Yukio slowly opened his eyes. The last thing he remembered was a blinding light that consumed him along with the demons and his friends. Brother! He panicked. Yukio tried to move but pain shot through his entire body.
Realizing his vain efforts to immediately get up, he just stared at the ceiling. Where am I? He thought. He was surrounded by nothing. There were neither objects nor people, only this falling snow from above.
He was very thirsty, he thought. Yukio reached for his chest pocket in order to get his vial, but instead of a hard small metal bottle, he felt something soft on his chest. Yukio extended his neck for a look. To his astonishment, there was a large pair of white wings on top of him. Then, he heard someone groan. His eyes widened as he saw the girl with the silver hair sprawled on top of him.
Despite the pain he felt in his body, Yukio carefully moved the girl from his chest. He slowly sat up and assisted the unconscious girl. However, his body froze in terror at what he saw because aside from the wings that slightly covered her whole body, she was wearing nothing. In sheer panic, Yukio placed her back on his chest. Sweat trickled down his face when he felt her breasts touch his torso. Yukio never moved faster in his whole life. He immediately removed his exorcist coat. He could feel his heart race on his chest. Yukio attempted to place his coat over the girl's back, but her wings were enormous.
Another large bead of sweat appeared on his forehead. He did not want to look at her naked body, but he had no choice but to look at it if he wanted to at least clothe her. Yukio grunted in irritation.
Finally, he made his decision. He grabbed the girl on her shoulders and cradled her on his lap. He then placed his exorcist coat on top of her body. Yukio sighed in relief. He could feel his temperature normalizing and the blood that rushed to his cheeks go down.
Yukio sat quietly and contemplated at what he was currently seeing. He did not know which was more incomprehensible: the fact that he was in some white room or that there is a naked angel currently unconscious on his lap.
He adjusted his glasses. Being the man who always had a plan, he could not figure out what to do.
The girl made another groan as she slowly got up from Yukio's lap. She dazedly looked at her surroundings. Finally, her eyes landed on Yukio, who was also staring at her.
She gasped as she immediately crawled away from him. A golden dagger appeared in her hand as she glared.
"Oh for the love of God!" Yukio yelled in frustration. "Can you please, cover yourself first?" He pointed at his exorcist cloak which was now lying on the floor. Yukio crossed his arms. "How can a woman appear naked in front of a man she barely knows?"
The angel gasped in horror and covered her bare body with his coat. "I… I'm sorry." She whispered.
Yukio frowned as he realized that he scared the little creature.
For a while, they both sat awkwardly in silence. The girl kept her distance from Yukio. On the other hand, Yukio did not attempt to come any closer. She was still holding her blade and his body was throbbing that he knew he wouldn't last a minute in a close combat fight.
"My name is Yukio Okumura." He finally said.
She nodded in acknowledgment but did not look at Yukio.
"I… I did not see much of it so you don't have to worry that much." He lied.
Finally, the angel looked at him. To his surprise, she had a small pretty face complementing her silver hair. She had a petite bone structure, but still taller than Shiemi. Her eyes are probably the most beautiful pair he has ever seen, although they are of different colors. One was gold as the sun, while the other one was as blue as the ocean. With her enormous pair of wings, he assumed that she was an angel. Yukio wondered if all angels looked like that.
"I am an exorcist of the True Cross Order. My friends and I were assigned to investigate an influx of demons in the area you were in." Yukio continued.
This time, she got the angel's attention. The golden blade that she held disappeared. Grabbing Yukio's coat, she slowly crawled towards him. The wings on her back followed her every movement like it had a life on its own. She poked him on the cheek.
"Aren't you a little bit young to be an exorcist?" She carefully observed his face.
Her mismatched eyes were even prettier up close. Yukio involuntarily blushed and looked away from her.
"My name is Gabriel." She smiled.
Gabriel? He heard this name before, he thought. "Ga- Gabriel, as in the Angel Gabriel?" He cried in shock.
Gabriel let out a small chuckle. "You looked surprised. Do you seriously believe that only demons exist in your world?"
For the countless time, blood rushed on Yukio's cheeks. "It's… It's just that it's my first time seeing an angel." He lowered his head in embarrassment.
