#there is no escape...

wait i'll start with Uriel first bc he's in my mind more: in 21ge, he was the angel in charge of redeemed human souls as well as managing certain parts of Heaven and Eden (which was closed to the public, both mankind and angels), as he embodied God's Knowledge, meaning he had a lot of metaphysical know-how that other angels did not (including Gabriel who embodied God's Will and Power) as well as an inherent understanding of the rules that underpinned reality across Heaven, Hell and Earth.

He also really liked bending these rules a lot and was a master at exploiting loopholes or vague wording, so the Heavenly Council had a lot of friction with him to put it mildly. Put both of them in a room and the tension was suffocating, so Uriel tended to spend most of his time either in Eden or Hell, with occasional trips to Earth to pester Gabriel "at work".

Uriel's... maverick personality? actually meshed really well with Gabriel during his messenger days, because while Gabriel was kind of uptight about the rules and maintaining a respectable reputation (Gabriel was pretty mindful of his high ranking position and knew he couldn't really alienate the Heavenly Council like Uriel did, so while he also had friction with them he tended to lean into appeasement to smooth things over which did create the unfortunate path to Gabriel's current state in ULTRAKILL), he was also an adrenaline junkie and fascinated with humans and the interesting things they did, so he was pretty susceptible to Uriel's drive-by "get in loser we're gonna go on an adventure (join a poker tournament hosted by the ultra-wealthy, cheat our way to victory and give the winnings to the poor and needy)".

Like, Gabriel would complain about the bullshit Uriel dragged him into, but he could admit he had fun, and no one got hurt and they didn't get in trouble so it was just a bit of harmless mischief. if Father disapproved he would've punished them after all.

tl;dr, Uriel is genuinely a good person, but his exposure to redeemed sinners and the inherent knowledge he possesses of all things has him very much a square peg being wedged into a circle where Heaven is concerned, and as God's focus and influence waned in Heaven and the Council's authority grew, this did start becoming a severe problem for him... but that's spoiler territory (coughs)

oh wait, quick description time: he's shorter than Gabriel (like way shorter, he's about same height as V1 who barely comes to Gabriel's shoulder), and his wings are more 'conventional' in that they're normal feathers, not glass like Gabriel's, but are more flamboyant looking as they are similar to a Common Starling's wings, but in shades of red, orange and yellows (to represent fire and embers, due to Uriel's association with the sun):

He has a more delicate body structure too, and his armour is more leather and is more practical than Gabriel's ceremonial style, like so:

He says its because he aims for comfort over looking good, but somehow his armour looks very fashionable... hmm..

As for weapons, while he is the sole wielder of The Flaming Wword used to guard Eden (which is this whole thing... another fic spoiler...), if he's forced into combat he uses a bone flute as his weapon, to help his channel holy energy into physical actions via melody (so to bind, to move the earth to his will, etc). if pushed into a corner though, he does go "fuck it, scorched earth" and every beat of his wings can cause a very localised conflagration that can scorch most things to ash (but its very energy intensive and short-lived as it is very much a "SHIT SHIT HIT THE PANIC BUTTON" move).

Uriel in combat is very much: he's a glass cannon to the extreme. makes it very hard to get to him but once you got him you can fold him like a lawn chair with little effort. Gabriel always trounced him in spars so he started avoiding them because he didn't like losing, which just made his fighting ability worse... but why bother learning to fight, the only thing he gets into conflict with nowadays are demons and he can blow them up with his mind basically (hahaha)

i. aftermath

Denji manages to find Power, and it barely takes him a month. Nayuta is left with Kishibe during that time, and he manages to explain enough of the situation to Power that the little girl isn't immediately torn to pieces by her (how Power retained her memories, he isn't sure, but he's grateful that she did).

Kishibe's 'welcome-back' gift to them both is a pair of tickets up to Hokkaido and back, and a set of directions. He tells them that the directions lead to where Hayakawa Aki's gravestone has been situated, and agrees to continue looking after Nayuta until after their second trip out of Tokyo is complete.

Power shouts a lot, when they get back to the apartment (theirs, now- it's not Aki's, not anymore). She yells about how it's a terrible welcome-back-from-hell present, about the fact that Denji has to take care of Nayuta, about the fact that there's only two tickets and the Angel Devil should have gotten one as well. They both ignore the way Power's voice cracks, or the way she looks at the shut door to Aki's room with something in-between hope and grief.

Denji knows that the Angel Devil hasn't been seen since the confrontation with Makima. He caught a glimpse of Angel, briefly, eyes wide and pained, and then nothing- the only trace of Angel found since then a white feather Denji found on the apartment balcony.

So, Denji and Power take the train up to Hokkaido, both of them subdued and quiet. Neither one has much to say, really. Power asks a few listless questions about what Denji's been up to, between the last time they met and him dragging her out of hell, but the conversation just... dies out. As Denji watches the scenery fly by, he can't help but think of a boy in the snow, waiting for his little brother so they can play catch.

Hokkaido is... pretty, Denji supposes. He can't really comment on it, seeing as they're both preoccupied with their own thoughts. The site that's been arranged is hidden in familiar woods, and Denji suspects it's located close to where Aki's family house used to be. As they make their way through the trees, Denji spots a flash of red hair and feathered wings, and can't really be surprised by it. As the Angel Devil turns to glance at them, he can tell the other isn't surprised to see the two of them, either.

Aki's gravestone is made from dark blue stone, his name carved into it with skillful precision. There are flowers planted around his grave, white ones that look like birds in flight, or a pair of spread wings- the flowers according to Aki's will, apparently.

"White egret orchids," the Angel Devil supplies, when he sees Denji gazing at the flowers, "Allegedly, they mean something similar to 'my thoughts will follow you into your dreams'."

Power opens her mouth, but shuts it as Angel turns back to the gravestone. If Denji were to guess, he'd say she was probably thinking something along the lines of 'You sure it's not just because they look like your wings?'. He might have asked that, to be fair.

They don't get the chance to say any more, as Angel moves forward until he's standing right at the gravestone, eyes unreadable.

"Two months," he says, and Denji's eyes widen as a blade falls into the devil's outstretched hand. A knife, like a dagger, light glinting off the blade. The hilt is a familiar shade of blue, marked with silver detail, and Denji can't quite place it. He watches Angel move forward, lay the blade at the gravestone, and whisper something to it before standing up and moving towards the forest, vanishing into the snowy trees.

Both he and Power know, somehow, that they'll never see the Angel Devil again- no one will. He won't stick around in this realm.

(They wouldn't have tried to hear what Angel said, that was strictly between him and Aki; but if they had managed to listen in, they'd have heard more emotion than either of them thought the Angel Devil capable of showing, words the devil never thought he would say. "You don't just get to leave me alone like that. Wait for me, Hayakawa Aki, until I find you again, and we can do it right this time.")

ii. epilogue

Not everything will end in tragedy- sometimes, it just takes a bit of time.

There is a laugh, and two figures walking down the street. The one with long, autumn-red hair swipes an ice cream cone from his taller companion, grinning at him as they hold hands.

"That's mine," the taller one says, though there's no real annoyance in his voice- just a quiet, affectionate tone, that he reserves specifically for his companion. Said companion blinks up at him, "It's my favourite flavour." "I know."

They continue walking, chatting along the way- their fingers interlocked. The taller one leans down to kiss his companion's cheek, smiling at him, "I'm glad you found me again."

"So am I. We'll do it right this time."