~Chapter 12~
Crowley approved of dropping out of college. He said that there's no use for it now. You've already found your calling-- stopping Armageddon.
You, Crowley, and Aziraphale are going to head back to the area around the former convent to see if there's any evidence. In other words, Aziraphale was sure that he needed to get back there. He said he felt something peculiar right near there. Something like incredible amounts of love again. He figured that the antichrist may be around there or at least have a hint.
So now you're in the backseat of the Bentley as Crowley blasts Queen and Aziraphale looks out the window. It's dark now, and the world feels peaceful.
The feeling goes away when, in the corner of your eye, you see a light coming rapidly closer. You're about to yell at Crowley to slow down when you hear a crash and see something tumble over the windshield. Both the Bentley and the Queen music stops.
Crowley cusses. Knowing him, he's probably more worried about the Bentley than the person he just ran over.
The three of you get out quickly and review the damage. Aziraphale runs down into a ditch where the person Crowley hit is lying.
"Let there be light." With a swoop of his arm, the sky fills with light. You can see that it's a young woman with black hair. She's wearing a dark green dress you'd imagine coming from a different and older era.
She has a baby blue bike with a white basket and she's currently holding her hand up to her face to shield her eyes from the light Aziraphale just produced.
"What the hell...?" she says, "How'd you do that?" You glance back to Crowley. He walks by the front of the Bentley, and with a wave of his hand, the headlight starts to shine again and the hood is scratch-free.
Then he snaps and the light Aziraphale created is gone. Aziraphale runs into the ditch and slides his hand over the woman's wrist. You hear a sickening crack as the bones are realigned.
"No broken bones..." You catch his eye and glance towards the bike. It's destroyed. You hear the bending of metal. You blink and it looks perfect. Aziraphale helps the woman up out of the ditch and then grabs the bike.
"Amazingly resilient, these old machines." He climbs out of the ditch, and the four of you stand by the Bentley.
"Would you like a ride as an apology?" Aziraphale says. Crowley butts in.
"Absolutely not. We can't just go around giving out free rides. Besides, there's nowhere to put the bike."
Aziraphale smiles and you hear the creaking of metal again. "Nowhere but the bike rack!" He picks up the bike and attaches it to the newly-installed bike rack that's on the back of the Bentley.
Crowley sighs and you can hear him roll his eyes. He climbs back into the driver's seat and you get into the back. The woman sits next to you.
"Where may we take you, my dear?" Aziraphale looks back at the woman with a smile.
"I'll show you where you can drop me off. I live right around here."
"Alright." Aziraphale turns to Crowley and the Bentley starts to move.
"Oh, Lord, heal this bike..." Crowley quietly mocks Aziraphale.
Aziraphale glares at him then whispers a retort. "I panicked, okay?"
Crowley chuckles. You turn to the woman. "Don't mind them. It's a pleasure to meet you, even though we had to run you over first."
"It's a pleasure to meet you as well. I am Anathema Device. What's your name?"
"I'm Y/N L/N. The obnoxious guy driving is Crowley and the one who helped you out of the ditch is Aziraphale."
"Ah. What are you doing out here?" You contemplate. Yeah, you aren't telling her about the antichrist. She'd think she's going to die because she's in a car with three insane people.
"Just a project. How about you?" She smiles and a shiver runs down your spine. There's something off about Anathema Device. Similar to Aziraphale and Crowley but also very different.
"Just a project. Turn left here."
"What do you think of us?" You can't help asking.
"I think we have similar end goals in our projects."
"... Saving the world? Possibly the universe?" She grins.
"I was right. Yes. Now a right. And we're here." Crowley stops and you and Aziraphale get out. Aziraphale gets the bike off the rack. Anathema looks at the bike closely.
"My bike didn't have gears, I'm sure of it." Aziraphale takes the bike. When you look at it again, there aren't gears anymore.
"What do you mean?" Anathema looks confused.
"Oh, nevermind, then." Crowley rolls down the window.
"C'mon, angel! Hurry it up!" Anathema looks shocked and turns to you. You grin sheepishly and she smiles and shakes her head. You and Aziraphale get back into the car. Crowley is the first to speak.
"So I'm the 'obnoxious guy driving', huh?" Oops. Right.
"What should I have said instead?"
"The incredibly handsome chauffeur."
"You're joking."
"How'd you manage to figure that one out?" His voice is dripping with sarcasm.
"Anyways, she knows that Aziraphale is an angel since Crowley called him 'angel'."
"She probably thinks it's a nickname or something." You don't say anything and decide to leave it at that.
In reality, you can tell that's she's different from your average human. Oh, well. They didn't appear to be listening when you were discussing your plans in Tadfield. Or maybe they don't particularly care.
You three have enough to worry about, you don't need to add a suspicious person to the list.
You look to your side and see a book. It's titled The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter. You flip to a random page. There are a bunch of numbered paragraphs. It is a prophecy book, after all. The one that calls to you is number 3004. It's short, but somehow, you feel drawn to it.
"The broken one torn between two worlds shall has't restor'd faith. A sore decision shall arise between one f'r two 'r two f'r one. An ultimate sacrifice shall beest madeth and affection shalt beest forgotten. But doth not fret, all shalt blow with the wind in time."
"Hey, does anyone have a notebook and something to write with?" Crowley snaps his fingers and a notebook and a pencil appear in your lap. You're never going to get used to that.
You quickly jot down the prophecy and put down the book. Aziraphale glances back at you and sees the large book.
"What's that?"
"I found it in the backseat. It's a prophecy book."
"May I see it?"
"Sure." You hand the book to Aziraphale.
"M-may I keep this for a while?"
You've already gotten what you need out of it. "Go ahead."
Crowley looks at the book in Aziraphale's arms. "It's not mine. I don't ever read. Anyways, this is where we drop Aziraphale off."
Aziraphale gets out in a trance. He's staring at the book. "Alright, thank you!" He walks off. Crowley senses that Aziraphale isn't too intent on goodbyes or anything other than that book. You climb out of the back and sit by Crowley in the front seat.
"Uh, do you want to go out somewhere tomorrow night? Talk about... everything?" By everything, he most likely means Armaggedon and the antichrist. He seems to care more than usual.
That's probably what happens whenever Aziraphale is unusually stand-offish or does something that impacts him greatly.
"Yes, that would be lovely." Aziraphale's mind is clearly elsewhere. He unlocks the door, then turns to the both of you in the car. "Mind how you go, tickety-boo!" And he's gone. Crowley watches the door for a moment in apparent disbelief. He sits back and looks at the ceiling of the car.
"Well, that was... a thing. Let's go." He drives both of you back to the flat.
That night, you fall asleep thinking about the mysterious book and the prophecy you stumbled upon.
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