The start of the Civil War and Balthazar

I flew to the meeting point where Raphael had summoned every angel in the host. The curious and excited voices of siblings went silent as I entered the ginormous coliseum.

Raphael and his supporters were looking down on everyone in the Emperor box, a demonstration of superiority in his egotistical mind.

"Attention!! Welcome my fellow angels, I am glad that so many of you took the time to come to this assembly. Many of you are probably wondering why I called this assembly, it's because I'm staking my claim for heaven's Throne and plan on restarting the apocalypse!!! Raphael stood up from his chair as the entire host began to whisper to each other.

"Now, I understand that the last apocalypse was disrupted due to Michael and Lucifer falling into the cage. But under my leadership, we will be able to free Michael and Lucifer from their cages, and move forward with paradise on Earth." Raphael promised the host as several angels began to clap.

"And my first act as ruler of heaven would be to pardon the Seraphim and Castiel for their crimes of opposing Me and heaven." I could practically taste the arrogance in his words.

"Isaiel. You and your little band of traitors are now faced with a choice. Take a knee and submit to my rule as sovereign of heaven, or be marked as enemies of my administration." Raphael and the host looked at me expectantly, waiting for my next move.

I conjured a pack of cigarettes, put one in my mouth, and used my power to light it. I said nothing as I took a drag of my cigarette, and exhaled the smoke before jumping on top of the column above Raphael.

"My apologies for the move, I just can't stand when a weakling looks down on me. Especially when that weakling is you, Raphael." My brother's eyes flashed dangerously as I could feel the static around us.

"My Brothers and Sisters!! Listen to the words that I'm about to say. Tell me, is the heavenly host so pathetic that once they lose a leader, they will simply abandon our Father's teaching and submit to any rule with little thought? A rumble began to spread through the host. Cries of "no" went up and there.

"Are you all blind like sheep? Following anyone and doing their will regardless of the choice is a coward's choice! Are all of you going to break the oaths we swore when we were all created? If so, then neither myself, the Seraphim, nor Castiel are the real traitors. The real traitors are you, those who would abandon and forget your mission because of the words of a silver-tongue serpent, you lot are no better than 1/3 who followed Lucifer and yet you dare call yourselves angels of the Lord." The entire host murmured to each other as their pride couldn't stand being compared to Lucifer.

"The only danger is the choice that you all must make, join me in following our duty in protecting and upholding our Father's teaching and creations. And Raphael, my answer is this: Fuck you and your Apocalypse!!!" My voice could be heard throughout all of heaven. I quickly disappeared from the area as I could feel the rage that Raphael was feeling.

It was now been a week in Earth time, and I and the resistance had been battling Raphael's forces with small skirmishes, both sides waiting for the other to strike a blow and to gather more allies for the war.

Castiel became the face of the resistance, his followers were determined to follow his lead in stopping Raphael and his plans.

I also noticed that Castiel seemed a lot stronger than normal, and that's when I saw the 50 thousand souls from hell floating in Castiel's body.

I was sitting in a conference room for a meeting, to discuss where should we hit to maximize our impact on hurting Raphael's loyalists.

"I appreciate everyone coming in while we are in the middle of battle, I called this meeting to plan our next move before the next skirmish. Would anyone start us off? I started off the meeting as Rachel, Castiel's Lieutenant stood up from her seat.

"I think we should start a full-front assault on Raphael's forces, we have the forces and the power to crush them completely," Rachel spoke in a demanding tone as Castiel reeled her back to her seat.

"I'll excuse your poor thinking because you were previously a garrison soldier, we both know that those types of angels are mere drones with no brains. Andrew spoke in a condescending tone to Rachel as he turned to me.

"If I may lord? Instead of focusing on Raphael and his growing number of loyalists, we should focus our attention on the Empyrean. It is one of the most important and powerful places in all of heaven, save God's Throne Room." Andrew proposed as the Seraphs nodded and agreed.

"Specifically, I want us to secure the Empyrean and close the Gateways to our advantage, minimizing Raphael's influence on Earth and containing the war to heaven," Andrew concluded as Judas split out his coffee.

"Holy fucking virgin Mary, did you drink some of Gabriel's drink before coming to this meeting Andrew? Because you just chastised the dumb blonde girl for her stupid suggestion, and then you propose that we all fuck ourselves for Raphael." Judas proceeded to drink out of his cup as the room gave him a disgusted and disturbed look.

