Azrael told Michael and Meredith the history of Christ. Many things which had been left out of any bible. He explained the prophets' visions of the End of Times, and how these visions set certain acts into motion.  "These visions were foreseen millennia ago, when Christ still roamed the planet as a man. When he sacrificed himself for all of man's sins, it was foreseen that hell would eventually destroy all of mankind. God could see that the nature of man was too easily swayed by the temptations of vice. He could not spare more of himself to bestow upon man another Savior. Especially when faith amongst humanity continued to waver throughout the centuries."

"So God lost faith in us, he certainly had every reason..." Michael interjected.

"In a sense, yes, but after many of us pleaded with him, God conceded, and made plans to send another Christ to give man a fighting chance against the agents of Hell. But in the last century, mankind's faith became too weak. When He attempted to muster the last of his strength to create the 'Second Coming', He vanished. Our father, as far as we know, has perished. The other angels and I were left without guidance. The archangels tried to keep order, but many of our own fell from the heavens, afraid of the coming events, and the impending unrest between my brothers."

"So you're telling me... that God..." Michael sat down on the cold cavern floor. "God's dead?"

"It pains me to say this, but yes... as far as we know, there is no God..." a tear trickled down Azrael's cheek. He lifted his hand and caught it with the tip of his finger. "It's been a very long time since last I could physically feel emotion... Many humans take it for granted but to feel emotion is a beautiful thing. The pain you feel when you lose a loved one, the exhilaration from being with your soul mate... those are the moments when your souls grow and mature. It is truly a gift to be human. So fragile, yet so alive."

"Yeah... I guess for some... but for others it's not so wonderful. Most people have ups and downs. But there's the rare few that never get to see the pretty side of it all. Some of us are born into hell and never get out. Some of us kick, scratch and scream trying to get out, but never get to the light before we reach the end of our rope. "

"Michael... your experiences make you who you are. They define you."

"My mother was one of the unlucky few that never made it out... after I was gone, she had no one. She came to visit me in Juvie a few times... she fought so hard. But I guess one day, she didn't have any fight left. She overdosed on painkillers one night. Drifted off to sleep. The news didn't reach me until a week or so later. The funeral had already passed... I didn't even get to say goodbye..."

Meredith placed a hand on Michael's shoulder.

"It was... difficult... for me to take her..." Azrael spoke up.

Michael then glared at Azrael with a shocked expression, and his eyes became illuminated with a bright blue glow. "Wh-what? You?" Tears welled up in Michael's eyes.

"Michael, what's happening?" Meredith questioned.

"You son of a bitch! You took her from me! She was all I had in this world, and you took her!" Michael abruptly arose from where he was sitting and put himself face-to-face with Azrael.

The angel remained calm and still while Michael stared him down with an unblinking gaze. "Michael, I'm sorry, I do not choose who lives and who dies... I merely separate their souls from their bodies when it is their time. I know how much it hurts, but your mother made the choice. I wish it had been different for her, but I cannot change fate. That power resides elsewhere."

"Shut up!" Michael yelled, and a shockwave emanated from his body, knocking both Meredith and Azrael off their feet. Azrael easily caught himself, but Meredith was thrown into the cavern wall. "Meredith!" He immediately regained control of his emotions and his eyes faded back to normal. He then rushed over to her. "Jesus, Meredith are you all right?! I'm sorry, I didn't mean for-"

Meredith looked up at him, "It's okay, just try harder to not let that happen again..." she smiled as she rubbed her head. Meredith seemed unharmed from the fall. But as Michael helped her to her feet, the three heard a sound from deeper within the cave. Whatever Michael did had disrupted the cave. They could hear boulders and the cavern walls crashing down towards them from within the darkness.

"We have to move, now!" Demanded Azrael, who's eyes had also begun to glow bright blue. He then grabbed the two by their hands and vanished from the cave just as the roof collapsed where they stood!

