Chapter Text
There existed several entrances to hell. Some consisted of grandiose gates guarded by the meanest of hellhounds, others were small and dark, with damp walls so pressed together that they barely offered enough room for a single person to squeeze through. There were some that were far more mundane looking, simple wooden doors that lead to hell’s main office area. This was the type of hellish entrance that the Archangel Gabriel was currently using.
It wasn’t every day that he visited hell, and rarer was the occasion in which he used one of the public entrances. So now he had to deal with the gawking demons, who despite Gabriel’s best efforts to appear intimidating and unapproachable, were all openly staring at him.
This was not where he wished to be. If it were up to him, he’d be back in his own office finishing the last of the century turn files. But instead he found himself standing outside Lord Beelzebub’s office, waiting to be let in. A scaled demon with sharp teeth informed him with a dry voice that the prince was currently busy, and that he would have to wait until they were available.
Gabriel huffed, irritated. It was just like them to call him into an official meeting and then force him to wait outside the office door. Considering for a moment, Gabriel chose not to take a seat on one of the waiting chairs, fearing that whatever slimy substance currently coated their surface would soil his impeccable suit.
Gabriel didn’t understand demons. Just because they were the cast-off rejects of formerly imperfect angels didn’t mean they had to live in squalor. Yet they seemed to revel in making themselves as far as possible from the clean, beautiful angels they had once been.
He couldn’t wait for the war, when he could bleach the filthy demonic stain out of the fabric of existence.
The interior door swung open.
“Come in,” said a voice like the swarm of a thousand flies. Gabriel pasted on a toothy corporate smile.
As he entered, he was surrounded by a cloud of excited flies that alighted on his clothing and hair, crawling into his sleeves and up his face. He resisted the urge to shudder in revulsion and slap himself all over. Clearly Beelzebub’s goal was for him to make a spectacle of himself trying to swat away the flies. There were probably hidden cameras so the demons could watch and laugh.
Well, Gabriel wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of reacting to the flies. He was not the type of angel who played games on others’ terms.
Sure enough, after a long minute of standing stoically, the cloud retreated. Gabriel made a mental note to burn his suit as soon as he got back to Heaven. Shame, it was his favorite scarf too.
“Beelzebub!” he boomed in the friendliest tone he could muster. “Lovely to see you again. How are things down here?”
Beelzebub, slouched in their throne with a mountain of papers on their desk, barely glanced up at him.
“I don’t have time for small talk, Gabriel,” they buzzed, looking bored and already done with this conversation. “Unlike some people, I’m very busy. Get to the bloody point.”
Gabriel didn’t allow his irritation to show on his face.
“Believe me, I’ve got plenty on my plate, too,” he assured them. “The disappearances have everyone on edge, and all the lesser angels need reassurance and support from their leaders.”
Beelzebub scoffed. “My demons are self-reliant. They don’t need hand holding. They know how to fend for themselves, and if they can’t protect themselves, it’s their own fault.”
“Well, maybe if you kept a better eye on them, they wouldn’t be going missing,” Gabriel said coldly.
“And how’s that working out for you, trumpet boy?” Beelzebub smirked, clearly enjoying Gabriel’s indignant spluttering.
After a moment, Beelzebub apparently decided to take pity on him. “It is strange,” they acknowledged, resting their chin on one hand. “It isn’t just the Earth agents that are going missing. We’ve had at least eleven disappearances in the last year of demons in the middle of their shifts, who had been accounted for only minutes before.”
Gabriel nodded in agreement. “We’ve had six angels go missing in the same time frame, some of them simply vanishing from empty rooms. Various ranks and positions, no apparent pattern. Not even any witnesses. And so far, none of them have been seen since.”
“Do we agree that blaming each other’s side would be a waste of time, since we seem to be in the same boat?” Beelzebub eyed Gabriel shrewdly. “You wouldn’t come down here to accuse me of something without Michael to protect your ass, so I take it you’re proposing we work together to find our missing people?”
Gabriel bristled, puffing up like an irritable bird. “I don’t lower myself to working with demons ,” he said caustically. “I wouldn’t trust your kind to help me find my keys, much less a missing angel. I’m only suggesting an exchange of information. We will investigate separately, and if one of us finds a lead, we will inform the other. Does that sound reasonable?”
Beelzebub smirked slightly. “It sounds like you’re too far up your own feathered ass to suck up your pride and actually ask me for help. You high-and-mighty holy wankers are too concerned with your own self-importance to actually do what’s best for your people. I hope you can find your missing angels on your own, but until then, you’re welcome to take a flying leap off that high horse of yours and land in a pit of dung.”
