You guys are lucky I literally have nothing better to do than write right now, because this is the longest chapter of anything I've ever written.
And so we are now post-Fall. What now?
Well, the humans, for one.
I will admit that I'm probably the last person to know much about Biblical events, but that doesn't matter much since I figure the last thing Gabriel would be doing would involve any angels or anything remotely related to Heaven - at least, after he left.
Gabriel probably didn't leave Heaven until sometime around 700 AD, by my reasoning, so we won't get anywhere near there for a few chapters, at least.
This chapter mostly focuses on some events in Heaven as a response to events on Earth, which will be focused around the Bible and the Qur'an [what I know or can find out via Google, mostly]. See the below disclaimer on Biblical events, and for those of you who are reading this and are religious, I apologize in advance for ruining it.
A note on Sodom and Gomorrah: most scientists believe they never really existed [or if they did there's no specific time frame for when they did] so I'm going to kind of BS my way through that bit and try to make it realistic.
As for what will be in this chapter: a shit ton of Biblical stuff. I really am trying to make this as accurate as I possibly can, but keep in mind with religion there's always things that have been changed over time and it's not really possible to make everything right because some stuff, no one knows what happened.
And as another note, Iset and Wesir are the proposed original pronunciations of Isis and Osiris, before the Greeks got ahold of the names. Same goes for Mosheh [Moses].
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural
The gods of the humans were a mystery to Gabriel.
If they were going to worship divine beings, surely they would manage to realize that there was only one - but they worshipped hundreds of gods, assigning the beings they believed to exist roles that corresponded with daily life for the people - everything from controlling the skies to watching over the process of making bread.
Absu and Adad, Ninurta and Ashur, Enlil and Ninlil. So many gods, and yet no one made mention of the one God, who actually existed.
Gabriel knew some of their siblings despised the humans for this, but they couldn't bring themselves to do the same. How were the humans supposed to know?
Still, it could be a little grating.
Their civilization passed under the watchful eyes of the angels, changing at a speed that was both incredibly slow and yet - compared to the angels - astonishingly rapid. Eridu, the first real city, had vanished under the movement of time and been replaced with others - the first of which the people called Sumer.
It was them that learned to write as well, and it was during their rule that the angels learned of vessels.
"Possess?" Gabriel asked, tilting their head as Raphael stood in front of them.
"Yes," The elder archangel replied. "Lucifer's creation, Lillit - they are among the humans as well, possessing them - they have somehow gained that skill."
"Are we to use it as well?"
"No. Michael says we are not to interfere."
"Then what are vessels?"
"Vessels are humans meant to host us - or at least, capable of doing so." Raphael was not the best at explaining, but that was the advantage of a telepathic connection - it could get across what mere Enochian couldn't, and Gabriel understood what their sibling really meant.
"I see. So what are vessels for?"
"In your case? So you may deliver your messages safely to the humans."
Gabriel perked up. "Have They-"
"No, Gabriel." Raphael shook their head. "They have no message for you yet, but be patient. The time will come, and you will do your duty."
The first time Gabriel took a vessel was not to deliver a message.
It was for another mission.
Their Parent had finished the work of the tablets, and Gabriel had been thrilled and at the same time nervous when They approached them.
Apparently, as the messenger, it was also Gabriel's job to hide these tablets so that they would be recovered when the time was right for humanity to find them. Anywhere on Earth would do - just nowhere obvious.
Metatron was standing just behind their Parent, almost invisible against Their glory, and they looked disappointed that their work was done.
Gabriel inclined their head. "Of course, I will do this."
The only problem was actually finding a vessel that would suit them.
Of course Gabriel knew the requirements - but knowing and doing so were two different things, and yet it was much simpler than they expected.
The woman was a simple herder, who thought that Gabriel was one of her gods and that she had been chosen.
Gabriel mulled over how to take this, and decided to use the advantage they were given. Not exactly, they told her, seeing what she thought was happening. The woman had fallen to her knees in the middle of her herd. Not what you think. And of course, Gabriel knew - it was easy to peer into the minds of their Parent's other creations.
"Then what?" The woman spoke aloud, voice trembling from fear and elation - these humans, with their emotions - and Gabriel wondered what to say.
I must complete this mission, but - How to phrase it so she would accept? I require an earthly body. That sounded godlike, didn't it?
The woman swallowed. "Mine?"