They reappeared back outside, atop a tall butte in the middle of the desert. The sun had begun to set as dusk approached, the lights from Las Vegas were visible on the horizon. "Jesus..." Michael sighed. "It's one thing after another." He looked over to the angel with penitence in his eyes. "It wasn't your doing that ended my mother's life; I know that. She was already gone, long before she ended everything..."

"She was a tortured soul, Michael. It took everything out of her the day you were locked up." Azrael spoke with great empathy. It was clear that he harbored a significant awareness of human emotion.

"I'm sorry, for losing control back there."

"Do not worry, Michael.With time, you will gain a better grasp on your inherent abilities. For now though, exercise your temper. The raw, unstable energy within your soul will make outbursts like that more dangerous over time. Not to mention the attention it will attract to you."

Michael now turned to Meredith, "Are you sure you're okay?"

She nodded in confirmation. "I'm fine."

"Okay. So back to where we were before nearly getting crushed... I need to know more about what's going on."

"To simply put it, Heaven and Hell are both coming to a close. The denizens of the Nine Circles have grown, how should I say, uncomfortable of their dwellings, so they wish to inhabit the physical realm of Earth, in all its glory. Without resistance, they will destroy this place, and every soul that is left."

"What about Heaven?"

"Hmm?" Azrael recollected his thoughts.

"You said Heaven and Hell were both coming to a close?"

"Yes. I did. That's because, in a sense, neither Heaven nor Hell can exist without the other. They are each, respectfully, a counter weight for one another. If one is taken off the scale, the other end plummets down."

Michael grew an inquisitive gaze on his face. "You and the other Angels aren't falling voluntarily... You're being thrown out!"

Azrael grew stern and gazed toward the sky. "Yes, Michael... we are being forced out of Heaven. With every damned, twisted soul that leaves Hell, another one of us is cast out."

Meredith then interjected "So... what about all the people who were taken during the Rapture, and anyone else who had made it into Heaven? What happens to them now that Heaven is closing?"

The Angel looked on with a grim expression. "We don't know... The brightest of all of us have been searching for answers to that same question for eons. Searching throughout time and space. Finding ancient, lost scriptures written by mortal hands, the forgotten prophets. No one knows what will happen to these souls."

"Great! So the floodgates are open, the tide's coming in to wash away everything in a sea of bullshit, and now, souls put to rest, at peace, in Heaven, are more than likely going to fade out of existence!" Michael sat down with a loud sigh and dangled his feet off the ledge of the butte. "Does anyone know what happens to you? When Heaven finally does shit the bed?"

"Me?" Azrael looked at his hands.

"All of you." Michael persisted.

"If the connection to Heaven is severed, if there is no way for us to draw power from what would then be nonexistent... then as far as I could fathom, it will be as if we had lost our grace. Our Halos would be no more."

"Okay, so you become human? As meek as the rest of us?" Michael started to become agitated. "What about the demons, and their hounds? And their fucking zombies!? What happens to them when Hell closes up shop!?"

"The monsters that inhabit Hell did not originate there." Azrael stated. "They all were once human, soulless or otherwise. They were only tortured and twisted into what they are now in Hell, but they draw no power from Hell. Hell is merely a confinement, and they have broken their shackles and returned here to Earth. As for the hounds, and the other, non-human entities, they are mortal to begin with, albeit stronger and faster than any earthly creature. They won't suffer any change either I'm afraid..."

"So we lose a major advantage and they stay all jacked up on devil juice!" Michael ran his fingers through his hair and let out another sigh. "So what happens to me? Being that I'm half Angel."

"You were born on Earth to a human mother. You have human blood running through your veins. Apart from the fact that you possess angelic DNA, you are human. The power you hold inside of you belongs to you and you alone. You are not dependent on Heaven's power supply, therefore you should not be affected by the closure of Heaven's gates."

"I guess that's one upside." Michael paused, contemplating his next question. "Azrael, being half man, half Angel, what exactly does that make me? There's got to be some sort of classification for whatever this shit is..." Michael looked at the angel with frustration in his eyes.

"Your kind have been known as demigods, nephilim, and horsemen." Azrael started.

