Chapter 4

Gabby sat silently on her bed, staring across her room at the dresser. On it's top sat three picture frames, one brand new.

One of the old ones contained a picture of her parents. The new one contained a large group photo of her 'Heavenly' family, going as far to include Verdandi and Kami-sama, her great-great Grandparents.

It was the second of the older photos that concerned her. It was a picture of herself, Kat and Abby.

While she had been up in Heaven, Kat and Abby had come around looking for her. While she was glad her friends were alright, she was worried. She wasn't sure exactly what they remembered of the incident. And if they did, how would they react to her?

Gabby's eyes drifted over to the mirror that hung on her wall. While she could talk to her parents about how to handle her friends, they wouldn't be able to speak from experience. Her father had gotten his powers while in college, and her mother had never quite been a teenager.

That left but one person.

Gabby rose from the bed and slowly walked to the mirror. She reached out and gently caressed the side of it.

"Grandmother." She called out, "Are you there?"

The mirror glowed a moment, then the image of Sayoko appeared.

"I didn't expect you to call so soon." Her Grandmother said, "And your father usually used the phone. What's up?"

"Kat and Abby came by while I was with you." Gabby said softly.

Her Grandmother's face softened.

"Ah. I see. You fear their reactions."

"I don't even know if they remember what happened." Gabby replied, looking away.

"You'll have to face them sometime."

"I know." Gabby turned back to the mirror. "How did you reveal yourself?"

"Took a dive off a cliff to save Shinji." Sayoko answered with a smile. "Not something I would recommend, but it was an impressive sight." She then sighed. "My conversation with them afterward was hard, but they understood why I hid what I was. Eventually Hikari, Touji, and Kensuke found out as well." She then frowned slightly. "Mana had it a bit rougher, but then she was directing her 'evilness' at us at the time. Eventually everyone warmed up to her." She then smiled at Gabby. "The best advice I can give you is to be yourself, and tell them everything. If they are true friends, they will stick by you regardless of what you are."

"And if they don't?" Gabby asked weakly.

"I'd like to say I would send Mana after them, but then that isn't a Goddess-like thing to do." Sayoko then gave her a small smile. "But then, I doubt you would want me to do anything to them."

Gabby smiled at her Grandmother. "Thank you Grandma."

Sayoko grinned, "The more I hear that, the more I LOVE hearing that! Take care Gabby."


A few hours later, Kat and Abby arrived to find Gabby pacing about in the backyard garden. This surprised them, as the garden had usually been off limits. Many years of childhood warnings while playing in the backyard and disapproving looks from Gabby's mother when they had dared to venture into the garden had re-enforced this.

But then, things had changed recently.

Gabby noticed the two as they approached. The three then sat down in the midst of the garden. Silence fell over them as each teen wondered where they should begin.

It was Kat that broke the silence.

"Thank you Gabby." She said softly, "Because of…..….whatever you did, I'm still alive."

"You're my friend." Gabby replied with a small smile. "Of course I'm going to help you."

"But what did you do?" Abby asked, "I mean, I saw the flash of blue light, and I saw…well…." Her voice trailed off.

Gabby closed her eyes.

"I saw the man pointing the gun at Kat." She began, "I didn't want it to happen. And when he pulled the trigger….I just…..…" She looked at the ground a moment. "Mom says it was instinct, a one in a million chance that I pulled it off."

"But what was it?" Abby asked.

Gabby sighed and slowly looked up.

"I'm still the same Gabby Aida you grew up with, only…now I know a bit more about my family history."

Slowly, she began to relate her family's history, both on Terra 2, and Heavenly, including her mother's origins.

Kat and Abby stared wide-eyed at their friend.

"Your Mom," Kat began, "The one that always made chocolate-chip pancakes with us on the weekends….….is an Angel?"

"One of the ones that attacked earth?" Abby added.

"Yes." Gabby answered.

"And you're one too?"

"Yes."

The two teens were quiet a moment. Then Kat spoke up.

"So what else can you do?"

"Huh?" Gabby looked at her friend in shock.

"What?" Kat asked.

"But …..I thought…."

"You thought I'd hate you?" Kat asked, "You saved me Gabby. That hardly makes you a bad person."

