Michael had spent eons paying little heed to the activities of the humans: they were the cause of everything that was wrong about his existence. And yet, he could not hate them: he loved them as he had been ordered to do by his Father. This particular year, though, he was watching the Earth carefully, keeping track of the eldest of his brothers and attempting to locate his vessel: the Righteous, yet impure, unchaste and completely unrepentant Man. But today, it was not the Righteous Man that held his attention. Nothing did. He had discovered that today was a date dedicated in the Christian calendar to honour the archangels. It was even named for him: Michaelmas, even though he, Raphael and Gabriel shared the festival. It was the omission that had sent his thoughts spiralling down into Hell, reminded him of the task ahead of him.
Although it was frowned upon, it was a fact that angels had brothers they were closer to than others. Lucifer had been Michael's first brother, and they had been as close as it was possible to be. Michael had loved Lucifer fiercely, above all their younger brothers, and they had sat at their Father's left and right hands for hundreds of thousands of years. They had passed their Father's intentions on to their little brothers together, guided the emergent life on Earth. The two of them were the ones who, before the creation of Raphael, had slammed the Leviathan into Purgatory. They had been a formidable team, until the day humanity began to flourish. Lucifer had always been the one to ask questions, but he pushed and pushed, ultimately trying to prove their Father wrong. He became too dangerous to be allowed to remain free, forcing Father to create another plane of existence. But it was Michael who was given the task of imprisoning Lucifer and the two corrupted human souls in Hell. Gabriel helped with the souls but turned away in sorrow when Michael asked for assistance with their brother. It was Raphael who ultimately came to his aid: gentle, peaceful Raphael who was never quite the same again once he took on Lucifer's responsibilities.
Michael hated this. He sometimes envied Gabriel the choice he had made to leave, but he had not been made that way: he was a soldier, a faithful son to their Father. And it was their Father's will that this argument finally be over, one way or the other. So Michael would travel to Earth and kill Lucifer, like the good son he was. But he would not ever be happy about it, and he would mourn his brother until the end of time.