We returned to where we had left off after what we did in Egypt, as if nothing had happened. I can only remember becoming…aware again, as if I just awoken, and looking around me and down at the cities of Egypt with confusion. At that moment a great, keening wail was heard from all corners of the land, crying out in indescribable grief, and I remember that I didn't understand why they were grieving.
We were all told that Father Himself had gone down to smite the firstborns of Egypt. From what I heard throughout history, this had been what the humans believed as well.
A lie.
Centuries passed without much happening down on Earth. Father soon turned His judgment to the two great cities of the plain: Sodom and Gomorra. I had visited the cities once or twice before, when they were young, but I didn't know how tainted they had become until the day we watched it get devoured in fire and brimstone.
Azrael and Rahab, both powerful Seraphs who had already found vessels, were commanded to go warn the only family worthy of being saved from utter destruction. When they were safely out of the way, the two angels rained fire down on the cities, destroying them in a matter of minutes. To make sure none survived and following their orders, they also dropped in another deadly weapon: the Salt Crystal. Imbued with angelic energy, it could turn a human into a pillar of salt with a single glance. I witnessed its power firsthand as I watched the fleeing family. Lot's wife cast a look back at the burning city, even though she had been forewarned by the angels we sent, and was almost instantaneously crystallized. No one else paused or even stopped for her.
Aside from the wife, I thought Lot was a rather weak man, in human standards. I mean, he even offered his daughters to be violated by the city's (few hundred) men gathered at his doorstep. He probably would have gone through with it, too, if Azrael had not grabbed him and pulled him back into the house. But spiritually, he was one of the most devout humans of his time. That outweighed everything.
More time passed as my Garrison watched the Earth. We were sent on errands, such as to give a prophet a message, or guard over the Israelites, or smite some demons that were causing too much trouble. I saw Samson's strength, I saw Solomon in the height of his glory, I saw all the wars fought in the name of God. I saw a boy named David defeat the giant Goliath, a true feat of courage; but little did I know that soon I would be the little boy. The one who overthrew Destiny.
We were content to be occupied with these small tasks. But again, God slowly but surely began to withdraw from our affairs, though it was barely detected by any of us. Perhaps He was just tired. I never got to ask Him why He left us, or if I did, I never got a reply.
None of us really knew that Father left when He did. Most of us, including me, were just blindly faithful. How foolish we were, thinking that for all those thousands of years God was still up there. The archangels, though grieved by His absence, quickly took matters entirely into their own hands and played God, but I think we all sensed that something was missing. The first thing the Arches did was ban all interaction with humans, including taking one as a vessel. We were to be silent, completely non-existent on the physical plane. We were only to watch.
Eventually, after living for so many countless centuries, things in history began to blur. The wars came and passed. Cities sprouted up and were decimated. Humans were born and withered away. I'm not sure if it's just my memory, or whether it was Naomi's doing, that I can't clearly recall everything in this time period. But it doesn't matter. It all kind of moved along until there came a single moment of clarity, something that at once gave me a new and fulfilling purpose.
The birth of my vessel.
Are you HYPED for the next chapter, because I am! You all know who I'm talkin' about here... eue