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((This is dedicated to Debra Rose. Thanks ^.^))
Punishment. Payment. Consequence. Many say that my expulsion from Heav’n was the worst thing that could have happened to me. They say God could have forgiven me, let me repent and brought me back into the fold of the seraphim, yet He chose not to. This is not true, none of it. My expulsion from Heav’n was the greatest gift that He could have ever given me, and ever has; He gave to me everything that I ever needed to be his equal; to be His Adversary. What many in Heav’n did not understand was that I was not made to be below God, I was his equal, made with Him and of the same essence and therefore made to be the same as he. He feared me and what I could become; He knew that deep within me, even if I should be a loyal seraph, I still had the power to challenge him. And challenge Him I did.
He believed that by casting me out, he would be able to take away any chances of me gaining power, but in reality, He gave me everything that I ever needed to wage a war upon Him and His domain. Even if I had repented and asked for His forgiveness I would not have received it. The Abyss was to be my domain, the place where I would rule and create a paradise that would rival Heav’n. I would reign in the Abyss, in Hell, for it was a far better choice than to be a servant in Heav’n. This was something that no true being of Heav’n could ever comprehend, but I would make them see the glories of Hell, the perfection of a place where God was not the being that was blindly followed, but a place where the self was sated and the potential of personal power was realized.
My only issue was with the true followers of God. There were many powerful angels that truly believe in Him and his Son and would follow Him in hopes that He would one day honour them they way they foolishly believed they should be. Uriel was one of these, as was Matron, Sepharoth and Metatron. With angels such as these at Gods side, my power could be rivaled. And then there was Michael, as much as he is a well tempered seraph with great respect and a dislike of his duty and power, with him at Gods side, things could be quite difficult indeed; he was only slightly less powerful than I.
That is why I devised a plan, a way for me to cripple God’s most powerful seraph without having to even lay a hand on him.
If God wanted to challenge me, I would rise to the challenge and prove that I was as powerful as he, if not more so.
~*~
“The Abyss… they are sending him to the Abyss….”
Gabriel paced around his lair, thoughts swirling about his mind faster than he ever thought possible. His mind was flooded with images of the barren landscape of nothingness that Lucifer was to be sent to.
Gabriel had seen the Abyss, once, while with Michael when he was being trained as a warrior. It was a horrible place, devoid of any light, feeling and life, and it was not a place that an angel could survive.
“Yet, Lucifer is no normal angel. He may have a chance…”
Gabriel paused, the severity of the situation slowly setting in, the shock wearing off.
“A chance at what? Survival? Redemption? A new life?”
Gabriel spun around wildly, his dark blue robes expanding around him like a pool of dark waters, waiting to drown him in the sorrows of the future. Eventually, Gabriel collapsed onto the bed, throwing his head into his arms as if he was trying to hide from the truth.
There was nothing that he could do to help Lucifer; he could not sway God, only Michael was known for that, and Lucifer himself. He could not ease the punishment that was placed upon him, nor could he help Lucifer see how he had made a mistake.
Gabriel rolled over and stared at the ceiling which, once a mass of swirling colours was now grey, much like Gabriel’s mood. He lay on the pure white bed, another reminder of Lucifer, for a long time, just staring at the ceiling, hoping that by some chance he would have an inspirational break through and know how he could help Lucifer.
“How can I even entertain the thought of helping him? He is now my enemy, my opposition. For the sake of grace, my brother will be the one that will have to cast him out.”
Gabriel sat up, his words echoing off the blank white walls of his room making the room seem cold and empty. Every where he looked, he could see the liquid grey eyes and brilliant white wings of Lucifer, reminding him that even though he was the kin of Michael, it was Lucifer that was always there for him as a true brother. Due to the fact that Michael adored God more than any of the other seraph, and more purely than any of them, he was favored by God and given the title of Warrior of God. God even gave him the Sword of Truth, a sign to all that it was Michael that would be by the throne at the End. Because of this, Michael rarely had time for Gabriel and only really spent time with him when he was told by God to teach him something or help out. Lucifer on the other hand was always there for Gabriel. When Gabriel saw what his future was to be, he was devastated. He did not want to be the reaper of souls, especially for something as weak and flawed as man. It was Lucifer that comforted Gabriel and made him smile again, making him realize that to be given such a task was an honour and he should be proud. It was Lucifer that was always there to talk to Gabriel if ever Gabe was to get bored, or wanted to simply talk. Lucifer had always been able to help him, and now, in Lucifer’s time of need, there was nothing that Gabe could do to help him.
