Following the horseman's admission, the whole group appeared in a large throne room. Lucifer was sitting upon it with the others in front of him. Gabriel was still in shock, as he began pacing back and forth trying to figure out why his father would reign destruction upon the humans. The Lord of Hell, watched his brother, his expression unreadable, yet he too was asking the same question. Jane and Dowling stood quietly, not wanting to be the ones who broke the silence. Lucifer gazed lazily over at the captain, a small smile on his lips. "You didn't think I would care?" He would ask, stopping Gabriel in his tracks to look over at Jane's response. "Frankly, no. Why do you?" She'd respond eagerly, clearly having thought about the question.
"I don't have an issue with your kind...I never did. I had an issue with his love for you...a quality my brother has seemingly inherited" Lucifer would say, hopping down from his throne and as he did Jane finally got a good look at him. He was handsome, not in the traditional sense, but something about him was so...inviting. "Power" Gabriel would say suddenly, clearing the air. "Michael said...he said father didn't have enough power for the Fall, he's doing it old school instead of waiting for Azrael to recover" The mention of Azrael would get Lucifer's attention, as he raised an eyebrow in response. "He took quite the beating from me and Foiros"
"I see...explains why he hasn't been down in a while, most impressive what the two of you can do. Maybe impressive enough to do something that's never been done before" He would say as he focused completely on Gabriel. With God deriving power from the old ways, of belief in him, the only way to counter this move would be to stop it from happening. Gabriel chuckled shaking his head slightly, "It's a lot to ask. Can you even stop the horseman?"
Lucifer turned away and took a few steps as he thought about a possible way to do what he asked. Dowling looked over at Gabriel, "Theoretically, the horseman have to abide by the ancient rites. You could challenge them" He suggested, looking between Lucifer and Gabriel, both of whom shook their heads. "Almost certain suicide, horseman are omniversal in nature. Like the entities, as well as me and Michael on occasion," Lucifer would say dismissing the idea with a wave of his hand before stopping suddenly. "Unlessโฆ" The Morningstar would look over at his brother. Gabriel thought about it for a second before looking over at Lucifer with a raised eyebrow. "Unless. I can get them to challenge me, as the challenge id pick the game. But even in a normal fight. We are outmatched," Gabriel would say as he thought about the possible scenarios.
"Not necessarily" A voice would say from the corner of the room, as all of them looked over, eyes filled with a raging fire would be seen in the darkness. Before long Foiros would step out of the shadows, taking a few steps towards the group. "The horseman, they gain their power from their rings. Remove the ring, horsemen because regular demons" Gabriel looked over at his brother, whose eyes were fixated on the Lord of Order, "Lucifer?" Gabriel would ask, seeking confirmation. The Lord of Hell wouldn't take his eyes of Foiros, a forked tongue flicking out of his mouth, "Theoretically, it would require getting intimately close but yes," Foiros would look over at Jane and Dowling, bowing his head slightly, "Apologies for my behaviour,"
"No, you speak to me. Did you see what I saw in the book?" Gabriel stepped between them, staring down Foiros, who would lick his lips before shaking his head, "No, but I felt it, I know how you feel about what it said," The fallen angel nodded, looking at the others who gazed at him curiously. "The knowledge in the book is absolute; it knows all. There is only one way to regain enough power to face fatherโฆit turns out I've resisted the fall, probably due to Foiros over here." Saying this Gabriel walked over to Foiros, the fallen blade appearing in his hand as he did, the Lord of Order would raise his eyebrow but remain still. When Gabriel was right in front of him he stopped staring him in the eyes. "It's time you stopped playing games and unleashed me. It's time for the truth"
Lucifer would sigh, "It showed you what you were meant to be, what fathers original plan was" As he spoke he would appear beside the two of them, forming a triangle. "This will not be easy, I will join you, Miss Cooper, Mr Dowling, join us." Gabriel would smile lightly as Jane stood beside him, he'd gently take a step back, leading her back with him. Lucifer would move to Dowling repositioning him. As everyone took their positions Gabriel looked around, "We're short one." Just then a crackle would resonate the room, the smell of pine lingering around the room. "My darling Eve, care to join us?" Lucifer would say as a beautiful woman filled in the missing spot in the group, bowing her head to Gabriel as she did so. Jane and Dowling would look on awestruck by the sudden appearance of the first woman. However, that wouldn't last long as the six would suddenly be bound by glowing silver chains that erupted from the ground. "No one panic. The bond is built; the ceremony is beginning,"
"Gabriel, what ceremony?" Jane would ask as she struggled slightly against the chains, "The oldest ceremony, the creation of an archangel. The issue is it's never been done a fallen angel," Lucifer would interject as the chains began glowing even brighter.
๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐พ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ '๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ , ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ฐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐.
