Azrael did what her brother asked. As soon as Samael and Gabriel walked through them, she shut and locked the gates. No one would be able to get in or out. Doing so was like setting off a beacon to all of Heaven. Her siblings knew immediately that they'd been locked in, and it caused all of them to panic. Azrael could hear them everywhere. She shouldn't really be surprised. This was something that had never been done before, not even when Samael rebelled. Of course, her siblings would be afraid knowing the gates had been locked, especially considering they were designed so they could only be unlocked by their father. Anyone could lock them, but only he could unlock them.
If all the angels knew what happened, it went without saying that their father did as well. His voice was heard by all of them within a matter of minutes. "Report to the conference room, now!"
Azrael took a deep breath and began walking back to the conference room, where she knew she was going to have a lot of questions to answer. Most of her siblings were there when she got there, each one of them worried.
"The gates are locked! This has never happened before," Raziel asked.
"Why would Father lock them?" Zerachiel asked.
"Are we under attack? We should get ready to fight," Remiel said.
"Enough!" a powerful voice yelled. Everyone turned to see that their father had arrived. "I understand everyone's concern, but jumping to conclusions is not helpful. Where is Samael?"
They all looked around. Well, all of them except for Azrael. "He's not here. Did he shut them?" Raziel asked.
"No, I shut them," Azrael finally said. "One of our brother's has betrayed us."
Voices broke out again. Samael's name went around the most at the prospect of betrayal. He'd done so before, so it wasn't a leap for some of them. Many others, however, argued that he wouldn't do that again.
"Stop! As I said, jumping to conclusions doesn't help," God said. "Azrael, explain please."
"It wasn't Samael. It was Michael," She said.
Now, everyone seemed angry and annoyed, yet surprised. They all disliked Michael, but none of them would've thought that he would rebel, if only because he didn't have the guts to.
Azrael took a deep breath and looked directly at her father. She knew he was not going to be pleased with her after this. "I think Michael took my blade and left the Silver City. I think he did it at Mom's request. It's likely they plan a war."
Fear once again took effect. Michael on his own wasn't really a threat, but with the blade and the Goddess' help, he could do a lot of damage. They all knew that.
God held up his hand to quiet his children once more. "Azrael, we will discuss your carelessness with your possessions at a later time. For now, tell me exactly what happened and why you think your mother was involved.
"I bumped into Michael the other day. That was around the time my blade disappeared. There was a fight between him and Samael. Michael mentioned Mom and her support of him. That's why I thought she might be involved. Sam said he disappeared for several days. I think he might have gone looking for her after you passed him over in favor of Sam for your second," Azrael told her father. She really had to think fast to come up with a reason for why she thought Michael was with their mother. She had to do it without alerting him that it was actually Gabriel and Samael that put that together.
God was sure at least some of that wasn't true. He knew when he was being lied to, especially when it was his children doing it. He knew she was telling the truth about Michael, but not about how she knew about what he was doing. He was also very aware of the absence of Samael. Gabriel was also missing, but that was easily explained. He spent much of his time on Earth with his assignment.
"That's not exactly damning evidence, Rae-Rae. You shut the gates over that?" Sarathiel asked. To her, that seemed like pretty extreme action for what seemed like speculation.
"Sara, he took my blade for a reason, and I don't think he would've come up with the idea to go against us on his own," Azrael said.
"But you don't even know for sure that he's taken it?" Rafe said. "I'm not one to defend Michael, but you don't have any evidence that he's responsible. "But you don't even know for sure that he's taken it," Rafe said. "I'm not one to defend Michael, but you don't have any evidence that he's responsible.
"But Michael has been acting suspiciously. He disappeared for days, and Samael was convinced he was up to something. He's notable missing now as well," an angel named Hadraniel said.
"Yeah, but so are Samael and Gabriel as well," another said.
"Well, if we're speculating on who might have betrayed, if anyone, I'd put my money on Michael against Gabriel, and even Samael at this point," Raziel said.
"That's enough. Right now, we know nothing for sure. We will proceed with caution, but I don't want anyone jumping to conclusions," God said.
"But we may have war on our hands," Remiel said.
"Why would Mom plot against us? Will she try to hurt us?" another asked.
"Are we meant to fight her?"
