Gabriel would have died in that war. He pondered it almost every time he trimmed his beard. It was the beard that Van wanted him to keep as a memento, as though he could have possibly forgotten the war itself.

So stubborn, Van called him that all the time. It was true. Most others would hardly ascribe 'stubborn' to the professor of Psyche and English. He was so ... kindly, gentle, informative. Patient. But Gabriel was very much a creature of habit. His powers of understanding and communication were legendary, almost mythic - except that he did exist, and he had been around for, well, a very long time. And he was stubborn. Van saw through most of the act he put on for the kids and most staff members: to them, he was merely Angelino Gabriella, high school instructor. To Van... He was the angel Gabriel, room mate, friend, sometime lover, and ... savior, in a way. They had saved each other, over the years. But in that war, that was where Van had well and truly saved Gabe.

The war he'd gone to fight had not been Twoarth's fight. It had nothing to do with any Earth in fact. It was his old people, the rest of those who called themselves the Host. They had numbered in the millions, once, spread among the stars and dimensions. Some settled upon the different Earths and became legends themselves, Gabriel included. Over the many millions of years they'd existed, some had died off, some changed so much that they could not be called Host any longer. It would be the scattered tens of thousands left who were fighting over some gas giant billions of light years away.

Every one of the true Host had returned when their ... creator... had summoned them. But they learned that it was a call out of desperation, fear, cowardice. He wouldn't or couldn't fight his own battles, so over this massive and hellish gassy sphere they fought.

Eventually most of the Host realized that this invasion wasn't going to work. Eventually... couldn't come soon enough for Van. That crazy human had found a way to reach Gabriel and his companions, on the shredded rocky moonlet where they'd been backed up by the admittedly demonic forces on the planet nearby. Though he'd promised to remain at home, promised not to bother... Van came anyway. Who was the stubborn one now?

No mere human could ever have stood up to the demons, or even another of the Host. Yet, there he was. In all his very human glory, hefting the spear that had been dropped by another of the Host. The moment that Van saw Gabriel, injured and failing, his entire demeanor changed from defense to offense. The pure rage in his soul was visible, and so shocked by this fact were any of the warriors that they let him pass to retrieve his fallen friend.

Gabriel's beard had grown in the time he was fighting, he'd been gone for twelve years, actually - but on Twoarth and particularly at a Nexus point such as Carramba High it never seemed that long. Van felt every aching moment. Gabriel's blood had been spilled, it was smeared on his chest and coming from his nose and mouth and pooled into that beard which had grown long and wild. Van swore that not one more drop would fall, as he clutched Gabriel on the battlefield and took him back home.

Gabriel's dark eyes reflected in the mirror, glinted, as his hand paused. One stray hair, got it. He looked back at his own eyes, wondered why anyone thought they could be beautiful, when they had seen the things they'd seen. He'd been inside stars, he'd been past the edges of the universe in the endless void of starless space. He'd seen hundreds of worlds come and go, millions of beings of every description exist and vanish. Gabriel had called a hundred different worlds home, each so different from the last.

Now, 'home' meant this small apartment on the fourth floor of the staff building in Crescent City... He wondered how any of his life made sense. The life of an immortal was difficult at times, and looking back on that life was often even more difficult.

He was not immortal when he lay dying on that moon, as Van slashed his glimmering spear at demons to keep their distance. He was not immortal when he was hefted over the man's warm shoulder, chilled to the bone himself. He had resigned himself to death, and it was all that Van could do to keep him from that fate.

He'd fiercely faced down the Host who wanted every one of their kind to remain, for Gabriel. He would have faced down their creator had the entity been bold enough to actually be there for the battle. Gabriel smirked and looked away from his reflection, Van would have won that battle, too.

Why he wanted that beard to stay though... Ah well. Sanger had a hard time forcing out facial hair on a good day, he didn't really know what it was like to have to groom it!

It was morning, the middle of June, days after graduation and school being let out for another year. Not that the place stopped humming while summer came and went: though Carramba wasn't a year-round school it did offer classes pretty much continually. Plus since there were now numerous dragonries coming to pick up potential riders, those kids needed to get in all the tutoring they could get, since their lives would be a bit busy after they bonded.

Van's little blue-green flitter named Tats gave off a cooing sound as he slept, crashed out on the couch with his head balanced on the armrest. His other little pet was nowhere to be seen, probably hiding in the linen closet again. His dragon was down in the caverns, what a strange place this really was, Gabriel thought. Where the caverns were created by an ancient Goddess - there were dozens of them here on Twoarth, not just angels like himself, but gods and demigods and everything.

Some of them were even natives. That creatures of his power and bearing could spontaneously evolve on any given world was always something that Gabriel wondered at. Life truly was miraculous. It didn't need a god's hand to do the amazing things it did.

