The Outcast

I sit here in my private chambers in Heaven City, looking into the mirror that permits us angels to watch over mankind. I feel nothing but great disappointment in how humans continue to treat one another and think to myself, 'Why can't you all just get along with each other.' I turn my gaze from the mirror as I find myself tired of watching their behavior and cast my gaze around my room, feeling thankful that we each get our own space in the vast city.

The walls in my room are white with a few paintings depicting a few moments where they all intervened in man's history, I look away from the paintings as I feel even more disappointed at how we only do small acts to assist mankind, turning my eyes to glance around at my furniture. A light grey comfortable recliner sits in one corner next to a light brown bookshelf to the right of it with a light brown table to the other side, a lamp protrudes from the wall on a pair of arms that have a degree of movement so that the light can be moved to where it is needed. The wall in front of the chair is occupied by a small flat screen tv that only picks only two channels, for prayer and overseeing humans..

With neither option interesting me, I make my way to the chair in the corner opposite the tv and tuck my wings away underneath my white toga with bronze clasps holding the top together before I sit down in it, then look at the bookshelf to my right and look at a few titles that catch my eye thinking, 'I'm glad that Father remodeled heaven to look more organized, every angel and soul here gets their own space. One can only handle laying around on a cloud with nothing to do for so long.'

I then pick up one of the books with a title that reads, 'Noah's Challenges' and begin to read the book as I start feeling restless for some reason and think, 'What is wrong with me, why am I feeling restless?' As I close the book and put it away, I lift up my right leg and rest my ankle just behind the knee of my left leg, then set my right elbow onto the armrest and raise my palm upward and rest my face against it as I try to figure out what is going on.

It takes me a few hours to finally understand what is going on as I sigh and think, 'I see now...I'm bored of this. Perhaps a flight around the city will do me some good and rid me of this unwelcome feeling.' As I rise up out of the chair, I make my way over to the door and bring my wings back out.

I open the door and look out through the door to see a large, pure white stone hall with a white marble floor so clean that it could function as a mirror. As I walk through my open door and into the hall, I look to my left to see a few other angels walking around and going about their assigned tasks. I then turn my body to the left and start heading down the hall, making sure to keep my wings close to my body to avoid brushing them against the others' wings and inadvertently bending or even possibly damaging any feathers.

I smile and nod my head to the others as we pass each other, saying either their name or calling them brother or sister. We all may not literally be family by creation, but we are all trained as soldiers to fight the forces of hell.

*Five minutes later*

As I finally arrive at the massive flight square, I make my way toward one of the four available takeoff points that angels can use to take flight while glancing at the other side. On the other side, are four landing points that angels can use to return to the ground.

I stop and stand on the lower left pad and stretch out my large, black wings having flecks of gold scattered randomly through the fibers of each and every feather. Raising my wings up, I give them a flap and rise up into the air.

My wings take me higher and higher into the skies above Heaven City with each powerful flap, the wind moving past my face and ruffling my long, past-shoulder length black hair. I enjoy the feeling of flying through the air as I try to think of a way to deal with my boredom, deciding that I might find a few trespassing demons on earth causing a little trouble while doing a patrol.

With an idea in mind, I head over to the armory to gather some armor and a sword for my journey there. Deciding against taking my assigned holy spear because I shouldn't cause too much of a commotion and risk getting noticed by the humans.

As I fly through the air, I look around at the various buildings from various cultures around the world. There are many from North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and even Antarctica. I then look down at the streets below and see human souls wandering the streets, greeting each other and getting along peacefully.

I land in a flight square closest to the armory and then make my way there thinking, 'Surely there must be some way that I can get mankind to get along with each other as they do in this city...'

*At the armory, Five minutes later*

Anuram sits on his chair behind a table reading 'A Tale of Wrath by Josiah' when he hears the door open followed by footsteps entering the building, making him mark his spot then set the book down and looks up to see who entered his building. He sees that it is someone he hasn't seen in a few years and says with a Pakistani accent, "Well well, if it isn't Galadriel. I have not seen you in many a year brother, how fare thee today, and what brings you to the armory?"

I look up to him, seeing my brother with light brown skin, dark brown eyes, and chin-length light brown hair with wings like that of an owl having mostly brown feathers with a few small white spots spread through the wings and respond, "Well brother, I was in my chambers and I got bored, so I was going to go out and patrol Earth for any demons to cure my boredom."

He chuckles and nods his head saying, "I understand your state, for it also affects me at times. I find soaring through the skies of India and Egypt to be very helpful with that issue, though I believe you may find something else more suitable." He then gestures to the armor issued to those who go out on scheduled patrols and says, "Take a set of light, heavy armor and pick out a melee weapon and a ranged weapon with you before you head out. Be cautious, I have heard that there have been more demon sightings lately."

As I make my way to the light, heavy armor, I nod and say, "Thank you for telling me, brother, I shall keep alert when I am down on Earth. Tell me, do you think it would be best to take my assigned spear or a regular one?"

Anuram raises a finger to his hairless face and strokes his chin in thought for a few moments saying, "Hmm, good question."

After several seconds pass, he answers, "I think it wise to take it. With demon sightings being more frequent, one never knows what one may find on Earth's surface. If you should ever need aid, send a prayer and we shall answer, brother."

I remove my toga and begin to put the white, silken underlayer on first before putting the armor on saying, "Okay, I shall heed your advice, brother. I will be sure to do that should I find myself in need of assistance."

