#i do think someone's gotta die but ultimately sisyphus likely goes at some point

[cherubchoirs]

so if v1 never attacked the prime sanctums... how would F! Gabriel approach Minos and Sisyphus? Would he feel any regret for his actions and try to make up for them? Possibly more folks for this newfound family????

(see this!)

i think gabriel would CONSTANTLY have the sanctums in the back of his mind, stuck on what he should do about them because he sees no good outcome and yet to leave them as they are would the pinnacle of cruel cowardice. his words cannot restore their lives, their people's lives, nor do anything for all the machines have killed with his failure to stop them, but to not say anything, to let them remain imprisoned, is far worse. he wants to find the best apology he can offer before releasing them, yet it's complicated by the fact that he could be killed if they're unwilling to listen...and he wouldn't blame them for it. but his hand is forced either way really - with v1's curious nature, he's on a time limit knowing it will discover them sooner or later (and he believes v1 is also in great danger of dying that way)

all that is rendered moot though as sisyphus destroys his own prison and of course follows up with the same for minos, which is a worst case scenario for gabriel who is genuinely still far too accustomed to things happening on his timetable lol and minos is quite literally hellbent on finding gabriel, no longer the fair philosopher king that had been executed so long ago - his torture inside the flesh prison has twisted him nearly beyond recognition, yet sisyphus sees no other recourse for them. his grudges had never been so personal and gabriel was a cog in the machine to him, yet all that is left of him wants nothing more than to struggle until he is killed again. they are both ghosts, caught in the emotions of their deaths, and that is the trade-off of being a prime soul - no longer fully realized, they are just what they were when they died and so contain only echoes of who they once were. minos, defined by his grief and his betrayal, sisyphus by meaningless war he knows will end in tragedy. and so all that is left for them is to survey the ruins of their fallen kingdoms and confront gabriel - the latter far more important to minos, but sisyphus accepts it despite gabriel no longer being an agent of heaven. it's still pretty worth it to take out at least one archangel regardless of his current status

so when they meet each other once more, gabriel's not only caught off-guard but he's also woefully ill-prepared for a minos that is just as unwilling to listen as he once was. after the initial shock, gabriel's heart breaks to see what he did to a man he had only ever known to be gentle and wise, his spirit now consumed by a violence so antithetical to his true nature. he did this, he knows. this is what he has sown, not just in minos but in so many before him too, yet now gabriel is unwilling to fight to the death...at least, not to minos's. he will not plead forgiveness, but he will confess his wrongs, he will denounce god's will in all of this, he will condemn his weakness for betraying minos. see him now, a demon of treachery fully revealed as minos always knew him to be - because gabriel acted against his own morals, he acted against a friend he cared for...against all the people in hell he loved. he was weak, he was spineless, and they all paid for his conscious betrayal. he can change nothing now, yet he can....leave what is left. there are still husks, still human souls trapped here in a hell worse than they have ever felt. and they need someone. they still need a king.

and i think this is the only thing that could stop minos. to know there are still "living" husks, and for gabriel to make a treaty with him. that he and v1 will leave any husks left, slaying both demons and machines that threaten them, so they may go to minos to live under his care. orphans. it's uh. not the easiest sell to v1, yet its protests must also contend with the fact that it and gabriel were struggling terribly in their fight against minos and sisyphus. but importantly too, v1 recognizes on some level this is deeply painful for gabriel, that this is someone he wants to do anything he can to reach and if no comfort is found, something in him is never going to heal. so. while i don't see minos as being particularly on good terms with gabriel, i do like the idea that they come to an agreement that sees gabe protecting the remaining husks so they can find safety with minos. it will never be as lust once was, but they could have a little community fully under the protection of a prime soul who can (and WILL) easily crush the stray angel/demon/machine that tries to interfere. a haven for those left. this puts his spirit to rest so to speak, and he accepts gabriel's terms as providing the humans left with happiness is his primary concern beneath his revenge. this is far more important, and it revives something in minos that he thought he lost in all the years trapped in the flesh prison.

sisyphus, however, doesn't hold the same values, yet his fight is not necessarily with gabriel at this point since he's now fallen. he wishes to, at the very least, rid the angelic presence in hell, and i absolutely love his biggest target being michael when he shows back up. of course sisyphus is fighting until his death to collapse what he can of heaven's structure, but michael is the archangel that binds hell as well as the one now most concerned with returning god's order in hell, so if sisyphus can kill one guy at the top, it's him. this proves far more complicated for gabriel, because sisyphus is honestly right in his stance yet gabe is personally connected to the very people he wants dead - both his virtues and the other archangels as his family. i haven't fully worked out how i want this to end, but i do know this is one of the biggest nightmares for gabriel being so stuck in the middle, especially as he is meant to help protect the people minos is now watching over...and michael would see them all bound back to their "proper" places.