Chapter Text
Epilogue
Johanna burst into the closet a moment later. She found Cato sobbing on his knees, cradling Peeta's dead body in his arms. The angel had been burned severely, not by demonic fire but by something else. Cato's face was unrecognizable, shreds having been burned away by his tears. He almost looked demented, like his mind had ran away and left him behind.
"Haziel!" Snow roared. He blasted Metatron into the opposite wall and pushed Johanna away as he stumbled into the closet. "No," the Lord whispered, "not him, anyone but him . . ." He reached out with a trembling hand and touched Peeta's hair, as if it was going to goad a reaction from the body.
"There's no point, Snow," Johanna muttered. "He's gone."
"No, he's not, he's just sleeping!" Snow roared back.
"Don't touch him!" Cato shouted when Snow tried to touch the body again. "It's your fault he had to do this! It's your fault he's dead! Just go away! This is what you have done! This is what you made him resort to!" He dragged Peeta up into his arms and held the angel's head against his shoulder. Cato closed his eyes, as if he could blot it all out.
"What are you going to do now, Snow?" Johanna snapped vindictively. "Create another angel? Wait another million years until the walls tremble and fall again? Make them want to kill themselves? It won't work. It'll just go around and around and around and around."
"What the hell do you mean create another angel?" Snow shouted. He stood up, face flushed red with despair. "You know nothing about me, or why I did what I did. I created Peeta because the image of him came into my head and I fell in love with him. I don't just create angels willy nilly you stupid demon. It was later that I decided to try to link his conscious self to the walls between Heaven and Hell. Now that he's gone I have nothing."
Cato rocked forward onto his knees and laid Peeta's body onto the ground. He made sure not to trap Peeta's wings underneath his body, because he knew that Peeta didn't like it when that happened. Cato pressed his forehead against the angel's, trying to collect himself before speaking. He sat up and passed his fingers over Peeta's eyes, locking the beautiful sapphire blue away from the rest of the world forever. Now, despite his burned, blistered, bloody skin, Peeta looked like he was simply sleeping and could wake at any moment. Cato stroked Peeta's cheek before finally dragging himself up to stand.
Cato walked over to Snow and squared himself up. Snow didn't cringe away, or show sign of fear, but the upset that both the demon and Lord were feeling meant that both were extremely emotionally charged. With his face torn and bleeding, Cato looked demented; intimidating; crazy almost, and as he glared at the Lord God with every ounce of anger and fire he could muster, he even made Johanna back away with fear.
"You deserve to be blasted into flames," Cato snarled, chest heaving as he physically restrained himself from actually doing what he just stated. "But Peeta would not want that."
"You're a demon," Snow said with disgust. "I don't believe that you would be able to control yourself. You clearly couldn't control yourself when Haziel decided to die by your hand."
"It wasn't by his hand!" Johanna shouted.
Cato held his hand up to silence her, clearly not in the mood for raised voices, or baiting, or even shouting. "You drove Peeta to this, no matter how much you try to convince yourself otherwise," he said. "The fact that Peeta was brave enough to die because of what you did to him shows how no matter how much you tried, you couldn't make him like you. You couldn't change the goodness in his heart to fit the rot in yours. Peeta is dead because of you, no one else."
Without waiting to gauge Snow's reaction, Cato turned back around and lifted Peeta up into his arms. The body was still warm, and it took all the strength that Cato had not to break down again when Peeta's head hung limply over the end of his elbow. Johanna looked on forlornly as Cato passed her, intent on leaving the palace and bringing Peeta with him.
"You can't just take him!" Snow screamed desperately. "He belongs to me!"
"He never belonged to you," Cato answered calmly.
Johanna followed Cato out of Snow's chambers, leaving the Lord with nothing but an unconscious angel and broken tears. Snow lashed out. He tore the room apart bit by bit until the entire area was in shreds. He screamed and yelled and cursed himself. He should have done more. He should have tried harder. There had to be something he could have done to have prevented his love's death.
But he hadn't.
He had failed.
Cato carried Peeta through the empty palace; corridor after corridor of nothing but emptiness. The only sounds were his footsteps, with Johanna's slightly out of sync behind him, and the soft swishing of Peeta's wings as they brushed the floor beneath them. Snow's mansion was huge, and walking through it took days. Cato didn't stop; didn't quiver; didn't falter; he just kept walking. Snow could have followed them, or sent Metatron when he woke up, but he didn't. He let them leave, even if the means were peculiar.
Eventually Johanna could not go on any longer. She teleported to the front door and fell asleep, giving her powers some respite while she waited for Cato to arrive. The angels began to notice the presence of a demon at their Lord's mansion, and gathered at the gates with curiosity. They murmured fearfully to one another, confused by Cresil's presence.