Gabriel drew himself up and seethed in rage, lightning flashing in his eyes. “Now you listen here-”
In one instant, Gabriel was there. In the next, he was gone. He had vanished without a trace in a split second.
Beelzebub blinked for a moment in the sudden silence. They had been thoroughly enjoying winding up the archangel, and was now both surprised and slightly put out that the show was over so soon.
Then they shrugged and went back to the pile of paperwork on their desk. Unlike some angels, they were very busy.
It took Gabriel a few moments to regain his bearings. His head was still swimming as a result of the unexpected relocation, and his brain had yet to catch up with his body.
Blinking several times to clear the lingering fog, Gabriel took in the room he was currently in. He often prided himself in having excellent taste and this place certainly met his standards. The room was built with luxury in mind, with a wide range of ornaments and tapestries decorating every inch of available space. The rug he was currently laying on was soft and clean, as if no one had ever walked on it, the ceiling was made of dark polished wood that was held up by intricately carved beams. Behind him burned a fireplace that illuminated everything with its flickering light, and cast dark shadows to dance on the wooden walls, making the entire room feel alive.
Heart thundering in his chest, Gabriel slowly stood up, tense and anxious while what must have been hundreds of dead eyes stared back at him. The walls were covered in animals, many of which he recognized and some that he did not. They varied in size and colour, some carrying large horns on their heads and covered with fur, others small and feathered, but none of them seemed to be moving. They were all frozen in place, posed to convey a mimicry of life.
A chill ran up his spine, despite the heat of the fire.
"Ah! There he is, the guest of honor!"
Quickly turning towards the voice, Gabriel saw a man enter the room through a previously unnoticed door. The first impression Gabriel had of the man was that he was human, the second was that he was very large, his bulk easily towering over the archangel. The third was that he must be quite old, judging by the graying hair and beard, and the deep lines framing his face. Despite the cheery voice and smile, Gabriel did not miss the sharpness in the man's eyes.
"Please, take a seat. Make yourself comfortable." The man addressed him as if he were an old friend, with a sort of familiarity that made Gabriel uneasy.
As he had done in Beelzebub's office, Gabriel remained standing. If he would not lower himself when speaking to a high ranking demon, he would not offer such courtesy to a measly human.
Unbothered by being ignored, the human man sat down on a large plush seat, and continued speaking in the same cheerful voice.
"Now, you must be understandingly confused, and I apologize for such a rude arrival, but please allow me to introduce myself. I am Lord Edward Garing, and I welcome you into my home."
Gabriel crossed his arms and huffed, refusing to offer his own name in return. He was not in the mood to play along this strange charade.
A slight frown creased across the man's brow as he dropped his smile. Sighing disappointedly he turned to a table to his right where an intricately crafted glass decanter lay next to two small matching cups. The man continued speaking as he poured the amber liquid into each glass.
"I understand you must feel a bit put out at the moment, but that is no reason to ignore simple manners," taking each drink in hand, he extended one in Gabriel's direction with an amicable smile. "Now, would you do me the courtesy of introducing yourself."
Ignoring the offering, Gabriel took a step forward as he glared down at the man.
"You must have quite the nerve for a human, to call me down here to this miserable place and not even know who I am."
The same sour expression flashed on the man's face before it quickly disappeared under a neutral mask, and he set the drinks back down on the table with more force than necessary.
"I'm afraid that I am not too knowledgeable in the business of angels, it is not my area of expertise. But I do know that you're an archangel, and with quite a high rank as well. So please, do forgive me if I have offended you."
Uneasiness settled in the pit of Gabriel's stomach. The man must be the person who summoned him, but such a thing was impossible without at least knowing the angel's name. He quickly searched the ground, looking for the signs of a summoning circle, but underneath him lay uninterrupted carpeting with no indication of having anything hidden beneath.
Further unsettled by these discoveries, Gabriel took another step closer to the man, who only stared back at him with the same impassive expression.
"I don't know what your plan or intentions are, human. But I don't wish to take part in them either way. So if you'll excuse me, I'll be taking my leave."
Certain that he'd made his point clear, Gabriel lifted his hand and snapped his fingers, already imagining what a nightmare the paperwork for an unauthorized visit to earth would be.
But nothing happened.
Confused, Gabriel snapped his fingers again in quick succession. But still nothing changed. No matter how hard he tried to perform the miracle, he stayed in place.
