Fallen

Hinalover 1010

Chapter 1: The beginning

Disclaimer: I own nothing

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In the kingdom of Heaven, the king of all angels, Arthur Kirkland, was frantically running in the halls of his kingdom while painful screams were being heard throughout the castle. He finally got to a wooden door and opened it to see a couple of maids tending to a screaming blonde woman covered with sweat and blood on a bed. Arthur quickly got to the woman' side and asked," Are you alright, love?"

"Arthur, I want this child out of me so I can see it already!" the woman screamed. Arthur smiled and winced as the woman clenched his hand tightly.

"Ma'am, half of the baby is out, just a few more pushes," the maid instructed. The woman smiled and looked at Arthur. The woman gasped for air as she continued to push her child out of her while Arthur held her hand to support her and wished that they both would live from this.

Then, a small cry was heard though the castle except it wasn't coming from the woman. It was coming from the baby that the maid held in her hands. Arthur looked at the child and cheerfully said," It's a boy Marianne! It's a boy!"

Marianne smiled with exhaustion evident on her face and reached her hands out to hold her child. The maid gladly gave the boy to Marianne who smiled at her crying son and said," Matthew. That's your name."

Arthur smiled at his son and said," Hello Matthew."

"He's so adorable," Marianne cried. She nuzzled her cheek against Matthew like a cat and her kit, her eyes still exhausted but held joy as they looked upon Matthew. She suddenly felt her eyes go weak for a moment and gave Matthew to her husband.

"Arthur, I can feel my life draining away," Marianne said. Arthur looked at his wife and quickly bent to eye level. Marianne looked at her husband before she caressed his cheek while Arthur could feel tears welling to his eyes.

"Don't say that, Marianne. You're going to make it," Arthur said, trying to distract his wife form the thoughts of death and leaving him alone with their only son. Marianne gave her husband a weak smile and could feel Death slowly approaching her with each moment passing by.

"I'm so sorry Arthur but I have to go," Marianne said. She kissed Arthur on his cheek before she grabbed Matthew once more with a smile on her face as she cried along with her son.

"Matthew I love you so much. Never forget that," Marianne whispered to her son. She nuzzled her son's face gently with love, whispering a few words Arthur wasn't able to hear and closed her eyes for the last time. Matthew began to wail loudly while Arthur took his son out of his dead wife's hold and began to shed tears as well.

Arthur looked at Matthew and smiled," Don't worry lad. Father is here to protect you from now on."

As the two walked away from Marianne's corpse, Arthur could only think of how much he wanted to protect his son like his wife wanted to.

XXX

The next day, a funeral was held for Marianne, the entire kingdom attended while wearing black to show their sadness for the now dead queen. Arthur looked down as his wife was being taken away in a blue coffin and thought of how serene her face looked, and then turned his attention back to his sleeping son.

Then, a butler came in and said," Sir, the prophet is here for young Matthew."

"Come on lad, we have to find out what you're future will be," Arthur said as he carried his son away. He smiled as he thought of the tradition where every child will have their future told by the city's prophet the day or the day after they're born and hoped that his son had a bright future ahead of him.

When the two walked into the throne room, there was a figure covered in a white robe waiting for them with only a gleaming red eye showing. Arthur felt nervous and afraid of the figure on the inside but didn't show it on the outside while Matthew awoke but was silent, his eyes staring at the figure before him. The figure only bowed at the sight of Arthur and said," Your majesty."

"Prophet," Arthur said, bowing his head ever so slightly as a sign of respect.

"The boy," the prophet said as he held out his bony, old hands, expecting Matthew to come into his arms so he may predict the young prince's future. Arthur looked at Matthew before he kissed his forehead and handed his son to the prophet.

The prophet held Matthew and looked into Matthew's eyes for what seemed like forever to Arthur, who looked at his only son in worry. The prophet's eyes widened and held Matthew at arm's length as if Matthew was a monster, which caused the young prince to cry and Arthur to grab his son and looked at the prophet in worry." What's wrong? What did you see?"

