An unusual amount of irritability gnawed at Angel as he flew back to his suite. Since his arrival in Heaven, everything had been serene and peaceful. He'd met family and old friends and reveled in the festivities and feasts. Heaven was the perfect afterlife for a soul free of sin, devoid of ill feelings or concerns. Yet, the arrival of the princess and the subsequent revelation of the executions disrupted his calm.
As expected, his meeting with Sera had not gone well at all, and it only further exacerbated his emotional turmoil. But why? Since his arrival, if even the slightest idea of discontent arose, a simple state of meditation took that away. Yet, there was just something about the princess that pricked at the back of his mind, and despite the pull of meditation to forget his concerns, those thoughts clung to him like the static cling of cellophane wrap.
Even so, the High Seraphim's command to purge his thoughts of the courtroom events held dominion, and he was compelled to comply, even though it meant shirking the responsibilities he'd been assigned to carry out. He knew this matter needed investigation, but if he went against her wishes, he risked losing his position and any chance of uncovering the mysterious plot. So he would take one hour to meditate as ordered, then look for Emily. She had the same power and station as Sera, and he knew she could order him to investigate.
Touching down on the balcony outside his assigned suite, Angel let out a long sigh to dispel some of his frustrations and opened the sliding glass doors to step inside. Pausing once he'd entered, he turned to look at an unusual piece of art on the wall next to him. It was a semi-three-dimensional landscape piece of a beautiful, serene mountain, painted in various shades of gray and black with green foliage dappled among it. What was unusual was twofold: the puffy cotton ball clouds misted about it, moving and shifting as if the world was alive in the painting, and more curiously, the water itself was real, cascading downward perpetually and unendingly.
It was one of the most intriguing magics he had ever encountered. When he first laid eyes on it on the day Emily brought him to his new home, he asked about it.
"How?" It was about all he had gotten out when she squeaked.
"Isn't it wonderful?" Emily had beamed. "It's sort of like a water fountain you'd find on Earth, but the water is endless and most refreshing."
"Amazing," Angel had replied in awe. When he tried it for the first time, he discovered that the water tasted as pure and untainted as if it'd come directly from the source inside the mountain.
Picking up a crystal chalice on the desk next to the artwork, Angel pressed the glass against it to catch the flow until it filled to the top. Setting his lips to the rim, he drank deeply and immediately felt revitalized and soothed. The water was cold and crisp, precisely the way he liked it. With his thirst quenched, he set the chalice back on the desk. Returning to the balcony, Angel leaned against it, peered down at the soft sandy beach that was now empty, and closed his eyes.
Calling upon the techniques taught to him by others in the realm, Angel let most of his thoughts drift away, filling his mind with a calming emptiness. Fingers drifting up as he meditated, he probed the amulet beneath his uniform. Emily had been especially curious about it the day he arrived, asking him what it meant. He had no idea, and while she had let it go, she did say it was unusual for a soul to bring anything from the living world to Heaven. Yet, whenever he held it, Angel felt something warm in his soul and knew it had a special meaning.
Holding it always calmed him when his thoughts were riled. And riled they were. Despite Sera's decree, he would not let go of the day's events and was angry with himself for leaving the courtroom and missing out on what had happened inside the chamber.
If he'd heard Adam's admission in person, he knew he'd have spoken up and challenged the First Man's revelation. It pissed him off that he hadn't been able to speak his mind in court and show the princess that she had some allies in Heaven who supported her views. Now, with the upcoming executions just a month away, he found himself expressing an intense and emotional concern for her safety, which in itself raised several questions in his mind.
What Angel had not noticed since the court hearing was that the amulet beneath his uniform had been softly pulsing. A barely visible glow had begun to shine around the moonstone jewel, and as his thoughts focused on the princess and his worry for her, something triggered within the pendant.
With his eyes shut, Angel remained unaware of the sphere of pure light igniting within the moonstone crystal and filtering through his body. Only when the gentle hum intensified did he open his eyes to see the radiance rising before him. Filled with curiosity and confusion, he felt paralyzed as the sphere lingered and trembled briefly before erupting in a burst of dazzling white brilliance.
Reacting swiftly, Angel shut his eyes tightly, raising his arm to shield his face as he staggered backward. After a few moments of rapid blinking to restore his vision, a sudden pain surged in his head. Closing his eyes again, he grasped his skull, let out a deep groan, and sank to one knee. The agony lingered for only a brief moment before subsiding almost as quickly as it had appeared. Taking a deep breath, he managed to rise back up.
Shit! I haven't felt pain like that since—
It hit him like a ton of bricks. He hadn't experienced agony like that since before he died! It had happened not long before his death, on his last mission, when he'd been shot in the knee.
But how? How did he know that!? It was a memory of when he was alive!
Just as suddenly as he remembered that moment, more and more memories began to return. He remembered the day he died. He remembered his team. He remembered his sister, Cassie! Spinning around, he backed against the railing. He remembered his childhood. He remembered Amanda!
At the thought of Amanda, Angel felt a pang of sadness and regret, realizing he'd never seen her in Heaven. This meant that she was most likely in Hell. He made himself a silent promise to look into that.
Other memories flooded back to him in quick succession, each one drowning out the previous revelation with fresh ones. But one specific recollection took hold in his mind, pushing every other returning memory aside. Clutching his amulet, Angel's eyes widened as he recalled every little detail about the woman with whom he'd fallen in love on Earth. He remembered the night he'd found and cared for her, accepting her for who and what she was. He remembered the morning they'd made love, and with a sharp pain piercing his heart, he remembered the night he'd lost her.
Losing her because she had to return home. To Hell. The woman he'd fallen in love with on Earth, who fought by his side, was the princess who'd come to Heaven to seek help!
"Charlie!" He stared at the pendant in his hand, reminiscing about the night she had given it to him. It was what had saved them and symbolized their eternal love. Then, he remembered the promise he had made to her: that one way or another, he would come home to her.
Unfurling his wings, Angel launched into the air, turned toward the distant central city, and flew with all the speed he could muster. He intended to keep that promise, and there was only one way to do it: he needed to join Adam's army and become an Exorcist himself.