Previously: The failed Apocalypse has devastated the Earth. Camael attacked Castiel who had just wiped him from Cain's memory, but eventually surrendered himself after performing a spell on Cain, hiding him from the eyes of Angels and demons. Balthazar has officially joined the Garrison. They were ordered to resurrect the Humans in just one year, with the help of Hester and Virgil.

oOo

A year to save Humanity

-Day 1-

Resurrection requires precision and focus, but overall isn't that complicated. The technicalities are part of the knowledge I was created with in order to fulfill my mission. All the information needed is infused within the soul, all there is to do is to apply it. Under normal circumstances I would take the time to refine my work, but at a rate of a hundred resurrections a day, I can't afford to give attention to detail.

A blast of energy blows the ashes from the ground as I make the soul merge with its newly restored body. I brought the Human back to life just like he was a few hours before he died, with the same physical imperfections, an exact replica to the cell. Bewildered, he is frantically looking around at the vast gray lands stretching to the skyline. All the Angels currently working on Earth are invisible to mortal eyes to spare the Humans from being wounded at our mere sight. I brush against the soul and erase the memories of demons, fire, screams and visceral fear he went through.

By my side, Hester is bringing another one to life with a powerful blast that throws an ash cloud over my freshly resurrected Human – who then starts coughing. Since he has not been created for that purpose, Hester is having a hard time keeping up with the pace. For one Human he resurrects, I already did three.

On the ground there are now about fifty Humans staring wide-eyed at everyone resurrecting out of thin air – some of them are prostrating themselves, trembling, tearing their hair out, screaming or passing out, while others are communicating with one another in a panic. There are a few of them who just stand there in silent amazement. But all of them without exception are trying to hide their reproductive organs. For a brief moment, I think back to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, naked and carefree.

This mass hysteria is puzzling. I understand it must be surprising for them to suddenly appear in a devastated landscape with no recollection of what happened to them, but is that a valid enough reason to be so dramatic?

A rustling of feathers behind me, and then Rachel's voice rises.

"Castiel. Hester. You would make it easier for us if you could just resurrect them with clothes on. Let me remind you that Humans don't like being naked – except for breeding purposes – and have a tendency to panic."

"I understand," I nod at him. "We will make sure to clothe them from now on."

That shouldn't be too hard. I reach out to the Human I just brought back to life, and add a brown tunic on him as I alter his memories once again. Rachel and Ephra's team will take care of the rest and work out the details. The year ahead promises to be filled with quite a lot of memory erasing for the Humans.

Rachel nods stiffly and flies away while I'm clothing all the others.

"Clothes…" Hester's voice is filled with contempt. This is the first time I hear him say a word. He seems disgruntled. "Animals don't need clothes. These Humans really are degenerated."

He doesn't even spare me a glance as he irritably makes clothes appear on his Human.

I don't find it necessary to make a comment, so I just reach out to the next soul written on the priority list Anael passed on. Legions of invisible Angels are roaming the gray sky, and there are trees growing on a mountain far away in the skyline.

oOo

-Day 2-

As soon as Hester's fingers brought the young woman back to life, she collapses, screaming on the ground, clawing at her hollow eye sockets streaming with blood. Terrified, the other Humans hurriedly move away from her.

I interrupt my work to walk toward my brother. "Hester…"

"I know," he snarls.

"You picked a fragment of her timeline that was too recent, you should have–"

Hester's eyes dart to me, filled with sheer hatred. The woman is writhing in pain on the ground, her voice breaking with sobs as she digs her nails into the skin on her skull, ripping off the scalp.

"I know!" Hester hisses at me.

There is a clear tension in the air, while the harrowing screams keep rising to the sky – now dark blood is running down her face and arms. I tilt my head in confusion. Why is he so angry at me? I don't think I did anything to deserve such hostility. All I have done for the last two days is bringing Humans back from the dead without ever speaking to him.

Finally, Hester touches the woman to fix the damages, but with so much distaste it shows into the swirling of his Grace. She passes out, lying inert on the ashes. Silence falls all around us and I relax a little. Watching her suffering was unpleasant.

"Don't you dare speak to me again," Hester says in a cold voice.