"Besides," Abby added, "like you said, you're still the same Gabby we grew up with. We just know a bit more about you now."

"Except…" Kat said, "What else can you do?"

Gabby laughed. "I don't know. Mom is supposed to train me." She then fell silent. "What about her?" she asked.

"Does she still make the chocolate-chip pancakes?"

Gabby frowned. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Well does she?" Kat asked.

"Yes."

"Then she's not evil!"

"That's Kat." Abby murmured, "Always thinking with her stomach." She then turned to Gabby. "So your grandmother is Sayoko Morisato, the Fifth Child."

"Yeah." Gabby answered.

"Wait…." Kat's face brightened. "That means she knows the other children."

"Well…..yeah." Gabby answered, "I met one of their kids. She's a Guardian."

Kat suddenly grabbed Gabby.

"WHO DID SHINJI IKARI MARRY!" She practically screamed, shaking Gabby.

"I…..can't…..tell…you." Gabby replied through the shaking.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T TELL ME!"

"Grandma made me promise."

"Oh man…." Kat sat back down with a frown. "So we gotta wait till we go to Earth?"

"Yep."

"Dammit."


"You aren't concentrating."

Gabby slowly opened her eyes and glared at her mother. Following a day spent with her friends, her mother had awoken her early and teleported them out into the wastes of Terra 2, far from any of the city-states. Unlike near the city-states, the wastes were undeveloped and remained barren. Her mother was wearing her grey robes, while she was in a pair of gym shorts, t-shirt and sneakers. Both were sitting cross-legged in front of the other.

"I'm trying." Gabby hissed.

"Hardly." Her mother replied. "You need to find your center. Once there, you should be able to tap into your powers."

"How will I know?" Gabby asked as she closed her eyes.

"You will know." Arael answered, "When you are at peace with yourself, that is when you will find it."

"What does yours feel like?"

Arael smiled slightly. "Like dipping your feet into a ocean."

Gabby looked at her mother a moment, then closed her eyes again. She never did understand this meditation stuff. She'd tried it before with no luck, why would it work now. 'Like dipping your feet in the ocean'. There was hardly a single ocean on Terra 2, mostly rivers and large lakes spread across the surface. But it was the look her mother gave her, like one of complete peace and comfort. Maybe that was it, her mother meditated in the garden because it was peaceful and comfortable. But Gabby hardly was comfortable there.

So what made her feel comfortable?

Gabby searched her mind, trying to recall a time when she felt completely at peace. And then she knew. She was comfortable most around her family and friends, and the last time she was completely at peace was wrapped up in her mothers arms after a rather difficult day at school. She brought that memory up from the depths of her mind and remembered the feeling of warmth and love she'd felt from her mother.

That was when she felt a slight trickle of power.

In her mind she reached for that trickle.

Then suddenly she was no longer on the wastes of Terra 2.

She now stood upon a flat, almost motionless surface of water. It stretched far beyond what her eyes could see, and appeared to go down into depths her eyes could not penetrate. Yet, she was standing on it.

Gabby experimented but taking a step. Other then a ripple as her foot made contact with the water's surface, nothing happened.

"This is so weird." She murmured.

"Isn't it?" came a voice.

Gabby looked up too see fifteen figures standing around her, clouded in shadows.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"The question should be," one of the figures replied, "Who are you?"

"I am Gabrielle Aida." Gabby answered. "Daughter of Sentaro and Arael Aida."

"So Arael's betrayal runs deeper then I thought." One of the figures growled.

"You lost to them fairly Father." Another figure said, "You, like my brothers underestimated her and the mortals."

"But to consort with them….." another figure said, "to….mate with them."

Gabby looked about at the figures.

"Who are you?" she asked again.

"Ignorant." The figure called father growled, "She knows nothing of us!"

"And that is hardly her fault." A different figure stated.

"Like it or not," another figure said, "She is the new heir to our legacy."

"Hardly MY legacy." The father figure growled. He then vanished.

"Brothers?" one of the figures asked.

"Do as you will." One stated, "We are but shades of what once was. We hardly have influence over the living. Even less over Arael's issue." He then vanished, followed by several more until only three remained.