Gabriel forced out a smile. "We are not allowed to go out much."
Yukio did not understand what she meant, but there are other pressing concerns than their current conversation. "Where are we?" He asked.
"We're in Limbo, the first circle of hell." She answered. "Where the souls of the unbaptized, and virtuous pagans reside."
Yukio could not believe what he was hearing. "A-am I dead?"
"No, you're not. I may have brought you here accidentally." She reassured him.
Yukio remembered the words she uttered before everything exploded. The Limbo served as her protection against the destruction. If everything on that cave was destroyed, what about brother and the others?
"I need to go back!" He demanded.
Gabriel stared at him for a while. He could not decipher what she was thinking but if she could get inside Limbo, she can surely get out of it.
Gabriel let out a huge sigh. "You're right, we should go back." she said. "Even in this place, I am not welcome." She uttered under her breath.
Gabriel extended her small hands to Yukio. "Come, Yukio Okumura. It is time to go back."
Yukio took the angel's hand. Before he knew it, he felt like he was being sucked by some kind of unknown force. His stomach churned violently as if it was going to rip him to pieces. He held Gabriel's hand firmly and shut his eyes tight. He wished that it would soon come into an end.
At last, the cruel sensation has ceased. Yukio opened his eyes and saw that he was back in the dark, damp cave that they were in. However, the situation was not far from worse as he was trapped by large debris of crystals. But the angel was not in sight.
"Gabriel?!" He shouted.
But instead of Gabriel, Yukio heard his older brother's voice. "Yukio! Yukio, where are you?" He screamed.
Yukio wriggled under the debris. He crawled around but he did not see the angel. After a short search, he managed to catch a glimpse of his exorcist coat. Under it laid an unconscious Gabriel.
"Gabriel," he crawled towards her. His hands landed on a puddle of a red thick liquid. Blood? He thought. There was no sign of Gabriel's wings, instead, the red liquid oozed out of her back. He reached for her waist and covered her with his coat.
"Rin!" Yukio shouted in panic. "I'm here!"
Very soon, crystals that covered both of them were torn into pieces. Rin's face popped out, with a sign of relief plastered on his face.
"Brother, thank goodness you're okay." Rin cried.
"Yeah, I'm thankful too." Yukio worriedly glanced at Gabriel. "What about the others?" He cried.
"They're fine. Bon's barrier was able to hold the explosion." Rin replied. "But, how dare you ask Bon to protect me instead of having him protect you?" He growled at his younger twin.
"You can scold me later, brother." Yukio pleaded. "We have to get her out of here."
This time, blood dripped from Yukio's coat to his inner shirt. "She's losing too much blood."
Mephisto stared at Yukio and his friends. His legs were crossed while his hands were placed on his chin. Yukio, along with the group of exwires were in his office. They sat in a long table, Mephisto on one end, and Yukio on the other.
The dark haired demon adjusted his large hat. "So you're telling me, that the source of the demon influx in that cave was an angel." He looked at the exorcist.
"Yes. She was encased in a large crystal rock and the demons were trying to destroy it." Yukio reported.
Mephisto grunted. "Angels are troublesome creatures." He recalled. "Stubborn and unforgiving, they'll kill us all if they had a chance."
"When you mentioned 'us', you meant demons, right?" Yukio crossed his arms.
"Ara, ara, ara!" Mephisto squealed. "I forgot there are humans in this room." He said mockingly.
"But we couldn't just let her die in that cave." Rin interrupted. "It was my idea to save her. Brother had nothing to do with it."
Mephisto let out a huge sigh. "It's not like we can do something about her. We just have to let her be and she will return back to heaven. You see, angels are creatures up there." He pointed above. "Unless instructed by their God, they would not dare go down this earth. Whatever that caused her to be here and be trapped inside that cave, is no longer our organization's concern. We'll just have to wait until she wakes up and leave this place."
All of them sat silently inside the room. Mephisto placed both his hands on his chin. "Were you able to know the identity of that angel?"
"She said her name was Gabriel." Yukio answered.
Yukio observed how Mephisto's jaw drop and his eyes widened. "Does she have mismatch eyes of gold and blue?" Mephisto whispered under his breath.