Johanna sat in front of the mansion for weeks. She didn't fully understand why Cato chose to walk through the mansion instead of teleporting, but she guessed that it had something to do with the demon believing that these were his final moments with Peeta. There was no doubt about it, once Romulus discovered that they had been in heaven, cohorting with Peeta and Snow, they would be executed. However, demons and angels didn't go to the same places when they died. Once Cato let go of Peeta, it would be for the last time.
A month after Johanna took residence on Snow's doorstep, the door was pushed open and Cato came out. He didn't look tired, which wasn't surprising since most demons could go months without rest-Johanna being a different case because she was the demon of laziness-especially when they were determined.
It was odd that Peeta's body still looked the same. Maybe angels' bodies didn't decay, maybe preserved by some sort of angelic force, or maybe Peeta was a special case, the fact that Snow created his body meaning that he would never fade. Whatever the reason, Peeta still looked the same as he had done the day he died. Almost as if he had fallen asleep in Cato's arms and the demon was taking him home.
Cato didn't say anything to the on looking angels. His eyes were too busy flicking over Peeta's sleeping face, having no trouble committing every curve and crevice to memory. He wished he had more time, for a month hadn't been enough, but Cato knew that now he had to do it. Now he had to let go. He carefully knelt down and laid Peeta out on the doorstep to Snow's mansion, making sure that every single angel who stood at the gate to the Lord's home knew who was responsible for this.
Johanna watched as Cato kissed Peeta's forehead one last time, a drop of acid sliding down her cheek and burning her chest. Cato stood up again, looked to the demon of laziness. Never had Johanna ever seen such pain expressed in such black eyes; nor could she ever say that with a face as burned; bloody; deformed; and damaged as Cato's was in that moment had she ever seen such vulnerability. When Cato looked to her and nodded, she nodded back. It was time to go.
Johanna teleported away first. Cato remained standing for a while after, his gaze resting on his beautiful, broken angel. He didn't want to go. In fact, he almost didn't. The urge to sit down beside Peeta's body was like a ball of fire in his chest, the desperation to break down so overwhelming that Cato almost submitted to it.
For once, he did not give in to temptation.
~FFG~
Cato and Johanna couldn't return to hell. Lucifer knew that they had been in heaven; that they had been in cahoots with Peeta and, through incorrect assumption, Snow. They were forced to go on the run, to constantly be one step ahead, which was difficult considering that Lucifer was a mightier being than them. Maybe he was toying with them, watching them run through the realms like startled ants because it was funny. It seemed to be the only logical explanation as to why they weren't dead yet.
Cato had thought that Katniss would have ratted them out. Her favour of Romulus' side had always been clear, she had never attempted to hide it, yet for some reason it seemed that she had held her tongue. It couldn't be because she liked them, or felt they were worth her mercy, she was too hard a person to crack for that. Cato and Johanna didn't question it, but it was ultimately very confusing.
After sixty years of running, Romulus finally grew bored of the game. He wanted something new to play with and began sending demons out to tempt the humans again. He ordered Marvel to go after Cato and Johanna, to kill them quickly so they could get on with their lives without their 'traitorous hides'. Normally, Romulus would order a slow death. A tedious and painful one. But he had always had a soft spot for the demon of laziness and the demon of love, passion and sexuality. It didn't pain him to be rid of them, though. He simply wanted it done fast.
Through the sixty years, Johanna and Cato grew weary. Demons didn't age but being on the run for so long, without much time to pause in one area for too long, took its toll on them. Johanna especially. Being without the fires of hell for so long meant that Johanna and Cato were weak. Only a tenth of what they used to be. Never did Cato regret his decision to fight for Peeta's cause, even when he endured some of the worst torture ever while on the run. Peeta, despite no longer being with them, was still worth it all.
When Marvel found them in the cobbled streets of the Inbetween Realm, he went for Johanna first. Cato fought Maalik for as long as he could, however Marvel had Romulus' blessing on his side, and this caused him to easily overpower the now weakened demon. Terrified, Johanna portalled away, where she was found on the other side by one of Romulus' minions and executed.
Marvel took pleasure in informing Cato of this, laughing manically when the disfigured demon tried to fight back again, having been fueled by rage and rage alone.
It wasn't enough.
Despite his desire to make Cato suffer, Marvel had no choice but to follow Romulus' orders. So, as soon as Cato was in his clutches, the Guard of Hell stuck his hand through the other demon's chest and ripped out his heart. Clean. Fast. Simple.
Cato felt no pain. It was like he was somehow numbed to it. He had accepted that when he went on the run with Johanna that they were both going to die eventually. He knew that it was only a matter of time before they got caught. Sixty years was an impressive amount of time to have 'eluded' Romulus, but he had prepared himself for his death as soon as they left Snow's mansion. He wasn't afraid, he was ready.