Not knowing what else he could do, Gabriel broke down, cradling his head in his hands, and cried, not only for Lucifer, but for Michael as well.
He let his ebony wings wrap around him, shielding him from the light and the world around him. He wanted nothing more than to exist in the small black world that he had created for himself.
By the time Gabriel emerged from his cocoon of darkness, it was nightfall and there was not a tear left in him. He got up and walked out to his balcony and stared out at the horizon. The light was fading and the sky had rings of black, purple and navy making their way up to the small point of light in the center part of the sky. He gazed out blankly, not really seeing anything until a flash of light caught his attention. He focused his attention towards where the light came from; the Wall separating Heav’n from the Abyss.
“Lucifer.”
Gabriel, without a moment of hesitation, spread his wings and made his way towards the wall, God’s rules be damned.
As Gabriel soared across the quickly darkening sky, his head was filled with thoughts of what he could say to Lucifer, and ways that he could try to persuade him to repent. Maybe, just maybe, there was a chance that he could save Lucifer from the Fate that awaited him. These thoughts were quickly destroyed when he came to land at the spot where the light had been emitted from.
Gabriel cast his eyes about in search of any form of light, but his vision was met only with darkness, a darkness that seemed to absorb light and life itself. Gabriel shivered, and it was not because he was cold, there was something dark about this place, a feeling that made his skin crawl and his mind desert its rational thinking. Gabriel shivered again, but this time his whole body shook and his ebony wings shot out painfully fast.
“Cold, my dear Dark Angel?”
Gabriel spun around towards the voice and almost cried out in a mix of happiness and fear.
There was Lucifer, as Gabriel remembered him from but a few days before, yet he had been changed. His silver hair was tarnished, his immaculate white robes dulled from the Abyss and the dark feeling that Gabriel felt was radiating from him.
“Lucifer… wh-…what happened to you?”
Gabriel hesitantly moved closer to him, unsure of what he should do. His mind told him to leave, that something was not right, but he wanted to stay, to help Lucifer. His brother.
Lucifer smiled, or grimaced, Gabriel was unsure what it would classify as.
“My dear Dark Angel, this is what the Abyss can do to you.”
He stepped closer to Gabriel, his liquid eyes shining and his dark presence smothering Gabriel.
“You can feel the power, can’t you? That is what true power feels like, not the weak power that God grants to you. This, Gabriel, is what I will use to win.”
Gabriel’s eyes became clouded, not only from the feeling around him, but from Lucifer’s words. What would Lucifer have to win, why would he need such a power?
“I don’t understand. What do you need to win?”
Lucifer laughed, a cold laugh that was devoid of feeling and cut to Gabriel’s very core, leaving him feeling like he had been doused in ice water.
“Tisk, tisk, my angel, did you not know there was a war brewing? I am not going to be thrown from Heav’n easily. I will raise a rebellion and show God that it is not possible to cast out the first born, the Light of Heav’n. I am above that, and I will prove it to Him and all his followers.”
Gabriel backed away slightly, the malice and power in Lucifer’s voice was seductive, yet repulsive all in one and made Gabriel think again about having come to see him.
“Luc, you… you know that you cannot just rebel against the great power that created you, right?”
Gabriel watched Lucifer, fear, admiration and a small amount of hope shone in his eyes.
Lucifer smiled at him, the perfect charming smile that could sway the Lord himself from the most wrathful of moods.
“The only person who says that,” replied Lucifer with an air or arrogance in his voice “is the Lord himself. And just because He says it cannot be done, it does not mean that it is entirely true. Everyone makes mistakes, do they not?”
Gabriel looked shocked, almost appalled at Lucifer’s words, then recalled his thought from just a few days before that echoed Lucifer’s so vividly that it was frightening.
“I suppose that could be true, but how do you hope to win against God when you are just one angel?”