He then goes back to reading his book, letting him continue to don his armor in privacy. As he continues to read he thinks, 'I sure hope that the end times are not upon us yet, because I rather enjoy my flights down on Earth.'

A few minutes pass as I finish putting my shin guards over my sandals, looking my armor over one last time before grabbing a white, wooden bow with a glowing yellow string of holy light with a silver handgrip and setting it aside to grab a quiver full of 50 shining silver arrows. I put my left arm through the strap and move it over my head to sling it on my right shoulder so I can draw them when I need to, then grab the bow and set it into its place on the quiver and will it to vanish. I then make my way to a large wall containing the weapons assigned to certain angels and pull mine from its place, then set one end of the double-bladed spear on the ground and look it over.

As I look my spear over, I examine the white wooden handle with gold strips crisscrossing it to a joint in the center where the spear can be split if needed. I see nothing wrong and move on to either end of the spear, seeing the gold strips merge into an upside-down T shape to hold the shining silver blades forged into the holder. As nothing appears damaged, I lift the spear off of the ground and lay it against my shoulder and head for the door saying, "Light guard you, brother."

Anuram looks up from his book and smiles at his brother saying, "May father's love be with you on your journey." and returns to where he left off.

*At Heaven City's golden gates*

Michael stands guard beside his brother beside the golden gates of Heaven City, as they lay open to let worthy souls into the city to find eternal peace. He watches Gabriel test each soul before allowing them to approach the gates and says, "Watching over the gates to Heaven is my favorite task, how about you Gabe?"

Gabriel looks at his brother briefly and scoffs in annoyance saying, "I don't mind it really, I would much rather be out on patrol with the others." He then turns to the approaching soul of a young woman appearing to be in her early teens and asks, "What do you seek in heaven, young one?"

The young teen sobs and says, "I seek nothing in heaven, I want to go back home and see my mother!"

The older brother turns his gaze to the young teen standing before Gabriel and asks, "I apologize little one, but that is not possible anymore because your life has ended on Earth."

The realization hits the young teen hard as she falls to her knees and places both her palms over her eyes as she weeps into them saying, "It's...it's all...their fault...I'm here."

The younger brother looks down at her in concern and kneels down while holding onto his spear, asking, "It's all who's fault young one?"

She then cries harder and says, "It was a group of humans wearing dark-colored robes that sent me here. I felt a sharp pain as one of them stabbed me, but it faded and I started to feel cold. Please send me back, I want to see my mother!"

Michael sighs heavily and looks at his brother and says, "So it begins, brother."

Gabriel lets out a sigh as well and says, "It appears so." He then looks at the young teen and gives her a hug saying, "It is sad you met such an end, but you must first come to terms with your passing so that you may find peace. You won't be able to talk or interact directly with humans, because they have not yet reached that point and you shall be but a ghost. Now go young one, and make peace before returning here to move on." He releases her and gently pushes her away, using his ability to send her back down to Earth.

The young teen continues to cry saying, "I never had the chance to have my first kiss or meet a boy I like, at least allow me to speak to my mother!"

I approach the tall gates and watch as the soul of a young teen passes through the floor with her hand reaching out to grab them, then shift my gaze to my older brothers Michael and Gabriel. The older of my two older brothers has medium tanned skin, pure white wings shaped like a dove's with silver spots scattered throughout them in very few places, golden hair, and blue eyes. The younger of the two has auburn hair, and green eyes with dark grey wings shaped like a crow's then ask them both, "Greetings my brothers, how do you both fare this day?"

Michael turns his gaze to who just spoke and sees who it is saying, "Light's blessings upon you brother Galadriel, the day is going by just fine. The young soul that was here a moment ago needed to find peace on Earth before moving on met an untimely end due to robed humans." He takes note of what he is wearing and cocks his head curiously and asks, "What brings you here in light armor, brother?"

I watch as Gabriel turns to look at me for a brief moment before returning to his task of testing souls and then shift my gaze to Michael and chuckle saying, "I was in my chambers and felt restless, so I picked up Noah's Challenges and tried to get into it. Unfortunately, it didn't work so I then decided that perhaps a patrol down on Earth would cure my boredom. I was also hoping to possibly come across some demons so that I could fight and return them to hell."

Gabriel laughs briefly before turning to look at his younger brother Galadriel saying, "Oh you remind me of how I was so many eons ago, do be cautious, brother."

The older brother watches his much younger brother closely before speaking with a serious tone in his voice, narrowing his eyes slightly and saying, "Very well little brother, but be mindful. It appears that the End of Days is going to start soon, do not let yourself get noticed by the humans or there will be father to pay for interfering with his plan."

I nod my head at his word of warning saying, "Thank you, big brother, your warning shall be heeded. I will send out a prayer if I should need aid in fighting, though I think it is unlikely that I will encounter any of the more powerful fallen ones."

Michael nods his head, acknowledging what he said and replies, "Wise idea little brother, I shall listen for your prayer and respond myself if necessary. Now go forth and begin your patrol to cure your boredom, return when you are ready."

I smile and walk through the gates and past the line of human souls waiting to be seen, closing my eyes and taking a breath while concentrating on passing through the stone flooring. I stand off to the side of the gates and bring my wings close to my body behind my back, taking one step with my right foot and then leap forth off of it. With my left leg in front of my body and my right leg stretched out behind me, I feel my body pass through the protective barrier separating Heaven City from the eyes of all humans.