That's fine with me. This mission doesn't require talking. So I just ignore him and we both go back to work in silence.

oOo

-Day 7-

Hester stills with a soul in his hand, gaze sharpening on a silver fox hopping around in the ashes. The setting sun is glowing red in the horizon, casting warm colors in the desolate landscape. The animal grinds to a halt and cocks its head up as if to size us up, wet snout quivering in the air, and ears parked up. Its soft fur is infused with warm purple shades. Then, it seems to lose interest and goes back to hopping off.

Hester follows it with his eyes for a while, wings tensing up behind his back, then vacantly returns to work.

oOo

-Day 14-

Dark skin is forming over muscles, fat and veins, and hemp yarns are weaving to cover this body I'm rebuilding. I put the Human down on the ground just when his eyes snap open and he takes a deep breath. His hair, eyelashes and beard are growing back to their length just before the Apocalypse when pure white light flows all around, followed by wings flapping just before me. I straighten my back to face the Archangel Michael who is staring down at me with copper-colored eyes. Hester interrupted his work as well and is throwing us an inquiring look.

"Castiel. Come with me."

And just like that, the Archangel flies off, he powerful blast of air blowing ashes from the ground miles around, and tackling down every Human we brought back to life these last days. I am quick to spread my wings and propel myself high to the sky above. I rush straight to the skyline, flying as fast as I can to not lose sight of the Archangel's mighty winged figure. Wind is whistling between my feathers as I slice through the air. Hester is under my supervision and I shouldn't leave him on his own, but an order from an Archangel trumps an order from the General. No question asked.

Michael doesn't fly very far away: he makes a smooth landing in the middle of the ocean, his bright reflection outshining the sun. I come down on the water surface too, barely troubling it with the tip of my claws. The glimmering ocean is stretching as far as I can see, its deep blue melting into the sky in the distance. Michael folds his wings behind his back and looks at me unblinkingly, towering over me. Head thrown back to stare back, I patiently wait for orders.

"I read Anael's report. It didn't mention anywhere the mission involving Cain I gave you."

"This is normal, considering I told no one about it."

Michael tilts his head and narrows his copper-colored eyes – he seems surprised.

"Really? And why not?"

"No one asked."

The Archangel blinks, bending down to peer right into my eyes as if to probe my mind and bore into the depths of my inner thoughts. There is something strangely wistful and sad about the way he's observing me.

"What a peculiar thing you are."

I don't know how to answer. Was that a compliment or a reproach?

I stand stiff and silent, waiting for him to get to the point. It is obvious he brought me all the way here to give me an order. So I'm waiting for my order.

"Did you succeed in erasing Cain's memories before he disappeared?"

"Only those involving Camael. I was interrupted before I could create a whole new past for him."

"I could explore a few of his memories myself, but only superficially. So tell me: was Camael under the influence of the Mother of All?"

Here we are. This is about Camael's punishment. Or could it be a twisted way to test my loyalty? This is a direct question, I can only obey.

"The Mother of All never acted through Cain. Camael acted on his own accord."

"That's what I thought."

Michael's gaze hardens. I refrain from asking what will become of my brother. In a silent prayer, I beg my Father to be merciful and send Camael to rehabilitation for a few millennia if necessary instead of executing him.

"I'll ask you to never tell a word to any of your brothers about it," Michael says more authoritatively. "Ever. If anyone asks you, you'll say that Camael was manipulated by the Mother of All. If word gets out that Camael chose Cain over his duty, over God, that might give ideas to some Angels and bring chaos. Heaven has suffered enough rebellions as it is."

"I understand."

Michael looks at me for a few seconds more. I don't know what he reads in my eyes, but he seems to be satisfied with it and his Grace brightens.

"Good. Now go back to your station. And we never had this conversation."

He flies away and disappears into the infinite sky while I hastily beat my wings to go back to my mission.

Hester is crouching, staring intently at something on the ground when I land at his side. He throws a glance at me and stands up to grab a soul. Somehow, I am quite certain he hasn't done any resurrecting work while I was away.

"What did Michael want?" he asks with feigned nonchalance.

"I thought you said you never wanted me to speak to you again, Hester."

He shoots me a glare and turns his back on me, his Grace swirling wildly with anger. So be it. He is free to get upset for no reason if that's what he wants. I don't care as long as he carries out the mission.

Down on the ground, I notice about thirty red squirrels in the branches of the trees, that weren't there when I left, I'm sure of it.

