"Wine And Snow"
Part 4
by Beryll
What if god was one of us
just a stranger on the bus
trying to make his way home
---
Sunlight filled the little coffee-shop with warmth and light. It was just passed lunch time and most of the tables were void of guests but still filled with the remains of various meals. Two waitresses were cleaning the place at a leisurely pace, relaxing from the frantic lunch. In one corner a woman sat with two little children, who were finishing their ice cream. At the counter an elderly man was chatting to the waitress carrying out the cakes for the afternoon.
Next to the window sat a blonde man of indistinguishable age, thumbing through a cheap paperback novel, absentmindedly stirring heaps of sugar into his coffee. He wore faded blue jeans and a light green sweat shirt. His hair was long and kept in a pony tail. He exuded an aura of friendly relaxation and every time one of the waitresses passed him they smiled at him and he would smile back.
When the mother with her children left, he did not smile at her, for Gabriel, archangel of propagation, knew well what was in her heart. Just this morning she had been beaten by her husband and had only taken the kids our for a treat to quench the fear that grew in their hearts too. She feared men and it was not Gabriel's wish to frighten her.
Most angels envied humans for the freedom of will that god had granted them. For their ability to make choices where the path of an angel was preordained. But they had not watched humans as extensively as Gabriel had. They did not see that this freedom inflicted as much pain as happiness. Even the archangels had paid mortals only fleeting attention. For Uriel they were a task appointed, no more. Raphael saw them as cute things to be cuddled and loved but he certainly did not take them serious. And Michael – Gabriel smiled to himself – for Michael the world was divided into enemies and victims. Either he fought them or he fought for them.
And in the last two millennia they had completely abandoned earth. God had decreed there should be time for humanity to learn the lessons that his son had brought to them. So everybody had stayed in heaven, minding their own business. Except Uriel of course, who still escorted the souls of the deceased from earth to heaven, if they were not to heavy with sin.
So Uriel was the only one who knew, that Gabriel had not quite followed orders and had still been a regular visitor to the earthly realm. He had not interfered. He would never defy god like the fallen ones had done. But he had watched and wept for the pain and horror that humans inflicted on one another. How much he had wished to soothe their hurts, to show them a brighter way. But it was forbidden. So he had done little things. A kind word here, a polite suggestion there and changed many things for the better.
Drinking some of his coffee he thought back to a small restaurant not so unlike this one but half a world away, where he had sat with a young, hopeful Russian politician, who had almost despaired at the monumental task he had set before himself: to break the ice between east and west, to break down a wall that had kept the world in a icy grasp of fear for half a century. It had been so easy to help him find his own courage again. Even without using all the power that was at his command. Could this be wrong? Gabriel refused to believe that god would look with scorn on such an action.
But now times were changing again and Metatron had spoken with god's voice again. His command had been simple. Return to earth and see how things fare. Gabriel, as all other angels, was sure that more orders would follow and he feared the anger of god at the state that his world was in. How could he forgive all that had happened? The great flood had been prompted by less offence. Gabriel feared for humanity. But as ever he would do his duty and announce to them what would be their fate. Even if they never listened properly anyway.
He looked at the clock over the counter, frowning lightly. Where was Michael? He should have been here for lunch and now it was almost two hours past. What had the little fire-starter gotten into now? It was not that he feared there would be anything that could hurt the archangel of war, more that he feared what Michael might do if somebody sparked his legendary temper.
Gabriel drank the last of his coffee and was about to get up to go looking for his friend, when the door to the coffee shop was pushed open with some violence and Michael stomped inside. He was bristling with fury, barely keeping the appearance of a mere mortal in place. Gabriel wouldn't have been surprised if the floor had burst into flames where Michael's feet touched it. It wouldn't have been the first time something like that happened after all.
"Elijah." he softly called the other angel by his mortal name, to calm him and bring to his attention that he was dangerously close to revealing himself.
The other angel stared at him uncomprehending for a moment, his sky blue eyes burning with holy rage. Then he seemed to realize where he was and Gabriel watched him clamp down on his anger hard.
"Sean." The archangel of war greeted Gabriel by his human name and in his apologetic tone acknowledged, that he had lost his temper once more.
Michael sighed deeply and sat down across from Gabriel, burying his face in his hands, concentrating on his breathing to calm down. Gabriel watched him curiously. Whatever had rattled him like this must have been pretty bad.
A waitress came over, eyeing Michael with a mixture of distrust and awe. He was painfully beautiful to the mortal eye but instinct invoked fear as well. "Some tea for my friend and another coffee for me, please." Gabriel told her, smiling reassuringly.
"So... what happened to you?" he asked Michael, when she had left.
The angel looked up and now there was deep pain in his expressive eyes. "I met..." he checked himself just before saying a name that had no place on earth. "I met one of... them..."
Gabriel raised a curious eyebrow. "Not a surprise." he said gently. "They have run this place ever since we left. You should have expected..."
"No." Michael held up an interrupting hand. "One of THEM. Of the two..."
"Oh." Now pity filled Gabriel's heart. He knew exactly who Michael was talking about. Maybe even better than Michael himself. He had been there when god had made them. Three angels to be his strong arm. Three angels to be his weapons, to lead his armies. One lord of the heavenly host and his two lieutenants, his two hands. Michael had been crippled ever since they had rebelled against god. Ever since he had been forced to cast them from the heavens.
More crippled then he had ever admitted to anyone, even himself. Gabriel knew human passion enough to recognize the same fire in the eyes of the two angels fighting their captain. They had loved him with all their heart and had stopped fighting that forbidden emotion the same moment they had started fighting the will of god. Gabriel had always feared that the same fire lay hidden in Michael. His anger now fuelled that suspicion.
"And?" he prompted Michael.
"He tried to... touch me." Michael explained. "I hit him. Pretty hard."
Gabriel snorted. A demon trying to taint an archangel! The denizens of hell really had grown arrogant if they thought they could do that without retaliation. "No less than he deserved." he noted wryly, but Michael's eyes were haunted.
"I didn't mean to hurt him. I was just so... shocked."
He looked like he wanted to say something else, but then he swallowed it, while the waitress brought tea and coffee. Michael wondered what it was, he had wanted to say. Somehow he was sure it would have been important to know.
"You should not worry about their well-being." Gabriel admonished, when she had left them alone again. "We are still at war, remember?"
Michael nodded slowly, his gaze hardening against the feelings stirring in his heart. "You are right." he whispered. "I should have ripped his heart out instead. One less evil in this world." But he did not sound as if he believed in what he said.
Gabriel watched him with worry. "Maybe you should leave this particular fight to somebody who has not as much personal pain involved in the matter." he suggested gently. "You do not have to fight all your battles alone, you know."
The archangel of war just stared into his tea as if he could read answers to his questions there. Gabriel made a mental note to keep an eye on him. It would certainly not do to loose an archangel to the darkness of anger or the taint of the demons.
"So what did you see on earth?" he steered the conversation to safer territories.
For a good hour they exchanged their observations and found that they agreed in their assessment. God had punished humanity for lesser offences in old times. There was no telling what he would rain down on earth this time.
As Gabriel had expected Michael welcomed a cleansing. He spoke quite fondly of rains of fire and great floodings. Gabriel tried hard to stay polite, but in the end all he could do was excuse himself with important business still waiting for his attention, to stop himself from shouting at the other archangel in anger. How could he dismiss human life so careless? But that was Michael, that was what he had been made like. He was not to fault so Gabriel left in a hurry.
Otherwise he might have noticed the dark, brooding figure, leaning against a lantern post across the street, watching the coffee shop intently.
If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to: Beryll
go to PART 5