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Shadwell stayed far calmer than any of them, unflinching as he help a steady gaze with Aziraphale, not so much as even acknowledging Crowley as he tried to block the blade from even being looked at by the angel.
"sergeant Shadwell," Aziraphale said finally, voice far steadier than any of them felt, "where did you get this?"
("That fancy man from the thing with the kids. He showed up. Tell me all kinds of wold tales. Tales of you two being cohorts of the devil, witches turned demons, pure evil set upon the earth to destroy it. Told me i needed to would up my army, and cleanse the country. Starting with you two.")
Crowley had made a non committal noise at the mention of his former boss but otherwise the two where silent, one's focus on the blade, the other on Shadwell's words.
("I recognized him, ya know. as soon as i saw him, i remember him scolded that wee bairn, and then yelling at you. Didn't care much for him then, care less now. I don't even think he released i was there that day. that i knew him already")
finally assured Shadwell was not going to get closer to his angel with such a cursed artifact, Crowley loosened his grip stepping forward to look it over, making no move to take it. Shadwell - cautiously - rotated his wrist so his hand was palm up, loosing his fingers so Crowley could look at the handle as well.
it wasn't too unlike Aziraphale's sword, if he was honest. same deceptively minimalistic hilt and plain edge. nothing fancy if you where just normal run of the mill human. easy to overlook by the typical collector. But it was just soaked in nastiness, hate and pain and greed and hurt oozing off it the way flames did to an angelic blade.
Demons didn't have fancy weapons like angels did - they were kicked out naked and empty handed. not a single blade among the lot of them smuggled out. And in the first few hundred years after the garden, angels where targets specifically in an attempt to steal a flaming sword. more often than not with a demon erased from existence. that holy arm's race had started after the expulsion, so Crowley was very careful not to mention that he knew of a few humans that had one, seeing as the event was over and done with by then. that was the only reason.
Aziraphale had even been attacked by a few demons over the matter once, after they assumed all angels where armed (to be fair. all angels at that time where SUPPOSED to be armed). Aziraphale had played the whole order off as he knew they where coming as he was going to be outnumbered, so he made sure if they killed him, the wouldn't get his sword. it was.... a very loose spin, but the demon's had believed it, and once they'd grown bored with a captive angel, and where convinced to move on, Aziraphale gave the same story to heaven. Heaven has just forgotten to ask him to go back and retrieve it. after al while, Aziraphale lost track of which humans had his blade, and when heaven asked where it was, he referenced the ambush, simply let them draw their own conclusions.
other angels had not been so lucky, and once disarmed, the demon wasted no time killing them permanently, and basking in the fact hey had their own celestial blade. problem was - demons here jealous covetous creatures, and many found it easier to kill the demon with the blade than try to wrestle a new one from an angel.
Glancing as Aziraphale confirmed his suspicions. This was indeed one of those blades. But it was not just angelic and demonic lives that had been ended by it, but humans too, as it had passed though the hands of men at some point, and not just average men, but ones with their own powers and magic to seep into the weapon.
"sergeant Shadwell," Aziraphale said finally, voice far steadier than any of them felt, "where did you get this?"
("That fancy man from the thing with the kids. He showed up. Tell me all kinds of wold tales. Tales of you two being cohorts of the devil, witches turned demons, pure evil set upon the earth to destroy it. Told me i needed to would up my army, and cleanse the country. Starting with you two.")
Crowley had made a non committal noise at the mention of his former boss but otherwise the two where silent, one's focus on the blade, the other on Shadwell's words.
("I recognized him, ya know. as soon as i saw him, i remember him scolded that wee bairn, and then yelling at you. Didn't care much for him then, care less now. I don't even think he released i was there that day. that i knew him already")
finally assured Shadwell was not going to get closer to his angel with such a cursed artifact, Crowley loosened his grip stepping forward to look it over, making no move to take it. Shadwell - cautiously - rotated his wrist so his hand was palm up, loosing his fingers so Crowley could look at the handle as well.
it wasn't too unlike Aziraphale's sword, if he was honest. same deceptively minimalistic hilt and plain edge. nothing fancy if you where just normal run of the mill human. easy to overlook by the typical collector. But it was just soaked in nastiness, hate and pain and greed and hurt oozing off it the way flames did to an angelic blade.
Demons didn't have fancy weapons like angels did - they were kicked out naked and empty handed. not a single blade among the lot of them smuggled out. And in the first few hundred years after the garden, angels where targets specifically in an attempt to steal a flaming sword. more often than not with a demon erased from existence. that holy arm's race had started after the expulsion, so Crowley was very careful not to mention that he knew of a few humans that had one, seeing as the event was over and done with by then. that was the only reason.
Aziraphale had even been attacked by a few demons over the matter once, after they assumed all angels where armed (to be fair. all angels at that time where SUPPOSED to be armed). Aziraphale had played the whole order off as he knew they where coming as he was going to be outnumbered, so he made sure if they killed him, the wouldn't get his sword. it was.... a very loose spin, but the demon's had believed it, and once they'd grown bored with a captive angel, and where convinced to move on, Aziraphale gave the same story to heaven. Heaven has just forgotten to ask him to go back and retrieve it. after al while, Aziraphale lost track of which humans had his blade, and when heaven asked where it was, he referenced the ambush, simply let them draw their own conclusions.
other angels had not been so lucky, and once disarmed, the demon wasted no time killing them permanently, and basking in the fact hey had their own celestial blade. problem was - demons here jealous covetous creatures, and many found it easier to kill the demon with the blade than try to wrestle a new one from an angel.
Glancing as Aziraphale confirmed his suspicions. This was indeed one of those blades. But it was not just angelic and demonic lives that had been ended by it, but humans too, as it had passed though the hands of men at some point, and not just average men, but ones with their own powers and magic to seep into the weapon.