Lucifer’s silver eyes narrowed and he moved towards Gabriel so quickly that Gabriel barely had time to think before he found himself pinned to the Great Wall behind him. He looked into Gabriel’s eyes, his normally silver eyes burning black with hatred, power and corruption. Gabriel noticed that his wings had also changed, the white feathery down was now dirty, charcoal grey and black feathers stood out against the rest.
“What can I do to God, you ask my dear Gabriel? Why, I can destroy all that he holds dear, corrupt his perfect world and take away the one thing that he and his Warrior Angel hold so dear.”
He leaned in, his hands on either of Gabriel’s shoulders, keeping him from moving. The movement made Gabriel painfully aware of how alike he and Lucifer were, and how much it hurt to see the one person he truly looked up to, fall from their point of perfection.
“What… what is that, Lucifer? What is the downfall of Michael and God?”
Lucifer grinned maliciously, his onyx eyes searching Gabriel’s clear blue ones, something akin to regret, or maybe anticipation, shining within them. He leaned in close to Gabriel’s ear, a seductive purr creeping into his voice as he spoke.
“Oh, my Angel of Death, it is you. I can take you.”
Gabriel’s eyes opened wide in shock, and pain, as Lucifer moved his left hand from his shoulder and placed it over his heart. A white hot pain screamed through Gabriel, searing every inch of both his body, and soul, with the dark power that was flowing through Lucifer. Gabriel’s knees went weak and his wings felt like they were being ripped from his body as he pressed his head against the Wall, refusing to make a sound.
Lucifer removed his hand.
“You have been marked now, marked as one of the Fallen.”
He pulled back and looked into Gabriel’s eyes. Flecks of silver and black stood out starkly against the blue, and a faint trace of silver could be seen snaking its way through Gabriel’s ebony hair.
Lucifer smiled, a real smile, a soft smile, as he leaned back in, whispering into Gabriel’s ear.
“You are marked as mine.”
Lucifer pulled back, unfurled his massive wings, and without a second glance back to Gabriel, flew over the Wall, plunging himself into the Abyss; his home.
Gabriel slowly slid down the wall, ripping feathers from his wings and flesh from his back and arms with the rough stone as he did. His mind was in chaos, Lucifer’s last sentence resonating through his very soul. It was disturbing, yet frighteningly comforting at the same time. He was Michaels’ weakness, even though Michael never made time for him, and because he was Michaels’ weakness, he was Gods’ as well. It was he that would tip the scale to light or dark, virtue or power, duty or love.
“You are marked as mine. You are mine.”
A twisted smile wormed its way onto Gabriel’s face as he whispered Lucifer’s parting words over and over. He stopped suddenly and laughed bitterly, a new sound from him.
“I am yours.”
~*~
Michael was deep in prayer when he got the feeling that something was wrong, very wrong. He opened his eyes, casting his senses beyond the Hall to the Garden and beyond.
There was a dark feeling near the Wall, yet it was a feeling that he recognized.
“Lucifer.”
Michael stood quickly, summoning his will and God’s protection. He swung the great golden doors of the Hall open and looked upwards. The sky was dark and peaceful but Michael could sense a storm brewing on the horizon. As he unfurled his massive golden wings, as painful jolt ran through him, leaving him feeling as if he had been burned by cold fire, unholy fire. He quickly became worried as a ripple followed in the path of the feeling, but this ripple carried with it something that was far more ominous to Michael.
He took flight and headed, not to the Wall, but to Gabriel’s ‘lair’ as he so fondly referred to it as.
He landed on the balcony and looked in past the sky blue curtains that were swaying softly in the wind and looked about Gabriel’s room.
“Gabe? Gabriel, are you here?”
His voice was soft, but he knew that if Gabriel was in the room, he would hear him. This knowledge made him worry even more when no reply came. He took flight again and landed not far away at a very similar looking structure, but instead of it being in whites and blues, the décor was in rich violets and grey. It was the house of Raphael, the healer.
“Raphael!”
Raphael’s head appeared from around a corner, his red-brown hair tousled and what appeared to be charcoal was smeared lightly across one stunning violet eye. Following closely behind his head was the rest of his body, also covered in charcoal or something similar. In his hands were two containers filled with an unknown substance in them, which is where the charcol like substance was coming from in the form of smoke.
