Good Omens: Our New Beginning (Bad Omens Prequel Novella)

Epilogue

(Below is a segment from Book 11, Our New Beginning 2, and I decided to add it in here because Archangel Gabriel is crucial to this story and it makes since that his origin, or rather, what gets him to book 1 is crucial to this prequel story.) Also I'll leave the things I was going to add separate....it's better to just consider them like the mini flashback segments in the show.)

What gets Gabriel on the path that leads to where he is at Book 1? Here's the answer:

Alpha Centauri, many years ago…..

Everything was light, which made sense because it was a star. Or at least, one of the stars of Alpha Centauri. And said star was the home of two celestial beings. Archangel Gabriel and Beezlebub, a former Duke of Hell and the Lord of the Flies. The pair hadn't been living here for long, at least to a celestial being, three years passed in a blink of an eye and it had been a wonderful time regardless how quickly it passed. It was nice to just be together and talk about things other than work, which was all they ever knew and whenever they ran out of subjects to talk about,  which they often did, they would just sit on a light beam and enjoy each other's company and listen to the jukebox that Gabriel miracled just for them. 

Every day was the same on Alpha Centauri. Everyday Gabriel and Bee would just talk, hold hands, and sing to Buddy Holly's "Everyday". Gabriel loved that. He wanted to keep doing that every day for the rest of eternity but he had been longing for something more. He didn't care for Alpha Centauri anymore. Too much open space. Too much white. Something else was missing but he didn't know what. Maybe he and Bee could go somewhere more like Aziraphale’s bookshop…..make a place called a….a….what did humans call it? Oh right, a home. Gabriel wanted a home. The bookshop felt like a home. He remembered that from the last time he was there. Home. That's what drew him there when he was trying to find Beezlebub. A sense of belonging somewhere with someone who cared for you. Heaven never felt like that. 

Archangel Gabriel wanted a home with Lord Beezlebub. 

"Beezlebub?" Gabriel called out to the dark clothed figure standing at the very edge of the star. They were staring out into the void of space, gazing at the millions of other stars glinting in the distance. 

"There you are! I couldn't find you and I got worried. I have something to tell you." 

Beezlebub didn't answer. "Beezlebub, is everything okay?"

"I have something to tell you, Gabriel." The tone in their voice made it clear that they were not okay. 

"Whatever it is, you can tell me. You know I'll do whatever I can to help you."

Beezlebub turned and met his loving purple gaze. "I've been meeting with Dagon…..and I want to go back to Hell." 

Gabriel looked at them as if they slapped him. "You….what?" 

 "Please understand, it's not you. It's just….I've felt so odd recently. Bored. That's the word. Bored. I feel like I have no purpose. In Hell I have a purpose."

"You said you didn't want to choose sides anymore." Gabriel rasped feebly. 

"This is bigger than choosing sides!" Beezlebub snapped. "Whether we stay or go, there will always be Heaven and Hell. I used to have a place in the natural order of things. I belonged somewhere and I had a purpose.

"I thought we belonged together and I thought I was your purpose." 

"Gabriel, I-" 

"Why go back when we can build a home together?" Gabriel asked, desperation in his voice. "A proper one? We can leave Alpha Centauri and find a place on Earth, or we can stay here if you like with no humans and we'll make a home-" 

"Gabriel!" Beezlebub cut him off. Gabriel fell silent as Beezlebub replied, "I have also developed feelings for Dagon…."

Gabriel felt his chest ache, as if something inside was breaking,  "What?" 

"We've been getting….reacquainted….and we developed unexpected feelings for each other. He's on the Dark Council and he assured me that getting my position back won't be difficult."

"It sounds like you made up your mind." Gabriel rasped. 

Beezlebub nodded. “Dagon informed me that Heaven is moving forward with their plans for Armageddon-”

“Again?” Gabriel interrupted. “Even after the attempt of the Second Coming failed? Not to mention that Armageddon failed the first time despite everything that was done to prepare for it? Is any of this worth it now?” Gabriel reached out and clasped their hands, silently imploring them to reconsider. 

Beezlebub stared at him without blinking. “The whole point of all of this was to fight for complete dominion over this universe and to destroy the Earth. It will eventually outlive its usefulness. And whether or not we lose or win it doesn't matter. Armageddon is going to happen regardless. It won't even matter if those two idiots prevent it from happening over and over again. It will happen. Eventually. And the winner will get to do whatever they please with this universe so Hell has every intention of winning the War.”

“So that's it then?” Gabriel demanded. “You're just going to leave?”

Beezlebub nodded, "The sooner things get back to normal the better. I'm sorry Gabriel. I truly am. But I will say this, your best chances of surviving the oncoming War is by going back to Heaven. At least you will be safe there. Especially since Heaven will most likely put you on desk duty for the foreseeable future. Thanks to the traitors, our plans have been delayed but we're hoping that if we work alongside the Archangels, we can maybe get things going within thirty years or less.” Gabriel felt as if something had snapped inside of him as Beezlebub yanked her hands away and disappeared in a burst of flame. 

Not even twenty-four hours had passed when Archangel Gabriel, with tears still in his eyes, returned to Heaven's Headquarters and asked the Metatron for a desk job. Metatron welcomed him back with open arms and fortunately decided to not wipe his memory as it was a huge failure the last time. However, as Beezlebub predicted, Gabriel would be confined to desk duty and put on a twenty year probation period with strict supervision from Sandalphon. Metatron would even begin discussions about him getting Aziraphale’s old job on Earth since no one else wanted to do it. 

Gabriel didn't even bother to put up a fight nor resist. He didn't even flinch at the hostile looks he received upon his return. 

Nothing mattered anymore.

The End......for now....

(Since the reading count just made it to 15.4k I wanted to go ahead and add a plug in to the sequel to this story, Bad Omens. Check my reading list, I put all of my Good Omens stuff there to help me organize and keep track of the story. It's called Bad Omens (The Final Cut/ Definitive Version). It had several rewrites hence the title. But it picks up 25 years after this story.)

Enjoy and thank you all.