Fic: A History of Heaven (Gabriel/Various Angels, PG-13 for this chapter) 51/59
For full notes and other chapters, please see the Masterpost.
Notes: Sammael = Lucifer
Chapter Rating: PG-13
Chapter word count: 2,119
Chapter Summary: Heading back to Heaven isn’t so easy, though, when demons have camped out in the world between realms.
CHAPTER 51:
Knights of Hell
“Hello, Gabriel, Cariel. Did you have a pleasant stay on Earth? It must have been nice to have a chance to get… physical.”
Gabriel and Cariel never made it to Heaven. They were stopped just inside the fragile Borderlands by an all-too-familiar demon. Yellow eyes glittered over a mocking smile. Azazel. Behind him, surrounding the walls of Heaven, stood a legion of demons, all armed with silver weapons. Demons didn’t often make it this far, but there were spells and rituals that could open the Borders to all types of creatures. Raphael’s guards knew this the best. The flickering, shifting light Gabriel could make out on the ramparts of Heaven’s walls indicated that they were patrolling, holding the border.
Gabriel growled at the fallen angel, his sword sliding into his hand. “So nice to see you out in the open, Azazel. Makes killing you easier.”
“It would,” Azazel agreed, leaning toward Gabriel and touching two fingers to the Archangel’s blade, “if you actually could.”
Gabriel lunged forward, his sword singing through the empty greyness, but Azazel ducked and melted into smoke, streaking off through the gathered demons.
“Coward,” Gabriel snarled after him.
Cariel coughed delicately into his hand. “Er, Gabriel?” When the Archangel looked back at him, Cariel nodded to the other demons. The closest were turning their way, malevolent smirks curling the corners of their mouths. “None of these were here when I left. We may be a tiny bit outnumbered.” He stepped closer to Gabriel, drawing his own sword.
“I’m almost more scared of you holding a sword than them,” Gabriel teased, trying to keep Cariel’s mood up even as he shifted closer to his lieutenant. “When was the last time you fought anything?”
“I can fight!” Cariel protested, putting his back against Gabriel’s as the demons slowly started to move around them, surrounding the pair. “I fought against the… dragons?”
“Before the war?” Gabriel shifted his stance, his gaze traveling from one demon to the next. “Cariel, that was centuries ago! You’ve spent most of those years behind a desk. You’re out of practice.”
“And you aren’t?” Cariel retorted. “When was the last time you fought?”
“Nephilim,” Gabriel answered. “And Lucifer.”
“You didn’t fight for long; you ran. That doesn’t count!”
“Counts enough!” Gabriel shot back. “Besides, unlike you, I kept up my skills.”
“When?” the Seraph scoffed. “I never saw you practicing with your sword.”
“Days on Earth were long and boring before Jesus realized I was there.”
“Gabriel?” Cariel’s wings twitched against the Archangel’s. “I think I recognize these demons.”
There was a genuine thread of concern in Cariel’s voice now, enough for Gabriel to glance back at his Seraph. Cariel nodded slowly at one. “That’s Armen. And over there is Kael. These are the fallen angels, Azazel’s traitors.”
“Well… shit.” Gabriel slowly spread his wings, preparing to ignite if necessary. “This might actually be tricky.” Michael? Raphael? Have you noticed the demons on your doorstep?
The last question was sent silently through the mental connection Gabriel shared with the Archangels. Michael’s answer came quickly. We are aware of them, and you. Be careful, Gabriel. Raphael’s garrisons have not been able to hurt these demons. They have been surrounding us for several hours now.
Are the gates open? Cariel and I can fold into Heaven if you can give us an opening.
You cannot. Raphael this time. The demons all have sigils with them. No one can fold past them. We are corralled inside Heaven just as surely as you are stuck outside.
“Shit,” Gabriel muttered again. Cariel’s grace touched against his.
On a scale of one to screwed, how badly are we screwed?
They can’t be hurt and we can’t dash past them.
“So, screwed then?” Cariel twisted his wings, bringing out the razor sharp edges of his feathers.
