Chapter Text
In the beginning, there was nothing. And when the Father called for Light, He had also called for the first of His servants and children, the Dominions. For a long time, they had lived in harmony, but He had soon grown restless, and brought in all other kinds of angelic servants. Thrones, Authorities, and a slew of little Cherubs, who would go on to grow into Seraphs and Principalities. And, among Gabriel and his brothers and sisters, writhing in a downy feathery mass, some of them would become something entirely new.
The beginning of his life was full of lessons and play. One cherub-faced child looked the exact same as the other, and Gabriel would often get into trouble with his siblings, having their older siblings and mentors, the Dominions, chase them around all day.
When they were eventually old enough to have their role decided, Gabriel remembers he and his siblings being rounded up into a wide, open auditorium, and being called to stand near a platform, where the radiant visage of their Father stood upon a stand, hidden by a veil as to not blind everyone in the radius of His form. Gabriel remembers how neither he nor his siblings knew what was going on, but how the Dominions trembled with excitement. But, that might have been because the Father had made a rare appearance.
“My children,” He had said. “You are to be named a new legion of Angel. Ones that shall bring a new era of peace and prosperity. You will have a hand in my new Creation.”
Gabriel could only sit and stare in wonder, newly feathered wings trembling in excitement as the first of his siblings had been called up and named an Archangel. One step below Dominions. His brother, Michael, had been named the Hand of God, and when he would get older, he shall command the armies of heaven. It had made the child Gabriel excited for what he may be named. Others of his siblings went ahead, Raphael, Suriel, Remiel, and then he was ushered forward, by the Dominion Chastity.
He stood in front of crowds of curious angels, all wondering what the sharp eyed, keen Gabriel would be named. The Father judged Gabriel’s actions thus far, bringing forth his Virtues, calling upon his ability for patience, logic, even though he was but a child. And so, he was named the Archangel Gabriel, Will of God.
This, he was told, would make him God’s messenger. Gabriel didn’t expect for there to be an immediate shift as he turned into a teenager, as he was thrown into studies of etiquette, history, and, his favorite: training how to fight. Even though he was a designated messenger, he had requested to be taught the ways of a blade. Just in case. He had to argue with the Dominion Temperance to finally get permission to be taught how, but he managed to weasel his way into it. The first part of his training was hard, and he was knocked down often from the other archangels who had more experience, as he had joined late, but he began to pick it up quickly.
Much to the chagrin of the Dominions, who had expected him to get overwhelmed, but Gabriel quickly rose to the top of his class in terms of pure skill, might, and strength. He focused all of his free time into training his weight so he could always improve on his skill. He still did excellently in other subjects, but the divine art of the blade was his niche.
Of course, with all good events, comes other kinds of.. hardship. A Dominion had interrupted his studying to give him a message.
“Gabriel, your presence is required. You shall travel with me, and we will visit the wastes of Hell. We will visit the King Minos, and you shall learn your first lesson in real diplomacy, by speaking with a sinner. We shall leave at the break of tomorrow morning.”
“Yes sir, I will be ready before that time.” Gabriel nodded, turning back to the book he was reading, suddenly feeling anxious about the whole ordeal.
He knew that it was just a sinner, but still . It was his first try at actually talking to someone in some sort of position of power that wasn’t a Dominion. Someone he didn’t know. Gabriel put his book down, clasping his hands together in front of his veiled face in a short prayer to the Father. O Lord, calm my nerves.
The rest of the day left him feeling antsy, uncoordinated. It was even harder to focus through the rest of his studies than usual, and while he never made a ruckus, not even now, he found himself thinking about King Minos. What would he be like? Would he be animal-like, as many had described the denizens of Hell? Or would he be sophisticated? Gabriel thought about the King as he trekked all the way back to his room in heaven’s sixth sphere.
The sixth sphere. Where all of the important angels resided. The seventh sphere was dedicated to the Father himself, and was where all of the angelic politics took place. Gabriel had already spent many an hour doing mere busywork , becoming a glorified secretary, when he really wanted to be with his brother Michael and the other angels, who were designated leaders in battle. Oh well, his training was only once a week. Sometimes, though, he would look out the window during his studies and watch his brothers and sisters fence, practicing the divine art of the blade. Or, well, he never saw them using actual swords. Boring.
Regardless of that, Gabriel’s room in the sixth sphere was in a small house he shared with a couple of his siblings, other archangels who had their own duties they were learning upon. As they all grew older, they spent less of their time together, which was fine with Gabriel. He simply wanted to learn more, and do more. But at the current moment, after removing his toga and facial veil, which covered his angelic visage (as was a standard for any angel with a face), he found himself falling back in bed. Gabriel fell asleep to the gentle sound of windchimes and plush comfort.
Waking up from nondescript dreams into a day he knew was going to be hectic was a shift. Gabriel sat up, ramrod straight, from his bed, briefly pondering the time. He slid out of bed and began to dress himself, covering gilded black skin with his toga and veil, prepared for the day to go upon. Though, he felt as though this way of clothing was...inappropriate to meet a king with.
“This... may not do.” Gabriel trailed off.
Such deliberation over what was surely an inane topic fizzled out upon the knock that came at his door. On opening the door, Gabriel was met with the veiled face of the Dominion Chastity. They greeted each other with a customary bow, Gabriel wishing good morning, before Chastity began to speak.
