I never thought that someone would go this far. I never thought someone could do such a thing. I promise they will pay, I thought as I looked at the lifeless body of my mother. Today was supposed to be my wedding; why would someone do such a thing on this day? I knew why they were jealous; they were jealous that Ava chose me, a normal human. They were mad that what all believed to be the pinnacle of beauty chose me as her man. I mean, I don't even know why she chose me, but she did.
I am just a normal human; I didn't have wings or halos. I am not tall; my hair isn't white like the high Cherub or blond like the low one. Mine was black, and my eyes weren't blue or green; they were red. I wasn't born in the image of an angel like the others in my city. Even my mother had wings, small ones, but she had them. She also had blond hair and green eyes; she was a low Cherub, but she was still a Cherub. Humans are made slaves those days, some to serve the high Cherub and some are sent to the mines. Some are just tied up and shamed for days before someone will take one as a slave; most don't even survive their twenties. I was different because I was the son of the hero, Uriel El Valor. Everyone knows his name, even the slaves; everyone loved him. He had many daughters, more than a dozen, and I am his only son. If he were alive right now, he would be ashamed that his only son, that I am the only one that will continue his name, me, Seraph El Valor. It is like a joke, saying my name with his.
Why her? Couldn't they just kill me? Why take her life and not mine? Why kill a Cherub and not a human like me? Why? I couldn't move, standing next to her cold body. I froze, but not from fear, not from shock either, but from anger, anger I didn't know existed in me before. I clenched my fists hard, so hard blood started to drip from my hand. It hurt, but I didn't care. I stood there silently. Suddenly, the door opened. It was Ava, her halo shining, her wings worn beautifully as always. Her long white hair was flying as she walked to me. She froze for a moment as she saw her, but it didn't make her stop; she continued walking, standing in front of me. She was my height, so it was easy to meet my gaze. Her blue eyes were always warm to look at. She wrapped her arms and wings around me.
"My poor husband," she said to me, hugging me tighter. She always called me her husband, even though we were not married yet. "My poor, poor husband, you suffer all the time because of me, and yet you are still with me, my poor sweet husband." Her words hugged me as she did, warming me and calming me. Her huge wing covered the sight of my dead mother's body. She was always this comforting; she talked like she was the lucky one, that she was lucky to have me. The opposite was true; I was the lucky one.
I hugged her back, tears running from my eyes. "Ava," I hesitated to speak at first, "why are you with me? You should treat me as your slave, but you treat me as your husband. And you always call me handsome, even though there are much better-looking people in the city, so why?" I asked, still hugging her, still feeling her warmth. Part of me didn't want to hear the answer; part of me wanted to still be at her side forever.
She took a step back, holding my hands. "Because you are yourself, always caring about others, you don't try to be someone else, and you don't let anyone change you. Even now, instead of caring about yourself, you care about me." Her words got deep into me, her sweet voice lingering in my head. Why don't I care about myself? I should be thinking about revenge. Instead, I think of Ava, my fiancé, the woman of my... "Also, you see me as who I am, and not just the beauty. You see me, Ava the woman, and I am proud to be your woman." She cut my thoughts. Her hand brushed my cheeks. She always knew how to calm me, how to ease my mind, how to think properly again.
She comforts me again, and my anger disappeared again. It is like she cast a spell on me, but she didn't; she never did. I grabbed her by her waist, pulled her closer, and kissed her. "My love, without you I would be lost right now," I said to her, brushing her long and beautiful hair and looking her in the eye. "If I didn't have you, I would not know what to do now, so thank you." I pulled her to another kiss.
"Don't thank me, silly" she said with a beautiful smile. "I am your wife; that's my job, to be there for you as it is yours to do so for me," she continued, her soft voice always brought a smile to my face, even now, knowing my mother's dead body is on the ground next to us. "I have a question for you, my sweet husband, what will you do?" she added after a long moment.
I smiled and looked at her for a moment before answering, "I will avenge her; they have to pay." I didn't know why I said that. The anger came back to me suddenly, and I talked like I knew what I was about to do, but I didn't. I am just a human, I can't fight a Cherub not even a low one let alone kill one.
Ava laughed, "Are you now?" she said, laughing. Her soft and beautiful laugh was never to make fun of me like the others, but to laugh with me. She would laugh every time I did something that a high Cherub would do or say. "You talk like a Cherub, at least more than most men I know," she always said. But this time she wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me. She held me tighter and whispered in my ear, "I know a way that you can be stronger, that you can be like me, and avenge my mother-in-law, my dear husband."