"Your son, he shall have a great future and will be recognized throughout the ages," the prophet said, which caused Arthur to smile in joy, but the next words shattered all the joy in him. "This boy will however belong to great evil and will be dragged to the darkest depths of Hell. He will not be an angel, but rather he will be a fallen and rule the underworld. His fall to the darkness will start when he turns sixteen, but he encounters with the darkness that resides in Hell will start when he's young."

"What?!" Arthur cried in shock, holding Matthew tightly against his chest and looked at the prophet, rage engulfing his entire body." My boy will not rule the world of Hell, he shall rule Heaven like his forefathers and I have. I will not allow this to happen."

"Do what you may, but no what happens and no matter how much you try, your child's fate will come true," the prophet said. Arthur only ignored what the prophet had said and walked away with Matthew in his arms.

The prophet sighed and shook his head at the king and prince as he said," Matthew's fate can never change. No matter how much you try, young Arthur Kirkland."

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Arthur was in his throne room, contemplating what to do about his son's fate until he felt someone tapping his shoulders and turned to his right to see his trusted advisor, Yao Wang, was looking at him with concern as he asked," Are you still thinking about your son, sir?"

"Yes. I'm constantly worried about when Matthew will fall to the enemy," Arthur revealed, rubbing his forehead as he closed his eyes and thought of his deceased wife and how she would handle the situation.

"Sir, I think I may know a solution to your problem," Yao confessed, causing Arthur to look at his advisor with hope in his eyes as he continued." I know of a temple that is very isolated from both our world and the world of Hell. The prince could live there and the prophecy would possibly be stopped from happening, aru."

Arthur looked at Yao before he smiled and hugged the advisor, getting a dark red blush to appear on his face." Yao, my friend, you are truly brilliant!"

"But in order for the prince to reside on the temple, you must speak to the head of the temple or else, aru…" Yao trailed off, Arthur already knowing what he was implying.

"I'll talk to the head of the temple immediately. I have to save Matthew," Arthur said with determination evident in his voice as he ran around in the castle and stooped at a room where the door was open and entered with ease. He walked into the center of the room where there was a crib and in the crib was Matthew, squirming his way around the crib until his saw Arthur's green eyes and smiled, Arthur gushing at how adorable his son looked and grabbed him as he then lifted him and held him close.

"Matthew, I have to send you away somewhere and I'll probably never get to see you again," Arthur said as he felt tears well up in his eyes again while Matthew looked at his father in confusion." I don't want to send you away, but I have to or else something even worse will happen to you and I don't want that. I want the best for you and this is the only way to allow it to happen."

Arthur began to cry and as soon as he saw his father cry, Matthew began to cry as well. Arthur sobbed," But never forget, I will always love you, Matthew."

Arthur smiled and kissed Matthew's cheek, causing Matthew to stop crying and watched his father as he was put back in his crib and Arthur walked out of the room. He heard a cough a saw Yao who had his eyes closed and said," Are you ready your highness?"

"Yes," Arthur said as he wiped the remaining tears away and held his head high." Take me to the temple."

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The two angels flew high in the sky until Yao spotted something down below and yelled," Your highness, we're here aru!"

The two lowered down to the ground and Arthur looked at the temple with a stupefied expression on his face. The temple looked to be a large Parthenon that reached towards the clouds with red curtains that had golden lines on the edge and was surrounded by a giant wall that protected the entire city along with a force field. "This place is amazing."

"This was made to protect everyone inside the temple from any outside dangers," Yao informed as he walked towards the temple with Arthur following him. The two walked towards the temple as they easily got through the force field and then Yao knocked on the wall on various places until it finally opened and climbed the stairs until they reached the top, panting slightly as they were greeted by a group of people in white robes with white or black wings with two people in the front. One of the two had a large built with shoulder long blonde hair and bright blue eyes along with a stern face while the other was large as well, but he had brown hair and sun kissed skin with his face and the aura surrounding him bubbly and energetic.

"Hello again Yao, what brings you here?" the brown haired man asked before he looked at Arthur with confusion and intrigue." And who's your friend?"

