Chapter 8

Concerning Others

Israfel hummed along to "Candyman" by Zedd and Aloe Blacc as she walked down the golden street on her way to see Raziel. She passed by Ariel and Haniel on the way as well as Nathaniel – everyone else (not really, but the number was ridiculous) was either working or 'keeping an eye on' Kemuel. Honestly, they could all be so nosy sometimes. Then again, nothing truly exciting ever really happened in Heaven. No, no… all the jazz and pop was on Earth.

Still, no one actually cared to go to Earth. No one wanted to leave home. Most were either too scared or worried about what might happen or just that they didn't want to leave others behind. Plus, in the event that most of them did go to Earth, while some of them might want to stay on Earth, the rest would eventually go back home, and therefore create that separation of the family. No one wanted that.

There was already a split. One made a long time ago. But a lot of the younger angels didn't remember what happened, and the majority of the older angels didn't talk about it. Israfel was more or less in the middle of those two categories. While she didn't remember everything that happened, she remembered enough, and what she did remember did not consist of happy thoughts.

Not that it had anything to do with why she was going to visit Raziel this fine afternoon… or was it morning? Israfel could never tell when God kept the Sun of Heaven directly above everything. Usually she'd have some reference to time because one of her brothers or sisters would know the time on Earth (because time really wasn't all that relevant in Heaven, but whatever). And yet Israfel always lost track of the time due to how caught up she got when listening to songs.

Of course, that didn't bother her for the most part. Israfel was the angel of songs after all. It was only natural that she constantly have a song going on in her head, a song which often reflected her mood. She could also sing every song known to man on Earth and in Heaven as well as being able to name any song by the time she heard a couple lines or so of the lyrics – and sometimes even the instrumental bits if the song was that well-worth remembering.

But anyways, Israfel was going to visit Raziel because the angel of mysteries (or keeper of secrets, Raziel had claim to both titles) had asked Israfel to come by the other day. The angel of song had no reason not to drop by, which was how Israfel ended up quite literally bumping into Anael.

"Anna! I'm so sorry— I wasn't looking where I was going," Israfel apologized, placing a hand on her younger sister's shoulder to steady her when it looked like Anael might fall over at the collision.

"Oh, no, no, it's fine," Anael replied, waving Israfel off. "I wasn't exactly looking where I was going either."

Israfel pursed her lips, that protective older sibling urge kicking in. She should at least make sure Anael would be okay until she was with another angel who would be able to make doubly sure the young angel was okay. "Well, you could join me for some company if you're headed my way," she offered.

"You wouldn't happen to be going towards the Seer's Setting, would you?" Anael asked somewhat shyly.

Actually, that was exactly where Israfel was going. She told Anael as such and suggested that they go together, which Anael delightfully agreed to. As they continued on journey to the outer edges of the Silver City where the Seer's Setting was located (and really, it didn't need to be called that but that's what Raziel and some of her fellow 'seers' wanted it to be called), Israfel and Anael caught up on recent events.

Apparently, apart from going to the Seer's Setting to consult with a certain soul, Anael was going to Earth sometime soon to take over one of the stations on Earth so the angel currently there could take a break. Anael was also going to be distributing a few miracles in the region she was stationed in. Though it wouldn't be Anael's first time on Earth, it would be her first time answering prayers – taking on the role of a miracle worker. Anael must have been on Barachiel's good side if he was putting her in charge of a few miracles for the first time without any supervision.

In turn, Israfel told Anael about all of her favorite new songs that the humans had come out with. The list was a little lengthy since Israfel and Anael hadn't seen each other in a while, but they were both caught up by the time they reached the temple-like structure of the Seer's Setting.

The two angels greeted the oracles and prophets who had requested to temporarily leave their personal heavens to see the angel seers for… seer reasons. Israfel was one in a great majority who didn't really understand the angels who could see into the many different futures. Sure, the concept was easy enough to grasp, but just… Who needed to see the future nowadays with free will and everything?

Anael had found the soul she was looking for at the entrance of the Setting, and Israfel gave her little sister a long hug and heartfelt farewell. They probably wouldn't see each other for a few years since Anael was going to Earth. That was just what happened regarding angels that were stationed on Earth.

