Notes: The events of this chapter happened before chapter 17.

The pavement was covered in dry leaves. It was well into the winter but there was no snow, only freezing winds and dragging rains from one day to the next. This was Ayham.

He must have walked this route a thousand times in the past. With her, maybe.

Michael stood right outside of the loft, now looking dark and unwelcoming. He closed his eyes and felt the interior with his power. No one was there as expected. Michael zapped himself inside.

The large living room was as empty as ever. Michael walked through it and stopped in front of a small room on the right. The door was not closed all the way, and he could see her clothes laying on the bed, the same way he had left them last time.

The trip to the camp was informative in its own way. His new and improved power allowed him to do something he had not been able to do before. The camp's wardings were still somewhat uncomfortable, but he cut through it like a hot knife through butter. Undetected, effortless. He had no trouble whatsoever, then he hesitated.

Facing her suddenly seemed to be an enormous task. He knew how he felt about the girl, but he just didn't understand why. He was not ready. She didn't seem so special, too emotional for his liking even, but he stood there for a whole day and night, watching her until he forced himself to go away. Either that or made himself seen, and he chose the former.

Michael felt embarrassed by his cowardice. It was not like him. Looking at the bed full of her clothes brought back all of those conflicting emotions.

He closed the door and teleported upstairs. They had taken most of the valuable documents from his office as expected, but those were not what he came here for.

Michael walked to the back of his library and touched the wall. The whole side of the room lit up with glowing Enochian symbols and started to rearrange itself like a giant puzzle. Michael stepped back and watched the mechanism work itself until everything stopped.

With a hiss, the wall opened to a long, freezing hallway that seemed infinite. The archangel walked in slowly, his hand touched the cold rough surface of the brick wall. Countless shelves started to appear on different levels around him, holding many objects, artifacts and weapons, which he knew a lot would kill to get their hands on.

Michael had collected these items for many millennia, more as a hobby than anything else, until this moment. He stopped in front of a golden mirror and it sparkled in the dimmed light of the hallway like a sleeping creature greeting its owner after a long time. He traced his fingers on its outline in appreciation before removing it from the shelf, then walked a little deeper inside to retrieve another item.

"Hello there."

He whispered to the red rectangular mahogany box like to an old friend. He never wanted to use it, especially on his family, but he might be left with no choice.

Michael put both objects under his arms and carried them outside. He sealed the door shut with one wave of his hand. This vault was supposed to be impenetrable. It was funny how a human girl was the only living thing besides him to ever step foot in this place.

She was under impression that she did it without his knowledge, but of course, he knew. He knew and allowed her. One had to question why an archangel such as Michael would do something so unnecessary and out of his character like that. Michael had also asked himself the same multiple times.

One thing he had learned after this ordeal - Without trust, there would be nothing. No family, friendship, or love. Only endless mind games, lies, and manipulations. His life already had enough of that. Michael was tired. Testing their relationship was a mistake, but it had taught him a valuable lesson. He just had to never make it again.

***

Luc paced back and forth in his office like a mad man. There was no way they didn't know about or felt this energy. Himself with a non-existent grace was one thing, but Raphael and the other angels? Then why didn't they do something?

Raphael had promised him to focus on destroying those camps and killing that human girl, but all he got from the guy lately were vague answers and excuses as if Raphael had forgotten why they did all of these things in the first place. Of course, the power was nice, but they need to save Father. That was the most important thing. When Michael was back, they wouldn't have the opportunity to do it anymore.

The disconnection with Heaven was a big red flag, but no one seemed to notice or give a damn about it and it frustrated Luc. He had discovered a big group of angels who went missing and Zaaphiel was one of them. That angel had been Michael's right-hand man forever. The whole thing stank of conspiracy, but Raphael couldn't pull his head out of his ass to see it and got very dismissive every time Luc brought this matter up.

Luc could never understand his brother. No wonder Raphael didn't get along with any of them archangels. He was just a weirdo who liked to stay in his own head and ignored reality. Honestly, he could care less about the guy, but mutual interests had brought them here and demanded them to stick together for as long as it took.

