Fic: A History of Heaven (Gabriel/Various Angels, PG-13 for this chapter) 25/59
For full notes and other chapters, please see the Masterpost.
Notes: Sammael = Lucifer
Chapter Rating: PG-13
Chapter word count: 2,414
Chapter Summary: Gabriel needs to get Michael help, but that means he has to go to the head of Heaven’s defenses: Raphael
CHAPTER 25:
To Raphael
Gabriel broke through the barrier back to Earth, his sword clattering out of his fingers against the cold stone as he fell. He gasped for breath, clutching at his chest, his skin feeling swollen and stretched. They couldn't have been in Sammael's realm for long, absolutely no more than an hour, but even that short time was enough to make Gabriel feel too small to contain the full glory of the Host again.
He didn't have time for pain. Gabriel forced himself to his feet, snatching up his sword and shoving his grace out. He needed to get to Raphael before Lucifer had a chance to overpower Michael. Even physical flying would take too long.
Gabriel's return to Heaven was less than graceful as he brutally tore a path open through the realms. Heaven and Earth sparked against each other as they mixed through the Borderlands that usually separated them, and Gabriel noticed a few glares from some of Raphael's Dominions as they rushed in to repair the damage. He couldn't stop to apologize. Raphael. He needed to get to Raphael.
Seraphim and Cherubim dove aside as Gabriel hurtled through Heaven, eschewing the Axis Mundi to fly directly to the eastern tower, Raphael's home. In a twisting vortex of cloudy glass, the Archangel of the Air oversaw the entire defense of Heaven.
Gabriel nearly slammed through the wall itself, he was flying so fast. He barely managed to get in through a proper door, bowling over a poor little Angel in his way, and raced up to Raphael's offices. He could feel the other Archangel's presence and was grateful that his brother wasn't out on a patrol today. “Raphael!”
Raphael was standing over a table with two of his Seraphim, studying several maps spread out between them. He looked down at the smaller Archangel with a sneer, his eyes narrowing. “For Father's sake, Gabriel, don't you understand how to make an appointment?”
Gabriel shook his head, clutching at his chest and grimacing. Now that he had stopped moving, the agony of being reconnected with the Host was catching up to him. “It's urgent! Raphael, the Borderlands between Heaven and Earth need their guard increased, now! We could be under attack soon, we might not be, I don't know! Michael's still on Earth, we have to help him, Sammael's with him, it's not safe, Raphael, he's gone, we need to help, I just left him, my vessels-!”
Raphael snapped his fingers, and Gabriel's mouth snapped shut, his words instantly stopped by his brother's grace. “Gabriel. Be silent.”
“Mmffh!“ Gabriel clawed at his useless mouth and gave his brother a rude hand gesture he had learned from the humans, but the meaning was lost on Raphael.
“Calm down.” Raphael turned away from his maps, focusing his attention on Gabriel. “Let's try this again, but try to make sense this time.” He snapped his fingers again, freeing Gabriel's tongue. “Danger is coming from Earth?”
“Maybe.” Gabriel rubbed his mouth and scowled at Raphael. “It might just be Lucifer-Sammael. He wants to be called Lucifer now. He's… we've lost him, Raphael. Sammael's gone insane.”
“You think Sammael's going to attack us?”
“Maybe!” Gabriel threw up his hands in a dramatic shrug. “He's not Sammael anymore, and he's pissed! I think there's a good chance!”
“Where is he now?”
“On Earth. Not on Earth.” Gabriel tugged at Atis' hair in frustration. This would have been so much easier if he didn't have to explain from the beginning to Raphael. “He's in his own realm, which opens onto Earth, without any Borderlands between them. He'd have to pass through Earth to get here. Michael's with him now. They were fighting… I fled.”
“You fled?” Raphael's lips curled in scorn. “You abandoned our brother in his battle? Does he have any support?”
“No,” Gabriel whispered, hanging his head in shame. Yes, he had abandoned Michael, an injured and weakened Michael, left him to fight a fully charged and furious Lucifer on his own. “Michael is alone there.”
“Where?” Raphael demanded. “I'll send my best garrisons to back him up. Give me an access point.”
“They can't get in,” Gabriel said. “Sammael's realm is warded against angels unless their names are carved into the wall. Michael's is, but none of yours are.”
Raphael growled, slamming a fist onto the table. “Then give me a location to the entrance to this realm!”