"Hello?" Gabby called out, "Still here! Still don't know who you are."

The three stepped forward revealing three men in grey robes with grey hair, and red eyes, just like her mother's.

"Forgive our rudeness." The lead man said, "But not all of my brothers are…happy with your presence."

"Seem even less happy with my Mom." Gabby pointed out.

"Yes," the man said, "But in my brother's defense, to them, your mother betrayed them by having you." He then paused. "But then…they still have yet to get over our betrayal as well."

"And you are?" Gabby asked.

"Ah," the man said, "I am Tabris, the Seventeenth Messenger."

"Armisael," the second man said, "The Sixteenth Messenger."

"Leliel, the Twelfth Messenger."

"And you," Tabris said, "are Gabrielle, the Nineteenth Messenger, daughter of Arael, the Fifteenth Messenger and our sister."

Gabby's eyes widened.

"But you're all dead!"

Tabris nodded. "That we are. And yet, because of our hearts, we are all linked. You may thinks of us as shadows of what we once were, echoes left in your mother's heart, passed on to you."

Gabby nodded slowly.

"Does Mom know about you?"

"We are not needed by her." Leliel replied, "But we are needed by you."

"You seek the power of the Messengers." Armisael continued, "But that power is not your only legacy."

"The power of Kami-sama also flows in your veins." Tabris said, "as does the blood of the Lilim." Seeing the confused look on Gabby's face, he added. "The mortals."

"Never before has such a being existed." Leliel said.

"So I have to get training from Grandma as well?" Gabby asked, "I don't think she'd mind."

"But we have yet decided about your Messenger power." Leliel pointed out.

"Which brings me to my first question." Tabris said, "Who are you?"

"But I already told you." Gabby said, "I am Gabrielle Aida, Daughter of…"

"If you continue to say that." Tabris stated, "Then that is all you will be."

"Gabrielle Aida is a mortal." Leliel stated, seeing Gabby's look of confusion.

"Hardly the Heir to our legacy." Armisael added.

"Again I ask." Tabris stated, "Who are you?"

Gabby didn't answer right away, her eyes were closed as her mind went over not what they were saying, but the meaning behind it. Then she had her answer.

Gabby slowly opened her eyes and stared straight at Tabris.

"I am Gabrielle, the Nineteenth Messenger." She stated loudly and clearly.

Tabris smiled.

"Welcome my Niece, and may you prove worthy of our legacy."


Arael stared quietly at her daughter.

An hour had gone by since Gabrielle had sad anything. At first she thought it was because her daughter had fallen asleep. But then she felt it, a slight ripple of familiar energy long associated with she and her brothers. But it was fairly weak.

It had remained that way for forty minutes before it suddenly flared.

Arael leaped to her feet and backed away as the area around her daughter exploded into light. Ripples of energy spread across the wastes, making Arael glad she had chosen this out of the way place.

When the light finally cleared, Arael could once again see her daughter, and the changes.

Gabrielle was now standing and wearing a grey robe and boots similar to her own. The difference was that instead of simple gold trim, Gabrielle's robe had a pattern that matched that worn on the blue robes of her Great Grand-mother Belldandy. Her hair, once a honey-brown, was now noticeably blonder, almost white.

"Gabrielle?" Arael asked softly.

Gabrielle's hair wasn't the only change. Upon opening her eyes, they revealed themselves to be the same red as Arael's. Gabrielle then smiled.

"I'm ok Mom." She then frowned, "And a little weirded out."

"How so?"

Gabrielle looked at her mother questioningly. "Who is Tabris?"

Arael's eyes went wide as her face paled.

"Where have you heard that name?" Arael's voice was practically a whisper.

"Depends," Gabrielle replied, her eyes narrowing slightly, "Who is he?"

Arael sighed before bowing her head.

"He was one of my brothers." She whispered, "He, Leliel, Armisael, and I turned our back on our Father, and our twelve brothers to return to the Heaven that we betrayed. They each fell defending the people of this planet from the Demons, and our brothers." She then raised her head and looked at her daughter. "Where did you hear his name?"

