Everyone in the hall froze, perpetual fear locking them in place. Jane took a deep breath and tried to relax as she looked at Gabriel, or Foiros, or whoever the hell this was. Her first instinct was to draw her gun, but she was smarter then that. She doubted it would do anything other then anger him, and despite the threats he made, Foiros' demeanour was calm and collected. His orange eyes slowly made their way around the room. Blankly examining, studyingโฆ testing each and every one of them. Jane shifted her wait, looking over at Stuart, who himself had his eyes on her. They exchanged a brief nod as Foiros finally spoke again.
"Around meโฆliars,cheaters,sinners,winners, worthless pieces of garbage and those pure of heart. I feel your pride, and lust, and greed andโฆlove," He would finish, looking over at Jane, a small smile forming in the corner of Gabriel's mouth puppeteered by Foiros. A shiver ran down Jane's spine at the sound of his voice, it was her partners, but distorted, almost shallow. Like the one speaking had no soul or emotion. Foiros turned his attention to the Master Masons that had gathered near one of the doors. He brought his hand up and clicked, the men exploded into a raging fire before dust settled where they stood. It lasted no more then a couple seconds, no time for them to even let out a scream, but the evidence left was more then enough to know they burned. The smell of burnt flesh filled the room. Causing everyone else to panic. The same fear that locked them in place forced them to turn and run. Fight or flight wasn't present in these chambers, everyone followed the principle of flight or death.
Foiros practically cackled at the sight. A click of the fingers. Screams of panic. Another click. Sounds of fire. Another. Smell of flesh. Another. Followed by a deafening gunshot. The bullet from the end of Jane's gun penetrated Foiros straight through the back. He didn't move, he didn't make a sound. And for a moment, in this warehouse, on planet Earth there was perfect silence. Serenity. The calm before the storm. Moments later, and Jane would be up against the wall, Dowling knocked out on the floor for trying to help her. Foiros, with his flaming eyes, would be holding Jane up by her neck, her feet dangling as she struggled to breathe. "Oh captain, my captain. I thought you were smarter then that" he would say tightening his grip on her neck but as he did. He heard a distinct high pitched sound that pierced his ear drums, causing him to let go and cover his ears. Jane dropped to the floor, recovering from the shock, and as she watched the scene unfold. She smiled. Because she too knew what it meant, just like Foiros. It meant Gabriel was alive. He was fighting. He was coming back. She didn't know when, she didn't know how, but he was coming back to her.
Foiros stood back up, the ringing subsiding. His expression twisted. He took several deep breaths. "You want to play these games Gabriel? Fine" Foiros would say bringing both his arms up, a fire erupting from below him. As he raised his hands ever higher the fire rose. Rose till it encompassed his whole body. Jane slid herself towards Dowling, making sure he was okay, getting herself away from the heat that was building up. When the fire subsided, the man who stood there no longer shared Gabriel's features. He face was longer, his expression gleeful, and as he turned to face Jane his eyes went from a dark orange to a shining green. The brown hair of Gabriel gradiently bleached blonde. A smirk on the lips of Foiros sent shivers down the captains back. "This body is mine. I will not let him return." He would say coldly. "You will stay here" Foiros would say walking into the next room, the way he moved making it seem almost like gliding.
Jane watched him leave before looking back at Dowling, when he tried to stop Foiros he didn't make it two feet before an invisible force threw him against a wall; she had heard him smack his head, and she now saw a small pool of blood beneath him. However, there was no injury to speak of. Sure there was blood, but no wound, he had been healed. She tried to shake him, to get him to wake up but he was really out of it. She even checked to pulse to make sure he was alive, and she let out a sigh of relief when he she felt it. His heartbeat.