Indeed, Hester does need my supervision.

oOo

-Day 25-

The secret is to stick with a pace and be very systematic about it. First, check the list of priority souls, then grab about a dozen of them to secure in one hand. Take one aside. Wrap my Grace around it. Apply its genetic code combined with the lived years to generate bones, flesh and skin. Add clothes matching the last memories. Erase any recollection of the last hours before they died. All of this while keeping an eye on Hester. Sometimes I catch him glowering at me, and more than once he seemed about to say something, before holding it back by tightening his wings behind his back.

Anael's voice is transmitting us the daily report on our progress, invariably encouraging us to speed up the pace to meet the objectives.

We already brought back to life every priority Human on our area, and moved north. The plants division has obviously been working around here. Ashes gave way to green meadows, and leafy trees are thriving in the fresh spring air. Souls are swarming here: there used to be a large city in Zedekiel's sector.

I promptly grab a bunch of them and Hester unenthusiastically does the same.

oOo

-Day 88-

As I'm resurrecting my 62th soul of the day with the usual blast of energy it entails, the loud sound of wings clapping rises all around. I look up to realize that we are surrounded by about a hundred Angels glaring at us both.

"You're impeding our mission," one of them snarls, walking toward me.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

With a tilt of the head, the Angel narrows his pale green eyes that could pass for white.

"Your constant resurrecting is throwing down the trees we worked so hard to grow! And the Humans you're bringing back are cutting and burning the ones you haven't destroyed yet!"

I'm not empowered to deal with this kind of situation. Let's call the General.

Anael, I am caught in what you would call a « squabble between divisions ». Which is wasting our time and keeping us from our resurrection duty.

"He's got a point," Hester chimes in arrogantly, crossing his arms.

Now he's starting to annoy me. That comment really was unnecessary.

I'm on my way. Try not to say anything that could make things worse, Anael says, a hint of frustration in his voice.

"Just when we thought we would finally get rid of these festering overpopulation of Humans!" another soldier complains. "A few hundreds were fine, but millions?! They keep fornicating and proliferating like rabbits!"

"Don't compare rabbits to that hairless vermin," Hester objects. "They're not nearly as dangerous and we made sure to regulate their population with an appropriate number of predators."

"True. That was a bad choice of words. My apologies."

"Accepted."

"That's precisely the problem with those apes," the green-eyed Angel scoffs. "We were fine with their existence until they climbed to the top of the food chain. If no measures are taken, the day will come when there will be billions of them swarming about! Who's going to control their growth now, if not for us?"

Hester fervently nods.

"Exactly! Thank you! That's what I've been saying for centuries! The sole response I've been given was to be sent on resurrection duty with the Garrison... Humans pose a real hazard that the higher chain of command won't be able to ignore forever!"

I've never been more relieved to see Anael flying high in the sky and diving straight to us. His gaze sharpens on the pale-eyed Angel when his claws hit the ground and he irritably folds his wings.

"Brap," our General says in an icy cold tone. "I was hoping I'd not see you again so soon."

"Anael," the Angel retorts just as coldly. "The displeasure is all mine."

"May I ask why are you keeping my soldiers from accomplishing the mission God gave them?"

"Oh but you may, by all means. Your soldiers are destroying our work and hindering our priority mission, mot to mention how loathsome and arrogant they're acting."

"How so?"

Brap gestures wildly at the trees that have been thrown on the ground by every powerful blast that inevitably comes with a resurrection.

"Do you even realize that plants and trees are sensitive, subtle and complex living beings? Our work is art, Anael. Your useless soldiers and the degenerate apes they keep resurrecting are ruining everything!"

Anael is staring intently at Brap, as if he could pierce through him with just a thought.

"We've had this pointless conversation a hundred times before, Brap."

"Our division is older and more important than your blasted Garrison! We were here long before you were created, so stop looking down on us just because for some obscure reason God wanted us all to bow before your little playthings!"

Hester is watching the scene with great interest while Anael is closing his fists in anger.

"I refuse to engage on this matter anymore. We both know how it ended last time. All decisions regarding Humanity are taken by the hierarchy, and at our level we must strive to work together. So let's compromise: I suggest that my soldiers choose one single location by area where they will proceed to the resurrections. Preferably a place without trees around."

Brap narrows his eyes and swiftly brings his face closer to Anael's.

