After properly introducing Tepes to the Resia Nephilim (Thomas still objected, but thanked Tepes for his help eventually), Gabriël visited the rooms where they kept the bodies of the fallen Nephilim. Forty-four had died. Forty-four that he wasn't able to save.
He took in their faces, recognising some of them from their time as angels. The loss became heavier with each body he passed. He halted near Adeline. She was no Nephilim, but she had fought as fiercely as one. Her parents trained her well. If only she had never encountered the Borgia Bastard.

"Gabriël, there you are." Raphael came up behind him. "I — oh, are you all right?"

"Fine, just..." Gabriël sighed. "I wish I could've done more."

"Like making a deal with Death is so common. You've gone above and beyond, and everybody here knows it."

"So you don't think this is all my fault?" Gabriël hesitated before he glanced up. "If I hadn't been so weak to let Lucifer control me —"

"He would have found another way to get what he wants. You know how crafty he is. What Lucifer wants, he gets. Though I'd hoped there were still some lines he wouldn't cross."

Gabriël understood Raphael's meaning. Attacking the Nephilim in their homes, and now at the Castel... Lucifer never did anything so direct. And certainly never so rash. It had all happened after Gabriël lied to him about Michael. Lucifer undoubtedly confronted the other Archangel about it, and Michael had played along with the ruse. He'd put his trust entirely in an unknown plan simply because it was Gabriël's, which once again proved his love for him.
Gabriël feared what else Lucifer had in store for them. And particularly for his hostages, though he believed Joan and the baby wouldn't be harmed. Michael, on the other hand... 

Not wanting to linger on that thought, he turned to the physician and asked, "Was there something you needed?"

"Hm? Oh yes! I can't find Isabelle. I was wondering if you've seen her anywhere?"

"No, I haven't. Have you checked down with the wounded?"

"Twice. No one has seen Isabelle since the attack began."

Gabriël grew anxious. He was certain Isabelle wasn't dead; her body would've been discovered if she was. There were only so many places she could've hidden during the attack, but he knew Isabelle wouldn't have done that. Mother and daughter were alike. Joan did not run from a fight, and Isabelle never abandoned her patients.

"Check with Peter if she returned to the Vale," said Gabriël. "I'll do another sweep of the Castel."

"Gabriël, you don't think..." Raphael hesitated. "I mean, if she isn't here, nor home in the Vale... Could they have...?"

He didn't voice his concern aloud. But Gabriël feared the same thing. If Isabelle wasn't in the Castel or the Vale, it meant the demons took her. It meant they lost another angel.

***

They stepped through the portal into the ruins of the once-mighty city built on a mountainside. Despite the mortals' best intentions to preserve the historic site, it was a desolate and wild landscape. Some dared to visit the ruins, but most didn't draw near. Not only because of the dangers the land itself held, but because of the unholy atmosphere that reigned.
Samael felt at home there. Not that he would know what a home was like. He had none. The room his father had given him in the Circles since their alliance was simply a room. Azrael always told him the Vale was his home, but she hadn't gone there much herself. And Samael refused to make his home with those insufferable angels.
This was where he belonged. Where the presence of the dark and the pull of evil were so strong. The cradle of all that was rotten and ill in the world. This was where he would gain control over the baby — and by extension, the mother, the father, and all others who dared stand against him.

Samael glanced at the old woman by his side. Taking Isabelle Romée out of the Castel Sant' Angelo had been easier than expected. He barely had to mention Joan, and she had taken his hand, firmly believing he was reuniting her with her beloved daughter. 

"Joan will be here soon, Isabelle." The fake smile Samael had learned to master long ago graced his face. "Can you begin preparations to make sure she delivers safely?"

"You can't possibly expect her to have the baby here?" Isabelle looked around at the ruins.

"I know this doesn't seem like much. But I must ask you to trust me. Ancient powers guard this place. You will all be safe here."

"Are there any materials I can use?"

"The doctor's practice lies further down this path. I've tried to restore it as best as possible and brought what I believed you would require, but if you need more, you can let me know."

"You've been arranging things for some time, it seems."

The Angel of Death noticed some suspicion in the old woman's voice.

"I have." He pretended to sigh and hung his head. "I know I'm supposed to remain neutral in this. It pains me I must defy my duty and nature, but I can no longer stay on the sidelines. Something has to be done. I only hope God will not punish me too harshly for this."