In the other room Foiros approached one of the sizzled bodies. He knelt down beside one placing his palm on the charcoaled forehead of the recently departed and spoke an ancient prayer. Lost to time. Lost to Eternity. ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฑ๐ข ๐ฆ๐ซ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ฆ๐ญ. It was the language of the Old Gods. Taught to Foiros by his father. 'By the blood of the beginning, rise Samael'. The body jolted suddenly. "Who dares to use that name? Who dares to test the wrath of the King of Hell?" The body spoke, it's voice being sent straight from Tartarus. Straight from the mouth of Lucifer. "And who, in their right mind, still uses Elder Speech?" Lucifer continued, the vessels eyes opening and looking around, it would take a moment to adjust but they would settle on Foiros, who had reverted back to looking like Gabriel.
"Gabriel? I'm impressed you knew how to do that" Lucifer would say smiling as he sat upon his throne. "I expect you know how to come through?" Foiros would stay quiet, simply closing his eyes and opening his mind, and when he reopened his eyes he stood in the throne room of hell. Or at least his mind did, his consciousness. For all our consciousnesses are able to traverse the realms. Humans do it in there sleep, those that know how though. Can do it on commandโฆand more. "Hello Lightbringer. It's been a while since I was here. Thank you for the invitation." Foiros would say walking a few steps closer to the throne. A few demons who were positioned below it moved to intercept him. A distinct click could be heard before flames rose up within the throne room. "You are not Gabriel." The king of hell stated simply as he sat upon his throne. His eyes peering deep into the figure standing before him. Foiros smiled. "No."
The mirage of Gabriel disappeared, leaving Foiros on full display to the King of Hell. "Foiros? ๐๐ถ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ช๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ, ๐๐ฆ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐? Last I heard you lost your realm. Come to beg for mine?" Lucifer would jeer, a smile on his face, as he rose from his throne, dropping down to meet Foiros on level ground. "Watch your tongue." Foiros would say, "I am still the Deity o-" he would be cut off by a subtle laugh from Lucifer. "Deity? Foiros you have no realm, no objects of power, and no followers. All you have is that ego." Lucifer would intervene. The smile faded from his face as he stared at the being in front of him. "You forget yourself Lightbringerโฆ" The God of Order would say stepping towards the Devil.
Red lightning crackled past the throne room window as Lucifer's whole demeanour changed. His face changed into one that was completely burnt, his eyes blood red, his expression that of rage. "No. You forget yourself. I am Lucifer Morningstar, the Prince of Darkness, The Father of Lies, The First Fallen Angel, and the holder of the Book of the Damned, I am the only being alive that rivals the power of the Old Gods!" Lucifer would snarl at Foiros who went unmoving during the spectacle before slowly clapping. "What rage, what zest. Again" he'd say lazily, a smile settling on his face as he began walking around the throne room. "You're in my domain. I could trap your mind here forever." Lucifer would say in a much more relaxed tone as he surveyed Foiros.
"Actually you can't. This body isn't mine. It's Gabriel's. Because you are right. My realm is lost, my power is diminished, I thought I'd borrow his." Lucifer would raise an eyebrow. Gabriel was his favourite brother. Always different and such a pleasure to teach all those years ago. Had Foiros really achieved what he claimed, then Gabriel would be lost in the endless realm, stuck in the void between worlds. Lucifer couldn't help him directly of course, but he could advise him. "Of course, his body has other benefits, having the blood of the fallen flowing through. Meaning you can't trap me here" Foiros would taunt as he finally stopped walking. Moments earlier he walked had past the mirror and could have sworn he saw Gabriel in the the reflection. However, when he checked again he just saw his own face, clearly he was being paranoid. It had taken him millennia to get out. Gabriel wouldn't even know where to begin.
"Gabriel is resourceful. I'm sure if he put his mind to work he could work out a way out of the Endless Realm. After all, I taught him," Lucifer would say smiling as he appeared back in his throne. "Now leave Foiros. You seek the Book of the Damned. I'm not giving it to you." He would continue as he picked up a scroll that lay beside him. Foiros sneered, "I demand a challenge by the ancient laws" he would say turning to face the King of Hell. A shallow laugh would fill the room as Lucifer looked downwards on the God of Order. "If you wish. Come here in your body. I'll grant you a challenge." Lucifer would say flicking his hand at Foiros, who would immediately be thrust back into his waking body. The corpse which he had used turned fully to ash.
