Radicle (Terminal trilogy #2, can stand alone)

Days later

 Michael then, finally, left me alone. Others began speaking for him. I was moved to the outer circle. And finally, many moments after the funeral, I was back where I had begun.

Way back, that was. Farm work- which I both detested and loved, as I knew we were doing a poor job of our work, but I couldn't recall how to actually improve. We weeded, we watered, and planted. It was terribly relaxing, and certainly monotonous enough that the glam of Hell was starting to fade from my memory.

I still was prohibited from any sort of military action, however, even refresher training. The reason was truly lost to me, and as much as I wanted to know, I was quite glad Michael was keeping me in the dark.

But still. What better redemption then killing demons?

The other angels were apprehensive about me at first, a feeling which they seemed reluctant to let go of. Dohn was still my friend, of course, but out of all my half-acquaintances and allies, he was the last one left.

The rest, to group them unfairly, were uncomforted by my presence. Few angels had ever been alone for as long as I had. Fewer had ever had the chance to actually speak to a demon- the whole concept was crazy for them. I didn't blame them. I'd feel the same way if I was them. I felt the same way even now.

Hell was like a fever-dream to me. It was hard to forget, but I was making due process. The details were fading. The faces were leaving me. I'd be pure when I was once again complete.

Dohn noticed things that I never would be able to. He was spending a lot more time with me, really. But he always made me feel like I was the one spending time with him- like he was just there, and I was the visitor.

He was painting. Typical for him. If he wasn't patrolling, he was remembering. A dangerously hobby for an angel- dangerously pointless, that is- but one he loved to entertain.

He was painting a tree today. From memory, he said, but to me it looked like every other tree. I told him this.

"If you want to see something else, tell me something else." I could almost hear the mocking frown in his voice. "I paint what I see, but I do not see that much."

In the long game of war between angels and demons, a sort of rule was devised: keep the humans out of it. Angels didn't even recognize humans as existing most of the time. They didn't exist in Heaven, after all. We regarded them as being both better and worse than us- obviously, as non-angels, they were lesser beings. But they were also pure and innocent souls, constantly at risk of corruption from a demon.

We patrolled the Earth, in both it's forms, to kill demons. There was little distinction between the past and the present for us- when we visited the cycling earth, we stuck just to the forests and mountains.

Times didn't seem to matter to demons either. Sometimes they'd send squads of demons dangerously close to Heaven, and sometimes we'd find them holed up in some old cabin in the past.

"I don't remember Hell." I told him. "Don't be impishly foolish. Why don't you paint people, or animals?"

He turned his head to speak to me, making an exaggerated expression. "Or demons? Please, Nic, just tell me about the city- I have seen them from afar, you know."

"Then paint the lights you have seen from afar, Dohn, or imagine them up. Don't credit me for teaching you."

"You're being very melodramatic, you know that? I'm trying to paint, not break the law." He said, adding a few bright green strokes to his painting. The paint was from Earth, though no one knew who went out and retrieved it for him. "You know, I would bet Michael would let me get away with painting a few demons if I make them really evil looking. Might put them in the library."

I cringed. "Please. I know where you've seen a demon, but I'd love to know how you're going to paint one."

He rolled his eyes crudely. "With my imagination, Nic. And memory. It's not exactly a challenge."

"So, a composite demon?"

"No, I think I can recall a couple real ones quite well. All dead though. Not sure if that's disrespectful to them or what, but they were pretty weird looking. One had like ten eyes."

"Disgusting."

"Wonder if he could see out of all of them?"

And so on, and so on. Our conversations were repetitive at best. But he was appreciated.

When I wasn't sitting near Dohn- usually on some grassy slope or against the wall- I'd watch the angels train. Cassiel, with her second in command Nellek, oversaw all military activity. She had an ill sense of holiness about her, one that left her the only high-ranking angel that would actively seek me out to speak with.

I had a lot more spare time than I needed to, and when I sat on the wall of the second circle, Cassiel usually came to join me.

"Again!" She yelled, loud and quick enough that the order didn't bother to sound like a word anymore. "So, Nichael, how have your days been?" She kept an eye on her men, never turning to face me when she spoke.

"As any day should bother to be."

"That's way more cryptic than it needs to be, Nichael."

I never asked her to come sit next to me. I should have been below her interest at this point. Certainly low enough that'd she'd stop reminding me of my name.

"Fine."

"That sounds- Again!" At the sound of her voice, a tide of angels turned about. They were just running paces today, as they were all farmers and gatherers, the sort of people who only were kept fit so they'd be ready when the current soldiers all died off. Still, Cassiel liked to run them to the ground. "That sounds unpleasant."

"Fine is a positive word."

"Yet it's rarely used as such. Come on then. How has your day been?"

"Fine."

"This is pointless. Again! But really, pointless."

"How has your day been then?"

"Oh, great enough. Same as always. Dancing, yelling, and bathing. But at least I know it hasn't been anything as terrible as fine."

"Have you spoken to Mic-" I was temporarily distracted as one of the trainees stumbled onto the ground in a faint. "...Chael." I finished.

"Ignore him!" Cassiel shouted. "Michael? I speak to him daily. But no. He's quite firm- rightfully- that you shouldn't be allowed to fight yet. Give it a few months."

"But-"

"Don't whine, Nichael. It doesn't suit you. If you'd like, I could train you in private. But no demons."

"That sounds too intimate for us."

"You're right." She said. "We're not at all friends. Again!"

And when I wasn't working, or watching, or observing, I was waiting. Because Cassiel kept telling me 'wait a few months' and Dohn kept reassuring me that 'your moment will come again' and sometimes, rarely these days, Michael would send a messenger to my home. And he'd tell me 'I'll figure something out for you, Nichael. Eventually.'

And he would. Eventually.

He hadn't failed me yet.