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Successor of God

Summary:

Athena watches a history defining battle before the trickster Loki confronts her.

then brotherly bonding between Michael and Gabriel because we never got to see it !!!

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:

Athena stood on a cliff overlooking a valley that connected two small now almost forgotten city states. Men marched onto the field from opposing ends they had prayed to their higher powers for guidance and protection into the battlefield. Athena was particularly invested in this fight. It had been written as a war of land but hearing their prayers Athena knew it was more than that at its core, the men stood ready for blood to prove their religion to themselves and their opponent.

It was early Christianity vs a small subsect of Judaism, still being larger than the growing religion of Christianity. Athena knew what one was more accurate, even if it was because of technicality but she was not allowed to interfere, at least not physically, despite her pull to. She sat on the very edge of the cliff as the seconds counted down to the battle, she could sense the pride, the fear, the uncertainty and regret coming from different soldiers but didn't move from her spot, she was as stiff as a statue and maybe if the soldiers had spared a glance that's what the would have seen her as.

It couldn't have been over an hour into the fight when she heard an outpour of desperate prayers begging to be saved, she could have ended the fight but she stayed on the cliff but now her hand hoverd next to her spear. She answered the prayers that she could mostly just sending luck and better battle strategies to the soldiers minds but she remained still. That was until she sensed another deity

Athena was on her feet and spear in hand before Loki could take another step closer, for a moment she was taken aback about how she could let something sneak up on her but she remembered that Loki was a trickster so if he wanted a fight then she would have to keep that in mind.

“Athena!” Loki greeted as if seeing an old friend. “This fight isn't about your Pantheon, what are you doing here?” Athena’s face remained unchanged as Loki caught a piece of mithai in his mouth.

“Last I checked, this isn't yours either” Athena called out but Loki just shrugged the comment off as he swallowed his candies. The more Athena was around the god the more she felt she was falling for some trick, A thing like Loki couldn't pull something over on a thing like her and that's when it clicked the magic she was sensing wasn't one of a trickster it was one of her brothers.

‘Loki’ started off as he chewed another mithai “Well you-” But Athena raised her hand and started talking, she was already over these games.

“Gabriel, I know it's you” She dropped her head. She had wanted to see her brother again but somehow it was too soon. When she looked up again Gabriel's look had changed from one of the god Loki’s to a tall, Indian girl's; this must be what his vessel actually looked like.

“I thought we were going to do a bit of god larping before getting to the angel business Michael,” Gabriel was always making references to things no one knew but Michael put together what he meant “But of course everythings always so strict with you I should have known,” Gabriel exaggerated a frown

“Why have you come here? I thought you ran away from your duties,” Michael put his spear behind the shield hanging from his shoulders. It wouldn't be of much use against his brother if it came to that anyway. He looked up and down at his brother his eyes locking on Gabriel’s bag of sugar assortments, trying to hide his resentment he continued his statement “you know for sex and sweet's”

Below the angels the battle raged on and all Michael wanted was to turn away from his brother and make sure his efforts to get this fight to happen worked as this one little unremembered battle had the chance to change the world's religion and set his- God’s plan in motion. But despite the importance he stayed facing his brother who had taken another candy to his mouth.

“Try before you deny brother,” Gabriel jabbed at his older brother.

“I have, and neither is a something to fall from grace for,” Michael took a few more steps towards his brother which seemed to fill the younger angel with some anxiety as if expecting a punch but of course that wasn't Michael's intention

“You know I never lost my- wait you have?” Gabriel had been thrown off by what Michael had said and not for the insult it he had thrown at him

“Of course I have I'm not as much of a prude as everyone thinks I am,” Michael informed, he was honestly a bit sick of everyone thinking he acted like a virgin nun and he got the same reputation twice, him having experience wasn't as shocking as Gabriel was making it out to be.

“Well I just thought with the whole Sanit angel and Athena/virgin goddess thing you got going on” Gabriel waved his hands dismissing the topic the angels still hadn't really discussed the reason they were here “Whatever it's not important,”

“You are right I don't believe sex lives is what brought us together again,” Michael turned back to the battlefield, he took a step to the side so his brother could stand by him as he presented the fight to him. “It's this,”

Gabriel took his place by his brother and looked over the fight. The little guys were winning not by much and he could tell the fight could swing either way but was slightly counting on them.

