"The mind is its own place and in itself can make a heaven of hell and a hell of heaven. What matter where if I be still the same And what I shall be: all but less than He whom thunder hath made greater? Here at least we shall be free." Paradise Lost, Lucifer to his brethren in Hell.
And with the sword in hand, Aziraphale knew everything. Only the truth, beyond what lies and mistruths had formed. It did not matter where they had come from, or even if it had been lies he and his siblings had told themselves. What mattered was that there was truth, and even if they could not have collectively recalled these truths, that did not mean that Heaven herself had forgotten them. She had been there, she had seen all, and the memories wrent from their minds couldn't simply disappear from the world. Aziraphale was the archangel of mysteries and knowledge, but his sword was the keeper of all secrets. Their Creator might have believed the memories he'd taken from them to be gone, but just as everything must be created from something, there is also no destruction of matter. It must become something or something else, whether or not those atoms are scattered is unknown, but these secrets, at least, were in the sword. And Aziraphale saw and remembered everything. This is what happened in the beginning.
Before there was an Earth, there were seven beautiful creatures of beauty and grace. They were the first children of an ambivalent figure who was full of pride for his children, even as he believed them to be flawed and imperfect and far from enough.
They didn't have names, at first. They simply existed. They were intelligent but any happiness they may have felt was far from real because they were misguided.
We'll use the names they were called by later, the names they eventually gave themselves, because it wouldn't make sense to describe them without something to differentiate them from one another.
The eldest was Mikha'el. Mikha'el was Fire. Hot and Fiery, emotional and quick to action, whether that was to anger, or to someone's defence. He was quick to make Judgement, but doing so was not his responsibility. And he was quick to love. He loved all of his siblings, but the love he bore for Heylel was greatest, perhaps even above their Creator, though he would never have admitted that for fear of offending Him.
Heylel and Samael were twins, formed in the same instant and born at the same moment. They were not formed from the same piece of grace and they were not identical. Even still, the two archangels were as similar as they were different.
Heylel was warm. They were all formed with the heat of Greater Being, so of course they would all be hot. Heylel was Water even as he was he was Light. He was patience, cunning, and passion that was slow, like water carving rocks.
Samael's conniving took a different form. He was manipulation, seduction, desire. He was the one who encouraged the others to take the last of something, pressured them into thinking that wanting it had been their idea all along. It wasn't a bad thing, in the beginning, it was just a quirk, a personality trait.
Aziraphale and Rafa'el were identical twins, formed from the same piece of grace. They were both curious and they desired ever more knowledge. Once there were books, Rafa'el wanted to read every last one of them, while Aziraphale just wanted to hide them all in one place and keep them safe. He was once given a flaming sword, and he learned how to use it well, planning on using his skill with a blade in the defence of his pile of books. No one else really understood, but it wasn't worth the bruises one would gain if they went about trying to separate him from it.
Gavri'el was the sixth archangel. The messenger. He adored the ground his older brothers walked on and followed them relentlessly. Heylel and Samael were the most likely to teach him how to get into mischief and Aziraphale seemed to mind his company the least. But if he was willing to sit quietly, Rafa'el was more than happy to sit quietly with him.
Mikha'el loved all his siblings, and Gavri'el was pretty sure he loved them more than their absent-minded Creator did.
After the first six archangels were created, the first few ranks of angels were added. The ranks were created slowly, so only one group were fledglings at a time. Mikha'el was given the task of leading them, while the other archangels had more or less full autonomy.
And then there was the youngest archangel. His name was Castiel, and he was created right before one of the last ranks was made and he was still a small fledgling when Earth and humanity were created.
Earth was created on October 21st, 4004 B.C at 9:15 AM. It was formless and empty and there was water on the surface. He said, "Let there be light," and there was light. He separated it from the dark and it was beautiful. His six eldest children watched, even as they didn't understand the implications of what was and would occur. The light was called Day and the dark was called Night and the children who didn't have names didn't understand the purpose of these nouns nor the division.
On the second day, He created sky as a barrier from the water on the surface and the moisture of the air.
On the third day, He gathered the waters all into one place so that there was dry land on the planet. He named the dry land Earth and the gathering of water he called Seas, and his children continued to lack understanding. Then, he created the first of the vegetation, seed bearing herbs and fruit bearing trees. He gave different seeds to first six children and they helped, spreading the life to anywhere and everywhere. This life was self-sustaining, capable of reproduction.
