Rumors of War

by Cynus 

 

War of Heaven

 

Chapter 4

                                                     

         The Adam bore similarities to both of the other ships I had been on. It was as large as Hell, which made sense considering that it was the flagship of the fleet of Heaven prior to Michael’s fall, but it looked very different. Its décor was more like that of the Abel, Lumial’s ship. Whereas Lucifel’s ship had almost a military level of professionalism to it, as we walked through the corridors of the Adam, I couldn’t help but see that the ship felt lived in.

         We didn’t see many people, Raphael’s escort kept us away from most of them, but what I saw gave me a different look at the angels than what I had previously had. There were old ones and young, and they ranged everywhere in between. I didn’t see any children, though I remembered being told once that Verina was amongst the youngest of the angels, so I wasn’t too surprised, but there were several that I saw who were around Verina’s age. This ship was a ship of families.

         It had been easy to think less of the angels before; that they were all a mess of horrible people who were trying to kill my own. But now that I saw how they actually were, how human-like they seemed to be, I was having a hard time hating them. Having the memories of Michael in my mind didn’t help me hate them either.

         The memories may have been a couple thousand of years out of date, but I could recognize most of the older angels. They were people I had lived with, worked with, fought by their side, and forged a community with out in the middle of the asteroid belt. It was true that the memories weren’t actually mine, but they felt real enough that I couldn’t help but feel as if I knew these people, at least the older ones.

         Though of all the people that I had seen so far, the only one that stood out more than Raphael was Lumial, and that was only because he was the eldest of the two sons. I let my mind play through the conversation that we had had when his ship had hailed us, almost amused at how strange it had made me feel.

         I had played my part beautifully, and I was surprised at how natural it had felt. With the air of command that I knew from his memories that Michael had possessed, I was able to use his voice and his face to convince Raphael to readily grant us an audience. The original plan was to have had Lumial do the talking, but I knew that Raphael wouldn’t have found it quite as convincing if Michael hadn’t taken command. And so I had, and now we were docked with the ship, and Lumial, Keith, Verina and I were on our way to meet up with Raphael. Alan was with us too, though he was following silently behind, his cloaking suit keeping the angels unaware of his presence.

         In short order we arrived at a council room, with the doors open to reveal a long metal table that had obviously seen many years of use. I recognized it almost instantly, and knew that it had even been used by Michael’s father while he was still alive. Standing at one side of the table was Raphael, his eyes still filled with disbelief.

One either side of Raphael was a guard, though they seemed to share his astonishment, and I briefly considered the taking advantage of that surprise and making an attempt to take over the ship. It was strange thought for me, and completely out of my character, but I pushed it out of my head and forgot about it, instead sticking to the original plan.

“Son!” I said with enthusiasm, and stepped forward with arms outstretched, offering an embrace. He stepped back warily, and I was glad I hadn’t made good on my thought of attacking him and his guards. He had apparently been on his guard the whole time, and I would have been in for a nasty surprise if I had pressed the issue.

“I am not convinced of your identity yet,” Raphael said firmly, and then motioned to the seats at the foot of the table, the seats normally reserved for guests who sought council with Michael. “Have a seat, so that we can determine the truth.”

I bowed and moved toward the chair, and then replied, “This will be the only time I will allow you to take the head while I’m present. When I have sufficiently proven myself to you, I expect a full apology.” I wasn’t entirely sure if it was something that Michael would say, but I hoped that by continuing his air of command, I would at least be convincing enough.

It seemed to do the trick, as Raphael turned from suspicious to thoughtful as he replied, “If that proves to be the case, I can guarantee you that I will make it up to you, but until then…” he again motioned to the chair, and I took my seat. Lumial sat down on my left, with Keith as Gabriel sitting on my right. Raphael took Michael’s chair at the head of the table, while his guards took up position on either side of him. Our escort filed into the room and took up positions around us, watching my companions and me warily. Verina was offered a seat in one of the corners of the room. Raphael had ignored her since our arrival, but the guards still paid heed to her presence and kept an eye on her as well.

“So, let’s start with the biggest problem I see here. You are supposed to be dead. The ship you took with you was monitoring your health during the entire encounter with the forces of Hell and the demon rabble, and then that data was sent directly to me at the time of your demise,” Raphael stated firmly. There would be little point to argue any of that data anyway, considering that I had no knowledge of that system, but I made special note to avoid touching on that subject if I could help it. Raphael continued even while I was thinking of how to respond, “While it is true that we have medical technology at the level that we can easily revive a corpse within a certain timeframe, it was already well beyond that time.”

“There should not have been a ship capable of resurrecting you remaining on Earth. The ship you took with you returned without you when your forces were destroyed, so you could not have been revived by them,” Raphael’s voice took on a tone of suspicion again as he narrowed his eyes and said, “I might have thought that this was some ploy from Hell, if you had come from the direction of that beast, but instead you’ve come from Earth. Somehow, you found the one ship that could revive you, and it’s one I recognize, though I never thought I would see it again. Somehow, Lumial is alive, his ship is in great condition, and he has managed to bring you back from death. The last part isn’t really a concern. If you are in fact, Lumial, then I know that you had the capability of reviving our father, though I still intend to verify that. So, we will start with you explaining yourself, brother.”

I was slightly surprised that that was his main concern, but then I realized that whereas I was supposed to have been dead for less than a week, Lumial had been dead for thousands of years.  My presence was a curiosity that could be answered with some logic, especially considering the presence of the Abel, but to Raphael, his brother was an ancient ghost, long forgotten in the rigors of time. I had no idea how to answer his inquisition, and I started to get nervous that we had already failed.

