They had been looking furiously for Sam after he disappeared . They had first ran through anyplace he might be, searching the arcade, park, lake, cemetery, the gargoyles nest, the forest, and finally his home.
"Hello Mr and Mrs Sanctuary. Do you know where Sam is?"
Sams father showed no emotion at all, he never did. That doesn't mean he felt nothing, just rarely showed it, and that made him frightening to some people. While his father showed nothing in his expression, Sams mother was obviously conceded.
"The last we had seen him was when he went to see you, and you haven't seen him?"
They knew they would have to tell them something other than their son had gone berserk, defeated several demons, and then disappeared in front of them. So they had come up with a lie beforehand.
"We were with him most of today, but when we were exploring the forest we lost sight of him and couldn't find him. We looked all over, and thought that he might have come home."
"He's not here, we'll help you look. Sweet heart, ask them all they know, I'm going to call some of our friends and have them keep an eye out."
She left them and he looked at the three kids with his bank expression.
"Alright kids, she won't be long, so spill it. What really happened?"
"What do you mean?"
"I'll get straight to the point. I know Sam's an angel, and I know that you know. He isn't going to just get lost, and you three are terrible liars, so what really happened?"
There might have been a moment of hesitation from Dipper, Mabel, and Trixie, or not. None of them remembered anything other then telling him everything.
"Okay, and he looked scared before he disappeared?"
"Yes."
"He probably IS scared after that. That surge of power and memory suddenly would have shocked his mind, and that's what made him go all 'Wrathful Angel' as you put it. He's also going to be hurt, channeling that much power unexpectedly and without practice would put intense strain on his body."
"So do you know where he might be?"
*Still with no emotion*"Yes. If Sam is scared and hurt, then he would go to a place of sanctuary, somewhere he could feel safe and be alone. If he is at a place like that, it's most likely high up, with a view, and there is one place that meets those exact characteristics."
"Great! You can take us there."
"No can do. I'll tell you where it is, but you're the ones who are going to have to talk to him. You saw him go berserk, and he trusts you. He's not going to listen to me after that."
He told them of a spot Sam had when he was little, hidden high up in a tree, that overlooked all of gravity falls. They went there just like told them.
Later
"Wow, that tree IS high!"
"We better start climbing."
The tree was actually very easy to climb, despite it's size. The limbs were thick enough to act as stairs while they climbed up, near the top, Dipper thought he saw someone sitting with their legs to their chest and their arms wrapped around them.
"Sam, is that you?"
There was a moment of silence that made them all hold their breath.
"...I don't know anymore."
"Sam!"
They all shouted his name and ran up the tree to him. Where he sat, several of the trees thick branches had twisted together forming an almost ledge that's view over looked all of gravity falls. Sam was wearing his usual dark blue jeans and white T-shirt with a hawk designed onto it. His wings weren't physical at the moment, so they couldn't be seen. When he looked at them, it was obvious he was still very afraid.
"It's alright Sam, that whole thing's over."
Sam looked away from them.
"That just it. I didn't want it to be over."
"What?"
The sun was setting at that time sending golden/orange light on all of them, this light caught around Sams mismatched eyes, allowing them all to see tears forming in them. This wasn't right at all, Sam was one of the bravest people any of them had ever met. Fear and other emotions were eating him alive as he yelled out.
"I'm saying that I didn't want it to end! I wanted to destroy them forever, to turn the world to ash in my hands, and marvel at the carnage! It was like for the first time in my life I could breath! That's not even the worst part, it was like I was possessed by myself, and I loved it! I can still feel that aggression and hatred buried deep down, just waiting to get out! It was hatred for things you SHOULD hate: evil, injustice, people who would hurt your friends, but there was just... so much of it! And I couldn't hold any of it back!"
Trixie was a softy when it came to things like this, and Sam was like a big brother to her, he had made her feel better when the memory of her mother dying had hurt her so much, and now it was her turn to pay him back. She wrapped her arms around him.
"It's okay Sammy."
"No it's not! When I was out of control I saw flashes of who I was before this life! I was a warrior angel, I was wrath, I destroyed evil without thinking, but I did it without feeling or mercy, I was a... a... weapon! I knew I was from the order of Powers, I knew I was a warrior, and I was so afraid for so long that this might be what I was, but this proves it! I'm a weapon, and all you can do is point me in the right direction and hope I don't miss!"
Sam was crying for the first time since he was 8 and his great grandfather had died. This lasted for a minute, until Dipper found the right words to say to his best friend.
"Sam, you saved us. When you could have attacked us you didn't, you weren't out of control. The reason you went berserk was because the power surge, shocked your mind."
"That may have set it off, but that's not why I was out of control to begin with. I already had it inside me, it just needed to be let free. I was a weapon to begin with, I just had to have a reason to act like one."
"Sam, you're not just a weapon. You're brave, you're good, and you're not without feeling or mercy. You're the best friend I've ever had, I've known you long enough to have seen you feel and show mercy. Don't you remember when that little girl was crying? You went out of your way to cheer her up, you bought her ice cream, and told her jokes until she was laughing so much she didn't remember why she was crying, then you picked her up and I spent the rest of the day with you finding her parents. When we were attacked by a monster, and you beat it up, it spoke and begged you to let it go. You took pity on it and set it free , saying you felt sorry for the thing even though it had tried to attack us."
