They entered the room with the rest of the demons and soon found themselves crammed and crushed against each other. The air was heavy because of all those demons piled up in the room. From where the three of them were, they could clearly see the throne, which at the time was empty and immediately did not pay attention to it. Around that point there was an empty space that allowed the passage between the throne and the entrance. Suddenly the demon Hastur made his way among his fellow men, pushing them and cursing them. He came out of the crowd right in front of the throne and yelled "Silence! Quiet! Make way for Beelzebub!" everyone moved like a single person and opened a passage in which the Duke of the Underworld walked and arrived at the throne and sat down. Behind him walked his court which included the commander of his legion, his guards and the new demon counselor. He sat down calmly and looked at the crowd. "It's been a hard day for us, I know it. Now we have to start working again, get stronger! We must prepare for the new Apocalypse and this time we will be ready. Everyone will be assigned..." It was at that moment that Anatema let the little amulet that was shaking in her hands hang, and her nightmare came true. It pointed straight at the throne, and it was at that moment that she saw it that a fragment of glass was embedded in the backrest and reflected the light dimly. She turned to his companions and pulled them by the sleeves, the two stopped looking at the room in search of some safe and looked at where the witch was pointing. Aziraphale opened his eyes and stared at the piece, his now demonic face reflected his thoughts with an expression of pure panic. How would they have taken the fragment?
Crowley read into the angel's eyes what he was thinking, and he was right. How could they move in a room full of demons? He had to calm down. He couldn't panic, not right now. It took a diversion, or rather, it took a miracle to catch him. Just like a snake or... An angel. An angel would have attracted enough attention. It would have worked. Yes, an angel would cause enough bustle to do what he had to and then he would have fun and then they didn't have much time they didn't know exactly how much the door would stay open.
Belzebub continued his speech, tried to give new strength to his army that now rejoiced at every sentence and moved in unison captured by the words of the demon that now went back and forth programming the new apocalypse and announcing a new member who would lead the armies. He moved to the side to advance next to him the small demon who was standing beahind. Aziraphale felt a grip on her stomach. Something about that demon wasn't right, he felt it inside him. That feeling he felt, as he looked at him, told him that he should fear that little demon more than anyone else. As he watched him, he was sure that the demon smiled at him, even if only for a moment, and it was a terrifying instant. The touch of his demon brought him back to the present.
Crowley got between the two of them and explained the plan out loud. He didn't give them time to stop him, even to prepare, fight back or simply breathe. Suddenly Aziraphale was watching a version of himself smiling at him kindly. Crowley stood up with a flutter of wings over the crowd of demons that suddenly exploded in a roar of anger, all cursed and ran aimlessly. The horde of demons broke, Beelzebub stood on his throne and began to scream like a young girl in panic. Hastur threw himself to the ground and crawled away into a hole behind him. It was total chaos. Crowley laughed and pretended to hit Beelzebub, who ended up on the ground and screamed even louder. The little demon instead screamed, "We're more than him! Let's get him! Take the angel!"
Risengard really thought Crolwey was a funny guy. He didn't see that coming. He looked around at those stupid demons who pushed themselves screaming, escaped in a thousand directions without even noticing the cheat. They had not felt the power of the miracle that the former angel had performed. He always liked that even when they were in paradise, and certainly had a talent for creating stars. But they weren't on the same side now. It was time to play. It was an open war. He got up in the crowd and took control.
All the demons stopped suddenly and began to organize to hunt him down. Some opened their wings and stood up to chase him. "The fun begins" laughed fiercely Crolwey. The first demon that approached was sent directly against one of the columns that broke into a thousand pieces. Anatema and Aziraphale ran to get to the throne and the angel stopped when he saw how his demon could really be. Despite everything, he kept seeing him. He saw his demon and he didn't even remember the last time he saw him like that. Now he felt his anger for all that they had done to him, for what he was and for what he could no longer be. He felt the desperation and the desire to fight. The former angel laughed ferociously when he threw another demon to the ground and turned and slipped into the first tunnel he saw dragging behind him the hellish horde that cried out for revenge. The floor was shaking and the fierce screams were rumbling around every corner. Suddenly only the witch remained and Aziraphale in the big hall were all too busy trying to kill Crolwey.
