"Hi, Vee," Uriel greeted the moment she stepped inside Evadne's hospital room.
She was in her familiar persona... an elegant, elderly doctor in casual clothing.
Casadin was already with them, and earlier he immediately tensed when he saw the worried expressions on Hades and Evadne's faces. Especially when he noticed Evadne repeatedly glancing behind him as though searching for someone. That was when she told him she had seen two angels following her and Hades earlier. When Casadin nearly panicked, she had to calm him down and promise that they would ask Uriel about it when she arrived.
"How are you?" Uriel asked gently.
"I'm physically fine," Evadne replied, "but I have a lot of questions... and I know you already sensed that, that's why you came to see me."
Gone was their usual playful banter from her previous "therapy sessions."
This time, the air felt heavier. Intentional.
"I know," Uriel said. "And I am here to answer what I can."
Then, without another word... and right in front of Casadin, Hades, and Evadne... Uriel shifted.
Light burst around her like the sun breaking through clouds. The illusion of an elderly doctor dissolved, replaced by her true celestial form... ethereal, ageless beauty... silver hair cascading like starlight... eyes molten gold, warm yet intimidating in their radiance.
Hades and Casadin's jaws nearly dropped.
"I'll take that reaction as a compliment," Uriel teased with a faint smile.
Both boys blinked rapidly as if waking from a trance... and both flushed red at the same time.
Especially when Evadne raised a brow at them.
"Seriously? You're blushing over another woman? In front of me?" she asked with a pointed look.
"Baby, our reaction is normal," Hades protested helplessly. "She's an archangel... she's bound to be beautiful. And we'd be lying if we pretended we didn't see that. But it's just attraction. You will always be the only angel on earth for me."
"We are literally on Earth and she is literally an angel," Evadne countered dryly.
Hades groaned softly. The more he talked, the deeper his grave became.
"Just shut up. That's why you always end up falling into her traps," Casadin muttered before turning to Evadne, "Princess, you're the only one who makes me horny."
"You shut up. You're always horny," Evadne shot back... but her stern expression melted quickly into a mischievous smile as she punched Casadin lightly on the arm.
"Seriously?" Hades and Uriel said at the same time.
"Really, Vee? In my presence? And while I'm in my archangel form?" Uriel pretended to glare at Evadne. "You two are flirting in front of me?"
"Baby, I can't believe this," Hades complained dramatically. "You glare at me like I cheated on you, yet you're over here entertaining Casadin's nonsense? That's favoritism!"
"What? You expect me to be calm after you admitted you were attracted to another woman?" Evadne shot back, then turned to Uriel. "You probably revealed your true form just to seduce my fiancé. Congrats... relationship destroyed."
"Baby," Hades whispered, scandalized.
Uriel planted one hand on her hip, raising a brow.
"Evadne Persephone Monteverde... does making him squirm bring you joy?"
"Yes," Evadne answered instantly, smiling sweetly.
Uriel sighed, shaking her head.
"You're sadistic."
She took a seat in the leather chair.
"And do not involve me in your love triangle, the three of you. It's cringe," she added dryly. "Romantic love is a selfish desire... one angels are not permitted to feel."
"Why not?" Casadin asked, genuinely curious as he sat to Evadne's left. Hades settled on her right.
"You should already know the answer," Uriel said. "Humans who love want to be loved in return. You want the one you love to belong to you. You want them to have everything that matters... even if it means someone else gets hurt. Love, as beautiful as it is, also breeds greed. Possession. Jealousy. Pain."
Her gaze drifted toward the window, golden eyes dimming with old memories.
"Angels cannot afford to be selfish. It is against our nature. If we were, we would fall… just as Lucifer did."
"But isn't there a saying that God is Love?" Hades asked softly. "And you… angels… are His greatest creations?"
Uriel smiled softly.
"But God is also wrath. Remember the death of the firstborn in Egypt during Moses' time? God is many things. And above all else, God is fair... even when humans insist He is not." Uriel settled back into the chair with calm authority. "Now… you left me a message saying you wanted to talk about Michael Heavensblade. Before answering the rest of your questions, let me confirm what you already suspect."