If we can break past their line, we can get into Heaven, but we’ll be stuck there. Gabriel reached out to the Archangels as he shook his own wings, spreading fire through his feathers. Can you get the western gate open if we make a run for it?
We’re already there, Michael answered. We’ll try to stage a distraction here to give you some sort of opening.
Gabriel reached behind him, grabbing at Cariel’s free hand. Fly to the western gate, as hard as you can. They’ll try to open it for us if we can get close.
Cariel squeezed Gabriel’s hand back. “On three?”
“Three!”
The angels leapt toward Heaven in unison, wings and swords slashing into the nearest demons. As soon as they started to move, the demons reacted, exploding toward the angels with unearthly screeches and screams of their own. A sword slipped past Gabriel’s grace, biting deep into his left arm. The Archangel snarled and yanked away from the demon, pulling the weapon from his grasp and plunging his own into the demon’s face. It howled, crackling orange as it died. Gabriel didn’t have time to feel bad over killing a creature that had once been one of his brothers. He had to keep moving.
Cariel wasn’t having any success of his own. His sword connected with the demons, but after a moment of resistance, it passed straight through their bodies as harmlessly as if he were slicing a river. After several useless swings, Cariel sheathed his own sword and just raced after Gabriel. His wings sliced through the demons, but they reformed in his wake, jeering and taunting him as they swarmed after.
“Gabriel!”
Cariel shouted Gabriel’s name as a demon’s sword caught him at the root of one of his wings. He stumbled through the greyness, hissing in pain.
There was only one last line of demons before their ranks were broken through, but Gabriel whirled around, turning his back on safety in order to return to Cariel’s side. His sword neatly severed a demon’s head from his shoulders, while his flaming wings swept around the Seraph, scorching the demons and driving them back. “Can you fly?”
“I think so…” Cariel pushed himself back upright, wincing as he tested his injured wing.
Gabriel seized his elbow, supporting him as best he could. “We’re almost through, Cariel. Just a little further.”
Wind roared through the Borderlands, and Gabriel’s flames streamed away from him in the sudden gale. Weather was unnatural here, which could only mean one thing. Behind Gabriel, Raphael howled along with his storm, swinging two long knives around him in a whirlwind of destruction. Michael flashed through the hoard, appearing and vanishing in that flickering, end-state-only method of moving he’d adopted, a line of dying demons sparking red and orange tracing his passage through the hoard. Around the two Archangels, Seraphim and their choirs charged the demons, heavenly battle cries echoing through the greyness.
“For the Glory of God!”
“For the Kingdom of Heaven!”
The rush of angels drove back the demons, but Gabriel didn't trust the respite to last long. He curled his arm around Cariel and pushed against the wind, hurtling them both toward Heaven. Cariel folded his wings in tight and clutched Gabriel, letting the more powerful angel carry them both.
Gabriel plowed through the open western gate, tumbling to an ungraceful landing on the Axis Mundi just inside the walls. He could hear Raphael calling a retreat and didn't bother to get up. As angels swarmed back into Heaven around him and Healers rushed in to treat the wounded, Gabriel remained a crumpled pile of feathers and stillness.
Gabriel? Cariel's grace touched his own, threaded through with a barely-restrained panic. Were you wounded? Gabriel?
I'm unhurt, Gabriel answered, just as his arm twinged in reminder of the stab. Mostly. I'm merely indulging in a moment of self-pity.
Cariel fell silent, though his hands did worm through the mass of Gabriel's wings to press close to the Archangel's core. They weren't our brothers anymore, he murmured into Gabriel's mind.
Gabriel closed his eyes and pressed his face into Cariel's wings. You always know what I need to hear. He had killed demons today, but those demons had been his brothers once. Seraphim, Angels, and Dominions he had once shared the skies with. Some had helped him on Sammael’s orders, millennia ago. Some had been partners to some of his own choir. They had been angels, family, beloved by Heaven, and now they were dead at his hand.