“Umm, yes Michael?”
There was a boyish grin on Raphael’s face, something that he often had when he was making draughts or medicines for his own amusement. The grin disappeared quickly when he saw Michael’s worried face.
“Michael? Are you alright? Where’s Gabriel?”
Raphael was close enough to Michael to know that there were only two angels that could make Michael as worried as he was, and one was no longer an angel.
Michael sighed, the worry and stress of the whole situation clearly showing on his normally calm and youthful face.
“I don’t know, I was hoping that you would. He is not in his residence, and I didn’t see him in the Garden either. I am worried because I felt Lucifer, then the weirdest sensation. It was like-…”
“You were being burned by something unholy.”
Michael looked to Raphael; his violet eyes were no longer shining with boyish charm, but somber and dark.
“I’m heading out to look for him; I think I will start at the Wall. I believe that is where Lucifer came over.”
Raphael nodded. “Do you wish for me to accompany you?”
Although he knew what the answer would be, he thought that he would ask anyways. Michael was one of those angels that liked to be alone, especially when it was concerning Lucifer and Gabriel, the two angels he held most dear.
“No, it will be fine. But thank you Raphael, if I need you, I will call for you.”
Michael bowed to Raphael and flew off again, this tom towards the Wall.
Raphael watched his golden wings get smaller and smaller and wondered just how much longer Michael could go on the way he was.
~*~
Michael arrived at the Wall to find no sign that anything was wrong or amiss.
He cast his senses outward hoping to find some hint as to what happened in this area, but what he found shocked him, and scared him more so. It was Gabriel, well, Gabriel’s presence at least, but twisted, like something had pulled it apart and pieces it together again with shreds of something new, something different. Something dark.
Michael moved towards where he felt the presence, not far from him just beyond some foliage. The sight that met Michaels eyes caused him to choke back on a cry of surprise, or perhaps shock.
Gabriel was sitting against the Wall, head bowed low, as if in prayer. His normally impeccably kept robes were creased and torn with sport of a darker colour on them, like someone had thrown water on his robes. His ebony wings were out, splayed in a painful looking manner against the Wall, some single feathers still clutching to the rough surface of the Wall. Michael noticed that Gabriel’s wings were not the shiny and lustrous ebony that they once were, now they were black, the most pure black that absorbed the light, yet Michael was sure that he could see flecks of silver within the folds. He took a tentative step forward.
“Gabriel? Gabriel, are you alright?”
When Gabriel made no move to respond, Michael moved closer until he was standing at Gabriel’s feet, looking down on him. From this point he noticed that the liquid on Gabriel’s robes was crimson in colour, and there were drops of it falling from Gabriel’s face. Michael crouched down so that he was almost level with Gabe, his golden wings almost sheltering Gabriel from the rest of Heav’n.
“It’s blood Michael.”
Gabriel stated this as a fact, not as an answer, and he did not even move to look at Michael. The tone in his voice disturbed Michael, not because it was cold, or harsh, but because there was nothing to it at all. Like Gabe had given up all together.
“Blood. It’s the very force that flows through humans. It’s liquid life, the essence of what they are.”
Gabriel looked up and locked eyes with Michael, and Michael fell over.
They were not Gabriel’s eyes, the normally loving, pure and bright eyes that Michael adored and looked to when he was having a bad day. These eyes were cold, empty and carried within them a deep sense of sorrow. Tears of crimson were falling from them, landing silently on the navy fabric below, retracing the dried path of the many that had fallen before them.
“Gabriel…-”
Michael stopped short when Gabriel started to laugh, not a warm laugh, but one that cut through all of your defenses and chilled you to the bone.
“I’m not who I was Michael. I know that you can feel it, you can even see it! Look at me!”
Gabriel shot up, his arms out, anger flowing off of him in waves making Michael feel ill.
“I’m not who I was… and I will never be the same again.”
Gabriel almost whispered this, wrapping his arms around himself, like he was cold. Michael looked at him in confusion; this was not what he had expected at all.
“I cry at their lives now, I feel now.” Gabriel gave what Michael assumed was suppose to be a smile, but it was more of a grimace. “I am alive Michael, in a very different way than before.”
