The scenery was as picturesque as it was breathtaking. A gorgeous and pristine manor of a mansion overlooked what seemed to be the private grounds of a billionaire. Exotic trees and other such flora spread out around it, and the air was clean and perfect... even the sky was a clear blue, with not a cloud in sight. Which made sense, and was odd as well, because... if one were to look down, they would see that, aside from specifically planted gardens that dotted the area, the ground was pure white, and was puffy, yet dense. That was because it was clouds. There was also a large ornate golden arch that seemed to be an entrance to the area, though there could be no fence seen to help enforce the gateway. However, any who dared try to enter without going through the arch would find themselves stopped clean, and the residents of the property alerted to their presence.

Just inside the arch, a pillar of light shot up from beneath the clouds suddenly, and when it dissipated, there stood a large and imposing man, muscular in build, his hair short and light brown, his eyes an impossible blue... which clashed a bit with his clothing, seemingly nothing more than mere mundane jeans and a tee-shirt. He took a step forward, before white lightning came crashing down beside him, and in a flash, another male was standing there. This one was shorter than him, not quite as bulky, and had long flowing blonde hair. His garb was a little more eloquent, a dress shirt and some comfortable dress pants, but his eyes were a matching blue.

"Uriel." the first one addressed the newcomer.

"Gabriel." the second one responded in kind, as they started to walk forward. "I assume you are here for the same reason as I am." he stated.

"Why else would I be?" Gabriel responded. The two had been down on the surface of the Earth, as was common for them, more and more, when they both suddenly received a mental missive from their shared sibling, Raphael, that an emergency meeting was being called. It was only being called by HIM, but he was invoking emergency status, which was not something they used lightly.

"Fair." Uriel sighed. "Any idea what this is about?" he asked.

"Not a clue." Gabriel admitted, as they walked towards the large mansion, but stopped when they heard their brother call out to them, having sensed their presence, and sensed them closer.

"Out here!" he called. "By the Anima Alder!" he added.

The two looked at each other, sharing a concerned expression, before they corrected course and veered off, making their way off to the side, where... in the distance... they saw their brother, Raphael, and their shared sister, Sariel. Seeing her made them both realise why the two were where they were, as Sariel looked to be in rough shape, seemingly a victim of the attack. Raphael was tending to her numerous injuries, as the Anima Alder lightly showered droplets of dew that had collected in its leaves onto Sariel, aiding her recovery.

"Good heavens!" Uriel exclaimed, as he and his brother now raced towards the two of them.

"What happened!?" Gabriel asked when they were close enough to speak without yelling.

Gabriel and Uriel were both silent as Sariel explained what had happened. They looked at each other, their concerned expressions turning to a little on the confused side now, before looking back to her.

While they did this, Raphael then sighed as he moved some of his jet-black bangs away from his eyes.

"She arrived up here and called to me." he told them. "Or, rather, she just called out for anyone. And I happened to still be here, so I rushed her over to the tree, and started to tend to her wounds." he explained. "As I started, I sent the mental missive out to everyone that we were having an emergency meeting." he then continued further.

"Are her injuries THAT bad?" Uriel asked concernedly.

"No." Raphael responded. "Or, well, they're serious, but thanks to the Alder, and my working on her, she'll pull through. Easily." he assured them. "But the fact that this even happened at ALL means something real weird is happening." he then reasoned.

"...I can't argue that." Gabriel admitted, crossing his arms over his chest and looking in the direction of their remaining sibling.

"Anima Alder! It's where we all are!" he called out when he felt she was within earshot.

"..." there was silence all around, before Gabriel spoke up.

"And from what I remember being told, that's not something that's happened in a VERY long time." he commented. "For them to suddenly be acting so stereotypical is... odd, to understate it." he went on.

"True. These can't be mere isolated incidents." Uriel agreed.

"Have you sensed anything off with your location?" Gabriel asked Sariel. "Any sort of weird mana spikes or strange auras or anything?" he asked further. "We need to see if we can't isolate the cause." he went on.

"Or find some kind of starting point." Uriel chimed in.

"Because if this is just the start of something, we're in a loooot of trouble." he then mumbled.

Gabriel nodded in response.

"You do that." he told her. "And keep us abreast of any changes or whatever that you notice." he said further. "Even the slightest thing that seems odd or off could be something." he reasoned.

"And what are WE to do?" Uriel asked.

"Not much the rest of us CAN do." Raphael commented. "Except maybe keep an eye out for any strange happenings that might be occurring in the areas we tend to frequent." he said.