Yes. I must be granted permission first.
A smile graced her lips, one that spoke of a hidden nervousness - Gabriel could see it coursing through her. "I...shall I be safe?"
Of course. How dangerous could this mission be?
"Then...I accept. Of course you may enter."
Taking a vessel was cramped, before it was anything else.
Gabriel panted, trying to get used to the packed-in feeling, and remained crouched on the ground where the woman had fallen when they shot down from Heaven.
A simple human - with the might of an archangel contained inside them.
Slowly, Gabriel stood up, looking down and marveling at the new viewpoint. This was what it was like for humans?
How limited.
Gabriel turned their vessel's hands over, getting used to the movement and how it felt to control her. The woman was a small, sheltered soul crouched in the back of their mind - there was no need for her to know what was going on.
The tablets had been given a physical form as well, and they lay on the ground only a few feet away. The woman's herd had scattered when Gabriel first reached down with their Grace to speak to her, and they showed no sign of returning anytime soon. The woman had named them, and those names, fluid syllables of the Sumerian tongue, ran through her thoughts as the soul nested further away from Gabriel.
Gabriel took a few careful steps forward, and then more confident ones, until they could reach down and pick up the tablets.
Now where to put them?
When Gabriel left the vessel, the woman - Iltani, her mind told them - did not get back up.
They frowned, and looked at her carefully. She was still alive - Gabriel didn't understand why she remained lying on the ground.
Gabriel. Raphael's voice became more insistent over the regular chatter of the angels. Return. You have done what you were supposed to do.
There's something wrong with the vessel, Gabriel replied, frowning at Iltani. I think something went wrong.
They could sense Raphael more strongly now, and knew that their sibling must be looking down at Earth to see their vessel. Then, the presence withdrew sharply.
It is nothing, Gabriel. Return.
Still frowning, Gabriel let themselves recede back to Heaven. Raphael was waiting.
"Well?" No doubt they already knew what had happened, but wanted to hear Gabriel's confirmation.
"It is done," Gabriel replied. "About the vessel-"
"What about it?"
"Why is it nothing?" Gabriel pressed. "Surely it is something, if they will not get back up like they normally do after a fall."
"It is merely a aftereffect," Raphael dismissed Gabriel's concerns. "Archangels are large. Humans are not meant to withstand it."
Gabriel stared. "They were an archangel vessel."
"And it lasted long enough for you to complete your mission, did it not?" Raphael stared imperiously back at Gabriel. "It is still alive, is it not?"
"Will they-"
"Enough, Gabriel." Raphael cut off their question. "Why do you worry so much?"
"I promised them they would be safe." It came out quieter than Gabriel intended.
"Then no longer waste your time on promises to humans," Raphael offered, as if it were the most obvious solution.
Somehow, Gabriel did not think that it was a solution at all.
"Michael?" Gabriel did not think summons from their eldest sibling was necessarily a good thing, especially since this would be the first time they had spoken since Lucifer's rebellion, but they hoped all the same.
Michael was standing with their wings facing Gabriel, looking through the doors into the universe.
"Gabriel," They replied after a moment. "I have another job for you."
"From our-" From our Parent, Gabriel was going to ask, but Michael continued before Gabriel could finish.
"There are two cities," They said, "Of that human civilization you visited last time. And one other."
Two civilizations? Gabriel thought and realized that Michael must have meant Sumer and Akkadia, which had been growing ever closer of late. "What cities? There are many of them."
Michael replied by way of a picture, showing Gabriel two cities - close to each other, near a large river which sustained their populations.
"What of them?" Nothing seemed particularly wrong about them to Gabriel.
"Destroy them." The news was delivered sharply, which seemed to have become Michael's permanent default tone.
Gabriel was temporarily taken aback, and it took them a moment to recover their voice. "Destroy them?"
"That's what I said."
"Why?" The moment the question was spoken Gabriel knew they had made a mistake.
Michael turned around in a flurry of wings, red and gold and bronze creating the illusion of actual fire - which, Gabriel thought in a dim corner of their mind, is probably what their Parent had intended.
"Why?" Michael repeated dangerously. "I don't recall you questioning orders, Gabriel."
"I'm not," Gabriel hurried to defend themselves, and stiffened when Michael was suddenly much, much closer to them.
"Then," Michael said quietly, "Go."
