Chapter 28: The Calm

Stars glittered above New Delphi and the full moon illuminated the winding streets below. Footsteps echoed into the night as the Oracle Corps patrolled their assigned sections. They moved like clockwork, always punctual and always vigilant. The streets were otherwise empty as the citizens of the settlement abided the enforced curfew.

A patrol passed underneath a balcony set high above in one of the main buildings in the center of the city. Shirtless and barefoot, Michael rested his hands on the railing and watched as the soldiers passed. His astute eyes kept track of their movements as well as the next set of soldiers that passed by further down. He surmised that Oracle Corps had a strict schedule in order to keep New Delphi from falling back into its former chaotic state. Raphael had turned a lawless settlement into the military state that he saw before him, and he wasn't sure if that was the better choice.

Michael shifted, looking up at the night sky. The moon was encircled by a halo of refracted light. The white light reminded him of his brethren; of the times of peace among the humans many years ago, when innocence was common and angels were known among the people. He closed his eyes for a moment and enjoyed the cool breeze that passed by, caressing his skin like a silk ribbon. Taking a deep breath, he listened to the night, the footsteps long gone and silence comfortably settling in. And then he heard the sheets rustling as someone moved inside the room behind him. Opening his eyes, he wondered if his companion was waking.

Near the open French doors, there was a large bed with dark rumpled sheets that barely covered a fair-skinned angel. Lying face down with her smooth back exposed, Azrael clutched the sheets for a moment and then opened her eyes. She blinked and relaxed her hand and body as she slowly woke up. The dreams she'd been having were not always pleasant and it took a moment to remember where she was. She stared at the empty pillow next to her and wondered where Michael disappeared to. After a moment, she pushed herself upright. Glancing around the room, she noticed him standing on the balcony.

Quietly, she slid off the bed and slipped out through the doors. Michael could hear her as she moved up behind him, and wasn't surprised when her hands slid down the length of his back and then encircled his torso. She pulled his body against hers, their skin touching warmly as she held him close and laid her lips on the area between his shoulder blades. It was the small space between where his wings released. It was a sensitive spot and when she kissed him there, he closed his eyes, sighing as he relished the touch. After a moment, she rested her cheek against his back and continued to hold him in silence, her naked body pressed against him.

She wondered why he was standing on the balcony instead of resting, but she knew that he was reticent by nature and probably contemplating the various angles of a new plan. Or perhaps he was again brooding on past misdeeds.

"Were you dreaming again, Azrael?" Michael's rumbling voice broke into her own thoughts.

"They are becoming more frequent," she murmured, her breath tickling his back.

Michael rubbed her hand lightly in a comforting manner, as he continued to stare out across the city. "Do you think Father is trying to tell you something?"

Azrael ignored his question for a moment, pressing her lips against the sensitive spot once more and derailing Michael's thought process. A small sound escaped his lips and she couldn't help but smile at his reaction.

"Mmm… I know what you are trying to do," he whispered with his eyes closed.

She slowly released him and stepped back, turning him towards her in the process. He opened his eyes and looked down at her with a small smile. "Is it working?" she asked and then leaned into him, pressing her nude body against the front of his. After lightly grazing her lips against his jawline, she softly pressed them against his.

Michael wrapped his arms around her and allowed for the distraction. They kissed for a moment, her hands straying up to run through his hair and then down his back. His body was lean and muscular, and yet smooth and warm under her fingertips. She understood why a human would want to be as close to him as possible with the way that his proximity affected her own body. It seemed to light a fire inside of her, something she wasn't quite used to yet. Kissing him harder, she couldn't seem to get enough of him.

Footsteps echoed through the streets below as another patrol of Oracle Corps started another loop through the city. Michael paused for a moment, smiling down at her. "We should return to bed."

She smiled at him and stepped backwards, pulling him inside. She sat down on the bed and tried to pull him closer, but he studied her with a mildly absent look on his face, clearly contemplating something else. Her smile faded a little. "What are you thinking?"

"You are very distracting," he said quietly. He remained out of arm's length, as something continued to pester his mind.