"When I found my center I was suddenly standing on a large body of water," Gabrielle explained, "There, I was surrounded by fifteen figures. Eventually all left but three. The three you mentioned."

Arael remained silent for a moment before speaking.

"The others were the brothers I betrayed returning to the Heavens." She said softly, "and my Father."

"Tabris called me the Nineteenth." Gabrielle said, "So did Kami-sama. I know the history says there were seventeen." Gabrielle said, "I know where you are. But where are the last two?" Her eyes went wide. "They aren't out there getting ready to…."

Arael shook her head.

"The 'missing' ones are not." she explained, "Of the two, the Eighteenth is Humanity. They are not a threat as of now. The last is the Second, Lilith, my mother. Though, she isn't quite a threat either."

"Lilith's soul was taken and placed in a mortal shell." Arael explained. "The result, was Rei Ayanami."

Gabrielle raised an eyebrow.

"So Rei Ayanami is my Grandma?"

"In a way." Arael said, "Though, at this point, she's more like an Aunt really."

"Oh."


They spent the rest of their time in the wastes allowing Gabby to get used to her power. Curiously, the large flash of light never occurred again. Later, Sentaro summarized it was probably a result of Gabby first accessing her powers, a like a champagne bottle. Once her 'cork' was popped, that was it.

Gabby's transformation also reminded Arael of Mana's. In both cases, when they 'powered up', their eyes changed to red. Only in Gabby's case, her hair changed as well.

After several days of training, Arael began to realize that Gabby was not just drawing on her Messenger powers, but on her deity as well. Gabby's could easily teleport (short, line of sight distances at first) without her eyes changing. She could also transform her regular clothes into her robes without her eyes changing as well. It was only when she called on to perform messenger type powers that her eyes changed.

Then there was her AT-Field (though Arael still hated that term for the 'light' of her soul). It wasn't the usual Angel orange, but blue.

The end result of all these 'discoveries' was a second trip up into the Heavens.


"I thought we were going to see Grandma?" Gabby asked as she and her mother walked down a street in Heaven. Only her mother was wearing her robes. Gabby was in jeans and a t-shirt at the moment. She had planned on surprising her Grandmother by showing off her 'transformation'.

"We are." Her mother answered, "In a way."

Gabby frowned at the cryptic answer.

A few minutes later, the two walked up the walkway of a Japanese looking house. Arael reached out and knocked on the door.

Footsteps could be heard before the door opened to reveal a purple haired woman.

"Arael." The woman said, "I was wondering if you had gotten lost."

Gabby's eyes widened as a smirk appeared on her mother's face.

"I believe you are confusing me with yourself Misato." She replied.

Gabby frowned as she thought she heard snickering coming from behind Misato. Apparently the purple haired woman heard it as well because she turned her head and snapped.

"You know, YOU can always sleep on the couch."

"What about them?" a male voice asked.

Misato grinned evilly.

"They can eat my special ramen."

Gabby watched her mother's face go pale.

"That is cruel and unusual punishment." Arael murmured.

"Oh it's not for you Arael." Misato said turning back, "After all…" She now looked at Gabby. "You finally brought me my honorary grandchild." Misato moved forward and wrapped Gabby in a hug. "Hello Gabby, I'm your honorary Grandma Misato."

Gabby wanted to reply.

Really she did.

But her face was currently buried in her Grandmother's cleavage.

"Misato!" Arael shouted, "She does need to breathe!"

"That's it Misato….." came a female voice from inside, "Kill off one of your honorary grandchildren."

Misato released Gabby (who gasped and began to swallow deep lungfuls of air) to turn around and glare into the house yet again.

"Come on Gabby," Misato said as she gently pulled her honorary grandchild into the house. "I want you to meet the nasty people I'm forced to call my 'kids'."

"HEY!"

Gabby found herself being led into a large living room. There she found six people sitting in chairs and couches.

Her eyes went wide in shock as her eyes found the faces of three of them.

"Gabby," Misato said with a smile, "I think you know who Asuka, Rei and Shinji are don't you?"

Gabby's reply was to faint dead away.

"Too much for her?" Misato asked as Arael checked on her daughter.

"Maybe a little." Arael answered.