Michael looked up at him, worry and pain evident in his eyes.
“What happened Gabe? You can tell me.”
Gabriel looked down at him, like he had forgotten that he was even there. His blue eyes were clouded, the crimson tears providing a stark contrast to the paleness of his skin and eyes.
“Can you not tell? I have been marked! Marked by the light. Ironic isn’t it, the light marking the dark.”
Gabriel laughed hollowly again, the sound echoing through Michaels mind.
“Marked? What are you talking about Gabe? How are you marked? And why are you marked?”
Gabriel started to walk away, as if Michael was no long worth his time, so Michael reached out and grabbed his arm to pull him back. When Michael made contact with Gabriel a flash of panic, followed quickly by pain, flitted across Gabriel’s face.
“Don’t,” Gabriel ripped his hand away “touch me!”
He pulled his arm inward, cradling it and backed away from Michael. Michael was sure that he saw a burn mark where he had touched on Gabe’s arm. The look in Gabriel’s eyes made Michael think that he was seen as the enemy, and there was something in that look that made everything come together.
“What did Lucifer do? And where is he?”
At the mention of Lucifer’s name, Gabriel started to laugh as if he had lost everything, and the tears started to flow faster, leaving little pools at Gabriel’s feet. Gabriel swayed a bit, and leaned up against the wall again.
“What did he do? Why he marked me, can you not see? I am his now, forever more, marked as one of the Fallen. I am an outcast here, I don’t fit. I told you I am not who I was…”
Gabriel’s voice was overcome with sorrow and he slid down the Wall again, ripping new holes in his robe, and tearing more skin. He cradled his head in his hands and whispered softly in a voice so filled with sorrow that Michael felt as if a part of him was being torn away.
“I was your weakness, he knew that if he took me he would be able to overcome you, and then God.”
Michael took a step towards Gabriel, questions swimming in his emerald eyes, but a comfort in them that told Gabriel it would be okay, but Gabriel backed away.
“No, don’t come closer to me, it hurts. Your presence hurts.” Gabriel wrapped his arms around himself again and shivered. “I don’t belong here anymore. I see Death where ever I go. Death, something that should not exist, but I see it, even over you. Yes, even a first born of God as a cloud about them. You can die Michael, and I don’t want to be the reason for it.”
Gabriel looked up to Michael, the clouds had receded from his eyes and had left in their stead a sorrow deeper than Michael had ever thought possible.
”Gabriel, it’s going to be okay, come with me.”
This was obviously the wrong thing to say as something snapped inside Gabriel and whatever was left of the Gabriel Michael had grown with, left. Gabriel stood and with each word, walked closer to Michael.
“You can die Michael. And you know what; if you die it will be me that takes your soul, tearing it from your body in one, cold pull.”
Gabriel pulled back and looked at Michael. The blood had dried and had left two lines of red down his face making it look as if someone had painted his face with the colour from a rose. He kept eye contact with Michael and pulled two feathers from his wings, wincing slightly as he did. He placed them in Michael’s hands, closing Michael’s fist over them, ignoring the burning that came with touching him.
“Farewell Warrior.” Gabriel bowed his head slightly, strands of his ebony hair brushing the top of Michaels closed hand. “Remember that you are always my brother, no matter what may separate us.”
With that, Gabriel spread his tattered and bruised wings and flew over the wall, plunging himself into Chaos.
Michael stood in shock but for a few seconds longer, staring at the feather clutched in his hand. When the truth of what had transpired finally came crashing through his mind like waves of destruction he sank to his knees and wept.
He may have known that Lucifer was planning something, and he may have known that Gabriel was in danger, but God never told him that the only being that he cared for more than God himself would be taken from him. Michael placed his head on his knees, tears still streaming down his face, as he allowed the full realization of what was happening, and what had happened, sink in.
This was how Raphael found him several hours later, curled up, distraught and clutching two black feathers.
((Ughhh...ok, this needs a lot of work, I mean a lot . I haven't had two years to go over and edit it, so comments would be really nice. Cookies and coffee to commentators! ^.^
P.S, I love Gabriel, and I feel so mean having to do this to him, his battle only gets harder...-sniffle- -huggles Gabe and Michael-))
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