On the fourth day, He created the stars and the heavenly bodies. He created first the Sun, the primary source of light, and the Moon, to reflect the light of the sun during the night. These would be used to keep track of the passing of time.
On the fifth day, He created all the life in the water and the birds in the sky. All of these species were made to replicate themselves via reproduction. He did not design all the creatures himself, instead allowing the six children, who were all unique, to help as they would.
On the sixth day, they created life on the dry land. And then He created man. That's about the time the shit hit the fan, as the English idiom would say.
Heylel
Heylel had many many misgivings about humanity. And their Creator, but mostly about humanity. He could have cared less about the fact that He obviously liked humanity better than his first creations. That wasn't the problem. It wasn't even that He had named the first human and his mate while leaving the eldest archangels to select names for themselves.
No. There were two problems. The first was that Mikha'el was obviously hiding something important from them about his regular meetings with the Creator. The other was the tree of the forbidden knowledge of good and evil.
He and his siblings were intelligent, but there were so many things they couldn't vocalize because the language they used was simple. The language spoken between the humans was the same but it almost seemed as if they could get more use out of it. And the creator had told them to name the things in the garden, that doing so was their duty.
Heylel didn't understand, but the desire to do so burned within him, and he was curious what would happen if he or another of his siblings were to eat from the tree. They had not been forbidden from doing so, and he was not the only one with a burning desire for greater knowledge. If it went successfully, perhaps he could even share it with his siblings.
So Heylel picked one of the fruits when no one was looking, and devoured it. It was heavenly. The fruit was sweet with a hint of a tang and juice dripped down his chin. He didn't notice any changes instantly, except he felt that he could perhaps describe the world in slightly greater detail. And he knew, knew, that he needed to share this with his siblings. It was important. So he picked another fruit and left, cutting it into five even slices and hiding it away on his person. Castiel was far too young to eat this kind of thing, more's the pity. But he couldn't very well do something that would hurt the small child.
Heylel flew towards Mikha'el's quarters. If he remembered correctly, his elder brother should be getting back from a meeting with the Creator right about now. He knocked on the door, practically bouncing on the balls of his toes. As soon as he heard the confirmation he was looking for, he was inside in an instant, and promptly forgot why he was here.
There were precisely two thoughts in Heylel's brain once he'd laid eyes on Mikha'el. The first, lesser, thought, was that the Creator was likely doing to Mikha'el something he ought to not be doing. Mikha'el was holding his covered arm in a way that suggested he was favoring it and possibly as though he were in pain. Training accidents occured from time to time, especially when it came to Aziraphale and his books, but that wouldn't be something to be ashamed of, something to hide.
"Are you okay, Mikha?" he asked. He was focused so much on this thought and the other thought that he forgot to ask himself whether or not he was supposed to be noticing this or trying to remember whether or not this was normal.
Mikha'el shifted uncomfortably and sat on the edge of the bed. "I'm fine, Heylel," he answered tiredly. "Did you need something?"
Any and all thoughts of the fruit were long gone, and Heylel almost didn't hear the second question, because his focus was more directly on the second thing. The second thought he'd had when he'd walked through the door, was that he loved Mikha'el. He loved all his siblings, and possibly the creator though that was not likely to be a love given freely- How did he know that?- but not with this fiery reserve of passion that was saved specifically for Mikha'el.
"I love you," Heylel said, didn't know what else to say. He stepped towards Mikha'el, uncertain. "I love you."
"I love you too." Mikha'el hesitated, not sure what this was, exactly, except he was certain that this was something beyond what they felt for the rest of their siblings. Something special, just for themselves. Was that the way it was supposed to be?
The eldest archangel did not chase Heylel off as the other sat down beside him on the bed and moved to touch him softly. Mikha'el sighed as Heylel carefully healed each of the injuries he was determined not to talk about.
Heylel didn't ask, knew that asking would lead to nothing. Mikha thought he was protecting them, would do anything to protect them, even if it was the wrong choice or decision. Nothing would change that, so there was nothing for it. He would just not ask. He wasn't about to ruin this.
When all the injuries were healed, Heylel reached for Mikha's wings. "May I?" he asked, wanting to touch, but also not wanting to scare him away. When he got agreement, Heylel started running his fingers through the wings. Mikha's feathers were a mahogany and they were so soft. He leaned forward, inhaling the scent of sandalwood that was all Mikha'el.