Thankfully, Lumial had the answer, and since the attention was on him anyway, I was able to rest easy as my angelic companion replied, “I think I can explain myself quite easily, brother. We have to step back in time to an age when you were quite young, and I hope your memory will serve you well.”

Raphael nodded, and so Lumial began his explanation, “The first thing you must understand is what happened with our other brother. Belial…”

Raphael interrupted him suddenly, outraged as he shouted, “Do not say that name in my presence, brother. Both his name and the Devil’s are spoken as curses here. I would ask that you be extremely careful how you speak here.”

“My apologies, brother. I ask you to remember that I have been distanced from the conflict for quite some time. I do not see things the same way as you do, though I wish you to understand that I respect the way in which Bel… they have harmed you,” Lumial replied as smoothly as he could, though I could tell that he was very aware of how little his younger brother trusted him, “I want you to know that I too have very little love for Hell or the Devil. My twin, on the other hand, has given me reason to suspect his involvement with the Devil to be less than you believe it to be. May I ask why you hate him as much as you do? Because he sided with Luc… moth… the Devil, or is it something else?”

Raphael seemed struck by sudden realization, and then smiled slightly, though I could still see a bit of the outrage in his eyes. There was almost a fanaticism there, which frightened me slightly. I wasn’t sure of his sanity, and I reminded myself to be even more wary of how I handled myself with him. I was glad that Lumial had some experience, for I would have been lost without his presence.

After a moment of pondering, Raphael responded, almost awestruck as he said, “It just might be you. I had never thought I would witness a miracle such as this, but I am still not convinced that I have. You certainly sound like my eldest brother, the one I lost when my other brother chose to end his life… You speak so carefully, to avoid offending anyone. I always admired that in you,” he replied wistfully, meeting Lumial’s eyes. I wondered if my companion could also read the fanaticism I saw there. Raphael’s next words brought me back to the present as I realized we had an opening. “I hated him because he killed you, but now you’re back, and I suppose I must give you the opportunity to defend your murderer if you see reason to. No more side-stepping around his name. The conversation will go much easier if you use it. I will forgive you, though if your answer does not suit me, I will reinstate the ban.”

Lumial bowed his head in agreement and said, “I thank you, brother, and I am glad that you remember me so fondly. I understand how the feeling of brother killing brother can generate such feelings.” He was solemn as he continued, “It is why I have avoided the conflict between Heaven and Hell for so long. I could not stand the thought of killing another angel. I’ve never been particularly fond of killing in general, actually, but you probably already knew that. It is why I have focused so much on the medical field. I prefer to heal, not to destroy.”

“But this isn’t really about me, it’s about Belial. Belial did not murder me, and in fact he lied to our mother in order to protect me,” Lumial explained as Raphael’s eyebrows rose incredulously. This was definitely new information to him. “The Devil ordered my death, because I chose to remain in Eden instead of following her. As you probably recall, she and I worked very closely together, and she chose to see my not wanting to involve myself as choosing father’s side. Belial came to me, distraught, and couldn’t figure out how to solve his dilemma. He couldn’t kill me. There was no way he would ever follow through on that order. I doctored up the video image of the Abel exploding well enough that even she would think it was legitimate, and I sent him away with it, and then I went into hiding. You were fed the same image, I’m afraid, but it wasn’t because we wanted to conceal the truth from you. It was because if it were known by anyone that I was alive, then that information would have gotten back to mother, and she would kill Belial, and then send her best agents after me as well.”

Raphael nodded as he digested the information, but it was clear that he was far from satisfied. “Okay, but that doesn’t really explain why he left in the first place. Our father had the grace of god with him, and he chose to leave with an evil woman and a demon,” he said smugly, “Whom he chooses to serve speaks a great deal about his character.”

“Ah, but you must understand Raphael, that when he left it was in an attempt to bring the family back together. He wasn’t trying to betray father, he was trying to bring mother back.” Lumial looked at me and smiled, with a conspiring twinkle in his eye and said, “Father understands that now, and would like to give Belial a chance to prove himself.”

It took all my willpower to prevent myself from laughing in delight. Lumial had handed me the answer to getting out of this debate by doing all the convincing for me. I turned to Raphael and in my best Michael I agreed, “Lumial seems to think that the key to ending the conflict with hell rests in Belial. While I still question his choices, I think that it is a better shot than not making the attempt. One thing we can all agree on is that the Devil must be beaten, and cannot be allowed to retain control over the forces of Heaven. From the fact that the Adam remains untouched, I trust that no physical conflict has occurred between the ships as of yet?”

Raphael was convinced at least on one level that we were genuine, but then he began the process that we had been expecting all along. “I believe you. You sound like Lumial, and you sound like my father. Gabriel hasn’t spoken much, but I suppose that’s normal isn’t it Gabe?” Keith glared at Raphael murderously, which appeared to confirm his identity enough for the angel. “But that isn’t enough. I’m afraid that at least the two of you are going to have to do more to verify who you are. We’re going to have to escort you to medical to get your DNA checked. Once that’s cleared, you will be welcome to resume command of the fleet.”

He stood, and the rest of us followed suit. As we were about to leave the council room, Raphael surprised me with a hug from behind and said, “I’m glad you’re back father. I’m sorry that I didn’t believe you.” He then embraced Lumial and whispered something to him that I couldn’t quite make out. Raphael led the way out of the room and down the hallway, leaving me to ponder his strange personality as we followed his trail.

 

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         A big thanks goes to Paul for his wonderful and generous editing. I couldn’t have done this without him.

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         And last but certainly not least, thanks to my readers who make writing more worthwhile. I do this almost as much for you as I do it for myself.