I know you. Cariel stroked the back of his fingers along Gabriel’s throat, pressing through his grace to pet his core. Our brothers died long ago. Those were merely echoes, faded parodies of what they had once been. You killed demons today, Gabriel, not angels.
The flat of a blade tapped against one of Gabriel’s wings. “Are you injured?” Raphael tapped Gabriel again. “If not, get up. Earth has made you lazy.”
“And if I were?” Slowly, Gabriel lifted and folded his wings, pushing off the ground and helping Cariel to his feet. The Seraph looked a bit ruffled from being squashed beneath Gabriel, and one of his wings dragged along the ground, but he otherwise seemed unhurt. “I am injured, Raphael. See?” Gabriel held out his arm, showing his brother the stab through the middle.
Raphael gave Gabriel a flat look and flicked his fingers against the cut, healing it instantly. “Even you could have done that yourself.”
“Cariel’s actually hurt.” Gabriel pointed at his Seraph with his freshly-healed arm. “Heal him.”
“Another healer can tend to your Seraph.”
Gabriel narrowed his eyes. “Heal him, Raphael.”
Cariel looked between the Archangels warily, turning his back away from Raphael. “Really, Gabriel, it’s fine…”
Behind Cariel, Marmoniel huffed impatiently and laid her hands on Cariel’s injured wing. “They’ll attempt to outglare each other until Michael interrupts,” she muttered, just loud enough for Gabriel to hear. “Heaven ran so much smoother when they were apart.”
“Don’t say that,” Cariel snapped back at Marmoniel.
“I was merely stating a fact. The past thirty years have been more-”
“Don’t you two start.” Michael was suddenly beside Cariel and Marmoniel, cleaning demon blood from his long sword. His huge wings were open, blanketing the sky. “It’s bad enough your Archangels can’t stand in the same room without fighting. If you start emulating them, I’ll need to take drastic measures.”
Gabriel reached out to snag Cariel's arm and pull him behind his wings. “Thank you, Michael, for distracting the demons.”
Michael's sword vanished, his arms held straight at his sides. “Raphael, Gabriel, come with me to Raphael's tower.”
“Why Raphael's?” Gabriel asked.
“Because Raphael's is equipped to discuss war tactics.” The words came from Michael's throat, but the angel did not move. It was like listening to a statue speak. “Marmoniel, take your healers and tend to the injured from most to least severely wounded. Naomi, compile a list of the newly deceased.”
Marmoniel and Naomi both bowed to the Archangel and turned to call to their Dominions. Raphael spread his wings, preparing for flight.
Gabriel looked over his shoulder at Cariel. Since when could Michael order Marmoniel around? Sure, technically, Michael oversaw every angel in Heaven, but as Raphael's second, Marmoniel was only obligated to answer to him, just as Cariel wouldn't answer to anyone but Gabriel.
Instead of returning Gabriel's confused look, Cariel glanced away, his wings lowered submissively. Something was wrong here. Realization flashed through Gabriel's grace, followed by a hot anger, and he whirled on the other Archangels with his wings spread aggressively. “What have you been doing?” If even one of them had tried to order Cariel around while Gabriel was out, there'd be a reckoning.
All around them, the gathered angels were surreptitiously watching. Gabriel could feel his younger brothers' eyes on him, watching, wondering, fearing the worst.
Not here. Raphael narrowed his eyes, speaking over the Archangel channel. Not in front of the Host.
Fly with us, Gabriel. We can discuss the changes to Heaven privately.
Cariel's fingers crept up Gabriel's back, curling around one of his major wings. “Gabriel, it's not…”
Gabriel turned to look at Cariel again, touching his grace to his second's so he could speak directly into his lieutenant's mind. Did they take over my choir in my absence?
No! Cariel answered quickly. They… gave some orders, yes, but they always allowed our choir our autonomy. Neither of them attempted to be you.
They shouldn't have given you any orders! You're mine!
Gabriel. Michael's voice was deep inside Gabriel, power and impatience rolling through his name. Come with us. Now. His wings flashed out, and then Michael was gone. Raphael frowned at Gabriel before following.
