Earthbound-Mischief part 2

(Sorry my laptop is being finicky about posting links today this is continued from part 1)

Northern Scandinavia, Many years ago

Odin, Thor and Tyr stand tired and breathing heavily as a nonplussed Gabriel speaks, "You have fought well and bravely, Aesir. I'd rather not kill you."

Rage filled Thor's eyes as he lifted his hammer but Odin placed a hand on his shoulder, "We've lost son, no point in dying today."

Gabriel nodded to the king of Asgard as Micheal came over a hill dragging two Aesir gods by the ankles. One still struggled. Micheal looked down to Loki, "I don't see why you fight so hard, you aren't even a real god. Just some dwarf giant that got lucky. Yet you've still been blessed to dwell in the eternal realm."

Gabriel looked to Micheal, "Careful brother, your words verge on vanity."

Micheal gave an annoyed glare, "There is no vanity in truth."

An almost angry tone came to Gabriel's voice, "I've heard that phrase from a brother once before."

Loki winced as Micheal's grip on his ankle tightened, "I tire of this."

***

Lima, Ohio now.

The archangel Raphael pushes the door of a seedy motel room open. He's disgusted by the pile of beer cans and various liquor bottles lying around as a body rises from the bed, "You'd think a Seraphim would have enough manners to knock."

Raphael looked to the disheveled form on the bed, "It hurts me to see a brother live this way."

Belial stood from the bed as he let out a chuckle, "So now I'm a brother again?"

Raphael nodded, "You're always a brother, regardless of what you believe."

Before Belial could respond a woman rose from the bed to Raphael's surprise. Belial looked to her, "He's family."

She smiled, "Are you an angel too?"

Raphael gave an annoyed look as Belial continued, "He's a Seraphim, the Archangel of Law. He probably doesn't approve of my sleeping arrangements."

Belial then reached into a mini fridge and pulled out a beer as he sat, "So why is the mighty Raphael slumming it in Ohio?"

As the angels glared at each other the woman gave a sigh, "The other one was nicer."

Raphael grinned, "So you have seen Gabriel."

Belial nodded, "Yup, he helped Izzy out with something Pops refused to. Funny how his unconditional love ends the second they need it."

Raphael's annoyance returned, "Careful."

"What's he gonna do, toss me out again? Be nice to have a reason this time."

Raphael was gritting his teeth as Belial turned to Izzy on the bed, "Did I ever tell you what I did to fall?"

She shook her head ad he continued, "Nothing, absolutely nothing. I was a Grigorri just doing my job and watching the Earth. After being ignored for a few thousand years some of my colleagues got into some trouble but not me."

"See we made this pact, one falls, all fall. I went along with it because I thought, there's no way father would throw out a whole choir of angels. What I didn't know, because they hadn't contacted us in centuries, is that God's favorite went and tried to start a damn revolution. So when father got around to dealing with us he was good and pissed"

"So because my brothers couldn't keep it in their pants I got punished for nothing. Not one of my brothers came to ask that the innocents be spared, they all cowered in the corner like good little dogs."

Izzy looked nervous as Belial gave Raphael a hateful look, "So I ask again, why are you here?"

"You're going to help me find our brother."

Belial chuckled, "Why would I do that?"

"Because its your only way home."

Izzy looked over Belial's face, the rage and defiance were gone. He looked like an addict seeing his drug of choice dangling before him.He was silent for a moment then his face softened as he appeared to realize something. A sad smile came to his face, "What do you need me to do?"

***

A diner called The Road Runner grill just outside Muskogee, OK.

Sam and Lucas looked at a large sign with a character that looked just different enough from the Looney Tunes character who shared its name to avoid a law suit. Lucas looked to Sam, "Why did Gabe want us to meet him here?"

Sam shrugged, "He said I'd get it before the day was over."

The two entered and saw Gabe who waved them over. As they sat Gabe slid a piece of paper to Lucas, "Could you read that for me?"

Lucas gave him an annoyed look, "So you already ordered for us, what's the big deal?"

Gabe looked up, "Now can you tell me where you learned to read ancient Scandinavian runes?"

Lucas looked down at the paper and then back to Gabe then back to the paper as he sat down confused. Gabe then turned to Sam, "Your eyes have turned yellow."

Sam was about to reply but Gabe put a mirror to his face. As Sam sat Gabe began, "I'm sure you both have noticed you've been changing."

"I realized it was getting time for this talk when Lucas called me the other day and began speaking in a language that hasn't been spoken on Earth since they got rid of Vikings."

The two gave blank stares as Gabe sighed, "What I'm about to tell you is going to sound insane but trust me when I say its completely true."

Lucas nodded, "Well we did see you and some other dude fly and cause an earthquake so, I'm already expecting some kind of weirdness."

Gabe gave a nod, "That's a fair point."

He then sat up straighter, "The two of you aren't entirely human. You are what is referred to as avatars, human forms of gods. You have no memory of this for reasons I don't have time to explain."

The two burst out laughing until they noticed the look on Gabe's face. Sam rolled his eyes, "And I suppose you're one of these, avatars, too?"

"No, I'm an angel. My full name is Gabriel. The guy you saw me fighting with is called Michael. He and I were the angels in charge of forcing unruly gods back into the eternal realm after the creator banned them from Earth."

Sam cut him off, "You're an angel?"

Gabe sighed, "You've known me since you were ten years old, have you ever seen me sick or injured? Ever see a grey hair? Is there any sign I've aged at all in the fifteen years you've known me?"