When Gabriel looked back at the human man, he was no longer seated. Instead, he stood right in front of Gabriel, a predatory gleam in his eyes as he stared at the panicking archangel.
"There's no need to be so rude. You deny my hospitality and refuse to be civil, so I will do you the same favour. Let's cut to the chase."
He clapped his hands and, using the same door the man had entered through earlier, several men entered the room.
Soon, Gabriel found himself surrounded. There were about half a dozen human men, all wearing what looked to be expensive tailored clothes, their hair and complexion perfectly groomed and clean. All of them carried the same air of superiority that lingered around wealthy humans.
"I wished to make this a more comfortable ordeal for you, to properly explain what your new role is to be. But you're a big lad, I'm sure you'll catch on. Kneel."
Gabriel felt the command hit him with full force, sending him down to his knees. Gasping for air, he looked up with fear at the men as they approached.
He was completely trapped, his powers bound and worst of all, even without a summoning circle, the human had power over him. Gabriel would never claim to be the most knowledgeable when it came to arcana and magic, but he was sure that this should not be possible. And yet it was.
Soon the other humans were upon him pinning his already prone body down and forcing his face into the ground. Gabriel tried to push them off, but with his power suppressed he was no stronger than any man in this room.
Effortlessly they resisted his best attempts to free himself as the man, Garic- Garlic- whatever his name was, walked carelessly over him, and headed toward the fireplace. Gabriel felt his blood freeze at the sight of the bright red iron pole he pulled out of the flames, and he doubled his efforts when he saw the man approach him, burning metal in hand.
"Stop! Stop this at once!" Gabriel hated the desperation he could hear in his own voice.
The man stopped before him, a soft chuckle twisting into a sneer as he leaned down to face Gabriel.
"I'm afraid that you don't have any power here, archangel."
A strong hand forced Gabriel's cheek harder against the carpet as another pulled at the collar of his suit, exposing his neck.
Gabriel had no time to prepare himself for the searing agony that was pressed against his skin.
Writhing against the grip of his captors, Gabriel desperately tried to get away from the source of pain, but it was to no avail. A scream ripped itself from his throat and past his clenched teeth as the brand was held against his nape.
Even when the smoldering metal was no longer making contact with his flesh, Gabriel could still feel it there, burning itself into his corporation and deeper.
Finally the men released him and let him collapse into a shuddering heap on the floor.
"This will all be easier for you if you cooperate, but I'm sure my friends wouldn't mind a bit of a challenge." The men shared a careless chuckle. Over what they were laughing Gabriel wasn't sure, nothing humorous had been said since he arrived in this wretched place.
Struggling through the lingering waves of pain, Gabriel rose to his feet. Choking down the bitter resentment as best he could, he addressed the man who was clearly responsible for this whole ordeal.
"You are a fool if you think you'll get away with this. Heaven is not as merciful as you humans think, and neither am I."
Cold gray eyes turned to look at him, their mirth and excitement casting a dangerous glint into his gaze.
"I'm counting on it."
The human, Garing, turned to two of his companions and waved dismissively in Gabriel's direction. "Take it to Erica, get it ready for tonight. Make sure she doesn't go overboard."
“What are you doing?” Gabriel shouted as the two men grabbed his arms and manhandled him towards another door. “Unhand me this instant!”
His angelic strength gone, even the physical strength of his corporation failed him as he was forced into the room. One of the men kicked his legs out from under him, and he collapsed into an armchair. Before he could stand, his arms and legs had been tied down tightly.
Gabriel jerked uselessly at the ropes as his eyes adjusted to the darker room. There were still trophies on these walls, but not of animals. Several sets of curved horns, clearly not of Earthly origin, were mounted on plaques with dates inscribed. Entire demon heads in their animal aspects, with fangs and glowing eyes, hung from the walls with their faces twisted into macabre rictus grins.
Worst of all, in a place of honor above the unlit fireplace, a pair of pristine white wings.
Gabriel was nearly sick. He couldn’t stand to picture it, couldn’t stop picturing it, an angel with such a crucial piece of its essence ripped away from it, the unimaginable pain and the screaming of a soul torn to shreds, kept in the physical plane afterwards as a depraved trophy.
Gabriel had little hope that the poor angel had survived the ordeal. In fact, he hoped it hadn’t, that it had died long before its wings were removed and been spared the agony of ethereal vivisection.
