Caught in the Fire

Chapter XXIV: In The Beginning

Samael, by my hand, and by my sword, may you finally find redemption—the fallen angel heard Michael's prayer as he ran into The Silver City.

The fallen angel had just left Michael behind at the gates to fight demons while he searched for the root of his Hell Loop. He hadn't seen any demons in all his time here, but maybe it was the Hell Loop messing with his head again. He needed to find the root of his guilt, forgive himself, and finally walk out of this Hell Loop. But more importantly, he needed to help the Detective deal with her guilt and prevent her from becoming trapped in a Hell Loop herself in the hopefully distant future. That, alone, was worth revisiting The Silver City.

So, he looked around, taking in the sights for the first time in eons. There were tall, domed, silver towers and buildings, archways connecting different buildings, and pools and fountains of crystal-clear water. The sky was full of stars, showing neither night nor day, and he remembered lighting every single one of them with Michael. In the distance, he could see God's throne on high: a domed tower standing miles and miles above The Silver City, with an impossibly long stairway leading up to it. He remembered the last time he was in there, and he quickly brushed that thought aside.

He walked past a pool and caught his reflection out of the corner of his eye. Something didn't look right, so he went to take a closer look. "Oh, Bloody Hell." He was as naked as the day he was created, and his hair was long, around shoulder-length, showing off its natural curls. His stubble was completely gone as well. He unfurled his wings and slowly looked over his shoulder, dreading what he'd find. Instead of those hideous, crimson wings, he could see his white, feathery wings. They were his original pair; the ones he had Maze sever on that beach, and the ones he burned to ashes on that same beach.

"Samael," he said as he stared, horrified, at his reflection, "The root of my Hell Loop has something to do with Samael."

The subject of Samael always brought back painful memories, like Dad being Dad, The Rebellion, stabbing Michael, getting thrown out of his home, and burning in a lake of fire. It all came rushing back when he saw his reflection. He looked toward the gates, thinking about his brother fighting for his freedom against all those demons.

"I... I'm not sure if I can do this, Michael."

***

Michael stood alone before the army of Heaven in front of The Silver City gates, wielding twin swords, buying time for Lucifer to find the root of his Hell Loop. He imagined that Samael felt the same way when he led his rebellion; one against an army for the sake of his cause. But even though he was rebelling against God, just as Samael did, the rebel wasn't fighting angels this time. They were the armies of Hell disguised as his siblings in his brother's Hell Loop.

"Hey, I think we got his attention," Dromos said in the guise of Michael himself, wearing dark blue dress pants, black dress shoes, a black turtleneck, and brown tweed jacket. He gestured to the demons surrounding him, who stopped just short of the gates. "We've known you were coming for centuries. When Cain just happened to fly off to Heaven, we knew you'd arrived, and we just couldn't wait to say hi."

"Cain is in Heaven?" Michael remembered how distraught Lucifer was at the thought that Cain would go to Heaven with his victims, and the only reason he even considered letting him go was because Cain might still go to Hell. "No," he ardently denied, the prospect of Cain in Heaven being too much to bear, "You are lying, demon! My Father would never allow Cain into Heaven."

"I'm just telling you what I saw," Dromos said with a shrug, "A bright light shot out of the sky and hit Lucifer's cell. We came running and found Mazikeen guarding Lucifer's cell while you did your thing inside. She put up one Hell of a fight. Pun intended. Lucifer was still in the Hell Loop, but Cain was gone. He flew off to Heaven, little angel. You might want to go get him."