"Hello again, Romulus," Yao said back before he pointed at Arthur." This is Arthur Kirkland or the king of Heaven."

"It's so nice to meet you, Arthur! Can I call you Arty? Or..." Romulus said as he babbled on, shaking Arthur's hand with glee. Arthur looked at the man with disbelief and looked at Yao for guidance but Yao just sighed and looked away from the scene as he shook his head in denial.

"Romulus, Arthur is here because he wishes to put someone here for their protection," Yao informed. Romulus stopped shaking Arthur's hand and was silent as he looked at both Yao and Arthur with a serious expression on his face.

"Well, who is the person you wish to admit here?" Romulus asked.

"The person I seek to stay here is my son, Matthew," Arthur answered. "I want to put him here so something bad doesn't happen to him."

"Well, can I see him?"

"No, I'm afraid not. Can you please just tell if my son can live here or not?"

"If he lives here, then you can never see him again. This temple is for refugees or people who can't belong anywhere. It isn't a daycare center where you can just leave your child here and see him the next day.

"I understand, but I wish for my son to be happy and live like a normal person would." Romulus saw the look of determination to protect his child in Arthur's yes and sighed before he patted Arthur's shoulders in sympathy.

"You're son can live here, but you can only see him once and that's on his birthday." Arthur's face brightened considerably as he heard Romulus's words and hugged the tall man in joy before he quickly let go and blushed, while Romulus just laughed and patted Arthur's back in humor while Yao and the other man just looked at two.

"Thank you. Thank you so much Romulus," Arthur said before he continued." I'll bring Matthew here tomorrow."

"Alright then your highness. In the meantime, let's give you a tour so you can know how Matthew will live from now on," Romulus said as he guided Arthur inside the temple with the group of people in white robes following after him.

Yao and the other man were left outside and Yao looked at the man as he said," It's been a while, hasn't it Alderick?"

"Try fifteen years, Yao. After you left the temple to find somewhere you can belong, things have changed and we have new faces and some old faces you may recognize," Alderick answered.

"Well, I hate to say, but I don't care about the new changes. I'm only here to allow my king to protect his son. Though, I'm just glad that that the temple is still here" Yao confessed as he walked inside the temple along with Alderick.

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As Arthur and Romulus were walking around the temple, the two walked upstairs to find a hallway filled with brown wooden doors of equal sides on both sides of the hall." This is where everyone resigns to at night."

"Can I see the inside so I know that my son can at least have a bed?" Arthur asked.

"Of course," Romulus answered as opened one of the doors to show a queen sized bed with a white blanket in a white room with only a wooden closet and a window to go with the room. Arthur walked towards the window and saw a view of the wall along with a small part of the field in front of the wall.

"This is good. This is very good," Arthur said, shaking his head up and down with a smile on his face. Romulus smiled slightly, glad that Arthur was pleased with the rooms.

"But how will Matthew learn anything?" Arthur asked.

"I was just going to show you that next," Romulus said. The two walked downstairs and walked around the temple for an hour until they stopped at two large, marble doors and Romulus opened the door to reveal a woman standing in the middle of rows of people sitting a few feet away from her and behind the woman was a large chalk board. The woman had light brown hair, light tan skin, and the body of a Victorian model with the sapphire eyes.

The woman lifted her head and scowled as soon as she met Romulus's eyes and said," Class is dismissed."

Everyone in the room left except Arthur and Romulus, who just stood while everyone else was moving around them. The woman quickly walked up to the two and eyed Arthur with suspicion, making the king of angels feel nervous under the beautiful woman's stare while Romulus just smiled at the woman and said," Hello Hera."

"Hello Romulus. Who's your friend?" Hera asked.

"He's Arthur Kirkland, the king of angels," Romulus answered.

Hera sighed and bowed to Arthur as she then said," Hell, your highness."

Then, she faced Romulus and asked," Why is the king of angels here?"

"He wishes to admit his son here to protect him from something and I was just giving him a tour so I can show him where Matthew will live from now on," Romulus explained.

