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009. Months

Aziraphale leant his back against one of the walls surrounding the Garden, drawing lines on the ground with the tip of his sword. In his free hand he was holding an apple, every now and then nibbling at the perfect, red fruit. Although he seemed rather lazy at the time, his mind was working furiously as it organized all the information he had collected about Earth during the past few months. Angelic intelligence added to human curiosity could create some rather interesting results indeed.

Suddenly, however, his eyes caught something in the grass nearby at the same time as his angelic senses cried out in alarm at an approaching demonic aura. He immediately stood straight, flames enveloping the blade of his sword as he glared at the creature hidden in the grass, looking every bit like the angel general he was. "Back off, demon," he said firmly. "This place is not for you and your kind."

"Ssssuch rude language," the snake hissed, raising its head from the grass. "I haven't even done anything yet. I'm not allowed to hurt your preciousss humansss, if that'sss what you're worried about. Rulesss, you sssee. Handsss off humansss." Had it been able to narrow its eyes, it probably would have. "Now, what the rulesss sssay about angelsss..."

"Don't even try," Aziraphale said calmly. "You stand no chance and you know it. Even if you were in a human form and had a sword, you couldn't win me."

"Oh, really?" The snake now looked rather sly. "And here I wasss thinking I might actually be the only one who could indeed win you."

Suddenly Aziraphale realized a lot of things. Like why the snake's voice sounded so familiar. "...Carowiel?" he asked, the tone his voice a mix of disgust, shock, and wariness.

"The one and only," replied the snake, sounding rather satisfied. "Although they insssissst on calling me 'Crawly' Down There." He glanced around. "Nice place you have here. Essspecially the Sssun."

"Well, now that you've seen it, get back Down There," Aziraphale said coolly, raising his sword threateningly. "Don't make me force you to go away."

"Aren't you angelsss sssupposssed to be all kind and loving?" asked the snake nastily. "Then why can't you accept me? It'sss not like I've done any harm around here."

"Well, it's not like your kind would ever intend to do anything but harm," Aziraphale spat. "Slither off, vile serpent. You are not wanted here." While he said these words, his heart ached like never before.

The snake threw him a dirty glare. Then it hissed and slithered off.

For a long time Aziraphale stood there, staring after its trail.

"Good afternoon, angel," said a hauntingly familiar voice behind him a few days later. "A nice day we're having here, don't you think?" There was a definitely satisfied tone in the voice.

Aziraphale's head snapped around. He stared in shock at the snake hanging from a tree right on the other side of the gate. "You!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing there?"

"Well, apparently not all guardsss are as watchful asss you are," Crawly replied smugly. "I managed to ssslither by one of them, and no, I'm not telling which gate I came through. What are you going to do now that I'm already here? Your tasssk isss only to guard the gate, after all."

"How about I cut you into pieces with my sword?" asked Aziraphale coolly. There was no hint of joking in his voice, and his eyes were like blue ice.

"Now, now, angel, mind your temper," the demon said. "You're ssstarting to resssemble Michael."

"If I did, I would be proud," replied Aziraphale simply. "He is my leader, no matter what."

"No matter if a battle ssstarted by him ssseparated the Hossst in two?" Crawly asked slyly.

Of course, Aziraphale immediately had a response. "It was not Michael who first drew his sword."

"Right, right, blame all on the demon," sighed the snake. "Angelsss never make missstakesss."

"Yes, we do. But when an angel makes the mistake of following a wrong master, he doesn't stay as an angel for long," Aziraphale said calmly, giving the snake a level gaze.

"Like you would know anything about that." And, before he could say anything in response, the snake disappeared into the tree.

Since then, the snake visited him often, taunting him, teasing him. Aziraphale had asked Michael what to do about it. Michael had (after making to find out just who had let a demon into the Garden) said that if Aziraphale were to kill this demon, another would surely be sent. It would be the best, he had decided, if Aziraphale kept the demon occupied and kept an eye on him rather than drove him away to cause trouble elsewhere. Unnecessary battles around the Garden had been forbidden by Him, too.

Therefore Aziraphale suffered the frequent taunts of the one he had once called his best friend. Often he itched to just kill the serpent and be done with it, but he never did it. He stayed calm, no matter what. Michael and everybody else would have a reason to be proud of him.

Then one day, after this had gone on for months, the snake thought about tempting Eve.

And after that everything went downhill.

"This is not a punishment, Aziraphale," Michael said, sighing a bit. "What you did, you did out of your love for humans. It was not wrong. However, so much of a cherub warrior's powers are tied to their sword that it's simply impossible for you to be considered one anymore."

Aziraphale simply nodded. "I understand," he said, and he did. He had willingly given away his sword, and as a result, he was now a mere principality. Besides, he could tell that Michael didn't like this any more than he did.

"Now, there's another matter I wanted to discuss with you," Michael continued. "He will not abandon his children, and thus he feels that it would be good if somebody watched over the humans. The Enemy hardly will be satisfied with this one trick only, and the world itself is not without dangers, either. An order came to me through Metatron. He has decided to have one angel permanently situated on Earth -- and He decided that this angel should be the one who loves humans most out of all of the Hosts." After a small pause, he continued, "And that would be you."

Aziraphale froze. He was assigned a mission directly by Him? After he had got over his worst shock, he somehow managed to say, "But -- I can't do it. No matter how much I try, I can't keep the humans safe forever. I'm not powerful or even watchful enough, and there will be more of them --"

"You don't have to keep them safe all the time," Michael assured him, smiling a bit. "They have free will, after all, and are free to form their own fate. Just watch over them. Help them out here and there. Keep us up to date about the events of Earth. That sort of thing." With a tiny smirk, he added, "And, of course, while doing this you are free to study the Earth and humans to your heart's content."

Aziraphale smiled, too. "I shall do that," he said. Then, he turned to leave.

Michael must have given some kind of a sign, because suddenly every angel on the practice field turned towards them. Then, they moved to form two sides with a clear path between them, leading right towards the Pearly Gates. As Aziraphale walked through them, they all raised their swords in greeting. He swallowed, his steps almost faltering as he forced himself to walk on.

At the end of the practice field, where the path ended, stood a couple of the generals. "Go to Earth and learn what's worth learning," Canael said, smiling a bit. "Then get back that sword and return to us. Somebody has to keep an eye on Michael."

"You slew Beelzebub in the Fall, and now he's a Prince of Hell," Umael said. "A cherub or not, you'll always be a general to me."

Aziraphale didn't know what to say. Therefore, he didn't say anything; he knew the others would understand. Then he left them behind, heading for the Pearly Gates, preparing to face a new life.

Next Prompt: Years