A/N: Hellooooo! I'm here! How's everyone? Hope you're all well. Sorry, this took so long. Again. My life is chaos and my muse ran away from the stress. Did she think to take me with her? Noooooooo. Of course not. I was just left to linger. *sigh* Oh well. Hopefully I can finish this up soon! Yay! We are close to the end *sadface*. About time, right? lol
Welcome new readers and favers and followers! Every notification I got put a bright spot in my day, and guilt in my heart because I hadn't updated in so long :'(
Shoutouts to: 1Corinthians 1313, PrincessMagic, monkeygirl77, wolfimus prime, and LP Womer! Thanks so much for your reviews! Good to see you all! Love you!
As Eliyon flew to the infirmary, he couldn't shake the feeling that all wasn't well in his home. A sense of unease had settled in his grace and the longer he was in Heaven, the more it made itself known, a soft chill that made his core ache.
The Rit Zien tended his wounds without a word, no inquiry as to how he'd acquired the injuries. Part of him simply attributed it to the fact that how a wound happened wasn't actually critical to its care. But another part of him was now even iller at ease.
The Rit Zien always asked questions. This time, they simply bandaged him and gave him orders to rest for the next day or so.
After the fight with Lilith and his mad flight to make Michael aware of the state of affairs on earth, he couldn't deny that he was tired. He hadn't realized he'd dozed off until the sound of two soft voices woke him. Something about these whispers kept him still, grace quiet and eyes closed. The sense of danger was almost overwhelming, but he was no Fledgling.
"…I'm just glad someone finally said it."
"As am I, but we can't be rash. He would not approve."
"He may. We might even receive promotions."
"How foolish are you? Our lord is subtle. Anyone who jeopardizes his plans will only be severely punished."
"I wish his plan would come to fruition faster. I'll be sent to Earth soon to watch those loathsome mud-monkeys."
Eliyon didn't react to that, even though his continued silence was difficult to maintain. Loathsome? Mud-monkeys? How could speak of Father's creations like that?
And just who was this lord? What plans? He hadn't felt such bitter contempt since—
Since Lucifer fell.
Don't jump to conclusions, he scolded himself. And yet, it made sense, and didn't. These Angels held humanity in contempt, clearly, like the Morningstar had, but did that mean they had sided with the fallen Archangel?
Surely not. Lucifer had rebelled against Father himself, surely the rest of Heaven would never follow such an example.
He waited until the whisperers had gone, then he slipped out of bed and quietly left the infirmary, and headed straight to Ezekiel's chambers. He knocked politely, the situation wasn't so dire that he could justify barging in.
"Come in."
When he stepped inside, the elder Angel's eyes widened slightly in surprise, then delight. "Eliyon," he greeted him warmly and stood up to grasp his forearm. Then, his eyes darted over Eliyon's form. "You are wounded. What happened?"
"That is something I wanted to bring to your attention," Eliyon told him, voice oddly soft.
Ezekiel's gaze sharpened and he nodded. "Sit. Tell me."
Eliyon took a deep breath. Going against Michael wasn't something done lightly. If anyone overheard and spread what he was about to say, he could be accused of sedition.
"Lucifer has returned," Eliyon told him and Ezekiel straightened slowly. "And he is corrupting Father's humans. Burning their souls into abominable beings."
"And you know this, how?" Ezekiel asked with narrowed eyes but his grace was thrumming with worry and grief.
Eliyon felt relief well up inside of him. He'd been right to trust his Mentor. "I fought with one, defending my charge. She said her name was Lilith…and she told me who created her. And that there are many more."
"Michael is aware?"
"I reported to him as soon as I arrived," Eliyon nodded. "But there…is something else…" he trailed off. "A suspicion more than anything."
"I read Tamiel's reports of you, your instincts have yet to be wrong," Ezekiel told him.
Eliyon was both proud and a little embarrassed by the praise. "I feel a divide in Heaven," he said quietly. "I overheard others discussing 'plans' and mentioned a 'lord'. And the way they spoke of humanity, the hatred, it was so familiar," his tone was slightly pained.
Ezekiel nodded slowly. "There are few in Heaven that do not view humanity in such a light. Mud-monkeys they call them and in a way, I understand their dislike. Father gave them something he never gave to us, and they would rather speak to rocks and trees than Him."
Eliyon nodded. He remembered Eden, the direct connection those first humans had had with Father, the painful severance. Some had managed to regain that bond to some extent, many though had not. And what was worse, many of them had never tried.
"So many of them squander a precious gift, and for that, even I feel contempt for them," Ezekiel confessed. "However, I would still protect them until my last breath. Others…do not feel the same."
Eliyon took a deep breath, aware that what he was about to say would sound like a frightened Fledgling. "What if it's Lucifer?"
To his surprise, Ezekiel did not dismiss the idea, instead, by the grim look in his eyes, he'd come to a similar conclusion.