Gabriel looked back at Cariel one more time before snapping his wings up and launching himself after his brothers. They needed to talk.
Next...
Notes: Sammael = Lucifer
Chapter Rating: PG-13
Chapter word count: 2,119
Chapter Summary: Heading back to Heaven isn’t so easy, though, when demons have camped out in the world between realms.
CHAPTER 51:
Knights of Hell
“Hello, Gabriel, Cariel. Did you have a pleasant stay on Earth? It must have been nice to have a chance to get… physical.”
Gabriel and Cariel never made it to Heaven. They were stopped just inside the fragile Borderlands by an all-too-familiar demon. Yellow eyes glittered over a mocking smile. Azazel. Behind him, surrounding the walls of Heaven, stood a legion of demons, all armed with silver weapons. Demons didn’t often make it this far, but there were spells and rituals that could open the Borders to all types of creatures. Raphael’s guards knew this the best. The flickering, shifting light Gabriel could make out on the ramparts of Heaven’s walls indicated that they were patrolling, holding the border.
Gabriel growled at the fallen angel, his sword sliding into his hand. “So nice to see you out in the open, Azazel. Makes killing you easier.”
“It would,” Azazel agreed, leaning toward Gabriel and touching two fingers to the Archangel’s blade, “if you actually could.”
Gabriel lunged forward, his sword singing through the empty greyness, but Azazel ducked and melted into smoke, streaking off through the gathered demons.
“Coward,” Gabriel snarled after him.
Cariel coughed delicately into his hand. “Er, Gabriel?” When the Archangel looked back at him, Cariel nodded to the other demons. The closest were turning their way, malevolent smirks curling the corners of their mouths. “None of these were here when I left. We may be a tiny bit outnumbered.” He stepped closer to Gabriel, drawing his own sword.
“I’m almost more scared of you holding a sword than them,” Gabriel teased, trying to keep Cariel’s mood up even as he shifted closer to his lieutenant. “When was the last time you fought anything?”
“I can fight!” Cariel protested, putting his back against Gabriel’s as the demons slowly started to move around them, surrounding the pair. “I fought against the… dragons?”
“Before the war?” Gabriel shifted his stance, his gaze traveling from one demon to the next. “Cariel, that was centuries ago! You’ve spent most of those years behind a desk. You’re out of practice.”
“And you aren’t?” Cariel retorted. “When was the last time you fought?”
“Nephilim,” Gabriel answered. “And Lucifer.”
“You didn’t fight for long; you ran. That doesn’t count!”
“Counts enough!” Gabriel shot back. “Besides, unlike you, I kept up my skills.”
“When?” the Seraph scoffed. “I never saw you practicing with your sword.”
“Days on Earth were long and boring before Jesus realized I was there.”
“Gabriel?” Cariel’s wings twitched against the Archangel’s. “I think I recognize these demons.”
There was a genuine thread of concern in Cariel’s voice now, enough for Gabriel to glance back at his Seraph. Cariel nodded slowly at one. “That’s Armen. And over there is Kael. These are the fallen angels, Azazel’s traitors.”
“Well… shit.” Gabriel slowly spread his wings, preparing to ignite if necessary. “This might actually be tricky.” Michael? Raphael? Have you noticed the demons on your doorstep?
The last question was sent silently through the mental connection Gabriel shared with the Archangels. Michael’s answer came quickly. We are aware of them, and you. Be careful, Gabriel. Raphael’s garrisons have not been able to hurt these demons. They have been surrounding us for several hours now.
Are the gates open? Cariel and I can fold into Heaven if you can give us an opening.
You cannot. Raphael this time. The demons all have sigils with them. No one can fold past them. We are corralled inside Heaven just as surely as you are stuck outside.
“Shit,” Gabriel muttered again. Cariel’s grace touched against his.
On a scale of one to screwed, how badly are we screwed?
They can’t be hurt and we can’t dash past them.
“So, screwed then?” Cariel twisted his wings, bringing out the razor sharp edges of his feathers.
