The Lost Princess

Part Twenty Four: Archangels

AN: Well, here you go…another chapter. I might actually have time to do some more later this week, if I'm lucky. Enjoy.

The searing pain was what called Gabriel back. She jerked back into consciousness, gasping. Where was the Abbadōn? Had it managed to destroy the entire city? How long had she been out? She looked around frantically, and started to get to her feet, but a gentle, restraining hand on her shoulder stopped her. The blonde turned to see who it was. Michael. She tried to recollect her thoughts and recall exactly what had happened before she blacked out. The confusion was almost overwhelming.

"Calm yourself, Gabriel," Michael murmured softly. "The destroyer is defeated. I apologize for the pain, but we had to heal you, or you would have died."

"But Lucifer and Chaos are still alive and kicking," Gabriel protested. "I have to go…"

"And you shall, but not yet. You need to wait for your wounds to heal," Raphael informed her calmly. "The destroyer nearly killed you."

"Is it still…?"

"No. We defeated it. For good."

"How did you know…?"

"We have always tried to keep you safe when we could, but we were not able to intervene unless something utterly threatened the balance," Michael stated sadly. "It was your mission, and it was necessary for you to fight alone."

"But now that the Apocalypse has started, the rules have changed," Gabriel observed.

"Correct."

"Well, we need to go." Gabriel, choosing to be oblivious to her brothers' gentle attempts to restrain her, leapt to her feet. "My friends are in danger."

"They are humans," Michael said dismissively. "There will always be casualties by the thousands among their numbers in a war such as this."

"You act like that's not a big deal!"

"Humans die every day, sister," Raphael informed her. "It is a fact of life."

"But in this case, it's unnecessary," Gabriel insisted. "I know you're both angry about the fact that I had to go fight and protect humankind, but you act as though it is completely their fault. Lucifer had something to do with it, too. He would have created mischief one way or another."

"All they had to do was follow the Creator's instructions. They would have been safe."

"The Creator gave us all free will; Lucifer chose to revolt, and he Fell. Mankind chose to eat the forbidden fruit, and they were banished from Eden. Lucifer would have attacked even if Eve had not eaten the fruit. The problem simply escalated; we all know that."

"If those monkeys had not disobeyed the Creator in the first place, the situation would not have become so dire that we lost our sister!"

"You didn't lose me; that implies that I was gone forever. You're blaming mankind for the choices I made! The Creator did not force anyone to go fight; I chose to go."

"Because you felt obligated," Michael stated calmly.

"Because I believe in peace and love for the universe. Obligation had nothing to do with it."

"Do you mean to tell us that you have come to actually care for mankind? That you have begun to see them as more than a mission? If that is true, then there is a problem."

"Michael speaks the truth, Gabriel. This could pose a problem."

"Can we stop arguing about this? My friends are in danger. The person I love is in danger—." Gabriel stopped, and Michael and Raphael stared at her with no small amount of horror.

"You love a human?" Raphael was shocked.

"Yes. And I'm not going to lose them. So you can either get out of my way or I'll run right over you."

Raphael exchanged a stricken look with Michael. "Sister, there are laws against that. You'd lose them in the end."

"You see, that is where I see a breach of trust, brothers. We all know that there is a way to give up one's angelic status without breaking those laws. I don't believe you told me that; nor did you mean to do so, I daresay." Gabriel pushed her way past her stunned brothers, and took flight. 'Please, let them be safe,' she prayed as she flew towards where she had left Fighter and the others. 'I hope it's not too late.'

Ѣ§†Ѣ§†Ѣ§†Ѣ§†Ѣ

Katherine was exhausted; she had never tried to fight her sire for this long before. And it was taking a toll on her. She prayed that Serena/Gabriel would return. The Scouts were getting tired, too. They'd been baiting Chaos and trying to buy some time until Gabriel returned to finish this. But it was beginning to look like the Abbadōn had managed to take the blonde down with it. The Nephilim winced as Fighter took another hit. The dark-haired Starlight was clearly not far from collapse. Katherine blocked another blow from Lucifer, and nearly crashed to the ground. She was still recovering when Lucifer came slashing down.

Katherine closed her eyes, convinced that she was done for. But the blade of her sire's sword never touched her. She opened her eyes, and felt a surge of relief. Gabriel was now between her and Lucifer, sword raised and blocking what could have been a killing blow. The archangel's power spilled over them all, and renewed their strength, while also doing damage to both enemies. Soon, the archangel and the Prince of Darkness were locked in furious combat. They circled each other in a slow, deadly dance of death, and it was nerve-wracking for the people on both sides to watch. Even Chaos had stopped fighting below to watch what was going on in the sky.

'Please let her get through this,' Fighter prayed. 'Let her win, and finish this.' Gabriel was in full Preliator mode now; she moved with an unnerving speed, and even though it seemed like it would be difficult to fly and fight at the same time, moving through the air required no effort from her, by all appearances. Steel met steel, and the sound of two blades clashing against each other was the only thing that could be heard in the sudden silence. Neither Gabriel nor Lucifer was willing to give the other even a tenth of an inch.

