"Tether. What an interesting name. I wonder what it does... I wonder how strong she really is."
The sun had just begun to set, and the inhabitants of the small town were starting to end their day. Shops were closing and people were starting to head home.
The streets were filled with angels saying their goodbyes to one another. Some were using their wings to fly about, while others chose to walk.
A young man walked the the crowd. No one seemed to notice him as he passed. It was as if he simply did not exist.
He continued through the streets enjoying the view and smiling faces. He smiled carelessly as he made his way towards the cathedral.
There was only one goal in his mind. Get in. And his tactic was simply. Walk through the front door. He didn't care for those guarding the building.
He could sense something inside them, something that felt the same as the other before. He could tell they were stronger than them, but not enough to worry.
He walked the streets with the building in sight. He stopped for a moment, taking in the beautiful sight up close. He smiled widely.
"Beautiful."
The only word to leave his lips.
The first angel noticed him as he walked the empty street before him. He spread his wings and took off heading in his direction.
He met him at the gate to the cathedral and questioned him.
"Are you alright young man?"
"I'm fine. Thanks for asking."
He raised an eyebrow. He looked him up and down. He looked fine, then what would be the reasoning for his journey.
"Are you in need of guidance young one?"
--
As his partner questioned the young angel, The second guard decided to fly towards the top of the cathedral. He headed in the direction of the third, wondering why they hadn't spoken of someone approaching.
The moment he reached the top he froze. In front of him stood the angel but he wasn't alone. There stood a man with dark ashy hair. He was an older gentleman with few wrinkles, but his glowing black eyes still held so much power.
The man stood at the peak of a cross. He held the face of the angel in his hand, holding him in the air.
He slowly turned his head to see him. His face turned to surprise for a moment then he smile softly.
"Well this is awkward."
His soft voice snapped the angel out of his daze. His face turned to that of anger, as his energy began to flow to his hands.
As he reached his hands out, energy began to form around them. His muscles twitched as he prepared to release a strong force towards him.
Before he could move, a hand grabbed his shoulder. The man quickly turned his head to see two beautifully radiant golden eyes staring back. The man whispered to him.
"Sorry."
The mans hand moved swiftly towards his chest. As it did, a dark knife appeared in his hand. It pierced his chest effortlessly.
The angel struggled for a second. Shock took over him once more. He couldn't believe it, not just him but someone he stood beside for so long. And just like that, without warning they both lost their lives to unknown strangers.
The man held his body in the air, by his shirt. As he stood there, the air condensed under his feet creating platforms. He walked towards the older man, still holding him.
As he came closer, a pulse of energy escaped him. There was a slight pressure but nothing happened. At least not to him.
In his hand, the body quickly began to decay into nothing. He opened his hand, dropping a piece of the robe the angel was wearing. The moment he did, it disintegrated as well.
Looking up at the elder man, he could see him wiping his hands. He looked back to him and dropped form the cross. He landed infront of him, creating platforms of his own.
"You don't have to apologize."
"Right."
He patted him on the shoulder then flowed down towards the roof of the cathedral.
"They know what they signed up for, kid. Besides most of em are emotionless anyway. Just killing machines. Trying to enforce the perspective of what's right."
The man sighed. The elder man looked back at him.
"Cheer up, it's almost over. Come on. I'm pretty sure I left it here."
He reached his hand out and touched the roof. Under his palm, it quickly decayed into nothing; creating a hole for them to enter.
He jumped down into the hole and began walking through the hall. The younger man sighed reluctantly but decided to follow.
--
At the front gate Michael watched as the guards' partner flew to the roof. He smiled.
'Well this couldn't go any better could it. Guess I'll just head inside then.'
He looked back to the guard.
"Guidance is exactly why I am here, sir. [Let's go inside]."
"I apologize but no one is permitted inside at this ti-"
He could see a white glow appear in the young man's eyes. It felt ominous yet comforting. For some reason he felt the need to guide him inside. He felt it was what he needed to do no matter what. It felt only natural to aid him.
"Hmm you might be right. Come. Let's discuss your troubles."