As I feel the wind in my hair, I open my eyes to be greeted by the blackness of a night sky and unfurl my wings. I flap my wings to arrest my fall, angling them enough to bring myself into a hover so I can get my bearings. I look down at the surface of Earth when I catch sight of the shadowy form of the young teen my brother mentioned moments ago, deciding that it would be good to assist her to begin dealing with my boredom.

The young girl sobs while she falls back to Earth, feeling great sorrow at not being able to hold her mother ever again or hang out with her friends and thinks, 'How will I come to terms with being dead, I don't understand what it is I need to do.' Just then she hears something fly past her and feels something warm and loving touching her ghostly form, opening her eyes to see herself in the arms of a very large angel having pale skin, long black hair cascading over his shoulders, and a pair of black wings. The one feature that captivates her attention most, however, are his brilliant amber eyes that seem to almost glow in the dark and quietly asks, "A-are you here to take me to hell mister angel?"

I cradle the young teenage girl in my arms and shake my head saying, "No I am not, little girl. I came here to Earth to find something to take care of my boredom, and that is when I noticed your shadowy form. Pray tell child, concentrate on what disturbs you most deep inside. Push past the surface desires of physical interaction and bare what most troubles your very soul."

She looks away and closes her eyes to try to concentrate, finally speaking after several seconds of silence saying, "I think that it would have to be that those bad, robed people may not be punished for what they have done."

I then look down at the earth in thought and ask, "Am I correct in assuming that you wish them to receive a just punishment for their crime?"

The young teenage girl looks back up at the angel's head and sees the glowing yellow ring of light around their head and nods saying, "Yes, I am not the only girl they held captive. I don't know where they kept us because they put a hood over our heads when they came for us, they then stripped us and bound us to something cold. Only after that, did they remove the hood and stab me."

I narrow my eyes at hearing what happened to her and ask, "Young one, can you guide me to where these foul deeds happened?"

She tries to think of where she was and then remembers what she saw before dying, then says, "Yes, it was at an abandoned church that was falling apart due to age somewhere around Philadelphia. Unfortunately, I don't know where it is exactly."

At hearing what the group was doing to other young girls, my anger rises a bit as I use my concentration to maintain a level head. I then look at her and give her a warm smile then say, "Why don't we go pay these bad sinners a visit, and give them their punishment for defiling a holy place with their evil deeds."

The young teenage girl smiles gently back and says, "I hope then I will find peace, I really don't want to wander town as a ghost."

I then angle my wings and make my way toward the state of Pennsylvania and say, do you know the story of Cain and Abel from the bible young one?"

She nods her head and says, "That's the story of how God favored Abel's offerings over Cain's, so Cain became jealous and killed his brother Abel."

As I flap my wings even harder, I nod and say, "Did you know that Philadelphia's nickname as the 'City of Brotherly Love' was inspired by my dad to serve as a warning? Though nowadays it serves only as a cruel joke, which is rather sad really."

The young teen girl chuckles softly and says, "I did not know that, but it appears that God does have a sense of humor."

I chuckle and nod my head saying, "Oh father really does have a sense of humor if a bit strange."

*Ten minutes later, at the abandoned church*

The crazed priest holds the knife over his head with the blade pointing down at the naked young teenage girl bound to the altar before him, ignoring her screaming, and says, "Oh master Lucifer, please accept our offering of unspoiled virgin flesh. We offer up their souls to you oh magnificent one, send up one of your followers to guide us into cleansing the Earth of the stench of mankind. They care not for the harm they do to each other, and poison the environment they inhabit. Begin your incursion unto this world and destroy it all, the time for life on the planet to end has come at last. SOUND THE HORNS OF DAMNATION MASTER, AMEN!" and brings his arms down swiftly, driving the dagger into the screaming girl's heart and finishing the ritual as a wicked smile crosses his face while he begins to laugh maniacally.

I land on the ground and violently kick the doors open, causing both doors to come off the hinges and fall to the floor as the screaming fades away. I then set the young girl down and say, "Gather up the girls that were here and get them to the closest church you can find, they will be ghosts like you. I need to deal with those bad men first, then I shall come find you."

She quickly nods her head and quietly says, "My name is Lauraine, but my friends called me Laura. Be safe mister angel, I will look for the others now." then rushes off and phases through one of the church's side doors leading to another room.

The priest spins around in shock at hearing the heavy doors land on the floor with a heavy, echoing bang and sees the form of a being 12 feet tall with pale skin, black wings, and long black hair standing inside of the double doors. His eyes dart upward to the being's face and see a pair of brilliant amber eyes and a glowing ring of yellow light hovering above his head and shouts to the robed men and women around him while gesturing a bony forefinger toward the being, "Kill that wretched angel or everything will be wasted and the world will not be cleansed!"

As I look at the altar behind the priest, I see the corpse of another naked female teen bound to it. The altar has a pentagram centered around it on the floor with the circle drawn around it, an inverted metal cross dangles from a chain fastened to the ceiling meant for a chandelier over the altar. I also see numerous robed humans rushing towards me with daggers and a couple of handguns, I take a knee and pull out my hidden spear. I will it to take its rightful form and glare at the humans and bellow, "How dare you humans defile one of my father's houses, repent your sins now and be shown mercy!"