"My kind?! You mean to tell me that there's more out there?"

"Hold Michael... there have been others before you but at this current time, you are the sole remainder of the breed. With the exception of-"

"Horsemen?" Michael interrupted. "Horsemen? You mean-"

"Yes Michael. Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death. The four nephilim that were bound by seals to hold Armageddon at bay for as long as possible. You, very simply put, are one of these horsemen. The fifth. Absolution."

Michael stepped back in bewilderment and almost stepped off of the edge of the rock formation the group was standing on. Luckily Meredith grabbed his wrist and pulled him back towards her. "Easy Michael!"

"The Four fucking Horsemen of the goddamned Apocalypse..."

"What did you really expect, with everything that's happened to us so far?" Meredith asked Michael. "Is it really a stretch to find out that they're real too?"

"No. Not at all, but to say I'm one of them, yeah that's a stretch!" Michael then turned his attention to Azrael, "And Absolution? What the hell is that even supposed to mean? I mean the other guys; their names are pretty self explanatory. But come on, who am I absolving? All I've managed to do so far is disintegrate a couple of demons. Don't get me wrong, that's one hell of a game changer. I'm just having trouble understanding."

"You look too literally into the title you have had bestowed upon you, Michael. The power you have been given is not merely one used to destroy the wicked. But it is also capable of empowering those left behind in the Rapture, absolving the Faithful, and giving them the strength they need to brave what lies ahead. Every member of the nephilim has had their own unique abilities. While each of them are near equal to the others in physical capabilities, their true strength lies further inward; their soul.
You'll come to realize your true purpose in time, I can assure you of that."

"What do you mean, you're a damn angel. Shouldn't you know what my 'true purpose' is?"

"All I have knowledge of, Michael, is why you were created, and what Heaven's plans for you were... but oftentimes there is a deeper reason as to why you were put here. A reason only you can find out for yourself."

"Well this has definitely been one hell of a soul search, and quite an informational discussion..." Michael glanced toward the horizon of the setting sun. "I guess Colorado is gonna have to wait."

"What is in Colorado?" Azrael questioned.

"My last safehouse. Meredith and I were in the process of trying to find a way there, but well, this shit continued to get more and more fucked up. I think we've just about peaked on the fuck-o-meter. But I guess it could be much, MUCH worse. I mean I could be sitting in a nice cozy little cell with three square meals a day, steadily planning my excursion from the confinements that I would have been placed in. Right?" Michael let out a small chuckle.

"I can get you there." Azrael gazed toward the sky. His eyes began to glow bright blue once more. "I can see it."

"See it? See what exactly?" Meredith asked.

"Michael's hideout." The wind picked up as dust swirled around the group.

"Why is this so much more dramatic than when we popped in and out of that cave?" Michael yelled as the wind howled.

Azrael continued to stare upwards as he held out his hands for Meredith and Michael to grab. "Transferring over such a great distance requires much more focus and energy than our previous departures."

Just then, as Meredith and Michael reached for the angel's hands, an explosive sound erupted out of nowhere, and Azrael was thrown off his feet as something shot through his torso. The angel flew across the ground and slid off the edge of the rock formation they had been standing on. He fell to the ground with a loud, cracking thud.

"No!" Michael yelled. They had no cover atop the butte and there was nowhere to go but down. "Meredith, we have to get off of here!"

"Where the hell are we supposed to go?!"

Another shot rang out as another projectile slammed into the side of the butte. Rocks and dust burst from the point of impact as yet another bullet broke through the debris and narrowly missed Michael's face. The two were under heavy fire from afar with no hopes of getting out alive. As another shot was fired, a plume of black smoke rose from the dirt and in an instant, a man dressed in a tattered, black frock coat and a navy blue kepi appeared in front of the two and guarded them from the gunfire. "All right you two, we've got to get out of here!" He placed his hands on both their shoulders and vanished in another plume of smoke and ash.

