~ I don't own Dominion. ~
Jailbird.
Prologue.
[ Vega, Three Months Earlier. ]
The smallish room was made up of mostly stone, containing metal shelves stocked with medical supplies, most of which were scattered across the floor by now. There were barely any windows, any windows were locked and stained with dirt, but the room got enough light from the panelled lighting upon the ceiling. Over the loud hum of the city above, you could hear the dull noise of weak fists hitting the stone walls, accompanied by the panicked hisses of the captive citizen.
Blood stained the spot where she hit, a painful throb dancing up and down her arms. She wanted to escape this room, it was making her claustrophobic and she could sense her death coming, but metal chains bound her to the walls and made it unsurprisingly hard to move. The doors behind her creaked open, cold air rushing in with the motion, and she vaguely heard the stern footsteps of her former friend approaching her.
"Why do you insist on trying to escape?" The Archangel's strong voice asked, lilted with a British accent. A pair of strong hands stopped her from damaging herself further, holding her still. "Are you that afraid, sister?"
"I'm not your bloody sister!" She cried stubbornly. "Shut up!"
She was pulled away from the wall, despite her loud protests and kicking, and guided to the centre of the room. Michael turned her to face him, holding her by the shoulders and remaining expressionless. The captive woman trembled under his touch, dark eyes burning with tears and breath coming out in ragged pants. Michael seemed confused as to why she was so upset, tilting his head and examining her with scrutinising eyes.
"You're exactly like Alex." Michael observed, earning an irritated scoff from the woman. Michael continued, "Running away from your problems, denying who you really are."
The woman grew quiet, emotions dancing on the thin line of infuriation and defeat. She wanted to explode into a fit of rage, but she also wanted to accept defeat and embrace the monster inside of her. A thoughtful expression crossed her face, something that grew into a confused one minutes later, accompanied closely by the woman looking around and brushing Michael off as if he were an irritating fly.
Focusing her attention on the bloodied wall, the woman became unsteady on her feet and almost lost her balance. Michael didn't move from his spot, but he seemed pretty pleased with the outcome of his decision. The woman's hands tingled with a familiar burn, the injuries beginning to close with sickly noises.
Slowly, she returned her attention to Michael, seeming to have come to grips with her situation.
"Michael..." She hissed in a foreign tongue, lips curling into a dark frown. "What the bloody hell have you done?"
"You need to choose a side, sister, the time for neutrality has ended." Michael responded calmly.
"Balance before recklessness, little brother." She cooed playfully, backing away and turning towards the bloodied wall.
"Gabriel has forgotten balance, he's growing stronger by the minute." Michael argued, following after the older woman. "You must understand this war, you must understand that your power is needed to balance the tide."
"I understand the war." The woman dipped her index finger into the shallow stains, an action that would've unsettled most, but Michael had learnt to leave her to her weirdness. She continued, "On one condition, I'll help."
"What do you want?" Michael questioned curiously, knowing he had to be careful with granting conditions.
"A meeting with the senate." She explained, watching small droplets streak down her finger. "Vivian may have known them, but I want them to know the difference between Vivian and myself."
Michael became quiet for a while, he was most likely thinking of his options. Meanwhile, the woman continued to examine the bloodstains of her beloved Vivian, blinking curiously. She hadn't seen much of the human's blood since the first night of the Extermination War, when it had been painted across her face, contrasting the darkening blood of an eight-ball. The woman cracked her neck to the side, sharpened eyes becoming icier and frown deepening.
"I'll see what I can do." Michael agreed, nodding. "I assume the senate means the Chosen One, too?"
"Personally, I don't care much for him." She admitted with a nonchalant shrug. "It'd be nice to meet him, though."
Michael didn't comment on her disinterest towards Alex, it'd be unnatural for her to show interest towards him, but it did irritate him. Alex was the Chosen One, the child with His message to human and angel kind, and his older sister continued to show disinterest; it was as if she didn't care for going back home. Michael wondered what was going on in that powerful mind of hers.
