in the high street and tell everyone they're going to hell saw us two walk by and fainted - and he didn't just faint, his eyes went completely white and he started talking in tongues or something. That was the weirdest one, but other things would happen, like dogs and cats would often either growl or whimper at us, and we both felt physically sick near churches.
The bus door opened and we saw two figures walk on. The female bus driver was screaming and so were a few of the other passengers. I held Dan's hand tighter and I felt him tense up, ready to fight if needed. We both presumed the two figures were probably thieves, about to get a good 20 or 30 wallets, mobile phones and other bits from handbags and pockets. I knew Dan was feeling around in his own pocket for his knife, I knew for a fact that Dan Taylor wasn't about to have any idiot steal his things, and he wasn't going to let them take mine either.
As we were at the back we would be last, so we would be ready. But the two figures didn't stop and threaten people, they didn't pull guns or knives out and hold them to people's heads like we all expected. They silently and slowly drifted past everyone else and towards us.
It was then I noticed that they had hoods up, and not the hoods from a jacket or 'hoodie', but from cloaks.
The stopped dead opposite us, only about a foot or two away and looked at each other. One nodded and said something in a deep voice in a language I couldn't place. They took one step closer, I could feel one of their cloaks touch my knees, and I started to smell something, burning. Keeping hold of Dan's hand I looked around and saw that the bus had caught alight, people were screaming but we couldn't get past the two figures to escape. They both reached out and touched us on the shoulder, one each. They looked at each other again, nodded, and then…well, everything just went dark. The last thing I remember was hearing the screams of the other passengers and the feeling of Dan letting go of my hand.
When I woke up my head hurt, a lot. It was literally pounding and it took a lot of effort just to open my eyes. When I did though I kind of wished that I hadn't. I was alone, and I had no idea how I had got here.
I was on some sort of stone table, perhaps an altar. The room I was in was also made of stone, it had a low, uneven ceiling and was more like a cave than a room. It was uncomfortably warm, probably because of the hundreds of candles that were placed around it. I looked down at myself and noticed I was naked, except for a red blanket that covered me.
It was then I remembered the bus, and the strange hooded, cloaked figures.
Oh my God, I thought, they're perverts, some kind of sexually depraved loons who are going to, or have already done god knows what to me.
I looked around at the hundreds of candles that lit the cave/room. And at the symbols that lined the walls, it looked like something to do with a ritual. I knew had to get out of here.
I slid off the stone table and tiptoed to the entrance, which was really just a hole in the cave and peered out. Outside was a long corridor, stretching as far as I could see both ways. It was dark too, so I went back inside to grab a candle, though not before adjusting and tying the blanket round me so it wouldn't fall down. It didn't cover much, but it covered enough.
Back out in the corridor I decided that going left seemed to be the best option, the air seemed to be coming from that way which probably meant the way out.
I walked on for a few minutes, the only things I saw were entrances to rooms exactly like the ones I had woken up in, except that these were empty. I was absolutely terrified, and honestly was having trouble breathing because of my fear, I didn't know where Dan was, and I needed him. He was the only family I had, plus he'd be much better in this situation then I was, God, I hoped he was ok.
I peered into another of the 'wake up' rooms as I now called them to check if Dan was in there, no-one, then, as I came back into the corridor, I heard a voice, it wasn't loud but it carried and echoed through the stone and bounded off the walls so I couldn't tell how far away it was.
"Shit" the voice said "Where is she?"
"Damn, I knew we shouldn't of left her, she was due to wake up any day" came another.
I didn't know what the hell was going on, so I did the first thing my mind told me to do, I dropped the candle and ran. The owners of the voices heard me though, because a split second afterward I heard footsteps coming up behind me, and they were much faster than my own. I looked behind me, and that was a mistake, because I lost my balance, tripped over my own feet and landed, face first on the ground.
"Son of a-" I tried to get up again, but I'd hurt my ankle bad and there was no way I was getting up, so I tried crawling. That wasn't getting me anywhere fast.