“I can give you coordinates,” Gabriel offered. Raphael nodded, gesturing for one of the two Seraphim, his own second, to take the location from Gabriel.
“Marmoniel,” Raphael said, addressing the angel, “send our two best warrior garrisons to that cave, to wait for Michael. Virgil's and Adroniel's. If he comes out fighting, his enemy is their enemy, regardless of what or who it is. Remiel.” The other Seraph lifted his head. “Move all of your garrisons to the Borderlands between Heaven and Earth. Same orders. If Michael, Virgil, or Adroniel are fighting someone, they are to immediately take up arms. They are to defend Heaven from anything even remotely hostile.”
“Should we tell them to watch specifically for Sammael?” Marmoniel asked, glancing between the Archangels.
Raphael shook his head. “Not yet. I want to evaluate the situation myself before we spread panic among our younger brothers. Do not so much as hint that Sammael may have gone rogue, understood?”
“Yes sir.” The two Seraphim bowed and vanished, leaving Raphael and Gabriel alone.
Raphael's bright eyes slid over to his twin, and Gabriel turned away, bracing himself against the table with both arms. “Shut up,” Gabriel whispered, closing his eyes. “Don't even think it. I know I shouldn't have left, but I'd've been worse than useless to Michael if I stayed.”
“That's always been your problem. You love too damn much.”
“And you don't love enough,” Gabriel mumbled.
“Excuse me?”
Gabriel winced, folding his arms on the table and dropping his head onto his arms. “No, forget it. Just… forget it. It's been a very bad day, Raphael. Cut me some slack.”
Raphael was silent, but Gabriel could still feel the judgment in his grace. He should leave, should return to his own tower on the other side of Heaven. Cariel wouldn't judge him. Cariel would let Gabriel collapse and tell him it would all be all right in the end.
“Is Michael in danger?”
Raphael's question was quiet, but Gabriel could hear the serious inquiry in his voice. He rolled his head to the side to look at his brother. Raphael was very pointedly looking away, but even his profile was troubled.
“Yes,” Gabriel whispered back. “I'm scared.”
And that was why Gabriel hadn't left Raphael's tower yet. For all he hated his twin, Raphael was an Archangel, the only other Archangel in Heaven at the moment. For all of Cariel's understanding, he would never realize how it felt to have the entire realm resting on your shoulders. The Archangels were the pillars of Heaven, and one of them had just collapsed.
“If he dies, I will be holding you personally responsible.”
And that was why Gabriel hated his brother. Raphael's voice was cold, and he still wouldn't look at Gabriel, even as he passed judgment. Not that Gabriel could blame his brother. If Michael died, Gabriel knew it would have been his fault.
“If he dies,” Gabriel pointed out, forcing his guilt aside to try to be rational, “then we are the only two Archangels left. If we turn on each other now, all of Heaven will fall.”
“So I should forgive you for abandoning Michael when he needed you most?” Raphael spun to face Gabriel, hissing in his anger, his wings flaring.
Gabriel was tired, so very tired. “No.” He let his head sink back into the cradle of his arms. Michael had told him to run, but Gabriel should have disobeyed. He should have forced himself to fight Lucifer. If Michael died, he would be the first to blame himself. “But you should put it aside, for our younger brothers' sakes.”
“How would I be able to trust you to have my back?”
“You've never trusted me!” Gabriel curled his hands into fists, shoving off the desk to glare at Raphael. “How does this change things?”
“Pray Michael survives.” Raphael stepped closer to Gabriel, drawing his wings up high. “Or Heaven will see a civil war.”
“Gabriel!”
The stand-off between the two Archangels was interrupted by Cariel, three of Raphael's Angels trying to hold the Seraph back from bursting into Raphael's office. “Gabriel, reports are flooding in! Our garrisons on Earth are under attack!”
“What? From what!?” The tension between the twins snapped in favor of a new panic, as both Archangels turned to Cariel. Gabriel was the one to address his second, but Raphael stepped forward to listen.
“We don't know! Something new!” Cariel pushed off one of the Angel's hands, stepping into the office. “Barachiel's pulled back his garrisons; they've taken a heavy beating, but no casualties. Zachariah moved in to defend. They're… reports are saying they're humans, but they aren't. Their eyes glow, and they are as swift and strong as any Angel. They're too large, too powerful, to be merely human.”
“Eve is still locked away.” Raphael looked at Gabriel, dismissing the lower angels as he addressed his equal. “She isn't creating any new monsters.”
