Sins of an Angel

It was nearing dawn and the forest was as silent as usual. The sun slowly began to rise on the horizon and everything was beginning to awaken to the smell of dew and spring flowers. In this world, there was nothing but the world and the world alone. Trees covered the perimeter from as far as the eyes could see. Any farther, along the mountain trail and you were left for dead. Days were precious. The forests were darkened with thick trees and dust, shadows hiding animals as they lurk for their prey. In these forests, a man constantly walks with no intention to return to his home. Many have approached him, but none came back with answers to who he is. He roams in search; that's what they always say.

A girl known as Maria Stronghold was walking down the path on the morning of that spring day. She was just as quiet as the rest of the forest, but her footsteps were strident against the ground's firm crunch of fallen, dead leaves. Maria had no reason to stay quiet though; she had no reason to fear the creatures that walked nature’s path. She wandered off for a while, heading away from the town she was prolonged to for most of her life. When she came across the man who wandered the forest, she couldn’t help but question who he was and where he was from. He was a man who looked as old as her father; standing tall with broad shoulders and long, brown hair tied back. He wore a long, brown tunic that was buckled back with a belt with a strapped canteen and pocket sized knife. His shoes were completely broken down to the point where his feet would flap out from under the soles while walking.

“Excuse me,” Maria’s small, childlike voice had spoken toward the man. He only turned to her attention briefly before looking back to the sky, walking once more, but she followed.

"Are you from the heavens? Were you called down by God?" he murmured under his breath, loudly enough for her to hear.

Maria only stood in silence, unsure how to react to such questions, “I do not prolong from the heavens, I have come from the village of Eldron of the Listrum province… I have never pondered on if God has called to me…”

The man had stopped in his tracks as he slowly turned to watch her face for a long moment, “What era are we in, young girl?”

“The seventh age, why do you ask?” she pondered.

“How many years does each age last usually? Don’t be specific. Just give me a general number.”

Maria looked down as she thought for a moment. She wondered to herself what the man was trying to explain about the ages. She then looked up once more, “About 1,000 years.”

“Exactly…” the man nodded, “Are you aware of the stories on how each age starts?”

Maria watched around herself for a long moment. The sun was higher in the sky, the rays invading the forest like bans of heat that were warming her face. The trees began to rustle in the wind, causing the silence to disband into the many noises of the life within the wooded grounds.

“No, sir… I only know that each age begins with the ending of a war.”

The man’s restless, disgruntled face formed a small smile that showed his yellow, corroded teeth, “Sit for a while, lass. Here’s a story for you. I want you to educate your kin with it when you bear them.”

Maria sat herself on the ground, her hands rested in her lap as she breathed out, her hair falling over her face. The man sat in front of her, yawning for a moment as he exhaled into a hum.

”Many ages ago, long before the first age, there was no civilization on Earth. There was only God, his angels, and his saints. God was a humble being who only wanted to show kindness to those who followed him. He wanted to show how much he loved them by giving his angels and saints whatever they desired. There was only one problem with that though.

“One of God’s angels—who happened to be his right hand—Sereptus asked for women and men to be brought to Earth. God then brought them to the Earth, basing them off of his angels without wings. They were beautiful creatures that were pure of sin and had innocent hearts. Unfortunately, Sereptus has asked for their existence for his own reasons that he would wait for.

“Sereptus had requested that humans had free will, to choose their own path to watch their loyalty and see if they could prove themselves worthy of God. He agreed, granting them his request. Even then, everything was flawless. Humans were grateful to life and showed their God kindness. Sereptus began to grow jealous of the attention that the humans gave their ‘God’. He began to grow angry that they only recognized God, even though it was Sereptus’s doings that brought them to this world. He demanded from God that they recognize that he is the reason they were alive. Angry with this, God refused, exclaiming that Sereptus was beginning to think of himself as a deity. With that, Sereptus was banished, but his powers lingered within him.

“With immortal powers in his hands, he still was unhappy. What could a fallen angel do in his life if his once, loyalty was brought to shame? He was angered by God, and he began to fear and envy him. He wanted the same power that He had and was looking for any way to gain it.

“An angel has the power to create representations. They are not souls, but personalities. The only way to create a human with a representation is to ‘curse’ a fetus within a woman. With the flawless humans wandering about, there were many beautiful women that walked the paths of the world. Sereptus found himself being allured by them. He soon found a lustrous side of himself that he had not seen before. He began to mate with any women he found. The seven prettiest women that he mated with, all were pregnant, so he cursed the representations within the fetuses. Each baby had a different personality trait of Sereptus. Lust, Wrath, Greed, Gluttony, Sloth, Vanity, and Envy were the traits.

“God soon found out about Sereptus’s representations, and went into rage with Sereptus. He confronted him about what he was doing, but Sereptus showed no fear. He explained that it was all apart of his master plan and that the world would come to their knees before their new God in time. God knew that there would be know stop to the sleaze of civilization that was about to come, and so he had no choice but to wait. He knew that flaws would now become apart of human’s free will. And their choice to choose God or Sereptus would be absolute.

“God stated that a war was coming when the timing was right. As Sereptus planted the representations within the babies of his mistresses, God then sent the souls of his seven, most trusted angels into the fetuses of any random women of no choice that were still pure under no sin. That is when he sent Love, Peace, Generosity, Charity, Vivacity, Humility, and Acceptance into the world. He specifically told them that at first, their memories would stray, but with time and faith, their purposes would come to them. As the sins corrupted men, the angels repented them. And in the midst of this, they searched for their opposites. When they all had found each other that is when the final battle would take place.

“In the end of the first final battle, Evil was the side to prevail. God stood on his side in awe of Sereptus’s new found power, both in fear for the world and for his followers. As the world fell under a dark, first age, it seemed as though life was starting out horribly. Sin reeked within men and women everywhere, and there was no stopping it. Soon, people began to revolt against God, and found their own beings to follow. They each in their own ways lead back to Sereptus, though.

“After several hundreds of years, both God and Sereptus found that people began to lose track of who their real God was. They then sent the angels and representations down once again to bring the world back to their reigns. As the wars went on, ages past and dark ages reigned and golden ages reigned. We are in the seventh age now, nearing to the end. A new war will begin soon… not in my lifetime, not in your lifetime, but in the next hundred years… time will run out. “

The man was looking up at the sky once more, after his story was over and he was silent. Maria sat there, taking everything in, trying to figure out what was going on.

“You are not from the heavens, but I will tell something…” he murmured quietly.

Maria looked up at him, staying quiet, but her direction of attention showed that she was listening.

“I am Jemiah, a traveling monk of God. I have spoken with God in the past, and I am speaking with him now… and I hear great things of you, Maria Stronghold.”

Maria’s eyes widened as she watched him. She hadn’t told him her name, or even thought it was possible to contact God.

“You are a pure young woman, Maria. Your children will be pure as well. Because of your innocence, God as bestowed your future children the soul of an angel for the end of the eighth age,” he explained in a firm, yet quiet voice.

“M—My later children?” Maria’s eyes widened, “How—Which angel?”

“The purest angel of them all,” Jemiah pursed his lips, “The Angel of Love.”