Two human cities. Somehow, Gabriel did not think it was the buildings or the land that had committed the crime.
They left.
It was daytime.
Almost noon.
Peaceful, really, and Gabriel hadn't even been given a reason as to why these cities were supposed to be destroyed.
Their vessel was male this time, from a different city than Iltani, though Gabriel could tell that they had at least remnants of the same bloodline - which is why he made the best vessel Gabriel could find.
And apparently, they weren't the only one who wanted to know.
"So you are here as well." Gabriel tamped down their surprise at being confronted by these two unknown beings - they did not know the two, and were therefore at a disadvantage.
"Surprised?" Leered the black one - literally black, as if covered in ash, and dressed in the barest coverings that resembled Akkadian clothing. Their tongue poked through their lips, which were a startling white, like the designs which swirled over their skin. "You wouldn't know us, no, not you, but we know who you are."
"Silence," The other one hissed. They were blue, with patterns of a slightly darker hue on their skin, but that was where the similarities ended. They were dressed about as differently as it was possible to be dressed from someone, and carried a belt full of what appeared to be ingredients. "This is not your place."
"Oh, isn't it?" The black one seemed to find that hilarious. "If anything, this isn't your place." They spoke in a rasping mix of Sumerian and Akkadian that made use of so much slang that it was difficult to understand. The blue one puffed up in indignation.
"Begone, Namtar."
"Oh, you begone. I know where I'm needed, and this is it." The black one - Namtar - grinned wildly at Gabriel, who turned away to look back at the two cities. "Isn't it?"
"Why are you here?" Gabriel asked, mind racing at how these two beings - the gods of Naharaim - could be standing here in front of them.
"I should be asking you that." The blue one finally spoke to Gabriel. "You are bringing death and destruction with you, there is no other reason it would be here."
"Shut up, Marduk." Namtar's face had transformed into a scowl. "It's my business here, not yours."
"It is the business of neither of you," Gabriel informed them, still wondering where they had come from - their Parent certainly wouldn't have created anything like this.
"That is where you make your mistake," The blue one said. "It is my business, when my people are threatened."
"Oh stuff it, Marduk," Namtar snapped back. As opposed to their fellow's stiff and hostile attitude, they seemed almost thrilled. "Let them do their business!"
"You would do well to heed your companion." Gabriel advised - they had no wish for conflict.
"I heed no one," The blue one - Marduk - snapped. "It is you who will heed me, when I say that you must leave."
Well, no offense to this Marduk, but Gabriel took orders from a higher power than them.
"Whatever your power," Gabriel told them, turning slightly and fanning their wings out, "Be assured, mine is greater."
"Threats now?" Marduk sneered. "You think you're better just because you've been around longer. You have no dominion over these humans."
"They are my Parent's creations," Gabriel informed them stiffly, blade sliding into their hand and they never thought they'd be grateful to Michael for militarizing Heaven. "It is you who have come second and are demanding all."
"They pray to me," Marduk hissed. "Offerings for me, and peopled devoted to me. Tell me, where is your Parent in all that?"
"They know no better."
Marduk seemed to lose their temper, and Namtar stepped back to watch as their companion threw themselves at Gabriel.
Gabriel's blade came up with a flash, and Marduk was thrown back, grasping at their arm with a howl.
"Do not interfere," Gabriel warned them. "I have my orders. They do not involve you."
Marduk glared, but vanished without another whisper. Gabriel turned to Namtar, who stepped back and raised their hands.
"You bring death," They said, with a broad grin. "Lucky for you, that's my area of expertise. Do what you will."
Gabriel sheathed their blade and turned back towards the cities, trying to ignore the being behind them.
And then stopped, because something was wrong.
"There were who?"
Gabriel watched Michael carefully as their sibling paced furiously, Raphael just behind them. "They were gods-"
"They are not gods," Michael snapped, and Gabriel shifted backwards. "There is no God but-"
"That is what they called themselves, I did not say I believed it." They explained quickly. "They were - I do not know what they were."
Michael resumed pacing, wings flared behind them. "Tell me what they called themselves."
"They were called Marduk and Namtar."
"The names of two of those the humans worship," Raphael muttered.
"This is not possible." Michael rounded on both of them. "Where did they come from?"
Gabriel looked to Raphael, who looked just as lost as they felt. "I don't know." Raphael told Michael.
