God's Gone AWOL

[5] Atticus Defects

"Atticus, are you trying to get me killed?" Xander asked, "They're your family for Hell's sake. Just go with them,"

"I'm not going anywhere," Atticus replied. Then he turned to Frances and Hazel, "Get back to the Cupboard immediately. Xander and I will handle them,"

"Handle them yourself! I don't wanna get sucked into your angel drama! —AH!"

Uriah had leapt forward abruptly, aiming his blade directly at Xander's throat. Luckily, Xander had the reflexes of a wild animal and managed to intercept the attack just in time. The two quickly started fighting, the clang of colliding weapons ringing out between the brick walls of the buildings above.

Xander doubted very much that the angels actually thought he was keeping Atticus away from them. He just happened to be one of Heaven's biggest enemies, so of course someone would try to whack him while it was convenient. This sort of thing used to happen regularly to Xander, so he wasn't too phased. He was just annoyed.

Meanwhile, a couple well-meaning angels rushed over to Atticus, presumably to make sure the foul demon hadn't injured their brother in any way shape or form. Sighing in well-concealed frustration, the wayward angel made a split second decision to stop things before they got any worse, and sent out a quick blast of white light. Uriah was thrown backwards, along with the two choir members who had just stepped forward. The spell was hardly powerful enough to hurt them, but it was enough to push them back long enough to say a few words and catch them off guard.

"Atticus, what do you mean by this?" Uriah asked, as though he could not fathom why a fellow angel would dare act against him.

"As much as I appreciate your concern for me, visiting Heaven is not on my agenda for the time being," Atticus said politely, "There is a pressing matter that I must attend to here on Earth,"

"What do you mean? What could possibly be more important than the call of Heaven? Come along, your pressing matter can wait,"

If it could wait, why would it be a pressing matter?

"I am not going back to Heaven," Atticus told them, "In fact, you may tell your superiors that they will hopefully never see me again,"

The entire choir of angels watched, bewildered, as the little angel raised his hands in a polite angelic salute. Hazel stared forward with a different sort of confusion, and Xander and Frances were both staring at him as though he had been possessed. But for once, Atticus wasn't thinking about anybody else in the world. He had made his decision years ago, and now it was time to finally declare it for the world to hear.

"As of this exact moment, I would like to make it known that I am defecting from the ranks of Heaven," he said, "If the renouncing of my own title means becoming an enemy of the entire realm, so be it. However, I will forever hold the kindness my fellow angels have shown me in my heart, and will never act against any of you with hostility unless absolutely necessary,"

The entire street went quiet. All the angels were shocked speechless, still processing Atticus' words. Hazel and Frances were clutching each other, too nervous to move at all. And Xander had a look of complete confusion plastered across his face.

"He's clearly under some sort of enchantment," said Uriah once he had registered the whole speech properly. "Don't trust a single word he says,"

Although it was very obvious that Atticus was not in the slightest bit impaired and was speaking as sober as ever, none of the angels could bring themselves to believe he would ever turn his back on Heaven. As soon as their leader spoke, they all gobbled up the excuse for Atticus' behavior. Each of them nodded, despite the obvious frowns plastered across their faces.