paradise l o s t

“I will not touch a single hair on your body. You have my promise.” The promise was vague enough to not stop him from acting indirectly and have Mazikeen obliterate Gabriel should his presence in Lux become inconvenience. With the celestial battle raging on Earth it was hard enough to set the piano bar as a neutral zone, the last thing he needed was the sorry brother of his barging in and ruining it in one day.

The clients were scarce, all scattered around the bar. Upon Gabriel’s entrance a few heads turned around but the wounded man hardly attracted their attention. They have seen worse things. The war was raging outside after all. Luckily for the archangel Gabriel, nobody seemed to have recognised him in the battered man who walked through the door. They took him for yet another victim of the war.

“You act like I am the one owing you a favour brother,” having completely ignored Gabriel’s wish to be left alone (not while he’s bleeding on the perfectly fine couch, those were especially hard to come by these days), he continued talking, “while in fact I believe it is the opposite. Or have you forgotten about me saving your life.” A short pause. “Twice now, dare I assume?”

           Voice gravelly with fatigue, Gabriel replied, “Has it been twice already? Oh how can I possibly repay you...” Several centuries of hard labour, perhaps? His brother had always been the joker.

           The archangel stayed unmoving, eyes firmly shut as he concentrated his energies to try and heal himself. It would have been better if he were able to manifest his wings and use the ashes from a feather, but he couldn’t be bothered to move to the private end of Lucifer’s bar. Neutral zone or not, Gabriel couldn’t risk being any more vulnerable than this. After the missile felled him he’d had to walk the last few miles to Lux on the ruined leg; he could only hope that whichever side that’d called the hit thought him dead already. To owe Lucifer thrice was rather beyond his pay grade. It would be so much convenient better if the Morningstar took a stand...

            “You--” Gabriel gritted his teeth in both pain and anger. The journey to this town was spent avoiding missiles with seventy percent rate of success--ne might hazard a guess which end he got. “--are singularly the most insufferable creature I’ve ever had the displeasure to be related to. Michael’s a very close second.” His boots were off--it was clear from the mangled state of his right leg that at least one of the missiles had exploded within a very close range--followed by most of the bulk of his armour. Gabriel groaned and breathed a sigh of relief as he sprawled on the mattress. 

“That’s not….always true though, is it?” She challenged him softly, speaking as if considering a….simple math problem, “Your duty hasn’t always come first…has it? As I remember, you have rebelled a time or two…” She concluded in a sing-song manner, a smile stretching across her lips. 

She slipped off the table, choosing instead to walk around the room, each step precise, almost seeming…prowl-like as she looked around her, before her blue eyes came back to rest on Gabriel.

“Well, that depends….what was the last…you heard of him?” She asked

“Oh, busy sacrificing a village for his own gain,” he said, airily. “Picked off its population one by one, and they all did it of their own free will. Classic Lucifer, when you think about it." Credit where it was due, et cetera. Perhaps that ingenuity was why Father had first ordered him killed. "I thought you would have an idea where he would have gone next. The two of you did have a... connection.” Gabriel mused for a moment, looking for all intents and purposes like he had all the time in the world. Then he leaned forwards and spoke with a flash of steel-sharp smile.

“I did nothing the humans won’t do to each other. Free will. Father’s little wiring joke in His creation’s funny little brains. Which brings to mind,” he frowned, so far removed from confusion or sympathy. The Archangel looked curious.

“Were you trying to be human again?”

“Well, of course it is,” Lilith spoke with a confidence, a….certainty that there was no other option but to view meeting her as anything besides…well, the honour that it was. “I wish I could say the same, but….I’ve never been interested in playing to a man’s ego. Even an archangel as….interesting as you” 

She dismissed the free chair and instead chose to place herself on the table instead, legs crossed, dangling over the edge. 

“I hear you’ve been a busy boy”

Gabriel dismissed her remark with an enigmatic expression as if he was trying to encourage a particularly under-performing student. A man, woman, those didn’t really matter to him since this corporeal body was merely a vessel--a lesson he had learnt the hard way.