Another human entered through the door. This one was smaller and slimmer than the others, and while Gabriel had a hard time judging the amount of time a human could live he could tell that this one must be younger than the brutes that had manhandled him. Despite their differences, this one was also dressed in the same expensive clothing, and carried an obnoxious aura around them. Long, straw coloured hair was pulled into a braid behind their head, and while their features were much softer and thinner than that of the man Garing, they had the same piercing gray eyes.
"Wow, you really are different from the others," They moved about the room with the same graceful movements of a cat, waiting for any sign of weakness to strike. "No matter, they all scream the same anyway."
Pointedly glaring at the disgusting display mounted on the wall, Gabriel addressed the human. " That is your doing?"
"Yes! Some of my best work I must say," They ran their fingers through the feathers, a small wistful smile on their lips, "But it wasn't just me, my uncle took down the beast - my job is to preserve his trophies, make them beautiful."
Gabriel wanted nothing more than to pull the human's touch away from the desecrated wings, the burning fury he felt building within him making the lingering burn on his neck pale in comparison.
"Stop that! Don't you dare touch them!"
The human redirected their attention back to Gabriel, their hand still resting on the same spot. "Does it upset you? I'm not hurting it. It's already dead, see?"
There was nothing Gabriel could do other than stare in horror as the human grabbed a handful of feathers and pulled, ripping them all out and letting them fall gently to the ground. Carelessly kicking them out of the way, the human approached Gabriel, holding up one feather between their fingers.
"They're real pretty, aren't they? Too bad most of the feathers have a bad habit of falling off, I keep having to glue them back on. I've gotten quite good at it by now.
That's how they found it, you know. Stupid thing didn't realize it had left a trail, and all my uncle had to do was follow the pretty feathers."
Gabriel let out a furious scream, throwing himself against his restraints, he tried to reach the human. How dare they talk about his fellow angels this way, how dare they touch their sacred bodies as if they owned them.
Anger was not an unfamiliar emotion to Gabriel, he had felt it many times before as a smoldering fire or a raging flame. But he had never understood what differentiated it from wrath, what made it a capital sin.
Now he understood.
Wrath was a burning inferno searching to obliterate everything in its path. Gabriel spat and cursed in every single language stored in his memory, promising endless agonizing pain and suffering. He could feel his power begging to be released, the static charge making every hair stand on edge.
Gabriel couldn't help the immense satisfaction he felt when he saw the fear in the humans eyes, the way they cautiously backed away as if cowering from a dangerous predator.
Once again, Gabriel was consumed by white hot pain originating from the back of his neck. Wave after wave of agony made his muscles seize and spasm, stopping his outburst. He had no way of knowing how long it lasted, but finally after what felt like centuries, the pain subsided leaving behind a lingering aftershock.
Struggling through a painful haze, Gabriel became aware of a metallic taste coating his mouth , and the sharp smell of ozone permeating the room.
There were more humans in the room now. Catching sight of several hateful eyes glaring down at him, Gabriel glared back, willing all of his own resentment and anger to over power the fear he could feel trying to grip at his insides.
A grasping hand pressed down on his neck, forcing his head down against his knees and stretching his back into a painful position.
"This one definitely has more bite, good thing we took some precautions," The same painful grip grabbed a handful of his hair, forcing his head to turn and look up at his captors. "You're going to regret that, beast."
The slender human came back into view, holding a long metal device in their hands. Gabriel didn't have enough time to figure out what exactly it was that they were holding before his face was being pressed into his knees again. More hands joined in the efforts of holding him down, pressing on his shoulders, his already tied arms and his back.
His panic only grew once he felt his jacket and shirt pulled up to expose his skin, a hand fell between his shoulder blades, rendering him immobile.
"Bring out your wings." It was unmistakably Garing's voice, and the command pulled within him, forcing him to obey. Fighting against the compulsion, Gabriel yelled and struggled, trying to hold on as long as possible.
A horrifying vision flooded Gabriel's mind, of his own wings ripped from his body, mounted on a wall and put on display next to the poor angel that came before him. He could imagine it happening again after they were finished with him, how they would just summon another unsuspecting angel away from their heavenly duties, they would find themselves in this strange terrifying place with no hope of being found, no chance of rescue. How many angels would meet this same fate?
Gabriel felt his chest tighten with grief, at the angels that had already been taken. How scared they must have been.
Unwilling tears fell from Gabriel's eyes as he finally relented to the pressure and released his wings into the physical plane - he let loose a wretched wail as he felt them manifest against his will. The feeling of violation only worsened when greedy, cruel fingers dug into his feathers, pinning his wings down.
