After the buzz caused by Lucifer's arrival had died down, Gerard found himself quickly losing the thrum of energy that had been pulsing through his veins since he had arrived. He had assumed that the Leviathan would be making an appearance soon, but apparently it was still deep underneath the water, and they had only been called since its movements had grown much more frequent compared to the previous weeks.

Not knowing what to do with himself, Gerard wandered around idly, making sure to keep Frank in his line of vision at all times as he explored Bob's camp, catching up with a few demons he vaguely remembered from his short stint in hell. Gerard even ended up dozing off at one point with his head cradled in Frank's lap after they had shared a light lunch with Mikey and Billie Joe, which wasn't what he had planned on doing with his free time, but it killed a few hours at least.

Just when Gerard had reached the point where he had nothing better to do besides lie on his back and count how many birds flew by overhead, the number increasing with every rumble of the ground which incited the winged creatures to flee, the largest quake yet hit them, physically lifting Gerard up from his stationary perch before depositing him back down roughly, his tailbone aching slightly from the harsh landing.

"Gerard," Frank's voice rang out from where he was standing a few feet away conversing with Brendon, "you okay?"

"Yeah," Gerard groaned grumpily, shakily regaining his feet before rubbing his sore ass gingerly, "I can't say the same for my butt though."

"Come here you dork," Frank giggled quietly, throwing one arm over Gerard's shoulder when he reached his side. "Do you need me to kiss it better?" Frank teased, earning them both an obnoxious eye roll from Brendon in return.

"If something doesn't happen in the next five minutes then I'm totally taking you up on that offer," Gerard chuckled, rubbing his eyes which felt gritty and swollen due to the sand that was kicked up with ever tremor. "I'm so bored Frankie," Gerard complained, putting on a whiny tone even though he knew Frank couldn't do anything about his current predicament.

"I know love, but it's almost time, we just have to be patient."

"I never thought I'd actually want this thing to show up," Gerard sighed, clutching tighter to Frank when another earthquake shook the beachfront, causing the nearby tents to shudder in an alarming fashion, but nothing broke at least.

"Billie Joe said it should be surfacing within the hour as far as he can tell, see baby - the ocean is moving way more than it should."

"Yeah it is," Gerard nodded, his eyes squinting slightly as he gazed out at the blue expanse before them. "Wait - what the hell is that?" Gerard gestured with an outstretched arm, pointing to an odd dip in the waves that seemed to be dragging the water down into it, almost like a small whirlpool.

"Shit," Brendon cursed, rising up on his toes slightly so he could get a better look at the anomaly. "Billie Joe told me that would happen when it started moving, which means our waiting is about to end. I've got to gather everyone together," Brendon explained, his face going blank for a moment as he sent out a mental message to the now scattered troops.

Gerard busied himself with staring at his fingernails while the angels and demons on their side began to flock around them, nervous energy flooding through his body again now that he had something to focus his attention on. Brendon took to the air briefly, stationing himself atop a small hill so he would be easily seen, pacing back and forth until everyone appeared to be present. Billie Joe joined him not long after, conferring with Brendon briefly, but Frank and Gerard stayed where they were at, holding tightly to each other while they waited to hear what Brendon was about to say.

"It has been confirmed that the Leviathan is officially moving, which means we don't have long until it reaches the surface," Brendon called out loudly once Billie had finished whispering in his ear, a look of excitement tinged with fear painting itself across his features. "I won't speak for long, because we've been over the semantics of this battle a thousand times, but there are a few more things I want to impart to you before we head to our assigned stations."

"Typical Brendon," Frank chuckled quietly, "he just loves to hear himself talk."

"Some things never change," Gerard giggled behind his hand, indulging in the fact that he and Frank could still joke and laugh together minutes before what might be the greatest confrontation the world had ever faced.

"Remember that this isn't going to be like other fights, our weapons won't seriously harm the Leviathan, only Frank's will, so our goal is to protect him and Gerard as much as possible, as well as to take out any wyrens that appear. Lucifer and his demons will help with that, but we can't depend on them entirely, so keep your eyes open and watch each other's backs."

"What do we do if Lucifer betrays us?" an unfamiliar voice called out. Gerard couldn't tell who had spoken, but his question was met with a heavy murmur of agreement, and Gerard had to admit that he was also terrified of that exact event occurring no matter how sincere Lucifer had sounded.

"We will deal with that if and when it happens, but if his army does start attacking, show no mercy. Lucifer is reluctant to get close to the Leviathan though, so he should keep his distance, and if he doesn't, we will make him regret it."