“Then who is?” Gabriel asked, catching his eye briefly before turning back to Cariel. “Pull everyone back. We have several situations unfolding on Earth-just sound a full retreat. I want my choir in Heaven to be redeployed once we can see the scope of things. Raphael?”
“We'll continue to watch the Borderlands. I'll pull back some garrisons for the gates and walls, and station several more to Earth to cover your retreat and see if we can't identify the source of these new beasts.”
“Go, Cariel!” Gabriel waved his hand at his Seraph, dismissing him to carry out his orders.
“We need to be out there,” Raphael snapped. “Grab your sword and armor up. If Sammael-”
“Lucifer,” Gabriel mumbled, correcting his brother.
“If we are attacked by an Archangel, we'll be the only line of defense possibly able to hold him back.” Raphael snatched out his sword, his grace swirling around him and solidifying into a near-impenetrable armor. Very few of even Eve's creatures could punch through solid grace so long as the angel in question was still connected with the vast resources of the Host, but grace alone was no match for the sword of an Archangel. Gabriel swallowed down his fear as he mimicked his brother, preparing for battle.
The walls and gates of Heaven were metaphysical constructs more than physical defenses. The entire perimeter of the realm was ringed with the shimmering barrier, but the gates always stood open, allowing the angels to come and go as they pleased, wherever they chose to materialize. As long as a quadrant's gate stood open, the entire quadrant was open.
Three of the massive gates were closed now, and the walls were swarming with Raphael's soldiers. Only the Eastern Gate remained cracked open as Gabriel's angels swarmed in. Far too many were supporting their brothers. Barachiel himself, Gabriel's third strongest Seraph, was carrying two Cherubim with broken wings, a third clinging to his back between his own. Raphael directed them to his healers, his face a cold mask of fury.
Gabriel stood beside Raphael, fighting the need to go to his choir. He couldn't help them now. He was no healer. He needed to be ready to face Lucifer if the Archangel attempted to breach the gate.
“Archangel incoming!” Remiel's shout rung out over the walls, and Gabriel slid his eyes sideways to Raphael before adjusting his grip on his sword. The twins pushed forward as one, reaching out threads of their grace to see which angel was bearing down on Heaven's gate.
The grace that answered was slashed and burned, at first only recognizable by the sheer amount of it. Gabriel threw his sword aside and flew out to meet his brother as soon as he recognized the broken wing-Michael! His brother had escaped!
Michael crashed into Gabriel, unable to check his speed. His broken wing was twisted badly, hanging limply from his back, and several more were badly damaged. His vessel was already gone, likely shed somewhere on Earth. Michael whispered Gabriel's name, pressing a hand to his cheek, and Gabriel could feel his brother's relief that he was alive.
Raphael swept his long wings around them both, hurrying them back to the gate. The last of Gabriel's angels slipped through, and Raphael ordered the gate be closed and barred behind them. As the doors whispered together, Gabriel and Raphael laid Michael down gently inside Heaven, aware that the eyes of nearly the entire Host were among them.
As a general rule, Archangels did not get hurt. Very little was even capable of penetrating their shields to injure them, assuming they stopped fighting long enough to let themselves be injured. Massive monsters, like the dragons, were dangerous, but really, with the exception of the time God shouted his wrath directly into Gabriel's head, the Archangels always rose above their younger brothers as untouchable pillars of righteousness and justice. You couldn't hurt righteousness. You couldn't break justice.
And yet Michael, the greatest of all angels, was lying between his brothers in a crumpled mess of broken wings and splintered grace. His hand found Gabriel's, squeezing weakly. Gabriel offered his brother a thin smile, lifting their clasped hands to press his lips to Michael's fingers. Across from him, Raphael was already feeding his grace into Michael's battered form, sealing the worst of the damage.
Sammael? Gabriel asked, his voice just a whisper over the mental connection the Archangels alone shared. Is our brother…?
Lucifer still lives. Michael's voice was as quiet as Gabriel's, but from his own weakness instead of any actual hesitation. But that creature has not been our brother for a long, long time. Michael's eyes slipped closed, and he grimaced under Raphael's ministrations.
How bad is it? Raphael asked, spreading out his own grace around Michael to try to offer him some relief from having his raw grace so exposed.
Very bad, Michael answered, reaching out his free hand to catch Raphael's. The Healer paused for a moment to squeeze Michael's fingers gently. “Heaven,” Michael said, speaking the words aloud for the entire Host to hear, “is at war.”
