❝ Locking your feelings away is 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑒.
It's a misery. Hiding love is a 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑦. ❞
It wouldn't have passed even half an hour after the call, when Aziraphale heard the door open. It was Ophelia, her red hair all messed up. He furrowed his brows, standing with a mug of cocoa. He was just getting ready to get a peek into the book when she arrived. It was strange to him since her shop was more than half an hour away from his, especially in this traffic.
"How did you get here so fast?" questioned Aziraphale, looking confused under his glasses.
"I rode my bike, why?" responded Ophelia, pulling her gloves off as well as taking her coat off. She laid it on a tab nearby. "So why did you need me?"
"Oh yes. The girl from Tadfield-" the angel rushed to his desk, putting the mug down.
"What girl?" Ophelia followed him, leaning against the desk when he sat down.
"The American one. The one who sat beside you." the angel looked up at her as she pulled on her own glasses.
"Oh that one. Sorry."
"Well the American girl left this book in the back of Crowley's car. Must have been on accident. The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter." the angel placed his hands on the book. "I know quite a bit, but was wondering if you might know something more."
"Agnes Nutter. So-called last real witch of England. Died 1612. Bunch of explosives, was a pretty impressive show, actually. But that's as far as my knowledge on her goes." the witch's eyes got glued to the cover of the book. "Never got my hands on the copy."
"Well neither have I. You see, I've got a rather marvellous collection of books on prophecy. You could check them if you like."
"Don't want to." Ophelia wanted to stay on track with the reason why she was there. "Have you opened it, yet?"
"No, you see I was waiting for you to arrive. Thought I could use your help. Two brains are better than one."
"Especially if one is a witch. Now open it."
Ophelia was thrilled to open it despite it not being visible on her pale face. All she wanted to do is have a dive into this book. She had heard plenty of talk about it, through time. Sure after the death of the witch she tried to get her hands on a copy, but it just slipped out of her fingers one too many times.
"What are you doing?" questioned the witch, watching the angel put on a pair of white gloves.
"For protection. Anything could ruin it." answered the angel, who seemed to be far more nervous than her, according to the deep breath he had taken before gently opening the book.
Ophelia watched as he opened the cover and then a white page before getting to the front page. Aziraphale gasped quietly, his breath shaking as he read the title out loud for Ophelia who stood next to him, leaning against the desk with one of her hands. She stared at the page, looking at a drawing in the corner; a woman with red hair and a vast majority of colours surrounding her.
"Do you know what this means?" asked Aziraphale as Ophelia shook her head as confused as he was.
"Could be someone's aura- I'm not sure whose it could be this bright and this- Colourful. Most likely a healer."
"You can't neglect the resemblance is uncanny between the two of you."
"It could be anyone. You never know."
The angel and the witch shared a look; giving each other a sign they should go further into reading the book. Aziraphale was confident enough to open whatever random page he chooses, pulling his head high. The two got closer, having interesting faces while they both studied the page.
"3008. When that the angel readeth these words of mine, in his shoppe of other menne's books, then the final days are certes upon us. Open thine eyes to understand. Open thine eyes and rede, I do say, foolish principalitee, for thy cocoa doth grow cold." read the angel outloud, sharing a confused look with the witch.
"Cocoa doth grow cold?" he repeated himself, before his eyes laid on the cup of cocoa he had prepared himself for some light reading. He gasped in shock as Ophelia looked at the same direction.
"Cocoa doth grow cold!" exclaimed the two at the same time, sharing a look. Both were a bit sceptic of the book at first, but they had to do what she told them in the prophecy.
"Go on. She told you to do it." told Ophelia, pointing out to the facts as Aziraphale nodded, both of their eyes going back at the pages of the book.
"3009. Seven who hold the Scepter shall be killed, only one shall come back as Saint." read Aziraphale the next prophecy, confused by it.
"It could be anyone." Ophelia pointed out, feeling as if it was meant for her. She did feel a rather nervous feeling in her gut.
"It certainly could." the angel went back to the beginning of the book as if it was nothing. Ophelia on the other hand just remembered he probably knew nothing of the whole witch council and other complicated institutions they had. She thought he was lucky not to know, now she had to live with the huge burden of not knowing if she'll be killed or not.