He saw Isabelle's expression soften from the corner of his eye and suppressed a grin. It was amazing how easy it was to fool these angels.

"I must go now," said Samael. "I must meet with my friend who watches over Joan. We need to discuss the best time to move her. Will you be all right on your own for a little while?"

"Don't worry about me. Please, just bring me my daughter."

Samael's black wings grew out, and with a few strong beats, he was high in the clouds, the ruins of Pergamum far below him. As he sailed through the sky, wings cutting through the air, he thought of how far the darkness had made him rise. Soon, he would be the one in control of the Circles. After that, the Vale. And then... he would be the one and only God.

***

The room around Michael swirled. It remained an unpleasant feeling, but he was getting used to it. A city formed around him. He focused on one point in the distance, trying to recognise where Lucifer had brought him to this time. A large white dome. The basilica of Saint Peters! And from his perspective of it, he could only be...
Michael whirled around to find a bronze statue of an angel with a sword. It was the depiction the mortals made of him atop the Castel Sant' Angelo in Rome. He saw the river shimmering in the morning sunlight, and the bridge over it, angel guardians on each side. And just below in the courtyard was...

Michael gasped in horror. Hundreds of demons were being burned where they lay dead. Angel feathers were scattered about, swirling in the air as a breeze picked them up. The blood that had stained the stones was still visible in places, though some effort was made to wash it away. Lucifer hadn't brought him to another fantasy or memory, but to the real world Michael had so brutally been taken from.
It was mere hours after the battle Michael felt so intensely before. He recognised some of the Nephilim, even from this distance. Anne Boleyn and her husband, Thomas Wyatt, and... was that Vlad Tepes? What was he doing there? The Fallen Angel was his spy in the Circles. Had he been compromised? Had he returned of his own accord? Then suddenly, shining bright like the sun...

"GABRIËL!" Michael shouted his name, praying he would hear him.

For a moment, it appeared as if his prayer was answered. Gabriël looked up; his eyes narrowed towards where Michael stood. He waved wildly at him.

"Yes! Yes, Gabriël, I am here!"

"Oh, would you please shut up already?" Michael jumped back when Lucifer suddenly appeared next to him, scowling. "Gabriël, Gabriël... Could you be more pathetic?"

"Ridicule me all you like." Michael shot back a dirty glare. "I do not care. Gabriël knows I am here."

"Oh, does he? Then why doesn't he come up to rescue you from me? Wait, that's right — he can't! He can't hear you, Michael. Nobody can."

"I have faith in him."

Lucifer snickered. "Severely misplaced, if you ask me. As long as I have Joan and their little bundle of joy, Gabriël won't dare lift a finger against me. Not even to save you."

"Your quarrel is with me, Lucifer. Leave Gabriël and his family out of this!"

"Why the hell should I? He is no different from me! We are both victims of your love and your jealousy! Tell me why the love you claimed to bear for me was so fleeting that you would destroy all I ever cared about, but your sickening adoration for Gabriël drives you to stand by him! Enlighten me, please!"

The two men stood but inches away from each other. The silence about them was ear-deafening. Michael felt his heart beating furiously in his chest.

"You are right," he said through gritted teeth. "I am guilty of a great many things. Call me a liar, a manipulator, a murderer... I am all that and more. But do not dare accuse me of not loving you. I gave you my heart, my body, my entire being, and you toyed with me, replacing me when things were not going your way. All those times we were alone together, you told me I was your family. You told me I was all you needed, but then you threw me aside like I was nothing! You broke me, Lucifer!"

Michael almost faltered at the sight of Lucifer's wide-eyed astonishment, but he couldn't stop now. This was the one chance he had of making the Devil understood he, too, had suffered.

"You want the truth? Fine, here it is. Gabriël hinted at you we were lovers, but nothing ever happened. What you saw was what I wanted you to see. I know Gabriël well enough to know he implied an affair for a reason, so I played along. You may hold the keys to my prison, Lucifer, but it is still my dream; I have not lost all control yet. And yes, you and Gabriël are not that different. You both stop at nothing to get what you want. You both protect what you have with a ferocious passion, unlike any I have witnessed. And I will not deny that I love Gabriël. He is the best of us, and you know it too, else you would not have used him. So maybe that is why I am... lenient towards him. Gabriël reminds me so much of you, Lucifer, and I do not want him to be you! I cannot lose him like I lost you... I... I cannot forget..."