One of the robed figure's hands tremble at facing an actual angel armed with a double-bladed spear and screams in a female voice, "HOLY SHIT, ANGELS DO EXIST! KILL IT AND SELL IT TO A SCIENCE LABORATORY, WE WILL BE RICH!"

I move my right wing around my arm and in front of me to serve as a shield, willing my wings to become harder than metal saying, "Your pitiful weapons have little chance of causing me harm, humans. Cease your violent acts now and I shall spare your lives."

The robed female screams at the angel, "Fuck you! Not once did any of you angels help me or my family as a gang took my two babies and raped my oldest daughter and me in front of a wall-sized mirror! When they came at the end, they slit my son and husband's throats! Before they left my house, they tied me to a post and gagged my daughter! Then one of them threw her over his shoulder and said 'Thanks for a good time, slut.' and walked out the door! I pray and hope that Heaven loses the fight against hell because I hate every single God damned one of you sons of bitches! NOW DIE!" and proceeds to fire her 9mm handgun at them.

As the other figures get closer to me, time seems to slow down as I go after the female shooting at me first. I pull my wing back behind me then hold the spear at my side horizontally, and jump to the right as she tries to follow me with her aim. I then rush forward and dart around her as she tries to spin around to shoot me while taking a few steps backward, only succeeding in taking two more shots that both miss me as I thrust my spear into her chest.

One of the other robed figures changes his direction and charges after the angel, not able to get out of the way when the female's corpse is hurled off of the end of the spear towards him at a high speed. Her corpse slams into him, forcing the dagger from his hand as air is driven out of his lungs. He flies backward and slams into a stone column, causing a spiderweb of cracks to appear in it and race up throughout the column saying, "Oh shit..." before the column shatters into pieces and crushes his body.

I don't pay attention to the crumbling column as I rush towards my next opponents, both wielding daggers while I start twirling my spear in front of me, shifting it from one hand to the other. Without missing a second, I grasp the spear and use the blade on one end to cut upward diagonally to the left, cutting the figure in half. As the two halves begin falling to the ground with the guts being the first to race towards the ground, I shift the spear in my hands and use the yet unused end of the spear to cut the other one in half upward diagonally to the right. I watch as the rest of the dozen or so humans circle around me and just shake my head, holding the spear horizontal and turn the blade parallel to the ground, then spin myself around in a circle quickly. I stop my spin and stand up straight, facing the last robed figure, and slowly begin walking towards them.

The crazed priest tries to back away from the approaching angel but is stopped by the sacrificial altar behind him and shouts, "I prayed and prayed for assistance in saving this church, but he never answered! Not when a group of thugs broke in and stole the communion bread and wine, not when thieves broke in and stole everything that was of monetary value. NOT EVEN WHEN THEY CAME BACK AND SET FIRE TO IT! HEAVEN NEVER ANSWERED MY PRAYERS, SO HEAVEN MAY AS WELL NOT EXIST AT ALL SO WHY NOT CALL ON SOMEONE TO JUST END IT ALL!" He laughs maniacally as the angel's hand falls upon his head and flings him up into the air.

I then watch as the priest's body spins end over end and then thrust my spear towards him and sing, "Glory, Glory, what a hell of a way to die, with a spear up your ass and its blade coming out your mouth."

The pentagram on the floor glows bright red as a deep voice chuckles and says, "That was quite amusing angel, it's not every day that I am entertained by my sworn enemy..."

I look around in alarm for where the voice is coming from, unable to locate the form it belongs to and then ask, "What is your name demon!?"

The voice laughs at that and says, "Well...I'm not really a demon per se. I suppose the politically correct term for me would be 'Fallen Angel', and my name happens to be none other than...Lucifer. I am rather bored of talking to a flying pigeon such as you, so how 'bout you entertain one of my close subordinates..."

As I watch the pentagram glow brighter, I fling the dead priest off my spear and jump back a little ways to watch who the devil sends as a large, inky black pool emerges from underneath the dead female teen's corpse and fills the circle drawn around the points of the pentagram.

A large, four-fingered claw shoots up out of the liquid, followed by a scaly arm with a spike growing out of the elbow and lands on the ground, causing the building to tremble and dust to fall from the rafters. As another large claw emerges from the pool and joins the other, causing a few stones to fall from the wall and more dust to fall from the ceiling.

I watch as a creature's head emerges from the pool next, having a head like a dragon's and the neck of a snake. My eyes go wide as I realize what...or rather who is coming through the open portal. I stab my spear into the ground and place my palms together with my fingers pointed upwards and pray in my mind, saying, 'Heaven above, to any of my older brothers in Heaven City. I pray that I may receive aid in this time of need, for the Fallen Angel known as Leviathan is rising from a portal.'

At the gates of Heaven City

Michael and Gabriel both hear Galadriel's prayer for aid and look at each other as Michael releases a sad sigh saying, "You stay here and let none of our brothers or sisters respond to the prayer and come to earth, direct interaction with humans on Earth is forbidden. Our brother will be punished if he violated the rules limiting our interactions with humans, I pray that he did not break any of those rules, for they carry a steep punishment. I will be back to continue my shift brother, continue with your task." He then walks up to the open gate beside him and takes hold of it, then pulls it behind him as he walks away from Heaven City.

Gabriel watches as his brother Michael releases the gate when it closes, then the gate starts to glow with Heaven's holy light once more as it locks into place and says to him, "Be alert on Earth brother Michael, and don't be too hard on our baby brother."

