The Palace

It had been 22 hours and 54 minutes. Gabriel had spent this time trying to find a way to escape. Realistically, he knew it was pointless as the walls were warded against both angelic and demonic attacks. However, Gabriel wasn't acting rationally because he couldn't just sit there. He had to at least try despite how impossible it was. His latest idea involved using his angel blade to cut through the walls, this process was slow and grueling however. Just as Gabriel managed to scrape past the wallpaper the wall began glowing and the wallpaper reappeared. He then tried to shoot the wall with an angelic bolt, only for it to bounce of and nearly hit him. For the next two hours he tried a variety of techniques. None of them doing more then damaging the wallpaper a bit. Only for it to grow back.

Sighing Gabriel turned and threw the blade across the room. Only for it to be caught by Raphael, inches before it hit him. "What is it the humans say? 'You could take someones nose out with this' isn't it?," The archangel jested twirling the blade around. "It's eye not nose, give it back" replied Gabriel smugly, extending his arm to take the blade. The archangel smirked putting the hand with the blade behind his back, "Make me. Boy," Raphael said beckoning the angel with the other. Gabriel looked at his brother carefully before lunging forward. Raphael moved out the way with ease, mocking Gabriel. The Watcher suddenly appeared behind the archangel grabbing the blade and kicking him in the back. Raphael fell forwards and landed, just barely, on his hands. "You are lucky, father does not want you hurt." Was the last this the Archangel said before appearing in a chair on the side of the room. Placing the angel blade on the table beside him Gabriel decided to try one more thing. He showed his angelic form for a short period of time as he rushed one of the walls, only to be rebounded back off. As the angel hit the back wall he was once again in human form.

Raphael watched this closely, squinting his eyes a slow bit when the true form was shown. He watched the pure white energy surround the room, but he also saw something else within the light. Where Gabriel's eye were it looked like there was pure fire, but Raphael assumed he was imagining things as a second later it was gone. As he watched the angel get thrown back he raised an eyebrow, it was quite amusing. Watching him try despite knowing he couldn't. "Oh I know why don't you try and fly through!" mused the archangel as Gabriel stood back up, the angel turned his head and gave his brother a death stare. Raphael shrugged, he walked towards the same wall that Gabriel tried to jump through. Then he passed his hand straight through it as if it wasn't even there. Giving Gabriel one more shrug and smirking the archangel walked straight through.

As he did Gabriel looked up and closed his eyes. He reached out past the walls to see where he was. He felt cold and lonely all of a sudden, he saw nothing but darkness. The archangel was gone. Gabriel was alone in an endless abyss, just like the one Myers had taken him to in his dream. "I hope Raphael didn't give you too much trouble," A timid voice apologized, opening his eyes the angel saw Zadkiel standing by him. He was wearing a white Greek styled robe, his hair was curly and he had clear blue eyes. The archangel was smiling, "I hope you are not mad at Michael, he could have killed you but he didn't," continued the older angel. Gabriel smiled softly, "I think I'd rather die then be in here for ages, it's like Heavens personal Hell," compared the Watcher,he also noticed how the archangel winced at the word 'Hell' and made a mental not to mention it again. He liked Zadkiel, he was kinder then most angels.

"You should not say things like that, Michael is trying to help. Even now he is with father trying to see if he can make a meeting happen," Zadkiel confided, giving the angel a wink. "Say I hear you enjoy this human thing called hotdogs and I pulled some strings," Zadkiel remembered, just as a plate of hotdogs appeared on the table beside them. Gabriel smiled, grabbing one hotdog and offering it to his brother who cautiously accepted. Once he had Gabriel grabbed another one and bit into it, then watching the expression on Zadkiel's as he bit in. His face lit up, "This is delicious!" The archangel remarked as he continued eating. They ate for a while, Gabriel laughing at the way Zadkiel's face lit up after every bite. They talked also about several things. They talked about Gabriel's time on Earth and the people he's met. They talked about his job as a consultant. The archangel was a good listener and would replenish the hotdogs every now and then.

After a while Michael appeared, he was looking at them with a raised eyebrow when they finally noticed him. "Oh goodness, Michael you need to try these!" Zadkiel said excitedly offering his brother one, "Father says he won't take your call, you are to return to Earth immediately. Zadkiel take care of it," He said, putting his hand up as a no to Zadkiel and then vanishing. The mood changed as the archangel sighed and waved his hand, making the food disappear. Gabriel stood up punching his fist into the table with anger. Then he picked up the angel blade throwing at a nearby wall, which it got stuck in. Then after picking it up he apologized to the archangel.

The archangel let his brother vent before grabbing him and reappearing at the admissions desk. Slowly, the Watcher filled out the forms hoping for some sort of intervention. The angel was angry, first his brothers refuse to admit something is happening. Then his own father won't meet him to discuss what he found. After the forms were completed the archangel flew his younger brother to the gates. Once there he stopped and looked at him. Zadkiel was visibly nervous, he was looking around and biting his lips. Then he leaned in closer to Gabriel's ear, "Fly up and past the barrier. There is a entrance on the west side of the Palace. Careful it's guarded by the Duo," whispered the archangel, turning away instantly and beginning to walk. Gabriel was confused was this a test?