Michael's voice wavered. The truth he buried so long ago had never been so clear. He released the last of his anger as he stepped up to Lucifer, taking him by the collar of his black shirt.

"I can't get rid of you no matter what I try! Whenever I think my heart has healed from the pain you caused me, something or someone comes along that reminds me of you, and I'm torn up all over again! God refused to make me forget everything we had and make the hurt disappear! I tried to do it myself and failed! I can do nothing to heal these wounds and wake from this never-ending nightmare you created! You possess me completely! And may God help me; no matter how much I want you gone, I still love you, you miserable bastard! So make me the villain if you like, Lucifer. I don't care anymore. But don't hold my love for you against me. Never that."

Michael let go, and Lucifer staggered back. He stared at Michael as if he were crazy. It almost made Michael laugh because it seemed so ridiculous that his words would stump Lucifer. But then again, it was ridiculous. An Archangel and the Devil... what a joke.

"Everything you did... was for love?" Lucifer's voice was barely audible. The utter shock Michael had seen in his expression changed to a grief-stricken outrage. "Have you really fallen this low, Michael? That you would justify what you've done with love? You burned my wings away, condemning me to Hell! My wife was tortured to death, deprived of any family, even the memories of one, because of your manipulations! My son was ripped out of his mother's womb and cast into the Circles!"

"Your son is a monster!"

"Which he only became after what you did to him!"

They glared at each other. Their words slowly sunk in. Michael realised it was the first time Lucifer had named his child a son. It was the first time he had spoken of him in the present tense. And Michael had done the same. Meaning only one thing...

"You know then?"

Lucifer scoffed. "As you do, apparently."

"Is he with you?" The Devil averted, making Michael lunge for him and force Lucifer to face him. "Answer me! Is Samael with you?"

Lucifer pulled out of his grasp. He appeared a predator about to attack his prey. But Michael stood his ground. He had to know.

"My son is with his family," spoke Lucifer. "The darkness has a firm grasp on him, but if I can keep the pull of the Circles at bay and remain myself, he can, too. I will help him overcome this. I will help him overcome you. We will rule this world together, as we were always meant to, whilst you rot here."

The triumphant undertone of Lucifer's voice curdled Michael's blood. As did the realisation that the reason behind Lucifer and Samael's partnership made complete sense now. But Michael wondered if Lucifer really knew his son at all.

"Has Samael told you about Azrael?" he asked. "Did he tell you what he did? Or do you truly believe he magically appeared as the Angel of Death one day?"

"Oh, what are you going on about?"

"Azrael is the one who rescued your son after my poison killed him. She nursed and raised him as her own. He became her apprentice until he decided that was no longer enough. She had to go so Samael could take her place. It was not until recently that he decided she had become obsolete."

Lucifer pinched his brows. He looked down at his arm. Michael found this curious, but then a thought occurred to him. Only one other Archangel had been able to feel angels and other Archangels in need. The one who had stood at his side through everything right until the moment they broke apart.
Michael gripped Lucifer's wrist with both hands and gasped when he saw faint lines etched into his smooth skin. Lucifer wrested his wrist away, causing Michael to fall back. His wide eyes remained fixed on the Devil's arm.

"You... still have it. Your rune. It is the only way you could have sensed Azrael dying. But then... Lucifer, if you still have your light, you can return to us! It's not too late!"

"Of course it is! This is my path now, Michael; you better come to terms with that. You were the one who put me on it. Now, face the consequences of your actions."

"They were your actions, too!"

"The only thing I did was choose to be with my family!"

"Samael is not your family! Not anymore! He will turn on you, just like he turned on Azrael. He will kill you."

Lucifer sneered at Michael. "Shows what you know of family. Speaking of which, I should really get back to them. My son and wife are expecting me. We are preparing to welcome another little addition to the family. Enjoy the rest of the scenery. From what I hear, the Nephilim make a rather lovely bonfire with their dead."

Michael again lurched for Lucifer but only grasped air. The Devil had left Michael atop the Castel Sant' Angelo, where he could see everyone, but none saw him. He was a silent witness. A ghost.
Nothing.