A/N: Recently I became obsessed with fan theories, and the one about Ed, Edd and Eddy was my favourite. So this came out – a few chapters have already been written, so an update every two weeks or so seems in check. In case you're interested in the theory, Google it, but it will be explained in this fic too. I don't own this cartoon. I'm also changing the ages, the kids are now teenagers – just go with it.

The Protector of Purgatory

Prologue

She was new, which was admittedly strange in itself; the cul-de-sac hadn't gotten anyone new in, well, forever. It could be seen as almost a thousand human years, but she wasn't sure, she had no real concept of time.

There wasn't anything strange about her, at first that is. She had a mass of brown hair that never stayed the way she wanted it to, her eyes were an admittedly lovely shade of green, the green was always alert and nothing could surprise her, but she was a bit… plain. She dressed in faded jeans and oversized jerseys or coats, hiding something, though at first they weren't sure what.

Even if she was plain, she, for some reason, fascinated everyone in the street, not just the boys either. They didn't stare at her with love-struck eyes, the way the boys looked at Nazz, but they did stare at her, hoping she wouldn't realise it, but she already had. Her eyes and ears were always ready, her body always tense, her posture rigid and proud.

The teenagers drew her into the games and overall silliness, trying to draw her out of her shy shell, and she even participated in a few of Eddy's scams, but they felt too bad for scamming her, so they never asked her for money anymore.

Three weeks, or that was what they thought – that's how long she had been there; and everyone felt conflicted about liking her. They didn't know if they liked her or not, they didn't understand their emotions.

She was fun to talk to: she could make them laugh and she was easy to open up to, but there was this pity in her, a pity they felt everytime she looked at them, that gave them shivers. Yet she was inexplicably trusted. The kids didn't understand why this girl, so ordinary looking, was so needed by them. Three weeks and she was possibly one of the pillars of their small community. The Kanker sisters excluded.

She was walking along the street – the street was wet and her boots slapped against the water and sprayed up, her white jersey sleeves hanging over her hands with only her fingertips showing, when she heard it.

Whispers.

Not just any old whispers, no: the whispers of the damned. She looked around into an alley, and straight at them. She covered her brow with a frown, as though she was wondering what was there, even if she already knew.

She wondered if they knew what she was and why she was there, because if they did it would make her task profoundly easier.

She wasn't allowed to take action until they did; further her duty was to act as guardian and advisor.

That was why she got the name Skyler, because she was a protector. She also had to try and establish a routine of night before she was found, because these humans needed rest. She couldn't exactly use her powers until she was found out; it was so she could finish the damned once and for all.

The guardian wanted to return to her Creator, she wanted to return to the heavens and to be free from her damnation.

One day, as she was taking an old man by the hand to lead him to a safer spot, the man suddenly stood tall and tapped her hand.

"Fallen one." He said, his voice deeper and filled with so much love that she grew warm. She fell to the ground, her one fist meeting the stone, her head bowed down.

"My lord." She whispered.

"I have seen what you have done and you have done well." He said. Skye didn't know what to say or do, so she just stared at the grey stones beneath her.

"I have decided upon a task for you, fallen one," The old man said, "If you succeed, I will grant you re-entrance to My kingdom."

"Anything." She promised. When it came to her Creator, nothing was too much.

"There is one place where children have been captured for a very long time. Their souls are tired and weary – they are close to giving in, and none of them are meant for damnation." The old man said, talking in their Creator's voice. "I don't want that to happen. You will free them. If you fail, you will receive damnation yourself."

"Yes, my Lord." This was a chance she had been praying for… for a long time. She knew the Creator could save them Himself, but He was giving her a chance.

"I will grant you some of the powers you once had," He said, touching her head, "Once you succeed… you and I shall talk."

Once she succeeded. Those words brought a smile to her face.

She had seven rules. Seven – because it was a divine number.

Rule one – she wasn't allowed to tell anyone what she was or what her task was.

Rule two – she wasn't allowed to tell them why they were here and where they were.

Rule three – she had to cover her holiness and hide her powers (she hadn't received all of the powers she once had, but she didn't deserve them).

Rule four – she had to hide herself from the demons.

Rule five – she had to find the one that already knew.

Rule six – she had to instil night before the battle began.

And, finally, rule seven – to be ready for anything.

Back in her present, one of the girls took a step forward.

"You're the new girl," One of the voices said as two remaining figures stepped forward, her shoe slapping the rain puddle loudly, "Well, let's explain this real quick: we own this town, and no pretty little face is gonna stop us." It was the leader, the one with the red perm and presumably no eyes.

Skyler's eyes flicked to the other two, she knew their names were Marie and May, and also that May was the most reluctant of the trio, and she also knew what they were.

She looked at the redhead, pursing her lips, "You don't own anything, Miss Lee, except your own demise." She smiled sweetly before continuing on her path, not caring if the Kanker attacked her from behind. She wanted the girl to attack her, to rip off her disguise and expose her… She couldn't truly be hurt anyways. It was a loophole: she couldn't expose herself to them, but nothing was said about exposing themselves to her.

No such luck, though. Skyler sighed, before heading to the new house that had just popped up out of nowhere. She opened the door slowly, knowing that night would never come, because this was part of living in the cul-de-sac.

It meant living in an eternal day that seemed like many days to the inhabitants, but that was because their minds were warped and their memories stolen.

Skyler couldn't hate, it wasn't in her, but she could dislike something and she would fight against it. She would have to install night, as it were, as though it was a program on a computer network. She also had to do so with only one person knowing – the time to be revealed wasn't upon her yet, even though her hands itched for it, but she had to be exposed first.

She sank down on the sofa in the house. It would be her net of safety for the following years, which might turn into centuries and even millennia, but, again, she had no concept of time or age, just of day and night, light and dark.

The Kanker sisters were demons – half-breeds of humans and angels. The fallen angels of old, her brethren, had come to earth and fornicated with the humans, which resulted in the birth of the half-breed angels. These half-breeds were giant and selfish beings. They destroyed many lives, and they were all wiped from life by a massive flood.

But therein lies the rub: they are only half-ethereal, therefore they don't belong in heaven, and they have no place on earth now that they are dead, thus they lingered in the spiritual realm, which the cul-de-sac was a part of.

The Creator had given her this assignment to earn her way back into the Eternal Life, after her sins. And sins for angels were worse than for humans – sometimes you weren't given another chance.

She had no need for rest and she had no need for sustenance; she had one need: freedom. Because this was war, no, this was worse than war, this was purgatory.

A/N: I chose the name Skyler because it means "Protector", and yes, I am obsessed with the name Skye, no use in denying that.