A pulse of violet light glowed near the destroyed entrance of Hell's throne room.
The air folded in on itself briefly, and a dark portal blossomed open.
From it stepped a familiar figure.
Raven emerged quietly, boots touching down amid the rubble. Her cloak settled around her shoulders as the portal sealed behind her with a whisper of magic.
Her violet eyes immediately searched the chamber.
They landed on the two figures standing near the broken throne.
Constantine looked up from lighting another cigarette.
"Oi," he said casually. "Look who survived the apocalypse."
Raven approached them with measured steps, glancing briefly at the damage surrounding them.
"Are you two alright?"
Her voice was concerned, though her expression remained composed.
Constantine gave a crooked grin.
"Better than ever."
He exhaled smoke lazily.
"How's your end of things?"
Raven folded her arms slightly.
"I encountered a minor obstacle."
A faint pause.
"Nothing I couldn't handle."
Constantine snorted.
"Sounds about right."
Raven stepped further into the ruined throne room, her gaze briefly passing over the shattered remains of the throne.
"I'm simply waiting now," she continued quietly, "for Arthur to.."
Constantine interrupted.
"…Yeah."
He pointed upward with his cigarette.
"About that."
"You might want to look at the sky."
Raven frowned slightly.
Then she turned.
Her eyes lifted toward the torn ceiling.
And froze.
High above Hell, the sky itself had been ripped open.
A massive rift stretched across the sky glowing red and violent, its edges bleeding chaotic energy.
Beyond it
Another world waited.
Earth.
Even from here, the tear revealed flashes of distant battle.
Violet explosions erupted in bursts of shadow energy.
Flashes of fire and infernal magic collided violently in the sky.
Dark figures streaked through the rift like swarming insects.
Raven's eyes widened slightly.
"…That's a gateway."
Her voice lowered.
"To Earth."
She stepped closer to the broken edge of the throne platform, studying the battle unfolding high above.
"And it looks like Arthur's marshals are fighting off demons trying to cross through."
Her brow furrowed.
"…But they shouldn't even be awake."
Constantine scratched his jaw thoughtfully.
"Well," he muttered, "either Dream of the Endless missed a few…"
He glanced toward Etrigan.
"…or these are..."
The demon's eyes glowed faintly as he watched the swarm rising toward the rift.
Then Etrigan spoke.
"Not those who slumber, bound by dream's command
But rabid spawn that haunt this land.."
His voice deepened.
"Born of hate and savage will,
They live for pain, for blood to spill."
Flames curled briefly around his mouth.
"Beasts that revel in the damned's despair,
No mind for dreams resides in there."
Constantine nodded slowly.
"Aye."
He flicked ash onto the broken floor.
"That'd explain it."
"These things aren't exactly the dreaming type.."
He glanced up again at the distant battle.
"Pure violence."
"No wonder the Dream Lord couldn't tuck them in for a nap."
Raven watched the swarm more carefully.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"…Where were they hiding all this time?"
Etrigan answered without hesitation.
"Those beasts obey but one alone."
His voice rumbled darkly.
"Lilith commands their savage might."
Constantine snapped his fingers.
"Well that explains a bloody lot."
He looked back at Raven.
"No really."
"Explains everything."
He gestured broadly around the ruined palace.
"The chaos."
"The demons."
"Even how my soul ended up back in my body, the way it did."
Raven's gaze returned to the rift.
Arthur's violet lightning flashed again in the distance.
"He's fighting her."
It wasn't a guess, she was certain.
Raven studied the battlefield above Hell.
Then she looked back at the broken throne room around them.
"This was the throne chamber."
She glanced at Constantine.
"Did you find the Crown?"
Constantine smiled lazily.
"Oh, that old thing?"
He reached inside his coat and casually pulled out the jagged horned crown.
The Crown of Horns.
"Got it right here," he said.
He spun it lightly.
"No worries your majesty, your trophy is in safe hands."
Raven looked at it for half a second.
Then scoffed.
"Please."
She waved it off dismissively.
"I have no desire to rule Hell."
Constantine chuckled.
"Fair."
Raven returned her gaze to the sky again.
Her voice softened slightly.
"Perhaps Arthur…"
Then she paused.
And shook her head.
"No."
Constantine finished the thought for her.
"He'd refuse."
Raven nodded.
"He wouldn't bind himself to this realm."
Her voice carried quiet certainty.
"Not even for power."
Constantine replied.
"Yeah."
"That sounds like him."
Raven crossed her arms again, thinking.
"If only someone trustworthy could take the throne," she murmured.
"Someone strong enough to control Hell…"
"…someone we could reason with."
