I nodded my head. Joel was the organizer, the spell caster. Gabe and Michael were more like warriors and investigators. While they would probably do fine with the spell, Joel was more likely to have success.
He looked at the Fallen. "You're going to have to trust me."
Asmodeus shot me an unsure look. I shook my head and addressed just my part of the group. "Guys, you have to give it your all. If you don't want to do this, you'd be doing us more good by leaving now than by joining and resisting the link." I looked from face to face. "If you leave now, there will be no repercussions. I know it's hard to trust after so many years of mistrust and suspicion."
A couple of lower Fallen disappeared. I understood. Archangels and Fallen were considered enemies. We tried to lessen that stigma by being open with how close Gabe, Michael and myself remained, but it hadn't done much good over the years.
Michael addressed the angels. "The same goes for all of you. If you're not all-in, go now. You won't be punished. It's okay to be nervous."
We lost a few on that side, too. Nobody I knew. It was better that they go.
"Everybody feeling good?" Joel asked. This time, people seemed more confident. He grinned. "Let's do this." He took my hand and Lucifer's. "Just because I've never done this with both angels and Fallen, it would be great if you guys would stagger. There are more angels, but let's put a Fallen between angels, eh?" He raised his eyebrows and the Fallen exchanged alarmed looks, but they shuffled around until all Fallen were between angels and we formed a large circle in front of the gates.
"Open yourselves. Lucifer here on my left will start. He's going to allow the power inside him to be accessed by the person on his left. When he's ready, he'll nod at Quentin there and Quentin will connect their power."
Quentin nodded his understanding.
"Now, don't pull his power into you," Joel cautioned. "Just grab it and make yourself open for Asmodeus on your left to grab it."
"I'm ready," Lucifer said. He nodded at Quentin, a minor angel. Lucifer gave no reaction to his borrowed power being accessed. I knew he would've never let a stranger grab his power. He would've had Michael or Gabriel stand on his left instead.
Slowly, each angel and Fallen connected until it was my turn to take the bulk of the power from Michael on my right. I delved into him and saw it immediately. A braided rope of massive energy and magic. Gently, I grabbed it with a tendril of my power and weaved my energy into the existing rope. With a small tug, I pulled it toward me, then turned to Joel. "Here we go," I whispered.
He smiled, and my magic tingled his aura open so he could grasp the flow. The braid of immense power was awe-inspiring. "Is it enough power as-is?" I asked.
Joel shook his head. "No. We've used this many to go back nearly a day and it was difficult. All angels that time, of course, but this is some massive magic we need to perform. We'll have to use the souls."
I nodded. We'd agreed beforehand to try without the souls. Sending all the souls for rebirth without processing them and weeding out those that needed to be kept far away from humans wasn't the best idea.
But it was our only idea.
"Okay, Luc and I will begin, then. When the power is at its peak, we'll transfer to you."
Joel nodded. I took one final look around the circle, then focused my energy on Purgatory. We used the gigantic rope of power and directed it through the gates and into the mystical realm. Closing my eyes, I did my part while Luc did his. We'd decided he should work on the River, because by now it probably had more souls in it than Purgatory, and he was a little more adept at the rebirth thing than I was.
Asmodeus helped us both, acting as a focus, helping the edges of our power stay sharp while we gathered all the souls in massive magical webs.
Before, when we'd tried to fly to the ends of Purgatory, it had been impossible. Physically, I wasn't sure the realm could ever end.
Magically, with this much power, creating a web around every soul contained was easy. I did it in minutes.
"Ready," I whispered.
I felt Luc brush against my consciousness. We needed to connect, at least for a few moments, to combine our webs in the River and Purgatory and complete the rebirths.
There was about to be an incredible baby boom on Earth.
Rebirths weren't instant. Luc used the incredible power to yank the magic from every soul all at once, and they shrank, essentially becoming baby souls within seconds.
That part was fast. He quickly yanked the magical net in, shrinking it and drawing the power toward our circle of angels.
It hit us like a freight train. Every angel, including me, Luc, and Joel, the focus points, were knocked off our feet.
But the rope of power held. While we acclimated ourselves to holding more power than any of us could've ever imagined, all those souls began to disappear.
This was the slow part for them. They'd go to the astral plane on Earth, unconscious and unaware. Their little souls would attach to pregnancies, people in comas, and near-death experiences. Some of them would merge with the existing soul and memories, and awaken as a new, fresh person. Some would begin again and essentially be the same people they'd been before.
But it took time. When we finished resetting time, most of the souls would still be searching for a new home.