Next...
Notes: Sammael = Lucifer
Chapter Rating: PG-13
Chapter word count: 2,414
Chapter Summary: Gabriel needs to get Michael help, but that means he has to go to the head of Heaven’s defenses: Raphael
CHAPTER 25:
To Raphael
Gabriel broke through the barrier back to Earth, his sword clattering out of his fingers against the cold stone as he fell. He gasped for breath, clutching at his chest, his skin feeling swollen and stretched. They couldn't have been in Sammael's realm for long, absolutely no more than an hour, but even that short time was enough to make Gabriel feel too small to contain the full glory of the Host again.
He didn't have time for pain. Gabriel forced himself to his feet, snatching up his sword and shoving his grace out. He needed to get to Raphael before Lucifer had a chance to overpower Michael. Even physical flying would take too long.
Gabriel's return to Heaven was less than graceful as he brutally tore a path open through the realms. Heaven and Earth sparked against each other as they mixed through the Borderlands that usually separated them, and Gabriel noticed a few glares from some of Raphael's Dominions as they rushed in to repair the damage. He couldn't stop to apologize. Raphael. He needed to get to Raphael.
Seraphim and Cherubim dove aside as Gabriel hurtled through Heaven, eschewing the Axis Mundi to fly directly to the eastern tower, Raphael's home. In a twisting vortex of cloudy glass, the Archangel of the Air oversaw the entire defense of Heaven.
Gabriel nearly slammed through the wall itself, he was flying so fast. He barely managed to get in through a proper door, bowling over a poor little Angel in his way, and raced up to Raphael's offices. He could feel the other Archangel's presence and was grateful that his brother wasn't out on a patrol today. “Raphael!”
Raphael was standing over a table with two of his Seraphim, studying several maps spread out between them. He looked down at the smaller Archangel with a sneer, his eyes narrowing. “For Father's sake, Gabriel, don't you understand how to make an appointment?”
Gabriel shook his head, clutching at his chest and grimacing. Now that he had stopped moving, the agony of being reconnected with the Host was catching up to him. “It's urgent! Raphael, the Borderlands between Heaven and Earth need their guard increased, now! We could be under attack soon, we might not be, I don't know! Michael's still on Earth, we have to help him, Sammael's with him, it's not safe, Raphael, he's gone, we need to help, I just left him, my vessels-!”
Raphael snapped his fingers, and Gabriel's mouth snapped shut, his words instantly stopped by his brother's grace. “Gabriel. Be silent.”
“Mmffh!“ Gabriel clawed at his useless mouth and gave his brother a rude hand gesture he had learned from the humans, but the meaning was lost on Raphael.
“Calm down.” Raphael turned away from his maps, focusing his attention on Gabriel. “Let's try this again, but try to make sense this time.” He snapped his fingers again, freeing Gabriel's tongue. “Danger is coming from Earth?”
“Maybe.” Gabriel rubbed his mouth and scowled at Raphael. “It might just be Lucifer-Sammael. He wants to be called Lucifer now. He's… we've lost him, Raphael. Sammael's gone insane.”
“You think Sammael's going to attack us?”
“Maybe!” Gabriel threw up his hands in a dramatic shrug. “He's not Sammael anymore, and he's pissed! I think there's a good chance!”
“Where is he now?”
“On Earth. Not on Earth.” Gabriel tugged at Atis' hair in frustration. This would have been so much easier if he didn't have to explain from the beginning to Raphael. “He's in his own realm, which opens onto Earth, without any Borderlands between them. He'd have to pass through Earth to get here. Michael's with him now. They were fighting… I fled.”
“You fled?” Raphael's lips curled in scorn. “You abandoned our brother in his battle? Does he have any support?”
“No,” Gabriel whispered, hanging his head in shame. Yes, he had abandoned Michael, an injured and weakened Michael, left him to fight a fully charged and furious Lucifer on his own. “Michael is alone there.”
“Where?” Raphael demanded. “I'll send my best garrisons to back him up. Give me an access point.”
“They can't get in,” Gabriel said. “Sammael's realm is warded against angels unless their names are carved into the wall. Michael's is, but none of yours are.”
Raphael growled, slamming a fist onto the table. “Then give me a location to the entrance to this realm!”
“I can give you coordinates,” Gabriel offered. Raphael nodded, gesturing for one of the two Seraphim, his own second, to take the location from Gabriel.
