Chapter Text
It was a rare moment when Aziraphale got called into a meeting. He wasn’t a high ranking angel, but he wasn’t a low ranking one either. So meetings weren’t completely out of the question, but they were still rare.
Once he got there, he realized a majority of the angels his rank or higher were there. There was an Archangel in the middle, looking around, scared, confused. Aziraphale recognized them, they were that angel that created the universe with him.
He heard a loud voice, the Metatron. He spoke angrily, like a parent scolding their child.
”Kokabiel. You disobeyed me. You questioned my authority and you questioned my plan. And for that you shall fall.”
Kokabiel yelled no over and over until a hole opened up beneath him. He fell. As his screams echoed heaven’s empty walls, the Metatron spoke.
”And shall all others who watch this take this as a warning to never question the ineffable plan.”
Aziraphale watched in horror. He didn’t understand anything the Metatron said except for the angel’s name. Kokabiel. Without thinking, he felt his body moving, walking through the crowd, then running, then falling. He heard the others gasp at his actions. Though it was drowned out by Kokabiel’s screams. He couldn’t think, all he knew was that he had to get to the angel (?)
Then, the pain hit. His wings started burning, not too bad though, he was able to tolerate it. He flapped them to catch up to Kokabiel. He eventually reached the angel and held his shoulders. Kokabiel opened his eyes for the first time since he started falling.
“A..Aziraphale..?”
His voice was hoarse from screaming. His eyes watering from the pain. Aziraphale spoke back, his voice quivering.
“Yes. I…I couldn’t just let you fall alone…”
It had been said by Hesiod that if a bronze anvil fell from the heavens to the earth, it would take nine days. And if that same anvil fell from the earth to Tartarus, it would also take 9 days. That meant that if something fell from the heavens to Tartarus, it would take 18 days. This, was correct. If you replaced a bronze anvil with two angels, you would get that same calculation. Although, you would not reach Tartarus, but rather Hell.
As an Angel falls, their pain would alter. First, their pain would be mild. It would simply feel like your feathers and skin were being pulled off by the speed of the descent. It would sting yes, but you weren’t in extreme pain. As you got closer to earth, the more pain you went through, your skin would go numb and some feathers would start to tear off. Your body might get a thin outer layer of fire as you fell depending on your mass. As you started down from earth to hell, no matter your mass, your body would get hotter and hotter. And feathers would start to burn. All until you fell into the sulfur pit at the bottom.
The angels hugged as they fell, hoping the other’s embrace would distract them from the pain, the embarrassment, and the thought of the impact soon to come.
As the two fell, they slowly got into more and more pain until they couldn’t think of anything else. As they landed into the pit, they writhed. Their wings burnt, their bodies boiled and they were slowed by the thick sulfur.
Kokabiel got out first, his thinner stature allowing him to get out faster. He collapsed on the ground, his burnt wings spread out beside him. His eyes watered from both the smell and the pain.
It took Aziraphale longer to get out. Almost an hour, he fell in head first. Due to the impact, his head pounded and his mind was foggy. He couldn’t tell up from down, left from right, and the cool undertone of the burn from the cold of the air, as he got out his entire body was covered in the sulfur, his wings a deep black that would never fade no matter how hard the would try. His eyes also watered from the pain, and smell. He had screamed when he hit his head. He coughed out some sulfur that burnt his mouth and throat.
He opened his eyes to see Kokabiel beside him. Despite the pain he was in, he agonizingly managed to reach his hand over to Kokabiel’s. Kokabiel simply held it.They didn’t speak much, they simply laid there, their mutual company all that they needed.