He knew this was his only chance, he wasn't going to let his father act like Gabriel didn't know something. However, if this was a test then he would just receive punishment. He heard a voice in his head, '𝘎𝘖' it said and that was good enough for the Watcher, he unsheathed his wings and flew up. He flew higher then the Library and past the border between Heaven and the Palace. The Palace is where God resides, it's a giant structure made of pure silver and the only place in Heaven where you can be killed on sight. As he passed the barrier which was made of pure angelic energy, Gabriel felt him. He felt the ever powerful force of his father. It overpowered the angels senses, just like the shadow had. Passing the barrier was the easy part, between that and the palace were a dozen angels tasked to kill whoever passed. As well as the order at the entrance.

As he approached the Palace, three angels flew towards him, spears in hand. They weren't going to ask any questions. As the first one drew near, Gabriel dive-bombed down 10 feet. Once there he burst forwards at immense speed, avoiding 2 angels. The third one was waiting for Gabriel. As he got close the woman threw the spear towards him, narrowly missing him. Gabriel finally got to the woman grabbing her and throwing her towards the other two. Suddenly, he got an immense boost of speed and when he looked back he was leaving a trail of fire, which the other angels seemed hesitant to follow. Gabriel was about to stop, to see if he was hurt but he heard a deep voice in his head telling him to keep moving. Despite not knowing who it belonged to, the angel decided it was a good idea and he flew round to the west side. He saw the entrance, it was a large hole in the side that seemed to resemble a place for a drawbridge. Inside were 2 angels.

These were the Duo. The Duo were two of angels, a man and a woman, who devoted their whole immortal life to protecting God. They had no other purpose, if you were chosen to be one of the Duo then you would spend every moment of your childhood learning. These were the best fighters in Heaven, excluding the Archangels. Landing in front of them the Watcher smiled, "He did say I was coming right?" he asked, they answered by readying their weapons and attacking. "Worth a shot," the angel joked, dodging a swing from the man. He knew he wasn't on par with either of them, the best he could do was avoid and make it into the hallways. The hallways were warded, just like the prison cells. Only this time to not let any of the Duo in or out. It was one of his father's safety precautions, in case the Duo ever rebelled or were brainwashed.

Gabriel was fast though, that was his advantage. He was able to dodge every attack the two of them threw at him. Well. Almost all. As when one of them summoned a bolt of light, at the same time as another swiped, Gabriel was hit directly in the back and thrown forward. He landed on the ground, rolling a foot or two before stopping. Angelic light bolts have the power to disintegrate most demons, to angels they hurt like Hell, about the equivalent of falling off a 5 floor building. His grace quickly healed him though and he was back on his feet, as one of them charged Gabriel he slid towards him. This resulted in him flying over the Watchers head and sliding across the silver floor. The other swung his sword over his head and down upon Gabriel. Thinking quickly Gabriel pulled a move similar to the one in the dream, he parried with his sword and kicked him across the room. Then in another instance of déjà vu he felt a slice across his side.

Falling to the ground the Watcher was thinking about how this was possible, that was a dream. Hoping the coincidences continued he moved his right leg out the way, just in time for a sword to narrowly miss his leg. As it hit the silver floor it went slightly through, taking advantage of a defenseless enemy the Watcher stabbed the angel in the chest with his blade. The woman staggered back, falling over. Preparing to fight the other one the angel turned, only to see the remaining member run over to the stabbed one. A man and a woman who have been together all there life were about to lose one another. Gabriel swallowed standing up and looking at his wound, he couldn't heal it. It was done with an angelic weapon, just as the wound on the woman that Gabriel stabbed. He looked as the woman had her last breath, and then he sent a small prayer for her. "How dare you! You killed her and now you pray? I'll kill you," The man exploded standing up and picking his sword up.

What followed was a fury of strikes that Gabriel barely avoided, they were fast and aggressive. They were blows that if hit could probably take off one of the angels limbs. He parried as much as he could, dodged as fast as possible. Despite all this the remaining member of the Duo still sliced the angel multiple times. First it was the arm, then the leg, then the stomach. Gabriel fell to the floor, bleeding gold angel blood all over. He didn't know what else to do, he would die right here. At least it would be in battle. That was something. "Tell..J-jane...I'm...sor-sorry," Gabriel spluttered, the pain was unbearable now. The man walked up to him lifting the sword above the angel and thrusting it downwards. Just then time stopped, it didn't slow down. Fully stopped. Gabriel looked around, he was barely conscious and his vision was blurry. Then all of a sudden his right hand lifted up and when it did the remaining duo flew across the room. The hand then placed itself on Gabriel's chest, surrounding them in a burning light. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦. A voice from within Gabriel's head said, the way it was said it sounded like...Myers.

𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵. The voice continued, as the light around Gabriel continued to burn he started feeling better. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵. Was the final words Gabriel heard before the fire diminished and the angel was outside a large gold door. He stood up quickly, grabbing his angel blade and looking around. He thought about what had just happened but his mind was fuzzy. He remembered being healed but didn't remember by who. That was an interesting question that his father no doubt had the answer to. However, Gabriel decided that telling God that someone helped him might set him of even more then what the angel had already done. He would ask only about the Valiard and the City of Gold. The other questions could wait.

As Gabriel sheathed his blade, he also clicked his fingers which fixed his suit. The previous fight had left it with cuts and burn marks. Once done it looked brand new and once Gabriel was sure he looked presentable he unsheathed his wings and burst through the door. In the middle of the room was his father, sitting on his throne. Beside him was Michael and they were both staring at the door which had opened. Both of them looked confused, neither of them had felt the presence of an angel, so it didn't make sense for the Watcher to be where he was. God raised an eyebrow at his son. He felt nothing unusual about him. Then again before he entered this room, he hadn't felt his sons presence in the palace at all. So that was unusual in itself.

"Hello father."