It took a bit of searching, but Israfel finally found Raziel, who was speaking quietly with Remiel, which really wasn't all that uncommon as Remiel was the main angel of visions and Raziel being the angel of mysteries. Though with the look on their faces, maybe the conversation wasn't all that common for them...

"Raziel!" Israfel called to her older sister.

Remiel's eyes snapped in Israfel's direction, and he whispered a quiet but harsh statement to Raziel before storming off, heading towards the main, innermost chambers of the Setting.

"What was that about..?" Israfel asked in a mutter. She was somewhere in between offended and confused at Remiel's agitated (more like aggressive) mood.

Raziel sighed, her gray eyes still lingering on the empty hallway Remiel left by. "He's... concerned about a vision he's received several times over the last year or so.."

Concerned, Israfel frowned. "What vision?"

"Hopefully something that won't come to pass," the angel of mysteries answered cryptically. Shaking her head, Raziel changed the subject. "I suppose you're wondering why I asked for you to be here today."

"A bit," Israfel admitted. "But it can't be earthshattering if you're brushing off something Remiel's worried about."

"About that…" Raziel started hesitantly, as if she wasn't sure how to word what she was going to say next. "Remember when Gabriel went down to Earth with Amenadiel about three decades ago?"

To be honest, Israfel didn't actually remember the specifics of what Raziel was referring to, but the angel of song did know of it. So she nodded.

"Well, we – and I mean Remiel and I – believe that the human Lucifer has taken a liking to may be a part of why they went to Earth."

"And you're telling this to me?" Israfel asked incredulously – if not dumbfoundedly. "Why?"

"Because Remiel has seen you on Earth sometime within this next year."

Israfel blinked and then tilted her heard to the side. "He has?"

"Yes," Raziel affirmed, gaining an exasperated edge to her tone.

"I don't see why," Israfel began to dispute. "I, like, never go to Earth… except for the occasional, once-in-a-human-lifetime concerts… Okay, so I like to go to Earth sometimes— What does that have to do with Lucifer or Gabriel or Amenadiel?"

"From what Remiel and I understand of what we've seen, Lucifer and Chloe Decker are quite literally a match made in Heaven…"

"Okay," Israfel drawled, gesturing for Raziel to go on.

The angel of mysteries and keeper of secrets took a deep breath and then suddenly rushed through all of her next words, letting them tumble from her mouth. "Chloe-Decker-may-or-may-not-be-a-miracle-child-that's-supposedly-meant-to-be-with-Lucifer-in-his-journey-to-redemption-in-the-eyes-of-both-Heaven-and-Earth-as-well-as-in-helping-him-find-eternal-happiness-as-was-intended-by-Father-ever-since-Lucifer-was-cast-down-to-Hell."

"Uh… what?" Israfel had a hard time catching all of that.

Raziel huffed a frustrated growl. "Chloe Decker and Lucifer are destined to be together—"

"No, no, I got that part," Israfel cut in. "What was the part about Chloe being a miracle child? What's that supposed to mean?"

Raziel gave her a look. "You remember the last time there was a miracle child helped conceived by Father?"

"Well, yeah, kinda hard to forget that kid, but— Wait! Seriously?!" Israfel stared at her older sister. "You're joking."

"No. I'm not."

"Well, then you're mixing up famous human historical figures."

"Me and Remiel and Jeremiel and Daniel?"

"… Fine," Israfel relented, still making her skepticism known through her doubtful expression. "But, again, what does it have to do with me?"

Raziel glanced around, as if making sure that they were alone. "You're going to shift the most likely future to a preferred one— one in which you create a catalyst that will keep Lucifer from making a grievous mistake... something that would tear a rift between him and Chloe."

Israfel raised an appraising eyebrow. "You're a shipper," she breathed.

"A what?"

"It's— never mind," Israfel cut herself off, shaking her head and backtracking. "But you want Chloe and Lucifer together, right? Like, Team Deckerstar?"

Frowning, Raziel looked at Israfel as if the angel of song had lost her mind but eventually nodded, going along with it. "Yes..?"

"Well then," Israfel started, smiling like the cat that got the cream, "group meets are on Mondays, and the feels sessions are after the fangirling parties."

"Maybe I'll go to one of these parties once you make sure that everything goes according to plan."