━━
It had been long after Midnight, when the two noticed they were reading a bit too much. Neither of the two really had to sleep, it was more of a personal choice, but they did grow a bit tired of the whole reading part. They moved to a table where they were sipping drinks, having one too many.
"All I'm saying is the egg came first." the witch was passionate about her opinion as the angel furrowed his brows, shaking his head.
"No. Pretty sure the chicken came first." he objected her opinion, very sure she was wrong.
"The chicken! It had to grow out of something, out of a baby chick! And what do baby chicks come from? Eggs!"
"No, Ophelia. God made the chicken first who then laid eggs out of which then came baby chickens!" he argued, taking a sip of his drink. "I would have known if God made eggs first. I'd see it with my own eyes! I saw chickens running around with my own eyes, Ophelia!"
"Yes, but- Hear me out. You might have seen them after they grew out of their eggs. Were you on Earth since day one of creation? No."
"Were you here since day one?" Aziraphale was still in the dark when it came to most of Ophelia's lifetime.
"Do you mind?" questioned Ophelia, pulling out a cigarette on a long '50s holder.
"Not at all." answered Aziraphale, lighting up the cigarette.
"Thanks. When did Adam and Eve leave the garden exactly?" Ophelia seemed to be rather clueless of the number; like any other woman she was scared of the age numbers. She took a long puff of her cigarette.
"Almost 6,000 years?" Aziraphale guessed.
"That much? Damn, I'm old." the witch seemed as surprised by the number as Aziraphale furrowed his brows; his curiosity getting the best of him.
"How come are you so old?"
"You know it is a very silly story. You see, God realized if Adam and Eve are sent away, they must die somehow and go either one of the two paths, as you know. But-" Ophelia chuckled. "There is a gateway you are to pass through from the world of the living to the world of the dead."
"But- But there's nothing written about this in the Holy Bible."
"Of course there isn't darling." Ophelia giggled once again. "Humans can't write about it if they've never been there, can they now?"
"Certainly not. Only Jesus got resurrected and he's back with God."
"Yes, well. Lucky bastard, aye? He never had to stand there. You had to see the things that came out there- The world of the dead."
"Dead souls?"
"The ones that did break out, they did not resemble a dead man's face. You can't imagine the horrors. It's something humans would mistake as a cause of- a nuclear destruction?"
"Chernobyl?"
"Something of that sorts. Children that were born, after Chernobyl could give you a picture of what those creatures looked like." Ophelia had gone full dramatic, remembering it clearly. "Two heads, spikes, horns, scales, no eyes. Something humans today put into horror movies."
"What happened? I am guessing you weren't doing this for- Well- for the dark one."
"Of course not." the witch chuckled again, picking up the glass. "All things mean to fall eventually. You seriously thought Lucifer wasn't going to make his army bigger?"
"You knew him?" Aziraphale was honestly surprised he never heard of all of this. Perhaps even Gabriel didn't know, which would be a huge surprise for him.
"Not personally. But apparently we did run into one another a couple of times."
"Speaking of Lucifer. We should probably touch the subject of our favourite demon." Aziraphale and Ophelia laughed at his suggestion. "What do you think of his driving?" it was the obvious question to ask when it came to Crowley. He was very known for it.
"The speed? What do I think of it? Well, I think it is very romantic." Ophelia went into a fit of giggles as she rested her back against the back of the chair, throwing her head back in laugher.
"You're drunk." Aziraphale pointed out, laughing himself.
"No, no, no..... I might be drunk." Ophelia shook her head, taking a puff of her cigarette, obviously drunk. "But I ain't a liar. I encouraged it- A lot really."
"What can you possibly like about it? It's so reckless and- And well it's very unsafe. It's the easiest source for killing innocent people."
"Yes. That's exactly why it's so fun. You angels, you seem to always have something against fun." remarked Ophelia, holding her cigarette holder high while holding onto her arm with her other hand, dreamily thinking of it. "It was very romantic in its own way. Just the adrenaline of it. You would never understand it."
"No. I don't understand it. Probably won't ever understand it."
