Gabriel left Jeremiel's home with Orion, taking his wife and the Archangel back to his home. "We must be quiet and we must be quick. The less that everyone knows, the better it is for everyone involved."
Orion jogged, trying to keep up with Gabriel. The Seraphim had told his wife to realm-travel home earlier the previous evening, as the night had long passed, the sun achingly bright in his eyes. "What's going on?"
"We might have a way out for you."
The Archangel stopped dead in his tracks, overwhelmed by the Seraphim's words. –Does he truly mean it? A way out?– Unlimited possibilities that he had never fully considered overwhelmed his mind. "How?!"
"Keep your voice low. Zerachiel has gone to find our Fallen Brother, make sure we have a place for you to go first. But if this is in fact, possible, we need to prepare you to leave as soon as we can." Gabriel opened the door to his home, and guided Orion through the door, gently pushing on the Archangel's back.
"I've wanted it for a long time, and more so since I've been assigned to Raphael. I just…I always considered it impossible, I mean, where would I be able to go? It was an unreachable dream, something that would always remain just that - a dream." Orion's grey eyes lit up with excitement, sparked with possibility.
Hearing that her husband had arrived, Emilia went to greet him, meeting Gabriel in the entryway to take his robes. She had been quickly told of their plans, and had expressed her concern about the risks. "Welcome home, my treasure. Has Zerachiel returned with the news?"
"Not yet, my love. I expect him back any moment now. He knew to make the trip fast, but we also cannot blame him if he spent a little extra time with our Brother as well. We all miss him, but he was particularly close with Zerachiel."
Emilia handed Gabriel a cup of tea, and brushed his long golden hair over his shoulder. "Come to the kitchen, get some breakfast while we wait. It's a little late, but it's still important." She looked around her husband's frame, seeing the Archangel standing back in the entryway. "Oh, Orion! Please, come in, let's get you some breakfast, make yourself at home."
Orion gave a small, grateful smile. –Even now, they still treat me as their own, better than some of my own brethren do.– "You're too kind, Emilia. I would love to join you, you have both done more for me than I could have ever dared to ask." He took a step forward to join the Seraphim and his wife, colliding into Zerachiel.
As the silver-haired men crashed into one another, Orion stumbled, awkwardly sidestepping and burying his face in Zerachiel's wing as he fell. He landed on his side, trying his best to prevent the Seraphim from tumbling as well. "I'm sorry!"
Zerachiel laughed heartily, the way he used to before his happiness had been taken from him. "That's twice in the last…month, I think? I have got to stop appearing in other angels' spaces!" He helped up Orion, amusement still dancing in his hazel eyes. "Don't apologize to me about that, you had no control about where I do and don't appear. Besides, you're going to be happy I crashed this party."
"Zerachiel? Is that you?" Emilia called out from the kitchen.
Mocking his eldest Brother, Zerachiel called back to her. "Oh, yes, my treasure!"
"You're awful. Do you want breakfast?"
"You are a treasure!" Zerachiel kicked off his boots, and gestured for Orion to join him, Gabriel, and Emilia in the kitchen.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"You found a place for me to go? And you say it'll be safe?!" Orion's wings twitched in excitement, but his eyes held doubt; as if he was too afraid of the heartache that allowing himself to believe would bring.
Zerachiel ran his finger along his empty teacup. "I'm almost certain it's safe. I don't think the Ruler can use the Reflecting Mirror to find you where our Brother went. I mean, the first Fallen has been left to his own realm for centuries…"
Gabriel's mouth dropped open. "You don't mean…? Is that where Michael went? But…we found him in the Human Realm, with Ravenna! We left him some of his things!" –Raphael told me about Michael's maidservants finding the parchment in his pocket, and about Lucifer, but Michael actually found him? And we're going to hand Orion over to him?–
Orion and Emilia shared a glance, and both looked toward Zerachiel. "Where is this…who is the first Fallen? I thought your Brother was the only one?" The Archangel shrank back a little in his seat, now significantly less excited about the possibility of leaving the Kingdom.
Zerachiel sucked in his cheeks, trying to decide how to tell the Archangel about Lucifer. He knew the most about the Ruler of the UnderKingdom, having met him twice, but it was hard to approach the subject. "You see, we all thought Gabriel had been the first Seraphim, but we were wrong. The Ruler had another before him. His name is Lucifer, and he fought hard to make the Ruler care about the suffering humans in the Mortal Plane. He was cast out for being a sinner, prideful; he thought he knew what was best for the humans, and the Ruler took that as a threat to his power. Just like our youngest Brother, the wings were torn from his back, and he was thrown from the Kingdom, landing in another realm. He built it up to become the UnderKingdom, and he now rules over the Lost, with his pack of demons."
"This is where you want to send me? Another realm, to a man with a vengeance against the Ruler?"
"If you want a way out, it's the only option."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Orion stood in his small home, looking at his meager possessions. He had been instructed to gather a bag of clothing, and to either take or destroy everything that meant something to him. He pulled a small, patched bag from under his bed frame, stuffing every bit of clothing that would fit into it. He tied a spare pair of boots together, linking them through the handle of the bag. The anticipation in his chest made it hard to breathe, but he pushed past the feeling. "It's really happening. I can go. I'm free."
Unable to add anything else to the small bag, Orion layered on several tunics, and attached every weapons holster he owned to his limbs. He felt awkward with multiple thigh holsters under a sword sheath on his hip, a blade hidden in each wrist bracer, and swords strapped to his back, but he knew that the Fallen man would be delighted to see such weaponry. Before leaving his home for good, he opened the drawer next to his bed, revealing an ornate dagger with his name engraved in the blade, the hilt wrapped in exquisite leather. It was a gift from Chamuel and Sandalphon to honor him, that he had proved his worth in his first training session with the Archangels.
–If anything could be used to trace me, it will be their gift.–
He withdrew a blade from his left thigh holster, moving it to his boot. He wrapped the engraved dagger in cloth, and placed it in the empty holster on his leg. Orion walked around his home one last time, his footsteps echoing through the house as he grabbed his bag to leave.