There were others of the Host back here now, the war had come to a standstill and the Host left the demonic gas giant alone for the time being. Michael and Zoraphiel and Tannael were around somewhere - probably hanging out at the beach, enjoying the sun and the water and the beautiful women.

While some Humans claimed that the angels of their legends were androgynous, Gabriel knew they were all male, aside from those who changed themselves by force of will to be female, or indeed those who disliked physical 'sins' so much that they refused to believe they could be anything other than neuter. He realized that with the beard now, he would hardly be mistaken for a woman - and his name was most often associated with the 'girly' angelic ideal. It was a good thing he'd given up wearing those long flowing linen robes in favor of smartly cut suits and nice sports wear.

While shuffling around in the kitchen looking for his coffee mug, Gabriel heard muttering from Van's room - he talked in his sleep sometimes, and on occasion this was extremely amusing. So, he crept up to the door and listened in. There was nothing much more than mumbling, however, and faintly disappointed, Gabriel continued getting ready for his day. Van could sleep in, he wasn't going to be instructing anything this summer and was going to be traipsing around with his dopplegangers looking for more of himself across the multiverse.

It was a good cause. It was one that Gabriel could get behind. Watching multiples of Van interact was magical. They understood each other, so well in fact that sometimes they didn't even need to speak. They weren't telepathic with one another really, they were just so connected. Of course, watching multiple Vans meant they were watching him together, which sometimes made for extremely amusing commentary.

Gabriel collected his briefcase and paperwork, and headed down into the school proper. It would be a nice day to catch up on filing... oh who was he kidding, he wanted to be at the beach too. But that would be there, Crescent's bay was an extremely fine place to relax, after all it had several dozen gods and godlings keeping it protected. Even the demons helped protect it.

Upon reaching his office in the Humanities building, Gabriel was a bit put off by how many returning summer-schoolers he'd be having. Hadn't they graduated yet? With a little reasearch he noted that two of the returning half dozen were behind on their History and Sciences, while the others were just kind of 'there'. Why they wanted to take more of his English class he wasn't sure.

"Because they like you," Keith Leland called over his shoulder in passing. Obviously, Gabriel's musings about these returning students was something he did aloud, completely unconscious of that fact.

"They like you too, don't they," Gabriel chuckled, and Leland rolled his eyes. Between the two of them, they had a cadre of girls (and sometimes boys) who came back to hang out, or just watch them. Infatuation with a handsome young-looking professor like Leland was one thing, and he understood that. But perhaps it was merely his constant self-loathing or self-doubt that meant Gabriel didn't associate that kind of infatuation with himself. He didn't hate himself. But ... sometimes he wondered about those girls.

Eventually Van swaggered into the Humanities building himself, plopping down in the chair opposite Gabriel's, and stuck his bare feet up on the nice wooden desk. "Those idiot dragons are making a ruckus about you again," Van said, picking at his long dark fingernails. "Some of them even seem to think they've got a place for you to--"

"I am not going to bond a dragon," Gabriel sighed.

"Last I recall you said you would, if one of them came up to you," Van replied, with a smirk. "I am going to hold you to that, you know."

Gabriel knew this would be one of those discussions which he'd never, ever be able to convince the dark-haired man of his reluctance. When Umpteenth himself burst into their conversation, slipping his lightning-scented yet incredibly laid back voice into their minds, Gabriel was a bit surprised.

We have found a place, we have found something that will interest you, the dragon bespoke, and Van's smirk broke open into a full toothy smile.

"See, I told you, they're looking out for you. Least you could do is come see what the fuss is about, right?" Van waggled his eyebrows, and Gabriel slumped with a careful exaggeration of his typical sigh.

There was no hatching, no Impression. Nothing with a capitalized letter to indicate its importance amongst the members of the Nidus. Eggs were hatched and babies born on a regular basis in the Nidus but ceremonies held here did not include a great warbling cacophony that had become common on other Nexus worlds.

In fact, when Gabriel arrived, he was ushered with curt coldness to the den of the Supernals, and then left alone at the edge of the glen full of tumbled-down, moss-covered boulders. A huge, blue and silver creature was sunning himself on a rocky outcropping, patiently allowing fat young offspring to play on him as though he were a jungle gym. There were only three youngsters in attendance at the moment, as far as Gabriel could immediately see. They were the ones who first noticed him , in fact.

" Daddy !" screamed one, falling off of his father's shoulder and tumbling down the hill. The rest shouted and bounded for Gabriel, a pack of deadly creatures... if only they had some more maturity to them.

More Supernal children seemed to appear out of nowhere. There must have been a den dug out of somewhere, as they seemed to pour out of the earth. Soon he was surrounded, the children growing more courageous as their competitive natures warranted. If Gabriel brought others with him, for the moment they were completely ignored: Gabriel had wings, and he had a mane that was big, for a human!

