lt_safe_house | Crimson Moon, Fallen Stars

Date: June 5th, after sunset
Location: Behind the manor
Status: Private (Raphael, Lucifer) - COMPLETE
Summary: It had been a while since Raphael had seen his older brother. Maybe he could ask a favor as well.

Crimson Moon, Fallen Stars

It wasn't like the one in the book, but it was beautiful nonetheless. The hilt was simple but had a green rhinestone on it and a little leaf design carved into the blade.

Yes, it was beautiful. But...

Gabriel... He had been so upset, so angry. And yet Raphael had snapped at him. Granted, the Messenger had legit concerns -the last time Raphael had a weapon he had cut away his wings. But the gentle Healer wasn't like that, not anymore. Such destructive thoughts had no place with him in his mind.

But he wanted a cursed blade. It was like his cross to bear, a source of power that balanced the celestial within him. He could have light and dark and learn to weild both. And if they do come for him...

He shook his head. No. No more fearing for Gabriel's death. I want them to let me stand on my own, I must do the same.

Raphael looked up, seeing his home as he padded down the sidewalk. Instead of going in, he went around the beautiful building and to the back, right at the timberline. Maybe...

He hadn't seen Lucifer since his dinner party. Maybe if he asked nicely he'd even curse his new dagger for him. But how to call him?

"Hey, Lucifer? It's me, Raphael!" He looked around. Hmm.

((•))

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"Well, see, I had one before, but Gabriel had it destroyed. He had a good reason for it, he did, but now I need another one to replace it." He held it in his fingers for him to see. "Please? I would be happy to repay you?"

Repay him? Now that sounded tempting. Now wait a moment.

"Raphael," Lucifer pointed out in a tone that was half-amused, half-wary, "May I remind you that I am the tempter in our family? Don't try to do my job."

He reached for the blade. "What would an angel do with a cursed blade anyway? They're not precisely down your line of usual work. Unless you want it to practice destroying stuff, and in that case, I'm not interested in wasting a perfectly good curse on it."

"Lucifer, I'm not..." His cheeks began to color. He didn't now what to say, really. Yes, he would allow Gabriel to fight his own battles but... "It had been mine," the angel said quietly. "I pulled it from his body. I didn't want it to happen to him and I made the wrong assumptions about how to keep it from happening." Raphael looked up at him. "But it was still mine. It did not change the fact that I need to be able to protect my family. Because you are the Tempter and even though I see you as my brother and I love you, it does not change the fact that we are still fighting a war against each other."

Slowly inhaling, he continued. "I need it, Lucifer. I couldn't get Gabriel to understand and maybe nobody will, but it had been a part of me. A part of my subconsious that manifested that night. I want to be able to wield the dark power. Because you can't fight in the dark without seeing your battleground in the day."

He let him take it. "I realize I am asking you to give a weapon to your enemy, but as my brother, I ask you to please grant me this. As my brother. And I will do something for you. Please."

"You're hopeless, Raphael," Lucifer said, grinning, at the angel's mention of loving him. "You must be the only creature in this world that would proclaim to love me."

He plucked the dagger from Raphael's hands and turned it over in his own. "Were you thinking of some specific curse?"

Raphael would have been hurt by that, being called hopeless, but at this point the angel was beyond words affecting him.

If you manage to hack off another limb, try not to make a mess...

He made a face, cheeks burning again. Gabriel had a right to be angry. If Raphael wanted to prove he was well, then he would.

"Nothing in particular," he shrugged. Then he raised an eyebrow. "But my payment will be equal to the amount of power you put into it."

"Young one," Lucifer said, "You just bought yourself one hell of a curse."

He held out his hand to the angel. "Deal?"

"Then I will pay it in full," he said. He reached over and clasped his hand. "I promise."

Lucifer squeezed the angel's hand slightly, then let go. He hummed to himself as he decided on a curse to put on the dagger that was still resting against his palm.

"It's yours," he said smoothly. "I bind it to you.

Then, without warning, his other hand shot out to lie against Raphael's left wing.

"A mark," he announced. "As a reminder of our deal. I will call in the favor you owe me in time."

Under his hand, feathers darkened in an intricate pattern, Raphael's other wing mirroring the pattern even though he did not touch there. Neither did he need to. The touching part was solely intended to disconcert the angel.

Raphael stiffened when he felt Lucifer touch his tiny new wings which... were not so tiny anymore. He could actually feel them growing. The free one flailed and he snapped his head around. Where before he could not reach them, now they were able to curl around his shoulder.

And it burned. But he would not, could not and absolutely refused to show any signs of weakness. He was the Archangel Raphael, the Third in the Host. He had made a deal with the Devil -literally- and he would accept the pain as one in his level of leadership. It was as if an electrical storm surged inside of him, the infernal and the celestial at war. The pain was great but he merely stood firm in his resolve, gaze on his brother, without so much as a whimper.

"There," Lucifer said. "It's done."

If he was disappointed at Raphael's lack of reaction, he did not let it show.

He handed back the dagger, politely, hilt first.

"It won't turn against me, so don't even try."

He almost wished he could stick around to watch how being bound to a blade cursed by the very Devil would affect the angel. In any case he should not be able to remove himself more than a few meters from the dagger without being severely weakened or sickened by it. It was rather difficult to try it without alerting Raphael too early. He rather liked the idea of it being a surprise.

"Now, if you don't need me for anything else, I'll excuse myself. I have some other matters to see to as well."

"I wouldn't try," he rasped. "Turning on you with it." Raphael accepted the blade, feeling the infernal energy in its pulse. JUst as when Lucifer marked him, he could feel the electricity against his fingertips.

The jewel had changed color, now a red the color of the flames itself, as if it had been cut from the Lake of Fire, swirling in an oval-shaped containment. "Thank you," he said, his voice more clear and strong. He slipped the blade into the small of his back, tucking it into the sheath and knowing full well it was leaving that triangular mark at his spine. Ah well, sacrifices.

"That's all, unless you would like to get some dinner? The spaghetti here is wonderful." His eyes shone happily, as if he were addressing someone other than the Devil himself.

"Another time," Lucifer said. "Now, don't you try to hide from me to get out of the bargain. It wouldn't work, you know. I'll see you around."

With that, he turned and walked into the trees, gradually becoming transparent and vanishing as he did so. That, too, wasn't strictly speaking necessary, but he rather liked the effect.

"I wouldn't do that, you know you can see me anytime you... oh." His brother was already gone. Oh well. He had hoped for a last hug.

Turning, he rustled his feathers and moved to return to the manor.

Crimson Moon, Fallen Stars

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