At the dawn of creation, before the first human ever drew breath, God crafted His most sublime creations. For each of His archangels - Michael, Lucifer, Raphael, and Gabriel - He fashioned perfect companions. These beings were unlike anything else in Creation: not angel, not human, but something gloriously unique. They were the pinnacle of God's artistry, vessels of immense power and boundless love, designed to be the wellspring of angelic creation.
These mates were more than mere companions; they were the missing pieces of the archangels' very essence. Their unions were meant to bring forth new celestial beings, populating Heaven with angels born of love rather than divine will alone. The bond between an archangel and their mate was profound, transcending the boundaries of Heaven and Earth, a connection so deep it seemed to resonate with the very fabric of the universe.
But when Lucifer's rebellion shook the foundations of Heaven, God's wrath was terrible and swift, His judgment beyond comprehension. He ripped these mates away from all the archangels—not just the rebellious Morningstar, but the loyal sons as well. It was the harshest punishment conceivable, a divine reprimand that left all of Heaven reeling, stripping the Archangels of their unique connection to these beings they had once cherished above all else.
God, in His infinite wisdom (or perhaps, in a moment of infinite cruelty), did not stop at mere separation. He wiped clean the memories of the bonds between Archangels and their mates, but not the knowledge of their existence, leaving only a haunting sense of loss—an aching void that could never be filled.
The mates themselves suffered a fate perhaps even more tragic. Cast down to Earth, they were cloaked in mortality and cursed to an endless cycle of death and rebirth. They walk among humans, their true nature hidden even from themselves, neither Heaven nor the Empty able to claim their souls.
And by divine decree, the angels were forbidden from seeking them out. This edict, handed down by God Himself, is absolute and inviolable.
Even if an angel were to defy this decree, the task of finding these mates would be nigh impossible. How does one search for a being that doesn't know its own nature? These lost mates are scattered across the globe, living and dying as humans, their true essence hidden beneath layers of mortality. Though they carry a spark of their original essence—not quite grace, but something ineffably close - a flicker of the divine, a remnant of their former glory - they leave no trace of celestial energy, no trail that could be followed by angelic senses.
An angel might spend centuries tracking down a particular soul, only to have it slip away into a new life, a new identity, all previous progress lost. The vastness of the human population, the constant flux of birth and death, create a sea of souls in which these special beings are all but invisible.