If we can break past their line, we can get into Heaven, but we’ll be stuck there. Gabriel reached out to the Archangels as he shook his own wings, spreading fire through his feathers. Can you get the western gate open if we make a run for it?
We’re already there, Michael answered. We’ll try to stage a distraction here to give you some sort of opening.
Gabriel reached behind him, grabbing at Cariel’s free hand. Fly to the western gate, as hard as you can. They’ll try to open it for us if we can get close.
Cariel squeezed Gabriel’s hand back. “On three?”
“Three!”
The angels leapt toward Heaven in unison, wings and swords slashing into the nearest demons. As soon as they started to move, the demons reacted, exploding toward the angels with unearthly screeches and screams of their own. A sword slipped past Gabriel’s grace, biting deep into his left arm. The Archangel snarled and yanked away from the demon, pulling the weapon from his grasp and plunging his own into the demon’s face. It howled, crackling orange as it died. Gabriel didn’t have time to feel bad over killing a creature that had once been one of his brothers. He had to keep moving.
Cariel wasn’t having any success of his own. His sword connected with the demons, but after a moment of resistance, it passed straight through their bodies as harmlessly as if he were slicing a river. After several useless swings, Cariel sheathed his own sword and just raced after Gabriel. His wings sliced through the demons, but they reformed in his wake, jeering and taunting him as they swarmed after.
“Gabriel!”
Cariel shouted Gabriel’s name as a demon’s sword caught him at the root of one of his wings. He stumbled through the greyness, hissing in pain.
There was only one last line of demons before their ranks were broken through, but Gabriel whirled around, turning his back on safety in order to return to Cariel’s side. His sword neatly severed a demon’s head from his shoulders, while his flaming wings swept around the Seraph, scorching the demons and driving them back. “Can you fly?”
“I think so…” Cariel pushed himself back upright, wincing as he tested his injured wing.
Gabriel seized his elbow, supporting him as best he could. “We’re almost through, Cariel. Just a little further.”
Wind roared through the Borderlands, and Gabriel’s flames streamed away from him in the sudden gale. Weather was unnatural here, which could only mean one thing. Behind Gabriel, Raphael howled along with his storm, swinging two long knives around him in a whirlwind of destruction. Michael flashed through the hoard, appearing and vanishing in that flickering, end-state-only method of moving he’d adopted, a line of dying demons sparking red and orange tracing his passage through the hoard. Around the two Archangels, Seraphim and their choirs charged the demons, heavenly battle cries echoing through the greyness.
“For the Glory of God!”
“For the Kingdom of Heaven!”
The rush of angels drove back the demons, but Gabriel didn't trust the respite to last long. He curled his arm around Cariel and pushed against the wind, hurtling them both toward Heaven. Cariel folded his wings in tight and clutched Gabriel, letting the more powerful angel carry them both.
Gabriel plowed through the open western gate, tumbling to an ungraceful landing on the Axis Mundi just inside the walls. He could hear Raphael calling a retreat and didn't bother to get up. As angels swarmed back into Heaven around him and Healers rushed in to treat the wounded, Gabriel remained a crumpled pile of feathers and stillness.
Gabriel? Cariel's grace touched his own, threaded through with a barely-restrained panic. Were you wounded? Gabriel?
I'm unhurt, Gabriel answered, just as his arm twinged in reminder of the stab. Mostly. I'm merely indulging in a moment of self-pity.
Cariel fell silent, though his hands did worm through the mass of Gabriel's wings to press close to the Archangel's core. They weren't our brothers anymore, he murmured into Gabriel's mind.
Gabriel closed his eyes and pressed his face into Cariel's wings. You always know what I need to hear. He had killed demons today, but those demons had been his brothers once. Seraphim, Angels, and Dominions he had once shared the skies with. Some had helped him on Sammael’s orders, millennia ago. Some had been partners to some of his own choir. They had been angels, family, beloved by Heaven, and now they were dead at his hand.
I know you. Cariel stroked the back of his fingers along Gabriel’s throat, pressing through his grace to pet his core. Our brothers died long ago. Those were merely echoes, faded parodies of what they had once been. You killed demons today, Gabriel, not angels.
