Sapphire Tides

Chapter 8: The Eyes of the Beholder

Aziraphale woke up to an empty and unfamiliar bed. The sheets were as soft as clouds but were wrinkled across the mattress. Aziraphale's clothes from the night before but noticed a note on the nightstand next to him.

"Good morning my love, I am sorry to leave you alone right away but I had some business to attend to. With the crash in a few days Hell has been on my back for details. I will meet you for dinner here tonight. I had your old clothes sent to your room and ordered new apparel for you which should be in the closet. See you tonight deary. Take care. -A.J.C"

Aziraphale let off a soft smile as he lightly ran his finger over the note. Aziraphale began to make his way towards the closet when he stubbed his toe on the bedpost. He cringed from the heavy impact and paused in shock. "I have never had a mishap like this before, how odd." Aziraphale the noticed that his whole being felt...off. He made his way to the closet where all of Crowley's belongings were gone besides Aziraphale's suit. "Hello?" Aziraphale lightly called as he looked around for the tailor that usually resided in the room. No one was there. So Aziraphale dressed himself in the tealish gray suit that was ingraved with something new on the cuff. There were two black angel wings and a white serpent that intertwined in between them. Aziraphale moved out of the closet and examined the room. The room was bare compared to when he entered the other night.Crowley's suitcases, apparel, and toiletries that once scattered the room were now gone. Had Crowley abandoned him on this cursed cruise? Aziraphale quickly aimed for the door and swung it open. The butler that had been serving Crowley and himself the other night was right outsiderin the hallway. "Thank heavens you are here. Do you know where my friend is." The butler gave Aziraphale a shocked and disgusted face. "What the hell are you doing in the first class section you foul creature?" Aziraphale was concerned but kept his wits about him. "You know me I have been accompanying Mr. Crowley on the ship the last few nights. The Butler grabbed Aziraphale by the arm and began to harshly drag him down the halls. "I don't know this Crowley of yours but if I did I am sure that he wouldn't be hanging around with the likes of you." Aziraphale was frightened by the situation. "Please sir there must be some misunderstanding I saw you yesterday!" The Butler then stopped and looked at Aziraphale with dead and souless eyes and said. "I have never met you or your hallucination of a friend before in my life, but all I know is that I am turning you into the ship's authorities." Aziraphale's eyes turned to the size of dinner plates and he immediately tried to remove his arm from the butler's surprisingly tight grip. He stopped to preform his second to last available miracles to transport himself back to his quarters, nothing happened. He tried again, and again, and again and nothing occurred. He tugged and pulled but did not budge in the man's hold. Aziraphale then did what only a savage in peril would do. He closed his eyes tight and muttered "Lord, forgive me for this." He leaned forward and sunk his teeth into a bite on the wrist of the butler. The man wailed in agony as Aziraphale made his speedy escape he ran down towards the stairs and looked behind him to see if he was being followed. He saw the man holding a limp red hand in his grasps with a scowl upon his face. When Aziraphale faced forward to continue running he was met with a bat to the face from security.Aziraphale slowly blinked his eyes open and was immediately struck with a horrid splitting headache. His vision took its time to focus on his surroundings. It was a drafty lower deck office with a tan painted ceiling and cement floors. The table that was nearest to him was covered in files and documents of passenger's informed. Aziraphale spotted two open files on the top of the seemingly endless pile of papers. One had a picture of himself and had his passport but also had details of his origin and his whereabouts from the last few years which came to Aziraphale's surprise. The other file had no photos or documents of any sort but had a single page with only the name filled out on the top. Anthony J. Crowley.
Aziraphale was now fully conscious and was able to lift his head to scan the room. There he was, in the corner of the room was Crowley dressed in torn and dirty black clothes that were two sizes too big for his spindly frame. His hair was fitted into a messy bun and he kept a single lock of hair by his ear like Aziraphale had done the night before. Crowley's head rested against the wall as he rested. Light from the window peaked in for a moment to show Crowley's bruised face and neck. Aziraphale went to stand up to aid his injured demon but saw that he was handcuffed to a chair by his hands as well as his feet. Crowley seemed to be trapped as well in his section of the room. Aziraphale was filled with a burning sensation in his chest and thoughts raced through his head like bees in their hive. His heart beat abnormally fast for him sitting down and his face boiled red. He had never experienced this before. This emotion was foreign to him. This feeling was rage. They had beaten and bruised his beloved and for that he would make sure that they would pay the price. "Crowley wake up." Aziraphale barked. Crowley didn't budge so Aziraphale took other measures. He was able to move his feet just enough to touch one another. He used his left foot to untie his right shoelace and loosen the tie around the tongue. When the shoe became free enough he looked up and took his aim. Aziraphale then flung the shoe across the room just far enough to bop Crowley on the top of his head. Crowley gained consciousness and looked around for what had hit him but then saw Aziraphale in front of him. "Aziraphale, thank...well whoever...you're alive!" Crowley said with a hoarse voice. "Alive? Of course I'm alive! Why wouldn't I be alive. What in the blazings is going on here Crowley?" Crowley gazed at Aziraphale with a solem and defeated