Then the creatures caught up to me, I put my hands over my head, ready for them to kill, or at least hurt me, but then one said the complete opposite of what I expected.
"Are you alright my Lady?" asked one.
I took my hands off my head and sat up a little "huh?"
"I asked if you were ok, are you harmed?"
I couldn't see them very well in the dark but I had the feeling they could see me. So I shook my head and went to stand up, forgetting about my ankle. I gasped in pain and fell back down again and immediately one of the guys leaned forward and picked me up, his arms holding me under my back and knees.
"Don't worry my Lady, we'll take you somewhere to get that sorted" the other reassured me and they started to make their way along the corridor. I lay in the man's arms shocked and silent.
After a while the corridor became wider and lighter, until we reached the end and were surrounded by red light. My captors/rescuers stepped into a huge cavern, and for a moment I couldn't react, couldn't say anything, mainly because what I saw had convinced me that I was dead.
The cavern was filled with demons, hundreds of them, all working at different jobs, like making armour or weapons. The sound of clanging and clashing of metal filled the entire cave and rang in my ears.
I was dead, I was in hell, I just knew it.
So I did the typical girly thing to do, I screamed, loudly, very very loudly. I struggled to try and get out the guys arms, and he, apparently shocked, let me go and I fell to the floor.
"Oh! My Lady, I'm so sorry, you just –"
I didn't give him time to finish what he was saying, because I saw he was a demon to, his unnaturally green eyes were glowing, he had fangs poking through his lips and his skin was white, and I mean white, not just pale, white. (Other than that he looked quite human). But I just screamed again, even louder this time.
By now I was starting to attract some attention, the surrounding demons were beginning to crowd round me, and I huddled into a ball, my arms around my knees and screamed again and again, somehow hoping it would just all go away.
I heard the rustle of the demons moving around, and stepping away from me, then the sound of thunderous, angry footsteps and a booming voice.
"What the fuck is going on? Why aren't you lot working and WHAT is all this noise?!" the voice ordered. He got no reply and I heard him move forward until he was right next to me.
"Did someone forget to leave their whore at home?" he called out in a jokey voice.
None laughed, I wondered why.
"My… My Lord Sabnoch?" a small voice peeped up, one that I knew and recognised as the demon that had been carrying me.
"What?" the Sabnoch dude yelled.
"It…it's her" the other stuttered.
"Eh…? Oh, WHAT?!" I felt his hand on my arm and he swung me up into his arms with amazing strength into the same carried position I was in before.
I looked at him; my blue eyes surveyed the large demon. He was handsome, I mean, good god, he was handsome. He had huge muscled arms, and the rest of him matched too, though he didn't look ridiculous, and he didn't have 20,000 bulges like some of those weird looking muscled guys. He was bald (I found that extremely attractive in a man) and had bright, grey eyes that were surveying me as I was him.
If I hadn't had been in the situation that I was I probably would have attempted to jump his bones right there and then, but, as it stood, I wasn't. And at that particular moment in time just wanted him to tell me who the fuck he was and what the fuck I was doing here.
"My lady" he addressed me, kinder than the other demon did. He looked away and said to someone I couldn't see from my position "Get to Asmodeus now and tell him I'm coming with her" he ordered them.
This was too much, I couldn't cope, and I snapped.
"Right!" I yelled, I would have jumped out of his arms but I knew my ankle wouldn't cope with me standing up so I had to make do with him holding me.
"I don't know who the hell you are, or why I'm here, but you, darling, are going to explain what exactly is going on here, and why the fuck you are calling me your fricken' Lady!!"
Mr. Sabnoch looked surprised, but retained his 'cool'. "My Lady, it is not up to me to tell you, all will be explained very soon, we will go and see my master, and he will sort everything out."
I went to reply but suddenly I felt very odd. My head felt like it was being pushed at from all angles and like I was spinning. It stopped suddenly and I looked around. We were no longer in the lit up cavern full of demons, we were outside, the sky was dark as was the ground underneath us.