*Smiles*"You're right, I did do those things."
"And you only saw clips of your life as an angel, not the whole thing. What could have been so bad that you are convinced you're just a weapon?"
With that Sams faced regained its look of fear. Sam reached out his hand and grasped Dippers, Sams eyes glowed, and Dipper couldn't see the world around him. Sam was showing him what he had remembered, Dipper couldn't actually see the memories like Sam could, but he could feel what was happening in them through Sam.
"Wow."
The memory was of Sam (or whatever he was called in his angelic life) fighting against a demon. Sam felt huge, powerful, and for lack of a better word, immortal. It was a nasty fight, his opponent was powerful but Sam was stronger, and better at this. He also appeared to be much more ferocious than the demon.
Dipper felt Sam grasp a wing of his enemy and tear it off, then do the same to another wing, and when the demon was crippled and begging to be spared, Sam brought his sword down. It would not kill the fallen angel, it could not be killed where they were, but it would send it back to the underworld for a very long time while its power recovered.
"Yikes'"
"That's what I saw Dipper."
"... there's more to it."
"What?"
"The memory isn't over."
Dipper had felt like he had been successfully watching a movie without actually seeing anything, but he had noticed that while in Sams mind, there was a 'wall' blocking the rest of it, and when Dipper pushed, it fell down and the rest of the memory played.
Souls, the demon had stolen souls from heaven, and Sam had save them. Sam didn't know how, but he had gotten a reputation in that life, and had been left with a larger area to guard. However he had gotten cocky and something had left a opening for the first (and last) successful attempt by the enemy to steal souls from heaven. Sam had discovered what his arrogance had caused, and had corrected it with a mad determination. Once he returned the souls to the rest they had earned, he went to make what had happened was known, ready to face punishment, with a fire inside him, resolved to, if he was allowed, to never let himself make such a stupid mistake again, and never let any good people fall in danger because of his ego.
Sam let go of Dipper as they stopped viewing his memory.
"See Sam? You saved them, and never let yourself make the same mistake again."
*Starts smiling*"I did, didn't I?"
The girls weren't sure what happened.
"You going to be alright Sammy?"
Sam turned to Trixie.
"Probability not, but I'm okay for now, and thanks for trying to help me."
Sam finally returned the hug Trixie had given him when she said it would be okay.
"You're welcome."
Dipper watched those two hug for a moment before letting go, Sam was the one person they knew who wasn't afraid of Trixies temper, in fact, he seemed to enjoyed poking at it. Despite this, Trixie still saw him like a big brother, and Sam was always looking out for her. Looking at them Dipper thought that they really did seem to have a brother/sister relationship.
While Dipper was thinking that, Mabel had sensed the tension leaving the air, and thought this might be be a good time to get something that had been on her mind for awhile answered.
"You know, when you two hug like that, you almost look like a couple."
Sam and Trixie looked deep into each others eyes and contemplated the nature of their feelings for one another, and considered if they may have come to think of each other as more than friends, as more than brother and sister.
The answer came to to each of them simultaneously, in a amazing revelation...That no, they did not like each other like in that way.
"Blarg! No offense Sam, you're really cute, but just... no."
"Yeah, ew!"*Grins*"Besides, I think it would be ten times cuter is she dated Dipper instead."
Trixie started to turn red and punch him in the arm.
"OW! SWEAT AND ETERNAL DAD THAT HURT! I was just joking! I'm in a lot of pain already Trixie, so if I say anything you think deserves a punishment, can you wait until after EVERY MUSCLE in my body that's screaming is healed! I feel like an entire legion just used me for smiting practice."
Elsewhere
The 13 year old was dressed in light blue jeans, a yellow tank top, and a black jacket. The ones he had sent out to take the four kids who had been investigating the imps had not reported back, so he had gone to investigate it himself. What he had found was all of them had been defeated. He stood over the imprint scorched into the ground Caw had left behind when he had been beaten, complete with gigantic raven wings spread wide.
"This certainly isn't the work of a fairy. Only an angel-blade could do that."
An angel was even worse than a fairy. A fairy could use Pure Magic to surround the people with positive energy, counteracting the negative energy he had been using the imps to 'encourage' the people of gravity falls to produce. An angel could reach into the hearts of those people, and cause them to stop giving off the energy he wanted, and make them generate the opposite.
*Whistles with respect*"This guy must be powerful to take em all out so quickly."
He was genuinely impressed, because this would have to be an incarnated angel, incarnated like him, because he had been unable to find him through any means he knew of. When an angel or demon incarnates they are born into a human body, through human parents, they also have a number of wards placed upon them that hide their true nature from other beings, making them appear human at first glance. The wards also have an added affect of suppressing their power and memory of their previous life. This meant that the angel who had beaten his minions had most of his power locked away, and even if he went absolutely berserk, he still had A LOT more power, just like him.
It didn't matter though, Azazel was still stronger, he had been using the negative energy to stir his full power and memory. He had recovered some of it, but his true strength would not be at his disposal until he had worn down the wards enough that he could leave this body. The warrior angel had hindered the process greatly, but it was only a matter of time before he was free.
The boy walked away, the wind whipped his dirty blond hair, as on his back it looked like black mist was becoming solid. When they were done manifesting, the sinister wings of a black vulture were spread from his back, a metallic sheen made them glimmer slightly in the setting sun, but this somehow gave them a even more sinister look.