"…someone who wouldn't threaten Earth or try something foolish, it would be even better if he was under our contr..."
She paused.
Only then did she notice Constantine staring at her.
He had raised one eyebrow.
Raven slowly raised one of her own.
They both turned their heads.
And looked at the same person.
Etrigan.
The demon blinked.
Flames flickered uncertainly in his eyes.
Constantine slowly smiled.
A very Constantine smile.
"Well now…"
He stepped forward slightly.
"So you're still bound by Arthur's contract, right?"
Etrigan frowned.
"What meaning hides behind thy tone?
Speak plain, magician made of bone."
Constantine clasped his hands together thoughtfully.
"Well," he said slowly.
"I think we might just be able…"
His grin widened.
"…to grant your grand wish."
Etrigan's eyes narrowed.
"What wish?"
Constantine leaned casually against a broken pillar.
"The one where you become…"
He gestured around the ruined throne room.
"…the ruler of Hell."
****
The infernal winds of Hell vanished.
Cold night air rushed past instead.
From the tear of hell.
Lilith emerged first on Earth.
She burst from the rift as a swirling cloud of crimson mist before reforming mid-air, wings spreading wide as she glided forward through the dark forest canopy.
Arthur emerged from the rift like a streak of violet lightning seconds after her, and immediately realized something was wrong.
The tear between worlds wasn't in the sky on Earth.
It was below.
A massive reality tear across the forest floor, a spiral of red energy carved into the earth. Hellfire seeped through the cracks in the soil, casting long crimson shadows between the trees.
The air here was different, cooler, softer, alive in a way Hell could never imitate.
The forest stretched vast, dense, and dark.
Ancient trees reached toward the sky, their branches tangled together so tightly that moonlight barely touched the ground beneath them. A faint mist clung to the forest floor, drifting slowly through the undergrowth.
In the distance, far beyond the woods, the faint glow of a city flickered against the horizon.
Gotham.
Arthur slowed in mid-air, his cloak of shadow settling behind him.
He glanced around once.
Then groaned.
"…Why does it always have to be Gotham."
Lilith slowed her flight ahead of him, wings beating gently as she turned her head slightly.
"What was that, Shadow Lord?"
Arthur sighed quietly.
"Doesn't matter."
Lilith drifted downward.
Her feet touched the forest floor without a sound.
For a moment she simply stood there.
Still.
Then she inhaled.
Deeply.
As if tasting the air for the first time ever.
Her eyes closed.
Her wings slowly folded behind her back.
"…Ah…"
She lifted both hands slowly toward the sky above the treetops, fingers spreading as if trying to grasp something invisible.
"How wonderful.."
The wind brushed through the leaves.
Earth's night air moved across her skin.
"This world…"
Her voice softened with strange reverence.
Above her slightly, Arthur hovered silently.
Watching and judging.
His violet eyes studied her carefully.
'What am I supposed to do here with this woman…'
The thought passed quietly through his mind.
'Kill her?'
Lilith didn't look like a conqueror in that moment.
She looked… relieved.
'Let her go…'
Arthur's gaze drifted toward the ground where the tear between worlds still burned faintly.
'Or close the rift and send her back to Hell.'
His grip tightened slightly around the spear.
'Her intentions might seem harmless…'
His eyes narrowed.
'But she is still Lilith.'
The mother of demons.
The architect of the chaos he had just fought through.
Arthur slowly descended.
His boots touched the ground with a soft crunch of leaves.
Lightning flickered briefly along the spear in his hand.
Lilith lowered her arms but didn't turn around.
Arthur stepped forward a few paces.
"Lilith."
"I cannot allow you to remain here."
She tilted her head slightly.
"This planet is not yours to walk freely upon," he continued. "You are a danger to it."
His gaze hardened.
"To its people."
A faint wind stirred the trees.
"Your children are a danger as well, you are not welcome here."
Lilith's wings twitched slightly at that.
Arthur planted the spear beside him.
"There is a reason you are bound to Hell," he said firmly. "A reason you have been confined there for eternity."
His voice lowered.
"That is your place."
His glowing violet eyes locked onto her back.
"That is your purpose."
Lilith slowly turned around.
Her expression had changed.
The peaceful wonder from moments ago had vanished.
Her lips curled slightly.
"Don't."
Arthur didn't move.
"Don't give me that God nonsense."
Her eyes sharpened.
"Don't stand there pretending you speak for Him."
The air around her darkened slightly.
"I will die before I go back to that eternal prison of mine."
Her wings spread slowly again.
"And it seems…"
Her voice softened into a dangerous tone.
"…you won't leave me alone long enough to enjoy my freedom."
/-\
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