Chapter Text
Raphael (who would sometime later be known as Crawly then Crowley…not that time or foresight existed at this moment) was stretched out on a gaseous cloud admiring his handiwork. Well, not admiring, but fretting. Ever since that perky blond angel had told him the world was ending in some six thousand years he’d been increasingly frustrated.
What was the point? What was the meaning of it all? Why?
After the Heavenly High Council had ignored his questions, with a brusque no comment: he’d avoided their meetings. The Almighty was actively involved in her newest project, so she was apparently missing a lot of the meetings too. That was a lot of meetings to miss, but his colleagues liked to not listen to each other, so, while a lot was said, nothing was ever done. Maybe that was why She too was absent so much. He’d accepted his appointment to the High Council long ago: he’d wanted to be the voice of reason and to represent the lower echelons. The Heavenly High Council did not want reason, and they had definitely shown they did not care for the lesser members of the Heavenly Host. Raphael had recently heard some grumbling from the angels in his department that the manna rations had been cut again: there were also rumors of it being diluted.
At least the nebula and star nursery were pretty, but what was better was whom he could see fast approaching. He smiled at the sight of the familiar angel.
"Hello, there," the perky blond said. "Your nebula is still pretty. Have you made any more?"
"Still waiting for further instructions." Raphael’s smile faded at the sight of the scroll in the angel’s left hand. "That for me?"
"Yes it is. The Supreme Leader of Heaven, Archangel Gabriel asked me to deliver it to you. Imagine me, a lowly principality, being asked in person by the Sup…"
Raphael sputtered wildly, causing the other angel to stop talking. "What is a Supreme Leader? What is an Archangel? Heaven is a Republic!"
"The Archangel Council decided that republican democracy was too unwieldy, especially since the Almighty’s new project is about to go live. Exciting, isn’t it. You are an Archangel too, at least that’s what the Archangel Council said.."
"What’s this Archangel Council?"
"It's the council of Archangels, obviously."
"Obviously." Raphael held out his hand, and the other angel placed the scroll in his right hand. "Thank you for delivering this. Much appreciated. And you are not a lowly principality…" His voice faded as the other angel had flown away.
Raphael was still staring at the unrolled scroll when Samael fluttered down to sit beside him.
"Brother," the other angel said. He nodded toward the scroll. "I see you got one too."
"From the Archangel Fucking Gabriel."
"I don’t think anyone is," Samael said with a chuckle, then waved his hand. "Never mind, bad joke. I now wish I had attended all those meetings. But if the Almighty didn’t think they were important…"
"Or She didn’t want to be bored into another dimension?"
Samael chuckled. "Little Brother, keep that thought buried in the darkest corners of your mind. But, maybe I could have stopped this…Supreme Leader of Heaven? Some angels are more equal than others? It's a travesty."
***
He remembered. He remembered wanting answers. He remembered the pain and disorientation of Falling. He remembered the noise of the War, but the complete silence from the Almighty.
Most of all he remembered standing in seemingly endless lines, listening and watching as the new demons were admitted to Hell.
He remembered watching Samael, now Lucifer, torture those few demons who had been high ranking and powerful angels. Demons who might challenge him for the title of King of Hell. He heard one of those demons mutter, "When you play the game of thrones, you win, you are maimed and don’t die. At least I still exist." Raphael barely recognized the now disfigured demon as a Throne who had, once upon a time, been friends with Samael.
Rule one: friendship was not a good idea.
Rule two: Raphael did not exist anymore. His name was…Crawly. Nice and demeaning. Raphael could challenge Samael (Lucifer, remember it’s now Lucifer), Crawly didn’t have the power to do that.
He moved to another line further away from the new King of Hell and claimed to not remember who he was, but thought it was Crawly. He then spent an existence avoiding Lucifer after volunteering to "go up there and make some trouble." He remained on Earth and hoped Lucifer would eventually forget all about the Archangel Raphael whose only crime was asking questions and being seen with the wrong angels.