"You do realize that this is no daycare right? You can never see your child again the moment he enters the temple grounds," Hera warned.

Arthur looked down and then held his head up high and he answered back," I know. Romulus explained to me and I'm willing to never see my only child again in order to protect him."

Hera smiled and nodded her head as she patted Arthur's back and then looked at Romulus with suspicion." Did you say he could visit his son?"

Romulus rubbed the back of his head and chuckled as he answered," I may have told him that he could visit the boy on his birthday."

Hera frowned and began to punch Romulus nonstop, which scared Arthur as he backed away from Hera and thought of never getting on her bad side. He back away from Romulus as he saw various bruises forming on Romulus's face while blood was flowing from his face." Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm alright. This happens practically every day," Romulus chuckled. Arthur chuckled as well, but he chuckled in fear and not humor. Hera looked at her handiwork and smiled in approval, not caring how terrible Romulus looked.

"Anyway, Hera is the teacher for everyone in the temple along with a few others like that man you saw earlier unless they're adults, and then they don't have to attend the class," Romulus explained.

"Okay, but what do you teach?" Arthur asked.

"I teach philosophy, math, and English," Hera said, waving her arms around. "The other teachers teach fighting and diplomacy which belongs to Alderick and the other subjects like music, art, and cooking which belong to Cleopatra."

"Well, it's nice to know that my son will be taught the best way they can," Arthur smiled.

Then, two small figures came into the room and one yelled," Grandpa Rome!"

The two figures were revealed to be two small boys that were suddenly clinging to Romulus. One of the boys had light brown hair, eyes that were closed yet Arthur could see some brown through the eyes, and tan skin while the other had dark brown hair, olive skin, and hazel eyes.

"Feliciano! Romano!" Romulus yelled in surprise and in joy as he picked up both boys. The boy with light brown hair looked at Arthur and smiled, waving hello while the other boy just glared at him with a blush on his face and hid deeper into Romulus's neck.

"Sorry about that, Romano is a bit shy when it comes to strangers," Romulus chuckled.

"Shut up bastard!" Romano shouted at Romulus. Feliciano just stared at the two in worry as he saw the anger rise in Romulus.

"Romano, that's rude," Romulus scolded but Romano didn't care and just stared at Arthur again, making the king feel awkward under the gaze of the young boy yet he felt happy as soon as he caught Feliciano's happy, carefree gaze.

"Grandpa, who's this stranger?" Feliciano asked.

"He's one of grandpa's friends Feliciano," Romulus lied.

Feliciano hopped from his grandfather's hug and ran up to Arthur while holding his arms, expecting to be picked up and hugged by Arthur which he did. Feliciano nuzzled his face onto Arthur's face and the man receiving all the attention from Feliciano couldn't help but feel like he was in heaven with the small boy.

"So these are your grandchildren?" Arthur asked.

"Yes, they're me grandchildren. They're the cutest things in the entire world!" Romulus gushed as he nuzzled his face into Romano's, who just glared at his grandfather.

"So I'm assuming that they'll be in the temple as well with my son?" Arthur asked again. Romulus didn't say anything but nodded his head up and down as a sign of yes.

Then, Romulus remembered that he still had a tour to do and put Romano on the floor and took Feliciano from Arthur's hug, putting him on the floor as well and left the two with Hera as the two men walked out of the room and continued on with the tour.

The two walked until they reached the middle of the temple were there was a large field with men, women, and children playing on the field as if there was no tomorrow. Arthur instantly knew that the field was used for people to play on and just get away from the harshness of a thing called reality. He turned to Romulus and said," This is good, but where will my child bath?"

"I already have a simple solution for that, your highness. Also, a word of caution, please watch your step when we reach out next destination," Romulus warned before he walked away from the field with Arthur following him.

Then, the two men walked nearby the wall east of the temple Arthur began to feel himself sweating excessively. He saw steam coming from somewhere in front of him and could barely see anything when Romulus stopped in front of him from. Romulus opened a door, Arthur knew because he heard a loud creak along with a slight tremble coming from the ground beneath him and even more steam came out from the room.

