Work Text:
Jenseits von Gut und Böse
You will only meet them three times. But they are forever burned in your memories.
The first time you see them, you can see the fire burning in the eyes of the older one and feel the cold radiating from the skin of the younger one. Shadows reach for their father and it seems like you can still smell the faint scent of burned flesh clinging to the broken family before you. When the man asks you what atrocity was done to him, your gaze lingers one the littlest one. The abyss gazes back into you. A second later it is gone. You never mention it once while you tell the father (with the sorrow crushing his righteous heart and the flames of revenge licking on his heels) about the monsters in the dark (you try not to think about the possibility that his son may be one of them).
When you watch them drive away, you can hear the angels whisper and the yellow-eyed demon laughing. You remember the two bright children, one full of flames, the other one engulfed in coldness. And you remember your own little sister, like them full of innocence and you can hear her last words in the wind ‘They will fall in flames and they won’t know what happened to them. Hell will tremble and heaven fall.’
The second time you meet them is twenty-two years later and your dreams have warned you of their arrival. You can hear your sister scream in your head. Nonetheless you let them in. There is something in the house they once called home and you are not ready to tell them what exactly. Their eyes are not as bright as they had once been but you can see kindness in them. While you talk to them, you see flames licking on your body and frost covering the windows. (You ignore it and carry on as you ignore the begging of your sister inside your head.) They are good men and want so badly to save lives but still, you can see the darkness tainting the younger one while the older one is drowning in self-hate (‘Look, big sister, what we learned in school today!’ you remember your sister holding up the picture for you to see. You remember recognizing the scene on it and how your heart started pounding when your sister just stopped, lika a puppet whose string had been cut. ‘One fell for he loved too much, the other one left for he hated himself too much. Look out, for they will return someday and you will be their witness when the end is nearing.’ You remember your little sister, so bright and innocent, looking at you with eyes so full of wisdom. And how she started coughing up blood a second later.) You smile and help them save the little family. When they drive away you think about the words of your sister again and you imagine you can feel the faded painting standing on your nightstand tremble. When you turn around it seems like your shadow is laughing at you and you can feel the presence of another person in your house. You grip the cross in your pocket tight and murmur to yourself, “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angel.’”
You can feel the yellow eyes bore into your back and hear the faint flutter of wings in the air. Without looking back you return inside to face your guest.
The last time you see them is a few days after you felt the last seal being broken. From one moment to the next they are standing before you and you wordless gesture for them to sit down. They do and you take a moment to look at them. Nearly three years ago you saw them for the last time and they are changed men. The cold is spreading from the younger one and his brother is burning from the inside. You know exactly what they want from you. (‘They are strong but they can’t see like you’ your sister told you when you visited her in the hospital. ‘They will come for you and you will have to make a decision.’) Before the younger of the two can open his mouth you shush him. For a moment you look into his eyes and the abyss gazes back into you. Then his brother is touching his arm and you can see the frost melting. A smile is playing on your lips when you turn to the older and behind his eyes you can see the flames reaching out and warming the whole house. You think about your sister and think that she was right. Hell will tremble and heaven will fall but earth will stand tall because two brothers learned about humanity and free will. Calmly you pick up the faded image you had left lying face down on your table and turn it around.
“You are strong but you can’t see. You are not alone in your wish to stop this awful apocalypse, you just have to really look,” and before your eyes they smile and their eyes show understanding and then they are gone with a gust of wind. And with a loud crack the glass covering the painting breaks. You don’t even bother to pick it up and just look out of the window. Maybe you will go and take a stroll through the park.
The day, the apocalypse was canceled was a nice and warm day. The sun shone and the wind played with the leaves when the angels fell from heaven (‘Bastards really have to learn about humanity’ you hear the older one grumble and watch how his most beloved brother laughs and the lost, bitter brother joins in after a moment. The one in the trench-coat just shakes his head with a little smile playing on his lips. You know they want to show you that you were right with your decision and you awake with laughter ringing in your ears) and the gates of hell were locked tightly.
You think your sister would have liked the archangels.