Azrael understood what he meant and that the distraction wouldn't help him at the moment. But it disappointed her. She wasn't in the mood to be serious, but she pulled a sheet over her body and moved backwards so that she was leaning against a few pillows and the headboard. After a moment, he lay down next to her and stared at the ceiling.

"I'm not sure which is worse," Michael said, thoughtfully. "Military controlled settlement such as New Delphi or the system implemented in Vega."

"Raphael believed it would save more humans this way," she responded, shifting to look at him and remembering to keep her hands to herself. She wanted to smooth his hair over, but she refrained. "He saw what I saw, Michael. That these people in this settlement only understood force. Force was law here."

"So he became what they needed," Michael stated, unfazed. It made sense to him. His brother would become what was needed to save them, even if it meant saving them from themselves. And perhaps completely changing his own nature. Ever the Healer.

Azrael nodded. "I have done what I can to assist him. But it makes no difference, really."

Michael turned onto his side to study her. "No difference?"

"What Gabriel is doing…it makes no difference. Our creator will do as he pleases, you know that." She looked at him, face stoic. "He can do as he wants. We are His creatures. He is not beholden to us, and we still have no idea where and why he has left us. Why our Home is falling to ruins. Perhaps he was angered by the Morning Star or perhaps by the humans and their selfish ways. There is no way to know! So Gabriel's crusade would bring Him no closer to home than if we laid down our arms, laid in the sand and waited!"

"And the humans have no greater part?"

"No greater than you or me. It makes no difference if they live or die." Azrael finally blinked. Her expression was oddly fierce making it hard for Michael to read what she was feeling.

"And yet you have aided Raphael in saving them, chosen my side of this war," Michael said, curious. "You could have easily stayed away, or perhaps sided with Gabriel. He would gladly use your… skills…to his advantage. You were once comrades, were you not?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Yes, comrades. Comrades in arms… sure. During times of upheaval among the lowers. We were assigned together often, to dole out what was needed. But this…" She paused. "Gabriel is not what he once was either. The disappearance, the war…this world here…it has changed us. Changed our brethren."

He reached over and took her hand in his, rubbing it lightly in a comforting manner. "It has. All of us."

She slouched down a little more into the pillow she was leaning against. A slight shiver ran through her. "It would have been easier to stay away. To stay hidden."

Michael propped his chin up with his other hand and quietly asked, "Why didn't you?"

She looked at the dark-haired angel gazing back at her with his beautiful blue eyes. He had a soft expression as he waited for her answer. It was hard not to melt into him at that very moment. "How could I?" she said softly. "Could I really stay away from you?" Reaching up, she gently trailed her fingers down his cheek.

With a small amused smile, he asked, "So no choice, then?"

She didn't answer him, shifting her sheet so that she could slide down and move closer to him. He lifted his arm and wrapped it around her, pulling her against his body. They lay still for a moment, each thinking about their own past and their own decisions that led them to that moment.

Michael's fingers trailed down her arm and back up again, absently stroking away as the wheels turned in his mind. "The scripture on Alex's skin, you don't think that is His message? A message for the way Home?"

She tipped her head back to look at him directly. "Do you believe he is the Chosen One? The one who fixes everything? Truly?"

"I believe it is a message from Father. Something that will make sense of our…"

"-loss? The loss of Him?" Azrael interjected, propping herself up on her elbow. "Those words were meant for the Chosen One, to gain a sense of self, to understand his own nature, to find his own path. Only he can decipher what it will mean to him. And it may be the catalyst for the end." She sighed. "Or perhaps the start of a new world. It could be the end of humanity or the beginning of something else entirely. Those words could drive him closer to Gabriel's way of thinking. We do not know."

"I must believe that he will be our salvation, Azrael," he said softly, as he reached up to her face and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "That all of this…meant something. That it wasn't just another…test."

"And what if it is a test? A test we have all failed?" Azrael asked in a small voice, her eyes filled with a concern and fear that Michael had not seen in a long time.

Gently pulling her closer, he leaned up and lightly kissed her forehead. And then he grazed his lips across her cheek, moving toward her mouth. Tenderly, he briefly pressed his lips against hers as he smoothed her hair back. His own eyes were filled with as much emotion as hers.

"Then we are just as lost as we are now."