Radicle (Terminal trilogy #2, can stand alone)

1: Unfellable

(AN: For ease of reading, I've split my chapters up into parts- each numbered chapter is the *actual* start of a chapter. This does not effect reading, but hey, just a note.)

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I, for one, would like to state that I find the very prospect of peace to be utterly absurd. But you can't help your circumstances I suppose. I always placed my morals below other's orders, as is customary, and if I was ordered to give peace a chance, I had to do it.

I had been given a promotion to go with my new title of ambassador, but it was all for show and honors. Better to do it now than post-mortem. I enjoyed the ceremony as much as I could and tried not to focus on my impending death.

Instead I looked idly at the applauding audience, especially at the girls- I had never been this close to a woman before, and it was a tremendously exciting occurrence to walk up and kneel just a couple feet away from Michael's two bodyguards. Cassiel and Victory, more beautiful up close than from hundreds of feet away, that was for sure. I took a moment to shun my impure thoughts and almost missed my role in the ceremony-

"Yes." Was all I had to say. Just a word of acceptance. But it was incredible to just speak to Michael, and to have him say my name-

"Nichael."

I've often been called blessed for the simple resemblance of my name towards Michael's. It was only in our secondary alphabet that this even occurred, for the pronunciation was relatively different. In our primary written language Michael's name was the longest word that existed. It contained not only his name but also all his titles- Michael the Great Eternal Wise All-Seeing Eldest Powerful and Majestic. It was hard on the hand to write out. But it was heresy not to.

When Michael had finished with his blessing, I was free to wander for a few more moments before departure. I hung around the Church Tower at first, curious to see how long my presence among the superiors would be tolerated, but I soon succumbed to my shyness and left.

I decided to go home- I lived towards the outside of Heaven, being a soldier and all, but recently had been moved to a new home near the center. This was also considered a blessing- it was a sign of the superiors approval towards me. I missed my friends though, still stuck on the outer circle. We only saw each other when we went out on patrols, and after today I would be dead and it would be a long while until we saw each other again.

There were few farms in the inner circle, and it made me very uncomfortable. Most angels lived outside, usually in tents. Buildings were scarce, especially in the woodlands that lined Heaven's walls, and just being cramped inside the Church Tower for a few moments had made me nervous.

Now of course, as I was being sent off to die, I had been given a house to stay in. It was mostly white and home to a couple kinds of plants, and the walls were being eaten by termites. It was a real honor. I shared the place with three other angels- Fust, Enae and Dohniel- but I suspected they were only being lent the house as well.

Enae was a member of Michael's guard, and was indiscreetly following me to make sure I didn't try anything risky on my last day in Heaven. Fust was a known troublemaker and close friend, and I suppose he was the 'risk' I was supposed to be taking- a mere decoy, and nothing more. Dohniel was just a new friend, and he seemed to be around for no other reason than to take up space.

"Ambassador Nichael!" Dohniel greeted. He knew to be formal around me with my new status, but his beamish face gave away his emotions.

"Archangel Dohniel." I nodded in return. Now that our formalities were taken care of, I relaxed and smiled at him.

"Excited, are you?" He sure was. Dohn, as was the shortened intimate of his name, was vicious warrior. But he had a much keener eye for art, one that was discouraged but never fully blocked. He loved the trekking part of patrolling much more than the fighting, and whenever returned home his mind would be full of stories, and in time, he would have many paintings to share with us. He was somewhat foolish, however, expecting me to return home at all, lest with stories for him to paint.