The pillars surrounding the open area were of translucent emerald. Around and below them were the sky and clouds, nothing else. They stood in the palace which exists outside of space and time. Around them they both knew that there were others watching. They knew that the palace was as crowded as ever and that people would be talking about what was about to happen before it had even finished. Yet all of that didn't seem to exist. Once in this room the rest of the palace was invisible, all you could see was the clouds and the onset of the space beyond the heavens, leading into infinity.
Gabriel stood defiant and confident, dressed completely in white. His long golden hair hung down his back in a loose ponytail, stretching almost to his belt. He moved his right leg side to side slightly, feeling the material of his long coat against his calves. On the opposite side to him was the being he hated most in all of creation, the one of his kind known only as Luke. Gabriel had never been able to pinpoint what it was exactly that caused this feeling. Luke stood; he was almost the complete opposite of Gabriel. Where Gabriel was light he was dark. His hair was shorter than Gabriel's and was dark, almost black and hung loose about his shoulders. Luke dressed in black trousers and jacket, without a shirt underneath. Gabriel felt the loathing within him growing as Luke stood silently, studying his own sword, paying very little attention to Gabriel. Luke held his sword up and admired it in the light; Gabriel scowled across the empty space in front of him. Luke took his eyes off the blade at that moment and gave Gabriel a dark grin that made him lose his temper and rush towards Luke.
Gabriel's attacks came quickly and ferociously at Luke. He parried them with apparent ease, he hadn't wanted to fight, he still didn't want to. Luke had no wish to hurt Gabriel but at this moment it seemed like he had very few options. In order to get him to stop Luke would either have to hurt Gabriel or wait for him to tire. Luke didn't want to fight for the eternity that would take.
Gabriel slashed wildly with precision at Luke, who backed away slowly as he defended. Gabriel lunged for Luke's stomach as he sensed the lack of fight within his opponent. Luke allowed the lunging blow to glance off his own blade and sidestepped quickly. As Gabriel's momentum carried him past Luke, Luke grabbed the back of his jacket and pulled him backwards as he swept Gabriel's feet from under him. Gabriel hit the floor as Luke skipped away a safe distance and waited for the next attack.
Gabriel sprang to his feet the look in his eyes was that of a wild animal hungry for a kill. Luke still refused to allow himself to fight back with the same ferocity that Gabriel showed. It wasn't in his nature; he hated the violence that seemed to be such a large part of people's make up. Gabriel aimed a vicious arch towards Luke's head. Luke pushed it to the side with his own blade as he stepped away from the attack, while Gabriel was off balance from his attack Luke hit him with a kick to the stomach.
For the second time Gabriel was lying on the floor. This had never happened to him before. His anger welled up again, but this time it was matched with embarrassment of being humbled by his opponent, who obviously didn't want to be here at all. He hadn't expected Luke to be as fast as he was. He pushed himself to his feet slowly, contemplating his next move.
The others watching from outside of the room winced at the flurry of blows from Gabriel that followed. His red bladed sword seemed to fill the air around Luke, who was inching further and further back. Gabriel's pride was well known throughout the crowd and they knew he wouldn't stop until he had won this battle. There was a communal sigh of relief when Gabriel stopped attacking and stepped back looking triumphant.
Gabriel stood a few paces away from Luke, trying to get his breath back, while trying to hide the fact that he was breathless from the crowd that he knew were watching. Looking across at his younger opponent he had to try hard to keep the surprise off his face. The man had blocked every one of his attacks, his speed was phenomenal. He moved his gaze to Luke's eyes, trying to look intimidating. Luke met his gaze; his face showed the same kind of mild indifference that it had shown since they entered the room. Suddenly Luke winked at Gabriel. Gabriel couldn't understand why wasn't this person more afraid of him?
The crowd stood wide-eyed, transfixed by the scene in front of them. The thin line of red on the side of Gabriel's face was slowly spreading from his ear to the front of his cheeks. They could see from the look in Luke's eyes that he knew he had cut Gabriel, they were just waiting for Gabriel to realise it himself.
Luke straightened up, standing tall in front of Gabriel. He replaced his sword into its sheath and crossed his arms across his chest as Gabriel's hand travelled slowly to his cheek. Luke watched the red in Gabriel's face spread, either through annoyance or embarrassment, he didn't care. Luke thought that now he had beaten Gabriel that he would be left alone. He smiled and stretched out his wings, hovering a few inches off the ground. Gabriel scowled at the younger angel. Luke's wings were brilliant white and a stark contrast against his black clothes. Luke landed softly and turned to leave the room. He did not speak to Gabriel, there was nothing to say. He only wanted to leave; he was surprised that he had, not only, not been beaten but that he had survived the fight with Gabriel.
Gabriel felt the rage well up to his face, covering the growing stinging sensation of the sword cut. He had ever been beaten before, that was bad enough, but the crowd of people he imagined outside the room, mocking him, drove him close to madness. Each calm step that Luke took made him angrier. As Luke reached, and opened the door. Gabriel rushed for him, raising his sword for the killing blow and aiming for the top of Luke's back, just between his wings.
Luke heard a gasp from the people who had been watching and paused at the door. The look of horror that they displayed on their faces made him turn to see what they were looking at. He skipped backwards out of the room as he saw Gabriel's red sword blade hovering only millimetres away from him. Gabriel had been frozen in place by a greater force. Luke exhaled greatly and walked quickly from the palace.