"Fine," he hisses at the General. "I cannot wait for the day the hierarchy gives the order to wipe your degenerate apes off the planet. Oh, I will happily comply, and believe me, Anael, I won't be the only one."

Anael silently glowers at him, watching him fly away with his soldiers until they disappear into the skyline.

"You heard the new instructions. I will inform the others. Get back to work."

And without further notice, he snaps his wings open and flies away too. Hester shoots me a scornful look and snatches a soul out of the air.

oOo

-Day 112-

The moon is full, and the valley where we carry out the resurrections has become a crater that keeps widening. More than a hundred distraught Humans are wandering about and staring in disbelief as more of them keep appearing on a regular basis. Ephra and Rachel will soon come to harvest and sort them out before erasing their memory once more.

"Maybe we should make them sleep until our brothers come and collect them," I say, watching the Humans panicking and communicating on the ground.

Hester's feathers bristle and his gaze sharpens on me.

"You soldiers from the Garrison should stop coddling these creatures. A little bit of panic won't hurt them all that much. Don't you think animals felt panic too, when they were burned alive to save your precious little monkeys from Lucifer?"

"I'm just saying that from a practical point of view, it would keep Rachel and Ephra from needing to erase their memory again, which could save us all a lot of time."

Hester narrows his pale gray eyes and draws closer to me. His Grace is fiercely whirling, boiling with blue bubbles.

"Do you think I don't know what happens in the Garrison, Castiel? Rumors are spreading fast, every Angel in Heaven knows that your General has been sent to rehabilitation for trying to bring Adam and Eve back to their parents. I have been told Camael rebelled for Cain and contaminated Gabriel with his madness. You would all stand idle and watch as Humans destroy the Creation, the lot of you!"

I can't help my eyes from widening. I had never known the actual reason for Anael's punishment. Now this would explain why I've been ordered to erase the memory of Adam and Eve's parents.

However, Hester's accusation is offensive. I'm not like Camael. I'm a good soldier. God is my only master and all my devotion and prayers are directed at Him and to Him only.

"You're wrong, Hester."

"Oh, am I now? You all are worshiping Humans, it's disgusting! I was opposed to the creation of the Garrison, you know? Well, time has proved me right!"

"I'm not a-"

"And do you enjoy watching them torture animals?! I don't care that they eat them, that's just the natural cycle of life. I can even accept that they enslave horses and cows... but the goat! The goat! Now this is going too far! Do you have any idea how widely your despicable joke has spread? Us soldiers from the division in charge of land animals can't even exchange two words with other sections without everyone systematically bringing up the goat! No matter what the conversation is about, it always comes down to goats! Ah ah ah, so very funny, isn't it?!"

I can't help my Grace from swirling in amusement at this memory. It is a very good memory.

"That was a joke from Uriel. And even you have to admit that it is kind of funny."

Hester's feathers are now ruffled and his eyes are positively murderous. He dramatically whirls around and grabs a soul into his clenched fist, back to ignoring me.

"I don't even like Humans, Hester." I look down to the human body I'm rebuilding. "I'm only following orders."

Still offended, he shoots me a glare.

"Oh really?"

"They are, like the ocean, the moon or the animals, our Father's work of art. As such, I admire them in the same way I admire the ochered light in the clouds when the sun is sinking into the skyline, or the sound of the wind whistling through the leaves. However…"

The soul is glowing brightly in the palm of my hand. With time, my pain has faded, but its blade is still sharp enough to make my Grace shiver any time my thoughts venture to the past.

"… they played a part in making the other human species disappear, including the one I..."

I can't bring myself to complete my words.

"Oh."

Hester stays silent for a moment, the feathers on his wings slowly deflating.

"I remember now. There were rumors back then about an Angel from the Garrison that Raphael was keeping a close eye on. So that was you."

I look up to meet his gaze.

"What are you talking about? I've never been under surveillance until Adam and Eve died and I went to trial."

Hester's gray eyes soften.

"Many believed that you would rebel like Zachariah did. Your General and Raphael were ready to send you to rehabilitation at the first sign of disobedience."

I stare in shock as he stretches a wing to brush against my shoulder with the tip of his feathers.

"Forgive me, Castiel. I misjudged you. You're a good soldier."

I choose to remain silent as he withdraws his wing.

"You were unfortunate to have been created to watch over God's most destructive and appalling creations. I don't envy you, Castiel. Your place should have been in my division."

