Looking back, I sometimes marvel at how things have worked out. In order to understand who I am, you have to know who I was.
I’m an Angel. I was a simple herald before the war for Heaven. Then, I was a warrior. As hostilities went on, I learned to look within the heart of every Angel I encountered and see the truth of their motivations. In the most pious seeming Angels I found the rot of rebellion. My Father saw this, and used my talent to weed out the truly dark ones from the steadfast, and when all that bore the corruption were cast out, I was honored alongside all my brothers for my service.
After the great Sin, my Father gave me a new task. He sent me amongst his young children and told me to find the corrupted hearts and guide them back to righteousness. It was a fulfilling role, and I was honored to serve in this way.
I remember the first time I saw any of my Fallen brethren amongst men. It was a great moment in my Father’s story, as told by his faithful. The one called Moses had gone to confront his once brother for the freedom of God’s chosen people. He performed the miracle of the staff, and that is when I saw them. Three of my Fallen brethren, posing as mortals and influencing the Pharoah’s heart to harden it and turn him cruel and selfish.
On that day, my tasking in the realm of Men became more complex. It was shown to me that I had to not only save the souls of men who were being corrupted, but I had to battle my lost Brothers, as I had once battled them in Heaven.
In the measure of Men, many lifetimes passed as this new battle, for the souls of the Father’s creation, raged on in secret. My gift for truth-seeing grew, and in time I could feel both grace and corruption in everyone I met. I learned to nurture the grace and destroy the corruption, but it seemed that the corruption spread faster than my brothers and I could destroy it.
The Father sent forth the Word to offer Men Salvation. There was great joy and celebration in Heaven, as we all believed this heralded the end of our own war. We all watched his growth and path with interest. Wept for him when Men turned cruel. Raged for him when the one who was once most favored in Heaven tried to steal his grace through temptation.
After the Temptation, the Father gave me a new task. I was to find the one who tried to steal the Son’s purity through Lust and destroy her utterly. I took the task with a willing heart, because her deeds had angered me… a new kind of righteous fury that made my whole being burn for Vengeance.
Though her name had become known, finding her took longer than I expected. She was a subtle creature, and kept herself to the shadows. But in time, I found her… breathing corruption into the soul of one of the Father’s chosen leaders of Men. I moved to strike, and she somehow sensed me. Her eyes turned to me and what I saw in her shocked me so that my hand would not strike. She was one of my Fallen Brethren… but she had Grace in her still. She fled, and I retreated to Heaven to consider. I had never met a Fallen One who bore any remaining Grace within them. Looking at my Father’s plan for Men, I wondered…. could I salvage this lost Angel?
I began seeking her out and trying to show her the Grace inside her. The more she resisted ,the more my conviction that I MUST save this one grew. In time, I came to love her. She became mine, and we began to meet in secret. I don’t believe my Father was unaware, but he allowed our love to grow as it would. I do not, even now, understand why, but it is so.
We were careful, but eventually, we were caught. We met in the place we’d been going secretly, and that time, unlike the past times, we could not escape discovery, as our focus that day was upon the greatest gift we could have hoped for. The birth of our children. Before I could see them, we were found. I knew not whether they were even born, and I despaired.
I was reminded of a very painful truth. The Enemy, the one known as Satan, had once been the mightiest and best beloved of all the Archangels. The torments I suffered at his hands are unspeakable, even now. My love was torn from me and lost, for eternity I believed. Eventually, I was broken, and little more than a fragment, and I was bound to the soul of a wicked mortal, cursed to helplessness as men did as they wished and unable to influence them.
Through lifetime after lifetime, I slowly regained myself, and in time was able to guide those I was bound to into holy pursuits - ministers, missionaries, good men and leaders. Then, a day came when I couldn't touch the Mortal I found myself bound to. He had his own Will, and his own Mind, and somehow, he had his own Grace. He found me, and we came to be… if not friends, at least allies? His life was rich and exciting.
In time, his adventures led him to a new world, ripe with possibilities. He met many people, gained and lost friends, had so many experiences. And always there were women in his life. Women loved him. Eventually, he found one who touched him deeply, and he grew attached to her. He watched as she loved other men, and loved her still. Their connection grew, and on one particular day, he allowed Me to come forth and look at Her. What I saw shook me to my very Grace. The woman carried within her my Love. We fought to be together. For the first time, I did battle with my Mortal shell. I watched my Love as she seduced and played with other men. As she found love with another, and my Grace ached for her. Her Host became a creature of darkness - a Vampire. Still he loved her. She nearly wed another. His love remained strong, and when her false love betrayed her trust, he held her and let her cry.
She turned to Him and they began a new adventure. She brought him into her world as a vampire, and their family grew. Then, not long ago ,she came to him with knowledge of a new experience. They willingly shed their mortality for our sakes ,and my Love is herself again, and I have been ascended back into Heaven, because He has become an Angel.
My one unanswered question - the fate of my children - has, to my joy, been found. Our Daughters have found us, and our family is whole.
Now, we walk into the future together. A Family, my Love at my Side. Let any who threaten my Family tremble. I will do my part in the War that my own world might eventually find Peace.