Finally it was an older child that snapped at her siblings and settled at the feet of the angel. She introduced herself as Arothphael (Arothphael Imabrosia), and she was beautiful. She appeared white at first glance, but in the noon-day sun, her fur glinted with a rainbow of colours and it was immediately apparent that her fur was not white, not in the traditional sense. Her silver mane was just beginning to grow in, giving her a dignified look.

They talked for a little while, and though the other cubs still lingered it was clear that Arothphael had laid claim to the angel. In the end, it was she that decided that she would like to go with Gabriel and, with one last goodbye from the rest of her family, she gratefully padded out of the clearing with him.

It was clear reasonably early on that Arothphael would be among the more impressive dragons to haunt Carramba's halls. While she was still young she was small enough to walk among the students. She accompanied her caretaker daily at first, a mixture of his unwillingness to leave her alone during this sensitive time, and her natural curiosity about the world in which she was now living. So many people, so many different kinds of them. While it was true that many in her Nidus scoffed at humans, they came in so very many flavors here on Twoarth.

Gabriel introduced her to Van, of course. She didn't exactly balk, but she spent several hours discussing this man with Gabriel. Why would such a ... strange man be welcomed in his life? Their mutual need for completion, perhaps. She asked questions to which Gabriel had no answers. He'd hardly given much thought recently to them. Did he...? Of course he did. He loved Van with a somewhat private possessive streak. One good thing about a Sanger though - even if he spent time playing around with other people, physically, his heart remained in one place when it found its home.

Arothphael understood this. She did question, however, if she would be allowed to chase off that annoying little zappy marked blue dragon of his. He was constantly up in her business. Well, that was an overstatement. He wanted to show her the dragonry, and the landscape - they spent time flying over the city and impressing people by shooting lightning into the night sky.

She glimmered, almost glowed, with her own light.

Gabriel stood on the balcony of the apartment and watched her as she flew over the school, on a night shortly before the Fall session started. Life would be... different. After all, this was a stunningly beautiful and achingly pure dragoness that he was taking care of. The blond angel felt Van's presence behind him, and leaned back onto the strong chest provided.

"Don't doubt yourself for a minute," Van whispered. "She looks up to you like everyone else does, rightfully so."

"I have to wonder what ... what the war would have been like..." Gabriel said, quietly, "if we'd had allies like her to aid us?"

"It would lead to escalation," his Sanger replied. "Your side gets Supernals. Their side gets... I don't know, hydra or something else inherently evil. Another standoff. More death."

"It's good that the war is over, for me at least," Gabriel sighed, "but now at least, if the war comes to me - I know I'll be ready."

***

It didn't take very long after the first few semesters to know that Arothphael would make a good addition to the staff at Carramba. She learned quickly, though scoffed at those who thought she would be unable to fit in. After all, she was a shape shifter. Her draconic form was almost at its full size after a number of years, and her humanoid form was, in Van's words, "stunning".

But what would she be able to teach? Carramba was filled with specialty classes, and quite often had people who had amazing powers. Powers that needed to be cultivated, in her opinion. So she took up the Shapeshifting Techniques class and doubled its availability. Not too much later, her ability with sound came into play when a Caroline Clone fell ill and she was asked to substitute for the Choir class. That too was something that students begged for more periods, and thus ... Arothphael became a second Choir and Chorale teacher.

Arothphael feels that Carramba is as good a place as any to remain. As a Nexus world, this place could easily allow her to travel - Umpteenth certainly dragged her all over creation from there. Plus there were opportunities to right wrongs, fight evil, superheroes came through every once in a while, needing healing or even her lightning breath.

So in all... She liked it! She did have the reputation of a bit of a stern instructor, but she was apt to praise those who did well in addition to scold those who didn't. If anyone had a problem though, they could trust in her to get it fixed. Arothphael was always confident in herself, perhaps too confident at times, but this world was a place where she felt needed, enjoyed good company, and got to exercise her powers quite often.

Name: Arothphael Imabrosia

Bonded to: (sponsored by) Gabriel

Gender: Female

Species: Supernal

Hatchling Height: (?)

Adult Height: 16' shoulder, Medium-Large

Color: Silver-Prism

Unique Ability: Heavenly Choir - Arothphael can lead a host of ethereal voices through a song-like ritual that can strengthen the resolve of friends and strike paralyzing fear into enemies.

Personality: Stubborn, Decisive, Strong

Abilities: Breath Weapon (Lightning), Fire Immunity, Heal Others, Shapeshifting (Human, Lion), Size-Shifting, Teleportation, Verbal Speech

Parents: Dimasasehiel Imabrosia and Raminiel Nathanurin