"Hey! I said we're not going to do that. I understand you're all upset, but you must all stay calm until we know more. We should not assume the worst," God said.
"Dad's right. For all we know, Azrael simply misplaced her blade," Sarathiel said. She got the feeling that wasn't the case, but she was trying to stay positive.
"But Michael's missing. So are Samael and Gabriel."
"Sam and Gabriel are probably around here somewhere. Samael was looking for Michael the last time I saw him," Azrael said. That wasn't a complete lie. Her brothers were probably going to search for Michael while they were on Earth.
"This situation will be dealt with, no matter what it turns out to be. For now, don't think the worst," God advised.
"Does that mean we're reopening the gates?" Sarathiel asked.
"No. I agree with taking the precaution of closing them. Until I have gotten to the bottom of the situation, the gates will stay locked. However, just because they are locked doesn't mean anyone should panic. It is a precaution right now. Now, if there is nothing else, you are dismissed. If any of you are still concerned, you are more than welcome to come to talk with me one on one," God assured them.
They all started filing out of the room, except for Azrael. She could tell from just one look from her father that she was not dismissed. She expected it. She just hoped it was because of her missing blade and not because he figured out she was withholding information.
"Alright, Azrael. Tell me the real story. You did not become convinced that Michael is working with your mother based on a casual comment from Michael," God said.
"I…I did. I just thought it made sense after…"
"Azrael! I am already irritated that you didn't protect your blade better and that you have lied to me once! Do not think to try it again! Now, many things are obvious to me right now. The most glaringly obvious one is that Samael has left the Silver City. So, if that's what you were trying to hide from me, you may as well stop now. You're only making me angrier by trying!" God said in a hard tone. It was fairly easy to figure out that Samael had left. He'd taken his job seriously since God gave it to him. He might not like it, but he did what was required of him. If he'd been in Heaven when the gates were locked, he would've made his presence known.
Azrael cringed. She should've known her father would figure it out. For one, she was a terrible liar. For another, her father was who he was. It was near impossible to lie to him. Samael probably knew that too, but he was willing to risk it. "I'm sorry."
"We will discuss it later. Tell me what really happened," God ordered.
"When my blade went missing, I asked Sam to help me find it. I thought I'd just lost it at first. He helped me search, but we couldn't find it. Sam said I'd have to tell you I'd lost it," Azrael told him.
"Which you should've done immediately, but that is something else we will discuss at a later time," God said sternly.
"Gabriel found out afterwards and the subject of Michael came up. I remembered running into him and put together that he might have taken my blade. Samael and Gabriel are the ones that figured out that Mom probably had Michael do it after I told them what my blade really was. Gabriel told us what you'd asked him to do. Sam said he was leaving Heaven no matter what to help Chloe Decker. Gabriel was worried, so he went with him. Before he left, Sam said that I needed to lock the gates behind them," Azrael explained.
To say that God was less than pleased would be an understatement. Both Gabriel and Samael had disobeyed him. Gabriel he could understand to an extent. Once he realized that Michael was working with his mother, he might have felt he had no choice, but God still would've preferred he come to him. Samael, he could understand a bit as well. He knew his son would be frightened when he realized his human was being used by his mother. It was why God didn't want him knowing. However, disobeying him and going off without thinking it through was unacceptable. Understandable, yes, but not acceptably. In fact, it was exactly why God had punished him in the first place, lack of thought. Then there was Michael. There was nothing understandable about Michael's actions. He was going to be severely punished for this. "Did Samael ask you to lie to me?"
"He asked me to stall you. He wanted to try to get Chloe Decker safe. Then, I'm sure he would've prayed to you to bring him back or tried to stop Michael," Azrael said.
"Did he ask you to lie to me?" God asked with a high level of impatience in his voice.
"Yes," Azrael admitted. She didn't like telling on her brother, but her father was going to know if she lied. That was pretty clear now. "Dad, please give Sam a chance. He's just trying to protect those he cares about."
"You're dismissed for now. We will have another conversation once this is over. For now, I will say this: You will never lie to me again!" God said in an almost lethal tone. He hated lies as much as Samael, and it made him even more angry that Samael had been the one to tell Azrael to lie. To God, that was as bad as if Samael had told the lie himself. He and his son were going to have a very long talk about all of this when he got back.
"Yes, sir," Azrael said with a gulp before heading for the door.