The summons comes mid-day. Little did Nathanael know; his life would be forever changed. It arrives as the setting sunlight glistens through the reflective amber stones of his home. A tiny trumpet flares to life outside the window before a young cherub swoops in on its little wings, dropping the scroll on the ivory desk before zipping back out through the open doorway. Unrolling the scroll, he reads: Report to the Throne Room.
Directions, that’s all the Lord ever sends. The tone, as always, is immediate and commanding.
He rises to his feet and heads through the arched entranceway toward the River of Life. His wings spread and slowly they begin their rhythm, bringing him into the air.
Michael passes, his wings glistening in gold behind him. The Archangel avoids eye contact as he flies straight past. Nathanael’s fists clench in response, knowing it’s not Michael’s fault Nathanael was involuntary relocated into a position within the seven Archangels. If he had his way, he would have stayed a throne. Guarding the Throne of God was all he had ever desired. The water from the River of Life glistens beside him as he forces the thoughts deep down. He needs to right his mind before entering the Throne Room. The Lord can read him like a book. The choir grows increasingly louder as he finally lands atop the endless steps into the columned temple. Raziel meets him at the door, blocking his way with his full wingspan.
“I was summoned,” Nathanael responds to Raziel’s stern glare.
“Nathanael, it seems like inly yesterday we were in opposite positions.”
His fists clench once again. Keep it together, Nathanael. He’s just trying to rouse you before your audience with the Lord.
He offers only a nod when he passes Raziel. Nothing is going to ruin his day. He has been nothing less than exceptional since the first demotion. He almost chocked when he heard the announcement of his transfer from the Throne of God to become an Archangel. One of the main things he took pride in while being so close to God, was not being tainted by the filth of the secular world, the Earth. Archangels aren’t so lucky. Their entire job is to meddle in secular matters or sec-matters, as the Heavenly community calls them.
The columns of the altar room spread up all around him, going higher and higher, disappearing into the clouds above. This will be good news. He's been dreaming about this promotion. It's going to happen today. His steps quicken as he draws closer. If it were allowed, he would spread his wings and fly to the throne, his feet never seem to get him anywhere fast enough. Especially, right now. Pausing on the three ivory steps to the Throne Room, he throws his shoulders back and with a deep breath, climbs the steps.
He only makes it a few strides before the glory of God brings him to one knee. Cherubs fly around with harps and horns playing nothing but praise. His eyes dart everywhere but directly at the light of God. The paintings lining the walls seem brighter than he remembers. How long has it been since he was here? Time is incalculable in the graces of Heaven, but it seems like forever in his soul. This was his favorite place. He was standing in this exact spot when he protected the Lord from the second century invasion. The Throne Room had become his sanctuary, the one place he meant something. Now, he has no place.
"Nathanael." A booming voice sends the cherubs flying out of the room. The voice echoes in the space between them.
He bows. "Yes, Lord."
“You have an assignment”.
Nathanael attempts to hide the smile in his bow, but it’s obviously written across his face. A female Virtue with hair pink as the sunset brings him a scroll. Taking it in his hands, he slowly unrolls it to read his next assignment:
Notice of Reassignment
Archangel: Nathanael
Assignment: Guardian to Human
Report immediately to Coordinates: 42.3064’N, 78.0164’W
“I… don’t understand.” An Archangel sent to guard a Sec? It’s ludicrous and unheard of!
“Report immediately.” The Lord’s voice calls his entire body into action; spine straightening in response.
“Yes Lord.” He lowers his head, suddenly losing his excitement. Without another command, he turns and leaves the Throne Room. With every receding step, his shoulders slump a little more. Raziel is still outside the temple entrance. The scroll in Nathanael’s hand incinerates, sending ashes onto the ivory floors of the coliseum as he approaches his rival.
“Bad news?”
Nathanael attempts to straighten his posture. “I’m to report to Earth.”
“To Earth?” Raziel scoffs, “For what?”
What does he have to lose? Word of his reassignment will spread eventually.
“To be a Guardian.”
Raziel breaks into laughter, collapsing over to lean on his knees. “A Guardian?” he cackles. Each sound echoes in Nathanael’s head only to come back and mock him once more.
“I have to go.” Nathanael turns and descends the steps.