As the light from the chains nearly blinded the participants, Gabriel heard a voice coming from the air around him. Hidden beneath the humid air of Hell, and crackle of lightning from somewhere outside. He heard ancient whispering, in the language of the angels. The voice was repeating the same words over and over, more and more urgently, like it was trying to tell him something. Gabriel squinted his eyes looking around, no one else seemed to have noticed, apart from Foiros, and Lucifer. Who were looking over at Gabriel with a questioning look. As they traded looks a silent decision was made between them as they began repeating what the voice was saying.ย
"By fire, By Water, By Earth, By Wind, by the forces of nature that compound our world. By Order, and Chaos, and Light, and Dark, by the forces of nature that compound our universe" All spoke in unison, matching the voice word for word, somehow knowing exactly what the next word would be. "By the Order of Gaderial we command you forces to bend to our will!" They would continue, as Lucifer and Foiros exchanged a look.
In that moment everything changed for Gabriel. He saw the universe. Past. Present. Future. He saw the Future. Bloodshed and darkness. The distant neigh of horses. His father slamming his fist down and Michael being hit by a bolt of lightning. He collapsed as he felt power course through his veins. More power then he was used to. More power then he could even comprehend and all that caused him to feint. As he did the bonds snapped releasing everyone. Jane and Dowling rushed over to Gabriel, Foiros was about to when he felt a presence and retreated into Gabriel's mindscape. Lucifer was left to deal with the new visitor. "Raphael. To what do i owe the pleasure?" He would say snapping his fingers, causing all the lanterns to light up revealing the archangel hidden in the dark. "I'll be honest Luci, when father told me to investigate the meteoric power surge in Hell, i expected a play on Heaven. But this....this is fascinating" Raphael would say taking a few steps forward, producing an angel blade between his fingers. Lucifer's eyes darted to the humans and the knocked out Gabriel, before he stepped between the two groups. "Impressed yet?" He would say simply.
Raphael would smirk, "Quite. I'm not sure how you did it but i'll find out. Whether I have to kill you or not"
"Surely you're not as naive to think you can beat me...less of all in my domain brother" Lucifer would retort simply producing a golden blade as he assumed a defensive position. He wasn't afraid of Raphael, he was by far the weakest of all the archangels, barely even worth the effort. But if he made a move on Gabriel, Lucifer would have no choice.
"Do you take me for a fool? Father gave me a gift for that. The chains of Prometheus" As he spoke chains sprung from the ground, grabbing Lucifer and holding him still. Every pull the chains would tighten, the only way to break them was an order from the person that summoned them. "Raphael, don't you have any thoughts of your own! Father contained our brother! I released him!" Lucifer would shout. Jane and Dowling pulled their weapons, putting a mag each in Raphael. Who brushed them off like nothing before throwing them across the room. "THESE ARE MY THOUGHTS! HIS INJURY COST ME FATHERS FAVOUR! TIME TO GET IT BACK" Raphael shouted, his manner crazed, his expression wild. He approached Gabriel grabbing him by the scruff of his suit. "Goodbye...Traitor"
What happened in the next moment is hard to describe. Even for me. What you need to know is when Gabriel passed out it was his vessel trying to adapt to an Archangel and Foiros in one head. This process would normally take days of fighting for control, but due to the nature of Foiros he was able to retain consciousness. When he returned to Gabriel's mindscape he found him and warned him of the coming danger. Both agreed on how the power scale inside would work. They managed to make a several day process go by in minutes. So as Raphael grabbed Gabriel's scruff, the newly formed archangels eyes darted open. Fuelled by his new power and boosted by that of Foiros'. One of his eyes glowed purple the other ablaze with fire. In less then a second Raphael was blasted against a pillar in the room. A crack forming all along it. As Raphael stood up, in the place that lay his younger brother Gabriel. Now stood a fallen Archangel, completely new. Whose power levels were not yet known. For all he knew Gabriel was now equal to Lucifer in terms of power. Then their was that thing inside him. All odds pointed to Raphael running away, but he would not disappoint his father.
Gabriel looked upon Raphael. The power in his veins felt strong, and he could not feel him reaching his limit anytime soon. The power of the push was a lot stronger then he had anticipated, clearly this new power would take adjusting to. He looked over at Lucifer who was watching him with a slight smile, then at Jane and Dowling who looked bruised but mostly okay. His eyes lingered on Jane, meeting hers. He smiled warmly, she did too. And somehow in that moment he felt like he could take on the world. Gabriel turned back to Raphael. His suit repaired, looking cleaner then ever, except for one change. Whereas it was white before, now he sported a grey one. In place of the jacket he wore an waistcoat and a neat tie. Gabriel's brown hair was arranged neatly and his sleeves slightly rolled up revealing his forearms. "Run."