The Queen's Shadow

The Second Door: Acceptance part 2

~~~Gabriel

It's hours before the battle, I found myself talking to them both, and we had all the same conversations. Only this time they felt more alive like I was reconnecting with a friend for the first time in years. As a matter of fact, I was, their smiles and the way we shook hands let me know they were here for me till the end.

I sat with Nathan Hale, he had been studying his Bible. I offered him a cup of coffee and said 'Don't you think you should be reviewing the battle plan?' He pulled his eyes from the book as he always did. The book was capable of sucking him back in over and over if he found your conversation lacking. I was one of the lucky few who could get his attention for more than 5 minutes, he then said 'I reviewed the battle plan.'

"They're going to give us another briefing before we leave," I said jokingly, he thought I was going to grill him again for not doing it. It was no reason to, I hope wherever he went it was somewhere good. "I'm sorry Nathan, I'm sorry I failed you," I said it without thinking, I knew he was just a figment of my imagination but I couldn't stop myself. 'What are you sorry about corporal?' He said with a smile, he then said: 'Everything happens for a reason, nothing is permanent in life.' He used to always say that, I was reflecting so much more than this. I was cherishing every moment, these moments were important to me. It was the same with my wife and Adrian, the moment he called me dad my heart melted.

I felt complete as a human, this was my life. Then everything was robbed of me for the first time it was Lilith, she robbed me of my normal life. When it happened again it was this war, Nathan Hale and Morgan Miller were killed robbed taken from me my closest friends. The final time was Hans he robbed me of my family and my wife. He gave my wife orders to kill me, and she could do nothing to resist them. The horror on her face when I refused to kill her, it was almost as if I broke her heart in half with my own two hands. I didn't have the strength to kill my wife, just like I didn't have the strength to save them.

~~~Zamiel

'I see what you meant when you said you were cultivating a horseman of pure war.' Michael said as he was finishing up with the rest of his project, Michael was enjoying making his Horsemen. Conquest was one of the more powerful Horsemen, as they had to be born of an Angel. The strongest horseman is always Death, and the weakest horsemen could be considered war or famine. As powerful as famine was if not utilized properly it would only work on some living things. For example, if you were to become cybernetic then it would be different. Or what if you lacked a stomach altogether? It was all up to the user to make it stronger. Each of the horsemen was almost equal in power, it was the utility that made the horsemen stronger. Yes, Conquest starts stronger than a lot of Horsemen, but the true weakness behind that is if you have nothing to conquer then you are nothing but a waste of space.

"As you can see, he has plenty of potential but he is his own worst enemy." Michael and I saw that humans had potential, especially in their souls. It was no secret that a human could get stronger not by just strengthening their bodies but by strengthening their mental state. They get stronger by being hardened to their experiences but also learning from those experiences in different ways. It wasn't just circumstances and experiences that made them stronger, it was the will to face the world no matter what.

'You see so much more in them than I do' he said as if trying to defend his case. 'Though he has proven to be exceptional.'

Michael knew the potential Gabriel held, it wasn't just the fact that he was a child of Lilith. It was the fact that he had my latent genetics and the sheer will to keep going. These simple facts could not be dismissed, but his mind was in a constant fog. He is bogged down by depression, uncertainty, and fear.

Michael denies having any affiliation with humans. Though he was the one that was known for mingling with them the most. We told the lower angels to stop doing it. Michael had enforced it and because he enforced it he would mingle while he was doing it.