Uriel woke on the grass as the sun rose. He rolled petulantly, the sunlight irritating his eyes after his night of drinking with the Archangels. As he turned, he noticed a few Archangels starting to enter the battlegrounds for morning training sessions. He didn't remember all of the occurrences from the celebration the night before, but he was annoyed that the Archangels had left him in the battlefield to sleep after he had drank himself to oblivion.
"Hey, you alright down there?"
Uriel looked up, seeing a pair of Archangels looking down at him. The man on his left had short, spiked blonde hair and black wings; he seemed very interested in why Uriel was laying on the grass. The woman had long red hair; her green eyes met his gaze, and he turned away, embarrassed. He didn't want to be seen in his current state by the beautiful female Arch. He waved his arm dismissively, pretending he wasn't feeling incredibly hungover. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, I just didn't want to go home last night."
The male Arch smirked. "No, I think you were too drunk to manage. You tried to realm-travel and kept falling over instead. We were placing bets on how many times you would fail your attempts before giving up. Haniel here owes me a bottle of whiskey after she lost our bet."
The woman, Haniel, rolled her eyes. She pulled the bow from her back, giving no more attention to her companion and the messenger on the ground. She fired a barrage of arrows toward a target, the arrows landing one after the other into the center. Uriel shrank back a little; Haniel had quickly proven herself deadly.
Haniel's companion offered a hand to the hungover messenger, who hesitated before allowing the man to help him up. "Thank you…I apologize, but I do not recall many names from last night…"
"Metatron. I was mostly off with Haniel and Sachiel, I didn't speak with you until you were already pretty far gone."
–Odd name, but it's easy to remember at least.–
"Thank you for your help, Archangel Metatron. I should be…oh no. I was supposed to bring the Twin Archs and Archangel Orion to the Palace this morning! I'm going to be in so much trouble with the Ruler…"
Metatron stretched his black wings. "It is fine, Uriel. The three men you seek just left the battleground territory before I got here. You will be spared from whatever punishment you seem to think you will get."
Uriel rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand, the headache from the alcohol starting to throb. "I will leave you to your training. It was good to meet you." He turned, facing Haniel, who continued to shoot. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Archangel Haniel. Have a good day." Part of Uriel was hoping Haniel would pay more attention to him, and the other part was terrified of her. Haniel gave a short wave and a small smile, and went back to her targets.
Uriel stepped between the realms, not wanting to waste any time to get to the Palace. He appeared on the outside of the Great Hall, taking a moment to adjust his tunic and run his fingers through his fiery hair, trying to make himself presentable. He quickly slipped through the doors of the Hall, bowing deeply before the Ruler with his wings spread.
"Greetings, Mighty Rule-"
"You are late."
Uriel did not move from his bow. "My sincerest apologies, Mighty Ruler. I was ill this morning, but I am delighted to serv-"
The Ruler waved His hand dismissively. "You are dismissed, Uriel."
Uriel took his leave, quickly deserting the Great Hall before the Ruler decided to punish him for being late. Leaving the Palace, he passed the three Archangels who were making their way up the stairs.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Samael, Azrael, and Orion joked with each other as they made their way from their territory to the Palace. Uriel did not look up as he passed them, irritable at the Archangels who had continued to pressure him to drink after he had tried to decline their offers.
"Uriel!" Samael shouted toward the messenger, trying to get the angel's attention.
Uriel stopped, turned around, and looked toward the Archs, but did not say a word.
"Aren't you supposed to bring us to the Ruler?"
The messenger angel's wings twitched in his anger, and he adjusted his tunic. "If I go back in there, I will be punished."
Orion laughed at Uriel. "Nonsense. Come in with us. Surely the Ruler will not punish you for doing your job, just showing us in."
"I am not going back in there!"
Samael and Azrael rolled their eyes. "We brought back that rogue, we can bring you in too. You're coming with us." Samael's voice had lost its joking tone, and had become much more sinister.
Before Uriel could move, the Twin Archs had realm-travelled to stand beside him, grabbing the smaller angel, lifting him up between them by his upper arms.
"Put me down! I don't want to go in there!"
The Twin Archs snickered as they kept their grip on Uriel, preventing his feet from hitting the ground so he could not step between the realms and leave them behind. Orion followed Azrael and Samael as they carried Uriel toward the Great Hall, opening the door to the Hall for the Twin Archs. When they reached the doorway, Azrael and Samael tossed Uriel into the room, waiting for the Ruler to react.
Uriel landed hard on his hands and knees after being thrown by the Archangels. He sputtered, trying to get the Ruler to ignore his presence. "I…I…oh. Greetings…Mighty Ruler…"
"You have some nerve coming back today, Uriel."
"I…I was wanting to bring the Archangels to You…I wanted a chance to make things right by bringing them in to You…" Uriel tried to reason with the Ruler, who showed no sign of forgiving the messenger that had been tossed into the Hall.
"You were dismissed. And you find yourself worthy to come back here?"
"My sincerest apologies, Mighty Ruler…I…I…I have the Archangels You requested with me…would You like me to bring them in for You?
"You have not proven yourself worthy to do so, Uriel. Get out of My sight. Do not show your face here for the next three days."
Uriel scrambled to his feet, and stepped between the realms to the hallway, scowling at the laughing Archangels in the doorway.
The Archangels, having had their fun, stepped into the Hall, preparing for their display. Orion stood in between the Twin Archs, and the three men bowed deeply to the Ruler, their wings spread; Orion's white wings above the black wings of Samael and Azrael. The Ruler, pleased by their exhibition, settled back into the Throne.
"Samael. Azrael. Orion. You may rise." The Archangels stood, each folding their wings behind their back, waiting to hear what the Ruler had to say.
"I am calling upon you three to watch over several of My Seraphim. Orion, you were not here during the trial of the rogue Seraphim, but there were several of the Brothers that seemed to be more loyal to their Brother than they were to Me. This cannot stand. After one of the Seraphim had gone rogue, I cannot trust the ones that sided with him."
"Azrael, as of today, you are to monitor Seraphim Zerachiel. You are My most brutal Archangel, and Zerachiel was the most defensive of his Brother."
Azrael bowed, and folded his black wings behind his back again. "You honor me, Mighty Ruler. I will not fail You."
"You are dismissed, Archangel Azrael."
Azrael gave a quick nod, and disappeared.
"Samael, as of today, you are to monitor Seraphim Remiel. He was the one that brought the matter of his Brother's disappearance to Me, and then switched his position during the trial. I can no longer trust him."
Samael followed his twin brother's lead, bowing deeply. "I will not fail You, Mighty Ruler."
The Ruler dismissed Samael, who disappeared from the Hall.
The Ruler's attention fell to the sole Archangel left in His presence. "Archangel Orion. You have been called upon to watch over Seraphim Raphael. His actions wound Me, as he had always been the smartest and most reliable of the Brothers. However; he chose loyalty to his Brother rather than loyalty to Me, and that is unacceptable. You will find the Seraphim you seek in the library,
"You will not be disappointed in me, Mighty Ruler. Thank You for the opportunity to prove my worth."
"You are dismissed, Orion. Do not let Me down."