An Angel’s Road to Hell

Cassandra Pendragon

“I wish I didn’t,” I huffed. “Unfortunately I do. More than you can imagine. Fine. So, what’s the plan? The celibate penguins won’t fall for your womanly wiles.”

“Maybe not,” Anna replied with a charming smile, “but they’re greedy and I’ve just donated a few million. To be handed over in person to the Camerlengo. Don’t worry, someone will be waiting for us at the gate, ready to show us around. The church isn’t different from any organisation in that regard. It just needs more to excite them.”

“And if you rub them the wrong way, they won’t pout but rather call for a crusade. Or the inquisition. They’re still around and kicking, you know. The inquisition. Are you sure you want to mess with them? They can as easily reach you in the States as they can in Rome.” Laughter was the only response. Admittedly, considering they had been taught by me, they were already heretics in the truest sense of the word. As far as I was concerned, that constituted a reason to not get within a hundred miles of the Holy City, but apparently they disagreed. Wholeheartedly. Just as well, if I had been on my own I would have been forced to lurk in the shadows or simply kick down the front door which would have been another illustrious example of how despicable the Devil truly was. No one knew what I had buried deep underneath the hallowed ground after all.

The rest of the trip was filled with merry chatter I didn’t partake in. A new boyfriend or their planned trip to Greece was, at the most, marginally interesting, even though I was tempted to warn them about the ruins of Delphi. But then again, pain and struggle, more often than not, were the best teachers and I’d probably be there as well. I had always been a firm believer in applied lessons and facing an ancient, arcane serpent would do wonders for their growth. As powerful as they had become they wouldn’t die and everything else could be dealt with afterwards. Consequentially I used the time to fiddle with my appearance. I had a few blueprints at the ready but for the life of me I couldn’t remember which ones I had already used when dealing with the church and presenting my own face at the entrance was out of the question. It had taken the girls a few years to stop blushing whenever they saw me and that was without even considering that there probably were some murals in the catacombs that showed my real face.

When my students realise what I was up to they ceased their blabbering and instead opted to provide me with some crucial insights, most centred around turning me into either a boy group singer or a distinguished gentlemen from the Victorian age. I do paraphrase, but the result would have been close enough to warrant the comparison. If I had listened, that is. Instead I turned myself into the epitome of a butler. Thin and tall, immaculately dressed and groomed with a subservient demeanour. As far as disguises went it was a damned good one, if I do say so myself. Aside from my family there was no one who’d take me for anything but the loyal lapdog. Unfortunately my entourage were still too young to properly hide their feelings and since they, more often than not, waited for me to make a decision no one with half a brain would be fooled for longer than a few minutes. Another reason why I preferred to work alone. Sighing, I reworked my body again. Maybe I was overly paranoid but I didn’t intend to invite more scrutiny than necessary, since I basically planned on breaking into the vaults. Preferably without alerting the guards, mundane and supernatural ones alike.

In the end I swallowed my pride and actually followed their advice, turning into a tall, middle aged man with a cane. A square jaw line and black hair, peppered with grey, gave me some gravitas and a rich, eccentric bon vivant, out and about to impress his collection of pretty faces was much more in line with our natural dynamics. Aside from the strict no touching policy I had religiously employed ever since one or the other had try to come onto me, mostly when they had been euphoric from a breakthrough they had thought impossible before.

When the Castel Sant’Angelo flashed past us in an impressive display of grace and strength I called it a day, even though my beard was itching. Usually I didn’t wear one and the sensation wasn’t particularly pleasant. Ah well, it wouldn’t take much to disguise my scratching as a meditative gesture. “That should do,” I finally muttered and put an end to the lively discussion about whether or not I looked like the handsome brother of an actor I had never even heard of before. “We’re nearly there. Once we’re through the gate, I’ll make myself scarce as soon as possible. You’re not coming with me, not this time. I want you to leave when I’m gone and make sure someone sees you on the way out.”

“Should we wait for you,” Anna asked.

“No. Spend the night at the opera or some other public place and board your flight in the morning. I’ll see you in Athens at the latest.”

“And if you don’t,” Nancy asked quietly.

“Are you worried?” I couldn’t help but smirk. “Don’t be.”

“A well aimed stone can end the greatest mage,” Vivian mumbled. “Your own words.”

