Constantin - Uriel - raised-lowered his-their eyes as his brother, the Archangel Gabriel, touched down without a sound, the tips of his silvery blue wings brushing the ground without stirring up any dust.

'Father Silva', he greeted. 'Brother.' Gabriel tilted his head slightly, brushing a lock of raven hair out of his steel-blue eyes. 'You are growing closer.'

They were. So much closer, in fact, that their spirits had started bleeding into each other, so that, even if he knew he was not the Archangel, Constantin had no problem speaking for both of them, nor did Uriel.

And, with ichor burning behind his eyes, he could see past the guises Gabriel wore so humans needed not fear, and into his core. One moment, the other Cardinal Archangel looked like he was wearing black plate armour, the trim the colour of his wings. He looked like a mailman, hair just peeking out from under his cap. Like a town crier, a newspaper seller, a...

Constantin had once watched an explanatory video about quantum superposition. He mused that the Archangel looked like every type of messenger possible, until observed by someone with expectations. But behind that, like a fire casting shadows, was the true self of the Archangel, through which flowed the power of information in its deepest form, granting him control over the senses in the most fundamental manner, those of creation included.

God's Mouth clasped his hands, slightly bowing his head. 'Thank you for coming, brother.' He did not mention that this was another self of Gabriel's, and that the original was conveying the Lord's words across existence. The Archangel could replicate himself endlessly, like all his brethren, for they were ever needed. 'We know that you speak for God, yet, we would trouble you, if you would bear our words for once, to whoever may listen. We believe they might prove some use, these kernels of lore, in the right hands.'

'Even if they are not, this should prove an interesting break from bearing father's messages,' Gabriel replied, before smiling ironically. 'But, no offence, Uriel...I somewhat doubt you have anything to share that I do not already know. I am the bringer of knowledge, and you have never been the most scholarly among us.'

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'Indeed, we have not been. But here this, brother: do you remember how Michael got his sword? The one he cut Samael's eyes out with during the War in Heaven, leaving only fires burning as hotly as his pride?' At Gabriel's expression, he went on. 'The one he shattered on the Serpent's face, yes. He never did speak about that, did he?'

'He did not,' Gabriel confirmed, walking closer as God's Mouth formed a seat of gold-tinged crimson flame, before sitting down. Gabriel leaned in, an elbow on the chair's armrest, his ear close to his brother's mouth. 'Speak, then. I am curious, and could use a lesson as much as a diversion.'

'Ah, brother...Michael did not share the weapon's origin with you because he did not believe it had any place in Heaven's history. How often do you hear about the beasts in the waters above Heaven and beneath Hell in scripture? It was from there that a beast came. I remember...I fought it for a trillion years - or was it a heartbeat? - after its shining shadow snuffed out a seraph by passing over him, with the effect and effort of an ocean snuffing out a candle. The universe would've been scorched bare by that flame, yet even the creature's approach was enough to extinguish it. I kept it from our realm's gates, while Samael harried it, but it was Michael who put it down, and wrought its remains into a hiltless blade. He has always been able to do anything he must to defend Heaven...this makes him so lonely, we think. Like God, indeed.'

Gabriel nodded, glancing into the white-hot shapes that might've passed for his brother's eyes to someone whose sight was less clear. 'I did suspect none of us had forged that ugly thing. Still, at least something good came of it, in the end.' He closed his eyes, remembering his elder brother's, before they had been replaced by pitiless infernos. 'Was that what you wanted to share?'

'Oh, no, brother. Of course not. That was to give you a taste. Not all the lore we have accumulated will be new to you, but we hope our insights will interest you.'