Chapter 1. In the beginning
I'm pretty sure everyone here knows how it all began. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. And so many marvelous things came later. But I think everyone is forgetting about one tiny little detail... DO YOU HUMANS EVER THINK ABOUT US ANGELS?! I mean, some of you do, others don't even believe in our existence, and the rest of you just haven't heard of us. You've heard of God, saints, the Virgin Mary, demons, even the Devil, but what do you know about angels? I can help you out if you want. I'm going to tell you a little story about angels. One that you've never heard before since this is my story. Oh! I apologize! It seems that I have forgotten my manners! Before I get any deeper, let me introduce myself. My name is Asher, and this is my story.
God created everything, as you already know. He also created these amazing beings called Angels, who are warriors and messengers of God. These spiritual beings are devoted to the Lord. Humans are not capable of understanding angels' true essence. Therefore, whenever they appear on Earth, people see their vessels, their human personification. These spirits live in Heaven, a lovely and peaceful place where some humans end up coming when their time is right. I'm not going to describe Heaven because it's against the rules, but just imagine the best place you've ever been to but even more wonderful.
Ok but, going back to angels, these beings are divided into three categories called spheres. The first sphere is composed by the servants of God. The Seraphims, in charge of guarding God's throne, the Cherubims, who guarded the road to the tree of life in the Garden, and Thrones, who make sure everything is fair in the universe.
In the second sphere, there are angels who we consider the governors of Heaven. The ones who take care of this place and who maintain the order among the spirits. The Dominions or Lordships are in charge of regulating the duties of the celestial beings below them, the Virtues and the Strongholds (these guys are so awesome) are in charge of performing miracles and signs on Earth, and the Powers or Authorities are like the army, they fight against evil forces in the world. They have amazing weapons that can kill ANYTHING, and their main task is keeping the universe safe. Apart from that, they also control how much power is being distributed to humanity which is a fundamental task as well.
And finally, the third sphere. This last sphere is composed by the most social angels. At least that's what I think, as these angels are meant to be the guides, messengers, and protectors of humans. The Principalities or Rulers are the ones who protect the Church, People, and Nations. They are considered to be the guardians and educators of Earth. The Archangels are the ones who guard nations and countries in relation to their politics, trade, and commerce. And at the very bottom of the pyramid you have your average type angels, the ones sent to Earth to guide humans, serve them, and give them messages. This might be the kind of angel you're familiar with. But there are also Nature Guardians, who are in charge of the landscapes and animals on Earth. They could be a kind of Principality, but for some reason they are a completely different category of angels.
After reading about our complex hierarchy, you might be wondering how each angel is chosen for a job. Well, we've all been trained for all those positions but not in detail. Let's say it was like high school but for angels. However, unlike you humans, we cannot choose our position since it is chosen for us. Despite that, I've always dreamed of being a Guardian Angel. Being there to help out a soul in need, to guide them when they feel most vulnerable, to give them signs and try to let them know that everything will be alright in the end. I can feel it's my destiny to be a Guardian Angel.I met two other angels during my training. Seraphiel and Izrafiel, but I call them Sera and Iz.
"Are you guys excited about your position?" I remember asking them.
"Not really," said Iz with a firm tone in his voice. "I wouldn't be able to guide a human as well as other angels would. I reckon that my perfect position would be handling nature and the animals."
Iz wasn't as social as Sera. He wanted to take care of animals and plants, while Sera and I had the same dream. We even talked about being Guardian Angels to twins and laughed at how incredibly lucky it would be if it actually happened. Angel training was not a long process; it was only a few centuries. And then, after finishing our training, it was finally time. We were going to get our positions! I remember Iz got the Nature Guardian and he was extremely pleased about it. Sera got to be the Guardian Angel he had been training to become. And as for me, for some absurd and preposterous reason they assigned me to be a Nature Guardian with Iz. I remember getting mad at the Lordship who mumbled the words "Nature Guardian" after saying my name. IT WAS RIDICULOUS! I WAS CLEARLY GUARDIAN ANGEL MATERIAL! A PLANT DOESN'T NEED THAT MUCH ATTENTION! WAS IT SO HARD TO ASSIGN ME A HUMAN BEING INSTEAD!?