Gabriel shook their head. "They were like nothing I've ever seen. Michael-"
"They must have come from somewhere."
"Why not ask Parent?" Gabriel almost snapped the question. "Michael, listen-"
Michael turned away, but Gabriel swore they saw a scowl on their sibling's face. "I cannot interrupt Them with such trivial news as this," Michael decided, coming to a halt. "It is nothing."
"Nothing?" Gabriel didn't believe it. "Michael, I may have defeated Marduk easily, but they had power. They were not human, and we don't know where they came from-"
"I know, Gabriel." The words were almost a solid wall that Gabriel felt they had run straight into. "So you have said. But you defeated them easily, yes?"
"Yes," Gabriel admitted.
"What of the other one?"
"They were a darker g - being," Gabriel amended. "They did not try to stop me - the one called Namtar."
"Namtar," Raphael murmured. "Gabriel, have you seen that name before? You have been in their cities more frequently."
"No," Gabriel shook their head, the news they needed to give Michael itching at them. "But the people - in Naharaim, I mean. They have some beings that they believe bring death with them. They may have been one of those. And there was something else-"
"Could..." Raphael paused before continuing, ignoring or not noticing the dirty look Gabriel threw at them. "Could their belief that this being was real have caused this?"
Michael's head was bowed, not in subservience, but in thought. "It is possible," They said decisively. "Raphael. Keep an eye on this situation. I am sure our Parent already knows, so do not bother Them."
Raphael looked conflicted. "I - yes, Michael. I will do as you say."
"And Gabriel?" Gabriel switched their view to look at Michael, who practically loomed despite the distance between them and Gabriel. "Say nothing of this to the lesser angels."
"That is not all." Gabriel said forcefully, having paused only for a moment to wonder why it was necessary for Michael to tell them that.
"Not all?" Michael turned to face Gabriel fully, sounding almost startled. "What else..." Their voice trailed off, Grace extending down to Earth, and Gabriel winced as Michael's face hardened.
"Gabriel," Michael said icily, "Why are Sodom and Gomorrah still there?"
"I was trying to tell you," Gabriel said quickly. "There is something else there - the city is full of them."
"Full of-" Michael's Grace extended further and then snapped back as they recoiled with a hiss.
"Michael?" Raphael sounded worried.
"Demons," Michael spat, making both of the other archangels stiffen.
"There are more of them?" Gabriel said, trying not to convey their alarm and doing poorly at succeeding.
"Raphael - gather your garrison." Michael snapped. "Gabriel - you too!"
Gabriel shot off, the knowledge that Lillit was not the only demon hanging uneasily in their mind.
The demons were not expecting an attack.
That didn't mean they went down easily.
Gabriel, I need you at the center! Gabriel whirled around, sending their blade through the head of the nearest demon, who collapsed with a series of lightning-like sparks which illuminated their skeleton, and Gabriel vanished as soon as they were sure it was dead.
Michael was at almost the exact center of the fight, which was easy to find, because them and their combatant had completely destroyed any remnant of the two cities around their feet.
And oh, Gabriel almost flinched back when they landed, because the demon Michael was fighting was disgusting.
Hulking and monstrous, its face was torn into a perpetual mocking grin as it danced far to gracefully around Michael as the archangel did the same, whirling and craning its head to face Gabriel.
"Two of you," It rasped, amused. "How unfair."
"You're the last one to talk about fair, demon." Michael leveled their sword at it, flames licking along its length with nowhere near the intensity that they had when they were facing Lucifer. "You call yourself a Knight of Hell, but you're just scum."
"I'm not fair?" The demon prowled around Michael, the two of them moving in a circle, Gabriel hanging behind Michael with their blade out and waiting for an opportunity. "I'm scum? Well, then, I guess I'd better bring more along to better my chances."
Gabriel sensed the presence - choking and smoky and horrible - behind them just in time to spin and deflect the tarnished blade that nearly nicked the edge of their Grace.
The second demon smirked, and they were nearly on the same level as the first one in terms of how twisted and corrupted they were.
Gabriel, with a small modicum of relief, did not recognize them, which meant they were not fighting one of their fallen siblings.
"Think this'll be easy, angel?" The demon sneered, and pushed.