Her golden eyes moved deliberately from Evadne to the two boys.
"Yes. He is one of my brothers... the Archangel Michael. To us, Mikael."
Even though they had already assumed as much, Evadne, Hades, and Casadin still exchanged startled looks.
"He felt different from you," Evadne said after a moment. "I didn't feel the same aura you give off."
"It's called Celestial Aura. It belongs only to Archangels," Uriel explained. "And you don't sense it from him because he is human."
"No," Evadne insisted. "It's different. I can still sense your celestial aura when you're in human form."
"That's because I am still myself," Uriel countered. "When I take on a human form, it's only a disguise... I can return to my true form anytime I choose. Michael, on the other hand, is in a human vessel. He placed his soul inside a human body. He grew up human. He feels human emotions. And the only way for him to return to his Archangel form is for that vessel to die."
She folded her hands on her lap.
"Usually, his human vessels last fifty years. On its fiftieth year, the vessel dies peacefully in its sleep, and Michael ascends again. Until then, he is human in every sense... no angelic power beyond exceptional looks and an abnormally sharp mind."
"Why?" Evadne asked.
"I believe," Uriel said thoughtfully, "that he blesses his human vessels with as much divinity as the rules allow before stepping into them. That's why his human form so closely resembles his true appearance."
"No, I'm not asking why he's handsome," Evadne groaned.
Casadin and Hades both looked at her as if they couldn't believe she had just called another man handsome right in front of them.
Evadne merely raised an eyebrow at the two of them and gave a casual shrug before turning her attention back to Uriel.
"I'm asking why he chose a human vessel in the first place. Why not be like you... just take on a form? And why is he in New York? Why has he been hovering near Zeus' estate for two weeks?"
"Oh. My bad. I thought you wanted to know why he looks like that." Uriel's grin was wicked enough to make Evadne scowl.
"I'm not into him," Evadne muttered, making Uriel laugh. Casadin and Hades immediately smiled, those words alone were enough to reassure them.
"There is no human on Earth who would not be into Michael. But… it does make sense. Your soul is from Solmara... Samael's world. And he and Samael love biting each other's necks."
Hades choked. Casadin coughed. Evadne blinked.
Uriel continued with a soft smile.
"I don't know why he's in New York. I haven't spoken to him in a thousand years. But I'll ask him. However… I have a theory."
They leaned in.
"I believe it has something to do with your connection to Samael. Michael is in a human vessel... he cannot understand the pull between you two. But at the core, you are a human touched by Samael's blessing… and he is Samael's twin. Twins share a bond... And they have been trying to outmaneuver each other. Both are experts in sabotaging each other's existence. And unfortunately…"
Uriel pointed at Evadne.
"You are the casualty standing in the middle of their eternal emotional war."
"Question," Casadin said, raising his hand like a student.
"Yes?" Uriel replied, amused.
"Can you read my mind?" Casadin asked... earning an immediate glare from Hades.
"No."
"Why not? Don't angels read human thoughts?"
"We do."
"So why can't you read mine?" Casadin frowned.
Hades suddenly stiffened.
"Wait... are you saying he's not human?" Hades asked, panic creeping into his voice. "Or… is this because of Vee?"
"My inability to read Casadin's mind has nothing to do with Vee," Uriel said. Her gaze turned to the two boys... so calm, so matter-of-fact it made the air grow heavy. "It's because of what you are originally."
She then turned to Hades.
"And you as well."
Hades froze.
"You… you can't read my thoughts either? And what do you mean originally?"
Uriel exhaled, her eyes softening... almost pitying.
"You and Casadin," she said gently, "were once warrior angels. And not just that…"
Her smile deepened, serene but heavy with meaning.
"You were twins."
"We're twins?" Casadin asked, horrified... and his expression at Hades made it painfully clear he hated the idea.
Uriel's brow lifted.
"Why do I feel you're both more shocked about being twins than being told you were once warrior angels?"