They reappeared in an abandoned gas station with a loud crash as Michael was thrown into a shelf of assorted alcoholic beverages and the mysterious man crashed into the glass door of one of the beverage coolers. "Sonuvabitch!" The man yelled. "My apologies. I still haven't fully grasped this confounded power as they call it!" He picked himself out of the cooler and dusted off the shattered glass. He then picked up his cap and dumped the glass out of it and placed it back onto his head.

Michael got up and helped Meredith to her feet as well. Her nose was trickling blood again. She looked over to the man and winced in pain. Michael immediately knew what he was and picked up the nearest bottle of liquor and smash it open to provide himself with a weapon.

"Hold it hold it!" The man pleaded. "Take it easy with that! I'm not here to hurt anyone!" The man held his hands up.

"What are you here for then, demon!?" Michael hissed. "You didn't bring us here for shits and giggles."

"Look, look, I know what this seems like, but I swear to you I'm not the enemy!" The man was slim in build and average height. He had light brown hair and a stubbly beard. The right side of his face was scarred from what seemed like burns along with his right eye which was clouded out. Aside from these features, he looked young, no older than twenty-one from what Michael could tell.

"Who. Are. You?" Michael demanded.

"My name is Jedediah. Jedediah Harrington, 10th Regiment, Ohio Calvary." He saluted Michael with his palm faced outwards.

"You're a soldier?" Meredith asked.

"Yes ma'am. Fought ol' Johnny Reb during my time in the service."

"You're saying you fought in the Civil War?"

"I don't know about 'Civil'... There's nothing civil about killing your own countrymen... I've only ever done what was necessary!"

"I don't believe this. Do you know what year it is?" Meredith questioned while her nose continued to bleed.

"Of course I don't. I've been locked up behind Hades' gates for God knows how long! The point that I am trying to make to the two of you though, is that I mean no harm on either of you, nor do I intend to be any kind of a hinderance. The only thing I know for sure, is that both of you are in grave danger."

"No shit!?" Michael shouted. "Look around! The world's gone to shit, fire's erupting from the ground, the dead are rising up, and monsters and demons are scouring the place to find me and take my goddamned soul!"

"Thou shalt not use thy lord's name in vain!" Jedediah yelled.

"What!? You're a fucking demon!"

"Not by choice!" The demon answered.

"Then what the fuck are you doing here!?"

"I have already attempted to explain the situation to you! I just saved your lives!" Jedediah began to grow frustrated with the barrage of questions being thrown at him. "Listen to me, the two of you; your names are in the damn air. I don't know how, but every one of us can hear the bounty that has been placed upon your heads. Obviously some form of mass communication. Some kind of hive mind driving everyone in the vicinity to come and find you!"

"I don't know where you've been, but this isn't news to either of us."

The demon paused for a solid moment, seemingly dumbfounded and then suddenly burst out, "I'VE BEEN IN HELL YOU IDIOT!"

"YOU OBVIOUSLY DON'T UNDERSTAND SARCASM!"

"WHAT EXACTLY IS THERE TO UNDERSTAND WHEN I'M SPEAKING TO AN IMBECILE!?"

As the two continued shouting back and forth, Meredith tried to speak up. "Michael, we have to go back for Azrael!"

Michael ceased his shouting when Meredith reminded him of their angel companion. "Shit you're right... but how the hell are we supposed to get him here."

Then, the demon Jedediah let out a sigh. "All right, fine..." he then rolled up his sleeves. "If it will get you two to trust that I mean no harm, I will put myself in harm's way to deliver your friend to you. And then, you are going to listen to what I have to say!"

"I don't know about trust.." Michael started.

"-but it'll definitely be a start!" Meredith interrupted. "Just please, get him here quickly!"

In that moment the demon nodded with a smirk and evaporated into smoke and ash. Several moments went by and Michael and Meredith looked at each other with worried looks on their faces. "He's not coming back." Michael insisted.

And as Michael finished his sentence, smoke and ash swirled in front of them and out of it appeared Jedediah, with a wounded Azrael in hand. He dropped the angel on the floor and then demanded, "Now, you're going to listen to what I have to say."