Yukio nodded in agreement.
Mephisto made a huge grin. "Well, this has become more troublesome than I thought." He said sarcastically as scratched his head.
Yukio and the exwires could not decipher how Mephisto was acting. He seemed to be relieved of something. He happily stood up from his seat and unconsciously scratched his nose. "Bon-san," He started to look at the ceiling. "I think it is best that you start setting a barrier on yourselves." Mephisto smiled.
Suddenly, a loud crashing noise reverberated throughout the room. Mephisto jumped and landed at the middle of the table. He stared at the chair he was sitting on a while ago. Pieces of wood and foam flew at what now is his destroyed couch.
Dust clouds slowly disappeared, at the center of the wreckage, stood a small silver haired girl with twin blades which she held on both hands.
"My sweet little Angel Gabriel, I'm so happy that you're alive!" Mephisto's eyes sparkled as he giggled on top of the table.
"I knew I smelled something foul inside this place." She glared at him.
"You're so mean!" Mephisto frowned.
"And you were always as loud, Samael!" Gabriel charged at demon in full speed. She spun around and attacked Mephisto with her blades. The demon, on the other hand, casually avoided every attack that she was doing. Gabriel hastened her pace. This time, she managed to land an attack on Mephisto's cheek.
"You cut me!" He cried. Mephisto ran like a scared child and hid behind Yukio.
Gabriel slowly walked towards Yukio's direction. She felt a shot of pain behind her back. Apparently, her injuries weren't fully healed yet. Blood trickled down her back.
Blood flowed from her mouth. "Please move, Yukio Okumura." She smiled while wiping the blood on her mouth.
"P-please, stop this, your wounds are not yet fully recovered." Yukio pleaded. Mephisto nodded in agreement as he repeated Yukio's words.
"Yukio Okumura, an exorcist of the True Cross Order." She pointed her golden blade at him. "Can you please explain why you are protecting that demon?"
A sweat dropped from Yukio's forehead. "He- He's our superior." He stuttered.
"Superior?" Gabriel repeated in confusion.
"Yes! I'm his superior. I, Mephisto Pheles, am the current head of the Japanese Branch of the True Cross Order." Mephisto quivered while still hiding behind Yukio.
"You, little prick!" Gabriel shouted in anger. She disappeared and reappeared instantly behind Yukio. She grabbed Mephisto by ear and dragged him out. She twisted his ear which made Mephisto cry in pain.
"Just what do you think you're doing?" She glared at him with her mismatched eyes.
"I… I was trying to find you." Mephisto choked. "For 600 years you went missing. I thought that if I joined the True Cross Organization, I had better chances of finding what lead to your disappearance."
"I… was missing for 600 years?" Gabriel slowly let go of Mehisto's ear.
"Yes, and finally, when we found you, you just started wrecking havoc and attacking me without even hearing my explanation." Mephisto rubbed his ear.
"Oh that," Gabriel looked at her blades as it disappeared in midair. "It's instinct."
"Instinct, my ass." Mephisto cried. "You know very well that I'm not the only demon inside this room."
Gabriel smiled warmly at Rin and Yukio "I know." Yukio on the other hand, averted his eyes.
"But your smell is as foul as always." Gabriel rolled her eyes.
"You! I hate you." Mephisto made a tantrum.
Gabriel coughed another handful of blood. This time, she staggered and fell down to her knees. Blood trickled down her back. Soon enough, there was another small pool of blood.
Mephisto bit his lip. "Shiemi-chan, I need your help."
Shiemi nodded and scurried towards Mephisto. He assisted the angel on his lap. She was still coughing so much blood.
"Nii-san!" Shiemi commanded the small familiar. In an instant, a small light appeared as she commenced on healing the fallen angel.
"What is it?" Gabriel tried to poke nii-san.
"It's my familiar." Shiemi replied. "Bu-but it is best that you avoid moving for a while." She stuttered.
Gabriel blinked her mismatched eyes. The golden one glowed as it reflected the small light. "I see, demons are now helping humans."
"A lot of things have changed since you disappeared, Gabriel." Mephisto worriedly looked at her.
She weakly smiled in reply before succumbing into a warm slumber, yet again.
