A/N: The title comes from a song by Carlos Santana. I hope that I can explain everything else within the story. :)
Read, enjoy, review! I am so excited about this fandom, I can't even put it into words!
The night was quiet, quiet enough so that one would feel guilty for making a sound. The dark, foreboding feeling seeped into her, to the core, and she walked as slow as she could to minimize the sound. She didn't know why- even stomping wouldn't create any noise at all while she was in her ethereal form.
It was a weakness caused by her emotions, she supposed, which was why she had been training to suppress them. Emotions could be dangerous, more so for guardians like her. The archangels had seen her potential and agreed to train her, but feelings were the one thing that had to go. She needed to be objective and clear. If she were to grow attached to one human, for example, she may choose that one's welfare above that of a dozen others.
As she heard the leaves rustling, loud as a cannon should be, she remembered the advice her mentor, Muriel, had told her.
"Some seek to be in tune with their feelings, and that is what I encourage; but for a guardian angel, this is not recommended. And yet, it is not easy to get rid of them, for we angels are sensitive beings, young ones like you more than any other. The archangels would not agree, but I think this is what you should seek. Ignore the harmful emotions, like fear and anger, but do not get rid of love and compassion. They could, and will, be your greatest strengths and set you apart from all others."
The conflicting instructions had confused her to no end. The archangels were telling her to get rid of all emotion, while her mentor only wanted certain ones eliminated. Finally, she had reached the conclusion that she would get rid of the emotions that all would agree were harmful, and decide on the others when the time was ripe.
Now was her first chance to apply those skills. To lessen the fear of the dark and quiet graveyard she'd appeared on (for it was a rule that all guardian angels started out where their bodies were buried), she thought about her protectee.
She didn't have much to go on; finding her charge was her first test. To an outsider, it would be unfair that she was being tossed from the nest with so little to survive on, but to her it made perfect sense. She couldn't be coddled, even in the early stages, or she wouldn't be ready when there was real danger. If she couldn't even find the human she was looking for, how could she be expected to protect them? The lack of information was irrelevant; angels needed a deep soul-bond with their human, a connection that wouldn't waver under any circumstances. Even without knowing what he or she would look like, she still could find her human. It wasn't an easy sensation to describe, but the closer she got, the safer and more at home she would feel If she veered off course, she would begin to feel lost.
She also was able to sense some of her human's thoughts and emotions. Deep unhappiness and loneliness, for one, and a complete lack of faith in the ideas of fairness and hope. Grief and pain, the kind that transcended blood and bone. Whoever this person was, they were absolutely miserable, and had experienced pain and suffering for many years, if not their whole life.
She tried to picture who such a person could be. They were an adult, so perhaps they had seen the horrors of war firsthand. Perhaps they had even been forced to be a child soldier.
Maybe they had seen a plague ravage those close to them, or witnessed some other kind of calamity. Maybe they'd lived without ever having had any love at all, whether from a parent, sibling, friend, or lover. That was a fate at least as bad as having lost loved ones.
She blinked, suddenly having realized that she was out of the graveyard. She was in a city now, a big one on the border of an ocean. There were many large buildings; she marveled at them, and wondered how they could stand. Each one of them was incredible to behold.
There were also smaller buildings, which were very obviously houses. There were other buildings she couldn't identify.
And then, she saw her favorite buildings of all. Churches! Some simple and little- at least by this metropolis's standards- square shaped ones, and some giant ones, with beautiful towers attached and gorgeous stained glass windows. Her soul vibrated happily at each one, and she began to feel so overwhelmingly happy that she could barely stop herself from rushing into each one. It was a close thing, for each one felt like a home to her and she knew a few of her brethren and sistren would be in each.
But she managed to resist, and she continued her journey with a spring in her step- until she remembered what she had been told about this place. It wasn't what it appeared to be; it was completely ruined, as the rest of the world had been. Wars and plagues, violence and death, all had combined to destroy the civilization that had once existed. It hadn't been perfect, but at least most people had been happy and healthy. Now happiness was a luxury, not a right.
How could there be pain and suffering in a place like this? Why would anyone allow evils like war, guns, gangs, arson, rape, and murder here? Didn't the humans realize what a beautiful place this was, and what a tragedy it was for it to be defiled with those evils?
She sighed softly, shaking her head. There was nothing she could do about that; that would be left to the archangels. Her job was helping her human, and that was all she could do. And if she did her job well enough, maybe her human would fight back.
Suddenly, her senses were overwhelmed with new information. She had found her human, all right. She could hear her talking in the distance, see every pore on her face, even smell her. She smelled like most of the people here, dirty and musty, but she also smelled a little sweet, like she'd tried to cover it up with some kind of perfume. It was interesting, and a little endearing.
This human was very pretty, surpassed only by the angels, and that was because they had a supernatural beauty on their side. She was about as pretty as a mere human could be. Long, black hair that went to her waist, dark and deep eyes, a soft face with just the right firmness. A tall, thin figure- though, she was sad to say, it bordered on unhealthily thin- and plump breasts.
But she was weighed down by sorrow, face lined with exhaustion and pain. Her lush black hair was flecked with gray, and as she'd noticed immediately, her thinness bordered on unhealthy. She favored her left leg, and walked very slowly.
But worst of all were her eyes. They should have looked bright and alert, but instead, they were dull and lifeless. It was like the dying embers of a roaring fire. They were hollow and hopeless.
She gave off a kind, gentle air, but that was hidden by the wall she'd placed around her soul. To other humans, she would simply appear cold and callous, a person too far gone to be helped.
There was another evil of this place. How could they allow such a woman be so broken? Why had no one tried to protect her and nurture her so that her true self could flourish?
An odd feeling appeared within her then, which she couldn't completely identify. She chose to label it as sympathy, though something told her that wasn't quite it. But it didn't matter; her feelings were not important.
She knew immediately that she had been assigned to the right person. She was going to right all the wrongs that had been inflicted on this poor woman, whatever they were. She wasn't going to rest until she saw that lined face relax and allow a smile to form. She was going to ease this woman's icy, stabbing, bitter pain. She was going to let her experience kinship and the feeling of being cared for. The physical protection was little more than an afterthought.
She had passed her first challenge; how hard could the rest be?