“My how the mighty have fallen,” Raziel boasts from the edge where he looms above.
His fists are so clenched, his nails make marks in his palms. If he could feel pain, they would probably ache. He wanders down the pathway alongside the river by foot. Mindlessly, he walks through the Pearly Gates, not even bothering to waive to Saint Peter before his feet pause at the edge of the clouds. Below him lies a completely different world-Earth. He was only sent there twice over the past few months-earthly time-on assignment as an Archangel.
Now, he takes in the winding roads and the cloud of smog humans have created in an otherwise perfect realm. His first time to Earth, he took one whiff of the air and didn't breathe until returning to Heaven. Secs have a way of destroying everything Angels work so hard to keep thriving. Secs, the Secular world, Raziel is right. The mighty have fallen.
Before he can change his mind, his wings burst open. There's no way he's going to ruin everything he's ever worked for. Even if it appears to be hopeless now, the Lord always has a purpose. He will prove his worth-if it's the last thing he ever does. His feathers twitch, anxious for the air. With one last breath of the clean, fresh air of Heaven, he dives toward the surface.
His wings carry him lower and lower. They spin him around in circles causing his usually perfect hair to flap all about. This long descent is the best part of this whole thing. It’s the most air he’s ever experienced, making him feel like a dove: determined and free.
He begins to lose some of his excitement as the trees below grow bigger and bigger. Just as he's about to enter the first few branches, he pulls up and straightens out flying over them instead. He's just not... ready. The line of trees ceases, and an endless sight of houses sprout up underneath him. His wings spread wide and flap up and down causing him to hover above the town.
What am I doing? I need to report. Responding to his thoughts, his wings turn his body around, taking him back toward coordinates 42.3064' N, 78.0164' W.
Nathanael's feet pace their way across the pavement for the hundredth time before turning to do it over again. The coordinates took him to a blue farmhouse nestled along the tree line.
The house is still, sitting on a quiet, dead-end street with nothing but the sound of the woods around. A hooting owl in the distance makes him jump slightly. He will have to get used to sounds like that down on Earth. He takes one more look down the bleak street. It's so... dark, how can he ever get used to it here?
Finally, he succumbs to reality. This is his life now, whether he likes it or not. Time to get to work before he's even further demoted-if that were possible. However, if he's learned anything in this life-it's that anything is possible. With one last deep breath, his long, plush wings extend from his back with one swift movement. They sprout out past his arms in a glorious, pure white not visible on the secular plane. With one gust, they make him airborne and with a few more, his feet land on the roof. The shades in the room below him are drawn, but a dim light emanates from behind them. A sigh escapes his lips as he closes his eyes and swings down from the roof. He takes a step into the exterior wall. His body goes rigid, the blue siding of the house shimmers as he enters. The vortex pulls him completely through, the smell of wood lingers on his nose as he opens his eyes on the other side.Whoa. It's apparent he's not in Heaven any longer. This Sec confines herself to a sma
SeraphinaA few months later...Sera's heart thrums in her chest as she wanders along the busy street. Huge buildings sprout up all around her. They loom above, shadowing her in their massive wake. Her eyes dart across the numbers over the storefronts. Where is it? Her hand wraps around the vial dangling from her neck, and she continues to look around. People pass her without a second glance. She hears a few snickers or sighs as she ambles into their way.She turns to a lanky man in a suit, "Excuse me, can you-"The man passes by without even glancing up from the phone in his hand. Discouraged, she turns around and attempts to grab the attention of another. As Sera opens her mouth, the woman pushes past her as if she weren't even there. Will no one help her?She twists around, glancing at the passing faces until they turn into a blur, and the numbers on the stores make no sense. Everything swirls into a massive tornado of
The oval driveway feels longer than usual as she navigates her way up toward the office. The three-floored, glass medical building sits atop a freshly manicured lawn. The morning sun reflects on the windows and glares into Sera's eyes while she continues her journey up from the employee parking lot. Sometimes, she hates going to work. It seems like she can hardly get herself out of bed anymore. The only thing keeping her going today is the gossip she has for Amanda and her pseudo date with Jack. Once through the automatic double doors, she's hit with the sharp scent of antiseptic. Ducking her head and holding her breath, she heads straight for the elevators. Stepping inside the elevator, she presses the button for level three. Normally she can deal with a small space, but elevators are the one thing that makes her heart race. Just something about a rickety tin can held up by a pulley system that doesn't sit right with her. The metal doors close and the contraption clangs to the top.
