Author's Note:

Let the (hopefully improved from the original) rewrite commence… Starting at a different point than the previous version, I believe that going from here rather than school makes far more sense. That aside, though, I do sincerely hope that my sloth doesn't end up getting the better of me again…

Disclaimer:

Slightly Damned, and any referential materials found in this story, do not belong to me. They belong to their respective developers and subsidiaries, and I claim no ownership of them.


The Fallen

Chapter One: Beginnings


The land of Heaven… Considered by Medians to be the ending place of the good man's life. Inhabited by Angels and the souls of the deceased who have done much good in their lives, this plane hosts all of the good and best of all of the worlds…

That, however, is quite the generalization. Just because a person has done much good in his life does not mean that they must continue to do so in the after life. The Angels are hardly exempt from evil, as well; supposedly being created "pure" and "holy" will not mean that they shall be incapable of committing to atrocities in their lives, either.

Which is where a young man practically reeking of these sorts contradictions comes into play…

A portal, appearing black as night with a deep shade of purple swirling around the edge of it, suddenly came into existence in a wide open field, far away from the grandiose structures and houses that comprised most of the main inhabited areas of Heaven. With a quiet displacement of air, and the whoosh of powerful magics, a rather young man, not looking to be any older than fifteen or sixteen, came out of it. Idly shaking his head to get some of the sudden nausea out of his systems, with his jet-black hair that stretched parallel to his equally black tabard and ended at his waist swaying along with him, he stood up from his semi-prone position on the ground. Using his notably pale hands to sweep some stray grass off of his aforementioned tabard, which bore a symbol with a fairly strong resemblance to our world's symbol of Pluto on its front (in a slightly less dark shade of black, so that it didn't just fade into the tabard itself), he muttered, in Lingo, "Finally out of that damnable place… What to do now, though…?"

Opening his eyelids, which revealed his near-stunningly sharp, blood-red eyes, he gasped softly at what he beheld; a vast, grassy area was what he stood in, brilliant flowers tilting in each gentle breeze, with large, brightly colored trees, both in bark and leaves, rimming the area around it. The sunset on the horizon painted the sky a dazzling orange, with the stars just beginning to shine in the sky.

He had legitimately never seen anything like this before – though, that is not truly saying a whole lot, considering the fact the he had seen naught but lava, rocks, Demons, and the occasional soul being mercilessly tortured by the previously mentioned demons in his life thus far. So awed was he, in fact, that he had not moved an inch (or so much as blinked, for that matter) for an entire six minutes. During that time span, he felt sorely tempted to get down on to the ground, cry in happiness, and thank Mother Gaia for his fortune. He decided on saving that for a later point, however. 'Perhaps when I am feeling even more emotional than I am now,' thought he, 'which will probably be never. Gods, am I glad to be done with that place…' Eventually getting over himself, he settled on a direction to walk in, that direction being the general one that had the most noise coming from it.

If felt like hours to the red-eyed man, walking through the undeniably beautiful scenery, taking in the new sights, though it was barely even one unit of that time before he finally arrived at what was seemingly the entrance to a large settlement. The homes, constructed of what was seemingly a marble-like substance, glittered in the sunlight, while the roads appeared as if they were made of glass, with the same marble-like stone going along the very edges of it. The ground was all grassy, and equally green on any side of the pavements. A few blocks down, he heard souls and Angels mingle in an unfamiliar tongue; yet, he heard unmistakable laughs and cheers; a general sense of companionship was all over the place, even when no one was in the immediate vicinity. All in all, everything looked practically perfect; no sense of unease, no tension in the peoples as far as he could tell, and no… violence.

The young man was in nearly as much shock as he was not two hours ago; he had never seen such a place as this, where no tension or bloodshed happened at seemingly every encounter between anyone. He highly enjoyed the sensation of potential peace, but… all of these new things… they scared him. Only a tad, but still just enough to make him so circumspect as to want to avoid walking directly into town; at least, for the time being. So, he instead settled on going around the area's edges, finding a less direct entrance into the community, and then figuring out where to go from there.

And that is precisely what he did. Finding a small space betwixt two buildings, he meandered in a decent ways and sat himself down. By this time, the sky had turned a distinct shade of purple; two moons, one red, and the other, green, were hanging in the sky, as well as the now-brightened, twinkly stars. He suddenly felt quite tired, and not just from his somewhat long walk. He had went through a long day, in a figurative sense; attempting to find ways to entertain himself, wallowing in self-pity and sorrowful longing for approximately half the day, discovering so many new things, and, perhaps, most importantly… he had finally escaped from Hell.

His eyes droopy, and his mind exhausted, his final thoughts of the day centered around three things; one, his relief of being out of that very literal hell-hole; two, the new things that awaited him in his life; and, three; why he was apparently in Heaven rather than Medius…