Fallen Angel
Prologue: War of the Heavens
"Long ago, when the world was still anew, and the place we call the Terra Continent was much different, Heaven and Earth were conjoined to make one world; and all was at peaceGods and humans lived side by side, and animals and demons waged eternal wars against the humanoids. This was known as the Prophet's Dynasty. The events of the Terra Continent were written along endless wooden scrolls known as the Endless Ribbons of Heart. They told the living of famine, disasters, invasions, war, and even how one was to die. It was thought of an age of lore. Beings called Oracles were the beholders of these sacred scrolls. They were a magic using folk, but only in the slightest. The dwindled in an ancient magic called Krysullites, a form of forbidden magic used by demi-gods to predict weather patterns. These oracles used this magic to control the sacred scrolls, therein controlling society, and inevitably ruling the continent.
This era of 'eternal bliss' lasted nearly a millennium, only to come crashing down with a long, chaotic war. The animals and demons had settled on a peace treaty, after centuries of war. In this new-found peace, they banned together to over-throw the humans. The humans were a foolish race, and were absent as to how to react. They went to the gods for help, but were rude and dishonorable. The gods hated war, and hated fighting, so they gathered what they believed to be the 'pure' races, and created a Utopia. They separated the continent in two, and raised their own half high into the sky. They called their Utopia 'Heaven', and called the land underneath them 'Earth'. The races they brought with them, to serve under them, were: Angels, and Demi-Gods. The Gods then began to collect the souls of those who had passed on, and protected them until their next life. In this way, they believed that they were superior to those on Earth. They left behind the demons, beasts and other animals, humans, trolls, giants and alike behind on the Earth because of their constant quarreling and search for power.
But, the Gods and their 'pure Utopia' had troubles of its own to worry about. Their underlings, the Angels and the Demi-Gods were slowly quarreling with one another for over a century and a half. Then it began. The angels had always been closer to the Gods, and were loyal to them. The Demi-Gods were plotting to over-throw the Gods, and had wanted the Angels' help. This had started the upheaval which later became the War of the Heavens. When the Angels first heard of the Demi-Gods plot, they were split into three groups. One was completely against it, one was for it, and one was in the middle about it. In the end, a third of the angels fought with the Demi-Gods, and the other two-thirds helped the Gods. The Demi-Gods faced an inevitable fate. Their forces were whipped out in less than a year, and were whipped from the surface of both Heaven and Earth. The Angels were not so lucky. Their lives were spared, but the Gods were displeased with them. They banned the Angels from the surface of Heaven for centuries, sending them down to Earth. The banned angels were stripped of their heavenly powers, and their lives. The Gods also set a curse upon the angels. They took away their wings, until the Gods thought they disserved them back. The banned angels fell from the surface of heaven, onto the peak of Sacred Mt. Kurose, and set up their own civilization there. For nearly six centuries they had lived there in peace, and they had even built their own Kingdom. But demons heard rumors and tales of this almost heavenly Kingdom, and wanted to steal it for themselves. Only decades after, creatures called 'Ghouls' started to appear, rumored to come from a place called 'the other side', these creatures stole small infants and babies from this kingdom to eat.
Nearly two millenniums had passed since the end of the 'Prophet's Dynasty', and a new era was beginning to set in. The Kingdom set atop Sacred Mt. Kurose had lost nearly a fifth of its original population, all because of the Ghouls. The lost civilization, who were later named 'Fallen Angels', that fell from the heavens was split all across the Terra Continent, and lived normal everyday lives.
It is said that when you see a falling star, it's actually an Angel falling from the Heavens…"
"Wow, Grandma! Is that really true?"
"Why yes it is, Darling. Do you not believe me? I know it sounds pretty far-fetched, but its true, my little angel."
"Tee hee! Grandma? Do you think Mommy and Daddy will ever come back?"
"Yes, I believe they will. Some day…"
Chapter 1: the Oracle girl
"You know, it's funny. I had never asked for this special 'gift', it just came to me. Personally, I think it's a giant nuisance. I live in a large trade city, so you'd think the people here wouldn't believe such non-sense. It's not even a city run by the church. That's why I kind of hate this place. If only Grandma were still here… Things would be so much easier…"
The sun's rays shone through the drapes I had recently pulled across the bedroom window. I lived in a small apartment that was only big enough to have a semi-kitchen and a bedroom. I used to live in a small, cozy cottage with my Grandma. I had lived there all my life. I had grown up in there, and I had lived there my entire life, up until about two months ago. She had just woken me up on that day to give me a gift she had bought for me, when these strange armed men barged through the door, and…
"Hullo? Miss Atkins? Are you awake in there?" I pulled the covers over my head. It was my landlord, Thomas Anderson. He was letting me stay in this small apartment because he knew my grandma well, and felt sorry for me. It was nice that didn't have to pay for rent, but it was annoying that he constantly checked on me.