“So this is it?” Gabriel knew about this destined fight for centuries and he believed it was going to be much grander. “This fight is officially going to set the big plan in motion?”

“Yes, spread the word,” Michael joked, knowing his brother had given up his duties. But the joke didn't land well and Gabriel tensed up “I was only kidding you,”

“Yeah but,” Gabriel looked at his brother expecting him to be facing him already but Michael was completely enveloped in the battle so Gabe looked there as well “You're not going to force me back to heaven, right? coming here wasn't my next big mistake?”

“I considered it but I cannot force you to do anything,” Michael sat once more on the edge of the cliff and Gabriel followed suit. “Besides me and Raphael have already split your duties it would be disruptive to pull you back in,”

To Gabriel, being disruptive was a part of his nature as the trickster but he still didn't like being his family's second biggest disappointment. Whilst he was grateful his brother wasn't going to force him back he wished he was going to try harder. “phew I was getting worried I made the wrong choice there for a minute” But of course he didn't say that and made another snarky response instead.

“Well I'm glad to see you still living in your version of the world where flowers grow when you walk and your duties mean practically nothing,”

“That only happened once!” Gabriel corrected Michael and he had been in a particularly good mood that day, he had met a Hindu goddess Kali and was really hitting it off with her. “and it's not like I can ever fully run from my duties,”

“You seem to be avoiding them quite well actually,” Michael now looked at Gabriel instead of the battlefield the fight was getting repetitive at the moment anyways. Gabriel rolled his eyes and met his brother's gaze; it was more intense than he remembered.

Gabriel tried to defend his earlier point “Yeah my heavenly ones but I still push a message here and there,” Gabriel put his hand around his brother's shoulders pulling their sides together in a feeble attempt to lighten Michael's mood.

Michael didn't see the point of pulling away but spoke his thoughts instead “But not our father’s message,” Michael took his helmet off and set it by his hip before looking at his brother once more “I know because that responsibility has fallen onto me, just as Lucifer's had,”

Michael tried not to be bitter. It's not like all of the extra responsibilities ever actually exhausted him so really it shouldn't have been an issue but still running heaven and making sure his father's plan played out without the help of all of his siblings was a lot even for the Prince of heaven.

“So spread whatever messages you want,”

Gabriel crumpled the bag of sweet's in his hand, “I care about this battle just as much as you, you know?” He pulled his hand off his brother's shoulder to point to a seemingly unimportant man on the battlefield, the man's arm was almost torn off and he fell to his knees praying “see him? taught him a lesson about treating his pets well and that led him here!”

Michael believed his brother but was struggling to see the relevance to his care for the fight. But Gabriel pointed out a few more warriors and how he brought them to this fight like cattle in one way or another

“Brother enough, I understand you helped push the battle here but you haven't explained why”

Gabriel was silenced for a moment the vessel expressed that Gabriel was thinking And he opened his mouth a few times to give a reason but ultimately couldn't until he accepted a truth

“Because I know the end has to happen,” Gabriel admitted out loud he hated it and he had realized that probably for the first time even to himself “You and Lucifer need to fight and I can't stop it, even if I tried”

Michael did not comment for a while he didn't like the reality of having to kill his brother either but Gabriel was right it can't be stopped the plan must play out. He was thinking of a response, maybe he would thank Gabriel for pulling some strings to make the battle happen as Michael was never the best at giving messages.

Gabriel changed the subject matter before Michael could open his vessel's mouth “So why did you go with the Athena thing? I mean she's a well respected goddess but your not like me you aren't trying to hide who you are,”

At the change of subject Gabriel could have sworn Michael smiled even in the slightest “Well brother, technically I am Athena, I'm not as much pretending as I am just not correcting people and the other ‘Gods’”

Gabriel should have known the similarities between the two were striking but Michael went on to explain how he found himself acting as Athena and later Gabriel did the same for his time as Loki. The brothers caught up as they knew this would be the last they saw of each other for a long time.

The battle died out but the winner was as predicted. Gabriel shifted back into the form of Loki and Michael put Athena's helmet back on. The brothers didn't see each other for a long time after that but Michael had other things to focus on just because the first stone of the apocalypse had been set didn't mean Michael's work was done he still had to make sure every other stone fell into place for the next 2000s years.

Notes:

i like to think spn Athena and Michael are the same and thats how this fic came about i have a few fics biased on this idea but i wanted to write down the flower thing

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