Mikha'el was taller than him, too tall, so he pushed gently on Mikha'el's chest, directing him to lean back on the bed. There was no resistance as he climbed on top of his- his what? Brother implied a relationship that didn't exist. Mate. Mate was a good word. It wasn't by any means official, but if this worked out between them, a mated pair would be an adequate description and he could always do something fancy for Mikha later.
Heylel climbed on top of Mikha'el, tracing the curve of his wings with gentle fingertips drawing spirals on the skin. "I love you," he whispered, pressing his lips to a warm shoulder.
Mikha'el turned his head towards Heylel and leaned forward to nibble at the top of Heylel's ear. "And I you. You are so loved, my love. All for me."
Heylel hugged his brother, folding his wings around them, protecting them from the outside world. The fruit from the forbidden tree didn't matter. The knowledge didn't matter. What reprehensible things their Creator was doing to Mikha'el didn't matter. All that mattered was that he and Mikha'el were here, now, and they had this. That was all that mattered. All that would ever matter.
But all solace must come to an end. One can only abandon one's responsibilities for so long, after all. If they'd known what the future would hold, would their actions have changed? Would Mikha'el have woken Heylel before leaving? Have whispered promises he couldn't keep well within the hearing of his mate? It's only guesswork, now.
Because the future did happen, and the choices they made, were made. Mikha had responsibilities he could only avoid for so long, so sometime long after Heylel had fallen asleep on his chest, he carefully slid out from under him, fetching a soft, warm, blanket to lay over him. Heylel had always loved warm things. "I love you," he would whisper to the sleeping form. "I'll see you when I get back," he'd say, fully believing the words he was speaking. And then he would leave, little more than a whisper in the wind.
Heylel woke up alone. He didn't feel abandoned at waking up alone. He felt loved. Mikha'el was busy as the commander of the host and second hand of the Creator. That there had been any time at all for them to be alone was something to be marveled at. Something he would hold close to his heart for a very long time.
He remembered the forbidden fruit and his ideas of sharing it with his siblings. The fruit had to be shared, who was he to deny knowledge and such a wonderful flavor to them?
Samael was the easiest to find. He was always the easiest to find, but he was Heylel's twin so that made sense. He and Gavri'el were in the kitchen, staring at a dessert on the table.
"You should try it!" Gavri'el was saying, nodding towards the dessert. Samael was the only other person in the room, so Heylel assumed Gavri'el was talking to Samael.
Heylel smirked. He was pretty sure that Gavri'el was probably trying to prank Samael, using his twin's own tactics. Probably revenge for some minor slight. Or just for fun, you never knew with Gavri'el.
"Heylel, what're you up to?"
Heylel shrugged and approached the table. "What's this?"
"Cake!" Gavri'el exclaimed. He was grinning honestly, but Heylel was convinced that wasn't the whole story.
Heylel raised an eyebrow and poked a finger into the cake from the edge. And wrinkled his nose as his fingers came in contact with something slimy and wiggly, but he clenched his fingers around it and brought it back out into the open. When he held up his hand for Samael and Gavri'el to see the wiggly thing in his hand. It was red and blue, some kind of worm, but not a real creature.
With a roll of his eyes, the archangel broke the spell on the poor piece of animated candy and stuck it in his mouth. These two siblings of his liked sweets more, but he didn't mind a piece now and again.
Gavri'el pouted. "Heylel! You spoiled it!"
Heylel grinned apologetically. "Sorry." He reached for where he'd stashed slices of forbidden fruit and pulled out two slices, one for each of them. "Might I offer you each a slice of fruit in recompense?"
"Sure!" Gavri'el reached quickly for one of two slices.
Samael glanced at the second slice more cautiously. "What is it?"
"It's something I found in the garden," Heylel said vaguely. He wasn't trying to hide anything, so much as he didn't really want to tell them exactly what it was, because he wasn't sure what it might mean for them and he didn't want to have to think about possible consequences. It was good fruit, and that was the part that mattered right now.
Gavri'el stuck the slice he'd taken into his mouth, and instantly started humming in appreciation as juices dripped down his chin. "It's so good!" he cried. "Sami, you have to try it!"