"Aziraphale! Move we have to take what we need and get back to the door!" she pulled it to the throne and they both turned around just to find the Beelzebub right in front of them. The angel appeared before the witch and tried to look as scary as possible." You two!Guard the throne of Beelzebub if that angel comes back, stop him!" For a second they both forgot what they were. "Yes... your... royalty," Aziraphale said, stumbling between the words. The demon tried to regain some of his dignity and went into the tunnel where everyone else had gone. Immediately they ventured on the throne, to take the fragment of the mirror they began to tear it to pieces, because with horror they discovered that it was almost merged with the rest. Aziraphale taken by frustration with an anger that said between us, just did not belong, took the throne and lift it over his head to throw it to the ground making it completely to shreds. The witch was stunned but little cared at that time, she began to search furiously between the pieces and eventually turned victorious holding in her hands the piece so longed for.
"What a fack?!" screamed Beelzebub upset "my throne! You... you... Catch them!" a group of demons emerged from the tunnel behind him and began to run towards them. Angel and witch looked each other in the eyes for a moment, turned around and ran like never before. The first opening they saw was their own, they jumped into it and kept running without even looking back. Suddenly Aziraphale grabbed the witch and pushed her into a side tunnel. "What the hell are you doing?"
"We can't run without knowing where we're going, we need a little miracle to find the way" said the angel who closed his eyes for a moment, trying to concentrate and expressed a miracle. Suddenly the road to follow seemed obvious to both of them and they began to run through the tunnel just in time because the demons noticed their presence. They growled and drooled like rabid dogs, cursing and insulting them in every possible way. They had ventured so ferociously into the entrance that for a moment they got stuck and gave the two of them time to flee. They crossed so many passages that they lost count of it, Anatema just wanted to return to her Newt and stop that stupid end of the world, and Aziraphale. Poor our sweet angel. He thought about Crowley, he didn't care about having taken the piece he just wanted to find his partner and get out of hell.
From the corridors next to them began to come other cries, horrible sounds of broken and crashing bones that made the walls tremble. The angel found them comforting, they meant Crowley was close.
They both felt it right away, fresh air. "Here we go! Here we go! We're at the door!" They came out at the entrance to the tunnel they came from. Suddenly they heard each other grasping and lifting, Crowley was taking them as fast as possible to the now clearly visible exit. The horde of demons was lying in the tunnel, trampling on each other, injuring each other, but none of them cared at all. They were almost there. They were just a few steps away from the door when they heard each other tug down and crashed on the floor. They crashed hard. They had all regained their appearance and this only made the situation worse. At the head of the demons Hastur yelled with anger his face twisted into an expression of pure joy, he had them in his hand. Even before Aziraphale and the witch could get back on their feet, Crolwey was already facing the crowd. He opened his big wings and struck with all the strength he had by slowing down the horde for a second, turned around and grabbed them once more but this time he threw them with all the force he had through the passage just when he was being dragged to the ground. They heard the sound of his glasses falling to the ground and breaking, screams and horrible noises invaded the air. They flew through the passage and crashed into the hard floor on the other side. Newt began to shoot relentlessly over the portal trying to create an opening for Crowley to escape, the demon managed to hover in the air and headed towards them but the demons were too many. He look at the face of his angel and he spoke the words. The portal began to close.
All three screamed his name in unison, the portal was too small for him to pass. Aziraphale closed her eyes, Anatema threw herself into the arms of her boyfriend and burst into tears. With one last sound the portal disappeared and the old, dusty tapestry appeared again.
Aziraphale didn't open his eyes, only one tear fell. At that moment he just wanted to disappear, the silence was interrupted only by the hiccups of Anatema that kept the fragment of glass so tight that it was cut. Suddenly the angel heard something wrap around his arm, frightened he jumped up. He felt nothing but joy. Around his arm the snake of the even of wrapped tightly. He was bleeding and battered, but he was there. Hissing crawled on the floor and turned back into the usual Crolwey only with a few more dents. "Don't look at me like that angel... I had to or I wouldn't have passed" I said with all the tranquility of the world and smiled at him. Aziraphale was carried away by the moment and hugged him hard leaving the demon even more upset, and detached embarrassed.