To Fall From Grace

Chapter One

~Chapter One~

A small child with a glinting halo and small pure wings tossed and turned in the dark room where he slept. His breathing was ragged and his tiny wings trembled. Nightmares of wars and his older brothers fighting.

They had been fighting for so long now and he didn't like it, not at all. Every night it's eerily calm but during the day you can hear the shouts and the clinking of heavenly armor. Even in the house farther away from the rest of Heaven, this fledgling could still hear it.

He shivered, turning to the other side of his bed. A silver tear rolled down his cheek. Suddenly his eyelids shot open, revealing icy blue eyes. The child blinked and rubbed his eyes with a small hand. His lip quivered as he tossed the covers aside and slowly walked down the hall.

Down the hall, in the living room a candle was flickering through the darkness as a man wrote silently. "B-Balth.." The child called from the other side of the room. "What are you doing up, Cassiel." The man turned to the child. His deep green eyes showed his exhaustion in the flickering candlelight. "I had a nightmare..." Cassiel stated, wiping his eyes once again. His older brother, Balthazar, sighed a bit, frowning, "Another one?" He spoke gently, holding his arms open for his little brother. The small angel nodded, clinging to Balthazar tightly. Balthazar held the child close, rubbing his back in a comforting manner. "Balth..." The small angel, Cassiel, asked quietly. "Yes?" Balthazar cooed, looking down at his brother. "W-Why are you all fighting?"

Balthazar's soft face faltered and he frowned, "Cassiel... Haven't we already talked about this?" Cassiel looked down, "I don't like it..Why can't you stop them?" Balthazar gave a small laugh, "You know I can't." Cassiel looked at him, "But you are the oldest! You are strong!" The fledgling pointed at his older brother, "You can stop them brother." Balthazar laughed lightly, "I'm glad you believe so Cas, but it's simply not that easy." Balthazar mused, holding Cassiel close, "Now come on and let's get you back in bed." Cassiel opened his mouth to protest but his older brother shot him a look that meant it was bedtime and that was final.

Cassiel finally decided not to fight the sleep that weighed down his eyes. His eyelids slowly fluttered shut, blocking his icy gaze from distant peers, and the fledgling slowly drifted to sleep.

/ / / /

The nights were long and full of war and yells. The fluttering of wings could be heard outside of the home of three angels. Cassiel clung to Balthazar, the middle brother of the three, Gabriel walked closely next to them. Cassiel hated the fighting, as any child would and as any child, he believed there was some magical solution that would stop his brothers' fighting. Balthazar kept his younger brother close as the yelling grew louder outside. "B-Balth! They're coming!" The small frightened voice of Cassiel sounded, knocking Balthazar out of the thoughts he had wandered into. He looked down at his brothers slowly. Gabriel clung to his leg silently, looking up at Balthazar with a calm amber gaze. He was old enough to understand better than Cassiel did, "Big brother it will be okay." Gabriel said finally, giving a small gentle smile. "They won't get mad if we leave."

Cassiel was crying and looking between them as the sounds of war grew louder outside their home. Balthazar took a deep, shaky breath then nodded, "Let's go you two." Gabriel smiled and gave a small nod, probably the calmest of the three. Cassiel shakily nodded, burying his face into Balthazar's shirt, soaking it with tears. The eldest of the three closed his deep green eyes and then in a swirling and flutter of white and golden wings, they were gone.

/ / / / (Weeks later, on Earth)

"What's this?" Cassiel asked, holding up a small, bright yellow rubber duck. Balthazar laughed a bit at the child as Gabriel sat nearby completely uninterested. "That is a rubber duck, angel boy." The fledgling huffed at the nickname but looked at the rubber duck curiously, "What's it for?" He asked. Balthazar's gold and white wings flicked in amusement, "Humans put it in their tubs while they bathe.." he paused, "As a sort of entertainment I guess." Cassiel giggled at the thought, trying to imagine a person doing such. Cassiel had been learning

a lot about humans and their world, and he loved it. Though Balthazar was often tired, Cassiel asked all the questions he could.

He looked at his eldest brother as he was tending to a scrape on Gabriel's knee. His green eyes were dim, bags were forming underneath his angelic eyes. His clothes were ragged looking for he was probably up for days watching to make sure that they weren't going to be found. Found by the other angels, the ones that were fighting. Their even older brothers. Like Lucifer. Cassiel shivered at the thought. Lucifer had always gave the young angel the creeps. He had glinting golden eyes, and a discreetly sly smile. He was known as a rebel and most of the angels had a hatred towards him for that.. though.. Cassiel didn't know why. "Balth." He called for the older brother. Balth turned to the small child, his eyes slowly trailing to look at his little brother, "What is it Cassiel?" Balthazar's voice was full of exhaustion. The fledgling looked down, "Is...is..." He began in a stutter. His older brother looked at him with a tired, stern look, "Go on."

"Is Lucifer going to hurt us.?" the child's voice was meek and quiet. Emotions swirled in Balthazar's eyes as he looked away. Balthazar was known to have been closer to their older brother when they were both young. It had made a lot of angels question Balthazar's loyalty and credibility. Hence why they had fled from Heaven.

"He won't find us here, Cassiel." Balthazar told the youngest of the angels softly, trying to calm his fears. "How do you know?" came the soft reply. Balthazar took in a deep breath. How was he even supposed to attempt to answer that? "Earth is the safest place we can be right now." The small angel still had little blue eyes full of worry. "We are safe here, I'll keep you safe."