Finally, Lucifer broke the silence by hissing; "Neither of us can keep this up forever, Gabriel. One of us will die eventually."

"Indeed, but it shall not be me."

"Are you still so arrogant?"

"Do you still have that scar from our little skirmish when you started your foolish uprising?"

"I shall look forward to killing you."

"You are welcome to try."

"Should not your brothers have joined us by now?"

"They know I can handle myself." Gabriel bore down, and Lucifer barely managed to avoid losing a hand.

"Oh, really? Then why do they hate humans so much, if their sister can look after herself? After all, you have managed to get yourself killed a fair amount of times."

"Such is life," was the casual response. "That was my own choice, and it is hardly humanity's fault that I let my guard down."

"I wonder what they would say if they knew that their sister is in love with one of the very beings that killed their sister," Lucifer mused, and Gabriel almost lost focus. "Did I strike a nerve?"

"Not at all." Lucifer found himself immediately a victim to a deep, festering wound caused by angelic fire. Gabriel continued to press her advantage, and Lucifer lost more and more ground. Chaos watched this with concern, deliberating whether she should help him, and possibly turn the tables. But how could she defeat an archangel? Fighter watched with a sense of relief. It looked like Lucifer was just about done, and her Odango was still in one piece.

It was then that Chaos chose to act. Gabriel barely managed to get out of the way of the blast, and Lucifer's blade grazed her side. That was when all Hell broke loose…literally and figuratively. Daemons burst through dimensional barriers, and Fighter was suddenly clawing her way through hoards of dangerous monsters in an effort to get to her Odango's side. Gabriel was now fighting both opponents at once, and Katherine was kept occupied on the ground by daemons and reapers. Everyone else was caught in some form of combat or another, and soon, even Fighter became locked in a fight for her life, and Gabriel stood alone.

"Rest assured," Chaos sneered. "We'll find a place for your friends and love in the new world we will create. That is…if they survive the destruction of the old one."

Gabriel lashed out, and received two injuries for her pains. Blood spilled down her legs, ran down her face from a cut on her cheek. Lucifer moved in for the killing blow, but another sword blocked his. A strong arm supported her. Suddenly, Michael formed a protective wall between the enemy and his sister. Raphael began to heal her wounds once again. Gabriel grimaced in pain, but was grateful for the help. "You may not make any sense, sometimes, sister, but we would never leave you like this," he murmured into her ear.

"Thank goodness…but I still stand by what I said earlier."

"We'll discuss that later…right now, we have other problems."

"Right." Gabriel let the last lingering scratch fade away, and then she and Raphael joined their brother. The three converged on Lucifer and Chaos; their combined divine powers overwhelming. Their light washed over everything, and the sheer force of it would have killed someone, had it not been tempered by grace. Phage were healed, daemons and reapers sent back to where they'd come from, and Lucifer was sealed back into Hell. Chaos was sealed into her old prison, this time by holy light. They all felt it when the last traces of evil melted away.

'She did it,' Uranus thought. 'Thank goodness; maybe now we can all breathe a little.'

The light faded, and Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael floated aloft, wings spread wide. It was the most beautiful thing anyone had ever seen. All three faced each other, and held each other's eyes for several moments. Finally, Michael spoke, his blue eyes concerned. "Gabriel, we still need to have a discussion." Raphael nodded, green eyes clouded with a certain worry. Gabriel folded her arms across her chest.

"I have already made my decision. I know what I want."

"What are they talking about?" Healer whispered to Fighter.

Fighter knew perfectly well what was going on. She knew that Michael and Raphael wanted their sister to return to Paradise. She knew that Serena…Gabriel…her Odango, had an intention to stay, to give up her angelic status. But what if her brothers convinced her to abandon that? No…she wouldn't do that…Fighter tried to reassure herself. Then, she remembered that Healer had asked her a question. "They want her to come back to Paradise," Fighter replied quietly. "Permanently."

"What? She can't!" Healer was distressed, and Fighter knew it was for her sake.

"We've already discussed it. She knows she can do what she wants, and she told me her decision."

The silver-haired girl watched her friend closely. "What did she choose?"

"She chose me."

Healer breathed a sigh of relief. "So why are they discussing it?"

"Michael and Raphael have something against humans; some sort of grudge. She needs to get them to at least accept her choice."

"What if they don't?"

"It'll work out," the raven-haired girl insisted.

Gabriel's voice sounded, "I made my choice; nothing you say can change it."

"Gabriel, be reasonable," Raphael pleaded.

"Should we not take this to a more private arena?" Michael inquired. "It is horribly rude to have a private conversation in front of other people."

"Yeah, Raphael. Listen to our brother." Gabriel turned to the others. "Excuse us for a minute, please. We have some family issues to resolve."

The three moved higher up, and with a flash of light from their wings, disappeared.

"WHAT THE FLYING FUCK IS GOING ON HERE?" Uranus burst out.

"Umm…maybe I should explain," Fighter mumbled.