Sam thought it over for a second, "Well, you do have that stupid old man trying to look young goatee thing now."

Gabe looked annoyed, "The goatee isn't stupid. Its a perfectly fine...."

Lucas cleared his throat, "We're getting a little off track here."

Gabe gave a quick sigh, "You're right. See some time after we'd rounded up all the stragglers some of the gods discovered a loophole in the earth ban that allowed you to come down so long as it was in human form. Michael considers this as insulting to the Creator and has decided to round you all back up. My father gave no such order, in fact he gave no orders at all regarding avatars."

"Personally, I don't even believe there was a loophole. He sees all possible outcomes, I doubt he'd allow something like this to happen based on the cosmic equivalent of a clerical error. Michael couldn't be discouraged tho. He's always felt your kind were lesser beings. So I thought maybe if I could find a few and train them I could show them that your kind could be a force for good again. I figured that if I could turn you two of all your kind to a cause I could show him that he didn't need to worry."

Sam looked almost indignant, "What do you mean? You're talking like we're some kind of monsters."

Gabe chuckled, "The two of you aren't even close to the most powerful of gods, but you remain among the most dangerous. If you go back in mythology of any kind, there is always a trickster. They bring fire to the people, they cause wars or they end them, they teach humans forbidden things that end up allowing civilizations to be born. Sometimes its for some grand cause, sometimes its just because they're bored. Their ability to cause great upheavals just by existing makes my brother see them as a threat but I believe its the reason my father made them in the first place."

Gabe then gave Sam a smile, "You are called Coyote, and Lucas is Loki, god of Mischief. You two have caused more trouble alone than several entire pantheons combined, but you have also been responsible for great things you were never given credit for."

Lucas gave an incredulous grin, "Well...."

Gabe cut him off, "If you don't believe me I can prove it."

He threw the money for the bill on the table then ushered the boys outside. He pointed out that there wasn't a cloud in the sky on this warm dry day. He then looked to Sam, "I want you to think of rain. Clear your head and picture a down pour."

Lucas sighed but before he could comment he felt water hit his head. He looked up and saw a cloud forming directly above Sam and expanding until the place was drenched in rain. He sputtered, "That..that, could just be a coincidence."

Gabe nodded, "Okay, Sam tell it to stop."

Sam shrugged, "Stop."

Lucas' jaw dropped as the rain immediately halted. Gabe then looked to him, "We good?"

(To be continued)

@batkevin74@cbishop@delphic@guardiandevil83@wildvine@dagmar_merrill@johnjo719

Nice continuation. I like your portrayal of the angels and their demeanor

@joshmightbe: Nice chapter. Getting into it quick.

@cbishop: I thought about stretching out the reveal but I figured it'd be better to just get it out there so I could get on with the story. I'm just going to assume everyone will know which brother Gabriel was referring to up there in his response to Micheal's line about vanity.

@joshmightbe:

"So because my brothers couldn't keep it in their pants I got punished for nothing. Not one of my brothers came to ask that the innocents be spared, they all cowered in the corner like good little dogs."

Those are fighting words, you'll come to find out.

I really liked this chapter and I'm looking forward to where you're going to go. This does clear things up a bit better from the first chapter. By the way, I'll be posting my first part by Friday. I wanted to put it out today, but I've been sick the past two days and unable to write.

@cbishop: I thought about stretching out the reveal but I figured it'd be better to just get it out there so I could get on with the story. I'm just going to assume everyone will know which brother Gabriel was referring to up there in his response to Micheal's line about vanity.

To hell with suspense ~ Kurt Vonnegut

@delphic: I've read a bunch of stuff about the Grigori and one thing I kept seeing was that thing about "If one falls, we all fall" so I got to thinking how do the guys who actually didn't do anything feel about that now that they've had deal with the punishment for so long?

@joshmightbe: I meant more so for those Grigori that Belial are calling dogs. Some wouldn't take too kindly to the comparison.

@delphic: He was calling the other angels dogs not the Grigori. He was basically calling out that he found it unfair that none of his brothers stood up for those who were getting punished for nothing.

@joshmightbe: Oh, well honest mistake then. :P I figure he wouldn't look to highly on those of his rank who caused him to be be punished along with them.

@delphic: I'd assume they'd be just as mad at them considering I doubt one of them who was following the rules came up with the one falls all fall thing. That oath has the clear stink of someone trying to cover their ass.

@joshmightbe: "He and I were the angels in charge of forcing unruly gods back into the eternal realm after the creator banned them from Earth."

I thought it was the other way round? Gods being reborn into human forms but now they're sending them back? Can you clarify that for me

@batkevin74: The Gods use being reborn as humans as kind of an escape route from the Eternal realm. Basically the Creator wanted all the gods off Earth, some went willingly others had to be forced out. Also I should point out that sending the gods back isn't necessarily something the Creator ordered or even really wants, which is the entire point of the conflict between Micheal and Gabriel.

@batkevin74: Just to be clear the Creator did give the initial order to get the gods off Earth which is why Gabriel obeyed without question but as stated in the chapter he's given no orders what so ever regarding the avatars.

@joshmightbe: I like this. I like Gabriel's personality and I think while the reveal was a tad rushed it was still good

@bronze_surfer: Honestly I rushed it a bit mostly to prevent myself from stretching it out too far. Sometimes I can get a bit long winded about set up so I figured it'd be best to just get it over with and get into the story.