A long day doesn't even begin to describe the kind of day Sera has had. She's happy to leave it all behind as anticipation begins to bubble up inside of her. Despite Amanda's unending knowledge of the dating scene, she decides against changing. If Jack would be donning his work clothes, so would she. Keeping the tan dress pants and white collared shirt, she did happen to stop home and apply some extra makeup before making her appearance. She parks her white sedan in the spot in front of Jack's Coffee Bean for the second time that day. Sera flips down the visor to double check that she resembles what Amanda calls 'sexy-casual' before running her fingers through her hair. With one last nod of courage to her reflection, she exits the car and heads toward the door.Approaching, she notices all the blinds are down and the lights are dimmer than usual. A weird feeling settles into the pit of her stomach when she reaches the door. The sign on the door reads: 'Closed', but the hours
Sera turns to Jack whose face appears genuinely shocked. Whatever is going on with him, I don't think he was expecting this. Sera's instincts start to kick in; she sneaks past his rigid body heading back into the store. This isn't right, she thinks shaking her head."Sera?" She turns around to respond when the fire alarm blares to life in a deafening roar. The sprinklers extend almost automatically before raining water on the two of them. Sera glances down, almost unbelieving as the water soaks through her shirt and pretty much everything else around. Their eyes meet again; Jack's eyes are as wide as his mouth. He's frozen in the same stance as when the sprinklers started. If Sera didn't know any better, she would say he looks just as stupefied as she must.Pure unrelenting laughter bursts from Sera. What are the odds? Jack's shoulders visibly relax at Sera's reaction before also cracking a smile. He then walks beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder blades this tim
NathanaelWind bristles through the trees as the moon casts a ghostly glow over the silent woods. The sounds of the Earth make their way to Nathanael while he's sitting on the edge of the windowsill with one knee bent. His skillful eyes survey the black trees surrounding the little farmhouse. The peaceful street causes him to relax, leaning slightly off his knee. His nose rises to meet the breeze. The air has changed. The cold has actually turned into a scent: crisp and earthy. The edges of the leaves have started to turn a shade of red. A grunt brings his attention back inside the room. Placing a leg on the ground, he examines the tree line one last time for good measure before climbing to his feet. If the Lord is testing him, he sure doesn't plan on failing. Sera begins to toss and turn on her bed. The covers tangle between her legs. This happens every once and a while. Sometimes he'll catch her mumbling something, but tonight she just rolls back o
The morning sun streams its way through the blinds, slowly creeping across the carpet until it remains on Sera's face like a spotlight. The light is a gentle reminder that it's time to wake up. Sera rolls over to face the wall and escape the sun, which is growing brighter and brighter by the minute. She finds herself unable to wake from this new dream. For months, the handsome stranger was just out of reach, and now she can feel him somewhere within the deepest parts of her. She refuses to let that go. Not soon after she rolls away from the impending morning does she begin to hear the raucous noise of the garbage truck hunkering its way down her dead-end street. Sera clamps her eyes shut. Tin garbage cans are thrown around and the truck screeches into her gravel drive before it turns around and putters away.She's allowed a few blissful moments of silence before her alarm clock clicks on, blaring the news: "It's a gorgeous, brisk December morning in Angelica, the temperature
"You're not kidding," Jack mumbles. Her eyes blink toward him, standing across the counter. How long had she zoned out? "So, Sera, what can I get you today? I hear through the grapevine you had a bad date last night.""Oh," she giggles, "I had a date like you wouldn't believe.""That good, huh?""He wishes." The harsh sarcasm tumbles out before she can stop it."Ouch!" He pretends to stab his heart with an invisible knife. The laughter allows the awkwardness to dissipate between them, returning to their friendly, fun banter once again. "What can I do to help make this day better?""A cup of your world famous coffee should do it.""Ah, you sure know how to make a guy blush." She stands back, admiring Jack making her latte in the sexy way only he can, while he turns every so often to shoot her a smile. His biceps bulge when he shifts the machine's handle down and up again, causing Sera to turn her head to hide the blush from her own face. When