"You know, angel. There's no big difference between the two of us." the witch had begun, never going to ever say this to him, until she got that drunk. She played with the glass in her hand.
"Pardon?" it didn't seem to be that clear to the angel what she spoke about.
"Crowley- well he's trying to save his best friend. And his best friend, who happens to be you, my dear Aziraphale, are in love with him. You want to save him. I see that. I understand that. But." she took a sip of her drink. "As I was saying, this demon you are very fond of, happens to be the same one I love. Sounds pretty similar to me."
"Well- I don't know what you're talking about." the angel took a big sip of his drink, trying to look confused. Unlike her, he wasn't that good at lying.
"You can try to hide it, but I am very good at seeing through people... Demons.... Eventually even angels."
"Ophelia, I think you might have had a bit too much." Aziraphale pointed out, pulling the bottle away from her.
"Yes. Yes. You're right. That part with love is so unrealistic." the witch rested her face in her arms as she shut her eyes just for a second.
Aziraphale looked at her, a bit sad for her, though he did not know why. He left the bottle by his side, in any case they might need it again. He felt bad for her, thinking how for all these years she had no one to talk to about this. She was supposed to be evil, wicked, bad, but she seemed to feel all of this love for someone who she wasn't supposed to love.
"You know- At times. I just think how lucky I was- Well how lucky I was that he isn't a human." she pulled her head up, nodding. "Losing him forever would be too hard for me."
"I feel exactly like you do." Aziraphale managed to crack a smile, upon which she laughed with him. For the first time, did he notice honesty in her eyes.
"Well lucky us for having him here to make us know how lucky we are." she kept a smile on her face, her eyes getting teary as the angel reached his hand towards her. "I don't do this. This crying thing? I never actually... Well I'm not supposed to say I did that thing."
"It's fine. For humans, it is fine to cry. If they don't, they get all broken down at some point. It's your feelings. You've got to express them somehow."
"That's the problem. I'm not supposed to have them. Feelings. They're here just to hamper with your business."
"Ophelia, it's okay to love. If we do not love, we end up being machines. We end up being- Well we end up being weapons. Weapons of heaven or hell or whatever you are loyal to." Aziraphale's own feelings on love were finally coming out. "What I've learnt from living for so long- Which I am sure you have too. Is that the greatest of loves come from strongest of people, with the most complex backgrounds, who are able to go through all of God's obstacles and still have the same love for each other from the day their eyes first set on one another."
"You're just telling me this because you feel bad for me. It's what you angels are supposed to do." Ophelia thought she saw through his act.
"No. I'm saying this because I believe it. Amongst all things, I believe in true love. I believe we should feel love." Aziraphale nodded, speaking from his heart. "When I think about it, how strong is love when it makes a witch, someone who isn't supposed to have a heart, a source of pure evil, fall into love with a demon, someone who is supposed to make humans do evil? I think it is very strong, my dear. Very strong indeed."
If she was not selfish, Ophelia would have returned the speech, but she was not well with words either. Instead, she stood up, taking a puff of her cigarette while walking back to the book.
"Let's go back to work. We have a whole book to read." declared Ophelia, putting her reading glasses on again.
Aziraphale nodded, seeing through her as if she was made out of glass. She was vulnerable when it came to feelings since she didn't know how to control them. Like every human, she was scared of the unknown. She was too predictable.
━━
Ophelia was slowly starting to turn mad from all the words and letter, walking back and forth around the shop while Aziraphale would read the book out loud so she would be able to hear it. The witch was never able to do the same thing for hours.
The two shared a look upon the telephone ringing next to the angel's desk. He picked it up immediately, being so kind not to want to disturb the person by not picking up.
"Any news? Found the missing Antichrist yet?" asked Crowley from the other side of the line.
"No. No news. Nothing at all. If I had anything I would tell you." answered the angel as the witch ran up to him. "Obviously. Immediately. We're friends. Why would you even ask?"
"Oh, there's no news here either." declared Crowley. "Call me if you find anything."
"Is that Crowley?" asked Ophelia as Aziraphale waved his hand, wanting to shut her up.
"Ophelia?" Crowley managed to pick out the background sound.
