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War wasn't Hell. Hell was dark, and damp, and smelled very similar, but it was random violence, not the continuous, planned thing that war is. War herself was just delighted at the current events, cutting down people without a care, with maybe perhaps a small hesitance at a certain angel, but by then he had run off to join his side (unsurprisingly, Earth) and she had cut down someone else.
And Beelzebub was caught up in it.
They didn't like fighting. They were a Prince, a Ruler of Hell, and they guided their troops, they didn't do fighting themselves.
But they supposed, everything had gotten turned on its side when it turned out to be Earth versus God's armies, former and current, instead of Heaven versus Hell. Angel fought alongside demon. Humans cut down both. It was... uncomfortable to think about for more than a moment.
Beelzebub's weapon of choice, though it wasn't much of a choice, was a baseball bat full of sharp points, rusty nails and bloody glass and stray staples. At least it wasn't something vaguely humorous, like a ginormous fly swatter.
They were chopping down humans left and right. It wasn't hard, as Earth bodies didn't have the same amount of power as the celestial bodies did, but they had a ridiculous amount of numbers. And the ability to replenish them in a much shorter amount of time than any demon or angel expected. Meanwhile, even with their power, celestial beings still hadn't come up with a way to add to their numbers the way the humans had.
That meant a celestial being had to be very careful not to be fatally injured.
So when a human, apparently a priest in his life before the war, took up a rosary of heavy iron, splashed with holy water, Beelzebub didn't have time to take their bat back for a swing before--
A sword sliced its way through the human. The disgusting gore splattered all over Beelzebub, who had taken care to avoid most of the splash-back of the naturally made corporeal form, and was shocked into stillness at the sensation.
Behind the human's falling body... was Gabriel.
Now, the war was Earth versus the other realms. That didn't mean that most angels and demons worked together. They simply fought parallel, and if their fighting assisted each other, it was usually coincidence, except in the case of two who weren't even on that side.
This was a direct assist to the Prince of Hell. By an angel who looked as shocked as them.
He panted, letting his sword drop a bit. Most angels had swords, and most of the swords were individualized to the angel. Gabriel's glowed with a dark light, and shimmered with a metallic pearlescence, almost like light was skittering off of it in waves. He looked shocked, and finally locked in eye contact with Beelzebub.
"I," he gasped, "I wanted to protect you."
If Beelzebub ever bothered with lungs, or even breathing, this is where they would have gasped, as if the air had been knocked out of their chest. Something soft unfurled under the hard carapace of their metaphorical heart, like a beetle's wing before it took flight.
Gabriel looked just as shocked, staring down at the remains below him. It was just another body on the pile, at this point, but he looked as if he might be sick. Beelzebub wasn't sure if it was because of the sight, his action, or something else entirely. They just knew that his cheek looked pale and cold, and they pressed a hand to it.
Gabriel's head shot up. Questions filled his eyes, a startling sight on an angel.
Beelzebub thought they might be... might be...
They could hardly think it. It simply shouldn't be possible for a demon.
But, as they leaned in, they knew it to be true.