Family Part 26

 Crowley sat waiting impatiently for the tell tale sound that indicated she had a video call incoming.  It was a scheduled chat with Oscar that took place every Sunday and she always had to wait what she felt like was an eternity.  It didn't help that he was a full 8 hours behind her.  Whenever he had the time to call it was usually 2 or 3 in the morning her time so she was always grateful that she didn't need to sleep.  She'd been so focused on her laptop that she actually jumped when the incoming call sound started.  

"Hello, mum."  Oscar said with a grin.  

"Hello my dear boy."  Crowley relaxed a bit when she saw him.  It always made her feel better.  "How's everything going?"  

"It's going alright.  Keeping busy and all that.  How are things going over there?"  Oscar replied.  It had been exactly one week since their last conversation but he always asked.  

"I've had three separate occasions when I wanted to discorporate your father but other than that, everything is good."  Crowley said with a little bit of a chuckle.  Oscar made a mental note to get Aziraphale's side of those stories.  "Your studies are going well?"  

"Actually, I wanted to ask you some questions.  About one of my classes."  Oscar reached off camera and pulled out a notebook.  

"Oh?  I'm not sure I can actually help....."  Crowley made a face.  

"It's a religions class."  Oscar chuckled.  "We're currently studying Christianity."  

"Why are you taking a religions class?"  Crowley raised an eyebrow.  

"Because I want to learn about other religions.  There are modules on Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism.....things like that."  Oscar smiled.  "It's really rather informative."  

"That's.....okay."  Crowley shook her head.  "So, dear, what are your questions?"  

"You said that you were the serpent in the garden of Eden?"  Oscar had his pen in his hand over the open notebook.  

"Yes, I was actually."  Crowley nodded.  "The top of the wall above the Eastern Gate is where your father and I met."  

"But the Bible says that the serpent in the garden was Satan...."  Oscar said.  

"Actually, that's one of the interpretations of the Bible.  The original Aramaic just says the serpent."  Crowley did hate that certain branches of religion gave Satan credit for his deeds.  

"Oh, okay."  Oscar made a couple of notes.  "Did Lucifer actually do everything that the Bible says he did?"  

"No."  Crowley rolled her eyes.  "There's actually a few things in there that I did that the translations got completely wrong.  I mean, if you take Aramaic and translate that to Hebrew and then translate that to Latin and then translate that to King James English and then translate that to modern English things are bound to get lost in translation."  

"Well, yeah."  Oscar chuckled. 

"And in the King James English, devil doesn't necessarily mean Lucifer himself.  Demons weren't called demons back then so everywhere that it says devil it actually means demon.  But translating to modern English they just assumed it meant Lucifer rather than demon."  Crowley continued to explain.  

"Oh okay."  Oscar nodded and made a few more notes.  "We are discussing the differences in the versions."   He looked over the page.  "So, is there anything else in the Bible that you actually did?"  

"Only one other thing actually made it into the Bible."  Crowley cleared her throat.  She looked around for a moment before looking at Oscar again.  "I'm actually the one that tempted Jesus."  

"What?"  Oscar's eyes went wide.  

"Before Jesus was crucified I was tasked with showing him all the kingdoms of the world.  Trying to tempt him to not let himself be killed.  Stop him from doing his job.  It was one final test to see exactly how committed he was."  Crowley sighed.  

"Wow.  You actually tried to tempt the son of God."  Oscar just shook his head.  

"Yes, I did.  But don't tell your father."  She looked around again.  "When he asked me if I'd had the chance to meet Jesus I told him that I'd shown him all the kingdoms of the world because he was a carpenter from Galilee and his travel opportunities were limited.  I didn't tell him the real reason."  

"You actually lied to dad?"  Oscar's eyes went wide.  

"It was the one and only time."  Crowley sighed.  "At least the only intentional one."  

"I won't tell him."  Oscar nodded.  

"Thank you."  Crowley smiled.  

"But.....wait.....in that story the devil that tempts Jesus quotes scripture from memory."  Oscar looked over his notes again.  

"Yes, I have it memorized."  Crowley shrugged.  

"Which part?"  Oscar furrowed his brow.  

"All of it."  Crowley replied.  

"You have the entire Bible memorized?"  Oscar raised an eyebrow.  "Dad doesn't even have one verse memorized but you have the entire Bible?"  

"Taking certain verses out of context comes in handy when tempting people.  Especially the religious ones."  Crowley shrugged again.  

"I still don't believe you."  Oscar shook his head.  

"Test me then if you want." Crowley smiled.  Oscar pulled out the Bible that he had to carry for the class.  

"Alright.  Let's see. "  He started flipping through the Bible.   "Genesis 44: 25" 

"And our father said go again and buy us a little food."  Crowley replied with a smug grin.  "Give me something hard."   He chuckled as he watched Oscar flip through the Bible.  

"Okay.  How about this one?"  Oscar grinned.  "Mark 23: 6."  

"Are you serious?"  Crowley just looked at him.  

"Absolutely."  Oscar nodded.  

"You honestly think I don't know that the book of Mark only has 16 chapters?"  Crowley asked with a laugh.  Oscar actually pouted.  

"You really do have it memorized."  Oscar put the Bible away.  

"It is almost a job requirement, my darling boy."  Crowley chuckled.  Before they could say anything else, an alarm went off on Oscar's phone.  

"I have to get going, mum.  Meeting some friends for a study group.  I'll call you later, okay?"  Oscar started putting his things away.  

"Alright.  Have fun."  Crowley said a little sadly.  "I'll talk to you soon.  I love you."  

"Love you, too, mum."  Oscar grinned again before he disconnected the call.  Crowley sighed heavily.  She really did miss her boy.