The flat of a blade tapped against one of Gabriel’s wings. “Are you injured?” Raphael tapped Gabriel again. “If not, get up. Earth has made you lazy.”
“And if I were?” Slowly, Gabriel lifted and folded his wings, pushing off the ground and helping Cariel to his feet. The Seraph looked a bit ruffled from being squashed beneath Gabriel, and one of his wings dragged along the ground, but he otherwise seemed unhurt. “I am injured, Raphael. See?” Gabriel held out his arm, showing his brother the stab through the middle.
Raphael gave Gabriel a flat look and flicked his fingers against the cut, healing it instantly. “Even you could have done that yourself.”
“Cariel’s actually hurt.” Gabriel pointed at his Seraph with his freshly-healed arm. “Heal him.”
“Another healer can tend to your Seraph.”
Gabriel narrowed his eyes. “Heal him, Raphael.”
Cariel looked between the Archangels warily, turning his back away from Raphael. “Really, Gabriel, it’s fine…”
Behind Cariel, Marmoniel huffed impatiently and laid her hands on Cariel’s injured wing. “They’ll attempt to outglare each other until Michael interrupts,” she muttered, just loud enough for Gabriel to hear. “Heaven ran so much smoother when they were apart.”
“Don’t say that,” Cariel snapped back at Marmoniel.
“I was merely stating a fact. The past thirty years have been more-”
“Don’t you two start.” Michael was suddenly beside Cariel and Marmoniel, cleaning demon blood from his long sword. His huge wings were open, blanketing the sky. “It’s bad enough your Archangels can’t stand in the same room without fighting. If you start emulating them, I’ll need to take drastic measures.”
Gabriel reached out to snag Cariel's arm and pull him behind his wings. “Thank you, Michael, for distracting the demons.”
Michael's sword vanished, his arms held straight at his sides. “Raphael, Gabriel, come with me to Raphael's tower.”
“Why Raphael's?” Gabriel asked.
“Because Raphael's is equipped to discuss war tactics.” The words came from Michael's throat, but the angel did not move. It was like listening to a statue speak. “Marmoniel, take your healers and tend to the injured from most to least severely wounded. Naomi, compile a list of the newly deceased.”
Marmoniel and Naomi both bowed to the Archangel and turned to call to their Dominions. Raphael spread his wings, preparing for flight.
Gabriel looked over his shoulder at Cariel. Since when could Michael order Marmoniel around? Sure, technically, Michael oversaw every angel in Heaven, but as Raphael's second, Marmoniel was only obligated to answer to him, just as Cariel wouldn't answer to anyone but Gabriel.
Instead of returning Gabriel's confused look, Cariel glanced away, his wings lowered submissively. Something was wrong here. Realization flashed through Gabriel's grace, followed by a hot anger, and he whirled on the other Archangels with his wings spread aggressively. “What have you been doing?” If even one of them had tried to order Cariel around while Gabriel was out, there'd be a reckoning.
All around them, the gathered angels were surreptitiously watching. Gabriel could feel his younger brothers' eyes on him, watching, wondering, fearing the worst.
Not here. Raphael narrowed his eyes, speaking over the Archangel channel. Not in front of the Host.
Fly with us, Gabriel. We can discuss the changes to Heaven privately.
Cariel's fingers crept up Gabriel's back, curling around one of his major wings. “Gabriel, it's not…”
Gabriel turned to look at Cariel again, touching his grace to his second's so he could speak directly into his lieutenant's mind. Did they take over my choir in my absence?
No! Cariel answered quickly. They… gave some orders, yes, but they always allowed our choir our autonomy. Neither of them attempted to be you.
They shouldn't have given you any orders! You're mine!
Gabriel. Michael's voice was deep inside Gabriel, power and impatience rolling through his name. Come with us. Now. His wings flashed out, and then Michael was gone. Raphael frowned at Gabriel before following.
Gabriel looked back at Cariel one more time before snapping his wings up and launching himself after his brothers. They needed to talk.
Next...