Chapter 3- The Good Old Days
In case you were wondering, the whole chapter is a flashback so I didn't bother putting it in italics or anything.
Lizzie batted his hand away as it curiously wandered to the most recent page laid on top of the stack. "No spoilers, even for you, Gabe."
"Aw, you're no fun at all, sis. I bet you let Raphael read it." Gabriel teased. "Is it gonna be done soon?"
"Maybe." The older archangel rolled her eyes with a smirk. "If you're patient. The newest angels are more patient than you, and you're how many millennia older?" Gabe made a reach for the page again, but she used her quill to splatter him with ink.
"Only a couple hundred." He grinned as he wiped the black off with the back of his hand. He waited a few seconds before sighing again. "Oh, c'mon, Liz. Can't I read a little of the play? You're writing it for me, after all."
"No, you can't read it. I may end up scrapping half of it, anyway. And stop whining, it's a bad influence on your smaller siblings."
"Excuse you, but I happen to be the best influence on everyone everywhere," He smirked enthusiastically. Lizzie shook her head in amusement as he materialized a lollipop and stuck it in his mouth.
"Oh, please, Gabriel. You're too lazy to be influential." Lucifer joked as he appeared behind him, smiling. "I mean, look at Michael. He's always busy training the little ones, and Raphael's down on Earth doing his little trick with the plants. And you are eating candy and bugging Lizzie."
"I don't see you doing much either, Luci." Gabe said with a mouthful of candy. "Are you just jealous that I have candy? You want some?" He held out a lollipop to the eldest archangel, who took it after he looked behind him to make sure Michael didn't catch them slacking off.
Lucifer pulled the candy out of his mouth before he spoke again. "What are you writing, Lizzie?" He asked as she wrote on the pages with her perfect handwriting.
"Are you guys slacking off again?" Michael appeared behind Gabriel, who jumped a foot in the air. "Why must you three insist on trying to be the poorest possible excuses for archangels?" He muttered as he rubbed his temples. His three sets of silvery wings dragged slightly on the ground in disappointment.
"It's more fun than being a stuck-up pencil pusher?" Gabe offered. "Just chill, Mikey. Here, have some candy," He shoved a hard candy into Michael's mouth, who looked very displeased. At least until he allowed himself to taste it. Michael's wings perked up as he rolled it around his mouth.
"What is this?"
"It's a peppermint. You eat it 'cos it tastes good."
"Hmm. It does taste good. Anyway, Gabriel, I did come for a reason. Seeing as you are unbeatable in flight only by me, and I currently do not possess the time to help him individually, I was wondering if you could assist one of the angels. He appears to be having more trouble than the rest." Michael stepped aside to reveal an angel who had previously not been visible.
The angel hadn't even secured himself a real vessel yet, and still inhabited one made by their Father. Flat, dark hair partially covered darker eyes, and tanned skin gave him the appearance of a slim desert-dwelling boy. Tattered midnight blue wings trailed limply behind him.
Lucifer cocked his head at the little angel, with an almost mischievous smile. "Those are cool wings. I guess Father decided to experiment a little, huh? It's a shame they're so messy. What happened?"
The angel remained silent, obviously wary about talking to a group of the highest-ranking angels, so Michael spoke up. "I'm not entirely sure, but he said it was nothing. I can barely get him to talk."
Gabe grinned. "Well, I can get anyone to open up. Right, kiddo?" He held out another lollipop to the angel. "Want one?" He looked at the candy, but instead of taking it like Gabe had hoped, he instead tilted his head like a confused puppy. "C'mon, kid. I'm a nice guy, right?" Lucifer snorted in the background. "Shut up, Luci."
"Guys, I'm sure you're freaking him out." Lizzie rolled her eyes. "You're all so tall, except for Gabe, who is terrifying in his own ways." Gabe looked at her with mock insult. She ignored him and offered the small angel a seat beside her. "Come here. Do you like to read?" The angel nodded, and walked over after a hesitant pause, sitting on the grass in a cross-legged fashion beside her. She smiled gently at him and gave him a couple pages of the play.
"Hey," Gabe whined again. "How come I don't get to read it, but the little kid does?"
"Because the little kid is being far better behaved than you. Whiny archangels don't get to read." Lizzie gave the angel another page, which tantalized Gabriel further. The little angel read it happily, and smiled.