Down on the ground, a woman is sobbing tears of relief, holding against her chest a child I brought back to life earlier.

oOo

-Day 170-

Hester's mood visibly improved since our last talk, and he's getting almost pleasant with me. He even listens to my advices on how to proceed more efficiently with resurrection. But it is quite obvious that he's still very reluctant at the very idea of bringing Humans back to life.

"This punishment is unfair," he's complaining again as he often does. "Especially since my brothers have millions of different species to bring back. Removing two soldiers from our division when there is so much work to do, it's really..."

He groans and lets his sentence unfinished.

"The Garrison's mission comes first," I say as I carefully rebuild veins in the uncompleted human body lying limply on the palm of my hand. "Death only gave us a year before the souls are taken away. Animals don't have a soul, they can wait."

Hester snarls, dark thundering clouds start gathering in the sky, and suddenly he's right in front of me, grabbing the back of my head in a tight grip. Three stormy gray orbs are glaring at me as I cautiously close my hand around my unfinished work to protect it.

"Again with the souls!" he hisses, narrowing his eyes. "I'm so sick of this failed experiment being glorified! These souls are an offense to nature and should never have existed in the first place! Every living being, including us, must return to the essence of Creation after dying! This is the rightful cycle of life, and these hairless apes are violating the laws of nature, cheating death by surviving through their soul, be it in Hell, Heaven or Purgatory! I can't stand such arrogance!"

He spat that word just when I was reaching back to pull his fingers off my skull. I never considered the question before, but now that Hester is mentioning it, I kind of agree with him. Why would God want to stockpile human souls and offer them eternal peace in Heaven or endless torment in Hell? Why should Humans deserve it more than other animals? And what about us?

No. We are the Warriors of the Lord. The sole purpose for our creation, the only reason we exist in the first place is to obey orders. Why would we keep existing if we're no longer able to do that?

"God created souls, Hester. It isn't our place to judge His decisions. For He is great and His plan is just. We don't need to understand what He wants to serve Him. You just have to have Faith."

Hester withdraws his hand, eyes softening as he lowers them.

"You're right," he says, voice barely above a whisper. "I overstepped. The Lord works in mysterious ways, I know that."

Crisis averted.

"Your brothers in arms will do just fine bringing animals back to life on their own. How many soldiers are there in your division?"

"About one hundred thousand."

I stare wide-eyed.

"One hundred thousand?"

"Yes." He is now beaming with pride. "More than two hundred thousand, if you're counting Cherubs. My division is one of the most important ones. If you gathered all divisions in charge of some kind of life form on Earth, that would be around five hundred thousand Angels. You soldiers of the Garrison have only been created to watch over God's newest little experiment on animals endowed with a soul. That's why for centuries no one bothered to name your group, and over time, the generic title of Garrison stayed. Technically, you're not even a full division on your own, barely a lower unit of my division. There's a reason for your small number, you know. A failed experiment, as I said. Who would have thought your crawling fish would evolve, multiply and become so problematic?"

My mind is numb. Anael requested for our workforce to be increased, in the aftermath of the Apocalypse. How many new soldiers other than Balthazar are going to be assigned to our Mission? Now that Humans are gaining prominence in the Creation, is the Garrison going to be upgraded to an actual division? As important as the division in charge of land animals?

How many of us will there be eventually? Hundreds? Thousands?

oOo

-Day 237-

All the Humans listed have been resurrected in this area – Levanael's former sector. There are many souls still floating around us though, and Hester chases them away with a wave of the hand. Those souls are non-priority and won't be taken care of unless these is time left once we crossed all the names off the list. The souls that have not been handled by the end of the year will be harvested by Death.

We're reaching the end of the list, it should be all done in a few weeks or so. But the end of our one-year deadline is drawing nearer, and it's starting to be clear with every passing day that the non-priority Humans won't be all saved.

Ephra and Rachel did a very good job. Levanael's city is identical to what it used to be before the Apocalypse, even if it is less crowded now. Humans are behaving normally, carrying goods, feeding, drinking, mating in the shade of their houses. The only difference is that none of them can die until the end of the year Death granted us.

