Vincent looked terrified and stumbled backwards, gawking. "What the fuck! How did you--what did you--"
"Oh. I am too late unfortunately."
Startled, the pair spun around. Standing before them was a person. They stood, arms crossed, brow furrowed (though that fact was concealed by a large brown hood), one hand on their chin. Their sudden appearance made Hakan visibly uneasy, and he slipped his hand into Vince's.
"I was hoping to find you both intact," the being muttered more to themselves than either Hakan or Vincent, "but I suppose this will have to do. I do not have time to leave and come back—"
"Excuse me," Vincent boldly interrupted, "but who are you?"
"I am Fate," Fate replied, still clearly lost in his own thoughts.
Hakan blinked his grey eyes a few times. Releasing Vincent's hand, he took a couple steps forward, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, did you say Fate?"
Fate dropped his arms to his side, giving them his full attention now. "Yes."
Hakan let out a high-pitched, strangled laugh.
"We must hurry," Fate implored, holding out his hand, "you must come with me and—"
Vince grabbed Hakan by the wrist and protectively yanked him back. "Go with you? No! We're not going anywhere with you."
Fate sighed. "Why must humans be insufferable sometimes—"
"Can you at least tell us what's going on?" Hakan tried a bit more gently.
"Yes, of course," Fate replied quickly, "I do apologize for my misstep. L.A. has been destroyed by Lucifer, who means to start Armageddon, but I have felt compelled to try and make things right, and—"
Vincent sank to the ground, staring at nothing. "What?"
"Did you say Lucifer?" Hakan asked, his voice going high-pitched again.
"Yes, and we must stop him—"
"What do you mean we?" Vincent demanded, his head snapping up.
"Yeah, what do you expect us to do?" Hakan barked, "I mean, it's not like we can shoot lightening out of our fingers or something—"
Vincent moaned. "Did you really have to make a Star Wars reference right now?"
"The point is," Hakan continued, "you said we. Implying us—Vince and myself."
Fate blinked. "Yes. Now, if you will come with me—"
Vincent flopped onto his back, arms outspread, looking at clear blue sky. "This is a dream. A really bad, stupid dream. I'm not actually dead, L.A. wasn't actually destroyed, and I'm not actually talking with Fate right now."
Now Fate was angry. "I do not have time for this, we must hurry—"
"Okay time out," Hakan said. "Everyone, stop. Let's pretend this is real for a second—"
"It is."
Hakan narrowed his eyes at Fate. "Let's pretend this is real. Why did you think Vince and I could help? We're...normal! We're just two people! I don't understand—"
"Love."
Vincent sat up, his face scrunched up. "Huh?"
"The both of you have the purest love out of anyone on Earth," Fate explained.
Hakan and Vincent looked at one another, surprised by that statement.
"A group of beings has already been collected," Fate continued. "I have amassed everyone who would stand a chance going up against The Morningstar. Most everyone's purpose is to try and overpower Lucifer. But like any good strategy, it needs to be multifaceted.
"The only thing I was missing was logic. Logic and hope. I need you both to try to get through to Lucifer and show him how beautiful and wonderful things on Earth are. I need you to appease his original sensibilities"
Vince got to his feet. "You...want us to talk."
"To Lucifer," Hakan said.
"Well, yes," Fate replied. "I understand Sera would like nothing more than to assault Lucifer up front, but I do not want it to come to that."
Hakan let out another strangled laugh of disbelief.
"Who's Sera?" Vince asked.
"He is the Archangel—" he cut himself off, looking annoyed again, and narrowed his eyes. "You will meet him shortly. We do not have time for this meaningless nonsense."
"It's not meaningless to us!" Hakan argued.
"The point is," Fate said, grinding his teeth, "finding you in this state is actually an advantage. You can now converse with The Morningstar on the spiritual plane. He will be less inclined to rip you limb from limb before allowing you to even speak."
Hakan put a hand to his mouth. "If we could just refrain from talking about getting ripped limb from limb, that'd be great..."
"Oh make no mistake," Fate said, walking up to the pair. He pulled down his hood and honed his gaze on them, "this is extremely dangerous. In fact, this may not even work. All this might be an exercise in futility."