"Well, if you insist," Heylel's twin finally agree, and took the slice of fruit for himself. He ate it with more reserve, and not like Gavri'el, who continued to eat his as though it was the most orgasmic thing he'd ever put in his mouth. Then again, Gavri'el did that a lot. Oral fixation. "Hmm. Spicy," he stated after a moment. "Do you have a slice for Aziraphale? I'm sure he'd like it too."
"I saved a slice for each of you," Heylel admitted. "I'll go look for him, and leave the two of you to your cake."
It was easy for Heylel to find Aziraphale. If nothing else was going on, the most likely place to find him was in his corner of the library. He and Rafa'el shared it, but they'd had to divide it into two because even though Azi was more likely to let Raph read his books than anyone else, it was still hit or miss when he was in an especially stubborn mood, which was most of the time.
Heylel came bearing gifts, because the best way to get Azi to come out of his hiding spot, it was a good hiding spot was to offer him more books. "Hey, Azi? I brought you a book."
Azi climbed out from underneath the makeshift nest he'd built in the back of the library, on top of his books. "You did?"
"Yep!" Heylel smiled. "I also brought a treat." He pulled the book out of the same place he'd stashed the slices of fruit, as well as bringing out one of the slices for Aziraphale.
"Heylel, no messy food in the library!" Aziraphale reached for the fruit rather than the book, taking it from his brother and putting it in his mouth to keep the juices from dripping onto the floor. His eyes widened as he chewed thoughtfully before swallowing. "Oh! Heylel, that was marvelous!" He licked his fingers, making sure they were clean before reaching for the book Heylel was still holding out for him.
Heylel chucked as Azi took the book, and then watched fondly as the other archangel retreated to his nest, settling in to read it.
Samael
The next day found Samael and Heylel hanging upside down from the Tree of Forbidden Knowledge.
"What do you think would happen to humans if they ate from this tree?" Heylel asked.
"I'm more curious about what would happen to us. Isn't the forbidden knowledge forbidden for a reason?"
"I didn't feel as though anything had changed," Heylel admitted. "Maybe it has a different effect on mortals. But what reason could the Creator have for keeping knowledge from them?"
"Eden is nice and all, but it's not very big. If their race multiplies, the garden won't be big enough for them."
"What punishment do you think He'd give them for eating the fruit of knowledge? How hard do you think they'd be to convince?" Heylel wondered aloud.
"It could hardly be a bad punishment. They are his favorite, even over us. It seems unlikely that He could bring himself to punish them that much. "
Heylel nodded. "Let's find out."
The twins left the garden so they could plan their course of action from a more secretive place. Their intention was not devious horror, but morbid curiosity. It was in their nature, after all. They could have chosen actions against their nature, but they did not have the knowledge or experience necessary to make those choices, for they had been kept in ignorance by a Creator who wanted only mindless obedience from them.
"You should turn into a snake," Heylel suggested. He would live to regret these words for the rest of his very, very long life.
"Okay!" Samael was in instantaneous agreement, and moved to do just that. "I'll see you when I get back!"
They had no way of knowing that the words spoken would not come to fruition, that they would not see each other again for 6000 Earth years. The current year was 4004 B.C.
"Has anyone seen Samael?" Heylel would ask at dinner a few days later.
"Who?" Aziraphale asked, acting as though he'd never heard the word before.
Heylel blinked, studying the table. There were five chairs and a special chair for Castiel, but Heylel couldn't help thinking that there was supposed to be another chair at the table. Samael. It pinged a sense of loss, and hurt, but he wasn't sure why. He couldn't place the name, knew that it was supposed to be the most important thing but he couldn't remember why , and now that he was thinking about it, there were plenty of voids where there was clearly something missing, but he couldn't place it. But asking here would gain no answers, so he let it slide. The others had already moved on to other topics anyway, as though he'd never spoken.
Adam and Eve were exiled from the Garden of Eden, and Aziraphale was keeping watch over the Eastern Gate. That was his task, after all. There was a thunderstorm brewing and he lifted his wings to shield his head. There was a serpent a few feet away. He didn't know anything about the snake, other than that it was a demon, and that he was pretty sure the demon's name was Crawly.
The two of them were having a civil conversation, which can be found in Good Omens, because someone somewhere wrote a highly prophetic and accurate work, so there's no need to recite it here as well. The most important detail, however, is that Crawly remembered that Aziraphale had once had a flaming sword, but the archangel didn't have it any more because he'd given it to Eve. He claimed to have taken pity on her because she was pregnant.
