God's Gone AWOL

[7] Separation

The following centuries became the most difficult in angelic history.

Beneath the banner of a rebellious archangel, an underground liberation movement started to rise. Those hushed whispers passed beneath the censorship of Heaven had grown in volume, transforming into torn-down posters and the nervous headaches of a dozen higher angels. Lucifer's following was growing by the minute, but nobody could tell just how many hearts he had won over. Though the presence of the rebellion was strong, the rebels themselves were too well hidden, disguised as ordinary angels in the ranks.

In those days, there was a strong sense of anticipation hanging in the air. God had very abruptly become detached from Heavenly affairs as humanity was going through another religious reformation —this time, it was that whole situation with the messiah and whatnot. So there wasn't anybody strong enough to snuff out the rebellion. Heaven was at a crossroads, and nobody was quite sure which path it would take.

But even though the murmurs of change were growing louder, Atticus found that his daily life hadn't actually been affected at all. Life working under Damaris was the same as always. He and his fellow choir members spent the years working with the creatures of Earth, helping out with the rise of the new godly religions. Ruth was still as annoying as always. Ophaniel was still cold and distant. And Atticus was still struggling to figure out what he was supposed to do about it all.

On one particular day, he was wandering the white marble hallways. And he was alone as usual.

The whole choir had just gotten back from another mission when Damaris was abruptly called off for an emergency meeting. Even though nobody said what the meeting was about, Atticus could probably guess. It was either an urgent matter regarding the dawn of the new religions, or the rebellion of Lucifer. Those were the only things anybody had on their minds anymore.

Damaris had left in such a hurry that they hadn't given any orders to the younger angels. They just told them to take some time to relax and reflect until the meeting was over. Although Atticus wasn't very good at relaxing, he could certainly reflect, so he took the opportunity to stroll around and sort out his thoughts.

He had met with Ophaniel a couple of times, but it was always that same kind of cold, suffocating meeting where both parties felt like they were being forced to see each other. Every time, Atticus left Moonpath feeling worse than when he came. Often, he would think about the offer Ruth had jokingly made him beneath the fig tree, but he never took her up on it. Deep down, just the mere memory of her careless words brought physical pain to his chest for some reason.

Ever since their fight in the garden, rumors had started to spread about the relationship between him and Ruth. The stories stretched and became exaggerated to a certain point, and pretty soon everyone knew: Atticus and Ruth were enemies. One was fiery and one was frosty. One was loose and the other was reserved. The contrast between them set the perfect stage for all sorts of imaginary stories about the two; fighting, arguing, sharing in their rivalry. Some of it was based on fact, but most of the time it was just people guessing at the nature of their true relationship.

The actual truth was a lot less exciting. Atticus and Ruth hadn't talked much since they had planted the tree. With all the Heavenly drama going on, they just hadn't had much of an opportunity. They spoke on occasion during missions and whatnot, but she was always so careless and annoying, and never seemed interested in saying anything important at all. Atticus was so serious by nature, that the pair never really managed to recreate whatever atmosphere they had that one time they were together. They weren't friends, but they weren't enemies either. They were in a confusing space in between.

As Atticus continued meandering around, he suddenly decided he wanted to see Ruth again. He had no idea why, nor what the two would talk about, but as long as they both had some free time, he might as well try to find her. Maybe a normal conversation could clear the air between them, or at least restore the reputation of their companionship in the eyes of their fellow angels.