So back at the beginning of time, TWG was looking around, and realized there were way too many bad things still running around reality. They needed to be locked up, but there wasn't a really good place to do it.
So TWG was like, "
Oi! Raphael! Make an earthly prison to hold these bad things!"
And Raphael was like, "WTF,
Father ofman? That sounds like a LOT of work!"
But TWG was like, "You need to fekkin' do it, ya shite!"
And Raphael was like, "OM
TWG,
fine!" And he did.
It was all made to sound a lot more dignified, of course, when they had it written down.
And again the Lord said to Raphael: "Bind Azazel hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening in the desert, which is in Dudael, and cast him therein. And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there for ever, and cover his face that he may not see light. And on the day of the great judgment he shall be cast into the fire."[2]
So Raphael set out to make a prison. But since this thing needed to hold multi-dimensional beasts, it needed to be multi-dimensional. He had to make it across time as well as space.
All good and well, except for the same Guy that told him to do it
also said "
Oi! And no muckin' about in reality, eh?"
All the other
Turtles Archangels got a good laugh at that, but Raphael told them where they could stick their flaming swords.
So Raphael had to make a prison, on Earth, across time, but not make it himself. What's an Archangel to do?
Well, he looked over reality with his non-linear vision, and picked an ornery bastard to help him: Merlin.
Raphael was like, "Listen here, pipsqueek. We're going to build a prison."
And Merlin was like, "Where the fekk did you just come from?! Get out of me privvy!"
So after Merlin was finished, Raphael told him what was up, and Merlin was eventually persuaded to help.
But Merlin was a bit cranky (a normal state of being for wizards) and a bit worried about how it was supposed to actually work, seeing as it required a LOT of power to operate, and he couldn't travel through time.
But then Raphael was like, "Don't worry, you little pipsqueek. I figured that part out."
Raphael gave up his Grace to Merlin, so that he could create the prison in one place at five times, and power the prison with his Grace.
After stopping Merlin from going to where Las Vegas would eventually be for a long weekend with the Grace, Raphael had him get started on the prison.
While he was working, Merlin expressed a concern, because even in his time, people loved a good jail-break story. He was like, "What the fekk is going ta happen if they get out?"
Raphael slapped him upside the head, explaining, "That's what the banefire part of the setup was, ya idgit."
Merlin wasn't sure what an idgit was, but after Raphael explained he'd just finished watching a non-linear
Supernatural marathon, Merlin figured it out.
See, the nifty Swords of the Cross can destroy whatever they need to. Whatever the bane of the beast is, they act in that manner. And so, knowing how they work, Raphael had included a fail-safe in the Demonreach blueprints he gave to Merlin. If there was a prison break, his Grace would turn into something called Banefire, burning big and hot, hopefully enough to kill whatever was escaping.
And then, when their work was finally done, the two shared a pint. Raphael got drunk for the first time, although he didn't like the quality of the offerings. He figured he'd do something about that, now that he was mortal, and had nothing better to do.
So what happened next?
Good question. Glad you asked.
Legend has it that Merlin disappeared. So did Raphael -- or at least, the mortal that
had been Raphael; he only made the one big foray into legend. No-one's sure where they ended up, but there are a few theories.
1) By giving Merlin his Grace, Raphael was out of the picture. He set up shop nearby to keep an eye on things, worked on making beer taste better, and enjoyed retirement as much as possible. Merlin, on the other hand, had to stick around. Since the Grace was given to him, he had to stay at Demonreach, to keep things running. He spent a long time doing all the work, until one day he said, "screw this, I'm going to make an artificial construct vessel to do all the work". So he set about making a tall, dark, brooding vessel to walk around the island incessantly, waiting for someone to drop a demon off to be imprisoned. But since Merlin still had the pervy guy's Grace, he couldn't just go running around and risk ruining it. So he ended up locking himself in Demonreach, where he would exist forever, wouldn't risk the Grace Falling due to his actions, and had to deal with awe-struck wizard types popping by his crystal cell every couple hundred years. That's where he stayed, and spent eternity cursing himself for ever coming out of the privvy to meet with that pervy guy.
2) By giving Merlin his Grace, Raphael figured he was out. Blah blah blah. Merlin was stuck on Demonreach, until he said, "screw this, I'm going to make an artificial construct vessel to bear that pervy guy's Grace". So he set about making a tall, dark, brooding vessel for the Grace. The vessel didn't really understand everything the small wiry guy was yelling at him, but agreed to hang out until something better came along. He only wished the old coot had taken the time to give him a name before he'd headed off to some place that would eventually be called Vegas. He chilled there for ages, and enjoyed the occasional visit by this super hot but actually super cold chick that called him things like "Ancient Thing". She called him the "Demon Binder" a couple times, seeing as she considered him the new Raphael-mantle bearer, despite him rumbling non-verbally at her several times that it is
not, in fact, a mantle. But did she listen?
NooOOoo. It's all "mantle this, mantle that".
But why five points in time, you ask?Because five is a powerful number, idgit. It's like this.
1) Time is linear. It has a beginning and an ending.
2) Raphael picked five points across time to create the prison, so that it would always have existed, at least in this reality.
3) But while time is linear, it's also circular, layering atop itself. It's cyclical, going round and round in a spiral on top of itself. Like a big old Slinky.
4) Those five points in time aren't all together, or in a convenient row. They're spread all around, making it difficult.
5) So Raphael looked at it from above, and looked through the layers of time, finding the five points.
6) Then he made time bridges connecting them. Five lines connecting five points.
Voila!, from the beginning or end of time, looking back through the Slinky of time, he created a pentagram. The symbol of magic used in the creation of Demonreach isn't just in space, but in time, thus binding the prisoners in yet another dimension.
I know, you're thinking, "
OMG you are incredibly awesome at drawing in MSPaint!"
Thank you. It's a gift.