"You're gonna regret not going sooner," the angel of song warned in a lyrical tone, pointing a finger at the angel of mysteries. A conspiratorial grin took over the smile on her face. "Now give me all the details..."

—o~O~o—

Hands on hips, Azrael stood in the doorway, barring Kemuel from leaving the room, and the angel of death was determined to make sure the angel of authenticity knew why she couldn't leave this room. It wasn't like Azrael was alone in this decision— No, no. This was unanimously agreed upon by the Council (unanimously in terms of all thirteen of them except Kemuel).

"You are not going to Earth," Azrael repeated for what felt like the hundredth time but was really only the ninth. "How many different ways do I have to spell it out?"

"You can't keep me in Heaven forever, Azrael," Kemuel reiterated with a glare. "And there's no reason for you to keep me here either."

Azrael shrugged at that. Kemuel was right – they couldn't keep her in Heaven forever, but this was a temporary thing anyway. "Oh, I don't know about that, Kem. I can think of a few."

"Which would be?" Kemuel asked, narrowing her eyes as if she were daring the younger angel to give her a legitimate answer.

But give Kemuel a legitimate answer Azrael would. "The more time you spend on Earth the more likely Mother would find out about your interference. She never knew about you putting everything together, only that you were in charge of bringing Her to Hell with Him for Her punishment."

Kemuel glared heatedly at Azrael. "So?" Kemuel scoffed. "She's bound to find out eventually."

"Earth is making you reckless," the angel of death growled, her dark eyes flashing dangerously. "You need to be more careful, Kem."

"I am being careful," the angel of authenticity argued.

Azrael rolled her eyes. "Because interacting with Chloe Decker and her daughter is careful."

"The Goddess hates humans," Kemuel exclaimed, throwing her arms up in the air in a show of exasperation. "She wouldn't bother asking them about me even if She knew I was around."

"That's not the point, Kemuel!"

"No— the point is that you and the others are forgetting that I can take care of myself!" The angel of authenticity's voice boomed and echoed throughout the building, causing a slight tremor to run along the ground.

Azrael was stunned into silence for several minutes, needing the time to recollect herself. That itself was a hard task, considering the way Kemuel retained her fuming expression the whole while. Still, Azrael wasn't about to crack just because her sister was directing her fury at her – and the fury being expressed right then was nothing compared to... well, a time before.

"You are not going to Earth," Azrael repeated calmly.

And that was that.

—o~O~o—

"What'd you do, Rae?" Camael asked somewhat warily. She picked at a few stray dead leaves, removing them from the plant she was working on, before looking back up to her older sister.

The angel of death paused in the middle of running through her katas, the style closer to a dance than sword arts. Though she was still poised for a thrust lunge, Azrael easily relayed the… argument that had occurred between herself and Kemuel. By the time she had finished telling Camael what happened, Azrael was back to fluidly moving through her technical exercises.

"—and it wasn't just me who made this decision, Cammie. Everyone else on the Council voted to have Kemuel stay in Heaven for at least another week."

Frowning, Camael scrunched up her nose at a sudden thought. "You mean, you guys took a vote behind Kemuel's back?"

"It was regarding her," Azrael replied – smoothly transitioning into a low crouch, quickly passing through a fourth position plié during a rond de jambe of the right leg before spinning around and ending all the way back in front with her weight now balanced evenly in both legs. "She wasn't supposed to be there."

"Yeah, but you went behind her back," Camael stressed.

Azrael stopped her workout to sit down next to the angel of joy. "Even you have to agree that she's spending too much time on Earth. You know what happens to angel who aren't assigned to Earth stay on Earth for too long."

"They Fall," Camael conceded with a glance to the side. "But that doesn't happen to everyone," she protested, looking back to her sister. "Besides, Kemuel hasn't been on Earth as much as Leliel. She's not supposed to be down there, but she goes with you most of the time."

"That's—"

"If you say that it's not the same, I'm going to have to politely ask you to leave," Camael warned.

Azrael sighed but didn't continue her statement. Leaning back, she laid her head against the trunk of the tree directly behind her. "Who knew that everything would change in less than a month," she huffed.

"Dad for one."

"Don't start that," Azrael groaned, though her smile gave away her amusement. "So I hear that you were talking to Him the other day…"

Camael let out a small giggle, picking up on the proffered change of topic. "Yeah, did you know He changed His mustache and beard? His hair is shorter and darker now, too."

