Trouble With The Trickster || Gabriel - Supernatural

-39-

As we entered the building, it was eerily quiet - way too quiet for a place that contained the eldest of the archangels, my own mother and a dozen or so more demons on the side. Basically, despite our earlier bravery, all three of us were scared and jumpy at every creak of the floorboards. Luci tried to stay calm but even he flinched at the screech of the door hinges and held his breath at every corner.

I still don't know why we didn't charge in. They already knew we were there and could no doubt sense exactly where we were in the building but I guess the element of surprise was already lost so there was no point in trying to find it again. Besides, it gave us time to compose ourselves as we climbed the staircase, cautiously checking behind every door and in every room in case they'd prepared a trap - they hadn't.

We finally reached the topmost room in the building; the room from which I could sense great surging power; the room I probably didn't want to be entering; the room which contained my mother, my eldest uncle and a host of demons of indefinite relation to me. I hesitated as we stood outside the door, clenching Gabe's hand in my tight fist and probably cutting off any blood flowing through it but he managed to squeeze back, kissing the top of my head before Luci pushed open the door and lead us inside.

At first, I had to let my vessel's eyes adjust to the dimly lit room before us. It was vast, spanning the entirety of the top floor minus the stairwell, and shrouded in shadows but, with only quiet footsteps announcing his presence, a younger looking man stepped into view. Michael.

His vessel was tall, with broad shoulders - perhaps a quarterback before he took on the body. He had piercing eyes though they were slightly sunken into his face, his brow bones casting darkness over them as he seemed to examine the three of us like we were some strange creatures he'd just found in a zoo. Sharp cheekbones jutted out from his face in the same manner his shoulders did from his body, making him appear more like an abstract Picasso painting than a human which made sense since he was neither. It would have been a downright lie if I'd said he didn't send shockwaves coursing through me...

But his appearance was nothing compared to the fear I felt as the woman behind him came into the light...

She was shorter than him and Gabe held my shoulder protectively as he felt me tense up beside him when her green eyes scanned me head to toe. Her face was thin and gaunt, as if she was incredibly old yet trapped in the body of a younger form; I didn't quite understand how demon vessels and possession worked but I knew this wasn't what she really looked like, this was too pretty, too youthful.

"Brother," Luci was the first to break the silence as the five of us were quickly circled by around ten lower demons, "How lovely to see you..."

"This is no time for talk, Lucifer. You know what we want," Michael glanced to Darwena and then back to us, "Tell us where the Nephalem is." Ah, so they don't know I'm here? That's handy.

"Nephalem?" Luci asked, playing the fool with a confused look on his face, "How would we know where a Nephalem is? Really, Mike, consorting with demons?"

Michael appeared to bite back a remark as Lucifer tutted before calming himself, "I am not the perpetrator of the sin, brother. Darwena here is aiding my efforts to destroy the abomination before it causes any more sorrow. We had reason to believe you were consorting with the father."

"Whoa... I thought you were kidding, Mikey..." Gabe says, wide-eyed in fake shock, "Surely Nephalem can't exist? What angel would ever consort with a demon?"

"I admit I also thought they could not exist but when Darwena told me of how she brought one into the world, I had to change my views," Michael said monotonously with no emotion in his voice as he looked back at my mother again. The entire time they'd been talking, her eyes had been scanning over me but she seemed to shake off whatever she was feeling. "She believes the father was a lower angel. Balthazar, to be exact."

"Balthazar?" Luci chuckled, "That drunk? I'm not surprised..." He choked slightly as anger flared in me and his vessel's windpipe was my victim. "I mean, how? How long ago did this happen?"

"Eighteen earth years," Darwena finally spoke up, her light voice sending shivers down my spine as we turned to look over at her, "I left the child with him and expected him to destroy it but he didn't. He allowed it to live..." She sneered in disgust. "The idiot let it capture his heart and he let it live out a life on Earth..."

"How come we didn't sense it? How do you know this and we don't?"

She gave Gabe a look of annoyance, "He placed a protective charm over it. I could only find it with my hounds, I sent them to kill it but it was too strong for them and they could only torture it. The spell wore off on its eighteenth birthday but Balthazar got to it before I could and it's now protected by multiple charms and sigils... a bit like you..." She looked over to me as I cocked my head in confusion.

"I don't understand..."

"That chain you're wearing," Michael interrupted, also looking at me with scrutiny as I felt like a bug beneath their gaze, "Why do you possess it?"

I had no idea what to say. "Make something up," Lucifer urged inside my head, "Quickly..."

"It's protection from Raphael," I covered quickly, picking it up and twirling it in my fingertips, "He tried to kill me once and I'd prefer not to risk it again..."

"Strange, he doesn't usually attempt murder without a reason?" Michael mused as Gabe argued in my mind, "What the heck are you talking about?"

"I angered him a few centuries back," I continued, "Refused to be his soulmate and he felt rage towards me, turning on me with his blade. I've worn this chain ever since."

Michael didn't seem convinced so Luci quickly stepped in to save me, "He came to my protection soon after and I provided him with the chain, the anklet and the carvings on his vessel's ribs. Gabriel aided me and he's been shielded by both of us for the past two centuries..."

"Oh, brother..." Michael sighed, pacing over to stand a few feet in front of me as Gabe held my hand tighter in fear, "You should know better than to lie to me... I thought you were smarter than that..." He looked down into my eyes, "Now, you, I know all about. You really thought you could fool me? You disgusting little Nephalem..."