Foiros stood and began walking back towards Jane and Dowling when he heard a voice. '๐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ' ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ฌ. Foiros didn't even need to look around. He knew there was no one there. The voice emanated from inside his mind. The voice was Gabriel's. Foiros breathed heavily, ignoring it and moving on. Jane was still attending to Dowling who remained unconscious, but as Foiros entered the room he flicked his wrist causing the detective to stir. Dowling would look around first at Jane then at Foiros. A look of determination. "Calm down Detective. No need for further dramatics. Peace in our time and all that" Foiros would say lazily, "You will accompany me to Hell"
Dowling shook his head laughing, as he sat up, he began to speak but Jane stopped him. "I want to speak to Gabriel. Then we will do as you ask." She would say standing up and meeting Foiros face to face. He'd smile. "That's hardly possible love. It would require me to give up the body," The God of Order would say calmly. Trying to defuse the Captain without further incidents, which he was sure the lodger in his head, wouldn't approve of. Jane however, was steadfast. She maintained her composure. "I don't care. Figure it out." The God of Order sighed. He found this women annoying, and had no clue as to why he felt the urge to do as she asked. "So be it," he'd say moving his hand to her forehead, extending his power through and into her mind.
๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ค๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด. ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ฑ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ. ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ช๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ช ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ฐ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ฐ๐ค๐ถ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ญ, ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ช๐น๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ. ๐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ด.
"Jane?" A voice said. The Captain opened her eyes, and there stood Gabriel, same as he ever was. Same clothes, same voice. Her partner. She looked around, the world around was dull and colourless. She saw ruined structures, and treacherous mountains. The world turned into ash. There were remnants of structures; a palace, homes. Even a few headless statues of someone in Greek style clothing. "What are you doing here Jane. Did Myers?" She turned to face him. That's when she saw it. His eyes. So much older then she'd known them. Her hand moved instinctively to his cheek, holding it affectionately. "How long has it been for you Gabe?" She would say sympathetically, looking deeply into his eyes. Seeing his pain, and longing for someone to speak to.
"Time is..different here. Look around. The realm is in ruins. It's been forgotten. The entities of Time do not visit to maintain it." Gabriel would say sadly, "It has beenโฆten thousand years" Jane's eye would widen. Tears swelling in here eyes, at the realisation of the pain Gabriel must have felt stuck here. "But you can leave now. FoirosโฆMyers he uh brought me here, connected our minds he said. Do the same and he'll drag you out too," she said hopefully, but the fallen angel just smiled. "This place, it requires a someone here. Otherwise it would burn the waking realm. Your realm. Myers knows this, he's known it since he appeared. This is the endgame for him,"
"Wait a minute. How long have you known about him?" Jane would begin before a deep below sounded throughout the realm. ๐๐ข๐ฑ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ. ๐๐ถ๐ณ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ถ๐ฑ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ด ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ข๐ธ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ. ๐๐ข๐บ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ฃ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด. Jane would look at Gabriel and shake her head, the fallen angel would walk towards her giving her a hug. "Don't worry. I'm learning this place, With time I can reverse the change. Now, do as he says. Keep my body safe eh?" Gabriel would say as Jane began crying into his chest. "I love you Gabriel" she would say quietly. The fallen angel would smile. "Jane you should know. I lov-"
๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ. ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต.
Jane opened her eyes, a single tear running down her face, she saw Foiros open his eyes and look at her with a questioning look. Downing was watching both of them. "Captain?" He would say. But Jane was still lost to the words that Gabriel began to say. Fixated on what she was sure he was going to say and on the instructions he gave her. "Okay. Foiros, We'll go to Hell with you."