in a huge golden palace, decorated with nothing but the purest gold, one could imagine. There were many parallel doors, each leading to different worlds.
But there was a particular door at the center of this huge palace. with the symbol of four strange beasts on them.
The aura exuding from this door was by no means small. and inside this door was a theme, like the vast space with countless stars.
"I don't understand why you pity him, lord..." the archangel said with an unfriendly face.
"Hmm..."
"You don't understand Athos the way I do, Michael..." The light spoke, sitting on the flaming throne, surrounded by the four beasts.
"W-what do you mean… I do know him, and I know he's not trustworthy at all…"
"Do you really despise him that much, Michael?" The light spoke with power. that made the flames on the throne burn more brightly.
"I-I don't despise him; I just don't think he's trustworthy, that's all..." There was all form of sincerity as Micheal spoke.
"Athos may have some faults, but he still remains my second-best angel, Michael..." the light boldly stated, which made Archangel Michael's heart flutter.
"W-why do you think so highly of him?" "Michael?" he asked, confused. He was the first angel the light created. and gave him more power over all angels, except the light. to guide them and help them. So he had been with the light as long as time.
but as the light made this a safe paradise to reside in. and within some years it got boring. So the angels were asked to stay in this haven. There were other gods, like the light, and each had their followers, whom they made to worship them.
So the light decided to create his own mortals. and put them in a suitable place for them to worship him. But they sinned against him very quickly, and he punished them. But his love for them never died.
"Over the years you've sent us to watch over them, but the one rule you gave us was never to do anything to them."
"Why?"
"You are still young, Michael... you have a lot to learn." The light then slowly started floating in the air. as it descended down to where Michael was. The light was too bright for Michael, so his eyes were shut.
"I've never shown this to anyone, but I think it's time I showed you my true form." Slowly the light started to form a figure. Since it was too bright, it took some while. as what looked like two feet were slowly forming and going upwards.
It was like a male human figure, made of bright white light. until the light started to slowly fade away.
Michael was shocked by the sudden transformation. Never did he expect the light to have a definite shape. Out of all the years, he's been with the light.
"W-why do you choose to reveal your true form now?" Michael asked with glistening eyes.
"It's been a while since I took that light form, so I decided to change things up a bit." The light warmly chuckled. as his appearance was slowly being seen under the radiance.
Now that Michael looked closer, he could see the outline of his face. It looked like it was made by a million gods. His very beautiful and delicate face was just not worth missing. as it glowed brightly.
His flaming eyes shone fiercely, topped with his long white hair that reached his kneecap. gently swaying gracefully with his movements.
He wore a special kind of white armor that boasted dominance over all the other angels. with a beautiful long white sword that had different engravings on it. His body was not too husky or thin. but just rightly shaped to enhance every bit of himself.
"M-my lord..." Michael mellowed himself the more, bowing slightly.
"Get up, Michael..." the light commanded as he helped lift Michael up. The moment he touched Michael, Michael could feel a tremendous amount of divine energy pass through him. that made his form shudder.
"You too should take on this form as well as other angels from now on..."
"Of course, my lord, you must have a reason for everything..." Michael said as he, too, took on a human-like form. His snowy white face looked so enticing that it would even tempt almost everyone. He also had long, silky white hair that reached his elbows. While he wore silver embroidered armor that had a fiery crimson sword sheathed on his waist.
"I-it does feel good to have a change of appearance." Michael smiled slightly. which just enhanced his beauty more, with just that smile.
The light just smiled as he was walking towards the door. which made Michael wonder what he wanted to do.
"I am going to take a walk round to get to know the angels better…" The light clarified Michael's questioning gaze.
"Don't worry, they wouldn't be able to recognize me..." he said as he opened the door and was about to leave when he stopped.
"Michael, you should get to know Athos at least…" With that, he left through the door.
"G-get to know that traitor…" Michael stuttered with anger in his voice, clenching his fists.
"I'd rather kill him..." he thought inwardly as he slowly walked away with a creepy smile on his face.
.....
"Hahaha... I can't believe you didn't know you were gone for so long." A beautiful woman with wings laughed out without care.
"I—I don't believe it." There was a doubtful look plastered on the male's face beside her.
"S-so that must mean you're really old." Zena spoke mischievously into Athos's ear, which caused his eyes to widen more and more.
"o-o o-ld..."
"Don't worry, I won't spill your secret out…" she gently chuckled, mimicking a sealed mouth with her soft hands.
"I am not old!" Athos shouted with a frown on his face. He and Zena had been together ever since he came. as they sat on a rock near a huge waterfall.
He had known her since forever. and she always pestered him, since he was in the celestial city, and when he left. and it seems she wasn't going to stop now.
"Hey..." She held his shoulders. "There's no need to beat yourself up because you're old…"
"You..." Athos felt defeated. He knew he had been with the light for a long time. but angels never grew old but retained their youthfulness.
"Look, even though we don't look old on the outside, who knows what's on the inside?" She pointed at his body, demonstrating a vertical slitting sign.