Gabriel had no time to think of anything but where there blade was, deflect that attack, spin to face the demon, wings out of the way, charge, dodge Michael and the other one and-
The demon's blade found one of their wings and Gabriel screeched their pain, sending the demons nearest to their knees and the ones even closer simply keeling over in death throes. The demon had caught them unawares and managed to press the advantage, Gabriel desperately trying to deal with the pain Parent help sparking through their wing while fending off the demon's attacks, but they were so unused to actually being injured that it was hopeless.
Michael was fighting their own battle - Gabriel expected no help from that front.
"Scared?" The demon was still sneering, and its hand shot out and wrapped around Gabriel's throat. Gabriel, with a thrill of fear, realized something they had not acknowledged before.
This demon was more powerful than they were.
The mere shock of that sudden understanding meant that Gabriel barely jerked themselves to the side - as much as they could, in this position and with the demon's hand burning into their neck - to avoid a second slice from the Knight's blade; for of course, Gabriel had heard of the Knights of Hell, even if they hadn't fully understood the destruction one could cause until now.
"Little angel," crooned the demon, and Gabriel scowled and lashed out, striking the demon across the chest and making it rear backwards - but not let go.
"Still got a bite, have you? No matter, we'll-" Whatever it was about to say was cut off with a sudden choking noise, and Gabriel stared in uncomprehending shock at the silver blade buried in its chest.
Things still didn't make sense once the blade withdrew, letting the demon slide out of the way to reveal Michael, who tugged Gabriel to their feet.
Their sibling's eyes found the gash on the top edge of Gabriel's wing and a snarl crept across their face, and the now-empty and scarred vessel at their feet abruptly burst into flame.
"Are you alright?" Michael's hand covered the gash.
"Yes." Gabriel grimaced as their wound stung even worse under Michael's hand, and then full-out winced when Michael squeezed it - it felt like their sibling was burning their wing. "Michael-!"
But when Michael took their hand away, the injury looked more like a cut than a wound from a demon's blade.
"Thank you," Gabriel said, and Michael turned away.
"It is nothing. You need your wings."
Yet it was the most sentimental Michael had been since Lucifer, and Gabriel tucked their wing close to their body and swore to remember it.
Gabriel did not know whether they were glad or upset when the human empire - the Akkadians - fell, but they voiced neither of these feelings to Michael, who seemed to believe that it was not the angel's job to feel for the humans, but to watch what they did. It was only very rarely, and only at the express command of their Parent, that they were allowed to interfere.
It was many years before the people of the Akkadian culture settled again, and those who did now called themselves B'nei Yisrael - The children of Israel. Jacob - who had taken the name Israel after believing himself to have defeated an angel - was regarded as their patriarch, and it almost made Gabriel copy the humans and laugh at the inflated sense of strength Israel believed himself to have.
An angel was not so easily defeated, but orders were orders, and Balthazar had been assigned to give Israel the dream. A mental battle may not have been exactly what the boy remembered, nor would it hold nearly as much honor as defeating an angel in a wrestling match would, but either way it had the intended effect.
Their Parent had an unusual interest in the B'nei Yisrael, but that could easily be attributed to the fact that the people actually worshipped Them.
So much time had passed between the burgeoning empire of the Akkadians and the founding of the country of Yisrael that Gabriel barely recognized their civilizations - not that they paid much attention to the development of humans outside those they were charged to look after.
This in particular required careful attention.
A famine which swept the land many years after the first settlement had forced Israel's people to relocate to Egypt, across a narrow strait of land between two seas and into the land of the Pharaohs.
The pharaoh at first welcomed them, but that was before the Hebrew's population swelled from seventy to hundreds of thousands.
And therein lay the problem.
Gabriel watched with narrowed eyes as the Hebrews labored, occasionally doing what they could under the strict 'non-interference' Michael had imposed on them to help those who were older or injured. They had possessed one of the Egyptian overseers, and felt no grief for the the fact that he would most likely not survive long after Gabriel left, never mind that he had a family.
The Egyptians claimed that they were the glory of the world, and yet they used slaves to do what they refused to.
"Magnificent, is it not?"
Gabriel did not immediately react to the voice that spoke behind them, and then drew behind one of the pillars that had already been finished so that they were out of sight, before turning to face the speaker.
She was clearly Egyptian, and rich at that, and if someone had never seen the Pharoah or his wife before they might say that the woman standing in front of Gabriel was she, but Gabriel knew better. That, and the headdress she wore bearing the hieroglyph for the throne told them otherwise.