Brendon's statement was followed by a round of hearty cheers, but even though Gerard allowed his voice to join with the others, he truly hoped that they wouldn't have to include a fight with the King of Hell onto their already full plate, that could decimate their slim chance of making it out of this alive, and the Leviathan was more than enough for Gerard to worry about right now.

"When the Leviathan shows up, we will only have a small window of time in which it will be disoriented, and we have to make the most of it. Each minute that passes is only going to give it more of an advantage, so we have to be quick and ruthless. We want to overwhelm it and confuse it so we can give Frank an opportunity to strike. Healers have been assigned to each team, and don't be afraid to seek them out if you need to. I don't want any unnecessary causalities today because somebody was too stupid to know when they needed to take a step back. Just remember, don't do anything reckless okay? This is our best chance at beating this thing, but it isn't our only shot."

"And if the beast is fully coherent when it appears? What then?" someone else queried, which was another possibility that Gerard hadn't considered, causing his stomach to churn uncomfortably at the prospect of facing a fully alert Leviathan instead of the sleep addled one that they were expecting.

"I can assure you that won't be the case," Billie Joe cut in, stepping forward slightly so they could better see him. "The shift from his ocean lair to land will leave him highly disoriented, and you have to remember that this creature has been sleeping for thousands of years. If we weren't here to attack it, it might even take days for it to reach a state of full awareness."

"And if the worst happens and Frank fails?" the same voice asked. "I know we are skirting around that subject, but how is he supposed to succeed in killing this creature when even Michael himself only managed to trap it?"

Gerard flinched then, automatically pulling Frank closer to his side in a protective gesture, because he didn't like hearing someone else doubt Frank's skills, even though they had a valid point, but still - Gerard had to believe that he and Frank could do this or else this entire endeavor was pointless.

"It's true that Michael wasn't able to slay the beast, but he was also fighting it alone without the assistance of a healer or any backup, not to mention that the Leviathan was at its full power back then. Frank's situation is different, and as long as he lands a critical blow while it is weak and confused, he can do this," Billie Joe countered smoothly, his unwavering countenance strengthening Gerard's faith in Frank's ability to succeed as well. "If for some reason Frank falls, we keep fighting. Brendon will take Michael's sword if he has to, followed by Ray, and if by that point the Leviathan hasn't been slain, then we will most likely be forced to retreat, but let's not focus on that until we have to."

"Does anyone else have a question?" When no one responded, Brendon crossed his arms over his chest sternly, his eyes dancing over the assembly below him as if he was imprinting all of their faces to his memory. "Stay safe, take care of each other, and let's take this fucker down okay?"

A resounding roar broke out once Brendon stepped down, the wall of sound startling Gerard with its intensity, and for a brief moment, he almost thought that the Leviathan had arrived, but no, the noise was coming from the angels and demons surrounding them. It was a battle cry if he had ever heard one, and before long, Gerard found his own yell melding with the ruckus, his hand squeezing Frank's tightly as they screamed defiantly in the face of death and disaster.

Once the shouting had faded into silence, Billie Joe flew down to Frank and Gerard's side, pulling them away from the large crowd which was slowly beginning to disperse into their assigned teams. Billie led them toward the beach where they would have a better view of the water that was now churning so angrily it appeared to be boiling, his hands wringing together nervously the entire time.

"Do you need me to go over the plan again?" Billie Joe spoke up when their feet stopped moving, his gaze darting between their stationary forms and the ocean so rapidly it was making Gerard dizzy just to watch.

"We know what to do Billie," Frank huffed, his thumb rubbing over the sheath which held the sword of Michael idly as he spoke.

"Are you sure though, once more couldn't hurt?"

"Gerard and I are mostly on our own, Brendon, Ryan, Mikey, and Ray will be hanging close to make sure we aren't bothered by the wyrens, you are our healer, but we can call for someone else if we get separated. I'm going to focus on the Leviathan's weak points and also do my best not to die - see, I've got it memorized," Frank recited quickly, ticking off each point on a finger until his hand was splayed open entirely.

"Yes, okay, it seems you are prepared..." Billie Joe chuckled wryly, his laughter trailing off abruptly when another harsh tremor hit them, causing the sand at their feet to shift and swirl together haphazardly.

"Ready yourselves - the head has been spotted," Bob's voice announced loudly as he flew by to join the scouts that were currently hovering over the waves, his black wings creating currents of air that had Gerard's locks blowing every which way as he passed.

"This is it," Frank murmured under his breath before pressing a swift kiss to Gerard's cheek. "Be careful okay, I can't lose you."

"You won't," Gerard replied, his throat clogging up with suppressed emotions as he dragged Frank in for a proper kiss, pressing their lips together briefly before stepping back and unleashing his claws, waiting for Frank to draw his sword before they took to the air together, giving them a better vantage point of the water which was now below them.

