Celine looped her arms around Rena's and Gabriel's to butt between them. "You know, we're not far from Cross Cave. We could make a little detour."

Gabriel sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "You won't give up on it, will you? I'll hear all about it for the rest of the trip if I say no, right?"

Celine smiled at Gabriel. "Probably."

Gabriel nodded. "Fine. We'll go."

Celine let go of the two of them and took the lead. "It's really not that far." She led the group off on a side path.

Gabriel and Rena gave each other a glance before following behind Celine. Ashton stayed in the back, not questioning where they were going until he saw the cave.

"Uhh. I thought we were going to Herlie? Not some caverns." Ashton gulped as Celine glared at him. "Not that I mind, that is."

"Celine asked us to go here, remember? It's not far off the path, so we decided to check it out. She told us that there might be something in there that has to do with the Sorcery Globe." Gabriel turned his head slightly to talk to Ashton over his shoulder.

"Oh yeah. That's right." Ashton shrugged. "Should we go now or wait until tomorrow?"

Celine and Gabriel looked at each other, then at the horizon. Gabriel set his travel pack down. "Tomorrow would be best." Celine nodded in agreement and they set up their camp.

The night passed uneventfully and day was swiftly upon them. They began their travel into the caverns. They came across several monsters, but a quick spell from Gabriel and Celine crushed all opposition. Ashton and Rena stayed in the back.

"You realise that you two don't have to do all the work, right?" Ashton glared at Gabriel and half smiled at Celine.

"Fine." Gabriel chuckled as they continued. He and Celine consulted the map every few steps until they reached a dead end.

"Strange. The map says there should be a path here." Celine looked at the map in several directions. "We're in the right place."

Gabriel studied the map, then at the surroundings. "There's a light spell written on the map." He pointed at some writing on the map.

"Oh." Celine squinted and then recited the spell. A crystal behind them began to brighten until the room was filled with a dazzling white light. When it faded, the dead end was gone and another cave was opened to them.

"Interesting." Gabriel headed forward into the cavern followed quickly by the other three.

Ashton started commenting about spell casters and how weak they were compared to a good sturdy sword. Gabriel and Celine both began to prepare a fire bolt when Ashton tripped and fell.

Celine began to chuckle and Gabriel shook his head with a smile. Ashton picked himself up and looked to see what he had fallen over. He picked up a small box. "Found something."

Celine was the first to reach Ashton. She took the box away. "This is it!" She began to open the box but was stopped by a screech coming upon them quickly.

"We got company!" shouted Rena as she took a defensive position behind Gabriel.

Ashton flew into battle with the oncoming gargoyle. Celine started casting spell after spell. Rena cast healing spells on Ashton as needed. Gabriel just stood there silently.

"Gabriel? What's wrong?" Ashton shouted over his shoulder as he dodged a blow.

"You said that I didn't have to do all the work. I'm letting you deal with this one." Gabriel called back as Ashton took a hit. "Ouch. That had to hurt."

Celine looked over at Gabriel. "He was joking! Help us out here!"

Rena looked up at Gabriel. "You have got to be kidding me. Of all times to take Ashton seriously!"

Gabriel shrugged. "He's right. You three have to be able to fight on your own in case something happens to me." He moved out of the way, leaving Rena open to attack.

Ashton got up and watched as Gyoro opened his mouth and breathed a ball of fire at the gargoyle. Ururun mimicked Gyoro with shards of ice. "Gabriel? Help us!"

Gabriel shook his head. "You're doing fine. If you absolutely need me, I'll jump in."

The battle was long and fierce, but the three finally managed to defeat the gargoyle. Ashton threw down his sword and stared at Gabriel. "We could have managed that a long time ago if you had gotten off your ass and helped us!"

"I know." Gabriel looked over at Celine. "Find out what's in that box and let's get out of here."

Celine nodded and went about opening the box.

*****************************

"Do you think that maybe he's beginning to resist what they are trying to make him to be?"

"No. I think it was what he said it was. He's teaching them to fight without him."

"Or he's starting to remember and knows he has to come stand with us."

"That's a possibility, but I doubt it."

"What do you mean, Zadkiel?"

"Michael, even if he remembers, I don't think he'll ever come back to us. Not completely. A part of him will resist who he is."

"Gabriel is one of us. He will always be one of us. He can't deny that."

"Your experiences make you who you are. We've all had hard lives. We all forgot everything but rage and revenge."

"What are you getting at?"

"He's learning to love again."

"Oh shit."

"Yeah."