They don't remember dying, neither wandering as souls in a devastated planet, nor how Angels look like. And they don't realize that Earth is currently in effervescence, battalions of busy Angels roaming over the lands and mountains. Glowing bright and hovering on the horizon, the Plant division is negotiating with the Water division about one of our craters: they can't seem to agree on whether it should be made into a lake or filled with soil and covered with plants.

A rustling of feathers interrupts our work, and we turn around to face Samandriel, the Angel of Fertility, who just made a smooth landing. There's a gleam of joy in his green eyes infused with silver flakes.

"Hello Castiel, hello Hester."

I notice hundreds of low-ranked Cherubs in the distance, crouching to brush against all Humans and animals in the area, one by one. Samandriel is probably here to supervise their work.

"Hello Samandriel," Hester says.

I offer a silent nod in greetings.

"I ran into your division earlier, Hester. They told me about your redeployment and decided to wait for you to bring back to life your favorite species."

Hester's Grace brightens with joy.

"Thank you. I see you're quite busy."

"I am," Samandriel nods. "I've been ordered to facilitate population growth, especially for rare species of animals and Humans who have been chosen to become our vessels in the future."

This is only the second time that our paths cross, since the trial when he proved Camael innocent. The tone of his voice is warm. Soothing.

He fixes his eyes on my face.

"I was saddened to hear that Camael made an attempt on your life. I would never have expected that from him. I hope he will repent and get back on the right path."

News certainly travel fast.

"Thank you."

I'm not entirely sure that was the right thing to say.

"I have to move on to the next area," the Angel of Fertility says with a hand gesture, before spreading his wings and flying high up in the sky. The swarm of Cherubs immediately follows him to the skyline, fast as lightning. Hester follows them with his eyes until they disappear away.

"Did you know that Samandriel is the very last Angel our Father created?" There is a hint of fondness in his voice. "He is our youngest brother."

I didn't know that, although Hester doesn't seem to be expecting an answer. His gaze is unfocused and lost in the distance, farther than the skyline.

"Our work is done here." My voice snaps it out of him. "Let's move to the East."

His head turns to stare at me sharply.

"Wait a second, Castiel... Did I hear that right earlier? Camael tried to kill you?"

"You did hear correctly. He was manipulated by the Mother of All through Cain."

Obeying to the order Michael personally gave me is a source of great pride. The Archangel has been assigning me a secret mission twice now.

"I had no idea..." Hester murmurs thoughtfully.

oOo

-Day 239-

"Hester..."

"Yes?"

"Your division existed before Humans and the Garrison were created..."

Hester puts down on the ground the sleeping Human he just brought back to life, and turns his head to look at me bemusedly.

"Indeed. So what?"

I glance down at the soul I'm cradling in my hand, faltering for a split second. Lucifer's words keep coming back to me, clear as daylight.

"How was it... before?"

Hester froze. He's staring at me intently, head tilting to the side.

"It was perfect." His voice was barely above a whisper, I nearly didn't catch it. His Grace is glowing wistfully as he closes his eyes. "Perfect..."

The word dissolves into the warm air of late summer.

oOo

-Day 243-

Crouching down over a sleeping little girl I just brought back to life, I take a dip into her mind. She hasn't been living for a long time, but yet there's a lot of love in her memories, a lot of trust and hope. Once I've erased everything she remembered about the brutal way she died, I add some clothes on her body, and upon reflection I also materialize in her arms her rag doll that had burned to ashes during the Apocalypse.

Out of the corner of my eyes I can see Hester staring at me unblinkingly. But he averts his gaze when I look up, focusing his attention on a mountain instead as though that was the most fascinating thing he has ever seen.

oOo

-Day 302-

Mission accomplished. At last, every single soul written on the list has been resurrected. My brothers' voices are whispering their reports into my head. Anael is congratulating us, and then he promptly orders us to now save as many non priority Humans as we can.

There's no time to waste. I grab one of the wandering souls we've been neglecting for months, and start reconstructing the body right away. By my side, Hester glances at me bemusedly.

"How should we select the non priority Humans to bring back to life?"

"What do you mean?"

Hester reaches out and snatches a dozen souls in his hand.

"We won't be able to bring all of them back. We're running out of time. Is your intention to resurrect them randomly? Shouldn't we choose only those who deserve to live?"

I cease my resurrection in progress and look down at the soul I was about to grant a new life to. It is a feeblish man suffering from a genetic abnormality in his aorta. He won't get to live long. Maybe resurrecting him is indeed a waste of time and energy?