The following centuries were the most frustrating years of my existence. Imagine not getting the job you were made for and being assigned to a boring one instead . I did my best and tried to enjoy guarding these places, considering this was my job until the end of time. I had fun with this position at the beginning, when everything was new and surprising. I've never seen animals that way. Insecure at times, but absolutely fierce at others. And the trees... breathtaking and full of life. The desert has a unique charm, one that only a few souls are able to comprehend. Now, mountains are something else! They are so close to the sky that it makes me wonder if any human ever tried to climb one just to touch a cloud. I was disappointed when I got this job, then all these natural treasures changed my mind for a minute. But after guarding these wonderful places for an extremely long time, I got bored. I've seen everything there is to see, I know the ending to every story. The rabbit gets eaten by the wolf, the leaves will fall from the tree and then grow back, the brook will keep on babbling and the sun will always shine. I GET IT!
After all those centuries being bored, the Lordships called us unexpectedly for an emergency meeting.
"We need to be prepared. If anything were to happen to this place, we would all be going to Earth, and we would live among humanity. However, we cannot do that in our natural essence. We have called you here today so that you can design your vessels."
I remember my excitement interrupting the Dominion's speech with just one word "Sweeeeet!". But luckily, only a few angels noticed my interruption. Most of them were trying to ignore my awesome comments, like they usually do.
"You will design your vessel during this meeting. But you will not be going down to Earth to hang out with humanity. You already know the rules." said the Lordship in charge of the meeting with an orotund voice.
Still, I think some of those rules are just nonsense. Why can't we fraternize with humans? Aren't we supposed to help them? How can we help them if they can't see us? Besides, humanity has invented so many wonderful things over the centuries. All those films, songs, museums... They never cease to amaze me... BUT THESE LORDSHIPS WON'T LET US DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT! It seems to me it's not fair to some of us. At least to the ones who are supposed to be there for them 24/7.
I put aside my thoughts on the topic for the day and looked for Iz and Sera, so that we could create our vessels together. Like you humans, we have computers, but these are more advanced that the ones you have. I would describe them but that would only spoil things for you. Regarding the vessel designs, every angel had a set of options they could choose from. They were random, which means that every angel had different options for their vessel's appearance. Lordships made sure that every angel's vessel was unique. On top of that, the options couldn't be changed once they were chosen. So, every decision had to be made wisely. When it comes to wings, we don't really pay attention to them. You see, it's something we all have, and its only use is being our means of transportation. I know you believe angel wings are an important part of every angel... but I'd like to disagree. We can't even see our wings! We just have them so that we don't have to walk everywhere when we're down on Earth! Ugh, walking! How dreadful!
"How is your vessel going Sera?"
"Oh good, I believe. By the looks of it, I am a tall male with short dark hair, dark skin, dark grey eyes, perfect teeth, and I have a plain white t-shirt. An appealing vessel for an appealing angel" said the Guardian Angel trying to be funny.
"What about you Iz?"
"Well... it seems I have freckles! I've always thought they were a unique and delicate trait on a human face. I am also male, but my hair is light brown, also short and my skin tone is not as dark as Sera's. Oh! and I chose a blue shirt to bring out the beige in my eyes" said Iz with a small voice.
I wanted them to ask about my vessel because it looked so good! And after waiting for almost an entire minute, Iz said
"What about your vess-"
"OH MINE?! Pffff ok look. I have messy brown hair, a crimson hoodie with a purple shirt that has this funny cat with angel wings on it, haha it's really funny look" of course these two were not amused about the cute creature I added to my shirt "... anyways I also gave myself yellow eyes and-"
"Yellow eyes?"
I looked at them confused and in a flat tone I asked "what? What's wrong with yellow?"
"No-nothing" answered Sera "... it's just unusual."
After killing the entire conversation like that, Iz decided to save it by saying "But that is because you are unusual in the best way possible, Ash!", and we had a good laugh for a minute. The Lordship had approved of all our vessels and sent us back to our positions...back to nature!... yay!