"You said, you feel a divide in Heaven," he said sadly. "One exists. You were too young to fully grasp the reach of an Archangel. Almost boundless. I feel the chill in my core, the bitterness in the air. Lucifer's reach has not diminished with his time in exile and his influence remains ever so potent."
Ezekiel sounded afraid.
"My greatest fear now is, when the battle begins, seeing just how many of our brothers will turn on us," he said softly.
Eliyon's mind had just drawn that conclusion, as well and his grace coiled anxiously. "What can we do?" he asked.
Ezekiel gave him an approving look. Even afraid, he hadn't asked that question from a position of helplessness and hopelessness. The Angel was ready for action.
"Unfortunately, very little," he sighed sadly. "But I will do what I can to counter the influence among my students. But a poison so potent and sweet is almost impossible to counter."
"What would you have me do?"
Ezekiel smiled then. "You are Grigori. You know what to do."
Eliyon nodded, smiling faintly at those words. "Very well."
"If you have the time, you should visit Gabriel," Ezekiel told him. "He's missed you." Then he pulled Eliyon into an embrace. "I'm proud of you," he said warmly.
Eliyon smiled. "Thank you, Mentor."
"Now go," he gave Eliyon a light push towards the door.
Eliyon went looking for Gabriel but no one he asked seemed to have seen him in quite a while. Those that had, described him as being depressed, staying in his aerie most of the time. So he headed that way, passing the armory—
What…was that?
He froze, staring at the door, then pushed inside. He felt no reason to hide what he was doing. He wasn't a Fledgling anymore and the armory was open to all Angels.
Is Michael in here?
He certainly felt his grace, but it was so…bitter. So dark.
Then, he found the lance and the hatred emanating from the etchings made him reel. He made himself go closer and when he read them, he felt sick.
He'd never seen such a horrible curse. And to belong to Father's first son…
I have to find Gabriel!
He dashed out and flew to his aerie, only to find it empty.
"Gabriel?" he called, sudden fear and dread clenching his grace. The archangel's presence, the lingering sense of his grace, was so faint in this place. Too faint for him to have spent most of his time here. "Gabriel!"
"Hey, kiddo."
Eliyon spun around to see him standing by the door, smiling tiredly.
"What's going on?"
"Gabriel, Michael plans on killing Lucifer," Eliyon told him, horrified. "We can't let that happen."
Gabriel looked away sadly. "I'm not fighting, kiddo. I won't choose between my brothers."
"Gabriel, stopping him from killing Lucifer isn't choosing," Eliyon said. "It's making sure that what Father ordered is all that happens. He said lock him away. Not kill him."
Gabriel just shook his head, not meeting his eyes.
Eliyon froze. Something was very wrong here. If Gabriel's grace hadn't been the first he'd bonded to, he may never have noticed the lack. The absence.
"You're not Gabriel," his voice shook slightly.
The phantom looked up then with an even sadder smile.
"Where is he?!" Eliyon demanded, desperation gripping him like a vice.
"He's gone, kiddo," the phantom said. "For good. First casualty."
Eliyon staggered back, eyes wide. "No…" he shook his head, tears filling his eyes. "No! It isn't true! He's not dead!"
The phantom nodded. "Sorry, kiddo."
"Don't call me that!" Eliyon snapped, wings flaring angrily. "Only Gabriel gets to call me that!"
The phantom nodded, and faded away.
Eliyon sank to his knees, trying to catch his breath. Gabriel was gone.
How?!
His wings wrapped around him in a cocoon. No. Gabriel wasn't dead. All of Heaven would have felt that loss.
He was just…gone.
Refusing to choose between his brothers. Refusing to fight.
The crushing feeling of aloneness settled on him and he wasn't sure he'd ever be able to stand up again.
Gabriel had abandoned them all to Lucifer's poison and Michael's wrath.
"How could you?!" his grace screamed in agony but there was no answer. I'm on my own.
He bowed his head, fighting tears as his core pulsed with agony. Then after a moment, he took a deep breath, and stood, squaring his shoulders.
I'm on my own.
He left the aerie and flew back to the armory.
It's just me, now.
He walked in, straight to the lance, and took it, feeling the weight, the cold violence and vengeance that had forged it.
No one else will. So I will.
He vanished out of the armory. His injuries ached with the sudden exertion, but he didn't stop. He flew to the space between Heaven and Earth, and hurled the lance into the galaxies that made up that empty space. He watched until it vanished with a flash and something within him hardened.
There was no turning back from this. When Michael found out, he could very well be executed. But this was defiance of Father's will and he would not allow that to continue.
Regardless of the consequences.
Okay, so everyone remembers the episode with Michael's Lance? How Ramiel said it went missing and no one knew how? Yeahhhh here's my headcanon ;)