"Oh really..." Athos smirked. He'd had enough of her toils, so he decided to repay the favor.
"Of course." Zena nodded sincerely.
"Why don't we test that out on you, shall we…"
"Why—no, wait, wha..." before she realized what was happening. Her body had already been pulled by Athos. as he held her face delicately with his hands.
The next moment his lips moved fast as he planted them on hers. She was shocked when he suddenly did this. But she didn't try to resist accepting the deep kiss.
"Wow, I didn't expect to see the two lovebirds here..." Another beautiful female angel appeared along with a male.
"You two shouldn't be doing that; you will surely get caught one day." The male angrily spoke.
"Hey, calm down, Lapidot. They've been away for a long time, so at least let them have that moment."
"Hmm. It was merely a warning..." He folded his hands together and flew away.
"It seems a lot of people don't like me." Athos chuckled, which resulted in Zena giving him a nudge.
"Don't mind Lapidot; he just cares about you guys."
"It's a shame we aren't meant to fall in love with ourselves or other races." Liona sighed. It was written in the law that the light was made for all angels. that they could never fall in love with their kind or other races. And if an angel disobeyed the law, then the punishment would be banishment or worse, death.
Yes, the punishment was a bit extreme. but that was the price they had to pay to maintain their divine nature and powers. though two angels disagreed, and those were the young Athos and Zena.
They couldn't possibly display their affection outside, so they did it secretly. even though Athos was the second most powerful angel. He was still loyal to the light to some extent.
"Don't worry about it, Liona. One day everything will change, I promise." Athos spoke with confidence, which made the two women raise their brows in awe.
"I don't know what you're planning, Athos, but I'll make sure to help you…" Zena thought as she looked at Athos.
"Anyways, it's good to see you back, Athos, but I am afraid we have some work to do." Liona smiled as she flapped her wings fiercely in the air.
"Ha..." Zena sighed. "I-it's just not fair."
"I don't see why other gods allow their followers to have intimacy with other races, but he forbids it for us angels."
"We'll be alright." Athos hugged her deeply as they both flew away with Liona into the beautiful garden.
"Haha," a figure wearing a white cloak chuckled as he hid behind the rock.
"Don't worry, dear Athos, you'll soon be gone, and Zena will be mine again before you steal her from me." It said it was flapping its wings really fast and heading in the opposite direction.
...
"So stupid! Why does he have to be the one who gets Zena?" Lapidot hit his head in anger. as he sat on a very high tree, which had glowing yellow fruits.
"W-why did he even return? I was this close to getting Zena." He hit his legs on the tree, which caused it to pulsate more brightly. with two of the fruits falling and then floating up to him.
"Argh!" he roared in frustration. "I-I just wish Athos c-could just—"
"Disappear..." a voice spoke from beneath, which startled Lapis.
"W-who's there?" A beautiful golden bow appeared in his hands. As he pulled the string, a golden arrow made of aura and emitted with power formed.
He flew downwards and had his guard up, clenching his bow tightly in his hands.
Upon closer inspection, he could see a hooded figure cloaked in white. leaning on the tree eating one of the yellow fruits.
"I won't ask again, who are you?" Lapidot stretched his bow to the extreme.
"You ungrateful fool." The figure roared. The next moment he slapped the bow out of Lapidot's hands as he punched him in the guts. It happened so fast that the figure moved faster than the blink of an eye.
But Lapidot wasn't a weak angel at all. No, in fact, he was ranked top 13 in the list of powerful angels. but as this strange angel moved so fast. made him realize he was in trouble.
"Argh." Lapidot was flung backwards with force. But his wings managed to help stop his moment. as he wiped blood off his mouth.
"His power level is far above mine, and he's using divine energy…" he muttered.
"You must be a rebellious angel," Lapidot shouted.
"Then that makes three of us," The hooded figure replied. Which caused Lapidot to wonder, who it was the figure talked about.
"No! I am the angel who's going to put you in your place." He ran at full speed.
The ground cracked slightly, with his every step supported by his wings. But the hooded figure just let out an intimidating smile.
"You lowlifes never learn a thing." He stomped his legs, which caused a huge crater to form as he shot his body forward.
"He's too fast!" Lapidot could barely keep up with the blur, as he managed to shoot out a white beam of light from his hands.
The figure, which was now a blur coming straight at Lapidot. Enveloped in flames, it went through the beam of light and crashed into Lapidot.
"Boom!!" A loud explosion occurred at the far end of the celestial city, where the figure collided with Lapidot.
"Ph-ough! What do you want?" Lapidot meekly spoke, as the figure held his throat fiercely.
"How disgraceful of an angel you are. How dare you plan to have a relationship with your fellow angel." The figure emitted a powerful essence, which caused Lapidot's body to shiver.
"Pl-please, I'll do anything..." Lapidot begged, as he could see his life flash before his eyes.
"I can't possibly kill you here, but you could help me get something I want..." The figure said, as it slowly revealed his plot.