"Absolutely I'll call you as soon as I find anything! Why would you think I wouldn't?" replied the nervous angel, hanging up the telephone.
"Was that absolutely necessary?" questioned the disappointed angel the witch who was collecting her stuff.
"Look I've got to bounce. I've got to open the shop in half an hour." Ophelia pulled her coat on as Aziraphale nodded, pushing himself up from his seat.
"Let me help you out."
The angel followed the witch out, wanting to be nice to her since she was his guest. He was always nice to his guests and customers. He watched as she replaced her reading glasses with her goggles, afterwards pulling on her black leather gloves.
"You'll call as soon as you find anything?" she suggested, standing at the steps to the entrance as Aziraphale nodded.
"You'll be the first one to know." he assured her, trying to figure out if it was the witch or the demon, he trusted more. "You know you're a lot like him."
"You're not the first to tell me that." the witch walked up to a 1950s motorbike parked in front of the shop, taking the helmet which was rested on the seat.
"You came by a motorbike?" the angel was shocked. Crowley did mention yesterday she rode motorbikes in the past, but he, of course, did not take him that seriously.
"Yeah?" she furrowed her brows at the angel, getting on the bike. "I told you I came by a bike. Brooms have been out of fashion for the past century or two."
"I thought you meant bicycle!" he stuttered in shock. Was she really going to go back to Westminster on a 1950s motorbike? He could certainly see a similarity of love for vintage vehicles between the demon and the witch.
"Oh don't be funny, angel." she laughed, strapping her helmet on before riding down the street.
The angel gave her a wave, seeming not to receive one back. "It was for the better." he thought. "She could have crashed if she gave me one back."
━━
Ophelia had gone back to her shop, only to find it opened with early customers going around. She shook her head, knowing completely it had been a result of yet another witty grand plan by Pandora.
She went to park her bike before going inside through the back door. She pulled her gloves off, going to change them for her gardening ones and maybe go upstairs to have a quick change in clothes. She didn't suspect Crowley and Aziraphale to come running to her door anytime soon considering how fast their research for the boy was going.
"There's a telephone for you!" announced Pandora, peeking her head into the back room with a smile before she went back to the shop, probably going to pull another trickery on humans, perhaps her last. "It's some guy named Aziraphale. Is that your boyfriend?"
"Not even close." answered the redhead, pulling her coat off and placing it on a hanger, revealing her black turtleneck.
"Already miss me?" she picked the resting telephone up, hoping Aziraphale had news.
"I found the boy, Ophelia!" declared Aziraphale shouting. He was out of his mind, in shock. He could barely breath.
"Lower yourself down." suggested Ophelia as she had a glance to the shop, making sure her sister wasn't close before shutting the door. "How?"
"When you left I went back to reading the book- And. And- I stumbled upon this telephone number-"
"Telephone number?"
"Yes, telephone number. I called. The Lesser beast- I presume the hound. It walked on its hind legs!"
"So the hound found him?" Ophelia placed her left hand underneath her right arm, leaning back against a table.
"Yes! I think so."
"If you've got the number then call them back." the witch once again gave him the obvious answer as Aziraphale grew confused; surprised he hadn't thought of it himself.
"But, what should I tell them?"
"I don't know. Lie to them. Tell them you're trying to sell them some shit."
"No! No! I can't! I can't lie!"
"Fine." groaned Ophelia. "I can. Give me the number, angel."
"So it is your boyfriend." Pandora stood at Ophelia's side, leaning against the wall, her arms across her chest. She smirked at her sister, thinking she had her.
"For Satan's sake no! That's disgusting." replied Ophelia, hanging up the telephone. "We're just friends. It's the pet names we use for one another."
"Yeah sure." her sister could see through her as if she was made out of glass. "I just hope it's nothing too dangerous. And also not the person I warned you about."
"No. Of course not." Ophelia had grown nervous. She knew her sister could see through her. "Anyways I've got to go. Change. That's what I meant. I've gotta go change m'clothes."
"You do you." chuckled Pandora before leaving the redhead alone. She could pick up the sound of her banging her head against the wall. She was quite suspicious of her sister's plans, luckily she was there to stop her.