66. Waiting for Keys

“Gaberiel, he has not returned. “

“I am sure he will he always does.”

Michael said to Gabriel.

“We outnumbered a million to one. And the lower angels are being captured right and left. They are being dragged back to hell to be tortured for centuries. What is the game plan. I mean there is more demons being brought into the world every day.”

“I know.”

“Well do you have a plan. The lower-level ones have been hard to find. They have been doing a good job staying hidden and almost all of the princes are now walking on earth. That has never happened.”

“I know Gabriel. You don’t have to explain the gravity of the situation to me.”

“Well, what are we going to do?”

Michael let out a deep breath. He had not thought things would ever come to this. I mean he thought they would have the upper hand. I mean they had Azreal after all. And he was the most impressive fighter out of all the other Archangels.

He relaxed thinking with Azreal following a lead on the keys they could finally get control on things. He had heard that Elise had opened the gate, but he had not been able to track her down to enlist her help in closing the gate.

He knew she had spent three hundred years being tortured. He had learned that much from demons that he had killed. He felt a twinge of guilt as he was the one that allowed her to go to hell in the first place.

He had always thought he had done what was best for her. But in the end she chose the wrong side. Still, it hurt him that she had suffered so. It was a weird dynamic between Elise and Michael. He had been more of a father than Azrael.

Elise herself felt a love-hate relationship with him. Killing her father would be nothing like killing Michael. She had a real love for him, but at the same time despised him. Michael wondered what it would be like to see her again.

He had heard that she had gone insane. He hated what would have to be done. The fact that Azrael would have to kill his own daughter he thought would be painful for him. In fact, he had asked him once to do this and he had refused.

Then again, he thought it would be different. She had been clearly insane to leave the gate of hell open and if that did not prove that she was insane he didn’t know what did. Once he had gotten the keys, he would have Azrael kill her.

“Michael maybe we should go down to hell and I don’t know rescue the other angels.”

“We can't do that idiot. We are weaker down there not to mention those retched souls are insane and the only thing to do is put them to death no matter how unfortunate it is. “

Gabriel looked saddened by the news. He hated that they were losing. It didn’t make sense to them how they could be losing to the demons. He believed them to be stronger, but their numbers were much smaller than the demons.

Not to mention only a few had joined the fray. Most of his brothers decided to stay in the realm of light. They didn’t understand they wanted to risk being captured and tortured as Elise had been. It was a real fear for them.

But Michael had told them that when they found the keys to shut the gate, they would need to join in and help to bring the demons back down to hell. The council had agreed to this. Gabriel, Michael, Azrael, and Uriel had been the ones fighting every day. They were spread out across the globe.

The majority of what they did was clean up the messes that The Princes of Hell and the demons had caused. Not all the princes of hell walked the earth yet. And the archangels that were on earth had their hands full.

Michael left Gabriel he needed to go to the Virgin Islands. There had been a run on the international banks, and he thought it maybe the work of Mammon. Once he got to the islands, he found them crawling with demons.

He cut down all the demons that came in his path. He finally came to a sprawling house. It was white with a brown shingled roof. There were demons standing guard, but he made fast work of them. He barged into the home.

“Mammon come out you coward.”

Mammon saunters in not with a care in the world. He was shirtless and in Bermuda shorts.

“Oh, Michael it is you.”

“Mammon it is time for you to back to where you belong.”

“Ha, I think not I like it here. The ocean breeze is nice and refreshing. It is so much better than that red wasteland. “

“Mammon.”

“And besides, even if by chance you send me back thanks to Elise I will just come back here to the beach. “

“You should know your place. And it is not on Earth it is with the rest of the scum.”

“Oh, get off your high horse Michael. You are just as bad as us.”

“No, I am not.”

“Come on, I mean you are just as vicious. You justify killing your own kind all because they are traumatized. I mean that seems pretty dark to me.”

“Shut up.”

This sent Michael into a rage. He knew he was right. But he was not going to sit around and do nothing. Having the Princes of Darkness run around was turning the world upside down. Not to mention what he had said was true. He had done some dark things and it angered him to have Mammon call him on it. He just wanted to hit something he was so mad.

He drew out his long sword.

“Really it has to be like that Michael.”

Mammon said in an exasperated voice. He exhaled deeply. Then he drew out golden Flail, which was a spiked ball and chain. The two began to circle each other.