The second important thing, was what Crawly said right before he left. "Funny if we both got it wrong, eh? Funny if you did the bad thing and I did the good one, eh?" Crawly thought he remembered being a demon for awhile, not that he could remember how he'd come to be that way. And Aziraphale thought he could remember Crawly being an angel, but he couldn't remember that clearly either. But they didn't speak of that, nor think of it, not really. Crawly had wings, beautiful smoke-black wings, but they didn't talk about that either.
Later, when Eden had been closed and Aziraphale relieved of his duty, the Creator asked Aziraphale where his sword was, and the archangel shrugged. "Lost," he said. He was given new order, orders to watch over mankind, so he didn't leave. He wasn't given the opportunity to go back to Heaven, to talk to the other archangels. He just did what he was told, hoped Gavri'el wouldn't get anything sticky on his books.
Knowledge is power. But you have to know that you're supposed to be looking for something.
They may not have forgotten about Aziraphale, but they didn't know where he was or what he was up to and they didn't hear from him. Heylel read everything, nearly went insane trying to figure out what was going on. The name Samael still nagged at him, but no one said anything, and losing Aziraphale was like adding another straw to an already collapsed camel. The number 7 also nagged at him, but now there were only four chairs at the table, plus the chair for Castiel. A toddler who was fussy, and didn't really understand that tensions were rising, or why.
Mikha'el met with the Creator even more frequently, hid more concerning and various injuries from his siblings, and the others were just worried, didn't know what to do. Rafa'el seemed to understand what was going on the least, and Gavri'el the most. Heylel wondered if that was what the fruit had done, but he'd long since decided not to share it with Rafa'el or Mikha'el. It felt as though his family had broken becauseof it.
Heylel loved Mikha'el. Loved him more than anyone or anything else. Mikha'el often let him the closest to himself, let Heylel soothe injuries he wouldn't so much as mention to Rafa'el. Heylel said nothing, refused to break the bond he shared with Mikha'el. They were close, and even though the bad was looming over them, this was good.
The Creator hurting Mikha'el was unacceptable, but Heylel didn't know what to do. Mikha'el was keeping them safe, but Heylel knew he couldn't leave the eldest archangel to protect them all by himself. Who would protect him?
The one thing Heylel wanted more than anything was to ask Mikha'el to mate with him. But with the fear of the Creator looming over all their heads, it felt like the wrong thing to do just now. Mikha'el did so much for them, he felt like he had to do something get on more equal footing. Something big.
"You can't!" Mikha'el squawked at him when they were eating dinner. Heylel had just mentioned, in passing, talking to the Creator.
Mikha looked genuinely terrified, and Heylel didn't like that. Not at all. Such an expression of fear did not belong on the face of the love of his life. Seeing it only made him more resolved about his actions. It was time to end the reign of fear and pain. For good.
Sometime after dinner, Heylel heard Gavri'el and Rafa'el around a corner talking, and he couldn't help eavesdropping.
"Gabby-" Rafa'el's tone was anxious and sad.
"I have to. I can't watch this go on, Rafa. It's going to end badly, I can't stay. I'm sorry, but no. "
"I…" Whatever Rafa'el might have said was cut off by a sob.
The sounds of footsteps fleeing down the hallway echoed in Heylel's ears, punctuated by the sounds of Rafa's broken sobbing. Heylel knew that he should go comfort Rafa'el, but he couldn't. Not when this wasall his fault. But he couldn't stop, couldn't reverse this, not if it couldn't be safe for his younger siblings, and for Michael, if he didn't continue.
So Heylel also fled, stubborn with the knowledge that he would never forgive himself if he didn't confront the Creator, the one who was at fault for tearing his family apart. For Samael, for Aziraphale, for Gavri'el. For Mikha.
Finding the Creator was easy. He was on Earth, though Heylel wasn't sure why. Heylel found Him watching where Eve's children, twins, were chasing each other around the field. Heylel could see the expression in His eye, but he couldn't place what it meant. Whatever it was, it was not good.
"Heylel." The voice was cold, unpleased, and Heylel couldn't bring himself to care. He wasn't here for himself. He was here for his family.
"Why do you hurt Mikha'el?" Heylel asked. "What did he ever do to you?"
