Category: Darksiders I & II

Rating: M

Couples: Azrael/War, Strife/Caim

Warnings: AU, Yaoi, Lemon, Mpreg

Chapter: Prologue

Copyright: Characters & places © By Appropriate Copyright-holder, Plot & OC´s © by me and Food-for-mind

Author's Note: Sequel to Angel of War

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Laylah and Rahab had always been peculiar by Firstborn standards, least of all by the fact that they were the sole surviving couple. The biggest difference was their lack of children. Laylah had none in her lineage, Rahab merely two. Compared to their peers, who had over the eons accumulated several dozen Secondborn in their Lineages, they could almost be called 'infertile'. The one closest to them in number had been Abaddon's grandfather, with twenty-eight Secondborn in his Lineage, by virtue of his wife having died relatively young and him refusing to remarry afterwards.

The female Laylah was currently visiting was the sole other surviving female Firstborn. She had married twice, though by now both husbands were long dead. Unlike her sister, she had borne plenty of children to both her spouses.

This of course was not why Laylah had left Fading Dawn to visit her in the White City. That was courtesy of the peculiarity this female had: she was the closest Heaven had to an omniscient person, by virtue of her being the progenitor of one of Heaven's more controversial abilities. Her descendants alone could possess Second Sight.

"What did you see, Iaoel?" The other Firstborn stood a bit behind her.

"A cursed oath." Two wings, tinged in gold opened gracefully as she rose from her seat to face her 'sister'. Over the eons, she had honed her ability to near-perfection and nowadays it rarely activated outside of her control. But now it had.

"What cursed oath?" Laylah watched the vibrant golden eyes trail over her body, despite them being incapable of seeing her. "And why does that concern me?"

"Your son..." Iaoel had long been blind, losing her sight in the battle that lost her her first husband. "The one that died long ago."

"I have it on authority that he's still alive." The Angel of Conception muttered.

"No doubt." The two golden wings were now neatly folded at her back. "I heard what you called that Fallen five years ago, after all. I am blind, not deaf."

"Can we get to the point?" The other Firstborn demanded sharply. "It is not one of my happier memories."

"Of course."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

War at roughly the same time had to admit that his first thought had been correct. Looking out of the window at the children playing outside, his eyes fastened on the only one with large wings. Large wings that had started to turn black...

He flinched lightly at the realization that his child – Azrael's child – had started Falling. The trauma of losing her mother, combined with a lack of 'true' angels around, had started her descent into darkness. Even the arrival of a young scholar, banished from the White City for studying demonic artifacts too closely for Heaven's comfort, yet capable of teaching her everything unFallen, had not stopped the darkening of her wings merely slowed it.

"It was to be expected." Caim moved to stand beside him. "Even if Azrael had been here, it might well have been that she would have had too many influences of my company to prevent this."

War snarled lightly. "I wanted her to be unFallen... She could have visited him once she was old enough to travel on her own... They won't let her in if she's black-winged." He turned away from the window, marching out of the room, nearly pushing over his older brother.

"Someone's salty." Strife looked after War before looking at the Fallen. "Also, I saw Puppy with Azazel."

Caim rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Honestly, why do my Fallen like that little scholar so much?"

"He's cute and cuddly?" Strife snorted, leaning closer to the angel. "Or maybe it's because he's like you... so uncorrupted."

"Real subtle there..." Caim pushed him away. "It's two more days, pervert."

Shortly after the loss of Azrael, Caim had broken under his guilt, blaming himself for failing to either defeat his mother or drive her to killing him. He then found himself in bed, nursing a spectacular hangover and Strife nursing him, having found the Fallen's Commander as he had drunk himself into a stupor.

Desperate for some form of punishment, the angel – knowing the Nephilim's sexual reputation from rumors among the demons – had almost demanded they sleep together.

The Rider had promptly refused. "You misunderstand my tastes, Commander. I enjoy causing pain that gives pleasure, not pain alone. The few where I left out the pleasure deserved it. You do not."

A few days after that incident, the White Rider found Caim in front of his room-door. Looking surprisingly vulnerable, the Fallen shyly asked if they could just sleep in the same bed: he was plagued by nightmares and did not wish to burden any of his Company with this.

Needing some close connection after having lost his baby-brother again, Caim a few months later had suggested a friend-with-benefits-deal with Strife, remembering that despite the other Nephilim's disapproval, Azrael had valued the Gunner for some reason.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

To somehow keep Azrael's punishment of three centuries banishment from Heaven, in the end it was decided that he would use his considerable powers to make Earth habitable for humans again and after that assist in the removing of the Corruption that still infected large swathes of land across various other worlds as well.

Most demons had retreated back to Hell a few months after War had killed the Destroyer, but they had left nearly all of the monsters and certainly had not undone all the damage that had been done.

Metatron often joined him, the both of them making quick work of most of the demons accursed influences in the Third Kingdom.

As such, he was the first to notice the profound change in the other mystic. A change so profound that drove him to leave the younger angel for a time to travel to his siblings.