"Well… I actually dreamed of them being angels once," Evadne said quietly.
"So you're saying," Hades began slowly, "that like Michael, we're in human vessels? Is that how it works? Angels forget everything when they occupy a human?"
"Michael did not forget," Uriel confirmed. "It was his choice to restrict his memories while his human vessel was still young. A human brain would not be able to hold an angel's memories… especially an archangel's… without suffering physical consequences. After all, we carry memories from the beginning of time. That is why, from the day he was born in that vessel, he had no memory of being an Archangel. But those memories return on the vessel's eighteenth year." She looked between the boys. "Did either of you remember anything on your eighteenth birthdays?"
They glanced at each other, then both shook their heads.
"That's because your circumstances are different," Uriel continued. "Michael's human life is something he chose. We still don't know why he began doing it. At first, we assumed he was simply bored... like the rest of us. It has been a very long time since Father last gave a command, especially to the Warrior Archangel. So we thought he merely wanted to experience humanity in its entirety."
She sighed.
"But then he did it again. And again. So many times across centuries that even he no longer remembers his original reason."
"In short, he can stop anytime. Because it was his choice." Uriel turned serious. "But the two of you had no choice at all. You are reliving your eternal punishment."
"What do you mean?" Evadne asked, tension creeping into her voice.
"They died committing the ultimate sin among our kind," Uriel said.
"Pride?" Casadin and Hades asked together... earning a small amused smile from her.
"No. Not one of the seven deadly sins."
The three teens frowned.
"In war," Uriel continued, "killing an enemy is normal. But killing someone on your own side…?"
"Is a betrayal," Evadne whispered.
"So we killed our own allies... and that's why we're punished?" Hades asked, confused.
"No," Uriel said simply.
Casadin groaned. "What do you mean no? And can you please stop with the dramatic pauses? My heart is dying."
Uriel actually laughed.
"You killed each other."
"What?!" both boys shouted, eyes wide.
"Why would we kill each other?" Casadin demanded. "That makes no sense!"
"That," Uriel said dryly, "I cannot answer. Because I do not know. And honestly?" She leaned in slightly, lowering her voice conspiratorially. "I do not care. After all… we belong to opposite sides."
Their eyes widened even further.
"We're… on opposite sides?" Hades asked, horrified.
"Yes." Uriel folded her hands. "You were Blackhearts."
Evadne blinked. "What's a Blackheart?"
"Angels who chose the Light... like Mikael, like myself and the others... are called Lightbearers," Uriel explained. "Angels who followed Samael... whom humans call Lucifer... are Blackhearts. Lightbearers can kill Blackhearts. Blackhearts can kill Lightbearers. No punishment. It is war."
She lifted her hand, palm up.
"But a Lightbearer killing another Lightbearer… or a Blackheart killing another Blackheart… that is punishable by eternal hell."
She looked at the boys.
"Not Lucifer's hell. A different one. True damnation. The punishment for betraying your own kind is to be reborn endlessly into human lives… dying and resurrecting again and again… forced to repeat and experience the same betrayal you once committed... every lifetime... until the Creator Himself intervenes."
Evadne felt her heart twist painfully.
Hades and Casadin were frozen, expressionless, hollow-eyed.
"How do you know we killed each other?" Hades finally whispered.
Uriel's voice softened.
"Because you carry each other's Mark of Betrayal. It is etched into your souls and visible only to Archangels. When your human vessel dies, a death angel cannot collect you. Instead, the Archangel of Death, Azrael himself will take your souls. And he will not send you to the Chamber of Judgment like humans."
She exhaled slowly.
"You will simply take another human vessel near each other… and relive the same tragedy again. And again. Forever."
The room fell into suffocating silence.
Evadne wanted to ask more... she had so many questions... but she couldn't. Not now. Not when the revelation was already tearing at the fragile balance between the two men she loved.
Because she could already see it.
The doubt.
The fear.
The beginning of a wedge forming between Hades and Casadin... born from a sin neither of them remembered committing.