Chapter Text
The very first thing she remembers is nothing.
Just nothing.
No light, no darkness, no space.
For those first few moments she was alone until she sensed the presence of another. A presence that had felt cold and foreboding but when she looked upon him for the first time, their eyes locking onto one another’s, she knew that she would love him above all others for all eternity.
Their Father had named him Azrael, the angel of death.
It was clear from the beginning he was different from their siblings. Where they would bask in the sunlight, he would hide himself in the shadows. When they would huddle in the Garden of Eden to tell stories, he would sneak off to his own secluded part of the Garden.
She knew, as he did, that their siblings were afraid of him, they avoided him as often as they could. After all, he represented the end to all of God’s creations, he was the walking reminder that nothing lives forever, not even an immortal. And when the humans on Earth learnt of his gift they too feared him, identifying him as a harbinger of doom. Nicknaming him the Grim Reaper.
They say even God himself feared the power he had given to his angel of death.
She knew Azrael loathed the role their Father had charged him with, to bring death to those who had come to the end of their lives and to open the door to Heaven or Hell. And by extension he loathed himself, believing his power to be more of a curse than a gift.
But to her, he was perfection.
She didn’t know whether it was by accident or design but he completed her in all ways. They were two sides of the same coin, two parts of a jigsaw yearning to be pieced together.
She remembers him presenting her with a delicate band of gold and placing it on her left ring finger, saying that it was a token of his love. She had accepted it wholeheartedly, vowing never to take it off.
She remembers when they had made love for the first time, their bodies and souls joined together as one. She had prayed with her entire heart that they never be parted, that they would be there for one another always.
She knew their Father and siblings did not approve of their connection, it was not in the nature of an angel to feel physical attraction, to have the need to be with the one you love so deeply that it aches when you are apart from them. None of their siblings could ever understand what it was that her and Azrael had, none of them had been created with another half who completed them.
She never knew the reason as to why their Father had never forbade them to continue their relationship. Perhaps he feared what Azrael would do if he did. Azrael could have such terrible mood swings, Death could be so unpredictable at times but she found that singing to him would soothe his temper.
And then she remembers the worst day of her immortal life, the day she would rather forget, the day Azrael was no longer there.
He stood there dumbfounded. Here she was, no longer a dream or a deluded manifestation, standing before him. Time seemed to stand still for a moment as he took in her features.
Her deep blue eyes as bright as the sky on a summer’s day were piercing his own, informing him that she could see him as clearly as Katrina could with the enchanted necklace he had gifted her.
Was it a trick?
Perhaps Moloch had seen into his mind and this was some kind of test to see if he would follow any order his master set out for him.
‘Moloch has commanded you to kill me’. She spoke softly, almost as if she could hear his thoughts, but it wasn’t a question rather a statement.
‘Yes’.
‘Then swing your blade, horseman’.
He narrowed his eyes, gripping the handle of his axe tight, so much so he thought he would snap it in half. Who was this woman to give him commands, who was she not to fear death. He couldn’t fail his master, he didn’t even know this woman, why was he hesitating?
He let out a shout of determination as he swung his axe down before abruptly halting to a stop a mere millimetre above her neck. He had watched her as he done it and she didn’t even blink almost like she knew with absolute confidence that he would not harm her.
‘What have you done to me?’ He asked.
‘Done to you?’
‘I have never failed Moloch. Never once have I hesitated to kill those he has wished to been slain and yet here you are, still breathing’.
‘Because there is something Moloch will never understand’.
‘And what is that?’
She placed her hand on his arm, journeying towards his shoulder before finally finding a resting place upon his cheek.
‘That a half cannot kill that which makes it whole’.
Abraham drew himself back as if her actions had burned him. He had felt her. The sensation was numb as if he had been punched square in the face beforehand, just like in his dreams there was no warmth, no softness but he had felt some kind of pressure.
A pressure that should have been impossible, after all he had no head.
‘How did you do that? Who are you?’
She smiled sadly as if she was burdened to carry some terrible truth to his questions.
‘Some truths cannot be told, my love. They have to be discovered’.
‘No’ he snarled ‘No more riddles. I dreamt of you whilst I was trapped beneath the lake, you called me Azrael and now out of the many people Moloch could have order me to kill, it was you. Why?’
‘Because Moloch views me as a threat’.
He couldn’t help but chuckle deeply.
Was she being serious?
She was, what? 5’ 2” maybe 5’ 3” at most. She certainly wasn’t built like a warrior, she looked far too delicate. After all his years as the horseman of Death, he knew how to spot a killer and she was no killer.
‘You? A threat? You wouldn’t last two seconds up against Moloch’ He jested.
‘Who said I was a threat to Moloch?’
Her answer had put an abrupt end to his amusement, what was that supposed to mean?
Before he could question her further, although he was sure she wouldn’t of given him a straight answer, Daredevil began to whine, rearing on his hind legs, alerting his rider of the upcoming danger.
‘You should go, Azrael. Morning will soon be upon us. We’ll meet again soon’.
And without another word, she turned vanishing into the mist, leaving him standing alone.