In Luc's mind, there was no doubt that Michael was already back. The whole unusual nature phenomenons in the past months, Heaven was offline, and missing angels should be the tell-tale signs. There should be no question.

One thing he didn't understand, though. It was not like Michael at all to stay quiet for this long. His older brother liked to make an entrance everywhere he went, as dramatic as possible, since he believed he represented Heaven's justice that purged God's land of evils.

Talk about a big show-off, but Luc feared him. There was no way around it. He knew the only reason he was still alive was that Michael let him. He used to love and respect his older brother so much, but he also knew what that archangel was capable of. He would never underestimate Michael, not for a moment.

Luc watched the fireworks in the night sky, wondering what people were celebrating. Reaching for his decanter, for once, he desperately wished to be in the bliss of ignorance like those humans, but he knew he couldn't. None of his kind had that luxury.

***

The camp was more quiet than usual. The weather had been so bad in the past few days that no one wanted to leave their cabins anymore unless there was an emergency. The no-entering-and-exiting policy was firmly in effect so all over the camp, there was this lazy atmosphere draping over everything and everyone like a thick fog.

All Ruby did recently complained about the weather and reorganized their cabin to death. The cabin was a standard sixteen-by-twenty with not a lot of stuff at all, so, basically, she did some cleaning in the morning, then bossed Gadreel and Kye around for the rest of the day. Kye would really appreciate it if Ruby let her stay in her room for once, but she also knew what it could do to her head.

The other day when she was sick, she had dreamed of someone standing in her room, looking awfully familiar. Her head and heart both hurt like crazy when she woke up, but she didn't tell a soul about the dream or how realistic it felt.

Her sickness was gone mysteriously that same afternoon. She could've sworn it was Michael, but something felt different. If it was him, why didn't he talk to her? Why did he stand there staring as if he was angry at her or something else?

The archangel had dreamwalked with her many times before. It was weird at first, but then it became some kind of a habit, a welcoming one. He always made her feel safe and happy in her dreams, but not this time. All she felt from him was cold, distant, and uncertain, just like the very first time he looked at her.

It was sad to live in the unknown. Heaven had become a more and more tempting destination to her every day and she felt if she got there, she would find some answers at least, but part of her still didn't have the courage. Ruby was here, mom and Nick were stuck in the city, their fates unknown, so how could she leave them? It would be extremely selfish. On top of that, she still held on to the hope Michael would come back for her, so she waited.

Kye didn't have any energy this morning, even less than usual, so after the minimal housework, she just sat quietly by the dining table, looking out into the rain. Her life was always boring, but she felt it had lost its purpose since Michael was gone.

Ruby and Gadreel were watching some old movie in the living room, occasionally laughing at the silly parts. Kye chuckled, life was not simple, but somehow those two had found a way to make it work and actually be happy. She was just glad her sister found someone who loved and cared about her. At least she didn't have to worry about Ruby all the time anymore.

Kye continued watching the rain outside the window. This was all she had at the moment. She never had a lot of ambition or desire, not until he came along, and even then, Kye didn't think what she wanted was too much to ask, but maybe she had been wrong.

The camp was always quiet, but Kye had noticed a group of new vehicles appeared a few days ago at the gate. Bobby of course didn't give her anything. She hadn't seen anyone new, but the cars couldn't be missed. They were very new, some were high-end, so she believed they must've come from the city, more specifically, from the ones who work for the Council. She tried to sneak closer to take a better look, but before she could do that, they were gone as if they were never there.

Kye had a feeling the directors were trying to keep something big under wrap, but she was not in the high enough circle to find out. Ruby tried to help, but there was not much the girl could do, and Sam, every time she thought about him, it just hurt.

Their relationship was never the same after the painful rejection she gave him before running to Michael. He and his brother came back a few times since then, but she and Sam barely talked anymore. Things became so awkward and neither of them knew how to fix their friendship, so they just left it alone. It might be better that they were not involved anymore. Still, it was never easy to lose a close friend like that.