He started to open the gate but before he could, Michael jumped over landing beside him. He gestured forward, asking the guard to lead the way.
The guard shrugged off the action. He thought nothing of it and continued forward; leading him up the path and inside.
As they entered the cathedral, they were met with a beautiful hall. There seemed to be hundreds of seats filling it, and a beautiful alter in the center of the far end. There were seats on the balconies above as well. The pillars and walls were white in color with dark granite outlining them.
As they walked through the hall, he took in the sight. It seemed a lot bigger than he expected. It was quite the sight. He couldn't help but feel there was something truly godly about the place. Of course he knew why that was. This place was inhabited and protected by literal angels.
As they walked the hall he turned to the angel. He looked young but that was most likely just in appearance, for all he knew, he could be hundreds maybe thousands of years old. He wore the same white robe as the others but there was a golden trim on his. There was also a stronger aura emiting from within him, it was clear he was much stronger than those before. But by how much, he wasn't sure.
The angel had striking blue eyes and beautiful blonde hair that ran just past his shoulders, and not a single hair, scarr or marking covered his chiseled face.
"What was your name again?"
"Reed."
'Reed huh, how... human. I guess not everything is so different between us.'
"Nice to meet you Reed. So what's the most valuable thing here?"
"Well, that would be the-"
Before he could finish, a white glow flickered in his eyes. Then all of a sudden he swung his arm out aiming for Michael's head, but he was just barely able to dodge it in time. He ducked out of the way and jumped back with a surprised expression on his face. Reed shook his head, as if trying to wake himself up, then he looked at him with an angered expression.
"What the hell did you do to me?"
"Whoa whoa calm down. We're friends remember, we've known eachother for years now. [I'm your friend]."
'I hope this works, I'm not really sure how it works exactly but this should, right.?'
As the words left his lips his eyes shined brightly. Reed paused where he stood, his eyes shined the same as his, then he tilted his head as he looked at him. All of a sudden a bright smile appeared on his face, he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Sorry about that bro, I thought you were someone else."
Michael looked at him in surprise. He tried using his new power like this on a whim but it looked like it paid off. He was glad it did because other wise he would be forced to fight and look around on his own. He wasn't opposed to fighting, but having someone who actually knew the surroundings was much easier.
"No no it's fine, it happens, hehe."
"Hmmm you asked about something earlier, right? Let me think.... Oh I know. There's this really cool amulet I could show you. I'm not sure what the story behind it is, but one of our tasks in this town is to guard it. Something about it belonging to someone. We're supposed to wait for to return and bring them in, alive if possible."
Michael looked at him in surprise. The last part was truly unexpected. He hadn't expected to find something that valuable, having to capture and possibly kill the owner. That had to mean the amulet was truly something special, right.?.
As he was thinking of this, Reed started walking towards the back of the cathedral. Michael followed as he led the way, he noticed they were headed towards the alter on the far end.
As they moved closer there was a small pain that emerged from behind his eyes. He winced as it slowly grew. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to ease them, but it persisted. After a few seconds the pain finally subsided. He was confused as to why it had occurred so suddenly but he decided to question it later. That was until he opened his eyes once more and realized what had just occurred.
As he looked around the room his perception had changed. It was as if he were using the technique Scarlett had taught him except it was slightly different. The world was dark, yet there were things around him that emitted their own sources of light. Looking ahead at Reed he held such a beautiful light, it seemed as bright as the sun and flowed around him as freely as water. It radiated so much power yet seemed so contained and controlled.
He felt he understood what was happening but there was something missing that he couldn't put his finger on. The thought was bugging him, it felt as if there was a gap in his mind that he couldn't cross. It felt like a giant door was placed infront of his consciousness and locked behind it was the very thing he needed, to understand. It hurt his mind how close it was but it was just out of reach.
Looking past Reed, he noticed a small red light coming from within the alter. It was weak and dim but just barely visible enough for him to notice. As he looked at it the pain returned. He winced once more before opening his eyes back. Everything had once again changed, returning back to normal, and Reed was waiting for him infront of the alter.