Katrina sat at her vanity mirror, the candles emitting a soft glow on her face as she brushed her hair. She had not seen Abraham all day, it was unusual to say the least, he would usually check on her numerous times a day to inquire if she needed anything and if she had to guess it was also to check she hadn’t run off to Ichabod.
Perhaps he had journeyed to Fredericks Manor to plan some plot with Jeremy to bring about the rise of Moloch. She knew they both suspected she was sending secret messages to Ichabod, telling him of their ongoing schemes. It would make sense if they had decided to now discuss matters out of her earshot.
However it was now dark, the moon flooding her room with a white glow. And as if on cue, she heard the carriage house door slam, signalling that Abraham had returned. She could make out his heavy footsteps, growing louder as he approached her room until finally there he was, standing in her doorway.
‘Good evening Abraham. Where were you today?’ she greeted with a smile.
He ignored her question as he entered her room.
‘I have a query for you’.
‘And what is that?’ She asked calmly, even though her heart skipped a beat. Was this about her secret communication with her husband? Had he finally refused to turn a blind eye and decided to confront her about it? Or perhaps it was about the binding ceremony she knew he was so desperate for.
‘In my years of captivity, was there ever a possibility that someone could have made contact with me?’
His question stunned her into silence, she certainly had not been expecting that.
‘No, I don’t believe so. It took Moloch two and a half centuries to finally break through my coven’s magic. No mortal or demon would be strong enough to communicate with you’.
‘And what do you know of Azrael?’
‘Azrael? The angel of death?’
He nodded.
‘Not a lot, I’m afraid. Just bits and pieces. Where is all this coming from, Abraham?’
‘Tell me what you know’.
She sighed, he obviously wasn’t in a tolerant mood tonight and would rather be giving the questions than answering them.
‘He had the power to kill anything or anyone who was alive, both mortal and immortal but he never acted independently rather it was God who told him which souls to take and whether they were destined for Heaven or Hell’.
‘Was there ever any mention of a woman?’
It hadn’t escaped his notice back at the meadow that she had called him “my love” but he had chosen to ignore it. True, he had dreamt about her many times but before tonight he had never met her and yet she had acknowledged him as someone she loves. And it had somehow felt right which only confused him all the more.
The woman sitting in front of him now, she was the woman he loved….wasn’t she?
‘No…at least not in any bible published today. There is a lost chapter in the Book of Genesis, it was written that Azrael fell in love with someone…’
‘Was there a name?’ He interrupted.
‘No, it only mentions that he left her, he just disappeared one day. The story says she still wonders the Earth to this day, looking for him. It’s rather sad’. Katrina mused thinking about her own time in Purgatory, waiting all those years for her dear Ichabod to wake up and rescue her.
Presuming that was the extent of Katrina’s knowledge he stepped forward. He needed someone with the resources to study more on this subject, someone with the knowledge on hidden societies, occults and religious secrets. He knew exactly who he needed.
‘Give me your necklace’ he demanded, holding out his hand.
‘Why?’
‘Because I have need of it’ he answered, his patience growing thinner by the second. The sooner he learnt who this woman was and what she wanted from him, the sooner he would know how to deal with her.
Katrina knew he was not in the mood to be tested, she would have to try to recover the information later, for now she simply took off her necklace and handed it over to him.
Now without the jewel she watched as his headless body stormed out of her room, leaving her to ponder about this peculiar encounter.
He rode Daredevil through the thick woods, urging the horse to run as fast as he could. Those two idiots had to be here somewhere. They always were, hunting down some kind of lead to bring an end to Moloch. He would have laughed at their arrogance had his mind not been on other more pressing matters.
He was now about to ask his greatest enemy, the man he had once called friend, for help. But he had no other options. If he had asked War, Henry would just of informed Moloch of his failure.
He was so deep in thought he almost hadn’t noticed someone running onto the path, he pulled strongly on the reins causing Daredevil to rear back in a haste to follow his rider’s command whilst knocking the person to the ground.
To his annoyance, it turned out to be that woman Ichabod was always dallying with, the leftenant. She stared up at him, immediately pulling her gun out of its holster and aiming it at him.
He rolled his eyes, will she never learn that mere mortal weapons do not harm him.
‘Leftenant!’
Ichabod skidded to a halt between them, no doubt acting as the valiant hero he always portrayed to be. Abraham, not wanting to be here a minute longer than he had to be, threw the necklace on the ground before pointing to it and then at Ichabod.
It took him a brief moment to understand what Abraham was trying to say before he reached down and grabbed the piece of jewellery.
‘Ichabod no. We don’t know what he’s done to it’.
‘Believe me leftenant, of all the ways Abraham could kill me I am certain that this would not be among them’.
He clasped the lock of the necklace behind his neck, allowing the enchantment to take effect, revealing the face of the horseman.
‘Abraham’ he greeted.
‘I have need of your service’ Abraham informed, avoiding the word “help” at all costs.
‘Service?’
‘I need information and I need you to get it for me’.
‘And pray tell, why would I help you?’
‘Because if you do, I’ll release Katrina’.