***

A few cabins away from Ruby and Kye's, an intense meeting was happening. It was dead silent at the moment and the tension in the room could be cut with a knife. The blond hair woman looked at Bobby for a long time before finally speaking up.

"I don't think it's such a bad idea to at least consider that. You know what we can do. Let us help."

"Of course, you would vouch for them, Naomi. You are one of them after all. Despite the time you've spent with us, I don't think you have ever forgotten about being an angel."

Breathing deeply to control her anger, Naomi stared at the bearded guy who had just given that very ignorant statement in her opinion. She was talking to Bobby, not him.

"I am an angel, of course, I never forget, but we've never hid who we are, at least not from any of you in this room, and we've never done anything to betray your trust. Being angel is the way we can help and contribute to this organization."

"Taking a few more angels in is not a problem," Bobby interrupted, "but now is a very sensitive time. Raphael is unpredictable in the way he acts. There must be another one behind him who also has a lot of control in the whole situation..."

"Bobby, I know what you worry about," Naomi looked at the older man earnestly, "but wasn't it even more dangerous back then when you took us in when the War just ended? You risked everything and your generous decision turned out to be the right one for both us angels and the organization. This is a crucial time, we can't afford to sit back and brew on this much longer. We, the angels, have reasons to believe Michael is not dead, and we need to find him, but to do that, it will take all of us, and our brothers and sisters have risked their lives to come here. They need a place to stay."

"Jeez, it's like choosing your poison, picking between the bad and the worse..."

One director sighed and everyone on the human side started mumbling in agreement.

"We know you don't like Michael,..."

Naomi sighed and exchanged the look with the half-bald skinny guy in the argyle sweater vest, who had been sitting quietly in the corner.

"...But the world we are living in right now is the direct result of a wrong decision that was made a long time ago. It is messy, chaotic. There is no black and white, your side, my side. For all of our survival, we needed the one who started it all to come back and fix it. He's the only one who can and is willing to. I believe Michael has shown you some good faith that he will fix things for the humans. I know he meant it. He is someone we all know, I would go as far as saying he's someone we can trust. He has a certain way of doing things that is predictable... Raphael is just not good for anyone."

Bobby scratched his chin while the other directors started to go into another argument among themselves. When he heard enough, Bobby clapped his hands loudly together and stood up. The gesture was enough to quiet the whole room.

"This is not something we should decide in a rush, but we need to act soon as you said. Raphael and his angels already set up camps to lock up people in the city, so we can see where this goes. I'll say we vote on this right here, right now so we know how to move forward."

"Bobby, we should talk about this first..."

"You can't be serious, it's like putting a target on our backs!"

"The camp is vulnerable as it is..."

"I SAID WE VOTE! Not let's open the gate and kumbaya..."

Bobby suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs. It startled everyone and silenced the room immediately. At this age, he still had a surprisingly powerful voice and the respect people gave him was not earned in one day or two. It showed at the moment.

"...If my opinion still means a damn thing, let's carry it on right now. We can't achieve anything by hiding here forever. Have you all forgotten about your friends and families in the city? You think they can wait for you to find your balls? After Raphael and his angels are done with them, what do you think they're gonna do next? We're already a target. To them, we're just a bunch of mountain monkeys. They can and will wipe us out when they feel like it, so we can't sit here and wait. We will take the war to them before they can bring it to our gate."

Bobby sat down and panted. He had to stop thinking that he was still in his 20s. Commanding the room this way should be out of the question in the future.

The vote reluctantly started after Bobby gave his speech. 30 minutes passed, and they had the result in a box on the table.

"22 yes, 18 no. The angels stay and we will act as the reinforcement."

The result was as Bobby expected. It was close, but enough to push the plan into action. He knew most people were just scared, but they would do the right thing when push came to shove. A lot was riding on the decision they made in this room and Bobby was not sure whether choosing to stand with the angels again this time would bring salvation or destruction, but he had no other choice.

Most people took a deep breath, either in relief or resigned after the vote and the meeting was adjourned. A lot still mumbled, clearly unconvinced with the result but they couldn't change that. It was decided.

Bobby watched the last person leave and held Naomi back by her arm.