“My duty does lie above all, Lilith.” Between keeping the Chosen One safe and staying on Michael’s good side, the Archangel surely was not slacking off. Still, it had been long enough since they first heard the news of Lucifer’s potential resurrection. Gabriel would be damned to Hell’s deepest pits if he let the Fallen slip away again.

     “Please allow me to cut to the quick, I only have a              little matter that I wish to ask you--

Bowing good, got it. Or at least bowing entertaining, and an entertained superpowered charming not-human-person was one that was less likely to do something painful. Or at least painful to Ethan, and that was the bit that really mattered, wasn’t it?

“A Chosen One…?” he echoed. Well, yeah, he’d heard of plenty of Chosen Ones. Dime a dozen, if one believed prophecies, or maybe it would really have been just one person doing all the things in which case they were probably being run ragged. Hypothetically. Seemed like the choosing of the ones had been thrown out of whack, hadn’t it? “Forces of order reasserting themselves and all, that would be it? Bringing back the old days and—and Queen and Council and all?” The concept of why would I want that? hit the urge to agree to anything Gabriel suggested, and selfishness won out. 

“Don’t think I’d want that. Things as they were. It’s not a paradise, this world, never was, and the people the old days were good for… well, they’re not mine.” He raised his chin to meet Gabriel’s — very intense — gaze. “I’m happy—honored, really to do the job, though. Be your eyes. Just… what’s in it for me?”

With youth came that dangerous mixture of pride and stupidity, after all.

Since his creation Gabriel was, and still is, God’s messenger. His word carry both weight and promise—once spoken, so shall it be.

             “Name it, and it shall be yours.”

Ethan was winning points by leveling his gaze with the Archangel. Gabriel knew the type--young, foolish, and prideful.He was not the first one under his influence, nor would he be the last. It was only the turning of the world.

He learnt about the boy, listened to his wishes and unspoken dreams like he would a prayer. Yes, prayers did not mean a thing in a Godless world, but humans are ridiculously attached to their ways and this generation was the same even though they were already lost. Gabriel did not pity them.

                                                                 ***

"Ethan! At last!” He said gleefully. Gabriel’s gloved hands made a dull sound as he clapped, beckoning the boy to approach.

“Have you anything to report to me?”

              “LILITH.”

The Archangel drawled her name much like one would savour an expensive, rich chocolate. Gabriel was sat on the throne--well, it was a perfectly ordinary swivel chair, but in his Grace one might as well call it that--and tilted his head to the side as he regarded the FIRST WOMAN IN CREATION.

              “It truly is an honour.”

“Maybe it’s fun. With the eyeballs.” The words were out of Ethan’s mouth before he really managed to think about them. “I mean, people do things for fun, right? Maybe the eyeballs and gut-hanging is fun for demons.” Rhetorical question, idiot. Ethan bit his lip and looked away. “I’d, um, I’d not find it fun. Not into the blood ‘n’ guts, they’re gross, and it gets everywhere and then it just reeks.” That bit, though, that bit was stalling the truly idiotic desire to tell Gabriel with his shiny wing-glow and his soothing voice his pretty smile everything about everything.

Couldn’t do that. Well, technically he could, Ripper’d been too skittish about apocalypses and implications and the changing rules of magic to make the oath binding, but he’d made Ethan promise nevertheless. He’d made all of them promise, and as far as Ethan knew everyone’d kept to it. Surely he hadn’t meant it like this, though, right? Surely he’d meant to keep the secret from monsters, from evil people… Wait. Ethan frowned at his own train of thought —  wasn’t he an evil sorcerer though, that didn’t quite line up— and settled on splitting the difference. Safest bet, right? And if Gabriel could read lies, then… well. It wouldn’t technically be lying, would it?

“Not really a group, there’s always people coming and going.” A few of them always stayed, but between Ripper and Randall they just kept on picking up strays and alliances. “London’s … dangerous now. No one really expects to stick around—people’d figure I did a runner if I didn’t come in.” Actually, the exact phrasing had been ‘fucking off to some fuck-off dimension,’ but that was rude, see. Let’s not be rude to the… very very charming not-human-person. 