Azrael gasped in mock horror. "No! He loved that beard!" A shit-eating grin spread across her face. "Remember that one time when Jehoel accidently set it on fire—"

"Shhh! We're not supposed to talk about that," Camael cried out, a burst of laughter already pouring from her lips.

"But— but it wasn't until Puriel had a storm cloud form over them to put out the fire that anything happened!" Azrael exclaimed, continuing over Camael's fits of snorts and giggles. "And then Kem came by to see what was going on, and everyone was just absolutely soaked to the bone!"

The two angels continued to laugh together until finally Azrael calmed down and looked off into the distance, reminiscing the days long past. That had been back when Kemuel still took secret trips down to Hell to visit Lucifer. The event had been the most exciting thing to happen during the whole millennia.

And now the 'excitement' was overflowing – spilling out of the cup, so to say.

Personally, Azrael would prefer to just go back to the way things were before the whole mess with Her being on Earth or even before Amenadiel went down to get Lucifer to go back to Hell. And honestly – God must have known that Amenadiel was a poor choice if He really wanted to send Lucifer back to his domain. Seriously, you don't pick Amenadiel for a diplomatic errand.

But here they all were.

Now, don't get Azrael wrong – she loved her family, but she would also do anything to protect them. From others and themselves, even if that meant they hated her for it. It wasn't like being the angel of death was popular in the first place. The very least she could do to contribute to her large family was to keep them from the thing she represented.

Azrael recognized the danger Kemuel was in. Azrael had seen a great many things due to her job, presiding over the reapers who escorted souls to their final destination and occasionally having to escort souls herself. She had been to Earth, Heaven, Hell and even Purgatory. Death was not kind.

And Lucifer was smack dab in the middle of a potential massacre. Perhaps it wouldn't happen for another few months or even a year, but Kemuel knew what Mother could do. The Goddess obviously wanted back into Heaven, probably wanted revenge on God for imprisoning Her in Hell. All of the angels would be in the line of fire, especially Kemuel.

The Council knew this, and so – to protect their older sister – they were going to have her stay away from the catalyst, away from Earth, away from Lucifer. Because Lucifer hurt those around him – intentionally or not, knowingly or not. Either way, that was what he did back then, too.

Samael, the poison of God. Of those He created with Her, Samael had always been His favorite. Samael had been the perfect combination of his Parents, so much like both of Them. God had made His favoritism clear while She kept Her opinion fleeting, constantly changing who Her favorite son was (never a favorite daughter), but They had both had a particular fondness of Samael.

Not that it had done Samael any good in the end.

Azrael couldn't say that Lucifer was any better off. Samael and Lucifer were essentially the same being – the fundamental difference having to do with Lucifer's odd interest in humans. Nope, not much difference when it came to his self-centeredness, haughty attitude, immaturity, maybe not full on arrogance but ignorance of things when it came to others around him. They were still the same in that regard.

But that was where Samael/Lucifer and God began to have differences. Aside from all of the omni-s on God's part, He had also learned from His actions, His mistakes. He knew what His effects on others could cause and knew not to be so using.

Lucifer either didn't realize or didn't care that He had changed. He obviously also didn't care to realize what She would do to Heaven if She ever set foot in the Silver City again. He probably wanted a good ol' Mom and Dad fight that would end up with Them destroying each other.

Fat lot of good that would do. Talk about killing off any chance of a life for himself. The Universe itself would act out against Lucifer for (no matter how indirectly) killing God. God's wish for Lucifer to be happy would become void.

A/N: Again, you'll notice there really wasn't any God chat (I wonder what He could be up to...), but, also again, there's a bit of authorial comment. Take it as you will. Hinting at things is fun. And the reason there isn't much of Kemuel is because while this story is technically about her, it's also about the rest of the angels too. I've been giving a couple of them a bit of time to shine.

Last edited: [1/13/2020]

Fgh56: Badass enough (in reference to chapter 9)? If not, I apologize. I – for the life of me – cannot write proper fight scenes or anything remotely intimidating. I mean, I probably could, but it'd have like fifty revised versions.

Thatgirl221B: I'm working on this. I promise!