Sighing, Michael took a small key from his pocket and took her wrists within one hand, unlocking them. The woman stretched her arms immediately, humming cheerily.
"Were those made of empyrean steel?" She questioned, rubbing her wrists and walking past Michael.
"Indeed." Michael confirmed, following after her to the door. "Did you expect me to use normal chains?"
"Hmm, it wouldn't surprise me, little brother." Michael huffed, almost laughed, at her teasing. The pair left the room, walking side by side down the darkened corridor, a comfortable silence lingering between the pair of them.
[ ]
The Stratosphere was unbelievably tall, formerly full of rooms of different uses, and now used as the perch for the Archangel Michael. The darkened sky made the city below sparkle with bright lights, fascinating the auburn haired Archangel that sat upon the ground, legs swinging freely in the open air. Michael sat upon his bed, observing his sister and waiting for Alex to arrive.
"Before the Extermination War, I wanted to bring Vivian here." She admitted shyly, tapping her fingers on the marble floor. "Father ruined everything by leaving, it's somewhat ironic."
"How is it ironic?" Michael questioned, straightening up from his slouched position.
"Some humans have overprotective parents, specifically fathers, who threaten the boy they like." She explained, leaning back to look at Michael. "The humans are the boy and they're being threatened."
"Father wouldn't do that." Michael denied bluntly, confused when his sister started laughing, seeming genuinely amused.
The soft ding of the elevator brought Michael's attention to the blonde behind them, who walked rather cautiously around the circular bed. Alex cleared his throat, tucking his arms behind his back.
"What do you want, Michael? I'm busy." He muttered in greeting, bright eyes focusing on the woman. "Vivian?"
"I'll give you points for trying." The woman replied coolly, waving her hand dismissively. Alex blinked confusedly, looking between Michael and the woman.
"What's she on about, Michael?" Alex questioned hurriedly, taking a few steps forward. "Is she possessed?"
"No, she's not. This is Raguel, she's the original host of this body." Michael explained, which seemed to confuse the blonde even more. "Which makes me wonder just how she got into the city."
Michael got up from the bed and Raguel got to her feet, turning to face the pair. The tension was heavy upon their shoulders, looming in the air, and Alex feared for the survival of them all. Raguel crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly, whilst Michael rested his hands on his hips childishly; Alex wondered if this was what quarrels between angels were like.
"Who knows?" Raguel asked with a deadpan expression. Michael took a few bold steps towards the auburn woman, grinding his teeth together irritably.
"Are you attempting to play dumb? It doesn't suit your character." Michael mocked, relishing in the genuine anger that flashed across her face. "Tell me how you got into Vega."
"I don't know." Raguel insisted. "If I had to guess, though, I'd say I got in here as a split personality of Vivian Arthur."
"You're a split personality?" Alex's lips curled into a toothy grin, a breathless snigger slipping out of his mouth. The pair turned to look at the blonde, both wearing different expressions: Michael had an eyebrow lifted at his immaturity, whilst Raguel wore a menacing scowl. Alex cleared his throat, "Sorry."
"Vivian Arthur is the split personality of myself, not the other way around, human." Raguel explained, irritated. "It isn't possession."
"How can we be sure?" Michael returned his attention to Raguel. "Once, you were the peacemaker of Heaven and Earth, what are you now?"
"If you believe I'm going to lie to you, Michael, you should keep those thoughts in mind." Raguel lowered her hands to her sides, dark eyes blinking slyly at them. "You remember The Flood, no? Trust gets you injured, trust gets you killed."
Michael could feel Alex's gaze burning into the side of his head, curiosity betraying the blonde. Michael's throat felt sickeningly dry, he couldn't deny that he remembered The Flood and the horrible memories created from it, Raguel was the definition of scales; she had been trusted with executions of liars, rapists, murderers, foolish eight-balls and soldiers with an ego bigger than their brains. In short, Raguel could sense a lie, especially when coming from her precious siblings.
