For the first time since he had landed in that weird universe, and for the first time in a very long time he didnât care to quantify, the corner of Michaelâs lips curled in the faded shadow of a smile. It was full of bitterness and grief, but it was such anyway.
âNo, nothing soâŠmajestic or responsible. Thatâs never been Gabrielâs style. In my universe at least,â he replied, shaking his head slowly. âLoki. The original Trickster, Norse God of Mischief. It doesnât surprise me. He is the youngest of us four, and he has always had a certain attitude towards pranking everyone else. My scolding almost always fell on deaf ears with him.â
The Messanger had been quite a handful. However, everything could be said of his younger brother but not that he was stupid. âBesides, he was aiming not to be found, so choosing such an ambiguous deity allowed him more freedom without the risk of drawing too much attention.â
The clarification his alternate self offered him had Michaelâs brows knitting together for a moment, even if he nodded when she stated that angels were sexless. That was true in his universe too.
âIâŠsee,â he mumbled after a moment. The explanation made sense, but there was something that told him that his other self was weirdly uncomfortable with the subject, so he let it go. Even if he didnât understand why she was so put off by a mere piece of human anatomy.
And there it came again, her precious papers. It seemed like that the Heaven of that universe relied on bureaucracy much more than his own.
The archangel made to reach out for the documents, but froze mid-gesture as the other Michael dropped the last question he wished to answer to. His expression instantly went blank even if his eyes darkened, a storm of emotions hidden under their blue surface.
âI did not. After I casted Lucifer down, he was imprisoned in a cage God Himself had made, so that he would have been unable to escape before Judgement Day. It would have been to dangerous to allow him to roam, even in Hell.â
As he spoke, his voice was flat and empty, but his eyes remained fixed on the papers.
âI exhiled myself in Heaven. Think of it asâŠspending centuries locked up in this office of yours, having contacts with others only to pass orders in when necessary.â It had been his way of grieving, while still being able to maintain a clear head to do what needed to be done. âGodâŠleft after the Fall, so the responsibility of rebuilding Heaven and continuing our mission of watching over humanity fell all onto me.â
It had been a burden be had willingly carried, and proudly too. Now, he knew that it had been all for nothing, because their Father had never cared.
âBefore the Apocalypse, Hell was handled by Luciferâs most devoted followers, Lilith first and foremost. The first demon he made. Then, when the End came, he was releasedâŠbut things didnât go as planned and both my brother and I were locked away in the Cage for years. Time in Hell flows differently for damned souls, so one month roughly corresponds to ten Earthen years. In the CageâŠItâs hard to tell.â
It had felt like he had been trapped in there for millennia, him and Lucifer tearing each other apart over and over.
âAfter that, some demon climbed the hellish hierarchy and took the throne. I didnât bother to investigate and I know only because Lucifer did. Recently, something happenedâŠâ Amara. The Darkness. âThe Cage was weakened and Lucifer managed to trick his way out. I tried to follow and, when I finally succeededâŠI ended up here.â
His ice cold eyes finally moved back to his other self. âDoes this answer your question?â He asked, even if it was a rhetorical inquiry for him. âAnd I assume that your Lucifer rules Hell, from what you said. How is it that they didnât try anything yet, despite having all that freedom?â
âLoki?â Michael echoed. From what she knew, who the humans considered to be Loki could not be farther from what her Gabriel was like. She tried to picture it. An alternate version of Gabriel pulling pranks. But the image wouldnât come up. Her Gabriel respected his position greatly and had a very thorough work ethic, so this other Gabriel might as well be a different person. "He sounds very immature,â she concluded.Â
Michael knew that she had touched a sensitive topic when the Archangel tensed like so. She listened to his explanation carefully.Â
Back then Michael was just a delinquent soldier who ignored much of her duties as an Archangel. Defeating Lucifer was her only bravado. In her world, the Almighty became more involved in Heavenly affairs to reorganise Heaven, while the grief of betraying Lucifer had affected her so greatly Michael locked herself up into her headquarters, responding to no one.
There was no doubt that this Lucifer appeared more Machiavellian than her Lucifer, too-- able to put other demons at his bidding so easily, even if he wasnât physically there.
However her Luciferâs sinister nature was not in her violence. It was in her apathy.Â
âOh no. Sheâs tried everything,â Michael started, her jaw clenched, her brow furrowed. âShe suffocates Earth and humanity in the slowest and torturous manner possible. Exposing the errors in humanity. Tempting them into atrocious crimes, her and her followers. She calls it âsimply testing out the bugs,â all for her thesis that the Almightyâs âprecious little guinea pigs wonât last even 10,000 years by themselves.â
âHer actions wouldnât be as cruel if she did not know what she was doing. But she did know. In the beginning the Almighty was too busy to lead the project of Earthâs construction, so Lucifer took over as a director. She grew possessive, made Earth her little ego project, and insisted on making every detail perfect. She had attacked angels just for following the blueprints wrong. Lucifer still demanded more time, so she and her followers staged a coup, insisting that she could do a better job than Yahweh ever could. But after her coup failed... well. Lucifer wanted to throw all that hard work away just because Earth wasnât what she liked.âÂ
There was a sharp, wry edge at the end of Michaelâs explanation. Michael sighed deeply. The worst ordeal was that she sometimes wondered whether Lucifer was somehow right. Humanity never seemed to learn from their mistakes. History did not repeat itself? Well it sure did rhyme. She mused over what the point of keeping the humans alive were if Armageddon was supposed to wipe them all out anyway. But Michael knew that it was deeply unwise to cross the Ineffable Plan.Â
âWhere is your Lucifer right now? He and my Lucifer may not have the same agenda, but if youâve escaped the Cage and ended up here, could it be that your Lucifer have, too?â