Michael chuckles at hearing that and says, "He's too old to be called a baby, but I do think that since he is our younger brother, we can keep teasing him. Farewell for now, I shall return after we deal with the Fallen Angel on Earth." He then takes a few steps and leaps off his right foot, then passes through the floor to go help his brother. As he falls through the skies above the North American continent and closes his eyes then responds, 'I am on my way to assist you brother, where are you?'

At the abandoned church in Philadelphia

I hear the response and place my palms together in prayer again and silently say, 'Thank you brother, my location is at an abandoned church just outside of Philadelphia. I will keep the beast busy until you arrive, then defeat it together. We need to find a way to destroy it or Lucifer may come through with hell's legions behind him.'

Michael sighs and flaps his wings hard, trying to get to the city as quickly as he can while responding, 'Okay brother, we will deal with it when I get there shortly.'

Leviathan opens his eyes and looks at the angel standing before him with his spear at the ready, roaring out in anger before taking a deep breath and exhaling it as flame. He breathes fire towards the angel as it shields itself with its wings

I guard myself against the flames with my wings, feeling them starting to get a little hot. A flap of wings alerts me to the arrival of an angel, causing me to turn and look behind me. I see my brother Michael jump off to the side of the flames and charge the beast from the left side, thrusting one end of his single-bladed spear into the side of Leviathan's neck.

The Fallen Angel roars out in agony as the weapon's holy nature burns his demonic flesh and thrashes his head side to side, trying to dislodge the spear thrust into his neck. He continues to try to get the upper hand by using his wings to fly up into the air, causing one of the church's walls to collapse outward as the roof falls down upon him as the church steeple follows shortly after with the bell ringing away as it tumbles towards the ground. He feels the spear pull out of his neck, granting him a brief moment to pull himself free of the debris pile saying, "I remember when you cast Lucifer out, then it was my turn shortly after. You made my sins manifest and take form, making me look as I do now. Oh, I am going to love tearing you both to pieces!"

Michael flies up into the air and watches as the other side of the wall falls away as Leviathan knocks it down in an attempt to get out from under the debris, then flies out in front of him a little ways and holds his spear firmly and calls out, "Back to Hell with you Leviathan, we shall have our war...but not today!" and charges forth, ramming his spear into the base of Leviathan's neck and flapping his wings as hard as he can, lifting the creature's front half off of the ground and then pushes his spear forward and tipping him over into the open portal.

Leviathan lands on his back, beginning to sink back through the portal and says, "We most certainly will, wretched pigeon!"

I watch as Leviathan sinks back through the portal, feeling relieved that the fight did not get any worse. As more of him sinks through, I look up to Michael and bow my head saying, "Thank you for coming to my aid brother, I would not have done as well as you against this foe."

The older brother looks around at the dead humans, then looks at the dead priest and hangs his head forward slightly and shakes it side to side saying, "You caused things to come this far because you slew the humans, I am none too pleased with you now brother." He then feels an all-encompassing feeling of love wash over him as he hears a deep, yet gentle voice fill his mind saying, "I must speak with my child, bring them before me when their task is done down there." It fades away and he turns to look at his brother saying, "Once you are finished here, return to Heaven City... Our father must speak with you. I shall wait for you in the sky above this church, don't take too long or I will come drag you back."

I nod my head, understanding that I am likely going to be punished for what happened here saying, "Okay brother, I shall be back in twenty minutes then. I must go assist a few souls before my task here is done." I then take off to begin searching for where those other souls have gone.

Lauraine leads the other souls towards a church a half-mile away from the abandoned church when she hears the flapping of a large pair of wings come from behind her, making her turn around quickly to see that it is the black-winged angel from before and smiles widely, saying, "Hi mister angel, did you punish those mean humans?"

I kneel down and look at the teen spirit's face and nod my head saying, "I have little one, are you all ready to say your goodbyes to your loved ones and pass on to the next life?" I watch as each of the female teens' spirits smile and eagerly nod their heads yes and pick up the first one saying, "Now guide me to where your home is. When you are ready to speak to your parents, look at me and nod your head. I will then enable you to only speak to them, the words to speak will just feel right so just speak whatever you need to. If you feel relaxed and peaceful, it means you can move on." I then look at the others and say, "I shall return to this spot for the rest of you, don't wander too far because I do not have much time to help you." and then take off as they nod their heads in understanding.

It takes me five minutes to fly back and forth between their homes around the city when I get to the last soul and say, "Well Lauraine, it's finally your turn to say goodbye and move on. Are you ready to go?" I then lean forward and pick her up in my arms and stand back up.

She smiles and nods her head saying, "My house is white and blue with a swing in the yard and a single story where my mother and I live." She then points her finger towards the Northeast and says, "It is on the corner of an intersection and has railroad tracks running behind it so it will be easy for you to spot."

I nod and head off in that direction quickly, landing right outside of the house and will myself to be invisible to her mother and knock on the door. The first thing I hear are hurried footsteps racing towards the door, followed by it almost nearly ripped off its hinges by a frantic mother and use my angelic power to soothe her worries slightly saying, "I apologize for the late hour, but your daughter lost her life tonight and she wishes to say goodbye before moving on." I ignore the mother's words and shouts, then speak to Lauraine and say, "I am going to do something that I shouldn't really do, let your mother actually see you and say goodbye."