“For your descent into Hell and its layers, we have bestowed upon you a gift for your excellent study record and... training. Please follow me.”
Gabriel nodded, and followed the Dominion as they walked out of his house and down the street towards the armory. Why would they be heading there? Gabriel could only wonder as Chastity held the door open for him to step inside, the rolling heat of the forge immediately making him sweat. He was led through the short hall of the forge, into a much cooler room used for storage. Gabriel stood, feeling a little useless, in the door frame as Chastity moved about the room, finding a stand covered with a cloth.
“Gabriel,” The aforementioned archangel hummed in response to his name. “Please go outside to the back, where the practice arena is. I will meet you there.”
“Okay.” Gabriel said simply.
He felt a shock of anxiety as he moved away from the door, trudging through the empty halls of the armory and out into the back, where neat rows of practice swords and wooden shields lay, shoved against the marble walls gently. Gabriel didn’t quite know what to expect, knowing already that a gift from the Dominions could seem nice, but seem rather backhanded in nature. Such was how higher Angels operated.
The birds chirped in the background, accentuating the gentle rustle of the leaves in the light of day. It was always a perfect midsummer day in the spheres of Heaven, and part of Gabriel longed for change. When Chastity walked back out of the large open door with a big bundle, it seemed that change was about to stare him in the face.
“What’s this?” Gabriel asked, curiosity inflecting through his tone. He couldn’t help it.
“Just wait and see.”
The taller angel unveiled the large stand, and Gabriel gasped at the set of holy armor. Polished steel and golden brass came together to form a set, topped with a helmet of holy measures, sporting a cross in the center. Tassets hung from the breastplate of the polished cuirass, and large pauldrons accentuated Gabriel’s maturing figure. A simple skirt and loincloth covered his lower regions, but not in a way that would restrict his movement.
It looked comfortable, breathable. This armor was everything Gabriel ever wanted.
“As to prepare you for your first mission to Hell, us Dominions sought out to forge a holy set of armor, blessed by the Father himself.”
Gabriel grinned. “Finally listened to my request for armor, right?”
If Chastity’s face was visible, Gabriel was dead certain that the other angel was rolling all of his eyes. “Upon your insistence ,” he said, “We thought it would be nice to get you a gift. Go put it on.”
Gabriel laughed, nodding. He took the bundle of armor and carried it over to one of the prep rooms, framed with chestnut colored wood and light stone walls. Inside of the room was some benches, coat hooks, and small cubbies, often used to store clothing. Gabriel removed his veil and toga, becoming naked in the small room. Starting with the skirt, to at least become decent, he slid up the skirt and loincloth, fastening it with the belt provided.
He then moved on to the armor, clipping on guards, knee braces, braces and rerebraces, as well as pauldrons. He slid on the metallic sabatons, finding that they weren’t as uncomfortable as he thought they might be, and that they fit. Then, he attached both sides of the cuirass, strapping it into place. With giddy movements that better fit him as a small child, he all but jammed the helmet on, making sure to be gentle against his inhuman features.
He found that he could see clearly through the helmet, somehow, and that his wings unfurled through the slots in the backplate. He looked holy, and felt downright divine . Calming himself down, Gabriel smoothed his now gloved hands over his armor, folded up his toga and veil, and walked back outside to face Chastity.
The Dominion clasped his hands together in appreciation. “Gabriel! That looks wonderful on you.” Chastity complimented.
Gabriel felt a little flushed at the praise. “Thank you.” he muttered.
“Before we leave, there is one last gift.” Chastity spoke. “In your lessons, you should have learned how to harness your Holy Light into teleporting yourself, as well as objects and other angels. Do you remember how?”
Gabriel thought for a second, before nodding at the Dominion.
“Right. Teleport us to the forge, please.”
Gabriel drew closer to the Dominion, gently holding the hand of Chastity. Together, they disappeared in a flash of holy yellow light. Then, just as instantly, reappearing at the gates of a large forge. Chastity nodded in approval, before leading the giddy Gabriel inside of the forge to receive his second gift.
The two angels walked past many lesser angels, doing their jobs, reinforcing or forging new holy weapons and armor for many of Heaven’s angelic army. Though, it had been quite a while since the armies of Heaven had to face any sort of enemy. Busywork, he supposed.
Chastity held open a door into a well lit room, wooden beams securing the frame with stone brickwork behind it, giving the space of the pentagon-shaped room depth. The far corner had a curtain for a door, which blocked some of the outside from coming inside, but windows on the roof still filled the room with ambient, holy light.
In the center of the room lay another cloth, over a long, narrow bundle. At the gesture of Chastity, Gabriel drew forward, encouraged to remove the cloth, revealing two long, slender blades with spirals along the handles, designed to hook the swords together in a throwing motion. One of the blades was yellow; the other blue, and their scabbards had their names written on them. Justice is Splendor. Splendor is Justice. Gabriel picked up the blades with childish fervor, slotting the two scabbards onto his right hip, and putting the swords in their rightful sheaths.
He felt complete, and in control of himself. He would still serve the Father, but Gabriel felt like he had achieved his new purpose. To carry out God’s Will did not always facilitate the need for a non-imposing figure.
“Alright, since you have received your gift, let us commence. We will descend to the Gates of Hell, where you will meet Humility, who will take you to the layer of Lust to meet King Minos, Judge of Hell.” Chastity spoke, with a grace to his words.
Gabriel nodded. “Let us descend.” He spoke.