At first, Gerard couldn't see anything, the froth that was being kicked up by the waves obscured whatever was hiding below the surface, but when he kept his gaze trained on the small whirlpool he had noticed earlier, he was able to make out a dark shadow moving within it. It was following the spiral pattern of the water, its form growing clearer with each revolution it completed until Gerard could clearly pick out a head coupled with glittering eyes that seemed to be peering up at him.

Gerard had seen sketches in Billie Joe's book that had attempted to capture the creature's likeness, but that paltry recreation of the monster hadn't been enough to prepare Gerard for its terrifying visage when it finally broke through the water, the ocean rising up around it for a brief moment before it allowed the Leviathan to emerge. Gerard's breath hitched audibly as he stared down at the magnificent beast, his mind short-circuiting temporarily when it fully sunk in that this was what they had to defeat.

Their task suddenly seemed impossible to Gerard, because the Leviathan was huge, even with half of its body still submerged below the waves. It was reptilian in appearance, but if Gerard had been asked, he would have said it looked more like a wingless dragon than a snake. Its ridged head which was covered in scales reminded him of the video games he used to play in which he would slay similar creatures, but this wasn't a series of pixels displayed on a screen, it was real, and he couldn't hide behind a controller and laugh off his death this time.

As more of the beast began to appear, Gerard took note of its razor sharp teeth and how the spines on its head continued further down its body, breaking up the dark blue scales that coated every other inch of it. Two limbs were soon revealed as well, but they were small and stunted besides the wicked claws which tipped each of its five toes - or maybe they were fingers, Gerard had no idea honestly, but he concluded that it didn't really matter one way or the other.

Overall, the Leviathan was fearsome to behold, and even though Gerard was fascinated by the creature which seemed to have jumped straight out of a fantasy novel, he had to look away, focusing his vision on Frank instead before the panic crawling up his spinal cord paralyzed him completely.

"I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this." Gerard tried to nail a casual tone, but he knew that Frank had heard the way his voice shook with every other word.

"Eh he doesn't look so tough," Frank croaked, which Gerard assumed was supposed to be a laugh instead. "We can totally take him."

"Yeah - of course we can," Gerard nodded vehemently, gliding closer to Frank as he spoke, noting the fact that Brendon and Ryan were hovering a little off to their left.

"You ready?" Frank asked, his wings pumping back and forth steadily as he waited for Gerard's response.

"Lead the way." Gerard forced his face into a semblance of a grin, hiding behind a veneer composed of false confidence in the hopes that it would soon transform into true bravery if he kept the mask in place for long enough.

"Let's make that thing regret ever opening its eyes," Frank proclaimed, motioning to the angels surrounding them before shooting off in the Leviathan's direction with Gerard close on his heels, the steady pattern of their wing beats competing with the harsh rumbling of the earth beneath them.

This was it, the final confrontation, the battle that would decide the fate of the world, forcing Heaven and Hell to fight together to save everything they held dear to them, and Gerard promised himself then and there that he would do everything he could to live up to the expectations that had been placed on his shoulders.

Everyone was counting on him and Frank, all of their preparation and suffering had led up to this moment, and Gerard hadn't given up so much to let the Leviathan win now, so he pushed all lingering doubts of failure from his brain, including thoughts of the sacrifice that they weren't quite sure if they had met the requirements of or not yet, which was another subject that Billie Joe had chosen not to focus on lately, not that Gerard blamed him.

But none of that mattered right now, because they were going to defeat this creature, that was the only possible outcome in Gerard's mind, and watching Frank race toward the Leviathan with such confidence only solidified that fact, his grey tipped pinions forming a banner of feathers that Gerard would follow anywhere, even into the jaws of death.

Well I finished this quicker than I expected which is always a good thing.

It is a bit shorter than usual but the battle is coming up in the next chapter which means the end is almost here.

Btw since everyone apparently thinks the Leviathan looks like Godzilla I'm here to clear that up.

This is the image I had in my head while writing and it does have small clawed hands but it's basically a sea serpent I guess I did a shitty job of describing it.

And I just wanted to say thank you all so much for sticking with this series. This book just hit 20k reads and TMIAA is at over 100k reads rn which is so freaking amazing I never thought so many people would enjoy this.

On the downside I think my laptop is on its last leg, it started buzzing loudly now and the battery is completely shot. I'm getting a new one soon (I'm not exactly sure when) but if this one dies before then I'll have to wait a bit before I update anything, but I'll still be writing.

Chapter dedicated to MyChemicalWristbands

I'm a pain in women's clothes

<3 starr