They did not incline their head as a greeting. "Iset," They said, and the goddess's kohl-lined eyes glittered.
"Jibra'il," She greeted, borrowing the Arabic name. "I expected one of you sooner."
"You knew we would come?" Of course they would have guessed
"I thought you might have greater regard for your people." Iset's expression gave one the impression that she was either about to laugh at an inside joke or go for your throat.
"Yes," Gabriel replied, "They are my Father's people." Egyptian was gendered, even if Enochian was not, and it was easier to adopt the common method of referring to their Parent than to search for the right words in their vessel's mind. "And your people have enslaved them."
Iset laughed. "Can you blame Seti? He is worried. Your Hebrews could have matched his army person for person."
"And would they have?"
"Perhaps." The smile on Iset's face did not change. "Perhaps not. Who was he to risk it?"
"Was it worth this risk?" Gabriel let their wings unfold, flickering light, and they knew Iset could see the challenge.
"You have done nothing," Iset sniffed. "Your father has let his people live under our rule. It is only their-"
"Place?" Gabriel's icy tone made Iset stop. "I suggest you think of another reason."
"You'll forgive me if I do not take your suggestion." Iset was a mother goddess, and it showed in her fierceness. "Egypt is not the only empire built on the backs of slaves, Jibra'il."
Gabriel stared at her evenly, not giving an inch. "Yes," They allowed quietly, "But it is the only one that has used my Father's people to do the building."
"I understand." For a moment Gabriel truly believed her, but the momentary expression slid out of Iset's eyes and then they didn't. "I am a mother, you know. I pieced my husband back together from nothing-"
"Not all of him." Gabriel reminded her, having known that much - their vessel knew plenty about his 'gods', being a devout Egyptian man. "Doesn't Wesir rule your underworld?"
Iset scowled momentarily at the reminder, but it was soon replaced with a grin that was all teeth. "Well, then." Iset said, in a tone that indicated that she did not believe that Gabriel was about to do anything. "Do what you will."
"I will keep that in mind." Gabriel turned to go, calling over their shoulder, "You should too, Iset, before you try and stop us."
They had discovered what they came here to find, and there was no other reason for staying.
"We have to do something!"
"I said no, Gabriel."
Gabriel grit their teeth, or would have had they still been in their vessel. "Michael, they are enslaved. They are broken - you cannot tell me that this is what our Parent has planned for Their people!"
"The Egyptians are Their people too."
"Not according to Iset. They dared me to do something about it, Michael." By the way their sibling stiffened, Gabriel knew they had guessed right in thinking that the simple fact that a pagan goddess thought she could outdo them would sting. "Iset does not believe we will do anything to save the Yisraeli."
"What do I care for that pagan's thoughts?"
Michael did, though, and Gabriel knew it. "The Pharaoh had declared that every male Hebrew born should be killed, to prevent them rising up."
That did it.
"What?" Michael whirled on Gabriel, wings flared in agitation and anger. "They dare-"
"Which is why I came to you," Gabriel kept going. "If they think that they have this much control over our people, what will their pagans think?" They barely stopped themselves from saying 'gods' - Michael was antagonized enough already.
The implication was enough to make the eldest archangel seethe, but Michael straightened themselves and stood still for some time.
When they finally spoke again, their voice was much calmer. "I cannot act on the humans unless Parent orders me to."
"Michael, they need help." Gabriel stepped closer, tone taking on a pleading edge. "We're supposed to guide them - haven't you been listening? They've been praying for guidance for-"
What followed was the closest phrase in Enochian that has ever been translated into something remotely resembling a measure of time, but it's so impossible to pronounce that no one has any idea how to write it, so I'll leave it up to your imagination.
"I know, Gabriel!" The irritation Michael felt seemed to spend itself in that one shout, and Michael's wings sagged slightly. "I have heard them."
They were both quiet for a moment, Gabriel not willing to break the silence and Michael making no attempt to continue talking.
"I will ask Them," Michael said quietly, "And, Gabriel, you know; whatever They say-"
"I'll listen to them," Gabriel finished.
"And if They rule not to interfere?"
Gabriel paused for such a long time that Michael must have thought they left, but they said it anyway. "Then I won't interfere."
"Good." Michael's wings rustled in unmistakeable preparation for taking off.