Ready for the blackness that came with death. The nothingness that a demon like him would surely only see when he died. Demons didn't go on to another world, you see. There was no haven for the dead souls of hell. There couldn't be. They didn't deserve it.
And as Marvel walked away, leaving Cato on the street like a piece of trash, the dying demon decided that it was okay. He was ready. Nobody could live forever, even entities like Snow and Romulus and maybe even Katniss would eventually reach an ending. Like the final page of a book. The page you don't want to reach but inevitably know that you will.
There was a spark of light in Cato's eyes. For a moment, all he saw was his blood seeping between the cobblestones in the streets and he decided that it must have been a reflection from the sky in the red liquid. Then it happened again. Cato squinted, his tired eyes barely staying open as his strength slowly sapped out of him. What was that?
The light suddenly exploded, becoming so blinding that Cato almost believed that he had lost his ability to see. It was pure white, so white it was almost impossible to look at too long, if at all. Cato's eyes slowly adjusted to it, however, and he began to see a shadow moving closer.
The shadow moved towards him, turning into a solid form.
"Cato," a soothing voice that he recognized all too clearly whispered.
Cato shook his head in denial, his stomach churning. That voice struck more fear in him than being murdered by Marvel had done. Why? Because he was too scared to believe it was real.
Peeta came out of the light, glimmering like a celestial God. His wings stretched out behind him, huge and bold and beautiful. Each feather shimmered, bristling in an invisible breeze. There wasn't a single burn on Peeta's body, and seeing him there, standing before him so perfect and beautiful made Cato cry for the first time in sixty years.
"You can't be real," the demon croaked brokenly.
Peeta reached out his hand, a soft smile on his face. "Come with me," he said.
"I can't. Demons and angels don't go to the same place when we die."
"Johanna is here," said Peeta. "We're waiting for you."
"You're a hallucination, you have to be!" Cato shouted.
Peeta stepped closer, tears welling in his beautiful blue eyes. "Please believe me," he whispered, his voice melodic and relaxing. "I'm here to take you home."
Cato shook his head, acidic tears burning his already disfigured face. Slowly, like a video put on slow motion, his soul dragged itself from his demonic body and sat on the cobblestone like a newborn baby. He stared at Peeta desperately, knowing that he was dead now but unsure where to go. "If this is my punishment for the side that I chose then it's a very cruel thing to do," he said.
"Take my hand, Cato," Peeta said. He smiled. "Trust me."
Cato let out a choked sob, unable to handle the grief of not having seen his beloved in sixty years. Maybe this was a hoax. Maybe Romulus was taunting him before stealing his soul for damnation. Whatever the reason, he didn't care. For Peeta was in front of him, an angel of grace who fell too fast. Who gave up his life for the sake of the world.
Cato outstretched his hand, which trembled violently with fear. Peeta threaded his fingers through Cato's and hauled him to his feet, reaching up and touching his now perfect face with his free hand. "You've been so sad," Peeta whispered. "I'm sorry."
"Are you real?" Cato asked, frightened of the truth.
Peeta looked back towards the light. "Come with me."
"I'm a demon, I can't go there."
Ignoring him, Peeta walked back to the light, guiding Cato behind him. When the light was unbearably bright again, so much that Cato couldn't see where he was walking, Peeta looked over his shoulder at him. Like a snap of the fingers everything else faded, and all that mattered in that moment was Peeta's small smile and his big blue eyes.
Peeta turned and took Cato's hands in his own. There was no more burning, no more demonic fire keeping them apart. The angel drew the demon close, and enfolded his wings around them both. A protective barrier, blotting out the rest of the world. This was their time. Nothing else mattered.
"Trust me?" Peeta asked.
Cato nodded. "Always."
They walked through the light, to the realm beyond, passing onto a world that could not be put into words. For everyone who went there were souls of pure intention. No matter the decisions they made in their lifetime, if their intentions were good and pure and just, they would be able to enter the new realm. There was only one requirement: passing on.
The world would continue to move without them. Snow and Romulus would continuing fighting but with the walls no longer in danger of collapsing, who knew how long it would be before the Second Coming, when nobody could stop the realms from spilling into the earth. Snow never made another angel. Despite what they thought, in his own twisted way he had loved Peeta, and nobody would ever match up to him. As for Romulus, he remained unaware of the events that had unfolded, the only part he had ever played being the murder of Cresil and Belial.
Cato died that night, sixty years after the boy he fell in love with. The boy he fell in love with, however, waited for him, so he could lead him into the new world, just how Lady Karma had led him.
The Vision of God and the Demon of Love.
Together.
At last.