Twisted Wings

Celeste bowed her head as her father strode across the courtroom. He gazed down at her with an anguished expression. Her twin brother, Uriel, was observing from the crowd of onlooking angels, with an apprehensive look on his face.

"Celeste, you have broken one of the sacred laws of the Celestial Realm. You have tampered with a mortal's lifespan." Her father's voice reverberated in the vast room.

"As Seraphim of Eden, I cannot take this lightly. Your celestial powers will be temporarily sealed, and you will be banished from the Celestial Realm." He cast his verdict, and the crowd gasped.

Her brother forced his way through the crowd. "Father! Surely, you can give a more lenient sentence! She's family! "His blue eyes were teary as he gave their father a desperate stare from underneath his wavy black hair.

"It's out of my hands, Uriel. I have no more say in this than you do." Their father shook his head as he turned back to her, kneeling on the ground.

"Let me see your wrists, Celeste." He ordered, and she raised her hands, too ashamed to look him in the eye. A pair of heavy golden bracelets were placed on each of her wrists. They had angelic spells etched into them that sealed away her magic.

He pushed her away and the next thing she knew, she was plummeting through the sky. She was being pulled down at an alarming rate, unable to use any of her four wings that were clamped to her sides. As she was falling through the night sky, she thought about the little boy whom she'd saved.

She remembered swooping down and wrapping her wings around the child as he gasped for breath, his eyes going wide when he saw her. She'd brought him back from the verge of death, thus sealing her fate. In the end, she had no regrets about what she'd done. Instead, she only felt resentment at the unjustifiable laws of the Celestial Realm. They had all this power. Why not use it to help those who needed it?

After falling for what seemed like ages, she collided with the ground. The impact caused a blast of air to shake the nearby trees.
As she lay there, dazed, she heard a horse-drawn carriage coming to a halt next to her. She tried to turn her head to see but blacked out from the shock.

When she opened her eyes, she could only see darkness. For a moment, she wondered if she had died from the impact. However, the pain radiating down her spine told her otherwise. Feeling around in the blackness, she realized she was in an enclosed space. Her wings had been tucked away, concealed, so that she would appear to be human.

She paused, hearing a scuffling noise outside. She listened closely for a moment as the scuffling drew closer, accompanied by a voice. There was a loud bang as the lid of the box she was in was blasted off. A startled cry escaped her lips as blue flames shot past her. She wasn't sure if she was being freed or being attacked.

"What?! You ain't supposed to be awake!" A voice cried out, and she glanced down at a small, black creature with a peculiar three-pronged tail. Blue flames grew out of its ears, and it had matching smoldering blue eyes. It appeared to be some sort of... Cat weasel.

"Are you... Some kind of weasel?" She asked, bewildered, stepping out of the coffin she had been trapped in. The room was lined with coffins like the one she had been in, and in the center of the chamber was a large floating mirror.

The creature appeared offended by her assumption. "How... How DARE YOU! I am no WEASEL! I'm Grim, sorcerer extraordinaire! Tch. Whatever. You... Human! Just gimme your robe and be quick about it! 'cause if you don't, you're going to regret it!" Grim demanded, summoning more flames.

"Uniform?" She glanced down and realized she was wearing a long black and purple robe with golden designs on top of her clothes. She peered down at the cat-like creature and determined that it was time for her to leave.