"Welcome to the bathhouse where your son can become clean after a long, hard day!" Romulus cheered. Arthur looked at the bathhouse and saw enormous it was as well as how many windows it was, allowing the sunlight to come into the bathhouse." By the way, the baths are separate for men and women so nothing bad can happen between the two genders."

"That's good to hear," Arthur said as he imagined if the baths weren't separated and he would possible be bullied by women for anything or even worse, the boys deciding to bully him. He shuddered at the thought of his imaginary crying son and shook the thoughts away.

"Well, I'm glad to know that my son will be truly safe here like Yao told me," Arthur said before he walked away with Romulus outside and shook his hand." I'll bring Matthew tomorrow early. Okay?"

"Sure," Romulus said as he shook Arthur's in agreement.

Then, Yao appeared with Alderick and walked up to Arthur as he asked," Are you ready to go your highness?"

"Yes, let's go now," Arthur said. As he began spread out his wings along with Yao and the two flew away while Romulus and Alderick just looked at the two flew away back to their home.

While the two were in the air, Yao looked at Arthur and asked," Did you like the temple your highness?"

"Yes Yao," Arthur replied." I'm sure now that Matthew will be safe from what will happen to him at the temple."

When they returned home, Arthur immediately walked into the palace to see his son and Yao walked home. Arthur walked in the palace with a smile on his face as he imagined his son safe and sound at the temple with Romulus, Hera, and Romulus's two grandsons.

When he came upon his son's room, Arthur walked towards the crib to see his son still asleep and smiled as he looked at his son's sleeping figure. He thought of how today was going to be the last day he spent with his son until his birthday. He decided to spend the day with his son and not let anything interrupt them.

"Come here lad," Arthur said as he picked up his son and kept him close to his chest. Matthew awoke to find himself in a foreign place and struggled as much as he could until he was lifted and found his father's face.

"What's the matter lad?" Arthur asked. Matthew didn't say anything but smiled and reached out towards his father until he got hugged by Arthur. Matthew snuggled to his father and fell asleep once more.

"You're taking a nap again?" Arthur asked in joking disbelief until he saw how peaceful his son was asleep and decided that he needed some sleep as well. He walked to his room with his son in his arms and as soon as he saw his bed, he lied on his bed and fell asleep next to his son and dreamt of his deceased wife.

XXX

The next day, dusk had barely touched the night as Arthur was flying with Matthew, who was awake and gurgling in glee at the fact that he was high in the sky with his father holding him. Arthur was trying to remember what the way was to go to the temple and sighed in relief as he saw the temple, albeit a bit dark, and lowered down to the ground.

When he reached the ground, Arthur saw Romulus standing at the temple ground and waved as he spotted the king of angels lowering down to the temple. Arthur waved back at the head of the temple, being careful as he held Matthew. As he got through the force field and flew over the wall, Arthur landed before the temple's stairs. He sighed as he realized how long it would take for him to walk up the stairs along with Matthew.

As soon as he reached the top of the stairs, Arthur checked to see if Matthew was asleep still and saw that he was asleep and looked at Romulus as he said," This is my son, Matthew. His birthday was two days ago."

Romulus looked at the sleeping Matthew and smiled as he saw the child's sleeping face." What an adorable boy you have."

"He is cute," Arthur bragged.

"Now, I will repeat this you one last time. Do you agree to never seeing your child until the day of his birthday? To never have any contact with him at all until his birthday?" Romulus asked once more, just so Arthur was sure about the decision that he was making for his son.

Arthur looked down and answered," Yes, I'm sure that I wish to leave Matthew and never contact him at all until his birthday."

"That's good to hear," Romulus said before he walked inside the temple with Matthew in his arms and left Arthur outside the temple.

As he watched his son disappear from his sight for an entire year, Arthur couldn't help but let a tear slip out of his eye, having a shred of regret over the decision he had just made for Matthew but instantly got rid of the regret inside of him as he said," I promised that I'd take care of Matthew and I am. Even if I can only see my child once a year, I'm still protecting him."