"Introduce me to him, please."

"Of course."

The angel smiled and gestured toward the skinny man still sitting there in the corner of the room.

"Bobby, this is Zaaphiel. Brother Zaaphiel, Bobby."

"Nice to meet you."

Bobby reached out his hand and gave the guy a rare friendly smile. He kind of expected some douchey attitude as he had witnessed with the other angels, but to his surprise, Zaaphiel stood up and held Bobby's hand enthusiastically with both of his.

"Thank you for helping us! We won't forget it."

"I don't do it for you angels," Bobby stepped back and looked at the man in front of him. "We all see what Michael has done and could do if he is here. He helped keep the balance, so we need him back. To be honest, I didn't like none of you being on Earth at all, but as Naomi said, this is the world we are living in right now. We just have to make it work."

Bobby stopped and gave the skinny angel a meaningful look. Zaaphiel smiled and put his hands in the pants pockets.

"I understand. We promise we will try our best to locate and bring him back."

"Yeah, you'd better."

Bobby touched his cap and walked toward the door. Before stepping through the threshold, he turned back at the two angels.

"If you need anything, you know where to find me."

***

Michael sat in his office, quietly watching the rain. It had been going all night and still didn't show any sign that it would stop soon. He always came back to the loft early when it rained to curl up in bed with her. She got so emotional and lacked energy with this kind of weather. Thinking about it still amazed Michael. How easily and willingly he yielded to many of her whims.

Michael cut that train of thoughts and looked down at the objects on his desk. Pushing the mahogany box to the side, he focused on the golden mirror and started reciting the Runes that were carved on its frame. The item lit up like the sun and gave out a soothing flute-like sound. The light from it opened bigger and bigger until the mirror became a portal...

The archangel opened his eyes. There was nothing around him. Nothing but an ethereal, floating emptiness. This space resembled Heaven a lot, but Michael knew it was not. It felt warmer and more surreal.

With every step he took, a part of his memory was shed away until there was hardly anything left. Michael still remembered who he was and why he was here, but the rest was just a jumbled mess of images and sensations. Nothing made sense and Michael trod aimlessly around, didn't want to trail too far away from where he landed, but it was hard. There was no landmark to tell him where he was or where he was supposed to go, so Michael headed straight.

Walking through a curtain of cool mist, Michael reminded himself to stay focused. He still remembered how he got here. The mirror was an ancient artifact that would lead a person to their heart's desires or give them answers. It acted as a magical compass that guided and helped people make decisions.

Michael needed to find his angels. Since most of their signals were blocked off or lost, he couldn't find them with the normal method. That was why he used the mirror.

Michael knew the risk. He mumbled to himself, trying to keep his mind and heart as still as possible. The mirror could sense weaknesses. It could create strong temptations that sucked a person in and kept them here forever. More so with an immortal creature like Michael. Just like every other powerful supernatural artifact, the mirror was dangerous if the user couldn't control it.

Michael was always confident about his abilities, but something about this trip worried him. It was hard to say what. He could hear the birds singing and water dripping somewhere nearby. The closer he got to the sounds, the clearer it became. The fog parted and revealed a peaceful scene.

A humble but well-kept cabin made of stones and woods glistened in the morning sun. An evergreen pine forest surrounded it, swaying in the crisp winds from the frosty mountains. Michael had no reason to stop here, but he had nowhere else to go. This place didn't feel like anywhere he had ever been to or known, and for sure, ninety-something missing angels couldn't fit in the tiny cabin.

Michael hesitantly turned away when he saw a couple come out of the cabin. The man was tall with dark hair and piercing blue eyes. He towered over the petite woman who wore layers of oversized flannel shirts and old jeans. His face was full of love and tenderness when he looked at her while she was busy talking at, or to her rounded stomach. It was surely a bizarre sight, but somehow, it put a wistful smile on Michael's face.

He felt like he knew these people and this place. Michael sat down on the ground and folded his legs to continue watching the couple attentively. He didn't notice the thick fog crept up from behind and started wrapping around him like a snake. It swallowed the archangel piece by piece until there was nothing left of him.