Lucifer chuckled at Gabriel's dilemma. "Looks like Lizzie is far better at getting people to open up than you, Gabe. Should I get you a white van?"
"It's good." The angel said suddenly, returning the translucent sheets to Lizzie. He had a quiet, low-pitched voice, but it was steady and strong at the same time.
Lizzie beamed. "Thank you. Hey, you never told me your name. What is it?"
The angel looked down nervously. "Castiel."
Lizzie tilted his head back up gently so she could look him in the eyes. "I'm Elizabeth. Now, what did you do to your wing, Castiel?"
Thunder cracked in the distance as a variety of miscellaneous objects were swiped off the table across the grass. Among them was a handmade book.
"Michael, calm down."
Michael glared at her dangerously. "And why would I do that?" Lighting swiped across the darkening sky in response to his anger. "First, my brother betrays us, and no doubt he was the one who killed Gabriel, and now Father's abandoned us! What possible reason could you offer for me to refrain from burning that whole planet down just to spite him?"
Lizzie looked him dead in the eyes. "Because he loves them. And that thinking is exactly what got Lucifer into the position he's in. I won't watch you succumb to the same jealousy."
Michael slammed her into the brick wall of the Gardens, his blade leaving a faint red line as it pushed against her collarbone. "You shut your mouth. You have no say in what I do. Do not meddle in my affairs, or you will die at my hands."
"Michael, you're pushing this too far. What do you propose to do, be the new God?" Lizzie snapped back. "If that's the case, then go ahead and kill me, because you've already gone past the point of no return."
That really ticked Michael off. "How dare you!" He yelled as he flung her across the path, cracking sounds echoing from her ribs. "I am trying to bring order! Without Father or that poor excuse for an older brother, Heaven will be in shambles without my authority. Why can you not see things the way I do? Even your little pet Castiel would be lost with no instruction."
Lizzie lay sprawled on the ground, a pair of wings curled around her stomach in pain. "Oh, and how do you think they would react to the news that Father's gone?"
"They do not need to know. It does not concern them." He said simply. "I do not wish to kill you if it is not necessary, but something must be done to ensure that you do not create an uprising. I apologize for this." Michael looked sincerely apologetic as Raphael grabbed Lizzie from behind and rendered her unconscious.
"What do you want me to do with her?" Raphael asked as he carefully held his big sister.
"Throw her in a cell somewhere. One that's a pain to get to. We'll tell the others the same fate befell her as Gabriel." Michael turned away, picking up a book that he had tossed on the ground. Upon opening it, he found the elaborate pages filled with plays, written by Lizzie. He chucked the book behind a fountain before he walked away.
Raphael bit his lip as he followed Michael's orders. He would continue to follow his orders as such for many years to come.
"Hey. Come on, talk to me. I know you're there." The melancholy voice came from the next cell. There was a brief pause before he started up again. "Seriously, though. You've been here for a while and I don't even know who you are. I haven't had anyone to talk to in ages, and to be honest, you must have something good to say if you're down here with me. I mean, you don't have to say anything if you don't want to, I just thought as long as you're down here..."
Lizzie sighed. "You never used to prattle on like this, Gadreel. I think you may have a few screws loose."
She could almost hear Gadreel reel in shock. "Elizabeth? Who put you down here?"
"Michael. He wasn't too pleased after Father ditched us." Lizzie rolled her eyes, even though Gadreel wouldn't have seen it. "I tried to talk some sense into him, but he was adamant on leading the angels around so he threw me down here."
"Oh."
"So, what have you been doing down here?"
It was Gadreel's turn to sigh. "Apparently, losing my sanity. Other than that, there's not much else to do."
"True, and I don't think we're going to get out of here anytime soon."
Eventually, the hours started running into one another, and Lizzie couldn't make out any measurement of time at all. She and Gadreel chatted, because there wasn't much else to do. They never saw another living thing until the fall.
Phew. That took a long time to be able to write. I hope it didn't seem like I'd abandoned the story or anything. I've been inundated with schoolwork the last week, but this is the last week of school before the holidays, so that should seriously free up my time. Thank you for waiting, though. I hope you like it. Next time, vehicles get thrown across streets!
End Chapter 3