As the doors shut, keeping Arthur outside of the temple, Arthur sighed turned around to face the awakened sun as it rose to greet the world with its bright face before looking at the temple." Stay safe and may you have a wonderful time here, Matthew."

Arthur turned his face around and spread out his wings before he flew off, leaving Matthew alone with the residents of the temple for a year. While in the sky, Arthur never looked behind and resisted temptation for he knew that if he did then he would most likely break into the temple and bring Matthew home where he wouldn't be safe.

XXX

In the temple, Romulus was carrying Matthew around as his two grandsons and Hera appeared before him. Romano and Feliciano looked at the thing their grandfather was carrying, but it was Romano who voiced," Grandpa, what's that in your arms?"

"This is someone who will be staying with us for a long time. His name is Matthew," Romulus said as he lowered Matthew down to show him to his two grandsons. Romano and Feliciano walked forward to get a closer look at the baby boy and Romulus saw two different reactions to Matthew. Romano still had a scowl on while Feliciano smiled widely and cooed at the sleeping baby.

"Hera, what do you think of Matthew?" Romulus asked.

Hera didn't say anything, only looking at Matthew with emotionless eyes which worried Romulus, who thought that Hera might not like Matthew until Hera's face morphed into a soft smile and walked closer to Matthew as she cooed," Hi there little cutie!"

"So, grandpa, is Matthew staying with us?" Feliciano asked.

"He told us that Matthew is staying with us for a long time. What did you think?" Romano scowled. Feliciano frowned at his brother's tone but they were all distracted when they heard a yawn and turned to the source which was Matthew, who was yawning and waking up with sleepy eyes. He looked around the room and looked at the people nearby him with curious eyes before he smiled and laughed which caused the others, even Romano, to have a small smile on their faces.

"I guess that I can't put him in his room now," Romulus chuckled. Matthew looked at Romulus with a smile and reaches his arms out to him. Romulus held the boy closer and Matthew gleefully touched Romulus's with newfound curiosity, babbling as he did.

"Well, let's put you with the other little ones, Matthew," Romulus said as he carried Matthew away from Romano, Feliciano, and Hera to put him with all of the other babies in the temple.

It only took Romulus a good half hour to reach a door that had a plaque with the word, 'NURSERY' in black ink. Romulus opened the door and saw a woman wearing Egyptian clothing with black hair and tan skin being surrounded by dozens of cradles. Romulus walked closer to the woman as he said," Isis."

The woman, or Isis, looked up at Romulus with curious blue eyes as she then asked," Yes? What do you want Romulus?"

"We have a new resident here. His name is Matthew," Romulus said as he presented Matthew to Isis. Matthew looked at the woman with a cautious gaze before he saw Isis smiling and he began to smile as well.

"What a cute boy you are," Isis cooed at Matthew before she looked at Romulus with suspicion." Where did you get him Romulus?"

"He was actually left here by his father to be protected from something that's after Matthew," Romulus said.

"Okay, Put him in the empty blue cradle that has clouds painted on it," Isis ordered, which Romulus did with no complaint. Matthew was gently placed in the cradle, but whimpered when he saw that Romulus wasn't going to hold him anymore and started to wail as loud as he could.

"I thought that this was going to happen," Isis sighed as he then picked up Matthew and gently rocked him while humming a song which caused Matthew to fall asleep again, light snoring as he did so.

When she noticed that Matthew fell asleep, Isis looked at Romulus and asked," What are you going to do with him Romulus? As soon as I touched him, I felt something in him that I've never felt before? This boy has something special and you're going to use him aren't you?"

Romulus only smiled as he then said," What are you talking about, Isis? I would never do such a thing. All I want is for Matthew to live a normal life here."

Isis glared at Romulus as she warned," If you plan to use him against the demons then know I will do everything in my power to steer him away from the dark road you have sat for him."

"Try your best, but we need to beat Alfred or else this world will truly fall into ruins."

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So what did you think? It took me a while to get this thing going with school and all, but I finally finished. Review this and I'll update this faster.

Hinalover 1010