"Where are you going?"
"Gabriel, you of all of us should know that Revelation is to be sought alone."
Gabriel had been given a Message.
They almost felt nervous as they descended to Earth again, taking no vessel this time but simply watching at a safe distance - the humans would never be able to withstand the sight of their true form. The Greeks, at least, had gotten that much right.
The Midianites had taken in Mosheh, as their Parent had told Gabriel. The desert camp was full of dancing people that night, a bonfire lit and people grouped around it, either sitting or dancing or playing one of the instruments humans had invented by this point.
Gabriel knew Moses was sitting near the edge of the group, too wary to go closer - the man's soul was brighter than those of the people around him, and Gabriel bent closer to see what had driven Mosheh out of Egypt - they knew what had happened, they just didn't know why.
The pharaoh, the Hebrews, a woman - who was also present at the campfire, Gabriel noted, though she seemed to be doing her best to avoid Mosheh - and an escape.
A man beating a Hebrew, and Mosheh intervening and killing the man.
An encounter in the Hebrew village, with a woman named Miriam who told Mosheh what she knew of him, that she was his sister, and his true origins.
Gabriel withdrew again before they overwhelmed the man and watched for a little longer. The time do deliver their Message would come, but it was not now - not right now, anyway.
Soon.
Mosheh.
Gabriel saw the man look around nervously, his flock retreating, and wanting to follow it. Gabriel repeated the name, more insistently.
Mosheh.
They could see the moment the man noticed the fiery bush. His eyes widened, and his hands gripped his staff tightly, as if he thought the fire were an enemy he would need to fight off.
Gabriel laughed, but it did not translate well, as they were manifesting themselves in fire in the only plant for miles. That is not necessary.
"This is..." Mosheh started, as if in a sudden realization, and kicked off his sandals hurriedly, falling to his knees.
I have a Message for you, from He who is called Yaweh. Gabriel almost rolled their eyes at the male specification, but otherwise this would take too long to explain to Mosheh.
"Me?" Mosheh whispered. "But...that man...I cannot-"
Trust that His decision is right, Mosheh. Gabriel replied. He has chosen you, and you shall carry His message to the pharaoh of this land.
"The pharaoh?" A wash of anxiety rippled through Mosheh, and Gabriel saw that he was afraid to return to Egypt - to the people that had fostered him.
He has overstepped his boundaries with the Hebrews, who were the B'nei Yisrael before their enslavement, Gabriel whispered the information to Mosheh. You must tell him that he can no longer bind them to his will.
The pharaoh must let the people of Israel go.
"He will not." Mosheh's voice was shaky. "He will never...Rameses is too proud."
Which is why it is you who must tell him.
"He will not listen to me."
He will. So He has said, so it shall be. You will liberate the Hebrews, Mosheh.
Gabriel saw Mosheh swallow in nervousness - or at least they assumed he was nervous; human emotions were so complicated - and then bow his head. "What must I do?"
Go to your people and your wife. Gabriel had seen his joining to Tzipporah, and though they didn't understand the ritual, they had understood the happiness it brought not only to the two of them but the rest of the Midianites as well. Tell them what I have told you, and then go to Egypt and bring my Father's message to the pharaoh.
Gabriel saw the instant that Mosheh realized what was speaking to him.
"An angel..." The whisper left Mosheh's mouth, and then he seemed to sag for barely a moment. "But I am only one man."
You have your staff. Gabriel reached out with the faintest whisper of Grace, so as not to blind Mosheh, and curled it around the staff, imbuing it with power beyond what any stick had ever held - or would ever hold. Now go, and have faith in your mission.
They only wished that Mosheh would have better luck than the last few 'chosen' Hebrews did.
Gabriel was there when Mosheh entered the hall of the pharaoh.
They were the Messenger, after all, and it would not do for the Message to get lost along the way.
"Mosheh!" The pharaoh - Rameses - seemed overjoyed to see Mosheh, if confused at finding him in the garb of the Midianites. "Where have you been?"
Gabriel didn't bother to listen to their small talk and cast a glance over the rest of the hall, gaze finding the two priests in white robes. A smirk curved their vessel's face for a moment - even for priests of the Egyptian pagans, their power was so pitiful Gabriel was surprised they managed to trick their way into being court magicians.
"Brother," Mosheh said softly to Rameses, "You must let the Hebrews go."