In front of us was a huge dark stone castle, the kind you see in fairy tales, tall towers and black gargoyles. I nearly fainted but this 'Sabnoch' guy holding me moved just in time to keep me awake.
The large entrance was open, and he strolled inside as if he owned the place. We were greeted by an equally large, lavishly decorated hallway, which he strode down and then into a great hall. It was decorated in the same purples, blacks and reds as the hallway but was colder because of the amount of stone showing and just, well, because it was bigger.
The demon took me to a very comfortable looking chair made from what I presumed (and hoped) was a dyed purple leather and placed me in it, grabbing a footstool from nearby and placing my injured ankle on it.
There was an odd 'whoosh' sound and out of no where another demon appeared. This one was taller than Sabnoch but not quite as muscled. But he was dressed in finer clothing and held himself as someone of great importance. He ran a hand through his black hair and looked me up and down with his deep black eyes, then, unexpectedly smiled.
"Welcome, Razakel" he beamed.
Now, the past 10/15 minutes had easily been the weirdest, craziest and scariest of my life. But now it was just getting plain odd, in fact, by now I was pretty sure I either dreaming or in some sort of a coma and just had mad, fucked up things going through my mind. So I stared at him, cocked an eyebrow and just said…
"Eh?"
Both demons seemed extremely surprised by my reaction, the taller one went to speak but he was stopped by another voice. An angelic, sweet voice that came from behind me.
"Asmodeus my love, you do realise she has no idea who she is, and you're just probably scaring her senseless, why don't you let me talk to her, please?"
The tall, black-eyed demon I now knew as Asmodeus nodded in the direction of the voice to accept her request and took a few steps back. When the woman came into view my jaw dropped open. She was easily the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. Her long, red, curly hair was let down and fell to her waist, her sparkling green eyes were kind and welcoming. She had the perfect Marilyn Monroe figure and a smile that – as cheesy as it sounds – really made me feel warm inside.
She was wearing a white and black dress that I would have considered to be a ball gown but she wore it as if it were the most casual thing in the world, like jeans and a t-shirt. She flittered over to me side and knelt down next to my chair.
"Hi there sweetie, my name's Lillian" she held out her hand for me to shake, and cautiously I did so.
"Now" she continued "I know you're probably scared, and you have no idea what is going on, but if you listen to me, I'll explain everything, and if you wait until the end, I, my husband Asmodeus, or Sabnoch here will answer all your questions, ok?" her lovely nature made me agree, usually I would have told her to fuck off and do as I say, but there was something about her, that made me just want to be nice to her.
"Now then, where to begin…" she mused. "Why don't you ask me what the first thing you want to know is?"
I looked at her, then at the two demons standing a few metres away cautiously.
"Where am I?" I asked "And who are you people? And why did he call me Razakel?" I pointed at the 'Asmodeus' dude.
The woman, Lillian, looked a little confused "Is Razakel not your name?"
"No" I said, "People call me Raz, yeah, but my name is Raquel"
"Hmm, I see, well if I call you Raz for now, it should make things easier, but let's start from the beginning…"
She made herself more comfortable then placed her hands on top of mine.
"Oh before we start" she said, looking at the blanket I had covering me "Lets do something about your clothing… Asmodeus dear… could you?"
He looked up, and nodded. Then simply clicked his fingers and I was suddenly clothed in a long blue dress, similar to hers but not quite as 'ball-gown-esque'. I felt ridiculous in it, but at least I was somewhat more covered up then I had been in with a small blanket tied around me.
"That's better" she smiled "Now then my dear, I can't think of another way to say this, so I'll just come out with it, you're in Hell"
"Oh shit am I dead?!"
"No dear, far from it in fact, see, you're a demon."
I raised an eyebrow and looked at her in disbelief "I'm a what now?"
"A demon sweetie, and not just any demon, you are very, very important, see, you're the daughter of Lucifer"
"Lucifer as in…?"
