At the cemetery, the sun was a molten coin sinking below the horizon, painting the sky in bruised shades of orange and purple.
Gabriel stood motionless before Amelia's headstone, a single can of cheap beer in her hand. She drank slowly, methodically, until the can was empty. But she did not stop. She held the empty aluminum cylinder in a white-knuckled grip, her divine strength betraying her calm facade. The can flattened with a soft crunch, then crumpled in on itself until it was a small, dense ball of metal. She opened her fingers and let it fall to the damp grass.
Behind her, Raphael scanned the quiet rows of graves, ensuring they were unobserved. He stepped forward, bent down, and picked up the crushed can, slipping it into the pocket of his suit jacket. He then reached into the plastic bag he carried, pulled out another cold can, popped the tab, and handed it to her without a word.
He finally spoke, his voice low and respectful. "You have consumed four times your usual amount. Mortal studies indicate excessive alcohol consumption is detrimental to health."
"Can you cease making my drinking habit the focus of every conversation?" Gabriel snapped, turning slightly to accept the fresh can. She took a long swallow. "Even if I drank seventy of these, I would not perish as a human would. Never forget what we are, Raphael. The limitations of mortal flesh do not bind our forms."
Raphael immediately dropped to one knee in the grass, his head bowed. "I apologize. My concern is not for your physical health, but for your spirit. I perceive a loneliness in your actions. It seems you are attempting to sever your remaining bonds with humanity."
Gabriel frowned, staring down at the top of his bowed head. "I do not comprehend your meaning. If you have a criticism, voice it plainly. Do not coat it in honey. My reaction will not change based on the sweetness of your words."
He looked up, meeting her violet eyes. "You have been tense since this morning. I understand you enjoy the taste, but you emptied multiple bottles before the meeting. You finished two more before the conflict in orbit. Now you have purchased ten cans. This pattern suggests distress, not pleasure."
"Well," Gabriel said with a sigh, finishing the second can and tossing it toward him. He caught it neatly. "That is what happens when you discover the Heavenly Council wants your best friend dead, and then you decide you want the person protecting your best friend dead as well." She ran a hand through her silver hair. "And now my best friend does not wish to hide. He wants to change. He wants to step into the very chaos I am trying to shield him from."
"Then what of the plan we discussed earlier, My Lady?" Raphael asked, still kneeling. He could see the genuine worry etched in the lines around her eyes.
Gabriel let out another long breath, the scent of hops and twilight filling the air. "We halt it. For now. Our focus shifts solely to protecting Cain. We wait for Michael." Her gaze hardened. "I will not surrender him to anyone. And as long as Lucifer resists the Commandments, she serves a purpose. She is a shield. When she is no longer useful… that is when I will end her."
Raphael shook his head, a rare gesture of disagreement. "You should still seek the answers you need from her. If you do not, you will continue blinded by this rage. This situation presents two objectives with one action. You can test her capability to protect him by fighting her, and in doing so, perhaps force the truth from her. You could even find a way to make peace with her afterward."
Gabriel stared at him, her expression unreadable. She gestured with her empty hand for another beer.
Raphael rose from his knee and handed her a third can. He continued, his voice earnest. "Consider this. If you fail to resolve this before Archangel Michael arrives, and a battle breaks out between Michael and Lucifer on Earth… Michael will not hesitate. Millions of humans would die in the crossfire. She would see it as collateral, not tragedy."
Gabriel scoffed, opening the new can. "You are bluffing."
"I am not," Raphael said softly, his gaze steady. "Before you took me as your advisor, I served Archangel Michael. This was after the Lord was crucified. In those days, whenever the event repeated across the multiverse, she would travel to those parallel Earths. And she would annihilate every human there. She could not do it here, on the Prime Earth, so she took her wrath out on the reflections."
The words hung in the cooling evening air. Gabriel took a slow drink, her eyes distant.
"So you are suggesting," she said finally, "that I reveal my true nature to Cain. And then confront Lucifer openly."
"Yes, My Lady." Raphael nodded. "It would simplify the protection of your friend. You could stand beside him openly. And you could guide him through this change he seeks. By telling him you have always been an angel, you offer him truth, not more deception."
Gabriel shook her head. "He would despise me. He would see it as the ultimate betrayal. It is a foolish risk."
"Not if you allow your own walls to fall," Raphael urged gently. "Not if you show him that his loss, Amelia's loss, has weighed upon you as well. That you are not an unfeeling watcher, but a friend who has also grieved."
Gabriel was silent for a long time, the only sound the rustle of leaves in the evening breeze. She finished the beer, her thoughts churning. Finally, she tossed the empty can to Raphael.
"We should return home," she said, her voice tired. "It is getting dark."
They turned and began walking back toward the waiting car, their footsteps quiet on the paved path. As they walked, Gabriel let out a short, humorless laugh.
"I must admit, Raphael, you are proving to be an actual advisor. I had assumed you were merely Michael's preferred… stress reliever."
Raphael gave an awkward, strained laugh in return. "I served that function as well. But do not mistake her exterior calm for inner peace, My Lady. Archangel Michael possesses very little of the latter."