"One, Judas leave my mother's name out of your mouth and control your language. Two, I agree that we must focus our attention on securing the Empyrean since its facilities are crucial to this war. And three, we can't afford to close the Gateways since both angels and souls would be locked out of heaven unless you want to explain to Death the reason for interfering with his work." Andrew shook his head and flinched.

"I'm sorry but what exactly is this Empyrean? I'm not aware of such a thing existing." Castiel's rough voice brought the attention to him.

"Ah, I'm sorry brother I completely forgot that you were recently promoted to the rank of Seraph, the Empyrean is a tightly guarded secret only known to the Seraphim and the Archangels. What you and your allies need to know is that the Empyrean is the highest transcended realm in all of heaven, the rest is need-to-know and only accessible as an official member of the Seraphim." Castiel and Rachel looked dissatisfied with my answer.

The real truth about the Empyrean is that it's more than a realm, it can be anything you wish it to be a factory, a palace, even islands.

The first island is the blacksmith isles, this is where all the angel blades, swords, armor, and artifacts are forged and sent out to heaven. The blacksmiths are led by the angel Jophiel.

The second island is referred to as God's touch, due to the island constantly on fire and it's one of the places where you can truly feel my Father's anger in all of its glory. Some even say that it's the home of the Seraphim, and the place where Holy fire is created.

The third island is the Gateways, a portal network containing various places such as the veil and secret places not even in this universe. The Gateways are protected by a faction called the Gatekeepers, a stern and dedicated group of angels who maintain and protect the Gateways. Only myself and the Gatekeepers know the location of the key to shut down the Gateways, their leader is Skyler.

An important area of the Empyrean is the Firmament, it is the space that divides Earth's atmosphere from the Celestial realm. It's also considered to be one of the portals in the Gateways.

Another part of Empyrean is the isles of the bliss, where the most Virtuous souls go when they die, their souls are suspended in a permanent state of Euphoria for all of time.

The office of Metatron, that building is where all of his notes are stored. It's also where the system to choose future Prophets is located.

And in the center of the Empyrean is the Holy Palace, the personal abode of Father and his more exotic creations. The Palace is protected by the Royal Guard, a dedicated task force of powerful angels that protects the Palace from any foolish intruders. Even Michael would think twice about challenging The Royal Guard to a fight.

"Aren't I already an official member of the Seraphim? I was given the rank by Go__"No! Peter stood up and shouted as he interrupted Castiel.

"No! Peter yelled again. You are not one of us, not even as viable candidate for such a position. You may have been given the rank and authority of a Seraph, but that doesn't automatically qualify you to know about our most well-kept secrets." Peter slammed the table as Castiel stood up.

"Do you not trust me? I have been fighting for this war for the sake of our mission. Surely that makes me eligible to know some of your secrets." Castiel looked at me as Peter scoffed.

"Our mission? Peter questioned. Your position did not arise from the Ether. You are nothing but a synthesis of available matter that was chosen by God. If needed then another could be chosen in your place. We are needed. We are necessary. You and heaven are not. You cannot. There's only us and then heaven." Everyone's eyes widened as Peter pointed to him and the seraphs. His words registered in our minds.

"You filthy winged Ape! How dare a fake angel born of mud, insult a superior angel! Rachel and Peter manifested their blades and prepared to fight each other.

"Enough!! My aura exploded as every angel took a knee and the glass shattered. "Castiel! Rachel! Take a break and speak with your troops." Castiel grabbed Racheal and the both of them disappeared. 

"Do you mind explaining yourself back there Peter? I organized my notes as Peter apologized for the outburst. "I'm sorry Lord, but I can't stand that embarrassment who calls himself a seraph, especially when he is currently working with the king of Hell! Peter began to pace around the room as I sighed in dismay. 

"Look, I understand that most of you guys are less than comfortable working with him. But, the more we create infighting among the group, the more easier it is for Raphael to exploit any weaknesses." I rubbed my head as I felt like I was in a room filled with children.

"Judas, Abner, and Stephen will go to the blacksmith lsles, your only objectives are to secure the island and discuss a trade-off of suppliers." The trio nodded as I sipped on a can of Moutain Dew.

"Understood boss, but what if they want to remain neutral? Jophiel is the type to not put her workers in a dangerous situation." Judas questioned as I pondered on what to do.

"It's fine if they wish to remain neutral, our main purpose is provide security to the blacksmiths, everything else is a bonus." Judas nodded and the three of them flew away.

"Peter, Abel, and Anna, I need the three of you to go God's touch to make sure that Raphael's forces are nowhere near it. There is something in that island that is more important than the entirety of the Empyrean." The three angels nodded and disappeared.

