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Turning Ebony
The shackles scraped painfully against my already chaffed ivory skin. Pain. The concept was still foreign to me as I hadn't felt it in several thousand years. The iron was cold against the strange abrasions, but I was glad for the distraction, however unsettling it may be. No, I did not want to remember that I was being led down the steps of Heaven by who had once been my commander.
"You have been charged with Hellish crimes against the Kingdom of God. Your crimes, as they now stand, are entertaining those condemned to the fires of Hell and easing their suffering," Michael's voice boomed across Heeaven and the skies below. A small sob escaped from my lips as he read the words written by my own hand in the blackest ink on the parchement. "Selena Freshka, you shall be cast down to Earth, stripped of your rank and your wings,"
My wings! I could feel them behind me now, their soft glow dimmed by the nearness of the Border. Hands roughly turned me and I found myself pinned against the ground, horrified by the ring of a sword as it left its scabbard. A sharp pain came from between my shoulders and a scarlet substance soaked into my robes. Tears sprung into my sea blue eyes and my throat was raw from screams I had no recollection of screaming. A blow into my side, assumably from a sandled foot, sent me tumbling over the edge and down away from Heaven.
I was spiraling towards one of the human cities that had sprung up on the coast of a land mass. My decent stopped abruptly as I roughly slammed into the ground. The hot ground stained my robes black and I stifled shrieks as I scrambled away from it, curling against a wall for comfort. My head pounded from the lack of Holiness and I let my eyes close and my body slump towards the ground, escaping to a place I hadn't seen since the last time I had been here.
A slight shaking of my shoulder awoke me and I jolted upright, seeing a man in priest garb and rosery beads tucked into his coat pockets. The slight Holiness that he emitted eased my headache and I relaxed.
"Do you need help?" He asked, his dark eyes twinkling with kindness. I nodded slowly. "My name is Father Owens. Come, let us go to the church," He led me out of the narrow alley and across the street to a cathedral. Once inside I turned to close the door.
"By God, what has happened to you?" Father Owen's exclaimed. I turned around, the color leaking out of my face. Of course he would sense it, anyone who had taken their Holy Order's would feel it coming from me, my Holiness. That and the bumps in between my shoulderblades and my scarlet soaked robes, which by themselves was unusaul, a priest would be able to identify me as an Angel. "You're an Angel aren't you?" Father Owen's asked quietly, beckoning to a pew. I sank gratefully into it and folded my hands in my lap. "What could you have possibly done?"
"I fell in love with a man," I said, but upon seeing Father Owen's confusion elaborated. "I fell in love with a mortal, a mortal condemned to Hell," The worry on the Father's face made me follow him into a back room of the church.
"Please, rest, you have been through so much. We can discuss it more tomorrow. There are clothes that I keep for the missionaries in there, you should be able to find something," The priest touched my shoulder before leaving me alone in the room, confused as to why he wanted me to rest, and why the room was blurry. My hand raise to touch my face and I felt tears pouring down it. I shook my head and took clothes from the chest Father Owens had pointed to. I quickly fell into a dreamless sleep.
The next morning I slowly awoke to my hair in my face. I pushed it out of the way before catching the front pieces of my hair panicked. A quarter of the way up the hair had turned black. I let out a shrill shriek and cut the hairs off with a slice from the scissors that had lied on the nightstand. I quickly worked on the rest, letting my semi-translucent hair fall onto the bed until I was left with hair that hung around my chin, a large contrast from the hair that hung around my waist before.
"What is the matter?" Father Owen's said before he saw my hair. "Oh dear...the Fallen have claimed you it seems..." My eyes widened as he said the name of the group of Angels cast out of Heaven, but retained their wings, turning into black shadows of themselves. I shook my head and looked down.
"No..." I said in disbelief. Father Owen's touched my shoulder again and took my hand.
"You should get cleaned up. Perhaps participating in Mass will help you," He said and I smiled slightly, taking the emerald sweater and black pants offered to me. I quickly changed in the bathroom before following the Priest out into the cathedral.
The Holiness that the people emitted made myself feel calm and by the time the Gospel Hymn came around, I could not stop myself from singing. The church fell silent as I uttered the notes, but I did not notice it until I had sung half the song. I looked down before rushing out of the church and into the rain, my tears returning.
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Please excuse my spelling, I am slightly tired (more like exhasted) and my keys are sticky today...
