Fluidity

Evicted

     Raphael walked quietly down the corridors, not wanting to alert the other Archangels of her presence. She was on her way to have a chat with her mother (who'd started presenting female shortly after Sam- Lucifer and his friends fell) to hopefully get some answers. She knew that her siblings would stop her if she ran into any of them, their mother had been in a bit of a bad mood as of late.

     Apparently, she wasn't quiet enough. Amenadiel emerged from one of the rooms along the hall.

     "Where are you headed, all dressed up like that?" Amenadiel asked, a bit amused.

     Rachael tried to look sophisticated and businessy, in hopes of making a better impression on her mother. Red hair fell in spirals around her shoulders, half done up in braids accented with maybe just a bit of glitter. She wore a plain white dress with a bit of gold jewelry. Vivid red, orange, and gold tones filled her wings, accompanied by the constant glimmer of stardust.

     She thought for a moment, debating on whether to tell him or not. She decided yes, maybe he could give her some advice.

     "I'm going to go see mom. I want some answers," Raphael said, most certainly speaking more confidently than she felt.

     Amenadiel frowned. "You know that's not a good idea. You shouldn't question her."

     "Oh, who knows? She might answer me! She might tell me what I want to know and then we can understand why," Raphael reasoned.

     "But she might not. You could fall. Come on, stay here. Azrael, Micheal, and I are all going to go to the gardens later, you can come with," Amenadiel offered.

     "I'll take you up on that, right after I talk to mom. I'll see you soon, okay?" Raphael promised.

     "I suppose," Amenadiel said, hesitant to be okay with the situation.

     "Great!" Raphael grinned and hugged her brother, then running off down the corridors. "I'll be back!"

     Comforted by the plan for later, she hurried down to the gates to meet her mom. The gates had a beautiful view of the garden of Eden, which was almost done with construction and absolutely bursting with life. The Allmighty was already waiting there for her, casting a bright divine light over everything.

     Raphael slowed to a walk and came to sit beside her, letting her legs dangle a bit over the edge.

     "Beautiful, isn't it?" The Allmighty said.

     "Stunning," Raphael agreed.

     "I have lots of plans for this place. And the humans will be the ones to put them in action. Though I do hope they do better than Gallifrey. The agents down there say it's not doing very well," The Allmighty said offhandedly.

     "Yeah. Ah, speaking of.. What do you plan to do? Was Lucifer falling a part of that plan?" Raphael asked, nothing but curiosity in her voice.

     Azrael watched all of this unfold from the sidelines. She had wanted to see the progress of Eden, but had found her mother there instead, soon joined by her twin. She watched on, a looming feeling of dread that she just couldn't seem to shake falling over her.

     "I.. Can't quite answer that," mother said.

     "Oh. Well, what about why you're creating humans? There's a bunch of others, they're kinda.. Plain? They don't have any powers or anything," Raphael asked.

     Mother didn't answer. Raphael took this as a sign to continue. "How come you're putting the tree of knowledge so close to them but telling them not to touch it?"

     "There are some things I can't answer, Raphael. It's better if you do not ask," The Allmighty finally spoke.

     "But why? You do know the answers don't you? And you said they'll have to choose? Why do they have to? Why can't they just be? And what are they even choosing between?" Raphael asked, growing increasingly more frustrated and exasperated.

     "Raphael," she said softly, but still with the same conviction as a threat. "I can't tell you this."

     "But why?" Raphael asked.

     The Allmighty stood. Raphael stood with her. She lifted her hand and pressed it to Raphael's cheek. The Archangel's eyes fluttered shut, her body going limp, and her mind falling unconscious.

     "You'll find out for yourself," she whispers, almost too quiet for Azrael to pick up.

     Raphael's body fades, but not into nothingness, just somewhere else. Azrael had done the same to herself enough times to know.

     "I know you're there, Azrael," The Allmighty says.

     Azrael blinks nervously, stepping out from behind a tree, shaking the leaves out of her dark wings. The Allmighty walks towards her and Azrael is scared that she'll do the same to her as she's done to Raphael. She only places a hand on her daughter's shoulder and speaks.

     "Adam and Lilith will be down there soon. They'll have to kill to survive, and eventually they'll die as well. I want you to go down there and collect the living creatures' souls for me after Death takes them from their bodies. Can you do that for me?" she asks.

     Azrael nods, afraid to speak.

     "She won't be back for a while. You can go after her, but I want her to find the answers to her questions for herself. If all goes as it should, she'll be much better off for it, and she'll teach us to be too," she says.

     And with that, she leaves, and the gates have darkened significantly. Azrael shifts. She won't be going with Amenadiel and Micheal later today. She needs time to figure out what just happened and where to go from here.