Lauraine's smile gets wider as she looks behind her at the angel and says, "Thank you, mister angel. I am ready, so please go ahead so mommy can see me." She then looks up to her mother and waits for her eyes to look down at her.

I lay my hands upon her shoulders and take a calming breath, then close my eyes and use some of my power to give her enough of a form for her mother to actually perceive her existence and say, "Okay Lauraine, you may begin in about five seconds."

The mother's face has confusion all over it as other emotions overwhelm her as a yellow glow begins to appear before her, illuminating the sidewalk leading away from the open door and some of the green grass on either side of it, as a faint haze starts taking the form of a young teenage girl about 13, having long auburn hair and green eyes. Recognizing the appearance as her daughter, she refuses to believe that this is really happening and shouts, "How dare you try to trick me, devil!"

She giggles and shakes her head saying, "He is not evil mommy, he punished the bad men that took me and ended my life. I know you try to hide the Thin Mints you buy from the Girl Scouts in the small freezer behind the bags of frozen veggies, and you always wonder why you get to have so few...hehe."

The mother places a hand over her mouth and collapses to her knees as she realizes this is really her daughter as her eyes well up with tears that spill from the corners and run down her face saying in a broken voice on the verge of crying, "Lauraine...m-my little girl...is that...is that really you?"

Lauraine smiles and nods again saying, "Sorry mother but I can't talk long, mister angel has things to do. Don't worry about me because I'm going to be in a much better place, I promise that I will be happy there. You should find happiness with someone you love mom, that way you will ease up on those awful tv dinners when you come home from work late.

I then continue focusing on using my power and say, "I am nearly at my limit for allowing this to happen, are you almost finished little one?"

She then nods her head and says, "Yes mister angel I am, just need to say a couple more things and I will be finished."

The mother sees a pair of glowing white hands laying on her daughter's shoulders and says, "I will do my best to try to find someone new, but it will have to wait a little while as I need some time to mourn your passing." She then looks just over her daughter's head and says, "I can't see you angel, but thank you for doing this for me and my daughter."

I look at her and shake my head saying, "I do not do this for praise or thanks, I just want to do what is right and what should be done. Be sure you don't tell others that you actually spoke to a real angel or what happened tonight because that will just cause a lot of trouble for you. I have seen it before countless times, and it always ends in misery."

Lauraine then looks at her mother one more time saying, "I love you mother, I will see you whenever your time is finished on earth. I want you to live your life so you have no regrets when it is your turn to join me in heaven, goodbye mama."

I release a heavy sigh as I let my power rest and remove my hands from her shoulders saying, "That is all I can handle, little one. I must go now."

The mother watches her daughter's form fade away as she places her palms over her eyes and weeps for the loss of her daughter sobbing, "Mommy loves you too sweetie."

She nods her head saying, "It is alright, I feel relaxed and at peace now."

I look down at her and say, "That means you are ready to move on to your next life, it also means that I need to get going myself little one. My actions here have gotten me into a little trouble, but it is not more than what I can handle. Enjoy your new peaceful life little one." I then turn and walk away, then spread my wings and flap them.

As I leave the ground, I start to head to where my brother Michael is. I let my mind wander at what my punishment will be for my actions on Earth. Before I realize it, I return to the abandoned church and see my brother hovering a fair distance above it. I fly up to him and say, "I am ready to face father's wrath brother, let's go."

God's throne room in Heaven City Citadel

God sighs as he ponders what to do about Galadriel's actions on earth, playing back the events that took place just before he flew around heaven. He continues to watch them play out to the very end, causing him to raise a few fingers on his right and left hands to the sides of his head to massage his temples thinking, 'Oh what shall I do to punish my child and help them understand the burden I bear...' He stops massaging and quietly mumbles, "My burden...hmmm." He continues to think on that and runs the fingers of his right hand through his thick, long, white beard and says, "Perhaps I could let him experience at least some of my power...but how should I punish him?"

He sits there and taps the fingers of his left hand on the armrest of his throne and scans through the lives of past and present living humans as an idea enters his mind, causing him to laugh silently as it will be quite amusing for him though will be an ordeal for his child as well as a test saying, "I think this latest idea of mine might work out, if given enough time to come to fruition."

As God continues to fine-tune his plan, he sighs regretfully that he must punish one of his children so harshly thinking, 'It pains me to have to expel one of my beloved angels for violating the rules, but it must be done or all my hard work with Mankind will go to waste.' He hears the throne room doors open up and looks forward in his chair to see his oldest child and the finest warrior leading his younger brother Galadriel down the soft red carpet and puts his regal face on to hide how he is currently feeling, saying, "I have been expecting you, Galadriel and Michael." He then turns his gaze to the younger brother and sighs saying, "I saw your actions today and I am not happy with you breaking the rules I set forth with interacting with man, you broke three of those rules my child. The rules you broke were: One. Any direct interaction with man is forbidden, only indirect actions may be made; Two. While down on Earth among man, you must not be seen by them in your angelic form; and Three. You must not speak directly to humans." He then sighs and sits up straight in his throne, then says, "For breaking three of those rules, you must be punished." He then shifts his eyes to Michael, who is on one knee beside his brother, who is also on one knee and says, "Michael, you shall deal the first punishment. Rise to your feet and take hold of your spear, then use it to shatter the bones at the base of his wings. Once that is done, you are to place a curse upon the injury to block holy healing at those two points."