"Good morning Mr. Anderson," I sarcastically said as I hopped out of bed, and walked towards the door, "what brings you her so early?"
"Good heavens, Miss Atkins! Are you kidding me? It's nearly noon!" He sounded extra worried today. He usually stormed into my apartment if I had stayed in bed too long. I found it sort of annoying time after time, but I grew used to it. After Grandma was taken away, he had taken over the responsibility of being my god-parent. He was old, maybe late forties, and was just beginning to grey. I smiled at him as I shut the door behind him.
"This is our new daily routine, isn't it Mr. Anderson?" he constantly scolded me for sleeping so late in the morning. He fussed about the room, pointing out areas I need to clean, and constantly telling me how my grandma simply wouldn't approve of this sleeping nonsense. I sat on the bed, and stared at him as he paced the small apartment, smiling all the while.
"You know, Miss Atkins, if you keep sleeping half the day away then people are going to start thinking that you are dying. What would you're grandmother think if she knew you were becoming some nocturnal animal? She would probably tell you to sharper up, and stick to your duties of being an Oracle." There it was. The word I dreaded to hear, Oracle. I despised it when people regarded me as one of those air-heads who do nothing but manipulate society with their 'predictions'. My grandmother was an Oracle as well, and when she left, she left behind her wooden scroll for me. I had inherited my grandmother's gift, so I was able to use her scroll, as well as her 'hidden krysullite'. Although the hidden krysullite was pretty cool, I never had a chance to use it, so to me it was near useless. I was forbidden by the city's Council of Oracles to use my ability outside of the Council's Temple area. I went there as often as I could, just to be able to use it. Compared to some of the other Oracle powers, mine was rather lame. But I still found it fun. When I overlapped the inside of my wooden scroll with a normal scroll, then I could summon my special power. I had special black ink used to create certain characters on the inside scroll when I need to summon the power. I could summon a short, slim, tanned silver blade that has a large white feather on the end of it. I know it really sounds lame now, but if you saw me use it, you would think it was pretty cool.
The feather on the end of my blade is a downy feather from the sacred sand bird, Avione. It allows my krysullites to flow into the blade as I wield it, enabling me to control energy particles in the ground around me. When I use this power, I can create strange blasts of concentrated earth energy. I think it is pretty cool, but the Oracle's believe my power is a danger.
About an hour or two after Mr. Anderson woke me up; I had gone to the temple grounds to see who was there. At times, there were younger Oracles who liked to practice using their hidden krysullites.
"Hey you, what are you doing here?! This isn't public grounds!" I glared at the direction of the voice; a large burly looking duo of men stared at me, with identical looking spears. They are either very impudent, or they are just ground guards. Oh well, I'll take care of them. I closed my eyes and smirked at them, as they advanced towards me.
"This is your last warning! Leave now, or face the consequences!" I quietly chuckled as I reached for the large scroll that I had slid under the large blue silk ribbon tied around the top of my stomach. I pulled it out and held it in my hand; with my other hand I grabbed a small bottle of ink from the insides of my robes. The two men didn't even notice me do this, and I did everything without making a sound. I dropped a few drops of the ink onto my right thumb, threw open the scroll, and made a fist with my left hand. I quickly painted the few characters, and closed my eyes. I put my fist about two inches below my chin, and straightened my index and middle fingers.
"Kai". A large cloud of white smoke erupted from the scroll as I opened my eyes, and grabbed what had appeared on the scroll. It was my Chinese-style blade, Zanna Della Sabbia. I rolled the scroll back up, slid it underneath the back of my ribbon, and placed the ink back into my robes. I closed my grip on the hilt of my blade, and turned it to hold it in an inversed manner. I chuckled louder now; drawing the attention of the two arrogant men. They looked at me, then at my blade, completely baffled as to what I was doing.
"Do you boys still want to play?" I curled my lips into a sinister looking smile, and started walking towards the two men, "what's the matter, boys? Scared of a fourteen-year-old girl? C'mon, you should be better than that." A spear head whizzed by my hip, and I smiled. Good, they can actually fight. I threw the spear back towards the shorter of the two, and held my blade out in front of me. I dashed forwards, and ran behind the two before they could raise their spears.
"Ugh, Buddy, where'd she go?!" It was funny how clueless they were. I raised my blade, and slashed. They both fell to the ground.
"That'll teach you a lesson! You two won't die, but next time you won't be so lucky!" My blade disappeared in a cloud of smoke. I put my left hand into my robes and walked towards the temple's entrance. I closed my eyes, smiled, and giggled slightly.