Testaments

As you can tell, in the first two chapters of my life- a billion or so years- I didn't particularly…impact the course of history. None of us really did, and that's just the thing with angels. In Heaven, heroes aren't made- they're born. Unless you count the fact that all angels were made…But I'm speaking figuratively here. In other words, we were programmed to follow, to be obedient soldiers while the Seraphs were given slightly more freedom to command their Garrisons under the eyes of the Archangels.

Humans, on the other hand, were a different story. No one knew who was to lead them in this hostile new world. It was utter chaos the moment they were turned out of Eden and into the barren landscape beyond. The humans were brutal to each other, driven by instinctive urges such as hunger as they fought for what food they could find. It stunned me, seeing what the forbidden fruit had done to them. It had given them far too much knowledge, and they were paying the price.

All the while, Father grew more and more reclusive.

Eventually, tribes were formed and scattered throughout the land. Man coaxed what crops they could from the ground, and hunted what game there was. Meanwhile, abominations such as the monstrous creations of Eve, and the Nephilim, the spawn of humans and angels, corrupted the once-pure sanctity of Earth. Also, though Lucifer was locked away deep in the pit, demons continued to spread like a disease. Through all this, many had forgotten about God, turning to the worship of countless man-eating pagan gods for favors. But there were those who still had faith.

Such was the story of Cain and Abel, the two brothers, sons of Adam and Eve. And I saw it all.

My Garrison was assigned to be stationed on Earth to watch the affairs of Man for a few thousand years. Frankly, it became pretty monotonous after a while. Humans really only have a certain number of things they do or like to do, which follows the daily routine of sleeping, working, eating, defecating, a lot of copulating, and even more fighting. It greatly confused all of us, and Anael would often discuss these strange human activities with me. We spent much time wondering about things such as,

"Why do they eat if it just comes back out again?"

"Is something wrong with that one? There's water leaking from his eyes."

"Do they find it pleasing to show each other their teeth?"

"Why do they stick their mouths together like that? Are they trying to eat one another?"

Humans also had practical activities too, of course, such as the inventing the wheel to aid them in transporting their loads, domesticating animals for food, and also the discovery of fire by a man named Prometheus. All these were seen by me, until one day, by chance I came upon the two brothers. They were unremarkable, to say the least, living a few miles away from the nearest tribe and keeping to themselves. But they were direct descendants- perhaps even the first descendants, if you don't include Eve's monstrosities- of the first man and woman, and they were deeply devout.

Cain was the elder brother, and Abel was the younger. From a glance I saw the potential within in them. They were strong; yes, strong enough to be powerful vessels. The concept of a vessel was new to all of us. Only a few brothers and sisters had already found theirs, while the true vessels of all the rest of us had not yet been born. Those with vessels would often come and tell us about the experiences, but I didn't see how interesting it was to confine myself into someone else's skin. And then there were always those awkward questions when someone recognizes your vessel.

So I stood there, cloaked in my spiritual visage, watching as Abel tended to the flock and as Cain harvested the crops in the noonday sun. It was a rather mundane scene, and I was just about to leave when I caught sight of Cain as he fell to his knees. His basket tumbled to the ground and he seemed to be having some kind of fit, hands over his ears as he listened to something only he could hear. But I knew what it was.

An angel was speaking to him.

We were forbidden to make any contact with humans without an Archangel's permission, as our voice could kill the recipient of the message if they were not one of the chosen. I came closer, listening to the man as he spoke to the air through clenched teeth,

"No, no, you can't. Don't! Don't take him, please…..I'll do it, just don't…Yes…Yes…If you swear…Okay," The convulsions abruptly stopped, and Cain drew out a long breath as he lay on the ground. Water flowed from his eyes – tears, which I was just beginning to understand was a result of sorrow. I knew that I had to go report this to Anael. Right away. Some angel had spoken to him, and I felt a sense of dread as it dawned on me who it might have been. But something kept me from leaving, and I could only watch on with a horrified fascination as the man mechanically dug up an old jawbone from the dirt and walked to where his brother was.

Then he beat Abel to death.

He didn't stop when Abel was dead, either. He just…kept on going, pounding that jawbone into the corpse over and over again. I backed away, the act forever seared into my mind and utter revulsion swirling inside me.

Suddenly, Cain paused, hand clutching the bloody bone as he rose his head to look directly at me.

His eyes were pitch black, and inside them I saw Lucifer, smiling triumphantly.

Please review! I love them very much and they really encourage me to keep writing this~ Thanks to all who have so far!

Also, if you'd like to suggest an angel to be mentioned please PM me with their names and a short description and I will consider them. :