"Thinking this might be a global problem?" Uriel inquired.

"Cannot afford to think it can't be." Raphael responded. "Not to be or sound paranoid, but if we start making assumptions about what this can't be, or what it probably won't be, we're inviting it to get out of control. FAST." he reasoned.

"...fair enough." Uriel replied with a small sigh.

Gabriel was silent for a moment, before sighing heavily.

"I know." he said. "Heaven help me, I know..." he mumbled, quietly, looking off to the side and shutting in on himself a little. Uriel looked at this, before placing a hand on his older brother's shoulder.

"You all right?" he asked.

"Erica was worried that her markings were acting up and causing brawls and such earlier." Gabriel admitted.

"But we couldn't sense anything wrong with it." he told them.

"I didn't, that goblin that works at the Unit didn't hear anything, and Azazel didn't see anything."

"At the very least, eliminate the curse as a possibility." Raphael told him.

"All right, all right." Gabriel responded.

"How do you want me to do it? Will you take my word for it, do you want to investigate her yourselves, or what?" he asked.

"I trust your judgement." Uriel replied.

"While I don't like how your are biased towards the woman, I DO know that if her curse is acting up, you have no reason to hide it, so you won't hide it." Raphael chimed in.

"Cynical, but not incorrect." Uriel sighed.

Gabriel just sighed again.

"Yeah..." he admitted. "That's true." he said. "If I were to find out her curse WAS acting up, I would seek help. ASAP." he said further, shaking his head slightly and looking at his siblings.

"Pretty much." Raphael responded. "And you know we'll help in any way we can." he said further.

"...those of us that CAN help." he then muttered.

"My expertise in dealing with and repressing curses is... well, I'm the least talented of us all..." he went on. "Even URIEL has more expertise with it, for crying out loud!" he then exclaimed.

"Perks of being involved with a necromancer." Uriel shrugged. "I get a lot of second-hand knowledge that can be applied to curses."

Upon the mention of Michael, all of the other archangels grimaced a bit. There was a bit of an awkward silence, before Raphael broke it.

"For starters, I don't know if we're getting a replacement." he said. "We'd better, as our numbers can't keep dwindling. We've already lost 2 good archangels to being Fallen, and then even further." he continued.

"...one good, one barely adequate..." Gabriel grumbled.

"That's fair." Raphael sighed.

"You mean Anya?" Uriel asked.

"I do." Gabriel confirmed. "It was a sad, sad, and unexpected loss when Anya finally stepped over that line." he lamented. "Michael... well, let's face it, we all 'knew' it would happen one day." he then said.

"His betrayal and fall were certainly no surprise." Raphael admitted.

"And as for your offer to train me..." he then said to Asriel. "....yeah, maybe." he muttered, giving some side-eye to Uriel. It was plain to see he didn't like being outdone by his much younger brother.

Gabriel and Uriel looked at each other as Sariel posed her quandary about their existence being necessary.

"...I don't know." Gabriel admitted, as they looked back to their siblings. "Emelie herself seems to be a much more unorthodox deity, and it's not like we keep some kind of necessary balance." he went on.

"We used to be God's top-tier warriors." Raphael responded. "But since the change in leadership, I believe we've been relegated to a backup force in case something serious happens." he went on.

"Are we needed? As it stands, no." Uriel then chimed in. "But it's better to have us and not need us, than to need us and not have us." he continued.

"But the fact still remains that Emelie hasn't replaced any archangels that have fallen." Raphael then said. "Sari asked if we were NEEDED. And the answer to that is an unsatisfying, nebulous 'maybe'..." he sighed.

"Though whenever that Remmington takes over for her, I get the feeling he'll revert a few things back." Gabriel stated. "From what I've seen and heard of him, he'll make sure our numbers are back up, and perhaps try and give us more of a purpose."

The men were all silent for a moment, before they heaved a collective sigh.

"Indeed." Gabriel muttered.

"Well, Gabe, looks like YOU have an errand to run later." Raphael told Gabriel, causing Gabe to snap his gaze towards him.

"Why ME!?" he exclaimed.

"YOU'RE the one that Emelie likes the best." Raphael responded. "And don't deny it, or try and deflect it to Uriel." he then stated. "We ALL know that you have an easier time getting an audience, and she lets you get away with more outbursts." he argued.

"...it's a little more complicated than THAT..." Gabriel mumbled.

"But... you do have a point." he then admitted.