Struggling with all his might, Gabriel managed to release one of his wings, knocking the humans back and furiously flapping his wings in a desperate effort to keep them from grabbing hold again.
The all consuming pain returned, radiating from his neck down to the rest of his body. Wave after wave of unrelenting punishment locked his joints in place, making any sort of movement almost impossible. Despite the cloud of agony that had overpowered his mind, Gabriel still felt the moment one of his feathers was ripped from his body.
Cold metal gripped at the base of his primaries and pulled them from the root, taking much more than just physical blood and bone with them. Gabriel could hear a distant wailing that he struggled to recognize as his own voice - pleading and begging and cursing, desperate to make the pain stop.
When the pain finally let up and he regained control over his extremities, Gabriel tucked his wings close to his body, making himself as small as possible.
A taunting, high voice whispered next to his ear, "Told you, they all scream the same."
Gabriel had no strength left to answer. He offered no resistance as his binds were unmade and he was pulled from the chair. As they left the room, Gabriel tried to glance back and catch sight of his feathers, shock and disbelief refusing to let him believe that they had really been taken from him. They were past the door and gone before he got the chance.
Worn out and exhausted, Gabriel let his torn wings drag behind him as he was pulled through the mansion. He lost track of the corridors, staircases and doors they went through, barely registering the world around him. Finally they reached what seemed to be the main entrance, which was just as lavishly and excessively decorated as the rest of the house. The grand doors stood open, looking out at the darkness beyond.
Garing and his posey were just beyond the doors, all still sporting their elaborate clothes and smug faces. For a moment Gabriel felt his anger try to bubble back into the surface, but it was quickly tempered down by his anxiety and trepidation.
Once the humans caught sight of him they all cheered, waving their hands in invitation. Gabriel felt his heart thud against his chest as he noticed what the men were holding.
Guns.
Human weapons that he was unfortunately familiar with. While he had never seen one in person before, he had read many reports of humans dying after a single hit of their fire. The death could be almost instantaneous, or could linger on for days - slowly poisoning their blood and bodies until they died.
No human made weapon was capable of truly killing an angel, but yet again, it shouldn't be possible to summon one without their name, or at least a summoning circle.
Gabriel shuddered as Garing approached him and threw his arm over his shoulder, forcing his garments to fall through his wings and cover his back once more. The human fiddled with Gabriel's collar, adjusting it to his satisfaction and smoothed out the front, not caring for the golden ichor that stained his hands and seeped into his clothes.
"My dear friend, I'm so glad you are now ready to join us," Garing gripped the back of his neck and turned him towards the men. "Aren't we, boys?!"
A cheer rose from the small crowd. Gabriel noticed that they were all armed in similar fashion, each man was carrying a weapon that varied in shape and size - but all of them recognizable as firearms.
Dragging him along, Garing walked past the illuminated grounds near the front of the mansion, and headed towards the tall, dark woods that seemed to surround the property from all directions. Stopping at the edge of the trees, he gave Gabriel a hard shove, pushing him in the direction of the forest.
Shell shocked, Gabriel stood there under the gaze of a dozen human men, their eyes gleaming with malicious intent.
"You better get running, Birdy. But don't worry, we'll give you a head start."
Taking a couple of tumbling steps backwards, Gabriel turned to look at the forest. His fear drowned out the voices of the men as his heart thundered in his ears.
The shadowed roots and branches seemed to stretch and grasp towards him, the gaping darkness between the trees threatened to swallow him whole.
Gabriel's wounded pride cried out along with the terror fogging his brain. He would never admit that despite all of the horrors and challenges he'd overcome, there was still one undeniable truth. The archangel Gabriel was scared of the dark.
Hot, sharp pain bloomed from Gabriel's shoulder as a loud sound cut through the silence. Gabriel clutched his shoulder, doubling over in pain. He looked down at his hand, surprised to find more golden ichor mixed in with the red blood leaking from the wound - the human had managed to do harm past his corporation and into his true self.
Panic finally overrode his senses, pumping his body full of adrenaline and pushing past the paralyzing fear and exhaustion.
As he ran, Gabriel could hear the humans jeering and laughing behind him. A few more shots were fired, landing dangerously close to Gabriel and hitting the surrounding trees. Causing chips and splinters to fly into the air and scratch at Gabriel's face and hands.
Ignoring the pain the best he could, the archangel ran blindly, deeper into the forest.