“S-sorry, lost my manners, didn’t I? I’m Ethan—it’s, um, it’s an honor to meet you.” That seemed like the right word, honor. And if it wasn’t, a bit of flattery never hurt, right? Top it off with an awkward bow as he pulled himself back to his feet. Couldn’t hurt. 

“The pleasure is all mine,” said the archangel with an amused little smile. He’d always found humans to be rather adorable, like an overly tall pet. Young humans most of all—this one who hadn’t a clue on who he was had even bowed to him. Though it wasn’t as if older humans had done any better. The trait was built in the very thread of their existence ever since they were given fire in the form of knowledge. Damn Lucifer and his meddling hands! At the very least, he could influence the young and turned them to embrace him.

“Say, Ethan—do you believe in the Chosen One? There has been whispers that he, or she, is coming to end this catastrophe and restore things to the way they were. Well—as much as it could still be put together, I suppose.” Some places would never be the same and people would still be people. A Chosen One wasn’t a reset button, but Gabriel would chance the possibility to be able to return to Eden above all else. The longer he was trapped in his form of flesh and blood, the longer it sickened him. Something that didn’t used to happen before, and it only added to his argument about how this world of collapsing realities was never meant to be. “Would you be my eyes on the ground?”

                 The archangel laughed, the sound         mocking as he turned to regard the man.         “Why, are you going to give me trouble?”

Oh, okay, full attention on the stranger now. Gabriel. Pretty name, seemed like it deserved some sort of an honorific attached, but one never could be sure about those things what with the whole apocalypse and all. Weird how the world went kinda dim and spinny there, Ethan was just going to… sit, for a moment. Surely Gabriel wouldn’t mind, and it seemed like the alternative was falling over the railing. Ha, Gabriel was really tall from this angle, which was funny because Ethan was pretty sure he was actually the taller one… maybe it was just a matter of presence. Either way, Ethan couldn’t look away.

A dozen questions to the effect of can you hear it because it’s your name or can you hear everything reached the tip of Ethan’s tongue and stayed there. Surely it would be bothering the man — entity? — to run his mouth like that, better sit tight and shush unless spoken to, and while he was at it get his hammering heartrate under control.

“I—um…” The little bit of common sense still left in Ethan’s head reminded him sharply not to give Gabriel, whoever and whatever he was, too many details. “It—there was a raid, bunch of us found the nest an’ blew it up. This one must’ve got away.” He shot a nervous glance up at Gabriel and floundered for a justification. “They eat people. Take out their eyeballs, R—s-someone told me.”

Huh, color was coming back to the world, little by little. Was it a spell, a trick of some sort…? Fascinating, either way. “D-do you…um, is this your city? Do you live—” Finally tore his gaze away — mesmerizing, that was the word — and looked up again, past Gabriel’s head. Wasn’t anywhere one could jump from, not reasonably. “—around here…?”

This one was certainly a lot more sensitive than the rest of his kin, judging by the reaction he got. Very, very interesting. Gabriel let the other simmer down a little before he started with the questions. Everything and everyone will come to him in time—there’s no need to rush.

Playing by the boy’s sympathy, Gabriel made a sound in mutual distaste. “So I’ve heard. Take out your eyeballs, hang you by your entrails—and for what? They don’t even kill to survive or for food—just mindless violence. You and your group must be strong to survive.” The lower demons pose no threat to an archangel. However, the real danger came from a group of humans who hunted his kin and higher angels alike in fear. If they had come by the kind of power he saw the boy had, he would no longer hesitate a war despite what Michael, the righteous bastard had to say. It’s high time his brother realize when Heaven was no more, all they had was each other. 

The archangel chuckled, the sound rang clear in the air. “Around here? No. Settling down is dangerous. What’s your name boy? You’re all alone—will someone come looking for you?”