look. "Crowley? What happened?" Aziraphale asked in a much softer tone. Crowley tilted his head down in dismay."We are mortal now Aziraphale. I found a note signed by both heaven and hell saying that they have removed our immortality. That meant that the hypnosis ink that I used to get here wore off and that the two of us will...well." The two men met eyes. "Die." Aziraphale finished Crowley's phrase. They both sat in silence as they felt the boat rock back and forth on the small waves of the ocean."We have to survive Crowley." Crowley looked at the chained up Aziraphale who despite his now mortal essence glowed like an angel. "What?" Crowley asked. Aziraphale attempted to scoot his chair forward to get closer to Crowley. "We can live here on Earth together Crowley. We can enjoy living without worrying about paperwork and our bosses. We can grow old together. I know I may be going too fast for you Crowley but I truly believe we can share a life together, because we both know each other's struggle." Crowley was rendered speechless. "I-" Crowley was cut off by the ship officer kicking down the door to the office. He was reading a news paper with the title "The Hellian's Paper". The man slammed the door shut with his boots before giving off a cackle and ripping down the paper from in front of his face. A well groomed Hastur waltzed around the room as gitty as a piggy with slop. "Hey boss! Or should I say mortal scumbag." Hastur let off a wheezing laugh at his own mediocre joke. "Oh boy, now this is torture." Crowley said a drawn out sighing voice. Hastur then stalked across the room and lifted Crowley into a chokehold. "Listen here you slimey slithering runt I can end you now in an instant. So no more sly sassy comments from you eh?" Aziraphale had that new feeling of rage again. "Let go of him you crooked monstrous demonic bastard!" Hastur looked over at the blond haired man and then dropped the gagging Crowley back on the floor. "Well well, I guess this is your little angel puppy that Hell put such a little fuss over. I personally think it is about time we put it out of its misery. Hastur reached over to clench Aziraphale's head but stopped and started to gasp for air. He smeared his hands over the flood of blood that poured from his neck. He collapsed to the ground and slowly sputtered to his death. Crowley stood behind him with a dagger and was wiping it off with a piece of Hastur's shirt. "While that son of a frog was busy choking me I stole his knife." He used the tip of the blade to crack open the lock of the cuffs. When the restraints fell to the ground Crowley offered his hand to Aziraphale. Aziraphale stood up and pulled Crowley into a kiss by his collar. Crowley embraced his lover but then pulled away to say. "Let's go get together a plan."Crowley rustled through the crew deck trying to avoid anyone who could possibly recognize the two whether it be a mortal or an immortal. They finally found refuge in the lavatories and made sure that they were truly alone before locking the door up. The two men were completely out of breath and took a break before brainstorming. "Ok, I was told that the ole H&H wouldn't sink the ship until the last day at sea which is at the end of the week. This gives us time to either A. Help make an evacuation route or B. Try and help prevent the crash." Aziraphale put his palm out to try and summon the light map to then remember that he no longer had that miraculous option. Crowley took that opportunity to take Aziraphale's hand in his. "I never got the chance to reply to you. I want us to survive. I want us to grow old and get to know each other and do the things that we want. To be able to do that though we will have to be strong through this." Aziraphale gave his usual warm smile and stroked Crowley's face on the patch of skin that wasn't forming a bruise. Crowley closed his brown eyes in relaxation. "Ok, let us take this time to plan." Crowley opened his eyes to reveal his yellow thin pupiled eyes. "Oh Crowley your eyes!" Crowley quickly turned and faced the mirror to view the familiar spheres. "Oh no no I thought I got rid of these disgusting ugly bloody things!" Crowley closed his eyes and pressed his eyelids and fell to his knees. "These are was make me hideous. I'm sorry but I can no longer look at you." He began to push in his eyes harder as if to attempt to blind himself. Aziraphale swiftly grabbed his wrists and pulled them away from Crowley's face. "You stop it this instant! Now!" Crowley was startled at the volume and sterness of Aziraphale's voice to which he had never heard before. "Your eyes are beautiful to me because they are yours. They may scare these mortals but they will never scare me." Crowley was touched by Azi's words but still continued to sulk. Aziraphale sighed and then remembered something he alway kept on him. He pulled out a small maroon carry case and gently opened it up. "These are the newest necessity across Europe. A good friend of mine hand crafted them for me but I believe you will have more use out of them." Aziraphale presented the case to which Crowley sat and sputtered. It was a pair of round spectacles with black tinted lenses. "They call them sunglasses because you are able to be out in the sun without squinting. Many have been using them indoors though." Crowley gently picked up the glasses as if it were a injured baby sparrow. He placed them on the bridge of his nose and the handles around his ears. Crowley looked in the mirror and smiled. The lenses fit him like a glove. "This is the best gift I have ever been given Aziraphale. Thank you." He then dove into Aziraphale's arms for a hug. "No need to thank me dear, really." Crowley stood up and looked at Aziraphale through his new eyewear. He and Aziraphale were then jolted across to the left of the bathroom. They ran into the wall and then fell on top of each other. "Oh no." Crowley scrambled to get up. "No no no no no!" Aziraphale held onto the sink and began to pull himself up. "What was that? What's wrong?"Crowley was now sweating while he fumbled to get the lock open."T-that was the iceberg."