“I know what I said but I’m no mage. I’m not even human. Except for our first, unfortunate encounter you’ve never seen anything but a measly shadow of what I truly am. And you shouldn’t wish to, with your awakened senses you probably wouldn’t survive.” I massaged the bridge of my nose before I continued, the warmth in my voice contradicting my words: “I appreciate your concern, I truly do, but it’s no different from fretting over the sun or the stars. If I should truly run into trouble the last thing I’d want is to have you around. You’ve come a long way but you’re still…”

“Mortal,” Anna finished the sentence dejectedly. “No need to remind us. We know we can’t help you in any meaningful way but we still have the right to care, don’t we?”

“The right? Of course. But you shouldn’t.” I took a deep, calming breath before I added: “I’ve never told you but this life, my life, it’s coming to an end. I don’t know how long it’s going to take but one day soon I’ll have to change. If you truly want to burden yourself with the games of immortals, worry, care for her. She might yet profit from it. I won’t.” Watching their expressions change was fun in its own way until I realised that they truly liked me. They were… sad, something I hadn’t expected, truth be told. Then again, after Aurora had left me behind I hadn’t really payed much attention anymore.

I could smell their growing fear, hear their unvoiced denial but before I even had the time to console them Cecilia, the half cherub, blurted out: “her? Do you mean…” Right. Of course. That’s the most important bit. Humans and their weird priorities. The tails were the real problem.

I nodded. “Not only that, I’ll even turn into a different race. None you’ve seen before,” I added before they could ask. “I can show you, if you want me to.” Funny, really, how they could switch from frightened friends to exuberant fangirls in the blink of an eye but the few minutes we still had, until the car slowed down near the entrance to the Vatican, were filled with them fawning over the illusion of a young kitsune I had conjured from thin air. I really tried to keep a distant facade but the praise they heaped on a creature that wasn’t even born yet almost had me blushing. And I also came away with the distinct impression that their… orientation wasn’t as set in stone as they had led me to believe. Straight as an arrow my ass. But that was something Cassandra would have to deal with herself, if she ever managed to reach earth.

A short while later I leisurely strolled towards an impressive, gaudy altar, the echos of my cane hitting polished marble the only sound in the empty church. The air smelled of dust and age, the intricate frescos, depicting scenes from the bible, almost invisible in the tainted moonlight, flowing through painted windows, made me feel like I was being watched. Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t get the image of seven retreating backs out of my mind. I wondered how often I’d see them again, at least with this old face, and whether or not they’d somehow be linked to what I was about to do. Best to not get caught then. It’d make everything so much easier. I didn’t exactly mind a tussle with the church but I wasn’t keen on pulling my students into a conflict they weren’t yet equipped for. Unfortunately I didn’t have much of a choice when it came to my plans.

My goal was simple. I knew I’d die and it’d take years for me to get anywhere near my current power. I had kept Earth safe from my family and its own little problems, but I wouldn’t be able to do so in the future. Which meant I had to make sure that none of my so called relatives would accidentally sniff around. If they did and I wasn’t there to distract them, they were bound to find the wards I had erected underneath the Holy City. Another irony. The main reason why nothing supernatural could ever hope to infiltrate the Vatican was the Devil himself. Oh, how the higher ups would curse if they ever found out, but I wouldn’t be the one to tell them. As amusing as it’d be, the risk wasn’t worth it.

Still deep in though I arrived in front of the towering slab of stone and gold, decorated with masterfully crafted reliefs of smiling angels and rejoicing humans. The youthful, almost chubby faces of the heavenly servants weren’t in any way similar to how we actually looked but from time to time I quite liked to imagine that they were somehow based on what we were supposed to be. Distant guardians, watching over mortals without an agenda of their own. Unfortunately we were about as far removed from that naive description as could be possible. If anything we were much closer to the fallen followers of Lucifer, rejecting their duty to revel in their own, unopposed power. Most of us, that is. Some still tried which had led a dead angel walking to kneel before a monument of the very thing he had fought against for most of his life. Not faith, mind you, but the blind obedience the church demanded wasn’t my cup of tea. Dogma of infallibility, I ask you. What utter nonsense. If there was anything infallible in the cosmos it was the persistence of mistakes. Man fails for as long as he aspires. Absolute truth was the realm of… well, god. If there even was one. Personally I would have liked to believe in something bigger, something to validate our suffering, our strive, our failures, but I didn’t know. No one did.