“Marmoniel,” Raphael said, addressing the angel, “send our two best warrior garrisons to that cave, to wait for Michael. Virgil's and Adroniel's. If he comes out fighting, his enemy is their enemy, regardless of what or who it is. Remiel.” The other Seraph lifted his head. “Move all of your garrisons to the Borderlands between Heaven and Earth. Same orders. If Michael, Virgil, or Adroniel are fighting someone, they are to immediately take up arms. They are to defend Heaven from anything even remotely hostile.”
“Should we tell them to watch specifically for Sammael?” Marmoniel asked, glancing between the Archangels.
Raphael shook his head. “Not yet. I want to evaluate the situation myself before we spread panic among our younger brothers. Do not so much as hint that Sammael may have gone rogue, understood?”
“Yes sir.” The two Seraphim bowed and vanished, leaving Raphael and Gabriel alone.
Raphael's bright eyes slid over to his twin, and Gabriel turned away, bracing himself against the table with both arms. “Shut up,” Gabriel whispered, closing his eyes. “Don't even think it. I know I shouldn't have left, but I'd've been worse than useless to Michael if I stayed.”
“That's always been your problem. You love too damn much.”
“And you don't love enough,” Gabriel mumbled.
“Excuse me?”
Gabriel winced, folding his arms on the table and dropping his head onto his arms. “No, forget it. Just… forget it. It's been a very bad day, Raphael. Cut me some slack.”
Raphael was silent, but Gabriel could still feel the judgment in his grace. He should leave, should return to his own tower on the other side of Heaven. Cariel wouldn't judge him. Cariel would let Gabriel collapse and tell him it would all be all right in the end.
“Is Michael in danger?”
Raphael's question was quiet, but Gabriel could hear the serious inquiry in his voice. He rolled his head to the side to look at his brother. Raphael was very pointedly looking away, but even his profile was troubled.
“Yes,” Gabriel whispered back. “I'm scared.”
And that was why Gabriel hadn't left Raphael's tower yet. For all he hated his twin, Raphael was an Archangel, the only other Archangel in Heaven at the moment. For all of Cariel's understanding, he would never realize how it felt to have the entire realm resting on your shoulders. The Archangels were the pillars of Heaven, and one of them had just collapsed.
“If he dies, I will be holding you personally responsible.”
And that was why Gabriel hated his brother. Raphael's voice was cold, and he still wouldn't look at Gabriel, even as he passed judgment. Not that Gabriel could blame his brother. If Michael died, Gabriel knew it would have been his fault.
“If he dies,” Gabriel pointed out, forcing his guilt aside to try to be rational, “then we are the only two Archangels left. If we turn on each other now, all of Heaven will fall.”
“So I should forgive you for abandoning Michael when he needed you most?” Raphael spun to face Gabriel, hissing in his anger, his wings flaring.
Gabriel was tired, so very tired. “No.” He let his head sink back into the cradle of his arms. Michael had told him to run, but Gabriel should have disobeyed. He should have forced himself to fight Lucifer. If Michael died, he would be the first to blame himself. “But you should put it aside, for our younger brothers' sakes.”
“How would I be able to trust you to have my back?”
“You've never trusted me!” Gabriel curled his hands into fists, shoving off the desk to glare at Raphael. “How does this change things?”
“Pray Michael survives.” Raphael stepped closer to Gabriel, drawing his wings up high. “Or Heaven will see a civil war.”
“Gabriel!”
The stand-off between the two Archangels was interrupted by Cariel, three of Raphael's Angels trying to hold the Seraph back from bursting into Raphael's office. “Gabriel, reports are flooding in! Our garrisons on Earth are under attack!”
“What? From what!?” The tension between the twins snapped in favor of a new panic, as both Archangels turned to Cariel. Gabriel was the one to address his second, but Raphael stepped forward to listen.
“We don't know! Something new!” Cariel pushed off one of the Angel's hands, stepping into the office. “Barachiel's pulled back his garrisons; they've taken a heavy beating, but no casualties. Zachariah moved in to defend. They're… reports are saying they're humans, but they aren't. Their eyes glow, and they are as swift and strong as any Angel. They're too large, too powerful, to be merely human.”
“Eve is still locked away.” Raphael looked at Gabriel, dismissing the lower angels as he addressed his equal. “She isn't creating any new monsters.”