Vince grabbed Hakan's hand.
"However, if we do not try, all of Earth is going to face the same outcome that L.A. has. The both of you are my best chance of someone talking with Lucifer and actually getting through."
Fate extended his hand, not even attempting to disguise his desperation. "Please. I implore you."
Vincent had narrowed his eyes. Normally he would have been cowering at some sort of deity, or trying to worship it. Probably he would have just been shocked into silence smothered in disbelief.
However Vince was, apparently, dead. His husband, dead. They were both ghosts, and the city they knew and loved had been decimated. Furthermore, Armageddon was apparently lurking around the corner.
Vincent didn't know if he was emboldened by being dead, or evidently being thrust into what sounded like a hopeless situation. Regardless the cause, he stared down at Fate.
"Our love isn't the only thing, is it?"
"You both are highly gifted witches, the strongest magical humans in existence currently. The strongest that has existed for centuries, in fact."
Vincent snapped his fingers. "Ah, there it is. Shit."
Hakan and Vince looked at one another. Vincent nervously gnawed on his thumb cuticle. Hakan shrugged. Reluctantly the pair reached out and took Fate's hand. In the blink of an eye they all were gone.
~
"We have to do something!" Sapphire shrieked, no longer caring if she woke up the entire damn apartment complex. "There's always a way! There's always—"
"Hope."
Sapphire slammed her mouth shut. A new lithe voice had drawn both her and Raven's attention. Standing before them was someone in a long brown robe, head and face utterly obscured by a hood.
Sapphire threw herself backwards into her kitchen counter, knuckles white as she clutch it for dear life. "Oh my God, are you Lucifer?"
"Goodness no," the voice from beneath the hood said. The brown material then turned toward Raven. "Might I inquire who you are, demon?"
When he didn't respond, Sapphire spoke for him. "He doesn't have one. I'm calling him Raven because, well, that's what he is."
The hood cocked its head to the side for a moment before responding. "Ah. Very well then." The person turned their body facing Raven. "I have gathered from Sapphire's mind here that you are the demon who provoked Lucifer, correct?"
Sapphire glanced at Raven, who began to wring his hands. "I—yes, I think? I'm not sure. That's what Lucifer told me before he sent me here."
Raven put a palm to his forehead, concentrating. "I remember bits and pieces. There was a fight, I started it, and then more demons started fighting, and more, and more." Raven looked directly into the hood, a single tear coursing down his cheek. "I didn't mean it. There was a riot, that's the best word I think. Everyone was fighting."
Sapphire got the distinct impression whatever was under the hood had raised an eyebrow. The hooded person said, "Everyone?"
"Yes," Raven said. "The demons were fighting demons, the vampires were fighting demons, the tortured sprites had been released were fighting anything that moved, the Hell hounds were ripping into anything they could sink their jaws into—"
The intruder raised a palm for Raven to stop. "How did it stop?"
Raven shuddered. "Lucifer."
"Lucifer?"
"Yes," Raven said, uncertain. "I just remember being surrounded, the clash pushing and pulling. Then suddenly everyone around me started dying, or being flung by an invisible force, and then—"
A pause. "Yes?"
Raven focused his red eyes. "Then Lucifer was there. Directly in front of me. And everything just...stopped."
The hood sighed. "Thank you for recanting this tale. I am uncertain what help you would be, but I feel compelled to bring you along."
Raven's features hardened. "Where?"
A pause, and then, "You do not want the world to end, correct?"
Raven nodded once.
"Then I beseech you, come with me. I am trying to stop this."
When the being held out its hand, and Raven took a step forward, reaching out his own, Sapphire pushed off from the counter. "Wait!"
The pair looked at her.
"I want to come with."
The hood spoke. "You might die, Sapphire."
Sapphire shuddered. "How do you know my name?"
No reply.
"If it really is the end of the world, I'm gonna die anyway. Might as well try to help, right?"
"What would you do, as a mortal?"
Sapphire was suddenly angry. "Look, I'm not leaving Raven, so, if you take him you have to take me!"
There was a heavy sigh. "Fine. We do not have time to argue."
With those words the hooded figure reached out, and the second he held both of their hands they vanished, leaving an empty apartment behind.