Hester is coldly sorting out the souls in the palm of his hand, one by one.

"This one has beaten a dog to death because it bit his daughter. But the whiny little brat had it coming, she pulled its tail, the dog just reacted instinctively. I see no reason why I should bring back this monster to life. As for that one, the way he treats his own offspring is disgusting. Why should he be given a second chance? Oh, this one treats animals with a lot of respect and tenderness. I will definitely resurrect her."

I thoughtfully let go of the soul I had been about to work on.

"This is a rather complex question you're raising, Hester. Who are we to decide who gets to live and who doesn't?"

"Angels, Castiel. We are the arm of the Lord and agents of Destiny. These Humans are expandable, no instruction has been given, so why not act according to what we believe is fair? And resurrect only those pure of heart?"

Hester's got a point there.

"You're right," I say with a nod.

A rustling of feathers behind us makes us turn around to face Balthazar as he nonchalantly folds his wings back.

"I, for one, favor the aesthetic side in them," he says pompously.

Obviously he heard our conversation.

"The aesthetic side?" Hester repeats with clear disgust.

"Indeed. Have you taken a close look at them? Most Humans are very ugly, of course, but there are a few rare ones that are quite pleasant to look at. I'm in charge of selecting the human bloodlines that will become some day our vessels, and I make it a point to wipe the ugly ones from the list. When the day comes, I'd like to possess a drop dead gorgeous Human, thank you very much."

Hester rolls his eyes with a repulsed groan.

"What are you doing here, Balthazar? We have work to do, and time is running out."

"Oh, take it easy, Cassy… Why are you Garrison soldiers so stuck up? You should consider pulling out the stick out of your butt sometimes."

"We don't have butts."

"Oh, come on. You know exactly what I mean, don't play dumb with me."

"That's not the point, Balthazar. We have a mission to carry out. Why are you here?"

Balthazar shrugs.

"Just taking a stroll around. The late autumn breeze is quite pleasant, and you're missing out by staying here. There are a lot of things currently happening on Earth and in Heaven. Did you know they're forging weapons and holy trinkets in the firmament as we speak?"

"There isn't much time left to accomplish our mission, we can't afford idle chatting. Let's go back to work."

"Oh, dearest Cassy, what a party pooper you are. We did resurrect all the Humans on the list, I believe we deserve a day off, don't you think? Non-priority souls can wait. Tell me if I'm wrong, but if they weren't on the list, it means no one cares about them. Including God."

He gives a pat on my shoulder as I struggle to find words to argue.

"Maybe. But still, we need to obey orders. Orders are orders."

Balthazar snickers and Hester rolls his eyes at me. Offended, I turn around to grab a handful of souls.

"I'll leave you lovebirds to it then, I'm going to go and annoy Siosp. I can't get enough of it."

Hester gives a startled yelp as Balthazar flies away. I stare down at the souls and select children's ones, pure and innocent, as well as every soul I can find radiating with maternal or paternal love.

oOo

-Day 365-

It is over, time is up. Stop the resurrections.

I immediately let go of the soul I was about to bring back to life. Hester stiffens by my side.

Earth is wrapped in a mantle of snow smothering colors and smoothing the landscape under the bright gray sky. The sun is rising on a white world of silence where snowflakes are whirling down among wandering souls. Suddenly, blurry white shadows emerge out of nowhere and swoop down on those thousands of souls we couldn't save. The Reapers are moving fast, snatching them one by one.

When I turn my head toward Hester, he's looking at me with a smile in his eyes.

Hester and Virgil, you may go back to your division. We will call upon you shouldweneed you again.

His wing is brushing against my shoulder with fondness.

"Being around you for a year has been less tedious than I expected. Thank you."

I remain silent while Hester spreads his wings and flies away. He vanishes into the skyline just when the Reapers are taking away the last souls. There's nothing left.

Nothing but this vast icy landscape and snow falling quietly.

oOo

In the next chapter (next sunday, march 15th)

"With a few exceptions, female Humans are treated like cattle. They belong to their father, husband or sons, and they're not allowed to speak out without a male's agreement. Humans won't listen to the Word of God if it comes out of a woman's mouth."

"Exactly, they all value penis so highly! To be honest, I won't be surprised if they ever start worshiping penises at some point…"