“Then who is?” Gabriel asked, catching his eye briefly before turning back to Cariel. “Pull everyone back. We have several situations unfolding on Earth-just sound a full retreat. I want my choir in Heaven to be redeployed once we can see the scope of things. Raphael?”
“We'll continue to watch the Borderlands. I'll pull back some garrisons for the gates and walls, and station several more to Earth to cover your retreat and see if we can't identify the source of these new beasts.”
“Go, Cariel!” Gabriel waved his hand at his Seraph, dismissing him to carry out his orders.
“We need to be out there,” Raphael snapped. “Grab your sword and armor up. If Sammael-”
“Lucifer,” Gabriel mumbled, correcting his brother.
“If we are attacked by an Archangel, we'll be the only line of defense possibly able to hold him back.” Raphael snatched out his sword, his grace swirling around him and solidifying into a near-impenetrable armor. Very few of even Eve's creatures could punch through solid grace so long as the angel in question was still connected with the vast resources of the Host, but grace alone was no match for the sword of an Archangel. Gabriel swallowed down his fear as he mimicked his brother, preparing for battle.
The walls and gates of Heaven were metaphysical constructs more than physical defenses. The entire perimeter of the realm was ringed with the shimmering barrier, but the gates always stood open, allowing the angels to come and go as they pleased, wherever they chose to materialize. As long as a quadrant's gate stood open, the entire quadrant was open.
Three of the massive gates were closed now, and the walls were swarming with Raphael's soldiers. Only the Eastern Gate remained cracked open as Gabriel's angels swarmed in. Far too many were supporting their brothers. Barachiel himself, Gabriel's third strongest Seraph, was carrying two Cherubim with broken wings, a third clinging to his back between his own. Raphael directed them to his healers, his face a cold mask of fury.
Gabriel stood beside Raphael, fighting the need to go to his choir. He couldn't help them now. He was no healer. He needed to be ready to face Lucifer if the Archangel attempted to breach the gate.
“Archangel incoming!” Remiel's shout rung out over the walls, and Gabriel slid his eyes sideways to Raphael before adjusting his grip on his sword. The twins pushed forward as one, reaching out threads of their grace to see which angel was bearing down on Heaven's gate.
The grace that answered was slashed and burned, at first only recognizable by the sheer amount of it. Gabriel threw his sword aside and flew out to meet his brother as soon as he recognized the broken wing-Michael! His brother had escaped!
Michael crashed into Gabriel, unable to check his speed. His broken wing was twisted badly, hanging limply from his back, and several more were badly damaged. His vessel was already gone, likely shed somewhere on Earth. Michael whispered Gabriel's name, pressing a hand to his cheek, and Gabriel could feel his brother's relief that he was alive.
Raphael swept his long wings around them both, hurrying them back to the gate. The last of Gabriel's angels slipped through, and Raphael ordered the gate be closed and barred behind them. As the doors whispered together, Gabriel and Raphael laid Michael down gently inside Heaven, aware that the eyes of nearly the entire Host were among them.
As a general rule, Archangels did not get hurt. Very little was even capable of penetrating their shields to injure them, assuming they stopped fighting long enough to let themselves be injured. Massive monsters, like the dragons, were dangerous, but really, with the exception of the time God shouted his wrath directly into Gabriel's head, the Archangels always rose above their younger brothers as untouchable pillars of righteousness and justice. You couldn't hurt righteousness. You couldn't break justice.
And yet Michael, the greatest of all angels, was lying between his brothers in a crumpled mess of broken wings and splintered grace. His hand found Gabriel's, squeezing weakly. Gabriel offered his brother a thin smile, lifting their clasped hands to press his lips to Michael's fingers. Across from him, Raphael was already feeding his grace into Michael's battered form, sealing the worst of the damage.
Sammael? Gabriel asked, his voice just a whisper over the mental connection the Archangels alone shared. Is our brother…?
Lucifer still lives. Michael's voice was as quiet as Gabriel's, but from his own weakness instead of any actual hesitation. But that creature has not been our brother for a long, long time. Michael's eyes slipped closed, and he grimaced under Raphael's ministrations.
How bad is it? Raphael asked, spreading out his own grace around Michael to try to offer him some relief from having his raw grace so exposed.
Very bad, Michael answered, reaching out his free hand to catch Raphael's. The Healer paused for a moment to squeeze Michael's fingers gently. “Heaven,” Michael said, speaking the words aloud for the entire Host to hear, “is at war.”
Next...