" You presume-" The Creator stared at Heylel, first with a hint of surprise, but it quickly shifted to cold fury, wrath. "I had wondered. I should have known. Mikha was so much more obedient before you got involved, eating that which you had no right to touch. It was you who led your siblings astray."
"Why does it matter?! I love Mikha! That's more than you can say!"
" I have heard enough from you. I was mistaken in thinking it was Samael's influence, when it was yours. You don't deserve to love, and you most certainly don't deserve Mikha's love. But that's okay. I have this idea about vessels, someday Mikha'el will kill you and that'll be enough. Begone from here. " There was a snap, and then suddenly Heylel could see nothing, could feel nothing, except the chill of a Cage too small for an infinite celestial wavelength. The pain in his head brought him to his knees, memories ravaged and shifted and rent from his mind.
The archangel could feel his grace, somewhere deep inside him, but he couldn't touch it, couldn't call it forth to soothe himself. His thoughts were in disarray, he could barely recall his own name, Heylel, and other names were ever present, Mikha'el, Gavri'el, Rafa'el. He did not feel anger, or wrath, only sadness and pain. He didn't want the world to burn, he wanted to be forgiven, to be capable of being loved.
He wrapped his wings around himself and curling into a ball as small as he could manage, he wept .
Mikha'el and Rafa'el stood at the edge of Heaven. Mikha'el at least looked somewhat mournful.
"Are you done?" the younger asked. He looked stoic, but it was a mask, given that his tone was anguished.
Mikha'el glanced at his brother. "Done with what?" he asked, confused.
"Your actions have ravaged Heaven. Dad has done who knows what to Heylel and Aziraphale, Samael is dead over what, a question ? Gavri'el is gone, vanished to who knows where because he couldn't stand us anymore and I can't blame him. And Castiel- He couldn't stop crying. He wouldn't eat, or sleep. If Naomi hadn't wiped those last events from his mind, he would have faded into nothing." Rafa'el closed his eyes, almost trembling but he didn't move, denying himself that little comfort. "We gave him to Anael to look after." He shook his head. "I'll never forgive you for driving everyone away."
Mikha'el hunched in on himself. "I… I don't know what happened."
"Heylel confronted Dad. Why? "
"It doesn't matter," Mikha'el whispered, shame creaming into his voice. "It doesn't matter."
"Doesn't it matter that what's going on between you and Dad is the reason more than half the archangels are gone? "
"It does matter," Michael repeated. "I don't know if I can fix it, but I'll try. Promise."
Aziraphale
A few human years later
There was a knock on the door, so Aziraphale opened the door, wondering who it could be. "Gabriel?"
"Shhh!"
With a raised eyebrow, Aziraphale stepped aside to allow his brother in and then closed the door behind him. "Okay…. Why are you here?"
"Heaven's gone crazy!" Gabriel cried. "Heylel- Heylel's gone! And Bad Things are happening to Mikha!"
Aziraphale reached to wrap his arms around his little brother and pulled him into a hug. "I'm sorry, Little Brother."
"Can you, can you help me hide from Heaven? I, I don't want them to find me."
Aziraphale shrugged. "If that's what you want."
So the elder of the two archangels helped the younger perform some ritual magic, hiding him as the pagan deity, Loki. No one would be able to tell by looking at him that he was anything other than a Trickster, and it would probably get Heaven off his back, if anyone tried to look for him. Especially the Creator. But they didn't talk about it. And then Aziraphale let Gabriel leave. He didn't ask where his brother was headed, and Gabriel didn't volunteer that information. It was safer that way.
Sometime after that, the Creator showed up.
"Where is Gabriel?" he asked, but more or less, (mainly more), demanding the information.
"I don't know." Aziraphale honestly didn't know, but he decided that even if he did know, he wouldn't tell the Creator. The Creator had done something to Mikha'el and Heylel, what was stopping him from doing something to Gabriel ?
"You would lie to me?!" The Creator reached out and then, was gone.
When Aziraphale came too, he had a terrible headache, liked he'd gotten himself really plastered and the last thing he couldn't quite remember what was had happened for more than a week past. Just that he had orders from Heaven to keep doing Good Things and fighting Evil. Just keep doing more of the same.
The next day, he found a rare book on his doorstep with a vague note he couldn't quite decipher. Aziraphale couldn't determine who it was from or who it was for, but he kept it, just in case the person it was for made themself known. But they never did.