         In the center of the scorched field, a pair of dark wings unfurled before the dust had even settled, revealing the glorious presence of an archangel. His eyes seemed as dark as his hair under the moonlight and with a voice of quiet fury, Gabriel spoke,

                        “WHO DARED TO INVOKE UPON MY WILL?”

There, a spark of magic, this one soft and honey-smooth instead of burning, now his fingers stopped burning. The whole breaking of dimensions had one upside, and that was how much more easily his magic flowed. No more potions and rituals and hiding behind Ripper for him, not now that Chaos was a driving force. And they’d said he’d regret a specialization, ha!  Ethan didn’t regret a single bloody thing. 

“Special, huh? I’ll take that,” he said, grinning back at the stranger. Oh, he was wearing glamours, cool. Major ones, too, not the sort that could hide scrapes and bruises, the kind that hid entire parts of a self. Was there a way to break those? Ethan made a mental note to find out. “Not that you’re particularly ordinary yourself, are you? I mean…” His gaze drifted upward, trying to guess where the man had descended from. Could he fly?  

“Mm?” An apology, now that was a rare thing, even when it came with a side of laughing-at. “Oh, that. It’s fine—I can handle myself.” He smiled brightly. “Maybe you can swoop in and rescue me next time, though! Wouldn’t mind that, and well…” He leaned backwards over the railing to look down into the alleyway—upside down, right side up, one could see movement either way, right? Dark, boring, empty at the moment. The stranger himself was much more interesting “Always bound to be a next time. Tell me your name and I’ll be sure to scream it.”

“Special,” he repeated, this time agreeing to the boy’s perceptive assessment of his less than ordinary circumstances. He was hardly hiding the curiosity in his eyes, his whole current existence rather, much like a young bird with thirst for knowledge fluttering on the edge before his maiden voyage. It’s quite adorable, really, and so the archangel felt it’s only appropriate to tease a little Grace into his voice as he revealed his name.

           “Gabriel.”

It was just enough taste to keep the boy on his toes and wanting more. Still smiling, he added, “There’s no need to scream it, boy. I will hear you just fine.”

Some days it was really hard to tell the world had technically ended—people were still people-like and that meant a lot of things stayed familiar and normal. Or maybe Ethan just had a rather wobbly grasp on normal, that was also possible. Anyway, today? Not one of those days. Today was apparently an everything wants to eat your head kind of day. Cowering on a balcony and and trying to un-singe his fingers, Ethan mentally relegated this particular cologne to the demon-bait category. Pity, really, he’d liked the smell, but it was not worth the sheer amount of—

Holy shit, where had that guy come from?

Flinging himself out of the suddenly appearing — suddenly descending, really, wasn’t it? — stranger’s way turned quickly into trying not to pitch off the balcony’s edge which turned quickly into trying to look like he was lounging in a relaxed way.

“I—uh—” That guy was some kind of shiny like nothing else in the world. Wait, that descriptor didn’t really work anymore, did it? Unfamiliar power glowed in him, under his skin and spreading outward, like nothing Ethan’d ever seen. Pretty, that, like wings.

“Um, practice?” Lame, but better than telling a clearly supernatural stranger about all his friends and where they were, right? “Plus, everything’s all broken. That helps, with the magic.” Well, with Ethan’s magic, at least. He eyed the stranger curiously. “Does it help you too?”

His feeling was right--up close the young man gave an even more distinctive energy. Restless, like the world itself after realities collapsed into one another. It wasn’t exactly one of the prophesied Apocalypse he had prepared for, or even knew of (some Messenger he’d turned out to be), for God--Father--had disappeared along that day. His Brothers and Sisters were soon scattered on Earth with their own causes, leaving him adrift and not a little hurt by it... but let’s not dwell on things passed, shall we?

Gabriel followed the boy’s attempt to lean on the railing with a lot more grace. He shook his head, a small charming smile on his face. “It doesn’t help me as such, no--” for an Archangel’s ‘magic’ was beyond the mere tricks of mortals, yet he was intrigued by those touched with such power. Was it Father’s last Grace or a simple side-effect of the collapse? “--which is precisely why yours seems... special.”