"Yes, Lucifer as in the devil"
I stared at her for a minute, not able to talk, then, I just burst out laughing.
She looked startled and she looked across to her husband who gave her a shrug.
"I…err, fail to see what is amusing" she said slowly.
"ME!" I said as I laughed "Daughter of the Devil, hahaha, you've got to be shitting me, I'm dreaming, I know it"
I felt a hard pinch on my arm, the one Lillian wasn't holding. I turned and saw the Sabnoch character that had carried me in standing there, suppressing a grin.
"Ow!" I yelled
"Not dreaming" he said grinning.
I glared at him but a tap on my hand brought me back to Lillian.
"Now honey" she said "I know this is hard to take in, but please believe me, you are a demon, and you are Lucifer's child"
I clicked my tongue and bit my lip, thinking. "So" I asked "If I'm a demon, and the kid of the Devil, why have I spent the past 17 years growing up like a normal human"
If she wasn't holding my hand I would have crossed my arms and cocked my head to one side to emphasise my point, but what I said obviously didn't bother her, and I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer.
"That's a little harder to explain" she said sadly, looking at the floor.
Her husband seemed to sense something and came over to us, placing his arm around her and taking over.
"Demons and Angels are at War" he started "We have been for millennia, when your mother, Lillith, Lucifer's wife, was pregnant with you, an assassin from heaven came and killed her, he was successful, and we also thought they'd taken you, her unborn child, because there was no trace on her body that she'd even been pregnant. We've spent the last 17 years torturing any Angel we've taken prisoner for information about you but none seemed to know. Turns out that they wouldn't know, because they didn't take you, see, as you mother died, we believe she, in her last ounce of strength, managed to use whatever magic she had, to send you away somewhere safe. To earth, where you would be raised as a human child until we could find you. It took us a little longer than she probably expected, but we have found you, and we've brought you home."
I was dumbfounded. It sounds ridiculous, but what he was saying made some sort of sense. I never had any parents, I was found, still bloody from my mother's womb in the middle of a field one day and brought to an orphanage and it went from there. I'd always thought my mother had abandoned me, the idea that she'd sent me somewhere to save me was far more welcoming. However far fetched the idea I was a demon was, it seemed to make sense to me. Also, the fact that he hadn't sugar coated anything, hadn't 'beaten around the bush' about things like torturing the angels or talking about my mother's death made me want to believe him even more.
"So…" I thought it over "I'm Razakel the daughter of the Devil, the reason I wasn't brought up in Hell is because my mother was killed by an angel and she sent me to earth to save me from them…?"
"That's right" Asmodeus confirmed.
"So how come you managed to find me?"
"Our priests keep track of all Demons on earth, whenever we find unexplained demonic energy we investigate, that's how we found you, and your friend"
"Wait…my friend, you mean Dan's a demon to!? Where is he? Can I see him?"
"He's safe" Asmodeus replied, after sending Sabnoch a knowing glance.
"Can I see him, Oh my god, who's he then? The son of Beelzebub?"
"Err… not quite" Lillian spoke now "See, he's not like you, he's a reincarnated demon, he was killed in battle and reincarnated on earth, he's actually around 4000 years old, not the 17 year old you knew, so he'll be very different to the boy you knew."
I was confused, but I didn't care. "I still want to see him" I said firmly.
"Of course you do" Lillian smiled, "But all in good time, there are some other things we must do first, though, I think you should have a rest first, this has been a lot to take in."
"Actually" I said, "Other than my ankle hurting, I'm fine, strangely enough, this is all making some sort of sense to me."
Asmodeus was the one to smile now "That's because the demon inside you knows that its home"
"To be honest, erm, Asmodeus is it?" he nodded "I think I agree with you. So, what happens now?"
"Well" he said as he stood up and held out his hand for his wife to get to her feet "The best thing to do would be to go and see your father"
"You mean… the Devil?" I asked, my eyes widening slightly.
Asmodeus grinned "That's the one".