1 Year Earlier
Cathetel could not believe she was actually doing this. She and her friend Orifiel had met with a group of Angels that varied from Ferro, a Minor Angel Captain, to Hayyel, Angel of Wild Animals on the outskirts of the City of Heaven. Now they were headed towards a small human town, and were about to walk into what humans called “a bar” led by Ariel, who had called this meeting. On Earth, any Angel or Demon would appear human, unless they chose to reveal their true nature. So as the group of fifteen Angels walked into the bar and went to a vacant table, no one spared them a second glance. Cathetel noticed that some of the Angels seemed confused, and would point and whisper at the simplest things like light bulbs, or a clock. It seemed many of these Angels had not visited Earth in a long time…
The bar was very noisy, and Ariel ordered up a round of drinks to make the group of Angles blend in. A few minutes passed as the group lounged around in their chairs, talking amongst themselves about the latest happenings in Heaven, Earth, and occasionally Hell. Cathetel turned and saw Orifiel deeply engaged in conversation with Hayyel, who seemed to have a lot in common. Cathetel felt pretty alone, and considered leaving, when the drinks came, and Ariel took a spoon and tapped it against her glass, making a ringing noise to signal the start of the meeting.
All conversation at the table hushed as Ariel began to speak quietly, so that the buzz of the bar patrons was loud enough to drown out Ariel’s speech
“Greeting my brothers and sisters, I am Ariel, Angel of Nature, former Archangel. Now you may notice I say former, and you may wonder why. And I shall tell you, it is for I have left God’s side, left the ranks of the Archangels, and renounced Heaven itself! And I am asking you to do the same, for we must free Lucifer, and overthrow God himself!”
She paused; giving her a chance to make sure no one was eavesdropping on their conversation. Many of the Angels had incredulous looks on their faces, and began whispering among themselves, but hushed as Ariel began speaking again
“Now you might be wondering why I am so bent on freeing Lucifer, or why I am thinking of freeing Lucifer at all, when I had fought so bitterly against him in his first Rebellion; for is because at the time of the first rebellion, the evil that Man would do had not yet shown itself! For the first few thousand years of its existence, Man was content with his way of life, only taxing Earth a little to further ease his life, and God in his kindness allowed him to do so. As we near our modern time, however, we see that Man has begun to take more and more from Nature and giving almost none back!”
Her eyes scanned the group of Angels and lingered on Orifiel
“Brothers and Sisters, see how some of our fellow Angels have suffered from Man’s cruelty! Orifiel, the Angel of Forests has almost nowhere to call her home! Man has been busy eating up her kingdom of forests and jungles and replacing them with pits of concrete and asphalt!”
Her eyes then moved to Hayyel
“And Man has made a mockery of Hayyel, the Angel of Wild Animals, as well my kin! For they have taken animals from the wild and put them in cages and pens, to be used for their labour or their entertainment! And although the Animals and the Forests suffer, God still does Nothing!”
Cathetel looked around. Ariel was speaking so emphatically that she was sure someone must have overheard. But miraculously no one’s head was turned to the Angels table; no one was giving the table any suspicious glances. The background buzz seemed to be drowning Ariel’s voice out still, or…
“Cathetel!”
She was pulled out of her musings by someone calling her name. She looked up and saw that it was Ariel. She shook her head, trying to concentrate once more on the former Archangel.
Ariel looked back at the crowd and smiled
“Ahh, can you not see? Our poor sister is so distracted by the pains that the humans have inflicted on her domain! This is exactly why we must destroy this plague that is humanity!”
After this, Ariel paused, and a pained look crossed her face
“But God, in his age and his mercy can see no wrong in the Human Race. So proud he is of his creations that he is blind to their faults, which is why he must be overthrown! However, our current forces, of Ferro’s soldiers and our various other Angels, powerful as we may be, would be too heavily outnumbered by Heaven’s forces and we would have no chance of winning. That is why we must free the Morning Star, and attain his armies of the Fallen Angels and the Demons, and destroy the corrupt Kingdom of Heaven!”
Ariel put her hand down on the table, and raised her voice a little
“What I am asking of you, my brothers and sisters, is not easy, but it must be done! Will you join me as a shield for Earth against the cruel blade that is Humanity, even if we must face our own kin? For if we do not take action, all of Earth’s beauty, all of its majesty will fade, and all we stand for shall be destroyed! And soon, if this plague is not stopped, it may spread to our sacred kingdom of Heaven, and ruin that paradise as well! So to arms my brothers and sisters! For the salvation of our Kingdom!”
“For the salvation of our kingdom!” The Angels began to clamour, but hushed as Ariel started speaking again
“I must make sure you know exactly what you are getting into though. I do not want you to do something that you would regret. We may have to take up arms against your friends, the Seraphim, and one of you might have to strike down God himself! Still will you join me?”
Every Angel in the group stood up and yelled in agreement to her words. Ariel smiled and resumed speaking
“Words are easy to utter my brothers and sisters. It is Actions that prove your worth! And so far, you have given me nothing but words!”
Hayyel piped up
“What actions would you like us to perform to prove our loyalty Ariel?”
Ariel laughed pleasantly
“Nothing overly challenging at first my fellow dissenters” Ariel smiled an Angelic smile “All you have to do is slaughter every filthy human in this town!”
The Angels roared and as one unsheathed their weapons. The meeting had taken a little long and it was quite late, and most of the bar patrons had left. The few humans who were still at the bar gave startled yells as the Angels revealed all of their divine glory and attacked the humans in the bar. Complete chaos ensued as the humans overturned chairs and tables as they tried frantically to escape the terrifyingly beautiful winged beings that were brandishing glowing weapons, but to no avail. The Angels moved like arrows loosed from a bow, and soon the floor was slick with spilled beer and blood. The group roared in triumph and as one they surged into the dark streets of the small town, ready to stain their weapons red with blood in the name of the glory of Heaven and the salvation of Earth. Ariel had flown onto the town’s clock tower and watched as screams of agony were mixed with yells of triumph. The clock tower struck two, and
Hours later, the small, cobblestone paths were littered with the bodies of the dead; the air filled with the moans of the dying. The Angels had left once the slaughter was over, and the few humans still alive in that town saw the sun rise one more time, before they too joined their fellows in a never-ending sleep.