Michael remembered hearing the sound of Raguel's powerful wings within the fiery nights. He remembered watching her slaughter innocent children with a gleeful expression, wings outstretched and axes covered in blood. She had called it vengeful justice, but Michael still wondered to this day if it had only been about justice.
"What do you know about The Flood?" Alex asked, the question directed at Raguel. "Were you there?"
Raguel nodded, fidgeting uncomfortably. "I don't wish to talk about it, I was an executioner, that's all you need to know."
Alex opened his mouth to ask more, but Michael interrupted him, "Raguel will help us defeat Gabriel."
"How?" Alex didn't seem impressed with the new information, but it was understandable. Michael was hesitant to reply, not knowing how much information he should reveal to Alex; the boy was impulsive and downright temperamental, it'd be a pain to chase after him if he didn't like what he heard. Raguel had focused her attention on some ornaments kept by Michael, so it seemed like she wasn't going to offer any support in this situation. "Michael, no more secrets! How is she going to help us defeat Gabriel?"
"You'll learn soon enough." Michael said stubbornly, tensing when Alex huffed and stormed off back towards the elevator, muttering angrily. Once the boy was gone, Michael approached Raguel and grabbed her shoulder firmly, pulling her back to the centre of the room. "You can't stay here, go sleep somewhere else."
"Are you attempting to be a teenager, Michael? Is it embarrassing for your older sister to be here?" Raguel teased, but allowed herself to be pushed towards the open window. "You must like her, I'm being kicked out."
"Be quiet." Michael ordered, frowning when his sister clung to the edges of the window. "And get out."
"You are attempting to be a teenager." Raguel observed playfully, turning to face the brunette once more. Humans believed the eyes were the door to one's soul, something that Raguel quite agreed with at the moment; Michael may remain expressionless on the outside, but his eyes were ablaze with embarrassment and childish irritation. Raguel smiled, "I won't be here tomorrow morning, little brother."
"What do you mean? You have a meeting." Michael now seemed confused, tilting his head.
"You have a meeting, I have a letter." Raguel corrected, gesturing towards a letter placed amongst the ornaments. She leaned backwards, the wind lifting up her hair and chilling the back of her body with a nostalgic feeling. "You were always better with them than I was, anyway."
Michael opened his mouth to protest, but he quickly shut it and smiled crookedly at her. "If I remember correctly, Gabriel was always better than the pair of us."
Raguel chuckled, shoulders trembling and smile genuine. She glanced backwards towards the city, "How long do you think it'll take for them to locate an Archangel?"
"Uriel wasn't discovered until twenty minutes after her infiltration."
"Enjoy the next hour of interrogation, little brother." And with these words, Raguel fell from the window.
The slim body of the Archangel was barely visible within the searching lights of Vega, falling at speeds that rivalled any animal to soar the skies. The wind was unbelievably strong underneath her body, burning her eyes momentarily, but Raguel felt no pain towards the familiar surroundings; she had flown at higher speeds than this. She turned within the air, large wings sprouting from her back with a sickly crunch, catching her. Black feathers and silver scales decorated these wings, carrying power that could protect her from bullets and swords alike, but also cut a grown man in half with little effort.
The Archangel fled the city of Vega, eager to meet with her littlest siblings once again.
A/N: Well, this is awkward...
After uploading my story, I decided I wasn't happy with it and wanted to write for the character I've been writing drafts for: Raguel.
This prologue was written to outline the character of Raguel, the story will explain her in much more detail and depth.
Raguel is based off of the archangel, Raguel. I did some brief research on him, because I didn't want to base the entirety of my character off of him. Raguel is referred to as the archangel of justice, fairness, harmony and vengeance.
I can imagine Raguel being quite a difficult character with a wide range of personalities.
Anyway, can I just say that I want to kill Michael because of 02x03? I won't kill him, he's incredibly important to my story, but I'm not saying I won't torture him in one chapter. So beware of that!
After this incredibly long & obnoxious note, I finish with:
Reviews are appreciated, but don't feel pressured!
I bid you farewell. x