“In the name of the father, open this door,” I commanded, the syllables of the heavenly language heavy and almost bitter on my tongue. The phrase itself I had chosen deliberately. When in Rome…

The altar became translucent before it shimmered out of existence entirely. A dark, winding staircase appeared, similar to the gaping maw of a vile beast, but even the impenetrable darkness couldn’t disguise the flickering light, enticing me with the promise of warmth, peace and the memory of a towering, black dragoness. How long had it been? Aeons, but I still remembered her. How could I not, her presence was what kept me going, what had allowed me to live. Ancalagon’s child was still safe and sound within my core but the last time I had seen, I had felt her, I had held the jewel, waiting at the bottom of the stairs, in my hand and I had made my family cower. A feat I was sorely tempted to repeat, but I couldn’t risk it. Should I fail, everything would be lost and despite the promise of power I didn’t believe that I’d be able to face angels and demons alike. Not without the ring and it was beyond my grasp. At least for now. No, I wasn’t going to claim the Gem of Eternity again, but I would use it to seal this planet. Until, one day, I would return. Preferably with less baggage and a bit more hope but that wasn’t up to me. That’d be up to her.

The morning sun warmed my face while I enjoyed a cup of cappuccino on the banks of the Tiber. I’d still have the time to reach the airport but I wasn’t overly keen on spending a few hours in an airplane. I would catch up with the girls once they were going to land and until then I was going to enjoy a few peaceful hours without hiding, without running. The night had gone much better than I had expected and my work had been done without bloodshed, screaming or flying body parts. It had to be a first, at least I couldn’t remember ever leaving Rome without a trail of corpses in my wake.

I closed my eyes and relished in the exquisite scent of freshly ground coffee beans, gelato and gasoline. Morning traffic was still a bust and the bluish grey clouds of smoke, wafting around the piazza, were as deeply ingrained into the city as the ancient churches and history laden monuments. In a way it was still progress, considering that I had been forced to inhale the lovely odour of manure and human fecies a few hundred years ago.

“Le tue uova, signor,” a waiter interrupted my musings. With a grateful nod I accepted the steaming plate filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, tomatoes, freshly baked bread and several cream cheeses.

“Gracie, tenga il resto.” He scurried off, happily grasping the 20 Euro bill as if it was his firstborn. Probably a student. They were always pressed for money. With a shrug I drowned out the flood of impressions my senses provided and tucked in, savouring every mouthful. At least until an aggressively sweet perfume and the shapely shadow of a well endowed woman broke my concentration. For a moment I toyed with the idea of simply ignoring her, I had changed back to my original appearance the second I had left the Vatican and chances were she simply wanted to ask me out, but that wishful fantasy went up in smoke as soon as she opened her mouth:

“Oh my, fancy meeting you here.” Perfect King’s English with a touch of haughtiness. Groaning inaudibly I raised my gaze to find an attractive woman in her twenties staring down at me. The worst part, I knew her. We weren’t friends, not even acquaintances, but over the years I had run into the world’s most accomplished cat burglar quite regularly. Mostly when I had forced her to hand over one artefact or the other I had deemed too dangerous for private use.

“Jane. A pleasure as always. Is there a reason why you’re here or did you simply miss me?” She smiled but I’d have wagered quite a decent sum that her sea green eyes, hidden behind reflective glasses, were as cold as ever.

“Can’t it be both? But if I were forced to choose I’d call it a professional meeting. I have… business in town and I’d rather know beforehand if I’m allowed to keep my prize. Otherwise I won’t even bother.”

“Depends, what are you after?”

“Oh, a little white gem, rumoured to be hidden in the catacombs.” I almost choked on my coffee.

“Come again,” I spluttered. Her smile widened.

“So it is there. Marvellous. Pray tell, would you mind if I borrowed it?” I deliberately set down my cup and fixed her with a stare that would have had most mortals running for their lives. With her it only yielded a half amused shrug.

“Listen to me,” I whispered urgently, “whomever you’re working for, whatever they pay you, it’s not worth it. If you manage to get your hands on it, which I highly doubt, you’ll die. I’ve drawn the wards myself. There’s no way you’re getting anywhere near that gem for as long as I’m alive.”

“Interesting. Does that mean I would be getting near if you were dead?”