Michael nods his head solemnly and rises to his feet, taking his spear into his hands and turns towards his brother and says, "I am sorry for this brother, but I must obey father." He then picks it up and angles the blunt end of the spear at the base of his wings, then thrusts it down on each of them hard enough to shatter the bones there. He winces slightly as he hears the sickening crack of bone breaking, with one wing falling to the floor limp as he brings the base of his spear down on the other wing. The other wing falls to the floor uselessly as he then turns his spear around and lays the tip of the blade against the shattered base of his left wing, pushing the tip into it hard enough to draw blood then channels Heaven's power into the spear to curse it against holy healing.

God watches as Michael places the last curse upon his right wing base and then raises his left hand and holds his palm towards Galadriel and says, "As punishment for your next crime, the tips of your feathers will each be forever colored red to remind you that all life is sacred...no matter how big or small the being is."

I push past the searing pain in my wings as they begin to feel itchy as their coloration is altered, closing my eyes to wait for the rest of my punishment to be dealt.

He then rises from his throne and says, "Your third and final punishment is mine to deal as well, you shall be cast out of heaven and Earth. It is rather severe because you interfered with my plans for humanity, so come with me to the tower, child. I have a gift to give you for aiding those souls in finding peace. My gift to you is the ability to create at will, as well as being able to change your body as you see fit." He then looks to his oldest child and says, "Thank you for coming my child, you may return to your duties."

As I rise to my feet, I hear my brother whisper to me, "I am sorry, my brother." I then look behind me as he continues walking past and say, "Don't be, brother, I brought this upon myself." I return my gaze to the front of me and begin following father, with my wings dragging on the ground behind me as he walks around his throne, waving his hand in the air to make a pair of large, white doors open up before us.

God walks out onto the balcony and waves his hand to make a section of it sink down towards the floor saying, "Stand before me and receive your final gifts from me before I cast you out."

I then walk up to the space as father stands to the left and turn to face him as tears trail down his face and say, "Don't cry father, I should not have broken your rules. It is my fault that my actions led me to this spot, I do not regret aiding the souls of those girls find peace."

He smiles faintly at hearing that and raises his palm into the air, closing his hand as he opens his hand to reveal a glowing white and gold powder in the center of his palm. He gently blows across his hand, sending the powder flying gently into his face. As the powder leaves his hand, he lowers his palm and says, "Those are my last two gifts to you, my son. Now repent your sins and learn from your mistakes in your new life, for you shall lose your angelic form forever once you leave Heaven." He reaches forward and makes his child face the edge, then grabs him by the back of the neck and raises him into the air and shouts, "Now begone from this sacred place, foul sinner!" He brings him back and channels his almighty power into his hand, surrounding Galadriel with a bright white aura and hurls him from the balcony. He watches as the aura transforms into a blazing inferno, blazing a trail through the sky as he plummets from Heaven, turning around and returns to his throne after watching his child fade from sight.

Lauraine watches as a ball of fire races away from the tall tower in the distance and notices a new angel approaching the closed gate and asks, "What was that ball of fire I saw a few moments ago?"

Michael reopens the gate and says, "An angel being cast out of heaven for breaking the rules."

Gabriel's gaze shoots over to his older brother in shock and trails off saying, "Brother, do you mean to say that..."

He nods to his slightly younger brother and nods his head solemnly saying, "I do, brother. Our younger brother Galadriel was cast out with broken and stained wings."

She approaches the older angel and asks, "I must offer him my thanks for helping me move on, tell me where I can find him!"

Michael looks at her curiously for a moment before saying, "You were here earlier, unfortunately, I do not know where father has banished him."

Gabriel looks at her and uses his powers to examine the soul for any unfinished business and says, "What do you seek in heaven, young one?"

Lauraine then looks at him and answers, "I seek to move to the next life, and to give thanks to the long, dark-haired angel with black wings and amber eyes that helped me say goodbye to my mother."

He then nods and lets her pass by saying, "I am sorry young one, for it is too late. He has already been cast down from heaven, only my father can tell you where he was sent."

She then nods her head and says, "Then I wish to go speak to him then so I can thank the kind angel that helped me find peace."

Meanwhile, in a strange world a universe away from Earth

A strong stallion grazes on the grass around him in a peaceful meadow with is herd around him as a loud noise startles him, causing him to look up to see a large ball of fire falling towards the ground. Scared for his herd, he rears up and whinnies out in alarm to signal them they need to run away immediately.

A young, butter yellow filly with a bluish-purple mane and tail, and lavender eyes looks up curiously at what her father saw that scared him. She sees the large ball of fire plummeting towards the ground, and shifts her eyes to look at the trail behind it. Wondering what it is and where it will fall, she stands there as the others flee the area with the stallion.

I feel the wind blowing against my hair as the fire continues to blaze around me for several seconds before finally burning out, leaving me with a view of a vast land with strange mountain ranges around me. I look to the left to see a vast land of white with a few glints catching my eye as light reflects off of something, wondering where I am now as I shift my eyes to look ahead of me where I will be crashing. I look around and shortly learn that I am headed towards a thick forest, placing my arms in front of my face to brace myself for the inevitable impact of a crash landing.

The filly watches the fire disappear as something continues to fall towards the forest her herd avoids, she stares at the falling object when she sees it move. Realizing that it is some sort of creature, she looks at it a little closer and sees that it has something attached to its back. Not knowing what she should do, she stands in her place and watches the creature reach the top of the trees. She hears the breaking of branches and another loud noise, telling her that it might be hurt. Deciding that she should go see what it is to find out if it is dangerous or not, she starts heading towards the forest even though her instincts tell her to flee.