"Tien, you will meet up with Raziel in Metatron's office, that is where the two of you will set up our communication channels." Tien picked up his notes and left.

"Gadreel, I'm assigning you to an important mission. Find a human named Kevin Tran, he is the next Prophet after Chuck Shirley and will soon awaken. You are simply observing and will only interfere when his life is in danger, I will tell you when it is time to transport him to the pavilion." Gadreel nodded and went out to search for Kevin.

"The rest of you, return to your normal duties and stay vigilant at all times. You might never kno---Commander! I was rudely interrupted by an angel entering the conference room. Commander! I-It's Raphael's forces, they have mounted an attack and are coming this way!! Everyone stood up and I began to shout orders to meet the enemy.

We flew to an open field where an angel Battalion was waiting for us, I tried to give them a chance to surrender but they refused.

"Very well, if that is your answer than make peace with what comes next." At my signal the two armies met in the middle and clashed.

The battle was brutal, angels were dying left and right, the landscape was covered in the blood of the fallen and neither side wanted to give up.

We were winning and decreasing the enemies numbers at a rapid pace. "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray to Castiel and Isaiel to get their feathery ass down here." I heard Dean's voice in my head as he prayed.

"Wow Dean, I have heard better prayers from atheists, and they don't believe in anything." I dodged an attack from a spear and grabbed it, before knocking down the angel and brutally sever his head from his body.

"Hester!! I heard the voice of Inias yell out from the battlefield as Hester was stabbed in the back non-fatality, I quick flew over to her and telepathically told everyone to shut their eyes, as a blinding flash of light evaporated the rest of the enemy troops.

"I should have expected nothing less from an angel who consorts with humans. Ezekiel flew beside me and started to heal Hester's wound. "The fool prioritizes them so much that he is starting to abandon his own alies for them, how long until it's heaven that pays the price for his Masters." Ezekiel anger was radiating from his body as Hester became stable.

"I agree with you, I gave him the option to give command to me incase of something like this. Anyway, give me a casualty report and bury all the bodies, many of our siblings died today." I looked up at the setting sun and teleported to Balthazar's residence.

The first thing that I saw when I appeared in Balthazar's mansion was the obnoxiously loud music and large quantities of party drugs scattered around the floor.

"Isaiel! You're here, it's so good to see you." Balthazar walked down the steps and turned on the lights.

"Hello Mikael, finally stopped chasing your son, Niklaus? Why don't you do me a favor and say "Boy! In an angry voice. I joked as both Balthazar and Castiel who just appeared looked at me as if I was crazy.

"I'm sorry brother, but you got me confused with someone else. I'm Balthazar, not Mikael, even though I am the most handsome of the family." I rolled my eyes as I begin to laugh.

"So, what with party mansion? And I have heard that you stole Heaven's weapons? Balthazar chuckled as he took a sip of his whiskey.

"Whatever I want my dear Brother! This morning, I had a mènage à--What's French for twelve? Balthazar showed his whiskey bottle.

"The word that you are looking for is douze, and just to make things clear, I don't care that you have the weapons since they don't matter to me in the long run. What I won't allow is your selling and trading of the weapons, for humans souls like a crossroad demon." Balthazar seemed anoyed but he relented and released all the human souls that he had been collecting.

"I appreciate that you won't force me to hand over the weapons, and I would gladly serve under your rule. But please don't ask me to go to the way things were before, I really appreciated how you told Raphael to go fuck himself in your speech." I grinned and took out a black card and threw it to Balthazar.

"Take it, it's a card that will give you directions to a safehouse for you to live in. Ever since you stole the weapons, you have a bounty on your head from Raphael and Virgil." Balthazar cursed as the sound of lighting boomed overhead. Raphael had found this location and was coming.

"Well, that's my que. It was a pleasure to see the both of you again, even though Cas still has that stick up his ass." I laughed and Balthazar flew away.

Castiel was about to leave when I stopped him. "Look Castiel, I know about your deal with crowley to open Purgatory. Castiel widened his eyes and tried to flee, but I pinned him down.

"I'm giving you this warning right now, there will be a point where you are going to have to pick a side. And if you continue on this path of yours, then I have no qualms about sealing your grace and burying you in the darkest, pit that I can find." I got off Castiel and flew to the island of Fire and met Abel who was wearing a special hazmat suit to protect him from the heat.

"Hey Able, how would you like to finally be an official member of the Seraphim?