- Death and Saliel -
(Past, some time after Death's warning to Raphael)
"Saliel's late," Death mumbled.
Death was on top of a massive castle wall looking across the landscape and tapping his fingers. A wide-eyed angel with gold irises flew in. The angel had a multilayered wrapping around their mouth that they started to take off as they touched down.
"My apologies," Saliel said as he removed the final wrapping layer. "I was trying to summon the courage to speak with you. As you are aware, I find your presence deeply unsettling."
"That's what I assumed," Death said, monotone. "Now that you're here, can I confirm that this is about Raphael?"
"Yes," Saliel stated. "The abrupt end to the call was so I would not reveal my intentions early.
Death looked down the castle wall, noting how far the drop was.
"Are you going to speak more?" Saliel asked earnestly.
"Just thinking," Death responded. "For you to set up a meeting with me must mean Raphael is back to being a problem," He cracked the stone he was gripping.
"Yes," Saliel nodded. "Could you please turn around? I despise talking to someone's back during a conversation."
Death turned around. "I thought you were afraid to look me in the eyes?"
"Deeply," Saliel winced as he struggled to maintain eye contact, "but that which we fear must be faced eventually."
"You angels and your sayings," Death grumbled.
"Says the one following Gabriel's teachings," Saliel retorted. "This is not the time or place to have an argument. You need to fix your past mistake of sparing Raphael."
Death leaned on the stone perch. "I've heard that Raphael has made himself essential to Purgatory. That he even has Uriel and archangel Raphael's backing."
Saliel's mouth opened slightly. The gold in his eyes shimmered as he stared at Death. Saliel expected Death to have a stronger reaction.
"What's wrong with you?" Saliel asked. "Has a lack of killing dulled your bloodlust?"
Death sighed, "Maybe it has..."
"No," Saliel shook his head. "NO!"
Death was caught off guard by Saliel's shouting.
"NO!" Saliel clenched his fists. "Fear has its limits, Gabriel!"
"Are you okay?" Death asked.
Saliel closed his eyes and took a breath. He exhaled sharply as he opened his eyes.
"You've listened to Gabriel, now listen to me," Saliel demanded. "There are three evils in this world: Bestial evil, like you; righteous evil, such as myself; And the absolute worst of the three, pure evil--Raphael."
"You think yourself evil?" Death was confused.
"Righteously so, yes," Saliel made deep eye contact with Death. "Righteous evil exists to keep the other two evils in check. My hands and words have taken lives, lives that could have been spared in better circumstances," He closed his eyes as tears ran down his face.
"Are you o-"
"No," Saliel opened his eyes and wiped his face, "I believe some would call it "necessary" instead of 'Righteous', whatever term is used is irrelevant...so long as the actions match."
Death spoke, "Wouldn't I be 'righteous' evil then? Is Raphael's life not worth sparing?"
"No, to both things," Saliel made a dismissive motion with his hand. "Bestial evil such as yourself is an evil that exists out of a creature's instincts. I believe that you kill out of instinct and that your targeting of 'monsters' is an attempt on your part to find greater purpose in that instinct. I know how deeply insulting that sounds, but I do want to praise you for what you've managed to accomplish."
Death was severely confused. Saliel's words were every bit as blunt as what he was used to but there seemed to be a slight tinge of admiration that was throwing Death off. Saliel continued.
"Beasts can be taught, trained, and as insulting as it is to call someone such, I think it is best if others understand that all beings are capable of, or susceptible to, becoming a beast."
"Right..." Death responded.
Saliel sighed, "My point for all of this, is that Raphael can not go on living. Pure evil such as him knows how to disguise itself. It hides behind kind words, good deeds, and roots itself deep into the peace or chaos around it. I've never cared for how you define 'monsters' because, in my eyes, that title should be used for beings like Raphael."
"I'll kill Raphael," Death assured. "I warned him, and despite my current hesitations, I cannot allow him to step on what I'm meant to represent."
"A weapon," Saliel said. "As I told you the first time we met, I believe you are a weapon that gained sentience. I warned the other angels not to trust you but they didn't listen, much to our benefit."
"I know," Death said. "That distrust you had for me-"
"Still have...sorry."
"Right," Death sighed. "It's valuable."
Saliel covered his mouth. Death knew what that meant.
"Speak," Death said. "You should know by now that your insults won't bring you my anger."
Saliel slowly moved his hand away. "Why do you trust my words? Why do you trust that what I'm saying about Raphael is true and that I'm not just trying to use you as a weapon to remove someone I hate?"
"Because you've never attempted to hide your fear of me," Death said. "Because you warned us once about Raphael and we didn't listen. Because, and most obviously, I don't believe you can lie."
"I can lie!" Saliel denied. "I just choose not to! Lying is a tool, it has its purpose, though it is often used for wicked ends..."
Death spoke with an earnestness that surprised Saliel, "I lack the ability to root out the more insidious evils that you've talked about. The monsters I've killed weren't subtle, and I rarely had to question whether or not my killing was just. I should have killed Raphael sooner, but...no, I should have just done it, simple as that."
Saliel and Death spoke of the problems that would come with Raphael's end. Saliel assured Death that he would take responsibility for the consequences that were sure to come with Raphael's end. Saliel insisted he must since he was the one personally asking Death to do this. Death promised he wouldn't allow for any harm to come Saliel's way. Before the two got ready to part, Death asked Saliel a question.
"You said you believe righteous evil exists to keep the other two evils in check, but it was my understanding that angels believed it was the job of good to defeat evil?"
Saliel had a melancholy expression. "That's the hope...and one of the reasons my brothers and sisters question my judgments. I explained to them that if two people play a game, and one cheats, why would anyone reasonably expect the non-cheating player to win? They always answer that the non-cheating player simply needs to play better...and that if I believe myself evil, then I must believe them evil as well..."
"And your magic is the only reason they sometimes listen?" Death rhetorically asked.
Saliel touched underneath his eyes. "If I had known how exceedingly difficult it would be to convince others of what I see, I never would have told anyone. Maybe I should have just lied and kept my abilities to myself? Maybe I could have done more for the world that way?"
Death tried to reassure Saliel, "I can't say for certain what the right path for you is or was, but I can say that what you're doing at this moment, is correct."
Saliel went to speak but decided not to. He wrapped the layers of cloth around his mouth and flew off. Death thought back to when Saliel first explained his ability.
'Gold, gray, red. The Heavenborne humans are primarily gold, the Hellborne are red, and the Purgborne are gray. No matter the primary color, there are always flecks of the other colors. The red and gold can be different shades which has led me to assume that the shades represent an intensity of the being's alignments.'
Death grimaced as he remembered what Saliel first said about Raphael.
'It's red, and growing darker. Not as dark red as you but still far darker than a natborne should be at his age.'
- Death, Raphael, Uriel -
Raphael was giving a speech to a large crowd of humans and angels. On the stage with him stood Uriel, smiling and nodding along. As Raphael spoke about all he was planning to do for Purgatory, Death walked among the crowd, closing in on the stage.
'He wouldn't,' Raphael thought as he noticed Death. "Uriel," He motioned that Death was coming.
"I'm sure he just wants to join us!" Uriel insisted.
Once Death was close enough, he blinked to the stage. "I warned you..."
"WAIT!" Raphael shouted as he motioned to Uriel.
Lightning surged through Uriel's arms.