I hear leaves fall to the ground as I try to pick myself up out of the crater my impact created, barely managing to rise to my hands and knees as I begin crawling my way out of this forest. The eerie silence of this forest makes me look around cautiously for anything that may try to attack me, looking forward to making it somewhere that I can rest for a bit to gather my strength. A strange sensation begins to overtake my body as it shrinks down and begins to change shape, I feel the bones in my body heat up as my head elongates when my nose and mouth grow longer and form a muzzle with a lower jaw. My ears change their location to the top of my head on either side of it, growing longer and change into a cupped shape. It takes a great deal of strength to remain on my hands and knees as I feel my neck get longer as some of my long, black hair shrinks back into my skin with more sprouting down my lengthening neck. The next change begins at my shoulders, my shoulder blades change their shape as my chest becomes rounder while the bones in my back grow a little taller. My arms grow a little longer as the bones break and form new joints and get a little more muscle on them while I feel my fingers start to retreat towards my hand, becoming more like flippers as they end up in the form of a rounded hoof with black feathering over them. The change continues with my spine growing a little longer as my pelvis drastically changes and breaks in half, almost making me cry out in pain as the bones in my legs also begin to change. I lower my head and look back at what is going on behind me, watching as the bones in my legs break and form new joints as my knees snap and reverse position, the toes in my feet retreat towards their bases and transform into another large, feathered hoof. I am taken by surprise as the changes are not yet finished, I then feel my tailbone become a little thinner and break into smaller pieces as black hair begins to sprout from my new tail and almost grows long enough to drag on the ground. I feel a migrane start to form as a spot on my forehead begins to grow longer and poke through my skin, twisting in a gentle spiral until finally stopping. The next change happens as my testicles grow a little larger, my cock retreats into my body as a large fold of skin starts to drop down just between my legs. I then begin to feel itchy all over and watch as my body begins to cover itself with small, pure white hairs that stop after growing to a very short size. Exhaustion threatens to overtake me as my breath becomes more labored, forcing myself to begin using my new arms and legs to drag myself along the forest floor, not wanting to remain in this forest in a weakened state.

She makes her way toward the edge of the forest, shifting her gaze nervously around the edge of the forest as she scans for any predators. As she reaches the edge of the forest, she stands on the very edge of the herd's grazing ground when she hears the snapping of twigs and the rustling of bushes. Her eyes dart around as she starts to back away from the forest, thinking this was a very bad idea and prepares to run to safety.

As I finally begin to see daylight in this dark forest, I try to crawl faster toward the light. Not caring for how much noise I make, I ignore the pain in my wings as my arms and legs fall on small sticks and piles of dead leaves. I force my way through some more bushes, finally thrusting my hoof into the warm light and feeling soft grass underneath it when I lay it upon the ground and pull myself forward.

The filly stops backing away as she watches something make its way out of the forest, having hooves on its first two limbs. She watches the creature pull its way out of the forest, panting heavily as its head comes into view having a long horn sticking out of a long, black mane that blocks its face. As she watches the creature continue to exit the forest, she notices two appendages dragging on the ground beside it. The creature exits the forest completely, revealing to her that it is another pony. She observes the strange pony curiously, watching what they will do next.

I muster enough strength to rise to my hooves, unable to see anything due to the hair covering my eyes. I snort in annoyance and shake my head, trying to get my hair out of my eyes so I can see. As I finally manage to get my hair out of my eyes, I am surprised to see a small horse standing before me with a look of curiosity on its face and say, "Hello, little one. I don't know if you can understand me, but can you tell me where I am?"

She cocks her head curiously, not understanding them at all when she hears the herd returning and turns to look at them. Seeing her father trotting towards her, unhappy about there being a strange pony near their land and paws at the ground with his hoof saying in their own language, 'Come over here now and keep away from that strange pony!'

I don't understand what is being said in their language, but I sigh and turn to my left then begin walking away with my wings continuing to drag along beside me. I pay no mind to them as I look around at the land around me, seeing no buildings or humans anywhere and wonder, 'Just where is it that my father banished me to? Everything looks so strange, so...primitive.' Just then an idea enters his mind and thinks, 'Wait a minute, did my father send me to a world with no intelligent beings?'

The filly hangs her head slightly and looks back to where the strange pony was, and sees nothing there. She searches the area to her left trying to find them, then looks to the right and watches them walking away with the appendages dragging behind them. As her father whinnies to her again, trying to get her to come back to the herd, she turns around and goes back to rejoin them. Not willing to risk losing her family to go help a random pony, she quietly wonders who that pony was and where they came from.

As I wearily wander the vast field of grassy hills with a few trees scattered around it, I notice a tree that has fallen over due to age and decide to see if it might be a suitable place for me to sleep tonight. I approach the base of the tree and walk around it to the other side, seeing that there is a place where I can crawl inside to rest for a while. I then head towards the hole and try to enter it, but something on my head catches on the top edge of the hole in the tree. I lower my head a bit more and make my way inside the tree, finding it a tight fit before managing to turn around at the cost of bending a few feathers. I then make myself comfortable and lay my head down upon my forelegs and close my eyes to get some sleep so I can figure out what to do.