And then the priests surprised Gabriel.
Sticks into snakes were all very good, but smoke and mirrors only served to trick a human audience, and yet there was a very real power in the names they used, one that Gabriel didn't fully understand and regarded carefully, staying at the back of the audience that was gathered in the throne room of the pharaoh's palace, while Rameses sat on his throne with dark eyes and dark thoughts.
Gabriel saw, and knew that it would take more than Mosheh's words to convince the pharaoh.
Mosheh tried a second time, later that night, when Rameses beckoned for them to talk alone.
"Rameses, you must listen to me!"
"No, Mosheh. What is this for?" The pharaoh laughed, a low, short, amused sound. "Since when have you been so devoted to the Hebrew's god?"
"He gave me a message," Mosheh said, firm and resolute. "He is a powerful god, Rameses, and if you do not listen-"
"Powerful?" This time the pharaoh's laugh made anger swell in Gabriel, but they pushed it down and listened, unmoving. "Powerful enough to let his people live in slavery?"
"I do not know what He will do if you refuse me," Mosheh said quietly. "Brother, please; let the Hebrews go."
"More of this?" Rameses turned around, facing Mosheh with a goblet full of some alcoholic drink in one hand. "Enough, Mosheh. Come back! Stop this nonsense with the Hebrews." He held out a ring, gold set with a blue stone rare to the region. "Nothing you have done will be held against you."
Gabriel knew the stone must have some significance to Mosheh, and knew how tempting the offer must sound.
So with whispered instructions from Michael in their non-physical approximation of an ear, they reached out to Mosheh and gave him another Message, straight into their mind, so that Mosheh would know what to tell the pharaoh.
"They are His children." Mosheh said, stating a fact to the unwilling pharaoh. "You must let them go, to serve Him as a son would a parent, or He will slay your sons."
The pharaoh laughed a final time. "Let the god of the Hebrews come - I am not afraid."
Issued permission from both the pharaoh and Iset herself - it was more than enough to allow the angels to intervene.
When They made a promise, after all, They kept it.
When the people of Egypt awoke to find the Nile was now a river of blood, they were more shocked than anything.
The water was what their civilization had been founded around, what had given life to a sprawling near-empire, and they had no other source of water nearby save the oases in the desert. The fish in the river died, as well as any other animals, and Egypt was filled with a stench that would not leave.
But the pharaoh did not bend, believing his magicians to have the same power, and remained unconvinced.
"They are stubborn," Raphael allowed, though they looked frustrated. "But they will bend soon enough."
Gabriel didn't think so, and thought to themselves that their siblings lent too little credence to the resilience of humans.
How else would they have survived this long, otherwise?
But it also made them uneasy, for Gabriel knew that their Parent must know this as well, which meant They intended for more than just a river of blood to punish the Egyptians.
And Gabriel did not know what was coming.
Frogs, lice, flies, famine and plague, a storm of firey hail that Gabriel themselves were involved in creating.
Locusts, a perpetual darkness, and now this.
Twice the pharaoh had promised to free the Hebrews and then gone back on his word, but somehow Gabriel did not think that he would so quickly change his mind now.
Gabriel's vessel was one of the few boys that had survived, an Egyptian who had wanted nothing more than for his life to simply be over with, tired of plagues and problems. Gabriel had felt only a twinge as they granted the boy's wish, and gave themselves a vessel.
Egypt was quiet, and the dirt road crunched under their vessel's sandals. Occasionally a wail of grief would rise from one of the houses, but it was early, and none of the mothers had yet woken to find their dead sons.
The death of every firstborn boy in Egypt had grated on Gabriel's conscience, when Michael first delivered the news, accompanied by a command to gather their garrison for a second Earth-fought war.
Except this time their enemy was defenseless, anticipating nothing like this sudden death that would come into their homes.
The angels had passed over the houses marked with blood, sparing the firstborn boys inside those dwellings, but only the Hebrews had been warned to mark their homes in that manner.
If the pharaoh had not yielded before, then perhaps the death of his own son - the only one born of his wife so far - would convince him.
Whoo. This was a monster to write. Merry Christmas update from me! Maybe some of you have passed that by now, but it's only 10 PM here, so it's technically still Christmas. Happy Hannukah and kwanzaa and generic winter festival day to the rest of you non-christian or mainstream folks!
Read and review, please!